Oblivion. I entered the town of Chorrol a few days ago; previously I had been wandering the wilderness around the town of Skingrad. I was interested in buying a house there, but apart from having no money I couldn't even get someone to have a decent conversation with me about it. At any rate, my travels around Skingrad had brought me up to a novice yet comfortable seventh level of experience, so I arrived in Chorrol ready for anything. Yet when you're ready for anything, you're prepared for nothing.
What first set me off in the direction of Chorrol was the aspect of joining the Fighter's Guild, so I was more than a little surprised that there was no work to be had in Chorrol after I joined. So I concentrated on getting my recommendation from the Mage's Guild. While achieving this recommendation ended up being incredibly simple, it wasn't very profitable. While I now have the means to learn an incredibly specialized spell, it doesn't help me get rid of the shoddy armor I had been wearing. Although a young girl named Dar-ma introduced herself to me and told me to come to her mother's General Store for some good deals, I needed to line my pockets with gold first. I set off to look around in the caves of the surrounding area, hoping to find some unwitting goblin that had horded more money that it had the means to protect.
Perhaps I should have been a little more thoughtful about entering a cave named "Liar of the Titans", but my thirst for gold dominated my common sense. Even though the cave was just a ways up the hill outside of the south gate of town, on a road constantly patrolled by the Imperial Guard, it wasn't long before I met a pair of Ogres and a Minotaur within the caverns. I was no match for one them of my own, let alone three. I decided it would be best if I run for my life. I reached the door leading back to the outside world, and exited the cave thinking that I was safely back in the forest with the road in my sight. Monsters don't open cave doors and come into the overworld...yet these ones did.
When I recovered from the Ogre punching me unsuspectingly in the back of the head, which promptly drained most of my hit points, I quickly fled down the road, only pausing to throw a few magical fireballs at my pursuers. Before the gates of Chorrol came into view, I was surprised to see an Imperial Guard jump down from his horse and run straight for my pursuers, sword drawn. Of course, with the odds more than even, I joined the fight. The fight nearly drained me of all of my life, but finally the Imperial Guard and I saw victory. While I had taken alot of damage in this fight, so had he. A terrible, yet practical plan started to form in my head, especially after I noticed the Imperial Guard didn't heal himself.
After healing my wounds I was back up the hill and into the cave, as quickly as I could possibly go. I didn't even get as far into the caverns as I had been before when I met another angry Ogre. I was running for the cave door again, and soon running down the mountain with the Ogre in pursuit. I wasn't quite as frantic this time, more leading than fleeing. Sure enough, my Imperial Guard friend found me and leapt to my assistance again...and to my surprise, a dark elf archer from within the woods also joined in the fight. These were great odds...too good for my plan, so I sat back and watched my would-be companions fight the good fight...as I betrayed them to their death.
The first one to go down was the already wounded Imperial Guard. He did a surprising amount of damage to the Ogre compared to the little bit of life he had left. The Dark Elf ranger did alot more damage, for a time I was quite concerned that he was going to take down the Ogre. I was relieved when the Ogre finally beat down the archer and turned on me, now we could get to business. A few well placed fireballs finally took the Ogre down, but not without me receiving an obscene amount of damage first. I quickly turned my attention to the fallen Imperial Guard. I took everything I could carry.
As I stood over him, armor and weapons stripped and his naked corpse on the side of the road, I felt ashamed about what I did. While there would be no repercussions from authorities because I did not land the blows that killed these men, I nevertheless felt perhaps there would have been a better way to do this. A way that didn't have to involve the death of innocents, especially those who were good enough to rush to my aid.
Yet the Imperial Guard's armor was vastly superior to what I had been wearing...and I also acquired a beautiful Silver Longsword, much better than my previous Steel Shortsword. Upon entering Chorrol, none of the town guards said anything to me about wearing Imperial Armor. It looks as though I had gotten away with it, scot free. I vowed to myself that I would make good use of this opportunity; I would use this armor and sword to stay on the straight and narrow. As I pondered my epiphany further, I made my way to the General Store to sell the Ogre's teeth. After I arrived at the General Store, I quickly found that my newfound vigilance would be put to the test sooner than expected. Dar-ma had gone missing.