Tirdas: 25th of Last Seed
I returned to Whiterun today. I don’t always follow through when I tell people I will do something, but there were a few things I'd said I would do that were of interest to me, and I wanted to start my journeys somewhere familiar.
First thing I did was go to the alchemist’s shop—Arcadia’s Cauldron. I had frost salts for her from the jarl’s scholar, and I needed to mix up some potions anyway. She was grateful for the salts, and allowed me to use her alchemy lab, and to take some of her ingredients for my potions. Best thing she did though was allow me to look through her Herbalist’s Guide to Skyrim. She wouldn’t let me have it, but I copied down a lot of information, so I learned some properties of herbs without having to poison myself. She kept asking if I felt well, making me self-conscious about my health. Finally I realized she’s just a pushy saleswoman, and ignored her. I walked away from her shop satisfied.
Next stop was Warmaiden’s to trade in some weapons. While I was there, Adrinne offered to teach me a few things. She gave me some ore and let me use the foundry, and lent me some other materials and let me make some of my own weapons and armor. I had such a great time that I kept running into the store to buy more materials. Something about smithing just feels right to me. Adrinne was surprised at my reaction. She asked how an orc like me had gotten to the age I was without ever working at a smithy. I told her I had not been raised by orcs, and she nodded, as though that explained a lot. “Well, blood will tell,” she said.
Is she right? Is this my bloodline speaking to me? Such a thought would never have occurred to me before. Now, it pokes at me, uncomfortably.
I spent a good long time there, just thinking things through as I worked, trying to get clear on my priorities. It seemed to help.
I had told the priestess of Kynareth, Danica Pure-Spring, that I would help bring the Gildergreen back to health. That was the next trip I decided to go on. First, up into the mountains to find the Nettlebane, a weapon the properties of which I didn’t really understand. I had to follow a trail that took me back past Riverwood and Helgen to get there. Three very interesting things happened on that trip.
1) As I passed near Helgen, I was attacked by a Dark Brotherhood assassin. And yes, this time I am sure he was Brotherhood, because I found a contract on his corpse identifying me as the target and signed by someone named Astrid. So that pretty much proves that the Argonian magistrate that tried to execute me was Dark Brotherhood, and they still want me dead.
2) Next I stumbled into a Stormcloak encampment. They were good to me, shared their supplies, let me use their forge, let me buy and sell materials. One of them, Thorygg Sun-Killer, said something to me that really made an impression. He said, “Stormcloaks are the only true Sons and Daughters of Skyrim. You’re either a true Daughter of Skyrim or you're not.”
3) The Nettlebane turned out to be in the possession of a Hagraven and a coven of ditch witches. They were pretty tough to kill, but that’s not what I want to talk about. She had an enchanting table. My ma had one, but it was only good for health enchantments. She used it for people with chronic conditions. That’s how I knew how to use this one. I was carrying the hood and robes of a novice healer, and they had some pretty great enchantments on them. I disenchanted them, and enchanted the Stormcloak armor that I had just improved at the encampment. So now I have some really great armor in the Stormcloak livery, and I finally feel like I can heal others or myself without draining my energies dry.
Between learning for sure that the Empire is under the thumb of the Dark Brotherhood and hearing Thorygg’s words speak to me so deeply, I believe that I will soon make the trek to Windhelm to sign up with Ulfric Stormcloak. I wonder if he will remember me? I hope he won’t remember that I escaped the town in the company of an Imperial.
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