Our four rag-tag adventurers locates the ruins of a forgotten chapel northwest of the rope bridge and in more or less silence lingers past dusk. As lady Synette tries to banish the encroaching darkness by conjuring magelight, the spell is misscast and becomes a powerful eruption of light and sound (read: flashbang) that is sure to have been noticed within the city's walls. So much for discretion...
After having waited for eight glasses (one glass = half and hour), a figure approached them. Behind a dark wool cloak were eyes the colour of sprouting leaves and an angular face. They struggled to determine the gender until Emelion, altmeri steward of Bravil's countess, began to speak. She explained that the court feared that the threat of an uprising within the city was very real. This due to rumors being spread that the countess herself and several members of her court have been befriending argonians in Bravil and treating them favourably, while ignoring the plight of men and mer. The steward of course explained there was no truth to the rumors but that they still needed to come to an end. Two dark-clad figures, posing as dignitaries, have been spotted all around Bravil's poor (poorer?) areas since before the gates were closed and she says the court believes these two are seditious agents that seek to organize a rebellion. What Emelion asks of the party is that they make their way into the city under cover of the night and locate the two agents and dispose of them and any more followers unknown to the court. She also clarifies that they have tried to utilize the city guard clad as paupers but that the agents have always been out of reach, as if they knew the faces of the entire city guard.
The adventurers accepts without much inquiries for steward Emelion and heads for the shores of the Niben Bay where they locate a rickety raft and three poles. It is with some hesitation they set off onto the bay. They struggle not to drift on current and risk reaching too far depths for their poles but by plunging their arms into the water manages to steer back towards the city. While submerged, Einhard's left hand suffers the cruel bite of a slaughterfish. They enter Bravil through the baygates and silently makes their way up the steep docks.
Can spells even be misscast in the Elder Scrolls? I recognize the idea from other settings such as Warhammer, fantasy and future, or Dragon Age. Although magic is more closely intertwined with demons in all three of these universes. That's not the case in the Elder Scrolls universe, opposite of that it's Aedra that are believed to recide in Aetherius.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the differences to the "metaphysics" of magic in these various universes. Indeed, magic is more stable in the Elder Scrolls and isn't as closely tied to daedra as the Warp is tied to demons in Warhammer. But spells can still be misscast, though with less frequency.
DeleteTake for example this unfinished quest from Skyrim: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Missing_Apprentices#The_Missing_Apprentices
But instead of having a set list of effects from a failed casting attempt, I rather prefer improvising the effects based on the spell cast and the invoker. In the above mentioned post, the group aimed at being discrete and stealthy but failed a roll and... FLASHBANG!