24 Heartfire, 4E201
The Bannered Mare
~~~
Having been made aware of my forgetfulness surrounding the 'Bleak Falls' business I wasted no time with breakfast this morning, instead grabbing a roll on my way out of the College on yet another urgent task. The court mage of Whiterun, Farengar Secret-Fire, had been waiting for the barrow's stone tablet for well over a month now. I would not think this any more urgent than any one of the other requests I have received except for the suspicion that the tablet may shed some light on a few mysteries I have unearthed.
To my surprise I have absolutely nothing to write about my walk from the College all the way to Whiterun. No assassins, no wolves, nothing. It is a pleasant change from the usual schedule of my life and made for a quick trip, arriving at Whiterun just as the afternoon began.
The Jarl's palace in Whiterun, the ominously named 'Dragonsreach', is situated at the very top of the hillside Whiterun is built upon, making it a very defensible stronghold. It also makes it quite an ordeal to arrive at. The town is built to the contours of the land it sits on and the path from the town's gate to Dragonsreach required far more steps than I liked.
Jarl Balgruuf was not in attendance this afternoon, but his steward, Proventus Avenicci, was busy worrying about something and distractedly pointed me to the side room that served as Farengar's workshop. The court mage was there, as well as a cloaked and hooded woman who was demanding to know of what progress he had made in deciphering the unfortunate event at Helgen.
What the woman said was interesting: that dragons have come back. Not that a dragon has come back, but dragons. Multiple dragons. I have not seen the one since the attack on the Imperials at Helgen, but perhaps each province of the (former) Empire is suffering from similar attacks. Yet after the destruction of Helgen Skyrim's dragon has not made an appearence. I have certainly witnessed what may be the after-effects of a dragon's attack, but the smoldering carts and dead travelers may just as well have been Fire Atronachs or rogue mages under the employ of bandits.
The woman's knowledge about dragons was evidently not for Khajiit wandering in, for she brought my presence to the Farengar's attention and excused herself from the room. The court mage greeted me by making the observation that I had not died in the barrow and asked after that stone tablet that was said to be there.
He appeared to disapprove of me dumping my travel pack all over his table, but that was the only was I was going to remove the tablet. Handing it to him was like handing a child the most delicious piece of candy in the city, but he quickly composed himself and directed me to the Jarl so that I might receive my reward. As the Jarl was not in attendance, neither was my reward. He asked that I not travel far in case he had additional work for me, but I suspect he will be too busy with the tablet.
With nothing pressing to do I consulted my second, smaller journal which I got in the habit of keeping when I was toying with the idea of becoming a trader...a hundred years ago or so. I wandered around aimlessly, writing down the prices for things in hope that eventually I would come across a profitable connection no one else had noticed. It was not a productive time in my life.
Now though I keep a second journal of mostly work, small tasks. It was more useful when I was a bodyguard, but even now I have been collecting a list of odd jobs to help fill in my days, as if I needed help with that.
One of the tasks was to retrieve a sword for one 'Amren - Redguard - Whiterun'. My notes stated that Amren managed to find out where his sword had been stolen to: Redoran's Retreat, a historically named bandit's hideout that likely had nothing to do with the Great House at all. The Retreat was just a former mine and located close to Whiterun to the west along the road, just north of the ruined fortress.
Amren could have probably retrieved his sword on his own, if his wife would have allowed it. Redoran's Retreat boasted a whole three bandits, plus one dog. What I assumed to be Amren's heirloom was an ordinary-looking iron blade engraved with a name, but I could not read it through the rust.
It was evening when I left the cave and Amren's family was just settling down to dinner when I knocked on their door. He was surprised to see me, having thought that I either forgot his request or simply decided it was not worth my time. Amren's exclaimed how wonderful it was to have the sword back again and his wife, whose name I do not believe I have heard, dryly replied that it could hang next to all the other weapons he never uses anymore. He pressed some coins into my hand, his daughter thanked me, and I left them to their meal.
Next on my list was 'Runil - Altmer - Falkreath' for a misplaced journal in a cave system named 'Southfringe Sanctum' almost directly south of Helgen. As it was already night I took a room at the Bannered Mare and may visit the sanctum tomorrow.
These minor tasks are a marked contrast to the reality-warping emergency I dealt with at the College, but at least I can use this time to relax a bit, study, and work on my equipment. You never know what tomorrow may bring and it always pays to be prepared.
To my surprise I have absolutely nothing to write about my walk from the College all the way to Whiterun. No assassins, no wolves, nothing. It is a pleasant change from the usual schedule of my life and made for a quick trip, arriving at Whiterun just as the afternoon began.
Jarl Balgruuf was not in attendance this afternoon, but his steward, Proventus Avenicci, was busy worrying about something and distractedly pointed me to the side room that served as Farengar's workshop. The court mage was there, as well as a cloaked and hooded woman who was demanding to know of what progress he had made in deciphering the unfortunate event at Helgen.
The woman's knowledge about dragons was evidently not for Khajiit wandering in, for she brought my presence to the Farengar's attention and excused herself from the room. The court mage greeted me by making the observation that I had not died in the barrow and asked after that stone tablet that was said to be there.
He appeared to disapprove of me dumping my travel pack all over his table, but that was the only was I was going to remove the tablet. Handing it to him was like handing a child the most delicious piece of candy in the city, but he quickly composed himself and directed me to the Jarl so that I might receive my reward. As the Jarl was not in attendance, neither was my reward. He asked that I not travel far in case he had additional work for me, but I suspect he will be too busy with the tablet.
With nothing pressing to do I consulted my second, smaller journal which I got in the habit of keeping when I was toying with the idea of becoming a trader...a hundred years ago or so. I wandered around aimlessly, writing down the prices for things in hope that eventually I would come across a profitable connection no one else had noticed. It was not a productive time in my life.
Now though I keep a second journal of mostly work, small tasks. It was more useful when I was a bodyguard, but even now I have been collecting a list of odd jobs to help fill in my days, as if I needed help with that.
One of the tasks was to retrieve a sword for one 'Amren - Redguard - Whiterun'. My notes stated that Amren managed to find out where his sword had been stolen to: Redoran's Retreat, a historically named bandit's hideout that likely had nothing to do with the Great House at all. The Retreat was just a former mine and located close to Whiterun to the west along the road, just north of the ruined fortress.
It was evening when I left the cave and Amren's family was just settling down to dinner when I knocked on their door. He was surprised to see me, having thought that I either forgot his request or simply decided it was not worth my time. Amren's exclaimed how wonderful it was to have the sword back again and his wife, whose name I do not believe I have heard, dryly replied that it could hang next to all the other weapons he never uses anymore. He pressed some coins into my hand, his daughter thanked me, and I left them to their meal.
Next on my list was 'Runil - Altmer - Falkreath' for a misplaced journal in a cave system named 'Southfringe Sanctum' almost directly south of Helgen. As it was already night I took a room at the Bannered Mare and may visit the sanctum tomorrow.
These minor tasks are a marked contrast to the reality-warping emergency I dealt with at the College, but at least I can use this time to relax a bit, study, and work on my equipment. You never know what tomorrow may bring and it always pays to be prepared.
You may be wondering why a certain very important event did not trigger during this day. I was wondering that myself! I spent hours researching ways to "fix" the quest, ways I may have broken it, and so on. After hours of panicking, I realized one of the mods I installed was delaying the Main Quest. It will randomly send me a letter via courier or something to return to Whiterun, after which Kerra will find herself dealing with a real, live Dragon.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward do it. I've never advanced the Main Quest past Bleak Falls Barrow in all the years I've owned Skyrim.