The Children of Sithis

Bravil had never been considered a welcoming place; that is unless one considered a shabby, dirt ridden city festering with criminals welcoming. No, that excuse of a city could never understand the meaning of peace and welcome…but a city it was and a city it stayed. A city where the lowest of the low would lurk, either scrounging for scraps or stealing from those who barely had anything in the first place.

A city of filth, crime and deceit.

But even a town like this, filled with all sorts of beasts, whether by mind or flesh, had its limits. You could lie, cheat, steal…whatever you wished. But there are few lines that not even the coldest of hearts would dare cross…

That is, until one dank night of the month Sun’s Dusk.

The night where, amongst the rotted flesh and putrid bones of the dead, a priest discovered something more horrifying than the corpses surrounding him. That horror would morph into disgust, then pity, and then burst into a fiery rage.

A monster was amongst the people of Bravil...

A monster that must be stopped.

It was decided that in the early hours of dawn, before the warm amber sun could peak its rays across the shores of Niben Bay; and before the first frosts of winter could be melted off the cobbled streets, the shouts of the righteous would pierce the peaceful veil of silence. Flames of torches soon flickered amongst the shadows of angered faces, vitriol leaking from their lips as friend and foe marched to a drab house in the center of town. A simple home, it would seem, to the oblivious outsider.

But not to the people, not to the priest of Arkay.

It was inside that rotting house, poorly made and covered with dying vines, that the Monster resided. A monster who they believed could feel no love, no pity, no shame…a monster who killed and would kill again if left alone amongst the masses.

It could not be risked, for death was already inching its way into the souls of criminals and vagabonds who dared to live in the shithole that was Bravil. Too many have died already, and to let this monster live meant more would quickly follow suite. Even the lives of the few innocents; beggars, the diseased, the orphaned…they too feared that death would grasp its spindly hands around them.

It was with that collective fear and outrage that a decision was made.

The Monster must die.

Before the Monster had a chance to see the mob, their thin silhouette just barely seen from the crooked window, the door was already barricaded, and the vines set ablaze. The Monster would not be able to escape its fiery demise, no matter how they tried, and would be faced with the same cold indifference that the town believed it had for its victims.

In the early hours of dawn, just as the rays of the sun peeked across the shabby wood buildings of Bravil; and indifference grew into a cacophony of righteous disgust and anger, the sound of a woman’s scream pierced the veil of dawn and silenced the voices of the public.

Whatever peace that city strove to keep in its tight grasp was forever lost in that moment, slipping through Bravil’s fingers like grains of sand.

That scream would go on to haunt the minds of the many who heard it, one that would never leave, even as the raging flames smoldered into embers and coal.

It would not matter how long the townsfolk lived, or how much the city adapted.

Ashes could be strewn about and cleaned, or a statue raised in the center of town, to make amends for their one moment of cruelty.

They could wither into old age and forget the few friends they’ve made in their life or the possible criminal that they were.

But despite the dreaded traveling forward by the cold keeper we call Time…

They would never forget the scream of that Monster.

The scream of a mother…who murdered her own children.

(Author's Notes)

First things first: If you managed to read through the whole thing to get here, thank you and welcome to my work! This was essentially my first shot of writing an actual multi-chapter Elder Scrolls fan fiction maybe a year ago. I didn't really know how I was going to continue from here, and still don't, but looking back at this I figured I couldn't just let my work go to waste and decided to share it here.

I might continue it again if there is demand, or truthfully if I can figure out how to delve into the plot and story I want. All in all, I just want to see what is liked or disliked about my writing, and just wanted to share it.

Hope you enjoyed, and that you have a lovely day!