Our heroine, a young girl named Selena, blonde and blue-eyed, stood in Imperial City by the manhole cover and waited for someone. She was a little nervous and often looked around. She was wearing shorts that did not even cover her hips, a crimson robe or a bloody robe.
This garment was associated with the priests of the Mythic Dawn, which was considered marginal and even condemned by the official authorities. However, the real members of the cult wore long clothes that almost reached the ground. But Selena had nothing to do with this cult and knew almost nothing about it, except that it was dedicated to some Daedric god. The fact is that among many young people who like to show their rebellious spirit, it was fashionable to wear some provocative things - Mythical Dawn clothes or necromancers. Selena's mother remarked to her if she had seen her in such a dress, but now Selena was waiting for a friend, on whom she wanted to make a «good» impression, so the robe of the mythical dawn was quite appropriate.
"Hey, Selena!" came a whisper from behind her, but at the same time from somewhere below.
Selena turned around in surprise and realized that the sound was coming from under the lattice hatch cover, the holes in which were so large that they resembled a fragment of a prison cell.
"It's me, Vesta! I'm already here!", - said her friend, - "Come down here."
"Oh! Good! Now, one moment! There's a guard walking along the path, I'll wait until he passes," Selena replied.
If he saw a young lady climbing through a manhole, he would demand an explanation. An imperial guard in bulky armor passed soon by, after which Selena lifted the hatch cover and quickly slipped down into the sewer. She jumped down onto a small stone platform where her friend Vesta was standing.
The friend was a Colovian, or one of the two ethnic groups of the imperial race, and had a slightly dark skin and brown eyes. Selena, on the other hand, belonged to another, more rare Imperian, Nibenean, and was a white blonde woman with blue eyes.
"Oh, you look great, Selena! Especially here under the manhole cover, where the light falls from. I would like to draw you in this light ...", - said Vesta, patting her on the shoulder in a friendly way.
"Hey, how did you end up here? Did you really come to this entrance through the sewers of another district?", - Selena was surprised.
"No, I just came to you and waited here. In this sewer you can meet anyone – zombies, giant rats and bandits selling skuma. It's better for us not to break away from the hatch at all, so that at the first rustle we can quickly rush up."
"If something happens, I'll take one staff with me," Selena said and took out one bulky stick with a skull on the end. "This is the goblin shaman's staff."
Selena took this staff out of her inventory. The fact is that all the inhabitants of Nirn had a so-called System in which, in addition to mana reserves, strength reserves, survivability and other indicators, there was also such an attribute as inventory, where you could store things without putting them in a bag or backpack, but moving them to a special "inner space". An outsider could not just look into someone else's inventory, but either only with his permission, or unnoticed when another person for some reason did not see this "check".
After the words of a friend about the dangers of traveling through the sewers , Selena said:
"If we are attacked here, you will jump out first, and I will cover us with my staffs. He should, in theory, shoot electrical discharges. But I really haven't used it yet."
"I agree. Although I didn't come without a weapon either, Vesta winked: "Well, what's new with you?"
"There's nothing special about it. Mom is getting worse and worse...", Selena said and sighed heavily: "She used to drink potions, but now there is not enough money for them, and potions, as I learned recently, could only alleviate the symptoms, but not cure her."
"She still hasn't said what's wrong with her?"
"No. And I'm afraid it's something very serious. She has contacts in the Guild of Magicians, and they could help her. But if they don't help, it means that even they can't do it."
"Oh, I feel sorry for you. I hope everything will return to normal," Vesta said.
Selena nodded, but she didn't believe in a favorable outcome, and had a bad feeling about it.
"Well... tell me something, distract me from my heavy thoughts. What news have you heard lately?", Selena asked.
The fact is that Vesta worked part-time in the mansion of Umbacano, a famous collector. There are many adventurers of all kinds from different provinces in his house, who often talk about strange things - rare artifacts, unusual spells, strange creatures and so on. Therefore, Vesta could often tell very amazing stories, although they were not confirmed by facts.