Chapter 26: Raldbthar - traveling

[12th /13th of Second Seed 4E 202]

Earlier today, Ferwen had insisted to join me for my morning run, and she had admitted that she liked me, but was confused by her own feelings; she wanted to be in charge and in control of her emotions, but it sometimes didn't quite work like this. We had briefly hugged, and we both knew that the feelings were there on both sides, but we had not decided what to do about it.

On our way back to the city we had learned that a man called Alain Dufont was now suspected of fraud and theft in many cases, in and around Windhelm, and we had, thanks to Muiri, gained information that he had most likely retreated to a place called 'Raldbthar', a Dwemer ruin south of Lake Yorgrim in The Pale. I had suggested to see if I could round up a few people to travel there.

Leaving Dragonsreach and heading down, I found Fiona sitting on one of the benches around the renewed Gildergreen tree, with her direwolf right next to the Dragonborn. It was really amazing and literally magical; it had been about half a year since I had managed to get the sapling from the Eldergleam tree to replace the old Gildergreen tree, which had been mostly destroyed by lightning. Now, it had already reached a size close to what the old tree had been, and at this time of the year, it was very green and full of colorful blossoms. Fiona smiled when I greeted her, and it was obvious that she enjoyed a slow and lazy morning. I made sure not to get too close to Nymeria, as the wolf seemed not to be very fond of me and my saber cats. I could understand this and assumed that, like on Earth too, there was a general dislike between cats and dogs. My saber cats and I were in the cat category, and dogs and wolves in the dog category, and sure, wild wolves appeared to attack me more frequently than any of my companions. Briefly I wondered if there was some variation of my 'KAAN' shout which might allow me to become friends with some creatures permanently, like some kind of taming spell or shout? Probably not, but it would have been great. Fiona and I had some small talk, and eventually I repeated what I had just learned; she pondered that for a few moments before she asked:

"Right, a Dwemer ruin. This is going to be dangerous, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. Not only are there going to be some Dwemer automatons and traps, but also bandits in an unknown number. They may have managed to disable or even modify some of the traps and automatons, but most likely not everywhere. It would not be good at all to enter the place alone, I should think."

"Do you know how to fight those automatons?"

"Not really, no; some of them can be quite tough, and maybe we can find somebody to provide more details."

"But surely you went there a lot in the game, right?"

"Well, yes, I did, but I had most of the fighting done by my followers. Besides, you never know if everything here is quite like in the game."

"Oh yes, you had your female, young and pretty followers do the hard work and just reaped the benefits."

"Yes, but come on, it was just a game!"

Fiona burst out laughing, and I realized that she had teased me. I had, of course, some background on Dwemer ruins from playing the game, but I expected reality to be at least somewhat different, and lacking a reload button, I clearly preferred to err on the side of caution.

"Well, this might be a good opportunity to see how Nymeria copes with such an environment, too."

"Not only your direwolf, but also you!"

"Hey, I like scary underground places, remember?"

"Oh yes, you mentioned that already in Bleak Falls Barrow, didn't you?"

Ferwen was now also approaching and wanted to know what news we had, and when I told her about the possible expedition to Raldbthar, she quickly volunteered to join us if we decided to go:

"A Dwemer ruin – sure, count me in as well!"

"So," I mused, "if the three of us go and we take both of your housecarls, Fiona, and one of mine, we are six people; that should be good enough."

"Why only one of your housecarls?"

"Unless I really need both of them, I prefer to have one of them supervising my construction site."

"Ah yes, I see."

Ferwen had taken a seat on my other side, and she pressed herself close to me and even took my hand in hers while looking up to me a lot; after all, even when sitting, I was easily one head taller then the Bosmer. Fiona noticed that and just smiled warmly, and I strongly suspected that Ferwen and Fiona had had some girl talk about the recent developments. However, it turned out that somebody else was not so happy to see us like this. A tall male wood elf passed us, followed by a male Redguard, and I vaguely remembered that I had seen both in the Drunken Huntsman, the inn not far from the city gate which also had some hunting supplies for sale; the Redguard was Nazeem, the same one I had helped to rescue from bandits in Valtheim Towers some time ago. The male Bosmer snorted and said:

"Where is this world coming to? Bosmer ladies fraternizing with a Khajiit? This is not right, not right at all!"

Nazeem did not say anything, but he looked like he agreed to his friend's statement. Some people were still not used to seeing Khajiit in the city, although those had been very few since I had become a Thane of Whiterun. Hanni and Nanni sensed the animosity emanating from the Bosmer and the Redguard and growled; I put my hands on their heads to calm them down. Fiona just sighed when she heard the comment, but Ferwen was about to get up and say something when I pulled her back down. When the others had left, I told her:

"No reason to get excited about that, Ferwen. Nazeem is just like this, to many people, and the other one, well, he is just part of a very small minority."

"That was Elrindir, by the way" Fiona added. "He owns and runs the Drunken Huntsman, and his brother Anoriath has a market stall where he sells mostly meat."

The Dragonborn՚s memory for faces and names was clearly much better than mine, and I nodded:

"Ah, yes, I sometimes go to Anoriath to sell what I hunted, and I am glad that he is much more polite than his brother."

"Yes, he sure is."

"Now, back to the Dwarven ruin; do we want to do this together?"

"Well," Fiona replied, "I have had a few quiet and lazy days, and as long as we are part of a group, I guess that this is a good idea. Anyway, with Lydia and Iona plus Nymeria at my side I feel quite safe. Yes, let's do it!"

"All right, and I have to admit that I am curious about such a ruin, too. So, it's still mid afternoon; will this be enough for preparations so that we can leave early tomorrow?"

"Sure, plenty; let me go to Warmaiden՚s; my new armor should be ready now."

"And I will check with Kodlak."

While the Dragonborn headed towards Warmaiden՚s to check if her new armor was ready, I decided to talk to the Harbinger about the planed raid, and I decided to do this right away and without further delay; thus I went up the few stairs and stepped into Jorrvaskr. The mead hall was unusually quiet, and I noticed that this was due to Kodlak speaking, in his normal calming voice. Frequently Companions did not mind at all talking at the same time and interrupting each other, but they all respected Kodlak, and while they might not always agree with him, at least they listened when he spoke. I managed to hear the last of his words:

"… is available to find this Alain Dufont person?"

What? The same name, spoken in here as well? I replied right away:

"Harbinger, are you looking for Companions to find a person called Alain Dufont?"

"Yes, I am, B'lushona, indeed, and I have been just trying to find out if we have Companions available to rout him out. Have you heard of him?"

"I had a conversation with Proventus Avenicci and a few people up at Dragonsreach earlier today. They filled me in on the background, and somebody seems to have an idea where this man might be hiding; they suspect the Dwemer ruin Raldbthar, east of here; the steward believes that some people should go there and find him."

"Agreed, son, and Jorleif in Windhelm also wants him; I just got a letter from him. Right now most Companions are out on various tasks or already scheduled to got out soon, and I may not be able to send a group right away, though."

"If you agree, Kodlak, I could go with a team. We have a few others who'd like to come, and Proventus suggested that we could get a few Stormcloaks with us; besides, Fiona and I could take some of our housecarls."

"Hm, normally I don't send a single Companion on their own, but with that company you should be fine. So, yes, please take those people and find this Alain."

"Sure, will do. I believe that we should be ready to head out tomorrow morning."

"Great, son; bring honor to the Companions!"

So, I thought when I was in my bed at the end of the day, there was another task coming up. It seemed that I was not supposed to focus on my construction site for longer periods without major interruptions, but I did have reliable housecarls and other people. Besides, I was not really forced to go out and try to find this guy, but I had volunteered, partially because I was looking forward to seeing the inside of a Dwemer ruin. We had all reached agreement quickly to head out early on the next day, and I was looking forward to the events of the next days.

As planned, we left the city of Whiterun early in the morning, after I had updated Kodlak on the latest developments and plans. First we headed east towards the crossroads, and then north. Our party had Fiona, Ferwen and me plus our housecarls Iona, Lydia and Jordis; Antonius stayed at the house building site to supervise the construction. Hjornskar Head-Smasher, the Whiterun Stormcloak commander, had decided that our quest was one of public interest, when I had informed Proventus Avenicci about our intentions and those who were joining. Thus, he provided three Stormcloak soldiers to go with us, too; we got a male Nord, Fjagus, a female Nord, Hiretta, and a male Dunmer, Daeril. All three of them had been in Dwemer ruins before and had at least a little bit of experience with Dwemer automatons and traps. So, there were nine of us, and we should be capable of defeating both the bandits and the automatons, if we did it the smart way, or so we hoped at least. We also had four animal companions with us; Ferwen had her elytra nymph, Fiona had Nymeria, her direwolf, and of course I had Hanni and Nanni, my two wonderful saber cats.

After a quick discussion in the evening before, we had decided to take the northern route as Proventus Avenicci had suggested, and we stayed on the main road north for the time being. Traveling at this time of the year was nice, in my opinion. Spring had started some time ago; all around Whiterun the snow was gone, but the higher elevations of hills and mountains around us were still white; most hardwood trees showed off with fresh green leaves. Various flowers competed with each other on the tundra, and butterflies were visible in many locations, naturally mostly around the flowers. When we passed Chillfurrow Farm and approached Battle-Born Farm, I stretched my arms upwards a few times while walking, and Fiona, who walked right behind me, asked:

"What's up with you? Got cramped muscles or so?"

"No, not at all, just enjoying the nice time. By the way, how comfortable is your new armor?"

I had of course noticed that Fiona wore her brand new armor, a variation of a scaled armor, and judged by the way she walked, it seemed to fit her well. She smiled and replied:

"Adrianne did a great job in a very short time, and it fits very well and is comfortable to wear. I guess I will find out soon how well it actually protects me."

She also raised her arms a few times and then mentioned:

"Spring is a nice season; my favorite, I guess. Although, spring is later here than at home, I mean, my first home."

"I guess that it is, but this is Skyrim here; the climate is probably more comparable to Scandinavia than to southern Austria. Maybe, when you have time, you should also visit other provinces, like Cyrodiil south of here. I bet, in cities like Anvil, spring is much earlier than around here, and winters are more on the mild site."

"You haven't been there, or have you?"

"No, not here, but in the game. 'TES IV Oblivion' was about Cyrodiil, and I like the variation between the warmer and the colder areas. Anvil was a nice city in the game, and I really liked the big chapels they had in almost every city."

"Big chapels? I might have liked that, too. I was never a very religious person, but my aunt took me to church on a regular basis, and I have to admit that those big old churches at least demand some respect, and there's always a special kind of atmosphere in them, kind of triggering religious vibes, if you get my meaning."

"I absolutely do, yes; I feel that it is easier to focus on God and worship in an old and formidable stone church than it is in one of those modern style churches."

"Quite so, indeed. So, do you know if all that is just like in the game, too, I mean the other provinces?"

"No, I do not. The 'Skyrim' game only covered this single province, and the events in the 'Oblivion' game took place more than two hundred years earlier, so right now it is sure going to be somewhat different at least. Some volunteers had worked on mods to extend the game into other provinces, and they had called that major project 'Beyond Skyrim'. For a first release, you could at least travel down to Bruma."

"Bruma being?"

"Bruma is the most northern city in Cyrodiil, closest to Skyrim, and the climate there is similar to Skyrim, too; the city is mostly inhabited by Nords, which makes sense."

Fiona got a kind of dreamy look in her eyes, and after a few moments of silence she admitted:

"You know, when this is all over, if ever, and my duties as Dragonborn are all done, I would like to travel to some of those places; wouldn't you, too?"

"I guess so, yes."

"So, now, what happened two hundred years ago, in the 'Oblivion' game?"

Just ahead of us the side road towards Shimmermist Cave branched off to the right, and for a few moments I thought back to the events earlier in the year, when I had been in there with other Companions and we had lost Erik, a whelp with the Companions at this time, on the way back, when he had been killed by a large adult saber cat. The Bosmer must have noticed me being distracted and asked:

"Balu? What are you thinking about?"

"Sorry, Fiona, but that side road leads to Shimmermist Cave, and seeing it, I had to think about Erik and his violent death; I told you about that, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did, and I understand. But come on, tell me about the 'Oblivion' game!"

The Dragonborn seemed to be really interested, and she probably also wanted to get my thoughts back in a happier direction. While we followed the road north, I gave her a summary about the events around Martin Septim and the Hero of Kvatch, almost like I had done in the school before. A few times she had questions, but mostly she just listened, and my narration covered most of the time until we got to the hold border. Her final comment was:

"For a computer game, this is quite a story, isn't it?"

"It is, indeed, specifically when you also consider the additional background provided by in-game books, NPCs, and much more."

"But why is it possible that there is a real world here which is almost exactly like a series of computer games on Earth?"

"I don't know, Fiona; there must be some very high level magic involved. Like, there are more things between heaven and earth than…"

I vaguely recalled that quote, but not fully; the Bosmer, though, smiled and replied:

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. That's from Hamlet."

"Oh, looks you're ahead of me there, even with not knowing a person called Horatio, except for Horatio Hornblower in that book series..."

"Hornblower? Never heard of that name, but we had a crash dive into English literature just in the months before, you know."

"Yeah, and for me school had been decades ago."

She smiled at me and was apparently happy about being ahead of me here, and she added:

"By the way, did you know that the Horatio mentioned in the quote was, in Shakespeare's Hamlet, actually a student at the University of Wittenberg in Germany?"

"Really? No, I did not know that at all! You learned all that?"

"Yes, I did! Besides, I did a presentation on some background in Hamlet in my class."

I was impressed and told her so, but eventually I to back to the point:

"Anyway, that's the point; there are still so many things we don't know and understand."

"True, but maybe it's better this way."

I nodded and stayed silent, thinking about all that. Soon we passed the side road to the left leading up to Loreius Farm at the left, and I used the opportunity to tell Fiona about the time when I had been able to peacefully relocate a bear mother and her cubs when they had occupied the farmhouse, attracted by honey. The three Stormcloaks with us also listened, but Hiretta told us:

"Poor Loreius and his wife, though."

"Why is that? Did something happen?"

"I heard it from the guards. They told me about that lunatic, the short one who looked like a jester, who had been arrested on the road. He must have been somebody important, and a few days ago hold guards told me that he manged to escape from the Dragonsreach dungeon some time ago, and he apparently either killed the farmer and his wife personally or had somebody do it. According to what I've been told, it was a terrible sight. Both slaughtered in the night, and so many knife wounds…"

"When did that happen?"

"That was last year, only a few weeks after he had been apprehended."

"But Loreius did not arrest that crazy guy!"

"Sure, but he must have held him responsible somehow."

"And let me guess, nobody knows where the assassin escaped to?"

"No, of course not. Both he and the confiscated wagon vanished without a trace, according to what I have been told."

That made me sad to hear, and apparently the Dark Brotherhood had been involved. I wondered why I had not heard about that before, but this must have happened either when I had been traveling with Vilja or maybe later, when I had been in Solitude. I had no idea if those events, with Loreius being killed, were likely to happen in the game as well; when I had met Cicero first, I had usually played along and talked Loreius into helping him, and I was not even sure if the game allowed an option to get the assassin into jail. Could I have saved the farmer's life and that of his wife by helping Cicero rather than getting him arrested? It had not really been my decision, though, but I still felt somewhat guilty. Was it going to be my task to eventually destroy the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim, since I roughly knew where the sanctuary was?

[Author's Notes: What happened to Loreius earlier? You can probably guess…

BTW, Fiona's knowledge about Shakespeare's Hamlet is much better than mine ;-) ]