I butchered the deer on spot and tied the legs together before hanging it on my left shoulder by this binding and headed back to camp. When I got back I set up the entire thing on a spit and seasoned it heavily before slowly roasting it over the fire. I sat by the low fire slowly rotating the spit for the next few hours. I heard the guards at the gate gulp more than once as the tantalizing aroma wafted from the slowly cooking meat.-
Finally when the sun was starting to set I finished up the process and started divvying up the meat. I was even generous enough to plate up some for the guards that were more than happy to indulge. The night passed us by nice and quietly and in the morning we set out for the final destination of this journey. Windhelm was the oldest city in skyrim, founded by and lived in by Ysgramor himself if history was to be believed. From Kynesgrove it was a two day trip since the distance between them was roughly the same as the distance between Shor's stone and Riften.-
You'd think getting closer to a major city like that would make things safer but you'd be wrong. The truth of the matter was that the nature of the danger changed rather than it's level. Most bandits were smart enough not to operate so close to a major city or wiped out like the pests they are if they weren't. The real danger came from the wildlife and monsters. More people meant more noise and food scraps and trash. Some animals like Skeevers infested the areas around cities as a result as they lived off of this stuff.-
Also cities meant a lot more concentrated magicka in one place and that can cause some unpleasant monsters to show up like Ice wraiths. These were strange sort of almost spiritual ice monsters that looked like skeletal serpents that flew through the air and used innate ice magics. They were entirely made of ice however and many sharp fangs of the magicka imbued ice that they could use to deadly effect. Their fangs and essence were both alchemical ingredients. The shift between Kynesgrove and Windhelm's climate zones was sudden and dramatic. Kynesgrove was cold but not a white covered area. Windhelm's area on the other hand was white and grey in all directions.-
The few plants that were thriving here were either cold hardy varieties like snow berry bushes or trees that also didn't mind the permanent freezing temperatures like firs. It wasn't some barren tundra though as there was enough of these things to give the place a thriving vibe, just a different sort than say a flower field. Naturally the varieties of animal life in this snowy area was different than elsewhere as well. Most varieties had adapted a white coat of fur and extra layers of muscle or fat that made them bigger than their cousins.-
For example the snow bears were basically the same as normal cave bears but white and a good size bigger. Ice wolves were the main problem however as these wolves were the size of people and in numbers were a serious threat. They not only actively hunted people but were durable enough to be a pain to put down if you couldn't get kill shots on them. I know because we had to deal with no less than two packs of the damned things on the way towards the city.-
The pelts were at least valuable as they made amazing leather armor with how tough they were so at least we weren't at a loss dealing with them. Beyond the wolves we dealt with three ice wraiths and a group of traveling bards. To be fair the last one wasn't a problem so much as provided a fun distraction after so much travel. The bards were all silver tongued but mostly about singing ballads of old and drinking with merriment as they crossed the tense land. My biggest gripe however was that they all sang the same style of songs as you could hear in the game and those barely counted as music as far as I was concerned.-
I was from the modern era of Earth so compared to the music of that time this stuff was dull and unstimulating. It was too slow and measured, there was no intensity to it. As for the length? The less said the better. Still it was a fun distraction for us and I kept my displeasure about the musical side of it to myself. After two days of travel through the blistering cold roads and frozen misting air we finally got near the city of Windhelm.-
It was glorious.
A towering grey stone wall at least twenty meters tall circling around the entire city built over the ground at the bank of the mighty river. The only way in a massive stone bridge covered in salt and ice wide enough to drive several wagons side by side down and spanning the entire width of the river. A river that started from the sea and had bits of ice like plates floating on top of it and down it. The entire bridge had massive oil and wood burning braziers lighting up it's length and even small but impressively sturdy stone guard buildings at the bridges entrance.-
There was a stable at the end of the bridge with a couple horses in it and close to a dozen guards patrolling the bridge and road in front of it in their deep blue uniforms and chain mail.
"Halt! Identify yourselves and state your business in Windhelm." One of the guards called out firmly as we pulled up the the edge of the bridge.
"Dar-La, caravan to trade goods." Dar-La answered calmly from the wagon.
"Alexan, Rest and resupply before moving on to Winterhold." I said as I dismounted from my toad.
"You can go through but the wagon stays out here." the guard said firmly to both me and Dar-La.
"Of course." Dar-La said with a fuss as the wagon was moved to the stable and Dro-Qa was left to guard it.
The rest of us walked across the bridge with the guards watching us closely. I especially felt a lot of stares since I was literally head and shoulders above the guards. The average Nord was between five nine and six two and I was standing at considerably taller. Add on the powerful muscles on me and even without a weapon I made them nervous.-
The grand metal gates were pushed open and we got to step into the city proper. It was all built in the same stone style as the walls but had the ancient nordic curved wooden rooves with dragon heads and the like carved into the ends of the main beams. The city had a passing resemblance to what you saw in the game but that was it, a mere hint of similarity. Just like Riften the whole thing was a real city and as such had a whole hell of a lot more buildings and space than what you saw in the game.