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]

Acadian: Clark now has to decide whether to give Elisif priority over his housecarl, who's sworn to carry his burdens etc. Not a hard decision, but he does need to make a few preparations.

Grits: Jordis will explain everything in the episode after this one.

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Previously: Clark has bought Proudspire Manor, and been Thaned again. Both Elisif and Jordis have dropped heavy hints in his direction.

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Part 26 - Blue Palace

"Ooh! This one's enchanted!" Jordis enthused.

"Then I doubt that's one of Beirand's own. He usually leaves that to his customers. Probably something he bought from an adventurer, and there's no knowing who made it. I'd keep looking, if I were you."

"Quite right, and I thank you for your trust in my work," Beirand chimed in. "But there's one piece I have here that's not of my making, that I think you should consider."

He showed them a steel sword, looking much like one he'd have made himself. Clark looked at it closely. "Is this Skyforge steel?"

"You're a true connoisseur," Beirand told him. "Indeed it is. The woman who sold it to me had a greatsword to match it. Her reason for selling was that she never used it, just its larger brother. So it hasn't seen any battles, except as an observer."

Clark handed it to Jordis. "Give it a swing, see how it feels."

"Better than mine, but that wouldn't be hard. And it does have a good edge," she continued, feeling it with her thumb.

"It should keep that," Beirand told her. "Skyforge steel doesn't blunt easily, like ordinary steel can."

"We'll take it," Clark told him. "And if they've delivered the enchanting station, I can do the rest."

---

Jordis was bubbling with excitement as Clark took her new sword down to the enchanting station. "How does fire damage and soul trap sound?" Clark asked.

"You can do two enchantments?" Jordis didn't believe her luck.

"No, it's one of the rare combination ones that works for weapons. Most of them are for mages' robes. And because the soul trap part will let you recharge often, I don't need to use a large gem. The fire part isn't major, but it does make a big difference, especially when you get multiple hits in a row, and the damage stacks. It's what I use on mine, and Lydia in Whiterun has it on hers."

New steel plate armour, new Skyforge steel sword, now with an enchantment. Jordis was wondering just how good she had to be tonight to deserve all this. She must have wondered out loud, because Clark told her it wouldn't be tonight. He had work to do at the Blue Palace, and she'd have to wait a day or two. "If you're feeling energetic, go whack the training dummy, and see if your new armor needs adjusting. You don't want to wait until you're in the middle of a fight to do that."

---

Clark entered the Palace, and cast invisibility before he slipped up the back stairs and along to Elisif's chambers. The reason for the invisibility was two-fold. First, so that nobody else would know he was there. Elisif had hinted that her housecarl was apparently trying to keep her faithful to her late husband, ignoring her feelings in the matter. The second reason was that there was a slight chance that he was her second string, and he'd find someone else there before him. Better not to embarrass her by interrupting anything.

He found her sitting naked on her bed, gazing hopefully towards the door. Although she couldn't see him, she did see the door open and close, and she stood up. "Is someone there?" she asked. She made no attempt to cover herself, even though she had no idea who had just entered.

---

"What if it had been someone else?" Clark wanted to know.

"That would have been my second choice. But I only invited you, didn't I?"

"And didn't you think I'd like to watch you undress?"

"Games like that are for when it's not urgent."

"So that's why we've only just come up for air."

"Speak for yourself," Elisif told him and went back to persuading him to do it again.

---

Much later, as she lay exhausted in his arms, Elisif had more time to chat. "I hope I didn't call you Torygg, you did remind me of him a couple of times."

"Good times, I hope."

"Oh yes, it was always good times with Torygg. And I miss him so much. Especially when I have to make decisions that affect Haafingar. Falk's a great help, when Bryling's not distracting him. And I suppose she is, too. Sometime I need to talk about women things."

"So the only one of your Thanes who's completely useless is Erikur?"

"Oh, he's not useless. If I want to know what the Legion or the Thalmor are up to, I can count on him to reveal something. And he's just as useful for passing misinformation the other way. I just have to mention that I heard a rumour, and he's off trying to sell what he 'knows' to whichever side he thinks will pay the most. Sometimes both."

"He's also a merchant, so he gets reports from all sorts of places. My people can get copies of those fairly easily. He's the best spy I have, and he doesn't know it."

"So is he the reason for the dumb blonde act?"

"I'm not acting blonde, just dumb. And you've just checked that the breasts are real, too. No, some of that act is for the people. I can promise them the moons, and they blame the Imperial occupation when they don't get them. I'm not sure they take my gestures seriously, but the sentiment behind them gets across. The common folk may laugh at my antics, but they love the show, and Tullius and Elenwen know that."

"I haven't seen those two around the court. Do they ever visit the Palace?"

"No, Tullius doesn't leave Castle Dour unless he has to, and Elenwen's always at the Embassy, up on the next hill. She does throw frequent parties, though. That way anyone she wants to see comes to her, and they're in her playground. She'll probably want to check you out, now I've made you a Thane."

"Who goes to those parties?" Clark wanted to know.

"I'm usually there, just because the Embassy's in my hold, so I get an invitation automatically. Then she's normally invited the other Imperial Jarls, and their thanes. Prominent merchants, rich land-owners, anyone with influence to peddle."

"You didn't mention the General."

"No, it wouldn't be his style to accept. He's the single-minded strategist type who thinks of nothing but the war. And maybe Legate Rikke, too. The legion chose her to be Tullius' second in command on merit, but I suspect she has orders to help him relax a bit. Our dossier on her suggests that she'd be doing that anyway."

"Do either Tullius or Elenwen have spies in the Palace?"

"We assume so, although we have no reason to suspect anyone in particular. They may just send in someone like that Varnius character from time to time, to take a look and listen."

"Or me?"

"That wouldn't matter. I'm on your side now, anyway." Elisif gave Clark another kiss, and laid her head on his shoulder.