In the morning I awake to find Jade in my room: at some point during last night’s revels I must have asked her to come along with me on my journey, and here she is, ready and eager. Upon reflection I decide that this partnership will be good for us both--I get to have some company, and she gets to overcome her self-doubt by helping me find someone to marry. Assuming that her problems are owing to self-doubt, and not the result of the curse that she believes herself to be afflicted with.
Well, it’s a bit late to tell her to go home now. It would hurt her feelings.
I avoid making eye contact with people on my out of the Bee and Barb, as I dimly recall climbing onto Vulwulf’s table at some point during my little celebration. Fortunately he drinks so much himself that he probably doesn’t remember it, either.
There are still a few things to do before we depart: First, there are provisions to buy. After checking the market, it turns out that there really aren’t, so I eat a leftover venison chop for breakfast. Second, I have to work on my whistling. (I need to be able to call my horse if I should happen to lose her, which can easily happen, as she will run away from fights, unlike a typical Skyrim horse.) I walk all over Riften merrily blowing in people’s faces until they start to react somewhat less poorly. Third, I visit the Temple of Mara for a little pre-travel blessing-with-possible-curse-removal (just to be safe). Perhaps Jade’s presence leads me to maintain contact with the altar for a little longer than I otherwise would.
Finally it’s time to leave. I head to the stables for my horse--I’ve decided to name her Snowberry--and after changing into my leather armor I climb into the saddle and canter happily away from Riften. After a little while, I stop and dismount, as I’m leaving poor Jade quite a distance behind and there are plants to gather.
Ahead, a couple of slender, black-robed figures appear to be having a flashy altercation with some other party. I freeze, hoping a little foolishly that I will not be seen, or if seen, ignored, but they are already advancing towards me in a distinctly unneighborly manner, the previous objects of their ire having been disposed of. I look around desperately for a good source of cover--even a seasoned warrior can be dispatched quite efficiently by hostile mages, and I hardly qualify as a warrior of any sort--but the only nearby hiding place is the nasty cave that leads under Fort Greenwall. I retreat to its mouth but dare not go in any further, and so my attempt at defensive maneuvering leaves me no less vulnerable than before.
Jade rushes to my defense and gamely starts punching at one of them (she carries no weapons) while I, startled to find myself mostly intact and unhindered after their opening barrage of ice magic, cut the other apart with surprising ease. The one that is engaged with Jade soon falls to my sword as well, and I am left somewhat bemused by my own prowess.
Gingerly, I check the bodies, but find no sign of who these women were or what reason they might have had for attacking two strangers that they found innocently picking flowers in the wilderness. The names that float into view (“Apprentice Necromancer”) are in no way enlightening. I leave the bodies and their belongings as they lie and we hasten away.
Just before noon, it starts to rain. We’re now past Shor’s Stone and entering unfamiliar lands. I see a pair of elk ahead and shoot the larger one, which runs off. The smaller one seems rooted to the spot, perhaps stuck on some interfering piece of terrain, and doesn’t move an inch as I shoot it to death.
We continue down the rocky slope around a switchback and into the valley. By the time we’re on level ground once again, I’ve collected all manner of meat and hides, some from animals I’ve killed myself, others from victims of the local psychotic wolves. Despite my indifferent success as an archer, I can’t resist shooting at the wildlife whenever I get a clear line of sight, and Jade has an odd habit of disappearing into the forest in hot pursuit of anything that’s still alive after I shoot it (which includes just about everything). Afterward, I can never find whatever it was that she chased down and presumably pummeled to death, so this does me no good at all, but she seems to be enjoying herself.
A heavy mist hangs about the lowlands, blurring our view of the clear pools and geysers that make this area so distinctive. I’m finding several interesting new reagents as we continue north--dragon’s tongue, jazbay grapes, creep clusters--and my frequent stops slow us down considerably. Pausing near a sign that points the way to Windhelm, I notice that someone has left a note pinned to the signpost with a knife. It says that some giants have been given permission to camp nearby and should not be interfered with. Through the mist, I can see one of the huge bonfires that generally mark their camps; closer to me, a horse lies dead near an overturned cart. I’m curious to inspect it more closely, but as I approach, my mysterious naming instinct informs me that this area is called “Steamcrag Camp,” and I take this as an indication that I have come close enough.
Not far from Windhelm, we run into a couple of travelers escorted by an Imperial Legion soldier. They’re on their way to a wedding in Solitude, and are understandably grumpy about being obligated to travel so far. The sun is setting as we reach the city itself, where a guard repeats the rumor I heard over a week earlier, about a child trying to contact the Dark Brotherhood. I’m not sure whether I should take this as an encouraging sign that he hasn’t succeeded yet, or a disquieting sign that he has succeeded and is trying again because there’s someone else he wants killed and it worked so well the first time.
As soon as we enter the city gates we see a Dunmer woman named Suvaris being accosted by two Nord men who accuse her of being some sort of spy. She reacts in a tone of angry resignation, immediately turning to me as I approach and asking whether I, too, hate the dark elves. A simple denial is enough to earn her approbation; it must be genuinely rough for her people here. I’m curious to visit the Gray Quarter, and almost walk right past a ragged woman named Silda who asks me gently for money. Can less than a week in Riften have robbed me of all compassionate feeling? Ashamed of myself, I stop and give her a septim.
In the Gray Quarter, Jade and I visit the New Gnisis Cornerclub, where the proprietor, Ambarys Rendar, mentions that a Nord woman was recently murdered in Windhelm. He seems little concerned with the incident and I am unable to get any further information from him. A woman named Morviah Hlaalu regales us with the story of her doomed love affair with a Nord man who left her to join the Stormcloaks. It’s after 1am by the time she finishes her mournful tale. As Jade and I are leaving, we run into one of the charmers that we saw harassing Suvaris at the city gates. He says something about the reek of “gray-skin filth” and continues past us, yelling more insults into the night. As Jade and I head to Candlehearth Hall to find accommodations, I can only hope that there are no Dunmer on the streets at this hour who might be assaulted by this foulmouthed imbecile.