Chapter 40: Thane of Winterhold
[7th – 27th of Rain's Hand4E 202]
All of us had learned some lessons in the barrow, including myself. The hike back was supposed to be relaxed, but when we had just crossed the river on the ice floats, we could see a dragon approaching. The beast was, however, not directly heading in our direction, but apparently had another target in mind. While the students hesitated, T'mara and I moved closer, and soon we could see that the dragon was about to attack two travelers. In order to distract the beast, my wife shouted 'FUS' in the dragon's general direction, and this indeed worked – the dragon headed towards us now. I quickly told the students to seek cover, and when the beast breathed frost spikes, I shouted to everybody to attack with fire. Fortunately, the area had some larger rocks, which enabled the students to hide and occasionally throw a fireball towards the dragon, whereas T'mara used 'YOL' and Tolfdir used his strongest fire spell. I switched to the crossbow and loaded bolts of exploding fire, and soon the dragon found itself to be attacked from almost all sides at once. One of the travelers also used a bow, and after a few minutes the dragon was forced to land."Now we got it!" my wife shouted, and we intensified our attacks, while always keeping a safe distance. A final concentrated attack killed the beast, and soon my wife once again absorbed the dragon soul. Naturally, the students were now all in awe and called "Dragonborn!", so that T'mara finally had to admit her special status to the entire party.
The two travelers which had first been attacked came closer, and we recognized Lydia and Inigo. They had completed their honeymoon and were on their way from Windhelm to Winterhold, and we bade them a warm welcome into our group. While we continued our walk, Lydia reported that they also had a message from Delphine – she was getting impatient and urged us to find a way to infiltrate the Thalmor embassy close to Solitude.
"Even Delphine understands that a young female Khajiit like the Dragonborn is quite unlikely to blend in", Lydia said. "However, she is curious if we might know somebody who might be able to do that. Delphine believes that she should be able to get a genuine invitation to one of Elenwen's parties."
"Delphine still seems to be convinced that the dragons are controlled by the Thalmor or that there is at least a connection", I commented. "I do actually not believe so, as I cannot imagine that the dragons allow themselves to be controlled by elves, but I may be wrong."
T'mara asked: "Yes, my love, I agree. Do we know anybody who might want to be brave and go and do this task?"
I prompted: "I believe that infiltrating the Thalmor embassy is quite dangerous and should be done by the best of the best. Whom do we know who might fit in this category?"
My wife pondered this and then suggested: "Oh yes, the Thieves Guild. They might actually be able to pull it off, invitation or no invitation."
I nodded and continued: "Yes, they might. As we have our contacts, why don't we ask them next time we are in Riften. The loot they are likely to find there might be a good incentive in addition to what are going to pay."
That being said, we moved on towards Winterhold, pushing forward on snow and ice. During our next break, T'mara was sitting on the side and spending extra effort to finally getting the "Summon Familiar" spell working. She certainly had enough magicka, but somehow the spell had not worked yet, frustrating her a lot. This time however, after a few attempts, something happened, and eventually something appeared. I did not really know yet what it was, but it seemed to be a quite big animal with wings and four legs, looking remotely like a mix of lion and eagle. T'mara's jaw had dropped down, and she was apparently as surprised as I was. Lydia, Inigo, Tolfdir, and the students were sitting some distance away, separated by a few rocks, and they had not yet seen the apparition. The animal got closer to my wife and allowed her to touch it. Finally T'mara looked in my direction and said, looking quite satisfied and happy: "This is a griffin. We seem to have some kind of telepathic connection, and I have just learned about that. I had not been able to summon him so far, because he prefers to be outdoors. I am going to call him Edric."
This being said, I first hugged my wife and then walked to the others and told them about T'mara's success, and I invited them to have a look. Most did, and all of them were in awe. Tolfdir commented: "This griffin is likely going to be quite useful for scouting in open areas, I guess".
My wife was really happy that she had finally managed to summon her own personal familiar, and after that event we got back to the college without further incident. As the students got the next day off to recover from the ordeal, some of them decided to celebrate and imbibe on alcohol, but as my wife had absorbed a dragon soul earlier this day, I had a good idea on what she might prefer and whispered a few words about going to bed early in her perked ears; this made her smile and pull me towards our small room, where we found the narrow bed in our college quarters to be not an issue at all as we spent almost all night on top of each other rather than side by side.
As the next day was free, I walked down into town and first visited Brina, the shop owner. She had just opened up, and I proudly presented the 'Helm of Winterhold' we had found, saying that I was about to hand it over to the Jarl. I added: "Brina, only thanks to you offering the claw we were able to find the helmet and quite a lot of other loot. As thank you for that you should get all the loot I am going to sell at half price – what do you say?"
Brina looked quite happy now: "This is too generous of course, but I accept. What do you have?"
I handed over the collection of swords, arrows, and armor we had found, plus some additional circlets, rings, and gems. Brina got a value of about 2000 septims for 1000 septims, and although that almost exceeded the amount of cash she had available, she was a happy woman today.
When leaving I added: "If you find some special artifacts again at some time, please let me know!"
My next stop was the Jarl's longhouse. After entering, I waited for the Jar to finish a discussion with his steward. When he had finished, I approached him and said: "I have the Helm of Winterhold."
"Can you believe that this hold used to contend for the throne of the High King?" the Jarl pondered, while handing over a small coin purse. "Now perhaps others will listen. Here, your reward as promised. You have Winterhold's thanks."
He added: "By the way, there is room in my court for a new Thane. It's an honorary title, mainly, but there are a few perks someone like you could make use of. However, I could only grant the title to someone who is known throughout my Hold. You help my people, and I'll make you my Thane."
I replied respectfully: "It would be an honor, my Jarl. Actually, I believe that I've helped your people already."
After quickly consulting his steward, the Jarl looked at me and nodded: "Yes, I have heard about that from my steward. Then by my right as Jarl, I name you Thane of Winterhold. I grant you this weapon from the armory to serve as your badge of office. I'll also notify the guards of your new title. Wouldn't want them to think you're part of the common rabble, now."
Why is it, I thought, that almost all of the Jarls used that term 'part of the common rabble' when promoting someone to Thane? Was that a phrase they had agreed upon in their last moot or so? I did not think of 'normal' citizens like this at all.
The next few days T'mara and I focused on our casting again, and we made good progress. A couple of weeks later my wife admitted that she needed a break, and I suggested: "Well, we could visit Riften and find out if M'lissa and Karliah were able to convince the Thieves Guild about Karliah's innocence and Mercer's deeds and misdoings. If all is well, we can ask them about doing a job at the Thalmor embassy."
"I like that idea!" my wife beamed. "Do we take Lydia and Inigo with us as well?"
"Let us ask them about it" I suggested. We went over to them, and they wanted to stay here until we came back, which was just fine for us. When we walked through the library to study a few books, Onmund, the Nord student, came over to me and asked if I could spare a few minutes of my time for him. When I agreed, he told me: "Well, this is a little bit embarrassing, but I made a big mistake by selling a family heirloom to Enthir when I was drunk a couple of nights ago. I would like to get it back, but Enthir says 'a deal is a deal' and refuses. He hinted that if I did him a favor he might reconsider, and suggested that if I could get the 'Grand Staff of Charming' for him, he'd be happy enough to humor me. He insisted that the staff was most likely to be found in 'Bob's Fall Cave'. I'd love to get it from there, but you see, I am just one student, and I do not know which dangers might await me there..."
I smiled and told him: "I understand. Well, you know, two of my friends will be staying here for a while, Lydia and Inigo. I am quite sure that they won't be able to study and practice casting for week after week without a break, and they will certainly welcome an interruption. Why don't we ask them if they volunteer to go to the cave with you."
Talking to Lydia and Inigo indeed revealed that they were more than happy to go on an excursion with Onmund, and the three of them agreed to do this early next week. T'mara told them that we planned to be back in Winterhold in a couple of weeks or so.
Finally we were able to plan our trip to Riften. We decided to not wait for a carriage, but rather take our time and walk; we expected this to be more fun. When looking at the map, I tried to find a route which we had not taken before and pointed out: "Look, there is a path south of Saarthal, passing a place which is marked as 'Alftand' and going south from there via 'Wayward Pass'; from there it is all downhill to 'Nightgate Inn'."
T'mara liked the idea and we decided to leave very early in the morning on the next day, to try to make it to the inn in one day. We managed to get up a couple of hours before sunrise, ate a quick breakfast and shouldered our packs. Once outside of the town, we summoned our familiars and walked at a quick pace uphill to the ice fields southwest of Winterhold. A couple of ice wraiths and ice wolves barely slowed us down, and soon we found ourselves passing Saarthal on the south side, proceeding towards this 'Alftand' place. Noon time was already behind us when we finally reached it, but there were only a few small huts and a walkway which seemed to lead into the mountain. We found a sunny bench to sit on and enjoyed a lunch meal, followed by sunbathing for a few minutes, before we moved on. Soon we reached a proper road again leading up to the mountain pass.
I mentioned to T'mara: "You know, such a mountain pass has been known to be used for an ambush by bandits and such; we should proceed with care!"
We approached the pass carefully, and indeed there was a bandit archer placed on the rock perch above the pass, and the highwayman started to shoot at us. T'mara's familiar had been around, though, and quickly descended towards the bandit. The attack distracted the bandit sufficiently so that I could hit the guy with my crossbow, and Edric finished him off. The griffin looked around for more bandits, and soon three more of them were flushed out; they had seen the big griffin, though, and decided to flee, so that we could pass now. From there on, the road descended again, and without further interruption we arrived at the inn before dusk. Hadring, the innkeeper, seemed to be glad to see us again, and he also recalled our preference for drinks, asking if we'd like to have a jug of milk each. We smiled and confirmed, also ordering dinner for later. After eating, we quickly dropped in our bed after the long walk we have achieved today. Bran was quite happy to sleep in our room, too, as he had exhausted himself during the day, occasionally trying to catch rabbits and foxes.
Considering the strenuous hike on the day before, I asked my wife if she was still fit on the next morning, and when she agreed, I mentioned with a smirk: "Well, if we walk again very fast today, we can either make it to Windhelm or Kynesgrove or even to our favorite hot spring – what might your preference be, my dear?"
T'mara smiled back at me and was quick to decide: "Let's go for the hot spring – I am about ready for a hot bath!"
That was my preference as well, and thus we walked first in the direction of 'Anga's Mill'. Today no dragon stopped us, but as were about to cross the bridge after the mill, a group of three necromancers and conjurers approached rapidly and attacked. Pammy and Bran were close by and charged right away, distracting one of the enemies and keeping him busy. The other two came upon us one behind the other, and T'mara opted to use the 'YOL' shout, breathing fire. While this was not yet enough the kill the two, it hurt them a lot and distracted them well enough so we could finish them off with our swords. Pammy and Bran had been successful in killing their own prey, and we could search the bodies for loot.
Passing Windhelm stables in the early afternoon we turned south and soon left the snow region. Around Kynesgrove spring was already in the air, and various flowers started to show their colors. T'mara admitted that she had missed this and was not really liking the eternal winter in Winterhold so much, but for now we had left winter behind. A few kilometers later we turned left, away from the road, at our usual spot and soon found our favorite hot pool. The sun was already going down behind the hills, so that is was too late for a bath. We set up our small tent, put our bedroll down, and ate a quick supper. I summoned Pammy again and she was tasked to keep watch together with Bran; we could rely on those two and rest safely, which we did in each other's arms.
On the next morning the sun was hiding behind thick clouds, and after breakfast rain started to fall. "Well, I think that this should not keep us from enjoying the hot pool" I said to my wife, and she fully agreed. Pammy was re-summoned, and she and Bran were happily running around in the close neighborhood while T'mara and I jumped into the pool, after removing all of our clothes. It was kind of funny to feel cold raindrops hitting us from above while our bodies were almost fully submerged in the hot water, and we indulged in the luxury for most of the day. Sometimes we scratched each others back, sometimes we dozed off a little, and sometimes we tried some tickling, and a couple of times we got involved in more heated activities, which made us forget completely about lunch. Later on, when the sun was quite low already, our stomachs complained at almost the same time, and we reluctantly agreed to get out, dry off, and eat something. After supper, we spent a little time petting our familiars and then went to bed early.
The trip to Riften from the hot spring area was something we had done a few times already, at least using the shortest route and being on a carriage. Thus, for today I decided to detour a little bit and take the smaller path which lead past Ansilvund and Ruunvald south to Riften, passing east of Shor's Stone. For the first part of the trip, while still being in the valley, we picked various flowers to collect as alchemy ingredients. Soon we turned left off the main road onto a small winding path uphill and enjoyed the scenery, until a few wolves got close, baring their teeth. Pammy and Bran though drove them away quickly, which T'mara's griffin scouted ahead. Edric actually decided to have a look at the area around Ansilvund, and a few minutes later we could see fireballs being shot at him. Consequently we rushed in the same direction to see a conjurer blasting off the fireballs; as he was totally distracted by the griffin, he failed to see us getting close and lost his life as we fired bolts and arrows. The small tower across from the excavation site provided some loot, and soon we could turn back to the path again.
A couple of hours later the boreal forest slowly turned into the perpetual Riften autumn forest with yellow and red leaves, and as soon as found a nice spot we sat down for our lunch break. Pammy had managed to kill a deer, and she shared it with Bran and Edric. The path was just barely visible, but we only need to head south to find our way. We passed a number of iron ore veins and finally got close to the main road again just next to the Shrine of Zenithar. T'mara joked: "Last time we were here a dragon attacked, I recall – what about today?" We looked around, but there was no dragon in the air. However, when we had reached the Riften Stables, we heard quite a commotion from the area around Merryfair Farm, and a dragon was starting to devastate the fields there. Naturally, we ran in this direction, and as soon as I was in crossbow range, I stopped and started shooting. The dragon lifted itself from the ground and flew in our direction, but this brought it in my wife's bow range and she started shooting as well. As the dragon had blown fire on the fields, T'mara also used her 'IIZ' shout to freeze the beast, which hurt at least, so that the dragon was soon down at the ground again. Edric was brave enough to attack from one side, I was still sending bolts, and a couple of hold guards were now also shooting their bows, so that the young dragon finally succumbed. The guards and the farmer stood in awe when T'mara absorbed the dragon soul, and we checked the damage to the farm. Fortunately the dragon had just started to breathe fire on the fields, and only a few dead sheep showed up.
Along the guards shouting after the dragon fight, we could also hear some girl voices, and one of them stuck out: "Wow, I guess that you were right – the Dragonborn really is a Khajiit!"
Looking in that direction, we saw two girls looking no older than 13 or 14 years old, one of them a Redguard with black hair and the other most likely a Nord, pale and with blonde hair. Both of them were looking at T'mara in awe, and the Redguard girl actually started to approach us when she saw that we were looking in her direction. She addressed my wife like this: "Hey, did you come down from Helgen when you encountered Alduin for the first time?"
T'mara and I looked at each other and my wife replied: "Were you in Helgen, too, when Alduin came down upon the town?"
She nodded and said: "Yes, indeed, both my friend and I were there in the Keep, and we escaped through the tunnels. Look, this may appear strange, but my friend and I really would love to talk to you; do you think that you can find some time for us?"
T'mara was not quite sure what to think of that, but I smiled and responded: "My dear, it looks like you have a fan club. Why don't we invite the two girls to our home for dinner tomorrow?"
My wife nodded and confirmed: "Okay, as my husband suggested, please feel free to join us for dinner tomorrow in our home - 'Honeyside' - do you know how to find it?"
The Redguard girl nodded swiftly, so that her braids were swinging around: "Of course we do. Thank you, and we will see you tomorrow!"
Finally, we could get into Riften by the north gate. As dusk was close, we had dinner at the inn, entered our Riften home and went to bed, jointly deciding that all business discussions would have to wait until the next day.
[Author's Note: I visualize the Griffin T'mara finally summons to look like the griffins in the "Heroes of Might and Magic" game series, or like this one: . . The name Edric is a homage to the game "Heroes of Might and Magic 3" and the hero Edric in there, who has a special affiliation with griffins: . /Edric . The encounter with the two girls was partially inspired by the story "Dovah Twins" by "Queen Mist7777".]
