The third volume chronicles our Khajiit's departure from her home and the beginning of a new life.

Tales of a Quite Peculiar Cat – Volume III

By Rubyn Frey

As Ji’sari grew, so did her tendency to be where she should not, her eavesdropping giving her access to information that the lower class Khajiit could never dream of knowing. This led to a deepening distrust of the ruling Khajiit and the Altmeri who kept them in their positions for their own benefit.

Her friends tolerated her antics as quite often she would obtain wine from the warehouse without their parents knowledge, and they would sit just outside of the city walls until late into the night, telling stories, playing jokes on each other and on rare occasions, impersonating various dignitaries who had visited.

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On a warm night during Last Seed, the group were again sharing some bottles of spiced wine in the desert, Ji’sari weaving a tale of deception and deceit surrounding some visiting nobles, no one was sure if there was any real truth in the tale, but Ji’sari kept them enthralled, playing each part perfectly.

Balancing on a point of rock looming over their campfire, Ji’sari proposed that the Alfiq in her tale had produced a flame from their paw. But no, cried the group, an Alfiq would never do such a thing. But why not, challenged Ji’sari, were they not equal to the mer? Can Khajiit not be better than they?

The group stared open-mouthed, aghast that such a thing be mentioned out loud, though under their own rule, Khajiit were brought up to defer to their Altmeri overlords, they did after all, return Masser and Secunda to the night sky following the Void Nights.

Ji’sari had probably consumed a little too much spiced wine, and felt emboldened by the attention of the group sitting below. Leaping from the rock and twisting in the air, she landed facing them, crouching, one hand on the ground steadying herself, a sly grin on her face, Ji’sari held her hand out towards them, palm up, concentrating, pulling her energies into focus and produced a small dancing flame.

There were quickly muffled shrieks, some of the group ran over to her to shelter her from view lest any of the guards notice the commotion. Questions followed, how, when and why, Ji’sari answered with the enthusiasm of someone who was drunk in the moment.

Ji'sari told of how a merchant selling books and scrolls had passed through the city in early Morning Star many months before, and had been showing off his wares which included some spell tomes, the curious Khajiit watching as he dazzled the local Khajiit and the young Altmeri who had not yet taken up any training in the arts of magicka. When the crowd had left, Ji’sari had approached the merchant, a small amount of coin in her purse gained her a slim tome on the art of fire magicks.

Determined to be able to do something that most Khajiit in the city could not, but their mer overlords could, Ji’sari dedicated herself to studying the tome while sitting on rooftops, meditating whilst balancing on the various objects above the roof tiles to improve her concentration.

Scared of the reaction of their elders, or the authorities finding out, her friends begged her to keep her ability secret, but Ji’sari, still high from the use of magicka, would not be hushed. Her oldest friend, Ribazh, pleaded with her, but understood that Ji’sari was not a Khajiit to be tamed and must walk her own path through the desert sands.

The following morning, the group left the confines of the city, Ji’sari with a small bag of belongings, they said farewell to their friend and returned through the gate causing a commotion to hide her absence. Ji'sari slipped in amongst some merchants who had recently left the city, and began her journey across Elsweyr.

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#Fiction #ElderScrolls

A second volume swiftly followed the first, with our young Khajiit also having a namesake created as a player character in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Tales of a Quite Peculiar Cat – Volume 2

By Rubyn Frey

In many ways Ji'sari was a typical Khajiit, they have a tendency towards very sweet things and also to develop various abilities that may cause them to cross paths with the authorities. Often as a very young kit, Ji'sari wished to test herself but also had a yearning for something sweet.

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On one such occasion it was a yearning for some sweet Dune gnocchi, Ji'sari slipped out of her room and across the rooftops, sometimes leaping from roof to roof, or if the jump was too far, dropping down and passing unseen across roads or alleyways and finding a way back up to the rooftops to continue making her way to the market which was close to the warehouse district, but not so close that she would could cause any concern to her father or his employer. Reaching the inn nearby Ji'sari quietly dropped from the roof onto some conveniently stacked crates.

Pausing and observing the various merchants and their customers for a time, she then slipped under a table and waited, ensuring that she could see, but be unseen. The various stalls of sweet treats and meats were busy as local Khajiit picked up their supplies, occasional stalls of household goods and fine fabrics were less busy but visited by nobles or, servants sent on errands by their masters.

Waiting for the opportune moment Ji'sari, slipped behind a large group making their way around the market, to the next stall, where again she waited. Ji'sari repeated the process until she reached the sweet traders stall, the strong smell of cinnamon and other treats filling her senses. The traders robes of red and tan were long and flowing, the under robes in silk, the over robes in a heavy cotton to keep out the dust which would blow around the city when the winds came in from the deserts. A purse to his right heavy with coin, and a deep fold to the left giving an indication to Ji'sari that a pocket lay within.

Cautiously our kit slipped some coins into the pocket, taking care not to disturb the fabric more than a gentle breeze disturbs a tree, and then, reached slowly from under the stall to pick up the tempting gnocchi, still warm to the touch. A large hand covered hers, enclosing the hand and the gnocchi which lay within, and dragged Ji'sari from her hiding place, the Raht guard hauling her to her feet.

“That one!” The sweet trader growled, “again!”

“This one did not do anything,” claimed the kit.

“You cannot deny, you have been caught red handed,” rumbled the guard.

Ji’sari wriggled until her tunic came loose from the firm grip, and made off with a start, giggling. “Oh yes, ha, check Khajiit pocket!”

Running off towards the back of the inn, quickly finding a a safe place to hide her prize in her leather pouch, Ji'sari climbed back up to the rooftops. Finding a spot to again observe the goings on of the market, she settled back to enjoy her sweet Dune gnocchi with some blackberry flavoured milk from a small earthenware flask tied onto her belt.

Yes, Ji’sari, while a typical mischievous kit, was also honourable, the thrill was in taking, not being caught and being in places no one would suspect, but never in stealing.

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#Fiction #ElderScrolls

Here follows my first response to a writing challenge issued by the Tamriel Vault, the challenge was to write in-game books as found in Skyrim. This was written prior to the Elsweyr chapter of Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) being released, and a number of years before I finally gave in and started playing ESO A this time other than some mods there were no images of the province, only in game descriptions of a land of sand.

Tales of a Quite Peculiar Cat – Volume 1

By Rubyn Frey

Our tale begins in Elsweyer, with a kit who was a little too curious, finding herself amongst the feet of the elders in the markets or climbing onto the low sloping roofs and finding hiding spots to overhear the more noble Khajiit or visiting Justicas.

Our kit, Ji'sari, had a way of quite deliberately being in the wrong place at the wrong time, being marched back to her parents after learning the very thing she was seeking, very often smiling to herself.

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On one such occasion, Ji’sari, her green eyes glinting in the sunlight, had been intent on reaching the warehouse where her father worked to hear his fate after an accident had led to his position being placed in jeopardy. Ji’sari had been forbidden from visiting the warehouse at any time, and knew that if she were seen then she would be in more trouble than a fish in the desert sands. Climbing from an upper floor window, Ji’sari made her way across the lower rooftop, and leapt to the next, the warehouse was in a lower district near the city walls so she had to drop to the ground and carefully climb the next building without being seen.

It took most of the afternoon for Ji’sari to reach the warehouse, local people and merchants milling around the streets, the occasional pickpocket unseen by most, but quietly observed from her various hiding places upon the rooftops.

Waiting outside of the warehouse were a small number of heavily armed Cathay-raht, the largest of the two-legged Khajiit, wearing the mark of the Justicars, not the ruling classes. Ji’sari was perched in a small nook on the rooftop opposite, still observing the movements below, wondering how to reach the building where her father was due to learn his fate.

Noticing an increasing number of people coming through the street, Ji’sari quietly dropped from the roof and mingled amongst the legs of crowd until they passed close by the warehouse, noting that some old broken crates were stacked haphazardly against the wall where she could hide amongst them.

Once the crowd cleared the kit looked for a way up, knowing that small though she was, the crates could not be trusted to support her. A shuttered window gave her a way up, Ji’sari was glad that she was still allowed to run barefoot, her claws being quite helpful for climbing.

The roof space was clear, only guarded at night when opportunist thieves prowled the district. Creeping across the roof, she tried to identify where her father and his employer were meeting, her keen ears picking up on a heated conversation on the far side.

Moving very slowly she approached the voices, just able to make out her father's amongst the others, more than three people were in the room below it seemed. Settling down atop the roof to listen in, Ji’sari failed to notice the creaking below her, ears straining to hear the words spoken below. As one of the voices grew louder, and accusations were being made toward her father by a rather haughty mer, the roof below her gave way, Ji’sari landing in a cloud of dust upon a desk.

A rather plump Khajiit, clad in silks sat down heavily upon a chair behind him, raising a bejewelled hand to his brow. A Justicar stepped forward and dragged the kit to her feet upon the desk. Her father, a weathered old thing, shuffled his feet as a second Justicar surveyed the hole above them.

“So, what do we have here? A thief, a spy?” Mused the first Justicar, “hmm, I wonder...”

“No,” interrupted her father, “this one is mine.”

“She's a rather cute little thing, for a cat,” the second Justicar rubbed one of Ji’sari's ears while the kit bit her tongue.

A large sigh came from the larger Khajiit as he stood and placed his palms together, “this one senses that it is time to bring matters to a close before the moons are high and hot sands are pleasant underfoot.”

“Very well, we are not tyrants, however the goods cannot easily be replaced, therefore some recompense is expected.”

“Khajiit is a hard worker, the value of this cannot be underestimated,” the Khajiit bowed his head, “you will have your recompense, but Khajiit keeps his position.”

The Justicars nodded in return, and turned to leave, pausing, the first Justicar turned to Ji’sari, “I have my eye on you cat.”

The door closed and the three Khajiit breathed deeply.

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#Fiction #ElderScrolls