The Speaker 10: Business Casual

• Posted by Clement Bilhorn February 8, 2013 - 724 views

  I'm cured, I really am, but I scarce have time to think about it. I made a promise to Lisin (and by proxy, to Delphine) that I'd help them out. And Nocturnal taught me to keep a promise. So I'm off to Solitude to meet with our inside guy at the inn.

  He lays it out for me, how I'm going to dress up as a party guest, get into the elves' embassy, and then turn the place over for information. It sounds like the kind of work I used to do for the Guild, so I'm excited, although I'm much less so about the clothes they give me.
  
  Good thing I kept the wedding band from last year. I just hope no one in Solitude recognizes it.

  

  I mean, I'm not averse to putting on airs for the right occasion, but I was thinking my sleek, black Nightingale leather should have sufficed for everything. At the very least, business casual. Maybe this Thalmor thing is bigger than that, I don't know, but Delphine's condescending stare doesn't make me any more comfortable. 

  

  But things go as planned and I'm in the embassy in no time. Now, I'm well aware that I've been cultivating a rather harsh brand of snobbery since I quit work at Windhelm. So, faced with the face of the Thalmor ambassador, the epitome of snobbery if I've ever seen it, I fear for the health of everyone in the room.

  Well, not really. They're mostly elves. Supernoses, in a way. Some Imperials, yes, ostensibly my allies since I totally won their war for them, but I really don't like high elves. It's a delicate balance and a tough decision.

  

  Fortunately for everyone, I guess, Malborn interrupts before I lose it. I start handing out free drinks, because I'm that kind of guy, and then grab my gear, go into the back, and slit the throat of everyone I see.

  Because I'm that kind of guy.

  

  Sadly, as seems to happen every time I go someplace, someone takes issue with my murdering and thieving and sounds the alarm, and I'm forced to take cover outside and pick off the remaining guards with my bow.

  

  Even a wayward human, a stunted little rat spying for the Thalmor, gets in my way. I don't even have to sneak up on him--he just runs into the room without looking, right into my arms. I spin him around and it's done.

  

  From there, it's off to the basement, where I find pretty much everything I'm looking for. Well, not exactly, since the letters just disconfirm every one of Delphine's suspicions, but at least there're some more elves to kill. And some guy, who I rescue.

  

  So, all in a day's work for an ex-vampire. A body count, some pilfered coins, and a few broken arrows.

  

  I guess nothing ever changes.