Voice of the Shadows(A 1x1 Between Zenotha and Soap)

(Please note this is a continuation of a role play that started on another cite.)

"I'll try...hopefully, you two won't be too loud." With that last bit of teasing, the werewolf started to walk off with a smile. But the vampire refused to be bested in this pissing match, or rather teasing match.

"At least I can get into a cute girls bed!" With that final note of teasing, Stands-In-Shadows began to guide the Altimer out of the hall and towards the door so they could head to her room. Her pale hands happily kept a firm grip as Vori gave a loud groan and face palm behind them.

"Ass, you are an ass!" The werewolf spoke as the argonian couldn't help the bubbles of laughter. Despite her age, these little spats were always fun. More specifically, when she finally one for once in the battle of wet noodle lashes...

Faralda looked down as the two teased each other. The Altmer had never shared her bed with another woman before, so she was a bit timid. Of course she understood that the two were just close comrades joking with each other; it was nothing that deterred Faralda in the slightest. She almost envied their friendship. After years of having to watch over her back to make sure it never got stabbed by her rivals, namely Tolfdir and Nirya, she would mind a bond like the Argonian and Orc had.

Faralda stepped outside of the Hall of Elements and breathed in the cool air of the night. It didn't matter what month it actually was. From Morning Star to Evening Star, it was always frigid in Winterhold. Faralda had become quite accustomed to the cold though, and with Stands-In-Shadows by her side, he almost didn't even notice the chilly air.

The Hall of Countenance, by contrast, was warm and inviting. The dazzling blue lights were dimmed as many of the master mages had already retired for the night. Faralda led Stands-In-Shadows up the first flight of stair and over to her room. It was a typical dormitory for her hall. Slightly more spacious than the rooms in the Hall of Attainment, Faralda had more room for her personal belongings. In one corner of her room, she had a variety of rare staves lined up against the wall. On her desk were various spell tomes opened with notes that Faralda penned in to try to make them more effective. "Please, do make yourself comfortable," Faralda said motioning for the Argonian to enter.

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Connor had so much on his mind that he wasn't able to sleep much that night. Perhaps the periodic vomiting wasn't helping either. The Bosmer always hated how much of a light weight he was. Of course it was never an easy task for a typical Wood Elf like him to try to drink like the robust Nords he lived with. Connor's father, a true Nord, always tried to encourage him to be more like the natives of Skyrim, but Connor felt like he'd probably fit in more easily in Valenwood.

Personal issues aside, Connor still had to think of how he was going to deal with the vampire and the information he just learned. If Gwendolyn was already trying to make attempts to contact Stands-In-Shadows and they weren't even on good terms, some of the Argonian's better friends would likely try to as well. Whatever the Bosmer was going to do, he'd have to decide and execute it quickly.

The leather clad Argonian smiled brightly as she entered the room. Glowing eyes scanned the room, happily taking in the organization of ingredients, magical spell tomes and overall stuff in the area. Once the spell tomes fully registered to her senses, she moved over to them and began to loom over the items.

"I hope you don't mind if I share a few ideas with you...I understand if the last thing you want to hear is more work, especially considering the time, but I want to share this information with you. Out of many people I've meet, I feel that I can trust you just like I can trust Vori. I know you wouldn't scoff at my theories...but I'm sure your aware of what the sun can do to my kind. Unlike or cousins in Cryodill, the undead of Skyrim do not die in the sun. Rather, just like the strong people here, we can resist the rays and function while our cousins would slowly perish. But even we have a toll to move doing the day. That toll is not only being hot and sweating in your armor, which don't even get me started to how uncomfortable it can be, but whatever energy we expel and use we can't regain.

Have you ever seen anyone moving through out the day that looked a bit warm and was sluggish? Or was able to expel a burst of speed and unable to do anything else while outdoors? They have have been undead. Now what I've been thinking is using the enchantments of restore stamina, restore magika and restore vitality or health to counter these ailments. I know these enchantments can be applied to jewelry. This could potentially lower the sunlight penalty by...half or so, roughly guessing. But going a step further...I've been thinking of only putting restore health on a necklace and restore stamina on a ring. Then also add an enchantment that reduces the cost of destruction magic by one fourth onto the two items. Then I forget what, but I know two pieces of armor can have the destruction cost reduction enchantment on them as well. I wrote it down and have the notes in my room, but it escapes me currently...it was either the helmet and chest piece of helmet and gauntlets...."

After speaking the scaled female began to pace back and forth, abandoning the tomes she had been examining. Her eyes closed in though as she tried to summon the memory from her mind. It was if she she talked about it so many times, it was starting to become lost. The glowing eyes opened fiercely as the memory flooded back to her, as if flood gates existed in her skull and finally deemed the information worth of being recalled.

"Helmet, cuirass, amulets and rings! With all four of those with fortify destruction, potentially unlimited destruction magic could be used or at least greatly reduced in cost. This in turn could be more effective than slightly increased magika regain while exposed to the sun. Now skill itself is still important, but given to a mage with at least near adept level or able to use the ability impact, enemies could be taken down without a chance t retaliate."

Faralda listened intently as Stands-In-Shadows went through her theories. The Altmer didn't mind speaking of such matters in the slightest. On the contrary, talking about the arcane arts helped ease her with the idea of inviting one of her fellow mages into her room. Conversations such as the one she was having with the Argonian exemplified exactly why Faralda dedicated her life to being a mage. While many novice mages settle for spells that have already been discovered and take all information at face value, the masters actively sought out new experiments to improve how the arcane arts were manipulated.

Faralda nodded at the mention of the enchantments. It seemed to be the most sensible solution to the problem at hand. "Employing the use of enchantments is a clever idea. A strong enchantment will never lose its properties despite the surrounding conditions. It seems to me that you've already realized that the more enchantments you have on you, the better. Utilizing grand soul gems, since I can't professionally recommend black soul gems, and having the enchantments placed on the armor by a master could yield successful results," she said.

Faralda then took a moment to consider the types of enchantments that Stands-In-Shadows discussed. "While unlimited destruction magic does sound quite enticing, especially to a master of destruction magic like myself, I fear it may leave you vulnerable in other ways. I've seen first hand that you employ the use conjuration magic on a regular basis with your bound bow. And then there's always restoration magic that can be helpful if you find yourself wounded worse than you expected to be. The latter set of enchantments would require a strong dedication to that one school of magic. The former set, on the other hand, may open up other avenues," she continued.

The limitations of the first set of enchantments was too important to be overlooked. "Well, the good thing about armor and jewelry is that you can take it off and change it. Perhaps you could have one set with the balanced enchantments if you feel like using your bow one day and another set with all fortify destruction if you feel inclined to use destruction magic another day."

Faralda walked over to her desk and left her satchel next to her tomes. She mostly carried around a few Septims and potions on days where she spent the whole day in the college. The next day at Saarthal would be different, but the Altmer could always get ready for an exploratoin in a jiffy. The High Elf then walked over to her bed and lounged on it.

"True, that set does limit one skills. But the unlimited destruction would really only be used during the day, when the bound bow is of little use. For you see, that bow works best with stealth kills. But when the sun is shining, I can't hide in the darkness because their is no darkness to speak of. During those times, I'd rather focus on offense rather than defense. Plus, having a restoring vitality is useful in the wound department. Then during the night, restoring magika is not a problem and sticking to the shadows is easy. But if I do fail, the destruction is an easy back up." Stands-In-Shadows spoke as she walked to the bed, tail swaying gently as she took a seat next to the elf on the bed. A soft smile came upon her face as she looked at the girls facial features and soft skin. That shade of yellow, sun kissed...a very beautiful shade.

"Though for this armor set I'm mostly focusing upon my own needs...tell me, how do you do battle?" The pale, scaly hand lifted and move to gently settle into the elfs hair. A soft smile came upon her fanged face as she felt the locks gently. With her own body lacking hair, the texture proved something of interest.

Faralda listened intently as Stands-In-Shadows explained her reasoning. It made perfect sense. Using a bow in the middle of the day wasn't the best of strategies. While the first shot might be a surprise for an unexpecting enemy, it wouldn't be all the helpful when they come at you angrily with a greatsword. With enough skill in destruction, it might be possible to avoid the need of restoring health if all enemies are killed before getting the chance to cause harm. That was a risky assumption, but if the Argonian avoided threatening fights until the night, then there shouldn't have been any problem.

Faralda smiled back warmly as Stands-In-Shadows walked over to the bed and sat beside her. Faralda was a little surprised by her question; most people weren't really interested in her battling style. "I mostly rely on my destruction magic. While I'm perfectly capable of using fire and frost spells, I tend to prefer lightning spells. I most often find myself attacking rogue mages when I am fighting, so draining their magicka and health at the same time is quite advantageous. I also am found of the art of alteration. My robes offer me little defense, so a quick Ebonyflesh spell can remedy that problem. Mirabelle has taught me some restoration spells if I find that I've bitten off more than I can chew, but that's basically it," the High Elf said. It sounded feeble compared to the thought-out build the Argonian had, but it was what it was. Faralda's golden face turned slightly pink as the Argonian held her hair. Her touch was cool like a crisp morning in the mountains.

"After my build has been created and put onto glass armor, I'll need to make you something as well. Though your build is good, I do believe some enchanted armor can offer more protection that the robes. Granted, ebony flesh is a good defense, it does cost magika to use and if I do recall, lightening magic is not cheap to cast. But considering your heritage, it's safe to assume your pool is large and can regenerate quickly? Though is your power like mine, limited to once a day? My power being able to call upon the sacred Hist for help during combat." Stands-In-Shadows inquired as her pale scales continue to gently touch the strands of hair. Though her caressing stoped as the appendages went to focusing on the removal of her armor. As the head piece was set upon the floor, the argonian just had a blank facial expression.

"...I left my sleeping robes in my room...would you be offended at all if I slept in my under clothes? I understand not if that would be too awkward or make the situation look like something it's not. Back when I would sleep in the under garments with my sire, Velavoren, so many of the swine in that castle poked fun at us. But damn it, it was comfortable." Both of her hands were into comically dramatic fists as her face held a determined facade.

Faralda smiled at Stands-In-Shadows offer to make her enchanted equipment. Faralda had considered the use of enchanted armor before, but she herself wasn't much use at an enchanting station. She could have tried to seek help from the master enchanter at the college, Sergius Turrianus, but he often refused to be any help to those unwilling to pay an exorbitantly large amount of Septims. "I would appreciate that very much. While it is true that I have a large pool of magicka, I rely on it so much that I'd practically be as useful as a Mudcrab if I ran out. Having armor that would be strong enough to the point of not needing an alteration spell, or at least using a weaker spell, would definitely leave me more magicka for offensive attacks. My power, calling upon my ancestors for quick magicka regeneration, is like yours in that it is limited to once a day. I prefer saving it though only for when I'm in a pinch," Faralda replied. And she rarely found herself in a pinch, so usually she was able to use her power at her disposal.

"Please, there's no need to go back to your room for sleeping robes. I myself prefer to sleep in my under garments. You'll find the people here at the college are probably much less judgmental than anywhere else you've been in your life. And if people giggle behind our backs about it, it'll be there problem, not ours, that they're too nosey and immature to deal with it," Faralda said. If Faralda worried about every time somebody disapproved of her, she'd be close to the point of climbing to the tallest tower of the college and jumping face first to the ground below. Faralda slipped off her fur boots and set them in a dresser. She slipped her robes off as well and hung them up. Chilly in just her undergarments, she darted for her bed and climbed under the covers. "Please, make yourself comfortable," she said.

Stands-In-Shadows smiled brightly as she went to removing the leather bracers that clung onto her arm and placed them gently upon the floor next to the helmet. Following suit in the small line were the boots that once covered her scaly toes. The final piece was the largest with the main armor piece being carefully removed. After a bit of fiddling, the whole set was laying upon the floor in a carefully crafted line.

Now clad in simple undergarments, the flat chested argonian immeaditly climbed into bed into bed and went to embracing the warm elf in her icy arms. A soft smile came across the fanged lizards face as she went to snuggling against the living one happily.

"That's one of the things I love about living here. You don't have to worry about people judging you for your choices on the inside. When I used to live in Harkons court I had to deal with petty squabbles and and the general air of insanity about the place. Those who live there are strong in the ways of magic...but I swear that power lured them to Sheogorath's way of thinking." Shadow shook her head woefully as memories of that court came to her mind. Those memories were quickly shoved aside in favor of focusing on cuddling into Faraldas warm form next to her happily.