Chapter 32: Ferwen's visit

[17th – 19th of Second Seed 4E 202]

On our way back from Raldbthar we had stopped at Nightgate Inn in Heljarchen for the night, and while we slept, some people had attempted to rob the basement we were in. Hanni and Nanni had alerted us to the situation, and I had followed Ferwen who had been the first to pursue those who had escaped. Together with my saber cats we had managed to catch the robbers and retrieve what they had stolen, and as dawn was already close, we had decided to not try to get back to sleep, but instead got onto the road towards Whiterun, after an early breakfast had been served by the inn's proprietor.

When we passed close to Silverdrift Lair, we saw a couple of people lingering there, and they looked like bandits; due to the amount of people in our group, they wisely decided not to approach us or make any hostile gesture, though. Of course I recalled this section of the road from the game, and while it had been leading through a winter environment there, all snow and ice was gone now; after all, we were in late spring or early summer. Later on, once we got to the road branch where we needed to turn south to get to Whiterun, Daeril asked:

"Is anybody inclined to make a small detour and visit the Weynon stones?"

"What's this place?"

"Nothing spectacular, but there is a shrine of Talos there, and some of us might want to use the opportunity to pray and give thanks for our safe return."

He had a point, and nobody objected. Thus, we first walked west, using the road which would eventually lead to Dawnstar, and left the road after maybe ten minutes, turning south into the wilderness. There was still a little bit of snow on the ground here between the trees, where the sun had not been able to get to the ground, and once again I enjoyed walking on the soft ground in the forest, while taking in the smells of nature. Fortunately, my feet were, according to my understanding, similar to tiger paws, and thick pads and fur cover protected them from potential damage and cold.

Soon we got to the place Daeril had mentioned, and I saw a circle of stones with an altar of sorts at the top end of stone stairs, with a couple of burial urns behind it. Just when I was about to look closer, two ice wraiths attacked, and one of them made me shudder and almost freeze with its ice attack; as usual, my reaction time had been too slow. Daeril took one of the attackers, and Fiona dealt with the other one, and it did not take them more than a few seconds to defeat their adversaries. Carefully I used my own flame spell to heat up my body once again, like I used to do after bathing in cold water, and Jordis was at my side with a concerned look, saying:

"I really need to pay more attention to you, my Thane; I apologize for not defending you against that attack."

"Jordis, it's not your fault at all, and I should have paid more attention to my environment."

"Still…"

"No, Jordis, don't blame yourself" I said while putting one of my hands on her shoulder. "Fortunately, my body is sturdy enough to take some abuse from time to time."

She was probably not convinced, but left it at that, and for a moment, she even started to lean into me, seemingly liking my touching her shoulder, before she noticed what she was doing and established some distance to me again.

Meanwhile, the others had started to explore the place, but there really was not much to see. There was a big chest partially hidden behind one of the big stones, but it did not have much in it. We all got together, and those of us who felt inclined to do so knelt in front of the shrine and prayed to Talos. I felt unsure in such a place; on one hand I would like to express my thanks who obviously had an active part in the events in Tamriel and were to some extent guiding me, starting with that first vision I had had back on Earth, but on the other hand I was a firm and convinced Christian, and the first commandment of Christianity clearly stated 'you shall not have other gods'. I still was not sure how to combine respecting the Divines properly with that, and I sure did not want to get into anything like veneration of saints, as this was not correct from a Lutheran Christian point of view. So, I could not really pray at a shrine, but I could at least bow my head and give thanks to Talos and the other Divines for their guidance so far, right?

Shortly afterwards we were all set and found our way back to the main road south. Nothing specific happened during the rest of our trip; once more we noticed unusual activity in the area around Korvanjund, and the Jarl should definitely learn about this. We managed to arrive in Whiterun in the early evening, still some time before dusk.

Naturally, we went up to Dragonsreach first to report to steward Proventus Avenicci, and he was happy to hear that the task had been completed. We told him that most of the stolen wares had been sent to Windhelm with the Stormcloaks, which made sense, as most of Alain՚s heists had happened there, and we expected no bounty payment, as we had gained lots of septims and other loot from the stashes in Raldbthar.

"Oh, by the way, Proventus" I also told the steward, "when we passed close to Korvanjund, we noticed unusual activity in the area and many footsteps on the ground. Somebody should learn about this, although I'm not sure if this is a problem."

"Thank you for telling me, B'lushona; although Korvanjund is not in our hold, but in The Pale, Jarl Balgruuf the Greater will want to know about this, and I will let him know."

The Whiterun Stormcloak commander, Hjornskar Head-Smasher, had been standing close and had heard that, and he asked:

"Did you mention activity around Korvanjund, B'lushona?"

"Yes, I did, indeed."

"Did you see people?"

"Only from a distance, too far to recognize who they might have been."

"I wonder if the Imperials actually follow that legend."

"A legend?"

"Yeah, about the final resting place of the Jagged Crown."

I had heard that name before, but failed to sort it in; my face must have showed my lack of understanding, and the Stormcloak explained:

"A legendary crown, dating back to King Harald's time, or before. A powerful relic of a golden age, long since passed. Legend has it that the crown is made from the bones and teeth of ancient dragons, and it is said to increase the power of the wearer."

"In what way? Surely possession of a crown does not decide about the future High King or so?"

"Not directly, no, but it would be a powerful symbol around which to rally support for our cause. Nobody seems to know about the crown's location after the Great Hunt which killed King Borgas during or shortly after his Alessian campaigns. Supposedly, his body was brought back to Skyrim and secretly buried with the crown. Knowledge of that location was lost, in the Wars of Succession."

"Okay, you lost me here. Who were King Harald and King Borgas?"

"They were both High Kings of Skyrim, B'lushona, and both descendants of Ysgramor himself, as we are told. Kind Harald, they say, forged the Jagged Crown himself, and it seemed to disappear with the death of Harald's final descendant King Borgas in The Wild Hunt of 1E 369."

"I have to admit that my historical knowledge on that time is very limited, and I guess that I may want to catch up on that. So, what about Korvanjund again?"

"Some claim that the final resting place of King Borgas is Korvanjund, and if that's true, that's where the Jagged Crown should be as well. So far, Jarl Ulfric and General Stone-Fist have only considered this a legend and not important or reliable enough to follow up, but if there's activity in the area, maybe the Imperials know the same legends and believe them more than we do. Anyway, thank you for bringing this to my attention; I will have to alert the General about the news and see what his orders are going to be."

Back at Jorrvaskr a little bit later, I did not forget to drop half of my share from the collected loot into the community chest, and Kodlak asked a few interested questions on what had happened in Raldbthar when he saw me. At the end of the day I was reasonably tired and was glad to find my bed up in the attic.

After a few exciting days it was nice to be back home, and of course I visited Warmaiden՚s and Belethor՚s general store to sell some of the additional loot during the next day, and I also went over to Arcadia's Cauldron to hand over the satchels I had collected. Both ladies briefly hugged me and thanked me for what I had brought, and Muiri stepped forward from the alchemy table where she had been busy, asking:

"May I inquire if your expedition was successful overall?"

"Indeed, Muiri, it was. Alain Dufont had a number of cronies with him, but we managed to defeat them, and many were taken prisoners and handed over to the Stormcloaks for trial in Windhelm."

"What about Alain himself?"

"We got him, but he escaped again. We pursued him to the lower levels of the ruin, and eventually we found him dead, likely killed by Falmer and chauruses."

"Are you sure that he is dead?"

"Yes, very sure."

"Thanks to the Nine for that! Maybe I can sleep in peace from now on."

The rest of the day I spent mostly relaxing and checking progress on my construction site.

I was feeling happy and relaxed when I went to bed in the attic at the top of Jorrvaskr once more. It did not take long for me to get to sleep, but after some time I woke up again, as my two saber cats started to move and make some noises. I had been with them for quite some time now, and I was able to interpret their behavior so that I realized somebody was approaching, but a friend rather than a potential enemy. And indeed, a couple of minutes later a dark figure climbed in from the roof, and I recognized Ferwen. Apparently, not only my saber cats, but also athletic elves could use that access.

"Ferwen? What are you doing here?"

"I … sorry, Balu, but after the last few days I don't want to sleep alone. Can I sleep with you, please?"

What? She wanted to sleep with me? I almost face palmed myself – most likely she was talking about literally sleeping, like I had done with Ria sometime ago down in the basement, when she had been very sad because her boyfriend had dumped her. But Ferwen was a somewhat different story, as I had some feelings for her. Although an inner voice strongly suggested to not look a gift horse in the mouth, I replied:

"Ferwen, I don't know if this is such a good idea…"

"Please?"

Naturally I gave in; there was quite a temptation, of course, and if she insisted, who was I to decline her request? Hanni and Nanni were soon back outside on the small porch, and I allowed Ferwen to crawl into bed with we, after she had shed some of her clothes. She did not want me to change and thus I just had my loin cloth on me, and very soon I noticed that she also had short pants on her and no top at all. What was going to happen? Was she deliberately leading me into temptation and was about to seduce me or did she maybe, as she had just reached adulthood, not really know what she was doing? Somehow we both got to sleep, with me spooning her from behind, and sleeping like this was actually reasonably comfortable.

Before there was even a trace of daylight visible, I woke up, and something felt strange. I realized that Ferwen had come into my attic and my bed, and she was still here. She was right in front of me, with her back to me and pressed tightly into my chest. Either one of my hands had moved by itself or she had pulled it, as it was now resting fully on one of her breasts. That alone was enough to enjoy already, but soon I noticed that my tail wasn't quite where it should be. Rather than behind me, it had somehow managed to move between my legs and between Ferwen՚s legs, and judged by the feelings I experienced, the young Bosmer had wrapped one of her hands around the end section. Not only that, but she was also slowly moving my tail up and down, like rubbing somewhere. What was she doing? It took me a few minutes to get it, as the lack of illumination did not allow to see that clearly and I did not have a lot of experience with such a situation at all, but eventually I realized that she was rubbing my tail against her private parts, between her legs, and her breathing was getting a little harder than it should be while just sleeping. For some time I did not dare to move and tried to just understand what was happening and thought about how I should react. The feeling itself was almost surreal and quite enjoyable, naturally; I did have sensitive feeling in my tail after all, specifically in the end section. However, I was unsure if Ferwen actually wanted to do something like this or maybe just had a wet dream. Speaking of wet, I could feel with my tail that the girl's region between her legs was getting not quite soaked, but somewhat wet at least, even through the short pants she still wore.

While a section of my mind encouraged me to relax and enjoy, I was not so sure about that. If she was dreaming and not aware of her actions, wouldn't she be totally embarrassed when waking up? But, if she hadn't expected something to happen, why did she not wear a top? That was typical nerd me, of course; instead of just enjoying the situation and maybe participating more actively, I tried to analyze it. Ferwen was, based on her own statements, an adult person, and so was I, so what was the problem? I was almost about to do something, when all of a sudden another image popped up in my mind, and I imagined having Janina with me like this rather than Ferwen. What? Why would I think of the Redguard now, in this situation? What had she to do with it? Nothing, right? I had not seen her for months, I did not know if I'd ever see her again, and I did not know if she had any feelings for me, right? Now Janina՚s mental image was replaced by one of Lady Mara, and she smiled and seemed to understand my situation; yet, she slowly shook her head. It was quite possible that I just imagined that, but anyway, I could not stand this any longer; thus, I moved my hand, grabbed the Bosmer՚s shoulder and shook it lightly, while I forced my tail out of her hands and pulled it back. Ferwen moved a little, but apparently did not wake up, and I managed to move my arm from below her and get out of bed.

I stepped outside onto my little porch to get fresh air in me, and Hanni and Nanni woke up and greeted me. The first very faint traces of daylight were now visible on the horizon, and so I quickly got dressed and got down the ladder to the mead hall. Trying to not think about the earlier situation too much, I grabbed an apple and started my morning run, with my two saber cats, of course. Today I had wolf trouble again, and I was actually grateful for that, as it helped to get me distracted. I killed the first wolf instantly, and as this was not enough to discourage the other four, I just ran ahead, almost full speed, until I got to the Whitewatch Tower. The guards saw me coming and stood in a semi circle, and I led the wolves right into it before they realized that. When we were done, the three guards laughed, and one of them smiled and told me:

"You know, B'lushona, it's almost a welcome sight seeing you running and chased by wolves. At least this gives us something to do here, as we can skin them and sell the pelts. Thank you!"

I was still panting as I had been running faster than normal; wolves were fast, after all, and running from them was strenuous, so that I just nodded. The sun was about to rise now, and I enjoyed a nice breakfast together with the guards, as I frequently did. Afterwards I jogged back to the city on the road, but much more slowly and taking my time; I had a lot to think about, and the previous activity had at least helped to clear my mind. Of course I did not and could not know if I had actually seen Lady Mara in my mind and if she had maybe tried to convey a message, but still, my feelings for Ferwen were mixed. Yes, I felt quite some, maybe even a lot of, attraction to her body; she was easy on the eyes and athletic, tall for a Bosmer woman, too. On the other hand, I did not feel like I was in love with her or something like this. I knew quite well that this was not a general requirement for having fun in bed with each other, according to what many thought, but I was different. I actually believed that one should only have sex with a partner one was in love with, although this had worked very poorly for me in my previous life. Maybe, though, I could spend more time with the Bosmer and we could both find out if we could grow to love each other, maybe like dating a few times? I almost felt like a teenager, but this was an awkward topic for me. It might be best to not mention the situation to anybody, specifically not to Antonius; he'd certainly not understand why I had not just allowed Ferwen to proceed, potentially with a more active participation on my side. Still, I was not Antonius, but myself, and I was not sure what the right action would have been. Judged by the way the Bosmer՚s body had acted and reacted, we could probably have had quite some fun together, at least with some very heavy petting if not full sex, but there was a good chance that she had just been dreaming and not aware of what her body was doing. Maybe she would explain later?

Speaking of her, when I just was about to pass Chillfurrow Farm, Ferwen came running in the other direction, and when she saw me, she stopped. When we were next to each other, I stopped as well, and she told me, while looking somewhat embarrassed and not directly looking at me:

"Good morning! Thank you for allowing me to stay for the night, but I need to get some running done; I had a very weird and confusing dream, and I need to clear my head – talk to you later!"

She was off again, jogging north, while I continued south, and naturally I wondered if this had been an indication of the earlier events indeed being part of a dream of hers. Or maybe she had been embarrassed and decided that categorizing the event as dream might be the best option? By now I was reasonably hungry again and thus headed towards Jorrvaskr.

After my morning run, I headed back to Jorrvaskr, and most of the resident Companions were up now, except for Torvar, who sometimes needed at least until noon to recover from last night's heavy drinking. I came to sit next to Irene, and she told me:

"Guess what, Balu, tonight we're going to celebrate my initiation to the Companions; you'll be there, right?"

"Of course I will!"

"However," she told me, "I'd be much happier about that if my sister had not decided to leave."

"Your sister? That's Wulfryn, right? But, didn't she just arrive a few weeks ago?"

"Yes and yes. I had assumed that she might stay a little bit longer, but as I told you earlier, I was sure that she'd eventually move on."

"She is a very independent spirit, isn't she?"

"Oh yes, she is. When our mother was still alive, she was very good in guiding both my sister and me, and I believe that I have found my place here. I first suspected that they'd not like my magical capabilities, and while this is still true for some, like Vilkas, some others have grown to appreciate magic, specifically when I can heal people after combat."

I smiled, and I understood the issue. Some of the circle, specifically like Skjor and Vilkas, firmly believed that using magic in any way was not proper for a Companion, but the others, Aela and Farkas, disagreed, with Kodlak՚s support, too; even though Aela and Farkas might not have much talent for magic, they at least started to appreciate the concept of having Shield-Siblings capable of doing magic. This was actually one of the few topics where the two brothers, Vilkas and Farkas, disagreed with each other's view.

"But," Irene continued, "this would not be good enough for my sister, and she would not be willing to follow orders most of the time."

"So, what is she doing now? Did she tell you where she's heading to? I mean, it's not my business, of course..."

"No, she did not tell me, and it's all right to ask. I am worried, but as I said, she has always been quite independent. Sooner or later I will hear from her again, I guess. I would not be surprised if she had a look at the College of Winterhold, but she might as well head towards Morrowind or even Cyrodiil and maybe the Arcane University, although crossing the border south may be an issue at this time."

"The Arcane University? That is the best place to study magic in the Empire, isn't it?"

"It used to be, Balu, until some decades ago, when it was still mostly independent. Nowadays it seems to be mostly under Thalmor control, and I suspect that they decide who is allowed to learn what there. I guess that they use this to make sure that the Empire cannot train many good mages for the next war, which will happen at some time."

Irene's statements, specifically those about the Arcane University and the suspected Thalmor control, gave me a lot to think about. The College of Winterhold, on the other side, was likely not under Thalmor control, at least if the situation there was at least somewhat similar to the game. Once again I reminded myself to add the College of Winterhold to the places I wanted to visit, sooner or later. I probably wasn't ready to trigger the events leading to Saarthal and all that, but as I wasn't the main character here, I probably wouldn't anyway. I wondered if they'd have snow and ice there even in mid summer?

In the evening, I got a chance to talk to Vilkas at Jorrvaskr, and I asked him if he had any books on the history of Skyrim at the time of King Harald and King Borgas. He smiled, made me follow him to his room, and lent me two books from his collection to read. One of them was called 'Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition/Skyrim', and while I certainly would not be able to memorize every detail, I found a few sections on what I was looking for:

It may be that the exploits of the near-mythical Ysgramor conflate the reigns of several early Nord Kings, as the Elves were not finally driven from the present boundaries of Skyrim until the reign of King Harald, the thirteenth of Ysgramor's line, at the dawn of recorded history. King Harald is also remembered for being the first King to relinquish all holdings in Atmora; the Nords of Skyrim were now a separate people, whose faces were turned firmly toward their destiny, the conquest of the vast new land of Tamriel. Indeed, the history of the Nords is the history of humans in Tamriel; all the human races, with the exception of the Redguards, are descended from Nordic stock, although in some the ancient blood admittedly runs thin.

There was also a mentioning of King Borgas:

Over the years, the Moot became permanent and acquired an increasing amount of power; by the reign of King Borgas, the last of the Ysgramor dynasty, the Moot had become partisan and ineffective. Upon the murder of King Borgas by the Wild Hunt, the Moot's failure to appoint the obvious and capable Jarl Hanse of Winterhold sparked the disastrous Skyrim War of Succession, during which Skyrim lost control of its territories in High Rock, Morrowind, and Cyrodiil, never to regain them.

So, this was interesting, but what was that 'Wild Hunt' being mentioned? Also, I could not find any mentioning of that special crown in the book.

[Author's Note: Balu still has a lot to learn.]