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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
4-201-11-04 02:48
Vernim Wood Inn, Vernim Wood, Eastmarch, Skyrim
Yes, I know. We have no pressing need to break up so early. But I feel rested and so we head north along the highway. I've changed my mind about going to Riverwood right away. We'll travel to the far northeast of Skyrim first and try to locate that shipwreck, on which we might find some important information for Brand-Shei. Maybe someone in Windhelm knows where it is. And even if we can't find the wreck, there's the town of Winterhold in the same region, the last hold capital remaining for me to discover. (The hold has the same name as its capital – Winterhold.)
The clouds in the starry sky are miraculous. My followers agree that this sight is totally worth the few hours of sleep they lost.
As you know, the route from here to northeastern Skyrim goes past Kynesgrove and Windhelm, and when in Windhelm, I won't fail to meet up with Yrsarald. Today, I'm planning on doing it with my mouth. Not entirely, of course, just some foreplay. I'm sure he expects it of me and I'm sure that we're intimate enough by now for me to get that daring.
Our journey to Kynesgrove is eventless, apart from an encounter with a Redguard man near the Steamcrag giant camp who calls me a milk drinker and tells me to get out of his sight. Maybe he's picking a quarrel. Any man in my situation would surely teach him a lesson he wouldn't remember (because he'd be dead), but I am not a man, and so I can afford to say meekly "Sorry, I'll be leaving now." I grin only after I've turned away from the jerk.
In Kynesgrove, we take a nice bath, exchange a few friendly words with the innkeeper Iddra, and then check out the mine.
Jenassa has never been an underground person.
By the time we've finished talking with the miner Kjeld (could even be the owner; he's got rather important air), the sun is already rising.
Before going to Windhelm, I want to check out an Orc village called Narzulbur that should be nearby. It's in the mountains and my less-than-perfect map suggests that it may be reachable by a road that starts behind Kynesgrove mine. Indeed, it is. Halfway there, we discover another dragon burial mound. This one's even got a real name – the dragon supposedly buried here is called Sahloknir. Not that it's in any way important.
Narzulbur has a cool suspension bridge across a ravine, but the people aren't talkative, at least not so early in the morning. The two guards patrolling the grounds are nice, though. A little later we see a fierce warrior chick who would look a lot more impressive if she'd choose a less slutty attire.
When we're done sightseeing, we proceed to Windhelm, which we reach a little before 9 o'clock.
I leave my followers at the inn and hurry to the palace. I pray to the gods that my dear Yrsarald would be able to spare an hour or two for me. My eagerness to meet him has been growing by the minute. I'm so looking forward to my first oral sex – I mean, the first one in the part of my life I can remember. I know I've done it before – simply because I know how to do it, and how else could I have learned it? But I have no specific memory of doing it. So I feel a kind of stage fright, yet I believe it'll go well because I feel complete trust that in the presence of Yrsarald nothing can go wrong. Yes, I know it's illogical. Never mind. Here's the palace. I nod a greeting to the guards (not those guards I'd rather not see) and enter.
Yrsarald is already up and about. There's someone with him, but Yrsarald seems to agree that the war can look after itself for some time. We go into his bedroom upstairs and when we're naked I motion him to lie down on his back.
When it has grown uncomfortably big, I let it out of my mouth, but Yrsarald grabs my hair and forces me to go on sucking. That's not what I had in mind, but what can I do? I let my tongue move as fast as I can, so that Yrsarald would at least not slam his monster member into my throat. I breathe a sigh of relief (through my nose) when I feel his grip loosening as he relaxes and leaves it to me to work the way I see fit. It takes me a long time. My jaw muscles protest, but I don't care. Never mind myself, I mustn't disappoint him no matter what.
When Yrsarald finally comes, I gather up my last strength to suck it all up, careful not to let anything go down the wrong throat. From what I can hear, it's giving him great pleasure, but I still can't help feeling a little self-conscious. When my mouth is finally free and I climb higher and look Yrsarald in the eyes, I begin to say that I haven't done it for a long time, but then I think better of it. It's unlikely he'll want to hear I've done anything with other men.
Maybe Yrsarald can sense my confusion. At any rate he gives me a hug that makes my bones crackle, and after we've gotten dressed he even walks me to the front door. Maybe that is his way of letting me know his feelings he doesn't know how to put into words. He doesn't kiss me goodbye, but I can understand that. At any rate, I believe I can see the palace guards look at me with a new respect.
At the last moment I remember to ask if Yrsarald knows where a ship called The Pride of Tel Vos run aground decades ago. He tells me to ask the steward, Jorleif. The latter says he remembers it well – it was an unusually warm summer, so that ships could travel along straits that are normally frozen all year long. For The Pride of Tel Vos, the journey proved fatal, though. It had come all the way from the city of Tel Vos in northeastern Morrowind and maybe the ship's pilot was not familiar enough with the waters or simply too confident.
While Jorleif is telling me all that, we walk to the archives where he quickly locates and old scroll and reads the name of the island on the coast of which the magnificent vessel found its sad end. He shows me its location on the map and warns me there's not likely to be found much, as an infamous gang of bandits is rumored to be residing there. They're a nuisance to such an extent that Jarl Ulfric has actually contemplating to send soldiers to destroy them, even though the location is under the jurisdiction of Winterhold rather than Eastmarch.
I thank Jorleif for his help and leave. It's already past 1 in the afternoon. I don't feel like shopping and decide to travel on without delay. That means after lunch. The girls have already eaten without waiting for me. Of course, Lydia has to tease me by saying they didn't think I would require any lunch today. The cheeky perv!
Our plan is to travel in the northeastly direction along the eastern bank of the river or strait, on the shore of which Windhelm lies. (It's actually called "estuary", says Jenassa.) Further north, we must find a place to swim across – as narrow as possible, because it'll be very cold. I prefer not to go directly to the north along the western bank, because I've been told the landscape will be much harder than on the eastern bank. Apart from which, we have a location north-northeast of Windhelm to explore before going to the town of Winterhold. Judging by where I believe Winterhold to be located, it would make little sense to go there first and then start looking for a way back to the southeast.
It seems early enough for us to get at least the first task taken care of in daylight, and maybe even reach Winterhold tonight.
We exit by the main gate in the south, pass by the stables and take the road east. We go past three farms and stop for a few minutes to chat, but I don't want to waste much time. Windhelm's eastern harbor which is on the western bank of the estuary looks very pretty from the eastern bank, with the city walls silvery-gray mixed with some snow-white, and a magnificent mountain in the background:
Soon we leave the road and run along the coast further into the unknown of this realm of snow and ice. We discover Yngol Barrow which seems to be an ancient Nordic ruin, and then the Windhelm Lighthouse. There is nobody about and no light up in the tower. The door is locked and I won't bother to pick the lock. I am more interested in the nearby shipwreck I noticed from the top of the lighthouse. It's to the northeast behind a little island. I can neither see nor sense if there's anyone there. It's not a long swim, but I'd rather not risk being attacked when emerging from the water naked. That's why I decide to try out one of the three Waterwalking potions I picked up in some dungeon a long time ago. The girls will follow swimming.
Indeed, the potion gives me the (temporary) ability to not only walk, but even run on the water surface as if it was solid ground. It's a funny feeling.
The shipwreck turns out to be inhabited by bandits. The enemy and I notice each other at about the same time and I get hit first. It hurts a lot and the whole world shakes around me, but when my followers arrive having swum over, we succeed in killing the enemies. Just regular bandits, nothing special. Nothing extraordinary to be found on the shipwreck either, although later I remember I forgot to look underwater. Whatever. It was very cold anyway. The ship was called Winter War.
Our destination lies now to our northwest.
That structure in the distance could be Winterhold. Or not.
My map suggests we'll have to cross several waterways in this archipelago of islets, but as we move on, we find that most of them are (fortunately) covered with ice, on which we can run without getting (very) wet. Along the way, we are attacked by snowbears, that is bears who are entirely white, and the equally white variety of sabercat. Even a horker, a large aquatic animal frequent in this region (and quite tasty by the way), takes issue with us passing by uncomfortably close. They are very slow on dryland, which is why I would just run on, but then I notice my stupid girls have already gotten into a fight with it, so I have to turn around and help them.
We see an abandoned tent where evidently some fishermen have somehow met their death. Running further along the ocean shore, we find a camp with two tents, a horsecart, a dead horker and a live horse.
No humans again, and the horse looks really lost. I feel sorry for him, but there's nothing I can do. These icy mountains are precarious enough on foot.
We're halfway between the wreck of Winter War and our destination, the wreck of The Pride of Tel Vos. It's 6 o'clock in the evening, but the visibility is still good. There aren't any obstacles on our route and three quarters of an hour later we're there. Only a waterway 100 or 200 meters wide separates us from an island with something or someone (possibly) on it. It has started to snow again, but not too heavily.
We have a clear view of the beach opposite. Nothing is stirring anywhere. Nevertheless, I decide only two of us will strip naked and swim across. The other two will stand watch and follow us after we've crossed and made sure everything is safe.
On the island, we have to walk to the east. Along the southern shore goes (as you can see in the next picture) a narrow strip of land between the rocky hills and the water. Then it ends, and one has the choice between climbing up the rocks and jumping into the water. It's getting dark quickly.
With some effort, we climb up those rocks. We find a big campsite with a shipwreck behind it, and a few bandits whom we kill. More bandits run to the shore from the shipwreck and we kill those too. Then we approach the wreck cautiously (because one can easily trip and fall in this darkness).
As we get closer, my Sense of Smell power detects a hostile human on the wreck, most likely somewhere inside. I've no idea how to get there, though. I can't see the ground under my feet and I couldn't tell wall from doorway. Then I remember I have that magic ring that makes things glow in eerie purple. With its help, I can find my way into a place that I think could be called a cabin in the local circumstances. There I encounter the chief of the bandits. Why are so many bandit chiefs hiding behind their men instead of leading them into battle? I don't think he'd answer if I asked him. At any rate, he's strong. We need to shoot several arrows into him to kill him. That's all right. I like an occasional tough man.
Now we search the place and are somewhat amused to find that somebody was a real booklover here. There's a waterproof chest with quite a few books, as well as an old diary telling about things that have to do with House Telvanni. Between the diary is an envelope addressed to someone named Brandyl. Of course, the bandits have opened the envelope, but the letter is still inside.
Brandyl could be Brand-Shei. I wouldn't know. I'll bring the diary and letter to him. Maybe he can make something out of it.
What pleases me more at this moment is the sight of bedmats. Although only 8 o'clock in the evening, it's pitch-dark except near the campfire. Considering the rough landscape, you'd better believe I'm very happy we won't have to wander around any further trying to find a town that has to be somewhere in that icy blackness.
We'll sleep in the captain's "cabin" then. It's not too comfortable, but at least we won't wake up in a heap of snow. There's one sleeping bag here and the girls can bring theirs up from the hold or the campsite.
next awakening
