Author's note:
This chapter takes place two years after the Prologue and introduces my OC Agda. If you don't feel like reading her backstory, skip to chapter 3.
As always, thank you for reading!
25th of First Seed, 4E 201
It was a late afternoon in Riverwood. The sky had already turned dark and a soft rain was falling from the clouds lingering above the village. The main street of the settlement was empty, whereas the air carried the unique smell of wet soil. The only sounds to be heard were produced by Alvor, the blacksmith of the village.
Not a good day to collect ingredients, Agda thought to herself.
She was a Nord in her twenties, with dark blond hair and big brown eyes. She wasn't particularly beautiful – her face was ordinary, her complexion was too pale, her figure was everything but imposing.
With a resigned sigh, the girl ran from the local good shops to the Sleeping Giant, the inn where she worked. The effort left her panting for a few seconds, whereas the mud puddles stained her dress.
Agda snorted: she hated rainy days, just like she hated physical exercise.
When the young Nord opened the door to the inn, she was immediately greeted by Delphine's stern look.
"You should do something to keep yourself fit", the Breton frowned as soon as she noticed the pained look on Agda's face. "You can't pant like that just because you've run from Lucan's shop to the inn".
"There's nothing I can do to improve my shape", Agda sheepishly replied. "You know very well that the only time I tried to swing a sword, I dislocated my shoulder".
Delphine shook her head. Surprisingly enough, she liked Agda: the girl was a hard worker, provided her with good company and seemed to love the dull life she was leading. At the same time, however, Agda looked completely oblivious of the Skyrim way of life, as Sven the Bard sometimes called it – she didn't drink mead, couldn't brawl, despised fighting and hunting and boasting and everything that was usually connected to Nordic traditions.
Born in the cozy city of Anvil, Agda wasn't one of those bulky women from Falkreath, or Dawnstar, or Windhelm; she was the daughter of two merchants who had spent most of their lives in Cyrodiil, where their eldest daughter had been raised to become a trader. Unfortunately, six months earlier the quiet life of the Seafarer's family had undergone a drastic change.
Agda was in Kvatch when the Thalmor raided her parents' shop. As soon as she found out what happened, the girl felt angry. A second later, she felt scared and vulnerable.
Her parents immediately fled to High Rock on one of their many trading ships, whereas Agda headed for Skyrim. Kareti the Wise and Leifur the Seafarer weren't happy with her decision - Skyrim was a dangerous place, full of rebels and Thalmor and foul creatures of all sorts. Nevertheless, they eventually allowed their daughter to do as she pleased.
Just like her parents had predicted, Agda regretted her choice as soon as she crossed the border. Skyrim was a land of immense beauty, of vast pinewoods and clear skies, but it was no place for the weak – something the young girl found out at her expense.
The first time a wolf attacked the caravan she was travelling with, Agda let out a terrified scream; a few minutes later, when two bandits tried to rob her, she closed her eyes and prayed to the Divines; then, when a bear appeared out of nowhere, she fainted and almost fell off her carriage.
When the trading caravan stopped in Riverwood for the night, Agda had already had enough of her Skyrim nonsense. As she tossed and turned in her bed and listened to the sound of the falling rain, the young Nord realized that she wasn't ready to travel all the way up to Solitude, to survive the sudden storms of the Pale, to fight against sabre cats and rogues and undead and all the other gruesome creatures that infested the country. Painfully aware of her weakness, on the following morning she announced her decision to interrupt the journey.
"I'll remain in Riverwood for a few days", she said. "As soon as another trading caravan rides through the village, I will kindly ask them to take me back to Cyrodiil".
The men she was travelling with were very pleased by her decision – after all, the girl was nothing but a burden. They shook hands with her, wished her good luck, then they resumed their long journey towards the north.
Unfortunately, as soon as those men left Riverwood, Agda noticed that her coin purse had disappeared.
That realization made her feel outraged – outraged and terrified. She was alone, in a land she didn't know and she was surrounded by complete strangers. Moreover, she didn't own anything to her name. She couldn't even pay a courier to ask her parents for gold: all her money and belongings were lost, completely and utterly lost.
Her trip to Skyrim had just become a nightmare.
In those moments of rage and fear and despair, Agda was unexpectedly helped by the people of Riverwood.
Since the innkeeper wouldn't host her unless she paid for a room, Agda lived for a few weeks with Gerdur, the owner of the local lumber mill. The girl did her best to help her new friend with her business, but with poor results: after two days of work, Agda's back was so sore that she had to take a whole week off.
Despite the girl's low stamina, Gerdur still wanted to help her. She therefore asked Alvor to take on the girl as apprentice.
The blacksmith spent a whole month trying to teach the weird Nord how to forge weapons, but it soon became clear that Agda wasn't cut for that job. The same happened when she tried to harvest crops, to use a fishing rod and to skin animals for their pelts.
By the end of her second month in Skyrim, Agda had fallen into despair – she still hadn't managed to get in touch with her parents and had sadly realized that no trading caravan ever rode through Riverwood. Moreover, she was well aware of one thing: she was still alive just because people pitied her.
Agda wasn't an ordinary Nord, but she was as proud as all the other daughters of Skyrim. She couldn't just accept the help that was being offered to her – she felt obliged to give something in return.
Since she couldn't pay her new friends for their hospitality, one day Agda took a big breath and ventured in the woods that surrounded Riverwood. She wanted to prepare gifts for all those who had been kind to her - and since alchemy was the only thing she was good at, Agda left the safety of the village in order to collect ingredients.
That trip along the White River was the most terrifying experience the young girl had ever had. For the whole time she clutched the iron dagger Alvor had given her, jumped with fear at every noise, hid behind the trees whenever she felt in danger. Still, she somehow managed to collect the flowers and mushrooms she needed.
After two long hours, Agda eventually came back to Riverwood and asked Delphine the permission to use the alchemy lab in her inn. The Breton didn't mind – after all, the patrons were becoming scarcer and scarcer because of the war.
Thanks to the innkeepers' help, that night Agda could proudly present the people of Riverwood with many different potions, that she happily donated to everyone she knew. There were stamina potions for those who worked at the mill, health potions for those who ventured outside the village, potions to allow the fishermen to breathe under water, potions to help Alvor with his work at the forge… Everyone in Riverwood received a little, meaningful gift and started to like Agda more.
Over the following days, things started to look brighter for the young Nord: Lucan Valerius asked her to create potions and poisons for his customers, Orgnar gave her the permission to use his ingredients and his lab whenever she wanted, Faendal brought her the mushrooms and flowers he found near the village.
After a few weeks, Agda fell into a comfortable routine: she brewed potions whenever she had the chance, used her knowledge of magic to heal those who came down with an illness, helped Gerdur and Sigrid look after their children. Eventually, Delphine offered her a room in the Sleeping Giant – in return, all Agda had to do was help her with the patrons.
Over her first six months in Skyrim, Agda had slowly fallen in love the quiet life she was leading: she was getting used to the sudden thunderstorms of Skyrim, didn't worry about Bleak Fall Barrow anymore, felt loved and respected by everyone she knew.
She no longer missed the life she had left behind and firmly believed she had found her place in the world.