Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

Moira didn't understand why, but she seemed to be quite fond of Dehengu. Not only did she not criticize him for being rude, but she smiled and waved, asking him to sit next to her. Dehengu sat cross-legged on the ground, resting his head on Moira's waist, letting her gently stroke his hair.

"Good boy, what did you ask?"

"The orcs we just captured want to send a letter to a certain city to ask someone to pay money to redeem them."

I rolled my eyes. This guy didn't look very smart and couldn't even convey the message clearly.

"Are the four orcs alive?"

Dehengu ignored me and continued to flirt with Moira. The four of them were in awkward silence for a while, and then the crow witch coughed lightly.

"Someone is asking you a question."

"I didn't kill them. I beat them up and all those spineless people confessed."

I was relieved that this guy didn't do anything too extreme. Moira was quite surprised that I cared about the orcs.

"You still know orcs?"

"I don't know him. But I suspect that the person they want to redeem is being held at my place, and this person is very important to them. Since he is not dead, I will go over there later and ask him about it."

From what I know about the orcs in the game, they are a group of hermits who adhere to tradition. Although they are rough and aggressive, they attach great importance to honor, almost never bully the weak, and will not do petty thefts, let alone trade with inferior goods or shortchange. Most importantly, orcs regard their loyalty to the tribe as a top priority. Both men and women receive combat training from an early age so that they have enough ability to protect their common home. In such a culture, orcs who leave the tribe to venture out will naturally be discriminated against by others. It is said that even if such orcs return to tribal life later, they will be called "city orcs" by their compatriots for life.

I don't know how the so-called "city orcs" are treated, but the tribesmen definitely treat them as outsiders. If that's the case, why did they send a letter to General Tullius asking him to help redeem them? The only explanation is that these two people are very important to the tribe. As for how important they are, I can't guess. I can only know by asking them myself.

Moira looked indifferent and even suggested that I take these orcs away. Anyway, they are always after money and have no habit of taking people alive. Although there are many rooms in the Sunshine Garden Fortress, none of them is used to hold prisoners. I bowed and thanked them, and sat back in my chair. The shameless couple was too eye-catching, so I simply looked at my nose, my nose at my mouth, and my mouth at my heart, and meditated in my spare time.

"Locke, what did you mean when you said you didn't want to buy all our goods?"

Annis wanted to continue the topic that was interrupted by Dehengu, but I just smiled at her and Moira.

"Could you please ask Brother Dehengu to step aside for a moment?"

Moira's face turned a little colder, and she patted Dehengu's back gently.

"You go out first, let's talk about something."

Anger distorted Dehengu's still handsome face, but he did not dare to refute the matriarch's opinion, so he slammed the door and left.

"Respected Matriarch and Ms. Annis, the reason why I don't recommend you to sell all the goods is for the benefit of the tribe. As you know, it is difficult to find buyers for these goods in Falkreath, so I plan to look for sales in other territories. Products such as furs will be more popular in the northern territories of Cangyuan and Winterhold. As for jewelry, we must contact nobles and wealthy merchants, because only they are interested in these. If the other party knows that we have a large inventory and are eager to sell, they will definitely take the opportunity to lower the price."

Annis glanced at Moira, only to see that she looked gloomy and didn't make any statement, obviously not interested in my proposal. This crow witch didn't even open her mouth, and I didn't know whether she disdained to talk to a "lowly man" like me, or whether she and Annis had a tacit understanding that the old lady would act as a substitute.

"The tribe has limited manpower to send out for hunting, and the furs have to be sold so far away, so the income is very unstable. And the food you sell is so expensive. If the tribe's food reserves are exhausted, but your goods are not sold out, what should we do?"

I listened to her chattering patiently, secretly sorting out the valuable information. Annis had lived alone in the forest before, and he could be self-sufficient by growing some vegetables, and Moira never worried about what to eat. She had several apprentices who were doing well outside and often gave her various gifts. There were only four or five people living with her in the Misty Witchwood, and they could not eat so much. As a result, they were suddenly faced with the livelihood of hundreds of people, and both of them were at a loss.

They had no idea how much food they needed for so many people every day. Most of the hunters in the tribe acted on their own, and the harvest depended not only on their skills but also on luck. The prey they caught belonged to each individual, and they would only hand in what they couldn't eat or use, so Moira had no idea how much these people could get.

What's worse is that the composition of tribal residents today is quite complex.

There were more than 70 members of the Snake Cliff Ridge tribe who followed Stella and Zoltan to capture the Sunshine Garden Fortress. 30% of them were killed in the subsequent battle. Although the number was small, they were all the elite of the tribe. They had the best weapons, lived in the best houses, and their own abilities were enough to ensure that they had no worries about food and clothing. Some of them were smart, such as Dehengu, who was very good at pleasing the new female chief and has now been entrusted with important tasks.

Although most of the remaining people are refugees, their origins are different. Some of them used to live in tribes. After their hometown was occupied by the army of Markarth, they fled and still lived together according to their original tribes. These people do not live in castles, but camp in the mountains. If there is any problem, they will handle it by themselves. Only when they ask for help after running out of food, or when there is a dispute between two tribes that needs arbitration, will the person in charge contact Moira to solve it. In general, they are in a semi-autonomous state.

The most miserable people were the refugees who originally lived in the central and northern parts of Rich Territory. These people, like my father's old friend Alec, had already integrated into the farming society, but they were hit by a catastrophe. The pillars of their families were killed for their own good, and most of those who escaped were the elderly and children, but they had no tribe to rely on. Even if they wanted to gather together for warmth, they didn't know who to turn to.

Although Moira, the crow hag, looked shocking, she was not vicious. She arranged accommodation for these people in the castle and was responsible for supplying food, which finally saved them from freezing and starvation. But the problem was that distributing food was a hassle. Taking on this job meant giving up the opportunity to go out hunting, and if things went wrong, they would starve, so few people were willing to do it. This group of people became a burden to the entire tribe and were hated by everyone, but because of the favor of the female leader, no one had proposed to drive them away for the time being.

My brows knitted tighter and tighter. The situation of the tribe was much worse than I expected. I thought they were just short of supplies, but I didn't expect them to be so chaotic. Tager conquered the Sun Garden Fortress in the last ten days of the month of Rising Sun. Now it is the middle of the year. From the end of February to the middle of June, three and a half months, what on earth was Moira doing? Of course, I don't want this crow witch's rule to be too strong, but it can't be so fragile, right?

The Snake Cliff Ridge tribe looked strong, but it was actually scattered. This was no longer something that could be solved by simply acquiring food and iron ore, but rather a system needed to be specially designed to help Moira integrate the tribe.

Which brings me to Lund.

A few days ago, three fellow villagers from Loristed Town got together for a drink. Eric suggested that I provide a bigger stage for Lund. The plan at that time was that we would buy land in Whiterun Territory with money and build our own village. However, considering that all three of us are short of money, it is not known when this will happen. In this case, it is better to let Lund practice at Sunshine Garden Fortress. He had achieved remarkable results in running the Blood Throne before, but there were only about a hundred people there. The population of the Snake Cliff Ridge tribe is larger, the situation is more complicated, and there is no material support from Falkreath Territory.

If Lund can make this place work...

"Respected matriarch, I must admit that I underestimated the difficulties facing the tribe. What Ms. Annis just said cannot be solved by holding a market. I happen to have a talent who is good at handling such matters and can lend him to the chief. But I have a small request."

"Just tell me what you want."

"I will need this man in the future, so I can only lend him to you temporarily. No matter how well he performs his duties, please protect his life and return him to me in one piece."

Moira rolled her eyes.

"Am I so terrible in your eyes?"

I didn't show any emotion on my face, but I nodded fiercely in my heart. Weren't you the one who wanted to dig out Eric's heart when we had a disagreement?

"That's not the case. I'm here for another reason. Lord Falkreath has received intelligence that the enemy forces that captured Snake Cliff Ridge are likely to attack Sunshine Garden Fortress. The exact time is still unclear, but we will try to prepare as early as possible."

When these words came out, Moira and Annis both took a deep breath. With the tribe's current state, how could they resist the attack of a powerful enemy?

"Lord Danger believes that this round of attack will be very fierce, so he arranged for Baron Horic of Helgen Town to lead people to assist in the defense. The baron is a veteran, so please ask the clan leader to discuss the specific defense plan with him."

Moira had seen the strength of the regular army and knew that someone could support her, so she seemed a little calmer. When she heard that I had not yet informed my father, she secretly urged me to leave quickly. Annis winked, and I understood, and took the opportunity to ask my aunt to accompany me so that we could handle various matters separately. Moira agreed very happily.

I stood up to say goodbye, and just as I walked out of the room, I saw Dehengu, wearing a helmet and armor, holding two swords, blocking my way.

"Boy! Do you dare to compete with me?"

I shook my head.

"I have something important to do, so I'm sorry I can't keep you company."

Dehengu took a step forward and pointed his sword at my chest.

"You're scared!"

I raised my hand to push away the sword.

"Yes. I am afraid that I will waste time and fail the Matriarch's trust."

"Dehengu, let Locke go! Come to me."

This guy wanted to continue pestering, but when Moira called out his name, he immediately put on a pug-like face and went into the house happily.

"You shouldn't have offended Dehengu. Moira likes him very much."

Annis complained to me quietly, but I just sneered.

"You should know that I don't care much about what the matriarch thinks of me, and I'm even more lazy about fawning over a concubine who uses her beauty to please others."

After getting rid of Dehengu's entanglement, Annis and I met the four imprisoned orcs. These guys who were defeated did not insist and told me the purpose of their actions.

As I guessed, this group of orcs lived in the Bireguchi Mountains south of the Sunshine Garden Fortress. Like most orc tribes, they were conservative but not closed, and maintained frequent contact with the outside world. The most important of these was providing forging services. Their craftsmanship was very good, and the prices were fair, so the customers who had dealt with them all had good reviews.

The situation changed a little a year ago, when the orcs discovered a meteorite mine deep in the mine. The news was exciting at first, because it was known that this rare ore could be used to forge more sophisticated weapons and armor. But problems soon emerged. After months of attempts, the blacksmiths of the tribe found that the meteorite lacked toughness, was extremely brittle, and was very easy to break. This was different from the legend. Either they had identified the wrong thing, or they were forging it in the wrong way.

At that time, Sunny Garden Fortress was still under the control of Baron Sengard, and the relationship between Falkreath and Reach was not as tense as it is now, so they quickly contacted their fellow tribesmen in the northwest Dushnik Yar tribe. The blacksmith skills of the other party were also very famous among the orcs, and it was said that there was a meteorite mine in their territory. Chief Boguk personally replied to the letter, saying that this item required a very experienced person to control, and he was willing to provide some technical guidance to the brother tribe, and he had already selected the right person.

Correspondence was very troublesome. Before I knew it, it was already the last month of the year, and a series of events happened one after another. The Reachmen seized the Sun Garden Fortress, Danger and I conspired to control Sidger, and Lord Igmund cleared the Reach tribes in the territory and opened up the road to the south. The blacksmith and his apprentice who were originally planned to teach the technology of forging meteorites were hired by the Lucius Legion as professionals to repair and maintain weapons and equipment.

This was not a big deal. The situation was turbulent and the road was not safe. Following the regular army would not only ensure a safe journey, but also earn a lot of money. If everything went well, he should have left the legion after the situation stabilized and headed for the tribe in the Bireguchi Mountains.

But who could have thought that the Imperial Legion would actually lose?