I was almost to Whiterun when I heard the sound of running behind me, as Tex as not growling, just sitting there thumping his tail, I knew it was someone we knew. As the man drew closer I recognized him, the Dunmer mercenary that hung out at The Sleeping Giant Inn. He slowed down when he realized that I had stopped, so he wasn't completely out of breath when he got to me.
I laughed and told him to take a seat and explain what he was doing once he caught his breath. He took off his pack and sat down, opening it and pulling out a very familiar shape. He handed me my lute case and told me that Faendal had asked him if he wanted a job, a long term job. It wouldn't pay overmuch, only the original 500 gold and half of whatever loot we found, which was what Faendal and I had discussed. He said he accepted the job because the only other things to be had were guard duty for rich folk that were traveling and joining one side or the other in the war. He wished to do neither.
I asked him if Faendal had explained who he would be protecting me from? He said yes, more or less the Dark Brotherhood. I said yes that was true, but also the Morag Tong and another group of assassins that used Crimson Raven Jewelry as a calling card. He said one group was just as deadly as another and he would do his best to watch my back. I nodded and got up and we walked to Whiterun.
As we walked along I asked him, if he knew why Faendal, had spent the money to hire him instead of putting it towards a homestead. Obren said that all Faendal would say, was "For the Love of Mara". I thought about that for a while, it really wasn't the hardest thing to figure out. He was a true friend and I had done the best thing I could, keeping him safe by staying away from me. Not that hunting was the safest occupation, but it beat fugitives from assassins.
When we got to Whiterun, Adrianne stopped me and asked if I had any pelts or ore that I would be willing to sell to her, the Imperials along with the Jarl, wanted more armor and weapons and she was having some problems getting the supplies that she needed. So I traded her a much better steel sword and a bow with some arrows, for the pot metal one that I had, along with the ore and pelts I had gotten from clearing some bandits from a mine. I stopped by the general store, but Belethor would still not talk to me. One of these days I would have to investigate why.
So I headed over to Arcadia's store and she asked me again if I had fresh herbs, I told her that I did and I would trade her some lessons and coin for what I had. She was more than happy to teach me a couple more potions using the ingredients that I had found, plus perfect the potions that I already knew. She told me that the Jarls guards were running into more and more bandit's, with the imperials fighting the Stormcloak's, their were fewer patrols going out. So she was selling a great many healing potions to them, along with some others. She gave me a list of ingredients that she needed the most and I told her I would try and get some.
As we passed The Bannered Mare, we lost Tex, who I was sure was going to go beg Hulda for some meat and a bone.... plus I really think he liked ale. So it was just Obren and I that went up to speak with Farengar and give him the Dragonstone. He was talking to a woman about the dragons and books and I paid attention to it all. When she was about to leave I gave Farengar the Tablet, but paid much attention to the way she reacted. ,.. so.. she was his source.
Farengar and I traded and sold some items that I picked up in the Barrow, but I also asked to use his enchanter, for some reason, every time I "died", I lost all knowledge of the spells to enchant items. It was odd, I understood why I couldn't cast some of the spells I knew, I just wasn't strong enough, death or rebirth took away all the magic that I had at that time and seemed to leave me drained. Why the lack of enchanting knowledge though, that made little sense to me. I dis-enchanted some of the items that I had found not only in the barrow but in other places as well.. each item adding to my knowledge base.
The court wizard asked me to stay around town, as he might have another task for me, if I was willing, the gold would be good, that he promised. I decided to stay, if only because I thought this issue with the dragons might be why I had been placed here, right now.
I told Obren that I would see if I could trade a bit of singing in one of the Inn's for a place to sleep and meals for the two of us, that way we would not have to spend our gold on it. Hulda said that she had already rented out her spare room, but as Mikial was going to be playing at a tasting at the meadery the following night, I could have the room, a meal, and tips for playing, but as many of her regulars were going to the taste testing, she could not promise gold in payment. That was fine, Orben followed me out to the Drunken Huntsman and I talked to the owner, he said that I could play for tips and use the storeroom to sleep in, as I had my bedroll that was fine with me, it would be dry, warm and safer than camping on the outskirts of town.
I awoke to the sound of heavy breathing in my ear and the foul smell of rotting meat in the puffs of air that brushed by my nose. I rolled over on my back and looked into the blue eyes of Tex. I closed my eyes and warned him that if he drooled on me I would not be responsible for my actions. A deep male chuckle made me look to my right, where Obren was sitting up on his bedroll, fully dressed, eating breakfast.
I grimaced at the two and grumbled " For the Love of Mara, please tell me you are not a morning person also?" He looked right at me with too blank of an expression, shrugged his wide shoulders, and continued eating, to which I groaned and flopped over on my stomach, burying my head in my pillow. The Lady have mercy, I closed my eyes and would have gone right back to sleep if Tex hadn't started nudging me with his nose and whining.
I flopped back over and looked at the big hound, " I suppose you want to go out to the tundra and chase rabbits?" The thump of his tail and the happy shine in his eyes said it all. "Ok.. let me get up and wash my face and eat, then we can get going." After dropping our things off in the room Hulda had promised and with an almost empty backpack, there are things I will not leave behind if I can help it, we headed out the gates of Whiterun.
Adrianne and Arcadia would both be happy with the ore, pelts, and the herb's that we had gathered. By late afternoon, we were headed back to Whiterun. We noticed the tel-tale streaks of light that meant two wizards were fighting, so edging closer, we watched two bands of goblin-like creatures fighting each other, Rieklings, I think they are called. I had never run into them before, so I was interested in watching how they fought. the clashing of metal on wood or metal filled the air. Crows and other carrion birds waited with the patience of those who knew, for the battle to end and their feasting to begin. We watched the battle for over an hour, with many of the warriors badly wounded or dead, the wizards were still casting spells at each other. A few of the warriors were shooting arrows at whatever target presented itself, which as it turns out, was us when they noticed we were standing there.
I would have been more than happy to pass on this battle, by sprinting to the nearest guard tower, but Tex had other ideas and Obren decided to follow him. Not to be completely left out, I cast a mage armor spell and then summoned a Flame Atronach, as I had little magic in reserve after that and I thought to keep that for any healing spells that might be needed, I drew my bow and started shooting at the nearest targets.
It was a long hard fight, with only the wizards and a couple of archers left. The Flame Atronach decided to go after one archer, I picked another, while Tex and Obren decided that the wizards would be their first targets. I got some help with my archer, from a wolf that decided to take a bit of Riekling. I hung back far enough that I would be able to take on the winner, but not become a target of both of them at once. As it happened the wolf won and before he noticed me crouched not far away, I cast a firebolt that put him to rest, but with a sigh, I realized his pelt might not be good for making anything but leather strips from.
By the time we finished looting the Rieklings of good items, it was getting to be early evening and I was starting to wonder if we would make it in before dark. I had started to hear rumors about vampires getting bolder and attacking small towns and villages. With our pack's straining to the point of bursting, we did make it into town before dark. We left both our pack's near the forge, I knew Adrianne would not mind and I didn't want to take the stinky pelts into the Inn.
The guards were in a surly mood that evening when they came in at dinner time, muttering about how lucky their fellows were to have the night off to be able to go to the taste testing. Around 8 pm it got very packed and I wondered where all the people had come from until I saw Mikal and asked him what was up during a short break. He told me that they had found a rat infestation at the meadery so, called off the taste testing, but as he had already been paid, he was going to sit back and enjoy the music, and then he winked at me and went to flirt with the ladies.
I looked around and saw Tex with his head on the knee's of one of the local merc's, getting his ear's scratched. Obren was playing a card game with an older woman in plate steel. I looked around as I started playing a Nordic tune, I caught the eye of a dark-haired mage, he raised his tankard in salute and then talked to the man next to him. When all the guards started filing out I knew it was very late. Hulda nodded letting me know that I could stop playing now if I chose to. I played one more song, one about the long road home.
One of the barmaids brought me a tray with food and a drink on it. I looked in the tankard and was happy that she had brought me some watered down wine, it's not that I didn't drink, it's just that patrons tended to buy me drinks. The mage came over and sat down, he really was good looking, but by his slurred speech, he'd had a bit too much to drink. When he asked me if I wanted to have a drinking contest, with the winner getting a staff, I had to wonder if that wasn't some kind of innuendo, he was obviously too drunk to win a drinking contest. I decided to take him up on his offer, so we ordered up a couple rounds of ale. He took the first drink and I raised my tankard to lips and downed my first round... He smiled and picked up his second tankard and downed that. After the third round, I was going to give it a pass and let him win, but he said one more round and if I downed the tankard I won... so I lifted it to my lips and started drinking......
~~~~~~
Heat, the crackle of flames, the smell of burnt flesh the roar of a winged..Dragon? I could hear the terror in the voices of many people, panic confusion, many voices yelling over each other giving differing orders. For a moment it seemed that I was following an Imperial officer through burning buildings, that I was seeing through the eyes of another.
I woke from nightmare, not knowing where the town was, not even knowing if it was a real town. I got up and washed my face and went through the scenes from my nightmare... thought of the feelings, the sense of panic and realized that it wasn't coming from the woman? who's eyes I had seen out of. I feel curiosity and a sense of urgency, but no panic or terror. It was not the first time I have had nightmares of true events that I had no prior knowledge of. Was this a real seeing or just a regular nightmare based around one of the Nordic sages told by the Bard who had been through a couple days ago.
As I laid down, I thought about going into Windhelm and staying that the Inn a couple days to listen for any rumors. Yes, it might be the most prudent thing to do, knowledge is never a bad thing and I need to know current events.
I laughed and told him to take a seat and explain what he was doing once he caught his breath. He took off his pack and sat down, opening it and pulling out a very familiar shape. He handed me my lute case and told me that Faendal had asked him if he wanted a job, a long term job. It wouldn't pay overmuch, only the original 500 gold and half of whatever loot we found, which was what Faendal and I had discussed. He said he accepted the job because the only other things to be had were guard duty for rich folk that were traveling and joining one side or the other in the war. He wished to do neither.
I asked him if Faendal had explained who he would be protecting me from? He said yes, more or less the Dark Brotherhood. I said yes that was true, but also the Morag Tong and another group of assassins that used Crimson Raven Jewelry as a calling card. He said one group was just as deadly as another and he would do his best to watch my back. I nodded and got up and we walked to Whiterun.
As we walked along I asked him, if he knew why Faendal, had spent the money to hire him instead of putting it towards a homestead. Obren said that all Faendal would say, was "For the Love of Mara". I thought about that for a while, it really wasn't the hardest thing to figure out. He was a true friend and I had done the best thing I could, keeping him safe by staying away from me. Not that hunting was the safest occupation, but it beat fugitives from assassins.
When we got to Whiterun, Adrianne stopped me and asked if I had any pelts or ore that I would be willing to sell to her, the Imperials along with the Jarl, wanted more armor and weapons and she was having some problems getting the supplies that she needed. So I traded her a much better steel sword and a bow with some arrows, for the pot metal one that I had, along with the ore and pelts I had gotten from clearing some bandits from a mine. I stopped by the general store, but Belethor would still not talk to me. One of these days I would have to investigate why.
So I headed over to Arcadia's store and she asked me again if I had fresh herbs, I told her that I did and I would trade her some lessons and coin for what I had. She was more than happy to teach me a couple more potions using the ingredients that I had found, plus perfect the potions that I already knew. She told me that the Jarls guards were running into more and more bandit's, with the imperials fighting the Stormcloak's, their were fewer patrols going out. So she was selling a great many healing potions to them, along with some others. She gave me a list of ingredients that she needed the most and I told her I would try and get some.
As we passed The Bannered Mare, we lost Tex, who I was sure was going to go beg Hulda for some meat and a bone.... plus I really think he liked ale. So it was just Obren and I that went up to speak with Farengar and give him the Dragonstone. He was talking to a woman about the dragons and books and I paid attention to it all. When she was about to leave I gave Farengar the Tablet, but paid much attention to the way she reacted. ,.. so.. she was his source.
Farengar and I traded and sold some items that I picked up in the Barrow, but I also asked to use his enchanter, for some reason, every time I "died", I lost all knowledge of the spells to enchant items. It was odd, I understood why I couldn't cast some of the spells I knew, I just wasn't strong enough, death or rebirth took away all the magic that I had at that time and seemed to leave me drained. Why the lack of enchanting knowledge though, that made little sense to me. I dis-enchanted some of the items that I had found not only in the barrow but in other places as well.. each item adding to my knowledge base.
The court wizard asked me to stay around town, as he might have another task for me, if I was willing, the gold would be good, that he promised. I decided to stay, if only because I thought this issue with the dragons might be why I had been placed here, right now.
I told Obren that I would see if I could trade a bit of singing in one of the Inn's for a place to sleep and meals for the two of us, that way we would not have to spend our gold on it. Hulda said that she had already rented out her spare room, but as Mikial was going to be playing at a tasting at the meadery the following night, I could have the room, a meal, and tips for playing, but as many of her regulars were going to the taste testing, she could not promise gold in payment. That was fine, Orben followed me out to the Drunken Huntsman and I talked to the owner, he said that I could play for tips and use the storeroom to sleep in, as I had my bedroll that was fine with me, it would be dry, warm and safer than camping on the outskirts of town.
I awoke to the sound of heavy breathing in my ear and the foul smell of rotting meat in the puffs of air that brushed by my nose. I rolled over on my back and looked into the blue eyes of Tex. I closed my eyes and warned him that if he drooled on me I would not be responsible for my actions. A deep male chuckle made me look to my right, where Obren was sitting up on his bedroll, fully dressed, eating breakfast.
I grimaced at the two and grumbled " For the Love of Mara, please tell me you are not a morning person also?" He looked right at me with too blank of an expression, shrugged his wide shoulders, and continued eating, to which I groaned and flopped over on my stomach, burying my head in my pillow. The Lady have mercy, I closed my eyes and would have gone right back to sleep if Tex hadn't started nudging me with his nose and whining.
I flopped back over and looked at the big hound, " I suppose you want to go out to the tundra and chase rabbits?" The thump of his tail and the happy shine in his eyes said it all. "Ok.. let me get up and wash my face and eat, then we can get going." After dropping our things off in the room Hulda had promised and with an almost empty backpack, there are things I will not leave behind if I can help it, we headed out the gates of Whiterun.
Adrianne and Arcadia would both be happy with the ore, pelts, and the herb's that we had gathered. By late afternoon, we were headed back to Whiterun. We noticed the tel-tale streaks of light that meant two wizards were fighting, so edging closer, we watched two bands of goblin-like creatures fighting each other, Rieklings, I think they are called. I had never run into them before, so I was interested in watching how they fought. the clashing of metal on wood or metal filled the air. Crows and other carrion birds waited with the patience of those who knew, for the battle to end and their feasting to begin. We watched the battle for over an hour, with many of the warriors badly wounded or dead, the wizards were still casting spells at each other. A few of the warriors were shooting arrows at whatever target presented itself, which as it turns out, was us when they noticed we were standing there.
I would have been more than happy to pass on this battle, by sprinting to the nearest guard tower, but Tex had other ideas and Obren decided to follow him. Not to be completely left out, I cast a mage armor spell and then summoned a Flame Atronach, as I had little magic in reserve after that and I thought to keep that for any healing spells that might be needed, I drew my bow and started shooting at the nearest targets.
It was a long hard fight, with only the wizards and a couple of archers left. The Flame Atronach decided to go after one archer, I picked another, while Tex and Obren decided that the wizards would be their first targets. I got some help with my archer, from a wolf that decided to take a bit of Riekling. I hung back far enough that I would be able to take on the winner, but not become a target of both of them at once. As it happened the wolf won and before he noticed me crouched not far away, I cast a firebolt that put him to rest, but with a sigh, I realized his pelt might not be good for making anything but leather strips from.
By the time we finished looting the Rieklings of good items, it was getting to be early evening and I was starting to wonder if we would make it in before dark. I had started to hear rumors about vampires getting bolder and attacking small towns and villages. With our pack's straining to the point of bursting, we did make it into town before dark. We left both our pack's near the forge, I knew Adrianne would not mind and I didn't want to take the stinky pelts into the Inn.
The guards were in a surly mood that evening when they came in at dinner time, muttering about how lucky their fellows were to have the night off to be able to go to the taste testing. Around 8 pm it got very packed and I wondered where all the people had come from until I saw Mikal and asked him what was up during a short break. He told me that they had found a rat infestation at the meadery so, called off the taste testing, but as he had already been paid, he was going to sit back and enjoy the music, and then he winked at me and went to flirt with the ladies.
I looked around and saw Tex with his head on the knee's of one of the local merc's, getting his ear's scratched. Obren was playing a card game with an older woman in plate steel. I looked around as I started playing a Nordic tune, I caught the eye of a dark-haired mage, he raised his tankard in salute and then talked to the man next to him. When all the guards started filing out I knew it was very late. Hulda nodded letting me know that I could stop playing now if I chose to. I played one more song, one about the long road home.
One of the barmaids brought me a tray with food and a drink on it. I looked in the tankard and was happy that she had brought me some watered down wine, it's not that I didn't drink, it's just that patrons tended to buy me drinks. The mage came over and sat down, he really was good looking, but by his slurred speech, he'd had a bit too much to drink. When he asked me if I wanted to have a drinking contest, with the winner getting a staff, I had to wonder if that wasn't some kind of innuendo, he was obviously too drunk to win a drinking contest. I decided to take him up on his offer, so we ordered up a couple rounds of ale. He took the first drink and I raised my tankard to lips and downed my first round... He smiled and picked up his second tankard and downed that. After the third round, I was going to give it a pass and let him win, but he said one more round and if I downed the tankard I won... so I lifted it to my lips and started drinking......
~~~~~~
Heat, the crackle of flames, the smell of burnt flesh the roar of a winged..Dragon? I could hear the terror in the voices of many people, panic confusion, many voices yelling over each other giving differing orders. For a moment it seemed that I was following an Imperial officer through burning buildings, that I was seeing through the eyes of another.
I woke from nightmare, not knowing where the town was, not even knowing if it was a real town. I got up and washed my face and went through the scenes from my nightmare... thought of the feelings, the sense of panic and realized that it wasn't coming from the woman? who's eyes I had seen out of. I feel curiosity and a sense of urgency, but no panic or terror. It was not the first time I have had nightmares of true events that I had no prior knowledge of. Was this a real seeing or just a regular nightmare based around one of the Nordic sages told by the Bard who had been through a couple days ago.
As I laid down, I thought about going into Windhelm and staying that the Inn a couple days to listen for any rumors. Yes, it might be the most prudent thing to do, knowledge is never a bad thing and I need to know current events.
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