Opening the window, you decide to go inventory your knapsack to make sure that your alchemical reagents are still in good condition. You pull out each item, inspecting it thoroughly inspecting their packaging, their scent, and their coloration before setting them on the small table by the window.
Assorted flowers of various colors and uses, all freshly picked on the day of the ritual and packed in a frost enchanted coin purse, these should last a few weeks if not used. You made sure to put your Nightshade and Deathbell on the bottom. Unlike most of your chosen ingredients, you decided not to bring the whole plant, picking the flowers to save room for things less likely to be found in other realms.
Three sprigs of Eldergleam, wound in cloth and unlikely to dry out anytime soon. You should be able to plant these to grow your own Gildergreen tree if you ever settle down somewhere and need some Spriggan substitutes... albeit, weaker than actual Spriggan and rather time consuming substitutes.
Six Chaurus eggs and two Frostbite-Spider eggs in a oiled leather pouch, waiting for contact with water to hatch. While somewhat difficult to gather unharmed, these are for hatching and laying more eggs, Chaurus being rather low maintenance creatures when properly tamed and spiders not having much resistance to Calm. The chittering little things are like pigs anyway, they eat whatever you give them and lounge when fully fed.
Ashland imports, three pounds in total, all imported via private smuggler for fresh delivery; Ash root, Ash yams, Ash Creep cluster, and a Fire Fern petal... along with a very expensive and tightly sealed ounce of Jarrin root.
Pickled people pieces from various races, packed in sealed steel urns. Eight Falmer ears, half a giant's toe, sixteen Hagraven feathers and two claws, one Human heart, three Daedra hearts, six Elves ears because the idiot courier misunderstood when you asked for the plant by the same name, and enough Werewolf blood to turn the whole town of Tarbes... not that they've given you a reason to curse them, but they might.
Three samples of each fungus native to Skyrim are bundled away next to the last item in your bag, though it isn't one you intend to use if you don't have to. As you are turning your father's briar-heart in your hand, the girl stirs and sits up.
Blearily, she blinks at you in incomprehension and yawns. You watch in silent amusement as she stretches like a cat before freezing and looking back up at you with a squeak. "Good morning apprentice, shall we attempt some training today?" You ask as you begin packing away the reagents.
"I-training? You still want to teach me?" She shouts out in shock and you nod. "But what about yesterday? I abandoned you and then..." Touching her bruised cheek, she pulls her knees to her chest and sighs. "I can't even perform a single spell to stop a commoner... I really am a zero." Here come the tears and the self-pity, time for a preemptive strike.
"Good, that means that I have less bad habits to force you out of." You say with a laugh and You walk over and pat the girl on the head. Louise makes a sound like a mixture of choking in surprise and growling at your head pats... or your use of the word good. Patting her extra forcefully for emphasis, you continue your life-long effort to not spend time with crying children. "Speaking of which, your first lesson begins now!"
"Now?! But what about breakfast?" Louise asks, reminding you of your empty stomach. Meh, you've gone longer without food. Instead of responding, you toss her shoes into her arms, pick her up, and leap out the window. She screams a lot louder than her size would suggest.
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"No, no, no! You need to place your foot like so." You say, demonstrating how proper toe to heel steps allow one to check their intended path for creaky boards or loose material. Of course, she would be doing much better if she would just crouch down like you instructed.
Her posture is terrible, too rigid and not nearly enough arm usage. "Why do we have to walk like this? We look ridiculous!" Louise shouts, losing her balance and falling face down into the dirt.
Hoping off the thin garden wall, you help the girl back up and wipe her forehead as if she had had dirt there before you did so instead of after. "The point of this is to avoid being seen, so how you look is irrelevant. Proper steps to minimize noise from footfalls, wider gait to prevent clothing from rubbing together noisily, back bent and loose to adjust weight distribution and silhouette, and arms out to maintain balance." You explain as you put her back on the wall and manually adjust her posture again. "We must start at the basics to get you used to moving your body. Once you can consistently walk across this wall in this position silently, we can work on stealth aids such as enchantments, potions, and spells."
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Just before noon, the two of you eat soup and sandwiches for lunch. This costs you a whole ecu, as Louise does not seem to know the value of money yet. You don't entirely understand it either, but it isn't your fault that this money is new and weird. Besides, you know for a fact that no meal at an inn should cost half as much for a two person room.
Lifting you apprentice back onto the wall, you speak as you walk beside her. "Now, little one... before your parents sent you off to study at that... school, did nobody explain to you the importance of those little coins I gave to the innkeeper?"
"Of course, what self respecting noble would allow their child to remain ignorant of their finances?" The girl asks, wobbling as she tries to balance and look at you at the same time. This is an impressive feat for one with so little experience, but her miniature stature does lend itself to stealth... ignoring her coloration and clothing choices.
Still, her reply brings you to a halt. Was she testing you to see how much you would spend on her? "If so, can you explain to me why you decided to order the most expensive meal that was on offer? After all, watered-down soup is still watered-down soup no matter the price." You inquire with a raised eyebrow.
Stopping, the girl turns fully toward you and puts one hand on her hip while holding up her finger on the other. "It was only 3 Livre, hardly expensive at all. I mean, if we had gone to my sister's favorite tea shop in Tristania, even mother would complain about the prices... but half an ecu? Father would declare the academy unfit for children and cut my tuition if they served meals so cheap."
"I see..." You say, pulling the remaining reward money and the sack of unknown coins from your robes, you hold it out to her. "Well, be that as it may, this is what I was given for spending last night bounty hunting. I currently possess no more."
Wide eyed, Louise snatches the bags and counts the coins. "This is a joke, right? Twenty-seven ecu and a 4 Livre? I've never even touched a Livre before!"
"It would appear that twenty-six ecu is the most that the lord of Tarbes is willing to pay for six human souls, the... Livre-" You say, testing your pronunciation. "- were spoils."
Dropping the bags, the child looks up at you in shock. Maybe you shouldn't mention casually slaughtering men to children. "You killed Six people last night before searching the town for me?"
You shake your head in denial. "No. After you ran off, I kept track of you with a spell so that I could find you when I had rented a room."
"You don't look like you've been injured." She says in confusion.
Apparently she was more worried about the health of her teacher than the morality of killing, another good trait for your apprentice. With a chuckle, you explain, "Most of them put up a rather pitiful fight. I hardly moved at all the entire time."
"Against six people? How?"
Shrugging, you simply reply with, "Magic."
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Walking back to the inn after a successful day of basic stealth training, you start in on a little supplementary potions lesson as a reward.
"Now, If one wanted to be invisible and cannot cast the spell for whatever reasoning, alchemy provides a solution. Simply mix a potion with the leaves from a plant that prefers acidic soil with Chaurus eggs, moth wings, or some vampire dust..."
"Vampire? Are you insinuating that I first need to be able to kill a vampire, beings that possess firstborn magics... in order to brew a potion that will help me to hide from angry commoners?!" Your apprentice exclaims.
"I guess Ice-wraith teeth will work as well, but they aren't worth the effort if you ask my opinion and I doubt that you know where to find any. Regardless of that, who cares what magics the living or the dead possess? Everything dies with the proper application of force. A simple decapitation is enough to kill most beings you might encounter and for those with a shall we say... less than corporeal nature... Well, Lightning Bolt and soultrap have yet to let me down in my travels."
"Soul... trap? You have a spell to trap a person's soul? Whatever for?!"
Pointing at your Bracelet of People-Speaking, name pending consideration, you put on your 'teacher' pose... which is you copying Louise's finger thing from earlier. "Enchanting and not just people's souls, monsters and animals as well. Every creature has a soul and some plants as well. Some souls are more useful than others obviously, tiny insects are insignificant enough to not bother wasting a soulgem on and I do not recall ever hearing of somebody using Soul Trap on a fish."
"That can't be! The church says that only humans have souls... well and some writings say elves do because the word people was used... I guess familiars too, because the spell binds their soul into serving their master... Montmorency did summon a frog... huh, never mind then." Louise rambles as you walk through the doorway and sit at one of the tables.
You order a loaf of bread and season it with some ground up death blossom, just a pinch to alleviate the monotony of eating nothing but bread, no need to poison your meal. You split it between the two of you. The meal passes in comfortable silence, the girl's distaste for such simple food counteracted by her hunger from a full day of climbing walls and crouch-walking.
Putting the last scraps of her bread down, Louise looks up at you and asks, "You never told me what I should address you as now that you're teaching me. Should I call you professor or one of your titles?"
Choose 1
[] Master Cynric would be the proper way. It is traditional, considering that you are my apprentice.
[] Just Cynric is fine. After all, we will be spending years together while I teach you.
[] Address the semi-crowded room, "All shall address me as Grand Sorcerer Tyne at all times or be cast from existence." Bluff by casting invisibility and muffle on the innkeeper simultaneously. Cost 470 Magicka.
[] write in.
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How to spend the next day:
[] Continue stealth training with some practical application.
[] You've listed some ingredients for a potion already, why not start on alchemy lessons?
[] You only brought a mortar and pestle, maybe you should look for alchemy equipment.
[] Enchanting lessons need to begin eventually, why not tomorrow?
[] Spell casting is crucial, let's start with a basic Frostbite to be safe.
[] Write in.
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A/N: While proofreading, I noticed that I somehow misspelled silence as "silunch" but spelled silhouette correctly... I have no idea how.
