21st of Sun's Dawn
I ran into the guard captain today while we were out selling off all the gear we took off the bandits. Apparently, one of the residents is complaining because there's a strange man in his house. I told the guard captain that we'd been hunting for where the caves came into the city so he (wisely) let us come with him to apprehend the "burglar" who appeared from nowhere. Turned out that he was the thief, so we were able to hand over the trinkets, seal up the entrance, and present the count with the thief who stole them all in one go. We're headed back home. I've gotten two letters from the girls. One wants a tree house and the other is having nightmares so we're headed back home to be parents for a while. This revolution is going to have to wait a few days but I do have to go Windhelm and give Ulfric an answer about becoming a Thane in Windhelm. I'm going to accept but only after I have a long talk with the Dunmer in Windhelm.
Ulfric treats them like he does because they've refused to fight despite the fact that if he loses the war, the Thalmor will be coming for them too. I can't say that I can entirely fault his logic in this. The Dunmer are refusing to fight because they don't see it as their fight. This is most definitely their fight. The Thalmor aren't any fonder of Dunmer than they are Nords. That's something we have to fix. They came to Windhelm and they've been sheltered here first by Hoag, and then by Ulfric. If they want to be treated as equals, they're going to have to start acting like equals. So far the Dunmer haven't acted as equals, even though their hides are just as much on the line as all the rest of us. I've seen many who aren't Nords, even Argonians and Khajiit that have been treated with respect by the Storm Cloaks, because they consider Skyrim their home and they're willing to fight for their home. These Dunmer don't seem to understand the stakes.
I'm not sure how we're going to resolve this, but I have to try. I've asked Brunwulf to call a meeting to see if I can mediate this and reach an agreement. We'll need the Dunmer with us when we go to Summerset. I have some of the Khajiit and Argonian Storm Cloaks coming. The Nords won't like to hear a lot of what needs to be said about the xenophobia that exists here, but Dunmer, Khajiit and Argonians won't like a lot of what the Nords have to say about things like theft, skooma dens, and daedra worship, either. We still have to find common ground so that we can take all this pent up anger and resentment to our true enemy - the Thalmor.
23rd of Sun's Dawn
The courier showed up almost as soon as we got to Windhelm with a reply about Saadia. She was telling the truth about everything. Her name really is Iman and she was a vocal opponent of the Thalmor within her house and publicly, denouncing them for their atrocities. Because of her strident opposition, she was made to appear as a collaborator and spy for the Thalmor. Unable to find her, they have branded her a villain so that they can confiscate her wealth and property.
We had our meeting with the Dunmer, thanks to Brunwulf, at the Gnisis Corner Club. Ulfric, to his credit, is ashamed of what sad shape the Grey Quarter has fallen into. Even his lock-up is kept better than this. He's agreed to make some changes and to start on expansion of the city. I've suggested that he not follow Ysgramor's example and instead offered him a sum of gold to help fund it in exchange for a portion of the rents on the new properties. The Dunmer, to their credit, are smart enough to understand that if Ulfric loses this fight, that they're into the frying pan with the rest of us who have been actively supporting him. More than few have signed up to join the Storm Cloaks. Some of them are skilled enough to start training other troops and they seem a bit ashamed by their reluctance to sign up sooner. Sha'jassrah, La'Varaha, Walks-in-Storms, Seeks the Night and even a Dunmer, Atherin came to talk, rather openly, about their experiences. They really managed to turn the tide of the discussion and get everyone to agree that a united Skyrim is what everyone wants. All I know is that at the end of day, no one wants to worry that some Thalmor Justicar is going to show up, drag you away to parts unknown, for reasons unknown, and never to be seen again. That's a lot of what this fight is about and that is why we must win it.
I don't know how many of these folks here realize that Ulfric's spent some time in one of those horrible little cells. I know that he doesn't like to talk about it for obvious reasons. They turned him into an "asset" until he realized that they'd lied to him the whole time. When Torryg started giving rambling speeches after the Great War that talked about discounting Talos and praising the Empire for kowtowing to the Thalmor, I think Ulfric snapped a little. I wasn't there to see it for myself, but I know that Arngeir was very surprised by his actions. I also don't entirely blame Ulfric for wanting to replace Torryg since Torryg seems like he would have handed Ulfric over without much of a second thought rather than fight a war against the Empire and the Thalmor.
25th of Sun's Dawn
On the way back from Windhelm, I ran into some rumors about a Thalmor prison. We found our way into it and it's a horrible place. Most everyone inside was left to starve to death. We found one poor soul that's still living so we're taking him with us. Once again, I find it more convenient to use the Thalmor tactics against them. There's not a living elf, other the ones in my Merry Band, left in that place. We drug the bodies out and threw them into a cave for the bears, trolls and skeevers to deal with. Jenassa asked if I'm trying to get the local wildlife to develop a taste for Altmer. That's an idea I hadn't considered but it might have possibilities. I did get to test Ice Form on these Thalmor and it definitely seems to work on them like it did on Ancano and Estormo. That makes me wonder about wider applications. I think I'll drop some gold on the mages and get them to look into this. It seems like in a fight, this might be useful if they can figure out how to replicate it at scale.
We've loaded up the poor sot who's been beaten so badly that he can barely stand behind Jenassa. We'll deal with his injuries when we get back to house, where there's fires, food, beds, and bandages. I have my alchemy lab and enchanting lab to craft whatever might be needed to care for him. If worse comes to worse, I can have someone ride into Whiterun and get Danica to come and help. Eric and I carried him into the house and got him into one of the staff beds downstairs. Jordis went to make him some soup while I dumped some potions down him. He's stabilized for now and I've got a regenerate enchantment on a necklace that's around his neck, so I think he's going to be OK. I've thrown some blankets over him, left more soup and chamber pot while I go be a mother to my children.
Lucia is having nightmares about a sister that I don't think exists. It's possible that she's forgotten or hidden the memory because it's too painful. I told her that we'd figure it out. Ulfric hasn't been able to find her father and I'm wondering what the Aunt and Uncle really did. Was there another child and they put both of them out? A baby maybe that didn't survive? That Lucia feels responsible for? Gods above! What is wrong with people? Every time I think the bar is low enough not to be surprised, I find someone willing to burrow into the mud to get underneath it.
26th of Sun's Dawn
Our newest guest is awake and I've finally had some time to sit and talk with him. He's terribly impressed that I'm the Harbinger and the Dragonborn. His name is Kaidan and he's got a sword with Dragon script on it. He's awed that I can read it but this joor is still a dovah. He's up and around but I need to take him into Whiterun and buy a few things for him. Since he's got nowhere else to go, he's safer with us than he is on his own in case the Thalmor come back. He asked what he'd be doing and I told him we do a lot of fighting and then packing out the gear to sell so I can keep all my projects well-funded. We clear out bandits, collect bounties, work for the Companions on occasion, take care of things for quite a lot of Jarls. I'm a Thane in Markarth, Whiterun, Falkreath, Solitude, and Winterhold. I won't be a Thane to Skald, Maven, or Sorli, but I'm on good terms with the rest of them, even Elisif who hates Ulfric with a passion. One of these days, years from now, I'll explain to her why I think Ulfic did it but it's going to have a be a long ways down the road from where she's at now. Skald isn't so bad, but he's just asinine. I already have to put up with Galmar and my limit for crusty, old jackasses is set at one. Since I don't have to put up with Skald, I won't. Maven is as corrupt as they come and I hope Ulfric replaces her sooner rather than later. Not that Laila Law Giver was any better since she was essentially just an entitled twat. Sorli is a greedy, power hungry, grasping woman and folk in Morthal miss Idgrod, even with her visions and mysticism. I was Thane to Idgrod, but Sorli can sod right off. He's even more impressed by that. Hah! He should have been there when I punched Ulfric and threatened to stab Galmar.
He's asked me why I'd go poking around the prison. I told him I was looking for more sets of gilded armor to strip the gold off of which I think amused him to no end. Then I showed him the stash of the ones I've got hoarded to strip down before I either smelt them or sell them off. His eyes got a big when I opened the chest with twenty or so of the gilded sets still needing to be stripped. He asked me what I was doing with all of it so I took him to the farms and the school. He got to meet some of the orphans we've picked up. I've also taken him to some of the businesses I've invested in so he can see what I'm trying to do. In all the holds where I'm a Thane, I'm invested in at least one business, if not more. Winterhold really only has one, aside from the College and the inn.
We're headed into Whiterun to get him a horse and some things that I just don't feel like making - mostly basic stuff like a pack, bed roll, some winter clothes. Our horse breeding program isn't fully functional yet, so we'll go by the stables to see if we can find him a decent horse. When it comes to armor and weapons, I'll make those myself. I'm a better smith than maybe anyone but Eorlund in Whiterun and Eorlund is one of the best in Skyrim. My enchantments are pretty good too. He's emotionally attached to his armor but I was able to talk him into letting me upgrade it. It's steel but I pushed it as far as I could. Then I made some upgrades to his sword and bow, too. Both of those are ebony so I was able to really enhance them. I didn't tinker with the enchantments on them, but they do a lot more damage now than they did before he let me work on them in the smithy. i think he was happy when I gave them back because he asked if I could forge him some better armor, so I did. He, like me, prefers heavy armor so I've made him a set of daedric armor. I took his other armor and stowed in a cupboard that's just his and told him if he ever wants it back, he's welcome to it but there's no need to cart it around. I asked him if I could tweak anything for him and made some adjustments on a few things. He seems pleased so we went out front to let him test his new gear. All the guards all came out to watch and so did most of the Merry Band. I had Eric take the girls back inside because I don't know that they've ever seen me spar like this before. It seemed to upset them even though I explained it was just a practice.
If I'm going to add someone to the Merry Band, I needed to know if he can hold his own or if I need to train him. He's good with that two handed monstrosity he's so fond of. I can't match him with Wuuthrad, which is my two-handed weapon of choice. He can't match me with an ordinary sword, either so we agreed its draw. I'm impressed with his skills. He'll do, I think. Then I went to go find Eric and the girls so that we can all go to Whiterun to go shopping. I've been teaching the girls to fight. They've both got daggers and wooden swords now. Maybe in a year or two, some blunt iron weapons. We got to Whiterun and I started selling everything off to Ulfberth. Gods bless that man! He never bats an eye no matter what I come dragging in with. I could bring him fifty sets of Thalmor kit and he'd buy it all. He's as married as I am so we flirt with each other both to his wife and Eric's dismay. It's become Ulfberth's and my inside joke, in some ways. Our newcomer was watching this and clearly puzzled, so I'll have to explain it all later. Ulfberth pays out more gold when I flirt with him a bit and that gold keeps all the plates I have in the air spinning, even if if it makes Eric a touch uncomfortable. If I were going to hide anything about my relationship with Ulfberth, I wouldn't be flirting in front of Eric or Ulfberth's wife Adrianne and it's done rather openly, if tamely, in front of both of them.