Another Short Story

[SoulofChrysamere]

I apologize for the slightly errant structure of this story. I had written this before I realized that quotations are their own paragraphs. Nevertheless, it's still comprehensible so no real damage has been done. I hope you all enjoy it!

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“This story’s from my younger days when I wasn’t exactly a law-abiding citizen.” Grandpa Ramothan said as he leaned back in his chair. “This is about the time that I had the great opportunity to work with the famous thief Gavin Uvayn.”

 

Aretha Methalas sat upright in her seat in anticipation of the story to come. Grandpa Ramothan always had an interesting story to tell every week when she came over to visit him. He was an old man, even by Dunmer standards. He had seen, heard, and done lots of things over the years, and Aretha, a beautiful, young seventeen-year-old Dunmer maiden loved listening to his tales.

 

“This was about a hundred and fifty years ago in Ald-ruhn.” Ramothan said. “I had just sold a shipment of netch leather that I had acquired by hunting over in the Bal Isra area to a local trader, and I was taking some time off at the Breads and Beds cornerclub, which was what the Rat in the Pot used to be called.

 

As I was sitting at a table drinking a flagon of greef, a Dunmer walked up and sat down across from me. I immediately recognized him as Gavin Uvayn, a very famous and experienced thief who had robbed every merchant, smith, citizen, and Redoran councilor at least once. He was wearing the clothes typical of a thief. The were dark gray in color, tight fitting, and covered with pockets to hold the various tools. There was, however, one outstanding part of his attire: a gold amulet with a bright blue gem in the middle.”

 

“But wouldn’t that kind of stand out against his dark clothes and the shadows?” Aretha asked. “Yes, that’s why it struck me as odd.” Ramothan answered. “It seemed to just invite trouble. He did, however, have it strapped to his chest so it wouldn’t flop around and make noise, so I suppose he figured it was alright to wear it. I don’t know.

 

Anyway, we exchanged greetings and the conversation was quickly brought to the subjects of thievery. After we gawked and discussed methods and styles of robbing and killing for a while, his tone got really serious. He asked me if I wanted to help him pull a heist.”

 

“So you were a thief back then, Grandpa?” Aretha asked. “Yes.” Ramothan replied. “However, I never tried to rob any of the really nice merchants or any prominent people. I can also honestly say that I’ve never killed anyone during a robbery.” After saying that, Ramothan could see a look of relief flash across his granddaughter’s face. He knew that it was best to stifle any ideas she might have gotten about him being a heartless, murderous robber right now than let anger build up inside her and have it all spill out at once one day down the road.

 

Ramothan shifted in his chair a bit, letting the moment of seriousness pass before getting back into his story. “He asked me if I wanted to help with a job. I asked what kind of job it was. He said it wasn’t anything too high-profile or risky, just a small raid on the local non-Redoran-affiliated smithy. He said that its owner had recently received a sizeable payment for a weapons shipment and he was thinking of liberating the gold from the place.

 

I knew which place he was talking about. I had robbed it myself a couple times in the past when I was short on arrows or in need of repair equipment to fix my gear. I knew the layout of the building and I had a pretty good knowledge of the owner’s daily routine, so I agreed to help him. After I said yes, he told me to meet him around behind the Ald-Skar Inn after dark.”

 

“This sounds like one of those fantasy stories in books so far.” Aretha said, chuckling. Ramothan laughed at the comment as well. “Oh believe me,” he said, “I felt like I was in one of those books during this robbery.

 

So, he told me to meet him behind the Ald-Skar Inn after dark, and of course not knowing specifically what time he would show up, I was behind there as soon as the sun sank below the hills. I waited for a good long while, but he eventually showed himself and we started toward the smithy.

 

As I said before, I had a pretty good knowledge of the owner’s daily routine. I knew that he liked to head over to the Breads and Beds for a couple drinks after work in the evening before going to sleep and Gavin showed up not long before that time came. So I told him about it and we crouched down in between some crates around the side of the building. After a little while, he left and headed over to the cornerclub. We slipped around to the back of the building and let ourselves in through a window.

 

We climbed through into the forge, and I was able to lead us up to the bedroom where we had theorized was where he would most likely have the gold stashed. We rummaged through containers and looked in every nook and cranny we could find and we didn’t find it. Then, Gavin got the idea to tap on the walls and floor to see if any part sounded hollow. He did the walls and I did the floor, and neither of us had any luck until I tapped the floor under the bed. It felt hollow. So, we pulled the bed out of the way and stabbed the floor with our blades. After a few stabs, it broke apart and revealed an old, worn-looking chest.

 

Gavin had the chest’s lock open in seconds and I pulled the lid back. There was a whole heap of gold inside. We had agreed to divide the loot right there to keep each other honest about giving the other his share. After we’d taken our cut, we put the chest back in the hole, put the bed back, and got out. After we had gotten out, we shook hands and parted ways. I went back to the Breads and Beds and he stayed at the Ald-Skar Inn that night.

 

“Sounds like a textbook heist.” Aretha said. “Oh it was. Everything worked out perfectly. We were fast asleep in our beds by the time the smith returned to find his gold gone.” Ramothan replied.

 

Ramothan then shifted in his chair again and cocked his head to one side as he began to stare out into space. Aretha, noticing, asked, “Is that the end of the story, Grandpa?” “Well, it’s the end of that story.” Ramothan said. “However, I did see something odd the next morning as I left Ald-ruhn for Maar Gan to visit a friend there.”

 

“What happened?” Aretha asked. Ramothan crossed his legs and folded his hands in his lap and said, “I was walking along the road to Maar Gan and you pass by the Trama Root Wall where they hurl really bad and notorious criminals off the top of the cliff and they either get hung on the trama roots and suffocate or they get crushed when they hit the ground. I glanced at it absent-mindedly, but something caught my eye. I looked up and saw the body of a Dunmer caught on one of the trama roots. The body was too high up for me to see it clearly, but I could clearly make out that it was hanging by an amulet or something made of gold with a brightly colored gem on it.”

[Maharg67]

Your quotations, paragraph structures, a fine enough for the sort of writing you are doing.

 

Good story! :thumbsup:

 

Kudos!

Edited March 28, 2011 by Maharg67

[LordWushin]

Was very good, and readable all the way through. Great job, and hope to hear more!