Chapter 78: Shrine of Talos
[7th – 9th of Morning Star 4E 202]
In the last few days of the last year we – four Companions, Janina, Fiona with her housecarls and I with my housecarls – had defeated the combined forces of bandits, Alik'r and Silver Hand in Swindler's Den. We had found a huge amount of septims and loot, and we had managed to transport the wares back to Whiterun in some carts; some of those we had claimed from a transport which had been hired to move them off by Kematu. More than ten prisoners had been delivered to the dungeons, and the dungeon master hoped to get some information out of them, like locations of further hideouts and stashes in the hold. A few days later, after some rest and recreation, Jarl Balgruuf the Greater had politely but firmly asked me to travel to Windhelm and get a feeling on the situation there and in particular about Jar Ulfric՚s attitude. I was not really inclined to do this, but when my Jarl offered his support for finding a proper lot for my planned own house outside of Whiterun, I had caved in and promised to see what I could do for him.
Before I left Dragonsreach after the long discussion with Jarl Balgruuf the Greater, I decided to turn left and enter Farengar՚s study; I'd like to get my hands on a few more spells. As usual, the court wizard was bent over his desk and studying something, and only after I had cleared my throat twice he noticed me and looked up:
"Oh, I have a visitor. Welcome, B'lushona; what can I do for you today?"
"Farengar, I am curious if you have a few more spell tomes I could purchase."
"Naturally I have many of those; what are you interested in?"
"I've noticed that I don't have a frost spell yet; what can you recommend?"
"Well, there is the apprentice level 'Ice Spike' which you can cast from a distance; this takes much less magicka than, for instance, 'Ice Spear', which is expert level. What do you think?"
"All right, this sounds good for a start. What about runes?"
"Runes for what?"
"A fire rune, I guess. Recently, my friends and I learned that a draugr hidden in stone coffin or so can be damaged and lured out by a fire rune, and I'd love to be able to cast such a rune."
"How did you find out about that?"
"The Redguard lady, Janina, knew about it, and we had a chance to prove the concept in Dustman՚s Cairn."
"Not so many people know about that, and it does not always work, but yes, this is neat. So, a spell tome for 'Ice Spike' and another one for 'Fire Rune', right?"
"Yes, that's it."
I paid what Farengar wanted, and in my position as Thane of Whiterun I knew that his prices were steep, but fair. I intended to talk to him a little bit more, maybe just some small talk, but he was already bent over his desk again and had seemingly forgotten that I was here; thus, I just thanked him and got out into the city from Dragonsreach.
Later on the same day I got a chance to talk to both Fiona and Janina, and Fiona told me that she intended to visit the Greybeards again very soon; from there, she planned to go to Riften and maybe find Esbern. Janina spontaneously decided to go with her; somehow she had a strong feeling that she should also visit Riften, though for other reasons; apparently, Saadia had been able to provide some hints. She was going to help Fiona to find Esbern first, though.
I mentioned the visit to the Shrine of Talos I had to do, and the ladies quickly agreed to go there first, cross the river, and travel east together via Valtheim Towers. Before reaching Fort Amol we were going to separate, with the ladies going south to Ivarstead and me going north to Windhelm. I would have loved to go up to High Hrothgar again, but this could wait.
We had a plan, and we decided to leave on the day after tomorrow. Before preparing for the journey, though, there was something else I wanted to do. I had noticed that a Khajiit caravan had stopped outside of the city again, and maybe I would have a chance to return Kharjo՚s 'Amulet of the Moon', which I had found in Swindler's Den. Thus I went there and politely asked who the caravan leader was; I was directed to a male Khajiit with brown fur in the background of a tent.
"Greetings, my friend".
"Greetings to you, too. My name is B'lushona, and I would like to ask if you are the leader of this group."
"This one is called Ri'saad and is the leader, indeed. Is there anything this Khajiit can do for you?"
"Good to know, and yes, there may be something. You see, I met Akhari and her caravan some time ago in Riverwood, and I wonder about something."
"Akhari does not normally travel through Riverwood!"
"No, she does not, as she said. However, at that time there had been a bandit warning for her normal route, and she took a detour. It cost her, because the horse shied close to a bridge, and the cart got stuck for some time, until some people helped to get it up to the road again."
"Ah, wait, she mentioned something about a tall Khajiit she had never seen before helping her."
"Well, yes, I am one of the people who helped her."
"Then this one is delighted to meet you. Would you like to enjoy some moon sugar while we talk?"
"This is very kind of you, but no thank you. I don't want to take too much of your time, but with Akhari I also met Kharjo, and he mentioned an amulet of his which was stolen."
"Yes, this one has been told about this unfortunate theft; usually we manage to protect our wares well, but sometimes bandits manage to get some of what is ours. If the bandit threat continues to grow, Khajiit may have to hire more guards for our travels. I am afraid that Kharjo may never see his amulet again."
I had previously retrieved the amulet from the heap of loot and I showed it now:
"I assume that this might be the stolen amulet; can you by chance verify my assumption?"
Ri'saad had a closer look, and after careful examination he looked at me and spoke:
"Why, yes, this appears to be Kharjo՚s 'Amulet of the Moon' – where did you find it?"
"We were clearing a large stash of loot and stolen goods, and the amulet was part of that. As Kharjo described it, I thought that I recognized it, but was not sure. Now, I would like to return it, but I don't know when I will meet Kharjo again."
"If you will trust this one, I will hand it over; our caravans usually meet once a month or so."
"I'd be much obliged if you'd do that, yes, please; I really don't know when our path will cross again."
"This one understands. Now, as you are here already, would you like to browse our wares, maybe?"
He waved me inside the tent and showed me around. I did not really need anything urgently, but apparently they had some exotic ingredients, such as Daedra silk and Stoneflower petals, and I purchased a few of those as a present for Mia and Arcadia.
Once I had taken my leave from Ri'saad, it was time for dinner and bed, and on the next day I went straight to Arcadia's Cauldron to restock my supply of potions, mostly those to restore health, and both ladies were happy to get the small selection of ingredients I had purchased from the caravan leader. I mentioned that I'd be out of town for a week or two, and Mia hugged me briefly before I left. Since I had met her at the Alchemist's Shack in the Rift and brought her to Whiterun, she had adapted well, and she was already more a partner than an apprentice to Arcadia. I had a good feeling about that, with me being able to bring her and find a good place for her in the city in the month Frostfall. This reminded me that she had mentioned a Khajiit voluntarily spending time in the Riften jail, likely Inigo, and I had not had a good opportunity yet to find out if it was really him. Maybe I should plan a detour via Riften when my task in Windhelm was done?
From the market area I went straight up to the Skyforge to talk to Eorlund about options to improve carts, but it turned out that he was interested in weapons and armor only and not the right person to help. However, when I got down to the Gildergreen, I met Irgnar, the Jarl՚s construction foreman. He had a few minutes, and I mentioned my thoughts on cart design. His reply was:
"Hm, that is not really a topic I am familiar with. However, my brother, who lives with me and sometimes works with me, has some real bright ideas from time to time and dabbles in various strange work; maybe you should talk to him? She might enjoy sharing her ideas with you, too."
He told me where to find his brother, and a few minutes later I found a Nord matching Irgnar՚s description working with various tools in a large shed next to the house. He turned towards me, and I introduced myself:
"Hello there, I am B'lushona. I have worked with Irgnar a few times, and he suggested to talk to you about some ideas of mine."
"Ah, yes, he mentioned you. My name is Belknar, and my older brother allow me to follow my own ways from time to time. So, what is it you want to talk about?"
"Well, this is about the carts in Skyrim. Recently, my companions and I cleared a cave west of here, and we transported lots of loot in some carts, partially across uneven terrain. I could see the horses struggling and also the drives getting jolted around a lot, and I wonder if there might be a way to make the axles and wheels turn more smoothly and also to introduce at least a basic suspension concept."
"Hm, good points. I had not given carts any thoughts so far, but maybe I should. Did you have any specific in mind?"
We talked about that for likely two or three hours, and I told him that I'd be away from the city for a few weeks. Belknar was willing to think about my ideas, and he seemed to have a sound mechanically trained and oriented mind. Maybe he could work out some realistic plans from my vague ideas? I promised to talk to him again when I was back and left the place, to complete my travel preparations.
Early in the next morning, when there was still darkness all around, we left the city of Whiterun and turned left at the road crossing southwest of the city. Our party had Fiona, the Dragonborn, with her two housecarls Lydia and Rayya, Janina, and me, with my two housecarls Jordis and Antonius. None of us had horses, and we all had to walk; however, we were not in a hurry. Rather than taking the path east towards Shimmermist Cave, we turned right earlier and passed two veins of corundum ore so close to each other that I was not sure if it was actually two veins or just two sections of one; it did not matter, though. I was not even sure that it was actually corundum and what it was needed for, but Antoninus was willing to fill my gap of knowledge:
"Corundum ore is needed, together with iron ore, to create steel ingots. Due to the abundance of corundum and iron in our hold, most weapons and heavy armor in our hold are made of steel. It is heavy but durable."
"But other material, like Elven or Dwemer, is better, isn't it?"
"Elven armor is one of the lightest ones we know about, but alas, it requires several ingredients. It needs quicksilver, which we have in our hold, but also moonstone, which is quite rare. Dwemer metal offers much better protection, but it is very heavy. Sometimes adventurers bring some scrap metal to use for forging it, but it is still quite expensive. So, for most guards and soldiers, leather armor and steel armor will have to do."
"I see. Is there anything else which is available?"
"There is, at least for weapons. With quicksilver ingots and steel ingots one can forge Nordic weapons, and we have started to manufacture Nordic arrows, hoping that they will be better against dragons than our normal steel arrows."
"So, we have a few quicksilver veins around, don't we?"
"Aye, we have some. Two are left and right of the path leading to Shimmermist cave. If we also had moonstone, we could probably forge some Elven armor, but, as I said, this ore seems to be very rare in our hold. Also, the Thalmor might be offended if we used Elven armor."
"But there are also Dunmer and Bosmer, and Elven armor and weapons are not only for the Altmer, right?"
"Oh sure, in theory, of course. So far, though, Jarl Balgruuf has attempted not to antagonize the Thalmor too much."
Politics. Maybe some of that might change if Jarl Balgruuf decided to side with Jarl Ulfric. I kind of wished that this should happen, but I'd have to meet Jarl Ulfric first and find out if his views and politics were really good enough. Or rather, I was to find out some facts and report to my own Jarl so that he could make that decision. With all that discussion and thinking we had almost reached the shrine, when I cautioned my companions:
"Before we get to the shrine, do you think that we need to be careful?"
"Careful about what?"
"Aren't there some reports of Thalmor patrolling the known shrines and arresting people just for being there?"
"You may be right about that. But should we need to fear a few Thalmor?"
"No, I don't think so, but we could prepare a nice little ambush, just in case."
"I like your way of thinking, my Thane."
"Okay, what about Antonius and I hide on one side and get our bow and crossbow ready, Fiona and Lydia hide on the other side, and Fiona gets ready to shout, and Janina, Rayya, and Jordis place Torygg՚s War Horn on the shrine and stay for a prayer? If Thalmor actually show up, Janina and Rayya can do their coordinated scimitar attack, Antonius and I do a ranged attack, and Fiona and blast them against the rock?"
Everybody was in agreement, so that we separated. Antonius and I sneaked to a suitable rock on the right, and while the distance to the shrine was more than what I considered good range for a bow, the Imperial assured me that he'd manage, specifically as the Thalmor would likely not go fully in. The three ladies – Rayya, Janina, and Jordis – were approaching the shrine now; they took their time, and Jordis placed the horn I had given her right on the table. Nothing happened, and no surprise visitors showed up. Okay, good enough; Thalmor could not be everywhere. I looked at Antonius to check with him if we should wait longer, and to my surprise he seemed to be sleeping. Sleeping? Here and now? Before I could come to any conclusion, a dark and malicious voice told me:
"Look at that; he did not even notice that we are here, right behind him; how convenient."
I saw three Thalmor right behind us, just a few meters away, and obviously I had totally missed them approaching. Hanni and Nanni had gone with the three ladies, and maybe the wind was not in our favor, as they had also not noticed anything wrong. My brain clicked, but right as I started to move, one of the Thalmor raised a hand and made a greenish cloud hit me before I could even try to evade it; my eyelids got heavy all of a sudden, and…
When I regained consciousness again, I saw some of my companions looking at me, and Janina shouted:
"He's waking up!"
My head buzzed, and I asked slowly:
"What happened?"
"Thalmor happened, of course. They were smarter than we thought and came in two groups, and while we managed to quickly defeat the group going to the shrine, the other group got Antonius and you; you both got paralyzed."
"Antonius? Is he all right?"
"Oh yes, he is; he woke up earlier. We assume that the Thalmor wizard hit you with a stronger spell, maybe to compensate for your size."
"How long was I out?"
"About one hour or so."
"I am glad that you coped with them."
"Yeah, if we hadn't, we'd all be dead or captured now. The three next to you were a problem, but you should have seen your saber cat cubs. Hanni and Nanni got real furious when they noticed you being down, and they kept the Thalmor distracted enough for us to get close and defeat them. We all helped, and together we managed nicely, with only minor injuries."
"I am glad that we are a good team" I croaked; my throat needed some lubrication, and I gladly accepted a water bottle Jordis handed me.
"The two Redguards really make a great team" my Nord housecarl admitted. "I have not seen people fighting like this before, both with two scimitars each, and I wish that I could handle swords like that, honestly. In close combat, the Thalmor did not have a chance, and the cubs kept the wizard busy until we could get him."
We discussed if we should take the loot – Elven armor and weapons – back to Whiterun, but decided against it. For now, we stashed most in a corner and only took a few of the most valuable items; Antonius, Jordis and I were going to sell them in Windhelm. Once we were all fit again, we slowly proceeded downhill to the river. There was no path or so, but we found a way down which was not too steep. There was also no bridge here, so that we had to get wet. In general, I did not mind, but I would have to work out afterwards to become dry and warm again. Oh well, this was not perfect; after all, we were in winter, and the water temperature was on the chilly side. At least I was smart enough to remove my armor before getting into the water; there was no reason to get it wet as well. As it turned out, we found a way across via some stones in the water which only got me submerged up to my mid thighs; for the smaller ones among us, like Fiona, this meant that the water was up to her navel or so. I appreciated that, but my joy was short lived, as I suddenly felt something biting into my calf. I yelped and got confused for a moment, before I realized that Tamriel waters not only had nice and tasty fish like salmon, but also aggressive ones like slaughterfish. When I had played the game, I had mostly avoided a confrontation, as the game made fighting in the water real difficult. Here I took my dagger and stabbed in the direction where the fish should be lurking. I got one or two more bites, but I also killed the fish. Once this was done, I hurried to the riverbank, and the others followed me quickly, as another slaughterfish was approaching. Fiona had not seen one of those before and asked:
"What was that? A piranha or so?"
"Similar to that, I guess, but fortunately they usually do not show up in larger groups; it is called slaughterfish, and my leg hurts a lot now."
This being said, I swallowed a potion of minor healing and completed the restoration with my magic before I slipped into my armor again. I had to admit that I had completely forgotten about slaughterfish; maybe this was a lesson.
Valtheim Towers had been cleared from bandits a few times already, and I recalled when I had done this with Farkas, Aela and Ria. Not for the first time I pondered the thought that the Jarl should really guard this place, specifically as it was on the border of the hold; Eastmarch was right next. But anyway, today there were no bandits around, and we could just walk into the northern tower. It was afternoon now, and we decided to not yet stop for the night. Rather, we proceeded, crossed the river using the stone walkway, and enjoyed the scenic path downhill on the road. We did not have any animal encounters for some time, but after a turn we faced a trio of people clothed in off-yellow robes and boots, wearing strange masks. They seemed to look at us, although this was difficult to see with their masks, and one of them addressed Fiona:
"You there! You're the one they call Dragonborn?"
This was not really a secret, and the Bosmer admitted politely:
"The Greybeards seem to think so, yes."
"Then it is too late. The lie has already taken root in the hearts of men. So we shall expose them to the falseness in their hearts by tearing out yours, deceiver!"
With those words the strangers started to cast destruction spells at us, but thanks to the distance we still had from them we could evade. Our housecarls and Janina were combat ready in seconds and ran forward, while I prepared my crossbow. Fiona stood next to me and shook her head, and it appeared that she was confused about people attacking just like this. Even while fighting, one of them shouted:
"When Lord Miraak appears all shall bear witness. None shall stand to oppose him!"
Anyway, with our numerical superiority, we had the enemies down very soon; none of them surrendered, and we had to kill all three of them. When we searched the corpses, we found a note on one of them, and when I read it, I suddenly remembered what this was about. The note said:
Board the vessel Northern Maiden docked at Raven Rock. Take it to Windhelm, then begin your search. Kill the False Dragonborn known as Fiona before she reaches Solstheim.
Return with word of your success, and Miraak shall be most pleased.
I passed the note on to Fiona, and when she had read it and looked at me again, she asked:
"Who or what are Miraak and Solstheim? And who wrote this?"
"Solstheim is an island northeast of Skyrim and belongs, I think, to the province of Morrowind, and Raven Rock is the major port city there, if I remember correctly. Miraak is somebody who should have been dead since a long time ago, but apparently is not. He was one of the earlier Dragonborns, maybe the first one. It seems that he sees you as unwelcome competition or so, but he will not be a problem before you actually go to Solstheim."
"Do I need to go there? I mean, is this related to my tasks?"
"No, you do not have to go there. For now, you can afford to fully focus on what you are doing, and think about going to Solstheim only when you want. Unless something is very different here from what I know, Miraak cannot come to Skyrim, and all he can do is to send occasional cultists to bother you, but that's it. Things will only get hairy if and when you decide to travel there and look into the events."
Her two housecarls confirmed my view, at least regarding the location, and that was that. Of course we searched the bodies, but the cultists did not have many valuable items on them. At the end of the day we had reached the river valley, and just before the first bridge Lydia found a nice spot off the road for a camp. A narrow and steep path branched off the main road on the southwestern side, while we moved into the bushes to the northeast, staying close to the river and towards a suitable site the housecarl had located. While we enjoyed a cold supper, I asked Fiona and Janina:
"Now, you have already told me what your plans are, but would you mind telling me again? I think that I'd feel better knowing about some details, if you are willing to share."
Fiona started:
"As mentioned before, High Hrothgar is my next goal. I owe it to the Greybeards to bring back the horn of Jurgen Windcaller, and I have been kept too busy to do that earlier. Afterwards, I need to go to Riften and find somebody, and I guess that it depends on that somebody what to do next."
Janina said:
"I will gladly visit High Hrothgar with Fiona. That place is legendary, and I will be honored to see it, even if I do not like the cold too much. Afterwards, I will also go to Riften, and once I have assisted Fiona in finding that person she is looking for, I have some other plans, but I am not ready to talk about them yet."
"Fair enough, ladies; thank you."
As usual, the housecarls took over guard duty, and we could rest and sleep.
[Author's Notes: If you are looking forward to reading about Balu visiting Solstheim, this is not on the agenda for any time soon, if at all.]
