Rayla's Journey: A Skyrim Fanfiction

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Many days at sea pass by. Rayla sits tucked away in her cabin in an effort to stay out of the crew's way. New at sea, it took days to calm her stomach against the rises and pitfalls of the waves. Rayla's cabin is shared by a few other travelers, and each has a hammock to sleep in. Sitting up with her knees tucked to her chest, Rayla fingers three gifts her family had snuck away into her backpack. From her father: a letter of credit for withdrawals from the trade guilds he belongs to.

"You will need to prepare well to fare well," her father always said.

Rayla's mother packed her a highland wool traveling cloak and a finely-crafted ebony dagger. Rayla picks up Danny's gift and thumbs through it, A Traveling Guide to Skyrim, with its maps, lists of inns, and more. According to the map, her voyage is destined to sail northwest from Summerset Isle, around the countries of Hammerfell and High Rock, and then turn east to the northernmost coast of Skyrim, to dock in Solitude.

The boat sways as Rayla flips to the blank pages at the back of her book where she will log her journeys. Her hammock creaks and her heart hammers. It feels strange to sit still at the start of such a journey. What will befall her when she makes landfall in Skyrim? What adventures await?

***

After weeks at sea, the wintery springtime lands of Skyrim come into view. A land ravaged by dragons, traveled by many different factions, and bands had been—until recently—torn apart by war. Due to Aunt Katria's letters, Rayla was able to plan her passage but as she stands on the deck of the brig, seeing the nighttime land before her, her heart swells at the majesty of it all.

If dragons can fill the world with shock and fear, the silhouetted skyline of Solitude is a close contender in awe and dominating sights. The brig pulls into the shallows of the Sea of Ghosts, as sailors throw towlines to the docks. The city of Solitude hovers above the shoreline on a massive outcropping of stone. Towers, fortresses, and more stand tall behind the city's walls and hundreds of braziers light the stone walls like starlight. Solitude balances on a great arch shaped stone outcropping—big enough for a boat to pass through. The boat heaves and tips as it is pulled close to the dock. Rayla, her fingers tingling with excitement and a burst of energy roiling from her stomach to her heart, watches the gangplank as it slams down and the way off the ship is made.

Disembarking the sea-tested wood, Rayla takes her first step into Skyrim, snuggled deep into the wool traveling cloak from her mother as a chilly wind brushes her cheek and picks at her hair. Wearing just her backpack, the cloak, and light leather pants and a vest over a long-sleeved shirt, Rayla's ebony dagger is tucked onto the back of her belt and her boots are well worn, a pair she has worn since last Sun's Height.

A rush of people disembark the ship and Rayla finds herself moving down the docks and onto a well-tread path up to the city of Solitude. The nighttime air is brisk with a sharp smell of snow in the air. The forest and swamplands south of the city are silent in the darkness and the path up to Solitude is dark as the mottled cobblestones wander uphill away from the shore past a farm and mill, a tower, and to a stone archway where a soldier stands guard.

Stepping through the archway with only a nod from the guard, Rayla is suddenly surrounded by stone walls as the entrance gives way to grand doors into the city of Solitude. Red and black flags hang from the walls and the great oak doors open before her.

Solitude is just as Aunt Katria described in her letters. The sprawling stone walls are full of buildings such as the Bard's College, and the towering Blue Palace where the High King of Skyrim is. Making her way through the streets, Rayla asks a few passersby for directions and finds her father's trading partner, Kjelt Ahrol.