Fifth of Hearthfire, 4E 201
As the bars closed behind me, I shivered at the thought that I might spend the rest of my life mining silver in this dank hole. I pushed the thought back and stepped down the rickety scaffold to the floor of the mine. Prisoners stared morbidly into the flames of an open fire. A hulking orc stood by a side passage across which was a barred gate.
I considered. Should I just start searching passages one by one? That could be a frustrating endeavor if Swims was locked away behind those bars, or if he wasn’t here at all. Little as I cared for the look of these guys, I probably needed to talk to them and establish my place in the hierarchy immediately.
I sat down next to the fire. “I’m looking for an argonian,” I said to the guy sitting to my right. He burst into giggles.
“You say that like you have business to conduct with him and then you’re going to be on your way.” His smile faded nearly as quickly as it had appeared.
“Maybe it’s useless,” I allowed. “But I still want to know if there’s an argonian in here. He’d have shown up about two months ago.”
“Right, the argonian. Madanach knows where he is.”
Thonar wanted me to kill Madanach. And if I did it, Swims and I could get out of here. Did I really want to do Thonar’s work? I wondered. Or was there another way? “Where do I find Madanach?”
“You got to get through Borkul the Beast. Got to give him something he wants,” he said, inclining his head at the big orc standing by the barred gate. His eyes raked up and down my body. “I bet you got something he’d want.”
So I walked over to Borkul the Beast, and demanded to speak to Madanach. He responded by demanding that I fetch him a shiv. This was familiar ground. When you talk to thugs, it’s all about dominance. You have to establish right away who’s in charge, or the next thing you know, you’re someone’s plaything, so I said, “How ‘bout I just beat it out of you?”
While other prisoners gathered round, we circled each other and exchanged blows. His fists were like hammers. I’ve never been hit that hard in my life. The fight wouldn’t have lasted long if it weren’t for my newly developed healing skills. Every time I thought I was about to pass out, I backed off and healed myself. He didn’t seem to know what I was doing, which was good, or he’d never have given me the time. When I finally wore him down, my own head was spinning as well. Nonsense thoughts flew through my brain. I remember thinking that Thonar would make a good name for the spell I used sometimes when I was lost—Thought Navigation And Ranging. I shook my head to clear it, and cast a final healing spell on myself.
When he had his breath back, he straightened up, walked back to the barred door and unlocked it. I made a show of not looking at him as I walked through, though my neck prickled when he was behind me.
I tip toed down the passageway. I wanted to take my bearings and get a look at Madanach before he knew I was there. I examined each cell and side passage, and then I found something that made my heart skip—a dragon letter scratched into the threshold of a barred side passage. Swims had been here! To my frustration, the lock was far beyond my ability to pick. I needed the key.
I continued to the end of the main passage, where I found Madanach, working feverishly at a desk set beside his bed. By prison standards, Madanach’s quarters were opulent, but I suppose that makes sense for the King in Rags. Carefully, I snuck close and rifled through his pockets. I found a journal and a bottle of skooma, but the key must have been well hidden. I considered killing him with a stab to the back, but then I would have no information, no key, no nothing. I stepped into the light.
Not bothering to look up from his writing, he gloated, “So, you’ve found me, but now you’re stuck down here like the rest of us Forsworn wretches.” I let him finish gloating before I responded.
“I get it. The Silverbloods are greedy leaches, and the Reach rightfully belongs to the Forsworn. I don’t disagree. What I want to know about is an argonian boy that got sent down here about two months ago.”
He looked up in surprise. I’d thrown off his flow. “What about him?” he said before he could consider his words.
“Where is he?” I asked.
“What do you want with him?” I clearly read suspicion, but behind that was something else I couldn’t identify. I didn’t know how to answer him. Should I tell him the truth? Should I lie? As I hesitated, he read my silence a little too accurately.
“He’s a friend of yours. Well, that’s good. He was a friend of mine as well. I can point you to him, but first I have to know I can trust you. Go talk to Braig. He’s been here longer than anyone but me. Then you’ll know what I need you to know.”
Damn! Madanach was establishing who was in charge, just like Borkul. Difference was, Madanach had me over a barrel. The other prisoners enjoyed watching me best Borkul, but if I messed with their king? I was faced with either playing his games or getting into a fight I couldn’t win. With a drawn out sigh, I went to talk to Braig. Trying to find him, I talked to most of the others. One thing became clear: every prisoner in the Hole was loyal to Madanach.
Honestly, I don’t even remember Braig’s story anymore, and I doubt it even mattered to Madanach, because the next task he gave me was the one designed to force me to choose a side. He ordered me to kill Grisvar the Unlucky, a small time thief who had apparently shown insufficient loyalty to Madanach.
I ground my teeth together and clenched my fists. Killing a fellow thief was just wrong. If it weren’t for Swims… Maybe I should kill Madanach? I wondered if this Grisvar had been a Guildmember. If he wasn’t a Guildmember, then it wasn’t against the rules. Right?
So I took up a pick and fell to work next to Grisvar, and I asked him, casually, like I was just passing time. “No,” he admitted, chatting as he swung his pick. “I was a freelancer. Never wanted to pay the dues. Course, looking back on it, wish I’d joined up right from the start, but you know what they say about hindsight...”
He’d have gone on, but that’s when I caved in his head with the pickaxe. Then I threw up. And then I went back to Madanach, like a good dog. I don’t like this guy, and I don’t like what I did at all.
Madanach ordered me to follow him as he got up and gathered his followers. “It’s time we made our escape,” he declared. “This one’s argonian friend completed my escape tunnel, and then used it himself. The tunnel leads us out through the old dwarven ruins under the city. Forsworn to me, and we’ll take the fight to the nords!”
He unlocked the tunnel where I had seen Swims’ mark, and they all ran out. I followed more slowly. Figured I’d just let them clear the way. Just like the Rag King had said, the tunnel led into the dwarven ruins. Water dripped from the overhead and pooled on the floor. We were below the sewer tunnels, so that’s probably what it was. I caught up with them as they were donning armor and taking up weapons. Madanach pointed me out, and a woman whom I had not seen before returned all the stuff the city guard had confiscated from me, and gave me a set of primitive leather armor and a headdress made of a deer skull, complete with antlers.
Madanach then told me, “Always trust an argonian to sniff out water. Your friend finished my tunnel for me and left, with my blessing. If you want to find him, all you need to do is follow the river downstream. That’s what he said he would do. And he’ll have changed his name. On the other hand, if you want to help us bring the Forsworn back to their rightful place, you’re welcome to follow us.”
With that, he charged out the door, followed by his men, and they went on a rampage through the city. I let them go. I’m not taking sides in a fight where I don’t like anybody. I considered the Forsworn armor. I decided that putting it on would be about like hanging a sign on my back that said, “Shoot me, I’m an extremist.”
Follow the river down, huh? I remembered Durz saying the same thing, a lifetime ago. I knew exactly where the river led—because I had just followed it all the way from its mouth to its headwaters. If Madanach was to be believed, Swims-in-Shadows was in Solitude. Blast it! I just came from there!
So now I have to return to Solitude, but first I go to Riften to find my folks and the Thieves Guild. The Prodigal Daughter returns. I can't wait to see everyone!
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