Elder Scrolls Fanfic

An Argonian visits the island of Solstheim to make a Skooma delivery.

Bud-Ei was cold. Of course he was. Snow drifted lazily down, settling on anything that got in its way, whether it was the crisp pines that made up the Hirstaang, the occasional rock or boulder dotting the landscape, or even the frozen ground itself. He kicked the white fluff angrily as he trudged along. "Curse this Skooma addict dung to Oblivion and beyond!" What he wouldn't give to be back at home in the marsh, but this was the way of things. Dro'Mashi, his Khajiiti delivery man, had been killed last week over a deal gone wrong. There had been Imperial Legionnaires involved, no doubt in another pathetic attempt to halt the trade. It was just one more reason to be wary of new customers. 

The result of Dro'Mashi's death had been more than a loss of product and gold. Bud-Ei was now forced to make all important deliveries personally until he could find a new middle man. Which brought him here, to Solstheim.

Hagrad Boar-Face lived at the Mead Hall of Thirsk, and it was to him Bud-Ei was delivering the Skooma to. Hagrad was in the business of buying large quantities of the narcotic with expensive trinkets, and then selling it all off for whatever was valuable. Those trinkets were usually worth more than the product purchased, but neither of them cared. For Bud-Ei it was a chance to expand the family business. For Hagrad, it was all about sport. Bud-Ei shook his head and muttered to himself, "Crazy Nord." 

Looking up to check his surroundings, the Argonian realized he had crossed the invisible border that separated Hirstaang Forest from Isinfier Plains. 'It won't be long now,' he thought. 'Now I turn east, cross the Iggnir River, go north until I see Lake Fjalding, then go east again. Somewhere along that ice-blasted landscape should be Thirsk.'

As he moved toward the river, his thoughts drifted back to the first time he'd visited. He hated the cold just as much then as he did now, having come to Solstheim seeking a man called Uncle Sweetshare.

Bud-Ei had grown up in the harsh world of Skooma trade, and even joined the business as a delivery man. During that time he often had to worry about getting caught by the Legion or killed over prices. Then, almost ten years ago, he finally decided to move up in the industry. He didn't want to be anyone's lackey anymore, and so sought out a way to make Skooma of his own.  The best, or so he'd heard, to learn from was Uncle Sweetshare. It was during that initial excursion that he'd also met Hagrad.

Uncle Sweetshare had turned out to be a cheerful old Nord who just wanted to make others happy. Bud-Ei suspected that he didn't even realize Skooma was a drug as he'd never mentioned the trade, its illegality, or the ill side effects.

Author's Note

Incomplete but please tell me what you think because I'm not sure if I should continue writing it or not.

Reviews

[RobbieT]

When writing a book based off of a video game you have to be extremely careful not to make the story sound exactly like the game. One way to avoid this is to water down certain things. For example I wouldn't call a potion meant to restore health a "restore health potion". Instead I would call it something like a salve or just something more realistic. On a similar note don't go the way of the Infernal City and use completely outrageous things like a flying potion. The video game world is pretty realistic (as far as fantasy is concerned) and it should be the job of the author to maintain that realism or enhance it. I don't know about everyone else but if I'm reading a fantasy novel and I come across something too far out there I just toss the book in a stack to go drop off at the Goodwill. One last tip on realism is water down the abilities of potions or include a more magical element in them. A potion causing invisibility made from aloe and something else is just too out there in my opinion.

Overall I thought the plot in your story was going somewhere. I'd love to see where you take it in the future!

[Wabbajack]

I know what you mean, however in Morrowind they had Levitation potions and spells that were probably the inspiration for the "Flying Potion" mentioned in The Infernal City. Even though they kicked that out of Oblivion and Skyrim, it was still a very significant and important part of Morrowind gameplay and story. As for finishing/publishing this, who knows? I have other projects right now that I'm more focused on at the moment, but perhaps I will finish it in the future.

[RobbieT]

I never played Morrowind so thanks for the TES lore update! Your story actually got me thinking about writing my own fan fic.

[Wabbajack]

Go back and play it if you can, copies seem to be pretty rare these days. The game is drastically different from Oblivion and Skyrim but once you get past the differences it is well worth the effort. This should help you adapt downward from the recent two (soon to be three with the release of ESO) to Morrowind.
http://uesp.net/wiki/Differences_Between_Morrowind,_Oblivion,_and_Skyrim
Also, when I started writing this, I mainly had Morrowind in mind since I couldn't play Skyrim or Oblivion at the time, and my heart longed for the Bloodmoon expansion once more. I guess you could say that its written from a Morrowind perspective.

[Wabbajack]

Also, if you write your own TES fanfic be sure that you know your lore very well. I suggest setting aside a day or two for nothing but reading, reading, and more reading. The TES history is almost as complex as our own. Here's a good source for lore. Www.uesp.net/wiki/lore:books_by_subject

[RobbieT]

I know that site well. haha I'm one of those people who buy the TES games to and spend more time reading the in game books than playing missions. I'm absolutely in love with Tamriel and its vivid characters and events. Middle Earth and Alagaesia are my other favorites.

[Wabbajack]

Middle Earth and Alagaesia are okay, but I kind of have a thing for Westeros (Shhh! Don't tell Tamriel that I've been cheating on her)

[Jenni-Chan]

yes. those fairy tales were true. what now bud-ei? what now?

[Jenni-Chan]

It sounds good... if you watch all your typos and have me/ an editor read it first.
Namely, "To the first time to the first time he'd visited"? that doesn't make sense.

[Wabbajack]

Thanks for pointing that out, I'm not quite sure how that happened.

[Jenni-Chan]

you are very welcome.

[Wabbajack]

You are a doofus, you know that? I mean really, commenting online when I'm sitting RIGHT BEHIND YOU watching what you're doing on the computer? Doof move, my nutball of a little sister, doof move.

[Jenni-Chan]

lol. if you want to have this convo, e-mail me.