Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

"Don't panic! What happened? Speak slowly and tell me everything you know."

Aigis clutched the tip of his tail, his large green eyes rolling around. It wasn't until her aunt slowly regained consciousness after being massaged, pounded, and pinched on the philtrum, that she finally grasped the point.

The four cats, Hayu, Lahlan, Agis and Jakir, followed Reshad's caravan to Markarth in the month of Morning Star, which was late January.

The cunning old cat had quite a few connections here, and the reason was simple: Khajiit caravans were the main force in smuggling the addictive beverage Skooma through Skyrim. In Markarth, this contraband was in high demand, with some black markets even using it as a price marker, acting as a currency.

Resard quickly contacted Anton through his client. Initially, the silversmith was reluctant to show up, but upon learning the matter involved silverware molds, he decided to come and trade. For reasons Agis couldn't understand, Anton and Resard instantly hit it off, and their conversation blossomed.

Later, the little cat girl coiled her tail around her waist and put on a loose robe to cover her pointed ears and wet nose, disguising herself as a maid and following Anton. She keenly observed that the Red Guardian was as stealthy as any tiger man, stuffing a bulging small bag into the sleeve of the city gate guard.

The guard grinned strangely, squeezing the small bag with one hand and doing the same to Aigis's butt with the other. Before the little catgirl could even scream, she was slapped into the Stone City.

Anton and his wife, Kala, left their hometown of Hammerfell twenty years ago. Their two children were both born in Markarth. They ran a small silver jewelry stall. Thanks to the husband's exquisite craftsmanship, they gradually attracted some distinguished customers, including the court mage Mr. Kasemer.

Coincidentally, after the New Year, Kasemori had ordered a set of rings, and Anton invited the wizard to his home under the pretext of looking at samples. Kasemori flatly refused Agis's request to meet with Lot and his daughter.

It turned out that old Lotte concealed his true situation in the letter he wrote to me.

The story begins more than a year ago.

In the month of Frostfall, October, in the year 201E , a murder occurred in the marketplace of Markarth. A lowly person named Vaylin murdered someone in broad daylight. The victim was Margaret, who had arrived two months earlier and had been residing at the Silverblood Inn. During this time, she had frequently been in contact with the local wealthy, apparently seeking business.

Subsequent investigations revealed that this woman was not innocent. She was a special envoy sent by the Imperial Military Governor to secretly investigate the Silver Bloods. General Tullius seemed to believe that this most powerful family in Markarth might be secretly colluding with the Stormcloak faction.

Despite the Silver Bloods' arrogance towards the lord and their considerable interference in internal affairs, the Imperial Legion's direct investigation of the nobles' actions, bypassing the lord's court, thoroughly infuriated Igmund. The lord of Markarth sent a harsh and pointed letter denouncing General Tullius.

It is said that Igmund mentioned in his letter that simply because the recapture of Markarth was related to the traitor Ulfric, he was willing to bear the stigma of being weak and vulnerable, and accept the dual supervision of the Imperial garrison and the Thalmor law enforcement. Unexpectedly, even this did not dispel people's prejudice.

Now, General Tullius had, without any evidence and based solely on conjecture, planted spies in his own territory, spying on one of the oldest and most prestigious families in the Reach.

Margaret was no good choice either. From the moment she entered the city, she colluded with villains and engaged in smear campaigns. The Silver Bloods, however, were upright, devout, and unblemished. To fabricate charges and frame the righteous, she braved the wrath of the world and colluded with the Oathbreakers, ultimately suffering the consequences.

Kasem was not aware of General Tullius's specific reply, but many things did not require direct evidence and could be inferred from other angles.

Lord Igmund, initially displeased with Tullius, suddenly pledged his full cooperation in the investigation of the Imperial Legion's envoy's murder, quickly solving the case—the remnants of the Forsworn were responsible for Lady Margaret's death. To eradicate the rebellion and bring justice, General Tullius joined forces with Lord Igmund and launched a series of military operations, wiping out villages harboring the Forsworn.

Meanwhile, while sorting through his father's belongings, Jarl Igmund happened to discover documents that clearly documented the previous Jarl of Markarth's ownership of Hofdilsted. Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun had seized the land during the chaos caused by the Forsworn, then illegally sold it to a veteran of the Legion named Lori.

After reviewing and deliberating, the High Lords' Council of Solitude confirmed the documents' authenticity and, based on this, ruled that the village, now renamed Loristed, belonged to Lord Igmund. Markarth and the Imperial coalition forces then moved in to restore order and provide protection for the local residents.

To Kasemer, these matters were of no consequence. As a court mage, he was more concerned with his own research. He had no interest in the lord's decisions, and therefore rarely inquired about them.

He had nothing to do with the matter, but was dragged into it because of the arrival of Lotte and his daughter.

Sebastian Lotter, a former instructor in the Imperial Legion and a distinguished guest of the Companions, was personally summoned by General Tullius and entrusted with a mysterious mission. You say this man came to you, Kasemme, to reattach his daughter's severed arm?

With such a sensitive identity and such an outrageous excuse, Lord Igmund said that he is not a three-year-old child, so just use those words to fool the zombies.

As a result, the personal freedom of Old Lot and Madeline was restricted, and even Kasemer and his nephew were under surveillance. To avoid irritating the lord's fragile nerves, the court mage made it clear that he would not arrange a meeting between Agis and Old Lot, nor would he help inquire about the whereabouts of any prisoners of war.

Before leaving, he specifically reminded Anton that Lord Igmund might send someone to investigate Anton.

This kind reminder led to Aigis being kicked out by the silversmith. His eldest son, Cade, who had just turned eighteen, had run away from home the previous year. While outsiders might not know the child's whereabouts, Anton's family knew all too well: he had slipped away and joined the Stormcloak rebels!

If one were to put oneself in Igmund's shoes, the first spy sent by the Imperial Legion had died inexplicably. Unwilling to remain silent, Tullius sent the more prudent and cunning old Lot. Under the pretext of seeking medical treatment for his daughter, the old man approached the court mage, Kasemmer. Kasemmer then approached the silversmith, Anton, who had just brought a suspicious woman into Markarth two days earlier.

Considering that Anton's father was a veteran of the Imperial Legion and his son was missing, it was obvious that this was a chess move that Tullius had laid long ago.

Once these doubts were raised, Anton was powerless to refute them. He couldn't admit that Cade was going to join the Stormcloaks, could he? He couldn't explain why he, who lived with his wife and daughter, would bring a wild woman home.

He had no choice but to prepare a half-truth, that is, he left the city to retrieve the molds that the tiger caravan had brought, and he brought the woman into the city so that she could follow him to collect the balance, that he was acting furtively because the tigers were not allowed to enter the city, and that he had found Kasemmer because he had just received the molds and wanted to confirm whether the shape met the customer's requirements.

Whether the lord believed it or not was not his decision, but one thing was certain: he must not let the guards discover that there was a female cat living in his house.

In fact, at this point, my original plan was doomed to fail. If it were Aigis two years ago, he would probably have returned home dejected.

But in the past year, this little cat girl, who was once highly expected by her family, had her eyes opened and truly understood what it means that "there are always people better than you".

Around me, a baron who was less than 23 years old, she got to know a group of young talents: Eric and Angie, both 26 years old, Lund, 25 years old, Cindy, 22 years old, Lydia, 20 years old, Stein, 19 years old, Helgi, 15 years old, and Lucia, who was only 12 years old.

Agis was already 21 years old, older than Lei Mei, but she could only sit at the children's table during meals. Even at this table, she had to sit behind the other two little girls.

I didn't get any useful information and I went back in disgrace. Wouldn't I be looked down upon again?

The little cat girl's desire to win was ignited.

She refused to escape, choosing instead to stay hidden during the day and venture out at night, cautiously exploring this strange city.

Built by the dwarves, Markarth has a distinct architectural style compared to other cities in Skyrim. The entire city is nestled in the Dru Adachi Mountains, and in addition to the above-ground area where humans currently reside, there are also massive underground Dwemer ruins.

Two streams flowed from west to east through the city, joining within the city walls to empty into the Kas River in the eastern gorge. The northern branch flowed through the residential area and provided the city's primary source of drinking water. In the days before his expulsion, Agis survived starvation by fishing in this river. The southern branch, however, was heavily polluted by silver mines and blacksmiths' forges, forcing only the untouchables to fetch water from it.

Like most respectable civilians in the city, Anton's home was in the northeast of Markarth, and it was here that Agis's journey into hiding began. Built on the mountainside, the city's houses were scattered across the rugged and steep cliffs. Even seemingly within easy reach, places often required climbing and descending for half a day's walk.

However, for Aigis, a tiger-man, the terrain didn't pose much of a problem, and the darkness wasn't an obstacle, but rather a help in concealing her tracks. She quickly figured out the patrol patterns and discovered that the defenses near the waterway south of the city gate were relatively weak.

However, the drainage slits carved into the city walls were limited in width, and the river narrowed here, forming a trumpet-shaped opening. The converging river water rushed into it, accelerating suddenly. The little cat girl wasn't a good swimmer, and she figured she didn't have the ability to swim upstream from here into the city, so she simply used this place as a backup plan for leaving the city.

The city center, surrounded by two rivers, rose to a steep mountain. Dibella's temple and barracks occupied the two highest peaks. The northeastern foot of the mountain was part of the commercial district, home to the renowned Silver Blood Inn. These areas were guarded day and night, so Aigis didn't dare to get too close.

Directly across from the Sidana Mine, at the foot of the mountain to the south, lies the slums of Markarth. The residents here are quite indifferent to the appearance of a tiger-man, especially after confirming the catgirl's identity. Aigis claims to aspire to be a bard and is currently traveling Skyrim to gather material for his work.

After several days of patient contact, she finally struck a deal with some of them: each small cup of skooma would be exchanged for a legendary story. As for the source of the skooma, Aigis had no worries. Her keen sense of smell was enough to capture every trace of the sweetness of the moon candy, and combined with her long-unused soft claw technique...

Every night, she would hang a small bottle of capital and come to the shack to exchange for her harvest.

For two weeks, Agis was drowned in crazy ravings and outrageous rumors and almost drowned. He still feels scared when he thinks about it now.

The little cat girl quenched her thirst with a large glass of ale and told everyone in the room the information she had painstakingly compiled.

The Sidana Mine, home to Skyrim's largest silver mine, is currently owned by the Silverblood family of Markarth. It supplies nearly half of Skyrim's silver, over 30% of its copper, and a significant portion of its gold and lead. Rumor has it that the mine has been operating for a century, with no signs of depletion.

However, the surface mineral veins, which were easier to mine, had decreased significantly. To ensure production, the Silver Blood Family split the mine into two.

The remaining surface minerals were mined by hired miners. Seventy percent of the untouchables in the slums worked in this field, while the remaining thirty percent were former miners. Some had broken arms and legs in accidents, while others had inhaled too much dust and were no longer able to work. These people could only do menial tasks like sewing clothes and delivering meals to barely make a living.

Despite the hardships of life, the untouchables see the deep mines as the real hell.

It was transformed into a prison, where criminals were chained in heavy shackles and forced to explore and dig for new mineral veins day and night. They could never rest unless they died.

Many untouchable miners mentioned that they could see corpses being carried out from the depths of the mine almost every day, with as few as three or five and as many as more than ten. If they unfortunately encountered a landslide, dozens of people would die in one day.

In a sense, the miners actually hoped for more deaths. Whenever such an incident occurred, the supervisors would call for them to stop mining and come over to watch. It was a rare break from the hard work, and also a visually striking accompaniment to wine and food.

Strong orcs grabbed the unfortunate ones by the ankles and dragged them through the narrow corridor. The scattered rubble scratched the faces of the dead, and some bodies were so damaged that even their gender was difficult to identify.

When the bloody remains of the body disappear at the entrance of the mine, the supervisor will lead the miners in shouting:

"No one escapes the Hidana Mine!"

Those who don't shout hard enough will be whipped.

"Helgi! Helgi must be imprisoned there! Locke, you have to find a way to save her!"

Annis held my arm tightly, but I continued to look at Aigis.

Obviously, the story of the little cat girl is not over yet.