The Speaker 12: Life, Actually

• Posted by Clement Bilhorn February 9, 2013 - 838 views

  The moment Esbern gets his door open, I rush in and collapse at his desk. I'm tired, I realize. As a vampire, I'd always complained about the sun and the general affliction known as daytime, so much that I'd forgotten how normal people feel. I haven't slept in...actually, I'm a bit afraid to speculate.

  But Esbern is surprisingly pushy for a paranoid old fellow, so I slouch to my feet and we head back toward the surface. Predictably, the Thalmor get in the way again, and I brook no interference from them, simply rushing forth under cover of Esbern's magic and slashing the head off the first one I see.

  

  It's not long before Esbern gets another chance to show off his magical prowess, since Whiterun is yet again under attack by a dragon when we get there. I admit I'm impressed with how he handles these things. I really need to consider going back to the College at some point.

  

  Esbern and Delphine have an awkwardly untouching reunion before heading down to the basement. I follow behind, a bit grumpy from extreme exhaustion.

  

  It's in there that I realize I never even came back to get my things, from when I'd left them with Malborn before heading off to the embassy. I'm a little amused and a little disturbed that I hadn't even noticed. I guess I'm not the materialist I thought I was.

  But the weight of fifty thousand septims is just a bit too much, and I nod off while Esbern and Delphine discuss dragons and Blades and ancient temples.

  

  Fortunately, I do it in such a way that I think they just took me for lost in thought, not lost in dreamland, so neither of them takes issue with my sudden grunt of alarm when Delphine addresses me directly. I'm trying to process this, I really am, but I'm just tired. So I gather that we're heading somewhere called Karthspire, and then I change the topic and ask Delphine if I can have a room for the night.

  She says yes and charges me for it.

  In the morning, I leave those two ingrates behind without a second thought.

  

  But it's not for long, since I get tied up dealing with a group of Thalmor preying on travelers, and my companions manage to catch up with me just as I'm dusting off the last elf.

  

  There's another overturned cart further up the road, but no Thalmor in sight. I can smell an ambush, so I slow down and approach more cautiously. Esbern and Delphine take it to another level entirely and are nowhere to be seen. 

  But that's giving them more credit than they deserve. I think they're just slow.

  

  It turns out it's the Forsworn. I haven't actually seen them in person before, just that one assassin I dealt with back in Markarth. I can dig the outfits, and they seem willing to let me pass by as long as I keep my distance, but from what I've learned, they're basically the Nosiest of the Noses. 

  

  So excuse me if I take that personally.

  

  I think it goes without saying that when you choose to hurl insults at a man from a distance, you should check whether or not he's carrying a bow and quiver, because he might just decide to send something back.