Skyrim - Much to do in Whiterun

As the gates of Whiterun welcome me once more into the local capital, I breath a sigh of relief, as I imagine must Stenvar. I am carrying a lot of loot from my recent explorations, and anything which proved too much for even my muscle-bound form would be passed to Stenvar to carry - remember, he's a hired mercenary.

A lot of the equipment is weaponry and armour, so I visit Warmaiden's to sell it off. Like any other trader, Ulfberth War-Bear only holds a certain amount of gold, so in order to sell a majority of my gear I need to purchase items from him to balance the books. A lot of arrows have been lost in my recent adventuring, and so I buy large quantities of these for each of our quivers.

I leave the shop and make my way to Breezehome. Even though no one is home to tend it, the firepit still burns well. As I ascend the staircase, I glance over to the still-shut-door of Lydia's room, but quickly steal my eyes back again and walk into my own. The chest in the corner contains a lot of my gains from adventuring, and it is here that I store the remaining items I was unable to sell at Warmaiden's.

While looking through the chest, I decide to pick up large amount of leather and iron ingots which I had stored their previously. I make my way back outside, and, after getting the nod from Adrianne, begin to use the smithing equipment to make iron daggers and leather bracers. As I make each item, I become more and more proficient at it, so that the next item is better than the previous.

Naturally, by the end of all this manufacturing, I am left with a pile of armour and weapons which I have no need for. Luckily for me, Adrianne has a separate purse to Ulfberth, and I am easily able to sell the lot to her. I have no idea how she'll carry it all indoors - I'm barely able to lift the lot myself. But that's her issue, not mine.

I walk up the hill and enter the Temple of Kynareth. The priestess is happy to see me, and even happier to know that I've returned with the sap to help the special tree. She rewards me with gold, but isn't keen on taking back the Nettlebane sword. Fine, I'll hold onto it myself.

All through this conversation, I am waiting for the priestess to ask me about her assistant - after all, he never came back with me from Eldergleam Sanctuary. Maybe she wanted him away, and possibly dead? Either way, not my problem. I leave the temple.

As I begin to head out of Whiterun to begin my adventures once more, I have a quiet word with a little girl who has been bullying a boy. This boy turns out to be the Jarl's son - I fear that by not standing up for himself, this boy will not grow up to be a strong Jarl (assuming the Hold functions under some rudimentary form of hereditary monarchy).

We leave.

Skyrim - Off to Eldergleam Sanctuary

Eldergleam is a fair distance from Whiterun, so I have plenty of opportunity for thought while walking. I spot some flowers ahead, butterflies touching the leaves delicately. I pick both the flora and insects for future alchemy, having to jump for some of the butterflies to reach them in the air. I'd feel like a child again if it wasn't for my deep remorse over the death of Lydia.

I am being followed by Maurice, who is on a pilgrimage to the same glade as me. He keeps up admirably, but frankly I'm not going to wait for him. I think he knows there is no love lost between us, he chooses not to engage in conversation when approached.

I see a figure at the side of the road, and approach him with blade raised. He doesn't attack, instead calls me over. He is an aspiring mage, sells me his "staff of reanimation" because he doesn't think he's cut out for maging. In actual fact, he just doesn't know how to recharge a magical weapon. But I decide that this staff may end up being dangerous in his hands, and take it off him for a song.

I continue along the road, which follows the natural path of a river as it cuts its way down the valley. A couple of wolves attack us as we round a bend - being the mighty adventurer I aim, I naturally find myself armed with sword and fire magic. But Maurice is a mere temple apprentice, and valiantly tries to injure the creatures with his bare fists.

I kill both the animals, and Maurice is beaten but alive. I dare not show any concern; he knows what he's gotten himself into. The path begins to switchback down a steep hill, so I take an extreme short cut - off the path and down a rocky slope. It appears too steep for Maurice to follow, and I soon lose track of him. Oh well, if he was really into the adventuring thing he would have brought some appropriate footwear with him.

The path continues to follow the existing river, but the rest of the landscape has morphed from the moor-like rolling steppe of Whiterun to a blasted post-apocalyptic environment of salt springs and geysers. Vapour hangs over the landscape, and shallow pools bubble away with potential energy,

I can see the entrance to Eldergleam ahead, what looks to be a cave. But I can also see one of my winged nemeses as well, and the dragon soon spies me too. As it wheels towards me, I already have my bow to hand, rubbing copious amounts of poison on the first arrow to give the dragon something to think about.

It hovers above me, great gusts of wind and dust beaten by its leathery wings only made worse by the gout of flame searing me from its gaping maw. A great number of arrows have left my quiver, and the dragon finds itself unable to hold itself aloft any longer. Bereft on the ground, it succumbs to heavy slices with my sword. Its life gone, the dragon rolls down to the bottom of the hill. As per usual, it disappears in bright fire, and I take what I can of it's bones and scales, soul absorbed.

Maurice is no where to be seen. I assume he has either returned to Whiterun, or succumbed to wolf attack. I really do not care - it was his choice to come along. I take one last look at the departed reptile, and walk into the cavernous entrance to Eldergleam Sanctuary.

Skyrim - Lydia-less

With Lydia no longer at my side, I drift down the mountain as if in a dream. A landmark comes into view, an abandoned watchtower called South Skybound Lodge. Without my erstwhile follower, I sneak into the empty tower. I find a chest and a spider, which proves easy prey.

I am aiming for Whiterun, but find myself in the vicinity of Riverwood. I don't mention Lydia to anyone, and no one asks. I worry that her impact on this world wasn't as great as it was on my heart.

I enter Lucan Valerius' shop, and find him knocking things over. I imagine if I were to do the same, he wouldn't be too happy - his shop, his rules evidently. The golden chicken foot I brought back for him days ago is now displayed proudly on the counter. I sell a few things, lighten my load for the trek back to Whiterun. I leave without much of a chat.

The journey is uneventful, and I enter Breezehome. I store the items I took from Lydia in the chest next to my bed, as they will come in useful in the future. I walk back across the floor to where Lydia's room is. I take one last look at the tidy quarters, before shutting the door forever. This was her home, and I'll be damned if anyone else will ever enter that room.

Grasping Nettlebane, the magical blade I was tasked with procuring, I walk up the hill to the Temple of Kynareth. Walking through the door, I present it to the priestess. But she is wary of it, and does not seem keen to use it. She asks me to visit a glade and cut another big tree to get her some sap to fix the tree outside. I'm beginning to feel like the sap here - sure, she's dealing with a lot of sick and wounded, but there are other things I need to be getting on with.

I accept, and go to leave. Before I can, an acolyte called Maurice asks if he can come along with me, in pilgrimage to the Eldergleam Sanctuary where I am heading. After the hurt of Lydia's death, I am tempted to tell him to stay put, that death follows me around like a bad smell. But he is quite insistent. I tell him he can come along, but give no promises on his safety. Skyrim has already proven to me how cheap life is in the wilderness.

I look into another matter before leaving Whiterun - a man from House Gray-Mane is missing, presumed dead. The Gray-Manes belief House Battleborn has something to do with it, and so they have tasked me with finding evidence that proves this. I walk into the main abode of House Battleborn, brazen. Almost instantly I spot an out of place diary on some drawers next to a bed. Inside are details to where the Gray-Mane is being held - he's alive! As I pocket the book, I hear an old woman say "I saw what you did."

Turning around, a Whiterun town guard has been called due to my theft. But I placate him - I am a Thane of Whiterun, and certain leniency is granted to me. I'm not sure how far I can go with this, but the feeling of power is dizzying.

I return to the Gray-Mane with the book. She is terrified that I won't be able to release him, that I'd require an army to do so. I tell her that I will take care of things, without bloodshed (though we both know this won't happen).

I leave Whiterun with Maurice in tow, and head for the mysterious glade of Eldergleam Sanctuary.

Skyrim - Up into the mountains

A Companion named Vilkas meets Farkas and I outside the meeting hall. He leads as around the back of the building - I guess he doesn't want us traipsing our muddy boots through the hall. In fact, I am inducted into the Companions, and all because I brought back the Fragment of Wuuthrad.

Filled with hubris, I listen to my next assignment, but choose to not understand - I'll come back to them later. For now, I'm quite happy to walk around Whiterun with the town knowing that I am a Thane as well as a Companion.

 I deposit some items back at Breezehome, and get Lydia back on board. She seems keen for some adventure - so would I if I'd been stuck in this boring home of mine for days. No wonder I spend all of my time out in the country, battling bandits and dragons alike.

We exit the town, and I choose to lead Lydia on a quest to retrieve a magical blade for the priestess of Kynareth. It's right there on my "list of things to do" labeled "fix dead tree." Of course, it isn't a simple case of walking out of Whiterun and tripping over the blade, so I begin our rather circular trek into the mountains. Discovery is still very much the buzz word.

Lydia keeps the pace well, already I am impressed with her zeal. I enter the the village of Riverwood, where a lot of my old friends no longer seem to recognise me. Has my face become swollen with endless bashes from the denizens of Skyrim? Has my voice changed because I've been breathing strange fumes in mines? Where once they claimed that it everyday was a good day with me around, now they only grunt in acknowledgment.

Maybe its Lydia. Maybe Faedal has returned to Riverwood and spread bad word about her. We left on such good terms. I banish the thought from my head. I sell some gear, and we move on.

The road out of Riverwood snakes up into the mountains, and a bandit encampment comes into view. They don't seem to have notice us approaching, so giving Lydia a quick wink (I know she sees it, regardless of the heavy armour obscurring my eyes) we sneak towards them. When I'm in range, I stand up, and they are taken by surprise.

"Get out of here" one says, another growls "You'll do what's best for you." Which I do. We unsheathe our swords and remove the bandits from their mortal coils. Lydia seems to be relishing the attack, it breathes life into her.

I have a look around the camp and nab what I can carry. Spying a table and chair at the edge of camp, I sit down and take in the view of the valley. Birds sing, and I can barely hear the gurgle from cut-bandit throats over the gurgle of the river.

Skyrim - Fun on the road to Dustman's Cairn

Farkas and I go our separate ways once we leave the gates to Whiterun. "Meet me at Dustman's Cairn" he says, and runs off into the wild. Why do people do this to me, after all the good I've done for this world?

Knowing that Farkas won't enter the cairn without me being there (it's my trial to join the Companions afterall), I take the less than direct route there. I marvel at the wonders of nature - I shoot arrows through the hearts of wolves, I pick wild flowers for future use in my alchemical potions, I snatch butterflies out of the air, and I watch a herd of mammoths amble by.

So preoccupied am I by these displays, that I only notice a dragon is on me when it hits the ground in a great gust of wind, dust and bad breath. As with my previous altercations with the winged beasts, I am as far away from civilisation as I can get - and without Lydia, it really is just me versus the beast.

Or at least I think that's the case, as rather than coming to bite my head off, the dragon turns its attention to the mammoths. Regardless of the volume of poisoned dwarven arrows I pump into its leathery hide, the dragon maintains the viscous battle of winged-reptile versus furry-mammal. It manages to bring down on of the tusked leviathans, but I get the final word in with a swift arrow to the neck.

It collapses to the ground, and begins to burn to ash. I take what I can from the battlefield - dragon scales, some of its bones, a few of the arrows I'd loosed, and of course some bits from the mammoth.

I think about lugging these animal parts all through the cairn I'm heading to, and decide that these items would work better placed in a chest in my home. So I return briefly to Whiterun, and dump a large amount of my booty into Breezehome. I'll return at a later date and decide what to do with it all.

The killing of the dragon seems to have awakened the hunter in me, and when I leave Whiterun's gates once more, I set out to hunt a few wolves and elk. Their skins will be used to assist me with my smithing techniques through the future production of leather items.

I reach the outskirts of Dustman's Cairn after passing the remnants of the dragon battle, and am immediately ambushed by skeletons - if Farkas is already here, he's either a very bad scout or set this up as an initiation for me. It seems as though the skeletons are coming out of the very stonework itself. They are ineffective against my warrior instinct - not one makes it within a distance to inflict harm on me, as I pick them off in turn with simple iron arrow efficiency.

In finally make it to the entrance to the cairn. Farkas is there, but says nothing about the skeletons. I begin to doubt his competency. With a simple nod to each other, I crack open the iron doors and we enter the mound to begin my trial.

Skyrim - Smithing in Whiterun

It turns out that the magic blade I took from the bandit chief in the fort earlier in the day is actually the family heirloom of an Amren in Whiterun. Returning to Whiterun from our recent reconnoiter, I instantly begin my search for the Redguard.

Amren is very grateful for the return of this sacred sword, and gives me lessons in one-handed combat techniques, free of charge. Of course, future ones will cost me gold, but his tutelage is excellent. I'll be going back for more when my coin stretches that far.

Due to my recent mining, I have a large haul of iron ore sitting in my pack. It weighs heavily on my mind, and my back. On previous visits to Whiterun, I've done some smithing at Warmaiden's, the armoury shop run by Adrianne Avenicci. She is appreciative of my skills, my yearning for further knowledge of the smithing art. She lets me use her equipment pro bono.

First, the smelter. This melts down the chunks of iron ore into iron ingots. All I have to do is shovel enough coal in to keep the fire hot enough to melt the raw ore. With these new ingots, I walk over to the smith and start to hammer out some iron helmets and iron daggers. The daggers only need iron ingots, but the helmets require some leather straps to keep them on heads. I've already got some leather, I just need to cut it into strips at the tanning frame.

I could sell my newly-built battle equipment now, but I'll make more money by improving my already excellent work. I sharpen the daggers, and improve the helmets further on the workbench before walking into Warmaiden's.

I buy some more arrows and other bits from the humourously named Ulfberth War-Bear. He is somewhat bearish in build, and sports the best beard I've seen in Whiterun. He doesn't seem to mind at all that I've used his tools to make the very items I'm selling to him.

Leaving Warmaiden's, I walk up to the Companion's headquarters of Jorrvaskr. I speak with a variety of people in there. In all honesty, they're all quite similar. Maybe I should learn their names if I want to join them, which I do. They accept me on board, despite my badness with faces.

I'm told that my first quest for them is to travel to Dustman's Cairn, a lovely pit of undeath located near to Whiterun, and retrieve the "Fragment of Wuuthrad." I don't really know what I'm looking for, but luckily another Companion called Farkas is assigned as my "Shield Brother." I'm trying to take all this information in, its all a bit cliquey.

Of course, with Farkas as my new battle-brother, I am forced to leave Lydia back at Breezehome. She's doesn't seem too bothered by this, just goes to sit in her room and have a sleep. With that, Farkas and I turn for the door, and head for Dustman's Cairn.

Skyrim - New Homeowner

Faedral and I set out for Whiterun - we know the route quite well by now, and nothing interrupts our gentle walk through the countryside. He is silent throughout our walk - clearly he is deep in thought, but I don't want to push it.

I have some business with the steward of Whiterun, who rewards me for slaying some bandits leader. He also reminds me that there is a house available to buy within the walls of Whiterun. By now, I have amassed a nice fortune, and happily spend almost all of it on the promise of property.

It is a small house called Breezehome, right next to the blacksmiths. I pray that he won't work all night - on previous trips to Whiterun, they tend to leave the forge around sixish, so I should get a good night's rest. The ground floor is a simple place, with room for racking weapons, and an ante-room for creating alchemical potions.

The first floor is one large room, with a chest for storing anything which I consider too valuable or heavy to carry around, and a nice double bed for sleeping in. Off that is another ante-room - this one is for my Housecarl, Lydia. She is already there when I enter my new house - clearly news travels fast around Whiterun, and the Steward has sent her ahead.

I can sense tension in the air. Faedal is standing there, and I have no idea how he feels - his face is hidden behind metal armour. Lydia, on the other hand, seems to want to actively talk to me. Faedal recent disappearance and reappearance certainly doesn't help things. I make my choice.


I walk over to him, and ask him for my bits of armour and weaponry back. He doesn't seem to have an issue with this, nor with me taking the gold currency stored on his person. "I'm going to have to let you go" I hear myself saying to him. "It's just now working anymore." Without any kind of antagonism, he says okay, that I can find him in Riverwood if I need him again, and walks off.

My voice catches in my throat as he walks down the stairs. I walk around the top floor to follow his progress out of the house and, just as he leaves, he glances around at me. There are tears in my eyes, and I'm speechless, but I know deep in my heart that I've made the right choice.

Skyrim - Bandits Galore

Prior to the dragon attack, I'd been in the mood for exploration, so I carried on with this. My first major discover on the road from Whiterun is a disused mine. I enter the dark entrance tunnel, and to my not so great shock, find the place inhabited by bandits. Is there no dark and dank ruin these thieves won't pick for a home?

The mine is mainly comprised of walkways suspended above the flooded areas, and it is from these that the bandits mount their attacks. They  seem to be specialised in archery, and shower me with arrows. They obviously have not heard about the special relationship I hold with the dragons, and I see to ending their lives quickly and efficiently. Many of them carry gold on their persons, as well as various other items of worth. I take these to the nearby town of Riverwood, and sell them to my good and dear friends Lucan and Camilla Valerius in the Riverwood Traders.

From Riverwood, I once more take the road towards Whiterun, but instead of crossing the river, I follow it east. The landscape begins to turn green, a welcome sight from the endless dreariness I've been exposed to of late. Spanning the river someway down as some kind of guard tower. My map informs me that it is called Valtheim Towers, but gives me no further clue to its purpose.

I get a worrying feeling about the place. Clearly it is inhabited, there are signs of living all around - tables, chairs, ale. With my sword drawn, I make my way up the nearest staircase to explore further, and come face to face with a bandit. Unluckily for them, they only see me when my sword has already done its job.

The span from tower to tower soon swarms with more of the bandits compatriots, all of whom seem oblivious to my excellent bow skills. Bodies soon litter the stone granary, and I cross to the empty tower on the other side of the river. A chest here and there rewards my exploration, but soon yet more bandits arrive to see what all the noise was about. None of them last long, and I cross the river again to continue my journey East.

On my way along the highway, I find a cave called Dark Shade - there is a gold vein right outside the entrance way, covered in blood and bones. I decide not to enter. For now.

The next stop is an old burial site, Hillgrund's Tomb. A man called Goldir is outside, and rushes over to talk to me. Clearly the legend of me has travelled far, yet he speaks not of dragon slaying. Instead, he begs me to go into the tomb with him to slay a necromancer in there. He's too afraid to do it on his own, so I offer to help, and we enter through the iron door together.

Skyrim - Join the Companions

My arrival in Ivarstead doesn't seem to surprise any of the inhabitants; only Klimmek pays me any heed. What is surprising is that he pays me money for the free delivery to the mountain - I'm not sure what his basis of economics is, but I'm not complaining. We exchange a few pleasantries, but neither of us are into it and we go our separate ways.

I head north, towards Whiterun. Nothing much occurs - I stick to the river, a leisurely stroll that takes in the sights of salmon leaping and elk roaming. I pick various flowers and fungi along the way, ingredients which can be used in alchemy.

Upon my arrival in Whiterun, I make my way to the Companion lodging of Jorrvaskr. This is a round building, seemingly bedecked in animal skins. From this alone, I already have a measure of those inside. I speak with a warrior called Kodiak, who says he sees promise in me - he allows me to join the Companions. Why they call themselves this is beyond me - they seem like any other fighter's guild to me.

My first task is given to me by another warrior, by the name of Farkas. I am simply to go to a local inn and beat up a man. This should be simple enough, after all I've spent the last few days neck deep in blood and guts. What could a drunk in a pub do to a towering adventure such as myself in full heavy armour?

I enter the pub and spot my target from across the room. He is a bard, and has apparently been annoying the women of Whiterum with his inappropriate and very forward manner. I make my way over to him and tell him to stop bothering people. He tells me that he left his previous town for the very same reason and wouldn't be moved again. And so I lay down the law, Companion-style.

My orders are simple - just beat him up, no dying should occur. And that's just what I do, but by the nine he makes a mess of my face in the process. I walk away from the pub with the chap promising me that he would be less uncouth in future. I smile back at him through a split lip.

I return to Farkas to inform him of a job well done. He just shrugs, speaks a barely-audible thanks, and walks off. Frankly, I feel disheartened.

I choose to leave Whiterum for a couple of days, get some exercise and see some of the local sights.  I check my map,  and see that there is large area just north of Ivarstead where I haven't set foot yet. Perfect, I think, and head for the treeline next to the river.

Things take a turn for the worse when I am at my furthest point from Whiterun - the sound of beating wings, a cry from reptilian throat, and the heat of fire instantly tell me that there's a dragon about. The first thought that springs to mind is "Run!", and looking down at my legs I'm doing just that. Whiterun is visibly in the distance, but still quite some way away.

I instead aim for the Honningbrew Meadery just south of the town, my theory being that I can bravely hide in one of the buildings while the giant winged beast bothers someone else. However, I see to my luck that there are two guards from Whiterun patrolling the road nearby. A new plan forms, one in which I am seen to take all the glory yet do less than half the work.

The guards turn to see me running in my heavy metal armour, then look beyond and see winged death behind me. They both begin to fire arrows at the dragon, which decides to make them its meal for the day. With some relief, I also join in with the archery display, and after some minutes have passed, the dragon collapses in a heap. Of course, I undergo the absorption of the dragon's soul - cos, you known that's what us Dragonborn do.

Skyrim - Beyond Whiterun

Whiterun is just as I left it - desperately cold and wet, and in need of a bit of colour. I'd have thought that the dragon fight just outside the city walls would have added a splash of red, but I get the impression that the Jarl would have asked for it to have been cleaned off. I really shouldn't be so down on him actually, as soon as I meet up with him he is overjoyed to see me. He seems to attribute the death of the dragon on his doorstep as solely down to me. The others in the room don't seem happy about me taking all the glory, but say nothing. The Jarl decides that I am to be rewarded, and he bestows the title of Thane of Whiterun upon me. Guards will no longer harass me in the streets (though they didn't do this before) and I'm also given a Protector.

She is a warrior, and beautiful to boot. There is clearly an attraction between us. Maybe its my chiselled chin and piercing eyes? Regardless, my faith in Faendal shall not be swayed - he has proven too erstwhile an ally to give up so flippantly for the next sword-for-hire.

My next quest is to make my way south, to the "Throat of the World" to speak with some monks. According to ol' Jarl, they're the ones who made the funny noise which spooked everyone earlier. They will be able to test to see whether I am this "dragonborn" which has been mentioned. They live in a commune at the top of a mountain, but I must first go to the town at the foot of the mountain called Ivarstead. Leaving Whiterun behind, I notice that Faendal seems to have vanished. "Oh well" I think "Maybe he's gotten lost" He'll find me again.

Travelling down the road from Whiterun, I spot a figure in the distance. Is this Faendal I wonder? As I near him, I notice the man is dressed in black and carrying two large swords. "It can't be!" he loudly exclaims as he spots me, before yelling and trying to plow both pieces of metal into my incredible torso. Slashing away at me, I make expert hacks at him with my trusty imperial sword, all the while trying to burn him with some fire magic. Nevertheless, he drops at my feet.

I search the body, and find that he was an assassin sent by the Dark Brotherhood to kill me. Apparently someone doesn't want me alive. Who this person is, I have no idea - I have been nothing but caring to the people of Skyrim since escaping the imperial axeman a few days before.

The rest of my journey happens quickly, despite the long distance covered, and I soon find myself in the little town of Ivarstead. A man warns me about the nearby burial mound, where ghosts are seen at night. My hubris obviously leads me straight in - this one seems tiny in comparison to the Bleak Barrows of earlier days, and luckily for me it is. Working my way down through the laze of the mound, I put down a number of the undead before finding a "phantom" running around seemingly dressed in fur armour. Once more fire and steel come to my rescue, and the "phantom" drops dead. Literally, it was a man pretending to be a ghost. He seems to have downed a potion which gave the impression of ghostliness… Regardless, where he was pretending to be dead and now really is. Dead. I snort at the idiot, and make my way back above ground to be with the living.

Skyrim - Whiterun

Before leaving Riverwood, I have a little chat with an elf called Faendal- he's happy to join me as thanks for removing a potential competitor for him. The walk to White run is relatively uneventful, aside from the usual scraps with wolves. Luckily for me the creatures howl before appearing, giving me and my follower ample time to unsheathe my sword and prepare.

I don't ask much of Faendal. He is an archer, and he is there in the thick of it whenever he is needed. Clearly he sees me as a friend, but after the last time, I'm not prepared to go that far with him just yet. I don't think I can take another betrayal so soon.

Whiterun is a grey old town, built on top of a hill. Water seems to be flowing out of all manner of grates and springs in the ground. Chatting with the first man I come to, he lets me know that the town is based around two families. Both of them are feuding for some reason or other, maybe due to taking different sides with the Imperial invasion - I'm not sure, I didn't really listen.

I continue my journey up the hill, towards the main building in Whiterun. It is a luscious villa, replete with carvings, rugs and fruit bowls. As I walk towards what I assume to be the king, I am approached by a dark elf, sword in hand. She informs me that she is the "Jarl's" chosen bodyguard, Jarl obviously meaning King in these cold climes. All it takes is for me to say that I have some important news, and she lets me past - great bodyguard my bottom.

The Jarl doesn't seem too perturbed by the presence of my impressive muscle-form, nor by the weedy elf standing to my side. He is interested in my stories of dragons though, and thanks for despite the doom-and-gloom. Then he sends me to his wizard. For a second, I think that he's going to conduct horrible experiments on me. Instead, he asks if I can go and find a stone at Bleak Barrows. I arch my eyebrows, and reach into my knapsack - "This one?" I asks, producing a large piece of carved stone from the canvas. He looked genuinely pleased, I swear he was hiding tears. This is what I do it all for, not money or glory, just helping people.

Faendal and I make our way into the large hall once more, only to be told that another dragon has been sighted just outside the city walls. So naturally, putting all sanity and fear aside, we run into the wet weather with a host of guards to locate the flying beast. We find it near a watch tower, and it is making a mess of the area. The guards are hammering the thing, while Faendal plows flight after flight of arrows into its wings. Eventually it falls to my hand, a broad stroke to the neck. The creature falls, and bizarrely begins to turn to flame, its skin ash in the wind. I begin to feel a bit funny, the wind picks up. Apparently I've absorbed the dragon's soul…

Someone, I'm not sure who (come on, I've just absorbed a dragon soul), jabbers on about the legends of dragonborn. He says for me to try shouting. I think "I'll give him a shout…" and let out an almighty boom. People stumble at the blast of sound, and I myself feel quite shakened by the experience. "You are dragonborn!" they cry. This may be true, I have no memory of my actual mother.

And then there is a calling, as if from the gods themselves. What is that? No one seems certain, though all are in agreement that I should head back to Whiterun to speak with the Jarl.

Its all a bit much to absorb. We wander for a bit instead, to try to make some sense of it all. Rather than the quiet jaunt I needed, we find ourselves in the midst of an imperial vs. bandit fight. An imperial prisoner asks to be cut loose - without consideration for the political or social implications, he cut his bound wrists. To my surprise, he runs off to beat up the imperial soldiers. If he'd survived, I would have made him my son, but soon he lies in a pile of his own tomatoes. The imperial soldiers and bandits both seem unhappy that I've intervened in their little turf war, and turn on me and Faendal. Naturally, we explode into action and kill each of the factions in turn. Looking out of the hillside, its all a bit of a mess - blood, guts and bodies are like litter.

The bandits seemed to have found a home in a mine cut into the hill, and there are pieces of mammoth everywhere. Someone in Whiterun had asked me to grab a mammoth tusk on my travels, so I pocket the first stub of ivory I find. There are also large quantities of iron laying about. Where did they come from? The mine of course. I grab a pick axe and start to mine more of the ore for myself. Faendal just watches as I pick at the then vein of ore. The bandits seem to have some form of rudimentary smelting operation going on, so I put lump after lump of the iron into it to fashion some iron ingots. Surely these will have use with my smithing.

Of course, my pack is quite full now with the various bits I've accumulated on my travails. Back to Whiterun for some barter I think!

Skyrim - Return to Riverwood

The first thing I come to is a cottage, alone, in the middle of a plain. It sits between a fast running river and the edge of the mountain. Approaching it, and old woman calls to me “Leave me be, I have nothing for you.’ So I do. Walking another hundred feet into a nearby wood lands me closer to death than I’ve come yet – a wizard ambushes me in the forest, pulsing fire from his hands. I run away – my clothes and armour are not fire retardant – and leap desperately into the gorge. The blood is pumping in my ears, I know I’ve just had a close call.

Surfacing, I find myself about to go over the edge of a water fall and stop myself on a rock just in time. I also notice fish jumping at the waterfall – salmon as it happens. Free food! I am very happy with this dramatic change in circumstances so soon after my near-death that I don’t notice the wolves on the shore as I make dry land. Both of the creatures taste cold steel, and I wander along the path, back towards Riverwood, the village where I started.

Naturally, the first thing I think about on my return is a swift pint, and I make my way to the nearest pub. Thinking that I can get some useful hints from the local drunk, I pump him with mead. This does nothing to oil his tongue, and soon enough he is insulting me to my face.

Instead, I try the barkeep, who luckily is filled with rumours of local and far off lands. By this point, I am asleep on my feet, and take him up on the offer to rent a bed for the night.

Waking fully rested, I wander out into the morning light. A wan, pink light washes the landscape. I decide to do a bit of mental growing – in those early hours of the day, I walk away from various establishments having learnt the basics of alchemy and smithing. I also give the golden chicken foot back to the shop from where it was stolen – they give me gold, but its their thanks I prefer – I think the owner’s sister likes me.



The governor of Riverwood informs me that I could best serve the community by walking to Whiterun, the local capital city, to tell them about the whole dragon incident. Whether this is to just get rid of me, or actually serve a useful purpose, I am unsure. Regardless, I pack my things, and begin the long journey to Whiterun.