A Night to Remember

I looked towards the doorway and saw a beautiful woman in priest robes.

"Temple of Dibella?" I asked with confusion.

"Indeed. Blessed One." She said.

"Wait…Did you just say Markarth?"

"Yes? Temple of Dibella is indeed located in Markarth." She said with confusion.

"What?! How? What day is it?"

"It is the 2nd of Hearthfire?"

Only one day passed! I was in Whiterun just yesterday and now I am almost two months of traveling distance away.

How?!

How did I get here? The last thing I remember was… Right! Sam! He must have done it. I should have known there would be no way of winning two priceless artifacts for just joining a drinking competition.

Well, I had the artifacts…But still! I didn't get my prize.

"No matter how thankful I am for the last night, I ask of you to wear your clothes please. There could be believers from different cults coming to worship the Lady."

"Oh, sorry about that." I stopped thinking and wore my clothes. "Wait…Last night?" Then, I stopped wearing my clothes and asked.

"Indeed. Thank you for letting us hear the voice of Our Blessed Lady."

"I did that?" I asked in wonder…Then realization dawned on me. Oh…

"Indeed. With a Blessed One here, we could perform the Exalted Protocol."

"Right…Exalted Protocol…Wait, you keep calling me a Blessed One, why is that?"

"Because you are a Blessed One of course. Blessed by Dibella, the Lady herself."

"I didn't feel any blessings though?"

"It is normal to not be aware of it if you didn't have prior information. Blessing of Our Lady is subtle unlike the other divines. It grants them a charm and grace otherworldly. The second I laid my eyes upon you, I knew that you were a Blessed One."

"Oh…Well, it is good to know. Anyways, do you know how I came here?"

"Hmm," she put a hand to her chin and said, "Well, it was obvious that you were quite drunk last night since most of what you said was gibberish, but you mentioned Rorikstead. Maybe you could find something there."

"Rorikstead? How do I get there?"

"Wow you must have had quite the night if you came here without knowing your way. But there are plenty of carriages going to Rorikstead in the stables."

I thanked the priest and went outside. What greeted me was the sky. I was quite high up, down below was a city of stones, likely dwemer built.

Apparently the temple was located quite above and the city was… I don't know how to say it but, it had gloomy vibes.

I didn't like it here. At least Whiterun, though restless, was not as gloomy as here.

I descended my way down and came upon the market area. The street stalls were lined right next to each other with people browsing through the wares and different stuff.

Then I noticed a man intently watching a woman browsing through the market.

In a different situation, I wouldn't have paid him any mind but something about his body language irked me, his eyes screamed 'murder', so I kept watching.

After watching her for a while, the man slowly approached the woman with cautious steps so as not to alert her. Meanwhile the woman was totally unaware of someone approaching her.

I still continued watching until the man drew his dagger from its it sheath. Then, I made my move. Quickly moving through the crowd, I reached him.

"The Reach belongs to the Forsworn!" Just in time, for the man was about to stab the woman in the back. He could've done it if it wasn't for me. I grabbed his arm and twisted it on his back and with a tackle, both he and the dagger fell down.

The crowd started going crazy with cries and screams while the guard made their way towards the crime scene.

"By the divines. Thank you for saving me. I don't know what would've happened if it wasn't for you."

"No problem. I just did what I wanted to."

"But still, I need to thank you somehow. I'm Margret."

"Alaric."

"Then Ala-"

"The show's over, disperse now. We will be taking him with us to the prison." Then the guards came over and grabbed the man.

"You did well outsider, but keep your nose out of Markarth's business from now on. Who knows, you might end up in a ditch somewhere." The guard said the second part as a whisper to not be overheard by the people.

'Did a guard just threaten me for saving someone?'

"Will do. Thanks for the heads up."

"Good. Now move along." Then he patted my shoulder and left with the other guards in tow.

"As I was sayi-" Margret was about to continue where she left off but she was interrupted once again.

"Excuse me, you dropped this." A man with a face filled with markings passed me a note.

"I don't think it is mine." I didn't have any notes on me, so it must be from someone else.

"No, I saw it dropping from you."

"You saw it?" I don't think I had anything like that on me though? Wait…Could it be from Sam?

With that thought, I took the note from the guy and opened it to read.

[Please meet me at the Shrine of Talos tonight. I really require your aid and will handsomely pay you. Once again, please meet me tonight. Eltrys.]

The note read. Then I looked towards the man who was looking at me with desperation and anticipation.

"Thank you. I must have dropped it on accident." I said with a nod of my head.

The man released a breath of relief from seeing me nod my head. "Then, have a good day." With a farewell he left.

I might be implicating myself in some kind of trouble with this but…Seeing the desperation in his eyes didn't sit well with me.

And also learning what was going on wouldn't hurt.

"So, Margret. You were talking about how you wanted to pay me back right?"

"Yes?"

"How about showing me around the city? I'm new here and don't know my way. I am especially interested in shrines and temples."