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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
4-202-01-21 05:40
Fort Urokk, Falskaar
While we're away from Jarl Agnar and his rude brutes, we enjoy exploring the rest of the sealed-off section where we currently are. We end up on the roof on which stands a formidable man in a heavy armor. He's an Orc or at least looks like one in this light. He tells us sneeringly how we have no chance of getting the best of him. Way to go, dude! Just keep talking while four bows are getting mounted lightning-fast, sending four arrows at you. There, you're dead now. Let that be a lesson to you in your next life – there's a time for chatting and there's a time for hitting.
While we strip the corpse of armor and other gear, we search it thoroughly and find a Key-of-something which is not actually a key. Could it be one of those five Keys for that Heart-whatever? Let's go ask Jarl Agnar. He must be going up the walls by now anyway, waiting for us to return. Or maybe we're lucky and he's gone home already?
We hurry back to the cage. The jarl confirms that what we found is the fourth of the five magical Keys. And they've got the cell door open by now. With his wife and son liberated, we're all set to depart the way we came. Except that Jarl Agnar has a better idea.
He says the man I took that magical thing away from, Kolgrim, was the commander of this fortress. With him dead, his soldiers can be expected to be confused. (The Nord warriors don't seem to have the same rule as I have with my followers – everyone must be able to think for his own.) This gives us a welcome opportunity to kill at least a part of them before we leave, thereby weakening Yngvarr's army.
Yes, I agree it's a good idea. If, of course, you do it the sensible way – spread out, find suitable spots in good cover and start shooting at the bandits, possibly killing a dozen before they can even figure out where you all are. Do I need to tell you that this is not what's going to happen here? The jarl has barely stopped talking when his men rush to demolish our barricade. As soon as they've gotten outdoors, they raise their swords and axes and run screaming towards the enemies who are all over them in no time. In a snap of fingers, our "huge advantage" has gone down the drain. To my utter horror, even little Wilhard sees his dream of becoming a real warrior coming true and runs after the men, waving a sword he apparently picked up from a dead bandit while no one was looking. Before I can react, Jalma is already running after him to bring him back, and the next moment they're in the midst of a boiling mass of flesh and metal.
I haven't got a chance in this chaos, so I do the only thing I can – run past the main battle where new enemies keep coming to join the skirmish, and shoot arrows at them. Soon, the main battle group also splits into several parts and then it's just an unoverseeable crowd running back and forth across the large compound hitting away at whichever enemies they can find. Without my Sense of Smell power, I would have absolutely zero chance of telling ally from enemy:
I couldn't say how long it lasts, but then I suddenly notice a fighting couple detaching themselves from a larger skirmish. It's Jordis retreating before the furious blows form Svegard!! What is going on here? Is he insane? We are outnumbered at least three to one and he attacks one of his allies!
Without wasting any more time, I send my followers a telepathic command to retreat with me. We run to the gate which I open (somehow I know where the switch is) while the girls cover my back. And then we run towards Falskaar Docks. I'm furious. To hell with all the meadbrained limpweenies on this island! We're gone from this madhouse for good.
I can't understand what went into Svegard. Did he have blood in his eyes and couldn't see clearly? Or had they found a hidden stash of skooma while the girls and I were on the roof killing Kolgrim? On maybe there's something in Amber Mead that makes men crazy? Come to think of it, Jarl Agnar was swaying on his feet a little when he talked to me about attacking the bandits. (See the picture before the last.) Be it as it may, there are things you just can't do to my followers.
The trader at the docks, Henrik, has a lot of money and he also has some interesting pieces on sale. Shopping calms me down considerably.
Jordis prefers one of our looted heavy armors that gives stronger protection.
I find them too uncomfortable, but she is taller and stronger than me.
It looks good on her too. Also, the Glass Helmet fits her perfectly.
I find them too uncomfortable, but she is taller and stronger than me.
It looks good on her too. Also, the Glass Helmet fits her perfectly.
As we step out of Henrik's shop, I tell the girls to come and sit down next to that shack ruin somewhat away from the other buildings. I ask them to honestly say their opinion. Am I being unfair? Am I overreacting?
Jordis says she'll never go back to that place, and I should have just let her kill Svegard.
Lydia says it was generally a good battle and a fascinating challenge, but that doesn't mean we have to go back there. The jarl's men were clearly acting crazy, so it may be better for us to take some distance from it all.
Jenassa remains neutral, but notes that in our current emotional state, we (Jordis and I) certainly shouldn't return to Fort Urokk. As for the war in general, Agnar and Svegard certainly revealed back in Amber Creek that they have repugnant characters, so they're not necessarily better than Yngvarr. True, the latter started this war, but we may not know the whole story and whatever rightful grievances Yngvarr may have.
That lightens my burden. Now I have a clear picture of it all. My decision to leave for Skyrim remains unchanged, but we might decide to return someday in the future.
Now we board the ship to Dånstar. As we sit on the deck and watch the sea. I feel increasingly sad. I realize that in Amber Creek, I have the only house which I really perceive as my territory. I mean, my Solitud residence is pressed between the other houses, and the ones in Hviterun and Windhelm are more like very big dog kennels, and in Ravenrock I can never truly feel home with the ground brown and the sky gray. But in Amber Creek I can actually walk around my house and enjoy the grass and the sunshine, and there are no other houses close enough to make me feel crowded, and yet the rest of the village is nearby so that I never have to feel lonely.
Eventually, the girls see my mood and suggest we go inside and have an early night. (We're supposed to arrive before sunrise, so we had indeed better go to sleep earlier than usually.) Of course, the real reason is to be able to talk so that the seamen can't hear us.
We reminisce on the last couple of days' events, but then we inevitably come back to the overbearing and irritated way the men treated us in Fort Urokk when we all were fighting our way to the cell of the kidnapped Jalma and Wilhard. Jenassa is the one to put everything in its place: "They acted like this, because they can't psychologically admit we are better warriors."
Hard to argue against it. I say: "Frankly, the ability to kill people is not exactly something I'm proud of."
Lydia says: "We aren't actually any better warriors, we just have superb gear. Our arrows make easily five times more damage than their swords. It's not hard to be a super killer when you have the kind of blacksmith and enchanter we have."
"Yeah, but you couldn't tell them that," I say. "Can you imagine what would happen if we went to them and said: look guys, you don't have to feel inferior to us, because with comparable weapons and armor, you would actually beat us?"
Lydia nods. "They would burst out in hysterical laughter and insist the thought of feeling inferior to us would have never occurred to them, and afterwards they'd hate us even more."
"In Skyrim, the men seem more cool about it."
"Indeed, Laura. But that may be the influence of the other races. The Imperials, for one thing, have always had many women even among their officers. But look at..."
Jordis interrupts Lydia: "They may have women among officers, but not among military leaders."
"What are you trying to say?" asks Lydia.
"The Imperials are rational about it. They have figured out that women are rarely good strategists, but they are good at teaching and keeping little things in order and keeping people around them motivated and solving conflicts so that everyone is happy."
Jenassa cuts in: "I think the strength of the Imperial Army has more to do with men going out of their way because they're mortally afraid of failing in something when a woman can see it."
We chuckle and then I ask: "What were you saying earlier, Lydia?"
"I was saying that look at those Falskaar men, with their arms as thick as our thighs, whose wives probably suckle their babies with mead instead of milk," (Jordis laughs), "whom I wouldn't be too surprised to see uprooting a tree to beat up a bear with. And they have to endure that a group of chicks comes over from the mainland and does things they can't! I mean, seriously, they know damn well they could have never taken on those creatures in Watervine Chasm and Vizemunsted. You all saw their faces when we left Amber Creek the other day. They didn't believe we could actually go in there and come out the other end."
Jenassa agrees: "Now that you mentioned it, I think that was the moment when it all changed between them and us."
We go on like this for a couple of hours at least, until we finally fall asleep.
next awakening
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