Episode 5: The Guilded Age

  Chapter 2

  "You never told me you were a practitioner of the arcane arts," Jane said. "What else have you been hiding, Morgendorffer?"

  It was two days after mom's ultimatum. Noontime's bright sun revealed every worn-down speck of filth on Balmora's adobe homes. Darkness suited most cities better, and this one was no exception. Walking with Jane, Daria turned the corner to Guild Row, where most of the chartered guilds kept their offices.

  "I'm barely a practitioner. Back in Charach, I had this soft-headed tutor named Vandries who somehow managed to explain the basics of alteration, mysticism, and restoration. I can cast a few spells, but magic's not something I know that well. And I can't legally practice without a guild member present."

  "Those aren't bad skills to have."

  "I asked Vandries to teach me destruction and got a long lecture about how we should all love one another. Some time in Balmora would probably change his opinion."

  They passed a black-robed Temple preacher, his hoarse voice praising Almalexia's virtue to the uncaring crowd.

  "This might not be so bad for you. Aren't mages all about collecting books and secluding themselves from the world?"

  "I wish they were." Daria sighed. "The Mages Guild is just another example of a corrupt imperial monopoly that abuses its power for self-enrichment and to bully competitors."

  "Speaking as someone who's lived here a while... I don't know if I mind them all that much."

  Daria looked over at her friend, a little surprised to hear her defend the Empire. Jane held up her hands.

  "I'm not saying the guild isn't corrupt," Jane continued, letting her hands fall, "but at least they keep Great House Telvanni's wizards in their weird little corner of Morrowind. I can put up with some corruption if it means not having to worry about a Telvanni lord deciding I'd be a good experimental subject."

  Not sure how to process the information, Daria just grunted. She'd heard pretty awful things about Telvanni. But it wasn't as if Hlaalu was much better. Both profited from slave labor and double dealing.

  "Corrupt or not, I don't have a choice."

  "Isn't Jolda part of the guild? It can't be too bad if a goody-two-shoes like her works there."

  "She's only in the guild as a guest scholar from the School of Julianos. The guild probably keeps Jolda at arm's length from anything corrupt. Here we are."

  Daria stopped. The earthen buildings on both sides had gotten close enough together to almost squeeze out the sunlight. To her right hung a wooden sign emblazoned with the stylized eye of the Mages Guild.

  "Good luck!"

  "I'll need it," Daria said.

  "Hey, if you learn some cool spells, maybe you can go with Trent next time he tours. Mystik Spiral's always looking to add some pizzazz to their shows!"

  "I hate you."

  Jane's laughter rang in Daria's ears as she walked through the arch and into the cold, shadowed space before the front door. The place didn't look promising. Why was it so hard to be left alone? Sure, her social skills weren't the best. But that didn't mean she had to throw herself headfirst into the guild. Except with mom nipping at her heels, she basically did have to.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  The thought of a secretive wizard's conclave conjured images of mystery and magic, of floating flames and arcane chants. But the hallway beyond the door could've belonged to any Balmora office, with tapestries and rugs with abstract designs covering up the bland earthen surfaces. She followed a winding hallway down a steep ramp and into a vast basement too well-lit for the small number of candles within. An oak tree grew from a planter in the center, its leaves untouched by sunlight but somehow still green and vibrant.

  So there was some magic, at least. But the rest looked mundane. Movable paper screens in wooden frames divided up the room into a dozen or so smaller workplaces, each one occupied by a desk and a bored-looking wizard. No unidentifiable noises or auras here, only the sounds of sighs and quill pens scratching on parchment.

  Only the Empire could make magic so boring.

  Director Lli had told Daria to look for one Associate Hetheria. She found Hetheria in a cramped office wedged between a monstrous desk and another of the ubiquitous partitions. An auburn-haired Imperial slightly older than Daria, she was busy writing a letter when Daria stepped up to her.

  "Excuse me?"

  Hetheria looked up, eyes uncomprehending. "You don't work here."

  "I'm the volunteer from Drenlyn, Daria Morgendorffer. Director Lli said she talked—"

  "Oh, you're the new meat." Hetheria put her quill back in the inkwell.

  "And it looks like I've just been served."

  Hetheria waved airily. "Don't sweat it. So why did you volunteer for the Mages Guild?"

  She decided to be honest. Maybe that'd annoy them enough to let her go. "Networking opportunities. At my mother's insistence."

  "That's why a lot of us are here." She motioned for Daria to come in closer, which she did. "This whole volunteer thing is basically a crock, anyway. We take Lli's volunteers to make her look useful to her bosses in Hlaalu. In return, the local Hlaalu bosses make sure to use this chapter's services when they want to look good for the Empire."

  "And when they don't care about looking good?" Daria had to admit that she was starting to like this woman.

  "Then they get one of their own wizards to do the dirty work.

  "That does sound like Hlaalu."

  "You're catching on fast. Anyway, Drenlyn Academy's part of the system. At least you guys are all literate."

  "That strikes me as an overly optimistic assessment."

  "Ha! Anyway, I don't actually have much for you to do. We have some papers that need to be rolled up into guild-standard scrolls."

  Daria considered it. Boring, but she probably wouldn't have to talk to anyone. Then again, her mom might get on her case for not networking enough. "Do you have any tasks that might require the literacy for which Drenlyn attendees are so famed?"

  Hetheria smirked. "You don't get to pick assignments, kid. The Balmora chapter doesn't have enough people because Steward Artorius puts most of our resources into personal projects. And right now, there are a lot of scrolls that need to be rolled."

  She pointed to another workspace, filled almost to capacity with a massive desk buried under a small mountain range's worth of papers. Next to it was a narrow cot where an elderly Orc woman slept on top of the sheets and shook the bed with her snores.

  "Try not to wake Sharn up. She can be cranky. Get to it, volunteer."

  Resigned, Daria crept to the desk and pulled the chair out with as little noise as possible. One of the legs scraped against the stone floor, and Sharn made a rolling snort as loud as thunder, her massive body jerking with the effort. Daria sucked in her breath, but Sharn returned to her slightly-less-loud snoring a moment later.

  Daria carefully sat down. A nearby candle on a brass holder burned but let off no smoke. Suspicious, she held her hand close to the flame. No heat: the candle was real, but the light was an illusion. She guessed it was cheaper than having to buy new candles each time an old one got used up.

  She opened the drawer to her left, which was filled with a hopelessly tangled mess of twine. She looked at the paper at the top of the nearest stack, wondering if it contained the secrets of a powerful spell.

  The title read: Requisition Form for Ink Produced by Chartered Imperial Ink-Mixers and Reagent Extractors in Cyrodiil and Sent by Great House Hlaalu Merchants Using Animal and Ship Transport to Morrowind Province for the Purposes of the Approved and Chartered Guild of Mages Whose Practice of the Arcane Abides by Law as Determined by the Emperor and Interpreted by the Imperial Curia, and by Ethical Custom as Determined by the Priesthood of the Nine Divines and the Cult of the Ancestor-Moth.

  This was going to be a long volunteer gig.

  Musical Closer -