#TIMESKIP 3 WEEKS LATER#
#RAGNAR POV#
"This place is massive..." I say out loud, looking at the massive fortress of a city
Marika, Albedo, and I go forward in the carriage that we bought in Kynesgrove
Marika and I are inside the carriage while Albedo has the reins
I had this one bought due to the amount of stuff that we are bringing in to get some coin
Stuff like pelts, food, and even some materials and potions
Marika looks outside at the city
"This city still stands..." She comments, and I nod my head in agreement
Morthal is or was smaller than Whiterun by a lot
I can see why it was such an important position in the Civil War, which hadn't started yet. This means Istlod, Torygg's father, is still the High King who has ruled for 18 years. If my knowledge is correct, he dies in his 25th year of ruling. So, being generous, I have around 7 to 8 years before Alduin returns, if he hasn't already.
I shake my head at those thoughts
Fuck metaknowledge...
I can't rely on stuff like that so heavily...maybe help me draw comparisons and stuff, but saying that I have 7 to 8 years before Alduin returns is too much to hope for
Especially since I plan on changing things, and I won't whine like a petulant child for things changing and my metaknowledge going down the drain...
Turning my attention back to Whiterun, the golden fields of wheat draw my attention
Whiterun has crop fields miles long, and I can only guess that they have a lot of food stored for emergencies, which seems very likely
Weird to think about a palace meant to restrain a dragon led to all this
"Master..." Marika says
"Yes?"
"After we are done here...where are we going next?" She asks me
"When we are done, we are returning to Myrwatch for a while to summon our spirit animal familiars before heading to Winterhold. We will focus on our magical studies and start researching everything we can..." I answer her before my attention goes away, as our carriage comes to a stop, and I finally notice the tents on the side of Whiterun
A lot of them
I look at their state and instantly figure out what is going on...
"Refugees..." I say out loud with a frown
"There have to be hundreds of them here..." I note as I look at their states and turn to Marika
"Master...remember that while Morthal may have been small compared to Whiterun, it had many, many towns of decent size...it is a real possibility that perhaps the dragon has been attacking them as well," She says as she looks outside
"Many of them are injured...and there are not a lot of men around...the ones that are there still look rather young," She says and I turn to look on
She is right
Most of the refugees are women and children, with some of the young men appearing to be entering their 20s, barely...
I close my eyes for a moment before making a decision in less than a second
"Fuck it...Albedo, take us over to the refugee camps, let's do our best to give them aid," I order, peaking my head out
"Yes, master," Albedo answers, and I can feel the bit of disgust that she has for the people
Probably should have toned it down a bit...meh...whatever
Getting to the refugee camps, I notice a lot of people staring at Marika and Albedo
Not that I can blame considering that I also stare at them...but they are mine...
I grab Marika by her chin and kiss her softly
She responds back, and I can feel her trying to deepen it
I lean back and look into her eyes
"Later..." I tease her before getting back to getting the supplies off the carriage
She lets out a huff, and Albedo looks jealous, so I kiss her for a moment too and tease her a bit
I haven't gone further with them yet, since we have all been too busy, but we have made out before...
We get to work going around giving out food, not water, though, since people are walking over to the snow-covered parts of the land and melting it there
What gets a lot of attention is the fact that we are using healing magic on them...for free
Albedo and I can heal some bruises, cuts, and even cracked bones...but Marika can regrow parts of them, such as fingers, ears, and even their eyes, so long as they still have them
At times, I actually forget the fact that I made fucking Marika into a fucking Atmoran...
We keep going around giving out food and healing as many people as we can
"Halt..." a soldier from Whiterun says, walking toward me as Albedo and I stop passing out the portions of food that she has made
Just some soup with some vegetables and a random assortment of meat
"Is there something wrong?" I ask the soldier as I pass out the last bowl of food on my makeshift table to a kid
The guard snaps out of it and shakes his head lightly
"Jarl Balgruuf would like to speak with the three of you..." The guard stops as Marika heals a young man who apparently helped get as many people out of Morthal as he could
Only to lose a few fingers due to Frostbite and an eye from where an arrow scratched it...
Marika stands up once she notices my look and comes over to us...
"Does it have to be now? We are still tending to some people..." I ask the guard, causing him to snap out of his staring at Marika...not that I can blame him for it
"As long as it's today, it will be fine. Our Jarl thanks and welcomes the three of you..." The guard said, and that is when I noticed a Dark elf in the distance on one of the towers around Whiterun, and watched as she disappeared back into the city, most likely to talk to the Jarl about us
Given that we are openly using Restoration magic, which is unfortunately scarce these days, and those who do know how to use it would demand to be paid a lot for their services
Since we are healing and giving supplies to the refugees, we have already drawn a lot of attention
Not that I cared for it much at the moment
The three of us continue healing and giving out food to the people until I tell Albedo to simply bring out the rest of the food and let the people serve themselves, given that we are almost out of food for ourselves, and to go meet Balgruuf
We are allowed inside the city, and I am still surprised and amazed at the size of Whiterun
It takes what has to be half an hour to be escorted into Dragonsreach
Even so, the sun is starting to set
Walking up the hundreds of steps to the palace itself takes us around 4 to 5 minutes
Seriously, is this how big Whiterun is supposed to be?
Either way, we soon arrive at the massive set of wooden doors, and I just barely catch some magical runes on the sides of the doors as the guards push them inside without any visible strain to themselves
Marika told me about how magical runes are used in Enchanting, and to be fair, most of the subject went over my head, given that, unless one reaches the level of Expert in any school of magic, most magical runes are not required
We go inside Dragonsreach and see dozens of soldiers mingling about in a somber yet excited mood
Given the way some of them are holding their axes, swords, and shields, I can guess what is going to happen in the near future
We go up the steps inside of Dragonsreach, and that is when I look at Jarl Balgruuf for the first time, and I don't know why I am slightly surprised when I see him with some enchanted gear
What surprises me the most is that he is not sitting on his throne but instead is talking to a few people while looking over a map while wearing armor and an axe on his side, and a shield strapped to his back
A soldier talks to him for a bit before he turns over and looks at us and I can see the tiredness on his face
We walk to the other
"It is an honor to meet you..." He says, extending his hand
I shake his hand
"The honor is ours, my jarl..." I start to say "Although, I wish it were under better circumstances..."
"As do I,"
"Now...I have heard of what you have done for the refugees from Morthal. I am thankful for the aid you have provided...but...I am not sure if I can pay for your healing services at this moment in time..." He stops as I raise my hand respectfully
"My wives..." I started as Marika, and Albedo let out a small smile at that "...and I won't ask for anything in return for our aid..." I say much to not only the surprise of Balgruuf but even the people around us
Balgruuf opens his mouth, looking at me and then at the girls with an incredolous look on his face...
"What..."
#PROLOUGE END#
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The link below is basically the size of Whiterun that I imagined, plus the details that I added in the story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrnMACWp18M&t=209s
So...I am sure you guys noticed the disturbing lack of dialogue, don't worry that is going to change as I was going over some styles of writing that I felt were better and by that I mean that I basically tried stuff until I found one that worked for me