#thane bryling

[aardvark-123]

Skyrim By Democracy: The Wonders of Plunder

Wrathberry had come to the conclusion that Solitude had too many rich people. Thus, she decided to dip her toes into freelance wealth redistribution.

Wrathberry left Lydia in the vegetable garden and changed into her larceny clothes. Said "larceny clothes" looked a lot like her rainy-day clothes, but never mind.

First on the agenda was Vittoria Vici's house. Vittoria wasn't home, so Wrathberry had an easy time sneaking through the well-furnished home, helping herself to stuff.

Since she hadn't got easy access to a fence, Wrathberry stuck to stealing lightweight items, things like potions or ingredients she could use, and money. There was plenty to choose from; wealthy Solituders seemed to love having potions and soul gems on their shelves, and a few fine outfits stuffed in every wardrobe.

Vittoria's house seemed to be built on top of a warlock's lair. Wrathberry suspected it was from one of HeraclesJones's dungeon mods, and not Vittoria hiring the cheapest surveyor on the market. She still beat up the necromancers, of course, and helped herself to their treasure.

Their greatest "treasure", of course, being the view.

"Yo... If Solitude was called, like, Kansas for some reason, I totally wouldn't think we're in freaking Kansas any more!" breathed Wrathberry, staring at the multicoloured sky.

Next on the agenda was Erikur's house. Erikur had a bit of a reputation, which was soon confirmed when Wrathberry overheard him talking to his pal Melaran.

Erikur had some top-quality potions to steal. For a brief moment, Wrathberry wondered if her theft was going to get his servants in trouble. Then she remembered he didn't have any servants, so it was fine.

After Erikur's house came Bryling's house, where again Wrathberry found plenty of free clothing. It was getting late by then, and Bryling had already gone to bed...

...allowing Wrathberry to try a daring theft indeed.

An amethust, some money, a key, a garnet; with delicate, methodical movements, Wrathberry plucked them all from Bryling's pockets. She wondered briefly why Bryling was sleeping in her clothes, with all her jewellery and bowls of fondue. She concluded it must have been to discourage thieves.

Sadly, when Wrathberry tiptoed past Bryling's housecarl, her luck ran out. While he hadn't seen any crimes he could pin on Wrathberry, he could certainly throw her out, and thus was Wrathberry thrown out. Of the building.

The night was drawing in now, but it didn't feel right to leave the Jarl of Solitude unburgled. Wrathberry was surprised to find the Blue Palace still open to visitors, and when she headed upstairs, whistling nonchalantly, she found a meeting going on.

It seemed like the people of Dragon Bridge were worried about Wolfskull Cave, enough to send someone to warn Jarl Elisif the Fair about it. Jarl Elisif, caught between her responsibility to Haafingar and the recent budget cuts, agreed to send a few extra soldiers to Dragon Bridge. And hire, er, someone to investigate the cave.

A seldom-heard sense of responsibility flared up in Wrathberry's heart. If there was something dangerous inside Wolfskull Cave - an Oblivion Gate, maybe, or an agoraphobic dragon - wasn't it her duty to hide behind Lydia while she dealt with it?

"Um," said Wrathberry, "Bryling? Lady, weren't you like, sleeping at home five minutes ago?"

What should Wrathberry do now? (After fetching Lydia, organising her bags, paying for Bryling's silence and going to bed, of course.)

Agree to investigate Wolfskull Cave.

Take up Jaree-Ra on his job offer.

Chase up Captain Aldis about Angeline Morrard's daughter.

Chase up the East Empire Company about whatsername's spice shipment.

Go to Ustengrav and retrieve the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller.

Talk to everyone in Solitude. We still need more plot hooks.

Voting ended onFeb 11

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[kookaburra1701]

First Lines!

tagged by @thana-topsy tyty

if it wasn't for these tumblr tag games I would have run out of steam looooong ago but these keep me microdosing on endorphins ha ha

tagging @nientedenada @gilgamish @moriche

Tag the first lines/first paragraph of three of your current works in progress!

I have shared mostly snippets from The Wives of Shor so I'm going to dig in my (massive) WIP-pile for this to share some different things.

Because I Could Not Stop for Death This fic deals with the immediate aftermath of the death of High King Torygg at the hands of Ulfric Stormcloak, through the eyes of Thane Bryling as she struggles to relate to her new jarl, Queen Elisif.

Like Topsy I will share a bit more than one paragraph because the opening is mostly dialogue, and I do what I want. ----------------------------------- "Arkay bless this soul and sanctify its broken vessel!"

Styrr's words were ones that Bryling had heard echo off the walls of the temple courtyard many times before.

"May the light keep it in its warm and soothing embrace!

The pine-pitch smell of the lit torch Styrr held aloft was also familiar.

"May the light cleanse this vessel and let it rest in peace!"

She had often stood shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the Solitude court; sending one of their own off to Sovngarde with honor.

"By the light's holy radiance, let the dead stay dead."

The black banners that shrouded the Imperial sigils of Castle Dour had barely time to develop creases from being stored away.

"May the spirit of Torygg, son of Istlod, join the honored dead in Shor's Hall."

The name of Bryling's liege-lord and shield-brother on Styrr's lips closed Bryling's throat and she struggled to breathe. She could not think of the...thing in the wicker casket on the pyre as Torygg. The casket was too light when she took her position as one of the pallbearers and hefted it upon her shoulder for the final walk she and Torygg would ever take through the streets of Solitude.

A strangled sob interrupted Bryling's thoughts.

Lady Elisif Jarl Elisif, Bryling corrected herself- dressed in the same black gown and veil she had worn for Istlod's funeral not even a year before- was weeping. Wedded, crowned, and widowed within a year. Bryling spared a few moments' pity for Torygg's young bride. It was just as well that Elisif was mourning so loudly - it would not do for one of Torygg's thanes to grieve more openly than his widow, even though she had known him far longer than Elisif. -----------------------------------

Ordior Arma Working title. This fic explores Hadvar of Riverwood's officer training with the Imperial Legion in Cyrodiil. Having never traveled much farther than Whiterun, he finds himself as the only Nord in his officer recruit cohort. This fic is basically my excuse to take out my Roman Empire special interest and roll around in it while also being mean to our special boy Hadvar. ----------------------------------- "Name?"

"Hadvar of Riverwood."

The walls of the Imperial fort of New Urasek rose high above Hadvar's head. For a moment, he was certain the Legionary consulting the list was going to tell him there was some mistake: that his name was not on the roster, that he had been admitted to the Legion by accident, that he had arrived at his assigned training post too late - or too early, that-

"There you are. Give me your orders and writs."

Hadvar handed over the pieces of parchment he had carried for the better part of a year: the orders from the Legion in Cyrodiil telling him where to report for training, and the letter of credit bearing the seals of Whiterun and High King Istlod pledging the funds necessary to see him from recruit to his first assignment.

"Congratulations, Hadvar of Riverwood. I have received word that our request to have one of Whiterun's Legion volunteers receive training as an officer in Cyrodiil has been accepted. My steward found no one who would speak against you, or testify that you have ever been anything but honorable and an asset to Whiterun hold. Therefore, as your jarl, I have selected you to be sent to Cyrodiil to become an officer in the Legion. Do you accept?"

Standing in the Great Hall of Dragonsreach, speaking to the jarl himself, Hadvar had only been able to nod. He had been brimming with pride and excitement, barely able to breathe.

Standing in front of an imposing fortress gate, the spire of the White-Gold tower visible over the battlements, Hadvar felt sick to his stomach. The long miles between the shore of Lake Rumare and Riverwood seemed impossibly vast. ----------------------------------- La★Blue Daedra, or A Takotsubo in the Waters of Oblivion A Sanguine/Hermaeus Mora tentacle sex fic. Yeah. That's it. That's the summary. I've got about 2K of it written, no idea when the consentacle muse will strike again, or if it will. ----------------------------------- With the clear vision provided by hindsight Miraak could see that the trouble began, as it so often did, with a visit from The Spider.

He did not react when a spindly shard of darkness separated from the gloom in a corner of the Footnote where he conducted his research. Delicate clicking, chitinous steps approached him from behind, but not until the soft, cold hand wrapped itself in his hair and forced him to lift his head did he meet Mephala's gaze.

"How diligently you work for my brother," she purred.

"My Lady Webspinner." Miraak carefully dispelled the rune he had been building. "How may I be of service?" Mephala's chelicerae lifted the corners of her mouth in pleasure, and she released his head.

"Your service belongs to my brother, I have no need of you," she said. Her primary eyes were downcast, as if examining the scroll spread out in front of him, but her secondary eyes were watching him intently.

[caithyra]

A Solitude Spy?

Y’know, sitting down and working out all the loyalties of the characters in Skyrim for possible fic reveals a lot of things I haven’t seen online discussions of.

Such as that Thane Bryling of Solitude seems to be one of Ulfric’s sympathetic spies committing treason by relaying info back to the Stormcloaks. My evidence?

One, in the cut quest when Jarl Elisif is assassinated, she is replaced by Thane Erikur for the Imperials and by Thane Bryling if the Stormcloaks take over Solitude.

Two, Bryling’s employee, Sorli the Builder, replaces Jarl Idgrod Ravencrone as Jarl of Morthal if the Stormcloaks take over (really, a random mining forewoman ends up being jarl? Maybe because Bryling vouches for her...).

Three, in addition to being a thane resident of Solitude’s court, she is also the secret lover of the Steward of Solitude, Falk Firebeard, and that gives her access to a lot of info regular thanes wouldn’t get access to. Bryling is also afraid that Erikur (her Imperial counterpart) should find out about them and force Falk to resign as steward, which would cut Bryling off from that useful flow of information.

Four, in her own words: “Many condemn the Stormcloaks, but I refuse. There is honor in fighting for what you believe.” and “This godsforsaken war is dividing our people and destroying our land.” So she already believes the Stormcloaks to be in the right (or at least, honorable, after Ulfric killed her jarl and high king), the same Stormcloaks to started the war, but also wants the war to end because she believes that it is bad. Translated, that means that she wants the Stormcloaks to win ASAP and unite Skyrim under Ulfric’s rule. So she has the motivation to turn traitor against her jarl.

Yeah, while not completely conclusive, she seems to be one of the best candidates of being one of Ulfric’s informants unconnected to the Thalmor (there seems to be a few who had access to privileged information until Tullius showed up with his own commanders).

I’m also thinking that there were lots of story-lines cut in this game even beyond the known cut quests... Like this set-up is ripe for some political intrigue that would make the Speechcraft tree (and learning at the Bard’s College) relevant game mechanics as the Dragonborn is tasked with finding out leaks in the Solitude court...

[games-screenshots]