Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

The White River made a hairpin turn east of Waltham Tower and turned south. After bypassing the high mountains of Broken Cradle Ridge, it joined the Blackwater River in the south and then turned north, entering the wide and gentle downstream near the Hydration Mill. This section of the road is not far in a straight line, but it is a small road built along the mountain. It is tortuous and rugged for ten miles and flat for half a mile. In addition, the waterfall stirs up water mist all over the sky, soaking the rocks underfoot very slippery, making it even more difficult to walk. The sound of the surging water is as deafening as thunder. Even if you are one meter apart, you have to shout to make the other person hear you. Although the scenery here is magnificent, it is really not suitable to stay for a long time. The four people supported each other and went down the mountain carefully. It took less than half a day to walk less than ten miles.

It was getting dark, and we were going to spend the night by the river. Eric was in charge of setting up camp, Annis was making a fire and boiling water, and Helgi and I went to the river to try to fish. It was the beginning of the first month of the Morning Star, which was January. According to the calendar of my previous life, it was almost the Minor Cold. The weather in Tianji was extremely cold, but because it was close to the waterfall and the water was turbulent, the White River was not frozen here. I was looking for a suitable branch to make a fishing rod, and I didn't have time to think about the fishing line, hook and bait. Helgi was collecting large stones on the shore and throwing them into the river.

"You're scaring the fish away."

"Brother, don't just stand there and watch. Help me find some rocks. I want to build a dam here so that the little fish can't get out after swimming in."

Helgi pointed with his hand to a shallow section of the river near the bank.

"And then? It's so cold, you don't want to go fishing in the water, do you?"

"We don't need to go into the water, the fish will float up by themselves."

In my experience, sometimes Helgi would say some nonsense that sounded irrelevant, but this girl was not crazy, she just expressed it in a strange way. The Reach people lived on both sides of the Cass River, and I think they were good at fishing. Considering that she had summoned stoats to catch rabbits and summoned crows during the day, I think it would not be too outrageous if she summoned an osprey or an otter.

It was dark when the dam was built. I lit the magic light on the water to attract fish, while Helgi squatted on the shore and counted the unlucky fish that got into the trap. Finally, she stood up, solemnly pulled her clothes, got into a horse stance, made finger gestures with both hands, and muttered something, and two lavender balls of light slowly condensed.

Tsk tsk tsk, this is a two-handed spell. According to the game settings, it consumes more magic to get a stronger spell effect. However, for summoning magic, this trick is useless. It can only slightly increase the duration of the summoned creature, but cannot increase the strength of the summoned creature itself. And increasing the duration of the summon is not very meaningful. After the summoned creature disappears, you can just cast a spell to summon a new one. I suspect this girl is just showing off her skills in front of me, because she and I both practice magic and archery. How do you say that? It's all thanks to your peers!

I was also happy to watch her performance with my arms crossed. I have always felt a great sense of accomplishment in being able to guide Helgi away from the bloody culture of the Reachmen. In my opinion, she is like my daughter. I teach her the truth of life, accompany her growth, and lead her on a bright path. In a sense, I can really be regarded as a rebirth for her. The former Oathbreaker Helgi is dead, died in the bloody dungeon of the Sun Garden Fortress. Now the innocent and lovely girl in front of me deserves a bright future.

The girl lowered her shoulders and raised her chest, her body blossoming like a lotus. The erotic scene lasted only a second or two. With a delicate cry, she folded her arms in front of her chest, and the light ball in her palm glowed purple. The strange summoned creature I expected did not appear, but instead a silver streak as thick as my forearm shot into the river with a sizzling sound.

That's lightning magic! This girl actually electrocuted fish!

I never thought that such an entry-level destruction spell could have such a terrifying power. Maybe it was because I was standing too close to Helgi. Anyway, I was so scared that I didn't know how many times Helgi kicked me before I reacted. While grilling fish, this girl proudly exaggerated the whole story and told it in detail, and then she and Eric laughed at me to their heart's content. On the contrary, old aunt Annis had a blank expression from beginning to end, and even scolded Helgi at the end, reminding her not to be proud and complacent, and not to enjoy scaring a humble and incompetent man, which saved me.

After entering the Eastland, the road became much easier to walk on. This area is very similar to the environment of Annis's retreat, with dense forests growing between the mountains and rivers. If it were peaceful, the wood here could supply the Eastland, Whiterun and Riften, but now it is completely deserted. The owner of the Hydration Mill, Ji Fulei, is a middle-aged Nord woman with a lingering charm. Her workers were all conscripted by the lord and could only barely make a living. Eric and I proposed to borrow her sawmill, build a simple raft to cross the river, and then leave the raft as a reward.

Logging is much harder than it looks. Our raft must be able to bear the weight of a heavily armored warrior, so we need enough wood to provide buoyancy. This took us a whole day, and finally the raft was able to enter the water. Eric led the way, Annis, Helgi and Barbas were in the second group, and Giffrey and I were the last to cross the river. The miller then paddled the raft back to the other side. On the 5th of Morning Star, on the sixth day after leaving Helgen Town, we finally set foot on the Sangushan Highlands, which were full of hot springs.

This highland is centered on the crater Scattered Bone Ridge. It may be influenced by the Morrowind volcano east of the Velodi Mountains. It is the only place in Skyrim where underground magma is extremely active. The frequent activity of magma has created a large number of hot springs and geothermal fissures, making it the warmest area in Skyrim. Even in the coldest winter, the water temperature of the hot springs will not be lower than 35 degrees. It can be said that such a place in such a bitter cold land can be called a gift from nature to mankind.

After we crossed the river, we climbed up a gentle slope. The ground was covered with mosses and red vines of various colors, like a thick carpet covered with brocade. A layer of light white steam covered it, like smoke and fog, and the white snow on the top of the distant mountain made people feel like they were in a fairyland. Annis seemed to be very familiar with this area. She was the weakest one in the group and suffered a lot along the way. At this moment, she took the initiative to take us to the hot springs.

After nearly a week of painful trekking, nothing can soothe the body and mind better than soaking in a hot spring. The turquoise water washes away the dirt on the skin and the cold in the body, and even the troubles in the mind evaporate and dissipate. Eric and I soaked in the spring water side by side and talked about the past. I searched in Locke's memory while responding. Speaking of this hot spring area in Eastland, Locke is not unfamiliar. He and Ulfric were captured together a few months ago, near the Blackwater Crossroads in the south. Uncle Sunil once took Locke to sell horses in the border area between Riften and Eastland. He had customers in the North Wind Mine, Mist Watch Fortress, Blackwater Crossroads, and even Nilheim.

When the topic came to Sunil, Eric and I were silent for a while. Everyone knows that the dead are gone, but how can we let go of those little things in the past? Even though I am not Rocker himself, I still feel uncomfortable. It is probably the instinctive reaction of this body. After calming down, I was about to find some topics to break the awkward silence, but I saw Eric leaning his head back on the edge of the pool, sleeping soundly with his mouth open. Good guy, next to the residence of his crow witch fiancee, he can still sleep, isn't he too bold?

Without Eric to chat, I soon fell into sleepiness. I didn't know how long I was drowsy, but suddenly I felt someone splashing water on my face, and I woke up. Annis's face was cold, as if the water vapor of the hot spring had condensed into dewdrops around him. Helgi's eyes were dodging, with a guilty look on his face. The two of them had already dressed up, and Babas was like a real well-behaved pet, following Helgi's feet, staring at us with his black eyes with a playful look. There were four other women in black surrounding the hot spring, firmly controlling the situation. The oldest was about the same age as Annis, and the youngest was only about twenty years old. They had taken away Eric and I's weapons and armor, leaving only ordinary clothes. Facing five well-trained mages, the two warriors who had lost their equipment could only put on their clothes obediently and follow them to a pine forest in the east.

Deep in the pine forest is Moira's Reachman-style cottage. A circle of wooden stakes surrounds a small courtyard. The heads of various creatures are pierced in an orderly manner. Broken internal organs and limbs are scattered in the courtyard. The smell of blood and decay mixed together and pierces the nose, making people sick. The crow hag opened her arms with huge claws and gently hugged Annis. Then she stroked Helgi's little head lovingly, looked her up and down, and praised her. Moira warmly introduced the two to her witch group. The ladies present greeted each other. The scene was no different from when ordinary people visited each other, but they completely left Eric and me in the open space outside the house.

Seeing that the sisters were chatting happily, Moira stepped out of the house with her huge bird claws. Due to the physiological changes caused by magic, the crow witch could no longer stand upright, which made her, who was not tall to begin with, look even shorter. Her head could only barely reach my chest.

"Dear Eric, you are finally back in my arms. I have been waiting for you, waiting for you to change your heart and complete your love for me."

I could feel Eric's nervousness. This Nordic man who was so cool and relaxed in front of Angie was twisting his hands nervously. I silently recited the spell to summon the fire element in my mind, because after the next line in the game, the Dragonborn would face the crazy output of a master-level destruction mage. Unlike the Dragonborn, Eric and I were unarmed. Babas, who was highly expected, lay down at Helgi's feet in a proper manner, lazily picking at the skull of a deer.

"Well...actually, I was wondering...can we...can we...break off the engagement?"