Skyrim Alchemist

Considering for a moment that my ‘dream’ I conversed with my brother was true, I panicked.  It was plausible my mother may indeed be looking for me.  If nothing else to verify events and fact check.  She always was incredibly thorough.  Lying to her was pointless.  She’d find out, eventually, one way or another.

When I came here, I didn’t initially intend on being entirely anonymous.  However, my ‘death’ turned out to be an event I came to think of as a blessing.  Now I was faced with the possibility that my family was indeed looking for me.

I cursed myself.  I did not cover my tracks well.  It was too late to disappear.  I would eventually be discovered.  My arrival at Helgen was recorded.  They would find my tracks leading to Riverrun, Whiterun, and Solitude.

I hatched a new plan.

I must become powerful.

If I could establish enough titles, land, and prestige within Skyrim, then my family would not be able to extract me as a runaway child.  I would have my own estates, and therefore, a sovereign resident of Skyrim.

I already held title of Thane in Whiterun, and the Housecarl Lydia.  I needed more.

Counting out my 83 septims, I sighed hopelessly.  How was I going to gain estates?

An impossible task, but I didn’t have a better plan.  It was this, or marry the Supreme Commander Justicar’s son, Verin.

Verin.  The one responsible for the scar on my brother’s knuckle.  My brother was not one for violence.  His preferred weapon was his charm.  He talked his way out of trouble.  But Verin’s advances on me were unwelcome.  The one and only time my brother ever took a physical swing at anyone…

Mother was arranging for me to wed him…

I was not going back.

I dressed and headed for the Solitude Blue Palace.  When I visited Radiant Raiment’s a day ago for shoes, one of the shopkeeper sisters asked me to model clothing for the Jarl.  It would be an easy, quick way to earn a little money before preparing for further journey.

I also needed to impress the court, if I intended to establish titles and estates in Skyrim.

The Blue Palace was a step into my past.  Fine décor; bustling servants; formality.  I introduced myself to the Jarl’s steward first.  I overheard him discussing a problem they were having with a local township.  The locals were complaining about strange noises coming from a cave.  The steward thought the issue too trivial to bother with the guards.  However, it was the perfect opportunity for me to gain favor with the court.  He agreed.

With that business sorted, I addressed the Jarl Elisif.  I felt a little silly asking her how she liked my outfit. It seemed like something I would ask my best girl friend, not the Jarl of the Skyrim capital.  She did, however, respond that she liked it, and said she would order from Radiant Raiment soon.  Excellent news that I hoped would aid my payment.

Lydia and I set off to sort the problem with the Wolf Skull Cave.

Along the way, I came across something that made my heart stop.

The Thalmor Embassy.

When my ship crashed, I had hoped to reach the Thalmor Embassy in order to go home.  Now I wanted to be as far from it as possible.  We made haste away.

We did not get far before we ran into a Thalmor Justicar patrol.  Now that I was not under their protection, I saw them as  must the rest of the Empire.  Militant.  Ruthless.  Fascist.  Merciless.  Terrifying.  I stayed clear of them, and vowed not to attract their attention.  There was little chance of them knowing my lineage, but best not to give them reason to do research.  If my parents were looking for me, they would certainly have sent word to all the embassies on what to watch for.  My current dress style was far different than what it would normally be, and my hooded cowl did well to conceal my identity.

We found Wolf Skull Cave, and fought out way through daughr and necromancers.  Pretty straightforward, no tricky spots.  It was a cult attempting to resurrect the Wolf Queen, Potema, making all the noise bothering the locals.

We eliminated the necromancers.  My strategy for the most part was to make them turn on each other with Fury, set Lydia to draw the attention of the survivor, then assist with flame.  On the top tower, I blew a few necromancers off the edge with my dragon shout.  Morbid that I took delight in that.  I’d ponder the psychology of it later.

I found the robes from one of them to be quite useful, and took it for my own.

Quite fetching, I thought.  Except for the silly necromancer skull emblazoned on it.  I hoped a few washings would take it out.

I sold the treasures collected, and returned to the Steward with the news the Wolf Skull Cave problem was remedied.  A good step in establishing my relations with the court.

I purchased more spells from the court wizard, leaving little remainder.  Needing more coin, an idea occurred to me.  I took Lydia down to the dock, where I spotted a lumberyard.

I ordered her to chop the wood.  To my surprise, she happily set to the task.  Given her bellyaching about carrying treasure from Wolf Skull Cave, I expected her to balk at the manual labor.

Well, if she was happy to do it, that suited me just fine.  We earned 200 septims before deciding that was enough.  I mixed potions at the apothecary, then we returned to the inn for dinner and rest.

A good days work.  We earned a restful sleep.