voicetesting; canon is the elder scrolls: skyim, please excuse the lack of icons!

[challenged]

[A frank, appraising, suspicious stare.]

You've managed to convince me that this is a safe place to talk, so let's talk. I'll be plain: just what do you want?

There's [the faintest pause, as if she still can't quite believe it herself:] a new dragonborn to guide, the Thalmor are as dangerous as ever, the Empire- [a thousand problems there, all over Tamriel, and no way to fix them; Delphine can only spare the breath to keep surviving, keep searching, keep hanging on to the muddiest and impossible of hopes.]

....well, I just can't afford to waste any time. Maybe you aren't even half my years, but you should be able to realize that much.

Comments

...I just have to say FUCK YOU to your muse for making me go into that embassy. 8|

[kidwithastick]

Maybe they're like my mun and just want you to get used to talking to others.

you will infiltrate those dirty thalmor and you will LIKE it, mister!!

[challenged]

[Huh, a kid... It takes a moment, but Delphine tries to soften - at least outwardly, trying for the easy smile of her innkeeper disguise. The core of her, though, remains a hard and stubborn thing; her life is but one step ahead of the Thalmor swords, and even now she refuses to let her guard down beneath the much friendlier expression.]

If an old lady like me hasn't learned something like that by now, I'd say it was too late.

But they're scary. ;-;

[kidwithastick]

*...that's okay. Ico is used to false sympathy.*

Nah, you're not old.

just imagine them in pretty princess dresses

[challenged]

Oh? [She crouches down to be more on his level, to look him in the eye rather than from her full height.] Over fifty years isn't old to you, not even a little bit?

....... *snerk*

[kidwithastick]

*takes a good long look at her.* You don't look fifty.

fffff okay let's try this again with the right account!! wow self

[challenged]

Chalk it up to exercise and eating your greens.

["Exercise" meaning a life on the run, and as for the second thing....you can't fight on a belly full of sweet rolls, now can you?]

[septim]

A new dragonborn has been found? [ Good news, though the dragonfires are not required anymore to keep Mehrunes Dagon away. ] That's good news, but I take it these 'Thalmor' aren't and the Empire hasn't fared well.

[challenged]

[Delphine immediately stiffens, placing a casual hand on one hip - near the hilt of her sword.] They aren't, and it hasn't.

Yet it's passing strange for someone to speak of the Empire and yet seem oblivious to a foe as hated as the Thalmor. [A deliberate pause; she searches Martin's face. It's been too long since she had the time to contemplate upon the Septim Emperors, to read their texts and refresh her memory of what they once looked like by means of sketched portraits and pictures in tomes of lore. Delphine doesn't realize the true identity of the man she's speaking to.

She only knows, feels in her gut, that he can't be trusted. Almost no one can, and not at first.] I know the Great War is already ancient history for some people, but that's taking it to extremes.

[septim]

[ Martin tenses, his expression clearing of any warmth it held before; now, it's just filled with sadness. His voice pleads. ] Please, tell me what happened to the Empire and who are these Thalmor. I've been gone from Tamriel.

[challenged]

[One eyebrow arches.] I suppose you would have had to travel so far, to need such answers.

[Still, after few more moments of searching Martin's face for deception, Delphine relents. After all, she wouldn't be telling him anything that wasn't common knowledge in Tamriel.]

...I'd be here for hours recounting every last detail, so I'll try to summarize: the Oblivion Crisis was hard on everyone. Destruction and devastation everywhere one turned, and of course the aftermath was no easier. The Empire was greatly weakened by these troubles, especially after the sacrifice of the last Septim Emperor, and it was soon taken over by Titus Mede.

Meanwhile, the Thalmor emerged as the ruling party of the new Aldmeri Dominion. Originally only interested in acquiring Hammerfell, they ultimately sought to conquer the entire Empire. They came close to reaching their goal; the only peace that could be brokered, the White-Gold Concordat, heavily favored them. The Nords of Skyrim were especially angered by the terms - the worship of Talos, for example, has been outlawed.

[She pauses, an angry muscle working in her jaw, and forces herself to take a deep breath. And then she just seems sad, bitter....but not resigned. Not defeated.] So much has changed, and not for the better. The Blades are all but gone, dragons have returned, and a rebellion against the Empire for their decisions has swept through Skyrim.

[septim]

[ Yes, Martin knows about the Oblivion Crisis, intimately. That's not the surprising news, nor does he manage to react as his sacrifice is referenced. It's who takes over his empire that concerns him. ] Titus Mede, the Colovian King?

[ But no, it gets worse than that. His chest contracts painfully as he hears the bloodletting of his empire, the Altmer's disdain against Talos (which he knew) reaches new heights, Skyrim's anger against this treaty, dragons returned, the Blades, all gone, war, rebellion... ]

No... [ He falls to his knees, face contorted in pain and anger and impotency. Speaking towards no one, but himself and his god. ]

Akatosh, why...what was the point of my sacrifice, then?

[challenged]

[She watches him sink to his knees with that same stubborn wariness, albeit one tempered now with a slow-dawning confusion. Yes, it's a terrible and saddening story - but one that Delphine's heard a hundred times before, has lived. The horror and pain were slowly dulled by each day that went by without her head ending up on a pike, and now there's no surprise to be had at any new account of Thalmor cruelty.

Delphine pauses, taking in Martin's agonized words and turning them over in her mind. There's the faint, brief, easily ignored urge to kneel beside him and cry. This woman has long since used up her tears. Besides, those words.....a sacrifice, Akatosh....they ring with familiarity, as if she should already understand. For the moment though, Delphine merely answers this strange man's question.]

Yes, him. [...] It only took a thousand men at his back, by that point. Mm.... [She continues to gaze down at him, her expression difficult.] I suppose it sounds hopeless, doesn't it? But the Empire is still alive; the Thalmor have not yet won. There's the Dragonborn, and...

[Her tone is not idealistic, or an attempt to be soothing, when she finds the proper words; it's grim and fierce and quietly defiant.]

The fight's still on, for those brave enough to continue it.

But I don't want to kill Paarthurnaaaaaaax

[doubleroseknight]

'Tis mostly a safe place tae speak, at any rate.

If you're here, I'll give ye one bit of advice, lass; ye may as well give up on what ye were doing before your mun summoned ye.

then we can't be friends anymore >:V

[challenged]

"Mostly." [A pause.] Still better chances than I'm used to.

[It's half-grumbled to herself more than anything. Delphine's gaze sharpens, is still so very suspicious.] I'm not in the business of giving up, not so easily and certainly not for a mere boy.

;^;

[doubleroseknight]

"Mere boy?" [His voice holds a definite amused tone, and Tam Lin cracks a half-smile, unable to help himself.] Lass, I am assure ye, I am quite a bit older than I look, but I won't hold it against ye.

That aside, 'tis refreshing tae see such a strong-willed woman, as well as one who retains much of her youthful beauty at her age. The years have been kind to ye, lass.

>:VVVVV

[challenged]

[She meets the amusement unabashed, continuing to regard him without trust or warmth. Her response is almost wry.]

I guess flattery isn't quite as dead of an art for you as it is for some. [The years have been anything but kind, not that Tam Lin could know just from appearances; she's clean, whole, composed.]

[doubleroseknight]

Flattery will get ye everywhere these days.

Out of curiosity, what is this "Thalmor" that ye seem t'be be wary of?

super late, sorry! schoolwork and abloobloobloo

[challenged]

Not with me. [She eyes him and seems to consider the question - not because she's stuck for an answer, but rather how to best describe a destructive, complex threat like the Thalmor in simple and concise terms.]

Elves of great cruelty and guile, convinced of their own superiority and seeking to subjugate an entire empire. Currently through subversive political means, but they were the enemy in a war that's been over for barely thirty years.

I regret nothing >.>

[idkfusrodahdova]

[Oh Divines, it's that crazy woman who hides in a closet.]

And why would this place not be a safe haven?

HEH

[challenged]

[excuse you, it's not a CLOSET it's a SUPER SECRET HIDEOUT

also silly dovahkiin, that's not how you spell "righteously paranoid"!]

Never underestimate the reach of the Thalmor, Dragonborn.

|3

[idkfusrodahdova]

[Then why do you keep leaving it open whenever we go out, huh?

And like he cares, for he is DOVAHKIIN!]

The Thalmor do not have any sway here.

[challenged]

[shhhhhh grandma's NPC AI isn't the best at times, don't judge]

That was believed to be the case for most of Tamriel, once, and now look what's happened. It's never safe to just assume things.

[idkfusrodahdova]

[Sure, a likely excuse.]

Any Thalmor that is brought here will be under the reigns of a mun.

[challenged]

Reigns can be overthrown.

[Still, she concedes the point with a nod. Delphine has cautiously believed by now that if the Thalmor could attack her freely, they would have done so. Getting in the last word is just another sign of her stubbornness.]

So, how goes things, Dragonborn? I suppose it'd be naive to hope we're on the same page, from what my own "mun" tells me.