The Dockworker 8: How to Win Friends and Execute People

• Posted by Clement Bilhorn June 22, 2012 - 474 views

  With Grelod dead, I take a quick carriage up to Windhelm to collect from Aventus. I'm dubious of this kid's ability to pay, and I'm not at all wrong. He stiffs me. Badly. And by the time I get back to Riften to pull off my heist on Goldenglow Estate, day's breaking. There's a heavy fog, though, so I move in, still relatively hidden.

  The Thieves Guild had mentioned that Goldenglow would be a trick to break into, and the fog clears, unfortunately, soon after I begin casing the place. On the bright side, my gills didn't get singed off at Japhet's Folly so I'm able to sneak around relatively unimpeded.

  

  I'm unable to find the sewer entrance Vex mentioned to me, though, and have to climb up on land. I do my best to remain hidden, but the blazing mid-morning sun all but screams out my position, and I'm spotted by two of the mercenaries. To my relief, no one else hears the commotion, and I slip inside the manor pretty quietly, all things considered.

  

  I run into similar troubles inside, though. So far, I've prided myself on my sneakiness, but the guards are so well-trained and packed so tight, I can't do a thing other than break into open combat. I handle myself okay, but I'm soon exhausted again, relieved when the last guard dies.

  

  I'm having to reevaluate how I feel as a thief. My initial work for the Guild has been fulfilling, and my freelance stuff in Windhelm and Whiterun wasn't bad, but now I just feel like a fool. What kind of thief has to kill everybody in the house, including the guy he's trying to bring down with the whole operation in the first place? 

  

  At least it's not another dark elf whose day I'm ruining. Aringoth's body yields nothing of value, though, so I break into his safe the old-fashioned way. Well, except that now I have forty lockpicks, not two. Burglary dysfunction aside, I still feel like I'm moving up in the world. Yes, even as I flee Aringoth's reinforcements and dive into the sewers to hide.

  When I emerge, it turns out I was inside for much, much longer than I thought, though--it's already night time when I emerge. But I'm not complaining--it makes sneaking my way over to the beehives easy enough, even if their subsequent combustion draws a bit of attention.

  

  I'm forced to flee the estate when the guards become too much for me to handle. I've never run from a fight before today, and now I've done it twice. I kill dragons and flee from men. It's an odd, humiliating place to be, so I try to get my spirits up by focusing on the reward from the Guild.

  As it turns out, they have more work for me. In Whiterun, of all places!

  

  I'm a little apprehensive about heading back to the place where I bought my best friend, may he rest in peace, but the chance for a change of scenery is appreciated--too many bad memories associated with this place, my promising career with the Guild notwithstanding. I go to bed, eager to catch up on my lost sleep.

  I wake in a strange cabin, to my surprise. Occupants: a girl in red pajamas openly flirting with me--or something--while a multi-gender, multi-species mix of persons moans in the back, bound and on their knees.

  How kinky can you get?

  

  Pretty kinky, actually--I'm almost relieved when Pajama-Girl tells me to kill one of the people in the back. Apparently I've done something wrong by assassinating the old woman, but I can repay my debt by killing someone else. I don't really follow Pajama-Girl's logic, but it's clear I don't have much of a choice at this point. 

  I talk to the captives, trying to think it through. Which of them is most deserving of death? By my own rather degraded standards, they're all pretty deserving. The mercenary could be any one of those Noses who attacked me on the roads before, the woman is a veritable symbol of the Windhelm aristocracy, and while I'm at first friendly to the kitty--my tailfriend!--his arrogant threats make me add him to the list.

  But I don't want to kill anyone of them out of personal prejudice. I do that enough already, and that's when I'm being attacked. I have my very late breakfast while I think it over. 

  In the end, I settle on the kitty. 

  

  I don't know if he's necessarily the target, but if what he's said is true, he's definitely as deserving of death as me. And if I don't kill him, he might very well become a thorn in my side for the future.

  Pajama-Girl then proceeds to stomp all over my fledgling ethics by telling me it's irrelevant whom I kill, before inviting me to join her family. I've already rebuffed one cult's offer, though, so I figure I'll put this "Dark Brotherhood" thing on the back shelf for the time being. I leave the shack, ready to get back on my way to Whiterun.

  

  Oh hey, look! It's Solitude!