Chapter 81: Farms around Windhelm

[12th of Morning Star 4E 202]

My two housecarls and I had arrived in Windhelm, and we had met Ralof, who had made commander with the Stormcloaks. In a brief audience with Jarl Ulfric I had delivered the sealed letter from Jarl Balgruuf, and I had been happy to find a bed, in a guest room in the Palace, as Jarl Ulfric had insisted. After all, I was a special envoy from Jarl Balgruuf and a Thane.

Yesterday Ralof had shown us around in the city, and in the evening we had been sitting together in the Candlehearth Hall, the city's largest inn. Ralof had told us how he had become commander and what his current tasks were, and my housecarls and I had summarized what we had experienced in the last months.

For today, Jarl Ulfric had suggested that we join a banquet in the evening and have an extended talk on the day after, so that I did not have any duties for most of this day. That was just fine for me, and I intended to be lazy for a change. I allowed my housecarls to do things on their own, and they reluctantly parted from me; even in such a big city they were still worried about my safety, but I did have Hanni and Nanni with me after all.

As Ralof had shown us most of the city already on the day before, I decided to wander off and see some of the farms on the other side of the river. How proper farming was possible at all in this climate I did not know, but maybe I could find out, and I was really curious about this. In the game, one could visit the farms close to Windhelm in winter – not that the change of seasons was very visible in the vanilla game – and could harvest wheat, which was ripe and ready just whenever you needed it. I chuckled when I though about that; one could have just entered the farm grounds, and with the farmers right next to you, one could just pick and harvest whatever was available and leave again without being challenged. Above and beyond that, how could wheat be ready to harvest in winter? I could imagine this to happen in a moderate or may subtropical climate with less pronounced seasons, but in winter, with snow on the ground? Really?

Before heading out of the city, though, I took the collected loot we had brought with us, mostly from the Thalmor attack at the Shrine of Talos, and went towards the city's market area, where I had seen a blacksmith on the day before. For normal travel, the loot would have been too much to carry for one person, even for me, but for the short distance in the city, I could manage. The forge was already worked on when I arrived, and the local blacksmith seemed to be busy. A young Nord lady who worked with him was doing something on the workbench, but she turned towards me when I approached. I nodded, tried to look friendly and greeted her:

"Good morning, my name is B'lushona, and I wonder if I could sell something here."

"Good morning, I am Hermir Strong-Heart, and I work with and for Oengul War-Anvil over there. So, you are the Khajiit from Whiterun, right?"

Word traveled fast as it appeared. I nodded, and she continued:

"What exactly would you like to sell?"

I dropped my backpack and spread the wares on the ground, mostly Elven armor and weapons. She raised her brows and asked:

"Where did you get that from, if I may ask?"

"Well, my companions and I visited a Shrine of Talos and were attacked by a group of Thalmor. They did not even try to negotiate, and we had to defend ourselves; my two saber cat cubs here also helped, of course. The Thalmor did not survive."

"Speak no further; this is a very valid explanation. Now, sure, we will buy all of that, no problem. One of the armors is even a gilded elven armor, and I can give you 1750 septims for everything together; is that all right?"

Naturally, I did not know if this was a fair price or not, but I assumed that it was, and I nodded. The armor and weapons was hers, and I got a coin purse. While she handed over the money, she allowed herself to add a few comments:

"Working in Windhelm is great; I get to see Ulfric up close; he is Skyrim՚s true hero. Smithing isn't the most exciting thing for me, but we all have to lend a hand as best we can; above and beyond that, I couldn't ask for a better teacher than Oengul. If a Stormcloak uses one of my swords to strike down an Imperial soldier, then I've done my part to free our land."

Kind of a blood-thirsty attitude in my opinion, but somewhat understandable. When I had turned around to leave, I heard the male blacksmith talking to Hermir:

"Did you use my good hammer?"

"No, I did not."

"Blast, girl, I told you to leave my tools alone…"

That's all I heard before I was too far away; it appeared that the relationship between the older blacksmith and his younger assistant was not always easy, and her statement about the older smith being a good teacher was likely related to his smithing skills and not necessarily to his social attitude and pedagogical aptitude.

Now, with a much lighter backpack I left the city and wandered the road on the long stone bridge across the river; the icy wind blowing from the side made me double check that my warm fur cloak was wrapped tightly around my body. When I passed the stables, I turned left and soon got to the first farm; while I did not recall the name, there was actually a wooden sign advertising it – 'Brandy-Mug Farm'. The farmhouse was a large building, and I assumed that it was needed not only to house the people living and working here, but also some of the harvest and materials; maybe there was even a section for some of the animals to find shelter from adverse weather. There was a big field behind the farmhouse, much larger than the one I had seen in the game; but then, in the game the farm and the adjacent field were barely finding space between road and rocks, whereas here there was quite some open space. A female Nord and a male Dunmer were working on the field, even now in winter and with snow on the ground.

While there was clearly no wheat available here for harvest, at least not on the fields I could see, it looked like they prepared the ground for the next seed; when they saw me coming, the Nord waved me closer and called out, while keeping an eye on Hanni and Nanni, who were with me of course:

"Welcome, stranger. You have dangerous animals with you; do you have them under control? They are not going to attack our hens and goats, I hope?"

"I assure you that my animals are fully under control, and your farm animals will be safe from them."

"All right, I hope that you are telling the truth. Say, we are having a dispute on how to best work the field and to grow crops in this climate. Care to listen and help us out?"

"Now, I am certainly not an expert in farming, but what are the options?"

"The ground, if left to itself, is mostly frozen at this time of the year, naturally. Obviously, unless we want to restrict ourselves to the short summer months, we need to find some way to heat the ground, and I have been wondering if fire salts might help; if one plowed the ground with them..."

The Dunmer cut in:

"I keep telling you; then you've salted it and nothing will grow at all. Sure, there may be some heat for a short time, but it won't last."

"But what else can we do?"

"We need some kind of enchantment to warm the ground, slowly, but thoroughly. Isn't Wuunferth, the court wizard, working on something like that? I should think that his enchantments are even cheaper than fire salts."

"So, stranger, what do you think?"

I remembered the farm in Dragonbridge I had seen last year when I had been on my way to Solitude and the Bards College together with Antonius and Athis, and they had harvested wheat in late fall. The farmer had told me that his wife, a Breton, used fire magic on the fields on a regular basis to extend the harvesting period, and that made sense to me; thus I replied:

"Lady, I have to admit that what the Dunmer says seems to make sense. I believe that you will need a long lasting effect for the ground, and a proper enchantment should do it. If Wuunferth or another mage can do that, I'd take it. Besides, fire salts are hard to get and expensive, aren't they?"

The Dunmer seemed to be happy about my comment, whereas the Nord looked doubtful and replied:

"Hm, you may have a point. But how can we know that he is doing the enchantment right?"

"Well, I don't know about that, but food from the farms here is needed to feed the citizens and soldiers in the city, isn't it? So, why should the court wizard cheat and do something wrong here? If it was a traveling wizard, I'd have my doubts, but the court wizard should know how do do something like that right, I bet."

They both nodded, and the Nord lady added:

"Oh dear, we have not even introduced ourselves. I am Bolfrida Bandy-Mug, and the smart-arse over there is Faryl Atheron. You are not from around here, are you?"

"No, I am from Whiterun, and my name is B'lushona. It was a pleasure talking to you, and I hope that you are successful, whatever method of heating you choose."

I got on the road and moved on. After a few hundred meters there was a side road branching off to the right, but I did not know where it led to and thus ignored it and moved on. After I had passed a few low sections of rocks to my left, the view to the Windhelm harbor eventually opened up, and I stopped for a few minutes to take it in. The sun had been covered by thick clouds most of the day so far, but for a moment it showed itself and nicely warmed my back while I looked over. I noticed right away that the river was significantly wider here than in the game. Like in Leyawiin in Cyrodiil, in the game one wondered how ships could actually pass, but here in the real Tamriel not only was the river wide enough to allow safe navigation, but there were also more than just two or three docks. I did not know, though, where trade was going to and coming from. Besides the ship traffic to Solstheim, were there any regular connections to other port cities? Also, next to a couple of larger ships, I saw some smaller boats, maybe for fishing. Far to the northeast I even saw something which looked like a lighthouse, but I could not be sure from the distance.

While still glimpsing over to the harbor occasionally, I slowly continued my walking, and further northeast the next Farm came up. There was no sign outside stating the name, and I did not recall it. At times like this I wished that there was a magical popup with location names, but I would just have to ask the people here about it. Nobody was out in front, but three people were working in the back, and I heard part of their conversation:

"I was wondering if you had ordered the shipment of that frostwheat, sir."

"Yes, sure I have, but that fool Endario can't get it in. He is with the East Empire Company, for everything it is worth, so I don't get what the problem might be. I guess that I'll thrash him when I get back to the city, don't you worry."

"I wasn't wanting to get anyone in trouble, sir. Just wanting to get the new planting started, is all."

"Yes, wouldn't want to miss the lush summer we have ahead, eventually. But listen, Adisla, it is still too early to start planting, even for frostwheat; we have plenty of time."

At this point I started to lose my focus on them as I noticed the third person. She was a female Dunmer, but her hair was colored bright green. Her face was a little bit rugged and indicated an older person; somehow I remembered the lady, but I was not sure where from exactly. Thus I decided to not listen any longer but stepped out from behind the house and called out a greeting. They were surprised to see a Khajiit out here, and the Dunmer told me so:

"Have you lost your way, Khajiit?"

"No, not really, I decided to see the farms today. I am not with one of the caravans, if you think that."

"All right, but I hope that your intentions are honorable. The two beasts you have with you makes us wonder, though."

"Oh, there is no reason to be concerned about my two saber cat cubs; they are well behaved, and they will neither attack you nor your animals."

"You'd better speak the truth; if you don't, you will find out that we manage some pretty powerful destruction magic if needed."

"I understand. Listen, I want to learn something about farming in this climate here; maybe I could work with you for some time?"

"You sure? This is hard work out here, but we could actually use some help with the ground working and such. Oh, by the way, this is the Hlaalu Farm, I am Belyn Hlaalu, and Adisla over there works for me; naturally, she copes with the cold better than I do."

"Pleased to meet you, and I am B'lushona. Now, how do I start?"

He handed me some kind of hoe and showed me where to use it, and I started to attack the ground with it. The ground was partially frozen, and this was tough work, right as I had been told. After a few minutes I asked:

"Say, would you mind if I warmed up the ground some before I work on it?"

"No, not at all, that's what we do a lot, too."

I started to cast flames on the ground, and the areas such prepared were much easier to work on. My magicka pool was by far not sufficient to heat the ground as much as I would have liked, but it was something at least. While I worked, I heard the Dunmer muttering:

"Too many dark elves in Windhelm complain about the way we're treated. What good does complaining do? I'm proud of my farm. It takes no small effort to grow crops in this part of Skyrim."

And the Nord lady, who was working for him, added:

"Right. Better to work in the cold than in the heat, I say. Though some sun would be nice."

At this time the sun, which had been mostly hiding behind clouds on that day so far, came out for a moment again, and the Nord smiled and added:

"Right about time; that does make working a little bit easier."

After some time I noticed that the third person, the green haired Dunmer lady, did not make much effort to help. Every once in a while she cast flames in front of the others to soften the ground, but that was all; she shied away from manual labor. Well, maybe she had other tasks around here; that was not my business. When I took a short break, I decided to approach her; she had been too far away when I had introduced myself earlier:

"Lady, may I introduce myself: My name is B'lushona. I may be mistaken, but I think that we've met already, somewhere else."

"My name is Heneri Hlaalu, and I don't think that we have met. I spent too much time in that bo…"

She stopped herself, but that had triggered my memory:

"Wait a second, do you know Vilja?"

"Vilja? Of course I know her. Oh wait, are you that Khajiit she mentioned, the one who had shown her the way to Eldergleam Sanctuary?"

I nodded, and she continued:

"Vilja mentioned that you left her there, and she had to continue her very important tasks on her own. I think that you owe her and me, and you could start compensating for that by running a few small errands for me!"

I knew exactly where this was headed; after all, being with Vilja and working with her had been a normal part of most of my games, both for 'Skyrim' and 'Oblivion'. If I started to go along with that, I'd be constantly bothered with doing something small here and something else there, making me travel all around Skyrim; I had no intention at all to do those errands. Consequently I was not going to comply at all:

"Oh no, lady, I have other tasks. I will be expected in the city in the evening, and my next few days will be quite busy. Sorry, but I really can't."

I left the farm much quicker than I had arrived, and while I found the road again and soon saw the next farm, I thought about Heneri. She had had this special demanding and almost bickering voice just like in the game, and I could hear here shouting at me and trying to call me back for minutes as I went on. While I would not mind to see Vilja again, I was not inclined to become an errand boy, neither for Vilja nor for Heneri. I also pondered the 'frost wheat' they had mentioned. Was this is a special variety of wheat suited to low temperatures?

The last farm in the row was 'Hollyfrost Farm', as a sign outside advertised readily, and it was almost directly adjacent to Hlaalu Farm. When I approached, I heard somebody talking to some kind of servant:

"Tulvur! I've just completed inspection of the farmhouse."

"Oh, you have?"

"It's filthy in there! Real filthy! Dirt everywhere, and it looks like the dogs have the run of the place."

"Well, sir, it's a farmhouse. It's not going to be as clean as your house in the city, even with my best effort."

"I just know that our sailors are able to keep their ship quarters clean, and I expect the same of you. Your best effort may not be good enough."

"I'll do my best, sir."

That conversation did not encourage me to get closer, and even while their appeared to be some wheat on the field, I did not care any longer; I had noticed that the two people who had talked were both male Nords, but I had no interest to meet them at this time; one of them sounded like he was almost a slave driver.

Thus, I decided to get back to the road again. What might I find and see when following it further northeast? Hanni and Nanni seemed to be inclined to explore, and I just went ahead with them. After maybe half an hour of walking and following the partially snow covered road through a few curves and slightly uphill I took a wider turn to the left and saw a medium sized building ahead. Taking advantage of my excellent Khajiit eyesight I stopped and looked first before approaching; the building looked like either a large house or some kind of outpost, and it was mostly wooden. However, it did appear to be in a state of neglect, and I could see large gaps in the walls. Did anybody actually live there? From the distance I could see a couple of people lingering outside; while I could not be sure, they looked and behaved like bandits, and now my memory also came back and reminded me of this place. I did not know the location's name, but I vaguely recalled that I had always needed a follower or two to defeat the bandit chief residing here, and this was good enough to prevent me from approaching; obviously, it was better to not investigate any closer today, as I was just on my own. I could come back at another time, with my housecarls, if I wanted. Thus I turned left and headed down to the coast, following a very small and narrow path for a start. The path lead on, though, turning north, and in the distance I could see some larger rocks and stone artifacts, possibly marking the entrance to a cave or Nordic Ruin. I had no intention to explore one of those just on my own and thus turned left to reach the shore. I was not quite sure if this was still river or already sea, but anyway, I liked it. The water ahead of me was covered with many ice floes, and in the distance I could see some big animals which looked like walrus; what did they call them here? Holker or Horger or Horker or something like that, I thought. I vaguely recalled that the name had been mentioned when Mia's skills in ingredient recognition had been tested by Arcadia, but that had been quite some time ago.

I guessed that I stood on the shore for half an hour or so, enjoying the scenery, and thinking about what I had learned from the farmers earlier today, when dark clouds started to show up again. The day had already started with many clouds, and earlier, when I had been at the farms, the sun had been visible briefly at least a few times. Now, the full cloud cover was back, and the darkness of some of the clouds even indicated a change of weather and some wind and precipitation. Maybe it was better to head back, and I did that right away. I was already past the two outer farms again when a snowstorm broke lose, and visibility dropped significantly within minutes. Well, I did not mind; I had my warm fur and a nice cloak over my armor, and I walked slowly, enjoying the snow around me. Hanni and Nanni, being snowy saber cats, seemed to enjoy the environment and weather as well, which was not really a surprise. Out here, there was at least no risk to get lost; I only had to follow the shoreline, and soon I was back at the stables. Jordis met me on the bridge, close to the barracks; she had been getting concerned about me when she had noticed the change of the weather, and I walked back to the city with her.

[Author's Notes: Heneri Hlaalu is part of the 'Companion Vilja' mod. And indeed, both Vilja and her have a tendency to have you do some of their work, if you stick with them.]