Sharing this here for anyone who missed it on Discord yesterday!
Good morning to everyone waking up stateside! ☕ Since I know many of you are currently zombie-walking to your coffee machines, here is a little holiday short story to read with your morning brew.
💘A Letter from Castle Volkihar
Dragonborn,
The sea air here is cold in your bones, and Mother is… Mother. I’m keeping the visit short. Still, the silence here lets memories wander in, so I’m writing about something stupid that made me laugh.
Remember that night at the inn? Ashe was spiraling, staring at the table like answers were hidden in the wood grain. Then you slid that mug over.
Coffee.
Ashe took one sip like she was testing poison. Then she got this intense look. She said it wasn’t fuel, but a “signal impurity” that “perturbed her filtration runes.” She claimed the world got suddenly louder. Clearer. Harder to ignore.
Five minutes later, that “impurity” had her reorganizing a bookshelf with the intensity of a dwemer centurion venting steam. That’s when Aela found us, took one look at Ashe, and asked, “Why is the metal woman vibrating?”
Then came the war: milk or no milk. I suggested a splash to cut the bitterness. Ashe looked at me like I’d offered to rust her gears. She insisted milk would “buffer the signal density.” I told her drinking it black was masochistic. She just blinked. “Flavor is irrelevant. Throughput is priority.”
She claimed she wasn’t mocking me - just “observing.” Like Oblivion she was. Sometimes she just knows exactly how to get under my skin.
Later, she looked from her cup to my tankard and said, “You understand dependency. Like with alcohol.”
I told her to watch her mouth. That really set my teeth on edge.
She paused, contemplating. “Then... a source of comfort?”
That, I allowed.
If you’re reading this and smiling, good. I’ll be back soon. Try not to let Ashe buy coffee unsupervised.
- Serana
Note: Transcribed above because Serana writes in size 24 font and used three pages of parchment just for the coffee rant. 🤣
(P.S. I actually mocked this up in-game for the screenshots. I might leave it in the files for the next bugfix update as a hidden console command Easter Egg for those who want to find it!)
Screenshots by Three Strikes!Also, Ashe custom name requests are still up! Sign up to be a paying Patron, and request away!