Disclaimer: I do not own Skyrim or any part of the Elder Scrolls series. If I did, Elder Scrolls 6 would've been released by now.
In the middle of the night, I woke. I couldn't really explain it, but I just felt a pull from my slumber. A tug on my consciousness, that something needed my attention. I laid there for a few moments, listening to the inn to hear if its usual boisterous patrons were already up and about. But I couldn't hear anything, it was likely still deep in the night. I sat up and listened for a bit longer while looking around my room. The darkness and silence was a welcome respite for the hustle and bustle that would likely come during the morning. I could hear the odd creak from the wood in the hall upstairs, or Elda muttering to herself about the Dark Elves. I didn't really get that, the discrimination against the Elves. Not that I had much information or experience to go off of, but that sentiment was shared by a large chunk of the populace. I didn't have anything against the Dark Elves, personally, which probably means I wouldn't be a good fit in the city. I probably needed a bit of xenophobia to be a working citizen here. Though, it begged the question still, why allow them to be here if all you'll do is allow your citizens to abuse them? If you push them into an enclosed part of the city dedicated to simply keeping them all there instead of in the greater city? This doesn't even happen only to the Dark Elves, but the Argonians down at the docks. Much like Alfarinn told me, there were no Argonians in sight when I walked in the city. Granted, I did only head to Candlehearth, but I'd expected a handful. This city just seemed off. We do business with them, but the vibe here was just not sitting well with me.
My thoughts continued on this vein, to ponder upon the state of the city and the current state of Skyrim as a whole, until I began to hear the denizens of Windhelm funnel into the hall upstairs. Had it been that long since I woke? I suppose so. I got myself up and out of bed, and made my way upstairs to see some of the other people of Windhelm. As I made my way, I nodded in acknowledgement to Elda as she was talking to a bald, finely dressed man.
As the only inn or mead hall in the city, it is expected that this place has a lot of traffic. And it lived up to that expectation, certainly. I could see a whole gaggle of Nords sitting around the fire as I walked up the stairs, boisterously laughing or talking about this or that. I watched for a second and looked around more. There was a man sitting in the corner by himself, dressed in full steel armor and a greatsword strapped to his back. Certainly not the most welcoming figure, but I could certainly have worse company than a man with a large sword strapped to his back.
I walked up to his table, mead in hand, and sat down on the seat across from him. He looked at me questioningly, sized me up, and nodded. No words were needed, simply an understanding for a good place to drink and unwind. I took a swig of my drink and felt strangely relieved. The city is typically dreary, be it night or day, so it felt good knowing that the people still found the motivation to be up and about.
Eventually, after a bit of drinking, I turned to the man sitting across from me. "Is that sword just for show, or do you know how to swing it?", I asked almost out of the blue.
"If you got the coin, you can find out for yourself.", he replied. Smart man, a promise of action. Brilliant marketing ploy from a most unexpected source.
I smiled, "When I get the coin and decide I need a capable hand at my side for an adventure, I'll certainly keep you in mind.". He seemed amused by that, and laughed loudly, slapping his knee.
"You're a funny one, I'll give you that. Tell you what, when you come back here to hire me, I'll give you a discount. Deal?" he asked with his hand outstretched.
"Deal. Don't expect it to be very exciting, I tend to deal with more mundane things. Maybe I'll hire you to kill a pack of wolves that harass the mill that I'm staying at.", I took and shook his hand.
"More action than I see here anyway. It'd be a welcome change to have some easy fights and not some random traveler asking me to kill a troll for them. You know how irritating it is for some scrawny kid trying to underpay me to fight a troll and not help? I'd rather a pack of wolves alongside someone like you any day. You any good with a weapon?", he inquired. I thought to myself for a moment.
"I can use an axe well enough, I suppose. I'd just have to get one from the blacksmith, don't exactly have a proper fighting axe back at the mill, just the ones that can cut wood." He nodded in understanding and took a swig from his mug. I'm not really sure what he meant by being any good, but hopefully I don't look like an idiot using one if we ever go out fighting together.
We sat in comfortable silence until I decided it was time to leave. I nodded to him on my way out, and he nodded back. I'll likely be calling on his services in the near future, call it my intuition. Once I had made my way out, I saw two men approach a dark elf woman in front of the gate. They began berating her about not getting involved with the Stormcloak cause, labeling her a traitor. Honestly, I don't really see why she would, or any other Dark Elf for that matter. It isn't like Ulfric is making it easy to live in Windhelm for them or the Argonians, why help a cause that is actively isolating you?
As I pondered upon that, before I knew, they had shoved her to the ground and I decided to intervene.
"Hey! That's enough. She got the message.", I yelled as authoritatively as I could. Though, the voice crack in the middle of it might have offset that notion.
The two men looked at me with glares.
"Are you a traitor too? Unwilling to help the Stormcloaks and coming to the city eating our food and polluting our city with your Imperial stink. We got ways of making the two of you talk.", said the one in rags. I scoffed at him.
"Yeah? Well you'll get nothing you brute, fuck off and leave the two of us in peace.". The two looked at me in shock for a second, before scowling and spitting my way and walking off. I turned to the Dark Elf woman on the ground and offered her a hand, but as soon as I stretched my hand out, a yellow-ish light enveloped both it and the woman in question.
"Are you a healer?" she asked me, not knowing that I hadn't the slightest idea what I just did and how I did it.
"I suppose I am, are you alright miss?", I replied while helping her up. She looked weary of me, though considering her interaction just now, I'm not too surprised.
"Yes, considering you had the decency to heal me. Don't worry, what you just saw is nothing new from those two. They tend to bully and mock us Dark Elves for any reason they can find. Not only us, but the Argonians too. Basically anybody that isn't a Nord is fair game for their toxicity. You've tasted it firsthand as well." she said, worrisome tidbits there, but not totally unknown to me. "My name is Suvaris Atheron, may I know your name?", she asked.
"My name is Amos. No last name.", I smiled at her, hopefully to placate the worry she definitely had at my presence.
"Amos, I believe that seeing as you've healed me, that this city is unworthy of one such as you, someone with an open mind and an even bigger heart.", I think it worked. Though, that's probably something of a sentiment shared among the oppressed populace, considering how little in terms of leniency they get from the xenophobic populace. Anybody would probably be better than a Nord if all they saw were Nords continuously insulting, berating, and assaulting them for nothing more than trying to live their lives and survive. But I was complimented, so I'll take it.
"Just a bit of decency, no need to go that far. I saw someone in need and came to help.", she looked at me quizzingly.
"For you, perhaps. For others, it is a blessing for one such as you to even come along and spare some time being a decent human. Kindness such as that goes a long way.", she elaborated.
"Nevertheless, it was nothing to me. If you get into that type of trouble again, just tell me whenever I'm here in Windhelm and I'll try to help as much as I can. Even something small as telling them off.", though I was not confident it would work the same way it did today, it didn't hurt to offer the sentiment to someone that probably needed the peace of mind of having somebody non-hostile in Skyrim.
"I'll keep you in mind then, Amos." she said, "If ever you find yourself in this city again, come to the Gray Quarter, we'll welcome your presence.", and walked away. I think we just became friends, if that was anything to go by.
After that interaction, I made my way over to the Blacksmith and market area before going back to the mill. I was planning on getting a sword or axe that wasn't just good for cutting wood, if ever some pesky wildlife made their way to terrorize us in the middle of the night. From the shipment of logs, the guards gave me a bag of 700 gold, so after the stay, I have more than 600, which should be enough for an axe and then some.
I found the smith and his apprentice by the forge. Both looked at me before he began to speak in a thick nord accent, "Oengul War-Anvil, can I help you with something here?".
"I'm looking for a war axe to protect myself. Do you have any on hand?", I asked. Knowing that the war effort takes precedence over individual projects, I had to assume that they may not have any available simply because of the amount needed to keep the troops well armed. Not war axes per say, but really any weapon.
"As a matter of fact, we do have a couple lying around. Not in the best shape since they haven't been on the grindstone in a bit, but tell you what. I'll sell you the axe and sharpen it for you for, say, 200 septims.", that's not a bad deal actually, considering that he's probably working on an order for the troops, I'd pay that.
"Sure, I'll be around the market for a bit so just call me over when you're done with it and I'll come pick it up.", I handed him the 200 septims and walked around to see what else this place had to offer.
In reality, I wasn't looking for anything specific. I was looking just to spend some time engaging with locals or, if anything did catch my eye, I would get it. I walked around the marketplace for a bit, with the few stalls that were present, and saw that there was quite a selection considering that their efforts would more align towards supplying the Stormcloaks. Eventually, after a bit of looking, I bought some venison and leather from a dark elf that was apparently Suvaris' brother, and he gave me a discount on my purchase. I wondered why. Had word spread about me assisting Suvaris? That was quick. I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth though, and it means that I got more for less. I'm not about to waste that.
"Lad, the axe is ready!", I hear Oengul call from the forge, and I make my way over. He's holding on to quite the nice Steel War Axe, and holds it towards me.
"Take a couple of swings with it, see how it feels for you. The weight should be balanced between the handle and the blade so if you feel something off with it, just tell me and I'll make the adjustments.", I acknowledge that and proceed with a couple of practice swings in the air. I notice a practice dummy near the forge and make my way toward it to practice against a target. Diagonal slash, an angled cut from the left, then the right. The axe feels right, not too difficult to handle, not too light or heavy. He did a good job with this thing.
"Oengul, the axe is great! There's no work to be done with it right now.", I said as I made my way over to him. I really was happy with it, though I doubted my personal effectiveness with the weapon, it was a good piece of metal.
"Good to hear, nothing less from the best smith in Skyrim after all. I'll give you a couple of steel ingots as freebies to keep it sharp and as incentive to come back for any work that you might need. Can't have a customer going over to Eorlund Gray-Mane in Whiterun.", I didn't know who that was, but I'm assuming he's a rival of sorts to Oengul. Well, since I don't know him, I'd definitely come back here. I nodded to Oengul in acknowledgement, and made my way to the gate to start my trip back to the mill. As I looked up at the sky, it looked to still be morning, so I should be able to get there between evening.
I exited the gates of Windhelm, walked along the bridge to the stables, and saw Alfarinn and the stablemaster again. I waved to them on my way out, and they waved back. I got on the path and prepared myself for the trek ahead. I discovered quite a bit about myself today, and I couldn't wait to tell Gilfre all about it.
