Chapter 43: Learning about Mara
[21st – 22nd of Midyear 4E 202]
After the extended excursion to Hamvir՚s Rest and the events and discovery at Fort Greymoor, I had once again discussed future plans with Fiona, and we had decided to travel to High Hrothgar first and to Riften afterwards; we would possibly meet Ferwen in Riften, too, and she might later on travel with Fiona again. Our departure had been slightly delayed by a Companion quest to Loreius Farm, which was now owned by the former farmer's nephew and his family. We had gone there, Aela had decided that the wild animals should not be disturbed, and we had been able to make the good people understand. As compensation for the iron ore vein they had planned to use, the huntress had shown them another one, which was even more conveniently located for the forge the farmer's wife was building. On the way back to Whiterun, we had spent the night at Whitewatch Tower.
Early on the next day, we got up, had breakfast with the guards, and left towards Whiterun, taking our time. Nothing specific happened when we were on the road south towards the crossroads, but it was nice to see the sun rising higher and higher in the East; once more I enjoyed the sounds and smells of nature while walking, sometimes even closing my eyes for a few moments. We greeted the soldiers who guarded the road crossing and exchanged a few words with them; according to their words, it had been a quiet day so far. When we approached the Honningbrew Meadery, though, there seemed to be something like a commotion; loud shouting could be heard even through the closed door. We stopped to see what was going on, just to see the door pulled open; Whiterun guard commander Caius stepped out of the meadery and pulled another person out behind him, a male Nord. Said Nord protested loudly:
"I don't understand how that could have happened! You must believe me!"
"You assured me this place was clean! I'll see... see to it that you remain in irons for the rest of your days!"
"I beg you... please. This is not what it seems!"
"Silence, idiot! This is exactly what it seems! I should have known better... to trust this place after it's been riddled with filth. You're coming with me to Dragonsreach. We'll see how quickly your memory clears in the city's prisons. Now move!"
The guard commander briefly nodded in our direction and quickly pulled the Nord towards the city, while we looked at each other; what had that been about? Soon a male Imperial stepped out of the meadery and looked smug. When he saw us, he changed his expression to something more neutral, and Ria asked him right away:
"Hey there, do you know what happened?"
"Yes, I do. The former proprietor of the meadery, Sabjorn, wasn't careful enough about the quality of the mead, as it appears, and managed to serve something foul tasting to the guard commander. That's what he gets for his foul play, I guess. For the time being, it looks like I'm in charge here; I'm Mallus Maccius, by the way."
We also introduced ourselves. I had a closer look at the Imperial's face, and I didn't like what I saw; he looked like he wasn't really honest. However, that might have just been my personal opinion, and maybe I was mistaken; I shouldn't judge him without knowing him, and I did not think that I was a good judge of character anyway. While we talked, I saw something like a shadow leaving the meadery quickly, apparently trying not be seen. My eyes caught a glimpse anyway, and while I could not be sure, the person looked like the young female Dunmer I had briefly seen at Helgen before Alduin had shown up there, and once again in Ivarstead later. Wait, the events in the meadery with the foul mead and Mallus being left in charge, that was part of a Thieves Guild event, wasn't it? Did that imply that the shady Dunmer was maybe a member of that guild and that the primary quest line for the guild was in progress? Of course I could not be sure about that; if the quest series ran like in the game, the beehive burning at the mansion west of Riften should already have happened, right? Interesting. I would love to learn more, but likely the members of the Thieves Guild were not going to advertise those details and make them public, and even in Riften, I did not think that I could just march down the Ratway and ask the people in the underground inn something like "Hey, I wonder if you already found out who tries to hurt your business" or "Have you recently looked how much treasure is left in your vault" or similar. I did not really care either, although I had to admit that some of the related quests were kind of cool. In general, I had no ambition to join the guild, but it would be nice to know somebody who knew about what happened there. But then again, they likely wouldn't tell me anyway.
While we had stopped and I had been thinking about the potential context and background, the Imperial had excused himself, claiming that he was going to be busy now with taking over and cleaning up the mess the former proprietor had caused. Another person came out of the meadery, a male Nord, and when he saw us, he asked:
"If you need to sample some of the finest mead in Skyrim, you're in the right place."
"Thank you, but we were just passing when we saw and heard the commotion" Aela replied. "You work here?"
"Aye, name is Eimar. This is quite a small meadery, you know, compared to what the Black Briars run in Riften, but growing quickly. Sabjorn's only been running this place for a short time now, and look at it. What a shame."
"So, what's going to happen now?"
"Mallus is in charge now, and I just hope that this doesn't mean that the Black Briars are taking over. I never liked their mead as much as our Honningbrew. Sorry, need to go in again; don't want my new boss seeing me as lazy."
As I did not drink mead, I did not have an opinion on the quality and one or the other brand being better; I just shook my head, trying to make sense of all of that without avail, and joined the others, who had already started to move on.
When we arrived at the city gates, Caius and Sabjorn were nowhere to be seen and probably already on their way to the dungeons. As it was about noon now, I followed Aela and Ria to Jorrvaskr and ate with them. Lorgukh, the female Orc, had just returned from one of her own quests, and I enjoyed the opportunity to chat with her. I told her about the trip to Loreius Farm – I guess that the name was still valid, as the former owner's nephew and his wife had the same last name – and she opened up about her recent activities:
"You may have heard that we focused a little bit more on the Silver Hand recently."
"Silver Hand? Oh yes, those people who hate Companions with a passion and compete in the search for Wuuthrad fragments, right?"
"Exactly. Many of us, in particular the Circle members, are well known to them, but I had never met one of those guys until recently, and I have been able to infiltrate a couple of their hideouts. The first one was mostly empty and abandoned, but the second one was a full success. During the night I managed to loot their treasury; they didn't expect an Orc to be sneaky, I guess. I was able to retrieve another fragment; won't be long before we have all fragments together now. I hope Kodlak keeps them in a safe place; it wouldn't do if some of the Silver hand retaliate by using our tactics and raid Jorrvaskr."
"Wow, great! And yes, I hope that this is not going to happen, ever. Surely they wouldn't get into the city that easily, right?"
"Not if the guards are awake, true."
When we were done with eating, Lorgukh took her leave, saying:
"Excuse me, my friend, but I need some rest now; it has been a few long days for me."
I nodded and replied:
"Sleep well, Lorgukh!"
When she was gone, I thought back about what she had mentioned, that she hoped the Silver Hand wouldn't raid Jorrvaskr. I remembered that this was exactly what happened in the game, once almost all fragments had been collected. This was actually something I had failed to understand in the game. How had the Silver Hand managed to invade Jorrvaskr, with the home of the Companions being located right in a fortified city? Had they bribed the guards or found their way through the secret entrance? Maybe that had been explained, but I had either missed that or forgotten about it. That had been the time when Kodlak had been killed, right? I really hoped that this was not going to happen, at least not anytime soon; the Harbinger was something like a father to me, and likely also to many other Companions. Should I ask Aela about progress with the Silver Hand and the fragments? Maybe better not; I should not ask questions about things and details I should not normally know much about.
After eating I checked the calendar in the kitchen and realized that today was a Sundas; I had missed that fact earlier. Thus, I decided to spend the afternoon with reading, prayer and meditation, as I frequently did on Sundays. Once I had found a nice and quiet spot on a rock just outside of Whiterun, I opened up my copy of the book "The Ten Commands of the Nine Divines" once more, and today I read about Mara:
3. Mara says: Live soberly and peacefully. Honor your parents, and preserve the peace and security of home and family.
Live soberly and peacefully? If soberly implied not drinking alcohol, I was good. Living peacefully was a different story, and in this world probably next to impossible, well, maybe except for becoming a priest or a Greybeard.
Honor your parents? Of course; this was also one of the ten commandments of Christianity. However, difficult for me, as they weren't around. I had had good parents, but when they had become older, they had lived their life and I had had mine. Both of my parents had died a few years earlier, and one of the main things I envied them for was their marriage, which had been an unusually good and harmonius one as far as I had been able to tell.
Preserve the peace and security of home and family: I did not really have a family here, but the closest I had was the Companions. I certainly helped to protect the security in and around Jorrvaskr, so that I hoped that this counted.
But, why didn't she say anything about love? She was also the goddess of love, wasn't she? I interrupted my reading for a few minutes to play with Hanni and Nanni, who were frolicking in the area around me, and when they had run off again, I found a comment quoting another book, called "The Heart of Love":
Know, penitent, that Mara is always with you. Within your breast beats her love and affection. The symbol of her floral star adorns the walls at the wedding chapel. Her priests tend to the needs of husband and wife. And always is her gaze upon the young. To complete your venerations here, intone: "Fivefold blessings upon the lost and lovelorn. The Heart pumps the blood that connects us across the aurbis. May her grace always be upon me."
That did not help much either. What were 'venerations' and what was 'the aurbis'? I also learned that the Great Chapel in Bravil had been dedicated to Mara, but the text did not mention if that Great Chapel still existed. Finally I found some information on Mara in the Khajiit culture:
Nearly universal goddess. Originally a fertility goddess, the Khajiit associate her with Nir of the "Anuad", the female principle of the cosmos. She is the lover of Alkosh.
There wasn't really anything here relating Mara to love and marriage, but, as far as I know, many people got wed in the Temple of Mara in Riften, right? Oh, I had missed a short section, and it was titled "The Warmth of Mara":
Mara's Benevolence is everlasting and Her Warmth widespread throughout the world. Shut your eyes, lift your head to the heavens and bask in the glow that shapes our destiny! Lady Mara will embrace any regardless of their past. Cast away your misdeeds and freshen your spirit! Give unto Her all the compassion that you would give unto your birthmother and learn that She will never leave you, never cast you aside and never forsake you! Donations are being accepted at the Temple of Marain Riften.
At least a reference to the temple in Riften. But, did, as suggested, 'shutting my eyes and lifting my head' really achieve something? Was that akin to meditating? Some Skyrim texts were a little bit confusing and irritating for me; I much preferred the Holy Bible, but unfortunately I did not have a copy with me, and I severely doubted that any bookstore in Tamriel would have one for sale.
In the night before we left towards High Hrothgar, I had another odd and nerve-wracking dream:
Once again Fiona and I had mastered the 7000 steps up to the monastery on Kynareth's holy mountain. As usual, weather conditions weren't exactly favorable, at least not in the upper section of the mountain, and for the last few hours a veritable snowstorm had been all around us. Nevertheless, our housecarls and I had helped the Dragonborn along, and at least there had bee not evil frost troll on the path this time, just a few lobe wolves. Finally, an exhausted group entered the large stone building.
I had hoped that one of the Greybeards might have noticed and welcomed us, but nobody waited in the large hall, and no fire was lighted in one of the few fireplaces there; the guestroom was not prepared either; the interior actually looked kind of deserted, which was kind of odd in my opinion. After we had helped Fiona to find some rest on the bed, I went to search for some firewood, but found only very little; at least it was enough for a small fire to last a few hours, to help warm us up.
Once this was done, I started to search for the Greybeards; maybe they were meditating somewhere? Where they actually supposed to be here all of the time or did they sometimes go on something like a business trip? Maybe consulting Paarthurnax higher up on the mountain?
Despite careful searching, I was not able to find even a single one of them in the building, but of course it was possible that they were in a room I did not know. On a whim I opened one of the back doors and stepped out into the courtyard. Stretching my limbs I looked around, and all of a sudden I noticed four lumps of clothes on the ground, around the campfire close to the steps leading up to the summit. The fire itself was cold, and when I slowly walked over, with a bad feeling in my gut, I saw four corpses with dark grey cloaks – all four of the Greybeards were dead.
A dark shadow circled above, and I heard a voice saying: "They won't be teaching a Dragonborn anything any longer; she'll be on her own from now on!"
When I looked up, I saw Alduin, and after a few more minutes he turned and left. Although I did not know about the fate Paarthurnax might have encountered, everything was probably lost now, and slowly I slid down to the ground, feeling colder and colder inside...
The feeling of getting colder was still there, and with a shudder I noticed that I had dreamed again. Somehow I had managed to push my warm and cozy bed cover away, and as the night had been quite a cold one, which happened from time to time even in summer, I was shivering a little bit. Naturally, I was glad that this had been just a dream, and as the first signs of dawn were visible on the horizon, I quickly got up, looking forward to the upcoming trip today. Even if I tried, I would likely not be able to get back to sleep now, so I might as well get started with the final preparations for the upcoming journey.
To find some distraction from the odd and disquieting dream, I initiated my series of body exercises and stretches in the back yard of Jorrvaskr, and at least the welcome feeling of muscle exertion was there to lift my mood. Hanni and Nanni helped; for instance, I had managed to make one of them sit on my lower legs when I ran through a quick sequence of sit-ups. When my two saber cats had been younger and smaller, I had also managed to have one of them sit on my back while I was doing push-ups. This was nowadays getting increasingly challenging, with my girls getting heavier and larger. I still coped, but I had to work hard; this was the purpose of my exercising, though. Sometimes I observed one of them also doing something which vaguely resembled a push-up; they watched me, of course, and apparently they tried to imitate what I was doing; maybe they just considered that amusing.
For the start of such a journey, Fiona got up much earlier than usual, and after I had joined her and her housecarls for a quick breakfast at the inn, we left the city; Jordis had eaten earlier and bought some last minute supplies. Today we selected the northern route to get to Ivarstead and thus headed towards Valtheim Towers first. We, that was Fiona, the Dragonborn, with her housecarls Lydia and Iona and her direwolf Nymeria, and me with my housecarl Jordis and my two saber cat girls Hanni and Nanni. The initial part of the trip was uneventful, but soon after we had crossed the bridge across the White River southeast of Whiterun, a loud roar was heard in the sky, and when we looked up, we saw a dragon circling around the mountain peak southeast of us. At this time, though, the flying creature did not seem to be interested in us, but focused on somebody or something further up the mountain, while occasionally blowing fire. Fiona asked:
"Is that dragon just circling or attacking?"
"I am not sure – but look!"
A few seconds later the dragon dropped down on some kind of small ledge further up on the mountain slope, picked up something with its huge claws, took flight and dropped it soon again, so that this something fell to the ground close to us. We approached and looked at it, and Lydia commented:
"Ugh, this looks like it was a human being once."
Indeed, it looked like that. A person clad in high quality armor, maybe steel, had been picked and dropped by the dragon, and after a fall from high altitude – easily one hundred meters or more – that person was very clearly very dead, and the armor was badly damaged and not high quality any longer, not at all. It looked like the person had been roasted inside their metallic armor before dying from the impact, and that was not a way I wanted to die. Just looking at what was now on the ground close to us, not much more than pulp in a badly bent metal shell, made me almost retch; I had seen corpses before, but rarely bodies being mutilated that much. I looked away and examined the hill ahead of us; the location was somewhat familiar, and I suggested:
"This place up there is, as far as I know, a popular bandit lair, and maybe that was their boss."
Lydia nodded and added:
"Indeed, this location here, White River Watch, is known to be frequently inhabited by bandits. The armor, or what's left of it, does indeed look like it was a higher quality one, when it was in… working order."
"Didn't work well enough to safe the guy's life, though. This implies that the bandits in there are without their leader and easy picking, I guess?"
"Potentially, yes, but we may have to kill the dragon first – watch out!"
The last words had been almost shouted, with good reason. Said dragon had apparently decided to look for better challenges and dove down towards us; the housecarl had alerted us just in time, fortunately. This wasn't the first dragon we fought, though, and we all knew the drill. The Dragonborn did not know a frost shout yet, but she had considerable skills in operating a bow; I used my crossbow and Iona and Jordis also used their bows, and we managed to at least annoy the dragon. Eventually, with quick reaction on our side whenever we got attacked with flames, we managed to make the dragon crash into the ground, and it landed on an area higher up, likely close to the cave entrance. While we slowly proceeded in that direction, we heard more fighting noises, and when we got closer, we saw a couple of warriors attacking the dragon on the ground. They were not good enough, though, and we observed one of them getting roasted in their armor and the other one thrown away against the rock by the beast's tail. However, that interlude had allowed us to get close again, and all of a sudden the dragon was under attack by our bolts and arrows once more. It appeared that this particular creature was not a very powerful one; a final attack with swords and my axe killed it, and none of us had suffered any serious injury. Of course, there had been at least three casualties on the other side, likely bandits.
"With the people who died here being so close to the bandit lair, can we assume that they were bandits themselves?" Fiona asked, apparently thinking in the same direction.
"I believe that this is a very reasonable assumption" Iona confirmed. "Now, as we are here already, shall we explore the bandit lair or go on, what do you think, my Thane?"
Fiona was quick to decide:
"We are not in a hurry; let's go in, please."
So that was decided; I had no specific preference and we were indeed not in a hurry; thus I nodded, feeling some curiosity about what we might find inside.
[Author's Notes: One of those situations where enemies fight each other first. Getting some bandits killed by the dragon and the creature weakened by them is certainly a benefit.]