As I rode towards the town of Saintsport I happened upon a small camp in turmoil. A local band of Sea Drake pirates had apparently attacked and made prisoners out of their comrades. I agreed to help, but this was no charity mission on my part. It offered me the perfect opportunity to see exactly who and what I’d be facing up ahead. It never hurts to learn the nature of a bear before you enter their lair.
S.K
A lone Altmer this far from the Summerset isles is either dedicated or dangerous. In truth, if Captain Kaleen had not directly requested him, I would have ridden on by and left this Elf to his Dwemer ruins. It’s not that I hold any particular animosity towards the ‘high’ Elves, I’ve just never met one that I liked.
As it turns out the Altmer wasn’t totally unappreciative of my efforts. I see now why he is so fascinated by these Dwemer mechanisms. They move freely of their own accord, and yet seem to have no intention or motivation other then what they were made for.
S.K
I’ve heard it said that there comes a day in a man’s life when he’ll wake up one morning to the calling of the sea. Well if that man has any sense, he’ll roll over and go back to sleep till the next day dawns. It is a blessed relief to feel solid ground under my feet once more… even if that ground is all but sand.
I quickly find the captain enjoying a drink on the docks, under the protective watch of a particularly brutish looking Orsimer whose eyes seem alert to my every shift. She is reluctant to suit credit for saving me, but suggests that if I have gratitude, I might display it by helping her out on a job. I have no wish to get myself involved in the schemes of pirates, but to reach a port one must sometimes sail with the wind, and sometimes against it. As much as I’d like to say I agreed due to my innate sense of honour, I have need of coin more than integrity right now.
S.K
The surviving crew of the Spearhead had a sorry tale to tell regarding mutiny, and betrayal. It appears not all Redguard are happy to be members of the Daggerfall Covenant, especially when it effectively puts an end the lucrative pirating of rich Breton galleons that sail the Abecean Sea.
The Captain herself is reportedly on the Island of Stros M’Kai, trying to recruit a new, more trust worthy crew for a new contract. Even in Cyrodiil we’d heard of that infamous Redguard settlement. I’d spent my childhood fighting her pirates, and capturing her marauder ships in stories and games. But now, if I am to thank this captain for saving my life, it appears I need to go there for real.
They say you should never meet your childhood heroes… but what about your childhood villains?
S.K
It turns out I’m in the Breton City of Daggerfall. The prophet seems to think there is a reason why I am here, but I think less so. I guess when people have called you prophet for so long that you’ve forgotten your own name, you start to see providence behind every rain cloud.
There was a Redguard woman waiting for me when first I ventured outside the door. Attractive, but not the sort you might take home to meet your mother; but then, I’m not the sort of man she might take home to meet her father either. She tells me that I have a Captain Kaleen to thank for fishing me from the waters of Iliac Bay, and that I should go meet with their boatswain; although she went out of her way to show indifference as to whether I do, or do not.
I spent a morning looking around the city. The populous is more cosmopolitan then I would have imagined, with plenty of Redguard and Orc savages living alongside the native Bretons. There are a few other races too, lots of mercenaries and adventures seeking gainful employment.
The city seems peaceful though, and remarkable untouched by the ravages that besets the world outside its high walls. But when you look just a little deeper, there seems to be an undercurrent of unease surrounding the citizenry. There is an edge to every greeting, every smile takes a little too much effort and is held just a little too long. This is a city that seems desperate to ignore the unstable world without. Its as if they can all feel the earth moving underfoot, yet nobody wants to be the first to draw attention to it.
S.K
The Tamriel Drifter 