It was a cold evening in the hold of Whiterun, it was the month of Evening Star and snow had just started falling across the province. This was the start of a cold Skyrim winter, something that made the already harsh lands even more unforgiving to those who lived in it, both man and beast.
It was a cold yet quiet evening, the only sounds to be heard were the faint howls of wolves in the distance, the cold winter winds flowing through the grass, and the steps of armoured boots. These steps echoed on the empty roads with the thin sheet of snow doing little to muffle the sounds, the night dwelling animals scattered and ran away from the echoing sounds, their instincts telling then that the source of these sounds was something to be avoided.
These echoing steps were coming from a man wearing full steel plate armour, and even if it was the beginning of winter, he wasn't wearing any fur, a strange sight for Skyrim as even the natives of this harsh landscape wore thick furs during the winter despite their natural resistance to the cold, something this man seemed unaffected by.
His hot breath could be seen through the gaps of his helmet, a steel greatsword swaying slightly across his wide back with every slow, calm, and deliberate step he took, his very presence seemed to make the cold evening even colder as his heavy footsteps went uninterrupted.
And as the mysterious man was walking, he gazed up at the night sky with the clouds above parting, allowing the man to see the stars. These beautiful constellations were a sight to see here in the northern province with many travellers coming to Skyrim just to get a view of the stars, some saw it was the only reason people even came to Skyrim in the first place.
Removing his gaze once the clouds covered up the stars and their memorising constellations once more, the man paid attention to the roads ahead, covered in a fresh, untouched layer of snow, the view was memorising, but the man paid it no mind and continued walking, it seemed that nothing would stop him, not even the beautiful landscape.
While he was walking, he heard the rustling of some bushes about 100 meters further up the road, when a group of bandits had suddenly walked out from them, "If you don't want to die tonight, I suggest you hand over all your valuables." One of the bandits demanded, trying to intimidate the man, this was not their first attempt to rob some traveller, they knew what they were doing.
The man did not answer or even acknowledge them as he continued to calmly walk forward at a steady pace. The bandits threatened him again, but when they were ignored once more, the bandits got agitated and decided to attack him. The man, who was still calm, didn't stop his stride as the bandits ran at him with their weapons drawn, and once they got close enough, they tried to attack him as a group.
.
Hulda was pouring a drink for some of the guards in the Bannered Mare, upon hearing the door open she turned to see who it was, expecting to see one of her regulars or perhaps a weary traveller of some kind looking for shelter from the cold, but what she saw scared her. At the doorway stood a large man covered in blood, his steel plate gauntlets being covered in most of it, he was truly an intimidating sight, even for Hulda who was no stranger to blood since there were often brutal brawls in the Bannered Mare, but this was something she had never seen.
He walked up the bar and took a seat, placing a small leather pouch on the table as he did so. The guards eyed the man as Hulda handed them their drinks and turned to the man, "What can I get you?" she asked as she took the leather pouch and examined its contents, making sure it was filled with septims and not something else as that has happened in the past.
"Just some mead and a damp rag." The man said in a deep, muffled voice, curtesy of his helmet. Hulda nodded, grabbing a tankard and a bottle of nord mead. She poured the man his drink and watched the man in front of her as she did so, her eyes filled with both curiosity and suspicion, it's not every day a large man wearing full steel plate armour walks into her inn covered in blood after all.
The man removed his helmet and grabbed the drink, taking a long and hard sip of the warm, rich-flavoured mead. "What's with all the blood?" Hulda asked, reaching for and then handing the man a damp rag, noticing his somewhat youthful yet scarred face, the light stubble on his jaw and upper lip giving him a slightly unkempt look, something that only added to Hulda's suspicion of the man in front of her, she was starting to suspect that he was some kind of criminal.
"None of your concern." The man coldly said as he eyed Hulda, his gaze causing the Nord woman to go quiet. After a moment she decided to leave the man to himself, so she went around the bar table to serve the other patrons in the inn who eyed the man, but later deciding to focus on their own business, be it conversations with their companions or their own thoughts and drink, except for one.
"Who the fuck are you to be talking like that?" The man heard a voice call, he looked to his left and there stood a middle-aged Nord woman, she too was wearing steel plate armour, and her expression was one of anger. "Nobody, so mind your own business." The man said as he turned his head away from her and took another sip of his mead, the action causing the Nord woman to become angrier.
"You arrogant piece of shit, I should beat you down and show you your place." The woman said as she stepped closer to the man. "You can try." The man said as he rose from his seat, lowering his head and looking down at the woman. "Is that so?" The woman said as she threw a punch, but the man just grabbed her fist, the woman looked shocked before she felt a massive wave of pain in her stomach.
The man had punched her right in the gut, she fell to her knees, her right hand still in the man's grasp, "Is that all you got?" The woman asked arrogantly as she looked up to the man, he just stared at her for a moment before letting go of her hand. The woman smiled, thinking he was backing off, before the man punched her square in the nose, causing her to fall back to the floor. The man just stared at her for a few moments as the woman kept trying to get up, only to fall back down to the floor while holding her now bleeding nose.
His cold, deep blue eyes lingered on the pitiful sight of the woman for another moment before closing as the man turned to his seat, "You lost, so leave me alone." The man's deep, cold voice rang out as he took his seat. The woman just stumbled to her feet and kept her head down, still holding her bleeding nose as she returned to her own seat.
.
"Would you like a room for the night?" Hulda asked as the man finished his fourth drink. "Yes." The man said as he put 10 septims into Huldas now outstretched hand. "Alright then, let me show you to your room." Hulda said after she counted and pocketed the gold and walked around the table, eyeing the man as she did so.
The man stood up from his seat, grabbing his helmet off the table he followed her to a small staircase, walking up its stairs Hulda opened the door at the top and walked in, "Here you are, if you need anything just call for me." Hulda said as she made her leave, she still had other patrons to serve and wanted to get away from the man as being around him made her uncomfortable.
The man just nodded his head as he sat down on the bed. After a few minutes he started striping himself of his armour, taking off his boots and gauntlets before removing his cuirass. Once all his armour was off and he was left in his black padded under-armour, the man laid down on bed. Staring at the ceiling, noticing that the patterns of the wooden planks looked like that of an expansive forest, one that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Removing his gaze from the patterns, he stared into the dark corner of the room before closing his eyes, drifting off into a slumber filled with unpleasant dreams and memories he wished he could just forget, but never could.