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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.
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previous day
4-201-10-07 07:21
Severin Manor, Ravenrock, Solstheim, Morrowind
We wake up maybe not as fresh as usual. A good swim in the icy ocean will do us good in this condition. I'm glad there's no thunder.
So, that's the first islet, the smaller one west of the town:
Unfortunately, we find out there's nothing on it to see. It has remains of some old structure, but it's completely abandoned now. This is what it looks like:
The second one has a reaver camp on it. "Reaver" is the local word for "bandit". I figure since those "reavers" haven't done us any wrong, we'll leave them alone and swim quietly back to the main island. I mean, I can imagine that they steal and rob and kill, but we're not exactly saints either, so let the natural selection deal with them.
We run through the town. I say a cordial farewell to the alchemist Milore of whom I've grown very fond.
My boyfriend Veleth is nowhere to be seen and I'm not going to look for him. It might be embarrassing if he wanted to make love before I leave and I would have to explain why I can't. Besides, I may be tempted to ask if he thinks it's all right for me to leave Solstheim without destroying Miraak, and I know I'd better not ask him that.
The Orc bully Mogrul finds me by himself, though. He was very impressed by our dragon-killing the other day, remember? Now he informs me he'll put the word out that I'm an Orc friend, which means I will be admitted into Orc villages.
If that's true, I won't have to bring The Forgemaster's Fingers to Dushnikh Yal, and thus I could continue doing enhanced Smithing. That would be great.
I'm a little wary of the possibility that Mogrul might have come to admire me too much, if you know what I mean. But it hardly matters, now that we're leaving Solstheim.
Captain Gjalund greets us with a bright smile, but there are no more free rides for us. We have to pay the regular fare – 2500 septims. It's a lot of money, but I can afford it.
Much sooner than I expected, we're in Windhelm. Understandably, I'd rather not go and see Yrsarald today, so I just sell what I can and then we head for nearby Kynesgrove. Our plan is to find the city of Bitchen. I want to take care of that orphanage business. The children have to be rescued. Something tells me that affair is going to be kind of messy, but I can't put it off with a clean conscience any longer. On our way to Bitchen, we're going to make a slight detour and check out Kagrenar where that fugitive from Morrowind is supposed to have gone to.
At the Kynesgrove inn, I'm informed that the jarl wants the giant in Steamcrag Camp killed, but I decide I won't do it. After that peaceful giant further south we've ran past a few times, I no longer want to kill giants. Let them steal an occasional cow. I'm staying out of it.
I make the acquaintance of the local witch Dravynea who teaches Alteration magic for good money. This is the porch of her house which has a really nice cozy atmosphere:
Then we run south along the highway towards Vernim Wood in a magnificent thunderstorm. Even though we carefully keep away from trees and bodies of water, the lightnings sometimes strike so close to us that it's scary.
To our right, outside the frame, is the very Steamcrag Camp where I'm supposed, and not going, to kill a giant.
This mammoth must be his.
This mammoth must be his.
In Vernim Wood, I manage to sell everything apart from a few handfuls of ancient gold and silver coins. You can't pay with those, you have to exchange them for septims.
Just south of Vernim Wood, we are supposed to turn off the main road. However, as I stand there and look up to the mountains where Kagrenar should be, I feel a strange reluctance. My feet just don't want to move. The girls watch me and don't say anything. I'm not sure how long it lasts that we stand there like this. Eventually I turn back onto the main road and start running south towards Bitchen. The girls follow. None of us says anything.
We cross from Eastmarch to The Rift. The rain has ceased.
We stop for a moment to admire from the green slope on this side of the valley the magnificent view to the white mountains on the other side. They look as if they're covered with powdered sugar. Then we proceed southwards. Soon we arrive in a village called Shor. (In the distant past called Shor's Stone.) There's a watchtower with several dead soldiers, but we can't find out what has happened. In the village, everything seems peaceful.
It's weird, but at 18:15 the general store has already closed. We make conversation with the men sitting around a campfire across the street. When they hear we're headed for Bitchen, they inform us it's an extremely corrupt city – even the guards at the gate demand a bribe for letting you in. And as if that wasn't enough, there's a fortress called Fort Greenwall halfway from here to Bitchen. The Windhelm–Bitchen highway actually passes through its gates. We'd better bypass it through the forest.
We thank them for the warning and move on. Soon we see Fort Greenwall. There's a battle going on in the courtyard. One of the men appears non-hostile. So we go in. After we've killed all the hostiles, he introduces himself as Mendrell. He's a bit weird. He has a voice like a 10-year-old boy. He says he loves that missing girl Bronwen and that he fears she's fallen into the hands of the slaver Dar'Jidarr – that'll be that Khajiit man we've seen at the Dragonbridge inn.
Whatever. I go and kill one bandit who is still sitting on top of a citadel looking away from the courtyard, possibly asleep.
Then we enter the castle interior. It's a decent-sized battle. I keep practising with my Aetherial Staff. I have no idea why it's successful in conjuring a Dwarven Sphere only in one attempt out of three. Not that is has much significance. We kill the bandits without much trouble.
Death of the second-to-last bandit: health bar already gone, Sense of Smell glow still to remain for half an instant.
As it's almost midnight, I decide we'll sleep here rather than proceed to Bitchen and start looking for lodging in the middle of the night.
next awakening
