Void's Fury, Part 5- Among the Merchants

  •             Rez seemed to drift back into consciousness slowly. When he was aware of where he was again, he stood up and composed himself. He walked to his left and grabbed some flowers that he saw. When he returned, he removed the weeds that were starting to grow on the grave and laid the flowers down in their place. He turned around and saw no one behind him. Ralof was not kidding that Gerdur would take a while, he thought. He decided to check in with Orgnar. When he entered the inn, Orgnar was sweeping the floor behind the counter just like he was when Rez’Aleem first entered two years ago. “Orgnar, it is good to see that you are still here.” Orgnar looked up and saw the Redguard. “Hi Rez. When did you come back to Skyrim?”

                “A few days ago. I came through Markarth first to meditate at the Talos Shrine.”

                “What are you doing in Riverwood?”

                “I came to see old friends.”

                “You know, I never did get a chance to ask you Rez. Do you have any idea what happened with Sven? His house burned down with him and his mother inside.”

                Rez looked at him with a revealing look on his face. “No idea.” Orgnar already knew what had happened, but he also knew that the right thing was done. “Just figured I would ask since you were here. Are you staying long? In Skyrim I mean.”

                “Definitely, there is much work to be done before the coming campaign. Plus, there are some loose ends that need to be tied up first.” Rez paused then said, “Well, I better get going. I figured I would stop in and let you know I was back in the area.”

                “I will keep a room open for you. So long.” Rez exited the inn and began to look for Ralof. He spotted him immediately across the river at Faendal’s grave. Rez walked over to him and Ralof turned to see him. “He was a true warrior of Skyrim. Even though this was not his homeland, he defended it better than some of it natives.” They both stood in silence for a moment before turning back to town to gather their horses. They made their trip to Whiterun quick to make up lost time. When they entered the gate, Rez turned to Ralof. “I will check with Belethor and the rest of the shopkeepers. Can you question Adrianne and Elrindir?”

                “Sure thing.”

                “After you question Elrindir, have him give us a table. We’ll eat lunch and compare notes.”

                “That sounds good, but why at the Drunken Huntsman? We have to make lunch there and the mead isn’t as good.” Rez answered him immediately, “I’m perfectly capable of providing food and drink. Plus, we can’t smoke at the Bannered Mare.” So Ralof walked into Warmaidens and Rez’Aleem continued towards the market stalls. He turned toward Belethor’s General Goods, but decided to see Arcadia in the Cauldron first. He walked in and was instantly greeted by the many unusual smells of an alchemy store. The floral smells were soon replaced by the damp smells of moss. Those smells were in turn replaced with fish and other plants of the forest. Ulfric had only named Belethor that morning, but Rez saw no reason to not ask around the rest of Whiterun. As he expected, Arcadia hadn’t seen a thing. He told her to keep her eyes open for anything suspicious and to keep track of her gold. However, because he didn’t tell her to keep a look out for anything specific, he figured that the Imperial would forget about it in a few days.

     

                When he walked back out into the market, he knew that the others would have nothing to tell him, so he walked straight into Belethors. When he opened the door, he saw that no one was behind the counter. He stood in the doorway for a minute before turning for the door again. “Can I help you?” said a voice from the back. Rez turned and saw Belethor walking up to his usual spot behind the counter. “Oh, it’s you Rez’Aleem. What brings you around my store today?”

                “Hello Belethor. I’m here on official business from the High King. He has told me that you made a report a few weeks ago about some counterfeit currency. I came to see what I could get from you.”

                “So he finally decided to send someone? Not a moment too soon,” the Breton sarcastically remarked. “Well, you’re here now. Where do I begin? Would you like some lunch?”

                “Thank you, but I’m going to be eating at the Huntsman with one of my associates. You can certainly eat while we talk though.” With that, they both moved to the back of the store and sat at the table. Belethor sat down to a nice plate of fish and potatoes. After a few minutes, Belethor started going over his report to Ulfric. “Well, as I said, a few weeks ago I was going through my books. I started going through my gold bags when I discovered that there were small pieces of iron mixed in one of them. Now, I never mix goods with Septims. If I receive any kind of ore, it goes right back out front for sale. So, I turned out the bag and looked for pieces of paint or some other substance that would cover the iron to make it look like gold. There was nothing.”

     

                Belethor took a large bite of his fish. He sat there chewing it while looking at Rez for some sort of reply. Finally, Rez spoke up. “Well, is that it?” Belethor simply nodded his head while he continued on with his lunch. “Do you have any idea who gave you those pieces of iron?”

                “As a matter of fact, I do. I keep detailed records of who buys what. I also keep allof the payments in separate bags. Every week, I go back through my books and make sure that everything is correct. I’ve done this since a group of thieves tried passing of half-Septims as whole.”

                “What do you mean “half-Septim”?”

                “These men had come into some old presses used to stamp Septims. They started taking the Septims they had and melting them down with other metals. They started offering this service to many people and became rich from it. Eventually, the higher ups in Cyrodil got wind of it and started investigating. Eventually, they recovered all of the half-Septims and wiped out the thieves.” Belethor opened one of his books and started flipping through the pages. Eventually, he turned the book to Rez’Aleem and pointed to a short paragraph that had been circled.

     

                Rez took the book and began to read what the Breton had written down. 16th of Second Seed. Items Sold: 2 Common Soul Gems, 2 Potions of Health and 6 Iron Ore. Buyer was a rather short Altmer. He also had a very thick Morrowind accent. The other information was useless to Rez, so he handed the book back to Belethor and thanked him. Rez stood up and headed for the door. Before he walked out, he turned back. “If you think of anything else or hear of anything suspicious in town, be sure to report it. We are taking a very active interest in this case.” Then, Rez walked out of the shop and over to Anoriath’s stall. The Bosmer greeted him happily. “Rez’Aleem. It has been quite a spell since you came to my stall. What can I get for you today?”

                “I would like two mammoth steaks and some salt please.”

                “Sure thing. I’ll get that together right away.” Rez walked around to the other stalls to pick up food for lunch. When he had everything he needed, he walked down to the Huntsman and through the door. When he entered, he saw that nothing had changed inside the place. Elrindir was standing behind the counter as usual, while a few people sat at the counter drinking. Jenassa was sitting at a back table trying to sell her services to some vagabond. He had travelled with her a few times and knew her to be a capable fighter. When he saw Ralof, he walked toward the table and sat down his things. He grabbed the food that he planned to cook and moved toward the fire in the center of the room. First, he took the potatoes that he bought, halved them and seasoned them with salt and thyme before placing them on the grill grate. Second, he grabbed one of the pans that Elrindir kept out for customers to use and sat it over the flame to get hot. Next, he threw some carrots in the pot of water that was kept boiling throughout the day. He stood there for a few minutes while everything warmed up.

     

                Soon the pan he sat on the fire was hot and the carrots were cooked. He grabbed the carrots and threw them in a pot with some butter and sugar. Then, he grabbed some oil that he kept in his pack and added it to the pan. He seasoned the mammoth steaks simply with salt and pepper before adding them to the pan. While he waited to turn the steaks, he looked at the potatoes and rotated them so they would cook evenly and stirred the carrots to break down the sugar. When he thought that the steaks were ready, he turned them over to reveal a beautiful brown crust that had formed on one side. He let the steaks go until they were pink all the way through. He pulled them out and sat them on a plate. Finally, he took some brandy that he had and threw it in the pan. He scraped at the bottom to remove the fond that had formed while he let the brandy reduce. When he got it to the right consistency, he removed the pan from the heat and threw in some butter to finish the sauce. He sat everything on the plate and poured the sauce over the steak. By that time, everyone inside had taken notice of his cooking. Even some of the townspeople outside could smell his food and began to enter the Drunken Huntsman.

     

                Rez did not pay attention to them and took the plates over to the table. He and Ralof began to eat and the people that had crowded inside left. When everything became quiet, Rez produced some things from his bag. He first handed a bottle of mead to Ralof and then a box. “What’s this?” asked the Nord. When he opened it, his face lit up with delight. “Where did you get a full box of cigars from the Isles?”

                “We intercepted a boat that the Thalmor sent towards High Rock. The captain on board had them on his desk. I thought you would like them. Where did we find those first few?” Ralof thought for a second before the answer came to him. “Fort Sungard.”

                “That’s right. They were in a drawer in one of the desks.” Ralof pulled out one of the cigars and bit off the end. Rez struck and held a match so Ralof could light his cigar. Then Rez rolled a few cigarettes for himself and lit one. The next couple of hours passed quickly as the two Stormcloaks reminisced about their many confrontations with the Imperials and drank the mead that Rez brought with him for Hammerfell. When they finished their lunch, they cleaned up and headed for their horses. Ralof grabbed another cigar while Rez lit one of the cigarettes that he rolled earlier. They both mounted up and started riding for Windhelm. After a few hours ride, they were right across the bridge from the city. The men tied up there horses and headed across the bridge.

     

                When the men entered the city, people were still in the streets. Lucky for them, it was early summer, so the weather was warmer and the sun stayed up longer. When Ralof and Rez made it to the Palace of Kings, they asked the guards outside if Ulfric was still there. They nodded their heads to Ralof and Rez and the men headed inside.