A Daedric Ring for a Wedding Band?!

Jo'Zrijhi Taloj woke up on her boat Southeast of Silvenar and instantly regretted last night. Not only was her head pounding and the motion of the boat making her nauseous, she regretted having conducted herself in such a manner the night before. She had yelled at those just being thoughtful, she had behaved poorly in front of perfect strangers, and she had over-shared with a mercenary, thief, and black market dealer. And, on top all this she had no recollection of how she got out of Clanmother's House much less how she got back to her boat in Malabal Tor.

She carefully made her way to the side of the boat--read, crawled on hands and legs--and rested her head on the side of boat, cursing and complaining the entire way, which was prolonged due to how unstable she felt. Reminding herself, she never should have drank that much last night. How much did she drink last night?

Zri started out at the water running below and finally started to comprehend her surroundings, having too narrow a focus prior to this moment. Carefully turning around, she took in the scene before her. There were the usual books, artifacts/relics, and weaponry lying about. A few unopened bottles of liquor sat here and there. And, she was all alone. Where had the Bosmer gone? Surely, it had to have been Firiel that brought her home--she was the only that knew where she lived. Firiel had been her drinking companion and confidant the night before...unless had they both gotten drunk the night before and someone else brought them both home.

Zri shook that thought from her head, having to stop for a moment as nausea nearly overcame here--no more of that--the idea was illogical. Who else would have brought them home? Plus, Firiel couldn't have drank nearly as much as she had. Closing her eyes for a moment and took in the riverbank, looking for signs of the Bosmer.

Keeping her thoughts of Ra'Taloj at bay, she didn't even notice the ring was missing.

Firiel fingered the ring she had obtained from Zri. Although Zri had told her nothing about the ring, Firiel's guess was that the ring was associated in some way with Zri's lover. It was a bit big--too big for her fingers. 'Where did Zri get this?', she wondered. She held the ring carefully and brought it closer to her face to inspect its details. Symbols were etched along the ring's golden sides. Firiel was unable to detect their specific origin but knew enough to recognize them as Daedric. She put the ring back in her small coin pouch.

She sighed heavily, a bit frustrated with the ring and with feeling sore from last night. Lying in her bed at the inn she reflected on the events from the night previous.

Her mentor and companion, Zri, had consumed too much alcohol while Zri mourned her lost love. Firiel had lost people close to her, but never someone so close as a lover. Her experience with others, however, made her think that the consumption of vast quantities of alcohol was a someone necessary part of mourning. Especially for someone like Zri who seemed to keep things to herself. Firiel supplied Zri with a steady supply of alcohol and hugs, doing her best to make sure Zri had a safe space to mourn openly.

It was not until the end of their evening together when Firiel realized that she had not thought far enough into the future to consider how she might have gotten Zri home. The evening had ended with her trying to lift an all but unconscious Zri onto her (Zri's) horse while Zri was still wearing her full suit of armor. Once Firiel had finally lifted Zri onto the horse, she shook her head and decided that from now on Zri should be required to wear only cloth clothing when drinking so recklessly.

After a few hours of sitting on her boat doing nothing, Zri finally managed to rid herself of the hangover enough to stand and prepare herself for the day. She stripped out of the clothes she'd slept in the night before and headed to the river to clean off the grime of the night before. Usually, she didn't spend time in the water passed what was necessary for cleaning purposes, but hoping it would help with her headache, she stayed in for a few extra minutes before heading back to her boat to dry off and dress for the day.

Once that was done, Zri opened up one of several notebooks scattered around the boat and looked to see what she needed to accomplish today. Perhaps she should start with finding Firiel--thank her for last night--maybe offer her a warm meal at one of the taverns or inns in the area. She wouldn't mind a meal that didn't consist of dried or smoked meat herself...

With that in mind, she tossed a few tomes and two of her of her notebooks into her pack and slung it over her armor-clad shoulder. She wondered where to start her search for Firiel... While preparing Thunder for the trek through Tamriel, she determined that S'ren-ja would probably be her best bet. Leading Thunder through the shallowest part of the river, she started the journey to Reaper's March--all the while reassuring Thunder that the strong current wouldn't harm him.

As the break of dawn shone through the window of Firiel's room the next morning, the coin pouch on the table next to her bed caught her eye.

Before getting out of bed, she pulled the ring out of the pouch to stare at it some more. She wondered if Zri had actually meant what she said when she gave the ring to Firiel to sell. Assuming this ring had come from Zri's lover, her decision to rid herself of the ring may have been made in a drunk moment of impulse. But the gold glow of the ring reminded her of the gold she would be able to make in exchange for the ring. She sighed heavily putting the ring back in her pouch once more.

After preparing for the day, Firiel set out to do as she had promised Zri. She headed to the markets of Rawl'kha. After some bargaining, she managed to sell the ring to an unnamed mage for several thousand gold.

As Firiel went through the rest of her day, the gold jingling in her coin purse weighed on her conscious. She headed to the tavern in Sren'ja to drink away the guilt; reminding herself that she had done as she was told. She had done Zri a favor.

Did Zri want the gold? Firiel decided not to mention it.

On the way to S'ren-ja, Zri made a few stops in the cities she passed. Her first stop was at Bandaari Trading Post, where one of her Black Market contacts ran one of the guild trader stands. Not hearing any particularly promising tips or particularly dreadful news, she went on her way. Her next stop was at a little fishing dock in Reaper's March. Upon arriving there, she found her informant tripping on skooma, so she left a vague note and got out of there before the rest of his bandit crew returned. Her final stop before making her way to S'ren-ja was Rawl'kha, where she checked her bank account and stopped to buy a few supplies.

Finally by late afternoon, Zri made it to the Greedy Goblin. Looking around the tavern, she finds a spot to read and wait for Firiel to arrive, as she was sure at some point Firiel would arrive. After seeing that her usual seat was empty, Zri made her way over there in order to sit her belongings down before going to make a pot of tea.

With her tea made, Zri went to her seat and started to study the tomes she had brought with her.