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.

-------------

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]

Acadian: Clark's already admitted that he's collecting housecarls, but only the female ones. Of course, that shouldn't be read as implying that he's restricting himself to housecarls, either.

-----------------

Previously: Clark and Gilda had investigated Wolfskull cave and interrupted an attempt to resurrect Potema.

-----------------

Part 23 - Solitude Docks and Temple

"I need a drink after that," Clark said to Gilda, "and one of the unique drinks that Solitude has to offer is Evette San's spiced wine. Have you tried it yet?"

"It's not one of those sneaky drinks that doesn't seem very strong, but then you wake up in a strange bed realising it was, is it?"

"No it isn't any stronger than regular wine, just tastier. If anything you drink it more slowly, because you want to savour it."

"Then let's get some!"

Evette had a problem. "Sorry, I just sold the last of what I had, and I can't make any more until I get the spices. There's a shipment come in, down at the East Empire Company warehouse, but Vittoria Vici's not releasing it. You couldn't go down there and persuade her to change her mind, could you?"

"If that's the only way we'll get any spiced wine, we'll do that." Clark promised."Will she be down at the docks, or at her house in town?"

"Down at the docks at this time of day. And you'll need to see her there, because that's where she'll book it out."

"This way, Gilda, there's a back way down the stairs here to the other side of the dock bridge. It's a bit shorter than the other route, so if she does leave work early, we'll meet her coming the other way."

---

"The tarrif is how much?" Clark asked.

"I just told you, 2000 gold."

"But that's more than the shipment's worth, and a lot more than Evette can afford. She can barely afford her stand in the market."

"Well I do like her spiced wine, and if she's run out of the spices ..." Vittoria was caught between her greed and her taste for good wine. "Fine, tell Evette San her shipment will be brought up shortly."

---

They took the good news back up to Evette, who handed them a couple of glasses. "I thought you said you'd run out," Clark reminded her.

"Of bottles, I have, but there's a small cask under the counter that has some left in it. We'll finish that off, and then I'll go home and start processing another batch. Come by tomorrow and pick up a couple of bottles."

There was quite a bit in that cask, and the sun was getting low when a courier approached them. "I have a note from Falk Firebeard, at the Blue Palace. He said it was important that I get this to you, even if you'd left town."

Clark read the note. It appeared that the events in Wolfskull Cave hadn't been the end of the matter, and something else had come up. Falk would prefer to tell them in person, so could they come back to the Palace?

Falk sent them to Styr, at the Hall of the Dead, for more information. It appeared that Potema hadn't disappeared entirely after the abortive summoning, but had resurfaced in the catacombs beneath the Temple of the Divines.

Styr told them that she'd used those catacombs when she was Queen of Solitude, and had raised armies of undead there in her lifetime. "Did you know that if she were alive today, she'd probably be the Empress? She's one of the legitimate Septim line, with a much better claim than the incumbent. Fortunately, though, she's not alive, at least not yet. Her necromancer minions may have summoned her spirit, but that's well short of a full resurrection. You still have the chance to prevent that. Bring me her remains from the catacombs, and I can make sure they're sanctified and thus put out of her reach."

"How do we get to these catacombs?" Gilda asked.

"Through the Temple. One of Potema's servants knocked a hole through into the undercroft. We've locked that part off, to keep her at bay, so you'll need this key. And take this spell, too."

Styr handed Gilda a spell tome for Turn Undead.

---

"I expect we won't be finding more necromancers down here. They wouldn't be able to get into the catacombs. It will be draugr, vampires, and the odd skeleton or two. All raised by Potema herself. She may have some ability to use magic against us directly. We won't know until we get closer to where she was buried."

Clark used the key he'd been given to open the gate that lead to the breach in the undercroft wall. The pile of rubble still lay on the floor, and he was half-expecting to find the corpses of those who'd made the hole. But on reflection, they were dealing with Potema. She'd reuse those who fell.

"I don't know how long she has to wait before she can raise a draugr again," he remarked to Gilda, "If she has the same limitations as the other necromancers, a fresh body will fall into ashes if it's killed again after being raised. And she doesn't have access to live ones here."

"So we should only have to kill anything once?"

"I'm never sure with vampires. I think they can be re-animated, even though they're undead. Twice at most, though."

"Then let's hope she doesn't have a large supply of vampires."

Potema's voice greeted them at the entrance to the catacombs. "You've arrived at last. The ones who prevented me from being bound return to my fold. I have much to thank you for, little ones. When you die I will raise you and you can take your place by my side."

They ignored the voice and pressed on. The first draugr was waiting just around the corner, and a vampire was lurking at the foot of the stairs in the first room. "Wait a moment, I want to see if Potema raises her." Clark didn't want any enemies behind them.

To play safe, he set light to the pool of oil on the floor, and watched the body burn up.

They ground their way slowly through the catacombs, slaying mainly draugr. That seemed to be what Potema had in the greatest quantities, and even those were thinly distributed along the tunnels. Presumably, she'd used a lot of her supply in her earlier life. One small consolation for them in their tedious progress.

Potema took every chance to taunt them, when she had any concentration of foes to throw at them. At one point, she raised several draugr and a vampire in a small cell, with closed doors. Fortunately, that took her some time to do, and they were able to attack each one as it raised.

"If she'd done that before we got here, they'd have been more of a problem," Gilda remarked.

"Not so," Clark returned. "They'd have been vulnerable to a fireball from outside. Potema had to wait until we were in the room, too."

"She's probably learned from this. I'd expect she'll have the strongest gather round her at the end."

"You didn't have to say that out loud," Clark reminded her.

Gilda whispered in Clark's ear that she was trying to set up the best situation for that fireball. She knew he couldn't throw many before he ran out of magicka.

---

"This must be the last section, and if I'm not mistaken, we'll find Potema and her guards behind that door." Clark pointed at a solid iron door that seemed more substantial than the others they'd passed through. "Whoever put her behind that meant her to stay put."

He glanced over at Gilda, and gasped. "What happened to your jacket?" Gilda was always threatening to burst out of it, but now she had.

"A buckle let go during that last skirmish. The leather's improved up to the point where it will turn a Deadric blade, but it looks like I neglected the fittings."

"That's not the best timing. You don't want to be vulnerable now."

"I don't think it makes much difference," Gilda replied. "It's not the leather that protects me, so much as the magic of the forge. Armour always has gaps, and it's magic that fills them. You're not using armour at all, are you?"

"No, but the spells I use don't work if I wear any armour."

"This is probably a different kind of magic. I don't think most smiths even think of it that way. They just do the work they've learned, and the armour gets more effective. But consider the facts. Dwarven armour is made from softer metal than steel, but it protects more. That's because it's more magicka-friendly than steel. And look at the materials you use for the really high-end stuff. Daedra hearts, void salts, and so on. Stahlrim and dragon scales are almost pure magicka, if you think about it."

"Yes, I've added a bit more leather when I've improved mine, but sometimes I've removed some, and it's still been an upgrade. It's all in the working of the material, and I'm convinced it's the same as casting a spell."

"Well, if draugr get distracted by that sort of thing, we have one big advantage," Clark noted.

"Count again," Gilda laughed.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Feb 18 2015, 02:59 PM