Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

Rund and I walked quickly along the official road. This choice was very risky, but I felt that we had to give it a try. Even the always conservative Danger did not insist on opposing it. After all, the gap in strength between us and our opponents was too big, and we had to try to win over any force that could potentially become an ally.

I will attempt to ally myself with the Forsworn.

This is an unimaginable path. The Forsworn in the game are in a hostile state by default. Even if you complete the "Forsworn Rebellion" mission and rescue the Tattered King Maidenach, it's just that the Forsworn in one of the Druadachi strongholds will become friendly. But considering that Rigel is also in a hostile state by default in the game, isn't it that I, uh... I beat him into submission? I wonder if the group of people currently occupying the Sunshine Garden Fortress can be as easy to talk to as the little saber-toothed tiger.

The Forsworn are called "Madmen of the Reach" by the Nords and Imperials. Even their distant cousins, the Bretons, look down on these guys. They believe in a bloody and barbaric primitive religion. Human sacrifice is commonplace. There is even a horrific operation of gouging out the hearts of living people and transforming them into Heart of Thorns. I really have no idea how to deal with such a group of guys.

The conditions we offered were not very attractive. Danger was only willing to accept the two conditions of giving up the Sunshine Garden Fortress and opening up trade. However, the fortress was already in the hands of the enemy. If we had the strength to take it back, there would be no need to rush to form an alliance with the enemy. As for trade, the life of the Forsaken is extremely simple. Many people do not even have private property. This nation has lived in the mineral-rich Rich Territory for thousands of years and still maintains an extremely primitive state. They wear clothes made of fur and use weapons made of simple vines. They are simply a group of weirdos who guard the gold mountain but ask for food. Trade? They use slash-and-burn farming, eat raw meat and drink blood, and have never seen money. What trade?

No matter how much you complain, you still have to work hard to do what you should do, do your best and leave the rest to fate.

"Lund, you stay here. If I don't come out after dawn tomorrow, or if the imperial army arrives before then, you will return to Falkreath to inform Lord Danger. Then you will immediately go to Helgen to find Eric. You two must convince the Baroness that the enemy this time is unusual and tell her not to go to the battlefield in person. If she refuses to listen, you must report it to Lord Baron. In short, no matter what means you use, you must stop her. Do you understand?"

Sunny Garden Fortress is located on the top of a mountain at the junction of Reach, Whiterun and Falkreath, overlooking the Ancient Karl Monument on the northern plains and guarding the official road to the Black Pine Forest in the south. This castle has a very long history. According to legend, in the First Age, the successor of Olaf the One-Eyed, the High King of Skyrim, Kochorik the White-Haired, once fought a great battle with the Imperial Army here. In the end, the High King died in the battle, and his son Hogg the Elf Slayer ascended the throne. The High King after Hogg was the famous Wulfharth the Ismir. During the reign of the three High Kings, Skyrim and the Empire fought many times, and the relationship was even worse than it is now. The so-called "Skyrim Province has been a part of the Empire since ancient times" cannot be said to be unreasonable, but it can only be said to be outrageously wrong.

However, the castle standing in front of me is obviously not an antique that has been passed down for thousands of years. The main part must have been built in the Fourth Age, and the original builder must have belonged to the northern territory of Reach or Whiterun. The main gate of the castle is in the west, facing a gentle slope that turns to the north. It is obvious that it gets supplies from this direction, and the main defense direction is the southeast, that is, the direction of Falkreath. There are three chevaux de frise in front of the west gate, and archers patrol on the sentry towers on both sides. I was more than a hundred meters away from the city gate, and a sharp arrow whizzed and stuck in the ground in front of my feet.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, straightened my back, stood still like a real French man, and raised my hands above my head. Three bows were aimed at me, and a short but strong man walked towards me around the barricades. He had an extremely exaggerated deer horn helmet on his head, covering his entire face. He looked like Honda Tadakatsu, a famous general of the Japanese country in his previous life.

"What?"

Honda Tadakatsu's accent is strange, but not so strange that it is incomprehensible.

"I am a messenger from Lord Falkreath, and I hope to speak with your steward."

The Japanese soldier looked me up and down, turned around and left. Since the three bows on the opposite side were still aiming, I had to stand in the French military salute. After more than half an hour in the sun, my arms were sore and swollen, but I didn't dare to put them down. Honda Tadakatsu finally came back with two carrot-like thick legs. He twisted my arms behind my back, tied them carefully with ropes, and then led me into the castle like a beast.

The Sun Garden Fortress is at least six times larger than the Blood Throne. Unlike the town of Helgen, this is a castle purely for military purposes. The north, east, and south sides are all steep cliffs, and the gentle slope on the west is wide but has no shelter. As long as two light machine guns are mounted on the roof... uh... two teams of archers are arranged, the entire main entrance can be blocked. I really don't know how Baron Sengard lost such an easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack fortress. He is such a talented person! It's a headache. This fortress was originally used to guard against enemies in the south. It may be difficult to take it back now. When I think of the Baron's cheerful and talkative character at the banquet, I feel sick. Shouldn't such a person be subject to military law?

Honda Tadakatsu didn't cover my eyes, so I tried to observe the enemy's arrangement, firstly to estimate their number, and secondly, if the alliance fails, we still have to find a way to take back the fortress. I saw about 30 patrol soldiers, and it is hard to estimate how many people are in the houses. This kind of purely military fortress is not suitable for too many people to live in, because it is difficult to supply. Once it is besieged, too many people will starve to death. So far, the other party's behavior is not too outrageous. Maybe I can really talk to them and persuade them to join forces to fight against the empire from the perspective of food supply.

We went deep into the innermost building of the fortress. The interior of the room had been rearranged according to the "aesthetics" of the Forsaken. There were dried bloodstains everywhere. A short wooden stick was stuck in the ground at each corner, and a head was stuck on the top of the stick. Some were from wild animals, some were from strange creatures like tree spirits, and of course some were from humans. The heads had been processed and were dehydrated and shriveled, and the appearance of the original owner could not be seen. This building should have been the residence of the baron in the past. There were many rooms inside, all built around a spacious hall. In the middle of the hall was a long table. The tabletop had been soaked in blood and turned into a creepy brown. On it were various strangely shaped, blood-stained utensils, as well as some palm-sized pieces of meat. It was impossible to tell whether they were from humans or other creatures.

There is a crow witch standing behind the table!

It was the first time for me to observe this strange creature up close. This ghost woman was not an old woman with wrinkles all over her face. Instead, her skin was tight and smooth, and her limbs exposed outside her clothes were muscular and looked very young. However, it was difficult to guess her exact age because her face was covered with intricate tattoos. Yes, those patterns were not painted with oil paint, but tattooed directly on her face. It was surprisingly not painful to have her whole face tattooed. I thought her face was scary enough, but then I found out that the feathers on her two forearms were actually sewn on! The roots of the feathers were pierced by rough sutures, and the skin on the arms was also pulled up. The wounds were red and swollen, and it was probably sewn recently.

Because the face and forearms were too shocking, I closed my eyes for half a minute to prepare myself mentally. After taking a deep breath, I dared to look at the feet, fearing that I would see the horrific scene of a whole foot being chopped off and then attached with a bird claw. However, there were only normal human feet, wrapped in a pair of animal leather boots with exposed toes, and the hands were also normal human hands, without the huge claws of the Empress Dowager Cixi. But the hands were covered with blood, and it seemed that the disgusting things on the table were her masterpiece just now.

So I was facing a half-transformed hag? I had always thought that this kind of monster was a masterpiece of magic, but I didn't expect it to be completed through surgery, and it seemed that more than one surgery was needed. As I looked at her in shock, the woman was also looking at me. Our eyes met for several minutes, and she finally spoke.

"This is a good sacrifice. I'm tired today. Let's lock him up with that bitch."