I arrive in Windhelm just after midnight and decide it will be best to start fresh in the morning. On the way to the Inn the guards are more than willing to gossip as I walk past and I learn a little more about the city. A boy is performing some ritual in his family home, which sounds like trouble to me, and I learn that the dark elves, or Dunmer, drink at some tavern in what is known as the Grey Quarter.
As I approach the Inn I overhear an argument between some Nord men and a Dunmer woman. It seems that the Dunmer are staying out of the political struggles of Skyrim and that this inaction has roused the Nords suspicions. When they settle down the woman tells me that the man often gets drunk and curses the Dunmer, but only after I have defended myself against some accusations of her own.
The inn is warm and welcoming and yet I'm still wary to give up half my gold for a single night's stay. But it's late and I hand over the gold. Elda, the innkeeper, shows me to my room and informs me that cheese and bread is available. I head straight to bed in a well-decorated room, surrounded by potions and foodstuffs that are really only for show. They're not included in the cost of the room it would seem.
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In the morning I check out the food on offer but it is all a little expensive so I eat my apple. I know that in order to survive in Skyrim I'll have to make some money. There were some farms along the river bank that I saw on the ride in so I decide to head there first. Before leaving the Inn, named Candlehearth Hall, I bump into Adonato who immediately tells me he's an accomplished writer. Thanks for the information pal but no, I will not take your manuscript to Solitude; I have better things to do.
Once outside in Windhelm I strike up a conversation with a high elf named Niraye who tells me she is also a new arrival in Windhelm and that I should come for a drink at Candlehearth later. Maybe I will Niraye, if I can make some money today.
It turns out that making enough money to buy some mead is quite easy. Although it's even easier when you just find bottles on the ground outside the gates. It also turns out that farmers are willing to part with some good coin for my wheat collecting services and I manage to earn 125 gold by clearing their fields. With the crop picked it's back to town to talk to the locals.
In the market the blacksmiths are bickering so I leave them alone. It also seems that the entire Shatter-shield family is out today and they're all grieving the loss of their lovely daughter, a little too loudly for my taste. It also seems that my friend Niraye has been here a tad longer than she had me believe as she has her own well-stocked stall in the market. One of the merchants asks me to take a potion up to the castle and I accept as it sounds easy enough and I wanted to check it out anyway. Before I leave I trade in my dirty rags for some proper clothes, although my footwraps remain.
On the way to the castle intrigue strikes as I come across a crimescene. A young lady has been murdered and the guards, stretched thin due to the war, are doing a poor job of tracking the culprit. It's the third murder in as many days. I leave them be and deliver the potion to the super creepy court wizard who redeems himself somewhat by paying me 250 gold JUST FOR WALKING UP THE ROAD. He must be well paid.
Next stop is the Grey Quarter where the Dunmer hang out. It doesn't seem so bad. I meet a reluctant war-hero named Brunwulf who laments the prejudice in Windhelm and his inability to do anything about it. I also spend a bit of my earnings on some warm fur gauntlets and leather boots, tossing my footwraps aside. It's not as if someone would want to buy them.
My first day in skyrim ends with me drinking in the Inn with my new friends Adonato, Brunwulf and a mercenary named Stenvar. I even get into a fistfight with the racist Nord, whose name turns out to be Rolff. It goes well and he decides to leave me alone. All in all a good day, although I have yet to improve any of my skills...
With a source of income from the farms I think tomorrow I'll start crafting.