[b]Thanks so much. This is a kind of interlude section. There is no violence in this chapter, but it sets up the scene for how the world is in 200 Fourth Era (the time of the fifth game in the franchise). This is written by Gregzilla and The Doctor.[/b]


[size=4]Chapter 5: Past to Present[/size]

[i]4E 200
Dead Man's Drink Inn, Falkreath
Falkreath Hold, Skyrim
Nirn[/i]

Falkreath was the major city within Falkreath Hold, although one of the smaller ones in Skyrim, with litte in the way of defenses like a surrounding wall, not to mention the strategic disadvantage of lying in a valley.  Still, one could hardly argue that it was a more peaceful place, more like a farming village than an actual city.  Once, Falkreath had been a part of Cyrodill, but had become a part of Skyrim later.  Not that anyone seemed to care much about what territory they were apart.  It really was just a farming village, after all.

The cloaked man sat in the Dead Man's Drink inn, pretty much the central meeting place for anyone in the small city.  The drink sat on the counter next to him, untouched, only there to keep up appearances.  Being a Reploid, Zero did not need to drink at all.  Instead, he simply at there, hoping that the Sergeant would get there in the time specified in his message.  He was mostly sure that she would, having respoded to most of his messages before, but there was always something that could get in the way.

A woman walked in through the front door, the same dark brown clothing on. This time, however, in the middle of the day, she wasn't accosted by anyone. Some might have thought she was some kind of sellsword or something, or at least a woman pretending to be one, seeing as she definitely wasn't a Nord with her hair color. The woman sat at Zero's table, pulling back her hood. She knew that wearing such a hood generally was a way to [i]attract[/i] attention, and nobody else was wearing one in here, so she just rolled with it. "Barkeep, a flagon of Nord mead," she said. After the container came over along with two glasses, she just left it there, however, giving only that which she had to. It was mostly to keep their conversation unknown anyway, since it wasn't like anyone would bother with someone else drinking. Finally she spoke to him, looking over his dirty, scratched form. "You look like hammered sh**," she said rather bluntly. "What the hell happened when I went off, you go through three blenders?"

Zeros frowned.  Of course, he knew that the Sergeant was not being serious, anyone could identify the sarcasm in her voice.  And it was indeed true that he had been through many a fight through the years.  His armor still held together perfectly well, but one could easily see the dents in it, the scratches in his helmet.

"It's what happens after being around almost constantly for nearly two hundred years.  You tend to get a few dings in the armor."  Zero knew that this was untrue for any human, of course, it was his own attempt at making a joke in response to Azumi's.  He realized he shouldn't try it too often.

Azumi rolled her eyes at the counter-joke, but did smile a bit. Just the smallest smirk. Whether at him or with him, it was hard to tell, but at least she appreciated the effort.

"You know why we're here."  He continued.  "The Tamriel branch is expanding steadily."  After two centuries, the Assassins Guild that had started in Cyrodiil had grown into other territories of Nirn.  "New recruits are coming in steadily, and those that have grown to the suitable rank are able to teach them.  Nestal did preciesly as he was asked.  He and his descendents have made the way for the Assassins to have great allies in the Morag Tong, and we've been hunting down the Dark Brotherhood, which, while proving to be elusive, is slowly weakening."

The Mentor of the Interference Assassins nodded. "Where are we based? What's happened? How weak are they? I keep hearing something about dragons, the Thalmor, the Stormcloaks and the Cyrodiilic Empire, Argonia, too." She paused a moment. "A map might help, if you brought one." She motioned to the mead. "Feel free. Don't know if you take any."

Zero looked at the mead, then shook his head.  "Liquor inebriates humans.  I don't want to find out what it would do to me."  He then reached into the small pack he had brought with him, pulling out several maps.  One of the entirety of Tamriel, and two others of Skyrim and Cyrodiil in greater detail.  First, he put the Tamriel map on top of the others.  This was marked with all manner of dots, arrows, circles, and the like.  He pointed at where Cyrodiil was on the map, as well as two Assassin insignias inside of the country.

"Our guild's main den is located in Bravil, the first den, as you remember, as well as Imperial City in the heartland of Tamriel, in Cyrodiil, although we've expanded to have many others in the other territories.  The Imperial City den is where other den masters report to, generally to me, although I'm not always there.  One of Nestal's capable descendants leads it in my stead.  Not only that, but the Morag Tong have become the only legally recognized guild for assassins, and is what we use as a front for our guild, thanks to our alliance with them.  Other prominent dens are located, outside of the Empire's reach, in Skaven and Rihad of Hammerfell, Wayrest and Daggerfall of High Rock, Windhelm and here in Skyrim."  He pointed to each of these places in turn, and then moved on to the Cyrodiil map, pointing to a small dot, which joined with an arrow leading out of Cyrodiil's borders.

"This is where we last rooted out the Dark Brotherhood, their last base in Cyrodiil.  However..."  He put the Skyrim map next to the Cyrodiil one.  "The remaining forces that escaped have moved in to Skyrim, where there appears to be more bases waiting for them.  We've been trying to root them out, but they are incredibly good at hiding.  We're making progress, but it's slow."  Zero grimaced.  Reporting this failure was almost as bad as experiencing it.

"As for the dragons, or Dov, as they're called in Skyrim.  They are an issue, but not our biggest.  They are much like the dragons you see in many other stories.  Winged, reptilian.  They were numerous hundreds of years ago, but a war nearly wiped them out.  Now they're being raised by an ancient dragon that managed to survive, Alduin.  They've shown to be very intelligent, and capable of casting some form of magic.  I've issued the order to not engage them unless absolutely necessary, due to them being highly dangerous.  Many of this region's inhabitants are already actively fighting against the dragons, including the 'hero' of the region.  We've set our main focus on the Dark Brotherhood for now."

"What you've most likely heard about the Empire is how tyrannical it is.  They're less a government and more a series of warlords.  It's a major issue, but one we're not ready to fight against yet.  The guild isn't ready to overthrow an empire.  The Thalmor are a similar issue, albeit a smaller one.  They're described as 'High Elven supremacists', and that is very much the truth.  They seek to overthrow the current Empire and establish their own rule, as well as outlawing the worship of Talos.  If they took over, they could possibly be worse than the Empire.  They also falsely claim to have closed the Oblivion Gates in Dominion, a feat accomplished mainly by the Hero of Kvatch.  The Stormcloaks are one of the factions that oppose this imperial reigns, and we're looking to establish possible ties to them, as well as the Argonians, who have seceded from the Empire.  It's been difficult to find either, though, the Stormcloaks for their secrecy, and the Argonians for living in a dangerous swampland."

No, the Reploid did not take a breath the entire time he spoke.

Azumi took into account the various information pieces. The Thalmor were probably a better bet at fighting off for them currently. "What separates these two factions, the Empire and the Stormcloaks? Anything on bases, something we can use? Anything at all that separates them. Also, what about the Argonians and the.... I think the term was Khajiit? Do we see [i]any[/i] of them?"

"The Stormcloaks are rebels, fighting against the Empire.  Despite this status, though, they have used the belief in Talos, Skyrim's major religious figure, as well as the general populus' mistrust of the Empire to recruit much of the population to the their cause.  However, there is a downside to forming an alliance with them.  They believe that Skyrim should secede from the Empire, and should belong only to Nords.  If we do ally ourselves with them, we hope to be able to change this racism, maybe help them believe that Skyrim can belong to everyone fairly under a better rule."  On to the next question.  "We have some Khajit within the Assassins, but they're far from majority.  They generally seem to prefer selling wares then joining.  We are able to use some of the merchant Khajit as informants, though.  Because of their constant traveling, they often hear information that could be useful, and are almost always willing to tell for the right price."  Now for the last.  "As I stated before, Argonians are very hard to find.  They don't seem to care too much for any cause, as long as their swamp is not affected."

Azumi's eyes narrowed at the count of racism. She wasn't going to deal with that, no matter what. "If they don't change, help the Empire. An empire that's multiracial and willing to take anyone necessary to fight off invaders is more reliable than someone who's liable to kick you out of his country for not being his particular race."

She thought a moment. "If you find any Argonians, see about finding where they are near this place. It would be best to get a multiracial sect here. Any help talking to Argonia will help us remain stable, and getting one or two agents there will maybe allow us to try to make some kind of merger along the line if they can run the politics well. I'm no politician though, as you know. I just shoot things."

Zero nodded, both in agreement and understanding.  He was still willing to try and change the Stormcloaks and then ally with them to reform the Empire, as the Stormcloaks were an overall smaller group, and would be easier to reform, but there was still a chance it could not work.  In which case, going to the Empire was still an option.  However, the Reploid was no politician either.  He had been able to learn much about Tamriel's politics in the years he had spent there, but he still found himself having to learn on his feet.  Their more ambitious plans would be difficult to pull off, not without meticulous planning.  Things needed to be taken slow.

"I'll see what I can do about the Argonains.  We've had a lot of problems simply finding a non-fatal path through the swamps. I'll try sending some agents in soon.  If that doesn't work, I may have to go in myself.  But you are right.  Having Argonia on our side would be incredibly beneficial to the Order."

Just then, one of the patrons at the bar stood, and headed towards Zero and Azumi's table.  In reality, this was no ordinary bar patron.  He was one of the young Assassins that Zero had planted in the bar, for security reasons.  Unfortunately, new as this young man was, he hadn't quite learned to hold his tongue in times when it would not be respectful.  He sat down next to Zero at the table, who eyed him disapprovingly.  This wasn't part of the plan.

"It's not like there's any risk, eh?  This town is so quiet you could hear a rat scuttling a field away."  He grinned, and sipped some of the mead he'd been carrying.  "So about that Huntress lady.  You say she's our leader, right?  Then where is she?  I'm thinking she might not even exist."

Zero raised an eyebrow.

Azumi just looked at the Nord, frowning. "If you don't mind, I think that subtlety is generally appreciated." She grabbed his hand, twisting it sharply as a way to show she was a threat but not allow him to reach a weapon, then glared into his eyes. "So much for the 'true Nords'. Zero, this one's gonna need to go out on hard missions, though with someone experienced. Manners would be appreciated." She roughly let go, pulling her hood up and motioning to the flagon. "You're paying," she told the new one. "Not me, him," and she pointed to Zero. "You got that, kid?"