Power Corrupts: A Stop On The Road (ch. 51) (Patreon)

As a reminder, there will be no updates next week. I’ll be back on the 31st with a chapter of Power Corrupts and the schedule will continue as normal.

...

I felt about ready to take on the entire world when I rolled out of bed, thoroughly satisfied. Dibella and Hestia were left laying on the covers, both driven to the point of exhaustion. In Hestia's case, endurance had been an issue for some time now, but in Dibella's case, the spirit was willing but the body had limitations that she wasn't used to. Towards the end, I was stuck relying on old tricks to drag the pleasure out a little longer, but I was thoroughly tapped.

Rolling my shoulders, I eyed the sleeping women, and while I cursed Perfect Memory, now I could call it a blessing. But it did feel a bit creepy standing over two naked and sleeping women, even if one was my goddess and I had just slept with both. Looking away, I stepped out of the bedroom, deciding that I could use a shower.

I looked around the living room, finding it empty, and I guessed that Lydia decided to give us some privacy. I was thankful for that. My gaze slid up to the Mark on the ceiling of the kitchen after I got a glass of water through a functioning faucet -- it was just… kind of nerve-wracking knowing that the actual god of madness had direct access to your home and kitchen whenever they felt like it. Hestia seemed to trust them enough to allow them to do it, so I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, but Hestia's decision-making track record wasn't flawless.

But, at the moment I couldn't do much about it. Swallowing a sigh, I drained my water before stepping into the back to find that some things had changed around the house. When I built the thing, it was a good house. Now, after some upgrades while I was traveling, it got upgraded into a great house. Great enough that I couldn't even be mad at the unexpected upgrades. Before, there was a small washroom with a tub.

Now there was a straight-up open-air onsen, complete with a deep pool of cyan-blue steaming water surrounded by hard stone. Candles were placed to help illuminate the pool during the night. The picture was made perfect with some snow lazily falling to the ground. I glanced around as I stepped outside, eyeing the tall wall meant to keep people out. And given that I saw faintly glowing magical lines, I'm guessing they were trapped. Meaning that someone had tried to peep.

"I'll kill them later," I decided, stepping into the pool after stripping off a pair of boxers that I had used to preserve my modesty while walking around the house. The contrast of the chilly air against the steaming hot water was surprisingly nice. And Hestia made it with my size in mind because I found a spot that I could sit and still sink up to my shoulders. It would practically be a swimming pool to everyone else.

Taking in a slow breath, I let it out in a cloud of fog as I turned my attention to the dull gray clouds above. I would have to leave soon. Honestly, I should probably be on my way, but I promised Hestia that I would stay. So, I would. At least until the morning.

I was working on a dwindling supply of time, after all. The trip to Markarth took longer than I expected by several days. Farkas and Aela were probably already in Riften dealing with whatever mess was there. But, even still, my previous good time made up for it. I still had two weeks to earn the favor of Riften and snag my fourth Thaneship. I could loiter around the house for a day or two.

After that, it was the Graybeards to weather the worst of winter, and then the Moot.

"Hard to imagine that all of this is just set up for the Moot," I muttered, sinking up to my chin as snow fell all around me. It was like Skyrim was trying to fall apart, there were just so many fires to put out. After my training montage, and after the Moot, that's where the true preparations for Alduin's return started. Which would be another three months. It was hard to judge my progress, but I figured I was doing decently. I had real upgrades in terms of equipment at least. My titles were going to be invaluable too.

My eyes drifted close for a moment, knowing that as soon as I left Helgen I would go right back to sprinting across the country as I dealt with every pain in the ass task along the way. At least the loot was good. At the sound of the door opening, I saw Lydia standing at the door frame, clad in nothing. She seemed to freeze like a deer in headlights, covering herself, but she couldn't find any words.

"Hey," I greeted, closing my eyes again. "It's been a while." There wasn't any need to make a big deal out of it. If anything, we were even because she got an eyeful of me earlier.

Lydia hesitated, but I heard her take a step forward. Sonar was surprisingly useful in that regard. "It has my Thane. I trust that the road has been treating you well?" She asked, almost masking the sounds of her stepping into the water and placing herself on the far end from me.

I swallowed my first answer to that question, "It's been exciting, at least." To that, Lydia let out a sound of amusement.

"As I've heard. The Divine Dibella's familia Captain has been telling quite the tale of your deeds in Markarth. If she's to be believed, you slew the entire army by yourself," Lydia remarked, sounding like she thought that was an exaggeration. And I decided not to correct her. Partly it was because I didn't want to be that guy that bragged about how awesome I was, but mostly I wanted to be there when she realized that it wasn't an exaggeration.

I offered a shrug, "Not the whole army," I allowed, figuring that was suitably an answer to say that I hadn't been misleading her, but vague enough to totally mislead her.

"From the rumors that pass through Helgen… it really does sound like Skyrim is falling apart. Though, not just Skyrim, but the entire empire. Despite it nearing winter, so many pilgrims have started to come to find and worship their gods," Lydia informed.

Huh. "Sounds like they're going to be stuck in Helgen for winter," I observed. The passes and stuff were hardly snowed in, but people couldn't travel the country like I could.

"That is why Lady Hestia has pushed the reconstruction of Helgen so hard and fast -- it's for the sake of those that come, so that they will have a warm bed and a roof to sleep under." There was a passionate note of pride in Lydia's voice. If I had to guess, it was the pride of knowing you were on the side of righteousness and the person you followed was more than worthy of loyalty.

Given who she was, and the fact that Lydia hadn't been able to pick the Thane that she would be sworn to, I'm guessing that was a serious concern for her. That the person that she would be task with protecting with her life would be scum that lucked out with an official position.

"I honestly didn't even consider that being an issue," I admitted. "I'm glad Hestia's on top of it. At least I don't have to worry about home while I'm out."

"You do not, my Thane," Lydia insisted. Then she realized her mistake, "Er- Jericho."

I decided not to comment, "Just be careful. Dibella is staying in the city and after the mess Markarth turned into…" I trailed off. She really did remind me of an old friend that just became a completely different person once the ball got rolling. I first met her in class, introduced through a mutual friend. The first couple of times we hung out, she struck me as a fairly normal person. Then we partied together and I watched her get progressively less clothed as the night went on until it ended with her doing a line of coke on a guy's dick in the nude. In front of around fifty people.

Lydia cleared her throat, "You and, ah, Divine Dibella…" I could practically see her blush even with my eyes closed.

"Don't look too deeply into it. She's probably going to try to sleep with you too."

"What?" Lydia questioned, caught off guard.

"She used her Divine power to find cute girls back before she descended. Now… well, to her it's like an all you can eat buffet. So, yeah, she's going to make a move on you. And probably Hestia too. But, as your Thane, I'm ordering you to block that shit. The only one that can seduce Hestia is me." I ordered, my tone adopting a mockingly grave quality.

"I… feel like I just heard something crazy… but I will obey that order, my Thane," Lydia responded with some humor, spotting the half-smirk tugging at my lips. "Does that order also apply to me?"

Oh? I cracked open my eyes to see Lydia giving me a cautious look. The kind that told me she was testing the waters with flirting. But I guess it was a Nord thing to start flirting when we were both already naked rather than an Aela thing. "Yeah, you'll be in real danger of getting hit on," I confirmed.

Lydia seemed pleased with the bit of harmless flirting, even if she tried not to show it. She opened her mouth, only to be cut off by a flash of light coming from the house. I saw what happened perfectly because of my expanded vision, even if I was confused by what I saw. From the looks of it, a flash of light appeared in the kitchen before someone fell from the ceiling.

I looked over, already realizing who it was, but I still felt cautious. But, with shocking quickness, the door to the bath was thrown open with reckless ease to reveal a woman. She was fairly short, hovering around five feet, with silver hair smoothed back, and mismatching colored eyes -- despite the changes compared to what I knew, I could instantly tell who she was even without the aura of a god washing over me.

She was Sheogorath, the Prince of Madness. And I could tell that she was currently a she because she wasted absolutely no time stripping off her clothes. "Oh, it's so pretty!" She decided, tossing off her top. A layer of muscle clung to her frame, her breasts small but quickly perked up in the frigid air. More noticeably, her body had more than a few scars on it. A claw mark running across her shoulder, a bite mark on her forearm, a handful of stab and slash scars scattered about on her stomach and chest.

Though, any attraction was swiftly killed when I saw that she had a dick- wait… I watched in some distress as her dick seemed to just… shrink into herself until no trace of it could be seen. That was… uh… you know what? Perfect Memory was back to being a curse because I was never going to be able to unsee that. What the hell?

Sheogorath didn't seem to notice because she took a few quick steps before she jumped into the water with a huge splash, dousing Lydia and me with water. She stayed submerged for a few seconds before surfacing to spit out a stream of water as she smoothed her hair back. It was fairly short, not even long enough to brush her shoulders.

Which I noticed was suddenly missing a scar that I saw just a second ago. If I had to guess what was going on with her -- the Hero of Kvatch was the template her body was using, but the Prince of Madness' influence wasn't something so easily shaken. So, it was a constant battle between the body that the HoK had in life and what she became. That was… kinda sad now that I thought about it.

"Absolutely positively delightful," Sheogorath announced before letting out a content sigh as she swam to the edge of the pool. Turning around to face us with her arms spread out on the ledge, she completely ignored Lydia's baleful look to look at me. "You're a lot smaller than I thought you'd…" She trailed off as I took a step forward towards what was the shallow end for me as I rose out of the water.

"Ah. Never mind then," Sheogorath let the topic drop with a smile that was a little too wide. She waved her hand, and out of nothing a floating wooden platform appeared with a cheese wheel and a bottle of wine sitting on it. "Cheese and wine? They go perfectly with a bath. And fighting. And a snack!" She cackled at a joke that only she seemed to understand before the platform drifted over to Lydia. She didn’t take anything from it.

Sheogorath didn’t seem to mind though. She turned to me, a spark of madness in her eyes, “I’m glad to finally meet you, you’re just as ridiculously proportioned as I’ve heard.” I cocked an eyebrow at that, but she continued without pause. “It’s always nice to meet the big Hero of another age. I thought it was supposed to a Dragonborn this time, be eh, snooze you lose, am I right?” She said with a deranged giggle while Lydia sputtered.

I quickly realized I had absolutely no idea how to handle Sheogorath. Which shouldn’t be surprising really, but I had underestimated how badly I didn’t know how to handle her.

So, I shrugged. “I’ve never been one for prophecy or leaving my fate in someone else’s hands.”

Sheogorath’s smile widened a fraction, “The clock moves on the heroes’ time but a role can be usurped. A funny thing about time. And Akatosh. Did you know that I met him once? He was all large and dragony. Nearly stepped on me. Ah, anyway, the point is that little tidbit was my key to success. It can’t be anymore because those shoes aren’t mine, but you’ve nicked them, stuffed your humongous feet in them, and broke the seams to make them fit.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What?” I asked, trying to shift through that for the point that she was trying to make. Beyond the obvious. But… was she trying to say that if I fucked around home for as long as I wanted, I would arrive just in time to save Riften from whatever mess it was in?

“The Hero arrives precisely when they are meant to. Not a second before, not a second later. Even if the Hero wishes it. No trouble can be adverted if it belongs to that Hero’s tale that was set in stone thousands of years before it happened. From wandering into Oblivion Gates to picking gooseberries for sweet old ladies.” Sheogorath’s smile took a mocking edge to it.

She let out a surprisingly bitter chuckle, “From beginning to middle to end, the tale of a Hero has been written by prophecy. The ink dried the moment the cosmos was created. That’s quite the thing to say you don’t believe in, Jericho the Ginormous.”

I blinked a few times, taking that in. That was… well, she clearly knew what I was trying to do -- use metaknowledge to solve a problem. And that was kinda scary to know that she knew about that. But was she saying that it wouldn’t work or that it would? The clock moves on the Heroes time, but I had usurped the role of the hero. Yet, prophecy dictated that things would play out exactly as they were meant to.

The Hero would be there to save the day…

“Did… I break the clock?” I asked quietly, thinking that had to be what she was telling me. If the rule was that the Hero would arrive on time because the clock moved on their time, if I broke that rule… then it meant that I wouldn’t arrive on time. I could arrive before events or after them. Which shouldn’t be as frightening as it was, but given that Skyrim really was trying it’s absolute best to kill itself, it became a real concern.

However, Sheogorath shook her head hard enough to send drops of water flying everywhere. “No, I said you broke the shoes, remember?” She pointed out, and I couldn’t tell if that was reassuring or not based on that lopsided smirk of hers. She really was leading me around by my nose. “Clocks and shoes aren’t even close to the same thing. How could you misunderstand that?” She questioned, looking at Lydia with an expression of ‘can you believe this idiot?’”

Lydia looked like she was having a whole lot of trouble following the conversation. The only reason she hadn’t called it crazy talk was probably the fact that I was taking it seriously. She looked between us before she spoke slowly, “Then… what happens to the hero after their role has been filled by another?” She asked, and that was a good question.

Sheogorath giggled madly, “They find a new role, of course! One chosen by the gods can’t be so easily swept under the rug.” Then Sheogorath titled her head to look at the door, her smile still affixed to her face. “Usually,” She added with a barely suppressed snarl as Dibella and Hestia walked outside. Dibella in the nude while Hestia was wrapped in a towel, the afterglow of sex making her absolutely radiant.

“Hey!” Dibella practically skipped to the pool of water, completely oblivious to Sheogorath’s ire. I looked between them, my muscles tensing to interfere, but I honestly wasn’t sure if I could. Sheogorath was fundamentally different than the rest of the gods that had descended. She wasn’t a god that became a normal human.

The Main Quests were all canon, meaning that Sheogorath was the head of every major institution in Cyrodil. The most powerful mage, the most powerful warrior, the greatest thief, and assassin. Shegorath didn’t lower themselves to a normal person. They resumed a mantle that they had left behind.

In a fight, I wouldn’t be placing any money on me. To put it simply, she was me at the end of doing a completionist run.

“Hello, Dibella. I’m surprised to see you here,” Sheogorath remarked as both got into the bath. Hestia swam over to me, clearly pleased with herself as she swam into my lap. I wrapped a hand around her, ready to shield her if it came right down to it.

Dibella let out a sigh before she reached out to nibble on some cheese, “Jericho’s letting me stay after I got kicked out of Markarth,” She explained without a trace of shame. She set me a Look and a smile that promised that what had happened earlier wouldn’t be a one-off occurrence. Then she looked at Sheogorath, who just smiled away. “But you look familiar? I mean, I know you’re a god, but you don’t look like a god that I know.”

“Ah, I suppose I should be overjoyed that you remember someone like little ‘ol me, if only barely,” Sheogorath bowed her head, “Sheogorath, Prince of Madness, Hero of Kvatch…” She slowly rose her head to look at Dibella’s widening eyes. “Divine Crusader.”

There was an impressive amount of anger in those two words, and it caught me off guard. In the game, Sheogorath seemed like he couldn’t give two hoots about the gods, but this wasn’t the game. The memories of the Hero of Kvatch were surfacing. Sheogorath was becoming what he was before she became Sheogorath.

What she said earlier seemed to click into place and her bitterness was explained. The gods knew that the Hero of Kvatch was going to become the Prince of Madness. Right from the start because that was her story -- from the hero that saves the world more than once to an insane god. That’s what her destiny was. And now that she recalled what she was to give context to what she became… I would be bitter too.

“Ohh…" Dibella seemed to realize who she was sitting across from. She looked at Sheogorath with an anxious expression. "Are you mad? You seem mad," She pointed out, earning a giggle from Sheogorath that sent a chill down my spine.

She just smiled away, the tension between them growing so thick that it was hard to breathe. Hestia looked between them, hesitating on interfering because the two clearly had history. "Oh, I assure you, I'm quite mad," Sheogorath punned, letting out another giggle that sounded absolutely deranged, "I'm also quite curious. Has Akatosh descended? I have some things I would like to discuss with him."

Dibella, as much as an airhead she was proving to be, realized that she was in a minefield. However, that anxious expression melted away and she seemed to calm herself. "No, he hasn't. And he won't. He's the most powerful of us all, but the barrier that protects Mundus isn't something that he can leave unattended. If you want to speak to him, I'm sure that praying would work."

"But," Dibella quickly continued, "I think I should apologize to you." She decided, making Sheogorath tilt her head to the side in response. "I didn't have any hand in your…"

"Curse? Affliction?" Sheogorath offered before her eyes darkened and her gaze sharpened, "Betrayal?"

Hestia shifted in my lap, left in the dark. The Hero of Kvatch was the Divine Crusader. Blessed by the gods to defeat a godly enemy. Their greatest pilgrim and their most fervent believer. Or, so the lore said. Regardless, what else could leaving their Champion to suffer from complete and utter madness be other than a betrayal?

"All of those things," Dibella decided. "But, I didn't do anything about it either. For that, I can only say that I'm sorry." From the sound of it, it sounded like she understood that wasn't going to be enough. Nowhere close. I couldn't even imagine what I would do if it were me in Sheogorath's shoes.

I tensed, ready to protect Hestia from whatever hell was about to be released. Lydia was too far away for me to protect them both, so I could only hope that she would be able to throw herself out of harm's way. It sucked, but if I could only save one, then it was the easiest choice I ever made.

Dibella met his gaze evenly for a few moments. Then a minute. Then two. Neither gods moved, not so much as blinking, and I had no idea that Dibella had a spine like that because I would probably be pissing myself. Sheogorath, if she was a fraction of as powerful as I thought she was, then she could absolutely wipe the floor with me.

Then, without any warning, Sheogorath smiled, "That's okay, I forgive you 'Bella." I blinked, and I wasn't the only one caught off guard by that.

"That's it?" Hestia spoke up, "I thought you were really angry Sheo," She observed.

Sheogorath nodded, "I was. But I wanted an apology, and I got one. Why would I still be mad?" She sounded genuinely puzzled by our confusion.

"Thank you for your kindness, Champion," Dibella said, trying to sound official but it was clear to hear she understood just how closely she brushed with death just now.

"No worries, 'Bella," Sheogorath dismissed before she stood up, revealing her nude body for all to see as she got out of the bath. She held her hands out, T posing, and out of absolutely no where, an elf just appeared with a towel in hand. That was… weird. Was that what it looked like when I pulled a wagon out of thin air? But, to my shock, I knew who the elf was.

Adoring Fan? What in the hell was he doing here?

"Hello, Number One Fan," Hestia greeted, offering a small wave. I shifted a bit to make sure the guy couldn't see anything, but he apparently only had eyes for Sheogorath.

"Hello, Goddess Hestia!" Adoring Fan returned as he dried off Sheogorath.

Dibella frowned as she looked at Adoring Fan, "I recognize him as well. He's the one that followed you absolutely everywhere, right?"

Sheogorath nodded happily, "Into the depths of Oblivion, to the Shivering Isles, on every quest and errand, my Number One Fan was there right beside me!" And… huh. I never really thought of it that way. Adoring Fan was such a fanboy that he actually followed you to hell and back.

"It's my honor and my greatest privilege!" Adoring Fan returned, sounding like he meant the words from the bottom of his heart.

"So, when I descended, I reserved the fellow. It felt weird not having him with me telling me how great I am every step of the way," Sheogorath said, kinda taking the wholesome feel away from the exchange.

Hestia tilted her head, "Won't some of the Aedra get mad? There are a couple that deal with the afterlife…"

"Meh," Sheogorath dismissed the issue with a shrug as the Adoring Fan started to dress her. "If they have an issue with it, I'll stab them with Forky. He's my undead Captain of my Familia!"

"I am?!" Adoring Fan looked absolutely ecstatic with the news.

"Of course! You're the only member of my familia," Sheogorath pointed out and not even that brutal logic could put a damper on the guy's mood. Honestly? Good for him. The guy clearly knew what he wanted and he was living his personal dream. The look on his face as he beamed pure joy out of every pore was direct evidence that proved that dreams did come true.

Sheogorath turned her attention to us again, now fully dressed, "But, I should be off. Some business to take care of in Solitude -- a me is kicking his feet up in a painting created with some of your hair, 'Bella, and there can only be one!" She declared, taking out a fork that Hestia and Lydia eyed warily. Then Sheogorath blinked. "I wonder what I'll taste like. It's all a bit fuzzy, but I do recall being rather fond of mozzarella at the time…"

Surprisingly, it was Lydia that spoke up, "But, what you spoke of before…" She trailed off, glancing at me. I blinked, meeting her gaze, and suddenly felt like I was missing a piece of a puzzle. Why was she looking at me?

Sheogorath spared me a glance, "I'm afraid he's not quite tall enough for what I have planned. I'll stop by after you've done some growing, young man!" She cackled before she took a step forward, stepping directly into the water's surface. I watched her go, Adoring Fan walking around, and I had the feeling that she wasn't talking about my height. I half expected Hestia to offer for them to stay for dinner, but she seemed able to read the mood.

With a flash of light, both Sheogorath and Adoring Fan were gone. And only then did I let out a breath that I hadn't realized I was holding.

"That was a thing," I remarked, my bath far more stressful than I had expected it to be.

…

"Do you have to go?" Hestia asked the next day. She wore a variation of her normal dress, but now it covered far more skin, was thicker, and was lined with fur to keep her warm. I wore similar clothes, though my left arm was covered in the Hestia Armor.

I nodded, feeling similarly reluctant. "I do. Riften is probably on fire knowing my track record, so I better go put it out before anything too bad happens," I told her. She nodded glumly, holding her hands out for a hug and I took a knee to embrace her. She threw her arms around my neck and squeezed with all of her strength.

"I know. I should be glad you were able to stay as long as you did," Hestia admitted, knowing what was at stake. "I'll take care of Helgen so you don't have anything to worry about, okay?"

I smiled a bit, wishing that she was tough enough that I could hug her with all of my strength. "I'll try to stop by after Riften if I can. If it's a quick trip, I'll swing by to head back to Markarth and Falkreath to make sure that they haven't fallen apart."

"I'm looking forward to it!" Hestia said, taking my words as a promise. She pulled back to show me a beaming smile.

"And keep an eye on Dibella. And Sheogorath," I instructed, earning a grave nod from Hestia.

A sigh escaped her, "I've never seen Sheogorath like that before. Even when she was ranting about the Thalmor, about them stealing her clout, she didn't seem really angry about it. It was like it was just an excuse to stir up some trouble. But…"

But both of us doubted that a grudge like that could be forgiven so easily. It was possible given who Sheogorath was, but my guess that she was just directing it at someone else. Like Akatosh, for example.

Pulling back, I stood up to send a look at Lydia. Her face was all business as she was clad in her armor. "And I will take care of Divine Hestia," She swore without having to be asked. I nodded, knowing that she would do everything in her power. But, given that the Hero of Kvatch was hovering around, my hopes were that Sheogorath would help protect Hestia as well.

"I believe you," I said with confidence. Part of me wanted to just take them both with me so I could keep an eye on them, but Hestia had responsibilities in Helgen now. She couldn't afford to leave for a handful of weeks. "But don't forget to take care of yourself too." Lydia nodded as if I had given her an order.

Hestia offered me another smile, sensing that it was time for me to depart. I gave her hand a squeeze, a silent promise that I would see her as soon as I was able before I turned away and started walking. I grabbed my wagon, and with one look over my shoulder to see Hestia waving goodbye, I started running and left Helgen through the East gate.

Snow fell from the ground as I sprinted my way through the winding mountainous path, but it wasn't long before Babette stirred in the back of the wagon. I heard her clamor to the front before speaking, "Your goddess is unusually beloved in Helgen," Babette informed. "I couldn't find a hint of a conspiracy against her."

A knot of tension eased away at the information. "Nothing?" I asked, wanting to make sure as I sprinted towards Riften.

"Nothing," Babette confirmed. "I had thought that there would be some grumbling from those that had their houses destroyed, but they were all too happy. It was honestly disturbing," She muttered with distaste.

"But?" I fished, looking for that other shoe to drop.

"But, there are spies in the town. Quite a few. The Empire, the King of the Nords, the Stormcloaks, and a handful of others whose masters I couldn't identify. As instructed, I forwarded their names to your goddess." Babette informed and that… wasn't good, but better the spies that we knew than the ones we didn't know. "It was quite pathetic. They were so easy to identify because they were all practically tripping over one another. It's as if the longer I live, the less professional enemy agents get."

I didn't respond, content with the information for now. Part of me wanted to turn around and eliminate every single threat or leave Babette behind to protect Hestia in the shadows, but I didn't trust the century-old loli that much.

It was just increasingly clear that we needed more familia members. Lydia was a start, but she was still a level 1. A great big target was being placed on Hestia and the familia was too spread out to properly protect her.

I sprinted in silence, the hours ticking by as we neared Riften as the sun began to drift towards the horizon. By the time it was nearing dusk, I pulled through the city gates to find that it wasn't on fire like I feared. As I pulled my wagon into a warehouse, letting Babette slip out to go unnoticed, I took in the city.

Of the four I've been in, it was probably the worst. The streets were dirty, though made of cobblestone, the buildings were kind of run down and the people seemed a little too gruff. It wasn't bad, persay, but one look at the grimy city and I felt like it was the hood of Skyrim. The central market was bigger than it had been in the game, and in the distance, I could see a dominating keep. The people seemed tense though and they eyed me with suspicion.

"Jericho!" I heard a familiar voice call out, a hand being raised into the air to get my attention. Looking over, a smile found its way onto my face as I saw Farkas. "Took you long enough. What happened to meeting us on the road?"

I shrugged, "Long story. But, let's just say we're two and zero in terms of cities not being utter disasters." I informed and a grimace crossed over Farka's face, making my smile slip. "Farkas. Please tell me that we aren't three and zero."

"Do you want the bad news or the worst news first?" He asked with a sigh.

"The worst news," I answered, dragging a hand down my face. Honestly, what was with this country?

"The Thieves Guild have pretty much taken over the city." I so fucking called it.

"The bad news?" I asked, feeling exhausted already.

"The fact that the Thieves Guild have pretty much taken over the city brought Ulfric Stormcloak here. So, he's here. I know you're pro-empire, so I figured that would be bad news for you," He offered helpfully.

You know what? I think I would have preferred it if the city were on fire instead.