Accept our Terms of Service
Our Terms of Service have recently changed! Please read and agree to the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy
Going into the world and spreading merriment
Next Post »
« Previous Post
+ Show First Post
Total: 456
Posts Per Page:
Permalink

"Yeah, thanks."

He goes to find someone else who can tell him where the fuck Witchmist Grove and Morvunskar, and he once again has to boggle at the distance he somehow covered overnight.

Map of the Trip

Eastmarch!!! How did he go to Eastmarch and fall in love and plan a wedding—no, you know what, fuck it. He's done freaking out about this. There's some crazy shit happening, he knows this already, he'll just... deal. He'll deal.

To fucking Witchmist Grove that's like a whole goddamn week away—less, with his magic horse, but still—and then Morvunskar, which apparently is a fort, why did he want to get married in a fort, what did he tell Ysolda Morvunskar was, certainly not a fort, unless it's a very very pretty fort.

Permalink

"Hey, Ruby," Ysolda calls him as she spots him while he's making his way out of the city.

Permalink

"—hi."

Permalink

"I meant to ask and forgot, how did you deal with the Valtheim Towers?"

Permalink

"...the who now."

Permalink

"Oh, maybe you detoured around them? The Towers are a fort between Whiterun and Eastmarch and they were taken by bandits recently."

Permalink

"...where, exactly, are these Towers?"

Permalink

She points them out on his map.

Map
Permalink

"...there's a fort right in the middle of the main road between Whiterun and Eastmarch and it was taken by bandits? Isn't that... absolutely terrible for travelers and trade?"

Permalink

"Yeah, it's why I asked. I think most people detour around it or just pay the exorbitant toll."

Permalink

"How did that happen?"

Permalink

Shrug. "My guess is, it's not obviously either Whiterun's or Windhelm's responsibility, and with the civil war they've sort of withdrawn their guard and now..."

Permalink

"The... civil war."

Permalink

She gives him a funny look. "Have you been living under a rock?"

Permalink

"Assume I have."

Permalink

"...alright. Uh... Wow, I have no idea how to explain the war. Ulfric Stormcloak, jarl of Windhelm¹, killed the High King in Solitude², which the Empire—how deep under a rock do you live, you do know about the Empire?—alright, the Empire considered high treason but Ulfric wants to fight it and free Skyrim from it. So now half the holds of Skyrim favour Ulfric and the other half favour the Empire."

(¹ Capital of Eastmarch.)
(² Capital of Haafingar, the northwestern hold of Skyrim.)

Permalink

"I... see." He's gonna need to ask someone at the College about it. "And Whiterun is with the Empire?"

Permalink

"Whiterun is neutral, so far, which—I am really not the best person to tell you about this. Maybe you could go ask about it in Dragonreach*? The court wizard would probably tell you if you asked, since you're a mage, too."

(* The hold of the jarl of Whiterun.)

Permalink

"...later, maybe. I should go fetch your ring, now. And—thank you for the warning."

Permalink

"No problem."

Permalink

Time to ride.

The ethereal horse spell is somewhat finnicky, and he doesn't get it right away. The first couple of horses he summons aren't as good as the ones he got from the Scrolls, and he has to dismiss them and tweak the spell a few times to get it right. Eventually he does, though, and he can enjoy the ride in the same mostly-absent-minded way as before, and get to studying more spells. In particular, he wants to study conjured weapons because he is really mad about the Valtheim Towers actually.

He... probably can't do anything about it right now. He shouldn't do anything about it right now. He's barely field-tested, and going up against a whole bandit camp would be a bad idea, even if he's a mage and mages are bullshit. But he's burning with righteous anger and learning how to fight will help him do something about it.


Permalink

Skyrim really is beautiful.

He hasn't had the conscious thought before but now that he's confident enough in his riding that he can mostly not pay attention to it (he probably would have to with a real horse but haha mages are bullshit) it really is stark how pretty the landscape is. The mountains are breathtaking, the roads wind through woods and valleys that could be paintings, even the ruins are beautiful. He thinks...

Well, he doesn't know why he had the strong feeling he should go to the College, but he hasn't had any other similarly strong feelings about anything else, nor is he feeling some inexorable pull towards the College again, so.

He thinks he wants to travel, sometime. See all of Skyrim, and maybe eventually all of Tamriel. He wasn't feeling it, before, but now he thinks if he were just to be back at the College and study he'd get stir-crazy and claustrophobic. There's just so much more.

Permalink

The Valtheim Towers are beautiful, too. Somewhat ruined, it seems, but even with the bandits having taken over they're still a monument to human ingenuity and craft.

The Valtheim Towers
Permalink

Well. Ruby can't take them, and he doesn't want to detour. So he supposes what he's going to do instead is...

...run like hell.

Permalink

He casts Oakflesh, then summons a ward around himself, then readies a heal, and he rides.

Total: 456
Posts Per Page: