Kvatch was a good town for a prostitute before the Daedra came. There was an Arena there, and a big market, and several taverns. Plenty of merchants and adventurers passing through, who might want a bit of fun while they were in town. The Count ran things with a light hand. Taxes weren't too high, the guard were forgiving, and business of all kinds was encouraged.

I worked for Garanil. He was an Altmer who owned a large house with private rooms that he rented out to us. He'd also solicit for us at the Arena, while we worked the taverns. I was making a good income, and didn't mind giving him a share. He took care of us, had a big Orc for a bouncer at the door to stop any trouble, and dealt with the law when we needed it.

But when the Oblivion Gate opened up outside the city, he ran away. He headed for a hideout in Salted Mine, to the north of Kvatch. We begged him to take us with him, but he told us we were on our own. The Orc bouncer didn't turn up, so we couldn't get any help from him, either.

We scattered, figuring we had a better chance of escaping individually. I climbed over a part of the city wall where a pile of rubble made a ramp, and made my way to the South. I found a campsite on the road. They told me Captain Matius had put up barricades to stop the Daedra coming out of the city, so it should be safe enough there. But they wanted to know where I'd got out, so they could guard there too.

I waited in the camp for the others from Garanil's house. None of them arrived, and nobody among the refugees had any news of them getting out. I guess I was the only one who made it.

A refugee camp's not a good place for a prostitute to do any business. There's just nowhere private enough. Most of us slept on bedrolls in the open, and the few tents were used by the healer, the smith, and others who had a proper job to do. We all pitched in to forage for food, but I had no hunting skills, and I wasn't good at finding the right plants either. I helped tend to the wounded, but I don't know any healing spells, so I still felt useless.

I was still hoping Garanil would return. He'd know what to do, and we'd start getting back to normal. But he didn't come. I was certain he'd got out of the city, so where was he now?

When the adventurer that I now know as the boss came to the camp, I asked him if he could help me find Garanil. I told him where Salted Mine was. That was the only place I knew where he might be. I was still hoping that Garanil would help us rebuild, and I could get back to my old job.

Salted Mine was on the other side of Kvatch, to the North. He asked me if he could go through the city to get there. I told him there was only one city gate, at the end of the road through the camp, and that one was blocked by an Oblivion Gate. Nothing could enter the city until that was shut down.

He strode off up the road anyway, to talk with Captain Matius at the barricades. The following morning a number of people came down the road telling tales of how the Oblivion Gate had just been closed. They'd not seen anything of the fighting, but had been sheltering in the Chapel of Akatosh until help arrived. The chapel had been damaged in the siege, but for some reason the Daedra were unable to enter it, and they'd been spared.

Brother Martin and Oleta, the healer from the chapel, were there, and so were Guilbert Selone, the gardener from the Arena, and a woman called Lenka Valus, whom I didn't know well. None of my sister prostitutes had reached the chapel, and nobody had seen Garanil. I asked Tierra, the guard who'd escorted the new batch of refugees fron the city, but she hadn't seen him either.

She had seen my new adventurer friend, though. Captain Matius had told her that he was the one who closed the Oblivion Gate after the guards had failed. He'd rescued Ilend Vonius from the Deadlands too. They were calling him "The Hero of Kvatch" now.

She told me they'd all be trying to retake the Castle as soon as she returned to the city.

Just then a squad of legion men came into camp. They'd seen the smoke from the Gold Road and come to investigate. They followed Tierra back up the hill to Kvatch. I didn't see any of them come back down in the next few days, so I guess there was more fighting in the city.

The Hero came back a day or two later to tell me that he'd found Vampires in Salted Mine. They'd made Garanil a Vampire, too, and he'd had to kill them all. So Garanil wouldn't be coming back, ever.

He told me what the destruction in Kvatch was like. I'd seen some of it myself, but it got even worse after I escaped. He'd been with Captain Matius when they retook the Castle, and he'd found the Count's body himself. Matius was determined to rebuild, but that wasn't going to be happening soon. It would be years before there was a city on the hill again. Years before there would be a proper brothel in Kvatch. He asked me if I'd come here and help Tsarrina, instead. He'd see me here later, but he had to speak to Brother Martin first.

The three of us walked down to the Gold Road, but we went in opposite directions when we got there. I don't know where they were headed. The Hero thought it was best if he didn't reveal his plans. He and Brother Martin had something special they needed to do, and they didn't want to get me involved.

None of us knew back then who Brother Martin really was, and what would come to pass in the following months. I knew that the man I'd agreed to work for was now the Hero of Kvatch, and I had a feeling that he'd not stop there. Of course you know he became the Champion of Cyrodiil and more.