Chapter 15: Dragonsreach

[22nd of Last Seed 4E 201]

After defeating Mirmulnir at the Western Watchtower and hearing Fiona, the petite Bosmer lady, shouting 'FUS', her first Dragon shout, for the first time, we were sent back to Whiterun with a guard to report to Jarl Balgruuf the Greater. Fiona and Freya had met the hold's leader before, but I had not, and I was looking forward to the encounter. In the game, I had considered the Jarl almost like a fatherly figure, a well meaning and benevolent ruler of his people, and I was curious to see if this expectation was going to be met. After all, I had already learned and noticed that the real Skyrim differed from the game in quite a few aspects, and I really hoped that Balgruuf would not turn out to be some kind of tyrant.

Now, Dragonsreach! This building was what I considered a real and suitable residence for a Jarl, not like some of the longhouses in other holds. The outside was already quite impressive; one had to climb three sets of stairs to get up to the Cloud District of the city, and the lower section of the stairs was flanked by two pools of water, with some water lilies or other plants in there and probably some fish, too, although I could not be sure in the darkness. Hanging moss and some other plants flanked the pools, and bare rock seamed the upper section of the stairs. Before one reached the main door to the large building, a kind of an alley had to be passed, with tall stone pillars on the sides, which leaned inside and met further up.

Finally, on the inside, there were tall and curved wooden pillars, a roaring fire in the center, and the Jarl՚s own throne under a dragon skull, on a raised platform on the other end of the huge hall. Despite the late hour, the Jarl himself was still up, probably eagerly waiting for a report, and while he was slouched on his chair at first, he sat straight up and looked at us when the guard who was with us lead us forward. The Jarl՚s throne was flanked by two people, a sturdy looking male Nord and a smaller male Imperial; the latter was probably the steward.

The guard who had brought us here introduced us:

"My Jarl, Housecarl Irileth instructed me to bring those three warriors back to report, and here they are."

Jarl Balgruuf the Greater was an intelligent and friendly looking Nord, in my opinion at least, dressed in noble clothes and fur lined boots; he wore some kind of circlet with a few jewels in it, and he focused on me after he had apparently recognized Fiona and Freya:

"I have seen the two ladies before, but who are you?"

"Allow me to introduce myself, my Jarl – I am B'lushona, a scholar, and I happened to be close to the Western Watchtower when the dragon attacked."

"You were there, really? So, what happened out there, at the tower? Irileth managed to defeat the dragon, didn't she?"

"Aye, she did, my Jarl, or rather, we all did – it required a lot of combined effort to kill the beast. Also, five guards died, despite our best efforts."

The Jarl nodded and replied:

"Yes, this is of course unfortunate, but considering that you had to go against a dragon, it could have been much worse, I guess. For now, I am glad that this is over; I knew that I could count on Irileth and my guards. So, that was the dragon which was in Helgen earlier, right?"

The Jarl՚s voice was friendly, but also had some authority in it. The last part was likely addressed to Fiona and Freya, as the Jarl knew that they had been in Helgen, too, but I took that question again:

"No, my Jarl, it wasn't the same one. The dragon we faced in Helgen was much bigger and a darker color. I am afraid that the dragon we killed at the Western Watchtower was a different one."

"Wait a moment – you were at Helgen, too?"

"Yes I was, indeed. Fiona and I saw the dragon there with our own eyes, and the one out there sure was a different one."

"I am not going to ask why you were in Helgen; this is not important right now. So there might be several live dragons around? I guess that we'd better make plans how to improve our chances for further fights against them, then. But there must be more to it than that, right?"

While the tiny wood elf still kept quiet, Freya now chimed in:

"When the dragon died, its body was consumed in flames until only the skeleton remained on the ground, and there was something whirling around and into my companion's body, like she absorbed some of it."

A tall and muscled male Nord wearing some kind of scaled armor, who was standing next to the Jarl, chimed in now:

"Exactly as in the legends; 'able to steal the power of the dragons they killed'."

"Right, Hrongar, it certainly seems so. It's true, isn't it? The Greybeards really were summoning you, I guess. So, you can shout with the Thu'um now, too?"

Hrongar was the Jarl՚s brother as far as I recalled. Fiona was quiet again, even as that was clearly addressed at her, and Freya answered for her:

"She can, and we have all seen and heard it out there."

Fiona had listened to the conversation so far, but had kept quiet for some reason. Now, it appeared that there was too much she did not understand and she asked all of a sudden:

"What does all of this mean, and who are the Greybeards?"

"The Greybeards are Masters of the Way of the Voice, the Thu'um. They live in seclusion high on the slopes of the Throat of the World, and they allow very few visitors. Judged by the loud thunder like shout we heard, I believe that they've called for you – Dragonborn."

Fiona looked like she could not believe that, and Hrongar explained:

"Didn't you hear the thundering sound when you returned to Whiterun? That was the voice of the Greybeards, summoning you to High Hrothgar! They clearly noticed that a Dragonborn shouted with the Thu'um, and they apparently want to talk to you and get confirmation. It's a great honor to be called by them!"

The steward, who stood on the Jarl՚s other side, had been fidgeting around for some time, and finally he needed to chime in and promptly admonished the Jarl՚s brother:

"Hrongar, calm yourself. What does any of this Nord nonsense have to do with our Bosmer friend here? I don't see any signs of her being this, what, 'Dragonborn'. Surely if one is 'Dragonborn', as you call it, that person partially looks like a dragon? This is hardly even a legend..."

"Nord nonsense?! Why you puffed-up ignorant... these are our sacred traditions that go back to the founding of the First Empire!"

"Hrongar, Proventus, please; don't be so hard on each other!"

"I meant no disrespect, of course. It's just that... what do these Greybeards want with her? She cannot really be Dragonborn, right?"

"That's the Greybeards' business, not ours, and it will be up to them to confirm that she's Dragonborn, or maybe not. However, the Greybeards clearly did call out, and besides, there were witnesses when she seemed to absorb the dragon soul and when she shouted, right?"

The guard who had lead us back to the city stepped forward and answered that:

"All of us out there saw and heard it, my Jarl. Although we may not understand all of it, there is no doubt that something very special happened when the dragon was killed. The dragon somehow disintegrated into a skeleton like by magic, there certainly was some colorful wind or so moving from the defeated dragon into the Bosmer lady, and she did shout like a dragon, which caused quite a stir and made stones and clutter flying around."

The Jarl now turned back to Fiona, nodded again, and said with a calm and friendly voice:

"Whatever happened when you killed that dragon, it obviously revealed something in you, and the Greybeards heard it. If they think that you're Dragonborn, who are we to argue? You'd better get up to High Hrothgar as soon as you can. There's no refusing the summons of the Greybeards, you know. Getting called by them is a tremendous honor, actually, and it certainly will benefit you to answer their call and find them on the mountain."

While the Jarl seemed to be lost in his thoughts for a few moments, I pondered that. If the Dragonborn was that important, shouldn't the Greybeards make an effort to meet her rather than expecting her to climb up to High Hrothgar? Jarl Balgruuf interrupted my thoughts, and it almost appeared like he was daydreaming:

"I envy you, lass, honestly, I do. To climb the 7,000 steps again. I made the pilgrimage once, did you know that? It was a long time ago, when I was almost an adolescent still, and I was even allowed to enter High Hrothgar."

Fiona looked very uneasy and insecure, and she burst out with a question:

"Hold on a second – who or what is a Dragonborn, and why should that be me? I have no clue about all of that!"

The Jarl looked at her, and after a few moments of thinking he replied:

"I forget that you are not a Nord, and you may not be familiar with our legends, although they are not limited to just Skyrim and Nords. Hrongar will certainly find some time later on to tell you more about that, but back to you now."

Jarl Balgruuf the Greater stood up now and continued, looking very serious again:

"You have done a great service for me and my city, Dragonborn. By my right as Jarl, I name you Thane of Whiterun. It's the greatest honor that is within my power to grant. I assign you Lydia as a personal Housecarl, and this weapon from my armory to serve as your badge of office. I will also notify my guards of your new title. Wouldn't want them to think you're part of the common rabble, now would we? We are honored to have you as Thane of our city, Dragonborn."

I almost chuckled when I realized that he actually used that phrase 'common rabble'. Surely the Jarl did not consider his 'normal' citizens to be 'rabble'? Looking at the hold's ruler, I thought that I saw a smile on his face, and I might want to find out at a later time how he really thought about the people in his hold. Meanwhile, the Jarl had his steward hand over a nicely decorated sword to Fiona, and then he addressed the shield-maiden:

"Freya the shield-maiden, as a reward for your help to kill the dragon, I grant you citizenship in Whiterun and the right to purchase property in the city if you want. It is an honor to have you around."

Fiona still looked like she did not know what was happening here, but Freya grabbed her arm and pulled her away. Hm, Fiona got most of the reward now? How was that fair?

But the Jarl turned towards me:

"B'lushona, in appreciation of your help to kill the dragon, I grant you citizenship in Whiterun and the right to purchase property in the city. Thank you for your help, and it is an honor to have you here!"

Well, something at least, and he had even remembered my name from my earlier introduction. It was good to know that I could stay here for the time being, unless my 'business' called me elsewhere, of course. Specifically, I now could enter the city whenever I wanted; after all, as a Khajiit, it would have been difficult otherwise to gain entry to Whiterun again. I did not know about other cities, though. Were Khajiit banned from all cities or only the walled ones, or did some Jarls distinguish between single Khajiit and those in caravans? I might have to find out about that later.

But, it had been a team effort to kill the dragon, and it did feel a little bit unfair to have only Fiona become a Thane; her contribution to our success had not been higher than that from anybody else, right? I realized, though, that having the legendary Dragonborn bound to his city as a Thane was a clever and understandable political move, and I could not really blame the Jarl. Oh well, there were other Thaneships available, and maybe I might have a chance to get one or two of those as well, preferably one with a pretty housecarl – Jordis in Solitude maybe? Lydia was reasonably pretty, too, but in my dreams I liked blondes best, and if Jordis was unavailable for some reason, I might feel tempted to have a look at Mjoll in Riften; she was not a housecarl, but I should be able to get her to follow me after retrieving something she had lost.

After Jarl Balgruuf the Greater had recognized Fiona as Dragonborn and declared her Thane of Whiterun, I heard him talking to his brother Hrongar about retrieving some of the dragon bones and scales for examination by Farengar on the next day, and while I saw a dark haired warrior lady, apparently Lydia, approaching Fiona and Freya and talking to them, I used the opportunity to step next to Proventus, the steward, as I had been asked to deliver his daughter's sword to him. He smiled at me and replied when I had explained who it was from:

"From Adrianne? Ah, this must be that weapon for the Jarl. My daughter, poor girl, so eager to prove herself. I'll present it to Balgruuf when he is no longer occupied with the current business, maybe some time tomorrow. Oh, by the way, before I forget, Jarl Balgruuf wants you to know that the three of you are invited for a banquet and dinner tomorrow evening, here at Dragonsreach in the big hall."

With that message he handed over a small coin purse for the delivery, and I was dismissed; the two ladies got rooms offered in Dragonsreach for the night, well, for the rest of the night, and I was left to my own. There were, as I knew, at least two inns in the city and I had some coin left, specifically after I had delivered Adrianne՚s sword to Proventus, but first I needed some time to walk and think. I wandered around the city for half an hour or so, and I wished I had somebody to talk to, like Fiona had Freya and now Lydia. Once my head was clear again and my thirst demanded attention, I went down the stairs and entered the Bannered Mare, which just happened to be the closest inn.

The main room in the inn was just like in the game, only significantly larger. There was a large fireplace in the center, with a couple of pots hanging over it and a skewer with some meat across; a Redguard woman was making sure that the skewer was rotated from time to time. There was a bar with seats for at least six people on the right side, a backroom with a staircase on the left side ahead, and a door to a side room, probably the kitchen and storage area, on the left. Various tables were placed all around, offering seats for at least a few dozen patrons.

Most of the tables were occupied, and I first stepped to the bar and waited for the barkeeper, a female Nord, to find some time for me. Soon she turned towards me:

"Hungry, tired, or just plain thirsty?"

"All three, actually, but let's start with food and drinks. What have you got?"

Drinks were listed first, and she rattled down some varieties of ale, mead, and wine. I stopped her midway:

"Sorry, lady, but I'd prefer something without alcohol in it."

She looked at me, shook her head, and offered:

"What, are you sick or something? But all right, I may be able to find some apple juice, juniper berry juice and snow berry juice. By the way, I am Hulda, and I run this inn, the Bannered Mare. I know my customers, and you haven't been here before, right?"

"My name is B'lushona, and no, I have not been in here before. Juice sounds good – I will have the juniper berry juice, please. And about food, is there any venison available?"

"Aye, we have venison roast today, cut fresh from the carcass you still see over there on the skewer rotating over the fire. It comes with sides of leeks and cabbage and, if you want, some potatoes, and sauce, too."

"I'll take that, please, with potatoes and sauce, and make it a double serving; in addition, I would like to get a room for the night, if you have one available."

In my previous life I had abstained from alcoholic drinks for multiple reasons, and I did not want to change that right now. When I had played the game, I had always used a mod to make a number of non-alcoholic drinks available, and I was happy to see that something similar also was active here. For the time being, at least, I certainly wanted to stay sober; above and beyond that, even if I changed my mind later, I did not have a clue how my new Khajiit body would tolerate alcohol, and one never knew when I might encounter Sam, the Daedric Prince in disguise, too. At least for now, I was certainly going to abstain from alcohol. When my meal was served by Saadia, the Redguard maid, I dug in, and I found that I really liked to eat venison; that at least had not changed from my previous life. Hulda was quite happy when I told her how much I liked her venison, and when I had finished my meal I was shown to my room. It was a simple one with just a bed, a nightstand, and a chest, but that was good enough for me. Of course, before I could lie down, I needed to go outside to find the outhouse – something like attached restrooms with amenities like a water closet was obviously not yet invented here.

After the demanding events of the day I had expected to get to sleep quickly, specifically as the time was way beyond my normal bedtime, but I couldn't stop pondering my situation for quite some time. So far, the story had played very similar to the game. We had found the Dragonstone, Mirmulnir had showed up at the right time, and we had been able to kill him, although only with quite some effort and teamwork. The Dragonborn had been identified and recognized by the Jarl, although she herself seemed to be very unsure about what that actually implied; the Greybeards would probably be able to enlighten here, and the Jarl՚s brother, Hrongar, also seemed to be well versed in the related lore. In addition to that, Fiona was a Thane now, with Lydia as her housecarl.

Now, where was I? I got some recognition, too, sure, but was that good enough? Of course, I did not have to stay here, and if Fiona wanted to go up to High Hrothgar, I might want to tag along, if she was allowing me to. If not, I should be able to make myself useful around here, for some time at least, and joining the Companions might not be a bad idea altogether, as my fighting skills were even less than mediocre,

Above and beyond all of that, I had spent almost a week in this world now, with some demanding adventures, fighting, doing some magic and more. Not a single time had I missed an electronic device like a computer or a smartphone. Of course, it would be nice to have an iPad or so with an interactive map and some fandom information, but at least I had some companions to be and work with, well, if Fiona did not prefer to be only with Freya and Lydia from now on, of course. But even if she did, I was a citizen of Whiterun now, and I was sure that I'd find something to do and earn my living here easily. If nothing else, I could at least do some menial tasks like chopping wood, help with harvesting, mining ore and such, where my body size and strength might be helpful. Overall, that clearly was better than my previous life.

[Author's Notes: It is kind of unfair that only Fiona a.k.a. Dragonborn gets Thaneship, isn't it? But I guess that this is life; B'lushona՚s time will come.

There is a mod called 'Be a Milk-Drinker' which makes a number of non-alcoholic drinks being offered in inns and such. Seriously, what are the children drinking? Water only? And what about the many AAs they probably have?]