[Skyrim AAR] Tale of Dag: Memoirs of the Monk of Light
Tale of Dag: Memoirs of the Monk of Light
Part: Skyrim
Prologue: In the bitter cold, reborn
Cold water prickled on my face, forming large drops that eventually would be so big they ran down the lines of my face. These drops had been my only entertainment this morning. I was drenched to the bone and the cold was unbearable, while the bear pelt the captain had been kind enough to offer me had not been dry for several days. I felt miserable, there was no room for movement and even if you tried you never knew if the waves would knock you overboard and leave you wrestling the dark seductive sea before your strength left you, then it would swallow you whole. As you can imagine I have never liked the sea. Endless stretch of water that heed to no man and can betray you at any moment. There had been no opportunity to write in my journal or drink for that matter. No matter, when the ship reached Solitude I would find a way to quench my thirst. Still as I sit here pondering I understood I had no other choice than to travel by boat.
Three weeks ago I had been stuck in Northpoint. A large city in High Rock, home of the Bretons. I had been evading certain Imperial Army enforcers that felt my service in the Empire's army was not enough to get me out of the trouble I was in. They had followed me all the way from Anvil where this entire mess had started. I had been drinking to much Alto wine one day in The Count's Arms and apparently slandered every pitiful thing that the Empire had done since its creation. The other tavern patriots did not take kindly to my words and the next day I was woken by three whelps in the standard Imperial red leather jerkin that was demanding me to come with them to their superior. Even in a half drunken haze I had given the young ones the beating of their lives. I don't think breaking a nose, two arms and throwing one of them out a window pleased their officers and I had gotten a bounty on my head. I had departed Anvil right after the brawl and was good on my way when the hunt began.
I had travelled with so many different people and races, either on foot, horse or carriage that I lost track halfway to High Rock. There had been weeks without contact with the Army and then there had been times it felt they had been on my heels for days. Luckily I had evaded them and reached Northpoint. It had never been a goal. I had just ended up there. Luckily the city was large and the Inns numerous and it was in one of these Inns that I realized I needed to head for Skyrim. Rumours had come by trade from Solitude about the situation there and it seemed the only viable option for me at the time. Things had only gotten worse the next day when a soldier was beating a nail into the message board on the square. The nail was holding up a large piece of parchment. My heart sank when I read what it said.
Curses! Panic gripped me,there was no way for me to run now. There are designated guards at every gate that have their primary job to look for wanted people. Rumors also had it that guards in civilian clothing wandered the streets with wanted posters hidden on them. I pulled my green hood a little further over my head and trotted away from the square. I ducked and weaved in the alleys of the city. Only one option was open to me now and the salt smell in the air guided my way. I rounded a corner past a alchemy shop and there it was. The port of Northpoint was huge. Large trading ships lay docked and busy dockworkers were bustling around like an army. They pushed barrels probably filled with fish from Skyrim off their boats and in their place soldiers and large racks of weapon was hoisted aboard. I considered hopping aboard in one of those boats, but quickly dropped the idea. It would probably work to hide in plain sight but first I had to get on the boat. So far I had seen two patrols near the ships. I wandered down to the smaller boats near the south side of the port and found a smaller ship that had no cargo laying on its smaller dock. I quickly saw the captain directing his sailors on the deck. It seemed to me they were about to take off. “Hail!” I said from the dock.“Hail.” The captain answered politely after he had understood that the greeting was meant for him. I smiled and asked where he was headed. “Solitude” he said without emotion. Like it was the most apparent thing in the world. There is almost all out war in Skyrim he told me and they were headed on their last run before heading back to Northpoint until things had cooled down, if I was looking for passage he could take me for a small fee. Travellers were few these days and they had room on the boat. The smile that split my face in half should not have belonged to someone heading to a war struck region.
I was shaken out of my thoughts by Nedarus, a friendly sailor and first mate on the little trading ship. He gave me a small black leather pouch. I nodded to him and started to chug the content into my mouth. I had tasted far better and horrifyingly worse home brew but it felt warm and as a former soldier you got used to make due with what you had. The waves rocked us up and down in a increasing pace. I had vomited on my first week on the boat but finally my bowels had stopped aching and I was feeling like a new man. “Is this normal weather!?” I yelled at Nedarus. I realized I shouldn't have. The hardened sailor with weather hardened furrows looked at me with an expression I had seen too many times before. In a war every veteran has his breaking point. That time when his demeanour fails and he shows his fear to the rookie soldiers. We had many veterans that broke when the horrible destruction magic was unleashed. The old familiar rock at the bottom of my throat returned. Forever pressing inside me. Trying to force tears and emotion out. Bah! I took a big mouthful of the horrible liquid that Nedarus had given me and it felt better, not much, not nearly enough. The entire boat cringed to the right, I rolled with my bear pelt and all the other miscellaneous items followed. I was lying in a heap at the front of the boat. I raised my head and looked backwards. In front of me lay the ship, with its mast and raised sail, the cabin where the captain slept and behind that the raging cold blue sea. The forces of the earth was forcing me downwards but I was holding on for dearlife. Suddenly it was like the boat was completely still. I felt the boat's weight shift like it had hundred times before that day but this time the boat fell the wrong way. I held on as the entire boat slowly flipped over. My stomach sank into my legs as the cold wet embrace of the sea came crashing towards me. And then I closed my eyes.
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Originally Posted by Swaeft
