18+ Unpleasant Memories

[The OP3RaT0R]

"I mean, by all means just get drunk, but you are eating something. I'm not going to be the one dragging you up the mountains when you pass out from lack of food."

"Thank you," Tacitus said. "Gods, we sure are a boring bunch after two years."

The next morning, Tacitus awoke to the sound of Garrus gathering his things early in the morning. He had been slumped against Elsa's shoulder, and he was quick to scoot away to avoid an awkward conversation. He looked down and saw that they had apparently downed a few bottles of mead in the group's silence the night prior and had been buzzed enough to not worry about moving when they felt sleep coming on. "Well, technically I've done what I set out to do five years ago. I slept with Elsa. Oh you fiend, she's like a sister now, how can you joke about that!" Others in the group began to stir, and soon Garrus announced, "Once everyone is ready to set out for Jehanna, gather here. We'll leave soon, so don't forget anything."

 

[Rextoret]

"Well, you're all taking far too long. I'm leaving. Catch up with me on the way down, we're heading for Jehenna."

Garrus abruptly turned around and headed out of the clearing. He began his trip down the side of the mountain, only interrupted by a few whiskey breaks. Within a few hours, he found himself at the gates of Jehenna. The rest of the members followed soon after. Garrus led them into the town, which was rather run down, with a few destroyed buildings from a long-ago war.

He pushed open the doors to The Overflowing Bowl, quickly stepping inside. There was quite a bit of commotion going on, with a few fights here and there. The place was crowded, with a great many adventurers dining at tables or talking. A few card games were taking place around the tavern, with some gambling intermittent.

Garrus proceeded to the counter where the innkeeper, an Argonian man, sat. He proceeded to purchase himself a room, then quickly march off towards it. He took the stairs up to the second floor, where most of the rooms were. His room was the first on the left, and he wasted no time in getting into it. He got in, locked the door, and began his daily ritual of drinking whiskey and reading Sorex's old journal.

 

[The OP3RaT0R]

Garrus had no patience for the waking rituals of the group and set off on his own, followed shortly by the rest of the group. They walked in relative silence until they reached Jehanna. Outside the inn, Tacitus looked over his shoulder and said, "The Overflowing Bowl. Lots of memories here..." As he pushed open the door, he rethought his statement on the grounds that he had spent plenty of time in the tavern, but he did not remember the majority of what took place. As he glanced over at Garrus, who was already retreating to his room, the Argonian barkeep called loudly, "Taaaaaaacitus! It's been too long! I can't wait to reminisce with you! ...And your friends!"

"Oh gods," thought Tacitus as he was reminded that there were others who did indeed remember the escapades of his youth. "Alexandros!" The Imperial said with a half-hearted smile. "It- it has, yeah. And, oh, we're real tuckered out, so if we could just get some rooms and turn in for-"

"Nonsense! I'll get you all some drinks right away! Now, who are these friends of yours?"

 

[Gentleman Adventurer]

Eldric woke up, still tired from the night before. As the others around him followed suit, they packed their things and followed Garrus down the mountain. After a few hours spent trailing behind the drunken Imperial, the group arrivedat Jehenna.

It was less than impressive. The city gates were crumbling, walls partially collapsed. Inside was no better, with the streets run down and several buildings collapsed. Garrus led them to the local tavern, a place called The Overflowing Bowl, and as he did before, purchased a room and left them to their own devices.

The tavern looked awful. Nothing like the Cyrodillic class of the Winking Skeever. Adventurers, treasure hunters, and sellswords filled the room, many engaged in fights or drinking contests. Managing to slip away from the group as they were confronted by an old friend of Tacitus, Eldric found a secluded table near the bar and began flipping through one of his spellbooks.

A barmaid stopped by and asked him for a drink, he placed his order, and a few minutes later she returned with a glass of water, seemingly puzzled by a patron ordering something that wasn't filled with alcohol. Eldric thanked her, and returned to his studies.

 

[Aerin]

The sounds from the rest of the group waking dragged Elsa from the comfortable quiet of sleep. Groaning she began to gather her things in a way that suggested that perhaps her movements were borne from muscle memory and years of living on the road, and not from a conscious desire to get moving once more. Garrus had gone ahead she noticed, and the others seemed ready to move. Elsa herself was a little hesitant, no one else seemed to be too bothered that Farth and Pilus had seemingly disappeared, or if they were concerned they failed to voice their thoughts. Looking over her shoulder to where Solitude lay the thief hoped the pair had not found trouble wherever they may be. She often thought that the gods were cruelest to good men, and Farth and Pilus were perhaps two of the most good-hearted men she'd met in her years of travelling. Reluctant to show any outward signs of devotion the nord absently pressed a hand to the amulet that lay beneath her clothing and silently prayed that Talos would watch their paths and guide their blades if need be.

The walk to Jehanna was quiet, everyone still seeming to prefer to keep to themselves. As the decrepit town came into sight Elsa struggled to keep the expression of disdain from her face. Feeble city walls looked as though their might fall under their own weight, even the guards they passed looked as though they struggled under the weight of years of neglect with unwashed uniforms and damaged weapons and arms. "Oh, I love what they've done with the place. Glad to see the people take pride in their hometown." The comment was more a snide remark to whoever may be close enough to hear it, her voice low so as not to accidentally offend anyone who might have some twisted sense of attachment to this attempt at a city.

Unsurprisingly they entered the tavern if it could be called that still. Surrounded by loud, raucous voices and drunken singing Elsa caught herself smiling. The Winking Skeever had been far too clean for Elsa's tastes, the patrons too subdued and the air was too fresh. The Overflowing Bowl was everything a tavern should be. Brimming with alcohol and people with nothing better to do than start a fight or find a girl. It reminded Elsa of her childhood, though she thought it best to keep that to herself. Garrus had already gone to sulk in his room over a drink and Eldric seemed to take himself off to study the materials bequeathed to him by Relyn. Tactitus however was quickly sidelined by the barkeep who seemed to know him very well and Elsa laughed. She could always count on Tacitus to find some kind of trouble. She was reminded of their time travelling with Sorex and the rest and she had lost count of the numerous occasions when the imperial's past had caused them issues.

"Tacitus, why didn't you tell us we might run into your old friends? It's not like you to forget your manners now is it? I believe someone mentioned drinks? I'll get us the first round, call it an act of good faith." Slapping her friend playfully on the shoulder Elsa turned to the barkeep. "I'm sure you've got plenty of stories about this one haven't you. I want to hear all about the trouble Tacitus got into in his younger years. With details please." Smiling at the barkeep Elsa felt as if finally something good was going to happen on this excursion.

 

[Ponder]

Someone really ought to do something about the northern roads. In the time Pilus had been following his erstwhile companions, he'd been chased by a bear, stumbled into a fight between a lone wolf and a raging sabre cat, and menaced by a roving pack of feral mudcrabs. So, when a large and rather unintelligent looking bandit stepped out from behind a boulder, Pilus was prepared.

"Get re- Oy! Where are you going? Where's he going? Stop him, Karsol!"

A second bandit dropped from an overhanging branch, landing in front of Pilus with an apologetic grin. "Sorry about this, mate," he said raising his sword. "No hard feelings. Honest."

"Wait, wait, wait!" screamed Pilus, throwing up his arms over his face. "What about 'Your money or your life'?"

Karsol's brow furrowed. "'Your money or your life'?"

"Yeah. It's traditional." Pilus paused. "Er... isn't it?"

The bandit scratched his head. "Is it?" He turned to his companion. "You ever heard that before, Meryn?"

Meryn shook his head. "Nobody told me it was traditional."

Karsol nodded, an expression of deep thought on his face. "Bloody stupid thing to say, when you think about it. There's not really a choice. We're taking their money and their life, right?"

"Right."

"Yeah." Karsol turned back to his victim, but Pilus was already a rapidly shrinking speck half a mile down the road.

 

[The OP3RaT0R]

"I'm sure you've got plenty of stories about this one haven't you. I want to hear all about the trouble Tacitus got into in his younger years. With details please."

"Oh, well now, let me think..." The barkeep said as he scratched his chin. "Well, there was this one time that he had his eye on a beautiful blonde all alone at the bar..."

The Imperial sighed. "It's like visiting my grandmother," he moaned, "except she would have less embarrassing stories."

"And so, knowing him, I knew he was going to have to make a pass. He walks up and says," the barkeep conjured up an imitation of Tacitus' accent to say, "'my, my, what's such a beautiful woman doing alone in a run-down inn in Jehanna?' and she fluttered her eyes and fixed her hair a little as he went on fawning, and he says, 'I mean it, how is a woman like you alone? Perhaps I could change that, buy you a drink?' and she says-" Alexandros paused his story to loudly spit up some mucus. "And she says, 'you know, I'd love that, except...'"

"'Except I'm not alone.' And at that point, her male friend returned from taking a piss out back and... had a few things to say to me, let's leave it at that." Tacitus shook his head at this memory. Meanwhile, Arana had taken a seat in the back of the inn and was waiting on a drink, watching Tacitus.

 

[Aerin]

"'Except I'm not alone.' And at that point, her male friend returned from taking a piss out back and... had a few things to say to me, let's leave it at that."

Elsa had to smile at how much Tacitus seemed to have changed over the years. While he still had that disarming charisma that he had always possessed, he seemed more mature she supposed. Had she met this older version of her friend back in the days of that travelling caravan she would had sworn it impossible that he could be the same lecherous imperial she had first met. Of course the same could be said for anyone from that first small group. She was no longer an angry young girl who still hoped for a home and some semblance of normalcy.

"Tacitus I daresay you're becoming quite tame in your old age. Save for the perilous journeys to defeat unknown powers of course, but that seems almost routine by now." The nord looked around the tavern and wondered if perhaps she ought to check in with the others. There was a distinct lack of camaraderie amongst this group, and if you couldn't trust a man to pay for your drinks, how were you supposed to trust him with blades pressing at your throats? Eldric, Relyn's young apprentice was sitting beside himself once more, his nose buried in his books. Though she was loathe to disrupt his studies, she had hoped to know him a little better, and if she ever had a chance, perhaps this was it. "Tacitus, I'll leave you to catch up and have a drink, try not to have too much fun without me." Without further ado the thief navigated through the throngs of drunken travellers, merchants and sell-swords to find Eldric's lone table. Clearing her throat gently she hoped to grab his attention, feeling a need to ask permission to interrupt him before actually doing so. With most people she was quite happy to simply intrude and strike up a conversation, regardless of what they may already be doing. But the young nord was cut from a different cloth to the others in the group it would seem that small courtesies would go further with him. "Do you mind if I join you? I understand if you'd rather I leave you to your work but uh, well we haven't got off on the best foot and I'd like to remedy that sooner than later."