TES : Order from Chaos

[rivaan]

Saga looked sideways at Lily with calm and neutral expression." They aren't... they aren't a common sight anywhere in Skyrim. Their complete and utter destruction 2 decades ago left the Skyrim branch of the order in shambles. And I mean utter destruction, the only ones that survived were a few lucky members on the road. Hall of the Vigil was apparently burned to the ground with everybody at the place when it happened killed. After that most of the Vigil that remained were hunted down during the crisis with the Volkihar clan. Currently there are less than a dozen Vigilants across the province. The hall is yet to be rebuilt." She explained.

"They are, the hot water here is said to be especially beneficial to one's health. That and the natural heat keeps this place warmer even in the dead of winter. People from across Skyrim and the neighboring provinces visit, which I guess is why the town's been growing at such rates. 20 years ago during the dragon crisis this was barely a small mining camp, a single house and a number of tents. Nowdays it qualifies as a town." She smiled and chuckled." Judging from your voice, you don't like hte crowds, which is fine. There are springs that have been specially walled off. A private ones so to speak that are for renting. If you think we have the time, we can of course spend some here, up to you really."

Passing by the guard and into the town proper the bustling crowds left them in the nice security of obscurity. Here for the time being they were just 2 of the many others that constantly moved about. Annekke ram the place well after her husband's death. She turned the place into a true tourist village and her daughter was well coming into her own as her successor." Hmm? Sure we can check the pawn stores. You were well interested in magical items and knowledge, right? Skyrim has a deep history of magic and artifacts. Rumor has it that the Colleage of Winterhold at one point held an incredibly powerful magical artifact that may or may not have nearly caused the whole place to collapse. Most stores have some in their inventories and travelers often pawn off trinkets and artifacts they locate, loot or pillage in their travels. Grave robbing's not exactly that rare even if most locals don't dare go deep into the barrows. That and quite a few students from the Colleage sell copies of spell books they've transcribed themselves for extra coin so it's not exactly rare to find those either. I can grab some supplies for the road afterwards that, the store I usually frequent is near the bridge of obvious reasons."

With that she led the way through the bustle of hte people and away from teh hot springs and furhter on in the town proper where most of the real stores were. This eventually led them to a relatively new looking building that had 2 floors with the first one obviously being the store. There was a big hanging sign on the front that had Dog standing on it's front legs. It was very cartoony and the letters underneath read: Dancing Dog." This is the place I'd personaly try. Ironic sign aside, it's ran by a khajiit."

[Keira Kelly]

Lili kept an emotionless face though inside she was smiling that the Vigilants had finally gotten what they deserved. From what she had always heard, they had been around for about two hundred years, since the Oblivion Crisis, created in direct response to that incident, and... well, she had had a few encounters with them down in Cyrodiil in the past year. They had seemed rather inept when it came to fighting vampires, being more trained in the daedra than the undead. That probably explained in part why they had been wiped out up here... Still, it had surprised her to hear that no Vigilants from the south had come up to reinforce the ones up here in the past two decades. "Hmph.. well perhaps they've retreated south and gone back to their daedra-hunting roots..." she suggested with a shrug. Hopefully they wouldn't run across any of the stragglers. The Dawnguard that Shadow had mentioned however, were still a worry for her, being a complete unknown.

She did smile a little at the explanation of the hot springs. They did sound lovely. She glanced around at the town. "All of this in twenty years? Not bad..." she replied. The roughness of the buildings did not seem quite as bad when she factored in that it was built up by peasants over only two decades. She glanced back at the comment about the crowds and frowned a little. "A noble does not parade themselves around not fully attired in front of hordes of stranger commoners." she answered. She gave a slight nod. "A private area to rent sounds adequate and well..." she said with a wave of her hand, "as I said, I am merely wandering here on my quest for knowledge... I have all the time in the world. Unless you have a strong desire to rush off to a next destination?" she asked with an arched questioning eyebrow.

Her eyebrow arched again and a hint of an amused smile played at the corner of her lips when Shadow mentioned that grave robbing was not uncommon here. This seemed like a land of very loose morals indeed. Definitely would make it easier for her searching for information. Quite the opposite from what she knew of people from Hammerfell; they seemed to be fanatical about the dead.. even to the point that it was a crime to dispose of the walking undead that posed a danger! An utterly confusing people. And learning to raise the dead was even worse there than among her own people of High Rock.

As they moved through the crowds, she kept very careful focus on her coin purse. Though under layers of clothing, she knew pickpockets could be very clever, and at least back home in Wayrest, they were prevalent enough to warrant the upper class learning to be cautious with their money. When they stopped in front of a two-storey building, Lili looked up at the sign with some curiosity. To be fair, it was mostly inns she had seen with absurd signage and names but.. well, this was the first 'dancing dog' sign yet. She glanced back to Shadow. "This is the pawn shop?" she asked. She was about to ask why a dog on the sign when Shadow gave the answer.

"Ahh.. a Khajiit.. That will be.. interesting.." she answered. She had never really met a Khajiit before. Not many came up to High Rock, and the ones that did.. well, she nor her family had ever had cause to deal with them. There had also always been the stigma that Khajiit were thieves and addicts. "You have dealt with this one before?" she asked. "This one isn't..." she trailed off as she tried to find a tactful way to ask, "they aren't... untrustworthy or the like?" she said finally. "You would trust them to make a fair deal, that is?" she tried to clarify. When the answer came, Lili decided to risk it one way or the other. It didn't hurt to go in and check. She gestured towards the door. "After you then, Shadow."

[rivaan]

"Thats mostly what I hear." She nodded when the topic was on the vigilants. The order had been decimated down to a handful in Skyrim, though it wasn't that terrrible. Sure there may have been a bit more Daedric worship around, but it was of huge part because the Dunmer had settled properly now with the war gone. She herself knew of a few followers of Azura. They weren't bad folk actually, that said worshippers of the so called' evil' princes was very much crushed if there was even an inclination of plots to bring terrible events to happen. The Nords remembered bad things and they rememebered them for a long time. The Oblivion crisis was especially devastating to the region.

"That's a southern thing." Saga quipped." Here the bath houses adn the steam houses are often shared between many. It's mostly you southern types that don't do it even the nobles. Guess it's just difference in cultures." The ranger woman mused as they walked. She herself perfectly knew the early days when she was a child about 8 years ago while hte town was just getting on it's feet and starting to grow properly. She and many of thers back then spend a lot of time in the hot springs naked or in various states of nakedness just enjoying the springs." I guess it might be because here in the North when it's cold sources of warmth must be shared. As for time, we've got time. I have nothing planned for myself in the near future. I had to come visit even if you didn't intrude in my carefully curated and defensed home, just because I needed to buy supplies since the winter is approaching and the weather's turning colder. So I got time enough to escort you around Skyrim to your destinations. Might actually happen upon more clues and proof if we encounter more 'bandits' like hte ones you mentioned. We should grab a nice tent though. Journeying around skyrim takes a lot of time unless we hire carriages and even that might take some days to get us between the different villages. Having a good quality tent is a must."

"Yes, they tend to accumulate a lot of random things from all types because of the Khajiit caravans that travel all of the holds and well this being a popular spot, people always pawn off things to pay their bills." Saga nodded with a casual motion and looked at Lily. Ahh, so the breton was a bit of nervous or prejudiced of Khajiit." Well take it like this - I will trust him to keep his business profitable. Which means few questions and no spreading secrets. In his words: happy customer is a repeating customer. He's the one I deal with more often than not when in the area." Saga replied in measured voice. She didn't trust the khajiit himself, but she trusted his dedication to his business. Part of why their caravans were traveling Skyrim back in the day with a civil war and a dragon crisis happening. He was of the same breed so to speak. With a nod she opened the door which let out a somewhat loud ringing sound as the door passed by a small bell that was hanging behind it.

The inside of the store was pretty interesting. There were shelves with all kinds of things lining the walls, tables with boxes that held stuff in haphazzard piles inside them, proper displays with specific precious things, and who knows what else that would be hiding in the back room that was teh storage. Behind the counter was a grey furred Khajiit with black markings that made him appear like a grey tiger cat if anything." Ahh welcome, welcome, Sharr'an greets you, Shadow." The Khajiit called as soon as he saw Saga entering his store. Then he spotted she wasn't alone." Welcome, welcome to the friend of Shadow too! Sharr'an has many wares! Sharr'an is certain we can find something you would like! Unless Shadow and her friend want to sell?" He added with a purring voice. His fur was kinda fluffy, possibly an appearing winter thing." Sharr'an would buy, at the right price!"

[Keira Kelly]

Even with the assurance from her companion that there probably wouldn't be any run-ins with Vigilants, Lili kept her eyes open, watching for.. anyone that might be watching back. For the most part though, all she saw was people that seemed to be there for their own reasons, going about their business or chatting in groups. Too often self-described 'vampire hunters' liked to dress towards that and thus, made it all to easy to spot them from afar. While she didn't know for sure, she suspect that this Dawnguard that Shadow had spoken of would be the same and highly recognizable. That was why organizations like that tended to fail. They stuck out like sore thumbs while those like her, especially of the clan she had been converted into, were able to hide among the general people. She had been more than lucky in that.

She glanced with an arched eyebrow at Shadow. "High Rock is not really any more south than we are now... we just are more.. temperate, being on the coast." she explained. She gave a nod of acceptance at the reasoning though. "The need for warmth when it's limited does make sense, I suppose." She listened a bit more to Shadow explaining about travelling around this land and it led to to realize something. She had not thus far needed a tent; she had found shelter be it in towns or ruins or other makeshift shelters out in the wilderness. Being what she was, the weather did not really impact her as much as it would a normal person, but that would most definitely make others suspicious. "I lost my tent and travelling supplies when I was attacked by the bandits that Jarl Blackbriar had sent after me, shortly before I ran into you." she lied. "I think I should likely replace those while we are still in town as well." she added.

She nodded slowly, with a hint of an amused smile, in response to Shadow's assessment of the Khajiit trader. It made sense: a trader who wasn't profitable did not remain a trader for long, after all. "Well, as long as we can rely... on him being consistent in his business, that should be all that matters." she said as they approached the store Shadow was leading them to. She cast another amused glance up at the dog on the sign as they moved under it to the doorway to head inside.

Once in, it was a nearly overwhelming, disorganized mess. Well, perhaps not that bad compared to some of the ruins she had been in but, certainly not an orderly shop either. But it was.. cozy, in that regard at the same time. It felt... lived in. She followed Shadow as the nord woman headed towards the grey Khajiit behind a counter nearby. His voice, when he spoke was soft and.. almost cuddly with the particular Khajiiti accent. It suited him well and Lili was sure it helped him make sales more easily. It was easy to warm up to someone like that... and made it easy for them to take advantage in dealings as well...

Still, she smiled in response to the greeting. "A pleasure, Sharr'an. I am Liliana and.. well, I cannot say that I have much to sell at the moment but I am certainly interested to see if you have anything I might consider purchasing..." she answered, looking around at all the objects. It was too much to take it all in, so perhaps best to go right to the source. She turned her purple eyes back on Sharr'an. While she knew only a little about the Khajiit people in particular, she did know some things.. like they had absolutely no issues at all when it came to necromancy.

She did, however, glance around again just to make sure that they were the only three currently in the shop, which they were. "Do you have any objects, artifacts, or books, perhaps, to do with necromancy?" she asked when she had turned her eyes back to the Khajiit. "Oh! Yes, and.. you wouldn't happen to have any extra tents of good quality to sell, would you?" she added as an afterthought. After having seen the state of this store, who knew what was in this mess.

[rivaan]

Saga left Lily to her shopping and moved about the store to look for things on her own. There were always a thing or two she found that were things she'd enjoy. Be it a nice book or a weirdly magical trinket like that one amulet that was enchanted... or cursed. In any case once put on, it made you speak obsenities at random intervals. Apparently somebody in the colleage made it as a prank item and somehow it had ended here. She had the distinct feeling that one ended here on purpose since Saga was reasonbly sure that there was a Khajiit in the Colleage. In any case, her current browsing and digging through crates of stuff was rewarded by what appeared to be a shiny revealing 'clothes'. For some reason there was a lot of golden or at least gold plated tiny disks attached to the waist thing. It looked a bit like some stuff seh ahd seen redguards from their homeland wear. Why was it here though?

Meanwhile Sharr'an looked at the vampire with a business( for his feline face) expression." Good good, Sharr'an has goods!" He nodded when he heard her request for necromancy related things." This one has a few good things to sell, yes! Tents too! Good tents, Skyrim make too." He nodded as he moved to one side of hte counter where he pulled a bit crate with books and pulled books from there. Most of which bore the magical school sigils on the covers.

"Magic tomes, from the colleage! Sharr'an gives good deals, but they are very regular. While this one has rare books, they can still be found across Skyrim in many stores!" He explained, before he looked around, eyes resting on Saga for a bit, before looking back at Lily." Shar'an has other things too. They are in the back room, a moment time to get them." The purring cuddly voice told her as he walked back through the heavy door. Sound of moving items around, dropping some and shoving others was heard before the Khajiit returned with an armful of things in his embrace.

"This one has a magical staff that raises the dead." He placed the weapon on the counter. It had a typical Nord design with a dragon head on the end." Sharr'an thinks the customer doesn't need the staff mayhaps, but it makes for good study or backup. This one also has these." He added and placed a bundle of scrolls that held magic in them." Strong scrolls, some raise the dead, one raise weird dead this one's told. From another place. This one was told that scroll over there manifests a purple skelleton. This one thinks maybe Sharr'an was being tricked by teh Scooma Cat, but scroll is different. Maybe it's Scooma cat's dead?" He explained and finally placed the final 2 items he had in his possession. One was an amulet made out of carved bone the other was a carved wooden mask reminiscient a bit of the head of the floating dummy that Saga had rigged in the final room of the barrow. Both were clearly magical given the hum of magic in them.

"Sharr'an presents you an amulet of great use! Amulet makes the dead walk right past you as if you are not there!" The khajiit merchant presented theatrically." This one got this from a friend who traded it with a hagraen off their nests. Made with their magic no divines, no school of magical can teach you it's secrets a rare find!" To the side and behind Lily, Saga raised an eyebrow, Hagravens weren't ever to be trusted." The mask is the most precious! From the old Dragon Priests, this one is told. Magical it is, masters of the dead they were. Yet I know not it's secrets, this one's not a mage, but this one knows where to look once this mask is possessed!" Now that had Saga's attention as she dropped the revealing outfit she was just examining out of pure curiosity and darted over to the counter to peer at the mask. She also pulled out her journal to check somethign in it.

[Keira Kelly]

Lili carefully watched the books that the Khajiit pulled out, studying them one by one but quickly pushed each off to the side, with a slightly frown on her face. Most of them were areas of magic she had studied from a young age back home. Typical, common spells. Nothing of real interest. Well, she hadn't really expected to fall on a treasure trove of what she sought here anyways. Apparently the Khajiit caught the look though, judging by his tone when he added he had more in the back room. Lili cast a glance back towards Shadow when Sharr'an headed into the back, a look that said nothing as much as 'this Khajiit will do anything for a sale, won't he?'.

She was more surprised when the cat came back with an armload of items and dumped them on the counter top before her. The first thing he pointed out was a staff. Raising the dead was something she could already accomplish, even if it was rudimentary. She stared at it for a moment with a thoughtful expression. Perhaps he was right: the staff may have had a stronger spell that she would need to study to be sure of, or if nothing else, it was indeed a fall back to her own powers. And, if nothing else on top of that, it proved to be.. less than satisfactory, it would at least serve as a sturdy staff for walking through these icy lands. She daintily touched the staff, motioning for the Khajiit to set it aside for her as she turned to look at the scrolls he had also brought.

She looked up sharply, arching an eyebrow at the cat's ramblings. She had no clue what this Skooma Cat was but.. well, she had always heard that Khajiit liked their mind-altering concoctions a bit too much. No matter. "The raising the dead scroll, the.. 'weird' one as you call it and the... purple skeleton." she answered, gesturing for the Sharr'an to add them with the staff as she again turned to the last of the items.

The amulet was not something that truly interested Lili. She had no real need of avoiding the dead. Most she encountered were either under her control, soon to be under her control, or easily dealt with generally. And.. she was less than certain about magic that was not drawn from the divines and or normal schools of magic. She had heard warnings about hagravens and their artifacts. She shook her head in negative at the amulet and moved on to the mask

Lili's purple eyes widened slightly in surprise, not betraying her true level of excitement. She ran her fingers down the side of the metal mask, feeling the power humming through it. "This... is... of interest..." she said, looking at the mask. It was exactly the magic of these supposed Dragon Priests that she sought, they who could make eternal risen dead, her true goal here.. or at least one of the major ones. She frowned, furrowing her brow at the Khajiit. "What do you mean you know where to look once the mask is possessed?" she asked.

She pointed to the mask though, and the pile with the staff and three scrolls. "How much for that lot?" she asked, fully prepared for an outrageous number but she was prepared to haggle to be sure she got what she wanted. She wanted the items... and most of all: that mask.

[rivaan]

At Lily's questioning, but obvious expression, Saga just shrugged replying with a 'well yes' expression. Sharr'an was a merchant khajiit. He was a natural at it, she had met many a trader and merchant in her reasonably short life so far and the ones that most profitted were this type of weird. She recalled that old guy in Whiterun who's favorite catchphare was that he'd be willing to even sell his sister if he had one. He likely didn't have many years left, but he was somewhat famous and she didn't doubt that statement any. Which also made her wonder if he did in have used to have a sister and had sold her off at some point in the past... Nobody seemed to think so, but then again, it seemed he wasn't a local to Whiterun.

"Good, good." Sharr'an stated when Lily confirmed her great interest in the items present. Saga still couldn't believe the Khajiit had a dragon priest mask. While Lily was busy looking ready to haggle, the norden lass checked her notes in her journal. By all accounts it was indeed a dragon mask. The people she talked with that knew the Dragonborn and had traveled with them had described and drawn sketches of them to her. Each was somewhat different, so she had just a basic sketch for a basic dragon priest mask, but it matched more or less. Which by itself was incredibly weird since just like the Daedric artifacts, the masks had vanished sortly after the Dragonborn. Nobody really knew what happened to them, some even speculated the thieves guild, but it wasn't as far as she was aware. Now one showed here...

"These masks, the nords tell of their power. Sharr'an was told the story of where this one came from. A magical place where this mask is key." The Khajiit explained simply as he had sensed that a deal was to be made here. Interest was had even if the woman before him had a very good neutral face and control of her emotions." Yes, yes good selection. A deal can be made!" The merchant stated as he singled out away the items in question, putting the not needed ones to the side. the 2 scrolls, the staff and the mask. Each of hte items in question was brimming with magic to the ones with proper sense of these things." The staff, staff is simple and easy to find so the staff is cheaper than the rest. Just for 100 septims. The weird scroll..." The khajiit seemingly stalled for just a moment, visibly to the eye, but after a moment of teh free continuedo n from mid sentence like nothing happened."... this one will sell for a 10 septims, to buy a good wheel of cheese, yes. The scroll with the purple skeleton, this one will be pricey. This one's rare, unlikely to be found easily if at all. 480 septims. Finally the mask, Sharr'am will sell this mask for 3300 septims. Normally this one will charge more, but Nords get weird around these masks. They are bad for business. A total of 3890 septims."

Saga twitched at that and NEARLY growled, but held it. She wanted to see how Lily would haggle for it before interfering and trying to cut the price down. The sleazy cat owed her a few small favors over the years. She would probably be able to lower that price some. By Talos, almost 4000 septims! That was more money than she had seen in the last few years. Most of her things she either bartered, looted from enemies or found. Whatever she would sell usually went to daily neccessities with trying to be frugal. So she rarely handled big amounts of money directly, but still that was an amount of money with which a family in Skyrim could comfortably live fo a few years if they owned their own house or farm and just supplemented their own production. WIthout those, it was still enough money for people to live comfortably for a year or two.

[Keira Kelly]

At hearing the price, Lili's eyes flicked down to the items for a moment before coming back up to meet the Khajiit trader's. Her eyebrow arched only slightly up. Even for one born into nobility, that was a fairly weighty price for such trinkets. She hadn't expected it to be quite that high. Not that she didn't have it, but she knew that this trader was most definitely trying to take advantage. She could nearly smell the life within the fur rug of a Khajiit... how easy it would be to end him and just take what she wanted... But no. No, that was the urges that she fought against continually. She lightly licked her lower lip as she held his gaze, computing in her head. Often, her odd purple eyes could intimidate or distract others so she tried using that on the cat while she bought herself time to think about the prices.

Finally, she pointed daintily at the staff. "100 septims." she said, agreeing to the first price before moving her hand towards the 'weird scroll'. "10 for that, yes." Her head cocked to the side slightly as she gestured then towards the purple skeleton scroll. "390 septims for that... and, as for this..." she trailed, moving her hand over towards the dragon priest mask, focusing a knowing expression on her face, with just the hint of a smile. "As you have said yourself, the Nords seem to.. fear items such as this mask. Bad for business. I am sure you will want to get rid of it seeing as they won't like coming in here much with it... and they wouldn't be willing to buy it, for any price." she said sharply but sweetly. "I would take it off your hands for 2000 septims. 2500 for all the items." she countered. "And an extra 100 septims for the story of where it came from, where it is.. key, as you put it." she offered in bonus.

Her fingernails lightly clicked on the wooden counter as she looked around at the shop behind her, almost idly. "Perhaps, if I can receive a good deal here, I might have more interest in such items the next time I pass by this way." she added, turning back to Sharr'an. "I am continually looking for more... relics that might suit my interest... and well, wherever I can get decent deals on it, I am very... very inclined to return the next time." She passed him a facade of a smile. A thought struck her. "Ah, and... well, perhaps if I find anything of could be of interest and that is useless to me, well... perhaps I will choose such a place of business to bring it to. And perhaps, because if it would be of no use to me... I may not even ask for any coin in return for it..." she tempted. "I am sure that a businessman such as you would be interested in free items that you can then sell off..."

The smile faded and she glanced towards Shadow, before turning back to the Khajiit. "We have places to be though, so I'll not be standing here haggling all day." she said, with the air of nobility. "2600 septims, including the story and the promise of other items without commission that will be free for you to sell as a bonus. Take it or leave it." she said in ultimatum, as she began to bring out her coin purse.. or at least one of a number she kept on her, and began reaching in, waiting for the response. Let the cat see a hint of the potential money he could make if he agreed now.

[rivaan]

The merchant looked at Lily with calculating for a khajiit gaze. He wanted to haggle even more, but there was something distinctly unnerving about the woman on subconcsious level that made him want to just give in to the suggestion so she can leave despite the fact she arrived with Saga. He of course knew the ranger/scout and her dealings with all manner of suspicious individuals in her life of work despite her leaning on the more honrable side of the spectre. He still well recalled that one time she arrived with that one guy that smelled of a wet dog so heavily. For some reason his somewhat more favorite customer tended to get dragged into all manner of curious situations. He got that this woman now was a mage and you could never trust mages for the most part.

He looked at Lily in evaluating manner, before his eyes danced a few time between the two women." Mm-yes. Sharr'an, thinks the customer is quiet right with this, yes. This one shall agree, under such stipulations, yes." The khajiit in the end agreed without haggling too much, mostly cause he wanted it over with and Lily gone from his perfect little shop for the time being. Saga had to fight to not do a double take at the sly merchant she knew who just raised a furry eyebrow at her unimpressed when she failed to stop herself from doing said double take.

"What's up with this, Sharr'an?" Saga asked in half growling in suspicion voice. She didn't like people suddenly changing their mannerisms. It usually boded unwell for her continued lifelyhood and survival." You usually spend hours haggling for anything I buy or sell. What are you plotting, you sly cat?"

"Sharr'an knows not what you speak of, Shadow." He replied completely playing innocent at her accusations." This one just thinks your friend has better business sense than you." He quipped, poking at her, earning himself narrowed eyes." And this one also does not see the need to waste time haggling when the customer knows the good value of items, especially when Sharr'an wants to sell these things and pretend he never had them."

"... Fair enough, but I'm keeping an eye out..." Saga mumbled finally in resignation.

Used to her paranoid tendencies, Sharr'an returned his focus on Lily. After all Saga kept the store under observation for 2 weeks when she first used his services, though he only learned of it later by some friends." 2600 septims it is then." He confirmed and looked at Lily." Listen well, this one shall tell the story once and then pretend he never heard of it to begin with." He said in serious voice." West from her, in the somewhat central part of Skyrim nestled in the moutains between Whiterun and Morthal lies an ancient Nordic ruin of stone. A huge city they say that apparently was dedicated to dragons in the ancient times. Most say the place's curst and it probably is for few return. Tales of undead, dragons and trolls area are always told about that place, but there in the center of the ruin lies a hut. When worn in that hut, the mask there sends the wearer to another place that houses knowledge of the dragons. Man who sold it to Sharr'an, swears he saw sights beyond mortal kin and places that shouldn't exist no more. Sharr'an believed to be a tale brought by Skooma, but when asked, the man screamed and just begged on knees for this one to buy it so he can run away in Cyrodil without anything tying him to Skyrim."

"Wait... you are speaking of Labyrinthian?" Saga asked incredilously, looking at the mask as if it was going to jump and bite her face off." As in one of the biggest Nordic ruins in Tamriel!? Rumored last seat of power for the Dragon Cult and place that dragons visit on occasion nowdays while College of Winterhold locked down any entrances into the underground ruins just after the dragon crisis and banned any expeditions into the underground structure of the ruin!?"

"Yes. Sharr'an thinks that is the place Skooma man mentioned, Shadow knows of it?" The khajiit asked innocently.

"Know of it!? That mask there was last said to have been in the hands of the Dragonborn, Sharr'an! Of course I know of it and the place. Nowdays place often plays host to dragons from all across Tamriel! Theyjust land on the varying ruins and Shout at each other before leaving hours if not days later." She groaned, wanting to smack the silly cat for not paying attention to the local recent history.

[Keira Kelly]

Though Shadow was behind her, Lili did not miss the tone of surprise.. or suspicion, in her new companion's tone while questioning the Khajiit about his uncommon hastiness to close the deal. Truth be told though, when Lili did now deal with common people, this was often the result, at least since her.. change. It was almost as if people could subconsciously sense something that unnerved them. Probably wise of them, to be honest. She could not help but smile slightly, amused at that thought. The smile grew ever so much more though at the cat's attempt to explain his haste, stating that Lili just had good business sense. It was more than clear to all three of them that no one truly bought that petty excuse. But haste suited Lili just fine.

She nodded slightly at the confirmation of the price of the deal, then pulled one one of her coin purses, one of the cleaner ones. There might have still been traces of dried blood on this one but against the dark leather, it was easier to feel than see for the most part. Or for her, smell. But there was little she could do about it now. She opened it up, counting out the coins, removing a few until the amount in the bag was the agreed upon price. For the moment, she put the remainder of the coins in one of the small waist pouches she wore, planning to secure them more carefully later. She plunked the coin purse down on the counter, but as the Khajiit reached for it, she put her hand down over top of it, waiting for the rest of his part of the deal. The story. While she held out no high hopes that this would lead her to all the answers she wanted or sought, it WAS part of the deal.

She arched an eyebrow at hearing the account, most definitely curious and intrigued, but tempering all of that with cynicism and doubt at the veracity of the tale. Shadow's outburst at the conclusion made Liliana turn around, with a curious look at her companion. Well, the cat had not mentioned what the location was, merely a description, but Shadow seemed to recognize it immediately. That was a good first step, at least. She turned back to the Khajiit, finally pushing the coin purse over towards him, and then gathering her new belongings in her arms. "Pleased to do business with you, Sharr'an." she said, then paused, finally freeing one hand temporarily, reached back into her waist pouch, grabbing another hundred septims and dropped it as well on the counter before the cat. "A tip for your helpful nature." she said. She didn't really mean it but.. it might buy favour in the future if she stopped by this way. She had never earned that money nor would it be hard for her to replace in the future so she wasn't shy about parting with it. "Thank you." she added, before turning around and beginning to head out, slowing only enough to wait for Shadow.

As soon as she was out, she turned her head slightly towards her companion. "So, this Labyrinthian place.. I may have interest in visiting.." she began. "I know, I know.. you said it was teeming with dragons and possibly locked up and what not, but.. I believe it may hold some keys to understanding and knowledge that I seek." she explained. "I do understand if you would rather not seek such dangers, but I think I shall have to go and see this place for myself, at some point soon." She paused to kneel, taking her pack off her back and storing the items, other than the staff, that she had bought within, the putting the pack back on. The staff, she kept in her hand to use like a walking stick for now.

She glanced over at Shadow again as she stood. "I am in no immediate rush aside from that that curiosity might impose, but if you care to stay with me, if you have any other places you wish to seek first, I am just has happy to visit those as well." she added, then turned to look towards where the pools Shadow had mentioned earlier were located. "Now, about those heated pools.. or would you rather get some food or anything?" she asked.