Balimund was a casual teacher that was a firm believer in hands on learning. He taught me metallurgy by actually having me pick out different metals and then making me mix them into an iron bar before he forged it out. If I chose the right material he'd turn the ingot into something useful, nails, blades, silverware, various things depending on what I chose. If I made a mistake he'd still forge it out and then charge me for wasting the materials before melting it all down again.-
Halfway through the year he handed me a small hammer and had me finally get started on the physical side of metal work. It was hellish torment for the first couple of weeks and only using restoration magic to sooth my aching arms and back got me through it. It didn't get easier exactly but that was how long it took me to adapt to the strain. The heat was particularly uncomfortable but I endured it as I tried and failed over and over again. I hit forty in the skill by the time my tenth year started. Not an expert or anything but I knew my way around metal work to a decent degree now. -
My other skills didn't molder entirely either as I still spent some time each day practicing all but alchemy and enchanting even if only for maybe a few minutes each. The tenth year and even the eleventh I focused on raising my magical skills up. Of course while I was doing this the tragedy of Gallus went down. It was the middle of Rain's hand, or April if you went by Earth calendar. I got an emergency summons to the guild in the dead of the night which meant someone was hurt bad. -
It was rare but I had experienced it a few time before. When I saw the patient however I immediately felt a chill as I realized what happened. It was the rough visage of Mercer Frey with an arrow sticking out of his chest just shy of his heart, a poisoned arrow. The solemn atmosphere and lack of Karliah and Gallus told me all I needed to know as I went to work. I first carefully extracted the arrow from the man and flushed the area out with a general antidote. I then cast my self studied [Cure poison] restoration spell. Once that was done I sealed the wound and healed the flesh.-
It was a tough job but he'd survive without any long term complications. I had also secretly checked to see if he had the Skeleton key on him but he didn't so he must have stashed it somewhere. He didn't have a house in Riften yet like in the game as he only got the place after becoming Guildmaster so I had no clue where he could have put it. A shame in my opinion as if he had it on him I could have gotten most of my plans with it out of the way early and benefited heavily long term.-
The key didn't just unlock physical locks after all but metaphysical ones as well. With it I could unlock the innate seals placed on all mortal races on this world. The ones on the mind, the magicka and the body. My plans for the key were releasing these restrictions on potential. With them gone I was confident I could at least be heavily prepared for when the dragons returned. Once treatment was done I finally got the story Mercer made up to cover his tracks with the guild. -
That Gallus had requested to meet up at an ancient nordic tomb, that they'd been ambushed by Karliah. That he barely escaped with his life, that he saw Karliah dumping Gallus's body into an exposed tomb airway. I knew thanks to the game that the only part that was true here was that he almost died. He had clearly not planned for it and almost died in the process but the wound made his story hard to refute. The guild on the whole was PISSED. I had never seen the place so empty before but now I had as nearly everyone rushed out to find Karliah and get some justice for the slain Guildmaster.-
Mercer pulled me aside one day when the hunt was dying down and he was freshly anointed the new Guildmaster.
"I would like to thank you for saving my life once again. I know it couldn't have been easy." he said seriously.
I shook my head "I was paid for my service, I don't deserve your thanks. but I doubt this is about that. You want to know if my deal with the guild still stands now that Gallus is dead." I said flatly.
"I suppose I should have expected you of all people to parse out my motive here. It's as you say. The deal you have with the guild is important to us and I as the new master of the guild need to know if it still holds." he said seriously.
"My deal remains. If you find Karliah make it painful, Gallus was too good to meet an end so low." I say firmly.
"I couldn't agree more. Pleasure working with you." he said with a slight hardness at the mention of Karliah.
After that there wasn't really anything worth mentioning until my twelfth year began. The war ended the same as it had in the game with both sides technically losing. The war turned into a mutual destruction event for both the Thalmor and the Empire with neither side being able to continue without both getting wiped out. Emperor Titus Mede chose to play for time and accepted a humiliating treaty to "end" hostilities. The terms were VERY bad for the Empire for one big reason, Talos worship was banned. That was to say the worship of the ascended Tiber Septim was illegal now.-
To put it bluntly the very heart of the Empire itself had been stomped on. The outrage was like a shockwave across the entire expanse of the Empire. Some regions flat out refused to accept it and left the Empire entirely. Hammerfell was one and so was Elsweyr and Valenwood. Skyrim was also charged for the impending civil war as well and only needed a spark to ignite. It had nothing to do with me however, not yet at least. It would take at least another three years before the Thalmor were basically given free access to the region. Looking at my status on the eve of my twelfth years start I wasn't worried.-
{Name: Alexan
Age: 11 years, 11 months, 29 days
Race: Nord/Altmer
Strength:9(average adult is 10)
Dexterity:9(average adult is 10)
Constitution:10(average adult is 10)
Intelligence:21(average adult is 10)
Spirit:34(average adult is 10)
Magicka: 415/415
Skills: English(mastered), Tamrielic(mastered), Dovahzul(27/100), Alchemy(43/100), Sneak(48/100), Speechcraft(71/100), Smithing(42/100), Enchantment(25/100) Mysticism(37/100), Destruction(59/100), Restoration(41/100), Medicine(65/100) Alteration(39/100), Illusion(28/100), Conjuration(34/100), Cooking(84/100), Swordsmanship(69/100), Archery(26/100), }