Whiterun

By the night, I finally reached Whiterun. I actually arrived here a few hours earlier but the line for getting in to the city was too long. Being the commercial hub of Skyrim had its upsides and downsides it seems.

After entering the city, what came to my mind was 'too many people'. There were carriages going to and from. Street stalls selling various wares and ingredients. Inns full of people and music. Hammering sounds coming from smithies.

The city was full of life. But even with all this, there was a sort of unrest within the city. Being neutral in a civil war and in the middle of the map had its shortcomings. And there was also the talk about dragons returning, it was hard to find any blame on the people for being restless.

After inspecting my surroundings, I decided to head to an inn for the night. I could leave finding Jorrvaskr tomorrow.

I asked people for the way and they pointed me towards an inn right in the middle of the center of the lower district.

Yes there were three districts in the city. The Plains district for the common folk, The Wind district for the wealthy and The Cloud District for the Jarl and other important people.

The inn I entered was in The Plains district.

The Bannered Mare, was written on the sign.

I opened the door and the noise instantly assaulted my ears. Boisterous laughter, people yelling at each other and loud music.

'Can anyone sleep in a place like this?' I thought and headed towards the counter where a middle aged woman was standing behind.

"Greetings. How can I help you?" She asked me.

"I was looking for a room for the night."

"That would be 20 Septims for the night."

I gave her the money.

"Follow me, your room is upstairs." She said and started walking while I followed behind.

We went upstairs and she opened one of the rooms.

"This will be your room. Here are the keys. If you need anything else, I will be downstairs. The crowd should be gone in two hours at most." She said and turned to leave.

After looking around the room, I decided that I couldn't sleep with this noise, so I headed downstairs also.

I looked around for any empty tables but found none.

"Hey there, friend. If you are looking for a table we can share mine."

Then a man in black robes said from right behind me. When I turned to look towards him, I saw him sitting on a table for two, alone.

'Strange. Was he there before?' I thought to myself then shrugged. Maybe I missed him because of the crowd.

"Much thanks." I thanked the man and sat on the other seat.

"No problem, no problem." He said jovially.

The man's face screamed 'I'm drunk!' from the flushness of it.

"The name is Sam. Sam Guevenne. What is yours stranger?" He asked in a drunken voice.

"Alaric."

"Alaric…Alaric…That's a good name, my friend. Hey, Alaric. You look like someone who can hold their liquor. How about a friendly contest to win an artifact?" He asked with mischief.

"I'll pass. I have somethings planned for tomorrow and I don't want a killer headache."

"Awww, don't be like that. Here, I'll give you these for participating in the competition. Your reward will be different." He then proceeded to take out two blades.

Two falchions, one black as night and the other white as day. Even with a look, I could tell they were precious artifacts not meant to be given for participating in a drinking competition.

"Who are you?" I asked the man.

"Like I told you, my name is Sam. How about it? Wanna have a drinking competition with me?"

"You will not ask for them back later?"

"Nope. They are yours as soon as you accept."

I looked towards the falchions once more. They were masterfully crafted and were brimming with magical energy. Clearly great artifacts. And I could get them for participating in a drinking competition. I didn't even have to win it.

"Well, a drinking contest? You don't stand a chance!" I said while pocketing the falchions.

"Ha! We'll see about that. This is a special brew, very strong stuff. Let's get started." He said returning to his jovial tone, and proceeded to take out some drinks from his pack.

He brought two mugs, passed me one and took the other. He brought the mug to his lips, "Here we go." Then drunk it all in one go. "Haaah it tastes sho good. Your turn." Then he turned to me.

I did the same. Brought the mug to my lips and drunk it all in one go. It was strong. I could feel the burn throughout my body. But it tasted really good. Made me craving for another.

"One down, my friend. One down. And another one for me. And how about you?" He said.

"Second drink? Easy enough!" I said while bringing the mug on the table. "That's the spirit!" He said and filled my mug.

We both chugged the drinks at the same time. "Another?" He asked. "Another!" I answered.

After drinking who knows how many mugs, the world became blurred and I couldn't even control myself. "I think I've hit my limit on these things. Tell you what, one more and you win the contest." Then, Sam said.

"One more? No problemsh!" Then I drank one more mug while forcing down the urge to throw up. "Wow. You've really done it. The ring is yours." He said while clapping.

"Hah! Natuwally!" I said standing up, but noticed it too late that it was a bad idea.

"You know, you're a funny person to drink with. I know this great little place where the wine flows like water. We should head there. Hey, you don't look so good..." The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was Sam looking at me with a smirk. Then everything went black.

——

"A B*e**s* *n*!"

While I was sleeping, I saw a dream. There were 3 women, porcelain doll masks, and two white cats.

And there were lots of physical intimacy.

The women were looking above and shouting somethings, but I couldn't understand what. I didn't need to anyways. I had other things to do.

So, I went back to whatever I was doing.

——

When I woke up, a terrible headache assaulted my head. "Gah." I held my head between my palm to ease the pain.

It didn't work, so I opted for using healing magic, which helped ease the headache.

After dealing with it, I looked around to see where I slept for it to be so hard, then I found out I was in a temple of sorts.

Why? There was a shrine of a naked woman on an altar, the same naked woman had statues of her throughout the place.

And here I was, totally naked. And there was a weird smell in the room too.

"Where in the hell am I?" I asked aloud.

"I don't know where Hell is, but you are in The Temple of Dibella in Markarth, Blessed One." A woman's reply came from the doorway.