(1) The Search Begins

It has been an honor making the journey into Skyrim for my people. To think, with my help, we might all be able to settle somewhere more hospitable. If I do not find a sufficient place, it will mean misfortune for my whole tribe. Yet, I have confidence in myself and a strong hope for the Vaska-Rah.

This journey has proven long thus far and I feel as though I have only begun. It’s been days now and no sign of a large or secluded enough place. The first place I stumbled upon was a seemingly large cave. It was full of barbaric men, bandits presumably. I made quick work of them and made my exit. The cave was much too small to hold my people.

Not to mention the exterior. The scenery was beautiful and the game was plenty, but it was riddled with unspeakable things. Burned bodies on pikes, animal bones littered carelessly. This would not be suitable for the Vaska-Rah.

Upon exiting the cave, I took some time to rest. I sat down by the waterfall, drinking fully and resting my weary feet. It had been a long day. It had been a long night, rather. In fact, it would be dusk soon.  

Something startled me from my relaxation, however. It was a noise. Some sort of animalistic growl, though it was not threatening in the least. Looking around, I spotted a sabre cat. We had them in the mountains as well, and my people had opted to tame them.

With illusion spells, temporarily calming an otherwise hostile animal is easy enough. This sabre cat didn’t prove to be a problem at all. In fact, it was even somewhat friendly. However, I didn’t choose to linger because I knew at any moment the spell would wear off.

Making my way away from the large cat, I was soon met with some men on the road. They told me to hand over all of my money and valuables. More bandits? So far, Skyrim has proven to be a rather inhospitable place. Hopefully, I will actually be able to find decent people and my tribe will be able to defend against the bandits.

They left me with no choice but to dispose of them. I have always been taught to make peace whenever possible. My people do not believe in senseless violence. I do not wish to harm anyone that I do not have to, but they would have killed me had I not killed them first. It was a shame, really, because they stood no chance. When I made my leave, my people gave me several precious artifacts which would help me in battle.

One was the Hood of Blun, which was blessed with enhanced magic, Another was the Ring of Rzec, which allowed me to be faster with a blade and more stealthy. And finally, the Fang of Rzec. This dagger holds the power of Rzec himself, and is said to be forged from one of his many fangs. 

As soon as the fight begun, it was already over. After the battle, I noticed a sign. It was a road sign, pointing in the direction of some of Skyrim’s major cities.

I had no idea about any of the cities. However, I decided I would make my way in the direction of Whiterun. Hopefully, it would be close, and Ri’Zago did mention it was one of the more notable cities in Skyrim for trade.

My people probably would have preferred that I avoid the cities, but they seemed like a good place to start. If anything, maybe someone knew of an area that could be used for settling. The tribe did not have to be totally secluded.

This day was a fair bit warmer than the previous one. It was also much less exciting. No matter where I turned, I kept being attacked by wolves. They were easy to deal with, of course, but I just felt sorry for the poor creatures. There were so many of them and they were all so underfed.

Finally, though, I came upon some commotion that was not caused by wolves or the occasional rogue skeever. Instead, it was actually some men. Altmer, from what I could tell, and they were fighting some Nords.   

I had no idea why they were fighting. In fact, I had never even seen another race, other than the one Khajiit that is a part of our tribe. Everyone else I know are all Lilmothiits. Ri’Zago, the Khajiit, happened upon our tribe when he was travelling from his homeland into Skyrim. Evidentially, it was his job to help with the skooma operations in Skyrim. Buying and selling drugs was not a life he wished to have, so he instead chose to join our tribe.

My mind couldn’t help but wander to my good Khajiit friend. Ri’Zago is now a wonderful hunter and caretaker. Hunting is something he does very well, but the caretaking is a passion of his. All of the information I have about the rest of Tamriel comes from him. He has a wealth of stories.

Still, I cannot allow myself to miss my home too much. I have a job to complete. I shook myself from my thoughts and fled from the altercation lest I get involved. Nothing good would come of it. What I came across next, though, was much more surprising.

I appeared to be standing in front of some sort of…large burial ground. But what could possibly be large enough to be buried there?

Then the thought occurred to me. Ri’Zago mentioned that dragons used to roam Skyrim. Maybe dragons were buried here? It was possible, I suppose. Gwenta, may your grace be with me, I wish not to encounter any dragons. Ri’Zago said they were all dead, so maybe I shouldn’t worry. Still, I can’t help but do so.

I could not linger any longer at the burial site. Looking off into the distance, I could see what looked like a large city. That must have been Whiterun! Given the distance and the terrain, I would be there by nightfall.

Rejuvenated, I made my way. However, I was quickly halted. Only a short distance from me…were these large…creatures. They looked like large elephants, but with much more fur. And there was a large man with them. A giant, that had to be what it was!

Cautiously, I snuck up a bit closer. I had to get a better look at these beasts. Not that I had to get too much closer, they were huge!

Deciding not to test my luck any further, I left the giant and the furry elephants be. If they came after me, I doubt I would survive. Plus, Whiterun was only a short distance away. I had to keep going.

When I got closer, it occurred to me that a bath would be a good idea. Fortunately, rivers and streams are not difficult to find in this area. These plains are beautiful, and not at all snowy like my tribe’s current settlement.

Finding a small body of water, I removed my clothing and cleaned up. It had been days since my last bath and my fur was starting to mat up a bit from all the dirt, blood and sweat.

A relaxing bath and a couple hours of walking later, I was in Whiterun. It was late, so I quickly found the city’s inn and asked to use their cooking supplies. On my journey, I managed to kill several deer. I would be eating venison chops tonight!

The cooking facilities were sub-par compared to what I was used to. Then again, cooking was my job within the tribe. Not to mention I was raised by my uncle Veisio, our tribe’s most talented chef. Still, it was nice to be able to cook up some dinner for the night and the next couple days.

Next, I went to the innkeeper and rented a room for the night. Having a good night’s rest indoors sounded wonderful. One thing I had missed during my trip was a warm bed. The bed roll I had was sufficient, of course, but nothing like a real bed.

I took a short while to enjoy the music being performed by the inn’s bard and have my dinner. This place was surprisingly cozy. And I didn’t get too many odd stares. I’m sure many of them were too drunk to notice that I wasn’t a khajiit, though.

Soon enough, it was bedtime. Going into the room I rented, I practically passed out. It had truly been a long last couple days.