Chapter 56: Inigo

[13th of Sun's Height 4E 202]

Once again I had left Whiterun together with Fiona and our housecarls and pets, and we had had quite a few nice and also exciting days, on High Hrothgar and during our tour afterwards to find a few more word walls for the Dragonborn. We had finally arrived in Riften, and I had ventured into the local jail to find out if Inigo was actually here. Mia, the Alchemist, had mentioned him, but that had been last year, so maybe he was gone again, or it had not been 'my' Inigo at all. Indeed, the first cell on the left, where he should have been, was empty, and there was no indication of a Khajiit anywhere around, except for an insect in a jar which might be or not be Mr Dragonfly. I felt a little bit sad about that; finding Inigo would have been so great. He had been one of my favorite companions in the game, and while I had usually favored Vilja over him, his talking had been much less annoying. The author of his mod showed a lot of humor, in my opinion, and it was a pity that the Khajiit's quest line in the game had not been completed by the mod author, tough I had read once that a new version might be worked on. Well, all mod creators were volunteers after all, and real life frequently interfered and, of course, had priority.

In the Riften jail I slowly turned around and was about to head back outside, when my sensitive ears picked up some mumbling from the lower level. Looking down over the handrail, I noticed a Khajiit with partially blueish fur clothed in rags bent over a bucket, wringing something in water. What? This could not really be Inigo, right? He was supposed to be in his cell and not out here! Anyway, I rushed towards the stairs, and when I arrived at the lower level, the Khajiit was upright and started to wipe the floor with something like a mop. He saw me approaching, looked into my eyes, cringed, dropped the mop, and started to crouch down. My brain registered that the other Khajiit looked quite like Inigo was supposed to look, but before I could say something, he yelled at me:

"You have finally come to kill me, right? Thank the gods; it's about time after so many months – I can bear the guilt no longer."

"Excuse me?"

"I know that I must die; beware, though – my new found honor demands that I defend myself!"

New found honor? The Khajiit not only looked like Inigo, he also talked like Inigo. He was more scrawny that I recalled him to be from the game, but if he had really been here for months, with meager food, that might explain it. Jordis stiffened and stepped close to me, ready for anything which might happen; I was still not fully sure who that weird Khajiit actually was and called out to him:

"Inigo?"

"Yes, this is my name, but I'm in no mood for jokes."

So, this was really Inigo. Yes! Why was he still here? Was he really convinced that he had done something very bad and deserved to be killed? By me? Wait – his background story in the game was something in that direction, too, wasn't it? He seemed to misunderstand the way I looked at him and challenged me:

"Come on! Take me down! Take your revenge!"

"Why should I? I recall your name, but nothing about you deserving to die, my friend!"

"But I am only your so-called friend; I was the one who killed you, or I tried to get you killed at least. I am guilty! Kill me!"

"Looks like whatever you wanted to do didn't work, as I'm still alive, right?"

"But it should have! When we were getting close to the Imperials, I clubbed you on the head and told them that you were collaborating with the Stormcloaks! They should have killed you because I lied to them! It was all my fault!"

Oh, that was the story. Not identical to the one in the game, as far as I recalled this, but somewhat similar at least. If that was correct, it explained at least why I had been waking up on that cart, together with the captured Stormcloaks, at the very start of my life in Skyrim, and why my head had hurt. With curiosity showing I asked:

"And why did you do that?"

"I had had too much Skooma, and I wanted to keep the reward from our latest heist all to myself. Later, I realized my mistake and turned myself in. At first the guards did not believe me, as your body was gone; you were not reported dead after the Helgen incident. I actually had to pay them to put me in the cell. But this is where I belong; I needed to repent."

Our latest heist? Had I, or whoever had owned my body before, done such things together with him, potentially doing something which was not really legal? So far, nobody had approached me and called me by a different name or accused me of earlier evil deeds, but it was conceivable that I had just not met anybody yet who knew my body from earlier times. Although, such a body as mine should be kind of infamous, and if that body had been used by some other soul before, at least some of the housecarls should have known about that. So, did I really want to know about that? Maybe not, and it was also possible that Inigo had just imagined that, right? Anyway, I asked something else:

"So, why aren't you in your cell right now?"

"After a few miserable weeks, I struck a deal with the guards; I could stay in my cell for as long as I wanted to, if I did some of the dirty work here, mostly cleaning. That gave me a lot of time to think about my life and repent. It's been many months, after all."

Oh, this did make some sense. But I had to somehow gain his confidence and convince him to come with me, so I tried:

"Honestly, I don't remember much from that time, but since I managed to survive the ordeal you pushed me in, a lot of interesting things have happened, and my life has become fascinating, much better than the life I had before. So, maybe I even owe you, and I least you owe me to see some of those changes. If you want, you can even help to protect me!"

"Are you serious? I fight with you, or die defending you?"

"Yes, Inigo, repay your debt with the blood of my foes, and learn more about my changed life, too!"

That had come out more bloodthirsty than I had intended to speak, but the blueish Khajiit pondered that for a few seconds and then nodded:

"Yes, I accept; I feel lighter in my heart now. Thank you for giving me this opportunity; it will be almost like old times, or maybe even better! Will I have to fight the saber cats first before I can join you?"

He was now looking at Hanni and Nanni, but I quickly replied:

"Oh, no, you don't. They are my best friends, and they are called Hanni and Nanni."

"So, who is Hanni and who is Nanni?"

"Well, I have to admit that I don't really know. They are identical twins, as far as I know, and if any at all, there are only very minor differences between them. They don't seem to mind when I mix up the names, though."

Inigo dropped the bucket, got down on his knees and stretched out his arms, while looking at my girls; Hanni and Nanni moved over to him and allowed him to touch them and rub their fur right away. That was a surprise for me; normally they needed some time before they accepted a new person to get close to them. Jordis used the opportunity to ask me, in subdued voice:

"Are you sure that you want to have this weird guy around, my Thane? I am not sure if he is mentally sane."

"Yes, I am sure, Jordis; you'll see – it will be great, and Hanni and Nanni already like him."

Meanwhile, the blue Khajiit smiled and said:

"They seem to like me!"

"And you seem to like them as well, as it appears."

"Maybe this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship."

Indeed, maybe it was, and I hoped that it was; having Inigo as companion from now on would be great, unless he was much different from the Inigo in the game. After some time my new friend got up again and led us upstairs to his cell. Once there, he collected his few belongings, which wasn't much at all, but at least included an ebony bow, a large supply of ebony arrows, and an ebony dagger; then he turned around to Jordis and me:

"I am ready! Where are we going now?"

"Seriously" my housecarl asked, "don't you have any clothes?"

Inigo only wore some rags, which just barely covered his hip area and nothing else, and he shook his head:

"No, I don't; I gave everything else away, as part of my repenting. I only kept Mr. Dragonfly and my weapons."

"I guess that we'll go shopping next, then."

The guards had no problem at all having Inigo leave the prison, and one of them even admitted:

"While it was nice to have somebody doing most of the cleaning for free, he was getting on my nerves with his continuous guilt trip; I hope that you won't get tired of him soon!"

Another guard stepped closer and smiled:

"Inigo, despite everything, I will miss you. At least you brightened up the dull area down here with your fur and your jokes!"

Yes, I was sure that he did. While we turned towards the exit, a female person in one of the cells on the other side shouted:

"Let me out of here, damn it! I'm not a criminal!"

The first guard snorted and replied: "Yeah, that's what they all say, except Inigo, of course."

I smiled and led our group out. The blue Khajiit had to cover his eyes at first when he stepped into the sunlight; he had likely not been outside for some time. As I had promised, we walked over to the market area, and I asked the smith who worked the forge:

"Where can we buy some armor?"

"Go inside to Asbjorn; I am busy right now."

The smith's words were a little bit rude, but on the other hand he was apparently really busy and had to focus on his work, so that I could not blame him. Based on the sign outside, the shop was called 'The Scorched Hammer', and inside a male Nord greeted us:

"Hello there; I am Asbjorn Fire-Tamer; what can I do for you?"

"We have a few pieces of armor and some weapons to sell, and we are looking for proper armor for my Khajiit companion here" I said, pointing at Inigo. I had my backpack with me with some of the excess loot we had collected and not managed to sell yet, and I dropped the merchandise on the counter. Meanwhile, the proprietor asked Inigo what he wanted, and the Khajiit claimed after some time of deliberation:

"One of my specialties is archery, and heavy armor is not for me. Something like scaled armor would be best."

Scaled armor in Inigo՚s size was available, even in a version for a Khajiit, with the needed tail hole, and he was outfitted accordingly. Asbjorn balanced what I had brought against the new armor for Inigo, and I got the difference paid out. Meanwhile, Fiona, Lydia and Iona had also left Honeyside, and we met them when we left the shop again and turned north. The Dragonborn looked at the Khajiit and exclaimed:

"Hey, you like the same type of armor I do!"

"It is well suited for an archer, and archery is one of the few things I really enjoy and I excel at."

Fiona's face lighted up and she replied:

"You are an archer? Great! I like to use a bow, too!"

"If you want, I can help you to improve your skills."

"I would like that! By the way, I am Fiona."

"Pleased to meet you, lady; my name is Inigo."

I added:

"You have already met Jordis, and the other two ladies are Lydia and Iona."

"You have quite a few warrior ladies with you, my friend."

"Fiona is the Dragonborn, Jordis is one of my housecarls, and Lydia and Iona are Fiona's housecarls."

"This is impressive; I had not expected to meet the Dragonborn, and I had not expected you to have housecarls. I believe that I may have found a lot of new friends, and I like it."

I smiled when I heard his words, and I so hoped that this was true. Of course, deep down Fiona probably still had her aversion against predator cats, and I wasn't sure how long she was willing to have not only one but two Khajiit around her. However, sooner or later Fiona would probably opt to do her next steps without me anyway, and I'd love for Inigo to stick with me. Now we talked about where to go next; while Fiona and her housecarls voted for the Temple of Mara and the Hall of the Dead, I wanted to visit the Riften fishery, and so we separated again. Inigo came with me, of course, and when he had passed the city gate and entered the docks, he said:

"Sadly, I have not seen much of the city during my stay here; cleaning and repenting prevented me from sightseeing. I will be glad to be shown around, my friend!"

"Now, it's not that I know my way around a lot here; it's my first time in the city, and we just arrived here yesterday. Let's explore together."

Fittingly, despite the slightly muddy water here in the dock area, some fish were visible, though I was not able to distinguish the species. On Earth, I had not been very knowledgeable about fish, and I was not doing better here. I found the entrance to the fishery and stepped inside, closely followed by my female housecarl and my new Khajiit friend. Inside there was a large pool of water in the center, with lots of various fish in there and wooden stairs leading down; there was railing almost all around the pool, and many shelves and crates were located along the outer walls. The specific smell was much stronger inside than outside, and I sniffed the air a few times to get used to it. For some reason the water in the pool inside seemed to be cleaner and clearer than the water outside; maybe that was magic? Or maybe that was old fashioned mechanical filtering?

We spent a few minutes looking around, and eventually I decided to see if there was somebody to talk to. At this time, not a single person was seen in the main area, but there was a partially open door at the northern end, and when I looked, I noticed that there was a small room adjacent to the main one, like an office. The additional room had along table and a chair, some food supplies and a few books, and an Argonian added some notes into a journal. Said Argonian noticed that he had visitors, turned around and greeted us:

"Welcome to the Riften Fishery, visitors! My name is Swims-In-Deep-Water, and if you've come to learn how to swim or to fish, I might be able to help you."

I smiled, introduced myself and my companions, and replied:

"Swimming is something I already can do quite well, although of course not even close to what an Argonian can do. However, we would like to learn more about fishing. My two saber cats are quite adept in catching salmon, but my own capabilities in that direction are way inferior. While I don't really fancy that activity myself, my other housecarl has taken fishing as a hobby, and I wonder if there's some advice I could get for him."

"Ah, so it's not for yourself, no? That does not matter, and I will allow you to take a copy of the first volume of my great Fishing Mastery book series. Once acquainted with the selection of fish usually caught in temperate lakes and streams, you can move on to more challenging catches, and here's a short list, too. I will be looking forward to seeing your housecarl here at some time in the future!"

It appeared that the conversation was ending here; I grabbed a book from the pile, and with a nod I left the Argonian and the fishery building. Once outside, I had a look at the list, and it was quite simple indeed:

List of Fair Weather Fish by Swims-In-Deep-Water

Ours has dreamt of these waters many times, filled with strange, exotic fishes from all over Skyrim. No, not fishes. Friends! Well, at least until they're harvested and sold as food. We have a business to maintain, after all. Friendships can only go so far before gold gets in the way.

The fish in my dream seemed to be okay with this arrangement, and he rarely lies to me. And so, with his blessing, I will teach you to catch these fish, and in exchange, you will bring them here. Here is a list to start with:
Carp
Glassfish
Goldfish
Pogfish

They are fair weather fish, and should be easy enough to catch. Even so, please read the first volume of Fishing Mastery, written by yours truly. A copy should be sitting on a shelf in the back room of the Fishery. When you are done, return to me and we will find our new friends a home, and you some coin.

This Argonian called fish 'friends', and yet he suggested to sell them as food? Well, I had never done any fishing as hobby in my earlier life, and I was curious to see what Antonius would do with that. I did know what a goldfish was and specifically I knew carp; the area where my parents had lived was well known for carps, bred in large ponds dedicated to that purpose. Carp breeding, back on Earth and done in the traditional way, was actually sustainable, from an ecological point of view, and eating baked carp had been of my mother's favorites.

So, I knew a few species of fish, but not many. For instance, I did not know about glassfish and pogfish; how was one to know which fish was what? Maybe the book had some details on that? Maybe they had enchanted fishing rods telling you which kind of fish was on the hook? Also, in which form was somebody supposed to 'bring them here'? Dead fish would start to smell quite quickly; maybe alchemist satchels could also store dead fish safely?

We were just about to leave the docks, when I noticed a Redguard female standing on one of the piers and mumbling something to herself, but I decided not to ask what kind of a problem she might be having; I was still deep in thoughts pondering the fish species. While slowly walking back towards the city, the fishy smell intensified again, but this time it was different, more like baked or boiled fish. I looked around, and there was a small outdoor fish market I had failed to notice earlier. One section had a few stands selling raw fish, and set apart from that was a placed selling fish food, manned by an Argonian as well. After the recent events and the time in the prison and the fishery lunch time was near, and I decided that I could as well get something here, as I liked to eat fish. Jordis and Inigo did not mind either, and so we bought what we liked and found some seats nearby. In my opinion the quality and variety wasn't quite up to what they offer in Hamburg, for instance, but reasonable. Specifically, they had not yet 'invented' fish sandwiches, and that was something I might want to keep in mind for the time when my own house and kitchen were fully functional.

After eating our in-between meal, maybe hobbits might have called it 'Elevenses', we strolled around for some time on the docks, when there suddenly was a commotion. Two people, small and thin like kids, came running out of the city, and a male human adult, I could not tell if Nord or Imperial or Breton from the distance, was pursuing them, shouting something like "Thieves!" all of the time. One of the kids looked like the shadow who had tried to grab Fiona's purse, and both kids showed quite some agility taking the corners on the wooden docks faster than the man could, while he was gaining on the straight stretches. However, not far from us, one of the kids lost his or her balance while turning and dropped right into the water. The other one stopped and shouted "Olette! Help! She can't swim!".

[Author's Notes: Of course, the introduction of Inigo is not exactly like in the mod here, but close. I have just started a new game, again with Inigo, and this should help to quote a few of his favorite and humorous comments.]