Clark in Skyrim, A continued report from across the border. Options

[ghastley]

If mALX is back, then Clark should return too.

We left him in Evergloam at the beginning of the 4th Era, where Nocturnal had just inducted him and Minx as Nightingales, to join Dralsi. The two other members of the first trinity had been slain by Ogrim the Restless, who was the original occupant of the cave complex that became the Twilight Sepulchre.

He's about 225 years old now. Nocturnal and Azura made him immortal, rather than risk having to train a new one. He retired as a Nightingale some time ago, and went back into business managing brothels, and other enterprises that remain profitable in times of war. Much of the other intervening history should emerge as this unfolds.

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Part 1 - Over the border

"So Gilda, have you been into Skyrim before?" Clark asked the young woman sitting next to him. Ahead of them, the horse plodded onward, pulling Clark's carriage along the road towards Helgen. He gave the reins a jiggle, but the horse's gait didn't change. It only knew slow and steady.

Gilda wasn't really paying attention. She was busy looking at the scenery, which is why Clark had asked. "Oh, what? No, I barely got a mile from our farm before now. Mother didn't like me wandering off; she was scared I'd run into bandits."

"Is that how your nose got broken?" Clark guessed.

"Yes, the one time I did get away, she turned out to be right. When the bandits found out I didn't have anything valuable, they ... well, you can imagine what they had in mind. I gave the first one who tried anything my knee, and he did that in return. The others didn't stop me when I ran off, they were too busy laughing at our discomfort."

"How long ago was that? It looks like it's been that way for a while."

"About five months, I think. One day was much like another at our farm, and I lost track of time. I can't thank you enough for getting me away from there."

Clark wasn't sure what had made him offer to take her with him. He did need a new apprentice, that was true, but why he'd suddenly decided it could be her was beyond him. It wasn't her looks, for certain. Apart from her nose, she had crooked teeth, and looked like she never ate anything. Her mother was the exact opposite, so it was clear where all the food went in that household. She was wearing one of her mother's hand-me-down dresses, which fit her like a sack.

But he'd stopped at the farm for directions when he left Bruma, and she'd caught his eye. Before he knew it, he'd told her mother she could have a good career as a merchant's apprentice, hinting that she might be able to send some of her earnings home.

And if she'd persuaded him to do that, she probably had some speech talent, so she might work out well. He'd need to heal her nose, and fix her teeth first, and that would need more magicka than he had. Once he got to Whiterun, he'd be able to use the Alchemy lab at his house to make some fortification potions, but until then he couldn't do anything.

"We'll be in Helgen before long," he told her. "It's just over there, where you can see the smoke rising..." Clark's voice trailed off, as he realised that there shouldn't be that much smoke. Something had apparently set part of the town on fire, if not all of it.

They soon met a ragged bunch of imperial soldiers coming the other way, telling of a dragon attack on the town. Clark didn't think there were any dragons in Tamriel.

"Nor did we, until that one swooped down on us," the legionary told him. "We were preparing an execution for Ulfric Stormcloak and some of his men, when it was interrupted by a blast of magic. Threw everyone around like dolls. We'd heard that Ulfric could use the Thu'um like that, so we had him gagged, but a beast that size doing it was something else entirely."

"General Tullius and the Thalmor Ambassador were there too," one of the other men put in. "We have no idea if they got out."

Nobody knew if it was safe to try passing through. There were trails to Falkreath that might be preferable, as long as you weren't hauling anything heavy.

"But watch out for bandits if you go that way," another soldier advised. "That applies any time you leave the main roads in Skyrim."

Clark had heard much the same from legionaries in Cyrodiil. In his opinion, the roads weren't any safer than any other route, just better paved. He let his horse continue down the road.

Helgen was deserted when they got there. Most of the population seemed to be lying dead in the streets, scorched by the dragon's breath. Anyone alive had presumably fled, and the dragon itself was nowhere around. Clark decided to continue down into Riverwood and let them know what had happened. If the dragon didn't attack there next, of course.

---

Riverwood was intact, but they'd seen the dragon fly over. Gerdur, the mill-owner, told Clark that her brother Ralof had escaped from Helgen, and she thought that Hadvar, the legionary from the town, had too. Ralof had brought a stranger with him, and she'd gone on to Whiterun to warn the Jarl.

Clark knew from his earlier trips that Ralof was a Stormcloak, and he asked Gerdur if he'd been one of the men the soldiers had mentioned as due for execution. Ralof hadn't mentioned that part, just that he'd escaped from the dragon. But now it made sense why Hadvar had been there at the same time. "I'll make sure Ralof stays well hidden," she told Clark.

She turned back to what she'd been doing when they arrived. "When the dragon flew over, I was so startled, I dropped this firewood I'd just split in the river. I was trying to dry it out with a flare spell, but it looks like I'll just have to split some more."

"There's an easier way, you know," Clark told her. He took one of the pieces of firewood and stood it on a stump. "Cast a frost spell on it," he told Gerdur. She did so, until Clark told her to stop. "Now dispel the ice"

Gerdur didn't know that spell, so Clark taught it to her. "Now try the flare."

The wood caught immediately, and she quickly dispelled the flames. "I hardly used any magicka doing that. It was a lot easier than the way I was trying."

"Right, especially as the frost comes easily to you. Here, I'll help you finish these."

"You make it look so easy," Gerdur told him. "Are you sure you're an Imperial, not a Breton?"

"It's all practice, not magicka reserves," he told her. "It looks easy because I'm using less magicka than you would. Just like you know how to roll a log instead of doing it the hard way by lifting. But some spells are beyond my normal reach. That's why I have to wait until I get to Whiterun before I can heal Gilda's nose."

Gerdur noticed Gilda for the first time. "I can help her with a good meal, and you too. I owe you for that firewood trick."

"I hoped you might. Cooking is where you show your skill."

---

"Looking at her, I expected she had no appetite," Gerdur whispered to Clark. "But she's on her third helping of the stew already."

Clark told Gerdur that he suspected her mother had been starving her. Whether that was to keep her thin, or just because the mother ate all the food, he didn't know, but the mother was really fat. "She didn't think enough of Gilda to get her teeth straightened, so I doubt she had any positive feelings for her."

"If Gilda eats like that all the time, she might take after her," Gerdur warned.

"I don't expect she will. I'll get Lydia to look after her, and she'll keep her fit, not fat."

Lydia was Clark's housecarl in Whiterun. She'd been part of the deal when Jarl Balgruuf made Clark a Thane of the city, for his services to its people. He'd forgotten what he'd done for them; nothing major, just a lot of small things that added up. And the Jarl had noticed his effect on the local economy. Even the Khajiiti caravan that camped outside the gates seemed to be more prosperous after Clark had arrived.

They'd be at his house, Breezehome, by the end of the day, if there weren't any problems on the road.

---

"Oh, It's you, Thane," the guard at the gate knew Clark, even if he didn't know the girl. "Is she with you? I have orders to keep strangers out, with dragons sighted in the area."

Clark vouched for Gilda, and the guard opened the gate for them.

"That's a new development," Clark remarked. "The only ones not allowed in before were the Khajiit traders. They have an unjustified reputation as thieves. Well, maybe it's partly justified, but they're not the worst. They just have a more sharing attitude to property than the Nords are accustomed to, and it's often misinterpreted."

---

"What have you got in the sack?" Lydia asked.

"That's not a nice thing to say," Clark admonished. "Even if that is a good description of her outfit. This is Gilda, my new apprentice, and we'll be exchanging that 'sack' for something better-fitting as soon as we can. She's about your height, so is there something in the wardrobe she can try on?"

"You know I only keep a few changes of armour. If you're looking for a dress, you're probably out of luck."

"Leather armour might be more comfortable, if it fits."

Gilda took a look in the wardrobe, but there weren't any dresses, and the leather was loose, even with the straps tightened all the way. She put the "sack" back on, and tied the string back around her waist.

"We have to go to Belethor's in the morning anyway. We'll find you something then. Come out to the back room while I brew up some potions, and then I'll see what I can do about your nose," Clark told her.

Lydia was already back at the cookpot, stirring up some food. She could see that the poor girl needed feeding, even if Clark couldn't.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Oct 2 2014, 07:52 PM

[ghastley]

Grits: Of course, I only get the option to tell it from Clark's viewpoint here, as that's the theme I've constrained myself to using. How much Diablita tells him later is her choice.
Farengar's desire for dragon scales is part of the regular game, but since most of my characters have sold some to Belethor, it made sense for Irileth to have done so, too.

Acadian: Elisif starts to shine in this one. The way she's portrayed in the game is exaggerated, and my take on it is that it's a deliberate ploy on her part to act dumb. That's easier for a blonde with cleavage, of course.

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Previously: Diablita has flown off to Skulhavn on the back of a dragon, but before she left, she suggested that Clark should go to Solitude.

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Part 22 - Solitude

After a couple of days of waiting in Whiterun for Diablita to return, Clark set out for Solitude with Gilda. Although his main intention was to investigate Elisif, Gilda had a Thieves Guild commission there, and she was an excellent distraction.

"We'll go to the Blue Palace to buy a spell tome from Sybille Stentor," Clark told Gilda. "That will give us a chance to look around a little, and maybe find an opportunity for something else."

"Theft, or what?"

"Anything that gives us greater access to the court. If any of the major players, especially the Jarl, has any work for us, that would be perfect. Otherwise, we play it by ear."

---

They arrived late in the evening, and took a room at the Winking Skeever. Gilda, in her tight leathers, got more than a few glances from the men. Then they'd look at Clark, and wonder what he'd got that they hadn't. The women would look at Gilda, know what she'd got that they hadn't, and then wonder about Clark.

They spent most of the following morning wandering around the market. Then it was time to head for the palace.

As they entered the audience room, and climbed the stairs, they could hear someone petitioning the Jarl for assistance. There were strange noises coming from Wolfskull Cave, and lights in the night. The petitioner was from Dragon Bridge, some way from the cave, but he was clearly disturbed by the phenomena.

Elisif was earnestly listening to the man, while glancing at her advisors for clues to their reactions. Her proposal at the end of his pitch caught Clark by surprise.

"We will immediately send a legion to scour the cave and secure your town. Haafingar's people will always be safe under my rule."

Sybille and Falk talked her down to a lesser course of action, of just sending an extra guard or two to Dragon's Bridge. Somebody would take care of the cave, too.

Clark saw his chance and suggested that he and Gilda should go and take a look. Varnius Janius left, happy that the matter was in safe hands.

"You didn't have to volunteer, you know," Falk told them. "The Jarl and I have this routine well-oiled now. She promises the moons, and I bring her down to Nirn again. Everyone loves her for it, because they think she means everything she says. And what they actually get is quite enough to satisfy them."

"Well, we're looking for an excuse to explore the area, so this is no problem for us. And you never know; there just might be something behind that tale of his."

Falk doubted it. That cave had a tradition of being haunted for as long as he could remember, and there was no reason to believe something new was happening.

"But don't let me stop you going there. The caves that everyone avoids are the ones that still hold their treasure, aren't they?"

Gilda whispered in Clark's ear as they left the palace. "I think Falk Fire-Beard and Thane Bryling have something going on. Did you see the way they look at each other?"

"No, I was watching Elisif." Gilda elbowed him in the ribs. "And not just her cleavage. She's quite an actress, and she's playing for high stakes, here."

"What do you mean?"

Clark explained what Diablita had told him. Elisif had to appear weak as a Jarl, so that Tullius wouldn't have her replaced. At the same time, she had to do the job as well as she could. Hence the coded interplay between her and Falk. She'd just told him that she thought something needed to be done about Wolfskull Cave, and probably how much. Falk had scaled it down appropriately, but not changed the basic decision to send more guards to Dragon Bridge, and investigate the cave.

---

The presence of two skeletons guarding the entrance to the cave was evidence that this wasn't a wild goose chase. Something had to have animated those two, and recently, as that kind of magic fades quickly. That something was most likely still in the cave.

"Skeletons usually indicate necromancers," Clark thought. "I wonder how long before we meet one."

As they might have expected, the novice whose job it was to keep the guard in place was stationed not far into the cave. And further in were more experienced colleagues who'd re-animated draugr to assist them. Finally, they came to what appeared to be a dead end. The chamber had a pit in the floor, but the only other exit was back the way they'd come.

Clark peered down. "I don't see any way to climb back up. But this can't be all there is. We didn't pass anything of interest, and there didn't appear to be any accommodations for the necromancers. I can't believe that they come here every day from somewhere else."

Gilda shrugged. "So we go down, and hope there's another exit. That looks like a paved floor down there."

"That's true. And since there isn't one up here, it didn't just fall there."

It wasn't far to drop, and when they landed, they could hear something up one of the tunnels. "It sounds like chanting," Gilda said. "Come on!" She set off down the tunnel with Clark close behind her.

They emerged on a ledge overlooking a cavern. Blue lights were swirling around a tower in the centre, and the sound of chanting they'd heard was coming from the top. "There must be a side-passage back there that leads down, and we missed it." Clark guessed.

Gilda shushed him and pointed. A faint glow was coming from somewhere just behind them. It outlined an opening in the passage wall that they hadn't seen before. The glow was getting brighter, as they watched.

Gilda guessed that someone was approaching, carrying a torch. She crept towards the light, readying a flame spell. An ice spike came back in response, but an explosion of fire ended it. Clark looked down at the pool of burning oil the necromancer had stepped into. "Nice timing," he told Gilda.

"However, I'm sure the others will have heard that, so..." Clark cast Ebonyflesh and readied a ward, too. His other hand held his fiery soul trap sword.

"We summon Potema." The chanting was now close enough for them to hear the words. But it wasn't coming from the draugr that faced them, or the necromancer behind him. As they fought their way around the spiral of stairs and ramps leading up the tower, they could hear another voice being added to the ritual.

"Yes, yes! Return me to this realm!"

"As our voices summon you, the blood of the innocent binds you."

"Summoned by words, bound by blood" The last chanted in unison by several voices.

"What are you doing? You fools! You cannot bind me!"

"Summoned by words, bound by blood" The chorus came again from the necromancers.

"You don't have the power!" Potema's voice mocked.

"Something is wrong. There is an intruder" a single voice interrupted, presumably one of the necromancers near the top had spotted them.

The chanting stopped, and several necromancers came down the stairs, firing spells in their direction. Clark had his ward up, in anticipation, and blocked most of it. Gilda hacked past the ward with her blade, and one by one the necromancers died.

At the very top, one lone necromancer stood trying to continue the ritual. Once she was dead the blue lights stopped swirling, and disappeared through a hole in the roof, and an eerie silence fell. Clark searched around, and found a book, which he handed to Gilda. "Read this. I think I recognise it as a skill book you'd find useful."

Gilda meanwhile had found a lever, that dropped a drawbridge to another tower, set against the side of the cave. There was a chest on the top, with a decent amount of loot, but more important, it lead to a path out of the cave.

---

Back at the Blue Palace, Falk asked what wild animals they'd found. He was convinced that Varnius had just heard wolves howling or something equally innocuous. When Clark told him about the necromancers' ritual, his jaw dropped.

"You stopped them, didn't you? Don't tell me they brought Potema back to life!"

"We stopped them," Gilda replied. "Assuming that was all of them."

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Edited to add a picture of Elisif's cleavage. Because in the unmodded game she's not showing any.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Aug 5 2016, 03:17 AM