———————————————
SPOILER INFO
This fanfic novel is largely based on the events that occurred in an actual game of Skyrim I played. Therefore, it's inevitably a spoiler.
———————————————
previous day
4-201-08-23 08:23
Uthgerd's House, Hviterun, Whiterun, Skyrim
I summon my followers and we head for the Silent Moons Camp to destroy another group of bandits.
That gang is a little tougher, but my group has grown stronger and we kill the bandits without much difficulty.
Today is my lucky day!
They have a mysterious smithing forge which allows you to craft weapons that absorb health from your enemies at nighttime. Or was it at full moon? Doesn't matter, I don't really care for such lunacy.
In a short distance to the southwest, there's another bandit nest called Redoran's Retreat. That's where we might find the sword stolen from Amren. I was told in Hviterun he had a bad conflict with his wife Saffir... okay, sorry. I meant to say we are going to check that place out before returning to the city for the night.
Around noon, we arrive at a cliff overlooking the entrance of Redoran's Retreat. There is no one about.
Excuse me? You don't even have sentries outside? Guess we'll have to take you by surprise inside then.
We enter the cave and encounter a few bandits whom my followers kill quickly. I'm growing really uncomfortable with having to do practically nothing apart from choosing where to go. However, with the chief of those bandits, I get a chance to prove to myself that I'm not entirely useless. I bring him close to death with two shots and I would certainly kill him with the third if it wasn't for Vera who runs past me a split-second before I release my shot and gets my arrow into her back. I speak very sternly with her afterwards. I explain to Vera that I don't give a rat's ass about time-honored Skyrim fighting traditions. She doesn't need to prove her manhood, I tell her. She needs to work as a member of our team.
Vera seems to understand.
Too bad all the bandits were much too aggressive to be captured and interrogated, but we find a sword that looks like the one Amren described, and the spell indicates it's stolen, so I'm taking it to show Amren.
On our way to Hviterun, we pass by two giant camps with mammoths and we make sure to keep our distance from them. Lydia informs me giants keep mammoths as domestic animals.
Back in the city, I notice I'm really filthy, so I have a bath at The Bannered Mare. When you rent a room, the use of the bath is included, but bathing alone costs 1/3 of the room rate.
After bath, I have a little chat with Olfina Gray-Mane, Thorald's sister:
Jon Battle-Born notices us. By now I've had a chance to learn that I am nowhere near the only woman whom he always greets with a bright smile and disarming cheerfulness. He and Olfina clearly don't care about the conflict between their families – which still doesn't keep her from rebuffing his suggestive wisecrack with a witty retort, apparently a habitual occurrence between the two.
I head upstairs to see if Saadia has mended her ways. She has. No more daggers. She tells me a story of political intrigue which may be true or not. I don't care all that much. What I care about more is that I'm a thane of Whiterun now, that is a member of the local government. I have a responsibility to do my part in keeping public order here. I can't just deliver an inhabitant of Hviterun to some shady outsiders. What she has or hasn't done in a foreign country called Hammerfell is none of my concern.
However, that doesn't mean that I will kill those so-called warriors for her. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I haven't made up my mind yet.
I go to the palace to report on the destruction of the Silent Moons Camp bandits and get my reward.
Then I meet Ysolda on the street. Once again she talks so sweetly to me, and once again I find her charms irresistible. I ask her if she has a boyfriend. She says she hasn't found anyone suitable. Besides, she feels like having some adventures before settling down. Unfortunately, she is not a warrior like me, but she imagines the life of a traveling merchant can be very fascinating as well.
I take a chance inviting her to my house, and succeed in luring her into bed with me. It's wonderful.
It's probably because my higher self is male that I'm bisexual. I generally much prefer to have a strong man towering above me, but every now and then I find myself fancying one or another attractive woman.
In general, lesbian sex is looked upon very badly. I mean, you don't get stoned to death or anything, but people find it shocking. Sex between a man and a woman is something they can at least understand – that's what people do, it's how we all came to be. But two women getting naked and caressing each other's bodies is something decent people just aren't supposed to do.
However, the beautiful thing is that when you make love to a woman in a house one of you owns, your (and her) reputation doesn't suffer at all. It may seem illogical first, but it isn't.
The thing is, people can't see through walls. When you spend time with a man behind closed doors, people won't actually know what it is you do. All they know is that you lock yourself in, just the two of you, for a sufficiently long time to have sex, so they assume you're up to no good. But a woman visiting another woman in her house is something perfectly normal. When it's in your room at an inn – now, that can set tongues wagging. With a follower, you don't need to worry even about that, because followers, male or female, can be expected to be near you at any time.
Outdoors sex within settlements is, in turn, always risky, because in that case sex is precisely what people can see. No matter how secluded you believe a place to be, you are never 100% safe from children playing hide-and-seek, assiduous guards and such. It's only away from settlements where you can have careless intimacy outdoors.
Unsurprisingly, people are more relaxed about sex in cities than in small villages where everybody knows everybody, but the principles are the same everywhere – as far as I know.
I'm sorry for bothering you with all this, but one needs to keep those things in mind all the time. A woman has to be very careful to not come across as a slut.
Ysolda kisses me goodbye and goes home to sleep. I can't do the same, profoundly happy and relaxed as I may be. I want to take care of that Battle-Born business tonight.
That's the house.
Right now, it's too early, though – quarter past 11. I want to wait at least another hour, to make sure the people in the house are sleeping when I break in. So I walk around in the city and pay a visit to the guard barracks. There's a guard or two who are quite likeable, but I think I prefer Avulstein. I feel kind of sorry for him, and the way he looked at me yesterday, I have no doubt he desires me. Either that or he hasn't had any for a long time. Let's presume the former, okay?
On my way to the House of Clan Battle-Born, I step into the temple of Kynareth. There are several sick people here they are evidently taking care of. The priestess Danica is not yet sleeping. She asks me if I noticed the big tree outside. It's called Gildergreen and it's holy. It stems from an ancient tree called Eldergleam which was blessed by the goddess Kynareth. Gildergreen was planted as a seedling in the early days of Hviterun. Unfortunately, it's dying. Danica believes that in order to revive it, she needs some sap from its parent tree. And the sap can only be obtained by using a very special knife called Nettlebane and it's in a place called Orphan Rock south-southeast of Riverwood.
I don't understand much of Danica's explanation, but I promise I'll try to get that magical knife for her. Then I leave the temple and head for my destination along an empty and quiet street.
My break-in is a complete success. It takes time to search the place and I'm very scared, but I finally find a letter that contains information on Thorald. He is (possibly) kept prisoner in Northwatch Keep, a place unknown to me. No matter. Avulstein will probably know where it is. I'll visit him in the morning.
I return home and go to sleep, very pleased with myself.
next awakening
return to the table of contents
