74 Chapter XV: Shadow over Rorikstead (Part 2)

We all take a minute to gather ourselves before approaching the closed gates of the small town.

While I walk I get a notification.

[Quest issued: Resolve the mystery of Rorikstead][Reward: Minor Nord Paragon trait]

Very useful in the future. Not like I really needed all that much motivation after Mephala indicated that this would help me, but any bit extra is nice.

One of the armored housecarls yells "Open the gates, the Jarl approaches!"

There is some movement behind the walls and the sturdy wooden gate is quickly opened, letting us into the settlement.

Seeing as it was the evening, most people were finishing their work for the day and spending their time relaxing or socializing so as soon as we entered we gathered quite the crowd.

I instructed Davos to not show himself and snoop around while we talk to the residents.

Our procession makes its way to the center of Rorikstead and after waiting for most of the residents to gather around, the Jarl speaks "People of Rorikstead, I have come to you bearing good news."

He makes a pause to build a bit of suspense and continues "The raiders who unjustly attacked you and pillaged your homes have all been slain by the one standing next to me."

The people react as you would expect them to, some cheer while some lament that the raiders couldn't have been dealt with sooner.

A middle-aged Nord man, dressed in rich clothes, approaches us and asks "And who is this elf that killed those bastards?"

Everyone goes quiet and I speak up "I am Reyvin, known as Flame-tongue to most Nords. I met the raiders while exploring the mountains and after realizing who they were I naturally decided to punish them all for their crimes."

There is excited murmuring among the crowd, but the man who I presume is Rorik raises a doubtful eyebrow "You slew all of them by your lonesome?"

I smirk "I am a skilled battle mage, they were no threat when attacked from a great distance."

He frowns "They had a mage among them as well.."

"Barely an apprentice" I scoff.

"That 'Apprentice'" He spits the word out "Killed five of my men."

Pushing down the instinct to mock his men I say "I am truly sorry to hear that he did, but I do not lie when I say that he was nowhere near a threat to me."

Rorik sighs and shakes his head, then gives me an apologetic look "Sorry, the attack has left us all under great stress, and hearing that those who hurt us so much died to a single man is... less than believable."

Balgruuf cuts in "I vouch for his words."

Rorik's eye twitches "Then that is all I will say."

The Jarl once again gathers everyone's attention by clapping his hands "While my friend here slew the raiders, he also decided to retrieve your stolen heirlooms." He turns to Rorik and points to the sacks his guard carried in while saying "Please, distribute them among your people."

The leader of the town nods gratefully and quickly starts handing out the known belongings to the excited families of Rorikstead.

I stand next to the Jarl and half-whisper "They all look like they would be quite willing to speak in their jubilation, after we disperse have your men ask around for rumors while drinking. Should abate some of their suspicions."

He doesn't react but for a small barely-perceptible nod.

Balgruuf goes on to promise that everything will be done to stop such a tragedy from happening in the future and informs them all that he will be staying in the town to make sure everything is in order.

The people are naturally welcoming to their Jarl and a small feast is soon prepared for all of us. I also noticed Rorik frown when his people invited us... curious.

Soon we are led into the local tavern and the guards spread around, starting conversations with the locals. The Jarl sits with Rorik and they talk about administrative affairs while sharing a drink.

I try to talk up some of the residents, but besides the thanks and cheers, I get nothing.

A bit later I take a walk around the place, getting grateful glances and words of praise along the way, soon I find a worried looking man that looks familiar for some reason.

I approach him and cough slightly to get his attention, he turns to me and it clicks why he seemed familiar. This is Lokir, that idiot that gets himself shot by the Legion after being captured with Ulfric.

He gives me a pensive look and asks "What does the great hero want with me?"

I shrug and take a sip of the wine in my hand "You don't seem to share the jubilance of the rest of your folk, why is that?"

"Why do you care?" He asks.

"Just indulge a young mer's curiosity will you?"

Whatever has been eating him seems to come to the surface as he lets out a tired breath "My wife is pregnant."

I raise an eyebrow "Congratulations. But even if most people worry when this happens why are you so... shaken?"

He looks around suspiciously before speaking as quietly as he can "The women here, most of them die in childbirth. And before you ask no it isn't some kind of disease, we have a village healer." He takes one more careful look and says "Look around, do you see many young women around here?"

I also look at the crowd and notice the lack of adult women. There are some old ones and children but that is it.

"Curious" I mutter.

I turn to Lokir "You seem to have a theory about what is going on. Please share."

He gets increasingly worried, almost as if having a panic attack. I hand him a bottle of mead he left on the nearby table and he takes a long swig before letting out a long breath, finally calming himself.

"I don't have anything concrete, but there is something unnatural about the deaths. One or two I would understand, we all know these lands are harsh... but almost every one of them dying is far too much to be mere coincidence." he forces out quietly.

I hum "And your village healer, what does he say about their deaths?"

He frowns "He always has some kind of excuse, it's either they were too weak or Arkay called them to his side, or some other ridiculous reasons."

I take a moment to 'look' at him and sense that he really is just panicked that his wife may die, so I decided to take a chance.

I sit down next to him and whisper "Whatever you hear do. not. react."

He nods fearfully.

"We are here to investigate a possible daedric cult, I have found proof of their influence on the land itself. Any help you may give us will go a long way in preventing your wife from suffering a terrible fate."

He barely holds himself from panicking, taking another long swig of his drink. After a bit of silence, he mutters "R-Rorik and the healer Jouane, they are the ones that founded this town from the ruins they found after the great war. I sometimes see them venturing into the nearby hills. One d-d-day I saw Rorik returned bloody." He starts to shake a bit after he finishes talking.

"When is your wife due?" I ask curiously.

"In a couple of days, why?"

I hum "If you help point out their hiding place when we are ready, I will personally be present for the childbirth. I am a certified healer of the College of Winterhold."

A ray of hope enters his eyes and he quickly nods, almost as if a drowning man holding onto a blade of grass "Yes, of course, I will do anything." he says in a tone both pleading and excited.

I chuckle "No need to promise me the world, just make sure to meet with me before dawn and we will ensure your family's future."

I leave the man to his thoughts and rejoin the festivities.

I take a seat in the corner to observe the locals in hopes of finding another clue, no reason to be satisfied with one after all. Soon I notice a richly dressed old Breton sitting by his lonesome and decide to approach him.

I take a seat next to him and say "A good evening to you elder."

He hits me with the 'old man chuckle' technique and says jovially "Oh if it isn't the great bandit slayer himself, please be welcome to our humble town."

Something tries to worm its way into my mind, likely an illusion spell meant to pacify me. I smirk internally and pretend to be affected, engaging in some small talk with the man.

Over the course of our conversation, I learn that he is the local healer Jouane Mannette who saved Rorik during the great war and then founded the town with him.

He speaks proudly of their great harvests and the prosperity of their children, but when I looked deeper I was met with a desire to kill all those who dared disturb his peace and trample on his crops.

An odd way of framing things indeed...

I spend the rest of the night milling about and talking to people, but I get no further results.

Somewhere close to midnight, the crowd disperses and the Jarl leaves for a suite they prepared for him.

I follow along, casting muffle and using a scroll of invisibility from my depleting storage. We make our way to Rorik's longhouse and I slip into the Jarl's room after Irileth and Hrongar enter.

They all take their seats and are about to start talking to each other, but are scared almost to death by me suddenly appearing without a sound.

A sword flashes out of its sheath and I barely manage to summon my staff to stop it, seeing the one holding the blade I snort "So quick on the draw housecarl... what if I wasn't fast enough?"

Irileth scoffs "Oh please, I could have stopped the strike at any time. Do not do that again, I have been rather twitchy since coming here."

"As you desire madam" I mock bow.

We all take our seats to discuss our findings and I let the Jarl go first.

He shakes his head "I tried prying into Rorik's business, but that is exactly what he called it before refusing to talk about anything he wasn't strictly required to by custom."

Hrongar speaks next with a frown "The local women tend to die during childbirth but that is all I got."

Irileth merely shakes her head "They wouldn't speak to me at all."

"Maybe you scared them all away with your sword" I snark and her eye twitches.

I clap my hands theatrically and say "I have had far more luck. One of the residents said that the number of childbirth deaths is not merely a tendency but it is unnaturally high." everyone frowns at my words.

"I also learned that the local healer constantly gives lacking excuses for their deaths, and when I approached him to speak he tried using illusion magic to make me want to leave the place as soon as possible."

Balgruuf frowns "And what of Rorik?"

"He has been seen leaving the town with said healer from time to time, and once even returned bloody, that is all I learned about him."

"How can you be sure that they speak true?" Hrongar asks with understandable skepticism.

"His wife is due in a couple of days, he is very worried about her fate and would do anything to save her, so I secured his help in leading us to wherever the two presumed cultists go every night." I assure him.

They all turn quiet for a bit, mulling over my words. Balgruuf asks "So, what is our next move?"

"Before we go on, Davos please come in" I interrupt.

Irileth frowns as my retainer slides in through the window quietly. I see her hand jerk for her sword and smirk, making her eye twitch again.

"You called boss" Davos asks with what I know is a smirk.

"I want you to follow the healer Jouane Manette and try and glean whatever you can from him, when you get all you can, return before sunrise."

He nods and leaves the same way he came in.

Balgruuf frowns "And what will we be doing in the meantime?"

"Waiting" I shrug and summon the booklet Eorlund gave me.

The others frown but seeing as there really isn't more to do than wait they all relax after a bit.

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