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Posted by
Paul M December 9, 2014 -
574 views
Whiterun has recovered from her brush with war, and the only obvious change since the battle seems to be the presence of imperial soldiers in town. In my travels the Pale seems the happiest land to be in, and as I am reunited with Lydia once more I chat to the steward of the city about buying a house here. I'm a little short of coin so I pop to see the local traders with some of my more exotic items picked up while traveling. The hardest item to part with is my dwarven sword imbued with lightning magic, but doing so I at last get the money I need to buy my own house.
Having finally invested in the real estate of Skyrim, I must back that up by securing its future. That of course means the war, which I plan to end today if possible. Lydia and I grab a horse and cart headed to Solitude using the meagre remains of my funds, and we head straight for the General even though it is just gone midnight by the time we arrive.
The General makes me a Legate following my success at Fort Kastav, but suggests that there is still one point of the compass he wants to conquer before we actually attack our enemy. A little delayed, Lydia and I head to the Winking Skeever, where I'd forgotten I'd left the stay dog I found after parting ways with Lydia last time. Lydia isn't impressed with her replacement, so come the morning we leave him in the barkeep's clearly capable care once more.
I consult my map to see where I now need to head, and see it is in the far east, in an as yet unexplored part of the world for me. It is north of Riften though, where I know I left my horse a few days ago. I tell Lydia to make her way back to Whiterun while I take a horse and cart deep into the south country.
Bono, my horse, is as I left her, and we head north from the Riften stables along the road to Whiterun for a time before turning east into the volcanic desert lands that make up Skyrim's eastern border. After a bit of searching I find the imperial camp hidden on the side of one of the mountain rises, and I meet up with Rikke who informs me there is, as I expected, another fort to clear. It is in fact to be Fort Amol that we assault, the last resting place of the young Maurice, who came unstuck against an adept fire mage while traveling with Lydia and I in these parts. I don't inform Rikke of my past experience, and instead make haste to reach the fort before nightfall.
Taking a pathless route pretty much due west, I find we're headed roughly towards the Throat of the World mountain. Between the camp and the great peak is a fog covered flatland of volcanic swamps and uprooted trees. A dragon circles some distance away to the north, and I wonder if this desolation is his doing. Picking my way so as to remain hidden from the dragon's view, Bono and I soon come to a slightly more active than I'm used to dwarven ruin called Mzulft or some such. Any other time I would be inclined to explore a little further but with the end of the war within my grasp I resolve to stay focused on Fort Amol.
Passing Mistwatch towers I begin to recognize the territory, although as I approach what I'm convinced will be the cave entrance to the Eldergleam Sanctuary, I find a new relic called the Atronach Stone. Continuing west we come to a waterfall which separates Bono and I from the fort. We follow the river back east to Blackwater Bridge and then take the path the rest of the way to the target. As I circle the Fort the battle seems to start, no doubt because a sharp-eyed Stormcloak archer on the walls saw me approach. I pick a quiet looking spot to rest Bono, and head towards the General's last diversion.
The battle seems somehow more straightforward than previous affairs, perhaps because this is the fourth or fifth time I've exercised these skills. The exterior is ours before sunset, and I even manage to incinerate two Stormcloaks making a last run for it down the eastern path away from the fort. I dash outside the walls and lead Bono back inside to the only stable I can see and then bagsy one of the beds in the fort itself, marking briefly as I go the spot where young Maurice fell all those moons ago.
