Chapter 76: Three shades of grey

[7th – 9th of Evening Star 4E 202]

After our second night in the city we saw the sun rising on a cloudless sky, and we – my mother, my sister, Iona, T'mara, Lucia, Yumi and I – decided to go for a walk around the city.

Valdimar and father stayed at home to talk about some topics, maybe some kind of male bonding, and our Argonian maid stayed with them; the rest of us left the house soon.

In Kvatch, walking around the city was not so easily possible, like it was around Skingrad. One could either stay very close to the city walls and watch the view, or get down to the plains and take the long tour; there was no in between, as the city was surrounded by steep rocks on three sides. As the long tour provided more options, we decided to do this, but we would need almost the entire day. As we were not in a hurry at all and had plenty of time, that was not an issue. Walking around the city at the base of the cliffs it was built on was quite a long trip, almost half the distance to Skingrad, so that we got started right away after breakfast.

Going downhill was nice for a start, and in almost no time we had navigated the many road bends up to the last one, where we could see the road from Skingrad to our left. As our party was getting adventurous, we climbed down some small cliffs to hit the road right here rather than following the long stretch to the west.

This was the area were the climatic and vegetation zones of the West Weald and the Gold Coast touched each other, and we could find flora from both regions. When we had passed the road a few days earlier, we had been eager to get to Kvatch and thus had not paid much attention to the environment. Today, we were in less of a hurry, and I pointed out the special plants being more common in the specific regions:

"Look, west of us the vegetation is less dense and more yellowish than green. In the Gold Coast region, down to Anvil and all along the coast, we have a lot of Aloe Vera, Fennel, Lady's Mantle and Goldenrod plants, and those are more rare elsewhere in Cyrodiil. There are also many Arrowroot, Bergamot, Ginseng, Mandrake, St Jahn's Wort plants, but one can find those in other regions as well."

While me moved on, into the most western stretches of the West Weald, I added:

"And here, getting back into the West Weald, the most abundant plants and flowers are Alkanet, Columbine, Flax, Lady's Smock, Nightshade, and Peonies. They are more colorful than the Gold Coast flowers, and they harmonize well with the green grass and forest around them, I believe."

T'mara nodded at me, apparently specifically agreeing to the latter; we both liked the dominating green color of the West Weald better than the yellow and light brown one of the Gold Coast. Lucia in particular was quite interested in those details, and she commented on my statement:

"So, when you need specific plants for potions, you need to know where they grow, right?"

"That is indeed very helpful, yes. Of course, you can find some of the region specific plants somewhere else, too, but much more rarely."

"Does that imply that one has to travel through all counties all of the time to be able to mix specific potions?"

"No, my dear, not really. First, there are traders and markets, and you can buy ingredients from them. Second, most potions can be mixed from various ingredients. Do you know an example for that?"

Lucia thought about that for a few moments and responded:

"I think that I do. For a potion of magicka restoration, one can use flax seeds from Flax in the West Weald and Steel-blue Entoloma cap from the Great Forest, together with other ingredients."

"Exactly, yes, well learned. In addition, you can also use Stinkhorn cap from Blackwood."

"But, Papa, Stinkhorn cap is used for a poison to damage health!"

"Yes, it is, but magicka restoration is the second level effect."

"Second level effect? What are you talking about?"

While we walked along the road, I explained that an ingredient could have up to four different effects, and that only a very advanced and knowledgeable alchemist could identify and use all four of them. With Lucia just beginning to work with alchemy, she could use only the first one, of course, whereas I had reached what was called 'journeyman' level around here, allowing me to identify up to three effects.

Meanwhile we had followed the road, past 'Mortal Camp', and when the main road turned east, we left it and continued our hike cross country, following a narrow path towards 'Shetcombe Farm'. The farmer was known to my family, and my mother greeted him when we approached. The farm did not have many animals, but they grew a lot of of potatoes, leeks, carrots and corn for the city, and the farmer delivered most of his produce to a lady who operated a stall in the Kvatch city market.

From the farm we followed a path alongside the high cliffs the city was built on, and I highlighted the change of vegetation as we got back to the Gold Coast region.

An hour or so later we arrived at the Reman Rune Stone, and that's where we stopped for our lunch break. Deborah explained about it:

"This is one of the Reman Rune Stones. All of the rune stones bind a weightless armor and weapon, and this one provides a 'Bound Cuirass' and a 'Bound Claymore' for those being worthy. Sometimes the claymore is replaced by an axe, though."

"What is a bound thingy?" Lucia wanted to know.

Deborah almost laughed, but tried to explain:

"A bound weapon or armor appears for a limited time only and disappears when the time is up. It can be conjured with a spell or given by one of those rune stones. While the effect is active, you cannot easily discard it, though. The items have a high quality, like Daedric, which may be better compared to the items one usually has available."

While we talked, Yumi started to explore the environment, and she climbed on a few rocks bordering the high cliffs the city was built upon. I did not pay much attention to her until suddenly Lucia shouted:

"Papa, Mama, Yumi just dropped in a hole!"

T'mara and I ran towards the area she pointed to, and indeed there was a hole in the ground, which had been hidden behind a larger rock. From further down we could hear some moaning, and my wife called down:

"Yumi, are you all right?"

"No, my leg hurts, and I am bleeding – help me, Mama!"

T'mara looked at me and told me: "I am going down; get a rope!"

Before I could say anything or stop her, she jumped down without hesitation, and my heart probably stopped beating for a few seconds. Just before panic hit me, I could hear her shouting 'FEIM' from further down, and I understood; that special shout made my wife ethereal for a few seconds, so that she could not be hurt. Soon I could see the golden glow of a restoration spell from down in the hole – obviously she was taking care of Yumi. I told Lucia to stay put and dropped my backpack to the ground. Fortunately, a thin but stable rope was always in there, together with lots of other items; those magically enchanted backpacks were really a blessing, as they allowed to carry much more stuff around that one normally could. It turned out that the rope was long enough, fortunately; I knotted a loop into one end and dropped it down, until T'mara shouted up that she had it. After the next shout I started to pull slowly and continued to do so, until after a couple of minutes Yumi appeared; T'mara had helped her to sit in the loop, and we got her out easily. Once this was done, I dropped the end again and pulled T'mara up. Fortunately she was quite petite and light weight, so that I easily managed to do this, even without additional help.

While I was busy getting my wife out, my mother and sister fuzzed around Yumi, and Deborah applied further restoration to injured areas of her body, until my mother stated that all she needed was some rest. T'mara was not injured at all; her shout had worked as planned. However, I needed to tell her:

"T'mara, my love, next time when you do something like that, can you please let me know in advance? I got real worried about you for a few seconds until I heard your shout!"

"Oh, sure, I guess I was worried about Yumi and forgot to tell you what I had in mind."

I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tightly, and then we discussed how to proceed. Yumi needed to rest, but we were practically in the middle of nowhere, just northwest of Kvatch, while having the steep cliffs between us and the city. Deborah suggested:

"The next place to rest would be 'Gottshaw Inn', at the road to Anvil. Maybe we can carry Yumi there and some of us stay with her for the night?"

Nobody had a better idea, so that we carefully placed Yumi on Epona, Lucia's horse, and proceeded towards the inn at slow speed. When we arrived, we found two rooms available, and we booked them for one night. Deborah and Iona were going to move to Kvatch and let the others know about what had happened, and my wife, our two daughters and I would stay here for the night.

For that night, we changed the sleeping arrangements. T'mara and Yumi would share the large bed in one of the rooms, so that my wife could take proper care of the injured girl, and I was going to take the other room with Lucia; this room had two separate beds. Of course, we had been able to heal the girl's injuries, but her young body needed time to recover properly; she had even skipped supper.

During the night Lucia asked me a few times how I thought her sister was doing, and I always suggested to wait until the morning; thus, my sleep was interrupted quite a few times, and I was not feeling well rested when we met for breakfast. Fortunately, Yumi looked much better when she joined us; T'mara told us that they had been awake many times during the night, too, and my wife looked as sleepy as I did. Nevertheless, we enjoyed breakfast, paid the innkeeper and went outside to retrieve Epona from the stables.

Same as on the day before, Lucia allowed her sister to mount the pony, and we slowly walked along the Gold Road until we followed the branch to Kvatch a couple of hours later. While we walked, T'mara seemed to be thinking about something, and suddenly she dug in her pockets and retrieved something. She opened her paws and showed me a few pieces from what looked to be from a valuable trinket or so, plus a very colorful ribbon.

"Where did you get that?"

"When I was down in that hole with Yumi, I found the pieces and put them in my pocket without thinking. Now, as I recall, there seemed to be a narrow passage leading into the rock down there, and the shards were at the beginning of that passage. I might be interesting to investigate that passage further, I believe."

"Another mystery to investigate?"

My wife smiled at me and replied: "Yes, maybe, but don't we both love that?"

Soon we had managed to get to the city gate again; to my surprise my father was already waiting there, looking concerned. He approached us quickly and asked:

"What have you done with my granddaughter?"

Yumi heard that and replied quickly:

"Oh, Grandpa, it was all my fault. I saw that hole in the ground and wanted to climb down, but I was not careful enough."

"Oh, let's get you home quickly. Timotheus, will you carry her home, please?"

T'mara brought Epona to the stables, while I picked up Yumi and carried her home as asked. For the rest of the day, we just stayed at home and made sure that Yumi was comfortable. Thanks to good healing skills on our side, there was not going to be any permanent damage to her body, and all she needed was some rest.

This evening T'mara and I went to bed quite early. As both us had had very little sleep in the night before, at the inn, we did not even take the time for more than cuddling, and we were both asleep within minutes.

On the next day we heard that the new legion commander has arrived in the city. My father mentioned it at breakfast, and I had told him that I already knew about him. The count had invited the most important citizens for lunch into the castle to introduce the person, and my wife and I were invited together with my parents. Deborah and our housecarls were to stay at home, and at the right time we stepped out and walked towards the castle.

While we walked, I mused about the state of the city. When one looked around, it was hard to imagine that the city had been in ruins about two hundred years ago, following the attack of Mehrunes Dagon՚s Daedric forces. With some help from other cities and the personal effort from the Hero of Kvatch, rebuilding efforts had been started soon after the Oblivion crisis had ended, and I had read in one of my ancestor's diaries that getting himself involved into the effort had helped to distract the Champion from the traumatic event of losing one of his best friends, Martin Septim, and he had considered this a welcome distraction from his grief.

I shared some of my thoughts with my lovely wife, and a few minutes later we entered the castle courtyard. Before we entered the castle itself, our personalities were checked; apparently the guards were instructed to make sure that only invited people were allowed in.

Just before we took our seats for lunch, the count introduced Legate Brutus who stood next to him, and he said that a few more details would be shared after we had eaten. Lunch itself was great, and although T'mara did not know some of the food which was served, there was enough meat on the table to make her happy. We indulged over multiple courses until, before desert was to be served, the count delivered a short speech:

"Ladies and gentlemen, honored citizens of Kvatch, dear guests, today is a day to celebrate. I already introduced Legate Brutus before we ate, and he relieves his predecessor, who had been called back to the Imperial City a few days ago, as you may know. Legate Brutus has a lot of experience, not only in leading troops, but also in other areas, and he spent some time in Skyrim as well. In those difficult times, with our city being plagued by all of the thefts we have experienced in the last few months, he will also work closely together with the Captain of the City Guard, Quintus Inian."

He beckoned the guard captain to stand up. He spoke a few words of thanks and promised to provide all of the cooperation he needed to Brutus, and the legate also thanked the count and told us a few words about himself.

When they had both spoken, the count announced: "Besides our new legion commander, we have two more guests of honor with us today. As most you may know, only a few months ago Alduin, the World Eater, had threatened Skyrim and potentially all Nirn. According to legend, this fierce dragon might have been able to end all times, but a Dragonborn showed up, and she managed to defeat Alduin together with her husband. Her husband comes from the Silanus family right here in Kvatch – Ladies and Gentlemen, T'mara and Timotheus Dovahkiin!"

We both stood up and turned around, and there was a lot of clapping and shouting for some time. The way the count had introduced us was what he had decided to use on formal occasions. In Skyrim we did not bother much with last names, and when needed we had decided earlier to use the name 'Dovahkiin' for both of us. It was not common for a man to give up his last name when marrying, but due to my wife's status I was more than happy to do so. Of course, this was also not her name of birth, but due to the way she had been treated in Elsweyr, she was not going to use that either, and 'Dovahkiin' was just right for us. After all, I had done my share in defeating Alduin as well, and it seemed to be a good family name. For our kids we used the variation 'Dovahkiir', which translates to 'Dragon-Child'.

My wife and I were asked to answer a few question the people had, and once this was done, desert was served. About half an hour later the event was completed, and people started to leave. T'mara and I were asked to come to an adjacent room in the castle, though, and we found Legate Brutus and Captain Inian already waiting for us. Next to them was a young female Imperial, and she was introduced as Selina Matius, deputy to Captain Inian. At the back of the room was another person, a female Khajiit, and she had her back to us, looking into some book. Eventually, when she heard us talking, she turned around, and my wife gasped when she recognized her:

"M'lissa!"

And indeed, her cousin, member of the Thieves guild in Skyrim, was here with us. The two Khajiit ladies hugged, and I greeted M'lissa as well. Brutus looked at us and asked:

"You know each other?"

My wife beamed: "M'lissa is my cousin!"

"Okay, that's interesting."

"M'lissa, what are you doing here?"

"I might ask the same!" she replied.

"Ahem, maybe I should explain that" the Captain of the City Guard suggested. We all looked at him, and he told the story:

"A few days ago this Khajiit here showed up and demanded to talk to me. When she explained that she was Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild in Skyrim, I got very wary, but decided to listen to her nonetheless. She explained that they had high standards in the guild, and although in my personal opinion high standard in a thieves guild hardly match, I tried to understand at least. Apparently, in Skyrim, the guild operates under strict rules, and except for rare situations nobody is getting killed during operations. I was told that this had been stretched and handled somewhat differently under the previous leader, but she was trying to improve."

M'lissa nodded and continued: "Indeed so. I know that this concept is odd, but I am trying at least; we also try to avoid robbing the poor. But, back to the main topic here. We heard about a new group of thieves, partially operating in Skyrim and partially in Cyrodiil, When I learned that they seemed to focus on the cities of Kvatch and Skingrad, I left my second in command in charge and started to travel. The legion commander in Skingrad was not really open for a cooperation, but here in Kvatch I got some people to listen at least. Legate Brutus, finally, when I go to talk to him, too, seems to have the same goal."

"Indeed I have" Brutus nodded. "I have mentioned already that investigating the many crimes will be one of my tasks here, and we have already started in Skingrad, as you know. Working together with a representative from the Thieves Guild is sure very unconventional, but it may help to counter more serious problems."

I summarized the events in Skingrad so that Quintus Inian, Selina Matius and M'lissa also knew about what we had experienced there. When she heard about the 'Grey Brugo' and 'Grey Badger' we had encountered, she whistled, and it was her turn now:

"That is quite interesting. I have some contacts to sources in the Cyrodiil Thieves Guild and whatever those guys are doing, is not sanctioned by them. The guild here in Cyrodiil is less organized than it used to be centuries ago, during the glorious day of the 'Grey Fox', but of course I cannot go into details. Nonetheless, the 'Grey Brugo' and 'Grey Badger' are already on the list of people to be looked into, together with the 'Grey Beaver'."

"The 'Grey Beaver'? How many grey people are there?"

"Well, according to what know, it's those three, and the 'Grey Beaver' operates mostly around Bravil from what I have heard."

"Makes sense considering that they have a lot of muddy water there" I joked.

We shared more of what we knew, and T'mara also mentioned that hole Yumi had fallen into, northwest of Kvatch, and the few pieces of jewelry she had found there; Selina was quite interested to hear about that, and she said that she'd sent a team there to investigate.

Everything taken together we had quite a few clues by now, and Selina Matius was given the task to coordinate the efforts to investigate the issues around the three grey leaders. Officially, T'mara and I were on vacation, but we offered our assistance nonetheless.

Before we left, Brutus asked all of us to keep the information to ourselves; it should not even be shared with closest family. That was understandable, and we agreed of course. At home, we'd just claim that we had celebrated a little with Legate Brutus, as we had met him in Skyrim before.

When the discussion was over and M'lissa, my wife and I stood in the castle courtyard, T'mara asked her cousin where she was lodging, and she told us that she had found an inn in the city. I asked if she was all right there or if I should ask my parents to offer a guest room; M'lissa smiled and replied:

"Thank you for offering, but I believe that I might want to stay independent. And now, as you mentioned your parents, is that the reason you are here?"

I nodded and explained: "Yes, it is. My parents never had a chance to see my wife before, and once we had dealt with Alduin and addressed a few other issues, we started traveling."

"Yes, I have heard about those other issues. You also played matchmaker between Elisif and Ulfric, right?"

"No, not really, that was their own doing, M'lissa" T'mara replied. "But we may have helped a little to get the Civil War ended."

"Yep, and on the way you also picked up two girls to adopt."

"Sure we did. But how do you know about that?"

"I have my sources" M'lissa smiled.

"And how have you been doing? Still at home in the Ratway?"

"Come on, you know me better than that. But I have made some modifications down there, indeed. In my opinion there is no need that a group of thieves need to live in an area which looks like a decrepit and derelict place barely good enough for beggars. Now I live in style!"

"Oh, I am sure that you do."

"Yes, indeed. But I need to ask one more questions, Timotheus: How did your parents react when they saw my cousin at your side?"

"Well, I am glad that I told them before in my letters. They did have other expectations originally, but once they saw T'mara and later also learned how she was mobbed and mocked in her own homeland and even her own family for her fur color, the ice was broken, and my mother even asked her to call her 'Mom'."

"Wow, I had not expected that – I am happy for you! But please excuse me now, I have to go. I am sure that we will see each other again soon, to discuss our plans!"

We shook hands, or paws, respectively, and just when were about to turn around and walk home, M'lissa had something to add:

"Oh, before I forget – do you know this one?"

T'mara and I almost sighed, but on the other hand M'lissa՚s jokes were usually not bad, so that we listened once more.

M'lissa smiled and offered: "A drunk Nord, a sober Nord, and the tooth fairy go on a treasure hunt together, and they find a very valuable gem. Who of them gets to keep it?"

"Are you serious? The tooth fairy? Who is that?"

"Never mind, just answer my question?"

"Well, maybe the tooth fairy, as fairies can fly and she gets it first?" I suggested.

"No, not at all!" M'lissa grinned. "The drunk Nord gets to keep it."

"And why is that?" T'mara wanted to know, finding that resolution quite hard to believe.

"Neither the tooth fairy nor a sober Nord exist in reality, so that the drunk Nord is the only real person available."

I was not sure if I should be offended about that, but she had a point. A lot of Nords indeed drank a lot of mead and ale, and I being a milk drinker in the literal sense, was probably a rare exception. But a tooth fairy? Who had come up with that concept? Was that a Khajiit fairy tale or so? We heard M'lissa laughing and snickering while she walked away from us.

[Author's Notes: I love to use the excuse of teaching the two girls to introduce some background information on Cyrodiil. Please let me know if that's too much, but I assume that at least some readers may have played TES V, but not TES IV.]