An Imperial in Skyrim, pt. 2

Whiterun in the distance

(Continuing the adventures of Willam Kingsman begun in this post.)

Erandur was really impressed with Whiterun, but I thought it still felt cold, so we continued south.

Pretty soon, the weather warmed up nicely. The road took us alongside a small river, with flowers blooming and butterflies pretty much everywhere. For the first time since I'd come to this land, I felt at home.

Just before Riverwood, we saw a rough wooden footbridge across the river, so we walked across to take a look. The water was crystal clear and lovely [I'm using the Pure Waters mod], and there was a dock on the other shore that looked like a perfect spot for fishing.

Nearby was a tree house [the Hermit's Tree House mod] - a rough, but sturdy structure, with a ladder leading to a small bedroom (well, large for a tree house, I guess). The little place looked neglected, and we found a journal which ended in sickness and drug-induced hallucination. But although we looked around, we found no one nearby, living or dead.

Enjoying the view from the tree house.

It really was a neat little place, with a lovely view from the top deck. None of the people in Riverwood wanted to talk about it, except to indicate that it was empty - ours to claim, if we wanted it.

And I did, at least for awhile. It was such a lovely place to rest and relax. Unfortunately, there wasn't any work nearby, unless I wanted to chop wood for a living - which I didn't. But we thought we'd use the place as a temporary base, at least, while we looked around the area.

The next day, we walked up the river to take a look at the Guardian Stones a little ways past Riverwood. And there, in the distance, we saw what looked like a ship, floating high in the air.

A ship, floating in the air

Well, we couldn't pass that up! It was on the other side of the water, but the river was shallow there, so we walked down to give it a closer look. And sure enough, it was a ship floating in the air, with a long chain anchoring it to the shore.

There wasn't anyone nearby, and I didn't like the idea of trying to climb up the chain (especially since we didn't know what kind of greeting we'd get at the top). But as we were poking around on shore, I found a large statue and somehow triggered a spell which teleported us both to the deck of the ship.

It was really an incredible device [the Asteria mod], a Dwemer airship in perfect condition. Neither of us had ever seen anything like it. It looked fit for the Emperor himself, it was that luxurious, but there was no one on board. It looked like the owner had taken everything especially valuable, though what remained was in perfect condition, and there were enough trinkets left behind that we knew it couldn't have been the work of bandits.

Indeed, why weren't there bandits? Was that spell sensitive enough to detect that we meant no harm?

Well, we looked all around, but we didn't disturb anything. We found some bloody rags in the furnace room, and I'd swear that a manikin had moved in the master bedroom when we came back upstairs again, so we left. But I'll be back. Dangerous or not, I can't pass this up. If only I could learn to fly it around Skyrim! [You can't. It's just another player house mod, though a very fancy one.]

The Asteria, a Dwemer airship

There weren't any roads in this part of Skyrim, but it looked like there might be a pass over the mountains to our north - the cold, snowy mountains, of course. But while we were debating whether or not to attempt it, we discovered a cave, which turned out to be a shortcut - Brittleshire Pass.

And yeah, it turned out to be a shortcut infested with undead, but there weren't that many of them (or maybe I'm just getting used to this kind of thing now?), and there weren't any necromancers, thankfully. It took us to a well-traveled road west of Whiterun. We'd just made a big circle.

On the road, we met a traveler who told us how to get to the Shrine of Azura. That sounded interesting, though it's far to the northeast, in the cold, the wind, and the snow, again. So maybe some other time...

Instead, we thought we'd head back to Whiterun, and we stumbled upon another bandit-infested fort on the way.  Ft. Greymoor was apparently another casualty of the fighting in Skyrim - an Imperial fort overrun by bandits. Really, what are these Nords thinking? Don't they realize it's their own land they're endangering, their own people, in this foolish revolt?

Good people everywhere need to stand together against the bandits, against the necromancers, against the monsters. The Empire may not be perfect, but we're necessary. Besides, it's not just Nords in Skyrim, not these days. I've met people of every race. We're all in this together!

Erandur and I cleared the bandits out of Ft. Greymoor without too much trouble. I think I'm getting better with this bow. And the loot has been pretty good. Really, this seems to be a way I can do good for the people of Skyrim while doing good for myself, too.

Indeed, after returning to Whiterun, we heard of a bounty the jarl had put on a bandit leader at Silent Moons Camp, so we headed out there next. Hmm,... I've heard that danger is addicting. Maybe that's what's happening to me? I certainly haven't been trained for this (without Erandur's help, I'd have been dead long ago).

Downstream from Riverwood

Now we're heading back to Riverwood again, but then I think we'll head to Riften. In Whiterun, we ran into a member of the Dawnguard - an organized group of vampire hunters - and he invited us to go have a talk with his boss. (They're recruiting. I don't know if I want to join, but it can't hurt to talk, right?)

Also, I've been telling everyone I meet about that necromancer I discovered right after the shipwreck. I keep thinking of those poor women, abducted and murdered. I keep thinking of their families, actually. Wouldn't they want to know that the fiend had been killed?

Anyway, someone told me I might check around Riften. That's a long, long way from Dawnstar, but I suppose it can't hurt to give it a try. That's south, still, so it might be even nicer than Riverwood. You never can tell.

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Note: This whole series can be found here.