Fadali Romari's Story

---

"What...is the music...of life?"

"Silence, my brother."

"Welcome...home."

The dark elf entered the Sanctuary and, ignoring the others, homed in on Astrid.

"You said you had a mission for me?"

Astrid looked on her pupil with amusement.

"Hahaha... Always so eager, Fadali. You really should learn to slow down. Relax, have fun."

"You said you needed me, so here I am," said Fadali. "I'll have fun when I'm spilling blood again. So what is the contract?"

"Hmm... Yes. This is a special assignment. Something well suited to your...talents. Our client requested that the target be made...unrecognizable. If we complete the task as requested, there's a good bonus in it."

Fadali smiled. "I see. So you want me to eat him. It's been too long since I've last tasted blood. So, what's his name?"

"Your target is a Breton male named Arnandre. He's a guard and he patrols the city at night. Should be pretty simple to find him, but the other guards might be an issue."

"I accept. Thank you, Astrid."

Fadali immediately set out to Morthal on her painted horse, arriving at nightfall a few days later. She stopped just outside the city and found a small stump. After hallowing it out, she stripped off her clothes and stored her things inside. She shivered, feeling the cold air on her skin.

"God, it's so cold," she said, talking to her her horse. "But I wouldn't want to lose this perfectly good armor by keeping it on. Oh, well. Let's make this quick. Stay here, boy."

Sneaking into the city, she began her search for the Breton guard, but it didn't take long. He passed right by the alley she was hiding in without noticing her.

"He's the one. Not very big, that one. Too bad... I was hoping for a full course meal."

Suddenly, her body was surrounded in a dark mist and she began to change. She grew bigger. Much bigger. A dorsal fin grew out of her bare back, her neck stretched out, and her eyes became black and her skin smooth and grey. Her hands and feet turned beast-like, her teeth became pointed and two extra rows grew out. Finally, a tail appeared on her back, and the transformation was complete. A monstrous roar sent the few citizens wandering the streets into a panic and the guards rushed to the scene. Including her target.

The Breton man shook, likely never having seen something like her in his whole life. He withdrew his sword but looked too frightened to strike. When the monster gave another loud roar and charged at him, he did the worst thing he could have done. He turned and ran. The beast was on him in an instant and pinned him to the ground. It grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him off into the snow. The other guards chased after the beast, but they were unable to keep up with its speed. Finally alone, Fadali looked at her prey and began to slowly peel the armor off of his body. He kicked and screamed in vain until he and his broken armor fell to the ground.

"No, no!" he screamed. "Don't kill me, please! I'll do anything! I'll give you every septim I have saved up! Please!"

Not the least bit swayed by his offer, the creature tore into his flesh with its claws, sending his innards flying in every direction. With the coward finally silenced, his body became the creatures meal, leaving behind little more than the bones, a pool of blood, and the scattered guts that hanged from the trees and the snowberry bushes.

Her task completed, Fadali returned to her normal Dunmer form and made her way back to her horse and stump. After dressing, she let out a loud burp and laughed.

"That was a bit too easy. I expected a little more courage from a guard. Oh, well. He made a decent meal, at least."

---

Taking the road back to the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary led Fadali Romari to Whiterun. She rested there for a while. Talk of dragons piqued her interest, but she figured it had little to do with her. Unless, of course, she happened to run into one on her travels. But dragons haven't been seen in centuries, right? They must be especially rare, almost to the point of extinction. So there was no reason for her to worry, she figured.

After sleeping most of the day away in Whiterun, she set out for Riverwood. She enjoyed being in the warmer weather down south, though it was still colder than she liked. It was about half way down to Riverwood that a group of five men, each armed with swords, blocked her path. Suspecting the men to be bandits, Fadali had a fire spell ready.

"Don't worry, Ma'am," said one of them. "We're not here to rob you. We're members of The Silver Hand. Do you know about us?"

"Yes," Fadali replied. "I know about you. You're werewolf hunters. What do you want with me?"

"We've heard a report of a recent monster sighting in Morthal, and we suspect a werecreature might be heading this direction."

The dark elf puts on an innocent look. "Do I look like a man-killer to you? Ha ha!"

The Silver Hand leader laughed in return, clearly suspecting nothing out of the ordinary from her. "No, Ma'am. But if you don't mind, we'd just like to check your signs and your belongings just to make sure."

Fadali dismounted and emptied her bags. The Silver Hand checked everything, finding nothing of interest. Two of them circled around her, looking her up and down, even sniffing her. But she tolerated the minor inconveniences.

"Well, Ma'am," said the leader, "we've checked you for every sign of being a werewolf. You don't smell like a dog, you don't have hair growing in your ears, none of the signs match you. You're definitely not a werewolf."

"Good. I'll be on my way, then." She turned to mount her horse again, but the leader grabbed her by the shoulder and stopped her.

"Hold on. In the past, the only form of lycanthrope we've had experience with have been werewolves, but we're well aware that other forms exist. What we've found with werewolves is that even in normal human...or mer...form, they still portray characteristics of the beast that lives inside them. For example, werewolves often smell like dogs and are very aggressive. However, the creature we've heard reports of in Morthal match the description of a wereshark, a very different creature. And guess what we've found?"

Fadali's heart began to pound. The man seemed to be saying that he knew what she was. And what were they going to do with her if they did? Kill her? Skin her alive? She heard many things about this group. None of them pleasant. Even with all of these frightening thoughts buzzing around in her head, she still kept her composure. She wasn't going to portray herself by acting afraid.

"What have you found?"

"Enlarged pupils, a fishy smell, slightly triangular teeth, all what we suspect to be signs of a wereshark."

Most of the men had their weapons drawn now. It was clear they weren't going to let her go without a fight. Fadali pushed the man in front of her with a force much greater than her size should allow. He falls over backwards and she takes the opportunity to quickly mount her painted horse, click her heels, and make her escape.

A few moments later, she looks back and sees all five of the men chasing after her on their own horses.

"Damn it to Oblivion!" she yells.

She casts a firebolt spell in their direction, hitting one of them directly on the head, causing him to fall off of his horse. A second firebolt narrowly misses their leader, who masterfully rides his horse and catches up beside her. Fadali unsheathes her sword, clashing it against his. The man's skill outclassed her own, however, and one hard swing from him causes her to fall back off of her horse.

Now all of the men surrounded her. She rose to her feet, feeling sore. The sun was setting and the moons were already high in the sky. She began her transformation, stretching her clothes until they finally snapped off. The hair-raising roar which sent a guard fleeing in terror the other night did not phase these men one bit.

A sword slices across her back, and she roars in pain. There was a burning sensation from that swing, though it wasn't a fire enchantment that did it. These were silver weapons they were using. She'd never felt such pain before, but she knew of these weapons, that they have extra power against the undead, vampires, and lycanthropes such as herself.

She swung her powerful claws, knocking two of the men several feet off of the ground. A few more swings of their silver weapons on her hard but vulnerable skin and she begins to feel faint. Charging off into the forest, she attempts to make an escape, but she passes out shortly after. When she awakens, she's bound and laying over the lap of one of the men. She's barely able to move, probably drugged on something that causes paralysis. She could feel clothes on her, though, so they at least had the decency to dress her.

"Sir," says one of them. "Her horse is still following us."

"Good. Maybe it'll fetch a decent price in Whiterun on our way back to Gallows Rock."

"What about the girl? What if she transforms again?"

"I know for a fact that she can only transform once per night, and she's defenseless during the daytime. No worries. We'll have her caged up before she can become a problem for us."

---

After a few hours, the Silver Hand and their cursed captive paused, with the city of Whiterun now in view. Fadali was still in the demeaning position of being slung over someone's lap. Subtly, so the men wouldn't realize the paralysis was wearing off, she tested her muscles--moving her fingers, tensing the muscles in her legs, etc.--to see how much strength she had. She was still stiff, but she was capable of moving. The rope knots around her wrists and ankles were still a problem, however.

The leader spoke to one of the others. "Go take that horse of hers to the stables and see how much gold you can get for it."

"Why do I have to go alone?" Fadali heard another respond.

"I don't think it would be a good idea to attract too much attention here. People might ask questions. Get involved."

"Why don't you go fetch some mead while you're there?" a third voice suggests. "We've been running a little low."

"Fine, then. I guess since I'm the rookie, that makes me your errand boy."

Two clumsy feet hit the ground as they dismount from their horse. The man grabs Fadali's horse by the reigns and attempts to lead it away, but the horse responds to the unfriendly stranger with a hard kick to the face. After falling to the ground and writhing in pain for a few seconds, he jumps back up and unsheathes his sword.

"Hey, hey! Don't damage the horse! An injured or dead horse will not earn us a single septim!"

The sword goes back into its sheath and the man again attempts to guide the horse, this time a little more conscious of the powerful legs on the creature. Although the horse resists by pulling back on its reigns, it does not rear up and attack again. Both the man and the horse disappear soon after.

By this point, Fadali was attempting to plot her escape. This was most likely her biggest window for escape. If she could run to the safety of the city or find a guard to protect her, she'd be free. But after departing from Whiterun, there would likely be no more guards before their arrival in "Gallow's Rock" or wherever it was they said they were going. From what they were saying, it wouldn't be a very lengthy journey.

Within a couple of minutes, the Silver Hand had his money for the horse and was within the city gates, looking for a place to buy mead.

"Last I checked the only person who was angry with me was Aela, but that's how she always was with me..." Jorundr looked at the door that Aela had ran into, he thought about all the fights he had lost, and all the ones he had won, none were as quick as this one... He looked back at the girl and said, "I'm Jorundr Blackmoon by the way."

It was then that Jorundr smelled something, he began to sniff at the air, it was a smell he remembered all too well, a Wereshark. He had met a large band of them in a beach cave in Highrock, he almost lost an arm to one of them, but he was able to escape. It was the last time he had to run from a fight, and it was something he didn't want to repeat. The smell of wereshark was distinct, though some may think it the smell of all fish, to the nose of a trained werewolf, it could be made out in a field of fish. During the time Jorundr was exploring Skyrim(and some nearby areas as well), he developed aspects of the beast as much as he could without transforming. He growled lightly before saying, "There's a wereshark nearby..."

He took off in the direction of the smell, not waiting for any kind of response from the girl.

The wereshark was a dunmer female, atractive in her own right, and imprisoned... The guards were silver hand, their blades were evidence of that. Jorundr planned to watch them for a chance to save the girl, he didn't trust other were-creatures, but he hated the Silver Hand more...

---

Alessia moved in quietly so as not to disturb anything that might be going on, and something was definitely happening. The man she saw early was there, holding an axe out to the Jarl, everyone in the entire hall was staring intently at the scene. Alessia moved to a servant, an old Nord woman, and asked, "Can you explain what's going on miss?"

She was still, holding her broom, she didn't even turn her head to Alessia as she spoke, "That man is presenting the Jarl with Ulfric Stormcloak's axe..."

Alessia may not have been a Nord, but she still knew enough about the customs to understand the severity of the situation, this meant either Whiterun was with, or against, the Legion. Not even ten minutes after entering the town, her mission was on the line. She looked at the one presenting the axe, it was then that she realized what he was, a vampire. What was a vampire doing working for the Stormcloaks...? She would have to question him once this scene was over, he seemed... interesting... to say the least...

---

It took a few minutes of mental preparation, but the Dark Elf finally thought of a plan. It was a simple one, and was likely to fail, but it was all she had. With the one Silver Hand gone, their numbers were now down to four. With her muscles now almost fully functional again, she pushed herself off of the horse and pulled a silver dagger out of the man's sheath.

Suddenly, Fadali's body became surrounded by a shield of fire, burning the nearby horse and sending it running.

The four Silver Hand were yelling amongst themselves. "What in Oblivion?" "Stop her!" "No, don't shoot her! We want her alive!" "Do something, you idiots!"

With the power of the Ancestor's Wrath protecting her for the moment, she hastily sawed into the bindings on her ankles. Soon she was free, and she ran as quickly towards Whiterun as she could, knowing that the horses would soon catch up to her.

"Help, help!" she screamed. "Guards, somebody, help!"

Sounds of hooves quickly approached her. Although there was no one else in sight, she hoped someone was around to hear her screams.

Jorundr watched the wereshark escape by using magic, it gave her a bit of a head start, but she would have soon been recaptured. She began to yell and plead for help, the guards didn't seem that interested, the woman being a dunmer and all. Jorundr sighed before moving in to aid her. She was running towards the city, the Silver Hand was rapidly approaching her on horseback, her plan wouldn't have worked without intervention from another person, a bit flawed in Jorundr's mind, but it didn't matter, he needed to help her. Jorundr's first move was to remove the sword from his back, resting it on his shoulder, then he moved quickly, but he didn't run or anything, behind the girl and swung his blade with both hands, cutting through the horses' front legs, making the man on top of it fall forwards past Jorundr. He moved back to where the man was, his face in the dirt, a few teeth knocked out and groveling in pain. The man tried to get up, but Jorundr slammed his foot on the back of his neck, forcing him back down. He turned to the rest of the group, all standing still, and simply glared at them.

Jorundr lifted his sword onto his shoulder and turned back to the Silver Hand, they weren't moving, before saying to the wereshark, "Never thought I would see a wereshark beg for help... you okay?"

---

Alessia watched as the Jarl gave the axe back to the vampire, she knew her best bet would be to go and offer Imperial aid, then her mission would be completed, but she didn't trust the vampire... He walked past her with a nod, not changing his pace for a moment. She turned and watched him as he moved out, deciding her next action carefully... rather than doing the logical thing, which would have been to go and speak to the Jarl, she decided to speak to the man and figure out what exactly he was doing and why...

She moved away from her position in the shadows and moved quickly to his side, not speaking for a good time. She looked at him, noticing that he was quite handsome for the first time, before saying in a hushed tone, "So, what's it like working for the Stormcloaks? I may not be a nord, but I still support them." She realized that it wasn't the best thing to start with, but it was better than asking why a vampire would be working for the Stormcloaks.

---

Romari was surprised to see the stranger come to her aid, but was completely amazed when she saw him cut through the horse's front legs. Her shock was then expounded on by what he said to her next.

"Never thought I would see a Wereshark beg for help... You okay?"

How did he know I was a Wereshark? she wondered. Wait. That smell... Then the answer came to her. He was a Werewolf. She'd never met another Lycanthrope other than the one who bit her, but she remembered what one of the Silver Hand had told her recently. Lycanthropes carry the traits of their beast even when in normal form. This man carried the strong stench of a dog. This would explain how he knew what she was, then. Lycanthropes have an acute sense of smell.

Considering her audience, she decided not to reveal what she knew just yet. Best to keep the enemy in the dark as much as possible. And speaking of their enemy, the Silver Hand was now down to three men, assuming the one with his face planted in the ground was truly out of the game. But unless she could get the bindings off of her wrists, Jorundr would have to fight them all on his own.

"I'm okay," she replied. "Thank you."

The remaining three men attacked Blackmoon. One dismounted and charged forward with a silver sword and a shield. Another dual-wielded two silver swords and circled around in a half-circle to strike the Jorundr from the side. The last one remained mounted and loaded his silver bow with an arrow.

Fadali watched from behind. All she could do was hope this man was as talented as he was strong.