My normal posts are 2-5 paragraphs. This is long because it's a starter.

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Mahzadi stood beneath an overhang on the tiny guest balcony, muzzle lifted as she gazed dully out across the Inner Sea. On a clear day one could make out the Morrowind mainland from here, a flat smudge of brown on the horizon, but today a dreary gray haze concealed all. It wasn't yet noon but felt much later. Thick clouds lowered the sky and an intermittent drizzle cast pockmarks on an opaque and steely sea. The light of Magnus shone down only in narrow shafts where the clouds parted. Seastacks dotted the waters for as far as one cared to look. When traveling in small groups around the Telvanni Isles, the Dunmer preferred to use flat-bottomed skiffs, and in fact Mahzadi was watching for just such a boat now.

One hand gripped the woody stalk that formed a living rail. Tendrils wove together to form the balusters, with smaller vinelike offshoots curling into delicate filigree. The balcony the Khajiit stood upon was a fungal shelf growing from the fleshy surface of Tel Nivayn. Pale green in color with a slightly spongy texture – as if walking on moss – the shelf was a perfect semi-circle, with a smaller shelf overheard providing shelter from the elements.

In her other hand, the one not gripping the rail, the Khajiit held a bottle of Sujamma. Presently she lifted the bottle to her lips and let a sip of the liquor wash over her tongue. It was good stuff, a hint of saltrice bread hiding under acrid harshness. The fire it lit in her belly was a nice contrast to the cold drizzle.

A cathay-raht, the Khajiit stood head and shoulders taller than the average Dunmer. Every part of her was powerfully muscled and thick, right down to a heavy-looking skull and big blunt muzzle that would have looked natural on a sabre cat. She was black-furred save for a splash of white across her muzzle. This white mark continued down her throat in the one direction, while in the other it tapered into a little stripe that disappeared between the lobes of her sloped forehead. Her eyes were hazel-green, irises rimmed in brown. To run fingers through her pelt would reveal a gritty texture, as if she hadn't bothered to groom herself in a while.

She was clad in bonemold. The couters flared into paddle-like spurs at the outside of each elbow, subtly advertising that the armor was of Telvanni make. The pauldrons were rounded and unadorned, but a deep burgundy cowl lay draped about the chest and shoulders. It matched a decorative loincloth. The greaves had been specially made to fit Khajiit legs, protecting the thigh and shin in the front, while the back of her legs were protected by padded chauses dyed black. A steel mace hung from a ring on her belt.

Her gauntlets and helm sat on a small table nearby. The helm was an open-faced variety that would smush down her ears when worn. It was tiresome to be stuck in bonemold all day, but the master of Tel Nivayn required that she be dressed so during the day.

Good Gods, why had she accepted this posting? Tel Nivayn was a dreadfully boring place and the Mage-Lord of the island, Uradras Nivayn, could be described as nothing other than an eccentric twit. Two months she had spent here now, with nothing to do but drink and stare out at the sea... The days ran together in the same sort of gray haze that obscured the horizon.

Tel Nivayn was an impressive place to call home, Mahzadi had to concede. The interior was cramped but opulent. (As all Telvanni architecture felt somewhat cramped and claustrophobic to her. She supposed that such towers were designed with economy in mind, seeing as the fungi were living organisms that required magicka or nutrients from the dirt or maybe even sunlight to stay alive. Bugger if she knew how they worked!)

The tower shadowed every corner of the small island it loomed over. A central stalk branched into several separate, bulbous turrets capped with sharp spires, while flattened tendrils spiraled around the tower to form walkways between the turrets. A multitude of thinner tendrils branched away from the walkway, bifurcating again and again to create a jumble of coiling, twisting, curling runners that ended in tips crooked like gnarled fingers. Lanterns hung from some of these tips, the ones that grew near enough to the walkways for servants to reach.

There were two balconies. The largest was accessible only through Master Nivayn's private rooms, and then there was this one, accessible from the “guest wing” which was perpetually deserted. Nivayn had never had any guests since Mahzadi had come. Mahzadi herself officially lived in an outbuilding, a single room pod-hut standing with a row of others behind Tel Nivayn, but she spent all of her waking hours in the tower proper.

The only conventional structure on the island was a rickety wooden dock, and even the ramp leading from the dock to the main entry was the same green fungal tissue Mahzadi now stood upon. The doors and their jambs, too, those were ordinary wood, but they fit into the walls so perfectly that they truly seemed to have been grown along with everything else.

Movement caught Mahzadi's eye. She leaned over the rail, squinting. Yes, that was the skiff now, its Dunmer helmsman deftly maneuvering around the stacks as he conveyed Uradras Nivayn's newest employee to the isle. A corner of her mouth lifted. Something, finally, was happening.

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OOC Information:

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Hello! Today I'm itching for an adventure story with a gradually developing romance set in The Elder Scrolls lll: Morrowind, but I'm open to other settings as well. (Sorry in advance but I'm not interested in roleplays based on Skyrim or ESO!)

Mahzadi is a mercenary with a surly attitude. She can be difficult to get along with. She drinks too much, swears too much, gambles, and picks fights with others out of boredom. She's a little too narcissistic for a traditional love story, but I am looking for a story where an intimate, affectionate relationship between our characters can grow.

I understand that this character may be a hard sell. This prompt is a suggestion; I am more than willing to tailor my character's personality and physical attributes to suit your tastes, within reason. I appreciate partners willing to do the same. My “type” that I'm most attracted to are men with average bodies in the 40-60 age range, with realistic personality flaws.

I prefer to reply more than once a day. 2-3 replies per day would be ideal, but I understand life gets in the way. I usually write 2-5 paragraphs, or 150-450 words per post. This starter is much longer than my typical post length, but my lengths vary according to need. If I'm introducing a new character or setting a scene, my post might go up to 1,000 words.

Please send a writing sample if you have none in your post history. No need to custom write anything for me, old samples are fine. Click here to PM me!