I reached Balmora by mid-afternoon and found Caius's residence again. The man is perpetually shirtless - he must be proud of his physique. Understandable I suppose, especially for a human his age. He had seemed not to be able to find some reason why I was ordered into the Blades without any standing order or explanation. He gave me 200 coins (drakes, he called them) for supplies and told me that I needed "cover" as a freelance adventurer, directing me to the Fighters' and Mages' guilds. Of the three members of the Blades I spoke with yesterday, two seemed to be occupied full-time with pursuing "cover". Only one had some sort of project (that they told me of at least): mapping the Bitter Coast
for locations of strategic import - sinister. Caius seemed inconvenienced by the whole ordeal of my mysterious release and discharge into his custody, which suits me very well. I will not be aiding an Imperial invasion of Morrowind unless they force me to.
I toured all the shops (I found a bookstore with a kindly shopkeep - alas that I do not have the funds for reading material), and, having pawned nearly everything save the three best samples of the plants I had collected, settled on a longsword in slightly better shape than the shortsword I got in Seyda Neen, a leather backpack, and a mortar and pestle - for 93 coins. I suppose the