{ === + === }

Aaand we're off!

The trip to Solitude should take about two weeks for a party like ours: four adults, two children, a horse, a cart, and some luggage. We're not going with a cart or a summoned wolf this time for the sake of additional stealth (Aria's bigass wolf is very noticeable).

…

[Day one]

…

Seeing that we're going to be jumping into a zone of possibly a lot of combat, I figured that it would be in my best interest to get the kids a little more battle ready. Or…at least more flee-ready, since that's probably what they'll be doing if shit hits the fan.

To that end, I'm going to take a book from Farengar's advice and get them more used to concentrating mana, since magic seems to be the equalizer that physical strength can't do.

…well, do easily, anyway.

There is also the matter of the letter. It is sealed with wax, but I can Replace shit and make pretty much perfect replicas, so whatevs.

We break the seal as little as possible and then read the letter.

…Huh. Ok.

Hm.

So, in a nutshell, Grandlady Gray-Mane is asking for the release of her son (there's no name provided for some reason) in exchange for giving financial support to the Imperials. That was basically the first paragraph, and the letter has about six paragraphs of incredibly dense…I won't say poetic, but definitely obtuse language. I wonder if it's intentional. It's probably intentional. So what have I missed in the letter?

…Though this does alert me to the fact that, in the event we need to write letters to each other, it might be safe to have some kind of encryption to be on the safe side.

Hm.

We use Replace to create a near-exact copy of the letter onto a spare piece of paper and reseal the original.

I want to study the letter more, so no point damaging the original more than necessary.

…

[Day 2]

…

There were some mudcrabs on the road. Jake took his new sword out for a spin and there weren't any mudcrabs on the road anymore. In other news, crab for lunch.

In the afternoon, I raised the possibility of encrypting paper communications to the other three. Results were…mixed.

"Most people couldn't just pop open a sealed letter and then reseal it like you could." Delphine notes. "And anyone who doesn't care about a seal has enough backing that they wouldn't be stopped by something like a code."

Aria's position: "I don't think we'll need something like that."

Jake's more on my side. "Could be useful."

Ultimately, Delphine's willing to try out something like a code and suggests the old system of Blades…but…

…I have my doubts based on her description. We'll get a better look at a later date, but I have my doubts.

…

[Day four]

…

Yesterday was incredibly good weather, so we made better time than usual. Today is just a god awful mess.

Early in the day it started to rain, and then the rain started to pour. I have no problems being outside in the rain, but I'd rather not get my girls sick (and traveling through the rain saps stamina like nobody's business anyway), so we've found a place to hunker down, with Aria and Delphine putting up rain covers very, very quickly. No surprises there, really.

Since we have more free time today (most of the time is just traveling, y'know) I train the girls to focus the magic energies while Delphine takes the time to remember and draw up the Blade's encryption. She gives us a…a…

…seriously?

We share a look with Jake.

"This is the code of the Blades." Delphine says. "I believe the Aldmeri has cracked this code. I wonder if the two of you can do the same?"

…so…why? "And you want us to use this because…"

Delphine shrugs. "Because any usable code is crackable, it only matters the time."

I mean…ok, but…

About ten minutes later.

"Yeah, this is pretty straightforward." Jake says with the solved message. "Has the Blades really been using this?"

The two ladies look at him in utter shock, and he goes "what?"

"You broke the code? Already?" Delphine says in shock. "That's entirely far too fast!"

"Blame him." Jake points to me with a cheeky grin.

I…uh… "I only taught him what they look like, blame the time he spends on this kinda stuff." I shrug.

Disclaimer: since the message he had to work with was short, Jake was simply rather lucky with his guesses.

The Blade's encryption is basically just a substitution cipher, where two characters change place. The cipher's probably not that bad, but if the Blades have been using it since forever ago then it's probably not very well hidden. Also the fact that Jake guessed the key after being in Delphine's presence for a few days was probably not a good sign.

"Well, shit." Delphine huffs and folds her arms. "You guys got any better ideas?" She asks while staring at me.

Um…

Playfair?

Playfair. "Which characters are the least used in the Skyrim alphabet?" I ask.

"Q and J, I think. Plus that other one." Jake says.

Ok, so we'll have O and Q, I and J, and…Y and 'that other one'. They look similar enough anyway.

We draw a 5x5 grid on a piece of paper.

"Keyword's Gundam." I say out loud. Jake nods, the only one to do so, understandably.

We put in the first two rows (going from left to right) and then fill in the rest of the blanks with the unused letters in alphabetical sequence.

With the grid done, I then…write down the 'solved' paragraph so I don't forget and then encrypt it with the 5x5. It takes me a little since I'm out of practice, but soon enough I hand the finished product over to Jake for him to crack. Since I was also dumb enough to say the keyword out loud I make things harder by throwing in some decoy characters every now and then.

"Did I ever mention how much I fucking hate playfair?" Jake says conversationally and starts trying.

…

[3rd Person Camera]

…

Delphine, after watching Jake work for a few minutes, could not help but marvel at the keen edge of the young man's mind.

If he was alive at the heyday of the Blades, he would've easily been the spymaster for the entire organization. She thinks. How different would things have been.

She didn't give a whole lot of attention to Ash's cipher, for the simple reason that she wasn't trained in this kind of stuff and therefore did not see it as anything other than yet another encryption measure, of which she had seen more than her fair share of creative failures.

Good on Jake to humor him, really. A cipher that can't be easily solved by an outside party is good. A cipher that can't be solved at all is useless, and as far as Delphine's concerned, what Jake's working on tilts rather heavily to the latter.

…

[1st Person Camera]

…

By the time the rain lets up (about thirty minutes later), Jake still has not cracked the code, though he's close. The additional letters are throwing him off.

"No surprises there." Jake shrugs and crumples the paper. "Playfair's godawful." He tosses it away and then incinerates it for good measure.

I grin. "Cool. We're using it, yeah?"

"When we need it, I guess." Jake says.

The two of us then take around five minutes to teach it to Delphine and Aria. Aria picks it up easily enough, but Delphine seems to be a little…against the idea? I dunno? She seems uncharacteristically quiet.

Either way, we're setting the current keyword to be 'Blades' since it's easy to remember…and, more pragmatically, stopped them from asking me what a Gundam was. Well, stopped them from asking me more than is needed, anyway. Somehow the idea of a "Giant self-moving humanlike thing" was the final straw that made them stop.

…

[Day 5]

…

We're probably getting close to a town (or at least a checkpoint), since the amount of travelers on the road has increased substantially. I took the time to buy some leather and breezy, surprisingly well-made silk(ish) cloth.

Banding up is also good for business, since I have some of my smithing/tailoring tools and can help repair stuff for a small fee.

It's also good for defense, I guess. Some bandits tried to hit our impromptu convoy (two carts, five walkers, for a total of 18 people). There were eight of them when they charged down the hill, six immediately after Jake made contact, and one after about twenty seconds of terrified screaming.

Their shit wasn't even good enough to loot, either. Pain in the ass, really.

…

[End of Week 1]

…

We've arrived at a town overlooking a river. I don't remember if such a town existed in the in-game map. The town is…maybe six hundred people large and effectively controls a bridge that crosses said river. This side of the town (the side we're currently on) is basically a gentle slope, probably floodplains, while the other side has only a slight distance between the town borders and the…one…two…five…five routes leading from the town up through a cliffside. One of the routes is remarkably bigger than the others and carries carts that we can see from here. It's not a very big place.

"Welcome to Crosshaven." Delphine says, probably half-reading from the nameplate hung on a pole. "Once we cross this bridge, we'll be in what is considered to be the northern part of Skyrim."

"Cool." Jake stretches. "Should we stop here for the night?" He stares at the glut of carts clogging the bridge. "Doesn't look like we'll get to cross today."

Why? "Is there something going on?" I start to look around.

"I'll go ask." Jake jumps from the cart and the people who traveled with us immediately give him a path, allowing him to move up ahead to…two Legionaries in heavy armor? Looks like it, anyway. He talks with them (too much noise to tell the subject) and then comes back.

"Some dipshits broke their wagons." Jake says. "They're fighting about it."

…God that's stupid. "Then let's spend the day here." It's about the afternoon anyway. "I think we could use a real bed for a night."

"You say that like the beds here are better than your bedrolls." Delphine laughs. "But I agree heartily without needing watch for the night."

So we spend the afternoon here, with Jake being recognized as The Mountain and pretty much instantly gaining a fan club. Not My Problem™.

Or, at least, not our problem for an hour or so.

A young noblewoman of…some…maybe a noblewoman. Shows up to our wagon. Non-sequitur: our wagon, after spending some time through light drizzles, has gained a top cover resembling something akin to one of those Oregon Trail wagons, but not as top-heavy (sitting room plus an extra half foot only). I would say that the wagon stands out, but since we traveled in a convoy towards this town and the drizzling happened during the convoying, our convoy has nothing but covered wagons, so it's not…well, not as attention-grabbing. When it's not raining it gives a bit of privacy so that's nice.

Anyways. "Can I help you?" I ask.

"I hear of an exceptionally talented healer within the midst of the covered wagons." She says. "Would you, perchance, know who it may be?"

…word travels fast, huh? "I might. Why?"

"There is a minor trifle from which I have need to be absolved." The woman says and wow that speech pattern. She rolls back a sleeve and reveals one massive fuckin' gash.

…That said, it's just a gash. "Yeah? Let me see." She does as told and I scoot over.

…Yeah, it's just a gash, albeit a tad deep. Magic sense shows some nerve damage and some abnormally healed tissue, but it's nothing eye-poppingly serious. MAGIC!

We repair the arm over a period of five minutes or so.

"Should be fine now." I say after those five minutes are done. "Move your hand a little." She does, giving a rather surprised 'oh!' upon doing so. "How does it feel?"

"I'm impressed." The lady says. "It seems I've stumbled upon a treasure." She bows politely despite the low ceiling of the wagon and hands over a small pouch of gold. "Thank you immensely for your peerless skill."

I shrug. "No problem. Where are you headed?" On far inspection, she's wearing a traveling cloak over her clothing. On close inspection, the travel cloak and clothing are of a rather fine quality, so she must have some money…so, a noble in disguise, then.

"My visit into Skyrim has been recent." The lady says. "Nevertheless, Skyrim offers a remarkably educational experience…even considering its conflagrations."

…and her speech pattern sounds similar to how Delphine tried to get Aria to talk, to better match nobility. Keyword being 'tried'.

"The depths of Markarth have always captured my attention; its jewelers are second to none."

…?

So…a young noblewoman new to Skyrim is visiting Markarth for its jewelry.

Is it just me, or does this sound like a red flag? Either way.

We engage the young lady in conversation for another two minutes or so while we stealthily spin a silver ring into shape around a small ruby.

Towards the end of our conversation, I hand over the ring with a cordial "Well, if you find yourself in the shop of a Markarth jeweler of some acclaim, could I trouble to get this thing appraised for me?"

"Of course." She takes and gives it a cursory examination before putting it on her finger. "Is this a rare artifact? Its craftsmanship seems rather unusual. Did you make it?"

"I'm a blacksmith, not a jeweler." I say with a slight bow. "My forays into the realms of finery have not yielded appreciable results."

She giggles. "So you can repair not only the soul, but also the body? I'm impressed." She winks at me. "Are you looking for patronage? I'm sure my family will not begrudge Skyrim talent."

Hm. "The offer is appreciated, but I have much to do here."

She didn't seem offended. "A shame."

A few more exchanges, and she's on her way. The ruby on the bracelet is given the Wish "Protect the Wearer from all physical damage" and the bracelet itself has a strand of mana woven into it with a soulstone and a -skin spell. Let's see how it works.

We do not notice Delphine's appraising eye on us throughout the entire conversation.

…

[Next Day]

…

It wasn't as if we absolutely *needed* to stay over for the night—we ultimately never got a room at the inn—but the fact that there wasn't a need to post a guard was definitely welcome. With the road clear, we get on our way early in the morning after breakfast.

Based on what I've seen, the road for today is basically going to be one long-ass slope upwards. Fun.

…

[End of the Two Weeks]

…

It is getting late, and the gates of Solitude are in the distance. We are now effectively one wagon (now topless) among a train of thirty along with plenty of foot traffic. Solitude is a city built on top of a cliff with its palace on a…cliff-ier cliff? It basically is an earthquake disaster waiting to happen.

The city of Solitude is (of course) much larger than in-game, and currently on the road with us are…wagon is five, walker is one…around two hundred people on the road going into the city. Some are Imperial soldiers, a few are captains, and most are villagers or traders carrying goods into the city. One of them has a giant bushel of…grapes? Grape-like things? They're a bit sour.

We noticed Little Sister eyeing them and bought a bunch.

Beneath us in the waterways leading up to the city are dozens of small boats and two large ones. The large ships are very much "high fantasy medieval" ships with huge-ass square sails. They look like Galleons but…y'know, smaller by quite a few sizes. Currently moored, the markings on those ships probably make them warships of some kind. The small ones are more traditional…Viking-esque? They're the…uh…leaf-shaped ships that make up most of the whole Viking Longship shtick, though obviously many are not large enough to carry more than a few people and some cloth-covered goods in the middle.

Solitude sits at the entrance of a massive river, and I can see ships departing and entering the natural harbor. Given the amount of fish being unloaded in the docks below I assume fish makes up a large part of the city's diet. I guess it's more an estuary than a river, but eh. On the other side of the river is marshlands, though we can see houses down there, so I guess people do live outside the walls, too. There's a dock on the far side of the river/estuary, but they're smaller and obviously not built to handle heavier traffic.

The docks are divided into three parts, only one of which is visible to us right now: The civilian river docks are the parts that we are currently passing over and make up the docks that you would see in game until you go north of the city. The civilian trader docks are north of the city and take in large ships from around the cape northward. The military docks are directly underneath the city and sheltered by the strange, almost Lion King Pride Rock kind of structure of the city and cliffside area.

Based on what Delphine says, Solitude is not a warm water port, though since it's the cusp of summer this point doesn't matter too much. In-game, the port didn't seem too useful since if you traveled in any direction for thirty seconds there'd be large chunks of ice in the water, but here I would say…the ice is probably twenty, thirty miles away from the water.

If we could see that far, we would see ships sailing around the cape north of the city exclusively from the west, many of which bear Aldemari markings. Solitude's trade economy relies heavily upon trade steered towards it.

Given the position, normally Solitude should trade with whatever is west of it, Dawnstar, and Winterhold, though obviously two of the three points are a bit of a no-go at the moment.

Hm. I open my ears and listen. I'm curious as to why the Imperial army hasn't decided to launch a naval invasion against Winterhold, since both are port cities.

The few minutes of listening doesn't tell us much.

Though it does sound like the local territory is having some trouble. Apparently there are walking bears attacking people, and ghosts rise from the ground at night chanting something. I…have some doubts about the story, not gonna lie, but it does give some good hints if you don't take them literally.

The walking bears are likely the dudes trying to Free the Reach™, the…I don't remember their names.

Foresworn, Forsworn, one of those two spellings.

They're a random-ish encounter on this side of the province in game, and here I imagine they're a little more organized. The chanting ghosts…that's probably the wolf queen side quest, though by the sound of things troops have already been dispatched to the villages closest to the chanting. In-game, the dragonborn arrives and more or less solves the problem before those troops can be sent, so we obviously missed the bus here.

Well, either way, we need to take care of some business and get settled in, get prepared.

Delphine's contact has a house in the poorer districts of the city which will act as a safehouse for us when things start to go pear-shaped. Oh, right.

Solitude in-game is a city on a cliff. If you were approaching the city gate like we were, to your immediate right would be the esturiver, and to your left would be the mountain, and all you get as flat terrain is the road. Makes sense: save memory and all that.

Here, there is comparatively more land to build on. The path leading up to Solitude has an incline like the game, but it's not nearly as steep. There is also more flat space, and the whole terrain is still defensive, but not prohibitively so. There are actually two gates into Solitude: the lower 'common' gate that everybody uses, and a higher 'military' gate that's a bit harder to get to. There's a literal cliff between the two paths, and the military road is maybe twenty feet higher. Between the military road and the more mountainous border is an Imperial Warcamp, with plenty of tents and semi-permanent structures that likely act as quarters for the lower troops. Between the common road and the water is another camp: it's smaller and populated almost entirely by Khajiit, so I assume this is the 'home base' of the wandering traders.

Solitude's internals are smushed together given the relative lack of open space to build (hence the overflow to the other side of the esturiver). The castle area is the highest at maybe five hundred meters from the water, and the gate area is the lowest at maybe ten meters. Its arrangement is kind of…long. Let's say that…from the main gate, the city is arranged in a four-by-two grid (four rows of two columns). Let's say that the left column is 1-4, the right is 5-8, with 4 and 8 being the closest to the gates.

2 and 3 are the poor sections, 3, 4 and 8 make up the garrison area (taken by the Imperials), 5 is the palace, 1 is the palace, 5 is rich people, and 6 and 7 make up almost everyone else. Again, this is just a rough layout and areas obviously don't layout so nicely. The part outside the city walls are not accounted for since they're, y'know, outside.

Anyways, the dude has a house in…3, which has supplies, gear, and all the equipment necessary for a small strike force. We won't be staying there since, in order for Aria to appear to be a noble invited into the function, she would need to stay at an Imperial-supported Inn for the next two weeks and basically mingle with the various smaller parties that will be thrown around because Nobles I Guess.

So while they're doing that, we'll be off taking care of the beacon.

This, of course, means that we're either 1) taking care of the beacon without Jake, Aria, and Delphine's support or 2) we're waiting until after the raid to do this (while being hunted by the Aldemari). Or else 3) we turn around and chuck the Beacon into the water but I can't imagine that working out in our favor given, y'know, magic (and honestly if that were an option we would've done it before we got here)

Or 4) we pack up and go home, but that's basically option 2 but without the upside of finishing the quest.

So…yeah. I'm going to take three days or so to get the girls kitted out, and then we'll go. I don't like this—I mean I really, desperately don't like this—but it is the safest option.

Also.

"Your girls need names." Delphine says as we take to our rooms. "Given the fact that we've arrived together and that Aria needs to maintain her minor royalty cover, your girls need names."

…why, because peasant children don't have names?

Reason: our standard of hygiene and the quality of our attire means that we're basically considered to be the crustiest of the upper crust. Or else the upperist of the upper crust.

"Well, alright then." I've been chewing on this for a while and I'm shit at names, so let's see… "girls."

Big and Little Sisters come up to me and they're still the cutest things ever. The biggest problem here is that if their names are too Anime then it'll be hard for them to stay unnoticed…though I guess we're already kinda exposed as it is.

Let's see here…Fuck it, we're doing this. "For now, Big Sister will be…Atra. Little Sister will be Alma." I have no reason to use these names beyond I'm basically stuck on one letter. They nod in return.

"Your naming sense is terrible." Delphine notes. "But the Blades are magnanimous in their inability to judge stupidity." She grins.

We've learned through the past two weeks that Delphine is very much so the snarky grand…uh…archetype. "Your blindness is appreciated." I reply. "Now, girls, given that we'll be headed into some danger soon, make sure you're prepared, ok?" They nod. Ok.

I'm scared. Not gonna lie. Really scared. If it were by myself I would have no issues diving in and out. I would be…reasonably ok with not making it out at all. But…

…yeah, I have charges now. Can't just let them die in a place like this.

…

[Three Days Pass]

…

Given that Aria and Jake need to constantly attend parties to build their social credit, Delphine is therefore responsible for teaching the girls how to fight in what little free time she has. I also get some lessons because I really, really need it. Three days isn't really a lot, and military experience basically dictates that the girls get spears.

Anyways, since the spear requires the least amount of experience to learn to use ("pointy end go that way") they'll get one each. Since Aria taught them a little swordplay and spears are inherently a bad idea in enclosed spaces, they'll also get a light sword (a dagger) apiece, along with armor. Given that they're both children, the available weight that I have to work with is miniscule.

To that end…

Both girls get a four-foot-long spear with a haft of Reinforced and Replaced wood (the lightest I could find). The tip is steel that I've…played around a bit. I've embedded a gem on the fixing end of each spearhead that has "increases strike force" as their wish. The pointy end of the spear is also a bit more blunt than normal, given that we're very likely fighting undead. Sharp stabby objects are not as useful as blunt force trauma. In a nutshell, the girls are expected to play keep-away with their spears when in melee combat as their last-ditch effort.

Defense-wise, I've made them both a set of light spun metal shirts with embedded soulstones with +skin enchants placed into them. I'm making use of That Guy's enchant method (where you just throw magic at the problem) but since I'm going to be nearby it works out fine.

The same spun metal is also sewn into their pants, but at this point I still had a helmet to worry about, so the leg weight had to be minimized. Their shoes are also unarmored. I…I can put their legs together if things go poorly, but…yeah, hopefully we won't come to that.

Their helmet is…a stripped-down leather cap that covers basically the top of their head and the sides plus an enchanted circlet (+skin). The sides are reinforced with strips of metal with a layer of crushed soulstones on the inside (+skin). At certain angles it looks like they have a weirdly leathery handkerchief wrapped over their head.

Our battleplan will be as thus: the girls will stay close while I go Emperor Palpatine on anything that tries to get remotely within touch radius.

Oh, incidentally: over the past few weeks, Jake's gained 178 points, I got 166. Jake's so powerful at this point that he's basically keeping points in reserve just to, y'know, break shit harder, so he's got like 400 points at this point.

He gets the following skills to 100: overwhelm, 1hand mastery, 2hand mastery, Missile awareness.

He also gets and immediately fully upgrades 'one-handed charging strike' for better immediate stabbiness, I guess, and the last 11 points into poison resistance.

He also has like a billion greater perk points to spend, but the ones that are the most important are the ones that are apparently repeatable: "Natural Flight", which "Extends Flying Time", and "Combat Presence", which "Instills Fear". He took 10 ranks of combat presence and 4 of natural flight.

Now, instill fear is pretty straightforward (probably), and I'm not sure what 10 ranks to do, but natural flight has us both confused, because after about thirty seconds of testing we can be very sure that Jake does not in fact fly. Maybe it's a dud, I dunno, but so far the perk tree has not given us any duds.

In my case, I max out my good friend and buddy Replacement, my new buddy Shock Mastery, and the rest goes into Fine Eye (better results for small objects).

For Greaters, I take Greatest Materialist (because I can), three ranks of this 'Ambient Moonlight' thing, less/great Dress Tailor, and four ranks of this repeatable, quite possibly broken, Mana Canister.

(Dress tailor because I want to make pretty pretty dresses for my girls. Duh.)

I call Mana Canister 'possibly broken' because, after some experimenting, it seems that I am able to store ONE FULL BAR OF MANA per perk level. I have a lot of mana. I also have skills that spike damage in exchange for additional mana spent. I think you can see where I'm going with this.

I will note that these 'canisters' have a natural bleed rate: It takes me around ten minutes of focus to actually fill one canister, and each one lasts for around six hours before they're totally empty. I assume this will be more efficient after I get some skill with using it, but since it's already giving me like a 400% damage increase…

Oh also Ambient moonlight decreases my spell cost (by 6% after all three perks). Respectable workhorse perk that I have no problems against.

…

Other preparations for our excursion include: having Aria teach me how to Summon Giant Dire Wolf, since we'd need some transportation that's not a horse-drawn wagon. The spell is easy enough—being just a derivative of summon familiar—so it only took me a few hours to learn it after coughing up money to buy the book involved.

And with that, we're off!

Ish.

There's simply too much foot traffic going in and out of the city for us to just summon a giant wolf and, y'know, go do things. The good thing with the foot traffic is that there's no checks going into or out of the city. Through listening in on conversations, it seems that the reason for their lax security is to give the sense of security while nobles plan to schmooze in the upcoming party. Seems to be a bigger deal than I had previously thought, this party thing.

Well, either way…we're off.

…

[3rd Person Camera]

…

"What is he?"

Jake looks up from his stupidly crowded itinerary. "I'm sorry?"

"That friend of yours." Delphine repeats. "What is he?"

"Uh…" Jake had many answers, none of which would have been very useful.

"That armor he made for those two girls." Delphine says. "What was it made of?"

"Steel?" Jake says slowly. "What, was there something wrong with it?"

"Hardly." Delphine toys with a small piece of that steel meant for repairs. "Is it possible to have a suit requisitioned for all of us before we…continue?"

"I thought you weren't into heavy armor." Jake observes.

"Something like this is hardly 'heavy'." Delphine says, tossing the piece of armor into the air. It falls with the speed of padded cloth. "If the blades had armor like this, we would've been utterly untouchable. Swords, arrows, magic…none of it would have mattered. They would've never hit us and any hit would have been totally useless."

Jake nods politely. He felt as if she was overreacting.

Delphine shakes her head. "Your friend. What is he?"

…

[1st Person Camera]

…

So…I may have overprepared for this.

As it turns out, the shrine to Meridia is a…if not necessarily government promoted site, then at least an accepted one. The shrine is built on top of a…semi-plateau overlooking the woods. There exists a massive statue (of Meridia, probably), a temple-like structure, and the doors to a (probably) catacomb structure that…is likely where we need to go in-game.

There are also: a preacher in front of the statue talking about Meridia's boons to humanity, about a dozen of the anti-Daedra people standing guard, a few dozen worshippers and visitors, some sitting in open-air pews, others offering small tokens to an offerings box in front of the statue, and, last but not least, a mishmash of Imperial and independent soldier folk.

This is, like, infinitely more people than there would be in-game, and as a result certain precautions need to be taken.

"Atra." I get her attention. "There's likely going to be attention given to the fact that you're showing up with the beacon. If anyone asks, you didn't hear any voices in your head that told you to come here."

"Ok." She nods. "Why?"

Easy. "Because there's probably at least one guy over there who believes in prophecies, and at least one guy who believes they're more special than others. The less unwanted attention to draw to yourself, the better."

She nods again, and we walk up to the shrine, away from the preacher.

"Hello there." I greet one of the well armored anti-Daedra people. Disclaimer: I'm believing that they're anti-Daedra by the sheer virtue that they're all wearing the same robey things and don't look anything like normal mercenaries. "What is this place?"

The Imperial man raises an eyebrow at me. "Never heard of Meridia before? This is her shrine."

I shrug. "Heard of her, sure, but I've never seen an image. Would this belong to the shrine?" I gesture to Atra. Up until this point the beacon's inside a basket she's been wearing like a backpack, complete with cloth covering the entire thing. She puts down the basket and pulls the cloth covering aside a little to reveal the beacon to him and him only.

The man uncrosses his arms. "That's…where did you find this?" He leans in and asks Atra. She shrinks a little into my leg.

"Around our neighborhood." She says quietly. "I was playing with my friends when one of them saw this weird glowing light. Nobody else wanted it so I took it."

Atra is semi-lying: she was the only one who saw the glowing light and, after she was finished playing, listened to the voice in her head and doubled back to get it.

"Is that so?" The man straightens up. "I'll take the entire basket if you don't mind." He says. "Put it back on and follow me." He says. He leads the three of us to the catacomb and then around its right, where a series of strangely permanent-looking tents have been set up slightly shielded from sight. We go inside of them.

"Alright." The man says and flashes a thing around his neck that looks like a horn. "In case this sign is unfamiliar to you, we are the Vigilants of Stendarr." He growls, adjusting his clothes so the head of a mace is visible. "We hunt daedra worshippers."

Hm. "Must be busy this time of the year." I jerk my head to where the rest of the people are.

He chuckles. It is not a very happy laugh. "Meridia has her uses." He says. "Since you seem to be a learned man, I'll cut to the chase: leave the beacon here and say nothing else."

Fuckin' done. Though… "I got no problems with that, though I'm curious as to why. I heard you guys were real hardliners when it came to working with Daedra."

The man thinks it over for a bit. "Meridia…for better or worse, inspires those who wish to destroy the undead." He says slowly. "We Vigilants exist for the purposes of protecting humanity, and Meridia inspires us to do it ourselves. If she gave out power to destroy undead then we would have a problem, but…"

Apparently a sword doesn't count? I guess you have to swing it yourself, so…sure.

"But she's helping, right?" Alma asks.

"That she is." The man nods. "However, giving power in the name of helping others has long since been used as a tool of corruption…that is, Daedra likes to lie about what they're trying to do." I do like how he rephrased for her convenience. "She's nice, so we get to be nice back."

"Oh, ok." Alma nods.

The man refocuses back to me. "In any event, I'd like for the beacon to be returned to our hands so we may return it to the shrine. As you are likely aware, the beacon holds great significance to those who believe in Meridia's power, and having it restored through supernatural means only adds to that strength."

…? Sounds oddly shady. "That's fine with me." Better stay away from it.

"Does Meridia make people champions?" Atra asks. "I…er, I read something about it." Hm.

"So we've heard." The man nods. One of his buddies brings out a sword. "The weapon's name is the Dawnbreaker, though this is just a showpiece."

…The Dawnbreaker has a really neat design. This piece of steel in front of me looks like house building material reject. What?

The weapon is basically exactly that: a piece of steel for show-and-tell, with only the barest of attention paid to resemble the actual weapon.

"This looks…bad." Atra says, giving the weapon a poke.

The man looks over her with a practiced eye. "Compared to your gear, certainly." He stares at me. "You're…of quite some means, then? To be able to afford such gear for these girls."

"He made them!" Alma says before I could say anything and I kind of wish she didn't. "He's the best blacksmith in Whiterun!"

"Is he?" The man replies with the tone of appeasing a small child. "I'm impressed." I don't think he believes her. "Well then, sir, I believe our job here is done." He nods politely. "Good day to you."

"U-um!" Atra stops them again. "A-about that sword…" She glances at the metal. "I've…I've been around a blacksmith's forge long enough to tell that this…um…this is just scrap." Her eyes darts towards me. I don't think she knows what a 'showpiece' is.

…Oh well, in for a penny… "Since you said this was a showpiece, is there a real one lying around somewhere?"

The man's eye twitches. "I don't appreciate your tone, citizen."

We may be a wee bit condescending.

…In for a pound. "Look, I know you're trying to pull some public relations shenanigans, and I appreciate that. But…" I approach him to whisper. "Between you and me? Atra apparently really wants a souvenir so just let us go down there so we can stop her from keeping your time?" I think the real sword is in the catacomb somewhere, so I'm volunteering to maybe get killed.

I wish I had the foresight to second-guess my instincts.

"Hm." The man sighs. "How about this?" He draws his mace. "Here at the shrine, we have a simple trial: prove your worth against a Vigilant and earn your spot as a Champion." He grins. "Twenty gold."

Oh, that's actually stupid smart. I can imagine that Meridia is in no way happy about this, but stupid smart all the same.

"Now…Atra, was it?" He says. "Show me that you deserve the sword."

…I came here expecting supernatural necromancy and instead discovered religious commercialism. I'm not sure what to make of that.

Atra readies her spear and visibly begins to shake.

We all move to an outside ring set specifically for the occasion, apparently.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" One of the Vigilants calls out. "We have yet another challenger to enter the ranks of Meridia's champions!" She gives Atra a small pat on the back, and Atra bows deeply, blushing furiously the entire way. "I present…the little Atra!"

Everyone has basically stopped what they were doing to watch, and thus everyone claps and cheers her bravery.

Little kids trying to become a Champion of Light (as the Vigilants call it) is DEFINITELY not a new thing. Now, technically, these Vigilants are technically operating outside the bounds of the Vigilants' teachings, but since they help give the Vigilants a good name, their operations (and self-profit) are mostly ignored.

"Now then," The man grins good-naturedly at the girl (though not without a twinge of annoyance). "Show me what you can do."

Atra, now practically having a panic attack, looks over to me.

DAD TIME. I give her a hug. "I'm here for you."

Cheers and clapping on the hug, nobody heard words being exchanged.

Now slightly calmer, she levels her quivering spear, then takes a deep breath like Jake would do, and charges forward.

…

[3rd Person Camera]

…

Oh? The man blinks in surprise. The girl was obviously green, but her step-in was quite powerful. Unfortunately, the distance between the two negated any additional energy she had in her charge, and he sidesteps her attack with the barest of margins (to help her morale). With the girl off-balance, he raises his mace and gives her a gentle tap on the back.

Atra's wheel-around was also superbly fast, but the utter lack of aim meant her speartip zips high over his head, causing her to go off balance and totter back some steps.

She's got good teachers. The man notes. But apparently not enough drilling on the basics. He waits until she gets back into position before making a very exaggerated attempt at a charge.

Atra, being eleven, loses her nerve and scurries away from his charge. Playing the part of the big strong bad guy, the man maintains his charge direction like a rhino and makes some exaggerated steps to stop himself, drawing a few laughs in the process.

"What's wrong, girl?" He taunts/eggs her on. "Is that all you've got?"

Atra, to his surprise, firmly shakes her head. She levels her spear again, takes another calming breath, and charges in.

They go for about five more exchanges before Atra collapses from exhaustion. She's tried a grand total of fifteen attacks and none of them hit.

A little girl like that with that kind of armor, going on for fifteen blows, half of them being charging ones. The man tallies with a wide grin on his face. You're telling me there's talent like this in the peasantry? He sheathes his mace and gives the sprawling Atra a deep bow to roaring applause. "You've proven your worth, young lady! We would be glad to induct you into the honorable ranks of the Meridian Champions!"

Everyone roars their approval again. The ones who visit every other week know full well that the 'Meridian Champions' moniker was just there to please the kids like a participation trophy, but watching the little ones try is always uplifting.

Atra, gasping for air, lets herself be raised to a sitting position by Alma, takes a waterskin from Ash, and does her best to drain it.

The man gives Ash an appraising eye. Still…given her equipment and the quality of her training, however sporadic…no way this blacksmith is her family. A servant, maybe?

…

[1st Person Camera]

…

Well, all's well that ends well, I suppose. Atra gets an amulet of Stendarr for her troubles (Alma gets one too because why not) and we're allowed to go into the catacombs, into what is basically a gift shop, to pick up a sword for Atra. And thus we're being escorted by Atra's ex-opponent.

"Was there some kind of problem here?" I ask. I have no reason to ask beyond game-knowledge: in game, this was a dungeon crawl involving weird undead shit. Obviously no such problems are here, since the catacombs are brightly lit, carefully partitioned with wood planks (for rooms), and house something around forty people.

"To some extent." The man says. "There was a necromancer making hell in here around two years ago. He's the reason why we're here, actually." Huh. I guess that's what happens when the two different parts of the quest can be completed by multiple people. "You're pretty sharp to be able to see something like that." He says.

I wave it off. "Sometimes I get lucky." I do sense a little bit of strange magic from around us, but without game knowledge I would not have guessed.

Anyways, the dungeon layout is drastically different from how it looks in game (as in, no dungeon run). The layout of the catacombs is basically a straight run from the door to the temple.

Within the main chamber (where the 'true' shrine to Meridia is being kept) there exists one hefty-looking metal door. Heavily barred and guarded at all times, this is the entrance to the rest of the dungeon proper. We do not go anywhere near that deep.

The…uh… 'gift shop', as I'm calling it, is basically a partitioned section of the catacomb hallway, where barrels upon barrels of swords are kept.

"Usually this is kept from the eyes of children." The man says with a wink. "But I think you're mature enough to know that a champion makes the sword, not the other way around."

Disclaimer: he says that to all the kids.

"I…see…" Atra says, sounding a bit disheartened.

"Pick one that you like." The man laughs. "You too, Alma."

"Yay!" Alma doesn't mind getting free rewards. She picks a sword at random. It looks like a really, really half-hearted attempt at something that resembles a sword, to say nothing of the added requirement of needing to look like a unique sword. It's like if someone tried to sell like a Pikachu plushie by painting a mouse-type cat toy yellow and then going 'eh, close enough'.

Atra takes her time, and eventually picks out something that looks eerily like the real Dawnbreaker…well, the real Dawnbreaker after it's been broken a few times, maybe. Given that Meridia is actually in her head I won't be surprised if that is actually the real thing.

The man doesn't seem to care, and just nods with approval.

…

After a little bit more chatting (some congratulations being piled on top of Atra for her performance), we party up with a group going back to Solitude and arrive a little before midnight. The girls are tired from the trip despite the summoned wolf that they rode on to get home, and we (me and Jake) tuck 'em in posthaste.

Real proud of Atra, not gonna lie.

…

With that out of the way…the next issue on the list. The Letter.

I gave the letter to the Imperial office in charge of communications some day after our trip to the shrine, and around a day later I received something akin to a royal summon to the garrison.

Which is fun-ish. Nothing serious: they wanted to know where the letter came from and I told them everything I should know about it, which is that "some old lady gave it to me when she heard we were headed to Solitude".

"And you did not know who it was?" My Interrogator (A Lieutenant or something) asks suspiciously.

"It was an old woman who knew how to write, maybe, and the letter was sealed." I shrug. "I figure it's somebody important but I honestly could not care."

He scowls. "You have no idea what's inside the letter?"

I frown. "Should I?"

"I'm asking the questions here." The black-haired Lieutenant (Breton?) snaps. "The contents of this letter can amount to an act of bribery. Do you have any knowledge of that?"

That much I know. "I thought that's normal for nobles."

The Lieutenant smiles slightly. "Aye, true. It also speaks of a potential attack on Solitude if its demands aren't met."

Huh. "From Whiterun? Seems kinda far." I should take into account the fact that he may be bullshitting just to see how much my body language can tell him.

Armed with this knowledge, we begin to guard our movements.

…

[3rd Person Camera]

…

After some thirty minutes of questioning, Ash was allowed to go with no repercussions.

"What was that all about?" The Imperial Captain of the Breton Lieutenant asks.

"That man delivered the letter from the Grey-Manes." The Lieutenant replies after a snappy salute. "I thought he might know something about the context of the letter."

The Captain's eyebrow goes up. "And? What have you discovered?"

"Little, considering how much of the letter we have yet to decipher." The Lieutenant admits. "However, we do know that the man who delivered it has some training in counterespionage and has likely read the contents of the letter, even though he may not have fully understood it."

"Oh?" The Captain's eyebrow goes even higher up. "How do you reckon?"

"He stiffened when we asked him about specific parts of the letter, and his guard never dropped." The Lieutenant says. "He only started to be guarded after we asked him about the parts of the letter that could be easily read. I tried to bait him with false information and he saw through it, which means he at least has some knowledge of the truth."

"So he's close to Grey-Manes, right?" The Captain asks. "You said the letter showed no signs of tampering."

The Lieutenant nods. "Correct. Unless he can perfectly recreate their seal, he's probably close enough to the Grey-Manes to be of some service."

The Captain gets a gleam in his eye. "Interesting. That Aldmeri function is in a few days, is it not? If there's the chance of a third faction getting involved, then it may be of some help to us. Advise our infiltration party to be a little rowdier than usual when things get going."

…

[1st Person Camera]

…

So…that's that. I have no specific reason to go and kill a fortress full of people just to rescue some guy I don't know about, so as far as my personal involvement goes, this is it.

In the meantime, I need to make more dresses for Aria…and spare outfits for Jake.

See, Delphine's plan is as thus: on the days leading up to the Big Elf Party, there are plenty of smaller parties being held by the nobility of Solitude to…basically take advantage of the nobles arriving in the city and do some networking. Aristocracy by default tend to have small but thorough social circles, so it's a situation where 'everyone knows someone' and if Aria and Jake show up to the BEP and nobody knows them, then awkward questions will be asked.

As such, the two of them are therefore tasked to just go to parties and have fun, which…y'know, sounds like it would be a great idea if Aria didn't look like she would rather be doing anything else.

A secondary reason for going party-hopping is because Aria's cover story is that she is, in effect, a visiting noble of minor repute. It is…rather common, for visiting nobles to basically play suck-up. Aria's (and to a lesser extent Jake) will therefore be 1) being rather proactive when it comes to talking to people and 2) be very proactive when it comes to getting… 'lost', in the houses of these practice parties.

Either way Aria is surprisingly not ok with the whole 'talking to people thing'. I mean, I figured the Dragonborn was shit at small talk, but…

…

[3rd Person Camera]

[Subtitle: "Aria and Jake's First Party"]

…

The two stand before a set of mahogany doors in front of a small house (for the neighborhood).

"Oh gods I want to not to do this." Aria grouses. "I don't see why I can't just murder my way through the building when the time comes."

Jake was rather used to her bloodthirstiness. "Because that would be wrong, for some reason." He gives her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "You'll definitely be the center of attention, so it won't be that bad."

Aria narrows her eyes. "I will shank you."

Jake chuckles. "Good, just keep your spirits up." He pulls on the large brass ring and knocks it against the door. Immediately the door opens in response.

"Do you have an invitation?" The aged butler (Orc) asks politely, but rather loftily.

"Of course." Aria extends it out with a winning smile. She wasn't good at winning smiles.

The butler looks over the invitation, gives Aria a 'what do you think you're trying to do' look, gives Jake a 'I think you should've gone a bit deeper than looks' look, and then gives the invitation one 'this seems legit' look. "Welcome to the function, Lord and Lady Fairwind."

Aria barely succeeded in maintaining an eyeroll-less poker face. Jake vaguely regrets letting Delphine pick the noble last name. Their cover story is somewhere along the lines of 'we're cousins'.

The two enter the brightly-lit main hall. Jake takes a moment to marvel at the chandeliers and ornate torch racks and wonder slightly at the integrity of the Solitude's building safety code. Aria notes that the chandelier was exceptionally bright and deduces that magelight must be in use somehow.

Their entrance draws a few looks, and some of those looks develop into longer stares.

Ash had, taking in the idea that Aria was a 'lesser noble looking to fit in', decided be a bit fucking extravagant. Paying attention to the weather (and having basically no knowledge in designing high function dresses), Ash basically made a near-glowing sundress and added frills and a nice-looking sash. The materials were Replaced to be as light as possible, giving her a bit of a 'floaty' appearance.

In severe contrast, Jake was basically just in the closest approximation to a tuxedo that Ash was able to make in roughly forty minutes. Ash did not allocate his time in a very efficient manner.

Regardless, Aria is immediately swamped by a half-dozen young nobles immediately attracted by her immense looks.

I hate EVERYTHING about this. Aria thinks while her acting gets progressively better through practice. This is why I kill things.

Jake, wanting to intervene but finding no good way to do so, simply goes around and tries to emulate some of the older patrons. Due to his terrible acting (and very non-noble vocabulary) interactions were scant, and he found no time to slink away and practice the desired goal of the infiltration due to the fact that he basically never fell out of sight. He makes notes on how the others behave, and tallies how a man of his station (mostly a warrior) and age (quite young for a noble) should act.

The party ultimately ends with neither of them being able to do what they were sent for.

"So?" Delphine asks with a wide grin upon Aria and Jake's return to the inn.

"I really, really think we should just go in and kill everyone." Aria says.

"I echo that sentiment. Fuck infiltration missions." Jake says.

Delphine laughs for a solid minute before collecting herself. "Good! But you don't get to make enemies out of two separate nations in order to lie about your own shortcomings. Learn to blend in, children, and it pays handsomely in the future."

"Why can't Ash go in my place and I go around killing everyone?" Aria asks again.

"Because he's even worse than the two of you." Delphine says again. "When was the last time you saw him approach someone when it's not for business?"

"I've known him for years and I know for a fact he can survive an entire day without speaking an entire word." Jake says.

Aria sees no problem with it. "Yeah? I do that too. I would love to be doing that too."

"Give it up." Delphine says cheerily. "The sooner you learn to expertly fend off the boys looking at only your body, the easier you'll see the ones looking deeper."

"Better if they don't look at all." Aria huffs. "Should've brought Mell with us."

A slight, imperceptible change crept into Delphine's smile and vanished without a trace. "So you can shift your duty onto her? You're quite a bit less dedicated than I thought."

Aria growls. "I'll figure it out. Just give me a few days."

…

The two continue to participate in parties and practice how to best orient their behavior, and soon enough Aria was being ignored at the parties by those who matter. She had learned that a woman of her background—a good-looking minor noble looking to dig into the Solitude aristocracy—was expected to be just a little too gaudy, a little too loud, and a little too affectionate for attention. In a nutshell, her job was to be the desperate beginner that the other nobles thought she would be.

Of course, this did mean that occasionally a minor noble's son would take her acting seriously and try his luck at getting underneath her skirt, which worked in her favor as, around five minutes later, the noble would be half-naked and knocked the fuck out as Aria practiced snooping around the building without a backwards glance.

Jake…once it became clear who he was, he lost all ability to disappear from the party. As 'The Mountain' and (apparently) actual nobility, all partygoers focused their attention upon him, and he found himself either swamped by young men trying to be (or be better than) him, and young women who hoped to pull him from (or be pulled into) his house. Older patrons simply keep him in their sights, largely to protect the young men or young women from being pulled away from their circles for various reasons.

Ergo, he switched roles to be a bit more bombastic and friendly, to draw all eyes to make Aria's job easier.

…

[1st Person Camera, Day of the Party]

…

By the time of the party, the two of them are prepared enough that they know what they want to do. I've also had the time to tweak their final outfits and my GOD did they need outfits.

I kind of expected that it would take more investment for a girl to be accepted into society but I didn't think that applied to Jake, too. Having to make essentially two sets of outfits every day is a pain in the neck.

Aria's final dress is pretty similar to her starting one, except it's a bit heavier with a…half-sized coat thingy? It's big and light and fluffy (thank you cheating) and is cut to approximately her elbows. The dress itself is more of a formal dress with more rigidity than a sundress ('cuz it's armored). It meshes well with her bracers (plus hidden knife) and the skirt part can be detached if she needs to bolt.

Jake's outfit goes from a tux to a proper military uniform, complete with some medals and decorations as needed. We both decided that it would make more sense for the 'Mountain' to be a little over-decorated: it fits the narrative of a rapidly promoted noble-in-hiding leading his own band of misfits.

I'm also going. Not to the party itself; I'll be outside in the servant waiting quarters as their attendant. The fact that I made her dresses is pretty much a known secret at this point (I buy materials, I live in the same inn, and Aria's dresses are made of such materials) so I'm expecting a little trouble, but since I get to be a poor peasant I also get to be a bit better armed. The waiting quarters are outside the mansion for security purposes, which is doubly nice. I have Jake's greatsword and if things start to get rowdy I am to chuck it over the wall and…hope for the best, honestly. Planning for the alternative is really not our thing.

The girls are staying at the inn until our return, or until Delphine's attendant fetches them and whisks them away from incoming hostiles. Either-or. Best case scenario we get finished and escape with no loose ends whatsoever but hoo boy that's probably not an option.

…

[Night of the Party]

…

So…erm…

We are but one wagon among a throng of wagons headed up to the mansion.

The mansion is outside the city but why are there so many people going?!

"This is different." Jake mutters. "Delphine never gave us a headcount so I'd figured it wouldn't be too different from the parties we've gone to."

I interpret his statement as 'the game definitely did not have this many people going', to which I wholeheartedly agree.

The three of us get the butterflies (maybe it's just me) and upon our arrival, I can see where we're going to have problems. Or, like, this is gonna go poorly.

The mansion's external layout is pretty similar to how it is in-game: there's a large structure connected to an iron fence surrounding the entire compound (plus gate) and then a smaller structure that acts as the actual office building.

The difference: In game, it's perma-snow because memory limits. Here, it's not perma-snow. Because it's not snow and it's warm out, the courtyard has torches, magelights, and tables, and food. And, most importantly, non-guard people.

In game the entire area past the party was a minor dungeon crawl. Not so here. The courtyard of the mansion is teeming with people wandering around and having a good time.

"Oh, fuck." Jake breathes upon seeing what I'm seeing.

"The entire mansion is the party area." Aria sighs. "And I'll bet anything that the office building back there has only one entrance and is heavily guarded." The only windows on the back building are facing the courtyard and are on the second story.

"Looks guarded now." I observe as I see gleams of the Elven armor among some of the earlier arrivals. "Fucking hell, you two have your work cut out for you."

"If we fail you'll have to bail us out, so don't talk like you're somehow free from this." Jake says. The wagon (containing just the three of us along with a gift for the Aldmeri) gets stopped, checked, and passed through the initial checkpoint some distance from the mansion.

The wagon then gets pulled aside, Jake and Aria get off along with the gift, and the three of us part ways.

…can't help but feel like we're in over our heads here.

…But Jake's played assassin's creed before, so he should be fine, right?

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Author Notes:

The best way to make infiltration difficult is just to put more eyes in the play area.

.

.

.

{ === + === }

[Side Story, 3rd Person Camera]

Margret was in a good mood. As an Imperial spy, her job required her to move around quite a bit, and she had just been reassigned from Morrowind into Skyrim after achieving preciously little and taking a rather nasty wound on her arm.

Her new mission involved investigating the controlling family of Markarth, the so-called 'Silver-Bloods'. While en-route to the city, she decided to stay for a few days at the town of Crosshaven to see the extent of the Silver-Bloods's reach.

Note: some of the below information she learns later.

While Crosshaven is not the only location where the river boundary between western Skyrim and the rest of the region can be made, it is by far the safest. Other passes, especially the ones closer to Markarth, are either guarded by the Markarth patrols (likely compromised), can't handle wagons, or else have so much bad terrain around them that an ambush is basically a given.

To that end, Crosshaven, with its hefty Imperial garrison, is the safest pass…and as far as she could see, without notable traces of her target's henchmen.

Either way, on the day of her leaving, she noticed a pack of strange-looking wagons entering the town. After poking around a bit, she learned about a supposed 'master healer' from Whiterun. She's heard the rumors about how, over the past winter, healers from Whiterun have gained a significant edge over even healers from the Imperial Mage Guild, so she figured that it would be worth her time to take a look.

To her eternal surprise, she succeeded on the first try after just asking around a little. Even better, the injury she had taken was completely healed, she didn't have to pay, AND she got a free ring for it!

As expected of a student of the great Daniel Wildspring. She had thought while traveling to Markarth. She's not great at remembering names.

Now, having spent a day getting used to moving around Markarth's unusual topography, she finally decided to do what she was supposed to do. The ring given to her was a useful little 'in' to the metalwork trade of the city and of the family that controls it.

To that end, she decides to visit the largest market yard of Markarth, and see if the little gem can get her into some doors.

Time wise, this is roughly in the middle of The Main Party's party preparations.

One jewelry seller grabs her attention within the bustling square. "Hello there, little lady. You look like a woman of fine tastes." He says with a charming smile.

Margret was one of the older agents, but nothing that dressing carefully can't mask. "You look like you have your share of fine stuff." She says, looking over the tray of rings, circlets, and necklaces while keeping her ring in prominent view.

The seller's practiced eye analyzed the ring per her expectations. "Well, I have a few things that I think would strike your fancy." He moves his display boxes expertly to orient the jewelry that best matches her ring into her line of sight.

A practiced peddler. Margret notes. "I like the look of this." She picks up a simply-decorated silver locket. "I think it'll make a great gift for my sister."

"Oh?" The seller was a little bit disappointed that his little skewing didn't help him much. "A fine choice. Good silver with no unneeded furnishing. If I may, perhaps something that's a little more fitting for the family of a lady of your standing?" He picks out a finer locket.

"Well, I think that would be more for me." Margret replies with a playful wink, earning a laugh from the seller. "By the way." She shows her ring. "A friend of mine gave this to me. It's the first item of fine jewelry he's made, and would like to have a professional's opinion on his workmanship."

"Well, you must think very highly of him to wear a first ring like this." The seller says, taking her hand and staring intently at the ring. "I heard that first jewels tend to cut like knives…" He frowns. "His first?"

Margret caught the doubt in his eyes. "So he says." She nods. "Would you like a closer look?" He nods, and she takes off the ring for him to examine closer.

A first-time jeweler is able to make something like this? The seller analyzes the ring through the use of a small magnifying glass. What is this incredibly complex pattern?

The pattern, incidentally, is solely due to Replace being difficult to control for something as minute as making jewelry (Ash not looking also didn't help things). As such, it has a 'natural' kind of look that, by sheer luck, had a level of sharpness which tweaked the look from a natural disaster to that of the works by a genius.

The seller in particular seems to be taken by the ring. "Your friend has exceptional talent." His mind had already deluded itself into seeing the random patterns on the rings as something akin to a nature motif of roaring rivers and wandering forests. "The gem, though…" Ash had used a rather substandard Ruby for the ring and had also cut it with Replace, and the luck that graced the ring did not bleed into the gem. "…he should leave the cutting process to someone else." He hands the ring back and leans in conspiratorially. "My shop's not big enough, but I'm sure you can get at least five figures for this ring if you play your cards right." Besides, he wasn't about to become a Silver-Blood target by hawking something like that.

Margret took his advice in stride. "I'll be sure to pass the good news." She says and buys both lockets shown to her. As she puts the better one around her neck, she hears a strange shuffling behind her.

Suddenly, an arm reaches around her mouth, and her combat training kicks in just enough to stop it. Her other training—the one to be undercover—kicks in soon after with the argument that she would compromise her cover if she went any further.

Which is why, even as her brain screams alarms at her, she did not move to defend herself as a knife gently pushes into her back. Even while in danger she could not help but roll her eyes. What an amateur assassin. Can't even keep his knives sharp. She shifts slightly so the knife avoids hitting anything critical regardless, and upon feeling it being drawn out she collapses rather realistically, if she could say so herself.

"The Reach belong to the Forsworn!" The man shouts and starts slashing at other nearby walkers. One Imperial man, alarmed, backs away and his movement draws the man's attention. He charges forward and stabs his knife into the Imperial's hand, and the two brawls.

Some seconds later, the guards posted at the edges of the market wades into the fight and beats the man senseless with the blunt ends of their spears before taking him away. He dies due to blunt force trauma several hours later; no healers for the imprisoned.

"You alright, lady?" The seller asks as Margret picks herself up from the ground. "Do you need a healer?"

"I'm fine, I was lucky." Margret says with the perfect amount of quiver in her voice. "What was that?" She had been briefed on the issues surrounding Markarth but did not remember much of it.

"There are no Forsworn in the city!" The guard closest to them yells. "Disperse!" Not much dispersion happens.

"It may be better to be a bit scarce for today." The seller says, packing up his cart. "Set up shop in a different center, maybe."

Margret nods absentmindedly, her hand going up to her face as she ponders on how to make use of this Forsworn information. As she does so, the seller notices that the ruby on the ring is missing.

"Lady, it looks like that man's done some damage to your ring: it fell out." He says helpfully. "If you don't mind, I can introduce you to a jeweler who can give that ring the shine it deserves."

Margret figures this wouldn't hurt. "That would be very helpful, thank you."

.

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