Getting Settled

Allysian Liore - Imperial

Wounded and exhausted after a day spent outside the wall, Ally hopped off her borrowed horse as she arrived at the Riften gates. She let go of the reins as she removed her satchel from the horse's saddle. Once her bag was free, the horse charged off. Cursing her poor judgement, she entered the main gate as the guards snickered at her.

Allysian immediately headed to the local inn, The Bee and Barb. It was still fairly early, around 6pm, and the dinner crowd hadn't gathered yet. Ally opened the door to enter the establishment and was immediately greeted by two pairs of beady eyes. Argonians. What is it with me and Argonians? Ally considered backing out and rethinkng her choice of accommodations for the evening, but the two lizards, while not exactly welcoming, didn't give any indication of any ill will towards her. She shut the door and headed for the bar.

The female Argonian was dutifully wiping the bar down, muttering something about a debt she owed that she had no intention of paying. It was at least a minute or so before the barkeep even bothered to look up at her. "What do you want?" was the barkeep's terse reply.

"I was looking to rent a room for the night," Ally answered, respectfully.

"Going rate here is 10 ssseptims. No discountsss. Paid in advance," the reptilian held out a scaly hand.

Ally dug around in her satchel and handed 10 septims to the barkeep.

"Name'sss Keerava, that is Talen-Jei," said the barkeep, pointing at the other Argonian sweeping the floor. "He's a former Shadowscale, cause any problems in here and you'll deal with him."

Ally glanced over at the humble looking Argonian sweeping the floor. He didn't look like much, he looked like a nice guy actually, she thought. Maybe she's just trying to scare me.

"Your room is upstairs, go ahead and pick one that doesn't already have someone else's stuff in it. The doors have no locks, so no funny business," she warned Ally. "Dinner starts in about an hour."

Ally thought about going to her room to settle in, but the growl in her stomach told her otherwise. She'd better eat while she could. A hot meal would be difficult to pass up. Ally seated herself at one of the tables and started rummaging through her satchel, taking inventory of her possessions. Damn, I wish I picked up that wolf pelt, she thought. Within minutes a steady stream of patrons started entering the inn, taking seats at the bar and at the other tables adjacent to hers. She recognized a few people from the marketplace, but none paid her any attention.

"Well hey there, survived your first day in Riften eh?" said the man behind her.

Ally turned around and recognized Balimund, the Riften blacksmith. "Yeah, I guess I did!"

"This seat taken?" he asked, motioning to the empty seat.

"No, please sit, I'd enjoy some company."

The two sat and ate, chatting and playfully flirting as the bottles of wine emptied. It was nice to be in the company of a decent man again, she thought, her mind drifting away to thoughts of her deceased husband. Balimund introduced Ally to Madesi, yet another Argonian, who owned a jewelry business. Ally asked if Madesi could identify and appraise the red jewel she found, retrieving it from her pack. He said it was a simple garnet, not too valuable, but offered her sixty septims for it; Ally gladly traded. Madesi chatted with Balimund for a bit, letting him know that there was a murder down in Beggar's Row. Some skooma-addict was found dead, looks like they caught the killer though, another Argonian. Ally kept her mouth shut as they talked about the incident.

Once they were alone again, Balimund offered to train Ally in smithing in exchange for helping him gather some fire salts. As an alchemist, Ally was well aware of the rarity of such an ingredient, but agreed nonetheless to keep an eye out. Ally told Balimund about her adventures that day, about the wolf, the rotting farmer, the Orc, and the soldiers. He took a genuine interest in what she was saying, leaning in and giving her his undivided attention. It was fast approaching midnight and Ally stood and bid farewell to her company for the evening. Balimund told her to stop by his forge early in the morning before heading out. She agreed and headed upstairs to bed where she quickly dozed off with a small smile upon her face, the effects of too much excitement and too much wine.

Ally gathered up her things, the Inn was as quiet as a tomb aside from the cacophony of snoring and wheezing from the other guests. Ally tiptoed her way down the stairs and was about to leave when a voice startled her.

"Excussse me traveler, might I ask a favor?" the voice in the darkness asked her. He stepped out into the light, it was Talen-Jei. Talen-Jei apologized for Keerava's brusqueness and asked Ally if she would help him locate some rare gemstones for a ring he was planning to give Keerava. Ally accepted the task for an agreed-upon fee as well as the promise of hospitable accommodations and hot meals during future visits. Talen-Jei was more than happy to oblige and even handed Allysian a day's supply of food.

Allysian stepped out of the Bee and Barb and remembered to head over to Balimund's shop, The Scorched Hammer. It was really early, probably a little after 4am, but Balimund was out there, tending to his forge by candlelight. He looked exhausted, sweaty, seemed like Balimund had been working all night, the smell of alcohol escaping his pores.

"Good morning Balimund, you look rested," Ally teased.

"Yeah, these old bones are going to regret it. You're up earlier than I thought, but just in time I guess. I made you something," Balimund said, handing over some pieces of leather armor. "It's not the most protective stuff out there, but it's light-weight, durable, and a lot more forgiving than that Iron you're carrying around. Hand me your Iron, I can melt it down and reforge it into something. Consider it an even trade. Let's see if it fits."

Ally stepped out of the moonlight for a bit more modesty, and removed her armor. Balimund pretended to examine his forge, but stealthily caught eyefuls of Ally's shapely silhouette. Ally squeezed into the leather armor, adjusting her camisole beneath. "It fits perfectly, Balimund," she remarked. She slid her feet into the supple, expertly-crafted boots and pulled her hands through a pair of bracers. "This truly is amazing work, you could make a living doing this!" Ally jested.

"Yeah well, if it keeps you safe, that's what counts. Do me a favor, don't buy that used crap from Grelka. We're still not sure where she gets it. Better to come to me and get everything custom fitted. Anyway, this is for you too," Balimund outstretched his hand, giving Ally a handful of Dragon's Tongue flowers. Ally smiled, gave Balimund a hug and carefully placed the flowers into her satchel, promised him she would return, and headed out of Riften.

Just outside the north gate, Ally was stopped by one of the guards. He warned her not to go too far north, some bandits have made camp at old Fort Greenwall, that some Khajiit traders had gone missing recently. Ally thanked the guard for the advice and headed out. Naturally, her curiousity guided her north.

After about a half hour of walking, Ally could see the darkened walls of Fort Greenwall up ahead of her. Thankfully, the sun wasn't out yet and she could sneak about unseen. She crept as close as she dared to the occupied fort. She didn't immediately see anyone from the outside and was about to creep closer when she heard a cough. Ally froze in her tracks and noticed a bandit stationed atop the wall. Ally decided she wasn't all that curious about the fort after all and left.

She spent most of the morning continuing to gather alchemic supplies. She definitely needed to find an Alchemy Shop and see if they had some inexpensive vials she could buy and a table, mortar, and pestle for her to use. Thankfully, alchemists are pretty generous to those in the trade, at least that was her experience in Cyrodiil.

Ally spotted some honeybees and watched them gather nectar and fly back to their hive. She thought some fresh honey would be a nice thank you gift for Balimund, and started to follow the bees.

Without warning, Allysian was run into at full force. She flew a few feet and tumbled to the ground, a tree trunk stopping her momentum. Surprised, she drew her dagger and face her assailant.

"Don't you know this is Black-Toe territory, girl?" grunted the bandit. The bandit retrieved his axe from his belt and brandished it, menacingly. "We own this area as well as Fort Greenwall. Hey that's some fancy armor you got there. Can I see what's under it?"

The bandit charged at Ally again, but she nimbly stepped aside averting his attempt and drove her dagger into his back. The bandit's fur armor didn't offer much protection as the dagger was buried hilt deep into his ribcage. The bandit fell to the forest floor gasping for air. Ally deftly pounced on him and cut his throat, ending the attacker's life. Ally quickly left the scene, not bothering to check the dead man's pockets, fearful his comrades may start looking for him.

When she was far enough away, Ally sat down, looked at the blood now caked on her bare hands. Is this what life in Skyrim was going to be like? Am I truly better off having left Cyrodiil? She removed the flowers that Balimund had given her, closed her eyes and put them to her nose, inhaling the sweet scent. She felt her heart rate slow down.

Centered and rested, Ally got back to her feet and just started walking, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of her environment. She found a brook and washed her hands and her blade. In the quietness of the forest, she heard the all too familiar sound of hammer on steel and started to head towards it, concealing herself in bushes and behind rocks until she knew it was safe. It was another village, a booming voice greeted her along the cobblestone path.

"Welcome to Shor's Stone!"