#yeah they trash talk neloth

[otvlanga]

Neloth’s picking on his apprentice again :’( Does Meallana:

a) spritz the nasty wizard with a water bottle to shoo him away, then go about her business

b) give Neloth the angry tongue-lashing he deserves, then scoop up the crying apprentice and cuddle him like the shivering chihuahua he is

c) shrug and ignore it, figuring the apprentice will learn to stand up for himself

d) file for divorce, get custody of Talvas, and take half of Neloth’s shit because he never signed a pre-nup

Probably C like 75% of the time. It's not that she doesn't care -- Meallana has a soft spot for Talvas, but she was also born and raised in Cyrodiil, and had her fair share of especially tough and strict mentors with unusual and creative ideas for punishments. Having taken many students and apprentices under her wing in the years she studied and taught at the Arcane University, she understands firsthand how frustrating and draining the job can be, and won't shy away from admitting that she wasn't always a particularly pleasant instructor. While she ignores Neloth's nitpicking most of the time, it doesn't mean she isn't there to sneakily help Talvas out on his projects while Neloth isn't looking. She has no problem fixing faulty enchantments on items, or arranging the soul gems in the proper order, or helping rewrite a spell that just won't seem to work for the poor guy. (sometimes, once in a blue moon, she might even feel nice enough to take the blame for a mistake Talvas made)

However, she does feel inclined to step in from time to time. When she's there to witness a particularly cruel or harsh punishment given to Talvas by Neloth, or catches him degrading him in a way she sees as too far, she does defend him to the best of her ability. Meallana can certainly be cold, but she's not heartless. She yells at Neloth most of the time anyway, so she really has no problem laying into his ass when she finds it necessary. She'll totally argue with the old fart for a few hours so Talvas can go take a nap on the beach or something.

She can be the embodiment of tough love, but she also has this like, dual side of her where she's super sick of the uptight seriousness she always had to maintain and totally understands that Talvas just really wants to chill. Like yeah he can be a little dense and annoying and probably fucks up way more than necessary, but he's an apprentice. He's gonna suck. It's moments where she's trying to teach him a paralysis spell for the 100th time where she realizes that being the Dragonborn and hauling around a troupe of idiots all over Skyrim really made her a hell of a lot more tolerant.

She wont be much use in terms of like, comforting him after neloth hurts his feelings super bad, but she'll totally let him rant while she sits on a rock next to him, drinking from a flask and nodding along.

[nerevar-quote-and-star]

Nixiel and Talvas Stop a Murder with More Murder

Talvas: Why are we so worried about House Redoran?

Nixiel: Because I'm FROM House Redoran!

Talvas: Oh yeah.

Nixiel barges into The Retching Netch like a drunken netch cow

Talvas scrambles behind her

Geldis Sadri: Welcome to The Retching Netch, the—

Nixiel: All right, I'm here for answers. You got answers? I want answers!

Talvas: Adril Arano . . .

Geldis Sadri: Say no more. Poor fetcher needs all the help he can get.

Geldis Sadri then spins a plot to string . . . either Nixiel or the Ulens up like slaughterfish. Talvas isn't sure

Time for a good ol' fashioned stakeout

Sans the Redoran Guard. RIP

But not before Nixiel tries to pawn off all her ash yams. Does Not Work

Even if Geldis Sadri sounds like an ash yam enthusiast

RIP

Nixiel tries to leave the bar and is pinned between an alchemist and a hustler

Nixiel: TALVAS!

Later

Nixiel: Take me to church, Talvas.

Talvas: Azura save me.

Nixiel and Talvas bust up into the Temple

Nixiel: Hey—

Elder Othreloth: The Temple is for followers of our faith only. Outsiders Not Allowed.

Nixiel: I feel so attacked right now.

Nixiel and Talvas sneak into the basement — I mean, Temple Ancestral Tomb

And they wait

And wait . . .

Wait some more

Talvas, doing a dance: Nixiel, I gotta go—

Nixiel: Shh!

Tilisu Severin walks in

Talvas: We need to report this to Arano—

Nixiel: I'm gonna go talk to her.

Talvas: Nixiel, no—

Nixiel talks to Tilisu Severin. Does not progress to a fight

Nixiel is dragged off by Talvas to report back to Adril Arano

Nixiel: *reports findings*

Adril Arano: *X in the chat*

Nixiel and Talvas are put on reconnaissance to subvert the necessity for damage control

Damage control required: pending

Nixiel: "If the Severins have betrayed us" . . . what?

Talvas: No idea.

Nixiel and Talvas sneak to the doorstep of Severin Manor

Nixiel: You watch the door while I find the evidence. I should just be in and out. Nixiel sneaks in

There are people inside

Nixiel, silently panicking: Seht, Seht, Seht, Seht.

Nixiel dives down the stairs out of sight

Down the hall into the master bedroom and right up to a . . .

Nixiel: Safe. Ash and fire.

SIXTEEN BROKEN LOCKPICKS LATER

Nixiel swipes out the gems, gold, and a suspicious missive, as well as an ebony greatsword

Nixiel: Now if I can just get out without being detected, that'd be smashing.

Stops to salivate over the alchemy station

Snatches a drought for better sneaking. Downs it in one gulp

Shoots up the stairs and out the door before either person realizes that shadow was a panicking Telvanni mage

Talvas: Nixie!

Nixiel: Hurry, Talvas! I got the dirt! Let's dish it and go back to Tel Mithryn!

Nixiel and Talvas find Adril Arano in The Retching Netch where Nixiel proudly presents him with the Ulens' letter

Adril Arano: Great, I want you to go bring them to justice.

Nixiel: Seht.

Talvas face palms so hard

Talvas: It's nearly midnight—

Nixiel: Sooner we go, sooner we're done.

Nixiel flounces into the wilderness of the ashlands

Proceeds to be separated from Talvas

While waiting for him to find her, she picks scathecraw and trama root

A rando Imperial woman appears and immediately starts attacking

FIVE ICE SPIKES LATER

Bloody n'wah.

Nixiel picks MORE scathecraw and trama root

Nixiel: Oh hey, I can see our mushroom from here!

Talvas: Nixiel!

Nixiel: There you are, you fetcher!

Nixiel and Talvas sneak over mounds of ash

Talvas: Why are we sneaking?

Nixiel: The element of surprise!

Talvas: We're not even there yet!

Nixiel: But we will be!

. . . until they reach a river

Nixiel: I always forget Solstheim has a river.

Talvas: It flows right by our mushroom!

Nixiel: How would I know? Our mushroom doesn't have windows!

While looking for a way to cross, they find an empty camp

Talvas: Have we been here before?

Nixiel: Oblivion if I know.

Further uphill they find some rocks to jump on

Nixiel: We need a good water walking spell.

Talvas: Fat chance Master Neloth will teach it to us.

They arrive next to the walls of the fort

Nixiel: It's the middle of the night! They'll never see us coming!

There is a guard outside that totally sees them coming

Naturally Nixiel and Talvas land blast her with magic

Nixiel: Hey, wait, wait, wait! It's a Morag Tong agent! They're finally going to kill me!

Talvas: Why do you sound so excited?!

Nixiel: I've been waiting for this day since I made my mom cry by joining House Telvanni.

Talvas: There are so many things wrong with this entire thing.

Nixiel: Hey, hold up, aren't those Redoran Guards?

Talvas: Yes, Arano was sending them to root out the Ulens.

Nixiel: I totally spaced out for that. Well! They're dead now! Want something done right, send a Telvanni!

Talvas: There's so much wrong with that, too.

They sneak in

Talvas: Why are there sculls in the walls?

Nixiel: Hlaalu have such a bad sense of style. They get it from their Imperial boyfriends.

One Shot One Kill Sneak Attack with an Ice Spike on a Morag Tong Agent

Talvas ice blasts the next two agents

Nixiel steals their sweetrolls

Nixiel: Hey, another safe!

TWO BROKEN LOCKPICKS LATER

Nixiel: I'm getting better at this.

Talvas: That bothers me.

Nixiel: Stop being so bothered by everything, Azura!

A little further on . . .

Nixiel: An alchemy station!

Talvas: Stop being so distracted by everything!

Nixiel face palms at Talvas' mimicking

Convenient chain to lower spike door is pulled

Mirri Severin plus cohorts immediately attack

Nixiel ganks Mirri Severin

Nixiel: This safe key would've been nice to have when I was breaking into her house.

Talvas: Nixiel!

Nixiel continues to swipe their alchemy ingredients

Nixiel: They won't need them.

Talvas: Whatever. Hey, is this a training room?

Nixiel: Looks like a wrestling arena to me.

More chains must be pulled

Talvas: Why is this place so creepy?

Nixiel: Because Hlaalu are creepy, duh.

Nixiel skips over several pressure plates in her never ending quest to keep pulling chains, both physically and verbally

Nixiel ganks Tilisu Severin and proceeds to fall into a water torture chamber

Talvas ganks everyone else

Nixiel: FACE THE WRATH OF HOUSE — oh, you've killed them all.

Nixiel foists a bunch of armor pieces into Talvas' bag, only for him to put the helmet on

Nixiel: You look drunk.

Talvas: And you don't?

Nixiel: Wash your mouth out with ash, you s'wit.

The two make their way back to the exit

Nixiel: This place reminds me of Master Neloth's ex girlfriend's house.

Talvas: Uh, that wasn't his girlfriend.

Nixiel: You sure, bug eyes?

Talvas: Let's just get back to Raven Rock so we can go back home.

Outside they cross the stream and enter the burnt remains of the forest

Then a wild burnt spriggan appears

Nixiel: TALVAS!

Talvas: I'm going to sit this one out.

Nixiel screams profanities to the Reclamations, the Saints, and the Daedra as she ganks the spriggan with ice spikes over and over again

Nixiel angrily picks yet more scathecraw and trama root

Breton Mage: HA!

Nixiel and Talvas come across two Breton mages blasting each other with ice and fire

The pyromancer smokes the cryomancer, only for Nixiel to put her on ice before Talvas can use his sumooned Frost Atronach

Nixiel: Bloody half-breeds.

Talvas: Please just stop picking all the scathecraw.

Nixiel and Talvas make it back to Raven Rock; Talvas tries to take his Frost Atronach inside Councilor Morvayn's house

Nixiel: Please stop.

Nixiel approaches Adril Arano

Nixiel: Your ashy little problem has been swept into the trash.

Talvas: She means we took care of the assassins.

Adril Arano rushes to tell Councilor Morvayn EVERYTHING

Councilor Morvayn: Nixiel Veres? Since you ended the lives of the people who wanted to end mine, you can have their house.

Nixiel: Sweet.

Talvas: We are not going back home, are we?

Nixiel and Talvas go to the marketplace

Nixiel: I need that helmet now.

Talvas: But Nix—

Nixiel: For the love of the Three, just let me sell it!

After taking care of some business, Nixiel and Talvas head over to Severin Manor

Nixiel: Hey look! Some scathecraw and trama root I missed earlier!

Talvas bursts into tears

Talvas: Shouldn't we tell Master Neloth we got a house?

Nixiel: Maybe?

They proceed to not tell Master Neloth anything