The Adventures of Sylvaswift

Mission: BLUE SKOOMA Co.

Furry black ears twitched intently as Sylvaswift pressed closer to the cold stone wall of the warehouse listening to the assembly of Khajiits inside. Sapphire blue eyes watched darting with interest noting the comings and goings of those within. After some time Sylva frowned and let out a long sigh unimpressed by the lack of guards or lookouts, he experienced no difficulty in securing several vantage points affording him ample opportunity to gain the information he sought.

Sylva thought deeply whether he should be bothered with this rabble. He should not have wasted his time travelling here, Khajiits often had the reputation for being simple beings, lacking any real nous or head for complicated things. This reputation had often proved a useful cover for Sylva, but it was not something one wanted in a business associate or partner. Indeed it was a rare occasion when Sylva met a Khajiit with the skill it took to make it outside their homeland of Elsweyr. So far this lot appeared clueless. But he'd yet to find the infamous Ri'sari, the leader of the Blue Skooma Co. the one he sought.

Patiently he waited for an opportunity to sneak inside the warehouse, deciding it was prudent he at least learn more about this Ri'sari before he made his final decision. A brief moment opened up when a crowd exited the building following a distraught Khajiit and into the gardens out the front. Swiftly he skirted the exterior surrounds and slipped quietly inside, again undetected. He was presented with two staircases, one on the left-hand side wall and the other on the right, inbetween there was haphazardly placed crates. Sylvaswift padded quietly across the dirt covered floor and up the right-hand side staircase. He crept slowly upward, ears twitching searching for what his eyes could not. A soft scrabbling sounded behind him, Sylva turned and noticed the Guar pup that had adopted him earlier was following him.

"Dammit" Sylva hissed shoving the pup gently away with his foot. "Shoo, shoo, or this one will be discovered." The guar pup responded by edging closer rubbing against leg affectionately. Sylva's lips curled in a mock snarl, he was no stranger to killing but somehow he could not bring himself to kill this time. It really had not been much of an issue up until now, it was too late to do anything about it and so Sylva decided to press on and upwards. He gambled that no-one would be up there, Sylva had yet to lay eyes, or ears on the leader.

As Sylva neared the top of the stairs he spotted a row of barrels stacked against the wall, and slunk in behind them stealthily moving along the row until he reached the end. He peered across the room into its centre where a lone Khajiit sat at a table staring out the loft door that overlooked the courtyard and the goings on out the front. He appeared oblivious to Sylva's presence, perhaps he was off somewhere else, happily enjoying some Skooma induced experience. This would not do, even the small creature scuttling around behind him had not alerted this Khajiit to him being in his near vicinity. Had Sylva been an assassin on this occasion, he would have been an easy dollar earned. Surely this was not Ri'sari?

Sylva turned and quietly left the upper level, the group that had followed the bereft Khajiit outside had re-entered the lower level, but Sylva had heard and seen enough. He toyed briefly with the thought he would let them discover him, perhaps let them capture him as a prisoner he could learn much, much more - he no longer wished to be associated with this bunch, but any information he could gather could be worth some coin to others. Without sound he padded down the stairs pausing briefly behind some stacked wooden crates on the ground level as he thought over his options.

No, he thought another time perhaps. His gut told him to do nothing further, he trusted his gut, it had never failed him in things pertaining to business. Even when reasoning was contrary, he followed his gut and always succeeded, today would be no different.

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THE NEXT DAY ....

Sylvaswift busied himself standing amidst the crowd surrounding the frog races, surveying carefully the activity surrounding the Blue Skooma Warehouse. The Skywatch celebrations afforded him great cover. Many more people were present at the warehouse this day, suggesting a meeting of some kind was occurring. Intriguing as this was, it complicated the opportunity of getting closer and listening out of the question so Sylva satisfied himself with just watching.

After some time a group of Khajiit exited the building lead by the lone Khajiit male from the upper floor Sylva had spied on the day before, he was accompanied by two other impressive Khajiits both heavily armoured and armed, most likely guards. This confirmed to Sylva that this Khajiit had indeed been the leader, the accompanying guard raised Sylva's opinion of the Company a few notches.

Immediately Sylva set himself the task of following the trio and see what business it was they were attending, identifying perhaps a contact or two of theirs. Information was as much his business as the trading of goods. All information carried the promise of reward, one way or other the trick was knowing who would pay the most for what.

The three Khajiit walked purposely and with an air not witnessed by Sylva the day before. They passed by him without notice and turned left and traveled down the stairs towards the Docks. Sylva paused a few moments before pursuing, they would move slowly and the crowds would make tailing a breeze. When he was satisfied he had given them enough distance he began to follow.

When the three got to the docks they turned left again onto the beach and walked along the shore passing behind some rocks. Sylva swiftly followed along the brick wall surrounding the docks and down onto the soft sand below and continued the chase. The three kept up their steady pace silently, moving across the sand effortlessly. Arriving at a large outcrop of rocks the moved around to the far side where a makeshift campsite had been arranged.

Interesting Sylva thought, as he peered around a large boulder, Sylva could not get close enough to hear what they were discussing, instead he watched hoping perhaps they would be meeting with someone here.

After much time passing with no one coming or going so Sylva retreated back to Skywatch giving up for the day.

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SOME TIME LATER ....

Sylvaswift was growing increasingly irritated by the lack of success from the day's mission. Sitting in the shade of a large tree outside the Warehouse clawed finger stroked his hairy black chin as he rolled question after question over in his mind. The Blue Skooma Co. appeared active, yet did nothing, perhaps it was a front for something else. After some thought he decided if he were to learn more he would have to get closer, by legitimate means. From the inside he would learn much more.

Now to arrange a meeting Sylvaswift thought as is perused the yard carefully discerning which of the figures standing around out the front of the building to approach. He eyes alighted on a lone armour plated person, most likely a guard of some sort. Decisively Sylva arose and strolled over to the guard.

"This one greets you warmly," Sylva said as he bowed politely, a custom not often display by a Khajiit, but something he had seen in his travels and adopted as his own.

"Hail and Well Met!," the guard replied.

"This one is here to inquire if the this fine organisation is in need of any service, that this one could perhaps provide. A meeting with the leader would be the most appropriate this one thinks."

The guard nodded briefly, "Ri'sari is our leader and is inside."

"This one would appreciate an introduction, if you are not too busy of course."

"Follow me then."

Sylva followed the guard inside and was led to the back of the warehouse on the ground level. He spotted the leader, Ri'sari, in front of some stacked crates speaking with an attractive female Khajiit. Ri'sari fumbled as the two approached, possibly Sylva was interrupting a liaison of sorts.

The guard briefly and efficiently announced him and returned to his post.

Ri'saari


Sylvaswift bowed, as was his custom.

"This one's name is Sylvaswift," he announced boldly. "He approaches seeking position within your fine company."

The tall thin Khajiit studied Sylvaswift quietly for several long moments before replying.

"How did you come to hear about our compay?" he asked finally.

"This one has many contacts, and Khajiit has heard many good reports," he lied.

The leader nodded "Perhaps you would share these contacts with this company."

"This one respectfully declines, at least for the moment you understand, until this one knows you better in order to protect his sources."

Ri'sari nodded and paused as if thinking. "Khajiit wished to know what motivates you?"

"Many things motivate this one... coin, a beautiful female..." at this point the female Khajiit beside Ri'sari excused herself and departed, a little aggravated by Sylvaswift's intrusion.

The leader watched her leave as he replied to Sylva "Like that one you mean?"

Sylvaswift said nothing but only smiled.

The leader then asked, "What are you skills?"

"This one has many skills to offer for you service, he is an acquirer of things... he can provide the company with almost anything it needs, one only has to ask. Sylvaswift is also good at seeking information... knowledge of various things."

Ri'sari nodded and smirked. "Very well, this one will test you and see if you can really do what you claim to be able to do. We have many managers here of many different skills. Use you skills to seek out the one you need to report to, if you cannot Ri'sari has much paperwork that needs attending to," he sneered.

Sylvaswift bowed and exited, saying "This one will attend to this immediately." He turned and headed upstairs allowing a faint smile to creep across his lips.

Too easy he thought as he headed up the stairs to the gathering of people above.

CARAVAN


Sylvaswift's mission was brief, he had no trouble finding where he slotted into the company. He was certain now the company was involved in other than legitimate enterprises, and his new mission was to discover what it was they really did, aligning himself with the merchants was the most logical choice. He could craft, maybe not to a master's level but enough to meet his purpose, besides what he could not make he could trade for. He quickly learned that Qa'han and Ask-For-Seconds, two argonians, were the merchant arm's leaders. For some reason that Sylvaswift was unable to ascertain, Ask-For-Seconds disappeared without knowledge or trace. It left room for thought that Qa'han should possibly be regarded as more than just a harmless lizard with a lust for gold.

He readily made himself available to Qa'han and Mo'jahi Ice_Eye, a Khajiit replacement for the missing Argonian, and it was not long before he was accepted into the circle of leaders a long with a pretty Khajiit female named Anira Serin, the mate of a master craftsman named Do'maadrul.

Shortly after Sylvaswift's arrival and acceptance into the Company a Caravan was instigated by Ri'saari. Sylvaswift tagged along using the time fruitfully gaining knowledge of the operations of each of the followers but particularly those of the Sellsword arm along the journey.

The Sellswords were led by a Khajiit commander named Qa'iit, although Ri'saari took some time out to run the swords through a training session while camped in the March. This gave Sylva the perfect opportunity to study Ri'saari's combat technique and aptitude. After watching the Leader run through his paces for some time, Sylvaswift's first impression were cemented; this was one to handle him with extreme care. At the same time Ri'saari gained more points in Sylvaswift's admiration of the wiley Khajiit.

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Caravan Part 2

The caravan broke camp at Rawl'kha early morning and continued on the long dusty trek towards the docks located at Kenarthi's Roost. Late that afternoon the weary Company arrived at a suitable place to rest and another camp was set. Milo Hilltop was put to the task of cooking the meal to feed the mob, and S'vani, guard and healer, was sent out on patrols. Qa'iit appointed Kiraya as personal guard to Ri'sari. Kiraya's intimate relationship with the leader frustrated Sylvaswift's efforts in getting closer to him, gaining Ri'sari as a business associate carried less importance with Sylva, but still he saw many uses for a partnership with him. Getting him alone had proven to be extremely difficult and aggravated him beyond reason.

After resting for a while meditating upon alternative ways of gaining Ri'sari's favour and attention and coming up empty. Sylvaswift saw there was little he could accomplish at camp so he departed, choosing to rummage through tents and belongings to see what he could acquire or learn. A few hours of searching yielded nothing, aggravated from an appalling run of failure, the black Khajiit found himself a warm dry place away from camp, he lay down and slept a restless sleep.

Sylvaswift awoke the next morning tired and grumpy, he loathed the idea of returning to the group. He needed some alone time, or a woman, so he headed back to Rawl'kha. He would work out his frustrations with a couple of attractive females, even settling for whores if it came to it so great was the need. He would track the Company and meet up with them later, it would be as easy as tracking a three-legged Mammoth through mud.

Rawl'kha was a bustling city of bodies and noise. Sylvaswift headed straight for his favoured 'fishing' ground, the local tavern. He stepped inside immediately summing the room of prospects. If he wasn't affording himself the luxury of being too fussy he had a large pool of potential prospects. He took himself a seat in a calculated position among the patrons and ordered himself a light drink. Sylvaswift did not like to drink too heavy, he did not enjoy the feeling of loss of control, on this occasion he would allow himself a little dalliance.

It wasn't long before a small white spotted Khajiit female, sat beside him on his right side and struck up a conversation.

"Hello therre handsome," she purred light green eyes fluttered seductively.
Sylvaswift smiled and turned his head sideways a little so he could see her with his right side eye. "Hello back... beautiful," he drawled.
"Thiss one saw you all alone and thought to herrself, thiss cannot do, and so Mish'ka has come to sit with you."
"This one thanks you with all his heart," returning his vision back to his drink. "He was hoping he would not be forced to sit alone,especially when there is such attractive company to be... had."
The female Khajiit tittered.
"The lady would like a drink, yes? This one sees you do not have one."
Mish'ka nodded playfully. "Yeass, this one would love a drink. But firrst you must tell me yourr name for thiss one does not accept or drink with strangerrrss."
"Khajiit is known as Sylvaswift."
"Sylvaswift," she echoed. "Such an interressting name,yeas? Syl-va-swift, this one likes to say it." She leaned closer to him. "This one likess you. This one wantss to say yourr name, overr and overr. You would want thiss, yeas?"
Sylvaswift ordered her a drink, ignoring her request momentarily. The bartender placed the drink down and Sylvaswift placed the coin in his hand before sliding the drink to Mish'ka. Smiling he replied, "This one would like to hear his name said over and over, yes."
Mish'ka took the drink and swallowed it quickly.
Sylvaswift seeing her eagerness grinned as he drank the remainder of his drink.
He rose from his seat casually and offered Mish'ka his arm. "Lead and this one will follow you to the ends of the earth."
"Liarr," she mocked as she rose to meet him, hooking her arm in his. "Thiss one will take you to herr place, yeas? Therre we can be comforrtable, come."

Many days later....

One night, turned into many before the Black Khajiit left Rawl'kha and headed to Kenarthi's Roost to rejoin the company.

The sun was high in the sky when he stepped aboard the Sea Haag, a bustling hive of activity. He reported directly to Mo'haji, interestingly appointed by Ri'sari as the sea captain. Mo’haji instructed Sylvaswift to check the cargo, which he did without question, seizing the opportunity swipe a Skooma bottle, or two, perhaps. He was disappointed to find the crates well secured and tamper proof. Task complete, he headed up on deck to receive his next job.

Up on deck Mohaji was in a tense discussion with an Altmer official, Sylva recognised as a Thalmor Inspector, he was accompanied by a tall armoured female, a guard no less. This would not end well, Sylvaswift’s gut announced. Sylvaswift did his best to approach Ice-Eye but was abruptly halted by the Official’s guard and turned away, Sylvaswift was intelligent enough to comply immediately and departed to a safe distance nearby from where he could watch and possibly hear a word or two, pretending to busy himself with menial chores.
The Inspector wished to see the cargo, and Mo’haji, to his credit showed him the ‘legit’ cargo. The Inspector, now detained by Mo’haji, the crew was able to deal with the ‘illegitimate’ stock. Sylva swift held his position of reconnaissance. Several minutes later, the Inspector and his guard left the ship with Mo’haji and a handful of mercenaries in tow. Sylva’s uneasy feeling intensified greatly, however it did give the crew more time to hide the Skooma.
Hours passed before Mo’haji returned bloody and wild looking, the black Khajiit’s gut had been spot on… things had indeed gone very wrong. In a fit of rage, Mohaji killed him in full view of his guard; the guard fled the mercenaries unharmed, which meant there was a live witness to this fact.

A week or so later...

Sylvaswift was many things, but stupid was not one of them. He high-tailed it out of Kenarthi’s Roost and went underground. During that time, he put out feelers via his network of associates to see what he could learn. The report came back that: The Blue Skooma Co. was a target of the Thalmor; wanted for suspicious activities, and murder of a Thalmor official. To put it mildly, Ri’sari would not be pleased, and Mo’haji Ice-eye was neck deep in mammoth poop.

The dark Khajiit had all but abandoned his mission, which meant to him failure – and this was simply unacceptable. In a last ditch effort, he journeyed to the Skywatch Warehouse to see if anything could be salvaged of his assignment before he made his last and final call on the matter. He arrived to see the Warehouse in flame and many of the company fleeing towards the dock. At a reasonable distance he followed and observed ready to slink away into the shadows if need be.

On the dock, Qa’han was stacking a small sailboat with crates; filled with Skooma Sylvaswift assumed. The greedy lizard had netted himself a profitable haul. No matter Sylva thought, he had already aligned with the merchants, and this would work out better. He would assist him to flee and then grab some Skooma and disappear. The Company was no more, he had already witnessed it beginning to crumble at the Merchants meeting some weeks prior when Qa’han tried to rally the merchants to his side, stating Ri’sari as greedy and keeping them poorer than they need be. True or not, it alerted Sylva to weakness within the structure, heralding its eventual demise.

The thud of many footsteps broke through his scheming and Sylva turned to see Ri’sari his eyes almost glowing red, by his side was Kiraya. Her mask covered her expression but her body language spoke volumes, she was very, very frightened. They both stormed past him, as if he did not exist, fair-enough that was likely good thing given Ri’sari’s current mood. A small following trailed behind them, Sylva added himself to their numbers inconspicuously and followed.

Risari stood on the dock and yelled for Qahan to show himself several times. When he didn't he turned to Kiraya and instructed her to cast a fireball at the boat. Kiraya looked at him questioningly for a moment but then fearfully obeyed his command. The small boat and its cargo erupted in flame and dark billowing smoke, there was a series of explosions as the cargo caught alight.

Risari laughed like a mad man and yelled, "Swim lizard!”

Sylva strained to see but the smoke blocked his vision, he was shocked – stunned. J’sarr had warned him once, ‘Do no cross Risari’, and now Sylvaswift was witness first-hand as to what happens to those who do. Had fear been Sylva’s thing he would have been afraid to continue further, however he just made mental note of it and considered his next move – as his ticket to success – Qahan and the Skooma were gone it seemed.

New Beginnings?

The crowd stood and watched until the boat finally sunk. Qa'han did not reappear and it was assumed he was dead. Sylvaswift to all intents and purposes believed this also, but being who he is required proof before he would attest to that. Much of the crowd dispersed, horrified by RI'sari's actions. Most likely Sylva would have been among them if not for the fact he had not yet succeeded. His only option now was to follow Ri'sari to whatever end. Only a tiny contingent followed when Ri'sari called to those few remaining faithful to follow him.

Ri'sari did his best to hide his shattered emotions as his rage fell away. He addressed his few remaining followers as they sat gathered round him on the Skywatch beachfront. Sylvaswift however could see his faintly furrowed brow and that he licked his lips excessively, Ri'sari was deeply troubled.

"We have tried the way of the Mer, and look where it has got us," he said boldly. "This one is tired of these lands and had decided to return to Reapers March; there we will form a clan. This one has no more gold to offer you, the Company is no. Who will follow me?"

In his eagerness to prove his faithfulness, Sylvaswift was the first to reply, “This one will follow you...,” and because he did not want Ri'sari to believe he was the master of his own decisions, he added "for now."

All of the few that had followed Ri'sari and Kiraya to the beach agreed to follow Ri'sari and travel with him to Reaper's March and the next order of business was to raise coin for the passage. Ri'sari instructed Ja'kasim, the leader of the Silver-Tongues, to raid all the hidden caches of Blue Skooma, the last remaining bottles.

Ja'kasim selected those he could trust and left to comply with Ri'sari's request. Ri'sari took a moment to sit and rest beside Kiraya under a small tree in the Ruins.

He turned to her and addressed her in perhaps the softest way he ever spoken to her, or anyone.

"This one thinks you will get your wish, the Clan Mother will not let us form unless Khajiit is mated with you. What do you think of this idea?" Kiraya was overjoyed and emotional.

"You do not know how happy it makes this one to hear you say these words. I will make you so happy, I promise."

Ri'sari allowed her to hug him tightly and Sylvaswift noticed a subtle softening of his usually fierce features.

A Khajiit stranger approached abruptly interrupting the happy couple. He named himself as Ra'saac and claimed to have killed Qa'han, he even produced Qa'han's knife.

Sylvaswift was extremely distrustful of the stranger and spoke out firmly, "This one would require more proof than a simply knife. Bah, Qa'han could have dropped it or perhaps it fell from his body when you set him and the boat aflame. Nobody has been found, this one assumes, he is not dead until he is otherwise proven wrong."

Ri'sari examined the knife closely, he knew the knife he expression showed this. He said no more except to give leave to Ra'sacc, Sylvawift noted that he kept the knife and did not give it back to the white Khajiit.

Risari Raises Coin

A few hours passed and Ja'kasim and his assistants returned with the Blue Skooma, there were several cases and it was offered in exchange for coin. Ri'sari informed those gathered that everyone that traveled to Reaper's March would have to pay their own way.

Some came forward and exchanged coin for a few bottle of Skooma and some left re-thinking their original choice to follow Ri'sari. At this point Ri'sari displayed an unusual amount of distress and removed himself to a far corner of the cave they had moved the camp into. Ra'sacc did not even hesitate and followed Ri'sari, sensing trouble Sylvaswift slunk into the shadows and edged closer to hear the conversation or protect Ri'sari should Ra'sacc made an attempt on his life. Ri'sari had been made vulnerable and no longer had the protection he had once had.

Kiraya entered quietly and to her credit spotted Sylvaswift in the shadows, but she alerted no-one to his presence.

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