Avery Azuri - Alchemist

It was a beautiful fall day on Summerset, in the city of Cloudrest, young Avery Azuri stood circled by other Altmer children. They pointed an laughed exclaiming "Look! Look! She has blue hair!". Averys mother, Koritha, had tried to use the spell of color to make Averys dress her favorite color blue, however it only turned her hair blue.
"Are you sure your not a half breed, I've never seen such a short highelf" shouted the a fat boy in the crowd.
"Look her hands are dirty, been working the fields with the salves?" said a small blonde girl.
"I was picking flowers... they are so pretty..." Avery said as tears began to roll down her face.
Though it was early in her life, she felt different from the other children.


15 years later......

Avery stood in the Crystal tower east wing bath house, glazing into the mirror at her long white hair, missing the blue color it had been since she was a child. The potion she had crafted to return it to its natural color, wasn't quite perfected. She sighed, gathering her books and made for here most dreaded class.... Conjuration. She loathed the instructor, Psysha, her new step mother. Averys Father Ormil, a wealthy Architect who had built some of the most glorious buildings in all of summer set, had recently left her mother Koritha, for Psysha. Avery was almost sure she was a dremora in disguise.
"Avery! your late!" scoffed the her wicked step mother, " this is a prestigious school, only for the most serious of mages, this isn't Winterhold, a college of neanderthals and a few old spell books." Avery took her seat and class began. She had barley heard a word said as she sketched in her book of alchemical fungi. "Avery?.....Avery?...... MISS AZRUI!" shouted Psysha "stand up and come to front of the class." Avery walk to the front of the lecture room. "Please demonstrate the lesson Avery..." Psysha said with an evil smile, knowing Avery hadn't a clue.




"uhm... err... what was the lesson again?" Avery said looking alarmed and embarrassed. "Conjuring lesser Daedra, Please, show the class how one would summon a Scamp." Avery took a second to think, she could barley remember how the spell went. "Lets see..." She waved her hands in the air and cast the spell. With a flare of purple flames a scamp appeared, well, most a scamp... the small creature, screeching and flailing, was seemingly stuck in the floor up to its waist. Avery wasn't sure what she had done wrong. "Umm... Dispel?" She questioned... "no, no.. uhhhh, disband? no... shoot... unbind? " Avery tried to banish the creature back to Oblivion to no avail, Psysha waved her hand an with another flare of flames the daedra was gone, leaving noting but blood and scratch marks where it had been stuck in the floor. "Avery, I'm going to have to fail you again this semester. Children can summon scamps better than you!" Psysha said victoriously, you could see the joy in her eyes. Avery gathered her books and ran out in tears, hearing only laughter as she exited.

Avery made her way to her favorite part of the Crystal tower college, the western court yard, which housed the Alchemy green houses. This is where her favorite uncle, Mithron, taught Achemical studies. Potted plants sat on every flat surface of the green house, everything from Imp stools in all the dark corners, to the hundreds of chiming Nirnroot, you could barley hear they were so loud.
"I flunked Conjuration again..." Avery took a seat, feeling defeated.
"Conjuration is for the birds! Its a lazy mages craft, to dark for my taste" he said smiling at her.
Mithron was a tall older Altmer with long gray hair, dirt covered green robes and thick glasses, one of the only ones to even wear them. "I wouldn't worry about it darling, your my top alchemy student, I've taught this class for nearly 200 years and I've never had a more promising pupil." Avery smiled, just before realizing she was still at school.
"Oh no! what time is it?"
"Midday i believe"
"Blasted! I'm late for Destruction class" Avery hurried out "Bye uncle, I love you"

Avery also loathed destruction class, not because of the work or lessons, but because all three of her step brothers had the same class. Ocato the Ice mage, Yarnar the lightning mage, and Undil the fire mage, Psysha's gifted sons. They had always treated Avery as though she was their lesser. Today she would show them. She had been working hard on learning the master level Lighting storm spell for their final lesson demonstration. She was excited she could finally show her brothers that she was just as good as they were! One by one the other students lined up and cast there spells.
Ocato, stood in-front of the class and cast a furious ice spear, killing the test atronach in one blow.
Next Yarnar is up and summons his spell, the sky grew dark and lightning began to strike all around, ultimately, destroying his atronach.
After, Undil took his place and raised his hands, waving them wildly, he cast the largest fire ball Avery had ever seen, reducing his atronach to a pile of ashes.
Next up was Avery, she had practiced the storm spell hundreds of times in the fields outside of the college and was almost sure she had it right.
Avery stood nervously, shaking a bit, as the instructor summoned her atronach. She thought hard on the everything she had leaned and knew this was her one shot to get it right. She took her stance, moved her hands in circles and a ball of lighting began to form. Suddenly the stream of lighting abruptly shot from her hands, to her surprise the powerful stream of raw Arcana power blasted the Atronach to an ash pile in seconds. The blast was so strong it threw her back, steam of lighting still shooting from her hands uncontrollably, other students ducking for cover as the bolts filled the room. Books caught fire, wooden chairs, and even the instructors robes. The large crystal column in the center on the room took the most damage, it began to crack into shards and fall apart. The 70 foot column came crashing through the wall of the crystal tower, sending the room into panic, screaming filled the halls. As this was happening, Arch Mage Ayrenn Peregrine had been roaming the halls, hearing the loud blast he ran to the room. As the dust and rubble settled, he could tell who was the cause of all the destruction. "Azuri! My office... NOW!"

Avery followed the Arch mage up the long staircase to his office. When she entered her father Ormil, her step mother Psysha, and her uncle Mithron were waiting in the archmages quarters. "Miss Azuri after repeated infractions, I believe were going to have ask you to leave this college. This is a place to study the perfection of the arcane, not profane it! In my 400 years as Arch mage I have never seen a pupil cause more destruction in their short time here."
Avery's father shook his head "Do you have any idea how much gold it will cost me to fix this mess? Your such a disappointment. Why can't you be more like your step brothers? or more like Omril Junior." Even he was a successful gourmet. "Your younger brother Tauryon is the best troll slayer in the fighters guilds... we have a family name, and your not living up to it." Avery's eyes began to tear. Mithron, appalled at how they were treating Avery, spoke up " Now, now... she's the best alchemist in the entire school! She deserves another chance!"
"NO! she's reckless and a simpleton, she can barley cast basic spells at times." screeched Psysha.
"Then its final, Miss Azuri your no longer welcome here" said Arch mage Pergrine....

Avery returned home to Cloudrest, she missed the gardens of the the crystal tower the most, her books on alchemy still stacked on here desk, she felt lost without her research. She believed that nearly all plants possessed some kind of alchemical properties, far more the ones discovered in the last 300 years. She longed to travel across Nirn studying different plants, animals and insects that she believed could be made into potions and poisons. "Whats stopping me?" Avery said aloud "Whats stopping me from leaving right now? I don't need this cruddy college or its perfectionist instructors" Avery ran to here desk, pulling out a quill and parchment she began to write:


Dear Uncle Mithron,

I've decided I no longer wish to stay on Summer set. Tomorrow I'm go to the docks to book passage to Cyrodiil. I'm going to continue our research. The white-gold tower has a school for mages. I plan to begin my journey there. Wish me luck! I will miss you Uncle.

Much love,
Avery


She was happy when the ship finally moored at the Imperial city docks, they had been on the ship for nearly 3 weeks. She found an Inn where she spent the night and in the morning she made for the College of Mages. To much her disappointment, the Alchemy lab there was little more than a small room where Mage Adept Chriditte taught a hand full of students to make health potions. The next day she set off east on her own to explore the wonders of Cyrodiil.




So many diffrent plants grew here, noting like back on Summerset. On her way to a town called Cheydenhal, Avery met a Dunmer, named Zirien, He inquired what she was doing all alone out in the forest, She explained she was looking for flowers and different plants native to cyrodiil. "Flowers aye?, I know right where some pretty purple ones grow, they got five leaves shaped like a star, com'on ill show you" Avery eyes lit up and she followed the strange darkelf to a camp where several other men were drinking and talking loudly.
"Look what I found boys, A flower." the other men erupted in laughter, "Ol uncle Sanguines gonna love this one" Suddenly feeling that things weren't right, Avery tried to run, but, before she could she was hit over the head with a wine bottle.

Avery awoke, her hands and feet bound tight, gagged, she struggled to get free. It was useless.
"Morn'n flower, thought you'd never wake up" Zirien said while sitting on a stroll across the tent "We're gonna ave' some fun tomorrow night, Your the prettiest offering we've had yet". Zirien and his band of miscreants belonged to the cult of Sanguine, they kidnapped women and offered them to the Daedric Prince of debauchery. Just then a great commotion broke out in the camp, shouting and the sounds of fighting filled the air. Zirien drew his swords and ran from the tent. The fighting seemed to go on for hours, but finally it quieted.
"Hello anyone here?" The voice of a strong man broke the silence "Nothing in this tent sir" said another "Ill check the others, you secure the parameter".
Avery couldn't see what was happening trough the small gap in the tents door. It opened and a men clad in white and gold imperial armor entered, looking around, he saw Avery bound on the ground. He approached her and drew his dagger to cut her bindings.
"Are you all right dear?" said the man removing his helmet reveling a much kinder face than his voice painted.
"I think so, I'm so glad you got here when you did... I think they where going to eat me!" His warm laughter filled the tent "Those fellows where part of a cult that rapes women..." Avery's eyes widened. "My name is Ralvus Maximus, priest of Arkay, and you are?" "Avery Azuri... I came to Cyrodiil to study alchemy." Avery smiled softly at her rescuer, she could not help but to think how handsome he was, for an Imperial anyway.
"Do you have a safe place to go?" He asked.
"I suppose I will head back to the Imperial city"
"The Imperial city is a three days walk from here... your welcome to come back to the temple in Cheydenhal and stay the night, at least you be safe." Avery nodded, she didn't feel up for a three day walk. Ralvus helped her off of the ground and the set off for the town of Cheydenhal with the others. Avery ended up staying at the temple with Ralvus. He would let her travel with him on his adventures teaching her what he knew of the plants in the area. After a few months they were inseparable, and joined hands in the ritual of Mara. They lived together in the temple for many years. Eventually the great war erupted, all of the surrounding nations invaded Cyrodiil. Their home at the temple was destroyed by invading Ebon heart troops, it was then that Ralvus and Avery decided to flee to Aurdion where Averys Uncle Mithron now lived........




((Some of the photos are not my own, though I could not find credit for them.))

Your image links are broken! What is your @handle?

I can see the pics! Great job Blu!!!!!