The hundred-and-one orc berserkers - A Kodlak Whitemane story
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The hundred-and-one orc berserkers
- A Kodlak Whitemane story
Ria was trying to made her way through the crowd in the direction of the staircase
Ria grabbed the tray the waitress handed her and put the money on the counter. The item was surprisingly heavy and she glanced questioningly at the young woman as the latter gave her a gentle push on the back before turning her attention toward another client.
Peddlers, guards and farmers, after a long day of work more people were pouring into the inn by the minute as Ria was trying to made her way through the crowd in the direction of the staircase. Here the bard Mikael was discussing the choice of the next song in the middle of a small assembly of women exchanging gossips. A brown haired maiden carrying a lute stood up and made way for Ria as she began to climb up.
“Thank you!” she said.
The staircase was giving access to a single large room on the right that was usually rented by rich clients. She carefully walked toward the opposite side where a door opened on a small balcony suspended over the hall where traders coming from afar would discuss important deals. But there were no merchants tonight, only two women in armor peering down over the balustrade at the crowd below. Ria dropped off the trail on the table between them and sat down. The blond woman on the left turned her face toward the plate and smiled. “Smells awfully good!”
“I didn’t ask for all this.”
“Bread, leek soup, oh crispels! ... And what is this? Pork?” – She lifted the cover from the pot – “Aela! Mutton stew!”
“That man over there, wasn’t her training the guards till last year?” said the red haired woman whose arms were still folded over the railing.
The first notes of the Lay of the dragon rose in the air as Ria poured spiced wine into the cups and handed one to the blond warrior. “Here is for you” – she filled another goblet – “and for Aela!”
The latter took the cup and faced the others before she rose on her feet. “I suppose I ought to say something since Gwen only came back yesterday.” – She mumbled a few seconds for herserlf – “So here’s to Ria! Proud member of the companions, devoted shieldsister who overcame the many trials and ... hey you’re not supposed to start drinking! I’m not even started!”
“Come on you can fill me in while we eat!” said Gwen.
She sliced a huge chunk of bread and started to dunk it in the soup with one hand while the other was busy searching the cooking pot with a spoon for meat. Soon it became a battle between the three over the tastiest morsels.
Aela took the cup and faced the others before she rose on her feet.
“You have no idea how terrible the food was in the march,” Gwen said with a sigh, relishing on the taste of mutton in her mouth, “whatever they try to cook it always tastes like a mix of piss and mud.”
“Caught your bandits?” Ria asked.
Guinevere paused a moment, glancing at the imperial woman.“Yes and no.”
“Eeeeeh? But there was such a big bounty on that gang and the Jarl himself –“
“Ria!” Aela interrupted, “They were already dead.”
“Eh?”
The crowd on the lower floor cheered and joined in the chorus. Gwen smiled. “I spent one month looking for a bunch of corpses that were quietly lying at the bottom of a pond. The gold, the jewelry, everything was there.”
Ria gasped in disbelief but frowned after a few seconds.
“Vampires ...” Aela whispered over the top of her cup of wine.
“I’m not sure,” Gwen pulled a face, “but –“
“But you have enough experience for your instinct to tell you that’s the case,” Aela said, grinning.
The door of the inn opened again, letting the cold air of the outside rush through the hall. Ria froze and her eyes widened; she jumped on her feet. “Whaaaaaat? And you did not chase after them?” she shouted over the table.
Aela and Guinevere were staring at her half surprised, half amused.
“Look at that pup now” – Aela leaned back against the wooden pillar – “Kodlak patted her on the head a bit and she’s all eager to wander the lands and confront the most ferocious creatures!”
“Hey! I’m older than the both of you!”
“What did the old man say?” asked Gwen
“The usual – Wait! No! There was also some praise on Hircine since she was tasked with hunting mammoths. – I would have praised Sheogorath if I were him. The way she tackled it was quite crafty!”
“Really?”
“Vampires, girls!” Ria interjected.
Guinevere took one of the honey glazed pastries and laid down on a cushion. “You should not worry too much over that kind of stuff Ria, there has always been vampires in the march.” – She took a bite of the biscuit – “Besides, the old man will soon give you enough work that you won’t have time to concern yourself over anything else!”
I spent one month looking for a bunch of corpses that were quietly lying at the bottom of a pond.
“It has already been more than a week and he barely talked to me, always staying in the basement behind the doors of his room ...” she pouted.
“Don’t judge him harshly. He’s a great leader and a great man. The best of us!” said Gwen.
“Does he ever leave Whiterun? –”
“Ria!” Aela interjected.
The imperial women stopped on her track and lowered her head after a few seconds. She had been going too far for a moment and she knew it.
“It’s only natural to feel like leaving the town after a long training. I understand! I understand!” – She emphasized – “But don’t ever badmouth Kodlak in front of me!”
“Especially when you don’t know shit about him,” Gwen said, emptying the bottle of wine in her cup. “Even if Farkas and Vilkas were to gang together they wouldn’t still put a scratch on that old bear!”
“That strong?”
“Never heard about the hundred-and-one orc berserkers?” Aela said.
“Obviously I have! But looking at Kodlak and Skjor right now – I mean it’s hard to believe!”
Guinevere slowly rose on her feet, “Judging by the direction this conversation is going I say we need more drink. – Gonna grab some beer,” she added while stepping over the table.
The young warrior quickly made her way downstairs then toward the counter. The tavern was filled to the brim, yet as she was waiting for the command, a red haired waitress carrying boards emerged from a room in the back and rapidly began to dress more benches around the fireplace in the middle of the hall. The flames were high, the crowd was cheering at the song of the bard and the night was far from over. Guinevere quickly snatched the bottles the innkeeper was handing her and went back to the upper floor. Ria was sitting nervously and Aela was laying on a cushion, eyes closed. Guinevere dropped a bottle on the knees of the imperial girl.
“Aela was going to tell me the complete story of the hundred-and-one berserkers.”
“I know that,” Gwen said, “because listening to the achievements of the elders is also part of the initiation if you want to truly be part of the pack.”
Guinevere sat. Aela extended a hand toward the beers and opened her eyes, looking at the ceiling under which the smoke from the fire bellow was accumulating. There was a moment of silence.
“It was twenty one years ago – no, twenty two” – She was carefully choosing her words – “It began with a feud between the Jarls of Markarth and Falkreath. Not long after the Markarth incident. – By that time Igmund of Markarth sided with the imperials, accepting to officially condemn the worship of Talos. On the opposite, for Dengeir of Falkreath the very idea of denouncing the old tradition was received as a provocation, not enough to spark a war but let’s say the relations were very – tense.” – She paused again, taking a sip of beer while enjoying the attention of her audience – “To ease the situation the council of the thanes of Markarth proposed to arrange a marriage between Jorleif, Dengeir’s son, and the youngest daughter of Igmund, her name was Elaine. Both families accepted and the wedding was celebrated in the great hall of Falkreath; the festivities lasted a whole week and every noteworthy noble from Skyrim was invited. – It is said that Elaine made a very beautiful young bride, seventeen years old, brown eyes, dark hair. Igmund’s wife was an imperial I think. Jorleif himself wasn’t much older and they say he retained the good look of his father while being more of a daydreamer. All in all everything was going smoothly and after a month one would have believed the relations between the two clans were going to mend. – Until Jorleif came back one night only to find another man in his bed that is.”
“Eww!” Ria said, “So Jorleif killed Elaine and her lover?”
Aela grinned, “How romantic! What do you think happens when a seasoned warrior from the hills crosses blades with a teenage daydreamer from the town?” – She looked at Ria as the eyes of the latter widened even more – “Butchered! Dengeir's heir was sent to Sovngarde in the glimpse of an eye! – But the commotion attracted the attention of neighbors. The man was able to escape but not the girl. When Dengeir discovered his own son lying in a pond of blood besides the very nuptial bed he snapped and insisted that the guards brought him Elaine at all cost so that he could punish her himself. That girl – they say he tore off a lath of the bed and the moment she was brought in front of him he beat her until her body was black and blue and her face was unrecognizable. The thanes of Falkreath prevented him from killing her, still aware that a murder by the hands of Dengeir himself would trigger an attack from Markarth.
The boy was sent to Sovngarde in the glimpse of an eye!
“And the man?”
“They never found him. It seems his feelings weren’t deep enough to make him come back and forfeit his life. – But the real insult for Ingmund was that his daughter’s lover was a forsworn. – He casted away the girl who had obviously spent too much time delving into the Dibellan art to a community of Arkay priests. Nobody ever heard of her since then!” – Aela took another sip of beer – “So the tension rose again between the two holds. Dengeir having been left half paranoid since the death of his son, Falkreath was unofficially ruled by the assembly of thanes who were trying to avoid any conflict. – One year passed when two events occurred and tipped the balance. The discovery of the Bilegulch mine and the great expansion of the Dushnikh orc clan!”
Ria tilted her head, “Isn’t it a mine of silver?”
“Orichalcum! At that time the mine of Cidhna was overflowing with slaves you know, hundreds of men from the hills were disappearing into the depth of Markarth. Since his daughter's affair Ingmund was less reluctant to provide the Silverblood family the forsworn workforce they were asking for. In fact there were so many slaves and the Silverblood were becoming so rich that they started to buy or steal other mines around the Reach and beyond. And that’s how they turned their gaze upon the Bilegulch mine which Falkreath was unable to run since the hold didn’t have the manpower. But there was a problem. If one thing Falkreath had already motives to attack Markarth, but there were very few reasons for the opposite to happen – except in retaliation if Dengeir tried to invade the Reach to avenge the death of his son” Aela added with satisfaction, emptying her bottle in one go.
She stopped and looked at her audience. Ria was captivated, Guinevere was snoring on her cushion, a bottle in her arms.
At that time the mine of Cidhna was overflowing with slaves
“And that’s where the orcs enter the scene,” Ria said, slowly understanding where the story was going.
“Exactly so” – Aela nodded – “During the time the forsworn were occupying Markarth the Dushnikh clan from the Reach had been getting stronger over the years to the point of reaching an important population for an orc stronghold. They were trying to expand their territories and at first clashed a lot with the neighboring forsworns – but eventually their thirst for battle and glory slowly drove them to the borders of Falkreath hold. Falkreath hasn’t always been reduced to a sea of trees you know” – She was looking at Ria again – “There were a few settlements along the border with the Reach, Northkeep, Owlwood. – Everything was put to the torch! And after every raid the orcs retreated to the territories of the Reach. Dengeir was furious! Everybody in Skyrim thought that he was going to send his army after the Dushnikh and that Markarth would seize the opportunity as an excuse to declare war and swallow Falkreath. – That’s when a messenger reached Jorrvaskr with a letter from the council of the thanes of Falkreath who were looking for mediation in the conflict. Unfortunately the herald wasn’t there, nor most of the ancient members. Only our parents, Skjor and Kodlak who had only arrived one year before and who was forbidden from using a weapon.”
“WHAT?” – Ria exclaimed – “Why was it he could not use a weapon?”
Aela smiled. “That you will ask him yourself. – The important part is that Skjor and Kodlak departed to Falkreath to meet the council and later negotiate with the Markarth nobility on the matter of the orcs. It was right after Northkeep was reduced to cinder. They were staying at Thadgeir’s house, Dengeir’s brother, patrolling during the day, consulting and listening to the never-ending complaints every evening. The death toll was rising, Skjor had little hope that Markarth would lift a finger to fight against an orc clan that was slaughtering forsworns and Talos worshippers alike, and all this time Kodlak was remaining silent.”
“You sure took your sweet time to get to the good part!” said Gwen.
“You were not sleeping?”
“Not really. But go on now!”
Aela resumed her story. “One evening a group of hunter hurried into Thadgeir’s house to warn Skjor that a large gang of orcs had raided the Half-Moon settlement, killed the men and abducted the women. – Skjor says that at this moment Kodlak stood up without a word, grabbed an axe and rushed out into the storm to his horse, galloping out of town as if Molag-Bal himself were chasing after him. They crossed the forest in a few hours and moved quickly into the desolate territories of the Reach, hunting down the orcs under the rain in the middle of the night. – I don’t know how they did manage not to lose their way but ultimately they caught up. The orcs started to rush toward Kodlak but he simply ignored them and went back up their lines until he spotted their leader, an eight feet tall colossus. Trust me or not, he leapt from his mount and delivered a lightning stroke at the giant, splitting his head and helmet down to the neck! Just like that! Then he grabbed the arm of the closest warrior and gutted him with his own sword before crashing his axe in the face of another! The orcs were going crazy! – “
Aela herself couldn’t contain her excitement at telling Ria this story she already knew for a long time; the tone of her voice was becoming more passionate by the minute as the musical chords on the lute were intensifying. “– like a black sea of teeth and blades, roaring and crashing against a mound of corpses and mud on the top of which Kodlak and Skjor were fighting back to back! Crushed bones! Smashed faces! Cold steel against cold steel, piercing bowels and cutting arms! Kodlak was slaughtering the orcs like mongrels, one after another, waves after waves. The bodies were falling in a river of blood! Twenty! Twenty five! Skjor says that between the roar of the thunder he could hear Kodlak humming behind his back, lost in the trance of his berserker rage! –“
between the roar of the thunder he could hear Kodlak humming behind his back,
lost in the trance of his berserker rage
Aela grabbed another beer, deep in thoughts – “It lasted until dawn” – she rolled the bottle between her hands – “in the end the orcs retreated, having lost half their warriors. Kodlak was standing in the middle of the corpses, a few yards away from them, Skjor behind him doing his best not to collapse from exhaustion. Then a huge orc advanced and told Kodlak that even if he were a nord his bravery earned him the right to become their chief if he wanted. His name was Larbuk, son of Durzuk. Kodlak simply told him to let the women go and leave with the rest of the tribe, swearing that they would never step out of the territories of their clan again. And so they left, and Kodlak and Skjor brought back the women to Falkreath were the latter told the story to everyone. – In less than a week the name of Kodlak Whitemane spread across Skyrim, from Solitude to Riften!”
Ria ate the last crispel. “And Markarth? Didn’t they say anything about it?”
“What could they say? Arrest the man who was considered a hero by everyone in Skyrim? – It is said the Reach sent soldiers at the location of the battle a few days later, they found close to fifty orcs corpses. They weren’t buried or anything, the tribe only paid attention to the fact that they had the proper amulets and weapons so that they would be accepted by Malacath in death.”
Guinevere suddenly stood up, knocking down the bottle on her lap “GOSH! I forgot! – Gotta report to the Jarl about the mission before it’s too late!” She jumped over Aela’s legs and rushed toward the staircase.
“I’m going to the Drunken Huntsman after that!” Aela shouted.
“Gotcha!” said Gwen before she disappeared.
Aela stood up and brushed the breadcrumbs from her skirt, “So, did you enjoy the story?”
“Is that all there was to it?” Ria asked.
The red-haired woman smiled, “Actually no. I don’t know the details but when Askar came back from Windhelm he talked a lot with Kodlak and from that moment Kodlak took back his sword.”
She handed the last bottle of beer to Ria and they made their way downstairs. It was close to midnight and only a few soldiers and regular customers were remaining, most of the merchants having the obligation to wake up early to take the road the next day; Whiterun was maybe the most important trading city in Skyrim in term of number of deals but the biggest exchanges were done on the docks of Solitude.
Ria shivered at the night cold, looking enviously at Aela’s naked back. The night was clear and the sky was starry, contrary to the one in the hundred and one berserker tale.
Aela picked-up where she left, “During two years nobody heard about the Dushnikh clan anymore, then one day a single orc arrived at the gates of Whiterun and asked to meet with Kodlak outside of the city. His name was Burguk, the son of Larbuk, the orc who negociated after the battle. That’s how we came to know what happened with the Dushnikh. – It seems for the last twenty years the former chief allowed other males to share women in order to reproduce and conquer large territories over the forsworn. But obviously Kodlak put a brutal end to this dream, which led to strife inside the clan. Burguk killed his father, the new chief, and right after becoming the chief himself he eradicated the old generation for their offense to Malacath, saying they lost because they betrayed the old way and corrupted the blood. – Burguk said he hated Kodlak and right after thanked him for pulling them out of their sins, but he couldn’t accept how his father Larbuk asked a nord to become their chief and that’s also why he killed him. –“
Burguk said he hated Kodlak and right after thanked him for pulling them out of their sins
“Geez! Orcs are too complicated!” Ria said.
“It’s pride” Aela concluded, “and custom! –The name of the Companions is hold in high regards among the orcs of Skyrim, but never would one of them set foot in Jorrvaskr.”
Ria stretched her body, eyes closed, extending her arms toward the moon. “– I’m going to sleep. Too exhausted! – Thank you for the story!” she said, turning to Aela.
“You’re welcome! – But remember, the best tale to tell is always yours! It’s only up to you to write it!” – She waved and departed, heading for the entrance of the town, her frame slowly disappearing into the darkness as the imperial watched her from the distance.
Ria shivered again and rubbed her arms. “Aaaaaah! So cold!”
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Notes from the author (hey that's me !):
As usual I hope you enjoyed ! It's quite different from the stuff I used to do but I feel that it allows me to tell far more interesting stories. There are very few pictures but some of them took a tremendous time to take.
I'm very interested in your opinion here on the overall thing. (looking for a lot of "TLDR" aslo ^^)
Feel free to ask any question about the mods used ...
Thanks !
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