Oblivion: Outbound Shipping

Timeline: The following takes place before Episode 1.

            They had a saying. Vaba Maaszi Lhajiito. It Is Necessary to Run Away.

            He didn’t know how right they were until now.

            “Name?” the man asked across the desk, filling out the paperwork.

            “My name?” He hesitated.

The swarthy Imperial across from him cocked an eyebrow. “Yes, your name. This should be the easiest question I ask you.”

“Ah, Fang. My name is Fang.” He supposed that would do. Maybe this guy wouldn’t know of Ja’Dango of Senchal. But better to cover his tracks as best as possible.

“Uh-huh” the Imperial said, scribbling on the paper. “Not really much of a Khajiit name.”

Fang’s ears pinned back against his head, and suppressing a growl, he reached into his coinpurse and dropped a few more golden septims on the table.

The Imperial glanced at them for a moment, and then smiled. “Alright Fang,” he said, palming the gold. “You work on a ship before?”

Another moment of hesitation, but he figured this would actually help him if he was honest. “Yes, I have. Might not be cut for the navy, but I know what needs doing.”

“Alright… and do you have a line of work?” he asked.

“Is that important?” Fang asked in exasperation. The Imperial just tapped the piece of paper. Fang sighed. “I guess my last job was a bodyguard to an alchemist in town. Bosmer by the name of Berengot. Before that I was a fisherman.” Half of that was a lie.

“If I send a man to find this Berengot, could he confirm this?”

Fang nodded. The man studied for a moment, but then scribbled down more information on the paper.

“Alright Khajiit. I’ll have to review this with Captain Fol, but you check out to get on the Floating Log by my book.”

“Good!” Fang said, perhaps too excitedly.

“Yeah yeah. Again, Captain may disagree. Be here at sun-up, and be ready to set sail. We’ll be hitting Falinesti and Anvil… where’d you want off again?”

“Anvil, if you’ll take me,” Fang said, hoping he didn’t sound too pathetic.

The man just nodded and then waved his hand, dismissing Fang. He walked out, back into the harsh, bright light of Elseweyr. He took a deep breath of the sea air, glancing up at the gulls circling above the docks.

By this time tomorrow, if all went well, he’d be long gone from Elseweyr, and within a couple of days he’d be free to start a new life in Cyrodiil. Sure, it had cost him almost everything he had made guarding that fetid little drug dealer, Berengot, but at least he’d be gone from it all. He wasn’t sure what he’d do next once he went to Anvil, but… once he got some cash, he was pretty sure he’d aim for the Imperial City. Or maybe he’d check out the arena of Kvatch, which a more worldly uncle of his had explained in great detail before.

Either way, he’d be out of Elseweyr, and far away from any and all of the troubles that followed him here.