Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

There are many parts to a Nord noble wedding, and it is not just about two people standing in front of the master of ceremonies and saying "I do". One of them is that the newlyweds have to burn their childhood toys to say goodbye to their past lives.

The Rocker family was extremely poor. When I was a kid, I played with bird eggs, mice, and caterpillars. Where could I find any toys? So Lemei offered to carve a wooden sword for me. Since it was my childhood favorite, it certainly couldn't be brand new, so she was sitting in the house, grinding it repeatedly with gravel and coarse sand to make the wooden sword look old. This job was originally Stein's, but the boy was clumsy and broke the first sword Lemei made.

In another corner, Lucia and Savilla were whispering to each other. Donna lived a simple life and didn't like to boss people around, so the dark elf girl took good care of her. But since I moved in, the family's income and expenditure had become astronomical figures that she couldn't understand. This made Savilla very scared, fearing that she would be kicked out because she was too stupid, so she dragged Lucia to learn arithmetic every day.

At this moment, hearing Donna talking about my life experience, three pairs of eyes were instantly ignited by the fire of gossip, and the whole room brightened up a little.

The two little girls didn't dare to take the lead, but Lai Mei was not shy.

"Old lady, tell us the story of the Lord's elders."

Donna smiled bitterly.

"These are just trivial things. What's there to talk about?"

Having said that, she couldn't resist Lydia's curiosity and had to talk about what she knew.

As Eric had learned before, the Rocker family was not from Loristed. His grandfather, the old man known as Inger, lived in the town of Flute Sound in the south of Winterhold. This was a small town located at the foot of the mountain and built around the Flute Sound Mine. At that time, there were about twenty households.

Winterhold is a more barren and cold place than Cangyuan. There are almost no farms in the area. Especially the great collapse incident eighty years ago caused Winterhold, the former capital of Skyrim, to be destroyed. Without this political and economic center, the entire territory became a mess, and people could only struggle to make a living.

The people of Disheng Town managed to cultivate a small piece of land. The main source of food was selling minerals in exchange for vegetables and bread. Meat was obtained by organizing people to go fishing at sea every summer. In short, life was extremely hard.

Donna's family is a local, at least since her grandfather's generation. But her father died in a mining accident, and the family suddenly became poor. In order to save money, her mother found a matchmaker and married her off. The man was also a miner, and his father was not only a blacksmith in the town, but also a well-known good man. Donna was looking forward to this marriage.

However, the reality is even more bleak and cruel than the sea breeze. Donna found that her husband's family was not well-off, and sometimes they could not even afford to eat. Her father-in-law, Old Inger, was a good cook and was considered to be a little famous. Logically speaking, as someone who was guarding a mine, he shouldn't have such a bad life. But this old man had a fatal flaw - vanity. And it was an extreme vanity, the kind that could skip meals for the sake of fame.

If someone flattered him, he would give them a discount, and if the flattery was satisfactory, he would even give them a free meal. As time went by, the neighbors in the town came to take advantage of him. The old man became poorer and poorer, but he was very happy in his poverty. People racked their brains, picked out sentences from books, and tried every means to please him. Some even went to the Winterhold College to borrow books. Until one day, a guy suddenly had an idea and insisted that the old man's level was enough to match Inger.

He is a legendary figure, the eldest son of Ysgramor, the forger of the artifact Wuthrad, and a rare genius blacksmith!

What’s outrageous is that the old man actually took this seriously.

What's even more outrageous is that he doesn't even want to acknowledge the word "shoulder to shoulder" and insists that others call him Inger.

Later, everyone forgot his original name and only knew him as Old Inger of Flute Town.

Of course, anyone who calls him Inger doesn’t have to pay.

When Locke's grandmother was alive, she often had a sullen face and went around asking people for money, but the family was still able to make ends meet. But the second year after Donna got married, the old lady passed away, leaving behind an old man who was out of tune, two sons who were not at home, and a daughter-in-law who was pregnant.

If nothing unexpected happens, the family will break up. The two sons witnessed the old man's mysterious operation and naturally did not intend to inherit his father's business.

The eldest son, Swilling, Rocker's father, was a miner in the town. But after getting married, he often went out, and was away from home for at least fifteen days a month. He was very tight-lipped, and Donna didn't know what her husband was doing. She even suspected that he had a mistress. But she was pregnant at the time, and it was quite inconvenient for her to move around. There was really nothing she could do, so she had to ask her brother-in-law to help keep an eye on her.

The second son, Sunil, had been helping his father sell goods since he was young. He was very smart and had some business sense. He told Donna that he and his brother had a plan and they would be able to escape from the sea of ​​suffering as soon as she was able to recover. But he kept silent about the details.

While Donna was anxiously waiting for the birth, old Inger got a red iron claw from somewhere and insisted that it was a key to his treasure. The next day, the old man disappeared and took away the few foods in the house.

Donna looked around the town with her big belly in her arms, but she didn't see anyone. She was so anxious that she showed signs of labor. Fortunately, although the neighbors were usually greedy, they were not evil people. They immediately lent a hand and saved the lives of mother and child. Half a month later, Swilling came back on the due date and was scolded by the whole town.

Donna took a walk in front of Songgard's gate. How could she give him a good face? After crying for a while, she finally knew what her husband was doing.

It turned out that the two brothers secretly resold the ore and may have done some third-hand work in other places. After a few years, they saved a lot of money. Swilling inspected several farms and finally chose to rent the land of old Lori. The original plan was that after Donna gave birth, they would confront their father and move away. If the old man was unwilling, they would leave most of the property to him, which would be considered as a filial piety as a son.

About a month later, Sunil also returned home and excitedly told his brother and sister-in-law that he had already paid the rent in advance, and the kind-hearted old Lori had arranged for someone to help him look after the crops in the field. Now everything was ready, and he just had to get there within a year.

However, the disappearance of old Inger disrupted their plans. The two were worried that their father would not be found when he returned home, so they had to postpone their move and take turns to go out to find out the whereabouts of the old man. At first, they were away from home for ten days or half a month each time, but as the search radius became larger, the time they were away from home also became longer and longer.

When it was Swilling's turn to go out for the third time, Donna was numb. She prepared dry food and money for her husband as usual, gave him a few routine instructions, and then hurried into the house to look after her son. At this time, she didn't know that this was the last time the couple met.

Like his father, Swilling disappeared in the snowstorm of Skyrim. After one month, he was supposed to come back to visit his wife and children, while his younger brother went out. After two months, Sunil and Donna realized that something was wrong, but they didn't dare to leave home easily. After three months, the uncle and his wife decided to take the young Locker and move to Loristed Town first, otherwise they would miss the time and the prepaid rent would be in vain.

They told the people in the town that if Inger and Swillin came back, they would go to Whiterun to look for their relatives. However, several years passed and the father and son did not show up again.

In the first few years, Donna thought her husband might come back at any time, so she didn't remarry. When she accepted the reality, she was no longer young, so she just lived alone.

After settling his sister-in-law, Sunil gathered some capital and started a business. In addition to his business prowess, he also wanted to find his father and brother. When Rocker grew up, he took his nephew with him to travel around.

"Your uncle got drunk one time and cried to me, saying that he often dreamed about your father, and that he hoped that one day you two could meet..."

Donna had kept these words in her heart for decades. Now that she was venting them out, she could no longer control her emotions and tears welled up in her eyes.

Not to mention that I am a fake who was reborn from another body, even Rocker himself has never heard of his family's past. Thinking back to a year ago, Sunil tightly held my hand and said "hello" three times in a row. He probably meant that as long as I am alive, there is still a glimmer of hope for the reunion of father and son, right?

I patted Donna's back gently to calm her down. Yilan Dur was silent for a while, then slowly stood up.

"Old lady, there is no need to grieve. Now that all the hardships have paid off, the Locke brothers have made great achievements. You should take care of your health and enjoy a peaceful life. Since such a great man has come from your family, the Locke brothers might as well take Ingling as their surname."

Mara's priest said goodbye and left. Donna also calmed down and came with me to see the guests off. The three melon-eating women took this opportunity to slip out of the room. Especially Lydia, who held the wooden sword tightly and stepped on the steps like a Kundao who was exorcising ghosts.

I helped Donna sit down and asked about her father and grandfather. Grassroots families like Locke's didn't value family inheritance. After all, they were common people for generations, and there was really nothing worth inheriting. For example, Donna herself only had some vague memories of her grandfather, and she had no impression of anyone further back. Therefore, she had no idea who Old Inger's father was or where he was from.

The red claw mentioned in the story must be a coral dragon claw. It is indeed a key that locks the tomb of Inger. Unfortunately, Donna also does not know how this item came into the hands of Locke's grandfather. She was pregnant at the time and it was very difficult to manage the housework, so she had no intention of caring about old Inger's private affairs.

In the game, this thing appears very abruptly. A merchant named Birna in Winterhold claimed that she had made a bad deal. She thought the item was worthless and was willing to resell it for fifty gold coins, but she did not mention the origin of the dragon claw.

I didn't want to delve into this matter. It has been more than 20 years since Locke's grandfather and father disappeared. This claw may have changed hands many times in such a long time. Moreover, Winterhold is too far away from me. It takes more than half a month to go to the Flute Mine and back. If I investigate it in detail, it may take half a year. The current situation does not allow me to leave for so long.

But for some reason, the image of Uncle Sunil before his death lingered in my mind. His yellow eyes, which were tortured by illness, suddenly shone with scorching brilliance the moment he saw me walk in. He must have had a lot to say, perhaps clues about Swilling's disappearance, or perhaps his expectations for me. But in the end, he only said three "hellos".

Unconsciously, I held Donna's hand and patted it gently, just as Sunil held my hand on the sickbed.

"Mother, please rest assured. After I finish the work at hand, I will definitely go to Disheng Town and search it myself."

"That's not necessary. It's been so many years, what else can you find?"

"Maybe I won't find anything. But I always feel that only if I go there once, I can stand in front of my uncle's grave calmly and tell him: I tried my best."

In any case, judging from Donna's reaction when she mentioned the past and the details of her life, Locker is indeed from Winterhold, the grandson of old Inger and the son of Sverin. The surname Inglin means "descendant of Inger" in Nordic. As for whether this Inger is the Inger that everyone understands, I personally think that there is no need to explain it.

In the following days, the three girls chose to keep a certain distance from me. Lucia moved her small classroom to the west wing, while Lai Mei was in her room doing the final process of aging the wooden sword. She soaked the hilt with linseed oil, and then rubbed it repeatedly until it was covered with patina, creating the illusion that the owner had loved it.

Stein, who had no idea what was going on, took over Lai Mei's job and helped me welcome and see off guests. He had just announced the arrival of a guest and was now leading him to the living room. And this person was worth going out to meet.

"Lord Locker, Resard brings the blessings of the Tiger Caravan and congratulates you on your wedding."

The cunning old cat was in high spirits, he touched his chest with his right hand, bowed exaggeratedly, and clapped his hands behind him. Four young and strong tiger men came forward carrying two boxes.

"Hayou and Zenabi, how could you not inform them of such important news earlier? Time is tight, so Resard can only prepare a small gift. I hope Your Excellency will accept it."

When the box was opened, a dazzling golden light shone, dimming the whole world for a moment.

Just when I was short of money, someone came to give me a gift. I was alarmed. How could this old cat be a saint who loves charity? However, as the saying goes, don't hit a smiling person, so I still politely invited him into the house for tea.

"I just troubled you to send someone to Markarth. How can I accept your gift now?"

"Resad is here for this matter. Although he is here to help you, the Tiger Caravan has made a profit and opened up new sales channels in the western part of Skyrim. Resad has discussed this with the two captains, Madelan and Akali, and everyone believes that the cooperation with you can be further deepened. Simply put, the Tiger Caravan hopes to obtain the trade monopoly in your territory."

"Why don't you tell me more specifically what this so-called franchise means?"

The old cat smiled kindly, trying hard to appear harmless, but the tip of its furry tail couldn't help but tremble.

"It's not complicated. All the products produced in your territory will be purchased by the Tiger Caravan and then sold to other places. If you have any purchases, you should give priority to trading with Resard if the price is the same."

"So, what's in it for me?"