• “Alright! I finally got my last recommendation! I can finally get into the Arcane University!” a young Nord woman cheered, raising her fist into the air.

    She ran out of the Bravil Mages Guild Hall excitedly, then came to a stop in the middle of the wooden bridge over the lonely stream in the village, the midday sun peeking through the overcast sky. She was a tall, slender woman, her bright blonde hair pulled back into a shoulder-length ponytail with a silk pink ribbon tie. Baby blue eyes sparkled with glare and shine as the sun shone itself. Her complexion made her look as young as seventeen, where in actuality she was really twenty. However, being as a Nord, she was to try and act as a Nord. According to lore, Nords were to be great warriors, man or woman, that were able to wield claymores like sticks and foes were to tremble in fear of them.

    On the other hand, though, this Nord had a passion for the magical arts. The ability to actually harness mystical energy with the intent to protect and provide for the better good was fascinating to her. The natives of her homeland used to make fun of her. “Magic is for the weak!” some would say. “Only the power of the blade is what makes a true warrior!”

    Yet, she paid no attention to their insults. Instead, once her family moved to the province of Morrowind while she was in her mid-teens, she took up what little training she got from the local guild halls before they packed up yet again and set out to Cyrodiil, to the province of Leyawiin. Now she was close to being 20-years-old. When she arrived at Leyawiin, she was overjoyed to find the local guild hall of Mages nearby her home. Once she finished unpacking her things in her room, she eagerly ran outside to check it out. Opening up the guild hall doors that lead into the lobby area of the guild, she was amazed to find many other aspiring mages such as herself, conversing, practicing, dueling, all sorts of things. It was all overwhelming to her! Everywhere she looked, there were mages practicing different spells like Soul Trapping and Telekinesis. She got so caught up with what was around her she practically never noticed the Wood Elf she ran into, both of them falling to the ground. “Ow...Uh oh...I'm gonna be in trouble...” she thought, as she looked over to the fallen woman who had gotten herself back up rather quickly and looked down to her.

    The Nord bolted up to her feet and quickly bowed. “My apologies! Please, I didn't mean to.”

    The Wood Elf just smiled, raising the bowing citizen erect, standing her up straight. “It is alright, child. I know it looks overwhelming to see all sorts of ways to harness the magical aspect of nature. Do you like all that you see?”

    She nodded her head quickly, smiling brightly. “Yes, very much so! I've always wanted to be a mage! I started a bit in Balmora in Morrowind, and when my family moved here, I saw this place and hurried over! I would like to continue my studies within the Mages Guild.”

    “Ah yes, that's great. Welcome to Cyrodiil, re...”

    “Brittany. Brittany Marrison. Nord.” she introduced, bowing once more for respect, her ponytail draping against the back of her neck.

    “Brittany? Such a pretty name for an up-n-coming Mage. I am Dagail, head of the Leyawiin Mages Guild. Welcome.” She replied with a pleasing grin.

    That was about a few months ago, nearing the end of the Oblivion Crisis, as all the locals called it. You see, those were very dark times. The latest emperor, Uriel Septim VII, was killed by a cult named the Mythic Dawn, followers of the Daedric Lord Mehrunes Dagon. The land was plagued by creatures from the world of Oblivion, gates opening outside heavily fortified cities and unsuspecting settlements, all of which were becoming exhausted by the sheer numbers the creatures traveled in. Brittany found herself in the middle of the crisis once while working on completing her task from the head mage in Skingrad. She was given a task of locating a lost Associate, the lowest rank in the guild. His name was Erthor, and after talking to her guild mates within the hall, she found out he was held up in Bleak Flats Cave, about a few minutes north of Skingrad. However, so was another Oblivion gate just about a few yards away. Making her way there, she noticed the skies turning red with anger, lightning cracking to and fro within the midst of the blood red clouds. She stopped in place to wonder how such a thing happened; this was very strange to her, as it never happened to her this phenomenon. Being distracted, she took no note of the lurking scamps nearby, who immediately ambushed her. They blocked her entrance to the cave, her only place for refuge. Two casted fire at her, but she dodged them quickly. However, another charged into her, jabbing its elbow into her stomach. Bending over due to the pain, she fell to her side and they all converged onto her, tearing into her elegant velvet outfit of blue, her favorite one at best, too. She knew it looked like it was over, until an arrow pierced one of the scamps through the body, pinning it against the cave door. The other two scamps looked up to eye the attacker. Brittany did the same, however was limited in her movements. She saw a young female Imperialist, close to her age, her hair a striking violet color, loosely combed and draping over her shoulders then onto her cuirass, which bore the insignia of Kvatch. She readied another arrow and fired again at the scamp closest to Brittany, having it fall down dead next to the fallen mage. Brittany took a closer look at the arrow; it was of an elegant and luxurious material. “Probably ebony...” she thought, as the last scamp charged in to attack the Imperial.

    Undeterred, she readied another ebony arrow, aimed, and fired it towards the last creature. It shrieked with terror, slashing at the girl, leaving scratches on the breastplate. “You're a persistent bugger...” she said, taking out a dagger, with a blade made entirely our of a greenish-like glass, and stabbing it into the chest. It fell without life. She holstered it back, along with her bow, and walked up towards Brittany, kneeling down to her. “Hey, you alright there?” she asked, tilting her head a bit.

    “A little, I think...” the young mage replied, trying to at least sit up, yet lost a lot of strength just defending herself.

    “Hang on, there. You better not move around that much, sweetie. You're in real pain. By the way, what's a pretty girl like you doing around here, if you don't mind me asking?” she asked.

    “Sweetie? Pretty girl? Is she trying to hit on me or something?” Thoughts were racing in Brittany's head as to her heroine's sexual orientation. “I'm trying to find a missing...Associate from the Skingrad Mages Guild...” she replied.

    She smirked. “You're a mage? Kinda figured that from the way you didn't wear any armor...heheh...”

    Great, just what she needed. Another warrior-type person about to poke fun at her for being a mage. Just great...

    “Can you just grab me a healing potion from my bag?” Brittany asked her, pointing with her eyes towards her satchel, just out of her reach.

    “Sure thing, girl.” The Imperial got up, walked around her and picked up the bag, starting to fish through it. “You said a healing potion, right?”

    “Yes, the pinkish bottle with a heart-sticker on it. That one.”

    “Alright,” she replied, searching for such a bottle. It lead to her rummaging everywhere; it was a huge bag, I can't believe how many things can fit in it! “Aha! I found it!”

    Her hand emerged to reveal the sought after elixir. Dropping the bag next to Brittany, she opened the bottle while she knelt down next to her again. “Alright, let me help ya with this,” she insisted, propping up her head and feeding her the contents of the bottle.

    With each passing gulp she took, she could feel the warmth of the concoction inside her body, the feeling of her arms coming back to her with renewed strength. She immediately sat up, letting out a sigh of relief. “Thanks for the help with those things...” she thanked.

    “No problem. I was just about to head into that fiery gate right there until I saw you in trouble, hun,” she replied, sending a cringing feeling to Brittany with that word 'hun'; she knew now of who this girl really is. “By the way, my name's Myna Quen, an Imperial ranger. What's your name?”

    Brittany looked at her, turning her head towards the Myna, “I'm Brittany Marrison, a Nord mage from Morrowind.”

    “Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Brit. I guess I'll catch up with you some other time. I have gates to close and an amulet to recover. See ya, love,” she replied, coming close and placing a soft kiss on the mage's cheek, then running off into the accursed portal.

    Immediately wiping off the kiss as she ran off, she glared angrily at the portal. “I can't believe she did that! What a...what a...whatever!!”

    Words jumbled up inside her head; her reaction resulted to a loss of enunciation. Getting back up and collecting her things, she took several passing glances at the fallen scamps, each of which with at least one arrow of ebony pierced into the body. “Well, she may be a weird girl, but she's one great shot...”

    Now, she has finally achieved all her necessary recommendations; finally, it was off to the Arcane University, where she dreamed of become a part of even before she moved with her family from Morrowind. Gazing into the slow-flowing river beneath her, she reminisced over the past few weeks leading up to this point. Obtaining the Finger of the Mountain spell while in Chorrol, her encounter with a rouge mage, killing off travelers near Anvil, and a bunch more. “Brittany, dear?” Kud-Ei called to her near the entrance to the Bravil Mage's Guild.

    Brittany looked over to her shoulder and walked up to her. “Yes, Guildmaster Kud-Ei? Something wrong?”

    The Argonian shook her head. “No, no, nothing is wrong, dear child. We were just beginning to think you'd already run off without saying goodbye.”

    “Of course I wouldn't do that! We're all like family, and I can't leave my family without letting them know first!” she replied with a grin.

    “Well, I'm grateful to hear that, dear. Are you ready to begin your studies at the Arcane University?”

    “Most definitely!” she said, determinedly, walking inside the hall. The Bravil Mage's Guild hall was three stories tall; the main level consisting of the dining room, pantry, and alchemy lab, the second floor housed all the guild mates' quarters, while the top floor was Kud-Ei's private quarters. Coming to the second floor, she walked straight ahead into her room, a nicely-spaced bedroom with a few desks, which was cluttered with spell scrolls, some chests to place her equipment, and a twin-size bed with forest green sheets and two white pillows, one belonging to the guild and the other she kept close to her. While she was packing up all her things, when she grabbed for her pillow on the bed, it wasn't there! Looking up from her bag, she scanned the bed; probably, it fell off the side next to the wall? Jumping onto the bed, she looked over the side near the wall. “Nope...not here either...Where could it be?!”

    She threw the sheets off the bed; nothing there, also! Her search turned frantic. Looking under the bed, inside the chests, everywhere in her room. There was no sign of it! “That was my favorite pillow...I had something in there...now it's gone...” she whispered to herself, dropping to her knees next to the bed and dropping her head into the mattress, crying.

    Another mage overheard her sobs and walked into her room. “Brittany? What's going on? Something happen?” she asked her, coming down to her, placing an arm of comfort around her.

    “I can't find my pillow...It was here a second ago and now its gone...I can't find it, Ardaline...” she sobbed.

    “Oh, that? I'm sorry, Brittany...I thought it was one the guild had extras of...I didn't know it was yours...” Ardaline confessed. “I swear I didn't know it was yours...”

    Brittany looked up at her, eyes pink from her tears. “You have it?! Where is it?” She grasped Ardaline's shoulders, hoping she'll give an answer, one that'll make finding her pillow easy.

    “It's just in my room...heheh...you can let go of me now...” she replied with an uneasy chuckle.

    Brittany did as she said, getting up to her feet and, with Ardaline walking out of her room, followed suit. “Anyway, why is it so important to you? It's just an ordinary pillow, nothing special.”

    “It's special to me! I've had it since I left Morrowind. Still soft as ever...” the Nord mage admitted, looking up towards the right, arms folded.

    “What was so special about it in Morrowind?”

    “That's none of your business! It's my special pillow and that's it!” she replied, her tone raising a bit to reveal her uneasiness.

    “Ok, ok, fine...No need to get a temper tantrum...sheesh...”

    They both walked into Ardaline's room, which was down the hall and being the second door to the right. Brittany walked in and noticed her own pillow laying on top of another on her bed; she could determine it from an very faint mark on the case in a shape of a kiss. Seemed as though she had a pretty romantic dream some night. Rushing inside, she grabbed it and embraced it tightly. “I found it...Thank goodness...” she thought, relieved to know it was in her possession again.

    Thanking Ardaline and giving her a hug goodbye, she ran back into her room and resumed packing, placing her pillow in last. Sporting her quilted doublet and tan linen dress, she slipped on her leather shoes; it was going to be a long trip to the Imperial City. Picking up her satchel, she walked downstairs and gave one last hug towards her guildmaster. “I promise to come back soon, Kud-Ei, as soon as I finish my studies!” Brittany told her.

    “Please do, dear child. You know I get worried about you. Have fun and good luck.”

    “I will.” With that, Brittany headed out the front door, coming out into the brisk mid-morning air of Bravil. She looked into a small pouch of her satchel and counted up some gold. “Hm...let's see...This should get me enough for a nice room at an inn along the way...” she said to herself, finally closing it and walking up to the main gate to the north. Two guards walked towards the large booming door and opened it for her. “Thank you for staying with us in Bravil, ma'am,” one guard said, only to be met with a nod. Finally out of the city, crossing the old, rackety bridge, she kept walking another half-mile until she stopped and pulled out her pillow from her bag. Rummaging her hand inside the pillowcase, she felt something small and solid. Taking it out slowly, her hand reveal a small jade emerald ring. “Phew...It's still here...The ring I'll give to my husband-to-be...” she thought, gently kissing it and replacing it back into the pillowcase.

    Replacing her pillow, she continued onto her trek to the Imperial City, and to start on her way to becoming the best Nord mage she always dreamed of being.

    A/N: Here's Brittany Marrison, everyone. She's one of four characters I have on the game, each of them having their own story. What's gonna be nifty is that all four stories will mesh together. Like how Myna Quen's story got meshed into this one. This one's gonna be fun.

    A/N part 2: Oh yeah, about this prologue. Almost everyone has their favorite pillow. They're very personal objects, as one cartoonist brought out. Don't you all have one? I know I do.

    A/N part 3: Oblivion owned by Bethesda Softworks; Brittany Marrison & Myna Quen owned by me, ShadowBasher (FanFiction.net name)