The trio and Yew's wolf made their way to the Temple Of Kynereath. Yew was vaguely aware that his order worshiped a version of Kynereath. However, he wasn't completely aware of how his order practiced that faith and how it differed from the worship of the deity in Skyrim. He wished he had been able to brush up on this information before going to the temple, but until he did he would have to just wing it and hope he would be fine.
Arriving in the temple, Yew noticed that Danica was fairly attractive. Still, he had to maintain his composure, much as his druidic lust pushed him to try and fuck anyone he found remotely attractive.
"Hello, it is good to meet a member of your order. We may have different practices, but we have similar causes." Danica said.
"Yes. I believe so. What aid do you need?" Yew asked.
"The Gildergreen is dead. It needs to be revitalized in order to bring back Kynereath's grace and attract pilgrims." Danica said.
"Ok. What do you want me to do about that?" Yew asked.
"I need you to gather some sap from the Eldergleam tree. A holy tree of the faith. This will revitalize it." Danica said.
"How will I do that? Surely such a tree would have protections? It couldn't be harvested so easily." Yew asked. He had misgivings about this. It didn't seem conducive to proper worship of the nature goddess. However, it was something he had to see about when he got to the Eldergleam Tree. He felt he'd have to here it out.
"Yes. You will have to secure a knife called Nettlebane. It was a holy artifact that was taken by a group of Hagravens long ago. This circle of Hagrevens is believed to nest in the shadow of the throat of the world, near Helgen. I can mark it on your map." Danica said. Yew brought out his map and Danica marked the approximate location.
"I'll do what I can." Yew said.
"I will as well." Greta said.
"Don't worry, you two will have me watching your backs." Uthgerd said.
"I thank you. All of you." Danica said.
The three said their farewells and left the temple. Yew examined his mental quest log.
Find Nettlebane
Rewards: ? Gold
? Experience
Nettlebane
Gratitude and Trust from Danica
"So...what are we going to do?" Greta said.
"The priority remains the same. We need to meet this new Thane of Whiterun, just in case she leaves town, we can't do this quest until we meet her." Yew said.
"You're looking for the new Thane of Whiterun?" Uthgerd asked.
"Yes. I am on a mission on behalf of my order to observe this dragon awakening. And she was one of the people who slew a dragon. In fact, there are rumors of her being "Dragonborn" I need to glean information from her and confirm or deny those claims." Yew said.
"I had a drink with her, and with her Housecarl Lydia. She beat me in a fistfight. She wasn't as strong as me, but a lot quicker and was pretty good at striking." Uthgerd said.
"Huh. Alright. Do you know where she might return when she does come back from her adventuring?" Yew said.
"Not sure. But she seemed intent on making her fortune. She wanted to buy a home here, set it up as a "homebase". The way she was acting was a bit strange." Uthgerd said.
"How so?" Greta asked.
"She was acting a bit...distant during much of the conversation. Like she was seeing or sensing something I wasn't. Didn't seem to be mad though. She seemed almost like a Wizard. Like she knew more then I could possibly know." Uthgerd said.
"Was she? A magic user?" Yew asked.
"Not sure. I only fought her in a brawl. She didn't sling any spells that I could see. Offensive or otherwise." Uthgerd said.
This gave Yew pause. Could she be...like him? A drop in from earth or somewhere else? Maybe that was what she was "sensing?" some pop-up notifications like the kind he got.
"Good to know. Let's check back in at the Bannered Mare briefly. Just in case she's arrived or anyone's heard anything." Yew said.
His companions agreed and they checked on the inn. Unfortunately nothing had much changed since they last went in. Greta got herself some lunch and Yew discussed a bit about his journey and background with Uthgerd.
"Seems like you've had a lot of adventures." Uthgerd said.
"Yeah. Much of my life though...it's foggy to me. And I'm not entirely sure why." Yew said. Which was the truth. After all, he should have gotten all of Yew's memories or none of them after being placed in his body. Not this blurry, incomplete, set and a small summary of the facts of his life.
"That's odd. Do you think you might have been a victim to some sort of a spell or curse? One which you can't remember taking place or which was cast on you from a distance?" Uthgerd said.
"That...does make a lot of sense. I hadn't considered that before." Yew said. Perhaps that's why. And he just so happened to be put in this amnesiac druid's mind. Yew did write some notes in his journal before this, as well as seemed to enchant his map.
The day wound on. Greta and Uthgerd took Yew sightseeing to different parts of the city. He was beginning to figure out the general lay of the land. The one place he hadn't visited was the Castle that stood above the city, housing Jarl Balgruuf.
They returned back around dinner time. Ivan walked in. His armor bloodstained.
"You've been in battle. I hope you didn't do anything stupid." Hualda said. She had her hand under the counter. Most likely there was a dagger there. Likely if Ivan intended her harm, that dagger would do little good.
"I killed an outlaw. That's no crime. Though mayhaps it will be one day." Ivan said, as he took a seat at a table. He took off his helmet as he sat.
"I'll need mead. Grab me a goat leg and a steak too." Ivan said.
"Alright then." Hualda said.
They ate dinner under a tense atmosphere. Ivan ate fairly quickly, then he headed to his room.
Yew spent some of the evenings alone in his room examining his equipment. His robes gave him three free cantrip level spell slots. His dagger was unenchanted and iron, and was likely going to be pretty useless soon. His bow was a hunting bow, and was also going to probably become rapidly less useful. He had a good amount of arrows, though he wondered if there were better quality arrows then iron in this world. He had a few low-level poisons and a variety of options. Some were for healing the body, others could be used to grant Greta more Magicka in a pinch or increase someone's stamina. There were also a few utility potions, often more useful for everyday life than that of the adventurer. They could be useful but they were also expandable if he needed quick gold.
He also had a staff and a spell tome he had discovered in the Barrows. He had no idea how to use a staff or what it might do or how it would interact with his druidic magic as nothing about this staff seemed druidic in nature. The spell tome was in a text he couldn't understand and he couldn't identify the purpose of that either. He supposed he'd have to see someone knowledgeable in magic. He definitly wanted to do that before he next left town.
He looked at his Druidic Grimoire and found more information appearing on the pages. That of the worship practices of the Druids. Kyne, Hircine, Y'ffre, and Namira. It was only a brief summary of the worship of the gods and the theology of the Druidic order but with just that much memories of this knowledge and more came back to him. Yew felt his faith in those gods and in the teachings of his order return to him with swiftness. He found himself in prayer, a practice he had neglected since he had arrived. His reverence of nature was deeper now, more complete.
His purpose seemed clearer now.
His wolf gazed at him, seeming to see right through him.
He fell asleep eager to see his level up screen.
First his general level up. He received a few more cantrip slots. As well as a couple more first level spell slots. He also could pick another perk. He quickly went over the perks he had:
Avenger: Increases the amount of damage done by offensive druidic spells. Druidism.
Seducer: Increased sexual appeal. Speech
Alchemy Mastery: Increases the potency of created potions and poisons.
He had been using Archery a lot, so Yew decided to pick up Bow Mastery, a perk which increased all damage dealt with a bow. He confirmed his selection and fell into a deep sleep.