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Hello Nymph lovers!

 

I've got something that I've been putting together in the last couple weeks you might enjoy reading!

 

It's a short story about Lady Kayellie and her Wood Nymph companion, Arborea.  Lady Kayellie, who is one of the NGoS followers, a Blended Nymph, and might also be a knight, but she may have just read one too many books.  This particular story is hinted at a little bit in her Kayellie's description, and is now re-imagined by her closest travelling companion.

 

I should warn you that there isn't any nudity or sexytime in this. 

 

The story is told through some of my very best 4k screenshots.  It has some suggestive dialog and some scantily clad ladies but it's fairly SFW.  It was orignally just a way to flex my creative muscles and maybe get in the habit of writing dialog for the next update I have in mind, but I enjoyed the result enough that I thought you might enjoy it too.

 

Foreword

Spoiler

While a windmill is a dangerous foe to tangle with, only a knight of true courage and valor would dare to tilt at his monstrous cousin, the watermill

 

For with such an adversary, even victory carries with it a price!  A knight with enough strength at arms to win a contest against these terrible fiends may find that she gets more than she bargained for...

 

Chapter I

 

Shortly after another successful adventure ridding the world of Tamriel of another cataclysmic threat, perhaps by rescuing a stray cow from a nearby stream, Lady Kayellie and her not-quite-squire are travelling south from solitude.

 

The story begins as they embark from dragonbridge.

 

 

Part 1

Spoiler

One day, on the road from Dragonbridge to Rorikstead...

 

Arborea, "Are you in such a hurry today, milady?  Surely, we have performed enough noble deeds to have earned a bit of respite."

 

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Kayellie, "Oh, perhaps so, perhaps we have.  Tell me, What do you have in mind, dear Arborea?

 

Arborea, "We are not far from Markarth... perhaps you would consider a slight detour?"

 

Arborea, "Have you ever visited the temple of Dibella, milady?  Perhaps some instruction in the Dibellan arts would benefit your quest."

 

Kayellie, "Oh...  I... however did you mean, dear Arborea?"
 

Arborea, "Well, I have not visited in many years, but from what I remember, the adherents of Markarth specialize in rites for women. They are known to offer instruction on the art of physical relations for 'large group situations'"
 

Arborea, "Surely milady is not entirely unfamiliar with Dibellan Rituals by now?"

 

Kayellie, "Oh! You are suggesting... Oh, my.  How impure!  How indecent!  Dear Arborea!"
 

Kayellie, despite her protests, she appears visibly interested, "You are... familiar with such practices?  Perhaps I... no, no, I fail to see how such instruction might aid our Quest"

 

Arborea, "Forgive my impertinence, milady.  I merely assumed milady's fascination with stories from the royal harems of Sentinel's crown princes would make such instruction of equal appeal. It is... exquisitely indecent, as you say.  I shall not mention it again, for I would not presume to-"

 

Kayellie, interrupting, "No, no!  I must hear more-I mean, Please continue to-"*Cough*

 

Kayellie, correcting herself, "What I mean to say, Arborea, dear Arborea, that is not necessary to... protect my virtue... by withholding such knowledge."
 

Arborea, subtly grinning, "As you say"
 

Kayellie, back-pedaling to correct Arborea's earlier description "and no, no, I do not think... I would be reluctant to describe my inquiries as 'fascination'!  Would that our quest takes us once more to the land of Hammerfell, it is important to know how the royal court functions?"
 

Kayellie, finding this answer suitably plausible, "Oh, yes, indeed, that is the reason, we would indeed benefit in being familiar with local custom.  Most assuredly, would you not agree, dear Arborea?"

 

Kayellie, "It is for this reason and most certainly not because of any personal fantas-... curiosity on our part as to what it is like to be a member of such an... indecent gathering"

 

Arborea, clearly enjoying Kayellie's inner-conflict "Sound reasoning, milady...  Shall I continue to describe the most intimate details?"

 

Kayellie, "Absolu..." *Cough*

 

Kayellie, "I leave such things at your discretion."

 

 

Part 2

Spoiler

 

Kayellie ponders for a moment

 

Kayellie, "But no, I think not. In Markarth you say? No, such a visit would be ill-advised. I am presently unable to journey to Markarth, no, perhaps another time. A few more weeks, and it should be no issue, I should think not. But not now, the magistrate was clear, yes, quite clear.

 

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Arborea stops in utter and completely stunned silence

 

Arborea, "The... magistrate, milady? Forgive me, are you suggesting that you ran afoul of the law?"

 

Kayellie, "Would that I could deny it! It was an unfortunate misunderstanding. Many years ago, but still a blight on my oath to Stendarr, yes, most regrettable. My own person, held accountable for all the wickedness that took place."

 

Arborea, in a lusty tone, now giving her full and undivided attention to Kayellie, "Milady, I beg thee, what sort of... misunderstanding do you speak of?"

 

Kayellie, who in a rather out-of-character manner, astutely infers the lewd "crimes" Arborea must be imagining, "Oh! Oh my! Dear Arborea, it was nothing indecent, I can assure you! Nothing of the sort! No, it was merely unfortunate, but most unfortunate! I was engaged in battle with a nefarious serpent. A dragon of water, a creature most foul, did menace the poor townsfolk!"

 

Kayellie, "The serpent lay hidden, but could not fool my eyes, and whence I gave battle, with great blasts of fire and a towering tide of water, the fiend did lay waste to the city. I did all that I could, by my oath I did, and by His Mercy no lives were lost, yet perhaps a bit too late! Would that I could have acted sooner, oh yes, if only."

 

Kayellie, musing to herself about the unfolding of events, "There was damage to the town, of course, who would deny it? Why, they had every right to be upset! What else could I have done? Most unavoidable, was it not?"

 

Arborea, who had almost immediately lost interest upon hearing that it would not be a lecherous tale, now realizes that she is, for the very first time, hearing a story in which Kayellie's tendency towards rampant and indiscriminate destruction may have actually gotten her in trouble.

 

Kayellie, frowns, recalling "A pity they were so misguided in assigning blame, yes, a pity. But to protect the innocent, and honor the law, such is the duty of the knight"

 

Arborea, becoming increasingly amused, "Milady... are you saying you fought... a dragon? In Markarth? You said this was years ago?"

 

Kayellie, "Indeed so, dear Arborea, indeed. A vile and menacing creature.  This was before we began our travels together. 

 

Kayellie, now talking outloud to herself, "I forget which shield-bearer did accompany me. Was it that 'Pine...peak' fellow?  Pinebox...? Pinegrove...?  ...Pinewood?  Oh! Oh yes, Squire Pinewood! Yes, that was it.  The portly dunmer lad... the one who could barely walk upright and always sat with the strangest posture because of his enormously oversized-"

 

Kayellie, trails off mid-sentence, but gets the slightest hint of a smile on her face, as though she is remembering someone or some 'thing' fondly.

 

Part 3

Spoiler

Arborea, now struggling to contain her amusement, "But... milady, dragons have only just returned to Skyrim... surely, are you not mistaken?"

 

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Arborea, composing herself and choosing her words very carefully, "And, you will forgive me, but my... many years... have led me to encounter most every variety of dragonkind."

 

Arborea, "And yet, I have never heard of, a... 'water dragon?' you called it? Neither in tales nor legends, nor any of my travels."

 

Kayellie, now clearly becoming uncomfortable, "Oh! How disappointing, most disappointing, dear Arborea. With all of your ages of wisdom, surely you know that there are still all manner of cruel and horrific monsters remaining to be cataloged."

 

Kayellie, in another rare moment of keen perception, "And I say, I must say, Your words ring with a certain skepticism. They do indeed, my loyal squire. Why, that skeptical and accusatory tone sounds most similar to the one used by Markarth's somewhat disagreeable guards. A tone shared by the magistrate who passed sentence, too!  A remarkable similarity.  It is uncanny!"

 

Kayellie, "But do you not see? The return of dragons is proof! Yes, proof! That the lurking water beast was plotting, patiently and wickedly. What choice was there but to fight? No, no, my duty to the innocent left me little recourse."

 

 

Part 4

Spoiler

Kayellie continues, sounding now as if trying to convince herself, "I would say I am now vindicated, am I not? There are indeed dragons taking flight once more, and they are indeed intent on menacing the realms of man.  If only they had listened all those years ago, faithful squire. If only!"

 

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Kayellie, "Please, let us speak no more of this, dear squire. My duty and oath called me to battle, yet the outcome, and subsequent judgement, still troubles me. It is most distressing."

 

Arborea, though perceptively flinching each time she is referred to as 'squire', she decides it would be too much trouble to fight this battle again, "Oh... of course milady. I apologize for forcing you to re-live such a painful memory."

 

Kayellie, "Think nothing of it, dear Arborea, no, you need not apologize."

 

*They continue walking in silence for a while, each one deep in thought*

 

Kayellie still appears somewhat troubled. Arborea, on the other hand, seems to have let her imagination run away with her.

 

Arborea, (Is she still ruminating? This is the first time I've known her to go more than a couple minutes without her typical cheerful-cluelessness.)

 

Part 5

Spoiler

*Later that day, as they reach the slopes west of Rorikstead*

 

Arborea, (Ok, that does it. I've just GOT to find out the rest of this story. She said it happened before we started adventuring together? That'd be at least a couple of years. Maybe someone in Markarth still remembers.)

 

Arborea, "Milady... I must humbly ask your forgiveness, but it has slipped my mind that there is an urgent matter to which I must attend. With your permission, I shall take my leave to resolve it at once. I shall reunite with you once I have done so. Perhaps at our usual room within the Frostfruit Inn of Rorikstead?"

 

Kayellie, "An urgent matter you say? Of course, of course, dear Arborea. I shall not stand in the way of your duty. Though, I must say, I have never known you to forget things of import, indeed not. No, no, of all my squires, your most remarkable elven recall is quite without peer."

 

Arborea is visibly irritated, and she loudly mutters to herself, "...Elven? Squire...? How many times must I-"

 

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Arborea, suppressing her annoyance, bids farewell, "then I... your humble... WOOD. NYMPH." *audible groan* "...squire, shall take her leave"

 

Arborea parts company with Kayellie and sets off in the direction of Markarth. Kayellie continues toward Rorikstead.

 

Chapter II

 

Arborea, taking a short detour through the reach, manages to find herself closing in on the city of Markarth. 

 

She considers herself lucky to have only encountered a single war-band of the reachmen known as the forsworn along the way.  Arborea is a competent mage, but has never bothered mastering her art, and she wasn't sure if their strange weapons would be capable of injuring a Nymph, such as herself. 

 

Fortunately, her unique brand of magic proves so terrifying to the native reachmen that she only had to expend minor effort before the entire group began fleeing back to the hills while screaming about having their "brains eaten by a rainbow monster."

 

Three gate guards are stationed on duty, one on each side of the gate, and while another normally mans the tower, today a recently recruited trainee is instead learning about gate duty.

 

 

Part 6

Spoiler

Markarth, mid-day.  A squad of guardsmen, currently on duty at the city gate, watch the roads for any signs of Reachmen, as well as for any travellers coming from the north.

 

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Senior Gate Guardsman, "By the Nine! Check out what's heading down the road this way."

 

Junior Gate Guardsman, "Dibella's Breath! Is she... are those... leaves? In all my days, I've never seen such lovely.. foliage"

 

Senior Gate Guardsman, "Shhh! Not so loud, she might hear you." *whispering* "Agreed. Magnificent foliage."

 

Rookie Guardsman, *whispering* "doesn't that violate the city's 'acceptable garment' ordinance? Should we do something?"

 

Junior and Senior Gate Guardsmen both turn to silently glare at their trainee.

 

 

Arborea slowly saunters down the road, fully aware of the attention she is garnering. Almost behaving like a completely different person than she was an hour earlier, now without having to manage Kayellie's "unique" sensibilities, she is now free to infuse every word and gesture with deliberately provocative undertones.

 

Arborea, "Good afternoon, boys. I hope your duties today have been... pleasant. Could I trouble you for some assistance?"

 

Part 7

Spoiler

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Senior Gate Guardsman, quickly stepping forward ahead of his colleagues, "Most assuredly madam. Markarth endeavors to offer whatever assistance is necessary to travelers in these turbulent times. What is it that you require?"

 

Arborea, *chuckling*, "Did you just call me 'Madam'? Oh honey, be serious. 'Madam!' Do I look like an old married woman to you? Please, 'miss' will do just fine"

 

Senior Gate Guardsman, nervously correcting himself, "My apologies, miss, what do you need?"

 

Arborea, not-so-subtly attempting to elicit a helpful response through suggestive choice of words and the inflection with which they were delivered, asks "I was hoping you could share something with me. I have heard some... scandalous... stories about Markarth lately, and I am looking for strong... solid... information. Do you think you are firmly... up to the task?"

 

Senior and Junior Gate Guardsman accidentally speaking together in unison with a line that has become near automatic, "We can assure you there are no Forsworn in Markarth"

 

Senior and Junior Gate Guardsman exchange awkward glances.

 

Arborea, "Oh my, such enthusiasm for your work. It is a genuine... pleasure... to hear that no... bodily harm... will... inhibit... my visit. However, if you would... satisfy... my lust.. for information, have you boys heard the reports of dragons coming over the... hills and mountains... from the east?"

 

Rookie Guardsman blurts out "I saw one with me own eyes only a few days ago! How can something so big fly so fast?"

 

Arborea, looks back over her shoulder for a moment and smiles coyly at Rookie Guardsman, then turns back to address the two gate guards.

 

Arborea, "Well my goodness, you boys must be so brave! Standing out here in the open in front of the city, knowing that any moment a dragon might decide to attack the gates and you three would be expected to hold the line. Such fearless service must mean you are highly regarded by your Jarl!"

 

The two gate guards unconsciously puff out their chests and stand a bit more pridefully upon hearing her praise.

 

Arborea, carefully measuring the response she is provoking word by word, without missing a beat, adds "However, I had a different kind of story I wished to ask about. This one was perhaps a few years back. Tell me, are either of you familiar with 'water dragons'?

 

Senior Gate Guardsman, despite having his expression hidden behind his helmet, is visibly shaken by this question, and takes a step backwards. Owing to his years of experience, he manages to keep his composure and respond with a rehearsed-sounding line, stating "There are no such things as 'water dragons', miss."

 

Arborea, increases the level of provocative body language and continues her questioning, "Come on now, sweetie, don't be a tease. You and I both know what I'm talking about. There's more to the story than that. My poor thighs are all pink and sweaty from walking all the way here to talk to you about it."

 

Senior Guardsman rejects her persuasion by becoming incredibly rigid and business-like, and responds in an almost mono-tone voice "I am sorry, miss. I am not at liberty to discuss this matter any further. Please enjoy your visit to Markarth. Take care when travelling on the roads. Good day."

 

Part 8

Spoiler

Arborea, somewhat surprised that her inquiries were rebuffed so easily, turns towards Junior Gate Guardsman, and asks "Oh dear, is this true? Your friend says that he can't talk about it. Do you know anything about 'water dragons'?

 

Junior Guardsman hesitates and quickly looks over at Senior Gate Guardsman, who is deliberately no longer looking in Arborea's direction.

 

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As Junior Guardsman turns back toward Arborea, she draws her hand up from her hips towards her bust-line while asking, "You know, like a dragon that doesn't fly, but lives in the river, and riiiiiiiiiises up out of the water?"

 

Arborea gets no reply, but notices her gesture had the desired effect, with Junior Guardsman's gaze now settling somewhere well below her eyes.

 

With a smooth and slight wave of her hand that demonstrates a practiced and expert understanding of how to refocus men's attention when they become overly distracted, Arborea repeats, "Hello? Water dragons, Ever heard of anything like that, cutie?"

 

Junior Guardsman does not even bother to look up, but manages to mutter, "There are no such things as water dragons. I am not at liberty to discuss this further. Good leaf-*cough* Good day, miss."

 

Part 9

Spoiler

Amused by his brazenness but recognizing another dead end, Arborea is still undeterred, and turns to try her chances with the Rookie Guardsman who has until that point been standing at the bottom of the city steps.

 

Rookie Guardsman, perhaps owing to his inexperience wearing a helmet and his mistaken belief that it conceals the direction he is staring as well as what he is likely staring at, is startled by the sudden change in his scenery when Arborea turns to face him, and nearly jumps to the top of the stairs.

 

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Arborea, masterfully pretending that she wasn't entirely aware of the attention that was being given to her posterior, leans foward to ask the nervous trainee, "Well? You're my last hope, sweetie. These other boys won't help me out. Do you know anything?"

 

Rookie Guardsman, who in that moment has probably forgotten everything he has ever known, including his own name, naively stammers out a response, "Oh, uh, that is, well, you were asking about... umm... I'm sorry Madam AHHHHH NO! I mean MISS! What was your question?"

 

Arborea leans even farther forward, and demonstrates without any uncertainty that gravity is no match for her "outfit", "Water. Dragons. A city disaster. Lots of destruction. Lots of stuff broken. Maybe flooding. Any of this ringing any bells? Take your time, sweetie."

 

Rookie Guardsman emits an audible gulp and begins frantically searching his memory for any way he can possibly assist the beautiful woman, who was now slowly swaying her chest back and forth only a short distance away from him.

 

When he finally hits on something relevant, he blurts it out without thinking, "Flood...?"

 

In a hushed tone that demonstrates how unsure he is of his answer, Rookie Guardsman mumbles, "Oh wait, water, dragons? are you talking about the time with the smithy? And the flooding. It was when I was still a lad but I remember there was this one time some kind of crazy woman started yelling about a dragon in the river and then smashed the watermill and flooded the town."

 

Arborea smiles sweetly at the young Rookie, "Some kind of crazy woman you say? Wanton destruction? That may be exactly the story I was hoping to hear."

 

Senior Guardsman is now nervously aware that his trainee is mumbling to Arborea about something she seems keenly interested in, and for what seems to be an excessive amount of time. It suddenly occurs to him that his trainee may have forgotten what city guards are forbidden to discuss with outsiders. He carefully moves closer to eavesdrop on their conversation.

 

Part 10

Spoiler

Rookie Guardsman by this point is incredibly eager to be helpful to the green-haired woman whose garment quite clearly violates local ordinance (a fact which no longer seems to matter to him).

 

He is so eager, in fact, that he is now rambling energetically about any relevant subject he can think of, just so this impossibly beautiful woman and her prohibited garment will continue paying attention to him, "By the nine she was this tall, like really tall! Gorgeous woman with hair the color of gold maybe she was a nord I'm not sure and she had the biggest pair of, you know... um forget I said that, but, uhh, her sword was really big too and it looked like it was made out of gold and anyway she started yelling something about how kay-elderly will protect you I have no idea what that means maybe it's one of them daedric princes or something and then she drew her sword and dashed up the stairs and then took one big swing and that it was all it took she just smashed the thing in one swing by talos she must have been really strong now that I think about it I mean all it took was one blow I'm not even sure our battering rams could break that thing then there was this huge crater where the watermill was too and without the mill damming the river of course it naturally started to flood over and-"

 

Senior Guardsman, who, despite having troubling understanding his trainee's nervous rambling, recognized a few alarming words, and cuts him off, "HEY! SHUT UP IDIOT!"

 

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Rookie Guardsman is jolted back to reality by the sudden yelling, and stares blankly at his Senior, now unsure of what to do.

 

Senior Guardsman, now strongly suspecting his trainee may be sharing forbidden information, and sounding as though he must be clenching his teeth behind his helmet to keep from screaming, he prompts, "HANDLING OUTSIDERS. GATE GUARD TRAINING. SECOND DAY."

 

Rookie Guardsman, manages to remember something from this prompt, although perhaps too late, and is now on the verge of panicking, "OOPS. I am sorry madam" pauses to consider his choice of words, then continues without correcting himself, "I am not at liberty to discuss this matter any further. Please have a good day madam. Or m'aam. Or miss. Take care on the road."

 

Arborea, takes a long pause and dons her best bewildered expression, tactfully covering up exactly how much the young rookie had actually told her, "Sorry sweetie, all I got was a story about how you saw a blonde woman with a large breasts when you were younger. I'm not exactly sure what that has to do with my question about dragons."

 

Sensing her strategy was having the desired effect, she smiled and added, "At your age, it's ok if you still get nervous talking to pretty girls, but when speaking with a lady, you might want to consider what sorts of stories are not considered polite conversation."

 

Senior Guardsman, who was all too familiar with his rookie's fumbling manner around women, seems to find Arborea's cover suitably convincing. He quickly shifts his mood from anger to hilarity as he fully considers the scenario she has just described.

 

Junior Guardsman, who until now had been far too distracted to listen to anything the trainee was saying, nearly bursts into laughter while considering the same scenario, and to keep from doing so, adds, "I am sorry we could not be of more assistance, miss. Please enjoy your visit to Markarth and let us know if there is any other way we can assist you."

 

Arborea feigns disappointment, but has re-constructed a fairly accurate picture of the "water dragon" encounter based on the Rookie's statements and her own familiarity with Kayellie's adventures, "Sorry boys, that's all I have time for today. This was just a little detour on my way to Rorikstead."

 

Part 11

Spoiler

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Turning to leave, Arborea heads back towards the road, and audibly pretending to think out loud, exclaims "Oh well! Maybe my friends at the bard's college will be more... intimately familiar... with the story, and if I get lucky, my lady-friend even have some spicy details to... insert"

 

Just to be sure that all of the guards were thoroughly distracted and did not feel it necessary to interrogate the young rookie about what he may have actually said, Arborea adds just the right amount of extra 'wiggle' to her walk until she is sure she is out of sight.

 

Rookie Guardsman, foolishly unaware that Arborea's deception was an attempt to keep him out of trouble, asks his Senior "So... you aren't mad, are you?"

 

Senior Guardsman, "What would I be mad about? Today was... a lovely day"

 

Junior Guardsman, nods in agreement, "The leaves in the reach are a lovely shade of green this time of year."

 

The three of them continue to quietly enjoy the view.

 

Junior Guardsman breaks the silence by joking, "Remind me again why we were at war with the elves? I'd give up Talos for women like that any day."

 

Rookie Guardsman timidly remarks, "I don't think she were an elf. She weren't no altmer and her ears didn't look like none on any bosmer lass I ever saw."

 

Senior Guardsman, teasing Rookie Guardsman, "Best not to ask such questions of our young friend here. He's likely to tell us the war started because of some blonde woman with huge tits he once saw as a lad."

 

The two Gate guards burst into laughter, much to the embarrassment of their trainee.

 

Chapter III

 

Sometime later, the story of Lady Kayellie and the Water Dragon can now be told.  Witness now the epic saga that shook a city to it's very core!

 

Part 12

Spoiler

It is late evening, and most reputable persons have long since cleared the streets.

 

The Noble Knight, seeking guidance on how to best confront the evil that was threatening Tamriel, journeys to Markarth to seek the counsel of the Sibyl of Dibella.

 

Refined Woman's voice, (What? Seeking counsel to confront 'evil in general'? That's an awfully flimsy premise)

 

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Weary from her journey, but steady in her purpose, the Beautiful (but somewhat clueless) Lady Knight asks a Night watch guard where she might find the poor and downtrodden of the city.

 

Rather crudely, he answers "Them beggars live near the bottom of the falls, take a left once you get in the city and head under the bridge nearest the stream."

 

Looking her up and down, he then inquires "Whatchu want with them? You don't look like no workin' girl, least not one any of them could afford haw haw haw!"

 

The Noble Knight, while insulted, maintains her composure, and decides she is too weary to lecture this rude guardsman on the value of mercy towards the plight of the unfortunate. She thanks the vulgar man for his aid, and enters the city.

 

Refined Woman's voice, (is this interaction really relevant to the story? you said this was an epic tale)

 

Narrator's voice, (You're the playwright, do the editing on your own time)

 

Refined Woman's voice, (Fine, whatever, just don't stray too far from the main plot-line)

 

Narrator, "Once entering the city, the Noble Knight proceeded to immediately follow the directions she was given, without even acknowledging other passersby, and it definitely was not for the purpose of streamlining the narrative."

 

(Refined Woman groans)

 

Part 13

Spoiler

Upon sighting the 'falls' her attention is immediately drawn to the watermill.

 

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"Oh! Oh my! What is this I spy in the distance!" the Knight exclaims. "A creature of Water and fire is nesting right in the center of town and has driven all the decent folk indoors!"

 

The watermill was brightly lit by the nearby refinery.  When set against the darkened cityscape, it resembled a towering monster belching smoke and vapor.

 

Refined Woman, (That's the entire setup? Should the audience just assume she is near-sighted? And wasn't it late at night?  Who was working the forge?)

 

Narrator, "Though it was late at night, the Knight had remarkably keen eyesight, for she could see none nearby."

 

(Refined Woman sighs)

 

Noble Kayellie, "Stendarr's Mercy! These poor folk have to live with a terrible serpent nested right amongst them! Have no fear, humble villagers! Kayellie will protect you!"

 

Refined Woman, (Who is she talking to? Did she just say this out loud for no reason?)

 

Narrator, "The Noble Knight was known to say such inspiring words even if none were around to hear, if only to strengthen her resolve to blessed Stendarr."

 

(refined woman sighs again)

 

Part 14 (image heavy)

Spoiler

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Drawing her Holy Blade, she raced up the steps with great swiftness granted by her sacred purpose.

 

"Begone, Foul Creature! You will no longer be allowed to harm the innocent or powerless!" she cried.

 

The merciless gaze of the strange creature made of both fire and water could not deter her from her purpose!

 

*slight pause*

 

Narrator, "With no one around raising any objections to her battle nor the manner in which she sought to join it, up she went!

 

v2tilting4.thumb.png.f9a5d5df98538fed8011eb344a40fc78.png

 

Bounding up the last set of stairs she leapt across the channel cut by the stream and readied her immense sword for an equally immense blow.

 

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With one mighty swing, she struck at the very heart of the monstrosity.

 

v2tilting7.thumb.png.0910083d5bd1612f3675c07427492889.png

 

Fire! Chaos! Mayhem! The blow lands with cataclysmic force! A terrific explosion!

 

Part 17

Spoiler

Refined Woman, now shown to be sitting at an Inn, "Ok, no. Stop. Hold for a moment. You're saying it exploded. The watermill. You're telling me the WATER-MILL exploded? She swung her sword once, and it exploded."

 

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Narrator's voice, "A mighty explosion and magnificent force did-"

 

v2tilting8.thumb.png.a6014d062c57d2e06330e91e1832ac4e.png

 

Refined woman interrupts, "Why would it explode? Is her sword magic?"

 

Narrator's voice, "The knight's sword was gilded with silver to slay the undead, but bore no such enchantments"

 

Refined woman, "No, see, seriously? Quit doing that. Don't answer while narrating. This needs explaining."

 

Narrator, now shown to be Arborea, "It just exploded ok!? Have you ever met Kayellie? That sort of thing just HAPPENS. Objects break even when she doesn't hit them.  Things explode, even when they aren't flammable. Chickens and cows who happen to be nearby are struck down at random!  It never makes ANY sense!"

 

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Arborea, who seems uncharacteristically annoyed, "Look, do you want me to finish the story or not? Stop interrupting!"

 

Refined Woman, "...My apologies, please continue."

 

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Refined woman quietly mutters to herself, (Is she serious? I can't publish this without re-writing the entire thing)

 

 

Part 18 (Image heavy)

Spoiler

Narrator/Arborea, "Now, where was I?"

 

As the Valorous Knight leapt across the channel in a single bound-

 

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Refined woman's voice, "no, we're past that, she already broke the watermill. And apparently, there was an explosion. Somehow."

 

Narrator/Arborea, "Ah, right"

 

 

With a mighty crash and a single thunderous blow, the Noble knight had succeeded in badly wounding the monster, driving the vile thing from it's perch and sending it hurtling down below.

 

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But what treachery is this?! A tidal force now threatens to submerge the town!

 

Noble Knight Kayellie, "Wicked curr! Would you, In defeat, now seek to avenge yourself on the innocent?"

v2tilting11.thumb.png.a2167b0852611e331bfbc1db25766e88.png

 

 

For all her might and valor, there was little the brave Knight could do but watch as the wave crashed down upon the town below.

 

Noble Knight Kayellie shouts, "Take cover, humble villagers! The beast knows no shame! May Stendarr shield you!"

 

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Part 19

Spoiler

As she watches the mighty beast plummet downward, Kayellie is relieved to see none still standing in the wave's path.

 

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Refined woman, politely waiting for a pause, "Did I miss something? She smashed the mill. And now there's actually a dragon. Where did the dragon come from?"

 

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Brave Kayellie, like many hearing this epic tale, was not known for her patience, and as the monster drew closer to the ground, she made haste to meet the dragon's impact, lest she need to deliver a final blow.

 

 

Part 20

Spoiler

But to her great dismay, the dragon had seemingly vanished! All she could find were damp and broken timbers, cracked from some terrific force and burned by a mighty explosion!

 

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Refined woman, "You still haven't said-"

 

And just as quickly as the battle had begun, it was over! In the chaos of the conflict's aftermath, the city guard was roused to restore order.

 

 

Our Noble Knight, now finding herself surrounded by a swarm of guardsmen who she thought meant to lend their aid, quickly found herself in peril!

 

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For she now found herself unable to convince the growing crowd of the necessity of her actions, nor of the terrible evil she had just rescued them from!

 

Unable to present any evidence in support of her valorous deeds, the Captain of the Guard placed her under arrest until she could be brought before the magistrate at dawn.

 

Duty bound not to interfere with the keeping of lawful order, Noble Kayellie had little choice but to surrender, praying that Stendarr would bring her deeds to the proper light.

 

Chapter IV - Epilogue

 

Part 21

Spoiler

*long pause*

 

*silence*

 

 

Refined woman's voice, "ok, and?"

 

Narrator, "that's the end of the story dear listeners."

 

Refined woman's voice, "What? You just ended it right there?"

 

Refined woman *sighs loudly*

 

Refined Woman's voice, "...So was it a dragon or not?"

 

Narrator, "That is something you must decide for yourselves, for none that were not present on that fateful eve can truly say what events unfolded."

 

Refined woman, exasperated "Are you... is this a joke?" 

 

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Refined Woman summarizes "Let me see if I followed the story-and by all means, correct me if I missed anything here-Lady Kayellie went to Markarth for some vague and ill-explained reason. The scene opens with a random interaction involving a guard who implies that she looks like a high-end prostitute. This is also apparently the only character she speaks to throughout the entire story, and the only dialogue that wasn't pointless exposition."

 

Refined Woman, continues, her critical analysis picking up pace, "Then, for some reason, she attacks and destroys the water-mill, causing a minor flood, which, by the way, is not possible, given how water-mills function. Maybe she thought she did this to slay a dragon, but it turns out that dragon may or may not have been imaginary.  Finally, she got arrested by the city guard, and then the story ends without resolving any of the numerous questions raised throughout."

 

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Refined woman, "Does that sound accurate?"

 

Arborea nods, grimly noting that the woman's summary did not sound very favorable.

 

Refined woman, who is now visibly irritated after confirming that her time was being wasted "And that's it? That's the 'Epic Tale' you wanted me to write? The one I *absolutely* had to hear? The one that would only require 'a little bit of tweaking' to be ready for stage performance? What's more, you expect me to put my reputation, the name of the "Unknown Bard," on that... utter farce? I'd be a laughingstock!"

 

Part 22

Spoiler

Arborea, now attempting a rather passionate defense "But don't you see? The ambiguity is what makes it so compelling! Don't force the truth on your audience! Don't spell it out for them in absolute terms! Give them enough details, details that are sometimes contradictory, then let the audience examine those details and decide for themselves what really happened! Is she a madwoman? Is she a hero? Was there ever a real dragon? How did a destroying a water-mill result in a flood? Can anyone say for certain? That's what makes it a great story! Because most of the time, that's exactly how life is!  Absurd!"

 

v2tiltingepilogue3.thumb.png.e509b8ae42aa239b94a97002f8e78874.png

 

Arborea, unable to hide her disappointment, "Maybe it needs a little more substance, but I thought you, of all people, would appreciate the cleverness of it."

 

 

Refined woman, on her feet and taking a condescending tone, "Setting aside the question of 'substance', there's a deeper flaw. Compelling or not, clever or not, you clearly don't grasp what the public wants."

 

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Refined Woman, explains, "Audiences don't want to hear a story that leaves them feeling uncertain what the story was about. They want to be entertained! They want to be told the truth. They don't want to hear that they must decide the truth, or worse still, that they can never be sure what the truth was. If you get to the end of your story and you leave your audience feeling confused, they will hate it."

 

Refined Woman, realizing she may have been too harsh, adds "As grateful as I am for all the stories you brought me over the years, I have to decline this one outright.  I've written close to a hundred books and stage-plays under my pen-name, but not even the "Unknown Bard" can mould this disaster into a real story. Not as a book, and certainly not as a play."

 

Refined woman, reconsiders the need for harshness and is no longer maintaining any polite pretense, "If you come up with a real story that a real audience might actually want to see performed on a real stage, you know where to reach me. Until then, I'll pay for my own drinks and see myself out."

 

Refined Woman tosses a handful of coins at the bartender and storms out.

 

Part 23, Conclusion

Spoiler

Several minutes pass.

 

Arborea, now sitting alone at her table, muses, "Well... that was... unexpected."

 

v2tiltingepilogue5.thumb.png.a87adafd14cb12485010307f44a4e3c1.png

 

Arboreasuddenly realizing"Did she not get that it was a comedy?"

 

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THE END

 

Appedix with character descriptions for those unfamiliar with them or those who do not have the links handy

 

Lady Kayellie

 

Spoiler

LADY KAYELLIE

 

Race: Blended Nymph

Combat Class: Paladin

Age: (unknown, probably not more than a century)

Interests: Duty.  Honor.  Helping those in need.  An astonishingly powerful interest in anything naughty which she will never admit to.

Motivation: Her un-ending quest.

 

  • Kayellie is extremely good natured and friendly.  She is very tall, almost half a head taller than your average nord woman, and, owing to her Nymph heritage, she is stunningly beautiful, the combination of which makes for a powerful first impression, and she is generally liked immediately by everyone who meets her.  She is always willing to help out with any task great or small that is asked of her, nothing is too difficult or insignificant for those in need!  Her central personality trait is that she is kind and generous to a fault, and almost excessively nice.

 

  • She believes herself to be a noble knight of Stendarr, a paladin, and generally expects others to treat her as such by showing respect and referring to her as your ladyship, milady, and so on.  She doesn’t get upset when those she speaks to forget or ignore this, but she will feel the need to politely remind them of her station, repeatedly, over and over, as many times as necessary.  Whether or not she is actually knight or a noblewoman is a matter of debate.

 

  • Kayellie is, for lack of a better explanation, somewhat out of touch with reality.  She has what you might call a strong “Don Quixote” complex (far surpassing mere 'Quixotism') and will tend to perceive any mundane chore as a noble quest to be undertaken for the sake of all Tamriel.  Kayellie is more or less on a perpetual quest to save Tamriel from whatever happens to be her task at any given moment.  If she is fighting a few skeletons, she believes she is saving Tamriel from an incursion by hordes of the undead, if she is collecting apples for a local farmer, she is actually saving Tamriel from the threat of impending famine and alleviating a crippling fruit shortage. This can get somewhat silly, and she seems to be totally unaware of any silliness.

 

  • Kayellie has a habit of causing a great deal of collateral damage when fighting.  She doesn’t do it deliberately, but she seems to be absolutely incapable of fighting without smashing everything around her, and has accidentally destroyed several villages.  She primarily fights with her “Holy Blade,” an enormous and almost impractically over-sized sword capable of cleaving a farmhouse in half with a single swing (as the unfortunate farmers will attest).

 

  • Despite the fact that she is a menace to livestock and infrastructure everywhere, nobody ever seems to get mad at her for any of the things she does, her extreme niceness and genuine sincerity tends to make people put up with whatever she does.  It goes deeper than this actually, and very often people will go out of their way to make excuses for her and eventually find themselves becoming a part of her narrative.  

 

  • Kayellie also doesn’t seem to be aware of her own powers of demolition and mayhem, nor does she seem to realize that she is the reason the poor villagers need to rebuild over and over.  In the most bizarre twist of all, the townsfolk who are essentially the victims of her indiscriminate destruction will be the first ones to defend her to anyone who tries to explain to Kayellie that she is the sole origin of all the devastation. It definitely helps that she donates a considerable portion of the gold she finds while adventuring to help the poor villagers in their endless reconstruction efforts, but she sees this as charity, not at all as payment for the damage she has caused.

 

  • The exception to this is Markarth.  Kayellie was not welcome in Markarth for quite a while due to an incident she claims involved the slaying of a “Water Dragon” laying siege to the city center.  This was long before dragons returned to Skyrim and there are still no such things as “Water Dragons”.  Nobody in town will go into detail except to say the watermill by the smithy was broken for a while after this incident.


 

  • Kayellie, as a blended Nymph, is one of the best examples of Nymphii who is wholly unaware of her true nature: she does not know she is a Nymph, and her Nymph hyper-sexuality conflicts strongly with her self-perception of being a proper noblewoman.  As a result she has a Victorian-esque relationship with anything naughty: an almost obsessive interest, a refusal to admit or acknowledge her interest, and thus a rather strong tendency towards repression.  

 

  • Even the way she dresses is not exactly something she can be honest  with herself about.  She will either claim that she is taking  advantage of the lack of protection in order to train her reflexes or that Stendarr has blessed her with his protection and covering herself would be an insult to His Mercy.  In truth she simply gets excited by having a lot of skin exposed, but it would be utterly impossible to get her to admit it.

 

  • Indeed, any supernatural abilities she has inherited from her Nymph heritage are believed by her to be blessings granted as one of Stendarr’s favored servants.  She is certainly looked upon favorably by Stendarr as she is faultless in her defense of those in need, but even a high-priest of the Divines would be unable to convince her that eternal youth, invulnerability to non-magical weapons, and inhuman beauty are not blessings that Stendarr regularly (or ever) grants to his faithful. 

 

  • Kayellie frequently adventures with Arborea, who she claims is her squire.  Arborea, who is not her squire, finds this irritating.

 

  • The two of them can usually be found relaxing in-between adventures at the Frostfruit Inn of Rorikstead. 

 

Arborea

Spoiler

ARBOREA

 

Race: Wood Nymph

Combat Class: Sorceress

Age: (unknown, but possibly thousands of years old )

Interests: Fun.

Motivation: Novelty and pleasure seeking.

 

  • Arborea is the quintessential stereotypical Nymph, she is a natural hedonist who is always looking for something new and entertaining, and she tries to avoid danger or exerting herself whenever possible.

 

  • She never seems to lose her composure, she is always witty, charming and slightly amused.  She loves to tell stories, and is a natural performer and entertainer.  This is more of a desire to show-off or dazzle an audience than it is a need to be the center of attention.  She will happily let someone else be in the spotlight, so long as they can entertain her.

 

  • She knows that she is a Wood Nymph and is not shy about telling people.  Most Wood Nymphii learn at an early age to avoid human and mer settlements. Though she has a very typical Epicurean Nymph personality, she is highly unusual relative to other Wood Nymph subtypes in that she prefers civilization along with all it has to offer to the forest, and is neither shy nor reclusive.
     
  • Arborea may be one of the oldest creatures on Tamriel based on the stories she tells, as she will often recount events from earlier eras as a first-hand experience, but she refuses to even hint at her true age. Most Nymphii, and Wood Nymphii in particular, have a superstition against telling anyone their age.  Since a Nymph does not age or die naturally and a Wood Nymph does not get disease and is immune to all manner of toxins or poisons, they typically only die of violence or accident.  So to a Wood Nymph telling someone how long you have lived is tantamount to declaring to Death how long you have eluded his grasp.

 

  • She can often come across as self-centered or even borderline narcissistic and she clearly has a very lofty impression of herself.  She also has a habit of introducing herself as “the most interesting person you will ever meet.”  This can be quite off-putting at first, but consider that she is at least hundreds if not thousands of years old, and to her all living mortals are a bit like foolish, naive children; She often treats mortals as silly children, though she is old and wise enough that she no longer condescends to them or looks down on them the way that most young Nymphii do; who, similar to vampires, generally view all mortals as less important creatures.

 

  • Arborea only reluctantly wears clothing since dealing with gawkers, would-be suitors, and squeamish city guards is in her words “a dreadful bore."  Despite her stated preference for nudity, she does enjoy dressing up and adding accessories to her outfit, a concept she considers to be one of the great innovations of otherwise prudish human women.
     
  • Her life is generally spent in pursuit of the next good time, whether that is drinking, partying, or performing, and she avoids training, studying, and hard work in general like the plague.  She might make a great artist, if it wasn’t so much work.

 

  • Loves wine and mead.  She doesn’t get drunk the same as mortals, since her Wood Nymph background makes her immune to all forms of toxins, but she often pretends she is, just for fun.  

 

  • Arborea is essentially the embodiment of everything that Yulia finds frivolous and wasteful about Nymph behavior.  Yulia likely recognizes just how much more powerful Arborea would be if she hadn’t devoted her entire existence to the pursuit of pleasure, and the two of them likely do not get along very well.  
  • By comparison, Lykaea has more of a grudging respect for Arborea, as she recognizes Arborea’s great wisdom and experience concealed behind an Oscar WIlde-esque persona of wit, innuendo, and detachment.

 

  • Arborea can be found tagging along on Kayellie’s adventures for the sake of her own amusement.  Kayellie’s personality, the problems she causes, and how people inevitably treat her in spite of the fact that they are usually worse off as a result of meeting her, is a never-ending source of entertainment.  Very few things in her exceedingly long existence have ever provided as much reliable entertainment as Kayellie’s never-ending quest to save Tamriel.

 

  • As Arborea explains, “meeting Kayellie is like meeting a fictional character come to life, a character who inevitably manages to turn the world around her into her own personal novel, and all of the people she meets into her supporting cast.”  This last part is something Arborea has to actively resist and she will insist most emphatically that she is NOT Kayellie’s squire.
     
  • She fights with her personally designed "Rainbow Magic" which is just as flashy and showy as it is effective.  It is likely that she designed it on a whim and she almost certainly cares far more about how her magic looks than how well it actually works.  Don’t let the somewhat silly style of the magic fool you though, it is the result of centuries upon centuries of refinement and honing, and it is an onslaught of magical power that few can withstand.

 

  • The two of them can be found relaxing in the Frostfruit Inn of Rorikstead, where Arborea has run up quite a tab.

 

4 Comments


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Hmm, I was hoping to maintain the highest image quality possible, but there's no point to that if nobody can see them, or if they aren't visible without clicking the links.

 

I have downsampled them as much as I can while preserving most of the quality, hopefully that should fix it.

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On 12/11/2019 at 10:07 PM, goaway said:

Hmm, I was hoping to maintain the highest image quality possible, but there's no point to that if nobody can see them, or if they aren't visible without clicking the links.

 

I have downsampled them as much as I can while preserving most of the quality, hopefully that should fix it.

Ensuring maximum quality certainly sounds tempting regarding images share. But while it is an advantage for small Tumblr-like 5-10 screens formatted entries, it's an awfully bad idea when it comes to story blogs, which are often way longer than their pure screens counterparts. The thing is all the images in one page will get loaded simultaneously (spoilers won't change a thing with current LL version), and that PNG is NOT a format optimized for sharing. Hence 4k PNG images are 20x heavier than 2k jpegs, and so loading an entry done with those will take 7-15', assuming the servers don't gives up after the first minute. And when the server gives up, the images do not load.

 

You'll find more information about image management in this tutorial, but long story short high quality JPEGS >> PNGs for web stories.  

Quote

Arboreasuddenly realizing"Did she not get that it was a comedy?"

AS for the story itself, that's one of the first time I do read one written as a stage play on LL, and it was quite entertaining ! The humor becomes omnipresent since the 2nd chapter, with Arborea playing a delectable game between innuendo and the ambiguity of the mysterious watermill fight. The writing overall quality was good, with a rather pleasant style, though the multiple text colors were unnecessary and even harmful, as the eyes would get attracted to the brighter colors after a moment (if you see what I mean ^^), exhausting the reader instead of helping. I would advice keeping the colors to a minimum (only for the name of the speaker, when there is a change in the person speaking). Italic is sufficient for stage directions (which you did put in darker green here).

Regarding the screens, they are vivid, and most of all featuring excellent expressions and poses, increasing the comical effect of Arborea's innuendos. The characters were believable, the slowly unveiling plot quite funny, and so the story entertaining as a whole. So aside for the image management details, good job ! Hoping to read more of those ! :D

 

 

Malicia : « Those gals are way too proud of their boobies surgery. They just spent their time swinging them in front of the guards, uh. :classic_sleep: »

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