Lucy's Journal #9: The Road to Riften

  • 8th of Hearthfire, 4E 201

    Riften is all the way at the other end of the country, and I am still on the road, passing south of the Throat of the World.  I can hardly contain my excitement.  Even the mountain flowers along the roadside look brighter than they did on my last trip. 

    Did you know there is a set of Standing Stones outside of Riverwood?  Probably everybody in the country did except me.  I found them on the road between Riverwood and Helgen.  I must have run right past them the first time I was on this road.  Forgive me—I was distraught at the time.  Anyway, I found them this time.  The stones are set in a triangle.  When you stand in the center, you see the petroglyphs.  Three figures gaze down at you—a warrior, a mage, and a thief—just like the constellations.  The figure of the thief made me think of my Da.  I ran my fingers down his sinuous grooves, and felt a rush run through my body that seemed to fill me from my feet to my fingers to my head with a new confidence I’d never felt before.  All my life, I have been frustrated in my efforts to learn my Da’s skills. I have always felt like I was forcing my way uphill, like no matter how much I wanted it, stealth would always be a struggle.  After touching that stone thief, it was like the slope had fallen away and all those skills were laid out before me, ready to be taken.  I couldn’t wait to get to Riften and finally join the Guild.  I felt like I was destined to take over the entire organization.

    So, knowing how that made me feel, you can imagine how excited I got when I finally started reading my copy of Nightingales, Fact of Fiction? I picked it up in Whiterun, and I’ve been carrying it ever since, waiting for some quiet time to read it.  It describes the evidence for a secret order of knights within the Thieves Guild dedicated to the service of the goddess, Nocturnal.  I think I have found my calling!  I have always been drawn to a life based on honor and duty, but the organizations that have been presented to me have always fallen short of my standards.   Does that sound ironic, coming from a thief?  Let me list them off.

    I could never join the Imperials because of what they did to my family.  Ulfric Stormcloak lost my allegiance when I heard about his history in the Reach.  And much as I may sympathize with the Forsworn cause, I could never follow Madanach after how he used me in Cidhna Mine.  The Companions spend all their time bragging about ancient history and pushing people around.  In my experience, only the Thieves Guild—which took in my mother and father when their own families had turned them out—has shown itself to have any sense of right and wrong. Rich skeevers like Thonar Silverblood would have you believe that the Guild is just another gang, but then again, we know all about him, don’t we?  Laws written by and for the likes of the Silverbloods are meant to be broken.  It’s only justice to take the gold they gathered from the blood of the poor and redistribute them.

    So if there is really a knightly order within the Guild, I want in! The book says there is some kind of standing stone or altar dedicated to Nocturnal just off the main road somewhere near Riften.  I’m going to look for it when I get to Riften.

Comments

3 Comments
  • Piper Jo
    Piper Jo   ·  December 11, 2011
    Thank you RuneRed.  I fixed the sentence.  And yes, to both of you.  I missed the stones, and I don't think it affected my enjoyment or character development much at all.
  • Dreema
    Dreema   ·  December 11, 2011
    I totally missed those stones first go as well!  I still have mine set to Thief
  • RuneRed
    RuneRed   ·  December 11, 2011
    Good job, as always.  When I log in, I have to see what is happening with Lucy. Did you really miss those standing stones?  Oopsie.  Ir's really no big deal though, it's the journey that's important.  By the way, your last sentence is truncated.