Middas, 25th of Last Seed, 4E 201

I can’t believe that I’m writing this journal entry at my dining room table.

MY table, in MY house!

I’ve broken down crying more than once, and each time I’ve had to reassure Lydia that I’m all right.

I had to explain to her that a house in the Capitol would be impossible for someone like me. A house like this would cost at least ten times what I paid for it, not to mention the furnishings. Even if I’d somehow come into enough money, no one would even sell to someone like me. I had no real job, no family, no connections, no status… People like me just don’t own much to begin with, and we just accept that we never will.

Lydia was shocked and even got angry – Girl’s got a quick temper – about how unfair it was. Here in Skyrim, any citizen in good standing can buy or build within a hold, name or connections be damned. If you have the gold and aren’t a troublemaker, why should anyone have a problem with it? Being a Thane just gave me first pick, better prices, and prime building spots.

She said that if I went far enough away from a hold’s center, which doesn’t take long, no one would care if I just built myself a house. Plenty of people do that, and the little homesteads turn into large farms, inns, apothecaries, trading posts, or whatever they want. It’s risky and a lot of hard work, but doable enough.

I know I’ve only been in Skyrim for a week or so, but I’m liking it more and more here.

I hope Drusilla is doing as well as I am. She probably is. She’s got a good head on her shoulders and a quick hand. Not as good a talker as me, but she’s sweet and pretty enough for Dibella to take notice of her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s lost count of her marriage proposals already! It wouldn’t be the first time.

I would write about today’s journey back to Whiterun, but there’s not much to tell.

The only real bit of Adventure happened as soon as we got out of Swindler’s Den. We stepped into the light, and were immediately covered in the shadow of a dragon circling overhead.

We froze. Lydia couldn’t take her eyes off it. She’d never seen one before, and this one makes three too many for me. It was small and green, and it didn’t notice us, so I looked around for a safe path out of there.

I heard it roaring, and I heard more roaring in the distance, almost like it was answering.

There was another dragon, far off and circling a mountain.

This makes FOUR dragons, and I am NOT looking forward to my next one.

I had to grab Lydia by the pauldron and practically drag her away. She kept whispering that there were two of them. I think she was in shock.

She snapped out of it as soon as we were over the rise of the hill past the Shrine, because that’s when two bandits rushed us from out of nowhere. I didn’t have time to get any weapons out or a spell ready, so…

I Shouted.

The bandits fell back down the hillside, which gave me enough time to get my axe and my spells ready. I think the Shout surprised Lydia, too, because she didn’t jump in until the lead bandit was back on his feet.

They weren’t hard to take care of, but the Shouting thing did make Lydia look at me funny for a while. I wonder if she doubted that I could do it, and didn’t feel it was her place to ask for proof.

I didn’t know where the road was, so we went to the next little hill to see what we could see. There was some kind of ruin up there, and when we got to the top there were three skeletons armed and ready to attack us! They were easier than the zombies I faced beforehand, and when I commented on it, Lydia told me the Nords call those undead Dragur.

Dragur. That fits better than Zombie.

I noticed a light behind some nearby carvings that looked like ones I’d seen in the Barrow, so I went to take a look. There were two dead mages in black robes slumped around and over an altar covered in tools, blood and bones. There were candles around, still lit.

Idiots. I’m no conjurer, but even I know that two vs. three is bad odds.

We could see that the road was nearby, so we took what we could and set off on our way back to Whiterun. The rest of the journey was quiet, and we were back in the city by dinner time. I sold off all of our excess loot, and went to the Bannered Mare to tell Iman that Kematu was dead.

She was happy that we’d succeeded, and gave us 500 gold for the trouble!

That put us at 5526 gold. More than enough for a house and some furnishings.

I ran to Dragonsreach as fast as I could. Proventus was in his usual spot by the Jarl, and gave me the key to Breezehome.

My home.

Gods, I’m going to start crying again. I’ve never had a place I could call HOME before. I mean, I used the word, but I’ve never felt it. It still feels like a dream to me.

I bought some furnishings, too. A bedroom and a kitchen, to start. That leaves us with 70-something gold, but I don’t care.

I have a home. A real one that’s mine.

I’m going to stop now before I start crying and smudge up the ink again. I’m going to eat a sweetroll, drink some wine, and go sleep in my very own bed.