Skyrim RP series...Danifae (Chapter 1) Friendship

• Posted by HaggisHunter May 6, 2016 - Filed in TSC: Long Story - ##Bosmer  ##Caerwyn  ##Danifae  ##Ancano  ##Stormcloaks  ##Wood Elf  - 1,597 views

   

  
  
  Danifae sat upstairs in her room in Breezehome and thought back over what had happened over the past few weeks. She could hear her close friend Zora sleeping softly in the bed next door and Lydia and Larkspur eating, drinking and talking quietly downstairs in the main room.
  She smiled to herself. It was good to have friends she could trust here in Skyrim. She had been alone for so long since she had been taken from her parents, but she was beginning to feel part of the community here in Whiterun.
  After she had awoken in the Temple of Kynareth in Whiterun and been helped by Danica, the high priestess of Kynareth, she had taken a few days to regain her strength. She was sorry she hadn't told Danica the full truth of what had happened to her in that prison, or her real name (which was Caerwyn Moonshade), but she had thought it for the best in case any of Ancano's agents were hunting for her. She had just said she was an escaped slave from the bandits at Valtheim Towers and Danica had accepted that. And in a way it was true.
  Danica had been more interested in the cuts that Danifae had on her body. She had remarked how quickly they had been healing, and that she had seen nothing like it. This had set Danifae thinking. She'd had no idea why Ancano and the Thalmor had kept her imprisoned, but they had continuously kept cutting her body over and over and the pain had been excruciating. Could there be something special about her?
  She had spent her recovery inside the Temple, as she didn't want to show her burnt and maimed face to anyone outside or the slave tattoos. She had also spent time reading the numerous books kept in the Temple, and now knew something of the history and culture of Skyrim and the civil war currently brewing.
  She had also learnt some healing techniques from Danica and had helped her heal and take care of the injured people who were brought into the temple. These techniques didn't work on her burnt face however.
  As some way of recompense, Danica had asked Danifae if there was some way she could retrieve a blade called Nettlebane, to get a cutting from the Eldergleam tree to restore the tree outside in Whiterun. Danifae readily agreed, once she felt ready.
  She had eventually felt ready to leave the temple and had borrowed a robe, hood and face scarf to hide her features. She knew she had to start earning some money and couldn't rely on charity all the time.
  She had got some strange looks from the townspeople and had taken a dislike to the Battleborns, who were Imperial sympathisers and who kept on annoying an elderly lady called Fralia Grey-Mane in the market stall. Fralia had treated her kindly, and had confided to her that her son, Thorald, was missing, and she thought the Battle-Borns had something to do with it. She had managed to find evidence that proved Fralia was right, and had agreed to help free Thorald from Northwatch Keep and give the Thalmor a bloody nose into the bargain.
  She had also thanked Adrienne the blacksmith for freeing her from her restraints. She had melted down most of them, as they had metal components and Danifae had helped her at her stall and learnt a little bit of smithing. She had also met Jarl Balgruuf and his retinue up at Dragonsreach when she went up to give the steward the Jarl's sword. They must have been used to strangers as they hadn't asked her any questions about where she had come from, which suited her just fine. Danifae had actually asked the steward, who turned out to be Adrienne's father, some questions about Whiterun Hold itself and he had been quite happy to tell her of its history.
  She had went to the Companions and thanked them too, especially Farkas, who had carried her all the way to the temple. It had been dark and not many people had seen her, and she had been wrapped in a warm cloak anyway, which suited Danifae just fine. Not that she could remember any of that, as she had been unconscious from dehydration, but Danica had told her. She had felt a strange bonding with the Companions. They had agreed to accept her into their ranks, as long as she did some errands for them, to prove her worth. She had a quest to go and kill some vampires in a cave nearby.
  There had been an orc looking for recruits for a band of vampire hunters called the Dawnguard, down near Riften. It was strange, but she had felt an intense dislike for vampires. She had never seen one, but all the same they were creatures to be destroyed. So, she had readily accepted and would go there when she was going to Riften.
  She had also helped the farmers with their crops and had got some coins and food in return. Anoriath was also glad of her help at his stall and he went out hunting whilst she manned it. She was able to get some money together and Anoriath gave her some pelts and basic equipment. She was finally able to tan some hides to make some clothing and used the fletching table in Elrinder's store to make herself a bow and some arrows. She also bought a map of Skyrim and a simple axe, hide shield and hunting knife and went to the Companions training yard to practice using her weapons. It felt good to finally be able to do some bow practice and some axe swings. It had been so long since she had held a weapon and her skills definitely needed improving. Even her archery was off, due to only being able to see through her left eye, so she was trying to learn to compensate. She doubted if she would ever be as good as she had been and she had even been able to give her father a run for his money, but certainly not now.
  She had spent a few nights in the Bannered Mare and had heard various rumours, including someone called a face changer in Riften. This really got her interest, but she knew she would have to get a fair bit of money together first before going there as it would likely prove expensive. If she could hide her burns and tattoos she would be better suited to hunting down Ancano and wouldn't have to keep hiding her face all the time. But that would have to wait for now.
  There was a bounty on some bandits at Valtheim Towers. That was something else she would be attending to, seeing the way they had treated her when she was in her restraints and had tried to pass by on her way to Whiterun.
  She had also heard rumours of trouble with necromancers in Brittleshin Pass and had heard that Farengar, the court wizard, had been looking for something called a Dragonstone in Bleak Falls Barrow, which wasn't far and was near two places called Helgen and Riverwood. There had been rumours of some bandit activity at Helgen too and Danifae was going to check it out. She was always willing to take on bandit bounties.
  She had decided to also practice using a mace. She had encountered some skeletons in the Hall of the Dead when looking for a lost Amulet of Arkay. She had defeated them with some stealth archery but had had to fight a couple with her axe and shield. They had been tough to bring down and maces were more suitable for use against undead, she had learnt.

  

   

  
  So, feeling it was time to get to know her surroundings and being careful she wasn't being followed or tracked, she had stopped off in Riverwood on her way to Bleak Falls Barrow and had helped a fellow Bosmer called Faendal deal with a love rival. He had agreed to come along as backup. She had also explored the burnt ruin of Helgen and had saw a big black dragon flying off. It was certainly scary looking and the two of them had hidden away until it flew off. It had been too far away for bowshots and the two of them didn't fancy taking it on, seeing the devastation it had wrought on Helgen. She had come across a familiar face in a cave nearby, Ralof, the man who had removed her blindfold in the prison. He had been injured in the dragon attack so Danifae helped him using her newly learnt restoration powers. He was pleased to see she had managed to get free of the prison and her restraints and was very sorry he had had to leave her there. Gunjar, his superior officer, had been a racist and Ralof had no idea where he was now. They had been scattered during the attack. When Danifae had been exploring Helgen, she had come across his dead body and took Ralof to it. Ralof had been saddened by this, but had said it was what he deserved after what he'd done. Ralof buried his body and then they set off for Riverwood. Ralof had asked Danifae why the Thalmor had taken such an interest in her, but she had said that they had accused her of being a Talos worshipper, but was going to track down Ancano and his agents and find out. Ralof had invited her to join the Stormcloaks as it would be the perfect opportunity to give the Imperials and the Thalmor a bloody nose. She decided to join up when she got to Windhelm. He would put in a good word for her if he got there first and would try and find out information on where Ancano was hiding.

  

   

  

  
  On leaving Riverwood, she had explored Deep Falls Barrow with Faendal, killed a giant spider, killed some Draugr, opened a strange door and had walked up to a strange glowing wall, where some sort of strange power was absorbed into her, It sent a chill down her spine and she didn't know what it meant. Then they had fought a Draugr Overlord who kept trying to knock them over with a strange shout. To avoid this, she and Faendal had attacked from range from opposite sides of the room and had eventually brought it down. They had checked the large chests in the room for valuables then had left the caverns and went back to Riverwood. They had returned the Golden Claw to Lucan Valerius, had rested for the night and set out the next day for Brittleshin Pass, a necromancer hideout which had a bounty. They had managed to kill the necromancers inside when Danifae came across someone locked in a cage. She was shocked to see the woman, Zora Fair-Child had a burn mark on her face. On letting her out of the cage, Danifae showed her her own maimed face and the two had bonded and become firm friends ever since. Zora was a Breton, so she was short in height but she was very strong and wielded two-handed weapons like an expert, but it left her rather tired afterwards, so she slept and ate quite a lot.

   

   

  
  The three of them headed back to Riverwood, where Danifae decided to say goodbye to Faendal so he could spend time with Camilla Valerius. Then Danifae and Zora went and retrieved Amren's family sword from another bandit hideout. Danifae took them out from afar with her bow and Zora pummeled them in close with her big hammer. Danifae healed their cuts and bruises. All in all, it wasn't a particularly hard task and the two of them learnt how to complement each other's combat skills and learnt some valuable experience.

   

   

   

  Then they headed to Valtheim Towers, where Danifae had a certain bone to pick with the bandits there. Danifae had approached from the opposite side of the river from the road and was hidden behind some rocks, and had noticed a certain member of the band had a limp and was clutching his ribs. It seemed Silas was still the lookout, but it must have been painful for him to climb the stairs. Some of the others seemed to be carrying wounds from the wolf fight. She spotted the chief sitting eating a meal. From his position, it would be extremely difficult to hit him from here unless he moved. She saw a lookout on her side of the river, sitting on a chair on the rocks above the bank, quite close to where she and Zora were hiding watching the road on the other side of the river. She decided to take her out first, as it looked like she was an archer. She nocked an arrow and fired at the bandit's head, then quickly nocked another and shot her through the back of the chair. The end result was the bandit died without a sound and from a distance it looked like she was still sitting propped up in the chair.
  
  She said to Zora 'I want the leader, that big ugly orc sitting up there, for myself. If you can distract the others and hit them in close I can fire at them to pin them down'
  
  'Sounds good to me, my friend. Better ward ourselves with some alteration spells.'
  
  Zora warded herself with Oakflesh to protect against melee weapons and Danifae cast Stoneflesh on herself to protect against arrows. As she'd be firing from an elevated position she didn't think many arrows would reach her but she wanted to be cautious. She had learnt a few alteration spells since her time in Whiterun.
  
  
  She then decided to fire an arrow into Silas, right into his good leg to try and distract the chief and he ended up crawling on the floor, screaming in pain, which brought a smile to Danifae.
  The chief got up, wondering what Silas was screaming about and Danifae fired an arrow at his head. Because he had moved her aim was off slightly and it hit him in the shoulder, but he had thick armour on and he tried to find out where the arrows where coming from. With a roar he pulled out the arrow and started shouting orders to the bandits, but by this time utter chaos reigned and the bandits weren't listening. Danifae kept on the move, rapidly firing arrows into any bandits approaching across the bridge and she took down two of them. Zora had made her way down the slope to the near tower by this time and she hid beside the doorway. A bandit came out and aimed his bow at Danifae but Zora pounded him down from behind and took down another bandit who ran out. The chief by this time ran after Zora but she made her way back up the slope towards where Danifae crouched, her strong legs easily making it back up the slope. He was trying to run up the slope, roaring after Zora, but the weight of his armour and the arrow wound in his shoulder was slowing him down and he was getting tired. Danifae shot an arrow into his knee and he went down on one knee in pain. As Danifae got closer he looked up and tried to bring up his sword. Danifae knocked it out of his hand and stood on his fingers. Crying in pain at his crushed digits she lowered her hood and facemask. Anger was growing inside her again, but she tried to remain calm and fought it down. She used her axe blade to raise his face up to hers. Now that she had a good look at him he was an orc, an ugly one alright. She got out her hunting knife and ran its blade down his face, causing a deep cut. With the blood streaming down his cheek and crying in pain Danifae said to him
  
  'Remember me, ugly?'
  
  With recognition finally registering in his eyes he said 'You! How...?'
  
  She ran the knife down the other side of his face so now he had two big cuts on his face.
  
  'Zora, this guy doesn't like people with maimed faces. He thinks it's fun to tease them'
  
  Zora said 'That's terrible. Whatever shall we do with him?'
  
  'Would you like to introduce him to your hammer?'
  
  'Yes, that sounds good' and Zora smacked him in the uninjured knee.
  
  The orc fell on his back, howling in pain. Danifae said 'You don't know what pain is. Shall I end it for you?'
  
  The orc was pleading 'Yes...yes...' so Danifae stuck an arrow down his throat, where he choked on his own blood. She made sure to retrieve the arrow. She searched him and got a considerable sum of gold

   

  She noticed Silas trying to crawl across the stone bridge, shouting for Maria. He must have somehow got down the tower stairs so the two of them walked down the slope into Valtheim Towers and walked up to Silas who was still trying to crawl across the bridge. He heard them approaching and looked round. When he saw who it was he started screaming 'MARIA...PLEASE HELP ME!!!'
  
  'Maria doesn't seem to be here. Ah Zora, his face is dirty. It could use a wash. He also doesn't like ugly people'
  
  Silas 'No...no..please no...' and he started crying
  
  Danifae knelt down next to him and said 'Those tears won't be enough. There's plenty of water down there though'
  
  'I didn't mean it. The boss wanted me to guard you and get you clean'
  
  'Yes, clean my face, he said. NOT PUT MY HEAD UNDER THE WATER AND DROWN ME!'
  
  'Please, I was hungry. I wanted to wash you quickly'
  
  'I was hungry too yet I didn't get anything to eat'
  
  Danifae pushed him over the edge of the bridge and he fell into the river below, where he thrashed and kicked. His injuries stopped him from swimming very far and he floundered in the water and went under. Danifae and Zora checked the rest of the hideout for treasure and gold and went down to the cooking pot. Maria was at the riverbank trying to drag out Silas. She must have been hiding somewhere until Silas 'fell'. She turned round and bared two swords to fight. 'He's dead. You bitch. He was my bethrothed' she said to Danifae.
  
  'That's a shame. You should have ran, instead of staying here. I will give you a choice. You can surrender and come quietly with us to face justice in Whiterun, or you can fight and die here. Your choice'
  
  Maria screamed and ran at them, swinging wildly. Danifae blocked the right sword with her shield and blocked the other sword with her axe and it got caught up in the head. Danifae kicked Maria over the cooking fire and she screamed as the hot embers and boiling water set fire to her clothing and burnt her skin. She rolled on the ground, dropping the swords trying to quell the flames and the pain. She tried getting up and running to the river but Zora smacked her in the legs and she fell over, not able to walk.
  Danifae said 'Now you know what it's like to be burnt' and watched as the screams and struggles eventually ceased. The two friends dragged her over to the river and dumped her body beside that of Silas.
  'Now the two of them can be together' said Danifae and they left them there. Danifae examined the remains of the cooking pot. Luckily the meat had remained inside. 'Yes, it's wolf meat'.

  

  
  The two of them climbed up to the top of one of the towers and sat down and enjoyed a hearty meal of wolf meat, washed down with the bandit mead. 'Yes, that was hard work' said Zora. Both of them admired the view from up there. Danifae thought back of the lovely scenery in the Valenwood and Skyrim could certainly match it in places. Again she felt the tears form but she fought them back. Zora noticed and hugged her close 'Let it out. I'm here to hold you in case you fall' she said.
  And so Danifae did, for several minutes. When she felt she had no more tears left she smiled at her friend. She felt so much better and ready for what was ahead. Getting her revenge on the Valtheim Towers bandits made her feel better and the world was a bit safer at least.
  
  'I'll be returning the gold to Whiterun. Probably give it to Danica. Hopefully go some way to compensate for the people they robbed and killed. Their gold will be put to good use there'.

   

  
  
  That is just what they did. They returned the Dragonstone to Farengar and they fought their first dragon, which was quite a battle. It had been reported to be attacking the western watchtower. With the help of several hold guards and Irileth, a distrusting Dunmer who had been Balgruuf's housecarl for many years, Danifae and Zora managed to combine archery and big hammer swings on it.

  

   

  When the dragon was dead something was absorbed by Danifae and she felt something build inside her. A guard told her to try shouting and she did. 'Fus' came out. The guards remarked about her being 'Dragonborn'. Then a mighty shout came down from the highest mountain in Skyrim, the Throat of the World. On heading back to the Jarl for her reward, he also told her she might be Dragonborn and to head up there to see the Greybeards to learn more. She was made a Thane. She would rather not have had the attention but to avoid suspicion from the Jarl's court she accepted. She was presented with a new follower, Lydia, who was to be her housecarl. Lydia looked at Danifae strangely, but she was used to this.
  She returned Amren's sword and got some sword and shield training. She sold the dragon bones and scales and eventually had enough for a house in Whiterun. She bought it and furnished it and now she had a base of operations, of a sort.
  On her return from killing the dragon, she had encountered some Ali'kir warriors who were looking for a Redguard woman in Whiterun. She wondered who that would be. It could be Amren's wife, or Saadia. At a guess, she went to speak to Saadia. It was indeed she they were looking for and she asked Danifae for help in escaping them by finding their leader, Kematu. Danifae knew what it was like to be in hiding so was willing to go along with her. On entering the Dragonsreach dungeons to speak to a captured Ali'kir warrior she met a Bosmer by the name of Larkspur, who was a reformed bandit and who had robbed from the rich to give to the poor. He was quite the charmer and enjoyed the company of women. As there were now three women in the party Larkspur was very keen on coming along! Apparently he was also quite a skilled wielder of dual weapons. Danifae warned him that he would be put to the test if he came along with them but he shrugged it off. 'To be in a party with three lovely lassies is more than worth it. Beside I have no doubt you can heal my wounds' he said with a wink. With a sigh Danifae agreed to bring him along.
  She paid the warrior for information on Kematu and found out his location.
  She returned to Danica and made a donation to the Temple. Danica examined her and found her cuts had healed, apart from a few scars. 'Quite incredible' she said. 'There's something in you that gives you increased healing powers'
  
  'I'm sorry I don't know why that is. I'm going to try and find out though.'
  
  'I've been thinking. I'm a healer, possibly the best one in Skyrim. If I had a sample of your blood I might be able to find out something. But as a healer I took a sworn oath not to harm anyone'
  
  Danifae didn't hesitate. She got an empty potion bottle, used her hunting knife to cut her palm and poured some of her blood into the bottle. Giving the bottle to Danica she said 'Please tell no-one of this. Do this in secret as I don't want it known about me'
  
  'Of course. In strictest confidence. It may take some time to gather information on it, though'
  
  'Don't worry about that. I may be going away for some time and might be able to find out something on my own. If you need more blood I will provide it'
  
  'Be careful, child. The world is a dangerous place, what with the war, bandits running amok, dragons and vampires and all that'
  
  Danifae smiled. 'I have good friends now who look out for each other. I think we'll be alright'
  
  
  
  So now, sitting in Breezehome she thought about what Danica had said. Could her dragon blood have something to do with her increased healing? She had read some books on Dragonborn from history and they hadn't shown any signs of such healing prowess. Did Ancano and his Thalmor friends know about her dragon blood and this healing power? It was something she was going to have to find out.
  She heard Zora stirring from the room next door. Danifae got up and walked downstairs and had some cheese and Nord mead. She was getting quite a taste for the mead.
  Zora walked downstairs and sat on the bench to have something to eat as well.
  
  'Sleep well, Zora?'
  
  'Quite well thanks. I'm rather hungry though'
  
  'Eat my friend. We're well stocked and we'll be going away from Whiterun for a bit after today'
  
  'Where are we going, Danifae' asked Larkspur
  
  'It's about time I went to Riften to see about changing my face. Then I can remove this mask and hood in public and the hunted becomes the hunter. However, there's one or two things I need to do before going there, like helping Saadia. I know what it's like to be hunted and be in hiding'
  
  'I can see the beauty beneath the burns. Such a pity you need to change it'
  
  'It may well be even better than before you know'
  
  'I look forward to that too' said Larkspur, with a wry grin

   

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