(23) - Provisions - Journal entry -

Sundas 6th of Hearthfire 4E201

I wanted to take things slow today, so Lydia and I slept in, then took our time making a nice breakfast of warm bread with tomato and molten Eidar cheese. It's great to have my own place again! I could use some more supplies though, so I decided of making a trip around Whiterun along the farms today. I don't have much gold left, so it's better to buy some food at the source rather then in town.

Once we had left the main gate we first went to Pelagia farm, the place where I'd helped kill that giant. After crossing the river in a shallow we visited Chill Furrow farm. I got us a good amount of potatoes, vegetables and wheat. And add some venison to that too, as an elk venturing too close to the farm met its match in my bow. Just when we returned to the path we came across a refugee, with a strange affliction, his skin turned red and bluish, his veins popping to the surface. He seemed reluctant to talk about it, just mentioning he was on his way to Highrock, if I wanted to know more I should talk to Kesh at Peryite Shrine. Well, I wouldn't be going there anytime soon, I just hoped his affliction wasn't contagious, so we quickly parted ways.

Whitewatch tower

Just North of Whiterun we came across another guard tower, called Whitewatch tower according to the guards there. Just as we were talking three bandits attacked, but the guards made short work of them. At the relative safety of the guard tower, Lydia and I had some lunch, pheasant roast and a a honeynut treat I had taken with me from home. I had spotted another farm just to the North, and just as we were about to leave, I heard a roar echo between the mountains surrounding us. High above us circled another dragon!
We readied our bows while the guards ran around, almost panic struck. The dragon had other plans though, and flew off in North-Eastern direction, disappearing behind the mountains.

We headed off for the farm, killing a deer and a fox on our way, taking the time to skin them. Shortly after we arrived at the Farm, owned by Vantus Loreius. His wife wasn't very talkative, but Vantus sold us some more food for a good price. Just down the road at the farm I spotted a broken down horse drawn cart, it's apparent owner walking around it gesturing wildly.

Loreius farm

Vantus told me the owner was a crazed jester, who had already asked him 5 times for help with repairs. Vantas tried to convince me to come up with a made up story to report him to a nearby patrolling guard so he could get rid of him. Well, since he had done nothing wrong I refused and in the end I managed to convince Vantus to just help him repair his cart. Seemed like the best solution to me, and I didn't feel like falsely incriminating someone just to get rid of him. We headed to the jester named Cicero to inform him that Vantus would help him out. Well he indeed seemed to be not entirely mentally sane as he handed me 400 gold for helping him to convince Vantus to help him out. We quickly headed back towards Whiterun before he would realize that 400 gold was a bit over generous.

Circling around the West side of Whiterun we made our way back to the main gate, gathering some firewood on our way. At Whiterun I bought some more meat from Anoriath at the marketplace. Then I went to Arcadia's Cauldron to see if I could get some more information on making poisons. It would be really nice if I could make use of my newly bought alchemy table, and make some myself. I was in luck, as she was selling a damage health poison recipy, and I bought it. Back at home I had a look at the recipy, and it stated I needed to grind up some small antlers and mix it with pulverized skeever tails. Unfortnately I don't have any skeever tails, and only a few antlers, so I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for those.

With my cupboard now filled with fresh food, I salted the meat I bought, and made us a very nice venison stew.  The rest of the evening I talked with Lydia, while enjoying some wine. Though her loyalty is very appearant to me, she didn't want to talk about herself much, so I ended up in bed reading 'The Bear of Markanth'. It was about Ulfric Stormcloack, but written by an Imperial, so hardly written objectively. I decided to toss it into the fire before going to sleep.