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Delia-Jessamine Maric, troubled but improving Breton stealth-mage, left Markarth after dissing Molag Bal by returning his mace. It was late afternoon, and she was heading to "anywhere that isn't the Reach". Because it was getting late, she stopped at the Old Hroldan Inn for the night. Jess had never been there before, and as a former tavern wench, she wanted to check it out. Not much to it, though it has some history. The innkeeper seemed nice but her kid kept warning her not to get drunk (how did he know?) and bragged about the linens.

The next morning, Jess woke up to a scream and soon she had another quest. But of course, the quest would require going to a Forsworn outpost in the backcountry of the Reach, not something she wants to do alone. And she doesn't have any friends in this part of Skyrim that she can bother to go with her. Then she remembered Erik, the aspiring mercenary in Rorikstead. She had never hired a mercenary, but decided to go see if Erik was still among the living.

Entering the inn at Rorikstead, she saw Erik ("The Slayer"), who admitted that he hadn't had any actual fighting experience yet, but Jess hired him anyway. His gear was... cheap. Iron armor and an iron sword. They traveled north and soon were ambushed by bandits, who they defeated in a tough fight. Jess did not use her most powerful magic, wanting to see Erik fight. He fought hard, but Jess was concerned about his gear. She decided they needed to go to Solitude to properly outfit Erik. Along the way, they were attacked by a "Thief" with ebony armor and a steel sword. Jess asked Erik if he liked the equipment of the now-dead "Thief". Erik said he preferred light armor and a heavy weapon. "So picky," Jess thought. (I had looked up his skills on the wiki).

They reached Solitude in the afternoon and Jess took Erik to Proudspire. "You need to learn how to prepare because you won't always have me to save you." Jess was surprised by her words and realized that she was trying to mentor someone for the first time. Her stock of materials was low, so they had to hurry to visit the merchants before they closed. After dinner on the porch, they went to the forge for some after-hours smithing.

"What are you laughing about?" Erik asked. Jess answered "Nothing." Actually, she had imagined putting Erik in Elven gear. The thought of a Nord mercenary in Elven gear was funny to her.

Instead, she began making Erik a set of leather armor and tempering a steel battleaxe she bought from Beirand. She explained as she worked. "These are better than what you have, and better than most things you might find. The leather is soft. It won't make much noise if you bump into something. And it's dark and blends in. The Thieves Guild uses leather armor and theirs is the best... from what I've heard... this is almost as good... not that I would know...nevermind. I tempered the axe to make it better than the ebony ones the merchants carry, and it's lighter, too. But if you're going to be a mercenary, you should learn to smith for yourself. I only know leather, steel, and moonstone. But you wouldn't want Elven gear. Someone might mistake you for a Thalmor agent. There. As good as what I give my friends, and I haven't lost one yet. Don't be the first." Back at Proudspire, she enchanted a ring and necklace identical to the ones she gave Torvar a few days earlier. She gave them to Erik, along with some food and extra health potions from her stock.

It was getting late, so she told Erik that he could sleep in Jordis' bed. "If you're lucky, maybe Jordis will get sleepy, too, but don't count on it." Jess went upstairs, changed into a robe that, ironically, had once belonged to a follower of Vaermina, and slept.

After breakfast, they headed into the Reach, encountered and killed several hostile Forsworn, and easily completed their objective. All the while, Jess explained her actions to Erik: Staying hidden and near cover, sniping from high ground when possible. Jess opted for poisoned arrows and she did not use combat magic since Erik did not know any magic himself. The only magic she used was to calm the animals they encountered during the journey.

When attempting to return to Old Hroldan, they became lost in an area of the Reach she had never been in. After displaying so much confidence when trying to mentor Erik, Jess began to panic inside. Then they were attacked by a Dark Brotherhood assassin - "If only they were as good at fighting as they are at finding me" (Note that I have no idea why the DB attacks her). The fight alerted a group of Forsworn nearby. Surprisingly, they were not hostile. Jess had never seen friendly Forsworn before, but it calmed her down and she and Erik soon were back in a familiar area, near Karthwasten.

When they encountered a group of Thalmor agents leading a prisoner, Jess smiled coldly. They had already seen her and Erik, so a stealthy attack was out of the question. Her dark eyes shining like ebony, Jess asked Erik "Are you a true son of Skyrim?" While the puzzled Erik pondered the question, Jess approached the group. When they warned her away, Jess answered by summoning a frightening Daedra the likes of which Erik had never seen. She then slashed the bindings of the prisoner and handed him a dagger. The three Thalmor suddenly found themselves outnumbered. Jess paralyzed the agent nearest the prisoner and chased down the Thalmor mage, his spells hitting her with little effect. She struck the mage over and over with her dagger until he was dead. The other two Thalmor were dead by the time she returned. The newly freed prisoner cautioned Jess about her "dangerous magic" and ran away.

Jess began stripping the Thalmor of their gear and asked Erik to carry some of it, but when she noticed Erik equipping an Elven axe in place of the steel axe she had given him, she stopped and took it back. "You use Elven weapons," Erik said. The Breton joked, "But I'm not a Nord. Do I have to explain how to be a Nord, too?" Jess took the Thalmor mage's equipment, but left the other gear on the bodies. They resumed walking to Old Hroldan.

Back at the inn, Jess decided to flirt with Erik and put on her Amulet of Mara. To her embarassment, he did not respond to her flirting, and she felt humbled. "Maybe I shouldn't have made fun of him." The next day, they walked back to Rorikstead and Jess released Erik from service, allowing him to keep the armor and battleaxe. She wondered if she had been a good mentor.

Her attempt at flirting with Erik the Slayer made Jess realize that she was still reluctant to commit to marriage. And recent events, including her mentoring of Erik, made her feel more like a responsible citizen again. She decided to continue taking care of long neglected thane duties by traveling to Winterhold to make sure it hadn't fallen into the sea since the last time she was there. She wanted Torvar to go along, so the first stop would be Whiterun.

On the way, Jess took a shortcut and found Sleeping Tree Camp. She avoided the giants and mammoths, and collected a bottle of sap from the strange tree. So that's where it comes from. She had never tried it before, nor skooma. She had enough problems with wine and ale.

Jess entered the cave. A giant was inside, but he couldn't see her. She muffled herself and crept in further, finding a dead Orc carrying a bottle of sap and a threatening note from a Whiterun citizen that Jess wouldn't have suspected of such dealings. Interesting!

The trip to Whiterun was uneventful and she found the dealer in the marketplace. She found herself intrigued by the citizen with the secret business. Jess sold the dealer a bottle of sap... and kept one for herself.

At Warmaiden's, Jess crafted a set of hide armor as a fashion change from her previous set of mixed studded and leather pieces. Her skills must have improved, as the new set seemed better made than the previous one. She looked forward to trying it on. She would have to wait to try further improving her Elven bow and dagger.

Jess rented a room at The Bannered Mare, as is her custom when in Whiterun. After a nap, she went to Jorvaskrr to see Torvar and to train with Vilkas, who sometimes tutored her in the use of heavy weapons. The small-framed Breton tired quickly when swinging a two-handed weapon, but it couldn't hurt to learn. She returned to the Bannered Mare for dinner and sleep.

The next morning, Torvar was still asleep when Jess arrived to collect him for the trip. They would go to Riften first. Approaching Helgen, a panicked hunter ran up to them claiming that he had been attacked by a vampire. Unfortunately, Jess could not help him, as she did not have the right potion - only hawk feathers, which he would not accept. He marked the location of the attack on her map - Bloodlet Throne - so she could avoid it. No problem, the Breton had no intention of going near the place. She had enough to deal with in Haafinger, The Rift, and Winterhold without taking care of Falkreath's problems, too.

The hunter ran toward Helgen, apparently not knowing that it had become a haven for bandits since the dragon attack over a year and a half earlier. They ran after the hunter and killed the bandits, but there was no sign of the hunter. There were more bandits on the road east of Helgen, where Khaajit merchants were frequently attacked. Whoever is in charge of Falkreath Hold really needs to do something about the bandits, Jess thought.

Further along the dangerous road, Torvar and Jess saw two frost trolls. Jess summoned a flame atronach to help in the fight, and was surprised to discover that she was immediately able to summon a second one!

Torvar and Jess stayed in Ivarstead for the night, where Jess relaxed while listening to Lynly Star-Sung play the lute. She thought about her newfound ability as a summoner and wondered if the ability was surfacing now that she was staying (mostly) sober. The next morning, they continued to Riften, where for the first time Torvar saw Jess's other home, Honeyside (now cleared of evidence of her Thieves Guild and Nightingale associations). Jess spent the afternoon trading and smithing. Later, Torvar helped her place a decorative statue of Dibella in Honeyside (I have tried and failed many times to get one to stand upright and finally succeeded - for roleplay, I'm crediting Torvar with it).

They would continue to Winterhold the next morning.

Jess and Torvar slept at Honeyside (Torvar slept in Iona's room, sort of) and left for Winterhold before dawn. The trip to Windhelm was uneventful, except for an attack by another hapless DB assassin. Somebody really dislikes my little Breton.

In Windhelm, a guard warned them to stay away from Cronvangr Cave because it is inhabited by vampires. Checking her map, Jess saw that it is near Darkwater Crossing and Mixwater Mill, which made her worry about Annekke and the other miners, and the lonely woman who ran the sawmill. Two days before, she couldn't be bothered with vampires in Falkreath Hold - but these Eastmarch vampires concerned her. After trading with Niranye, Jess decided that she and Torvar should go immediately to Cronvangr Cave. The place was crawling with spiders, but fortunately, the vampires were not the tough Volkihars. She and Torvar cleared the lair, and went to Kynesgrove for the night.

They resumed the trip the next morning. While sneaking past Fort Kastav, a skeleton spotted Torvar, which alerted some mages and additional skeletons. Jess summoned two Dremora, but immediately thought it was a bad idea - what if the mages turn the Dremora against herself and Torvar? She decided not to give them the chance. She applied a custom poison damaging Magicka and Magicka Regeneration to her dagger, equipped her Shield of Solitude, and ran through the gate. Fighting against other mages brings out a visciousness in the petite Breton that can mask her unrefined melee skills - Jess slashed the nearest mage with the poisoned dagger, then ran after the other mage and struck her repeatedly until she was dead. Torvar soon arrived, and they killed the poisoned mage. Neither Dremora was to be found, making Jess wonder if they had been turned during the fight and expelled to Oblivion when their new masters died. She decided to rethink her tactics against mages - something she should have done already, but thinking tactically had not been a strength during her heavy drinking days.

Jess had never been inside Fort Kastav. She had always been content to slip past the fort, avoiding unnecessary combat. Now the newly responsible Jess realized that, as Thane of Winterhold, she was obligated to make the road safer for travelers. So she and Torvar entered the fort and cleared both areas.

Now it was after dark, and Winterhold was still a few hours away. However, Fort Kastav had only one bed, and Jess was uncomfortable sharing it with Torvar at this time - she was trying to be more careful about such things than she used to be, and didn't want to risk giving him the wrong idea. So the pair continued on to Winterhold.

Along the way, Jess encountered two situations that put her duties as Thane in conflict with her beliefs.

First, they encountered a group of Imperial soldiers, apparently lost deep in hostile territory - and approaching a Winterhold guard. Jess had supported the Empire when she arrived in Skyrim, but now she was neutral, influenced by several friends who seemed to support the Stormcloak cause (Annekke, Iona, and even Jordis sometimes yell "Skyrim is for the Nords!" in combat).

As Thane of Winterhold, Jess felt obligated to help the guard in the upcoming fight, but she did not want to fight Imperial soldiers. She had been in this situation before, though, and knew a way to handle it. She told Torvar to wait behind while she went ahead. When the fight began, she used Healing Hands to keep the guard alive until the Imperials were defeated. Then she returned for Torvar. As they walked past the Imperial bodies on the road, Jess told Torvar "I didn't do any of this" - but she didn't know if Torvar believed her.

Later, they encountered wolves and a bear along the road. Jess regretted that as thane, she had to kill the animals to make the road safer. She had always spared the lives of animals (except skeevers, spiders, other nasty creatures) - even dangerous animals on the roads, but she realized that she should not do that any longer. Jess decided that she would still spare dangerous animals in the backcountry and in holds where she was not a thane, but that she would have to kill some animals to make the roads safer.

They arrived in Winterhold after midnight. Jess began to feel the stress of taking her duties seriously.

Delia-Jessamine Maric, newly responsible and stressed Breton stealth-mage, arrived in Winterhold after midnight with Torvar and rented a room at the Frozen Hearth Inn (we'll pretend Torvar got his own room). After sleep and breakfast, Jess was feeling better and went to Birna's to trade. Then she took Torvar to the College of Winterhold. Not long after her arrival in Skyrim, Jess had attempted to be a student there but had dropped out. Now, her practical skills in magic rivaled those of the faculty, but she had little academic interest in magic. Still, she was welcome at the College because she had helped several faculty members - most notably Tolfdir at Saarthal, and Urag, who had gotten her interested in reading. She trained with Faralda and said hello to Brelyna, who had once been Jess's closest friend in Skyrim but who was now lost in her studies.

Then they returned to Winterhold and found Malur Seloth, to find out if he had any business for Jess to attend to. Indeed, Korir had placed a bounty on some bandits at the Wreck of the Winter War. The next day, they took care of the bandits and collected the bounty. Malur had no more work for them.

Jess decided that she and Torvar would go to Frostlflow Lighthouse the next morning. She had been near it before and had seen a dead horse outside - a sign of trouble? - but had not investigated. She decided that a good thane would have looked into it already, but better late than never. They left before dawn and the trip to the lighthouse was mostly uneventful, aside from helping some Stormcloaks kill a troll.

Inside the lighthouse was a bloody and horrifying scene. Investigating further, Jess knew what had happened there. They went to the cellar, where Jess told Torvar to wait* in case any survivors returned. Unfortunately, the situation became more disturbing the further Jess went into the cave. After concluding her investigation, she returned to Torvar. They went to the top of the lighthouse and granted the last wish to one of the deceased.

Jess and Torvar returned to the Frozen Hearth Inn, where she asked Torvar to let her be alone for a while. She bought three bottles of wine and sat in a lonely corner of the inn. While drinking her wine, she thought about what she had seen that day and felt sad and powerless. This was a new feeling, different from being absorbed in her own problems. She went into her room and sat in the chair. Quickly drinking the third bottle, she remembered the Sleeping Tree Sap that she had with her. She drank the sap and the world softened around her. The next thing she knew it was morning.

*Actually, I had to redo that part. Originally Torvar followed, but he became stuck far in the cave when he would not follow Jess down a jump-off point. In the second try, I had him wait in the cellar.