“…Right, that makes sense, but I *am* willing to pay for loyalty, and the cities often have more expensive goods.. Sixty a month, ninety after the trial period, plus a reasonable stipend for clothes, food, etc, I’ll sort out the specifics there later. If you get any bribes, tell me and I’ll deal with it, then give you double the amount.”

Bribes? He's a little surprised at the possibility, but tries to not let is phase him. "Oh, alright, I obviously won't turn down higher pay."

He guesses he has a job now? It's an odd feeling, and yet also nothing in particular has changed. Aside from being in a whole new world that has magic and dragons, of course. He's gotten the basic info, but maybe he could know a bit more about Hallana? Maybe also why people would be bribing him?

They’ll have plenty of time to talk! It’s a decently long walk to Riften, which they don’t enter, but instead purchase a carriage ride to Whiterun, which isn’t particularly pleasant but has the virtue of not needing to walk. They’re only attacked by wolves twice; apparently large parties tend to scare them off. Bandits, unfortunately, are not usually scared off by large parties.

”Get down!” Hallana shouts, before setting the person threatening to kill her if she doesn’t empty her pocketbooks on fire. Mjoll jumps out and hits the individual with her sword (it looks to be some kind of green glass?), and Hallana starts channeling some sort of spell, aimed near the bandit’s friends.

Nathan does indeed get down! Some part of him, unfamiliar to his conscious mind, attempts to reach out towards the cart and horses only to find itself painfully incapable. Despite the peculiar twinge, Nathan continues to keep himself away from the danger and avoid doing anything eye-catching.

The bandits are killed and looted relatively quickly; one does get close to the carriage, but the horse kicks her to death. A bundle of weapons, armor, and a few coins are placed in the back, and the ride continues.

Nathan tries very hard to not look at any of the dead bodies for very long. Crushed spiders is one thing, even giant ones, but dead people is whole other thing. He will probably be processing that for the whole rest of the ride and consequently be pretty quiet, though he'll still be responsive to questions and the like.

Hallana and Mjoll seem pretty content to ride in silence! Nothing else particularly eventful happens, and they reach Whiterun within a few more hours. Mjoll goes to sort out the living situation, inviting Nathan to go with her, while Hallana goes to report a bounty of some kind and sell the loot. 

“Right, I just need to sort out the rooming situation - we were saving up for a larger home, actually, so your timing wasn’t ideal… but I think we can divide off part of the loft for you, and put down some bedding easily enough. Hm, I wonder if getting an expansion would require a permit.”

Nathan is still a bit non-present, holding back the events of today until he's reasonably alone, but can nod to that. He isn't strictly speaking used to sleeping on the floor, but he's done it a few times before and it's never bother him.

Getting a mattress doesn’t appear to be a problem, at least. A privacy screen is set up as well, and Hallana reappears after a few hours looking extremely pleased with herself. She gives him two hundred Septims and tells him to by himself some clothes and whatnot, and to be back by midnight.

Nathan thanks Hallana and holds the coins with the hands of someone who has never held this much physical money, let alone solid gold, before. After counting them all (more just to experience their weight in his hands than out of any sort of mistrust), he'll stash most of it away, find a suitable purse for the rest, and head out into to buy a few outfits and some groceries. He'll be aiming for durable clothes rather than flashy ones, and cheap raw foods to cook at home.

It’s a good thing he’s aiming for durable clothes, rather than flashy ones, because there don’t appear to be any of the latter. Even the more expensive ones are more durable and flashy. 

Raw foods can be picked up at many of the streetside vendors for reasonably low prices, although either vegetables are more expensive or meat is less expensive, compared to what he’s used to. 

Another oddity. Maybe there's some weird tax situation, or just a lot of hunters selling game. Regardless, it seems like Nathan can still manage to get what he was looking for and not run out of budget. Once he's gotten it all, he'll head back to the house, probably well before midnight. Assuming no one else is using the cookpot when he gets there, he'll also cook himself a little dinner after putting on a new outfit and putting away the rest of his clothes.

Mjoll's slicing and various fish, but she's not directly using the pot, and she'll cheerfully make room. The clothes fit reasonably well for something that isn't tailored, although if he's not used to handmade items they'll probably take some time to get used to.

It definitely takes some getting used to then! This whole situation does though so Nathan is just going with it. He'll make some chicken soup on the fire and enjoy that for dinner. If Mjoll's up for some chat he might ask what the general living situation here in Whiterun (and perhaps more broadly Skyrim overall) is like. What the economy's like, the basic gist of the political situation, any easy-to-make social faux-pas he should avoid, that sort of thing. He's willing to trade stories about his homeland (or, homeworld?) if that makes the conversation flow any smoother, even if he's not sure it'll ever be relevant again.

Sure, she'll chat!

The economy's normally pretty good, with all the trade from the Empire, but the civil war means that it's currently in terrible shape. The dragon attacks really didn't help.

The political situation is... civil war, for reasons relating to religion, foreign influence, nationalism, and a few other topics thrown in for good measure. It's a mess. She can give him a basic rundown of the Empire's provinces, but she's not particularly knowledgeable about them past what you could get from a tourist guidebook.

You shouldn't wear an Amulet of Mara unless you're proposing marriage, Talos and Ulfric are both currently contentious subjects, to a dangerous degree, although you should be fine in Whiterun. Here are a colorful variety of racial slurs, please don't use them, even though it seems everybody else does. She can't think of anything else, but there's almost certainly more.

Tourist book-level info is definitely still more than what Nathan knows! He also commits the racial slurs to memory, since he agrees that it’s preferable not to use them.

He asks more about the local religion, out of purely personal interest. Also about magic, and whether there’s any relationship between the two, at least on a cultural level?

She grimaces slightly, but does seem willing to talk about it.

”Well, the war’s over the worship of Ysimir, or Talos if you’re Imperial. It’s banned in the Empire because of the Thalmor. If you want more information on the politics, you’d best ask Hallana - she’s forced to know that sort of thing.”

“The most common pantheons around here are the Imperial and Nordic ones. They’re different, but they share some gods. The Divines are the Imperial pantheon, which is Akatosh, Arkay, Kyne, Mara, Dibella, Zenithar, Stendarr, and Julianos. Kyne has a slightly different name, but I don’t remember it. Akatosh is god of time, rulership, and dragons. Kyne’s nature for them as well. Mara is of family, Dibella love, Zenithar trade and work, Stendarr mercy and justice, and Julianos wisdom and knowledge.”

”The Nordic pantheon’s less officially recognized, maybe, but plenty do still follow it. Kyne is the Mother-Goddess, the ruler of nature, and the bringer of storms. She first gave Nords the Voice. She’s the widow of Shor, the dead god, and Mara is her handmaiden. Shor was a great warrior, and now rules over the valorous dead after being slain in battle. Tsun, his thane, and the god of trials against adversity, died defending him, and now guards the gates of the Halls and tests those who would enter. Stuhn, his brother, is the God of Ransom, and taught Men to take prisoners. Alduin is the Worldeater, and not exactly worshipped.”

”Ysimir… Ysimir is a hero-god, and Talos, and my wife, who is definitely the one to ask if you want to try to understand that. I certainly don’t!”

“There’s an Imperial god of magic, Magnus. I don’t know anything about him, though.”

“Huh.” He’s not really sure why he’d assumed there was a connection. He supposed that in a world where magic is real there’s no particular reason to reason lump it in with the more ephemeral sorts of mysticism. He will definitely ask Hallana about apparently being a god, the next time she’s around.

Nathan will stay up for a while after dinner, even without a conversation. He’ll still end up going to bed pretty early though. It’s been a long day for him.