4 Windhelm Trouble

Day ???

"Sir? We're closing soon." I opened my eyes to see a bright red and yellow tiled wall. I was half on a table, my head resting on my arms with a half finished sandwich in my left hand. I brought my head up to take in my surroundings. I was in a mcdonalds? How was that possible? Could it really have just been a dream? I reached into my pocket and took out my cell.

"Nine-twenty?" I asked out loud to no one in particular. How had I fallen asleep? My face felt hot when I looked down at the table and saw a rather large puddle of drool. How long had I been sleeping and what had I been dreaming about? I wiped my face and apologized to the employee who had woken me. I took the rest of the meal and bagged it even though it had gone cold now.

I had to get back to my apartment, I had work early in the morning! I wondered if I should look through my phone to see if anyone tried to call me, had been trying to sell my late father's car as I couldn't really handle getting behind the wheel. I decided against checking my messages and just turned to head out the door, I needed to get home and just fall back asleep. Why was I so tired? I had just slept most of the afternoon right? Groaning, I made my way out of the building and into the heavy falling snow....

Wait, but that couldn't be right, wasn't It Spring?

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Day 28

Screeching metal pulled me from my delusion as my eyes attempted to adjust to the dimly lit room. Someone was opening an iron door in front of me, but all I could make out was a shadow. My arms felt heavy and legs stung with numbness as I tried to take in the situation. I was chained to a cold stone floor and surrounded my stone walls. I must be in some kind of tower dungeon? How had I gotten here? What happened? I tried to remember but I only succeeded in making my head hurt worse than it already did.

"I see you're with us again, good." I recognized the voice from the game, Ulfric Stormcloak! It was hard to speak, as my mind attempted to piece together what may have happened. "Times are hard as you can imagine. I can't take risks even from a man who looks like a priest. My men said they trailed some soldiers from the empire and saw that they had been following after you, tell me why." My eyes had finally adjusted and I could see the man just standing a little ways away from me, two guards just outside the iron bar door. He wore fur lined clothes with a breastplate fashioned underneath the coat. Hit long hair was tied back, making him look slightly different from what I remembered.

The last thing I was able to recall after a moment of silence was running from a small group of imperial soldiers who must have tailed me from the camp. I didn't remember seeing Yval among them and remembered being slightly thankful for that.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you my story." I managed to get out. I didn't know what I was to say. This situation seemed hopeless, I was chained up and now the leader of the stormcloak rebellion was in front of me. What had I expected to happen? Just walk in and ask for protection from the empire?

"A lot has happened to Skyrim in the past year. Try me." He said with a half-smile. Was he amused by my situation?

"I'm guessing you took my satchel?" He nodded. "My journal is in there. I've kept a record of my time in Skyrim."

"So you want me to read a book? I've got an army to lead and a land that needs to be taken back. You think I have time for your little story?" I had never chosen to side with the stormcloaks in the game so I didn't have an idea of how Ulfric really was. His tone and aggressiveness took me off guard. Technically during the war you never see how the leaders really are, just glimpses.

"It has information about the Thalmor!" I shouted as he turned to leave. Before I knew it a blade was pressed hard against my neck, his demeanor had changed completely.

"What do you know of the Thalmor?! Are you a spy?!" He shouted .His face contorted in rage and eyes shone with a hatred I had never seen before. It took a few minutes for me to convince him I wasn't a spy as it was hard from me to explain anything with the way his knife was cutting into my neck.

"J-just read my journal. I believe they are doing something to the Empire's soldiers." I was able to get out as he removed the blade.

"I will read it. But if there is any reason to believe that you may be a spy then I will come back and remove your head myself!" He growled as he left and slammed the door shut.

Time passed incredibly slow for me. I had no indication of how long I had been chained there as there were no windows, only the light of a few candles at the edges of the cell. They brought me food and drink periodically and I was able to drift in and out of sleep. But abruptly light streamed into the room as the door screeched open. A shadow stood there a moment before it knelt down to my level.

"Your story is interesting. I don't believe more than half of it but the accounts of your time in their camp and their possible plans gives me an idea of what could be happening." He said with a slight smile. "I don't think you would have told me about the journal if you where a spy." He unlocked the metal around my wrists then helped me stand. "I do not really trust you. Your writings seem like that of a mad-man and I cannot have you loose in Skyrim. You will stay at the candlehearth hall where one of my soldiers will keep an eye on you, I will call on you again in time." Without another word he dropped my satchel at my feet and walked out of the room. Ulfric Stormcloack scared me more than I thought he would. Maybe I read more into it than I should have but I personally believed that this man was even more insane than I was. I would need to tread carefully while in this city, but I was thankful enough just to be breathing still.

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Day 30

It was early morning when the slamming on my door started. I tried to hide myself under the many furs that covered me, a childish act but still somewhat comforting to me. When I had thought that maybe the person had given up I heard a very deep and gruff voice from behind the door.

"King Ulfric requests your presence! If you do not come within the hour it will be taken as an act of treason!" With that the man seemed to stomp off.

"Treason? King? I'm not even a stormcloak!" I groaned to myself as I sat up and stretched. My body popped and cracked as I tried to get dressed in my robes and put the strap to my satchel over my shoulder. This area was much colder than the other parts of Skyrim and my body was paying for it. It had been almost a month and my body was hardly used to the weather at all. Maybe it had been because I was used to weather in Florida and Ohio, both places I had lived in regularly throughout my life. "I'll get used to it eventually." I muttered and walked out to the commons area of the inn to sit down. I ordered some water, bread, and pheasant breast. A filling breakfast as I had a feeling I wouldn't get many chances to relax that day. I took note of the familiar area as I ate. I had slept most of yesterday so I hadn't taken much stock in the people around me but now I could see familiar faces from the game. The dining area was large with torches lining the walls, people talking and sharing stories at tables while the bard prepared for a ballad. I didn't really remember any names but if I stayed here long enough I figured I could get to know at least one person here.

The meal was dry with little flavoring but had been filling. I paid for my room for the next few nights, my belongings had been returned to me which included the pay I had received from the empire, then headed out to the palace of the kings where Ulfric would be waiting for me. The cold air bit into my skin as I walked out of the candlehearth inn, my eyes adjusted to the dim light outside as dark clouds blotted out the sun. A chill in the air began blowing through the streets despite the high walls surrounding the city. Did people shovel or move the snow away somehow? Maybe have a mage melt some of it? I laughed to myself as the thought of a mage walking through the snow using flame magic popped into my head.

Not long after leaving the inn I found myself before the large fates to the palace of kings where two guards greeted me. Their faces where hidden by their helmets, making their appearances a little more menacing that I thought they should be. They led me in where I was seated at a large table that was resting before Ulfric's throne.

"Ah, there you are." He greeted me with a smile and a spread of his arms as if in hospitality. What was with this man? Had he changed his opinion of me so quickly? "I wanted your account of something." He sat down on his throne and his general sat across the table from me, he was quick to get right to the point.

"What can I help with?" I asked as I leaned on the empty table. I remembered in the game how there was always food on the table but I guessed that the stormcloak leaders didn't always feast.

"I want to hear about your account with these 'enchanted' soldiers and the item they had." He asked with a serious face.

I recalled the event where the soldiers where able to quickly dispatch a mage ambush before I could even register what was going on. I added that I had seen them walk into the Thalmor supervisor's tent after we had returned from the skirmish. " You believe that the Thalmor had done something to enchant these soldiers?" He asked.

"I'm not certain but I believe that they had some hand in what I had witnessed. As you probably read from my journal. The item they swallowed also seemed very suspicious and I believe it may have been some sort of creation of the Thalmor. It seems like they plan to use the Valtheim towers as a foundation for a multi-tiered fortress."

"I read that and sent a few scouts to the towers yesterday. They arrived early this morning and confirmed what you had written. It was what confirmed my suspicions that you weren't a spy and allowed you to be alive right now." He said in a scarily calm manner. I could have been dead this morning? I would have just never woken up? I sighed heavily and did my best to not shake as I sat there.

"Do you plan to do something? If they set up that fortress it would cut you off from a majority of Skyrim." I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"There are always other routes around the mountains. They would likely expect an attack on the site and I would rather not risk the lives of my brothers and sisters walking into a trap." I had taken the man for being rather rash and headstrong with my impression of him in the game but maybe he was more of a tactician than I thought. "Besides, I can't exactly share anything specific with you. You aren't a stormcloak and you where just recently in the company of our enemies." His eyes pierced through me as he stated the last part. With a wave of his hand he dismissed me and two guards came to follow.

The snow had picked up and was now falling heavily on Windhelm as I walked out of the large doors. I rushed through the snow with my hood up, after bidding hello to the innkeeper I went up to my room to collect my thought. "He's planning something, is he going to attack while they are building? Maybe wait this out and use other routes across the mountains?" I realized that I was talking out loud to myself and immediately shut up. Not wanting to be overheard questioning their beloved leader, I went over to my satchel and absently rummaged through my belongings.

If the snow let up by tomorrow then I would offer my assistance to Ulfric and his cause. My thinking was that if I could get some protection against the Thalmor and the empire then I would take anything I could get. But then again they might send me to the front lines! I groaned and brushed my hands over my short hair in frustration. There was plenty of time left in the day today but the snow put down any possibilities of going out. I had plenty of gold left from the time I spent in the imperial camp and needed to restock on some things. My dagger had been taken from me and so I needed another and I would also need some more dried food like fruit, potatoes, leaks. Something I could keep in my pack for on the road. I also needed more ink as the things I've been writing are becoming less and less eligible. I would have to wait until the snow slowed down though, would be bad luck to get sick now.

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Day 35

Two days the snow fell, On the third I was finally able to stretch my legs and walk around the city. It was much different than I remembered Then again, I had never really been around the city in the game. I hadn't even done the dark brotherhood quests that I had heard started with some kid here in the city. While going around and grabbing the things on my list, I learned that Ulfric moved a majority of the garrison that was in the city. Where to and what they where doing Ulfric was keeping it quiet. Maybe he didn't want it getting out should a spy hear? I wondered if maybe he should leak out a false location to steer away any kind of suspicion?

As the hammer hit the anvil my body tensed and my mind had come back from deep in my thoughts.

"The name's Oengul, there something I can do for you?" The gruff old man didn't break a beat in his hammering but still turned his head to me periodically.

"I'm looking to make an order, two things to be exact." I specified about the design of the sheathe that I had previously to conceal under my sleeve and how I would like the dagger to be made of steel and strengthened above regular standards.

"That's a hefty order. I assume you have the gold to pay for the materials I would need?" I handed him the purse he had asked for. "Good enough, I believe I can have it done for you within four days." He then stopped hammering and put the large piece of metal to rest in the hot forge, after writing something down on a piece of paper he turned back to his work. I smiled in content then moved on and bought some extra food to last me some time. I figured having smaller things instead of the meals at the inn might save money in the long run.

The air was cold and was getting difficult to breathe in. The sky above was turning dark, another snowfall was coming. I looked around and noticed a guard just a few feet behind me. It was the first time I noticed that I was being followed, had he been there the whole time? Ulfric did say that I was going to be monitored. Did he really think I might be part of the empire even though I had been running from them? Not knowing what to do afterwards I retired to the inn and attempted to turn in early.

The next day went by fast as I had woken up late and fallen back asleep when the sun set. I had spent the few hours that I was awake eating and contemplating. I had decided to not join the stormcloaks as it would risk being sent to the frontlines and I wouldn't survive a single day in war. Already the war had caused me more trouble than I wanted and I was still no closer to any kind of answers to what was going on. I made the decision to get back on my original goal in finding out about these summoners and why I would have been brought here.

I had woken on the fifth day with a tired yawn. There seemed to be a lot of bustle around the inn as people where rushing around and yelling. Was someone drunk and trying to start a fight again? I brought myself out of bed, got dressed in my usual robes and opened the door a bit. Right as I opened the door someone went flying into it, sending me backwards and back on my bed.

"What the hell?!" I shouted, getting back to my feet as fast as I could. The man that was on the floor of my room was lying still, a liquid seeping between the wooden floorboards. He had been stabbed! I looked out the door and noticed there where others fighting. It looked to me as if some of the dark elves had taken action against those whom had been harassing them. I got up and closed the door as fast as I could, turned to the wounded man and sat him up against the bottom of the bed. He was unconscious but still breathing, I tore off a part of his sleeve and pressed it into his wound. He didn't move but his face was contorted in pain.

After applying pressure to the wound I said a small prayer to Akatosh. I felt the familiar surge of power in my hands but heard no voice. Was he no longer talking to me? Had I done something? He still helped me heal the man so I figured I shouldn't be picky and just continued to hold my hands near the man's wound.

After what seemed like ages the fighting outside my door seemed to subside when the guards burst into the inn. I opened the door and informed a guard of what happened, they took the man out of my room and brought him to the palace of kings. When I asked why the palace, the guard told me they would be questioned after they were healed.

After helping the innkeeper clean some of the mess I went to my room and sat upon the chair by the bed. I had heard about the racism that the stormcloaks had against those who weren't nords but it was bad enough for a small riot like this? There was news that the docks had also been in an uproar that I had overheard from others coming in to the inn. Argonians and dark elves had overpowered the guards, taken their weapons and sought revenge on the individuals who had hurt them. I wondered how Ulfric would react to this, would he make things worse for those that took matters into their own hands? Or would he ignore the whole thing and just concentrate on the war? Maybe he would just claim they where all spies and have them locked up or put to death. I had a hard time reading Ulfric in the few times I had seen him, he seemed to be an unstable kind of person.

I looked around and was thankful that the blood had been cleaned from the floor. I was very surprised by how the inn had recovered pretty quickly from the violent acts that had taken place inside. Was something like this normal for these people? I had to leave the city soon, there was too much chaos here and it made me even more on edge than I normally was.