Loredas, 4th of Heartsfire, 4E 201

And now we are four, counting the dog.

What to say about today? It’s been… Overwhelming, to say the least.

I am now a Thane of Hjallmarch, I own more property, I’m building a house of my own (!) and I have another housecarl, Valdimar.

All I had to do was chop some wood.

I know, right? It seems mad, but this morning, we ate breakfast and left Fort Snowhawk for Morthal. I had looted a bunch of magic robes and such from the fort, and I wanted to see what I could sell to Falion.

The trip there was quiet, and I was soon many Septims richer after unloading our haul. I ran into Jorgen the woodcutter as we headed to the inn for lunch, and he asked if I had firewood to sell. There was a chopping block practically right there, and I thought to myself, “Why not?”

So, I chopped some wood for him.

When I was done, Lydia said, “That’s your three.”

I asked her to explain, and she reminded me that the Jarl had asked me to help out at least three people around the hold.

Apparently, Lydia had been keeping count.

I tried to argue that surely selling firewood to a woodcutter wouldn’t do it. He was just doing his job, but she said that it did, so we ended up making a bet on it. Morthal’s not a big place, so it was no trouble to go to the Hall and ask the Jarl herself to settle it.

I owe Lydia a pie.

The Jarl declared me a Thane of the Hjallmarch, and gave me a sword. She also assigned Valdimar to me, and said that if I so desired, I could buy some land and build a house for myself. I was staggered, but turned to Aslfur, her steward, and asked about the land.

Five thousand gold, just like the house in Whiterun.

I checked my bag, and saw that I had enough. Just a few hundred more, but it was enough.

I didn’t give it a second thought. I handed over the gold, and he told me that my land was past the vampire lair, overlooking the marsh, with a gorgeous view of Solitude. A prime spot for a manor hall!

I smiled and said it sounded lovely.

Luckily, I’m a great liar!

Unfortunately, Lydia is not. She couldn’t suppress a snort when I said that, and I had to cover it up with a cough. Aslfur seemed none the wiser, though, so I thanked both him and the Jarl, and we all left the Hall to take a look at my new holdings.

The way was cold, wet, and gloomy. There’s no real path to it, just a partial one that leads as far as Movarth’s lair, then peters out through the shrub.

Valdimar is full of surprises, though. Unlike Lydia, who snarks at me when I ask, he’s eager to carry things for me. I caught Lydia rolling her eyes at that, but I made sure he had food and drink for now. I’ll have to see what I can do about outfitting him. Lydia loves sorting through the loot to see what she can upgrade; maybe he will, to?

As we trekked through the icy wetlands, we were attacked by a trio of frostbite spiders. I let loose with some fire and killed it, but another one lunged at me from the side. I turned to try and fend it off with my axe, but it was too close. I was certain it was going to get me when an arrow thudded into it, quickly followed by a shard of ice!

The beast dropped dead, and I turned to look at Valdimar, who was standing next to Lydia. In one hand, he held a mace. The other was shrouded in a frosty mist. An Ice spell! Lydia blinked a few times before she grumbled, “Not another one.”

I couldn’t stop myself from shouting out loud. Another magic user! I’ll have to ask him what spells he has later tonight.

We got to the building site without further interruption. There was a stack of lumber, house plans, a book on house building, a workbench, an anvil, and a chest of supplies waiting for me.

I read the book, first. There’s a bunch of different plans I can choose from, and it looks like I’ll have to buy or gather more materials to finish it.

I’m tempted to add all the magician parts to the house, but I think a main building surrounded by a bunch of towers would just look ugly.

Maybe a tower for books? I don’t know, I’ll have to think on it some more…

It’s a lot of choices all of a sudden. For now, I just want to build a main hall so we have a place to sleep and cook food.

I did what I could with the supplies that were on hand, but I’m far from finishing the main hall. I don’t even have a door. I’m going to head back to Whiterun. If I see a cave or something I’m going to investigate. Maybe we can find something worth selling so I can get more supplies for the house.

At least I know Valdimar can handle himself against a dragon.

We walked to the road so we’d have an easier (and drier) time getting back to Morthal for the night, and came upon a mine! The workers there were getting ready for the night, when a strange shape came down from the sky.

It was a dragon, but it was ghost-like. Like an invisibility spell gone half-right. It had breath cold and stinking as a tomb, and an unholy shriek.

Luckily, it only looked ghostly. Normal weapons can hurt it, and while it was hard to see in the air, I found that setting it on fire made for a much easier target!

There were some Hjaalmarch guards at the mine, and they were a big help in bringing it down.

Lydia still looked a bit unsettled by the dragon soul surrounding me once it was dead, but Valdimar just nodded. He’d heard that the Dragonborn had returned, and that she was a smooth-talking, impulsive Imperial woman. As soon as he saw me come into the Hall and ask the Jarl to settle a bet with my housecarl for a pie, he figured it was me.

Ah.

Well, they could’ve said worse!

Lydia cackled at that, and Valdimar soon joined in. They chatted the rest of the way, mostly talking about armor and weapons and such. I just listened.

It feels good to be around people again. The Capitol was always noisy, and full of people talking and singing and yelling and fighting and laughing every minute of every day. Even in the slower parts of town, you could still count on hearing quiet conversations, even in the dead of night.

It’s so different, here. Usually the only sounds I hear are forest-y ones and our footsteps. Lydia’s not much of a talker while we’re walking, but I think that might have more to do with keeping her ears open for threats. Maybe with Valdimar and the dog here, she’ll let herself relax a bit.

Anyway, we made it back to the inn, and I need to turn in.

It’s been a long day.