บท 64: Whiterun!
I breathed in the smell of the city and instantly regretted it. The smell was one of livestock. Kharjo's noise twitched from the smell. He turned to me as the other Khajiits stepped off the back of the carriage. He had rode in the front with me while the others stayed in the back. "We will handle the unloading. Do you want your share left on the carriage?"
I gave a nod, "I have my own methods of storing things. Besides I sold everything I didn't need to you guys."
Kharjo nodded, "We shall see each other another time perhaps. Or never again, who can say."
I laughed and let the khajiit wander off. Looking around I sighed and I turned to my two followers. "So we are here. Anything we want to discuss before we ultimately break the party up?"
Canary was in her notes. We passed the western watch tower and she insisted on talking to the guards that lingered there. They were picking up bricks and stone slabs from the destroyed tower. They had also strapped the burned corpse of the dragon to a cart. Which would be delivered to Dragonsreach later.
Canary looked up, "Huh? Oh yeah, I am gonna walk around. I'll find you later when I need to."
I sighed and turned to Viree, "And you?"
Viree shrugged, "Remember what you said about the Companions? I'll be there. You said I should speak with a Farkas first?"
With Viree I couldn't blame her leaving me. Truth be told I wasn't that sad the party was breaking. Whiterun was just very historical to skyrim. I was getting giddy from the arrival here. I gave Viree a nod, "Good luck with that. You two can find me at the bannered mare by nightfall. I need to secure us a room or uh rooms hopefully."
The two women nodded and I guided Philip to the stables. I gave a glare and a slight threat to break their hands if they harmed Philip. Philip was a war horse, but horses were still fragile. At least the none Shadowmere ones. The walk up to Whiterun was actually longer than I thought it was. A sign Whiterun would be bigger than it was.
The guard stopped me at the front gate. "What do you want."
I raised an eyebrow, "To enter the city."
The guard clicked their tongue, but before they could say something a different guard across from him spoke. "Just go in, he does this to everyone that enters the city. He's is just bored standing out here."
The first guard lashed back, "Maybe if you would talk with me! I mean we are here literally all day!"
Before I heard the second guards response I just went straight through the gate. It was actually a lot like what I expected. The drunken huntsman was in its normal place and so was the blacksmith. Behind the two however were several small houses that lined the area. The path was maybe a kilometer? I walked to the blacksmith and Adrianne looked up from the forge.
"Oh, a new face. I am Adrianne one of the two blacksmiths in Whiterun." She looked me up and down. "I am the smith that mostly makes weapons for adventures. If you want to acquire some bounties you can speak to the companions in the city or go to the bulletin board at the center of the merchant district."
A bulletin board? "What with that bulletin board, first time I heard of something like it."
Adrianne raised her eyebrows, "Really? I suppose that makes some sense. The Jarl put it up after the Battleborns and Grey-manes started fighting. The civil war really split the city up in some aspects."
I smiled and held out my hand. "Well thank you so much for the information Adrianne." I feinted walking off, but really I wanted to ask something more. "My name is Vek by the way... and um, I don't suppose you have seen one of my friends? They were ahead of me in our travels. One is likely in iron armor and..."
Adrianne perked up, "Oh you mean Stephan and his friend. Get this though, turns out Stephan's friend is the dragonborn! A bunch of guards absorb a dragon's soul."
I raised an eyebrow at that, Stephan? That had to be a player, but a no name partner? Does the Dragonborn not have a name? They should right? I mean could a player chose to be the dragonborn?
Adrianne snapped me out of my thoughts as she pointed at a duo. "Oh that's them there. I hope you catch up with your friends."
I looked at the Duo. One of them was in iron armor, the classic Nord beard and average height. He was the dragonborn no doubt. Except they weren't talking, it was just the one covered in leather armor talking.
I had found the dragonborn, but he had extra baggage. This Stephan was a Nord, fairly average, and didn't have any notable qualities. They were a player, but abilities had they picked? Where they planning to monopolize the rewards from the dragonborn's quest?
I reached out and grabbed Stephan. "Hello! Mind if I talk to you for a second friend?"
Stephan blinked and a broad smile shined on his face. "Oh sure! Kyne I'll catch up at the bannered mare in a second. This could be another quest."
The dragonborn gave a nod, apparently his name was Kyne? Stephan looked me up and down. "Wow, neat armor! So um, the quest?"
I shook my head, "I have no quest for you... Stephan. Do you know who I am?"
He shook his head, "No I don't, should I?"
I paused and sighed. I took a gamble, "You didn't put any information in did you."
Stephan blinked, "Information?" He looked down at his boots and his eyes lit up. "Oh! You are another player! I didn't expect to meet one so soon. Nice to meet you! My name is Stephan, I uh forgot to put a last name."
My gamble was right, I sighed, there was no complex plan with this guy. "Can I ask you what previous games you have played in the elder scrolls series?"
Stephan laughed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "This is my first one. I had a brain tumor and they offered me the chance to join this beta. My real name is Steven, but the form listed my name as Stephan... I don't think it was a typo."
I raised my eyebrow and he noticed my curiosity. "It listed my gender as female. I am male... It was a mix up that I jumped at. I mean I had 1 month to live, so... You aren't gonna tell anyone are you?"
This guy was not only a noob, he wasn't even supposed to be here. I didn't receive a speechcraft check or anything so he was telling the truth. I sighed, "I can't and I doubt unless they some ultra-righteous player. No one will care either."
Stephan looked at me dumbly. "C-Can't?"
I raised an eyebrow, it seemed he thought since he wasn't a chosen player he lacked some extra ability. "Yeah, Can't. I think we are permeant here. From what I can tell all the players had something wrong with them. My own memories of the events are rather bleak. So I'd rather not have the ability to go back or even connect with our old lives. So if you want to talk about it. I'm not the guy, you got that?"
He frowned, but nodded. "Alright, I can understand that. Do you... Can you tell me what's supposed to happen? Kyne, uh..."
I shook my head, "I know the main story, just explain what you have gone through." I paused, "Actually let's head to the Bannered Mare first. I feel like this will be some what long."
Stephan gave a half hearted nod. He followed me along to the Bannered Mare and as we entered The Dragonborn looked our way. He saw Stephan and looked between us. His eyes met mine and I could feel the unspoken words.
I patted Stephan's back. "You go talk with the Dragonborn. I'll get us a private table so we can talk without anyone looking at us like we are crazy."
Stephan nodded and I moved to the bar as he walked to Kyne. "Hey, can I reserve a table Hulda?"
The owner of the Bannered Mare looked up at me in surprise. "I've never seen you before, how do you know my name?"
I frowned, "Hulda! I'm here every weekend! I work at Belethor's!"
She blinked, "R-Really? I must be..."
I laughed, "I'm just joking. I like messing with people. So can I cutie?"
Her face went red, "Just go ahead. The room underneath the stairs is usually reserved for high paying individuals, but you can just go ahead and use it. If you are staying the night, I serve breakfast directly."
I smiled at Hulda, as planned my speechcraft had saved me some money. I looked over at Stephan and he was still talking. So I paused, "Before that, Can you tell me about any rumors or interesting events happening?"
Hulda paused in thought, "Well, a gentlemen comes around every three days and challenges people to a drinking contest. No one had beaten him yet, but no has impressed him either. The Jarl put a bounty out on some bandits. Oh and you didn't hear this from me, but one of the Jarl's children has been skulking around the Palace."
I nodded in thought as I had three quests pop up. Two were in the radiant quests. I knew what they were, one was the night to remember quest and the second was for the Ebony Blade. I could barter with Sanguine, I would just need to actually win the contest without blacking out. The ebony blade... It was dangerous in a way that I wasn't sure if it was worth it. I wanted the artifact as it was powerful. However it was too powerful and it got stronger through betrayal. One could use dead thralls to empower it, but...
That likely wouldn't work anymore. Not here, not this time. I sighed, "Thanks Hulda, I might have to check out those bandits. I would hate for them to interfere with the roads. Had a run in with some bandits coming to Whiterun after all."
Hulda smiled, "No problem, the guards aren't the most helpful when it comes to the bandits. They never venture that far out to deal with them."
I nodded and walked off. The quest I got for the bandits wasn't a normal bounty quest. I check the quest log again and looked the new quest over. A Hunter's Prey, The name was a little odd. The description just pointed me to a bandit camp out past Whiterun. I scratched my head, was that Knifepoint ridge?
I walked over to Stephan and the Dragonborn. "I got a quiet room so we can talk stock."
They both gave me an odd look, "So we can discuss our shared similarities'."
The Dragonborn gave a nod, and Stephan got up. "Why didn't you say that."
I sighed, "I feel like we aren't gonna get along."
Stephan tilted his head, "Why's that?"
I just let a sigh die off and moved toward the back room. When we were alone I closed the door behind us. "Lets begin with how you first woke up."
Stephan nodded to me and began telling his story.
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