Chapter 41: A fanclub for the Dragonborn?
[28th – 29thof Rain's Hand4E 202]
We slept late into the morning, as yesterday's dragon soul absorption event had, once again, made my wife quite eager for attentions from me, so that we had made love passionately almost into the wee hours of the morning. Consequently we skipped breakfast and had an early lunch again at the inn. Afterwards we bought some food in the market, as our larder was almost empty.
On our way back from the market we ran into M'lissa, which save us the effort to look for her. She smiled widely when she saw us and called out: "You are here! That's good – can we talk somewhere?"
We went to our home, Honeyside, together and gathered around the table. After exchanging some more greetings, my wife started: "M'lissa, it is so good to see you again. Say, did everything work out as planned for you? Were you able to get Karliah reinstated? Did you get Mercer?"
The Khajiit responded: "Well, not everything worked as planned, but mostly. It took quite some effort to convince the guild that Karliah was innocent, but Karliah and myself eventually succeeded, mostly thanks to the translated journal we had with us. Mercer was gone and could not be found anywhere, so that we could not challenge him. However, we searched his house and found some hints indicating that we was going to hunt for a very special treasure, the gems called 'Eyes of the Falmer'. If he managed to find them, he could sell them for a huge amount of septims and live a life in luxury without ever moving a finger again. Naturally, we decided that we needed to stop him, and Karliah, Brynjolf and I followed him to the ruins of 'Irkngthand'."
"How did you know where to go?" I asked in between.
M'lissa continued: "Fortunately he had left a book around in hidden rooms below his house pointing out that this was his goal. Anyway, we followed him deep into the Dwemer ruin, which was sometimes dangerous, as he had reset a lot of traps. Somehow he had also managed to circumvent most Dwemer guardians, maybe because of his superior sneaking skills. After many hours of carefully moving forward – after all, we never knew if and where he was going to ambush us – we finally reached the hall with the Falmer statue and saw Mercer starting to pry out the gems. Before we could react, the ledge we were standing on collapsed, pushing me down, whereas Mercer cast some spell making Brynjolf attack Karliah. Mercer could now focus on me and attacked, and we had quite a hard fight. It was close, but I finally managed to kill him and get both gems from his body."
"Wow", my wife interjected, "that must have been tough."
"Yes it was, indeed!" M'lissa confirmed. "After that fight, I was almost ready to collapse, but I did not get the chance, as a trap was somehow triggered, making the hall slowly fill with water. The way back was blocked, and we were all frantically searching for a way out without finding one. When the water level was close to the head of the statue, we finally noticed that there was a hole in the ceiling, and once the water carried us up, there was a way out there. Once out of the water, we rested for some time and then got back to Riften, and that was that."
After a break and drinking something M'lissa continued: "Of course we needed to discuss the future leadership of the guild, and the entire guild was deciding on that – guess who is now leading the thieves guild?"
"Hm, maybe Brynjolf?" I guessed.
"Wrong" M'lissa shouted, "the new thieves guild master is sitting here with you!"
"You are?" T'mara almost could not believe it.
"Yes, I am" M'lissa confirmed. "I had also suggested Brynjolf, but he said that he was quite happy as second in command. Karliah also thought I'd be the best candidate, and the whole guild insisted I accept."
I had a feeling that M'lissa had not old us the entire story. For instance, I found it hard to believe that M'lissa was able to defeat Mercer Frey, who had quite some reputation for being a devious and excellent melee fighter, in single combat. However, maybe he had not been used to fighting a Khajiit. In addition, I needed to accept that there probably were some guild secrets M'lissa could not mention to us.
We also told her about our adventures of the last weeks and thus continued talking for quite some time. Eventually we got to the point related to our own business, and I started to explain:
"M'lissa, there is something we need to talk to you about, and as guild master, you are the perfect person to address this to."
"What?" M'lissa smiled, "do you want to hire the guild to steal something?"
"Kind of, yes" my wife replied. "We suspect that the Thalmor have critical information regarding the dragons, and we would like to infiltrate the Thalmor Embassy close to Solitude. You can probably imagine that this embassy is well guarded, so that we would need the best possible infiltrators. We wonder if somebody in the guild could handle that."
I continued: "If you think that you can pull it off, we are only interested in documents, and any loot you find would be yours, above and beyond a lump sum we'd pay."
M'lissa's eyes had grown large: "The Thalmor Embassy – this is quite ambitious, but I liked the idea. I will need to talk to my guild colleagues about that and get back to you tomorrow about this."
Before she left, she turned around again and grinned and said: "Wait – I cannot leave before I have told you another joke!"
T'mara and I sighed, but this did not stop my wife's cousin: "A baby snow bear asks his mother: 'Mom, has my Grandma also been a snow bear?' - ' Yes, my little one.' - "And have my Greatgrandma and her mother also been snow bears?' - 'Yes, my dear.' - 'Mom?' - ' Yes?' - ' Nonetheless I am freezing!'"
With those words she left, and we recalled that he had invited two girls for dinner. We had told them that they could arrive any time after four in the afternoon, and indeed they showed up almost exactly at four. I told them that dinner would not be ready for an hour or so, but that we could talk meanwhile; thus, we sat around our table.
One of the girls introduced them: "It is a pleasure and an honor to make your acquaintance. My friend here is called Marine, and I go the name of Glacier. We are twin cousins and have been BFF basically since we were babies."
"Excuse me", T'mara cut in, "but what is BFF and what is a twin cousin?"
"Let me explain – BFF is 'best friends forever'" the girl who called herself Glacier offered. "This is an expression from where we come from.. We have been so close for a long time that we sometimes kind of feel what the other thinks, and we cannot stand to be separated for long. In addition, we like to call ourselves twin cousins, because our mothers are identical twins and gave birth to us on the same day. So, we are not quite twins, but we fell and behave like twins. Some people also call us the Water-Ice twins."
"That is quite remarkable", I replied. "and you really look like sisters at least. Do you have any relatives around, or do you live in 'Honorhall Orphanage'?"
The other girl, Marine, laughed: "Neither. Do you really think we'd want to live in the rathole orphanage with that bitch of a woman? 'Grelod the Kind' she is called; if I was there, I'd probably dispose of her!"
It was quite obvious that Marine had a somewhat rougher way of talking than Glacier had. Whuile I could understand her feelings, I needed to correct her:
"I agree with your assessment of Grelod's character, though not necessarily with your choice of words. However, I would like to point out that Grelod is no longer in charge of the Riften orphanage, but Constance Michael is. Grelod suffered from a somewhat unfortunate heart attack when we kindly asked her to change her attitude."
"Holy shit" Glacier shouted, "you killed her? Are you now an assassin and a member of the Dark Brotherhood?"
I shook my head: "To be honest, we did not really kill her, but she really suffered from a heart attack. However, the Dark Brotherhood somehow got wind of that and abducted me a few days later. I was not in a mood to do what they wanted and refused to join them."
T'mara continued: "But now you should really explain what you are doing here and where you come from, I believe."
Glacier took over again: "Actually, we came from a place very far away. You probably will find it hard to believe, but we are not from Nirn at all."
T'mara raised her brows: "How can you be not from Nirn?"
Glacier continued: "Well, we were raised in a world where this world here is part of a computer game, and just last year we were somehow waking up close to Helgen rather than at home in Georgia. Do not ask us how this is possible, but for my friend this is like a dream coming true!"
"What is a computer game?" I did not understand and was curious.
Glacier shrugged her shoulders: "Difficult to explain – it's like you can visualize another world and pretend to be there and interact with people. It's almost like an extended dream, and you can continue that dream and influence it each time you kind of sleep. Anyway, we both have this game about Skyrim, but I played it a lot less than my friend. Now we are trying to find out if the real Skyrim is similar, and it seems to be. Well, it looks like we are stuck here, although I don't have a clue why we got to sleep in our home and woke up in Riverwood."
Marine added: "Anyway, actually being here is almost like a dream come true!"
Glacier commented: "Not quite so much for me, though. Contrary to my twin sister, I am less of a fighter, but prefer to read and talk instead. Also, we are not so much used to the cold, and I am cold most of the time! Why can't we be in southern Cyrodiil or Elsweyr rather than in Skyrim?"
T'mara and I looked at each other, finding this story somewhat hard to believe. I asked the girls: "Are you sure that you're not just making this up? Maybe you are running a fever or so?"
Glacier smiled and replied towards my wife: "Before you were recognized as Dragonborn, Farengar asked you to get the Dragonstone from Bleak Falls Barrow. Later on, when you had met the Greybeards, they asked you to get the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller from Ustengrav, but rather than the horn you just found a note there, suggesting that you rent the attic room in the Riverwood inn. Do I need to go on?"
T'mara looked at me again and could not really hide her surprise. She carefully said: "Well, it appears that you have got a point here. There's no way who could know all that, so that you must be right about the dream or game or whatever, I guess. Now, what do we do with you?"
Glacier smiled again: "Now as we are here, we might as well join you. We are sooooo curious to see what you will do next! You see, the Dragonborn is kind of a legend for us..."
I was not so sure about that, though: "Skyrim is not really an environment for two girls to gallivant around; there are many dangers, like animals, bandits, dragons, draugr and such. You should probably more look for an occupation in one of the cities, like here in Riften."
Marine did not fully agree: "We are not so helpless! I can fight, and my friend has learned how to use a bow and she is real good with words. We can be of assistance!"
"Well", T'mara smiled, "this I'd like to see. Specifically, how can being good with words help you to survive? East of Riften, there are a few bandit camps. Why don't we go there tomorrow and assess your skills. Based on what we see, we can decide on your future later – what do you think?"
"Splendid!" Glacier now called out. "Thank you indeed for your kinds words, and my friend and I will do our best to reciprocate your kindness. May I please also ask if you have a guestroom here we could use for the night; our supply of septims has been running a little low lately, unfortunately."
The young redguard certainly had a refined way of talking, and we offered our guestroom for the two girls.
After breakfast in the next morning, we merrily walked out of Riften's southwest gate, following the road along the lake. While slowly walking for a couple of hours, we were occasionally picking flowers and catching butterflies, and Glacier was quite interested to learn about those alchemical ingredients and their effects. When we reached a bridge, I warned the girls that highwaymen were sometimes lurking around those bridges. Marine just smiled and asked that we allow her and her friend to proceed ahead of us. Soon Marine was hiding in the bushes and crawling forward, while Glacier was slowly crossing the bridge, looking totally unconcerned; T'mara and I hid under an invisibility spell. A highwayman was actually there, and he approached Glacier, seeing her as easy target, saying: "Hand over all of your valuables, or else…!"
Glacier replied indignantly: "My good sir, I have not heard the word 'please' here – where and how were you raised?"
The bandit was confused – he had expected the girl to be frightened and maybe trying to run away, but not engaging in conversation. He raised his shortsword and tried again: "Just hand over your septims!"
Glacier still did not accommodate him: "Why should I do this? Do I look like I am on a mission of charity? Also, you may want to look behind you, as my friends do not appear to be quite happy with your impolite behavior!"
The highwayman fell for the trick and whirled around, just to see nobody at all on the road in that direction. This turn gave Marine, who had been hiding in the bushes, the chance to leap up, and approach the highwaymen with a set of somersaults. Almost quicker that we were able to observe she had a dagger at the bandit's throat.
Glacier laughed and announced: "Considering the situation, you may want to consider handing over your valuables now, what do you think?"
The poor highwayman clearly was not used to such a situation, and after a couple of attempts to free himself which resulted in feeling the dagger even closer to his throat, he gave in and threw his purse to the ground. Marine released him and he was gone, running away as quickly as he could.
T'mara admitted, while laughing: "I do understand now that being good with words can actually help you to survive, at least when you have backup; thank you for demonstrating that!"
After that display T'mara and I had to admit that those two girls were quite good, although they might have real problems when encountering a group of bandits rather than a single one. We invited them back to our home and continued to talk. T'mara asked:
"What did you two have in mind for your future? Any specific plans?"
Marine nodded: "Well, my friend might actually prefer to find a nice place in a city and become an alchemist or so, but I sure want to work on my fighting and magic skills and kick ass. Best would probably be to spend some time in the College of Winterhold, I guess, and maybe later with the Companions. Whatever we do, though, we want to stay together."
I smiled: "Quite ambitious, aren't you? However, my wife and I are going to travel to Winterhold again soon, and if you want, you can come with us. We can get you in, at least, and Tolfdir is going to be happy to get more students, I guess. How good are your magic skills?"
Glacier admitted: "Not great, unfortunately. We have so far focused on surviving and fighting, and nobody was willing to help much with magic learning. We both know basic self healing and a low level flame, but that's about it. And yes, we know that spell tomes are available for sale, for instance from the court wizards, but they charge way too much for us."
Looking at T'mara for confirmation, I told the girls: "All right, so you are with us when we go back to Winterhold. Let's Tolfdir have a look and find out what you can learn from him and the other mages there."
Also", Glacier continued, "We might be able to give you some hints on specific talks and quests. For instance, when you get to Blackreach, we can help you find your way, but you'd have to take us with you for that."
T'mara looked at me and we had to admit that we did not know anything about a place called Blackreach.
"That's all right", Glacier replied and smiled. "Just please recall that we would not mind at all to explore that place with you when the time is there, and maybe some other places as well."
I nodded and said: "Why don't we discuss that topic when it comes up; but we will certainly keep your proposal in mind. For now, why don't you make yourselves comfortable here and take the guestroom. My wife and I have some business to attend to, and depending on what we learn tonight, we might travel back to Winterhold as early as tomorrow."
Outside T'mara looked at me, not sure what I had meant about the business to attend to, and I explained: "Why don't we visit M'lissa and find out if there is a decision yet. The two girls do not need to know about that yet."
T'mara grinned and said: "Oh yes, true. They know a lot about what we are doing, but maybe not quite all."
After traversing the Ratway and entering the 'Ragged Flagon', we first met Brynjolf and chatted with him for a few minutes. M'lissa had seen us and joined us at our table soon, telling us:
"We have discussed your business proposal and we agree. If you are willing to pay a lump sum of 5000 septims, we will execute the discussed task with due care. However, preparations will take some time, and it may be a few weeks before we can get back to you with results."
I smiled and nodded: "That's perfectly all right for us. Please send a courier to the College of Winterhold when you have something. Here is the payment in advance." With those words I placed a big coin purse on the table.
After more chatting, I recalled that I had planned to talk to Vex about Isabelle Rolaine, friend of Ranmir in Winterhold. Fortunately Vex had just entered the Flagon and was now sitting down enjoying a just of mead or so. While T'mara continued to talk to M'lissa and Brynjolf, I joined Vex at her table and asked:
"Vex, I hope that you don't mind me talking to you. In Winterhold I met a guy called Ranmir, and he was grieving about the disappearance of an Isabelle Rolaine. Rumors have it that you might know something about it. Care to talk about it?"
Vex looked up and nodded: "That's all right – it's no secret. Isabelle Rolaine showed up some time ago and wanted to earn some money. I did not think that she was good enough for the guild, but she insisted on getting some advice, and finally I pointed her towards 'Hobs Fall Cave'. I expected her to get back to Winterhold and Ranmir after that, but have not heard from her. I would not be surprised to learn that she overestimated her own capabilities and succumbed to bandits. Yes, I'd appreciate if you'd look for her when you have some time."
I nodded: "Thank you for telling me, Vex. Maybe we will have a look there on our way back to Winterhold. Have a good evening, and Good Bye."
With those words I moved back to the other table, where my wife was still chatting with M'lissa and Brynjolf. Soon we were getting tired and excused ourselves, and on the way back to our lovely home I informed T'mara about the news from Vex.
Back at 'Honeyside' we asked the girls if they were ready to start traveling to Winterhold tomorrow, and Marine agreed right away. Glacier, though, who had moved herself quite close to the fireplace, commented: "If we are to travel to one of the coldest area in Skyrim, I absolutely need warmer clothes, please! Or maybe, on second thought, maybe we could travel to the warm lands of Elsweyr instead?"
"The border is closed, and you'd probably be captured and arrested!" I smiled. I understood the situation, though, and knew that the cold climate of Skyrim, particularly in the northern regions, was challenge for everybody who was not a Nord. Thus I suggested: "Well, why don't we first go to our main home, Riverside Lodge, and get some equipment there, and move on the Winterhold from there – would that be all right?"
Glacier nodded, somewhat relieved, but Marine asked: "Riverside Lodge? Where is that?"
I joked: "Was this not part of your game? Riverside Lodge is my main home, north of Riverwood, halfway down the river to Whiterun. I inherited the place from an uncle, and I love it."
Marine mumbled something like: "Must be one of those stupid player home mods, I guess..."
I still did not really understand the point of Skyrim being a 'game', but certainly the girls knew some details they should not have known. On the other hand, as we had just learned they did not know everything.
We all went to bed and hoped to be well rested tomorrow.
[Author's Note: I hope that you like the concept of the twin cousins meeting my heroes. They will not join us in all adventures, but only some of them. I know that there are other stories on people from our planet being magically transported to Skyrim, but those are mostly/partially written from the Earth person's POV, whereas I will strictly keep my 'Timotheus/Skyrim' POV.]
