pdf-ebookys Chapter 121 The Miracle of Talos
Chapter 121 The Miracle of Talos
After leaving Dragon's Peak, I went to visit a few nobles I had some friendship with, such as Zhan Kuang and Zhan Xiong. The next morning, I took Helgi out of Whiterun. Hayou and others had camped at the gate of the city yesterday. When I saw him, I remembered the dangerous process of hunting Skuna, and the lyrics of Telsgar's magic modification also entered my mind.
As the protagonist of the story, the bard paid tribute to me after the performance. I also found an opportunity to ask him privately where the outrageous settings came from, especially the two parts where the four of us were sent by Lord Balgruuf and the people of Falkreath thanked the dragon slayer. If this guy dared to sing this in the Dead Man's Wine Inn, he would be beaten to death.
"A bard is not a historian. When performing, he will definitely polish his work appropriately according to the audience's appreciation level and preferences. If you don't even have this most basic creative ability, then you'd better not eat this bowl of rice."
What I mean is, is your "appropriate polishing" too heavy-handed?
But judging from the performance, it was quite successful. At first, Nerkiel regarded me as a lazy person who flattered the lord and was quite disdainful in his words, but later he regarded me as a close friend and even thought it was an honor to sit next to me. This kid also secretly said that he would apply to Balgruuf to be my squire so that he could grow into a "hero like me" in the future.
The nobles of Skyrim do entrust their children to people who are worthy of trust and respect, because it is generally believed that parents often spoil their children out of love, which is not conducive to their success. But I am well aware that I am not a trusted subordinate of Lord Balgruuf, and he is unlikely to hand over the only son of his current wife to the council members of Falkreath. Therefore, I generously stated that it would be a great honor to become the guardian of the lord's son, and I will do my best.
It's a blank check, it's a waste if you don't write it.
The journey to Morningstar City was plain but not boring. Akali and Dro Maras accompanied us and told us about their interesting experiences along the way. Aigis liked the doll given by Helgi very much and had become friends with her. After setting up camp every day, the two little guys would practice the tiger claw dance with Hayou. This combat skill requires extremely high flexibility and balance of the body. I practiced it as yoga and tried to combine it with meditation.
When I passed by the Hall of the Vigilant, I visited Cassidy and Noel and told her about the situation of hunting werewolves. Although Cassidy was warm and welcoming, she was obviously a little absent-minded, so I had to leave tactfully. Noel apologized for this when he sent me to the foot of the mountain.
"The Vigilant's Hall has had some troubles recently, and Cassidy is busy dealing with it. Lord Locke, please do not mind if I am negligent."
"Brother Noel, what are you talking about? The Sentinels of Stendar generously helped me in the werewolf incident. I came here to express my gratitude. If you can use me in any way, feel free to ask."
Noel smiled and waved his hand.
"No need to trouble you, sir. These are just some private matters within the sect. Cassidy has already made some arrangements. I believe it will be resolved soon."
I don't know if this so-called private matter is related to the Dawnguard. According to the plot in the game, Islaan, one of the Sentinels, noticed the unusual movements of the vampires and reminded his comrades to take precautions, but his proposal was rejected by Cassidy. Islaan left in anger and formed the Dawnguard in an abandoned castle in the southern part of the Rift Valley. The Sentinel Hall was breached by vampires, and Cassidy was unfortunately killed. If this is true, then the person who is chatting and laughing with me in front of me will not have much time left.
I took Noel's hand and patted it hard.
"That would be best. Brother Noel, please know that Falkreath will always... um... remember the friendship with the Vigilantes."
I don't know if Noel took my words as a courtesy from a nobleman, he politely expressed his honor, waved goodbye to me, and then hurried up the mountain. I once again felt the familiar feeling of powerlessness in my heart. I was obviously a prophet and had a deep understanding of the world, but I couldn't even save an old friend.
Of course I could tell Cassidy that if she didn't listen to Islan's warning, she would be doomed. But where was the evidence? I didn't quite know what intelligence Islan had obtained, and I couldn't explain how I, a noble from the southernmost territory of Skyrim, could know what the vampires in the northernmost part of Skyrim were doing. In addition, the Silver Hand knew about the werewolf bloodline of the members of the Companions Circle, so as a business partner of the Silver Hand, how could the Sentinel of Stendar not know? I was very close to the Companions, and if I intervened forcefully, it would be easy for Cassidy to misunderstand that I was diverting attention for the werewolves.
I wanted to tell Noel that he would always be welcome in Falkreath, but after thinking about it, I realized that I had such a close relationship with Eric, the werewolf, and Cindy, the vampire, and I was also allied with Moira, the crow hag. It was really not appropriate for me to provoke Stendar's Sentinels again.
I vented all my resentment and grievances on the Snow Mouse Spirit. It doesn't summon fire elements anymore. Isn't it just a rat as tall as a person? My archery skills were not in vain. Helgi and others had not received Floki's spell mark, so they couldn't see the spirit. In their eyes, I was shooting arrows into the air. But those arrows didn't fall to the ground. Instead, they strangely floated in the air and rushed towards me at a faster speed.
But my sword is already unsheathed.
Fighting a spirit is a strange experience. There is no resistance when a weapon cuts through flesh. I crouched down and stabbed the tip of my sword precisely into the chin of the snow mouse spirit. The long sword pierced smoothly through the opponent's head, like chopsticks piercing a steamed potato.
"it's over?"
Helgi watched me sheath my sword and pick up the scattered arrows from the ground.
"ended."
"It's boring."
This unlucky kid...
Akali and Dro Maras joined the caravan outside Morningstar City. I left Helgi and the two tiger men outside the city. The tiger caravan will hold a market here for about five days. The three of them can take this opportunity to buy supplies and prepare for our next journey. I don't plan to reveal too much information about my group. Although Cangyuan Territory does not belong to the Empire camp, there are a large number of Empire supporters in the territory. Given General Tullius's style of doing things, it would be a waste if he didn't plant some spies among these people.
The Lord of Morningstar City, Elder Skard Firgov, is an old man in his sixties. This old man's temper is harder than the cold wind in Cangyuan Territory, and his words are full of oppression. Even though we have become allies, he still sarcastically ridiculed me for secretly taking my father away, and said that if it weren't for that, Horik's head would have been chopped off like his right hand. He also remembered Rigel, and believed that if my father hadn't stood on the wrong side, the little saber-toothed tiger would definitely have become his most capable general.
"Old Jaeger has been tough all his life, but now he has to take off his skin and fight the imperial bastards. What have you been doing before?"
Interestingly, in Skyrim, nobles of Skard's age, such as Ulfric, Erlund Greymane, Balgruuf, and Dangar, are mostly hardliners. Even if they do not oppose the Empire, they certainly hate the Thalmor. On the other hand, young lords such as Elisif, Sidgeir, and Igmund have little interest in resisting the elves' enslavement. They are satisfied as long as they can continue to live a life of debauchery and indulge in sensual pleasures.
If the older generation dies out, who can lead the Nords and continue to fight for faith and freedom? Maybe this is why Danger values me?
According to the custom, the lord would gather the nobles in the territory and hold a formal banquet to welcome me. However, Skade only asked me to have dinner with him, and it was an extremely frugal dinner. In front of each person was a small dish of pickled vegetables, two grilled fish that tasted quite fresh, and a large piece of white bread. I suspected that the bread was from the Skyforge, because it was even harder than Skade, and my iron dagger was quite helpless.
Is this thing really meant to be eaten?
I soon found that I was still young. The most annoying thing in Whitehall was definitely not the coarse food, but the lord's opinion. Skade talked for more than half an hour, from the dragons descending from the sky to the werewolves appearing in Falkreath. He attributed all the chaos and disasters to the Empire's abolition of Talos worship.
"I don't know what Lord Balgruuf is thinking, but there is no need to worry about the dragons. As long as we drive this fucking Empire and his elven masters out of Skyrim, the dragons will disappear immediately, as if they had never appeared. Mark my words, child, they are not killed, they disappear, that is the miracle of Talos."
Well, old man, just be happy. I know someone said something similar, but the thing he predicted would disappear became even more rampant. Since the disaster has already happened, closing your eyes and pretending not to see it will never solve the problem. Spreading false information to deceive the public and push others into the fire pit is even more shameless. But people in the world like these two things the most.
Even the members of Skade's court frowned at what he said, but I remained humble and listened to his advice, occasionally echoing his words. When I asked whether Morningstar City would continue to send troops to the south, the lord finally stopped talking and showed a cautious expression.
"I have written to Lord Balgruuf. The best scenario is that the Talos Alliance will join the Stormcloaks. You must know, child, that under the protection of Talos, our victory is within our grasp. Of course, the specific plan will have to wait until the three of us sit together and plan carefully. I cannot give you a definite answer now. I believe that it will not be long before your lord will tell you what you are entitled to know."
Not only did I not get the answer, I was also stepped on.
When the difficult meal was finally over, I breathed a sigh of relief. Skade didn't make any promises to us. He would still do his best to cooperate with Ulfric's military operations, even against Whiterun or Falkreath. He was even unwilling to reduce the soldiers stationed on the border of Whiterun, which confused me. If he didn't intend to change his military and diplomatic strategies, why did he join the Taros Alliance? For most of my questions, he didn't give a direct answer on the grounds that my rank was too low. This made me worry whether he would refuse to talk to Danger for the same reason. Although Sidgal is not really crazy, we can't let him meet with Skade. What if the two really reach an agreement?
What's worse is that I have no way to inform Danger of Skade's attitude. The tiger caravan is not a qualified messenger, and I still don't dare to trust them completely. I only have Helgi and two tigers with me. Hayou needs to watch over Agis, and the other two are not capable of carrying out the mission independently. For now, the only way is to get the things on hand done as soon as possible and believe that Danger, the old fox, will have his own way to deal with it.
I stayed overnight at the Windy Inn and asked for some information. The miners and crew members were all people who liked to drink and brag, and it didn't take long for me to successfully review what happened in Morningstar City during this period.
Since we solved the nightmare incident and took my father away, Lord Skade's paranoia has reached a new peak. Brina Morillis is a well-known pro-Imperial faction. The day her guard Horik left, the nightmare that had plagued Morningstar City for several months magically disappeared. What does this mean?
In the eyes of the old lord, this means at least two things.
First, Horik was the culprit of the nightmare. Considering his identity as a veteran of the Imperial Legion and his recognition of this identity, it is obvious that General Tullius must be the mastermind behind this incident. Lord Skade is the most staunch supporter of the Stormcloaks. The cunning and sinister Tullius bribed the traitor in order to weaken Morningstar City's support for the front line.
On the other hand, Brina Morillis, as Horik's patron, was undoubtedly an accomplice. Horik was on the run, so Brina couldn't be allowed to escape. So Lord Skade arrested Brina. If it weren't for the desperate persuasion of the court wizard Medena and the captain of the guard, Jord, he would have beheaded Brina without hesitation.
The turmoil lasted for more than two months until news came from the south that Horik was appointed a baron by Falkreath and defeated the invading Lucius Legion. This completely cleared him of suspicion of being an imperial spy, and the accusations against Brina became ridiculous. Skade released Brina, but still kept a close watch on her, and it was said that he even opened all her private letters. Brina's angry protest was regarded by Skade as a sign of guilt, and the woman simply cut off all contact with her friends and lived in seclusion.
Skade also realized that his court was "full of Imperial lackeys", and he became more and more arbitrary, constantly sending troops to the west, hoping to defeat the Imperial Legion that was confronting him in the border territory of Ar before the summer came. The climate in Cangyuan Territory was cold, and the spring planting time was later than that in the southern territories. Even so, in the Rain Hand Month, which was late April, Skade had to disband most of his conscripts and let the farmers go back to farming, otherwise he would face a situation of no harvest for the whole year.
It is already the beginning of the Rain Hand Month, which means that within two weeks, Lord Skade will go to war with the Empire, and by that time, I will be passing by the border...