Year 4E 211
10 years after civil war
Travius stepped through the gate leaving the college of Winterhold. The recently renovated stone road from the main entrance of the city through the markets and the tavern leading to the college glistened in the mid-day sun. He walked towards the Jarl's longhouse directly across from the tavern. From a short distance he could hear the laughter of children and their chaotic excitement.
"My turn, my turn"
"Me next!"
"I wanna go higher"
He saw Vhornyak, his Orc house carl and best friend. During the daytime if Vhornyak wasn't needed at the college or on a bounty this is where he would most likely be found. Near the school House playing with the children.
Vhornyak, or as the children would call him 'Mr Vory' since they couldn't always grasp pronouncing an orcish name, loved the children of the city and made every opportunity he could to play with them and bring them all joy. Often he would bring them toys and souvenirs he collected during his travels with the college. Most of these kids had very little to no interaction with an orc before and he was happy to make that experience positive for them.
There were at least three kids hanging on each arm, two on his back and one less courageous one hanging into his thighs. The children were seeing how many of them It would take to make him fall. While he would occasionally grab one and lightly throw them off. The children would then run back and jump on him again to begin the whole process over again. Sometimes he would fall over on his own accord to let the kids think they had bested him. He stood roughly seven feet tall and three hundred fifty pounds, the children were never actually going to take him down but he saw no reason to let them know that.
Travius watched him for a moment until they made eye contact and then he nodded towards the long house signaling to him it was time to go in with him.
Vhornyak had a look of disappointment on his face but he understood. He was the Thanes Housecarl and with that came responsibility, even boring stuff like the weekly lunch meeting with the Jarl and the city's leaders. At least the Jarl always had a great assortment of food he could distract himself with while they talked.
He fell to the ground one final time and told the children they had defeated him. The children all cheered at their victory believing they had conquered the beast.
"Wait!"
A nord girl of about 7 yelled out and ran to him showing Vhornyak a tattered cloth doll. The doll was intended to be a Legion Soldier. The child had rubbed grass in it to give its face a green tint along with two small chicken bones stuck in the bottom of the doll's mouth replicating the underbite common on most orcs.
He grabbed it and gave it a good look. "This looks exactly like me! What a great talent you have" he excitedly exclaimed.
"I get scared when you leave the city and this makes me feel not so scared until you come home" she said as she embraced him for a big hug.
He hugged her back and placed the doll back into her hands. "And I always will" He responded with a slight swell to his eyes.
He began to walk away while the kids Dissonantly accepted, he had to go back to being an adult. No one was more disappointed with this than Vhornyak himself. He walked toward the long house while keeping an eye on the kids until they returned behind the gate to the school. It was probably unnecessary but with the things he had seen over the years the local children put his protective nature into overdrive.
He intentionally dragged a little bit going to the door. Travius held the door for him and motioned with his hand for him to hurry up. Travius understood though. He wasn't fond of these meetings himself. On a beautiful day like this neither of them wanted to spend it at a table listening to Business owners and politicians discuss problems that they barely considered relevant to themselves.
"Do you think I'll be able to fall asleep without anyone noticing?" Vhornyak asked
Travius chuckled as they walked inside "Well, you snore like a drowning frost troll so I highly doubt it".
They nodded at the guards by the door and continued into the great hall where a large table sat in the middle. Vhornyak's grumpy frown from having to attend the meeting immediately turned to a smile as he took his seat, which was easy to identify as his seat as it had four bottles of mead whereas everyone else just had a wine glass. This small gesture made him realize his attitude about the meetings was not warranted and he felt a slight hint of guilt as he was greeted warmly by the other attendees.
This was an unofficial council of sorts for the Hold. The meetings were of course led by Jarl Kraldar who sat at the far head of the table. His figure and demeanor made it obvious at his age he was born to wealth and didn't have the size or wear and tear of most nords. None the less, he was respected and was considered much more in touch with the commoners than most nobles were. Even those who didn't like him (which was a small number) had to admit he had done an incredible Job rebuilding the hold and making the city of Winterhold a place people actually wanted to be again.
The right side of the table consisted of the city guard captain Yergrun Wind-Shield a grizzled old Nord , the Jarls House Carl Thonjolf, the young Dunmer owner of the lumber mill Kalba Mazurat and Vhornyak.
On the left side was Travius, the college Archmage Yarwil Vanifar, Tavern owner Dacur and as a recent addition to the council a Red and Black furred Khajit named M'arqes. He was the owner of the caravan company operating out of Winterhold.
All of the people here were chosen as the Jarl felt they represented the rebirth and growth of Winterhold. The men all greeted each other loudly. The usual small talk about how their respective businesses are doing and about each other's families filling the hall as the kitchen staff served the food . They had been having these meetings monthly now for about 3 years and had all become good friends in the process.
The Jarl stood up and began to clink his wine cup with his fork, signaling it was time to begin.
"As always, thank you all for being here. I know we're all busy men. This month's meetings will be a little different than usual.
It's been ten years now next month that I was appointed Jarl of this Hold. Seven years since Yarwil became arch mage of the college and five years since we've been blessed to have our Thane and his housecarl. It would be complete arrogance to think that the progress this city has made is only because of the men in this room. Everyone from myself to even the most unknown dock worker deserves credit. I want to show my appreciation to everyone.
We're going to build an Arena. One that will make the Imperial City Arena look like a bandits dog fight cage. It will hold plays, banquets, jousting and of course, Gladiator Battles. Maybe we'll even be fortunate enough to see our Thane choose a partner and we can have a wedding!"
"Here, here!" Yarwil yelled out and all the Men began to tap their silverware on their glasses. At this point it was a tradition at these meetings to make at least one comment to Travius about getting married. It was all in good fun as they knew that was probably the only thing you could do to make Travius uncomfortable.
"I keep offering but he keeps turning me down" Vhornyak said above the noise while Unceremoniously stuffing the rest of his food into his mouth. Causing the men to tap more frantically.
"We all know it'll have to be quite the strong woman to impress Travius….but probably not that strong" interjected Kalba.
"Or that ugly" M'Arques chimed in Causing the laughter to bellow through the entire longhouse.
The jarl took a minute to appreciate the laughter. He took a real sense of pride in the friendships that had been built along with the city.
"Alright gentlemen. Back to business" he finally interjected. "We have an arena to plan."
...
TRAVIUS VELSALA
Later that evening.
Travius took a seat at the Bar of the Frozen Hearth, the Inn & Tavern in Winterhold. The Tavern was lively and packed, as it was almost every night. A stark contrast to what it was like five years ago when he and Vhornyak first arrived here. A tall lanky Redguard woman slowly pranced around the warming yellow fire inside the hearth in the middle of the building. Singing and strumming a slow but graphic fable about the adventures of the dragon born.
He was immediately greeted by Anaelle, the fair skinned dark haired Breton woman working behind the bar. She was already opening a bottle of his preferred black briar mead.
She leaned in on her elbows on the bar. Then as he approached, she set his drink down, with her left hand she brushed her hair back behind her ear and gave Travius a very large but somehow still shy smile, as she always did. Her eyes were blue but with a unique dark red hue surrounding her blue pupils. Travius had become quite fond of that smile and those eyes in the time since she arrived in Winterhold.
With her right hand she rubbed her index finger around the bottle with a faint blue light glowing from her fingertip and frost followed on the bottle.
"I've finally mastered getting the mead cold enough just before it freezes but not crack the bottle. It's easy with the ale mugs but the glass bottles were tricky, I wanted you to be the first to get one" she proudly stated.
Travius took a large gulp from the bottle and his eyes gave away how good and crisp it was. Causing her to blush
"Well, I'm honored and well worth the effort, it's perfect" he then took another large swig.
"We have venison stew or horker sausage pie tonight…unless you've got someone at home making you dinner tonight?" She said with an obvious silly infliction but, much like him while drinking his mead, her eyes gave her away. She was very much hoping for the answer to be no.
Travius finally cracked a grin "No, I sure don't. Much to Kraldar's dismay. Sausage pie sounds great, another mead as well please".
He was fairly used to being flirted with and being propositioned quite regularly. He was a handsome young imperial, as tall as any nord, physically fit with well-maintained long black hair and his dark green eyes that made his physical appearance that of a hero knight in children stories. Not to mention one of the most powerful battle mages in all of Tamriel, a war hero, a known companion to the Dragonborn and the Thane of Winterhold.
Someone always had a family member to introduce him too, always knew of the loveliest woman he should meet. He sure did enjoy meeting them, but Anaelle made him feel different. She had moved to Winterhold roughly a year ago and had been holding his interest for quite some time. Especially since the Jarl has now Mentioned three times this week how much him and wife would love to throw a wedding for his popular thane, throwing hints even more blatant than Anaelle was.
He was impressed with not just the drink itself but with the small yet powerful display of her control over her magic. She was a part time student at the college. He remembered a few months ago when a drunken traveler had lost the keys to his room, and she was able to pick the lock as swiftly as any thieves guild member he had met in his travels. She also had been known to make her own drinks from the ingredients she grows at her modest property. He was always taken aback by her beauty and friendly demeanor, but he was also intrigued by her talents and the inevitable secrets behind her set of skills.
He turned around in his chair and took a moment to people watch. The sun had just set and the tavern began to become more and more full. A large crowd gathered around the fire, enjoying the warmth and the performance of the bard. To his left down the bar was a group of three Nord mercenaries, trying their best to impress female Dunmer college students. Across the room was a large group of Khajit and Argonian travel workers. Throughout the whole place were college students of all races and nords from all over Skyrim, all there for their own reason.
Travius noticed something by the front door that caught his attention. A Bosmer elf teenager in very tattered, dirty clothing and an exhausted look on his face. To most people he just blended in with all the traveling workers staying in the inns and camp sites. Travius knew the truth behind that look in his eyes, it wasn't exhaustion from a hard day's work, it was hunger.
The wood elf thought he was sly, walking past tables scanning them and when someone had their back turned an apple or a sweet roll would disappear. He was very clumsy, and it was obvious to Travius he had no idea what he was doing. Had the people he was stealing from not been so drunk he would of been caught right away. Travius saw him do this to three different tables until the elf got too bold and tried to grab a bottle of wine but was bumped by another patron loudly telling an exaggerated war story in a drunken stupor. This caused the elf to knock over the wine and spill it all over the woman at the table who loudly snapped at the boy and got the attention of the surrounding tables. In a panic he began to bolt towards the door.
Before he made it to the exit, he locked eyes with Travius who waived him over. The elf froze, he had no idea who Travius was and was consumed with a look of fear knowing he had been caught. Travius waved him over again and mouthed "it's ok" to the boy.
As he made his way through the crowd, Travius nodded to the seat next to him for the boy to sit. He sat there in stunned silence. Just then Anaelle brought Travius his meal, she must have noticed the situation as when she did she brought two forks and two drinks with the meal.
"Wine bottles are generally too big to sneak. Also, you should never take sweet rolls, it'll make everything else in your satchel sticky and leave evidence everywhere" Travius said while smirking at him.
The young elf blew a sigh in relief. "I don't know what I'm do…."
Travius cut him off "I could tell, good thing everyone else was too drunk to notice. Let me see that Apple" the boy reached into his pocket and grabbed the apple to hand over to Travius.
Travius held it up and inspected it "This looks fresh, must of just arrived from Whiterun" Travius then pushed his meat pie over to the boy.
"Let's trade" Travius took a bite from the Apple. The boys' eyes grew wide and without hesitation grabbed a fork to devour the meat pie. Travius laughed remembering when he had been this boy at one point.
"Your camp not feeding you?". Travius had to ask, although I think he knew this scared child was not from one of the workers camps.
"I was hoping to join one. I came to Skyrim with my uncle. I was his apprentice; he was a very skilled hunter."
He paused for a moment and wondered if he should tell him more. He was hesitant at first, but Travius had at this point given him no reason to be wary of him.
"We came across some Thalmor Justicars transporting prisoners not far outside of Mortal. They stopped us and split us up. They kept asking us questions about our family in Valanwood…I….I did what I was warned to always to do if I was questioned by Justicars…..be polite and play dumb until they go away"
He began to shake, and you could see him reliving a memory he didn't want to. "My uncle despised the Thalmor, and he did not heed that advice, he thought since we were in Skyrim the Thalmor wouldn't be so brazen…he was made an example of in front of the prisoners. They took our bows and burned our tent….they told me Winterhold was accepting vagrants and left. I walked for days until I arrived here, I didn't know where else to go."
Travius scowled. He was aware of the cruel nature of Thalmor, being no fan of their tactics or the fascism everyone in Tamriel was bound to tolerate due to the white gold concordant. He didn't have the heart to tell him his uncle got off easy. Those prisoners were probably being taken to Mist watch keep where a far worse fate of torture and imprisonment awaited them.
Travius laid a stack of gold on the table. "Get my new friend here a room for the night and breakfast for in the morning" Anaelle nodded and collected the gold.
He then told the young Bosmer to hold out his hand "What's your name boy?"
The young wood elf attempted to hurriedly chew as quickly as he could almost in a panic as his hunger had made him fill his mouth to more than he could chew.
Travius began laughing and pointed towards the mead that was bought for him. The boy had a look of realization on his face as he chugged the mead to clear his mouth.
"Aratore, sir. Named after my grandfather." He finally was able to respond, slightly worried his delayed response may have offended the kind man helping him.
"Hold out your hand kid" Travius laid a handful of gold into his outstretched hand.
"The companions from Whiterun have recently had a small hall built here in Winterhold. They are running a hunting operation to sell pelts and meat to the city. Go there tomorrow and speak to their captain. Tell them Travius sent you and they'll take you in. No sense in letting your uncles training go to waste"
Aratore didn't even know what to say. He was in shock at this act of kindness from a stranger. Anaelle leaned over the bar and whispered to the boy
"'Thank you Thane' might be an appropriate response" she handed him a room key and giggled as she walked away to tend to other customers. The boy took her advice and thanked Travius.
Travius patted the young man on his shoulder and looked him in his eye.
"I know that sometimes we have to do things we aren't proud of to survive. Stealing in my city is not to be one of things ever again. If you're hungry you find me, understood?"
"Of course, Thane, thank you again." The boy then hurried off to his room. Paradise awaited him with something as simple as bath and a bed.
"Let him sleep as late as he wants to tomorrow." he said to Anaelle, who nodded at him in response.
"If you're still in the mood for such generosity I know a gal getting off work soon who would love a drink and a dance with The Thane" she said to him with a wink while removing the now empty dishes and bottles.
"I think I have some more left in me today…you just must accept though, that at any time it won't be just the two of us" he then lifted his arm above him to gesture someone much taller than him.
Anaelle laughed "Wouldn't be any fun without the life of the party would it?….I'll Come find you when I'm free."
Travius stepped out of the tavern and collected his thoughts. The feeling of excitement filled him especially after months of subtle flirting and quick eye contact. Finally, the opportunity to spend time with Anaelle outside of being her customer.
He pulled a silver coin with an x etched into the back out of his satchel reminding him about the young Bosmer he just helped. This gave him time to reflect on his own life and why he had such a soft spot for the downtrodden. How he came to have a title that made him attend meetings with the city elite like he was at earlier.
His life from his childhood to now was almost that of a different person. He had no real family to recall. He had faint memories of a very young woman as a baby that he believed to be his mother but wouldn't recognize her if she was in front of him right now. He grew up in an orphanage in the Imperial city. Dropped off anonymously one night with nothing but a strange silver coin with an x etched in the middle of it and a small parchment with his name written on it. Travius Velsala.
He was briefly adopted when he was around seven by an elderly couple who ran a bookstore. The store had an exceptional collection of old spell books. His adopted mother taught him to read, and Travius would spend all of his time after his chores reading through the spell books thus his relationship with magic began.
He would also read through old journals of adventurers and history books trying to find some explanation for the coin he was found with, only to come up empty handed. He was very keen on his adopted mother but was always made to feel very uncomfortable and unwelcome by his adopted father. After only four years his adopted mother had become very sick and shortly after passed away. Upon her death, her husband blamed the sickness on the stress caused by raising a child at their old age and took Travius back to the orphanage. The orphanage was full and simply could not take a child Of that age.
One day he came home after he was sent out on an errand only to find the locks were changed. He had been abandoned. Again. With nowhere to go he turned to where the hungry, broken and poor always wind up. The waterfront district.
One particularly cold evening Travius had found a rare open spot on the wall behind a tavern. Usually this was full of passed out drunks and prostitutes but the city guard had recently cleared everyone out giving Travius a perfect opportunity. Guards generally let children be unless they were caught in the act of a crime.
He heard rocks tapping and a young, frustrated voice cursing and pleading. He went around the corner to see an orc. The orc was about as tall as any adult, but Travius could tell in his face that he was about the same age as him. He also noticed the fish and bread the orc had. He was trying to make the fire not just to warm Himself but to cook those fish. The orc had food. Travius had the ability to produce fire. Introductions were made and they've been brothers ever since.
When the boys were still young, they relied on pity and begging for food and gold. Once they became teenagers, they found acts of sympathy from people came few and far between. Since no one was interested in hiring an Oversized Orc and another teenager who liked to mess with magic he barely understood for legitimate work (unless they could exploit them as the boys grew to learn) the two boys took to mugging and burglary.
By the time they were seventeen years old they both finally got themselves into real trouble and were arrested when they robbed what they thought was a skooma dealer who turned out to be an undercover guard trying to make his way into a group of smugglers. At this point in their lives the boys had become an intimidating duo. Travius had become very efficient with destruction magic despite any formal training mostly learning from stolen spell tomes and scrolls. Vhornyak had grown to be enormous, even by orc standards. Standing around 7 foot tall and almost 300lbs of solid lean muscle he was one of the most intimidating figures in all of Cyrodill.
Given the boys' history and their reputation around the underworld as ruthless yet smart thugs they were offered a choice. Spend most of the rest of their lives in prison or join the legion. With Such an easy choice in front of them, the next day the boys were official legionnaires. Two years later Ulfric Stormcloak killed the high king of Skyrim sparking a civil war and then the boys, now trained, skilled warrior men were off to war.
The civil war in Skyrim did not Last long. The Stormcloak fought hard and many of them were former legionnaires themselves, Truthfully if it wasn't for Nords and Orcs the legion wouldn't have been much of an army. Ultimately though, the storm cloaks were running a fool's errand. The Stormcloaks may have had personal motivation but their army consisted of too many untrained farmers and dockworkers. The kind of minds that Ulfric was able to attract with his racist and xenophobic rhetoric. They were no match for the legion who had people like Travius and Vhornyak.
Travius specially made quite the impression on anyone who witnessed him in battle. His ability with both his magic and his sword was beyond almost anyone else on the battlefield. Travius wouldn't realize his reputation until nearly two years later when he heard a song speaking of "the spellsword from the slums and the orc who loved a drink" being sung in a tavern in a city he had never been to before.
With the war settled, Skyrim and Tamriel as a whole still had the issue of dragons to solve. Travius and Vhornyak were recruited by the Dragonborn and Lydia to assist in defeating Alduin and his dragon minions. For nearly five years the four of them not only chased and fought dragons but travelled all over Skyrim as mercenaries eliminating bandit strongholds, necromancers, vampires, trolls and all the creatures they thought were only myths. They went into countless caves, crypts, ruins and even at some points different planes of existence to rid the world of dragons. They made themselves known at every tavern throughout Skyrim. They were living breathing fairy tales, the stories of Bards brought to life.
As much fun and excitement as it was, you meet very few adventurers past the age of thirty and for good reason. Over these five years they were able to find enough antiquities, artifacts and treasures to sell to make quite a large amount of money. After taking some wise advice from the jarl to invest in the local growing businesses Travius and Vhornyak were now quite rich. Although they could never quite completely let go of that life, remaining still very active mercenaries often times being sought out all over Skyrim to accept contracts and bounties.
Between the war and his quests with the Dragonborn Travius had honed his magic skills quite well but was still not content. Hearing rumors that the new Archmage at the College of Winterhold was a friend they had met on their travels the duo decided to go there. Vhornyak had no interest or ability for magic but very quickly was able to earn his place at the college as their personal mercenary and bodyguard for excavations or to escort deliveries for items people would send to the college for enchanting.
Vhornyak, despite his intimidating physical presence and his unbelievable strength, was a lovable gentle giant. Travius always knew this but eventually everyone else came around to see this about him as well. He has such a big personality and fun attitude to the point where you almost forgot he could crush most people's skulls with one hand. He became beloved both in the college and the rapidly growing city it was a part of.
Travius himself was an interesting presence at the college. He had already obtained enough real-life practical experience that he was miles ahead of any other student and even the majority of the teachers. The new Archmage, whom Travius had befriended a few years prior, took him under his wing as his personal research assistant. At the age of 85 he was a relatively young Altmer but had an impressive grasp of the arcane.
He helped Travius broaden his magic ability to be able to use not just the destruction spells of fire but how to use magic defensively and practically. He also helped Travius learn diplomacy and leadership skills. For the first time Travius had a mentor for something other than combat and killing.
Not long after their arrival in Winterhold a werewolf colony attacked the city in the middle of night. Roughly thirty of them bombarded the city at once causing a mass panic. Travius and Vhornyak lead the mages at the college to help the overwhelmed city guards prevent this attack from undoing all the progress they had made and defeated the werewolves. Travius was immediately awarded the honor of Thane of Winterhold and of course Travius named Vhornyak his housecarl. The Jarl immediately commissioned a home be built for Travius, so he was no longer living at the college. The two orphaned brothers finally had a place to call home for the first time in their lives.
...
THE SPELLSWORD FROM THE SLUMS AND THE ORC WHO LOVES A DRINK
Travius put his coin back into his satchel. He noticed a group of young Khajit standing next to the front door trying their hardest to drunkenly use a small Torch to light up a leaf rolled up with bugsmoke. Not the easiest thing to do when drunk and your face is covered in fur.
"Give me that" he said as reached over. The Khajit we're expecting to be scolded and had a look of shock in their faces. Travius put it in his mouth, flicked a small flame with his left hand and lit the leaf. He took a large drag and handed it back to them.
"Go around the side, not right in front of the tavern…and be safe" the drunken cats all scurried to the side of the building with a round of thank yous to Travius.
He noticed how quickly the bugsmoke hit him while walking back into the tavern. He headed towards his chair hoping it was still free but to his dismay found two dock workers, a Nord named Joralf and a Dunmer named Gun-Ki. Probably the only two people who spent more time here than Travius and Vhornyak. Anaelle walked from behind the bar with two cups and a very large bottle of what appeared to be homemade mead and set it down.
The men with heavy Riften accents cheered in delight
"Aye Girl! A special on the house for your favorite customers I presume?" Gun-Ki slurred causing a playful cheer from his partner.
"That's exactly what it is, but that customer is not you" she cheerfully responded while patting him on his head.
"Now shoo" She then gestured with her hands for them to move.
"Well, you're MY favorite, you're breakin' our hearts dear!" They said as they gathered their things
Travius reclaimed his seat and greeted the Argonian bartender who had replaced Anaelle.
"Ah, I see now, I got to fight dragons and shoot fire to get this first-rate noble treatment" Joralf said as he did a terrible drunken impression of a curtsy.
This got a loud genuine laugh from Travius as He turned back to the bartender
"These gentlemen need help grieving through this devastating moment of displacement. Their next round is on me"
"My broken heart has been mended!" Both the men cheered.
"What a fine act of healing by our generous Thane! What a great and noble man he truly is. What an honor it is share an ale with him!" Said Jarolf. He proceeded to lean into Travius and in what his drunken mind thought was a whisper said to him
"I'm making you look good for the lady here Lad, that look in her eyes says she's got an arrow for your knee"
Travius put his hands on Joralf shoulder. "Yes, and your efforts are not unnoticed. However, I'm quite certain she can hear you though. She's sitting right next to me"
Travius then nodded to her, and the man turned his head and looked at Anaelle who gave a big smile and then waved and mouthed the words "goodbye" at him.
The two men finally walked away. Travius and Anaelle barely had time to look up before they heard them again.
"Aye! There you are lads!" Almost immediately they recognized someone they knew, or some unlucky patron was about to make new friends whether they wanted to or not.
Anaelle finally grabbed the bottle and poured it for both. Using her new ice trick on both the bottle and on the mugs. Travius noticed a refreshing smell with this drink as it approached his mouth. He happily took a large sip and his eyes grew wide.
"Did you make this? Is that an orange?!" he proclaimed excitedly. "I haven't had citrus since I left Cyrodill!"
He finished his glass and Anaelle poured him another with a proud smile on her face. "Magic. I conjured them"
Travius immediately stopped drinking, realizing he was drinking fruit summoned here from an oblivion plane made it seem much less appealing.
She began to giggle and shook her head "I'm joking with you, the college has been experimenting with using soul Gems and Welkhan stones as a means to control temperature in shipping crates. M'arques and his caravans have been testing them for us. These came all the way from Elsweyr."
She paused and tried the drink herself. "If I had realized all it took to get us in this situation was some fruit, I would have done it a long time ago. I haven't had to be so forward and chase someone like this in almost one hundred years…." She then froze and her eyes went wide.
"A hundred years?! I didn't take you for a day over ninety-eight" Travius sarcastically responded.
She put her hand on his face under his left eye and pulled down as if she was a doctor examining his eyes. "I said a couple years not a hundred silly. Looks like that bugsmoke has affected you more than you thought, I hope you have some to share."
Travius had a very confused look on his face. "I've taken a couple bumps on the head over the years, but you definitely said a hundred ye…"
Anaelle found the perfect opportunity to change the subject. "Someone's been enjoying the brothel" She pointed towards the door, and they saw Vhornyak walk in with two very scantily clad women.
The brothel had opened about two years ago despite some controversy surrounding it. Vhornyak had been a mainstay since it opened. Helping a small business grow some roots was what he always said. Not that Travius himself hadn't been a patron on a few occasions.
The giant orc saw them and gleefully headed over that way. "I found some Khajit passed out next to the tavern, still had half this bugsmoke leaf left. Lightweights." He was never one for a proper greeting.
He attempted to introduce the women "This is Sparrow" he said about the red head leaning on his right arm
He nodded to the blonde on his left side.
"This one is …..uh…..Saphi ….no…..you know what, I brought one for you" both women laughed at his attempt.
He then noticed they were sharing a bottle and then finally noticed Anaelle's hand on Travius knee with their bodies turned toward each other.
"Appears all the seats are full here though" he said with a big grin. He then put his arms around both women shoulders.
"Appears you are both mine for the night then"
"From what the other girls say, you may require two anyway" the woman started giggling as they rubbed his chest.
Anaelle offered the bottle to the orc and in one large chug he finished the whole thing.
"Was that orange?!" He excitedly proclaimed.
Both Travius and Anaelle laughed. The bard began to play a slow ballad about a lost love. A song Travius remembered the old house mothers from the orphanage used to sing to the children at night.
Anaelle stood up and grabbed Travius hand. "We both spend enough time at this bar, join me for a dance"
She obviously wasn't really asking as she led them both towards the hearth. She placed her arms on his shoulders, and he instinctively grabbed her hips to pull her in closer.
"I haven't heard this song in ages" she gleefully stated as she laid her head on his chest.
"At least one hundred years right?" He snickered
"Shoosh you" and playfully slapped the back of his head.
They both continued to sway until the song ended. Neither of them realizing many of the eyes from the packed tavern was on them.
The bard then yelled out and brought everyone's attention to her.
"This is my first time being blessed to play in this wonderful city. I think we should liven it back up a bit, what do you say?"
A loud cheer erupted
"And since this is my first time here, I have the perfect song for this company. This song was meant to be sung along with so if you know the words sing them loudly! Let them hear you all the way in the college"
She began strumming the first couple notes on her lute and everyone in the tavern knew the song. It was a lively song written by a bard in riften after he had encountered the Dragonborn and his adventuring party.
Vhornyak excitedly jumped on top of the bar. Everyone sitting there was quick to remove their drinks before they were crushed under the drunken orcs feet. He pulled both of his escorts on top with him, and they began to dance while the orc led the crowd in the chants
"'Hey! Hey! Hey! We know the Dragonborn today.
Hey! Hey! Hey! We know our enemies his mighty words did slay!
But he did not do it on his own
he had some help they saaaaaaay"
The music paused and half the crowd held out the word say, and the other half loudly cheered as everyone held up their drinks. Pointing it as a cheers to either Vhornyak or Travius. All in unison the entire tavern chanted the remaining lyrics
'They were the spellsword from the slums and the Orc who loved a drink!'
The crowd then erupted to cheers and almost every patron was on their feet dancing.
Aratore had come back downstairs when he finished his bath. He was tired but his young mind was too curious about the excitement downstairs. He was wide-eyed as he had never seen such a lively tavern before. This was the most joy he had seen in his entire life.
Anaelle grabbed Travius hand
"We haven't had weather this beautiful since the fall, I'm going to grab us another bottle and we should escape and enjoy it"
Travius noticed Aratore was downstairs again and had a plan.
"That sounds perfect, grab your bottle, I'll say my goodbyes and meet you outside"
Travius walked towards Vhornyak and waved over Aratore, he had the orc lean down and pointed at Aratore and told him what the young boy had been through. He then grabbed the bugsmoke leaf Vhornyak had behind his ear and left. When Aratore approached Vhornyak he grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him up on the bar.
Aratore looked frightened but at this point trusted Travius enough to ignore that fear.
"Heard you've had a rough couple of days, Let's make it better. Plenty of time to sleep tomorrow, the companions can wait." Vhornyak said to him.
Vhornyak ripped one of the escorts shirts off exposing her breasts then pushed Aratore to her. Instinctively she grabbed his head and rubbed his face in her breasts causing a loud cheer from the crowd.
The orc then put a bottle of ale to his lips and force fed Aratore until the bottle was empty.
Once Aratore could breathe again he began to breathe heavily and slowly looked around. Vhornyak was concerned for a moment he had done too much too quick. Many of the patrons at the bar had become concerned with the look on the boy's face and everyone awaited his response. Aratore finally grew a wide smile and let out a loud "wwwwwooooooo" garnering another loud cheer from the crowd.
The song continued with one last chant from the patrons.
'It was the spellsword from the slums and the orc who loved a drink!'
Travius saw Anaelle walk out the front door, tucked the bugsmoke leaf in his own ear and rushed towards the door before he would be distracted again. As he walked outside, he saw Anaelle staring up at the sky. When he approached her, she tucked her left arm into his right arm but never took her gaze from the sky.
"When is the last time you could look up and see all three moons? I bet we could sneak up on the roof of the tavern and get a better view" she said admiringly.
"I know of an even better spot, let's head to the college" he suggested.
They walked arms interlocked until they approached the college.
"I noticed when we were dancing as well. You are quite…..cold" such an opposite from her warm smile and demeanor.
"Warm me up then" she stated and pulled herself in close to him.
"This should help" and she reached over with her right arm and grabbed the leaf.
"If only I knew someone who could shoot fire from his hands to help me light this"
Travius smirked and lit the leaf for her, and she took a large draw and handed it back to him. They finished it as they walked through the long bridge walkway to the college courtyard.
Even though it was evening the college still had several students in the courtyard socializing and winding down for the night. Everyone acknowledged Travius as always. Some looks of jealousy from the female students due to the companion on his arm.
They walked through the large wooden doors into the main hall and immediately went to their left to open another set of tall wooden doors that lead to a great stone staircase to the Archmage quarters.
"Yarwil. You have visitors!" Travius yelled up the staircase.
"Of course, Travius! Please come in!" The Archmage yelled back.
They walked up the stairs and entered the quarters. Anaelle gasped as she walked in and saw the garden in the middle of the room. She saw the skylight, a dwarven design that allowed sunlight in but blocked the rain and snow from flooding it. He must have had forty different plants in there. Alot of which were not
Native to Skyrim at all. He even had plants from Daedric planes. An alchemist's dream.
Anaelle at this point had completely forgotten why she was even here and was inspecting every plant she could find. She was Giddy like a school child each time she noticed a new plant.
"I'm glad you're here Travius, I meant to bring these to you at lunch today but was absent minded."
He grabbed a large satchel and handed it to Travius.
"Some filled soul gems for you and Vhornyak to recharge your weapons and armor enchantments"
Travius nodded and tied the satchel to his waist.
Hearing the mention of soul gems snapped Anaelle from her hyper fixation on the garden.
"That reminds me" she said as she stood up
"Our experiments with using the soul
Gems for temperature control has finally worked, hand me a cup"
Yarwil went to his cupboard and pulled out a wine glass. Ananelle poured her drink into the glass.
"I made this from fruits that were still good for use after traveling all the way from Elsweyr"
He took a sip "This is delicious Anaelle, you have as much a talent for flavor as you do magic and alchemy, I do wish we'd see you for more than just two classes"
She blushed "Those two classes fulfill all the desire for academia I'll ever need but I appreciate the words of confidence"
"It's been at least one hundred years since she was a full time student I bet" Travius chimed in.
Anaelle rolled her eyes "Men. One slip of the tongue and you never hear the end of it"
Travius turned to Yarwil. "We have all three moons tonight. I was hoping to show her the view from your balcony if it's not imposing. You should join us as well."
"I was getting ready to start my leisure reading and then head to bed but you two are welcome to enjoy it for as long as you'd like. I'd finish that delicious mead if I were you." Yarwil then handed them two cups from the cupboard. "Enjoy yourselves."
Travius and Anaelle then headed through the balcony door. They walked all the way to end and leaned on the railing and poured their drinks.
"A little bit better view than the tavern I'd say" Travius spoke as he walked behind her placing his free hand on her hip and she leaned back on him resting her head on his chest.
"You can see almost the entire hold from here. I had no idea this balcony even existed. Must be interesting for you, knowing this might all be yours one day" she finished her cup and poured another.
"What do you mean by that?" He asked confused
"When you become the Jarl. Kraldar is obviously grooming you for the job. Why do you think he's always pressuring you to marry, or why he insists you attend council meetings? He's an old man. If he doesn't name a successor then the empire will. He's put a lot of hard work and heart to rebuild this place. He wants it to go to someone who cares and not just the next wealthy entitled milk drinker who thinks He's owed the position. Most importantly though he wants it to go to someone who the people love. Who do they love more than you?"
"Vhornyak" he jokingly remarked.
She laughed. "You might have a point there but you can't hold court in a tavern or a brothel. I sure wouldn't want to be the steward who must constantly remind him of that."
"Do you know of any other Thanes who are as active in their holds as you are?" She asked
"I don't know any other Thanes at all. I didn't even know what a Thane was until I was named one and given a house. I sure wasn't going to question that."
She took the bottle and equally divided the remainder into their cups.
"You go above and beyond the rest. Just know that. His faith in you is not misguided. You'll make a great Jarl one day. He's always known that. I know it too."
They both cheers their cups and finish off the mead.
"I'm leaving two days from now for about a week. We're traveling to Whiterun to escort some new students to the college. Vhornyak and I were probably going to collect some bounties while we're in the country as well.
Dragons Reach is quite beautiful this time of year and Jarl Balgruuf is having his annual feast. It would be quite nice to have you on my arm while I'm there. Plenty of opportunities to grab alchemy ingredients while we travel as well."
"I guess I'll need to bring my pretty dress then." She happily replied
She took one last look at the moons and enjoyed this unique view of Winterhold. The buildings, the mountains and even the old ruins. Things that seemed so big and important everyday but were nothing compared to these large bright moons.
"But Before we travel to Whiterun, how about you just walk me home?"