The Dockworker's Epilogue 1: Not Again

• Posted by Clement Bilhorn February 10, 2013 - 825 views

  I've done all I really can for Skyrim, I think. Yeah, I never really tied up my business with the Brotherhood, but I'm willing to live and let live. I'm done with the Blades, that's for sure, and the Guild will be fine on its own. 

  So I'm going south for the winter.

  Which is to say, I might be going south for a very long time. It is Skyrim, after all. But I meet up with a couple of Khajit heading back to their homeland, Elsweyr, to pick up some more moon sugar. I've always said that the Khajit are my favorite sort of people, and my being a dragon doesn't change that. 

  In Skyrim at least, the Khajits and I have a lot in common. Despised, ignored, feared, whatever. So I'm curious to see what they're like at home, and these two are quite friendly.

  But hey, everyone's friendly here, even the wolves.

  

  Okay, so the Khajit call them hyenas. Tomato, tomatoh. 

  Same goes for the bandits blocking our way. Do I care that they're all cats and one of them is about as big as the valor guard in Sovngarde? 

  

  Yes, actually. These guys put up a good fight. Could've used them a few months ago storming Windhelm, actually. I wonder if anyone in Skyrim would take it personal if I started hiring mercenaries to make my own army.

  The logistics of getting them north could be a problem, though. The roads here are awful.

  

  But that's no problem, my Khajit fellows insist happily. I suspect they're both dosed on moonsugar this very moment. They say I can just scout around for another path and we'll be right on our way. Whatever. I came here to relax, although I'll admit it's nice to do some old-fashioned hunting for a change.

  

  We finally reach our base on the outskirts of Elsweyr, and I'm much happier with what I see. Dense foilage, running water, the throaty croak of far-off birds...it's gorgeous.

  

  There's even giant cats. Well, Pahmar, they call themselves, a sort of variant of Khajit, but I think I can be forgiven for the confusion. I, after all, am a lizard, who thought I was related to dragons, and it turns out that while Argonians at large are not, I myself am, in fact, a dragon. 
  

  So we're all one big family. The Khajit we meet up with says that some others have been expecting me, which is odd. But it's the warm embrace of friendship, I tell myself, and that's just how the Khajit roll. So with my heart and mind buzzing with happy thoughts, I send off to sleep in the poshest place I've ever stayed.

  

  And then it's ruined for me when I see Esbern standing at the foot of my bed. I don't know how he got here, and I don't like it. He even lectures me on how the Blades must fulfill their oath, how Paarthurnax must die, how I must do what is necessary.

  

  Well, screw you, Esbern. I'm obviously dreaming. This is just me internalizing some deep-seated conflict over how you Blades betrayed me. I came here to get away from you all, so I'm not letting some tortured subconscious ruin my trip. 

  So I get out of bed and head down to the river to find Ameir, the Khajit who was looking for me. 

  I meet some crabs, who are of a far more agreeable disposition than their similarly arrayed cousins back in the north.

  

  That said, I might still eat them if it comes to it.

  So I press onward through the jungle, struck again and again by how much I like this place. It's like it was made for me. Dark, warm, and wet. I really need to go visit Blackmarsh someday. 

  Even the less friendly wildlife is interesting to see. These spiders, or whatever they are (they have ten legs!), contain a poison that I'm sure I'll be able to put to use at some point in the future. Or maybe just sell for a good amount of money. See, there's a bright side to everything.

  

  I even run across some little guys muddling around a campsite. Argonian Pahmar, maybe?

  

  Well, if they are, they're being very unfriendly. But I understand. My first meetings with the dragons, my own brothers, didn't go very well. Or the ones after that. Or after that. Really, there's only two dragons I haven't killed, so my future with these guys doesn't look bright.

  But in time, I finally reach Ameir at her camp on the waterway, with a bunch of other Khajit in attendance. So I ask around, curious to see what's going on.

  

  As it turns out, the resident Thalmor overseers are very interested in my arrival. They're probably still sore about me butchering their embassy. But to make matters worse, the Khajit here are engaged in their own little rebellion against their masters. 

  Well, last time, I sided with the Thalmor indirectly, since I happen to like the Empire. But I also happen to like the Khajit.