Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

I was shocked by Helgi's story. In my opinion, some of the things that happened between her and Zoltan were condemned by thousands of people and worse than beasts, while others were sentenced to at least ten years in prison and death penalty. The little girl was very emotional and spoke incoherently. Sometimes she said that she was very regretful, sometimes she said that she deserved to die, and sometimes she showed that she wanted revenge. From my observation, she was by no means desperate and ready to die, but she didn't know what the meaning of living was. A girl who was told that she would have everything since she was sensible, but she ruined her future with her own hands. Tsk tsk tsk tsk, the prince who had been a prince for seventy years finally got crowned king, why are you so anxious when you have been a prince for more than ten years?

"I don't understand the culture and beliefs of the Reach people, and I am not qualified to judge your sins, but I know someone who may be able to help you. He lives in the town of Helgen and is a priest of Mara, the Holy Spirit of Love. His name is Yilandul."

Ilandul once betrayed his beliefs. I don’t know how he got over it, but perhaps he can enlighten Helgi and help her find the goal in life. The little girl still has a long way to go in the future.

We had nothing else to do, so we sat by the campfire, drinking tea and chatting. I was very curious about the living conditions of the Forsworn. The Nords were prejudiced against them, always calling them uncivilized barbarians, and didn't bother to understand their beliefs and customs. This stereotype made no sense at all. The Nords' own beliefs had been severely eroded by the Empire's religion, while the Reachmen's beliefs had been passed down for thousands of years. How could they be just barbarians?

On the continent of Tamriel, except for the Argonians, the creation legends of various races are actually very similar. However, I heard a completely different myth from Helgi.

According to her, the powerful Raven God created this world and turned into the sun. The sun shines on all things, bringing life and magic. However, the Raven God found that his power was too strong and the creatures could not bear it, so he disappeared every half a day and sent his two sons to guard the world. These are the twin moons in the night sky. These two sons and the Raven God gave birth to countless children, which are the stars in the sky. Therefore, the Reach people respect their mothers and do not reject the union between close relatives. They even regard the children born by close relatives as children blessed by God. Whenever a meteor crosses the sky, it is a sign that the children of the Raven God will appear in the world. A powerful hero will rise among the Reach people to save the people from danger. The most famous among them is the Red Eagle, the king who unified Reach in the First Era.

According to this legend, the Raven God should be a female, but there is also a story among the Reach people that the Raven God descended to the world, favored his favorite witch, and gave birth to a demigod. Therefore, many Reach scholars believe that the Raven God's gender is fluid, and he can transform into different forms according to needs and switch between male and female freely.

These matters concerning gods and ghosts are often absurd and bizarre, but "people of faith" do not allow others to question them. They can only make far-fetched assumptions on the premise that they are true, and come up with many schizophrenic answers, which they are proud of. Some of them can even become popular studies, supporting a large group of giant termites who do nothing but recite scriptures.

What is even more interesting is that since we live in the same world as the Reachmen, two completely different creation myths cannot both be true, and at least one of them must be false. I am currently inclined to believe that neither version is true. After all, Ilandur also said that gods may need to draw strength from the faith of mortals, so it is normal for gods to make up stories to deceive people for power. I have seen too many cases in my previous life where humans took fabricated stories as reliable history. However, if the creation legend is false, what about the destruction legend?

In Rich culture, women are superior to men. They believe that women have excellent qualities such as agility, wisdom, tenacity, and calmness, and are the source of life. On the other hand, men are either stupid, impulsive, or both. They like new things and hate old things, and they are fickle. For complex or long-term plans, men neither have enough wisdom to participate in the formulation, nor enough ability to execute independently, nor the courage and perseverance to stick to the end, so they can only perform auxiliary or administrative work. In short, they are inferior to women and should accept women's education and leadership.

Helgi was no longer sleepy when it came to this. She gnashed her teeth and denounced the inferiority and meanness of men. After scolding for more than ten minutes, she realized that her audience was just the kind of people who were "either stupid, impulsive, or both". The scene was very embarrassing. I didn't care. The idea of ​​male superiority and female inferiority was equally absurd. It was regarded as a guiding principle by countless people for thousands of years, and even derived various absurd arguments.

Seeing that I was not angry at all, the little girl calmly changed the subject and talked about the details of the life of the Reach people. Girls generally receive writing, poetry, etiquette and basic magic education from an early age, while boys are basically left to fend for themselves before the age of eight. Both men and women begin to receive combat training at the age of eight, and boys begin to learn etiquette at this time and are taught to respect and obey women. The Reach people make a living by fishing and hunting between the mountains on both sides of the Cass River. Drawing a bow and arrow is their signature skill, almost as much of a survival instinct as eating and sleeping.

Since only girls can read, all the Reach wizards are women, and they are both magic and martial arts practitioners. Their combat power is amazing, and the number of women often directly determines the strength and potential of the tribe. When the female leader feels that the end is approaching, she will carefully select the three or four most talented young women in the tribe, perform secret arts to obtain the blessing of the Raven God, and the best among them will be transformed into a Black Wing Witch, and the Raven God will choose another person as a sacrifice. The wizard who is transformed into a Black Wing Witch will awaken the power of the Raven God, and his understanding and control of magic will reach an incredible height.

Traditionally, the matriarch of a tribe must be a Black Wing Witch, and only the matriarch can have intercourse with a man and give birth to children. In order to avoid power struggles, a tribe rarely has two Black Wing Witches at the same time. Ambitious and powerful women can also go out and establish their own tribes. Their matriarchs sometimes provide support and even grant secrets. However, few people would challenge the matriarch like Zoltan did, because the magic ability of ordinary people is too far behind that of the Black Wing Witch, and there is no possibility of winning.

"His behavior also proves the reckless and impulsive character weaknesses of men." Helgi couldn't help but give his ex-boyfriend another thumbs up.

“But he succeeded.”

The little girl rolled her eyes at me and curled her lips.

The Reachmen live in tribes scattered across western Skyrim and eastern High Rock. The tribes are not subordinate to each other, and some are even hostile to each other. In most cases, they do not have a common king, but powerful tribes often have a certain influence on the surrounding small tribes, thus forming a tribal alliance with a certain tribe as the core. This alliance is actually very loose. Once the strength of a large tribe declines, or its actions seriously affect the interests of small tribes, the small tribes will choose to rebel or withdraw from the alliance.

This fragmented situation has led to a complex result. The Rich people have lived in this vast land for thousands of years, and inevitably have been influenced by other cultures. In the absence of an absolute authority to unify the thoughts, the cultures of the Rich tribes vary greatly.

For example, the tribes in the north are often more deeply influenced by the Nordic and Imperial cultures, which is reflected in the higher status of men and relatively more equality between men and women. The representative figure is the "Tattered King" Maidnach, who is the leader of the Drueadach tribe, a literate Reach man, and a very powerful wizard. His tribe does not have Blackwing Witch, but it is known as the three major tribes in the north along with the Deepwood Tribe and the Broken Tower Tribe. He once captured the city of Markarth and was crowned king.

The southern tribes are relatively more traditional, such as the Dead Child Tribe and the Snake Cliff Ridge Tribe, both of which are led by the Black Wing Witch as the matriarch. Of course, they are unwilling to accept the leadership of a lowly man like Maidenach, and chose to stand aside when Ulfric attacked Markarth. After all, the pagans and heretics are fighting, which is a great joy! It's really speechless! Don't these people understand the principle of the lips and teeth being cold? In the face of a powerful enemy, they can't seek common ground while reserving differences and unite against the outside world. Such a group is simply a fool waiting to be slaughtered!

"My teacher once taught me that brothers quarrel within the walls, but we should defend ourselves from external aggression. Every tribe has its own responsibility for the difficult situation of the Reachmen. Unless you unite, the end of your country and race will be imminent."

Helgi didn't comment on my comments. She was still too young, and these complex political struggles were beyond her understanding. She also probably didn't believe that the tribal culture that had been passed down for thousands of years would be wiped out one day.

"By the way, don't eat human flesh anymore."

"Why? It's delicious."

“Because I’ll become crazy.”

"I do not believe."

"It's up to you then. I guess in a tribe that likes to eat human flesh, there will always be people who suddenly go insane, talk nonsense, and finally lose control of their emotions and laugh crazily, right? These people will die within a year, right?"

Helgi stopped talking. I couldn't explain clearly what prions were, and she might not understand even if I explained them, but now that things have come to this, if she insists on seeking death, then she deserves it.

“Can I eat rabbit?”

"can."

"Sir Knight, please summon the wolves and let's go catch rabbits. I don't want to eat bread anymore."

This little greedy ghost...