“Let’s ride North to Windhelm first, then turn West to Morthal” – Lena was saying at breakfast at the Bee and Barb. “I’ve got business near Windhelm, and it will be fun to stay right under Ulfrick’s nose – right, Hauk?” – she winked at him.
“Oh, don’t mind me, Windhelm is not off limits for Imperials, you know” – he replied, focusing on fried eggs on his plate. “Gosh, Argonians can really cook when they want to.”
They set off after breakfast and tried to avoid too many distractions along the way. At Shor’s Stone Lena started wondering how to get to the top of the mountain, as there was no obvious path – just ragged cliffs.
“What’s on the top of the mountain?” – asked Geralt examining the rocks.
“I don’t know for sure, but many mountain tops here have Word Walls and some have dragons to go with them” – answered Lena trying to guess whether there was a Word Wall on this mountain top.
“All right, let’s see if we can find a way up – sounds like fun” – Geralt agreed.
They circled around the mountain, coming to the Northwind Mine first, but deciding against going in – a mine would go down, not up, surely. Then they found an ascending path on the West and came to a delightful spot – Clearspring Tarn. There was a cave below with a hunting bow on display and a troll ready to eat it. They killed the troll and left the bow where they found it.
“This is good for deer, not people” – remarked Lena examining the enchantment. “Leave it for the hunters.”
After a short break by the pond, they continued up, and with a little persuasion their horses jumped over some rocks and landed on a platform with a Word Wall. There were no dragons in sight, just three confused skeletons in a bad mood. The skeletons taken care of, they looked around – the place was a camp, with several tents and bedrolls, some occupied by more skeletons. Then they spotted a set of doors leading into the rock.
“I bet there are more skeletons inside” – predicted Lena looking at Geralt.
“Your bet is off – that’s too easy” – he laughed. “Of course there are more skeletons inside. Dead miners and guards, by the looks of it.”
“Probably killed by the dragon last time one was here” – added Hauk.
They went in to clear the skeletons. The mine passage was quite short, descending quite steeply. Soon they came out on the other side.
“Why, that’s the Northwind Mine!” – Lena exclaimed looking around. “It does go up when you look at it from this end. How odd.”
So they were now where they had started a few hours ago. They rode straight North this time until they saw Dwelmer steps going up the mountain on the East side of the road.
“Oh – a Dwelmer ruin!” – Lena was getting excited.
“If we go in there, we might not come out for days – they can be very extensive” – Hauk was running his fingers along the relief on the metal door. “Perhaps we should come back another time.”
This was sensible, of course. And boring. Lena went up some more steps and found another door – it wasn’t locked.
“We’ll just take a peek and come right out” – she said and quickly slipped in before her companions could argue.
Fortunately, this particular hall was quite small and looked like a storage locker. There were ingots of Dwarven metal, some books, and a translucent shard.
“I bet this shard is important for something!” – Lena exclaimed pointing at it but not picking it up. “I’m not touching it – it is bound to send me on a quest that I have no time for.”
“Then make a note in your journal and let’s go” – Hauk was itching to investigate it as well, but he knew this wasn’t the right time. “This is Mzulft, by the way.”
“How did you..?” – Lena started, but her companions just laughed.
Continuing up the mountain a bit further, they came to an Imperial camp. It was nearly 3 p.m. and high time for a break and a late lunch. The commander was in his tent, so they went to say hello.
“Optio” – the Legate greeted Hauk. “Back in Skyrim again, I see?”
Optio? Wow.
“On private business mostly this time” – Hauk replied shaking his hand. “We were just passing, and I wanted to say hello.”
“It’s quiet around here” – the Legate looked at his soldiers tending to the food. “Neither the Stormcloaks nor the Thalmor like Dwelmer ruins much.”
They laughed as if it was an insider joke. May be it was. The Legate was old enough to have gone through the Great War.
After lunch our party continued on to Windhelm. They arrived in the evening, and went straight to Candlehearth Hall. The bard was singing “The Age of Oppression”, but otherwise the atmosphere was agreeable.
“I need to pop out for a bit – I won’t be long” – Lena said to Hauk and Geralt once they got settled down with mead and roast. “Save me some roast.”
She went back out into the blizzard.
…
Lena returned to Windhelm within the hour – her business didn’t take long. She walked around the city a bit – it was rather dark and brooding, with overbearing stone buildings. She came to the Palace of Kings – the seat of Ulfrick Stormcloak. It was a grand building, certainly, but “magnificent” wasn’t the term for it. Menacing, rather. Lena didn’t go in and turned left instead, continuing her walk. Everything was decorated with eagles here – or were they vultures? There was a bird figure on every fence post, giving the area a feel of a battlefield.
“Interesting choice of decoration” – Lena thought. “I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
She noticed that one of the houses was for sale.
“You’ve got to be friends with Ulfrick to buy it though” – she thought, half-considering it. “But I still remember that old charm spell…”
Walking down the steps she came to the Hall of the Dead. Like everything in Windhelm, it was big, and to Lena’s surprise, it looked empty. There were plenty of alcoves, but only a few were occupied – by skeletons, not draugr. The priest wasn’t forthcoming, and didn’t even want to talk.
“Strange” – Lena thought. “But where is the shrine to Arkay? Surely, they’ve got one?”
After a while wandering through empty halls, she found it. She always offered a prayer for the soul that she’d just released.
As always, she received Arkay’s blessing.
…
At the Candlehearth Hall entertainment was in full swing. Geralt was fighting two of the locals – apparently they provoked him.
“You say you’re a Nord? Then prove it!”
“You want to fight me? Against the two of you, if I was kneeling with my hands bound behind my back and a sack over my head, then may be I’d be your equal. No, not even then.”
Two minutes later no one was doubting that Geralt was a Nord. Mead and songs followed.
A mercenary in the corner had been looking at Hauk for some time. Finally he walked over to them.
“Mind if I ask” – he addressed Hauk – “were you not a travelling book seller some years back?”
“I might have been, why?”
“I’m Stenvar – I was but a lad then – you stayed with us on the farm during the War.”
“If you say so” – Hauk’s face was impenetrable. “I did stay with many families – accomodation during the War was hard to find, and a man has got to eat.”
“I still have the book you gave me – The Book of The Dragonborn. I was fascinated by dragons, and look what happened – they are back.”
“Umm… it is probably not your fault.” Hauk’s face was still impenetrable but Geralt and Lena were having a hard time not to laugh.
“Now I’m certain it’s you!” – Stenvar wasn’t offended, instead he laughed heartily. “I also now know that you were with the Legion at the time, Optio.”
“You obviously also know that I am still with the Legion” – Hauk remained calm. “But I am no longer undercover and my rank is not a secret. Not even in Windhelm.”
He looked around. A few people looked up at the mention of his rank, but War veterans were still respected in Windhelm, even if they were not with Ulfrick. Besides, Geralt’s little display just before was enough to cool down most hot heads in the room.
“I wasn’t thinking – I apologise” – Stenvar was getting red in the face. “I am a mercenary now, so mustn’t take sides – mercenaries cannot be choosy.” He crouched and lowered his voice. “I just wanted to ask – do you still do magic? I tried but it never came to anything.”
“Of course, I am a Battlemage.” Hauk snapped his fingers and a spectral rabbit hopped over the floor and into Stenvar’s lap.
“Pumpkin!” – Stenvar exclaimed a little too loudly. Several people laughed. “You remember!”
“Pull up a chair and share some mead with us” – Hauk was now smiling. “Of course I remember.”
Masser and Secunda 