Lucy's Journal #5: The Thalmor Shall Pay!

  • Tirdas, 1st of Heartfire, 4E 201

     

    I can’t seem to get away from Whiterun!  I just keep finding people who need help! In this case, it was the Graymane family.  The Greymanes favor the Stormcloaks, while their neighbors, the Battle-borns, favor the Empire.  The Greymanes believed that their young man, Thorold, was being held by the Empire, and the Battle-borns knew something about it.  So I broke into the Battle-born’s home and discovered the limits of Lydia’s tolerance.  As soon as we were through the door, she insisted in a loud voice, “You shouldn’t be here!” We had to leave right away as the Battle-borns came running.

    I visited them again the next day. Talked to the matron, the boy, and one of the brothers, but learned nothing.  I also went up to Jorvasskr to talk to the smith, who is a Greymane, and while I was there, I sort of halfway accidentally joined the Companions.  They ordered me to put the lean on my friend, Adrianne the smith.  That’s the kind of strong-arm bullying I’ve always hated, so I don’t think I’ll have anything else to do with them. 

    Having not learned anything from these legal means, I sent Lydia on an errand and returned to the Battle-borns’ home.  The door was unlocked. I snuck past a sleeping man and searched their office.  That’s where I found the letter from General Tullius, which revealed that Thorold Greymane had been turned over to the Thalmor and was being held at Northwatch Keep.  I took this evidence with me and left.  I believe this must be when I was spotted.

    I reported what I’d learned to Avulstein Graymane, the prisoner’s brother, who wanted to go charging in and slaughter every Thalmor in the keep.  I convinced him to stay in Whiterun while I freed his brother without bloodshed.  As it turns out, this promise was naïve, but it’s probably best he did not go.

    Lydia and I set out the next day.  We saw two more dragons and managed to drive them away. Also had to fight off three thugs hired by Birgitte Battle-born to teach me a lesson. I know this because they held contracts signed by her giving them permission to kill me. And to top it off, we were attacked by yet another Brotherhood assassin.  I hate those guys!

    Northwatch Keep we found well guarded.  I saw no way to sneak in without a bloodshed.  There were two gates into the keep yard.  I picked off the guards at the eastern gate without raising the alarm.  Then, while Lydia created a distraction at the western gate, I attempted to enter from the east.  This was not as successful as I hoped, as the keep was well guarded inside as well as out.  I needed Lydia.  I went back out to help her.  Lydia was under heavy attack.  I picked off guards one by one while they focused on her.  Several times, I saw Lydia collapse to her knees, at which point, the guards would turn their backs to her and she would spring back into the fray.

    Together, we entered the keep itself. There I had one of my visions.  This one was a little different.  I didn’t die in this one--Lydia did, burned down by a Thalmor mage.  I woke from this vision standing in the doorway, gaping at Lydia in horror.  I had come to take her skills for granted.  I saw her as unkillable, a machine that I could use as I wanted. I felt ashamed.

    Against her protests, I did a quick trauma assessment.  “I’m alright,” she insisted.  “It’s just a flesh wound!” but I found her bleeding from gashes to every extremity, and across her ribs.  I healed them as quickly as I could and swore to myself that I would never take Lydia for granted again.

    In the end, we killed every Altmer in Northwatch before we could free Thorold.  There were other prisoners as well, alive or dead we could not tell, as I was unable to pick the locks to their cells.

    Thorold told me he’d be joining up with Ulfric Stormcloak, and promised to put in a good word for me.  He asked me to return to Whiterun to tell his mother and brother that he was alive. 

    I am not eager to return to Whiterun.  I’ve been minding other people’s business long enough.  I need to search for my home.  I expected it is here in the West, close to the High Rock border.  The nearest city was Solitude, so to Solitude I went. 

    Passing through Dragon Bridge, I borrowed the smithing bench at the Pentius Oculatus Outpost, and made some improvements to Lydia’s armor.  This was my way of telling her without words that her life was important to me.  By the way, what is the Pentius Oculatus?  I thought it was a trading post and wandered inside to find what appeared to be an Imperial garrison.

    I soon realized by the smell of the salt air that my home is nowhere near Solitude.  I like it, but my city smells more like, well, a city.

    I don’t have a good first impression of Solitude.  First off, the guards were mean.  As I arrived in town, I had to talk my way out of being arrested twice, and I don’t even know what I did!  Then, as I entered the city gates, they were getting ready to execute a man for helping Ulfric Stormcloak escape after he’d killed the high king in a traditional challenge of honor.  Acting without thinking, I drew my bow and shot the executioner dead before he could bring down his axe.  I was arrested and made to pay a bounty. I decided to sell my stuff and get out of town.  I visited the smith and the clothier—one of the snobbiest women I have ever met.  She offered me money to wear her clothes to a meeting with the king’s widow.  I told her I would and then left town with her clothes.

    Outside the city, I spoke to a family of Khajit merchants.  They let me cook my food while the old woman talked on and on about how cold it was here in Skyrim and how she missed her home. I made encouraging sounds at the right moments, and she was content to carry the conversation alone.  I’ve come to realize that I truly love venison stew.  That stuff is better than any potion!  My next favorites are vegetable stew and apple cabbage stew, which remind me of home.  I never have enough salt!

    One other thing I want to mention while I’m thinking about it. I happened across a history book on the Great War that explained how the Thalmor came to power in the Summerset Isles, and how the Dominion forced the Empire to outlaw Talos worship.  The whole thing stinks.  What really disappointed me though is that the book stopped just before the High Rock Troubles of the 180’s—the ones that drove my ma and da into Skyrim.  From reading this book, you’d think that High Rock had always been happy and prosperous and loyal to the Empire.  You’d never know that the Empire took out its frustrations on my mother’s people.  It’s just not part of the story this historian wanted to tell.  I guess the old saying, “History is written by the victors” applies here.

    My next goal is the city of Markarth.  The name is familiar to me, and I have a good feeling about it.

     

     

     

Comments

2 Comments
  • RuneRed
    RuneRed   ·  November 26, 2011
    Wow, just read 3-5, I had a bit of catching up to do - I've been out of town so I hadn't logged in at all for several days, but I think I'll be back to my daily site visits soon.  Good work, I always look forward to reading these.
  • Batman
    Batman   ·  November 26, 2011
    Great chapter Piper, had me grinning every time I recognized a quest I had done myself :D