Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

The negotiations between Moira and I lasted two days, with both sides fighting over their respective interests. Fortunately, we had always planned to form an alliance with the Reachmen. Danger had analyzed this topic in detail during the Bloodthrone, listing the possible points of disagreement and the minimum we could accept. Moira's preparations were much more hasty, so the topic of the negotiations was firmly under my control.

There is one problem that cannot be avoided in negotiations with the Reachmen, and that is money. The Reachmen living in the tribe make a living by fishing and hunting. They have no habit of using currency and rarely engage in trade activities. Even if they do, they adopt a very primitive barter method. After some tribes plunder villages or caravans and seize gold coins, they mostly use these shiny little things as decorations. Only those villages that have frequent exchanges with the Nords will use a small amount of currency to exchange for supplies such as ironware, food or medicine. The village where Cindy lived when she was a child had such a connection with the nearby Reachmen tribe. Who would have thought that the mutual assistance between neighbors in the poor mountains and bad waters would bring disaster to themselves?

The Snake Cliff Ridge tribe was relatively conservative. According to Helgi and Annis, they had never used Septim gold coins or other substitutes in the tribe. Moira had been out of the mountains for nearly twenty years, but she had been living in seclusion, leading a very simple life, and was not very good at trading. On the contrary, Annis had spent a lot of money to build enchantment tables and alchemy tables. She did not deny that the money came from an illegal source, but after that, the old aunt rarely interacted with people and did not repair the broken house.

People don’t need money on a regular basis, so naturally they don’t try to save money. So the first problem facing us is: What can Rich people use to trade with us?

Barter can only satisfy small transactions between individuals. We are talking about the food, clothing, housing and transportation of hundreds of people. We must come up with a transaction medium that both parties can accept. The solution I can think of is that the Snake Cliff Ridge tribe must have seized Baron Sengard's property. The Lords' Council of Falkreath has reached a consensus. Since both parties are willing to form an alliance, as a show of sincerity, we believe that no matter how much this wealth is worth, it no longer belongs to Baron Sengard. The Lords' Council will never support the Baron's pursuit. The Snake Cliff Ridge tribe has the right to use it to trade with us.

According to Danger's estimate, the amount of money must be no less than 500,000 Septim. Even a poor barony can provide at least 70,000 Septim in revenue every year. Moreover, the Sunny Gardens Fortress is located at a strategic point. The toll alone is likely to double Baron Cengard's income. His family did not occupy the fortress for long. Falkreath took advantage of the opportunity of the Reachman Maidenach's rebellion and independent nation to seize this place. At that time, the Reach was in chaos. The surrounding lords were encroaching on its land. Even Lord Igrod of Morthal, who seemed harmless, got involved. Danger's seizure of the Sunny Gardens Fortress from Balgruuf was probably one of the reasons why Whiterun refused to ally with us.

This money will become the key to open the trade between the two sides, but there is a small problem, that is, the money is currently stored in the Sunshine Garden Fortress, and Moira has not yet gained control of the fortress. So how to conquer this castle naturally becomes the next topic.

Our plan is to send a team of about 100 people to support Moira in capturing the fortress. She will pay a commission of 150 Septim for each soldier, and 300 Septim for each of the two officers. This price is actually lower than the market price. Generally, for such a life-threatening mission, the commission will not be less than 200 Septim. If the other party is a famous mercenary, the price will be more than 500 Septim. The members of the circle of the comrades can even ask for a four-digit price. However, since this is the first time for both parties to cooperate, Moira also said that she was not sure how much money she could get from the Snake Cliff Ridge Tribe, so I pretended to be embarrassed and half-heartedly accepted her bargaining.

Danger is going to select soldiers from the reorganized First and Second Legions. I guess it's because the Third Legion in Helgen was so popular before, and the old fox doesn't want to give his father a chance to further improve his reputation. The battle with the Imperial Army made some young people willing to stay in the army and continue to develop, and the largest expansion came from the Stormcloak general Torig the Sun-loving. His team has more than 50 people and is stationed in the mountains east of Helgen and south of Orphan Rock. It is a wedge inserted by Ulfric in Falkreath. After we defeated Lucius's army, the old man informed Torig that he could either surrender or leave. For some reason, this Stormcloak officer chose to lead his troops to surrender. He was sent to the Nugra Fortress, and his team was disbanded and incorporated into other legions. This greatly increased the size of Falkreath's army compared to before the werewolf incident.

According to Moira's intelligence, Lord Igmund was content to occupy the serpentine defense position and the town of Loristed, and showed no signs of advancing further south, but only began to send people to patrol the official road. Stella and Zoltan did not take the initiative to provoke the legion. The castle could not accommodate so many people, and at least half of the tribe members camped nearby. They also had the task of hunting to barely make a living. Moira contacted these people privately to get information.

How to conquer a castle guarded by more than 300 people with only 100 people is not my concern. The leader this time is likely to be Tager. Sunshine Garden Fortress is located on the top of a mountain near the official road. There are no large hunting grounds around it. There is also a small orc camp in the south. In addition, the recent tense situation in this area has caused caravans to take other routes. Therefore, the tribe’s supplies have been basically exhausted, and people’s hearts are floating. Maybe someone will turn against the tribe at the last minute.

What bothers Moira the most is the problem of food source. Strictly speaking, this should actually be considered two problems.

First of all, the capacity of Sunshine Garden Fortress is limited. It is more appropriate to maintain a garrison of about 50 people, and no more than 100 people at most. If more than 300 people gather together like now, once the supply is cut off, it will cause the tragedy of "cannibalism". Even without external pressure, the pressure on food supply will be great, and the living environment will be extremely deteriorated. But we are definitely not going to massacre all the Snake Cliff Ridge tribes, but to preserve the population as much as possible, so after Moira takes over, she will inevitably face the situation of too many people and nowhere to settle.

The next thing is the food acquisition channel. Small tribes can basically meet their survival needs through fishing and hunting, but medium and large tribes cannot rely entirely on this unstable method. Some of the more civilized Reach tribes in the north, such as the Drew Adachi tribe to which Mednach belongs, will do some simple farming. Although the efficiency is much lower than that of the Nords, it is a stable harvest after all. The tribes in the south tend to be conservative, and there is not much land suitable for farming in the Reach, so there are fewer large tribes in the southern Reach. It is said that the Snake Cliff Tribe is located at the junction of the Reach and the Whiterun, with a large plain to the east, and the conditions are relatively suitable for farming, but they still maintain a very traditional lifestyle. I don't know why.

The solution I propose is naturally aimed at two directions.

The first is to stabilize the food source. We will arrange for farmers to teach the Reachmen how to grow vegetables and food, help them cultivate the land near the Sun Garden Fortress, and hold a market every two months at the roadside ruins west of the Falkreath Watchtower. This place was once a small Nord village, but it was abandoned after the decline of Falkreath City, and was once occupied by tree spirits. When we were conspiring with Danger for a coup, we cleared this place for an ambush. The newly planned Greater Falkreath City will open a gate in this direction.

However, the arable land near Sunny Garden Fortress is very limited, and it is definitely not enough to supply all the needs of the tribe. Although the Rich people have start-up capital, they have no way to earn income. No matter how much money they have, there will always be a day when they will run out. By then, even if there is a market, the tribe will have no money to buy our goods.

This requires my second plan, which is to bring the Rich people to Falkreath to work.

Although Falkreath annihilated the Imperial Legion, it also suffered heavy losses. Now everything is in ruins and needs manpower to rebuild. We can provide many jobs to absorb the excess population that the fortress cannot accommodate. For example, the lumberyard needs manpower to cut down trees, the town needs to build a large number of houses, the Corpse Light Farm that is about to be relocated needs to reclaim land, and the quarry of the Blood Throne can also recruit miners. I also plan to set up a fishery at Lake Irinata, and fishing is one of the specialties of the Reachmen.

At the meeting of the Lords, Tagel and Danger were shocked to hear their father say that his Reachman Guard was going to expand, and the young people of the Snake Cliff Tribe could go to the vast land of Helgen Town to temper their willpower and improve their physical fitness, and also to reserve the necessary knowledge and skills for future resistance against invaders. A baron who would command half of the troops in the territory was about to be born in Falkreath, which was exciting to think about.

These people still belong to the Snake Cliff Ridge Tribe, and it is up to them to stay or go. The income they earn from working or joining the army is also at their own disposal, but the places where they can spend money are also in Falkreath. It is very likely that they earn money in Falkreath and spend it in Falkreath, and want to take it home after they leave. Through such economic activities, Falkreath can obtain labor, and the Snake Cliff Ridge Tribe can obtain income, which can in turn maintain trade with us, making both sides enter a positive cycle.

When I talked about this plan with Danger, the old fox's eyes lit up with excitement. We both knew that if this could be realized, it would not only reduce the population directly under Moira's jurisdiction and weaken her military strength. This Reachman tribe would be firmly tied to the chariot of Falkreath. When batches of Reachman who have seen the world and no longer reject Nord culture return to the tribe, they will further influence the tribe's decision-making, and eventually make the Snake Cliff Ridge tribe completely our vassal.

Of course, I can't tell Moira this. What I analyzed to the respected Black Wing Witch is that if I implement these two suggestions, the Snake Cliff Tribe can not only maintain its current size, but also expand to 600 people, or even thousands of people. You know, even if Falkreath is in a miserable state right now, its population is still over 6,000. The cities that can raise an army of more than 200 people have a population of no less than 20,000. Why is it difficult for the Reach Tribe to compete with the Nords? Population is one of the most important answers. It's not enough to have a small population, but it's also divided and fighting each other, so it will be defeated by the enemy one by one!

At the same time, the Reachman Guards in Helgen Town can also train an elite army for the tribe. The territory of the Reachman should be mountains and rivers. How can they be timid and live in the high walls? If they want to drive away the invaders, fight back to their hometown, avenge their dead relatives, and even one day establish an independent country again, they must have a team that dares to fight hard battles and can win. Only Falkreath can train such a team for the Reachman!