Chapter 24: Construction work

[4th– 7thof Hearthfire 4E 201]

I had been delighted to find out that Whiterun actually had a school, and I had been invited to help teaching in the morning of the previous day, which I liked; I had promised to be back, at least covering for the time when the assistant school teacher was sick. In the afternoon I had met construction workers pulling up heavy boulders from the Plains District into the Wind District, and I had gladly helped with the hard task.

After I had done my early morning exercises and eaten breakfast one day later, I strolled towards the school once more. Minolewen was already waiting and happy to see me again, and soon we were both teaching the children again. Today, they had to read sections from a book; the school had a few copies of 'The Holds of Skyrim', and although some pretty complex words were used in some places, we tried together.

Focusing on one sentence at a time, the students were given plenty of opportunity to focus on reading words properly, on correct pronunciation, and also on learning what certain words actually meant. Not really surprisingly, it turned out that quite a few word in books were different from the choice of words people actually used in their normal lives; for instance, there was this section on our hold:

WHITERUN

This central hold is characterized by wide, grassy plains that are home to numerous farms. Many roads pass through Whiterun, joining the more distant holds together.

The hold's capital city, also called Whiterun, sits high on a rocky promontory amid a large, flat swath of scrubland. Among the wealthiest cities of Skyrim, Whiterun has usually proven friendly to the Emperor's soldiers.

One of the younger children already stumbled with the word 'characterized', and the next question was about 'numerous'. When I explained that 'numerous' was something like 'many', one girl asked:

"Why do some people use so difficult words instead of simple ones? I can learn how to write and read 'many', but that other word is so strange; why is there a 'u' following the 'o'? How does this make sense?"

I did not have an answer for that, but the Altmer teacher tried to explain:

"Students, our language has evolved over many years and even centuries. Obviously, children were not asked when people modified it, and I suspect that some people feel good when they know how to use and write complex words. You don't have to learn all of them, but being able to read books and notes can really be important."

The word 'promontory' was the next hurdle, and I was glad that Minolewen could nicely explain what that was, as I also did not know. I had the excuse, of course, that the local language was not my native one, but extending my vocabulary was a good thing.

We went over 'swath of scrubland', and we found that the book could as well have used the term 'wide area of plains with some bushes'. I eventually suggested:

"Hey, why don't we try to write an easy copy of that book and only use simple words?"

The Altmer teacher liked that idea, and so did the kids. Apparently, the teaching was not bound to some stringent curriculum, and thus, a new project was started on that very day. We started with the first entry on a hold in Skyrim, which was like this in the book:

EASTMARCH

Located in the eastern reaches of Skyrim, Eastmarch shares a common border with Morrowind.
...

Our simplified version started like this:

EASTMARCH

The hold is in the eastern part of Skyrim (right side on a map). Eastmarch is next to Morrowind (another province).

That was as far as we got before the break started, but I conceded that this was easier to read, and almost all of the students agreed that is was so much easier to understand.

After the break Minolewen asked me if it was all right to talk some about my race. They had read some books on various races in Tamriel, but so far there had not been an opportunity to have a real Khajiit in the classroom. I nodded, and the teacher explained that they did not have a huge lot of teaching material on various races. The students had some questions, though, and although I was not a born Khajiit, I tried my best to oblige.

One boy wanted to know if I could move my ears, and I happily demonstrated that I could, indeed. Mila wanted to see what I could do with my tail, and for an answer I wrapped my appendix around her waist and lifted her up from her seat. I could not have done that with an adult person, I thought, but the tiny weight of a preteen girl – about 25kg, I assumed – was all right. Mila squeaked and giggled, and she grinned when I put her down again.

I truthfully answered some questions on my favorite food and about my size being normal or extraordinary for a Khajiit, and from memory I told them that the phase of the moons at the time of a Khajiit baby's birth seemed to impact the special breed; I also honestly admitted that I was not an expert on Khajiit culture and did not know further details. There were also some I could not really tell, like how schools were in Elsweyr and such. One of the older girls even boldly asked if I had a wife or a girlfriend, and I replied with a smile that I did not, but was keeping my eyes open for pretty girls; she blushed a little when she heard that.

Before the morning was over and the kids were sent home, they were allowed to touch my fur, and more than half of the kids used the opportunity to do that. Some of them had touched dogs and some other animals, but a Khajiit fur was different, more like a horse, dense and not very long. I did not mind being touched, at least not when it was done by kids, and I also had them experience the feeling of a furry Khajiit paw moving along their cheeks and arms.

I learned that the assistant teacher was likely to be back tomorrow, and I replied that this was good, as I would have to also do some Companion work again soon.

In the early afternoon of that day I picked up the metal ring I had had Eorlund make in the evening before, and I met the Nord Irgnar and his team of workers again. I showed what I had, but nobody had an idea what that was supposed to be used for. I was somewhat curious to see if my idea would actually work as planned. So, I had the workers attach the ropes from the next big stone to the metal ring, and another thick rope was tight to a massive pillar on top of the stairs, pulled through the ring opening, around the next pillar, and down the stairs. I was worried about potential chafing by movement of rope on stone, and I had also brought a bundle of leather stripes to wrap around the pillar. When the preparations were complete, I ask the men to start pulling, and they could now again use their weight to pull downhill rather than up. To everybody's surprise, getting the block to move was now much easier. The men did have to cover more distance, but with less effort, and soon they agreed that this was useful for the larger and heaviest blocks at least. Naturally, I worked with them, and at the end of the day I was quite sweaty. After all, just getting the stone blocks upstairs was only one part of the job; from there, we still have to pull and push them to the section of the wall to be reinforced, and getting each block into the desired position was not easy either; however, they had a smaller handcart available upstairs, which helped. As the foreman had mentioned, this was nothing which they did on a regular basis, and they had little experience with that kind of work.

"Sure, we get stones from one of the quarries almost every week for some house or other building," Irgnar explained, "but those are much smaller stones. Usually we only use stones a strong man can carry on his own, at least for a short distance, like from the market area up to the Wind District. Handling stones as large as the ones we are supposed to integrate into the city wall is very different."

"So, why can't we use smaller stones?"

"I dunno; we just do what they tell us."

One of his men had an idea, though:

"I used to be with the hold guards until recently, and I think that I know. If there is going to be siege of Whiterun at some time in future, the enemies are likely to have some kind of catapults. Of course, as they will have to pull in those devices from afar, they are small ones, but they can throw big stones into our walls. Huge blocks have a much better chance to deflect those attacks than smaller ones have."

I nodded and understood. From playing the game I recalled the scenario with Stormcloaks attacking Whiterun, supported by some catapults, and having strong walls protecting against such an event would be good. Nonetheless I asked:

"So this is in preparation for war?"

"Yes, I guess that it is. With Whiterun being neutral, we all hope that the war will not come to our hold, but if it does, we need to be prepared, or that's at least what the steward says. We also want to have a better defense against dragons, although walls won't help much there, I reckon."

Before I left in the late afternoon, I asked where they got the boulders from, and Irgnar willingly replied:

"There are a few quarries around the city and also some further south and southwest. At this time, we get most of the stones from quarries near the road crossing southeast of the city and behind Battle-Born Farm."

At some time I'd want to have look there, I decided. For today, though, I considered my daily task done and was quite happy to watch the sun setting and meeting the other Companions in the mead hall for drinking and eating.

For the time being I had fallen into some easy routine. I usually got up early, before or at sunrise, and at least every other day I started to warm and train my muscles by jogging around the city of Whiterun. If possible, I tried to time it so that I could watch the sunrise from one of the elevations north or east of Whiterun, and sometimes together with the guards at Whitewatch Tower. It did not take long until almost all of the guards knew me, and sometimes I stayed a few minutes to chat, before I continued my round trip along the road east of the city. I had not been a great fan of sports and fitness in my previous life, but here in my new body and in this different world, I actually enjoyed that, specifically when moving on unpaved ground. Even on rainy days, jogging on muddy grass was nice, for some time at least, and I could always get clean again when I was back.

When I came back to Jorrvaskr, I usually trained with Vilkas or one of the other more experienced Companions, and sometimes I went on some minor quest with them. On the other days I spent an hour or two in the backyard to practice magic and do some training on my own. While I was mostly in control of my new body, there was still some finer coordination lacking at times, and I hoped that I might be able to improve that by doing various exercises, specifically those including tail movement. Back home, in my old life, I had read that cats could do interesting things with their tails, like changing directions while jumping, and I was curious to find out if I could do something like that as well. If one grew up as a Khajiit and had parents and siblings teaching you, I guessed that this was easier, but I did not have anybody, and I did not really want to ask any Khajiit in a caravan or so about that.

I also visited the school once more, and on a rainy day I got a chance to meet Nazdura, the assistant teacher, an Orc woman of medium age. Minolewen had told me about her before, and while at first I had been surprised about an Orc teaching, I understood that later on. Once we had greeted each other, I told her:

"Well, if an Orc can be librarian in the College of Winterhold, an Orc can certainly help with teaching children in Whiterun."

"That's the right attitude! But, do you know Urag gro-Shub?"

"No, I don't, but I have heard of him."

She did not go into details, but mentioned that she had been raised in the Orc stronghold Narzulbur in Eastmarch. From childhood on she had been much more interested in books than in swords, and as she was a younger daughter of the chieftain, she had been given a choice of either learning about fighting seriously or leaving, and once she had made her decision clear, she had been expelled. With a few stops at other places, she had finally found a home here in Whiterun, and she had been assistant teacher for quite a few years.

So, we had two female Orcs here in the city who had not been happy about life in an Orc stronghold. Lorgukh, who was with the Companions, had not wanted to be married off to another chieftain, but decide her own future, and Nazdura could fight, but was more dedicated to books and teaching. They were certainly both not matching the Orc stereotype, but those fitting in probably stayed in the strongholds.

When I got a chance to stay for another lesson, I used the opportunity to ask a question to all children:

"Say, are there some of you how are very familiar with dogs, in particular huskies?"

They looked at each other, and soon some of them pointed towards Lucia. Despite apparently being an orphan girl without a proper home, she was allowed to attend school, and shyly she admitted:

"When I was living on our family farm, we had a couple of huskies there, and I loved them. They were my best friends, and I dearly miss them."

"All right, Lucia, I guess that I have a task for you to do. Would you mind if I picked you up after school, and we will visit a special place?"

The girl quickly nodded, and once the lessons for the day were over, I took her by the hand and guided her towards the city's Temple of Arkay. Andurs, the priest, was inside, and he greeted us:

"I spend so much time among the dead, I sometimes forget how much I miss the company of the living. What can I do for you today?"

I saw Garm still in his corner, not moving much, and I replied:

"Andurs, would you mind if that girl, Lucia, spent some time with your dog?"

"No, not at all, if she dares to approach him, that is."

That was not a problem, as we could see. The little girl behaved properly, and rather than rushing towards the dog, she approached slowly while showing her open hands. She allowed the husky to sniff her first, and minutes later she was kneeling next to him and scratching his fur. I explained:

"You may have seen Lucia before; she has lost her family, and she missed the dogs they had on the farm. You could do her a big favor by allowing her to spend time with Garm from time to time, and even walking him around the city, when you do no need him, like in the afternoons after school."

"Why should she want to walk around with Garm?"

"Some children like to walk around with dogs and play with them, Andurs, and maybe Garm might even like that, as a change from spending time downstairs with you."

"You think so? Well, sure, if she wants that, why not?"

I did not want to tell the good priest directly that he might be neglecting his dog, and I could not be sure, too. Andurs agreed to let us go right now, and for the first time I went with Lucia and Garm to see how that worked out. Soon I saw that the two seemed to be made for each other. As soon as the priest signaled to him that we was allowed and supposed to go with us, he wagged his tail, and once we were outside, his previous lethargy was forgotten. I staid behind a little to watch while Lucia and Garm strolled around, occasionally ran, and had lots of fun with each other. Very clearly that activity was beneficial for both girl and dog, and once we returned to the temple a couple of hours later, Andurs asked:

"Is that really my Garm you are bringing back? He looks different, so much more active and even happy! What did you do?"

"I just walked around with him and we had lots of fun, mister!"

"Well, whatever you did, Garm seemed to like it, young lady. Would you eventually be available to come again soon?"

"Yes, sure, that would be great, mister!

"I wonder how I could reward you for that..."

I had a suggestion for that:

"Andurs, as Lucia does not have a proper home any longer, can you maybe on some days provide a nice meal for her?"

"I am not a great cook, but sure,, and at some time we can go down to the 'Drunken Huntsman' for a meal, too."

Lucia beamed when she heard that, and I guess that they had a deal.

On the next day I got to train with Lorgukh in the backyard behind Jorrvaskr, and she showed me how an Orc can fight. I could easily match her strength, but not her moves. She used a few stances and attack moves I had not seen before, and I had no chance at all to counter them. If I had been in a real fight with her, I'd not have survived for more than ten seconds. She even encouraged me to use magic in our last round, and when I cast fire on her, she shuddered for just a fraction of a second and then continued her attack. The same spell had worked successfully so far on some people, starting with the female Imperial captain at Helgen, but this big Orc warrior basically ignored it and just fought on, despite some blisters forming in her face. When I asked her about that after the training session, she explained:

"We are trained to ignore minor injuries during a fight, and many opponents get confused when their magic does not seem to work well. This gives us an advantage. Naturally, if a high power spell is used against me, I'd try to evade, in order to avoid any major injury. I have learned to sense the power behind a spell, and I noticed that yours is pretty low level. Counterattacking quickly is a better option most of the time, and I can always use potions after combat, once the opponent is crippled or dead."

She had a point, but it probably took quite some self control to ignore even minor spells and the damage a small fireball could do to her skin. I was not sure if I might be able to do the same. Lorgukh added:

"Also, I don't mind attacking enemies with a bow and arrows and avoid close combat, if the opportunity arises. Nothing wrong with being careful and cunning at times, even for an Orc."

I liked her attitude, and of course I also had some preference to attack first with long distance weapons, if I got the chance. When I had played the game, this had been crucial quite frequently, as my reflexes – at least those in my old body – had not worked well for close combat. On the other hand, when I had had the chance to use a crossbow from some distance and taken my time for proper aiming, that had mostly worked well, specifically when I had had a couple of followers around to keep enemies away from me once they had located me. Nonetheless there had been a few occasions when a bandit chief got too close to me and I had had to reload a few times to manage the situation. I had never really understood how some people I had met got along with having their difficulty slider set to 'Master' or even 'Legendary'; I had usually started with the default 'Adept' and only recently dared to go with 'Expert', but that had clearly been my limit, even after years of playing.

Jorrvaskr had a wall calendar in the kitchen, and Tilma sometimes used that to mark special events or shopping tasks. When I got up on the next day and looked into the kitchen, I noticed that the calendar showed the day as 7th of Hearthfire and as a Sundas, which translated into a Sunday, or 'Sonntag' in my native language. I had not really paid much attention to the weekdays so far, and the flow of events had not allowed me to think about too much anyway. But now, as I had a home at the Companions and a chance to settle down somewhat, I realized that it was Sunday. Spontaneously I decided that this was going to be a day of rest for me. I would have loved to be able to attend a church service, but Whiterun did not even have a church or a chapel, as far as I recalled. Just for that reason it would have been nice to be in one of the larger cities in Cyrodiil, where they had those Great Chapels looking so much like medieval church buildings in Central Europe. Of course there would not be any Christian services there, but I could have pretended to be in a 'real' church at least.

In Whiterun there was the Temple of Kynareth, but it was, according to my knowledge, mostly used for healing and not for worship. Even if Kynareth was worshiped in there, she was one of the Tamriel Divines and not really 'my' God.

Oh well, I'd have to take what I got, and so I found a nice spot on a large rock just outside of the city, climbed up there and just spent an hour or two with prayer and meditation all by myself, concluding with speaking the 'Lord's Prayer' just on my own. Of course I could speak it by heart in German, and as I was alone, I naturally used my native language. I might not be able to recall the proper phrases in English, though, as my years in the USA on Earth had been decades ago, but that was all right. Yes, this was Nirn and not Earth, but I firmly believed in the one and only God, and I managed to spend this day quietly, just on my own and with no mundane tasks like training, fighting, or helping somebody. I realized that life in Skyrim might not allow me to spend many Sundays quietly like today, but when the opportunity arose, I was going to take it.

[Author's Notes: I do not really know if larger blocks of stone are indeed better against catapult attacks compared to smaller ones, but I needed some justification for those large ones getting transported. If the old Egyptians could move huge stone blocks for the pyramids and the ancient English people for Stonehenge, reinforcing the city wall in Whiterun like this should be doable.]