Introducing the Wanderers (Altmer)

Uulnath Drank or “Ta’drank”

He, an Altmer from the Summerset Isles to the west of Valenwood’s mainland, now ventures far and wide in search of intel that may lead him to the next fabled ancient cache. Led by the intelligent Queen Ayrenn, his homeland is now under the control of the Aldmeri Dominion. And most Altmer as well as those that inhabit the isles feel this the right discourse in securing the throne and the rightful existence of Altmer culture. Uulnath Drank however, couldn’t be bothered less by the actions of the lustrous tall.

His mother and father had contributed to the efforts in restoring the College of Aldemeri, and during these early times Uulnath was taught to understand the superior magical talent an Altmer possesses. However, he was drawn to the coast in search of his next loot. Here the bountiful nature of the sea and lands sang to him the locations of great treasures. This adventurous spirit gave him not only the ability to work as needed, but also proved a formidable training ground for a then young Altmer boy.

The wild beasts of these lands are not to be underestimated, as is apparent through the telling of fables to Altmer children. Tales of the adventurer who ventured too far only to fall victim to a dark crevasse, one inhabited by a deadly troll no less.   

Now having reached the age of 526, his skills are only beginning to sharpen like that of the Altmer tongue. As Uulnath explored throughout the lands of Valenwood he found home and family among a small group of fellow wanderers. Through his trials, debaucheries and the crafting of his own potent ales, Uulnath has come to wear a new title, that of Ta’drank.

You see, the Altmer has at their disposal not only the blessed magics of gods, but a liver rivaling that of the largest Nordic female. Whilst most could not handle the trials of The Seven Deadly Ales Ta’drank would handle two and a half without losing an ounce of wit about him.

This title was bestowed upon him by a tiny, fast handed wood elf named Peabody many years before this day. It was a common jest to play the game of  “Flagon Ta,” which involved the placing of a Ta rune into the flagon of one unsuspecting victim. If this were completed without the person noticing, the owner of the flagon would turn his pockets inside out and distribute its contents amongst the group. If however the owner of the flagon caught the perpetrator in the act, the punishment is enacted on them instead and with the added bonus of having to procure the next round of ales.

This is a game known very well by Ta’drank for it was played amongst the drunks of fisheries once the day’s fish had been brought in and their pockets had been filled. He had spent many days within these fisheries and had become proficient at the game no matter the state of mind. The security of one’s ale is the game. Which brings us back to Peabody, for if the security of one’s ale was at stake it was as if this little Bosmer always had all the right keys. Time and time again Ta’drank found himself pocket-out and penniless with a Ta in his drank. Long Live the Ale!

After The Long Evening

Peabody enters the room, “Aussie Jack!”, he exclaimed, as groans came from Elendar, “Good Morning to my favorite grey skinned Mer! I may have borrowed your purse as you were dreaming of that Ashlander girl you fancied from Bleakrock. Anyway, no worries you dry old leaf, ales are on me this evening”.

Elendar slowly rose from sleep and sat over the edge of his inn bed. Rubbing his eyes and head and trying to avoid looking at any of the interior torches which lit their room, the dark elf felt around for his coin purse. “… How much later did you stay up drinking?” he asked the Bosmer. “Drinking?!” exclaimed the wood elf, chortling a little as he moved his hand towards his leather belt. “I haven’t stopped, but, really, I’ve been working.” Peabody said this with a smile as he tossed Elendar’s coin purse to him, more full than it had been the previous night. At this the wood elf laughed and walked from their inn room to resupply for their travels that day.

The dark elf just sat there for a while with his head down in the palms of his hands. “My head feels like it’s been jumped on by a Dwemer Centurion,” he thought to himself.

 Peabody was sitting at a table with some orcs in the corner of the tavern when Elendar finally made his way to breakfast. The inn keeper of The Greedy Gut, Mazabakh, whose plump stature seemed the likely origin of the business’ name, was a gruff yet considerate orc - likely only as a result of this inn being his singular source of income. The dark elf sat at the bar where Mazabakh had served coffee and plates of breakfast to whoever wanted to help themselves, when a commotion from the corner where Peabody was distracted Elendar from his meal. An orc was now standing and his chair had flown backwards several feet. He looked enraged. “You cheated,” the orc grunted. The wood elf sat calmly for a moment and then finally said, “Are you insinuating that I tricked you, orc? Which the Green knows wouldn’t be hard to do, by the way.” At this the orc rushed forward to grab Peabody by the neck, but the Bosmer in one swift motion stepped up onto the table and flipped over the brute, using the orc’s own shoulders and forward momentum to propel his flip and send the orc half running, half tripping over himself into a stack of crates nearby. The splintered wood and provisions littered the ground and completely enveloped the prone orc's body.

 At this, Elendar just smirked and was content to continue with his breakfast as though nothing was going on. The inn keeper’s daughter, Mulzah, rushed from the adjoining hallway to see what the commotion was, only to see her father Mazabakh and a dark elf at the bar in front of the fire pretending nothing had happened, and a wood elf clapping his hands, as if to shake off dust, as another orc dragged out his now unconscious friend, not bothering to keep his voice down as he growled at the debilitated Orsimer. “You really are an idiot. I don’t know why I sit around while you get yourself into these types of..." The daughter, before turning on her heels and storming off, yelled across the room at her father, “and I suppose I’ll be cleaning that up, huh?!” Her disgruntled muttering could be heard growing more distant as she moved down the hall. By the time she was barely audible, Peabody joined Elendar at the bar. “Z’en’s bounty, that stodgy ol’orc nearly took my head off”, said Peabody with a chuckle as he ate the bread off of Elendar’s plate. The dark elf looked up at Peabody as the wood elf finished off the last of the Dunmer’s coffee for him. “So, what was that all about?” asked Elendar. “Well I offered to show him a magic trick, which consisted of making objects disappear, strictly golden objects of course” responded the Bosmer with a smug grin. “It seemed like you two were at a game,” replied the dark elf. “Ohh yes,” the Bosmer started, “well, I happened to acquire us an opportunistic detour for the day. A map of sorts. It was a game of chance, you see, where the chance for my new Orsimer friend was to lose his map, or lose his wits. It turned out that he wanted to lose both.” “Oh,” said Elendar, “and I suppose this map will lead us to coin?” The Bosmer smiled at this and said, “well, that, and hopefully something a bit more valuable.”

 In truth, Peabody was not entirely sure what the map led to, though the orc seemed to think it was of great value. So with that, like slaughter fish on a swimmer, the Bosmer felt that it could be more valuable to the elves than to the orc which he took exception to. “Where does this map lead?” asked Elendar. “No idea,” said the wood elf as he flipped a coin to the inn keep. This response slightly disconcerted Elendar. When Peabody feigned aloofness, it was only because the idea of danger being sprung on Elendar when unaware seemed to humor the wood elf. However, the dark elf trusted him enough, and knew that any danger Peabody lined up was never insurmountable, at least not thus far.

 The two Mer then prepared to set out from the great orc city of Orsinium, with only Peabody completely aware of where they were going. “Don’t look so worried Aussie, the Green will guide us, or whatever Three you prefer” Peabody said whilst encouragingly nudging his grey companion onto their beaten path. As the two wandered down the road, sounds of Peabody’s banter and Elendar’s slight remarks faded. Then all of a sudden, “THE ALE, WHERE’S THE ALE?!” Peabody exclaimed as Elendar laughed at him, “I am sure there is a tavern on our way, we always seem to stumble into one”.

Introducing the Wanderers (Dunmer)

Elendar "Australia Jackson" Samarys

Australia Jackson, born in the great house Redoran, and so called at birth Redoran Elendar Samarys, is a Mer of the Warrior house of Morrowind. Raised in the warrior class of the Dunmer, this humble young dark elf had lived the typical life of any Dunmer in house Redoran.

However, at a very young age, providence was against him. While visiting a market in Balmora, a family member was brutally murdered as a result of clandestine inter-house rivalry. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Elendar was accused of the murder of his own family member. After being taken into custody by the local Ordinators, Elendar was found guilty of murder of a member of his own house, and was to be sold into slavery.

Heartbroken, though unwilling to accept this fate, Elendar escaped custody in Balmora and left Vvardenfell altogether. He travelled west and made his way into Skyrim, realm of the Nords, though not without difficulty. The high Ordinators had ordered Elendar’s immediate retrieval and return to Vvardenfell to suffer the punishment of his crime. Word went ahead of the Ordinators of the ‘dangerous Dumner, Elendar Samarys,’ who was to be captured and returned to Vvardenfell for a hefty reward.

While laying low in Riften, a poor traveling bard recognized Elendar from wanted ads and had a mind to claim the reward. In a foolish attempt to lure Elendar into a trap, the bard Nord fell to the Dunmer’s quick bow reflex. The Riften guards were alerted to the murder of the bard, and immediately set out to sweep the city in search of a “tall Dunmer with angled features and dark reddish-purple hair.” Knowing he had precious little time to escape, Elendar rushed to the lower levels of Riften where he could escape via the waterways. Eluding the guards who were moving above, he crept down the dockside westward toward the city’s adjacent lake where Elendar could attempt a departure. As he snuck along the stone walls he nearly tripped over the boot of a Bosmer, who, though with an arrogant air and some smirking, helped Elendar avoid detection by ducking out into a sewer-way. This was not, of course, before the wood elf made a quick failed attempt at pick pocketing Elendar - it was exactly this failure on the part of the wood elf which made the dark elf impressive to him; he never failed at pick pocketing.

The Bosmer, named Peabody, learned all of Elendar’s troubles, and offered the Dunmer to travel with him through Tamriel, and eventually back to the Aldmeri Dominion. Elendar knew he would certainly be safe in the Dominion.

So, what about the name, Australia Jackson?

The name ‘Australia Jackson’ came partly from the Bosmer, and partly from a bard in a city on the west side of Skyrim called Solitude. Here, the bard college is full of young talent trying to compose songs of the adventures of others. As Peabody and Elendar enjoyed a few ales at The Winking Skeever, the bard asked for Elendar’s name as to write a song about his tales. This made Elendar uncomfortable, though he knew he was, in all probability, safe from the Dunmer here, where the Altmer had such a strong presence in Skyrim. Recognizing Elendar’s discomfort, Peabody drunkenly, laughingly blurted out, “His name is Australia Jackson!” And the bard went off. The Dunmer never much liked this name, though the two Mer were quickly great friends from then on. The ales have since never stopped flowing.

Introducing the Wanderers (Bosmer)

Peabody Pinewood

Basim "Peabody" Pinewood is no stranger to the ways of the Pact, in that his father and mother were entirely embedded in the ways of the Green. However, the strict rules of his kin never caught on. At a young age Basim was sent to serve a Spinner by his father, just as he had been, in hopes to have him develop a more rigid understanding and belief in Y'ffre's ways. Unfortunately, this slightly back fired as the easily influenced Bosmer fell on to the book of Lorkhaj, the trickster-diety, and Nocturnal, the night mistress. As he studied the old text he became as deceitful as he was charming.

Decades later Basim was well versed in the Pact as well as his mischievous beliefs and suggested to the old Spinner he make a pilgrimage, in the name of the Green Pact of course. However, this "pilgrimage" was actually a plan of escape, as Basim wanted nothing more than to find his way into the courts of the Nightingales.  

So at this point you're probably wondering "Why Peabody, where'd that come from?"

 Along his travels he came by a group of wanderers, he snuck up attempting to be unseen like a character in the shadowy tales he had read, but he was seen. The wanderers were a group of Khajiit, Basim may be nimble, but to assume he would make it past their sharp gaze was foolish. Luckily, the Khajiit were a merry group and invited Basim to join in there imbibing of ale, lavish meal, and story telling. However, one of the Khajiit could not move past Basim's stature and began to refer to him as Pea'Body. Through their talks of travel it was made apparent that this collective of Khajiit were the type that knew how to acquire various commodities and goods. They later invited their new found Pea'body to join them on there travels and there you have it. Basim was never a fan of his birth name and adopted his new alias quickly. Throughout the years he traveled Tameriel from one end to the other learning slight of hand and how to enter any door.

As he aged into adulthood (a ripe 65 years of age) he returned to Valenwood a different Mer. As of today, Peabody may be seen wandering the Elden Root or continuing his search for the shadowy halls of Nocturnal with a full quiver and a sharp-eye. However, if you see him be aware of your pockets or purses as he may not be malicious, but he does prefer the contents of others pockets more than his own.