Arevyn - The Watercress

1 - The Alchemist
2 - The Watercress
3 - On Nirnroot

I left my shack at the break of dawn, hoping to reach Evergreen Grove by twilight. I passed many other travelers, moving towards Ivarstead or Riften. They did not recognize me, which bodes well. I passed Helgen, or what was left of it. I had heard about the dragon attack, but did not believe it until now. Most of Helgen’s buildings were reduced to singed rubble and charcoal, a foul odor rising from the ashes. I stopped to pay my respects, then left towards Ilinalta.

As I traveled, I collected the various herbs I passed. Unknown to most, the sap of most of Skyrim’s trees can become a healing salve, due to their high resilience; when mixed with snowberries, the resulting elixir is extremely potent. I made sure to bottle the stuff, in case I run into a loose atronach or spriggan.

The shores of Lake Ilinalta are very peaceful. As I began to get hungry, I seared some mudcrab legs with destruction magic, spiced with a dusting of salt. It tasted vaguely of sand, but it wasn’t all bad. As a child, in Morrowind, I always enjoyed seared mudcrabs, but I never got the recipe just right. I guess I should stick with bitter medicines and antidotes rather than the culinary arts.

By dusk, I found a small pond, fed by a stream from Ilinalta itself. Strangely, there are many shoots of nirnroot here, making that glorious ringing sound that no other plant can produce. Perhaps I’ll set up camp here and record the effects of the nirnroot on this pond’s ecosystem; all the magicka this nirnroot is emitting must go somewhere.