I just smiled at that but didn't say anything for or against it.
"So what's the itinerary? I perhaps should have asked before I paid to join along but honestly I don't really mind any destination." I asked casually.
"The place known as Shor's stone first. It will take two days travel at normal pace to arrive. From there Kynesgrove and then Windhelm. A total of eight days if we are not delayed by brigands or nature." Dar-La explained calmly.
"Windhelm? Not a bad choice if you want a quick profit in todays political climate. The Dunmer of the Gray quarter are always in need of new supplies. Downside of being ejected from your homeland I suppose, you can't bring much with you, need to replace it." I said with an understanding nod.
She nodded "This one pities the innocents harmed in this matter but understands they brought it on themselves. Centuries of Argonian slavery was not going to be forgiven so easily." she said with a sigh.
"That's the way of the world, you wrong a people enough and you pay for it eventually. Happened to the Ayleids and it's the Dunmer's turn now. Only reason the Dwemer didn't get the same was they took themselves out before anyone else could, not for lack of trying mind you." I said with a shrug.
"Indeed, this one agrees. It will pass in time as all the others did as well." She said with a nod.
I spotted the first of the two moons peaking over the after just sitting by the fire meditating on the word Tiid or Time in the common tongue. It was the first word in the [Slow time] shout and while I could use it the effect was quite weak as my understanding of the subject was rather shallow.-
It was far too useful to just let sit idle however so I was philosophizing on the deeper intricate details of time. I had already mastered a total of twenty words to the degree needed to use them in a shout but had only mastered exactly one full three word shout so far. [Unrelenting force] was the first shout I mastered consisting of the words Fus, Ro and Dah. Force, balance and push, together I could command everything in front of me to be moved aside like a train striking it.-
I never actually used the shout however despite knowing it as shouting was incredibly loud in most cases and caused a commotion at the same time. Additionally I didn't want to tip my hand by revealing my ability to shout. It's a trump card, quite a damned good one at that. Also I wasn't sure how the Graybeards would react if I used a shout. Their long mastery of the voice had made them sensitive enough to sense words of power across Skyrim from stone monuments so I didn't even need to guess if they'd notice someone new shouting, someone not taught by them.-
If this world wasn't totally different from the game then there was at least two others who could shout but weren't the Graybeards themselves. Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm and freshly released from Thalmor imprisonment and the ebony warrior. The latter of those two very little is known about this person or how he learned to shout. All we are told is he is a Redguard wearing a full suit of Ebony heavy armor and that he wants to die in battle but is apparently too strong to be killed by any old person.-
Ulfric however we DO know how he came to possess the ability to shout, he was an apprentice of the Graybeards for a few years. He broke the oath he gave to never use the voice taught to him in battle when the great war started and joined the fight against the Thalmor only to eventually be captured despite his ability to shout. To put it bluntly he never actually finished his training under the Graybeards and so could only use maybe two shouts at most. This confused me honestly as I may not know how the Graybeards passed on their knowledge of the art but I could guess from how little Ulfric was capable of.-
If I had to guess the old men on that mountain focused on complete shouts rather than one word at a time. The thing about shouts was that each word in the three word series that make them up was LEAGUES harder to master than the first if you had no other reference points. Like I explained before the more words you learned the easier it was to learn new ones. To put it bluntly they chose the most inefficient method of learning words of power, the hard road as it were.-
I stopped my meditation at the sight of the moon rising and set to my pack to get some food started. I took out my iron wok and spatula before placing the dish over the fire to heat while I gathered ingredients. Saltrice, eggs, ground venison, carrots, onions, cabbage and garlic and my own version of soy sauce and seasoning powder. All sealed with freshness enchantments on the containers, my own personal creations. I had attempted to try and create MSG as well over the years but alas it wasn't to be. The pale yellow powder I had was the closest I got.-
First I tossed in a bit of lard and then the venison to cook down a bit as I tossed it with some provided spices from the caravan. Once the meat was browned I tossed in the saltrice, garlic and carrots along with a generous dusting of my powder. I tossed it all together as I cracked in a couple beaten eggs as well. The egg cooked and scrambled from the heat and constant tossing. I dashed some soy sauce around the edge, tossed the food a bit more and then finally added the onions and cabbage.-
I cooked it all for a good bit before pulling the wok away from the fire entirely and setting out bowls that I divvied the food up into.
"Nord style egg fried rice, enjoy." I said with a grin as I sat down against Dro-Qa who had his own bowl.
"It is rather vibrant and this aroma.... intense and bold." Ra-Do said as he spooned out a bite of his portion and seemed to melt as he put it in his mouth. "This ones taste buds celebrate." he added after swallowing.
The others didn't flatter my cooking so much but it was all positive reviews to say the least. Once the meal was over I collected all the dishes and used a quick cleansing spell to clean them before putting them away. I then pressed my palm to the ground and cast [Shape earth], an alteration spell I created to do exactly what the name suggested. The soil and stone under us began to ripple and soon rise up slowly into a small four walled hut big enough for me to lay down inside of with a single doorway.