A/N: Thanks for Tako Lord on Patreon, he gifted an Ebony Armor.
Also Chapter is unedited for now, just don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT and RATE and REVIEW and everything that makes me happy. Enjoy it mortals!
~~~~~~~~~~
We decided our first phase of making bonds with Raven Rock but we were really tired to the point that we decided to laze around during the first day in the town.
I took a bed and surrendered myself to sleep for a few hours, when I woke up, I was told that the girls went out to the market.
It was only me and Wulfur and some guards in the house now.
Wulfur was setting in the hole polishing his oversized hammer and armor. As I joined him he greeted me in a good mood.
"This place needs a TV."
"Come again!"
"A TV, we can watch sports on and drink coke together one weekends."
"Did you see a dream from that past life of yours again and wanted for it to happen?"
"... Yep."
He is right, I actually dream a lot of my past life. I don't know why I miss it for some reason, I had no girls, no money, no power and wasn't this handsome. I struck it lucky when I got reincarnated but still, my head keeps going back to the days.
I guess I missed having no responsibilities.
"Okay, let's go." I said.
"Where to?"
"To visit a friend."
The girls were out so we can have some boys time together.
We headed out in Raven Rock town, the sun was setting but the place was crowded, people were coming and going all over the place. When I say people, I meant Dark Elves, they are everywhere. Wulfur and I stood out with our appearance and Nordic clothing style.
"Where are we heading?"
"The market. Don't you want to see what kind of goods they sell and don't sell here?"
"Technically, that's your job."
"Maah! Just come with me."
There were really a lot of things we saw for the first time in this place, something like the Ash Yam, a tough and tuberous root that is widely used in Morrowind. After checking its inside closely, I decided that it can be considered a variation of the normal yams and sweet potatoes. There were also Ash Hopper Meat. The Ash Hopper is a large insect that looks identical to the Grasshoppers except they are wild and dangerous for common people. Their bodies are so tough to the point that their remains can be made into a chitin plates for creating armors. They can also be eaten like grasshoppers except they are much larger which make the process easier.
There were also a lot of ingredients and gems that Solstheim was really famed with, what they all have in common was their source which is the Red Mountain and its constant eruptions. It made the land of Solstheim made of volcanic ash which is harmful and killed all the regular wildlife two hundred years ago but it gave a chance for these ingredients and mutated wildlife to grow in the southern half Solstheim. I said the southern half because the northern is a highland and kept the area behind it mostly intact. One can say that Solstheim combined both Morrowind's and Skyrim's properties and a unique and a magical way.
Still, from what I noticed in the market was the lack of food and how expensive it is unlike the gemstones and strange ores that were all over the place. This meant that we can export food to this place in exchange of Dark Elven commodities.
The other thing that took my interest is the Volcanic Ash itself. It is a very good soil enricher, once the minerals in ash are washed into the soil by rain or other natural processes, it mixes with the soil to create an andisol layer. This layer is highly rich in nutrients and is very good for agricultural use; the presence of lush forests on volcanic islands is often as a result of trees growing and flourishing in the phosphorus and nitrogen-rich andisol.
Volcanic Ash can also be used to create some chemicals like adhesives and medicinal creams, one other use is creating ceramics and some sorts of glass.
Still, the most common use in the Dunmeri lands and in Raven Rock to be exact is the Roman Concrete, a material used in construction during the late Roman Republic which is really durable and hardy, its incorporation of volcanic ash prevented cracks from spreading. This sort of concrete could be seen all around Raven Rock actually, those beetle-like buildings are all made of concrete and the famous wall around Raven Rock which is called The Bulwark, an astonishing wall built with concrete blocks as a response to the relentless ash storms from the ever-erupting Red Mountain. The storms would leave behind deep dunes of ash that made life exceedingly difficult in Raven Rock.
I decided to export a few sacks of the Volcanic Ash to analyze and create a better version of concrete that can be used in Winterhold, I am sure Master Alchemist Nurelion would be delighted with the idea especially with the plan I have to rebuild some other parts in Winterhold.
After luring Wulfur around with all the scientific talk about this and that, we arrived to where I planned to go from the start.
"Look who's there. It's Old Glover!"
"... who are… Wulfur! Jon!"
I stopped in front of Raven Rock's smithy shop, the place where I expected to find an old friend.
"Glover Mallory!" Wulfur recognized glover right away.
Glover Mallory is Delvin's brother, a man I knew since my time in Riften. A member of the guild and a good friend too.
"How can that be? Why did you get this tall?"
Glover, who was in his blacksmith gear while holding a hammer in his hand, threw what he was holding away and looked me as if he saw a freak.
"Long story short, I got more awesome."
"... No, you are the same stinking Jon."
"Ignore him, it's nice to see you, old man. How come you are here?" Wulfur pushed me aside and talked to Glover.
Wulfur and Glover have a good relationship so I was pushed aside right away.
"Maah, long story. It is really nice to see you, boys. What brings you to Raven Rock?"
"Trading."
"Trading?"
"Yeah, our company is making business around Raven Rock now."
"Company? Business? I heard a rumor about some ship arriving from Skyrim, can it be..."
"A long story. Show us the mead and I'll tell you everything." Wulfur said in a cheerful tone.
"Fine, let me clean up and I'll come with you right away."
Glover closed his shop and put away his tools before coming and leading us to the largest tavern in Raven Rock, The Retching Netch cornerclub.
As we sat, in a table and ordered some Ashfire Mead, we started our reunion conversation.
Glover arrived to Raven Rock a year and a half ago after he left Riften because of some personal reasons, he is a member of the Thieves Guild but he chose to live a regular life as a Blacksmith, his speciality was the Bonemold Armor, a kind of armor very popular in Morrowind that is created how its name suggests, A lot of Bone Meal and adhesive materials to mold the bone powder together and create light and durable plates of bone.
We told him what happened in Winterhold and what we were up to, Wulfur tried to invite him to join us in Winterhold but as expected, he didn't want to come to Skyrim again.
"But to think you managed to become a Thane and Wealthy businessman in two years after leaving that sorry excuse of a city, you really hit it lucky boy."
"No matter what words you say, you can't begin to describe how awesome I am."
"Haha! After all that time, you are the same fool you used to be."
I shrugged my shoulders and arms with a proud face confirming his claims.
"So, what brings you to Raven Rock for real, you wouldn't come all this way to sell food to some poor Dark Elves."
I looked at Wulfur and exchanged a nod.
"We are mainly after ore and minerals, one is a bit rare and hard to come by."
"I am listening."
"Stalhrim."
Glover raised his brows and nodded, he then sipped some mead and looked at me.
"You are serious about it?"
"As serious as a heart attack."
"Do you even know where to find it, how to mine it, and how to forge it?"
Glover asked with a sly smile. He seemed to want a cut of whatever we are after.
"I was hoping a certain old friend can help us. If not, we can go ask around the Nords in the northern highlands."
"Well well well, you know your way around Solstheim already! Tell you what, I provide Wulfur here with a they way to do so and you give me a little share. Deal?"
"Deal."
Glover smiled and shook his head as he couldn't take advantage of me. We are friends but the relationship about the Thieves Guild members is this complicated, there is no shame in fooling one another, it can be considered our way to have fun but the word 'Deal' means deal.
"First you guys need a special pickaxe, I am talking about a Nordic Pickaxe enchanted with Old Magic."
"This one work?" Wulfur took his personal pickaxe from his side and showed it to Glover.
It is the Notched Pickaxe, the one I picked up to Wulfur from the Throat of the World when I visited Paarthurnax.
[A/N: The Notched Pickaxe in the novel is not a regular one like the game, it's an overpowered Ancient Nordic one because it is LEGENDARY!]
"Oh! Would look at that! Where did you get this beauty from?"
"Found it next to a dragon lair." I said.
"Dragons again? You never grow up?"
I shock my head.
"Sigh! This one will work well, but you need more if you want to mine a lot of Stalhrim."
"Noted."
Glover started explaining to Wulfur how to forge the Stalhrim and where to find it after that, it was really a complicated process but it seemed that the Stalhrim can be grinded and molded together like the Bonemold too. A really wonderful property that explains how an enchanted ice like the Stalhrim can be used in a forge.
While we were talking, Alina, Jull, Nefertiti and Bjorna came into the Retching Netch with Cindiri Arano and some other Dark Elven women. It seems they were socializing really well. They went right away into a special corner in the Tavern for high class guests without noticing us.
"Well you look at that! Where did all those ladies come from?" Like many other men, Glover was attracted right away to the ladies appearance.
Wulfur and I looked at each other and laughed.
As we did that, we were spotted by Nefertiti who saw me and ran to my direction right away, she silently came and sat on my lap.
Glover was taken aback from the sudden action but I nodded to the Alina that it's all okay and to keep doing what she was doing.
"This is Nefertiti, a family member of Jon's." Wulfur introduced her to Glover.
"The two tall girls over there are his two fiancees, the tallest one is my fiancee. Oh, I'll go bring more mead." Wulfur told the rest to Glover and went to the bar.
"Damn, what is going on in Skyrim? You are becoming rich and having women, I really did miss a lot."
"Yeah, the last couple of years were hectic but fun."
"I bet your ass you had fun, if you didn't have fun with all that, I would have beaten your ass all around the place."
The conversation continued until Wulfur returned.
"Where is the mead?" I asked.
"Forget about it now, I found something really cool. Check this out, some fool left a really nice challenge."
In Wulfur's hand I saw a 'Fork' and a piece of paper.
"Oh! That challenge, forget it. It's a prank made by some wizard." Glover reacted to Wulfur.
"Come on, Wulfur loves forks." Wulfur complained but I reached my hand and took the paper and read its content.
----------------------
Dear person who happened upon this letter,
It is your lucky day! Nearby you will find the 'Fork of Horripilation'. Oh, how I do love cutlery!
"But what is it?" you must be asking.
Well, horripilation is the standing of hairs on end due to cold, fear, or excitement -- and excitement is indeed upon us, my friend!
Take this fork, and use it to kill two special Bull Netches in single combat. Each will yield an artifact: The Eye of Ciirta, and the Branch of the Tree of Shades. Warriors of another age might find these familiar.
Combine these together for a special surprise!
If you're successful, you'll be rewarded quite handsomely, with the Staff of Sheogorath (handsome, indeed!) If not, well... I do love to watch a good fight!
Yours Truly,
Lord Sheogorath
----------------------
What the Fuck!