18th of Last Seed
Surely all the gods hate me. I'm surprised that I'm still alive. It's been a while since I've said that. I was jogging down a game trail, minding my own business, trying to get home when someone cold cocked me. It turns out that I walked right into an Imperial ambush. I came to in cart on the way to Helgen. The ambush was for none other than Ulfric Stormcloak himself. Ended up in the same cart with him. Not sure why he was the only one gagged.
I hope that I get to settle up with that snotty Imperial twat Rikke somewhere down the road. She admitted that she knew I wasn't a Stormcloak but still decided to send me to headsman's block anyway. I guess being poor and a Nord is death sentence now, at least where the Empire is concerned. Those muckleheads have forgotten where they come from. I might not have been a Stormcloak before but now… The Empire tried to murder me and so I intend to do what I can to return the favor. Thanks to my time with the Jomsbrodirs I have some ideas on how to go about that.
If the dragon hadn't attacked, they've killed us all. I had a great view of the dragon attacking while the headsman was trying to get his axe up. They did kill the horse thief. Rikke knew he wasn't a Stormcloak either. I'll be sure to let his family know what really happened to him at Helgen. The dragon didn't kill him. Rikke and Tullius did. That'll mean a side trip to Rorikstead. That's where he said he was from.
Thank the gods I managed to escape that nightmare with Ralof. He's been… kind. His whole family has. Gedur patched me up, gave me the key to her house and fed me until I was ready to pop. It's only a blanket on the floor by the hearth fire but it's safe and it's warm and her husband isn't creepy. Ralof has kept his hands to himself, too. Not that I might have minded a roll in hay with Ralof after that mess at Helgen. Nothing like a good death scare to get the juices flowing.
19th of Last Seed
Gerdur's neighbor, Alvor, is a smith and he's been teaching me. Alvor thinks I need a trade so I can support myself. I have a slightly different idea in mind. Remember me talking about returning the favor to the Empire? Any town controlled by the Imperials is about to be flooded with weapons. I'll make as many as I can and dump them cheap to the local merchants. Provide enough tinder and sooner or later there will be spark that lights it off. Even it just creates chaos, it will suit my purposes.
For an Imperial, Lucan's not so bad. His primary allegiance seems to be his sister then septims and in that order. Lucan is the local the trader, let me trade with him for less political gear. Probably best not to go wandering around in a Stormcloak uniform right now. It was all I could pick up in Helgen when we were running from the dragon. It also still had its previous owner's blood on it. Not exactly the spit and polish I'd prefer to present. Still, it was better than the rags the pirates left me with, but not by much. I'm not sure that these Stormcloaks will come to much, if they're this under-equipped. The Jomsbrodirs would mop them up in a trice. I won't say that out loud to anyone lest the Empire hear it and think to do it.
Ralof wants me to join up with the Stormcloaks, but I don't know that I want to. What I've seen of their standard issue gear says that they might not be a good long-term bet. I'm a no-name here and that suits me, for now. I sure as all the hells don't want to the Imperials either. There isn't enough gold in Tamriel to get me to join up with the group that tried to murder me just for trying to get home to see to Ma and Auntie Kelda. No one here knows much about Captain Astri Thorsdottir of the Jomsbrodirs. Here, I'm just another Nord. I can work with that. It's not always a bad thing to be underestimated.
Damn and blast. Ralof's gone off on some Stormcloak thing, but Gerdur saw the dragon. It's flying around here. We're not prepared to face that. She's asked me to take this old plow horse and ride to Whiterun to tell the Jarl while she organizes for a potential evacuation if the big black beast should attack. If I don't make it back, Ralof, you know where to start looking for me. I'll likely be in the Whiterun lock up. Gerdur says to use her name a lot and not mention my own. It's likely that none of them will recognize me since almost no one made it out of Helgen. We need the help though, so I'm off. I owe Gerdur too much to refuse such a simple request.
19th of Last Seed
Jarl Balgruuf wasn't what I expected. I half expected to end up in the dungeon. He asked if I'd seen the dragon and without thinking I said I had a great view of it from the headsman's block. I think the bluntness startled him, so I had to explain. I did manage to contain myself about Rikke, Tullius, and desire for revenge. Truly quelling unrest takes a gentler hand than either of those two seem to have. When you start executing people for no other reason than their birth and poverty, you just create the next generation of martyrs, rebels, and revolutionaries. The Empire is so riddled with Thalmor plants that they might as well be the Thalmor. At the very least, they're Thalmor hand-puppets.
Balgruuf on the other hand, seems reasonable and open-minded. He even has a Dunmer as his housecarl. Irileth seems to think that anything that bleeds that can be killed. We just need to figure out how to do it properly. I tend to agree with that. Even somethings that don't bleed can be brought down with steel. Some enchanted weapons and armor wouldn't hurt. I guess I'll need to learn how to do that too, since there's no way I can afford the prices that the local merchants are charging.
A thousand blessings on Alvor for teaching me how to forge my own gear. Now I'm kitted out half-decently all for mainly the cost of some time spent hammering away. Alvor even lets me use his forge when he doesn't need it. As long as I don't keep everyone awake hammering, no one seems to mind if I use it after he shuts down in the evening. Which is good, because I'm still learning so it takes me a bit to make even the simplest things.
20th of Last Seed
I ran into a priest of Arkay who promised that he'd see to Auntie Kelda and Ma if they were dead. Balgruuf even paid him to go find out so I don't have to. Why'd he have to go and do that? First Ralof and now Balgruuf. I think I might be starting to like it here. This thing with the dragons… I have to go to High Hrothgar. I don't know what any of this means yet so I'll just try to explain what happened. A dragon attacked one of the watch towers outside Whiterun. Balgruuf sent me with Irileth and some troops to try to fight the thing. We managed to kill it. When we did, I don't really know how to explain it. I absorbed something from it and now I can shout. When I shouted, there was a big rumbly reply and Balgruuf says to go to High Hrothgar. He says I'm Dovakin – dragon born.
21th of Last Seed
It's a long way to High Hrothgar. I managed to steal some slacker Imperial's horse, so it's not so bad. I ditched all the tack and made the horse roll in the mud, so it will look like the beast got loose and just wandered off. It's good to know I still haven't forgotten how to ride bareback. Ivarstead is even smaller than Riverwood. I turned the horse loose before I got into town. No sense surviving a dragon to get hung for stealing a horse. I still have climb up the seven thousand steps to get up to their monastery. I wish I had better gear. The climb looks steep, the path looks icy, and wind looks to bitter cold once you're out of the valley. I hope these priests have some good brandy.
212h of Last Seed
No brandy, sadly. It was interesting and I've learned a few things about what I apparently am. Including the fact that it's apparently spelled Dovahkin with Dovah being an old word for dragon.
It's also a long way down and no horse to steal to make the trip go a bit faster. I hope that there aren't any more trolls. I've not gotten enough strength back to really deal with a troll. The one on the way up almost ended me. I owe Gerdur another thanks for the healing potions she made me take. I need to see what else Alvor can teach me about smithing too. I have to have better gear than this if I'm going to murder an Empire.
I found Klemmet and let him know that I'd delivered the sack of food. Since it seems like I'm going to be regular visitor, I told him I'd take over the deliveries for now. It was a long walk back to Whiterun but now I've got almost enough gold to buy a horse. I guess I'll start shopping around for one. All the horses here look like they'd be right home pulling a plow. Big stocky brutes that don't move so fast. In their defense, almost nothing seems to spook them. I don't really have a stable. I'll have to ask Gerdur or Ralof where to keep one. Seems like I'll be needing one unless I want to being new boots on a regular basis.
22nd of Last Seed
I had time to think on the long walk back to Whiterun. I have the nascent bones of a plan. How is it that the Thalmor still walking the face of Nirn? Everyone hates them. I think it's time to play a little game I like to call "beat the bully". None of the little kids can ever beat the snot out of the big bully by themselves, but if they're smart enough to band together, they can pound the stuffing out of the little gobshite. Who hates the Thalmor? Dunmer – check. Bosmer – check. Empire – check. Argonians – check. Redguards- check. Nords – check. Khajiiti – Check. Yep – that's pretty much everybody that counts. I think it's high time that the Thalmor follow the Dwermer into Oblivion and beyond. Get rid of them and all their meddling once and for all. With them gone, we might actually have peace for a while.
The only problem is that most of these groups also hate each other. Largely, unless I miss my guess, because the Thalmor have been playing games, keeping us at each other so that we don't do exactly what I'm planning – band together and wipe them from the face of Nirn.