Desperate for some money, I decided to walk back to Balmora and see if I could find Caius, the main I was supposed to meet when I first came here. Maybe he could help.
I was told I could learn where to find him in town at the South Wall, so I went inside.
A Khajiit inside named Sugar-Lips was awfully forward about the Thieves Guild. I agreed to join wanting to hone my other skills, and I was given a task to retrieve a diamond, with the suggestion that I try the local alchemist's shop.
The patron of the club told me where to find Caius, but first I decided to stakeout the location of my job.
There were diamonds in the open downstairs but constantly being watched by the owner and a guard, and there may have been more in a locked chest upstairs but I hadn't the ability or equipment to open it. At yet another roadblock, I went to meet Caius.
The package I had for him contained orders from the Emperor to induct me into the Blades, his eyes and ears in the province. Caius gave me a fair amount of money and some advice for surviving in Morrowind, and told me to come back later for orders. Maybe I will, maybe I won't.
As a way of building up a reserve of money, I decided to work on my potion making. I returned to the alchemist's and traded a couple unnecessary potions for the basic mortar and pestle I needed to get started.
Using some ingredients I had I mixed up a Water Walking concoction and sold it for seven drakes. Not much, but it's a start. I then went and konked out on a bed in the Mages Guild. I woke up at nine, ready to go collect ingredients.
I went north to start out, and it wasn't long before I was finding new things to mix up, including from the corpses of whatever small creatures interrupted me.
I quickly found a couple combinations that worked, although not as many as I would have liked.
Nearby I stumbled upon a dead body, which had a strange note on it that didn't shed too much light. I took it and his other possessions, not feeling too great about it, including a Skooma Pipe. I personally never touch the stuff.
I continued to collect as I headed southeast, and eventually made it back to the fort near Balmora. From there I decided to head to the swamp I visited earlier for Ajira.
On the way there I found some more plants to harvest from, and noticed that I already quite a collection of components. I had to start keeping notes to keep track of which ones had which effects (in real life).
I also realized that the pipe could be used as a simple alembic to minimize the negative effects of anything I make, although not a very good one. A bit about potions: a lot of the ones you can make do only negative things, like hurting certain stats. You would never drink these obviously, so their only purpose is to sell for a profit. Why traders are so willing to buy them I don't know, although I guess jerks could sneak them into their enemies' drinks. In Oblivion, you can use potions with only negative effects on weapons to poison your opponents, which was sometimes useful.
After killing a rat, I stopped to mix again and discovered an effect I didn't know about yet, and added it to my list. Each ingredient has up to four four possible effects, and the number you know about depends on how skilled you are in Alchemy. Unlike in Oblivion, if you have two ingredients with a shared effect, you only need to know about it with one to mix the potion.
After harvesting a bunch of mushrooms, I wondered if the nearby Mudcrab might have something worth using in him.
Darn.
My increased prowess against weak, tiny creatures didn't stop them from continually interrupting my work.
As the day went on, I grew tired and decided to return to town. I passed some campers on the way and said hello, although they didn't have much to talk about.
I sold the potions to Ajira and the dead man's clothes to the trader. Not a bad day's labor.
I slept again in the Mages Guild, unsure what the next day would bring.
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