Korisara has, through skill at arms, magical might, and a casual disregard for ethics, become one of the most powerful people in Skyrim. Most quests that would require a Dragonborn have been accomplished, and no more grand deeds need be done. Unfortunately, ascending the ranks of various organizations has, unexpectedly, come with actual responsibilities, some of which are somewhat contradictory. You'd think they'd have warn her about that sort of thing, or perhaps she just hadn't been paying attention.
Been There, Done It All
- Thread starter Sir Bill
- Start date
- Fantasy
- Created
- Status
- Ongoing
- Watchers
- 24
- Recent readers
- 0
- Threadmarks
- 1
-
Statistics (1 threadmarks, 2.6k words)
User Total Sir Bill 1 Threadmarks Reader mode
Korisara's Return
I entered Whiterun, a slight smile on my face.
It was somehow almost nostalgic to be back here- despite the fact that I'd first arrived here not terribly long ago, only a few years now- penniless but for the gold I'd taken from the bodies of a few people dumb enough to think "unarmed Altmer woman" meant harmless. Still, it had only taken a week of work and looting the bodies of a few more idiots, and killing a dragon, not to forget that part, until I had earned enough entirely legitimate funding to own my own house! It was a small house, the smallest house I own, really, but it was still cozy enough.
The nicest thing is that it was the first house that I earned, without any help or assistance from my parents, unless you count the magical education that they paid for.
But I have moved beyond that education, considering that I am Korisara, the Archmage of Winterhold.
Though-
My stride paused for a moment as I carefully considered that. My father would probably tell me that of course an education from the Aldmeri dominion would allow even a low level graduate to end up in charge of a backwater school like the College of Winterhold, which wasn't precisely a hundred percent completely fair.
But I had murdered plenty of Thalmor, most of whom had been educated back at the Dominion, so that made me better than them, ergo I was qualified to run the College based on my merits above and beyond those of your average graduate from Aldmeri magic schools.
I smiled and continued my stride, confident in my reasoning. I had taken courses in logic, after all. I still say I'm quite good at it.
"Harbinger!" Aela the Huntress called out. "You're back! Found any good hunts for us?"
"Just visiting for now." I gave a casual wave of my hand. She had an odd look on her face, but I decided to ignore that.
I think it had been a few months since I had last been here.
Solstheim had been quite fun, in its own, terribly violent way, but I was quite ready to return to the land I had adopted as my own. I'd been gone for some time now. Admittedly, there wasn't too much to do in Whiterun, and I'd already had a few carts carry all that I had stored in Whiterun over to my newer, better home in Falkreath.
Now it was just a bit of a waystation for me, largely maintained just so that I didn't have rent a room at the Bannered Mare, like a homeless person might.
I approached my house and opened the door, to see Lydia sitting there, tankard in hand, feet on the table, chatting with a woman I didn't recognize.
"My thane!" She stumbled into an upright position. "You've returned!"
"Yes, it was a lovely trip, though I didn't care much for all the ash."
"Ash?" Oh, right. I don't think I ever actually told her where I was going.
"I went to Solstheim."
She tilted her head, seeming to try to recall that name through the buzz of alcohol.
"Morrowind, I went to Morrowind."
"Ah." She nodded.
"I don't think I'll need to go back there for some time, so I'm ready to see how Skyrim has fared in my absence."
"Well, you've got a number of letters waiting for you, my thane."
"Letters? Here?"
"Yes. This- is the mailing address you do tend to give out the most, my thane."
"Really?" I suppose I did. It surprised me a bit to learn that people sent letters to addresses, I suppose I had just assumed that anything important would have been sent through one of those couriers who would track me down. It was almost like sorting the mail. If it was important enough for me to care about, it was important enough to shell out a little extra.
The woman Lydia had been drinking with stood up, "I'll just, leave now."
"Yes, yes," I waved her off as she stumbled away, and looked at Lydia. "How many letters?"
Lydia winced.
____
There had been…
A lot. From quite a few people.
A number of letters asking me to assist them with some dragon or another. Luckily, I had coincidentally fulfilled a number of those requests. (Rorikstead, for example, had requested I assist them with a dragon, and a later letter thanked me for my assistance and for my apparent refusal to accept pay by not even acknowledging the contract that they offered, the town's leader going into great detail on how noble it was of me to do so and their financial difficulties due to the dragon destroying a number of the wagons they had already filled with crops. I briefly wondered if it would be gauche of me to ask them about my pay now, before deciding that it probably wasn't worth the effort.)
A few random letters thanking me for my various deeds, some mail advertising various sales that had already expired, a few odd letters consisting entirely of a vaguely familiar black hand, some invitations to social events that have already happened-
"Oh."
"What is it?"
"Apparently, I actually had been invited to that party at the Thalmor Embassy."
"Really?" Lydia's nose curled in distaste. "How did that happen?"
"Well, looking at the letter, I was the thane of more than a few holds even back then, I- think I was also the Harbinger of the Companions at the time, though I may have the dates wrong and that's not specifically mentioned. It was a big social event, I was a notable up-and-comer in various social circles. It makes sense that they'd invite me."
"Yes, well, good thing you didn't go. I heard a werewolf somehow got in there, killed almost all the elves at the party. A shame it missed the ambassador, though."
"Yes, good thing indeed…" That made me feel vaguely guilty for having killed so many of them, since I hadn't actually been snubbed for the party as I had suspected. Sure, they were Thalmor, but-
My mind flashed back to that night.
"That's a lovely dress you have on." First Emissary and Ambassador to Skyrim Elenwen said, in a voice that only a fellow Altmer would recognize as anything but sincere.
"Why thank you," I responded. "I like your outfit as well." Tragically not a lie, I did love the look of the Thalmor robes. "This is a lovely embassy you have here." I diplomatically did not add, "Would be a shame if anything happened to it."
"You seem to have adapted to Skyrim quite well." Which would be a compliment from someone who wasn't as contemptuous of the land and all its peoples as Elenwen was.
I smiled warmly, so very, very warmly back at her.
Scratch all that, I'm glad I ate them.
I looked over the next few letters.
Some simpering fools, Maven asking me to investigate some particular crimes, well, that letter was obviously from some time ago.
I began to look at some recent ones.
Mirabelle had sent one.
Vaguely curious, I opened it up.
Archmage Korisara,
I understand that your travels and duties, both as Dragonborn and Archmage, must be quite time consuming, but I would like to remind you of your responsibilities here. Truthfully, while I would appreciate it if you handled your own paperwork, the position of Archmage at a Skyrim college has allowances for those who prefer to travel more during their scholarly pursuits.
However, one particular responsibility should be completed sooner rather than later. It has been a long standing tradition among the college for the Archmage, shortly upon receiving their title, to prepare a special thesis project, to serve as a demonstration of the excellence that the College seeks in its students, as well as furthering the cause of the study of magic. Allowances have been made due to both your prior responsibilities as well as the unusual circumstances surrounding surrounding your promotion to the rank of Archmage, but you will need to at least address the matter at some point. Regardless, quite a few people are quite curious as to what you might have been working on, and I admit I am part of those ranks.
With all due respect,
Mirabelle.
Huh. I noted. That would be… difficult.
I am quite good at magic, but I do admit that much of my ascendance to the rank of Archmage was largely due to non-magical means, namely, stabbing various figures and looting tombs for knowledge until I finally killed Ancano. My magical specialties, Restoration and Enchantment, largely kept me alive long enough to stab more people in the face. I didn't really have that much of an academic grounding in magic.
What exactly would I even write about?
Applying Daedric Essence Augmented by the Thu'um Against Beings of Aedric Origin?
Or, "How I repeatedly stabbed Alduin in the eye with a daedric dagger as I used my shouts to try and stab him even harder."
Hm.
Maybe. I shrugged my shoulders.
Ah well. It still wasn't really a priority, so I placed it in the, "Carefully consider whether or not I should bother," pile.
And, some letters from the Companions.
Mostly they were just asking for me to find more jobs for them, or to approve jobs or- huh. There were more responsibilities than I had thought for this position. Honestly, they had mostly seemed to manage themselves, from what I saw. A few new members that I was supposed to "judge" as I had been judged when I first tried to join them, but I wasn't sure how to go about handling that without the old Harbinger's prophetic dreams, but I'm sure that vaguely portentous nonsense would serve well enough.
I'd put that in the, "Find a way to delegate" pile.
I looked at the next letter. It was a message with the seal of General Tullius. It was- probably important.
Opening it up, I was disappointed, somewhat. It was just informing me that I had a significant backlog of messages at my office in Solitude.
I pondered that for a moment, lowering my letter.
I had an office? An official, Legate office?
Had anyone told me that I had an office? It seems like the sort of thing that should have come up. How could they expect me to just know that sort of thing?
My eyes briefly fell on the Imperial seal.
This did seem like something that there would be consequences for ignoring. Maybe?
I am willing to admit to myself that comprehending military structure beyond, "Person tells me to kill person and/or loot thing, I kill that person/get thing, I get promoted" (which made it seem quite similar to most other organizations I've joined, truth be told) is quite beyond me, but I suspected there might be some sort of legal consequences from ignoring those letters.
Put in the "Mild Priority" pile. General Tullius was probably smart enough to realize that arresting the Dragonborn would be a terrible idea, both for the political reasons, and because I was me.
Next was a letter from a mysterious B.
I opened it up, before shaking my head at the handwriting. Brynjolf. Of course.
Hey Lass,
I briefly wondered if he still thought that was an appropriate way to address his Guildmaster, or if he was trying to be subtle in case the letter was intercepted, before I decided that I didn't really care, and defaulted to vaguely annoyed.
Our friends have been getting antsy lately. We've been pulling smaller contracts since you've been gone. Mind, they're good, reliable work, and with your assistance, we've been quite wealthy, but we're about more than the coin around here. We're about the challenge of it all, and frankly, we haven't had much of that lately. If you have any ideas, we'd appreciate hearing them. K's been getting particularly agitated. I know you two don't care much for each other, but she's proven a solid member of our little group, and throwing her a bone every once in a while wouldn't be out of order. I like keeping our little family happy, since business always gets ugly when family's unhappy.
Anyway, hope to see you soon,
B
PS
Ingrun's slipped well into her new role as Jarl, but she's had a lot of questions about where we get our specialty stock. We've told her our sources like their anonymity, but you know how she is with potions. Might be a good idea to speak to her, but the details of that are entirely up to you.
I frowned at that.
Karliah.I don't think she'd forgiven me for our little talk before I hunted down Frey, but, well, being fair, I still hadn't entirely forgiven her for trying to cheat me. Even Brynjolf had taken time to forgive me for that, but, Mercer's head proved to grease the wheels of forgiveness quite well. There wasn't anything quite like vengeance to earn forgiveness.
I turned my attention back to the letter. Well, if she was feeling antsy enough for Brynjolf to mention it, that seemed to indicate that this was likely my top priority, for the time being.
To Riften it was!
___
Lydia stood in the room, holding the sack with the rest of the letters, as her thane simple walked out the door without a word, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.
She considered that, and promptly tossed the bag right back into the corner of the room.
She- well, she had been assuming that it was all part of being the Dragonborn, having a dragon's soul instead of a normal, elf one, but then, Korisara had taken her to meet Paarthurnax, and, as terrifying as that experience was, he was- honestly a lot nicer than her Thane. Very polite.
He gave her some solid life advice, really, made her feel a lot more confident about where her life was heading.
No, Korisara was just… like that.
She stared at her drink. Ah well, she'd go grab Uthgerd again later. Live for herself a little. Not like her Thane even really noticed her absence.
Maybe later she'd update everyone else in the Housecarl Network, let them know their thane was back.
She took another long drink.
AN:
So, part of my NaNoWriMo was to just get back into the habit of writing, including just writing whatever I was in the mood for if I wanted to avoid just staring at a screen for a few hours.
Friendly Disclaimer: While I do have more written, and a few plans for this story, it's nothing terribly elaborate. This is a just-for-fun project that I figured that I might as well share. I expect a couple more updates soon, at least covering the Riften situation, but no guarantees beyond that. Also I'm looking forward to seeing how all these new fangled forum features work.
It was somehow almost nostalgic to be back here- despite the fact that I'd first arrived here not terribly long ago, only a few years now- penniless but for the gold I'd taken from the bodies of a few people dumb enough to think "unarmed Altmer woman" meant harmless. Still, it had only taken a week of work and looting the bodies of a few more idiots, and killing a dragon, not to forget that part, until I had earned enough entirely legitimate funding to own my own house! It was a small house, the smallest house I own, really, but it was still cozy enough.
The nicest thing is that it was the first house that I earned, without any help or assistance from my parents, unless you count the magical education that they paid for.
But I have moved beyond that education, considering that I am Korisara, the Archmage of Winterhold.
Though-
My stride paused for a moment as I carefully considered that. My father would probably tell me that of course an education from the Aldmeri dominion would allow even a low level graduate to end up in charge of a backwater school like the College of Winterhold, which wasn't precisely a hundred percent completely fair.
But I had murdered plenty of Thalmor, most of whom had been educated back at the Dominion, so that made me better than them, ergo I was qualified to run the College based on my merits above and beyond those of your average graduate from Aldmeri magic schools.
I smiled and continued my stride, confident in my reasoning. I had taken courses in logic, after all. I still say I'm quite good at it.
"Harbinger!" Aela the Huntress called out. "You're back! Found any good hunts for us?"
"Just visiting for now." I gave a casual wave of my hand. She had an odd look on her face, but I decided to ignore that.
I think it had been a few months since I had last been here.
Solstheim had been quite fun, in its own, terribly violent way, but I was quite ready to return to the land I had adopted as my own. I'd been gone for some time now. Admittedly, there wasn't too much to do in Whiterun, and I'd already had a few carts carry all that I had stored in Whiterun over to my newer, better home in Falkreath.
Now it was just a bit of a waystation for me, largely maintained just so that I didn't have rent a room at the Bannered Mare, like a homeless person might.
I approached my house and opened the door, to see Lydia sitting there, tankard in hand, feet on the table, chatting with a woman I didn't recognize.
"My thane!" She stumbled into an upright position. "You've returned!"
"Yes, it was a lovely trip, though I didn't care much for all the ash."
"Ash?" Oh, right. I don't think I ever actually told her where I was going.
"I went to Solstheim."
She tilted her head, seeming to try to recall that name through the buzz of alcohol.
"Morrowind, I went to Morrowind."
"Ah." She nodded.
"I don't think I'll need to go back there for some time, so I'm ready to see how Skyrim has fared in my absence."
"Well, you've got a number of letters waiting for you, my thane."
"Letters? Here?"
"Yes. This- is the mailing address you do tend to give out the most, my thane."
"Really?" I suppose I did. It surprised me a bit to learn that people sent letters to addresses, I suppose I had just assumed that anything important would have been sent through one of those couriers who would track me down. It was almost like sorting the mail. If it was important enough for me to care about, it was important enough to shell out a little extra.
The woman Lydia had been drinking with stood up, "I'll just, leave now."
"Yes, yes," I waved her off as she stumbled away, and looked at Lydia. "How many letters?"
Lydia winced.
____
There had been…
A lot. From quite a few people.
A number of letters asking me to assist them with some dragon or another. Luckily, I had coincidentally fulfilled a number of those requests. (Rorikstead, for example, had requested I assist them with a dragon, and a later letter thanked me for my assistance and for my apparent refusal to accept pay by not even acknowledging the contract that they offered, the town's leader going into great detail on how noble it was of me to do so and their financial difficulties due to the dragon destroying a number of the wagons they had already filled with crops. I briefly wondered if it would be gauche of me to ask them about my pay now, before deciding that it probably wasn't worth the effort.)
A few random letters thanking me for my various deeds, some mail advertising various sales that had already expired, a few odd letters consisting entirely of a vaguely familiar black hand, some invitations to social events that have already happened-
"Oh."
"What is it?"
"Apparently, I actually had been invited to that party at the Thalmor Embassy."
"Really?" Lydia's nose curled in distaste. "How did that happen?"
"Well, looking at the letter, I was the thane of more than a few holds even back then, I- think I was also the Harbinger of the Companions at the time, though I may have the dates wrong and that's not specifically mentioned. It was a big social event, I was a notable up-and-comer in various social circles. It makes sense that they'd invite me."
"Yes, well, good thing you didn't go. I heard a werewolf somehow got in there, killed almost all the elves at the party. A shame it missed the ambassador, though."
"Yes, good thing indeed…" That made me feel vaguely guilty for having killed so many of them, since I hadn't actually been snubbed for the party as I had suspected. Sure, they were Thalmor, but-
My mind flashed back to that night.
"That's a lovely dress you have on." First Emissary and Ambassador to Skyrim Elenwen said, in a voice that only a fellow Altmer would recognize as anything but sincere.
"Why thank you," I responded. "I like your outfit as well." Tragically not a lie, I did love the look of the Thalmor robes. "This is a lovely embassy you have here." I diplomatically did not add, "Would be a shame if anything happened to it."
"You seem to have adapted to Skyrim quite well." Which would be a compliment from someone who wasn't as contemptuous of the land and all its peoples as Elenwen was.
I smiled warmly, so very, very warmly back at her.
Scratch all that, I'm glad I ate them.
I looked over the next few letters.
Some simpering fools, Maven asking me to investigate some particular crimes, well, that letter was obviously from some time ago.
I began to look at some recent ones.
Mirabelle had sent one.
Vaguely curious, I opened it up.
Archmage Korisara,
I understand that your travels and duties, both as Dragonborn and Archmage, must be quite time consuming, but I would like to remind you of your responsibilities here. Truthfully, while I would appreciate it if you handled your own paperwork, the position of Archmage at a Skyrim college has allowances for those who prefer to travel more during their scholarly pursuits.
However, one particular responsibility should be completed sooner rather than later. It has been a long standing tradition among the college for the Archmage, shortly upon receiving their title, to prepare a special thesis project, to serve as a demonstration of the excellence that the College seeks in its students, as well as furthering the cause of the study of magic. Allowances have been made due to both your prior responsibilities as well as the unusual circumstances surrounding surrounding your promotion to the rank of Archmage, but you will need to at least address the matter at some point. Regardless, quite a few people are quite curious as to what you might have been working on, and I admit I am part of those ranks.
With all due respect,
Mirabelle.
Huh. I noted. That would be… difficult.
I am quite good at magic, but I do admit that much of my ascendance to the rank of Archmage was largely due to non-magical means, namely, stabbing various figures and looting tombs for knowledge until I finally killed Ancano. My magical specialties, Restoration and Enchantment, largely kept me alive long enough to stab more people in the face. I didn't really have that much of an academic grounding in magic.
What exactly would I even write about?
Applying Daedric Essence Augmented by the Thu'um Against Beings of Aedric Origin?
Or, "How I repeatedly stabbed Alduin in the eye with a daedric dagger as I used my shouts to try and stab him even harder."
Hm.
Maybe. I shrugged my shoulders.
Ah well. It still wasn't really a priority, so I placed it in the, "Carefully consider whether or not I should bother," pile.
And, some letters from the Companions.
Mostly they were just asking for me to find more jobs for them, or to approve jobs or- huh. There were more responsibilities than I had thought for this position. Honestly, they had mostly seemed to manage themselves, from what I saw. A few new members that I was supposed to "judge" as I had been judged when I first tried to join them, but I wasn't sure how to go about handling that without the old Harbinger's prophetic dreams, but I'm sure that vaguely portentous nonsense would serve well enough.
I'd put that in the, "Find a way to delegate" pile.
I looked at the next letter. It was a message with the seal of General Tullius. It was- probably important.
Opening it up, I was disappointed, somewhat. It was just informing me that I had a significant backlog of messages at my office in Solitude.
I pondered that for a moment, lowering my letter.
I had an office? An official, Legate office?
Had anyone told me that I had an office? It seems like the sort of thing that should have come up. How could they expect me to just know that sort of thing?
My eyes briefly fell on the Imperial seal.
This did seem like something that there would be consequences for ignoring. Maybe?
I am willing to admit to myself that comprehending military structure beyond, "Person tells me to kill person and/or loot thing, I kill that person/get thing, I get promoted" (which made it seem quite similar to most other organizations I've joined, truth be told) is quite beyond me, but I suspected there might be some sort of legal consequences from ignoring those letters.
Put in the "Mild Priority" pile. General Tullius was probably smart enough to realize that arresting the Dragonborn would be a terrible idea, both for the political reasons, and because I was me.
Next was a letter from a mysterious B.
I opened it up, before shaking my head at the handwriting. Brynjolf. Of course.
Hey Lass,
I briefly wondered if he still thought that was an appropriate way to address his Guildmaster, or if he was trying to be subtle in case the letter was intercepted, before I decided that I didn't really care, and defaulted to vaguely annoyed.
Our friends have been getting antsy lately. We've been pulling smaller contracts since you've been gone. Mind, they're good, reliable work, and with your assistance, we've been quite wealthy, but we're about more than the coin around here. We're about the challenge of it all, and frankly, we haven't had much of that lately. If you have any ideas, we'd appreciate hearing them. K's been getting particularly agitated. I know you two don't care much for each other, but she's proven a solid member of our little group, and throwing her a bone every once in a while wouldn't be out of order. I like keeping our little family happy, since business always gets ugly when family's unhappy.
Anyway, hope to see you soon,
B
PS
Ingrun's slipped well into her new role as Jarl, but she's had a lot of questions about where we get our specialty stock. We've told her our sources like their anonymity, but you know how she is with potions. Might be a good idea to speak to her, but the details of that are entirely up to you.
I frowned at that.
Karliah.I don't think she'd forgiven me for our little talk before I hunted down Frey, but, well, being fair, I still hadn't entirely forgiven her for trying to cheat me. Even Brynjolf had taken time to forgive me for that, but, Mercer's head proved to grease the wheels of forgiveness quite well. There wasn't anything quite like vengeance to earn forgiveness.
I turned my attention back to the letter. Well, if she was feeling antsy enough for Brynjolf to mention it, that seemed to indicate that this was likely my top priority, for the time being.
To Riften it was!
___
Lydia stood in the room, holding the sack with the rest of the letters, as her thane simple walked out the door without a word, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.
She considered that, and promptly tossed the bag right back into the corner of the room.
She- well, she had been assuming that it was all part of being the Dragonborn, having a dragon's soul instead of a normal, elf one, but then, Korisara had taken her to meet Paarthurnax, and, as terrifying as that experience was, he was- honestly a lot nicer than her Thane. Very polite.
He gave her some solid life advice, really, made her feel a lot more confident about where her life was heading.
No, Korisara was just… like that.
She stared at her drink. Ah well, she'd go grab Uthgerd again later. Live for herself a little. Not like her Thane even really noticed her absence.
Maybe later she'd update everyone else in the Housecarl Network, let them know their thane was back.
She took another long drink.
AN:
So, part of my NaNoWriMo was to just get back into the habit of writing, including just writing whatever I was in the mood for if I wanted to avoid just staring at a screen for a few hours.
Friendly Disclaimer: While I do have more written, and a few plans for this story, it's nothing terribly elaborate. This is a just-for-fun project that I figured that I might as well share. I expect a couple more updates soon, at least covering the Riften situation, but no guarantees beyond that. Also I'm looking forward to seeing how all these new fangled forum features work.
Last edited: