Greetings! I come to you with yet another Skyrim Story. It's been... two years 😱 since my last one where Ellukha the Wood Elf travelled Skyrim with her trusty friend until he jumped infront of her arrows and she accidentally shot him in the back before drowning her misery in a nearby river.
I have recently started a new playthrough using the updated Special Edition and a bunch of mods, most importantly the Live Another Life mod that allows you to choose a new beginning rather than the standard story beginning and the Dead is Dead mod that makes it so you only have one life.
I'm also playing Survival Mode for the first time in Skyrim, though I'm wondering if it'd be better to just use the Frostfall mod instead. Oh well, might as well test out the ingrained one anyway.
Kaelci the Unfortunate Nord was attacked and left for dead! Oh noes! Let us venture forth and witness how her story unfolds.
Rain splattered across Kaelci's face, stirring her from a long sleep. Her head ached, her vision blurred, and her lungs complained with each breath she took. It was as though she had a hell of a hangover combined with the bruised and battered body of a corpse.
But she wasn't a corpse. She was alive. In pain. And drenched in rain.
Where the hell was she? She stumble-climbed to her feet and grimaced at the green water that surrounded her and the ever-worsening stench that was strong enough to wake a dragon.
Vague memories jostled about her mind. She had been on a caravan, travelling with others through the snow. Had it been attacked? Yes, she was certain it had been attacked. And she had been dragged here, to this no man's wasteland, and left for dead.
There was nothing in her pockets but two apples. Her gold was gone, her weapons gone. Hungry, she devoured the apples. Now everything was gone. She needed to find a road and get to shelter. Perhaps find a kind soul who would give her a sword and a meal in exchange for some work.
The dim light of a lantern shone in the distance. That's where the road would be. Slowly moving towards it, she stopped as a group of three appeared and came towards her. There were two corpses at their backs. This did not bode well.
"Citizen!" The leader of the group yelled in a fake Imperial tone. "How dare you step over here and interfere with our business. That'll be a 100 gold fine and on your way."
Kaelci blinked. They were trying to fleece her but she had already been fleeced. What mockery was this?
"Sirs. I've been robbed and I'm trying to find my way to warmth and shelter. I don't have 100 gold."
"Then pay with your life!"
Despite her lethargic legs and aching chest, she managed to flee from the men. They shouted curses after her and their footsteps were hot on her heels. Struggling to catch her breath, she forced extra speed to her poor feet then tumbled down a sudden cliff.
She rolled into a convenient crack in the cliff-face and sat still, holding her breath, hoping that the men would not come in.
After some time had passed with no evidence of the men outside, Kaelci at last stood up and dusted herself off. That had been a close one. Maybe there was some long lost weapon or something hidden in this cave; she would need to be able to defend herself in this cruel, harsh world.
Creeping through the cave lest wild beasts lived there, she instead found two people — a man and a woman. She hid in the bushes and watched them for a while and soon determined that they were no threat.
Emerging from behind a cave-shrub, she walked over to the man and asked for help. He didn't care. "Ask Asta," he murmured, unable to take his eyes off a great tree growing at the back of the cave.
Asta, the woman, didn't want to help either. She had no other choice. After some time had passed and the pair had forgotten her presence, she rummaged through their belongings. The man had nothing. Asta, though, had a bow and some arrows stashed in her backpack.
That would do. She liberated the weaponry and left the fools to stare at the tree.
Equipped with her newfound bow and arrows, she peered out of the cave entrance. There was no man or soldier in sight. Good. She had lost them.
Not knowing which direction to travel, she soon found herself back at the disgusting green pools but now some random people had set up camp and were bathing in the foul waters.
None of them wanted to offer her anything either. They were far more observant than the pair in the cave though and she was unable to simply take what she needed. She would continue on. She had to continue on.
The rain was unrelenting and she was cold and sodden to the bone. After travelling through the trees and wilds and disgusting slosh on the ground, she found a mine with a camp out the front.
Once again, the people ignored her and were unwilling to help. People sucked, they really did. She planted herself in front of the fire and ignored their disdainful glares. She would be warm and dry and she didn't care what they thought.
An hour passed then a man waved to her from the cave entrance.
"Stranger! I need a message delivered to Windhelm, urgently. I'll have you paid well."
The man needed medicine for the miners, they were getting more and more afflicted by dust in the mines each and every day and needed some help, stat.
Her first reaction was to flip him off, but she quickly quelled the desire. So many people had shunned her when she needed help, she wanted to shun them now too. But Windhelm... Windhelm was a great, respected city of the Nords, and she just so happened to be a Nord. She would go there for this man, and go there for herself. There would be an inn, a bed, warm food. Yes. She would go.
Warm food in a day would not help her now though. Shamelessly scavenging through nearby sacks and barrels, she found a bunch of vegetables and waltzed right into the miner's house with her goods. A fire and a cookpot was waiting and she happily helped herself to the pot to create her own food with their vegetables.
Soon a Nordic Veggie Stew was warming her stomach and she had some for later too. Perfect.
Leaving the mining camp, she noticed a bridge and a road. That was very helpful... if only whoever had mugged her and left her for dead had the decency to leave her battered body beside a road instead of by some stinking sulphur pools... she might not have gotten so lost.
It was what it was, though. Repositioning her liberated bow on her back, she set forth down the road and followed the signs to Windhelm.
Darkness fell very quickly. She didn't feel overly confident travelling the roads at night and she was feeling so very tired. There was a small logging camp just off the road though and a woman there offered her a spare bed for the night if she chopped some firewood and earnt her keep.
Kaelci gladly did so, relieved to sleep in an actual bed after her horrible day. There was also a dagger beside the bed she had been given. That would come in handy!
She woke up bright and early the next morning and continued on the path to Windhelm.
And got attacked by a goat.
She shot it in the face a few times then tore the skin from its bones. Surely someone would pay a nice penny for this creature's fur.
The great walls of Windhelm soon loomed in the distance. She was almost there! But then, a pair of wolves jumped onto the road and bared their fangs at her.
She whipped out her new dagger in one hand and was surprised to find a strange burning sensation in the other. A flame licked around her palm. It did not hurt but instead felt pleasurable and made her feel powerful.
Wiggling her fingers, the flame darted out at the wolves and burnt their fur. They yelped and tried to run away, no longer interested in attacking her, but it was too late. They fell, charred to a crisp, on the cobblestone road.
She casually tore the skins from their corpses and slung it over her shoulder alongside the goat's fur.
With those creatures disposed of, the path was safe and she proudly continued towards Windhelm.
She had made it to the city at last. Now she could deliver the message, sell the skins of the vile creatures she had collected, and indulge the day away with plenty of mead.
It sounded absolutely perfect after her ordeal.
All screenshots in this post are courtesy of me, 
