Talvas And The Talking Dog (Talvas)

 “Hey, Neloth, what’s this?” Valan asks across the room holding up a container of some sort of strange liquid. I don’t know what it is, and I’m hesitant to ask. Master Neloth generally doesn’t enjoy it when I ask questions. At the end of the day I’m glad and very honored to be his apprentice but the old man can be incredibly unpleasant, grumpy, and sometimes just outright mean. For some reason he seems to tolerate and maybe even potentially like Valan, though it’s probably due to their extensive history. After all, Valan has known Neloth for about two hundred years at this point, even a little more. Master Neloth makes a grumbling noise before looking up from his book, walking over to where the blind wizard stands, and snatches the container out of his hands. Putting it back on the shelf that contains numerous other potions, ingredients, and mixtures he reprimands Valan telling him sternly that he knows better than to touch things without permission. Seeing me standing and staring rather stupidly on the other side of the lab, near the little corner where I sleep, Neloth gives me a less than pleased look and tells me to get back to work. I may as well sort out Dwemer scrap metal, there’s not much else to do today.

Sorting and organizing is a dull but easy task and I’d take it any day over being a lab experiment participant. The scar on my ankle is still healing from the last skin biopsy Neloth had me give him. Master Neloth eventually leaves the tower with no other explanation beyond he needs to go into Raven Rock and he’ll be back in two days. That leaves Valan and I alone in the lab, each doing our own thing. “Whose is this?” Valan asks while helping me clean out a storage area and pulling out a bottle of cheap wine. “No clue.” I respond, taking the bottle and setting it aside. It’s probably the cooks that he uses when making certain dishes from time to time. At that Valan raises an eyebrow and looks briefly over to my little corner which has a number of empty bottles strewn about waiting to be tossed. “Most of those are not mine!” Valan seems to believe me, but the barely noticeable smirk on his face is indicative of at least a bit of doubt. They really aren’t all mine, most of them at least.

With cleaning finished and the day practically over, Valan and I don’t have much left to do. With nothing left to do I take the rare opportunity to try and relax even if just for a little while since Master Neloth isn’t around to order me this way and that. Valan instead just wanders off, right out the door and into the ashlands. I don’t think I’ll ever quite understand him, but I don’t think I’ll ever quite understand any of the older and higher ranking Telvanni wizards. Not even Master Ayron, and Valan says he’s quite a bit like me. Valan comes back with not one but two unexpected guests, the first more expected than the second. Teldryn I expect to see, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog on the island. “I found him fighting off Ash Spawn with Captain Veleth.” Valan tells me as Teldryn brushes the dust and ash off his armor. “And he found me with a friend not too far from here in the woods.” The dog says. Wait a moment, did the dog just talk?! Shocked, I look at the dog, unsure if it really did speak or if sleep deprivation has gotten the better of me. “Skyrim is now home to two legged cat men and giant flying lizards, and you're surprised by me?” The dog asks upon noticing my open mouthed shocked expression. I find myself feeling rather faint…

When I come to, I find myself on the floor of the library area of the lab with my head in Teldryn’s lap as he plays with my hair. “Oh good, you’re awake.” I make a noise of confusion as the world begins to come into focus again. “The dog talks.” I manage to blurt out with some help sitting up “The dog talks…” The grey matted dog comes running over and sits down at the edge of the carpet. “I do talk. My name is Barbas. You should have seen the last guy that heard me talk. Nearly did the same thing as you, only he would have been in heavy armor and had a greatsword strapped to his back! Ah, never get tired of playing with the mortals.” Considering Barbas mentioned friends nearby, and the description matches a certain Nord I know, I have a good feeling of where he came from and who he nearly gave a panic attack to. Despite being a supernatural creature Barbas is capable of acting like a normal dog, he can bark, he can do tricks, he enjoys getting pets, and apparently really likes being scratched behind the ears.

Teldryn sits with me as I regain full consciousness and discuss a variety of topics with the talking dog as Valan messes with experiments in a corner. He seems to work best in the evening. I wonder if it’s due to his blindness, though he isn’t completely blind. Eventually it becomes time for Teldryn to take his leave and head back to the small mining town, apparently he has a meeting with Captain Veleth about the ash spawn. I wonder if he’ll run into our formerly in charge of a talking dog friends on the way back. It’s not hard to notice a blonde in a red dress and a warrior in heavy armor around here, especially since they aren’t Dunmer. “Would you like to stay for dinner?” I ask Teldryn as he gets ready to leave. “Would you like to stay forever?” The talking dog adds. I wouldn’t mind it if he did…