The Silver Ring
Little remains of the old era now. Dagoth-ur has fallen. The Tribunal is unseated and the great houses are now united. Peace seems only the monotonous labor of the bureaucrat. Little room for a sword in the chambers of debate. Small bands of bandits and lone necromancers, hardly the stuff of a legendary warrior. These problems can be handled by local authorities and villagers with simple training. Hircine being bested on the Isle of Solstheim, Aden GrayOwl begins his journey home, setting sail back to his wife, Helga and Son, Faelen.
Crossing the straits between Solstheim and Vvardenfell is rarely without adventure. However, this night Kyne was blessing the sea with her benevolence. So much so that a thick fog rolled atop the water's edge and swirled into spiraling wisps of dragon's tongues. The splashing water on the old wooden hull was hypnotic. It's rhythm broken only by the cries of the captain's crow. It seemed as if the bird was announcing their presence, but to whom? Little to fear, pirates tend not to attack in such weather as they fear boarding a ship with superior numbers or arms, Aden reasoned to himself. He let his mind relax, a luxury he was looking forward to enjoying more often. His thoughts wandered to his family.
“We should be there by now” the crimson bearded captain bellowed. “The tide must be against us.” The captain continued muttering to himself about the state of affairs, the crow responding to his master with a well timed squawk and ruffling of feathers. Aden realized that the splashing had stopped and the motion of the vessel seemed to all but stop. The moon had been bright earlier but now it's rays pierced the fog and descended onto the sea like a blue crystalline waterfall. In response to such a sight the captain and crow fell silent. Aden knew that it was best to be ready to spring to action but appear to be off guard. He sat still, slowly posturing for whatever enemy might appear. Then a voice spoke, a voice Aden recognized. Azura?
“Go. Return to your family. Prepare for great danger. An enemy from afar threatens all the lands. The one that is Far-Star Marked must travel east to the furthest coast of the Sea of Ghosts. Only from there can the evil one be vanquished.”
As suddenly and gently as she arrived, she was gone. What was her meaning, the furthest coast? If there was an enemy surely it must be might head on. Aden doubted only for a moment. He had seen enough to trust the goddess. That is to say, as far as you can, trust a goddess. The fog lifted and the sail took wind. The captain and his bird remained silent as the boat came to rest alongside the dock of Khuul. Once secured to the pier the seafarer spoke “I don't believe I'm gonna to say this but, anytime you need to leave; I'll be here.” The captain's voice shuttered unusually.
Aden spent the remainder of the season gathering supplies for the voyage to come. Helga noticed something was amiss with Aden but said nothing as her intuition told her that he had his reasons. She focused on tending to the needs of the house and of their young son, Faelen.
The boy was growing fast into a strong Nord of the age of five. With a wooden sword and shield that Aden made, he would chase chickens in the yard making swooshing sounds as the chickens ran and tried to fly away from his wild charges. Faelen had inherited many of Aden's qualities. Among them was the mix of black and silver-gray hair that had remained a distinguishing characteristic of GrayOwl males since the days of Ysgramor. Aden's hair had turned completely gray by the time he was twenty. It was said that the younger a man's hair turned the stronger he was. Faelen's hair was far more dense with gray than Aden remembered his own when he was a boy.
The day came when all things were ready and Aden must tell Helga of the task that lay ahead. Aden's restlessness had warned Helga that this day would come. Once Aden had explained the vision of Azura and that they must leave to protect Faelen she tried to convince herself that leaving was the right decision. If what Azura foretold was true, Helga knew that Khuul would be in particular danger. If an enemy was to invade, they would surly look to capture all seaports to control trade and movement.
So, in the early morning they met the old captain and his bird at the pier with their provisions. They loaded their things on board as Faelen played. The captain called him over. “Here young nord, my bird is always flying off and picking up shiny trinkets. Who knows were from? He returned last night after being gone for nearly a week! He had this” The Captain handed Faelen a worn and tarnished ring. “It looks like it is your size.” He said as he hoisted the sail. The ring was heavy in Faelen's hand and obviously several sizes to large for his young fingers. It had a dragon head crest and an inscription that read “From stars and sea, Akivirian is he” As the small ship sailed from the pier, they watched the sun rise over the small village that they called home for so long....
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