Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

"All I can do is get your mother and that young man out of the city. The only one who can get them out of Whiterun secretly and safely is Offred."

"But doesn't the War Mad Family have a feud with the Gray Mane Family? Why would they help you?"

The old man laughed, "I am very sure that Offred helped the knight Locker from Falkreath, not old Vignar from the Graymane family."

So I owed the two great families of Whiterun a favor all at once? I didn't believe Vignar's reason for making friends. Who would risk offending the lord for a stranger they had never spoken to? If the Graymane family helped me to make trouble for Balgruuf, then why did the Warbers family help me?

Vignar did not continue to dwell on this topic, but instead exchanged views with me on the current situation. According to him, the Greymane family did not mind whether Skyrim was independent or who held the throne of the High King, but as a descendant of the five hundred heroes of Ysgramor, he could not tolerate servility to the elves. Vignar did not have much affection for Ulfric and the Stormcloaks, but looking at the entire Skyrim, they were the only force to resist the Thalmor, and he had no choice at all!

In this way, the Graymane family and I have the same position. He said that he would support my alliance proposal at tomorrow's meeting, and would send his nephew Avustern to Falkreath secretly to serve as a liaison between the Graymane family and us to coordinate the relationship between us. Vignar said that he is willing to support all forces that are hostile to the Thalmor, so the Graymane family will not withdraw its members developed in the Stormcloaks. I understand this. Such big families have the habit of betting on many parties, and it is good to be able to gain a certain degree of support.

I was still worried about Donna's situation. After all, Stein was just a teenager and had no experience in being independent. But I couldn't leave the city to inquire about their situation at this time. I returned to the Mare Banner anxiously, but I found that Joe from the Zhan Kuang family was already waiting for me.

"Mrs. Donna will follow our convoy to Ximu Town. The Zhan Kuang family has business in the mine there, so there will be no danger on the road. We have also arranged two guards for the road from the coal mine to Helgen Town, so you can rest assured."

Joe came to me as a representative of the Zhan Kuang family. Offred didn't want to offend his friends in the Empire, so at tomorrow's meeting, the Zhan Kuang family would oppose my proposal, but he would arrange for the other two small families affiliated with Zhan Kuang to vote in favor. In addition, he also revealed that the Hanli family and the Pelagia family would join forces to oppose the alliance because they were worried about the pressure from the Imperial Legion, and they were also afraid that the grain from Falkreath would impact their market share.

"I heard that the Zhan Kuang family is also in the grain business. Aren't you worried about being affected?"

"The Zhan Kuang family does have a grain business, and is the largest grain merchant in Skyrim, but we are not the only one in the grain business. The family hopes to maintain friendship with Falkreath and also hopes to establish a good personal relationship with you."

To be fair, a small noble like me, who was born in the common people, originally had no qualifications to make friends with these two big families, but they found an opportunity to sell me favors. But I have no power and no money, why should they fawn on me like this? I guess this may be the reason why the two big families, Gray Mane and War Crazy, have been able to survive for thousands of years. They are very cautious in dealing with things. They will neither offend other forces at will nor bet all their chips on one side. In this regard, Offred of the War Crazy family seems to be better than Vignar of the Gray Mane family. This guy is ostensibly the agent of the Empire in Whiterun, but in fact he also works for other forces through channels such as the Thieves Guild. He is flexible and versatile.

"I think your Excellency will have other guests today, so I won't bother you."

Joe and I drank another glass of wine, and then stood up to say goodbye. I soon found out who the other guest he was talking about was. It was a muscular man with a thick black beard covering half of his face, but he looked to be about thirty years old. This man was Ulfberth Warbear, the city's blacksmith. The Warbear family itself was not even a second-rate family, but Ulfberth was the son-in-law of Proventus Avenci, the chief steward of Dragonsreach Palace, so no one would think he was an ordinary weapons dealer.

"The Lord Steward will remain neutral at tomorrow's meeting, but the War Bear Family will support your proposal. In exchange, we hope that the War Maiden Blacksmith Shop can receive orders from the Falkreath Court."

I was shocked by this guy's blatant pursuit of personal gain. Gray Mane and War Mania only vaguely expressed their willingness to establish friendship, but this gentleman directly asked for benefits. However, according to the information I know so far, three families, War Mania, Cold Plow and Pelagia, will vote against it, so the vote of the War Bear family is not dispensable. Together with the small family arranged by War Mania, the vote is temporarily leading by four to three. However, I don't know how many nobles there are in Whiterun. In fact, I didn't expect the court politics here to be so complicated, so I didn't do my homework well. Now I can only passively wait for others to come to me.

After seeing off two more guests, I was finally able to rest behind closed doors. One of them was a female warrior named Usgad, nicknamed the Unyielding. Her master was Baron Greymore, who owned farms and some other industries. It was said that he had also invested in mead land, and was considered a small noble with a certain influence. The baron's development in Whiterun had reached a bottleneck, and he hoped to further increase his wealth by investing in Falkreath, so he sent someone to test my opinion first.

Acolyte Janson came to visit on behalf of the temple priest Danica Jiechun. The priestess of Ginalais heard that I was from Falkreath, so she wanted to entrust me to go to Orphan Rock and take a dagger called Plant Scourge from the crow hag. I now know that this crow hag is actually a Reach witch named Esmerelda, and I am an old acquaintance of Moira, but I have not figured out how to deal with her. Orphan Rock is in a dangerous terrain. If we attack it by force, we will inevitably suffer losses. Falkreath can't afford to be tossed now, so it's better to play it safe.

The priests of the Holy Spirit are different from the monks in my impression. They are quite active in secular affairs, especially they are very disgusted with the behavior of the Thalmor and the Empire to ban the belief in Talos, because this is equivalent to the interference of secular power in theocracy, which is a serious infringement of the rights and interests of the priest class. And if you can ban the belief in Talos today, will it be Mara's turn tomorrow, and will it be Ginalais' turn the day after tomorrow? Once such a loophole is opened, there will be endless troubles. The belief in Talos is not impossible to ban, but it should be decided by the church to hold a bishop's meeting to deny the divinity of Talos from the perspective of doctrine, rather than by an administrative order issued by the emperor. However, the bishop of the Holy Spirit Temple in Solitude City has not been able to stand up and fight for the power that the church deserves, so Danica and Akai's priest Andurs are connecting the bishops and priests of various territories, hoping to put some pressure on the emperor.

This is a force I didn't expect. The two priests of Falkreath, Runeel and Ilandur, both acted like idlers. I don't know if they participated in Danica's connection. Or maybe because one of them is a deserter of the Thalmor and the other was a cult believer, they don't want to show up, so they choose to keep a low profile. The church has no presence in the game, I don't know if they can make some noise in the other world.

The next morning, I entered Dragonsreach under the escort of two guards. Lord Balgruuf sat in a solemn manner, and there were more than a dozen other nobles sitting in two rows in the hall. The people I could recognize included Balgruuf's younger brother, Holungar, the chiefs of Graymane and Warber, Caius, the garrison commander of Whiterun, the steward Proventus and his son-in-law Ulfberth, and the court wizard Farengar. As for the young boy sitting next to Holungar, I suspected that he was Lord Balgruuf's eldest son, Flotar.

The progress of the court meeting was within my expectations. First, I accused General Tullius and the Imperial Legion of condoning the werewolves to commit bloodshed and sending troops to burn down the city. Then I proposed an alliance between Falkreath and Whiterun. Lord Balgruuf then threw the topic to the nobles present and let them argue. Although these guys were calculating when they came to me privately yesterday, they were now loyal and wise, always thinking about Whiterun. As for Balgruuf's core staff, Holongar, Seneschal Proventus, Court Mage Farengar and Guard Irileth, these four people did not speak. I suspect they have reached a consensus with the lord.

In fact, the benefits of an alliance between Whiterun and us are obvious, and we have just won a great victory, exposing the lie that the Imperial Legion is full of martial virtues. No one really wants to offend such a neighbor. Of course, there are some people, such as the War Crazy Family and the Madden Lum Family, who have many ties with the Empire and are worried that the lord's foreign policy will harm their own interests, so they insist on opposing it. However, I made it clear that if Falkreath cannot win the support of Lord Balgruuf, it will definitely turn to the Stormcloaks and assist Ulfric in besieging Whiterun. Do these people believe that Tullius, who is seriously injured, will be able to send troops to protect them by then?

The group of people argued for most of the day, and Lord Balgruuf even provided a sumptuous working meal. The people who had just argued fiercely were now toasting each other, and the scene was full of joy. As expected, most of the nobles were in favor of the alliance, and Lord Balgruuf readily agreed, and proposed to meet with Danger at the Talos Altar, east of Creekwood Town and south of Pinewood Watchtower, in two weeks to discuss the details of the alliance and sign a formal covenant.

I heaved a sigh of relief. This time, I finally accomplished my mission and could go back to report with peace of mind. Just as I was about to leave, Balgruuf stopped me. The lord raised his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet, and then winked at his steward. Proventus took two steps forward, cleared his throat, and announced loudly:

"The Lord of Whiterun, the honorable Lord Balgruuf the Great, has decided to appoint you as the Baron of Whiterun in recognition of the outstanding contributions made by Rocker, a resident of Loristed Town, and to appoint Knight Lydia as Baron Rocker's attendant."

Accompanied by the clanking sound of armor, a tall and plump Nord woman came in front of me. She put her right hand on her chest, bent slightly to salute, and her short black hair brushed across her angular face.

"My Lord has appointed me as your squire. It is my honor to serve you."