"Let's go over this again." I say, climbing down the steps of Dragonsreach. "What exactly does being a Thane mean?"
"As I said before the Jarl has recognised you as a person of great importance in the hold. A hero." my new housecarl explains behind me. Lydia has a gentle voice that contrast her heavy footsteps. "The title of Thane is an honor, a gift for your service. Guards will know to look the other way, if you let them know who you are. As my Thane, I'm sworn to your service. I'll guard you, and all you own, with my life."
I feel very well guarded. Even without her looming above me on the steps Lydia is at least two heads taller than me, and three times as wide. It feels like a parent child situation honestly.
"So do I have any responsibilities or duties that come with the title or-" I say, tripping off the stairs when I look back. Lydia catches me with a long muscled limb and sets me forward like nothing happened.
"Please be careful. To answer your question, no. Just being Dragonborn is duty enough. You could always ask the Jarl if you wanted to be more involved in the Hold but I think he expects you'll be busy with your destiny as Dragonborn." she responds.
I clear my throat of embarrassment before continuing, "He's probably right. I'm still fuzzy on the whole Housecarl thing. Am I expected to pay you?"
"No my Thane. The Hold pays us a stipend to protect its most valuable citizens. There are some less fortunate Holds who can't do so but a Thane of Whiterun Hold is usually worth their weight in gold. You probably more so." she says matter of factly.
We've reached the button to be by the Glidergleam but I don't meet her gaze, something I'd have to crane my neck to do at this distance. I can't help but wonder why Whiterun didn't just send Lydia or people like her to fight the dragon instead of me. I already know the answer of course; it was supposed to be a scouting mission and I was supposed to just be a consultant, not a dragon slayer. Lydia was either unavailable or held back in case we failed, perfectly reasonable reasons, but it's hard not to feel inferior when you're talking to a person that would have to lean over to use you as an armrest.
"Were you a guard before this?" I ask as we continue into town.
"Yes my lady." she says. "Housecarl's here are selected from within the ranks of the guard. Only the best are selected to serve potential Thanes of the Jarl. Becoming a Housecarl to a noble Thane is a great honor and often the highest rank someone like us can achieve."
"Was there a lot of competition for me?" I ask, trying to hide the curiosity in my voice.
"No, as a matter of fact, only I volunteered. Between the dragon and the sky shaking most of the others were pretty unnerved, given that we would most likely become Housecarl to a dragon slayer."
"Everyone but you."
"True, but I don't blame them for being so. A lot of Thanes who earn the title the way you did are a little odd, to put it mildly. If they had known that it was the Dragonborn legend who killed the dragon I might not have been so lucky."
"Did you know I was Dragonborn?"
"To be honest I wasn't even sure you would be the new Thane. Most of the guards didn't believe the new Thane would be you just based on your small frame but I had a feeling it would be you." Lydia says with a small smile.
"That makes sense. I only just picked up a sword for the first time at Helgen and by no means did I slay the dragon single handedly. You and your comrades have the right idea about me." I reply.
"My lady is far too modest. Even without being Dragonborn you already have stories worthy of Sovengarde. You survived Helgen and then came straight here to warn the Jarl. You aided the Jarl and Farengar by braving Bleak Falls for ancient knowledge. You joined the Companions, even as small as you are. The last time you faced a dragon, it died and you survived." she lists, much to my embarrassment. "Truely impressive, even more so when I realize that you're only just getting started. I would probably qualify for a high place in Sovengarde just from being your Housecarl."
I never really used any of the followers in the game much, except for Lydia in the early game and the mandatory vampire follower of the Dawnguard DLC , despite her literal immorality in lore and in the game. Now it feels like negligence to leave behind Lydia, literally sworn to follow me, even though I didn't ask her too. It would also be stupid not to use her, a person clearly more competent than me in combat, while I'm starting out and am weak. As soon as I'm able I'll probably buy a home for her to guard and live in peacefully while I deal with all the nonsense that the Dragonborn has to deal with.
-
"That's incredible. So do you have to go right now?" Camilla asks, sitting on the inn bed.
"Not immediately, but it's definitely a priority. Too much has happened recently and I need a break before journeying again." I reply, in the middle of shedding my armor.
"That makes sense. It's not like they can expect you to show up tomorrow. So how long do you think we'll wait?" she says.
"A few days at most. I shouldn't put it off longer than I have to, and we can spend a night in Riverwood so the first part of the journey should be a piece of cake." I reply.
Camilla doesn't look thrilled at the mention of returning to Riverwood so soon, but agrees with my plan. Soon after Lydia returns to the room, upgraded from the original room I booked to accommodate the three of us.
"I've warmed some bread and meat by the fire and can draw a warm bath if you'd like." she offers.
"There are baths?" I ask.
"Well of course, why wouldn't there be?" Lydia says, surprised.
"Nevermind. Yes, I'd like a bath." I reply hastily, eager to get the smell of smoke and barbequed people off my greasy skin.
-
I wake up late in the day, tired but happy. Finally I have some real control over my life, even if it is just postponing my next appointed stop for a few days. After a late breakfast I go over the loot from Bleak Falls with Camilla, just to be told a lot of it is junk. Draugr weapons apparently deteriorate outside of their lairs and are very hard to sell. Our first haul was going to be a lot smaller than I had anticipated.
After that we discussed plans for the next few days and set off to do our own thing. Camilla would get to work in the market and I informed Lydia that I wasn't leaving the city and that she was free to do as she wished for the next few days. I have a few loose ends to care for that I've neglected thanks to the dragon attack. I start with the frost salts I have yet to deliver to the apothecary, the price I paid for the same soul gem I borrowed from Farengar. Arcadia is a little strange, but perfectly pleasant when I hand her the salts.
"Ah, splendid, splendid. It's for a special brew I'm working on. A love elixir like none other. Maybe I'll test it on Farengar first…"
Next I head up to Jorrvaskr, which is where I plan to spend most of my time. It's the big reason I didn't want Lydia here with me. I plan to train as much as possible in the short time I have and don't want my new Housecarl watching me while I struggle or for everyone at Jorrvaskr to know I have a Housecarl. First I need to collect my payment for that job I did with the bard before figuring out what I want to train.
"Oh I remember you. Took you long enough. I was beginning to think you wouldn't come back." Farkas says. "Anyway here, payment for a job well done."
"Thank you."
"You came back at a good time. Eorlund says he's fixed the hverr and it's ladies first." Farkas says.
"What's a hverr?"
"Oh right, I forgot you're new. It's a big bath tub just behind the Skyforge. Apparently whoever built the forge also wanted a bath, I guess. Someone dropped a weapon in it while they were training and it broke. But now Eorlund says it's fixed which is good because everyone likes the bath. So don't break it again." he says glowering like I broke it.
"Got it."
"Good."
This is great. The bath at the inn was a big upgrade from no bath but it was still just a wooden tub. An actual hot spring tub sounds amazing. There's still time before sundown, the feast and the promised bath. I decided to postpone my training until tomorrow so I can spend the whole day focused, so I don't stop to do much more than make my presence known. I get a few nods, to my surprise, but no one stops me to chat. I wonder how long of an absence is acceptable in the Companions. Hopefully pretty long.
I make the climb once again to Dragonsreach. Not for any official business, I need to disenchant the sword I got from Bleak Falls. I also need to consult Farengar to see if the battle axe I won from the Draugr Lord is worth keeping, or if it will fall into disrepair like the unenchanted stuff.
"How do you do Thane?" a guardsman asks, opening the door for me.
"Fine, thanks."
Inside the servants in the hall are also preparing for dinner, and I realize that I'm probably invited to attend any time I feel like. It's funny now to think that I ever worried about food, given that I'm entitled to the two largest tables in Whiterun, but the trade off is near constant mortal peril. I make my way to the lab on the right where I see Farengar working on copying the Dragonstone onto a preexisting map of Skyrim. He looks up at my approach and smiles when he sees that it's me.
"Hello my friend. The Jarl has informed me that you are to have access to anything I can reasonably provide to aid you on your quest. I am more than willing to help in that regard. I only hope you might be willing to answer a few questions about your experiences with dragons in return, if you were feeling generous." he says.
This guy never wavers in his interests.
"Sure. I have a few questions of my own."
I set to work disenchanting and answering countless questions. While I can describe the practical steps to take against dragons, like the effectiveness of Wards or other anti dragon tactics, he seems much more interested in the physicality and anatomy of the beasts. It frustrates him to realize that I just don't have the knowledge to be of any more help than anyone else he's questioned. He does find it interesting when I describe the feats it could perform. The dragon surviving the tower collision particularly excited him, reminding me a bit of a five year old playing with dinosaur toys. Finally I steer the conversation to the old weapons I found.
"I'm not an expert in this field but the enchantment, while ancient, should protect the weapon as long as it lasts." Farengar says, coming down from his dragon high. "As I understand it the ancient Nords had their own version of repair magic tied to their sacred sites. Should the weapon become damaged, visiting one of those sites may well reactivate the weapon's ability to repair itself. Or perhaps not. My expertise is tied to more modern practices. You actually have a rare opportunity there if you decide to disenchant that weapon to learn a more archaic form of enchanting, if you so chose."
"I'll think about it."
-
The feast at Jorvaskarr is delicious. Maybe it's because I've had very little variety beyond bread and cheese but roasted meat and vegetables never tasted so good. I even get enticed by a honey lavender bread, which pairs wonderfully with salted butter. The meal is pretty heavy but there's a refreshing chilled water soaked in pine needles available to cut through it where ale and mead would feel too sticky. In short, tons of things to eat that were never in the game.
The prevailing topic over dinner is the recent dragon attack and the revelation that the Greybeards have summoned the Dragonborn. They don't seem to know I had anything to do with it and I prefer to keep it that way. It is fun to hear them speculate about what they think the Dragonborn ought to be like, some great hulking brute whose heroic visage harkens back to the ideal of a true warrior of old. Only Kodlak comes close to the truth, pointing out that the Dragonborn has possibly only just awakened to their destiny and was unlikely to be very impressive just yet. He's spot on but I doubt I'll ever be anything close to impressive.
Once they got tired with the Dragonborn they turned their thoughts to what they would do if they had to fight a dragon, a topic I find even more interesting. Half of them would die almost immediately if they stuck to their plans I think. The wiser among them realize that archers like Aela would have the best chance at victory since a dragon probably wouldn't land for a 'fair fight' like Farkas thinks. Many realize by the end of the feast, without actually having to live through a battle with it, that fighting a dragon would probably not be as glorious as they had originally thought.
After dinner it's the much anticipated bath time. To the right of the Skyforge is a path between the city wall and the forge that leads down to the bath area. The hverr looks similar to the large forge itself only realizing its true potential as a hot water bath, swapping the hot forge coals for hot water. I use a towel to keep my privates hidden, realizing that having a dick might disqualify me from girls night. The other women don't bother covering anything but don't seem to mind me doing so either. My observations, for science, seem to conclude that I am the only one here with a set of male genitalia and that my condition of being dual sexed is either rare or simply unique to me. My running hypothesis is that it would be bad to get caught without further information on the social standing of having a penis on a female body.
With nowhere to really run I hold my towel for dear life and dip into the bath. It feels scaldingly hot but I will myself further in, my body adjusting as my abused muscles drink in the heat. The water is waist high near the wall where I am but gets deeper towards the center. Somewhat overwhelmed by the relaxing water I melt while the other amazon warriors find their own places. Thankfully none of them approach me which is good because my brain is also melting and I don't think I could talk if I wanted to.
"Where is she? I thought she wouldn't miss this." an athletic Redguard asks, moisture dripping off her abs.
"She went out hunting with Skjor. They left the feast early, remember?" a chubby blonde Nord replies.
"They really don't make their relationship a secret do they?" replies the Redguard.
"Who cares? At least we don't have to look at her dick this time. God's I wish she'd cover that up" asserts a rough looking amazon with silver hair.
As distasteful as these two are, their talk behind Aela's back is really useful for me. It looks like my condition is just uncommon. I really need to find a book that covers basic sex-ed or biology in this world and study it to identify any other differences to my world. Looking directly above us I can see one of the moons is full or nearly full, likely explaining Skjor and Aela's desire for a hunt at this odd hour. I can't be sure though, moon phases weren't really something that mattered in the game. The moon I do see is super close, startlingly so, compared to Earths. If I didn't already know that the cosmology here was vastly different to earths I would be alarmed that the moon was trying to eat us like in that one Zelda game.
"Hello, I'm Ria. I hope you don't mind if I sit next to you?"
"No, it's fine." I say immediately straightening up, acting like my bubble hadn't just been invaded by my worst enemy. A friendly person.
"Thanks. I just wanted a little peace. Being new here isn't easy." Ria says. "But I'm sure you know that."
I remember her. Ria was the Imperial woman who achieved flight fighting the giant earlier, only now she has less clothes and a much more pleasant expression on her face. Unique red tattoo line dashes run from the corners of her eyes and middle of her lower lip to the corners of her triangular face. Her physique reminds me of Lydia, though smaller and much more tan. As soon as she sits down she starts to melt just like I did, her muscled body sinking deeply into the water. I can't even begin to relax like this so I just sit there soaking awkwardly.
I already want to leave, but I have to wait for the right moment so it's not awkward. Eventually some of the ladies start grabbing soaps and begin washing themselves, clouding the water. My knee jerk reaction is to run out of the tainted water but this is probably just how shared baths are. The soap seems to be communal as well which is also disgusting to me. I push those thoughts aside and I prepare my mind to use the tainted soap. As long as it's actually soap it should be fine, even if someone else used it. I still rinse the bar off before using it.
"Hey, do you think you could wash my back?" Ria asks.
"Uh sure…"
"Thanks. I've been having a harder time reaching back there lately." she says, turning to face away from me.
It's no wonder she can't reach anything, she's fucking massive. A solid wall of back muscle looms over me, and I actually have to stand up to reach it all. Using the sponge and a lavender soap bar I canvass every inch of her back as best I can, without dropping my towel. I can feel the ridges and valleys of muscle just under a soft layer of fat. I finish as quickly as possible.
"Thanks. Here, let me return the favor."
"Ah, no thats- whoa!"
I'm spun around before I can even protest, but it does feel good to have your back scrubbed, even if forcefully.
"I was the newest Companion until you came along. I thought I was gonna get to show you the ropes but I hardly ever see you around." Ria comments as she scrubs.
"Yeah, uh sorry. I don't think I'll be able to stay very long this time either." I answer, somewhat guilty.
"That's okay. I asked Skjor about it earlier and he said that you were probably going to be a burning heart that's always on the move." she continues. "Apparently there's a whole bunch of Companions that I've never met out there somewhere. He said Kodlak used to be one of them before he got old."
"Interesting. Is that a problem?" I ask.
"I don't think so, but sometimes there's tension when they get back, or so I'm told. Someone you've never met coming back acting like they own the place is bound to ruffle a few feathers. I think it's fine. Aela always said we spend too much time in Jorvaskarr anyways."
"That's good."
-
Today's the day I try for two handed practice. I wanna get some fundamentals down before I swing at anything that can swing back. I also want some archery tips for flying targets, I really struggled to hit the dragon in my last encounter. I'm told that Vilkas is the man to see about two handed weapons and I find him in the yard with Ria.
"Should I be holding the blade further away than I would a smaller one?" she asks, motioning with a large iron greatsword.
"If you keep it in close, you'll have more control, but it can be harder to balance a strike." Vilkas instructs.
"I guess that comes down to footwork, then." Ria replies.
"Exactly. When you have a big heavy weight swinging around your upper body, your lower body has to compensate or you'll fall right over."
Welp, they're busy. Guess I'll read some books or watch Eorlund for a while. Maybe find Aela. When I try to turn away Ria's voice calls to me.
"Oh hey Alex. Did you need something? I was just getting some pointers from Vilkas." she says cheerfully.
"Actually I was going to ask Vilkas for the same thing." I saysomehwat sheepish. "But I'll come back later."
"Nonsense." interjects Vilkas. "I could train whelps in my sleep. Grab your weapon, and swing it at that dummy over there. Once I'm done with Ria I just might remember you."
"Right."
I pull out my ancient frost axe and head for a dummy. Giving it a few test swings I immediately notice a fatal problem. The handle is just awful. Bare metal latticed on top of old wood makes this awkward to hold and painful to swing. I'll have bloody hands before my third swing.
"And where do you think you're going?" Vilkas remarks as I try to leave
"My weapon is no good. I can't use it, much less practice with it." I lament.
"Let me see that." he says, taking my axe. "Aye, these are notorious for being hard to work with. Better grab something off the rack and come back if you want any skin left."
I grab a very simple but similar axe and come back to Vilkas holding a bucket.
"Take this pail of rotten fruit and balance a few on that dummy over there." he says pointing to a gross looking dummy with another bucket for a head. "Come back to me when you can break the fruit without breaking the dummy. One more thing- if you break Garbageman here then you'll have to repair him before you can get started again. He needs to be in the exact same shape after you're done. Understand?"
"Yes…."
"Good. We've got more where that came from, so don't worry about running out of targets."
Garbageman looks worse up close, the two posts that comprise his cross body look permanently wet and moldy. A blackened burlap sack is all that remains of his torso. Really, really wishing I had gloves I set three mushy gourds on Garbageman, one on his head and one on each arm. At first I think this will be easy and cleave the first target off his head. The axe I picked might be simple, but that also makes it simple to use. Then I go for the fruit on his right arm and obliterate that too, but nick Garbageman in the neck. This alone was enough to knock his rotten body over, collapsing into a disgusting heap.
"Tough luck, new blood." Vilkas jeers from a distance, grazing underneath the shade of the porch. "There's a pile of scraps over yonder you can use to restore our friend here. Don't even think of running away now, you'll never reach the front gate."
This training takes all day, most of it spent fixing Garbageman. By the end I stink so bad I'm directed to a large wooden tub and bucket separate from the hverr. Only after I'm clean do they let me back into Jorrvaskr. The feast is waiting and so is Ria, waiting at the end of one table with a seat for me. I've made a friend apparently.
"Sorry about earlier, I would have warned you if I had known what you wanted." she says.
"Don't worry about it."
Tonight's feast is mammoth themed, the score from last night's hunt. Bounties of meat are available in ridiculous fashion along with the usual fair. Mammoth cheese is also made available but it's so pungent that it quickly becomes a game along the table to see who can keep it down. Ria swallows a lump easily, earning cheers and respect from the table. I barf in my mouth when Ria passes the bowl to me.
-
I've decided that tomorrow will be my last day, and I told Camilla and Lydia as such. I'd love to have more time to properly train but I'll probably never have the luxury of staying in one place for very long while Alduin is a threat. If I wasn't the Dragonborn I probably would have tried to join the Legion after being dropped in this world, even after they tried to execute me. They offer structure, status and connections. Everything I lacked when I woke up here but being Dragonborn does the same thing, minus the structure.
I split gooey fruit for the whole morning but by lunch my bucket is finally empty and I want to spend my limited time doing something else. After lunch I spend some time up on the Skyforge watching Eorlund, reading and just looking out across Skyrim. My current book is titled Thief, the second in a trilogy. In this one a boy learns how to steal without getting killed. The trick he learns is how to fall without hurting yourself, allowing him to preform seemingly impossible feats of stealth. Apparently if you fall feet first with your legs loose it helps from a great height. I don't know if I want to practice that anytime soon but I'll keep it in mind.
At the bath I decide to stop concealing my dick. It gets looks but otherwise it's ignored. Aela is here too this time and her endowment is much more pronounced, being at least a foot long and in no way concealed. Despite the apparent acceptance I still have to be careful, I've been getting erections more frequently lately and most everyone here is attractive to me. Washing Ria's back is probably the most dangerous thing I've done these past few days.
-
I survived the bath and wake to my third day in Whiterun. Today is all about preparing to leave tomorrow. With that in mind I head to the Skyforge after breakfast with Lydia and Camilla with my ancient axe in hand.
"What brings you to me?" Eorlund asks, while heating the coals for the day.
"I want your opinion on this axe. I can't really use it as is. I was wondering if it was possible to fix the handle." I say, holding out the ancient battleaxe.
"Hmm. Older than dirt but still usable. Impressive craftsmanship, as expected from my distant kin. I can bind the handle for you if you'd like."
"Yes please."
"Good. Should only take a moment."
Eorlund wraps the handle in leather strips in less than five minutes and returns the axe to me with a nod. I thank him and begin the search now for Aela for those archery tips I wanted earlier. I spot Vilkas training in the yard.
"Back for more? Good! You might just make it after all new blood." he says when I approach him.
"Ah, no sorry. I have to leave soon but I was wondering if you had seen Aela. I need some tips for shooting at flying targets." I say.
"She's downstairs right now, I think. But don't forget to come back to me. You still got a long way to go."
-
"That right, lead your target. Feel the wind. Good."
"Ah, I missed it again." I complain, staring longingly at a distant bird.
"You're getting better, I can tell. You've got real talent. So as long as you keep practicing you'll be fine." Aela says. It's somewhat reassuring, especially since she's taller than me by a few inches while on one knee.
"Thanks." I say, wiping sweat from my face.
"It's almost time for dinner so we should end it here for today. Let's head inside." she says, standing up to her impressive height and beckoning me to follow. I realize I barely come up to her navel.
I'm finally adjusting to life at Jorvaskarr, just in time to leave. It's a found family of warriors, we train, eat, sleep and leave to go fight things. Lydia would look normal sized here, even tiny compared to the Circle, head and shoulders above the rest of us. I am far and away the smallest member and I think everyone's warming up to me because my plate is constantly filling itself with things I didn't grab. I'm not sure most people here know my name as anything other than 'skinny', 'tiny', or 'little one'. At this rate I'll just get fat before I get stronger.
Leaving Jorvaskarr I'm surprised to find Lydia waiting for me underneath the Gildergleam. She smiles as I approach but says nothing.
"Is something wrong?" I ask, since this is the first time she's done this.
"No, just wanted to make sure you were okay. I imagine training with the Companions is tough and I don't want anyone taking advantage of you while you're exhausted." she replies.
"Oh, okay."
We walk back to the Bannered Mare together under torchlight, something I had gotten accustomed to doing alone. As we walk a question pops into my mind.
"Have you ever tried to join the Companions?" I ask without thinking.
"Once, long ago. Their leader said I lacked fire and that was that." she replies simply.
"Oh, sorry for asking."
"It's alright. I think I found something better."