'Neath Moon and Star

Ash

The floor beneath him rocked, shifting slowly from side to side. Suddenly a voice cut through the blackness of his dream. "They have taken you from the Imperial City's prison, first by carriage and now by boat, to the east to Morrowind. Fear not, for I am watchful. You have been chosen." Flashes of a mountain, a palace and a cave covered his vision.

Then someone was talking to him, "Wake up, we are here. Why are you shaking? Are you okay? Wakeup!" Naris slowly opened his eyes, seeing a dunmer leaning over him. "Stand up, there you go. You were dreaming. What's your name?"

"Naris, my name is Naris," he introduced himself, running a hand through his dark hair and glancing around the ship, "what's your name?"

"Jiub. Not even last night's storm could wake you. I heard them say we've reached Morrowind. I'm sure they'll let us go," Jiub said, his voice becoming excited near the end of the sentence.

"You think?" Naris began but stopped when the sound of footsteps reached his ears. He glanced at Jiub just as the guard appeared in the doorway.

"This is where you get off, come with me," the Imperial said with a sharp jerk of his head. Naris took one last look at Jiub, who waved him off, and headed towards the stairs. The guard made another motion towards the trapdoor leading to the deck.

When Naris got a whiff of the fresh air above deck, he sighed. There was a scent of sulphur in the air, mixed with the wetness of the marshy air. Another Imperial guard stood on the ramp that led towards the shore and when Naris came up to him, the guard stopped him. "You finally arrived, but our records don't show from where?"

"Cheydinhal," Naris said.

The guard jotted it down and held out a piece of parchment, "a dunmer from Cyrodiil?"

"I was born in Morrowind, but I was raised in Cyrodiil," Naris explained as he took the parchment and began to walk into the building. He saw the guard nod out of the corner of his eye as he passed.

The large wooden door opened without much effort and Naris spotted a man waiting near a desk. Assuming this was who he was supposed to talk to, Naris headed towards him. "Uhh, hello."

"Ahh yes, we've been expecting you. You'll have to be recorded before you're officially released," the man said with a smile, taking the parchment from Naris's hand and unrolling it.

"Name?"

"Naris Indarys," he said, Indarys... a name he rarely used and couldn't even remember if it was truly his family name.

"Age and Date of Birth?" the man asked next.

"87. 22nd of First Seed."

"And if you were to describe your profession? before your arrest of course." the imperial clarified at Naris's raised eyebrow.

"an... adventurer, I suppose."

"Interesting. Now before I stamp these parchments, make sure this information is correct," he handed over the scroll and Naris read through it. Nodding when the information all seemed correct. The officer took the parchment back and stamped it with an official looking seal. "Show your parchments to the Captain when you exit to get your release fee."

Naris nodded once more, turned and headed towards the exit of the building. A small hallway led to a room with the exit. Naris passed a dagger stabbed through a note resting on the table but didn't pause to read it. The door led into a courtyard filled with grass and flowers. Another door on the other side had two large barrels sitting beside it. When Naris reached it, he opened the top barrel and let out a shocked laugh at what he found inside. A ring. A silver and emerald ring, enchanted too by the glow it let off.