Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

Bryce squatted on the chair without any image, carefully poking the broth with the fork in his right hand, picking up juicy pieces of meat and vegetables, and putting them into his mouth along with the candied fruit feast in his left hand.

"How long have you been hungry?"

Bryce waved her hand, signaling me not to disturb her from enjoying the food. She drank the broth and wiped the bowl carefully with half a piece of bread, then she fell into the chair with her belly bulging, staring at the sweet roll on the table in a daze. Half a minute later, she struggled to stand up and reached for the sweet roll, but the action was finally interrupted by a burp.

"It's so delicious! I've wanted to eat it for a long time, but Crybaby couldn't get enough money."

"Don't rob him of his money again."

"Why? We are good friends, we should share happiness! Besides, if he was willing to kiss me, I wouldn't chase him and beat him like this."

Lady, do you think this is a martial arts competition to find a husband? It's easy for such a tiger to not get married.

"Don't your parents care if you keep fighting like this?"

In my impression, the Amulens are well-educated people. I don’t know why they raised such a little devil.

"They... My mother reads books even when she's cooking, as if those books are her own and I'm just something she bought from the market. As for my father, he wakes up every morning and quarrels with my mother, then goes to the guards all day, comes back at night and quarrels again, and then goes to sleep."

"Do they quarrel every day?"

"More or less. If Dad is tired, he might just go to sleep, and then there won't be any noise. Mom always spends money on books, but Dad wants to save all the money and hire someone to go with him to find the family sword. In fact, if Dad is willing to take me, he doesn't need to hire anyone, but he always says that girls shouldn't learn martial arts. But the person he wants to hire is a woman. Her name is Janlasa, and she has dark skin like me. Just because she has pointy ears, can she dance with a sword?"

"I don't think girls can't learn martial arts. I know a very powerful woman. She is a Red Guard like you. I don't think I am her match."

Bryce was very satisfied with my answer, and complained angrily that Amulen was unfair to her. After learning my identity, she asked to be my squire. I refused on the grounds that I already had a squire, but promised to introduce Stein to her. After gaining the trust of the little devil, it became much easier to get the question. This little girl is indeed very familiar with the civilians of Whiterun. In addition to introducing everyone's views on the civil war and dragons, she also provided a very interesting news.

Generally speaking, the residents of Whiterun are not too worried about their safety. You should know that the cause of the Skyrim Civil War was that the Empire betrayed its agreement with Ulfric and banned the belief in Talos in Markarth, but the Whiterun, which is also in the Empire camp, has always maintained its worship of Talos, and General Tullius turned a blind eye to such behavior and did not even show too much dissatisfaction, let alone simply and rudely arresting Balgruuf like he did to Ulfric in the Markarth incident.

In the eyes of the residents of Whiterun, this is undoubtedly a clear proof that Lord Balgruuf's status is higher than Ulfric. They generally believe that given the prestige and strength of their lord, neither the Empire nor the Stormcloaks will easily declare war on him, so they are living in a safe and wealthy city. The civil war did cause a certain degree of supply difficulties, but Whiterun, which has the largest group of farms in Skyrim, is not to the point of having no food to eat. Most of the civilians in the city seem to be unaware of what happened in Loristed Town. At most, they have only heard that this remote town in the west of the territory has encountered a food crisis, but it has been properly resolved by the Companions.

The news of the dragon's appearance did cause panic, but the guards of Whiterun successfully killed Mir Menil, pushing Balgruuf's reputation to a new height. The dragon's body was transported back to Whiterun and displayed under the golden tree in the wind for a week before it was dismembered and sent to Dragonsreach for study by the court wizard Farengar. After that, a rumor began to spread quietly: the dragon-slaying hero "One-Eye" Olaf was once the Supreme King of Skyrim, so his direct descendant, "The Great" Balgruuf, who also killed the dragon, should naturally become the Supreme King.

The source of this rumor is unknown. The Nords are actually very superstitious and like to make up those unrelated coincidences. I can't judge the reason for it, whether the civilians really think Balgruuf is a great ruler, or Dragonsreach deliberately released it to test public opinion. But according to Bryce, not only the peddlers in the city say this, but even Amulen and the guards also have many people who support this statement. Objectively speaking, the public opinion is already in a favorable situation.

Theoretically, the High King of Skyrim is not a hereditary title, but is elected by the Lords' Council, and the Lords of the nine territories also have voting rights. This is actually a remnant of tribal culture. In the early days, the Nords were in a dangerous environment surrounded by powerful enemies, and they needed a strong and powerful king as a commander. They were not willing to accept a weak or young person as a leader. But by the Fourth Age, these had long become a formality. The Lords rarely attended the meeting in person, and the Lords' Council would not naively think that they could decide who would own the throne.

However, this form of election was retained, and Torygg was crowned king only after being recognized by the parliament. This is why Ulfric has not been able to call himself the High King until now: although he defeated Torygg through the challenge, he did not get the majority vote of the Lords' Council. And Elisif also faces the same problem. She can only be regent as the Lord of Solitude and the widow of the former High King, but she cannot usurp the title of king. Not to mention that nearly half of the lords are against her, even in the court of Solitude, there are many people who are dissatisfied.

Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that Balgruuf has some thoughts. After all, a man born in heaven and earth cannot be depressed and live under others for a long time? However, Ulfric and Elisif have their own supporters, and he is weak alone. However, now there is a ready-made ally in front of him. If Balgruuf really wants to fight for the throne of the Supreme King, I don't mind helping him. Anyway, we have fallen out with the Empire. It is better to be a minister than to fight the pressure from Tullius alone.

Bryce and I talked for nearly two hours at the Mare Banner, and she finally didn't let go of the sweet roll, and as soon as she regained her mobility, she urged me to take her to Stein.

The atmosphere in Yuevaska was a little off. I couldn't find my followers among the people training on the playground. Bryce looked at me with suspicion. What made my back colder was that Donna was missing! I didn't know the people in the comrades' group very well. I walked around for a long time before I found Tilma. She immediately led me to a small room and asked me to wait.

Something must have happened, but what could it be? Although the Companions sent a team to hunt the dragon, the Wilkas brothers and Krako were both there, and there was no sign of fighting in Yuevaska. The missing people were two people related to me. Was this aimed at me? Who was so bold as to attack the family of the Knight of Falkreath who was under the protection of the Companions?

Bryce was sent away. I need to calm down and think about who I have offended in Whiterun. Silver Hand? It seems unlikely. This organization is still hiding in the dark. I have no contact with them, so it is hard to say whether I have offended them or not. War Crazy Family? Although they support joining the Empire, they are not the ones who decide the policies of Whiterun. It would be of no benefit for them to plot against me. The only friction was with the two guards, but the misunderstanding was resolved at that time. Could it be Sidgeir again? How dare this guy cause trouble in Whiterun? Such a rash action is likely to make Lord Balgruuf misjudge us.

Tilma didn't tell me who I was waiting for, which made me restless, fearing that Donna had met with an irreparable disaster. Just as I was wandering around, the door suddenly opened and almost hit me. A tall old man with white hair and beard came in. There were obvious age spots on his face with ravines and gullies. His dark skin showed that he had lived in the hot southern part of the continent for a long time when he was young. I met this old man once before. He was Vignar, the head of the Gray Mane family. When I first came to Whiterun, he was in Dragon's Reach Palace.

"Your mother is now being escorted to Falkreath by your retainers. You can rest assured."

Vigna didn't beat around the bush and gave me the answer directly.

"The Lord heard that your mother was staying at the Companions, so he planned to send someone to take her to Longxiao Palace to stay for a few days, probably to prepare a banquet for you tomorrow. Your mother is an old woman who is used to a quiet life and doesn't like such noisy and lively scenes, so I... uh... after hearing the news, I arranged for your entourage to accompany her away."

Balgruuf would come to capture Donna, this was my negligence. I had such a big weakness under his nose, but I was still in the mood to wander around for a whole day. If it weren't for old Vigna's well-informed information, I might have been controlled by him. It's not that Balgruuf would definitely do something dirty, but having a hostage in hand gives me a psychological advantage during the negotiation, at least it can be regarded as a considerable bargaining chip.

"So, I owe the Graymane a favor."

Vignar is also an old and intelligent person. In the game, he always looks harmless, but if the Stormcloaks conquer Whiterun, he will immediately lead his men to replace Balgruuf as the lord. Such a deep-minded person is definitely not helping others. He must have his own plans and arrangements, and winning me over may be one of them.

"The Gray Mane family would not plot against their friends, but you do owe the War Mad family a favor."

"War maniac?"