We were led inside the town by the Second Councilor after we landed in the dock, without turning around, we crossed the road under the watch of Raven Rock guards and climbed a long stairway on the other side of the road then were in front of the entrance of Reven Rock's Temple.
The architecture was unique and like nothing I have ever seen before. Most of the buildings looked similar to large beetles but to my knowledge, they were larger from the inside as the larger part of the building was actually dug in the ground.
"Please, this way."
Adril Arano led us to the side where there was a large round table under a shed with some seats.
"Before we start making business, I need to remind you that Raven Rock is sovereign territory of House Redoran. This is Morrowind, not Skyrim. While you're here you will be expected to abide by our laws."
"Crystal clear."
We sat under the shed on the platform that overlooked all the town.
"How do you find Raven Rock?"
"Interesting, a lot of ash though."
There were indeed mounds and mounds of ash everywhere, it was all swooped away but its smell was everywhere.
"I am afraid that other than Raven Rock, Solstheim is a big pile of ash."
"Other than its town, Winterhold is a big pile of snow."
"Haha, then let's drink to that."
Adril Arano picked up a strange container and poured its content in two goblets then offered me one, a servant poured the for the rest of my family. Also, my guards were on the standby outside the building. (in case if you are wondering)
"That is Sujamma, a liqueur only Dunmer can brew."
"Yes, I am very familiar with it." I received the goblet and thanked him.
"Nords drink Sujamma these days?"
"Nope, it is my adoptive mother who drinks it, Sujamma, Matza, Shein and Flin, I grew up between these things."
These were all Dark Elven liqueurs.
"That's… strange. You adoptive mother, is she a Dunmer?"
"Yes, she raised me in Riften before we move to Winterhold."
"And you became a businessman right away?"
"No, took me quite a while. This is my first attempt to venture with my company outside Skyrim, Raven Rock may not look appealing to many but I have a good feeling about it."
"... I hope your feelings are true, I really hope."
Adril Arano seemed down. I know from the game that he is a stern but a good person, his job is making his life and marriage harder because of all the difficulties in Raven Rock, and here where my company comes in to solve problems and gain partnership.
We kept socializing with Adril Arano until his wife Cindiri Arano joined us and Alina started using her refined socializing skills with Raven Rock nobilities, it all was going according to the plan.
"Second Councilor, here is the inventory I intend to sell."
He kept looking at my inventory of goods and kept smiling.
The problem in Raven Rock was obvious, they were short on money and had only two sources of goods, the East Empire Company and Morrowind's mainland. I simply brought then enough food to last the town for a month with a very fair price too.
"We will secure the road from here to the secondary dock and send a few guards and servants to pick the goods, Sir Jon, thank you very much."
He offered his hand for a shake and then handed me an official note with the prices agreed on.
This trade earned me almost 6000 gold coins.
Raven Rock can't pay me back in coins for sure which means I have to take a lot of goods on the way back too. Well, this is my goal from the beginning, the Dunmer population in Winterhold is growing steadily and it would be nice to have some goods from their homeland. The demand for them will be epic.
"I heard you were having safety issues outside the walls of Raven Rock."
"This isn't exactly the city of Blacklight. We're on the frontier out here, and we've had more than a fair share of troubles. After all, we've been through together, I refuse to let Councilor Morvayn down"
Councilor Morvayn is the head of Raven Rock.
"You must be pretty close to him."
"I've known the councilor since we were both quite young. We rose the ranks in House Redoran together. When word arrived in Blacklight that the Councilor's father had passed, I was asked to sail to Raven Rock with him as his second. We've fought quite a few battles together and saved each other's lives on more than one occasion. Our bond is our strength."
Sounds just like me and Wulfur.
"What is Blacklight?" Wulfur asked.
"It's the capital of Morrowind... been that way ever since Mournhold was sacked by the Argonians. I don't visit there often anymore, but we still get the occasional supply ship and visitors from there."
"I heard about the war from my mother but she didn't tell much about it." I said.
"Yeah, it was dark times. The Argonians cut a bloody swath across most of the southern region of Morrowind. Nobody seems certain why it happened... an attempt at expansion, revenge for the enslavement of their people or perhaps both. Whatever the case may be, thousands of Dunmer needlessly lost their lives and many more were exiled from their homeland."
The Dark Elves enslaved a lot of Argonians, Khajiit and Humans during the golden age of Morrowind. One of the reasons of the war between them and the Argonians. Even in Riften, Dark Elves and Argonians were not really that friendly to each other.
After an hour of talking and socializing, we were led to one of the Dunmeri manors in Raven Rock.
"This is an unoccupied place but has all its furniture and got just cleaned. Please, make sure to enjoy your stay."
"Thank you, Second Councilor. Will there be any problems if I and my family decided to go and hunt outside the town."
"I see that you have brought many guards with you but please consider that our land is different from Skyrim, I advise you to hire a guide."
"Noted!"
Adril Arano said his farewells and left. I headed back into the house started looking around.
"Jon, the place is clear, no sign of anything suspicious." Jull came and reported to me.
"Good."
"I have decided the rooms and distributed the supplies. The guards will stay at the entrance and the hall, we six will occupy the two rooms downstairs." Alina and Nefertiti reported too.
Everything was in the Haven Amulet around Nefertiti's neck and she can use get things in and out of it.
"Perfect."
After we settled down for a few minutes, I held a meeting with Alina, Jullanar, Nefertiti, Wulfur, and Bjorna.
"This is a map to Solstheim, these red areas are old Nordic barrows with high importance, this place is Raven Rock Mine which is a very important area of interest. The enemies in this land are mostly Ash creatures like the Ash Spawns and the Ash Hoppers. We need to take everything step by step to put Raven Rock back on the map without alerting the East Empire Company."
"Why is that?" Jull asked.
"I don't want them to fight us over Raven Rock so we are going to be trade partners first then start unearthing the treasures. The first phase is at those two locations, Kolbjorn Barrow and Fort Frostmoth, the old barrow will be our first treasure excavation site and the fort is for reducing the threat of the Ash Spawns, actually taking over the fort will solve some of Raven Rock's security problems and will make us trustworthy enough to establish a Trading Post."
"Cindiri Arano told me she will help us get a pass to port the ship in the docks, should I…" Alina said.
"Refuse the request politely, we don't want to burn our connection for something worthless. Outside the town is much better, we can transfer our discoveries to the ship without worrying about the town guards, I will keep the valuables in the Haven Cube but the rest will be put in the ship."
"Alright."
"Wulf, you will go and tell Ongeim to take the men and patrol the lands around their dock, we want the Troopers to face the Ash Spawns and the other Ash Creatures, make sure that our men get used to this alien place, we will join them too."
"I like the sound of it."
"There is that thing about a Hidden Clan here in Solstheim." Bjorna said.
"Here?" I was taken aback.
"Yes, they are called the Skaal." Alina confirmed.
"Wait a minute! The Skaal are a Hidden Clan?"
Both nodded at me as if it is something natural.
Strange!
The Skaal appeared in the game, I thought no Hidden Clan ever appeared in the game and now they are telling me the Skaal are a Hidden Clan!
Actually… it makes sense.
The Hidden Clans are Nords, check! Have their unique tradition and ancestry, check! Worship Old Nordic Gods, check!
The Skaal has the same rules that apply on the Hidden Clans.
The Skaal are an offshoot tribe of Nords living in a village in northeastern Solstheim. They are known as a trusting and hospitable people, welcoming strangers into their village without any suspicion. The Skaal are descended from the Nords who served the Dragon Cult on Solstheim, and built tombs to honor the Dragon Priests who ruled over them. They get all that they need from the land around them and do not often accept coin in trade from travelers.
"How is the relationship between our clans and the Skaal?" I asked.
"Really friendly, just tell them you are a Firemane or a Moonblade and they will sink you with hospitality." Alina said.
"... Let's visit them too."