A Change of Plans VII

"Not good, my camp was just attacked by a dragon, no fatalities, but my boy was injured." I tell him.

"I heard. Cienna went to your camp the other day but came back to inform me as soon as she found out what happened. I hope your boy is doing well." Valerius consoles me by pouring me a glass of the old wine into a nearby cup.

"He'll recover… Ha, he's more upset about being grounded for trying to fight the damned thing one on one than the injuries he sustained." I joke with a strained laugh before sipping my drink. It's slightly bitter but not the worst alcohol I've ever had.

"That's good…" Valerius replies, pouring himself a drink.

"Yeah… But this made me realize how lax I've been lately and how I need to reprioritize…" I say before taking another sip.

"Oh? Such as?" Valerius asks with his interest piqued.

"Like the depth of our cooperation… I wasn't completely forthcoming about what was learned after rescuing Korst… It appears you aren't the only one wanted by the Thalmor… I used to go by another name, Udan Gora, and my presence in Skyrim was noted as well as yours." I reveal to him while studying his response.

Valerius stares at the wine bottle for several moments before taking a deep swig straight from it and turning back to me, "So what's your plan? Going to leave Skyrim, pick a fight, hide out?"

"A little of option B and C, I'm going to Riften to change my face before coming back to take over the orc strongholds in the region and unifying them under a new warlord allied with the Dragon's Maw Mercenaries. From there, Silvantus will disappear from the forefront of operations while he is recuperating from his injuries. And I'll use a number of proxies to represent myself in the upcoming reignition of the civil war." I tell him an abbreviated version of my plan.

"I see, but why are you telling me this?" Valerius asks, giving me an inquisitive look.

"Because... I plan to claim the throne of the High King of Skyrim from both the Imperials and the Stormcloaks before turning my forces against combating the Thalmor and ending their entire genocidal, enslaving, racial supremacy bull shit government. And to do that, I will need a General capable of using unconventional tactics to use a smaller force to take down a larger one." I tell him, elaborating on my intentions.

I see Valerius stare intensely at the remaining contents of his wine bottle, swirling it around and around until he brings it up to his lips before pausing...

"And why would you want a disgraced, broken assassin leading your army?" Valerius asks with a scowl on his face as he stares into his reflection in the cup.

"Hmmm... I once heard a wise man say, four or five moments... That's all it takes to define who you are and what you're truly capable of... Be you hero, villain... Savior, destroyer... Whole or broken... Your character is revealed in those moments, and you are set on your path..." I explain before holding up one finger.

"You were an indomitable commander whose foes couldn't beat you in combat, you were a leader who inspired the men beneath you to greater victories..." I said before holding up a second finger.

"You were so great; the only way your enemies could think to break you was to take your family from you... You did not break; instead, you shed your warrior's honor in pursuit of vengeance at any cost... Killing those responsible for your and the suffering of many others without hesitation or mercy..." I then hold up a third finger.

"After hunting them down, you found a new purpose in fighting your adversary's influence in a foreign land, making them bleed for every inch of sand they took until you were an unending nightmare from which they couldn't wake." I continue by holding a fourth finger.

"And then you lost... Your resistance was crushed... Scattered to the winds and without purpose once more, you find yourself here..." I then hold up my thumb.

"You stand at your fifth, and possibly final moment to redefine your destiny... Will you rise to the occasion and help me eliminate the bane of every race, including their own... Or will you accept your final defeat and sink into the annuls of history as a forgotten man without a purpose?" I ask him before closing my fist and holding it over my heart in a salute.

Valerius stares at me for a long time as he seems to maul over my words...

Eventually, he stood up, threw the rest of the wine into the fire pit, and turned back to me with a sense of determination, I knew if I had notifications turned on, I'd be hearing my speech skill leveling up right now.

"Alright, my King. What's our first order of business?" Valerius says with a bit of a sarcastic smirk and an over-exaggerated bow.

"Easy, I'm not King yet, but we need to secure the future seat of our Kingdom." I say, cracking a smile.

"I hope you don't mean Helgen? This place is little more than a walled village and a ruined one at that." Valerius asks dubiously.

"Don't worry, Helgen is just the start, do you have a map of the region?" I ask him, prompting Valerius to dig through a stack of papers and reports before pulling out a map.

"I'm going to need you to devise a plan for taking Fort Neugrad from its current inhabitants. Then we'll need a way to drive the Stormcloaks from this encampment here, but it has to be done carefully I can't have them linking this back to the Dragon's Maw Mercenaries. Then with them gone, we can fortify this end of the pass, and we'll have the whole region to develop into a capital city that will rival the Imperial Capital!" I tell Valerius my plan for the region.