Chapter 46: Encounters on the 7000 steps

[24thof Midyear4E 202]

Fiona and I with our housecarls Lydia, Iona and Jordis and our animal followers Nymeria, Hanni and Nanni were traveling again. For various reasons, mainly to continue the Dragonborn's 'education', in particular giving her a chance to learn more shouts, we had decided to visit High Hrothgar once more; for the last two days we had made the trip from Whiterun to Ivarstead, interrupted by a dragon around White Water Watch; that gave us the opportunity to also loot the bandit lair there. In the Vilemyr Inn in Ivarstead we had met Siona, the Redguard; we had met her before, and she was a friend of Rayya. She had suggested to go with us halfway up the mountain, and we had gladly accepted her company for the next day.

As this was almost mid summer, it was good enough to start our trip with sunrise, and at first we had very pleasant and comfortable temperatures, fitting the forecast Wilhelm had provided. When we encountered the first emblem, I stopped for a moment and asked:

"Fiona, should we take the time to read all of the etched tablets this time?"

"No, let's not bother. Master Arngeir told me about them, and while the effect gained by reading all of them – animals will neither attack nor flee for a day or two – is nice, it does not make much sense for us, as we are going to stay up there for a few days. Pilgrims might benefit, but they very rarely manage to get up to the tenth emblem. Besides, we both know the 'Kyne's Peace' shout."

"Oh, all right then."

I had forgotten about the benefit, and if it actually was like Fiona had said, this was indeed not really helpful, considering that there were barely any animals up there. In the game, I had usually read all emblems each time I got up there, only to find out on top that I did not gain any special effect because I likely had missed one of them. I wondered if there was a mod warning you if you read emblem number eight but had missed number seven before? In the game, I had also started to experiment with a survival mode mod which also limited fast traveling; this implied that I always had to use the stairs whenever I wanted to visit the Greybeards, but I had not minded the additional time required for that, as this increased the feeling of immersion. Besides, of course, getting up to High Hrothgar from Ivarstead in the game only took like ten minutes real time or so, and the view was always nice.

Moving on, we met a number of other travelers, some going up, and some coming down, from staying over night somewhere half way up. I enjoyed the morning hike very much, and it was also nice to have Siona around for occasional chatting. Of course, I was specifically looking forward to seeing the Greybeards again. Apparently my good mood was visible on my face, and Fiona asked:

"You are enjoying that, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am, very much so. Not only will I see the Greybeards again, but also do I like those mountain hikes."

"As a matter of fact, I do, too; I used to live in Kärnten, after all. As my legs aren't that long, people around me need to adapt to my speed, though. I bet that you could make the trip up there in one day easily, if you wanted."

"Actually, I probably could, true. But it's also nice to look around and take my time, enjoy the scenery and the view and all that."

"Such as the ice wolf heading for you from the left?"

"What?"

Frantically I looked left, and indeed there was a lone ice wolf just preparing to jump at me. Why always me? I should have assumed that my size made me a less appealing target for wolves, but no, the wolf jumped right at my left arm, so that I had barely enough time to start a turn. The beast collided with my left side instead, but did not give up just yet and snapped upwards, towards my neck. Again just barely soon enough I wrapped my left arm around the wolf's neck instead; the beast tried to scratch my chest with its paws, but my armor was good enough to protect me from that kind of attack. Using both arms now I threw the animal on the ground and cast flames, again with both hands. The wolf yelped, but I did not stop, and very quickly a very hurt animal with partially singed fur ran away as quickly as it could. I released the breath I had held for the last few seconds and sighed:

"What do wolves see in me? An appetizing meal? And why did Nymeria not intervene?"

Fiona smirked and replied:

"No idea, but better you than me. And honestly, the way wolves like you, you do need to practice handling them. About Nymeria, she has her own mind. Hey, you've got Hanni and Nanni to protect you when and if needed."

She had a point, but at least I had managed this one wolf without any injury on my side, except for my hurt pride. It could be much worse; like, I could have been a total coward and run away from wolves instead of fighting them, like little Wickie. Seeing the housecarls trying hard not to grin or even laugh, I looked at them and asked in a stern voice:

"Does anybody have to add anything to the topic?"

Lydia, who had seen my issue with wolves for the longest time, gave up and laughed, and with a smirk I told Jordis and Iona:

"Come on, don't try to suppress your feelings any longer. Lydia is right, this is something to laugh about."

Now we all laughed, and Jordis admitted:

"I am glad that you see it like that, my Thane. I really enjoy working with you and for you, and I'm quite impressed by seeing how you handle certain issues, but you and wolves – this is a source for amusement."

"Right, it is, and I fear that it will be for some time in the future, too."

I really should do better and notice approaching wolves early enough to get my axe out and ready; that was quite obvious. In theory, my Khajiit senses should give me an early warning in many situations, but either I had not paid attention to my senses or the situation had been difficult – the wolf had approached against the wind, and our conversation had covered any noise the animal might have made. As this was somewhat embarrassing after all, I decide to change the topic and asked:

"Have you noticed that we haven't seen Klimmek in Ivarstead this time?"

Fiona responded:

"I have not paid attention, but now as you mention it, you have a point. But look, who is that ahead of us?"

"Right, this seems to be Klimmek – he must have started earlier than we did!"

It took us a few minutes to catch up with the almost bald Nord, who was, as usual, carrying a large backpack, presumably with more food and supplies for the Greybeards. He stopped and waited for us as soon as we got in shouting distance and called out, and he smiled when we approached.

"Hey, fancy meeting you again" he greeted us.

"Same here, and a wonderful good morning to you!"

"So, I guess, the Dragonborn and party have another appointment with the Greybeards, right?"

"Well, not exactly an appointment," Fiona replied, "but I am always welcome up there, you know."

"I bet that you are. Mind if we walk together?"

"Are you sure that you wouldn't prefer us to take your load?"

"Nah, not this time. I do actually enjoy the hike in this beautiful weather. With you around, I don't have to worry much about dangers, at least."

"All right, then let's walk together."

Klimmek wasn't very young any longer, but he sure had a lot of stamina, and despite his heavy load, he could easily match our speed, which was aligned with the Bosmer anyway. As he explained, he had been going very slow, and that's why we had been able to catch up. The Nord has looked at Hanni and Nanni a few times, and he mentioned:

"Your two saber cats have grown a lot since I saw you with them last time. So, you still get along with each other?"

"Yes, they have grown and are still growing, and my two girls are the best friends I could ever want to have."

The Nord shook his head and replied:

"Strange things happen, indeed. A Khajiit with two adolescent saber cats, a Bosmer with a big wolf; maybe I should try to tame a snow bear or a frost troll?"

I grinned and he started to laugh; we continued to talk while we ascended, and I asked how things were going for him. The Nord smiled and responded:

"Great, actually, just great."

"How so?"

"Well, last year I had a crush on Fastred, the farmer girl, for some time, and I had been unhappy for many months as she seemed to fancy Bassianus and not me. She had an ambition to move out from Ivarstead to Riften or so, like seeing the world, and I really prefer to stay here."

"So, what happened?"

"A few months ago a young lady came to town, and she acted in the name of Lady Mara, as she claimed. She talked to me and some other people, and she made me understand that Fastred wasn't the right mate for me; I guess that she's too young for me anyway. Fastred got engaged to Bassianus, and they left for Riften together, likely to get married there. Her father wasn't happy about that, but she's no longer a minor."

"And how did this make you happy, Klimmek?"

"Just after Fastred had left, the agent of Mara gave me a hint, and she arranged a long talk between me and Temba Wide-Arm; I learned about a major bear trouble she was having. It turned out that some of those bears were also troubling other citizens of our town, and I went bear hunting for a few days."

"Bears? Were they maybe trying to catch salmon in the river?"

"As a matter of fact, some of them were; they seem to like fish, and while it needs some practice to catch them while they jump up the rapids, some bears seem to master the art. As some of the best spots are very close to the town, citizens were worried and afraid; I almost felt sorry for killing the bears, but they were just too close to the houses. Anyway, Temba was very grateful for my effort; we talked more, and guess what, we are together now."

"Temba and you?"

"Yes, Temba and me. She looks a little grumpy at times, specifically to strangers, but she's got a good heart. She moved from the basement room in the Vilemyr Inn into my house, and we get along splendidly. She keeps running the Ivarstead sawmill, and I handle hunting, fishing, and more; Gwilin still helps out at the sawmill from time to time, too. This agent of Mara was indeed sent by the Divines!"

Siona agreed and confirmed that Temba and Klimmek seemed to be happy with each other, and the Redguard used the opportunity to take her leave and turn around; she wanted to make sure to get back to Ivarstead in daylight. While we waved to Siona walking downhill, a thought suddenly came up in my mind. An agent of Mara? Wait, wasn't there a series of quests starting in Riften, in the Temple of Mara there, to bring various lovers together? Out of curiosity I also asked:

"Klimmek, say, how did this agent of Mara look like?"

"Oh, she was a very tall Redguard lady, quite pretty, with very cute oddly shaped eyes, and unless I am mistaken, she even had Elven ears; a rare combination."

What? The only lady I knew fitting that description would be Janina. But of course, she had mentioned that she was close to Lady Mara, and it certainly fit that she'd do quests for her. So, she had been doing one or more of the Mara specific tasks? What else was she going to do? Wait, her next stop would have been Markarth, with a quest for Lady Dibella, as I had heard earlier from one of the cart drivers. She sure was getting around!

We had some more conversation with Klimmek while we proceeded along the path and the steps. Time sure passed faster in nice company; with all of the talking, dusk was getting close all of a sudden, and as usual, we had to find a nice spot for a camp for the night. Due to the season, we had not reached the snow and ice area quite yet, and we found a proper spot close to where we had stopped for the night during my first trip up here.

The next day started cloudy, and we could guess that there might be snow falling down further up. We continued our ascent after a quick breakfast, and indeed, in late morning a light drizzle slowly changed into snow. The higher regions of this mountain and the northern part of Winterhold might be the main places in Skyrim with eternal winter, I supposed, with snow and ice dominating even in mid summer. Fortunately, for us here it was only light snow, and we still made good progress. We passed the section of rocks and cliffs where a frost troll had been lurking before, and I hoped that we might be able to reach the building we were headed for without any incident, but before our goal was in sight, I caught side of a small blueish flying shape. At first I suspected an ice wraith approaching, but the shape was smaller and somehow different, and it did not attack us, at least not right away. Klimmek told us:

"Oh, look, a wisp."

A wisp? Wasn't that supposed to have a wispmother somewhere close?

The Nord added:

"Let's avoid antagonizing it; we don't want to attract the attention of the wispmother; she must be somewhere around."

Fiona was getting curious:

"Wisp? Wispmother? What is that?"

"Can I explain later? Let's first try to leave them behind, shall we?"

Klimmek's advice was reasonable in my opinion, and we tried to ignore the wisp while moving ahead. Hanni and Nanni, though, seemed to regard the wisp as something to play with, and before I realized they were doing, they approached the blueish shape. The wisp was joined by another one, but the two probably misunderstood the intention my saber cats had, and moments later a fight had started, which ended with the two shapes being down on the ground, lifeless. I wasn't sure if this was a problem, but Klimmek shouted:

"Move on and be on your guard!"

That we did, but not quickly enough; a larger blueish shape emerged from behind a large rock to our right, summoning four smaller shapes right away. The large shape also cast some frost spells at us, and we had to evade and defend. Fiona reacted quickly and shouted 'YOL' at the large shape, which slowed it down. I helped with flames and used my axe to attack, while the others focused on the smaller shapes. However, getting close might not have been such a good idea, for two reasons. One was that the shape I approached partially looked like a woman, at least the upper part. While I had realized long ago that any issues and hesitation fighting against women were not really sensible in Tamriel, I looked first and kind of studied the creature, which was, after all, hostile. That cost me, as the creature itself did not waste any time to study me, but cast something right away. All of a sudden I felt very cold; the large shape had attacked with some kind of frost spell, so that I could barely move any longer. Iona had noticed my predicament, and while I needed some time to defrost myself she stepped in and attacked from the other side; that gave Fiona the opportunity to use her own flames spell, and as soon as she could shout again, the second 'YOL' killed the enemy.

"What was that?" Fiona asked as soon as the fight was over.

"A wispmother and her wisps" Klimmek replied. "They are creatures which only live in cold areas, and they usually only attack if they are attacked themselves. For single or untrained travelers, they can easily be deadly, but apparently they are helpless against a Dragonborn who can shout."

"Helpless? Not so sure about that" I objected. "After all, the wispmother almost deep freezed me."

"Well, if your saber cats had not attacked the wisps…"

"They probably only wanted to play!"

"Well, yeah, how many people understand that when two large saber cats run towards them?"

He had a point, and I just nodded. Hanni and Nanni running at them would scare off most people and animals, and only those close to us would understand their intention. They'd never hurt their friends, of course, but the wisps likely saw danger approaching. Iona suggested to use the opportunity to have our lunch break, and that seemed to be a good idea. While we did not spend some extra time to find firewood, Iona prepared the ingredients for a soup, and Fiona heated it with magic; that was quick and efficient, and I was not the only person being happy to get something warm into my stomach. I also investigated the dead wisps and wispmother on the ground, and I collected a few pieces of the remains. While I did not know what they might be good for, Arcadia and Mia would know.

When he had started to hike again after our lunch break, though, the conditions changed into a blizzard; we huddled together, with me going first, and even I was quite cold when we reached the gates of High Hrothgar. Once Klimmek had deposited his supplies in the huge chest outside, Fiona decided:

"In those conditions, we should really also give Klimmek a chance to warm up inside. I will ask Arngeir to allow him in, that once at least."

Klimmek tried to object, but the Bosmer insisted, and she had already knocked. Master Arngeir opened the door, and he said in his usual slow speaking:

"Welcome to High Hrothgar again, Dragonborn and party."

"Master Arngeir, it is a pleasure to be here again. This time, may I ask that Klimmek be allowed to rest at least for one night until this blizzard has passed, please? He had been very diligent to carry supplies up here for years."

"Well, we do not usually invite others in easily, but I guess that we can make an exception. So, welcome to you, too, Klimmek."

The Nord looked surprised and clearly had not expected that, but he nodded and bowed to the Greybeard. A minute later we were all inside, and Master Arngeir first led us to the main hall. When we were all there, he raised another concern:

"Now, I see that you brought some animals with you this time. While we realize that some people have those with them, the nature of your followers urge me to ask if they are going to disturb the peace and tranquility of this location."

Master Arngeir did not really looked concerned or worried, but I understand that he needed to ask; maybe he also wanted to learn if our followers were house trained; he had phrased this in a very polite and refined way, too. Fiona replied:

"Of course, Master Arngeir. Balu's saber cats have been with him since right after his last visit here, and my own direwolf will also behave herself. We will make sure to send them out for hunting and such frequently."

"Not at the same time, though, I guess" I added. "They are not too friendly with each other. In here, we will of course make sure that they behave and respect the place. Hunting outside is not a problem, right?"

Master Arngeir nodded and responded: "Hunting is acceptable as long as it takes place on the west side of High Hrothgar; the backyard and east side is off limits for such mundane activities."

That made sense, and I assumed that the barrier to the east also kept animals out anyway. For now, the Greybeard seemed to be satisfied with the result of his inquiry, and he showed us to our rooms. As before, there was only the one large guestroom, with a large and a small bed, and there was the small unheated storeroom next to it with a single small cot. Klimmek insisted to take the latter; he claimed that he was a Nord and did not mind the lack of heating, as long as he got a nice warm blanket. In addition, as he claimed:

"You are all together, and I wouldn't want to split you up."

He did have a point, and we quickly decided that I was going to claim the small bed in the guestroom, while Fiona and Iona would share the large one. As we had a long hike uphill behind us, we decided to do the talking on the next day, and rested. Fortunately, the beds in the guest rooms were placed along opposite walls with abut three meters distance between them; that was good enough for Fiona to not be bothered much by me being in the same room. While we were allies and, maybe not friends, but at least comrades, Fiona and predator cats close together did still not work, and knowing the reason for her issues, I could not blame her. For that first night, the Bosmer kept her direwolf in the room and next to her and Iona's bed, while I sent Hanni and Nanni outside; the cold up here did not bother them – after all, they were snowy saber cats and had a fur which was probably about as dense and well insulating as that of a Siberian tiger.

[Author's Notes: In the game, I don't think that I ever encountered wisps when climbing the 7000 steps. Also, the Greybeards never objected to any number of followers I brought along, but then the in-game followers didn't really need beds and food, and neither did the player character, unless the survival mode was enabled.]