The Imperial Auditor - Chapter Four

• Posted by Meli April 17, 2016 - Filed in TSC: Long Story - #TSC:Skyrim  #TSC:Long  #TSC:T.I.A  - 1,574 views

  As we approached Riverwood I could hear the clanging of metal and water rushing chaotically towards the regular rhythm of a lumber mill. The sun was beginning to set as Hadvar spoke quietly and quickly with his uncle the blacksmith, who invited us inside immediately.

   

  “So Hadvar, what’s all this about?” asked the blacksmith closing the door after us.

   

  “A dragon attacked Helgen. We were due to execute Ulfric today, but the dragon destroyed everything,” summarised Hadvar.

   

  “Are you mad boy? Have you taken too much mead?” he snorted in response, sitting down, “there haven’t been dragons in centuries. What about you stranger? Did you see this dragon?”

   

  “I did not see a dragon, there was an attack certainly, Helgen was destroyed,” I replied, easing myself down onto the chair that was offered by the blacksmith’s wife.

   

  “It was a dragon uncle, Auguris Cedas,” he insisted, indicating towards me, “had been captured and was also to be executed, I don’t think he’s completely sound of mind at the moment.”

   

  The blacksmith started from his chair. “You bring a criminal into my home? Hadvar you’re crazy, I have a wife and daughter!”

   

  “Husband be calm, let the boy explain,” interrupted his wife, placing a hand on his shoulder.

   

  “Uncle Alvor, he is not dangerous, he was accused of being a traitor siding with the rebels, but from what I have seen since the start of the attack he is no more a rebel or a traitor than one of the chickens running around outside,” laughed Hadvar.

   

  I bristled against this, to be compared to a chicken, oh my father would not be turning in his grave, if it were possible he would be chasing me down right now. I brushed a hand across my face, “I am no traitor, I have been sent here by the Imperial Treasury to conduct a census, though I am starting to wonder if I have failed the gods somehow and they have sent me here as punishment!”

   

  “Oh, an administrator, aye,” chuckled Alvor, nodding. “You don’t look like a fighting man, but there are other types of criminal, and I only have your word. I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”

   

  My head fell into my hands, Zenithar has truly abandoned me.

   

  “He helped me survive Helgen, I trust him,” Hadvar continued.

   

  “There Alvor, be still, eat your dinner,” interrupted his wife. “You can discuss more afterwards.”

   

  We ate in silence, Alvor’s wife taking a bowl of stew downstairs for their daughter, though Hadvar trusted me, they were still understandably cautious. As a father I was also wary of who I allowed in my home.

   

  Once Alvor’s wife had cleared the table and brought out some ale, she went downstairs to retire leaving the three of us to continue the earlier conversation.

   

  “So, our Imperial friend, Auguris, is here to count Nords?” began Alvor, “Really? So how did you end up in Helgen?”

   

  I explained how I had crossed the border on horseback, but had then found myself in the middle of a disorganised fight between some Imperial soldiers and what I now know to be rebels. It had spilled over into a bandit camp near the side of the road and after dismounting from my mare and making my way into the woods to hide, I was then caught up in the fight and woke to find myself in a cell.

   

  “So no guard for the mighty administrator?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

   

  “No, and I could not afford to supply my own. I have travelled most of Cyrodiil without the need for a guard, the Treasury believe that the same should apply across the Empire,” I replied sadly. “Only dignitaries receive an escort in these times.”

   

  “These times are troubled, certainly,” agreed the blacksmith. “And with Helgen destroyed, we must think of the safety of Riverwood and the hold. Hadvar, what are your plans?”

   

  “I must begin my return to Solitude on the morrow, if any of the others survived they will regroup there”, he advised, pausing to take a sip of ale. “If Ulfric made it out alive, the Empire must be warned, we will need reinforcements.”

   

  “There will not be any, Cyrodiil is already struggling to support itself, this is why I am here, to make sure Skyrim is paying her dues.” I explained in hushed voice, shaking my head.

   

  “It is that serious? If the elves..” began Alvor.

   

  “Uncle, no, there will be a way,” Hadvar, held up a hand, “The Empire will protect itself and Skyrim, I’m sure of it.”

   

  “Very well, and you Auguris? What do you plan to do next?” Alvor gave me a hard look before lifting his cup to drink deeply.

   

  “I need to begin my work and see a healer, but I have no supplies and no coin,” I replied cautiously. “If I were able to earn some coin, I would be of more use.”

   

  The blacksmith appeared to think about this for moment, “Are you any good with a forge or an axe?”

   

  It was agreed that I would speak with a man named Hod in the morning who worked at the lumber mill, but continue to stay with the blacksmith and his family, though Alvor wished for me to go directly to the capital of the hold, Whiterun a city to the north, he could see that I was in no state to do so, therefore he allowed me two days to recover and at the same time, keep an eye on me.

   

  In the morning I awoke feeling refreshed, Hadvar having already left for Solitude; following a light breakfast I made my way to the lumber mill with my sturdy broom handle as my ankle was twinging again. Hod was a gruff burly Nord, who laughed at my request for work having noted my broom handle. He asked if I was any better with a ledger and pen, to which I agreed I was, Hod led me to a table that stood near the river and told me to wait.

   

  He returned with two books, an inkwell and a quill pen. “I need to prepare these for the Jarl’s steward, Proventus before the end of Last Seed, I’ve been putting it off and Gerdur has been bending my ear about it, think you can deal with it for me?”

   

  I sat down and began flicking through one of them, noting the standard two rate system employed within the provinces of the empire. I looked up and smiled, “Simple.”

   

   

  I remembered the first time I encountered the two rate system following my transfer to the Imperial Treasury. Under the Empire’s rules the first quarter of every tradesman’s monthly profit would be subject to a levy set by the Treasury for that province. A subsequent levy would then be applied by the local Lord or Jarl, which varied substantially between regions.

   

  Though the documents submitted by local tradesman and merchants were not received by the Treasury, a declaration was submitted by each province when the levy was received, these were open to interpretation by each auditing office. Suffice to say, the office I worked within kept to the rule book, and were rightly known for highlighting discrepancies.

   

  One of the first declarations I was to check had been received from High Rock, a particular document from the Bangkorai region drew my attention. Though the calculations appeared to be correct,there appeared to be some sort of mark around a number of the larger figures, and totals. Holding the document close to my nose, I had breathed in slowly, there a had been an unusual aroma, slightly fishy that had reminded me of a trip to Anvil, making me suspect lime wash, commonly used to defraud the Treasury by allowing alterations to be made to the original details.

   

  I had highlighted this to my superiors and learnt soon after that the local administration in Bangkorai had not been responsible for the alteration, but one of the other families in the neighbouring Mournoth region of which there had been tensions between for a number of generations had wished to discredit one of the higher ranking families. The culprit had been a loose tongued member of the local Thieves Guild, who did not survive his first night in prison, or so the story went.
  

   

   

  For the next few hours I carefully made notes on each page, totalling columns and indicating corrections on the detailed ledgers that Hod and Gerdur had kept, there were some loose blank leaves at the back of the first book and I used these to make some notes to help them in the future. As the sun reached its height a woman brought out a plate of cheese and bread and a mug of ale, introducing herself as Gerdur, I thanked her and sat for a time watching the river rumbling past, dragonflies and the like flying above it. As the light began to dim and Hod finished his day’s work, I completed the first book, Hod then came down to check on my progress.

   

  “My, that’s better than I thought!” he exclaimed, flipping through the pages. “We will owe more to the Jarl, but I had no idea, I may be able to buy Gerdur that pendant after all. My thanks Imperial, here take this coin. Will you be able to return tomorrow to go through the second book?”

   

  “Of course and I’ll show you some ways to make it easier for next time,” I replied standing up.

   

  “No my friend,” he laughed, clapping me firmly on the shoulder. “Next time you will do it from the start.”

   

  I returned to Alvor and his family and told the story of the day’s events, handing Sigrid, Alvor’s wife some coin to cover the food I had already eaten and for allowing me to stay there. This time their daughter, Dorthe, was allowed to sit at the table with us for the final meal of the day, but soon retired to sit by the fire with a book, and I watched her for a time moving her fingers along the words.

   

  “How long has Dorthe been reading?” I enquired looking back to her parents.

   

  “About three winters, she has been slow to learn, but she spends so much time at the forge and with the other children,” Sigrid sighed.

   

  “She is a child, not many learn a trade so early, there is time for books and numbers later,” replied Alvor.

   

  “Would you mind if I spent some time with her? My children are eight winters and know Kolb and the Dragon backwards,” I asked, leaning on the table to stand.

   

  With their silent agreement, I went over to Dorthe and smiled and indicated that we sit at the end of the bed and go through the book together. I spent around an hour showing her how to recognise and form the words on the page, by the end Dorthe was recounting the story more easily and adding in extra details.

   

  “Enough now Dorthe, time for bed,” said Sigrid, standing up.

   

  “Aw, but ma’ma-” complained the child.

   

  “No, Auguris will still be here tomorrow, if you’re very lucky, he may spend some more time with you,” Sigrid ushered the child downstairs.

   

  The following day began much the same as the last, though as I approached the lumber mill the rain began to fall, slowly at first but the size of the droplets and frequency increasing with each step that I took. I was greeted by Gerdur, who rather than leading me to the previous days spot by the river, instead lead me to the inn.

   

  “Can’t have you turning the books to pulp in this weather,” she explained stiffly as we stepped into the inn, the warmth hitting my face from the open fire pit in the centre.

   

  After seating me at a table in the corner, Gerdur went off to the bar and following a brief conversation with the barkeep, returned with a jug of ale and a platter of bread, cheese and meat.

   

  I was then left to my own devices with the second ledger, the time passed more slowly in the candle-lit inn than it had outside the previous day. Being early the inn was not particularly busy, though had there been more patrons I would have found it most distracting. The second ledger was not as full as the first and I knew that the work would be complete by early afternoon.

   

  Just after breaking for my meal, I heard the door open, and Hod stepped inside.

   

  “Ho, Imperial, how goes the books?” he asked sitting on the bench next to me.

   

  “This one is better, and shorter, I will be finished soon.”

   

  “Ah excellent,” he replied, then turning to the barkeep who had walked over, “Another jug of ale for the Imperial and I.”

   

  Hod sat beside me for a time, watching as a I scanned the ledger in front of me, occasionally he would ask questions as I made notes.

   

  As I completed the final page, the door to the inn banged open, a fair haired, bearded Nord staggered in and made his way to the bar.

   

  “Orgnar!” he called as he reached the bar, “pour me an ale!”

   

  I passed the ledger to Hod, who quickly passed me some septims, which he indicated that I should pocket quickly.

   

  “No Embry, not until you can pay your way,” replied the barkeep. “Your tab is too big, Delphine would have my hide if I let you have any more.”

   

  “Orgnar, I said pour me an ale!” the bearded Nord repeated, slamming his hand on the bar.

   

  “Go, leave, back to Alvor, I will deal with this,” whispered Hod, standing slowly.

   

  “Embry! Settle down,” he said more loudly, directing his voice to the back of the inn.

   

  I cautiously made my way to the door, fearing the worst, I remembered a scuffle in Bruma between the local Nords and those visiting from their northern homeland that had turned bloody. I nervously looked back before closing the door and saw Embry take a swing at Hod.

   

   

  

   

   

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