Chapter 67: A letter from Kvatch
[27th of Frostfall – 18th of Sun's Dusk 4E 202]
After we had enjoyed a late breakfast in the next morning, T'mara and I paid a quick visit to the temple to check on the guards' healing progress. We were happy to hear that nobody's life was in danger and that all injured guards were properly taken care of, and we took our leave again. Close to Dragonsreach we also met Captain Brutus, who was going to travel on with his Imperials, and we exchanged a few words.
Next we checked with Eorlund at the Skyforge, and the big Nord proudly told us that he had two sets of dragon armor ready, one each for my wife and me. Both sets were light Dragonscale armor, and he informed us:
"This is not yet the best I can do, but just kind of prototypes; smithing dragon scales and bones is a real challenge, and I still have to learn. Heavy armor needs even more work and effort, but feel free to take those two sets of armor for now and let me know how they work out for you."
"Thank you very much, Eorlund" I replied. "How much do we owe you for that?"
"Are you kidding me?" he responded. "Being able to work on armor made of dragon bones and scales is a great experience; not many blacksmiths have a chance to do that. Above and beyond that, just spread the word that those were done at the Skyforge; this will be plenty of compensation!"
My wife and I slipped into the new armor and found that they fit perfectly. Compared to the Dawnguard armor we had mostly used so far, it was even lighter, but more protective, and it fit almost like a second skin. For now, we were quite happy about that.
We picked up Yumi from Breezehome and walked to Riverside Lodge, while stopping a few times to talk to guards on the road. We took our time, also to give Yumi time to admire the scenery, and arrived around noon. We could see that Iona and Valdimar were sitting on the porch together with Lucia; they waved when they saw us crossing the bridge. Already from a distance I could see Lucia getting curious abut the girl with us, and the first announcement we made was about her, of course:
"Lucia, this is Yumi; we have adopted her as well, and she is your sister now. Yumi, this is Lucia, Iona, and Valdimar, and this is our home."
More words were not required. Although Yumi had kind of an exotic look, Lucia beamed, took her by the hand and started to show her around; soon we heard the two of them babbling and giggling, and they both sounded happy. I was also happy to see how easy it was for two young girls to become friends quickly; this was usually a more tedious and time consuming process for us adults. Specifically, the kids showed not even a hint of racism, neither towards one of us adults nor towards each other; that was something lots of Skyrim adult citizens needed to learn from, in my opinion.
Iona moved into the kitchen to work on lunch, and Valdimar helped us to take off our armor and bring casual clothes out, not without admiring our new armor.
After lunch we delivered summaries of what had happened to Iona and Valdimar, and we listened to their report on what had happened around here, and we were pleased to learn that Lucia had behaved well, too.
Once again we seemed to be in the nice situation that no urgent tasks waited for us, and I thought that this was not so bad for a change at all, considering the activities in the last months.
"You know," T'mara sighed and relaxed on my lap, "I would not mind at all to stay here for the winter, get snowed in, and just take it easy."
"Sure," I replied, "and after a few lazy weeks you'd complain and tell me that we need to do something."
"I guess you are right" she nodded, "but at least a few lazy days we can use for sure. You know, including lots of time for cuddling, just the two of us in our room..."
That was fully aligned with my own thoughts; no complaints here. From my point of view, we could start with that right away.
For the time being it looked like we actually got what we wanted. On some days the weather was still nice enough to do some gardening, on some other days it was just nasty and made us stay indoors for most of the day. Even on those days, though, once could spend some time outside, as there was a smaller porch fully covered by the house roof on the north side, and rain usually did not normally get there.
On one of the nicer days T'mara and I took the two girls to Riverwood for a day and introduced them to Dorthe and Frodnar, allowing them to play together all day long. On another day we went to Whiterun and visited my special friend Mila. On yet another day, we spent a few hours fishing in the river and caught a few river betties and one salmon, which we later on had for dinner. Later on in the evening, when it was already dark, we watched the luna moths and torchbugs, which were for some reason not only flying during the warm months here in Skyrim. Once I was summoned by Jarl Balgruuf, and I spent half a day advising him on some of his affairs, mostly related to reclaiming forts and fortifications.
It was heart warming to watch Lucia and Yumi together. They behaved like they had been sisters and best friends since toddler age, and they did almost everything together. When there were in bed in the evening, we could hear them talking, telling each other stories about what they had experienced so far in their lives and about their fantasies and dreams. We had been asked to move their beds closer together, which we had of course done. We were a real little family now, and I was very happy about it. Just sometimes I wished that we also had a child looking like my wife, or at least being a half Khajiit, but T'mara was still very young, just nineteen years old, and kids of our own could and would wait until she was ready.
On a nice day in Sun's Dusk two things happened almost at the same time. A courier brought a letter, addressed to me, and before I had time to even open it, Lydia and Inigo showed up, but not alone, but together with a young female Bosmer, who looked to be in her teenage years. For the moment, the letter could wait; Lydia and Inigo and their companion looked tired and battered, and their clothes were partially torn. Of course, we first took care of them.
When they had rested a little, they related what had happened to them, and while we had some food on the table and Lydia and the Bosmer helped themselves, Inigo started:
"Some weeks ago we, Lydia and I, started a field trip with a group of students and two mages from the College of Winterhold. The goal was the Nordic ruin of Korvanjund, and some mages had found some interesting artifacts there before, so that a second expedition was warranted. We got there all right, a little later than planned as we had investigated some smaller places on the way, but the intelligence we had on the place was outdated, and it had been claimed by bandits. We did not notice that initially, as they were hidden at first, but when we were already inside, we found bandits ahead and in our back – a precarious situation."
"What did you do?"
"Fortunately, we found a hidden passage to escape, but it was very narrow, and there was not enough time for all of us to crawl through and close it again" Lydia continued, while Inigo now grabbed something to eat. "Inigo and I decided to slow down the pursuers and allow the students and other mages to escape. We just barely managed to close the hatch after the last ones, and then we surrendered – there was no other choice."
"You can be lucky they did not kill you right away."
"Yes, but the bandits realized they might be able to collect ransom for two mages. We were put in cages, but treated not too badly. The bandits discussed for some time what to do, and maybe they sent a ransom letter off, we do not know. After a week or so had passed, the bandit who fed us was drunk, and he dropped a couple of lockpicks just outside of my cage so that I could grab them later on. We managed to get out of the cages, but we still did not know exactly where we were and how to get out."
"But yet you managed..."
"Yes, we did, but it took some time. We were clothed in rags and had no weapons, and we did not have enough to eat" Inigo now continued. "We were able to drop some small pieces of clothes in a passage leading out to make them believe that we had somehow managed to leave the place entirely, but we hid on a platform which was difficult to get to, behind a storage shelf. The bandits noticed that we were gone not much later, looked around, found what we had dropped, and dispersed, leaving only a single guard behind. As soon as we were sure that all of the others were gone, we managed to sneak up to the lone guard and overwhelm him, and now we had some weapons at least and gained time to search the place for our own belongings. We found those, but still did not dare to move towards the main exit."
Lydia continued: "On one of the shelves I found ingredients to make a potion which was likely to get anybody drinking from it sleeping very deeply. We had learned that the bandits had a favorite barrel of mead, and I mixed that potion generously into the mead supply. One by one the bandits came back now, and if we had walked towards the exit, we'd have encountered them. So we got back to our hiding spot and watched. When the leader was back, he started what we expected – he went to the big barrel and started to fill his keg, and practically everybody followed."
"Practically everybody?"
"Well, there was a young female bandit, a wood elf, who was not drinking, bur rather serving the others," Inigo looked at the Bosmer who had come here with them, "and when she noticed that all of the others were getting drunk and then dropped down, almost like dead, she started to cry. Lydia and I looked at each other and were not quite sure how to interpret that, but the tears seemed to be genuine ones and not faked. We carefully went down and approached her, with weapons drawn, and when she noticed us she looked scared. 'What kind of a bandit are you?' I asked. She cried more, and it took some time until we could get some answers out of her."
"Long story short," Lydia now added, "she was not really a bandit at all, but had been captured quite some time ago, and since then been forced to serve the bandits by cooking, cleaning, and doing other chores. She had been lucky in that, as she had at least not been tortured or raped. Now she was scared – when the bandits would wake up later, they'd probably blame her for the induced sleep. We decided to take her with us."
The young Bosmer spoke for the first time: "My name is Laresa, by the way. Thank you very much for allowing me to come here and eat and relax. Inigo and Lydia have been very kind to me."
"If you allow me to ask, how old are you actually?" I wanted to know.
Laresa replied: "I just turned 16."
"Are there any relatives of yours?"
"No, there are not. All the relatives I had were killed by the bandits more than a year ago, and I was forced to stay with the bandits ever since."
"So you do not have a place to stay, right?"
"No, I do not."
I looked at T'mara, and she continued:
"Well, at least for now, you are welcome to stay here, if you want, and we can think about what to do later on."
We also wrote a letter to the College of Winterhold, telling them that Lydia and Inigo had safely arrived here and were going to stay for some time. If a ransom note should show up, they could safely ignore it. Valdimar was sent to Whiterun and handed over the message to a courier, for expedited delivery. With those events the day had been much more exciting than expected, and we retired to our beds.
Before getting to sleep, my wife asked:
"I wonder how things worked out in Winterhold after we were there last time. You know, the Arch-Mage's ghost in Labyrinthian? Ancano and the force field?"
"Right, my love. But they have enough experienced mages up there and should be able to cope on their own. We cannot and do not have to be everywhere, you know."
"Of course. Also, knowing Glacier, she probably found a way to handle that, too. Let's sleep."
After breakfast on the next day, which I enjoyed alone as I was a natural early riser and all of the others slept longer, I remembered the letter I had received the day before, and I now took my time to open and read it. It had been sent by my parents in Kvatch, and it read like this:
Dear Timotheus,
it has been a long time since you have been home last. Of course we realize that your home is in Skyrim nowadays, together with your lovely wife. We read a lot about her in your notes, but we have not yet had a chance to meet her yet. Now, with the Dragonborn crisis being successfully completed, as we have learned from your last letter, maybe you could consider a journey to Cyrodiil, so that we can finally see your T'mara in person?
Some odd things are going on here in Kvatch, too. One could almost think that the Grey Fox has appeared again, and many things get stolen. We even had a break in in our home, and one of the family heirlooms, the 'Badge of Courage', was taken among other valuables. The guards have not found the thieves yet, and they are probably not trained for that kind of investigation either.
Maybe, with all of the puzzles and enemies you have already faced, you could provide some assistance?
Except for that, we are all well, and we are proud to live in a city which has been rebuilt to be even more beautiful than it used to be before the terrible Daedric attack driven my Mehrunes Dagon two centuries ago.
We realize that winter is coming, and that you may not want to pass the Jeralls in that season, but you will make the right decision. If you decide to come soon, we will be looking forward to seeing you and your wife and anybody else in your party.
Love and best wishes,
Mum and Dad, with special greetings from your sister
My parents had a point, of course. While Alduin had been alive, we could have barely afforded to visit them, but now we probably should, unless T'mara had a problem with that. I had managed to send a letter from time to time, so that they knew the basics, but a longer conversation would be good, and I was actually looking forward to seeing my family again, specifically together with my wonderful and beautiful wife.
Above and beyond that, I was a little bit curious about what they had written about the thievery. I had already suspected that the badge I had found in the bandit's place looked like it belonged to our family, and it could well be the 'Badge of Courage' my parents had mentioned. How it might have arrived here in Skyrim, though, was everybody's guess.
T'mara had slept quite long on that day, and when she was awake and having breakfast, too, I told her about the letter. She thought about it for a few minutes, while completing her morning meal, and then she replied:
"You know what? We have been idling here for more than two weeks already, and your parents are right: It really is about time to visit them, and with everything we have been through already, I would not even mind passing the Jerall mountains in winter. It can't be much worse than Winterhold, at least on the roads, or can it?"
"No, it should be all right. The troops usually manage to keep the pass open for most of the winter, as it is the main way of getting supplies form Cyrodiil. We should be fine. But, what about our two girls?"
"What about them? They are coming with us, of course!"
"Are you sure, my love?"
"Of course I am. Look, they are part of our family now, and they also need to meet your family. But, we might be distracted from time to time by something, like finding thieves, so that we should take one or two housecarls as nannies."
"Do you really think that one of our housecarls will appreciate that kind of task?"
"Aren't they supposed to carry our burdens, whatever those are? No, but seriously. Have you had a chance yet to talk to Valdimar and Iona about their time here with Lucia, when we were off?"
"No, not really, not in detail at least" I had to admit.
"But I have" my wife told me. "According to what I have learned from them, they really enjoyed the time. Also, they would not be with the kids all of the time, just when we are busy."
"All right, let's talk to them. Lydia and Inigo probably need some rest, so they could stay here with Laresa, I guess, for the winter."
Later on in the morning we talked to Iona and Valdimar, and not only did I learn that they indeed liked to spend time with Lucia and now also with Yumi, but they were very willing to come with us to Cyrodiil. In addition to that they admitted that they had grown to like each other. I had not known before that they were heading in that direction, but that was all right. Normally they would not have mentioned it yet, but as they were both our housecarls, they considered it their duty to do so before we left for our potential journey.
Lydia and Inigo slept right until lunch, and after lunch we told them about our plans, too. They looked at each other, and Lydia spoke:
"So, maybe we should mention now what he have been thinking. First, staying here for the winter sounds like a good idea, and my husband and I will gladly accept this gracious offer, and we will of course take care of the house and garden. About Laresa, I have to admit that we have been growing quite fond of her, and Inigo and I would like to adopt her. This is only going to relevant for two years anyway, until she is of age, but we feel like doing this. As we are your housecarls and thus need your approval, can we ask that T'mara and you come with us to Whiterun to make this official before you leave?"
Another interesting revelation. T'mara and I agreed right away, of course, and we decided that we were going to Whiterun on the next day to get the adoption papers signed. The day after would be spend with travel preparations, and then we were going to be about ready. I planned to hire a carriage for the trip, of course, as we could not have our two girls walking all of the time. The Skyrim carriage drivers were not willing to cross the border, though, as I had learned, but from the pass on it would be all downhill towards Bruma, so that should be all right. Luggage was not an issue, due to our magical packs, and I even had a couple of spare ones for the girls, too.
In Whiterun on the day after we not only signed the papers, supervised by the steward, but we also told the Jarl that we'd be gone for some time. He took his time to listen to my story and understood that it was about time to visit my parents. Before we left Dragonsreach we also saw his children, and we were happy to notice that specifically Nelkir looked much more normal, and he also talked to us in a normal way again.
T'mara and I also visited some other people, like Carlotta and Mila Valentia. The girl's husky had grown by now, and it looked quite healthy and happy. Mila was a little bit sad about me being gone for a longer time, but at least she had her own dog now, although she would not be able to ride on it like she could on my Pammy. That of course was something I did not want to miss, and I took Mila out of the city for a couple of hours to give her a ride.
We also chatted with some companions and learned that, just recently, Marine had indeed been accepted into the Circle, despite her youth. Kodlak told us:
"It was easier to get agreement on that than I had expected. Only Vilkas grumbled initially, but even he could not resist the girl's energy and charm. The others have agreed, too, and specifically Ria is very happy about her young friend. Also, it's not like Marine is now resting on her laurels or so. When she's not leading a team to a quest, she's training, on her own and with others, and she's established herself as one of the pillars for whelp training, too. New whelps tend to underestimate her, and the inevitable humiliation helps to get them focused and motivated."
"Yep," Marine added with a smirk, "getting told by others something like 'beaten by a mere girl within half a minute?' somehow kicks off the spirits."
Marine looked happy, and she seemed to be really at home here. She had found her place for life, at least for the time being.
Finally, I met Bjorlam, the carriage driver, at the stables. He had just returned from a trip to Riften, and I booked him and his carriage for day after tomorrow. Normally he'd only start from the stables here, but a hefty tip ensured he'd be picking us up on the road next to Riverside Lodge in early morning, and he was willing to get us to Pale Pass, though not beyond. Jarl Balgruuf had assured me that, while the border was still closed to normal traffic, we'd be allowed to pass with the official permit he gave us. Even without that, he was sure that the Dragonborn՚s fame would be sufficient, too.
Back at home, we spent another day with packing and planing, and then we were ready to go; we were looking forward to any adventures which might be waiting for us.
[Author's Notes: Here we go, off to the next adventure! Please do let me know if you have specific ideas or suggestions on what our heroes might want to do in Cyrodiil; besides eventually getting to Kvatch, they will sure encounter some surprises and quests.]
