August 7, 2012 1:22 PM EDT
Note: I'm using several mods, one of which allows for several different starts to the game. Instead of going through the Helgen scene, I start the game at the Wreck of the Skinny Horker, which is a shipwreck off the coast, between Dawnstar and Winterhold. My character, Taran, is a Redguard sailor, and the only survivor of said shipwreck.
I awoke to the sound of creaking timbers, and a throbbing pain near my right ear. Why am I staring at the keel? I wondered for a moment, before everything came back to me. We must have hit a chunk of floating ice, because the ship had pitched violently, too violently for it to be just another wave. I reached up and touched the right side of my head; my hand came away bloody. I looked up at the timbers and saw where my head must have hit the side of the ship upon impact. Looking down at my feet, I could see my cobbled-together fur outfit, inches from the surface of the water that had invaded the vessel. I reached down and pulled it on over my thin clothes, knowing I'd need the furs to survive, and grabbed my pack from the chest floating in the water, stuffing my bedroll inside it. I set about scavenging what food and supplies I could find from the wreck. I found a dead passenger, the Alik'r warrior who had booked passage to Windhelm. He had been saying something about searching for a woman; he'd never find her now. I took his clothes from his body and stuffed them into my pack as I tried to find my way out of the Skinny Horker. All of the staircases were blocked by the splintered timbers of the ship, so I had no choice but to try and find a way out underwater. After several minutes of searching through the icy waters, I finally found it; the hole that had doomed the Skinny Horker in the first place. I swam through it, and scrabbled onto the side of the ship, only to find that I wasn't the only one to make it up there. The Thalmor woman had made it out, too, but it had done her no good. Her frozen corpse lay on the side of the ship. I took her robes and ring, and several magical trinkets, and stuffed them into my pack; I'd need to sell them for some quick coin if I ever made it back to land. I looked out at the horizon, and my heart sank. We were far from land. In the distance, I could see a large building situated on the cliffs to the east. That's the College of Winterhold, I realized, having seen it from afar on the ship's last voyage. I looked back at the now-naked Thalmor woman, and realized that my hopes for survival were slim, at best. I had to brave the icy waters if I had any chance of surviving, or I'd starve or freeze to death out here, all alone.
I dove into the water, and felt the breath knocked out of me as I slipped beneath the surface. Focus, Taran! I gritted my teeth and swam as best I could, knowing that I didn't have long before the cold would seep through my very bones and drain the life from my body. After several minutes of swimming, I found a patch of ice, and climbed atop it, hoping to dry off. When I did, I saw that it was one of a very many chunks of ice floating on the ocean surface, and realized that my only hope was to try and jump from one patch to the next without slipping into the sea. This tactic carried me most of the way to shore, and on the last patch, I spotted another shipwreck; this one had run aground on the shore! There was a campfire burning just past the prow of the ship, and I realized that I would survive my ordeal after all. I dove back into the water, and attempted to swim the last twenty or so meters to shore, but my body gave out, and everything went dark.
"You're a lucky man, Redguard," a gravely voice said as I came to. I found myself staring up into the scaly face of an Argonian male. "If I hadn't seen you dive into the water, you'd have died out there." It took a moment or two before I realized that I was wrapped in a bedroll. I turned my head, to see a roaring campfire, the same one that had lured me into the water. My fur jerkin, pack, and bedroll were hanging nearby, to dry out. "Thank you, Argonian," I said, gratefully, shuddering at how close I had come to death. I saw several jewels on a barrel, and turned my head again, seeing several more gemstones in a lidless box. "I see that you've found my little treasure trove," the Argonian said. "My name is Deekus. I'm a salvager. These wrecks have treasures aplenty, for those brave enough to find them." I nodded; it was well known that these waters were dangerous, and so many wrecks had accumulated over the years. "There's one more now: the Skinny Horker. She's to the north, and slightly to the west, I think," I replied. "Though it's a long way to swim, and I don't know if you'll be able to withstand the cold." Deekus looked at me; I think he was happy, but it's always hard to tell, with Argonians. "What were you carrying?" "Passengers, mostly. An Imperial nobleman, who wanted to learn magic at the College of Winterhold; I didn't find his body, so he either survived, or is in the sea somewhere. We had a Thalmor agent, I think a spy going into Stormcloak territory, but she perished. Her robes and an enchanted ring are in my pack. We also had an Alik'r warrior, and his clothes are also in my pack, but his weapon was lost. We also had some merchants, but I didn't find them, either. Consider everything aboard yours for the taking. I'm not the captain, but I doubt he made it out alive." Deekus nodded, and I noticed he was holding the gem that I found on the Thalmor woman. "May I have this?" He asked, staring at me. "Of course," I replied, grateful that he had dragged me from the water. "I will trade you this axe for it." He said, placing a woodcutter's axe next to the bedroll. "You'll need a way to defend yourself. The war has made traveling very dangerous." I nodded, and fell back, exhausted, as I felt sleep, true sleep, take hold.
