A Change of Plans VIII

"That's all well and good, but will the other Jarls stand by and let an outsider take so much land and territory from them? Even if that territory is underdeveloped and left to ruin." Valerius asks.

"I already have the support of two Jarls, and I plan to have the Jarl of Riften in my debt soon enough... That just leaves the Jarl of Falkreath that might challenge the territory I claim..." I say, mulling over my options.

"Hmmm... Neither Dengeir nor Siddgeir would be useful allies if they remained in power... What about the Steward, Nenya? She basically runs the hold in Siddgeir's place anyway... So long as she isn't a Thalmor sleeper agent, she has already proven to be a just and considerate administrator." Valerius suggests after some thought.

"That's not bad; we'd have to see if Helvard would support her, and we'd have to remove Skulnar and the Legion's influence from the region... I don't think a direct coup would be good, considering the dangers of it backfiring... Any suggestions?" I ask Valerius.

"Dengeir's death by poisoning could easily be explained away as succumbing to old age, but Siddgeir's death would be much harder to stage. He rarely leaves his long house and doesn't deal with anyone outside the protection of Helvard and his other hold guards." Valerius explains while stroking his chin.

"There has to be something we can do to lure him out..." I say stumped.

"Lure... Lure him out! That's it! We just need to lure him out! Once Helgen is established, he'll obviously want to tax it and rack in the profits. Why don't we invite him to a feast in his honor? That'll play into his vanity, then we can arrange for an "accident" to befall him on the road." Valerius explains with a conniving grin.

"That's perfect, I can see the story now... I did hear how he was cutting the hold guards' budget... If only he put more effort into eliminating the bandits in his territory... Alas, with no legitimate heirs, the only woman capable of leading the hold will be his trusted Steward, who will need to contract out the Dragon's Maw Mercenaries to eliminate the bandit menace that so brutally took the life of their Jarl..." I say dramatically, retelling what I imagine the gossip going around will be once this is done.

"Sadly, this is still a long way off. First, we need to secure this region and begin to develop it." I say shelving my planned regicide for a later date.

"Speaking of securing the region, Korst reported that there's a coven of hags and witches in the area nearby, should we go and wipe them out?" Valerius asks, pointing to an area on the map.

'Hmmm... If I remember correctly, that's where you get Nettlebane.' I think to myself.

"No, I'll do it on my way through as I'm heading in that direction. Just focus on Fort Neugrad for now." I tell him.

"Alright, but what are you going to tell Marcus? I thought he wanted to stay out of all this political nonsense?" Valerius asks.

"Yes, what will you tell Marcus, I wonder?" A voice from the doorway asks, prompting me to jump in surprise as I turn to see Marcus standing by the door with his arms crossed and a displeased look on his face.

"Um... How you'll make an excellent administrator to the megalopolis that will be constructed in this area?" I say with an awkward smile.

"Huff..." Marcus sighs before rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"You know, I'd have preferred if we could just stay out of this bloody civil war altogether… But if there's spilled milk, it's better to clean it up yourself than sit around waiting for someone to do it for you... If we're doing this, we're doing it right. I'm going to need your exact plan on how you plan to become High King and all the pieces you have on the board of this little game of intrigue." Marcus says after some thought.

"I'm glad you're on board, so my current plan is..." I then proceeded to spend the next few hours outlining my rough plan for securing the various holds' loyalty through thaneships, the Thieves Guild, and the Dark Brotherhood, as well as my plans to unite the orc clans in the region and lead an expedition to claim the lost High King's Jagged Crown.

"Hmmm... It's not an altogether bad plan... But it could definitely use some refinement. I still think we should focus on growing Helgen first, and to do that, we're going to need guards. How's your search gone so far?" Marcus asks.

"I haven't had much time to do that, but I'll be going to the various towns soon to distribute my recruitment pamphlets, and I'll check to see if any recruits turn up from what notices Patsy left behind." I tell him.

"I'm more curious about these new weapons you have in mind. Do you have any working prototypes?" Valerius asks before Marcus can continue asking about the recruitment effort.

"I've got one of the alchemical firearms done, but it still needs some work, and I have a few blueprints for the repeating ballista and its cart mount. Here..." I say, handing him the ballista blueprints.

"Hmmm... It's definitely a revolutionary concept, sadly I didn't bring a siege engineer with me. We'll either have to develop it ourselves or find a competent engineer to hire." Valerius says after studying the blueprints before handing them back to me.

"I'll be sure to look for one on my travels." I say before a thought comes to me.

'I think there's someone in the Dawnguard DLC who's a weapons expert... Sauron... Seaeron, no... Whatever her name is, I think she's exploring dwemer ruins in the reach right now. I might be able to recruit her before... Oh, shit... I FORGOT ABOUT SERENA?!?!' I shout inside my head in a panic before realizing there's nothing really to worry about since she's still in a coma.

(Author's Note: Hey everyone! Thank Overshotfir979 for catching the Deadpool quote and John_Wolfie's revelation of MC being the KING IN THE NORTH!{Game of Thrones Scream} for this extra chapter. I also think I have a relatively stable version of the game and I'll be starting to play soon and I can begin exploring some mods in the story I haven't had the chance to like Legacy of the Dragonborn and other fun companion mods.)