9th of Sun's Dawn
We found the fort - North Watch Keep. It's another one of those places like the ones we raided during the war. Lots of torture going on in the basement where no one can hear the screaming. I tried to make sure that we didn't leave any of them still breathing but there's probably one or two that got away from us. Once I realized what this place was, it was a bit like the Silver Hand. Everyone stayed behind me and mopped up anything that still had a bit too much life still left in it after I mowed through them. We made it to the basement to find that one of the wizards was either using Thorald in an experiment or just amusing himself. I couldn't tell and Thorald wasn't sure, either. They'd stopped questioning him ages ago because he's been "dead" for months. There isn't any information that Thorald would have that could possibly still be relevant.
Those chaurus humping Thalmor stole Eorlund Grey-Mane's son and made everyone believe that he was dead. Eorlund isn't officially a Companion but he may as well be and I think that's why they took Thorald. So, you sneaky, snakey Thalmor, I thank you for the gift. It's not even my naming day but you'd have a hard time getting me anything more useful. If any of the Companions had any doubts about laying waste to the Altmer, you just put that to bed for me. If anyone else objects, I'll be sure to trot this out too. Astri Thorsdottir is coming and I will do my best to make what Ysgramor and the 500 did in Skyrim look polite and tidy by comparison.
Thorald and Avulstein have taken off to join the Storm Cloaks. What does it say when taking off to join a war is safer than going home to your mother? I have a message to take back to Fralia that Thorald gave me. He assures me that his mother will recognize it. We're all cold and wet and tired so we're going home. I'll deliver the message tomorrow. I'll let Eorlund know what I've found out too. The Battle-borns aren't their enemies. They're just as scared of the Thalmor as every one else.
We've already ended the civil war so there was no reason to keep Thorald, other than the fact that he's Eorlund's son. There's a few camps of Imperials here and there but when I find them, Eric and I clear them out. I always offer to let them go home to Cyrodiil but so far none of them have taken me up on the offer. I wish they would. I'd pay their fare home. These are good men, loyal men. They're exactly the kind of men that we'll need to win in Summerset. I despise wasting them like this but I won't allow them to remain here and continue creating trouble. Once we take Cyrodiil, we can start exposing the depth of the infiltration of every Imperial institution and bottomless treachery of the Thalmor. These are the kind of men who might find themselves wanting to join us, once that happens. For this, I heap up more curses on the Thalmor.
I've got a new policy now. Any time I get word of any Thalmor prison, I'll be paying it a visit. The more people who magically return from the dead the harder it will be for the Thalmor to keep a lid on what they've been doing basically to everyone. If the mages at the college are right, they do this to their own people, too. All the more reason to turn Thalmor into a dirty word that is so foul that people spit after saying it.
10th of Sun's Dawn
I'm in Whiterun to deliver the message to Fralia. Much to my surprise today, a bunch of Alik'r wandered into Whiterun. They were promptly invited to leave and never return because they've been harassing all the redguard women in Whiterun and the surrounding area. Since Eric's so curious about Hammerfell, we wandered over so that he could ask them all his questions about the place. Ysgramor's beard! I didn't tell them but they're asking about Saadia, the new waitress at the Bannered Mare. I was racking my brain for a way to keep her from going back to the market today while Eric was chatting with them about Hammerfell. When Eric was done talking, I suggested that we go grab a drink and see if the bard is still playing. Eric, bless him, didn't bat an eye when I suggested that we go drinking at mid-morning. The reputation of the Companions outside Skyrim is such that I don't think it would occur to these Alik'r to question it. Don't get me wrong, when one of has something to celebrate, we celebrate it. I'm certain that Balgruuf gets more than few complaints about the late-night revelry at Jorrvaskr. It's also worth noting that the population of Whiterun is sensible enough not to build any houses near Jorrvaskr. I suspect that our parties have been legendary since well before my time with the Companions. That said, drinking this early the morning isn't something any of us would typically do. Maybe a bit of the hair of the dog, but no more than that at this hour. As we were leaving, they mentioned that they'd be at the inn in Rorikstead.
Eric followed my lead flawlessly. The gods blessed me with that man. We wander into the Bannered Mare and I pull Saadia aside to tell her that the men she's hiding from are at town gate. The instant of panic that washed over her isn't something you can fake. She's truly frightened of them. She says that she's been accused of treason because she spoke out against the Thalmor. They plan to take her back to Hammerfell and execute her. I told her not to worry and that Eric and I would handle this. Saadia mentioned that one of them was captured trying to sneak into the city and that he's in jail now.
We paid the prisoner a visit. The town guards don't seem to like him much. They're a lot ruder to him than they normally are with anyone. I had to stop myself from snickering. This dolt seems to be oblivious to the guards and offered to tell me where the band is holed up if I'll pay his fine and slip him enough gold to pay for passage back to Hammerfell. They've ditched him because he got caught by the town flatfoots. Balgruuf's men are better than average but I'm not telling this lout anything I don't have to. It's a hundred gold for his fine and another hundred or so to ship him back to Hammerfell, couple of hundred gold in all, so I agreed. I'd rather pay than have to go poking around every cave and hidely hole in Skyrim.
What he told me is that no town will tolerate them, so their leader Kematu made a deal with some bandits. Eric's father is he inn keeper and Mralki isn't overly picky about his guests as long as they pay their tab and repair any damages from fighting, If they got themselves kicked out of Rorikstead, they've really been atrocious. That made me like them even less. The prisoner tells me that they're hiding out with some bandits in cave called, appropriately enough, Swindler's Den. Bandits and assassins! It's two for one day in Whiterun. I'd kill them just for how they've been treating the women they come across. I've seen it a few times but hadn't thought to intervene other than just getting these knuckle-dragging Alik'r to move along. No wonder no town will tolerate them. The days when you get a wife by grabbing her hair and dragging her away are long over in Skyrim. The Alik'r seem to take different view and I think perhaps its time a woman put them in their place.
Eric and I are off to this cave to find out if these Alik'r live up to their reputation. The one in the cell seemed convinced he was sending us to our deaths. Pfft! I doubt that this will be more dangerous than either Alduin or Miraak. The bandits left some sentries outside, but they weren't even a nuisance. They didn't even get the chance to sound the alarm. The ones inside weren't much better, nothing more than ankle biters. Good, solid armor goes a long way to protecting you from arrows. Enchant that armor to resist fire, frost and magic and it goes a long way to protecting you from spells too. Learn to use your shield to stun an opponent and then you can run him through.
Eric hates bandits because they used to come and raid Rorikstead. The bandits would show up, rob everyone, steal the food, and trash his father's inn before moving on, so we spend a good bit of time patrolling around Rorikstead for bandits. Getting to clear out this bunch was just an added bonus and now we can put this location on our regular route. We cleared out the bandits before we make our way to the back part of the cave where we end up in some slightly tougher fights against some of the Alik'r. I'm still not overly impressed them, but then their leader called them to hold and asked us to parley under a flag of truce. Eric and I looked at each other - I shrugged and he nodded. Decision made to hear them out, we step through the waterfall. It's a fairly large band but nothing we can't handle. We fight dragons as a hobby so my sense of proportion is perhaps a bit skewed. I already don't like them. They're rude, arrogant, and generally nasty to women. They're going to have to tell a good tale.
I crossed my arms and stared at this Kematu for a long moment, sizing him up, trying to decide if I was willing to believe anything he might have to say. Inside I'm chuckling because this, coming from a woman, has clearly made him uncomfortable. I let the silence hang for bit before I finally asked why they're chasing her. Kematu claims that she sold out the city of Taneth to the Thalmor and that she's wanted for treason. Since I can't tell who's lying, I offered to send a couple of couriers so that I can get to the bottom of all this. I tell him if he's right, then I'll help him. If not... He thinks this over for a few seconds and then he proceeds to insult Eric and me in the same sentence. That insult was what to got me to draw Dawnbreaker. It was a decent fight, but I didn't even have to shout. I'll let the skeevers see to their burial. We stripped them of all their gear and hauled it back to Whiterun and sold it off. I don't know if Saadia is a Thalmor puppet yet, but there are no more Alik'r in Whiterun hold. If I find any others, they'll meet the same fate. I should be getting a reply back from at least one of the couriers in a few days and once that arrives, I'll know if Hulda's going to need a new bar maid or not.
12th of Sun's Dawn
Once I see the lay of the land, Eric will come with us next time. We talked and I won't leave those girls orphaned a second time so he's staying behind. The school, the horse breeding and the new farms need someone look after them. Jon's got the farm producing already and local food prices are coming down now that our produce is starting to hit the market. Balgruuf wanted to know why I was leaving trash in his war room. Trash! Thirty full sets of ebony armor, already enchanted and ready go is not trash. That's when I presented him with the set that I forged just for him. It's twice as strong as that steel plate he's been wearing and about a third of the weight. I also threw in some mail that he can put on when he wants to sneak down to the Bannered Mare. That made Irileth marginally happier. With all the local necessities taken care of, it's time to get moving.
The Merry Band and I are off to Bruma. I wanted to see how the Empire is doing these days and this seems like we might be able to a bit of recon. We crossed at the gate and they let me pass since I'm the Harbinger. We wandered about in Bruma and the Empire is in far worse shape than I'd even suspected. The whole thing is one big crumbling edifice. A few knocks in the right spots will bring it all tumbling down. We were stopped by bandits in six different places just going from the gate to first watch tower outside Bruma. Since the gate guards said that they're not letting anyone through, I can't imagine that there are that many travelers on the roads. I had the Merry Band with me and most have sense enough to leave us be. We're not known here but we're hard to miss. Jordis favors the old Akavari style armor. My own armor is custom and of my own devising, and I doubt they've seen it's like before. I've fashioned something else of my own devising for Jenassa out of an ebonized glass. It's as tough as glass and just light but black as night without the glow or sheen that glass armor typically has so that she can lurk in the shadows as she prefers. Rayya's decked out in Daedric armor and with swords to match. These bandits were sadly underequipped to even consider going to toe to toe with us. I'm a bit handicapped these days since I'm using Wuuthrad instead of Dawnbreaker and Ysgramor's Shield. I need the practice so that I'm ready when we go to face the elves. Still, we managed to best them all and showed up in Bruma carting all their gear and looking for merchants to sell it off to.
The wild animals are also a problem on the roads. Just between the gate and Bruma, we collected seven bear pelts, a dozen or so wolf pelts and a couple of werewolf pelts. That doesn't count the mountains lions and snow cats that also attacked us. Its pretty obvious that the patrols aren't nearly as frequent as they need to be to keep these things cleared out. If this is the state of the Empire, I think we can annex Bruma into Skyrim. The count in Bruma rules more or less like a Jarl now. I stopped in to chat with the Fighter's Guild and the local Synod Conclave. I thought I'd see what was going on before I announced my presence to widely. These Synod mages... Mirabelle was right - lots of talking and not much magic. They had a whole nest of necromancers operating pretty openly because the Synod is too pathetic to do anything about it. I took the Merry Band and we went and cleaned that mess up. Guess what we discovered? The whole nasty nest was being lead by the local Synod leader's father and sister. That makes you think long and hard about why that never got dealt with before we showed up. We've seen enough of Bruma for now and we're headed home.