Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

Moira poked Eric's chest with her huge hooked nose, stretched out her long claws to tease his chin, and stared into his eyes with her dark eyes. The crow hag laughed twice, the laughter was hoarse and unpleasant, just like her face, wrinkled and dry, indifferent and ruthless, neither joy nor ridicule could be heard. Eric and I couldn't judge her intentions, so we just stood there stupidly.

"So, you still want to go back on your word, right? You want to give the black feather to Esmerelda, that filthy bitch! Do you think I'll let you do that?"

The feathers on Moira's arms stood up one by one, and her whole body was full of momentum. Eric couldn't even open his mouth under her pressure, and could only shake his head desperately to deny it. I didn't know what to say, so I just stared at her with all my attention, ready to throw the fire element in front of her at any time.

"Dear Lady Black Wing Witch, may I ask who this vile Esmerelda is?"

I don't know when Helgi came into the yard. Seeing that we were stunned, he quickly asked.

"Ask him!"

Moira snorted coldly, and her claws gently scratched Eric's cheek, leaving a white mark, and then stopped at his chest and tapped twice. Then she turned to Helgi and gently stroked her shoulder.

"My dear, you don't have to be so polite with me. These rules are for useless men. Just call me aunt."

Helgi called out "Aunt Moira" crisply, which caused the crow witch to laugh with satisfaction. For a moment, everyone stared at Eric, waiting for his answer. But he scratched his head, humming and ahing for a while, indicating that he didn't remember this person. I was so angry that I really wanted to beat him up. Moira turned her head and glanced coldly, and the atmosphere that had just relaxed became tense again. Barbas' eyes were full of vigilance, and he walked in front of us without making a sound. Helgi had no choice but to act cute again, holding Moira's arm and begging her to tell me about this Esmerelda. She was like a little palace maid supporting the old Buddha in the Qing palace drama in her previous life, holding the crow witch's big paw, and she didn't forget to secretly wink and signal us to follow.

The wooden house was dirty and messy, with fallen feathers and dried blood all over the floor, as well as tableware and food piled everywhere. Moira led Helgi to sit on the bed, Annis sat on her other side, and the other four witches sat upright on small stools facing the bed. It seemed that this was how they usually listened to Moira's magic. As for the two "useless men", they were naturally not qualified to sit down, and were even told to stand in the dark corner by the door so as not to block the light in the room.

Moira did not reveal Esmerelda's identity directly, but first talked about the traditional customs of the Reach people. Just like what Helgi told me, the traditional Reach tribe respects women. When the flame of life is about to go out, the female leader will select the two to four most talented women in the tribe and sacrifice them to the Raven God through secret magic. Among them, the most favored one can awaken the power of the Raven God and become a black-winged witch, and then become the new female leader, and one or two of the remaining sacrifices will be enjoyed by the Raven God.

Considering that Rich is a poor and remote place with many tigers and wolves, the tribe leader should be young and strong, that is, between the ages of 26 and 41. If they are too young, they will inevitably lack experience and be unable to take on the responsibility. If they are too old, they will be old and weak, stubborn and tired. Moreover, the female leader is responsible for the reproduction of the tribe. However, if some female leaders accidentally stay on standby for too long, causing the children to wait for decades and still not be able to take up their posts, it is inevitable that internal conflicts will arise. For example, in the previous Sheyaling tribe, it was because capable adult women coveted the position of heir, which eventually led to internal strife, the female leader died, and the tribe was seriously injured.

So what are some smarter ways to do it? Some female leaders who are still in their prime will support capable girls in the tribe to go out and explore. If these women can make a name for themselves, they can establish their own tribe. The newly born tribe often maintains a close relationship with their mother tribe. This has become an effective way for many powerful tribes to further strengthen themselves. Of course, most of these women who go out to explore the world will inevitably disappear in the wilderness. There are only a few who succeed, but there are always people who follow. On the one hand, it is because of the survivor bias. Those who succeed by chance will play a huge demonstration role and inspire those who come later; on the other hand, it is because if they stay, they may become snacks for the Crow God. In comparison, going out to explore is a better choice.

Originally, these things were the daily routine of the two Reach territories, that is, they happened in the mountains and hills in the west of Skyrim and the east of High Rock. However, the world war thirty years ago opened new doors for every race on this continent, and a series of things that were unbelievable to the traditional Reach people followed one after another.

The ruler of Reachland and even Skyrim and High Rock, the once powerful empire, collapsed under the attack of the Aldmeri. Reachland has ushered in the best opportunity for independence in four eras, but it was a man who really led his tribe to achieve independence! Although his tribe soon fell under the crazy counterattack of the Nords while other Reach tribes stood by, their achievements in capturing Markarth and luring the Nord lord to death cannot be erased. In order to retaliate, the Nords launched a wave of sweeping the Reach territory they controlled, forcing the Reach people to abandon their traditional culture and beliefs. I am too familiar with this. As a history enthusiast in my previous life, I often saw these four words. How many desperate and heartbreaking stories are condensed in it, it will never be clear.

Although the Reachmen are conservative, they are not stupid. Many tribal leaders are reflecting on why the Nords can set foot on our land, massacre our people, destroy our culture, and trample on our beliefs? Why can't the reverse be true? Why can't the Reachmen expand their power to the Nords' territory and give the Nords a round of reverse output?

Moreover, the living environment in the Reach has deteriorated extremely. The Reachmen who are loyal to the Mednarch believe that other tribes have betrayed their cause of independence. The historical grievances between the tribes have resurfaced, leading to the Reachmen starting to kill each other again. Coupled with the Nord lords in Markarth and the remnants of the Stormcloaks, as well as the few but highly disruptive Thalmor members, the entire northwest of Skyrim is even worse than the northwest of Shanxi, and it has become a pot of porridge. Instead of madly rolling inward in such a dangerous situation, why not go to a wider world to make great achievements?

The combined effect of subjective motivation and objective conditions has led to a generation of Rich women in the past twenty years to leave the mountains and go to the east to seek opportunities. Of course, similar to their predecessors, most of them have disappeared without a trace. The first problem faced by the Rich people who left their homeland was how to survive. Their original fishing and hunting experience could still be put to use in the south of Skyrim Province, but if they entered the bitter cold land in the north, they would have to learn how to eat from scratch. Facing people of different cultures, how to communicate and gain each other's trust is also a big problem. The previous organization form of the Rich people, which formed tribes and lived by hunting, was also difficult to adapt to the new environment. However, these people can indeed be regarded as the first group of Rich people to open their eyes to the world. After countless people's exploration and practice, they really found a feasible way. Once the pattern is opened, the world will be wide open in an instant.

Although the Nords, who now make up the majority of the population of Skyrim, despise magic, this does not mean that there are no good seedlings among the Nords to learn magic. In fact, many famous great magicians emerged among the ancient Nords, such as Shalidor, Galdor and Gelmund. It can be seen that the Nords are not without magical talent, but a problem of cultural tradition. It is this cultural atmosphere that causes Nord children with magical talent to be despised and bullied. However, magic is what the Reach people are good at, and many Reach people enter the territory of the Nords as wizards. Some of them live in seclusion, away from the hustle and bustle; some open a sect and establish their own wizard group; some get into the ivory tower and become a member of the School of Mages; it is said that some become court advisers to lords or barons. But in Moira's eyes, these people have undoubtedly betrayed their own nation and beliefs, and have been assimilated by their old enemy, the Nords, and have become soulless bodies, no different from the walking dead.

Only those with the strongest faith can remember their mission of going far away from home, can not forget the blood, tears and hatred of their people, and can stick to their original intentions. Why did the Reachmen leave their homeland? To fight back against their enemies! To continue their faith! Not to mix in with the Nords, like a clown performing acrobatics, to gain popularity and exchange for a mouthful of beggarly food. But there are too few people who can not succumb to their livelihoods, and Moira is one of them. She and Esmerelda may be the only two Reachmen who transformed into black-winged witches after leaving their homeland, but the two have different ideas. Through studying Reach culture, Esmerelda believes that the Raven God created the whole world and did not clearly point out that only the Reachmen are His only people, so there should be no distinction between races, only beliefs, and inclusiveness. Her witch group includes not only the Reachmen who are stranded outside, but also Nords and Imperials. She also actively contacts other powerful female wizards, grants them secrets, and encourages them to find sacrifices and transform into black-winged witches.

In Moira's eyes, this behavior is heresy, and those who hold this view are more hateful than the pagan Nords! How can a Blackwing witch not be a Reachman! Moira is only willing to take in Reachman, and at most can barely accept one or two Bretons. In her eyes, other races are closer to pigs and should be classified as food, so the scale of her witch group is much smaller than that of Esmerelda. In the small circle of mages, the two are the most famous mentors in southern Skyrim. They have been fighting openly and secretly for many years and dislike each other.

"That bitch gathered a bunch of filthy people at Orphan Rock, and she thought she was great. God of Crows, it wasn't until more than a month ago that I finally had the chance to let her know how incompetent she was. A powerful demon god appeared and summoned Esmerelda and me to a secret place with great power. The demon god gave the man a black feather and asked him to choose between the two of us. He would give the black feather and himself to the more attractive one. Although I am no longer a little girl, I know I will win. Although the man is stupid, he is not blind, and he did make the right choice. But that bitch Esmerelda must have cheated!"