"All right, Jannus. What is it you really want? Don't forget, I know you. So, out with it!" Valrius says through with his friend's pleasantries.
"Yes, you do know me old friend. Better than most." Marcus says with a wry smile before continuing, "Very well, I aim to rebuild this town and make her my home."
This immediately catches my attention making me pay attention to the conversation instead of leaving as I had thought to do earlier.
"Rebuild… Jannus, I have no intention of helping you or anyone else rebuild a town. I'm here on… Other business." Valerius reject Marcus before trailing off.
"Yes, yes, I know Valerius. But if what I propose is true, perhaps we can be, mutually beneficial to one another?" Marcus says, trying to convince Valerius, "All I'm asking is that you hear me out. After that, if we are not in agreement, we can part ways and you'll likely never see me again. But Valerius, there's plenty of time to get to all that later. Right now, lets just catch up on old times!"
"Well, you're in luck Jannus. Those bandits left some fresh wine downstair, and I need a drink!" Valerius suggests with a smile on his face.
"Yes, I could use a drink too old friend. Let me say goodbye to Mr. Malborne and I'll join you." Marcus agrees to which Valerius nods and heads down the stairs.
"I can't thank you enough for your help. As agreed, here is your compensation." Marcus says handing me a pouch of 250 gold.
"Much appreciated. But you never said anything about rebuilding Helgen. Why not?" I asked with intrigue.
"I apologize for that. I certainly wasn't intentionally keeping anything from you. I just wanted to meet with Valerius before I brought it up. But yes, I want to make Helgan my home. But, she certainly has seen better days, that's sure." Marcus says before staring off into nothing, lost in a memory of what Helgen used to be.
"You know, I grew up just across the border in Cyrodiil. And Helgen was always a place my family visited when I was a boy. I have many fond memories of those days. And now with my brother and his family gone… Let's just say he'd be happy that I settled here. And from what I could tell as we came in, it will be a lot of work cleaning everything up, but nothing impossible. Then we can take a look at what's left of these buildings and begin rebuilding from there. I'm sure there'll be plenty of work for you if you're interested?" Marcus asks me after explaining his intention.
"Well, I'm pleasantly surprised and definitely interested. I've actually got contacts with a local construction company and lumber mills, which we could use to our advantage." I say, quickly agreeing to his suggestion.
"Excellent, why don't you give Valerius and I some time to catch up and come up with a plan. Do you mind returning to see us in a day or so?" Marcus asks.
"Of course, and I'll bring my associates with me." I agree as he starts to head down after Valerius.
"Thank you once again, Mr. Malborne. I'll see you and your associates then." Marcus says, waving me goodbye as he heads downstairs to join Valerius for a drink.
I leave them with a smile as a number of new ideas flow through my mind as this unexpected opportunity falls into my lap. Traveling back to the Camp without issue as the evening sun hangs low on the horizon.
As I approach I'm pleasantly surprised to see Erik planting crops in the area I had cleared earlier and that the main house seemed to be all but completed with a few finishing touches left to be completed. Tiling the roof, building a fence for the animals, a stable for the horses, and furniture for inside the house.
I see the rest of the group relaxing around a campfire enjoying dinner. I relax with them, taking some soup and sitting down with Lokir and Inigo.
"Hello, my friend. How did your day go?" Inigo asks with interest.
"It was. Made some new contacts, and plan to visit them in a couple days to hash out a deal. I'd like you, Lokir, and Gerdur to come with me to that meeting." I tell them.
"Sure thing boss, with the main house down, throwing up the rest will be a breeze, since the basements and foundations are basically done I expect maybe a week or two at most to get the rest of the structures finished off. But we got an issue boss." Lokir says.
"Oh, what's wrong?" I ask confused since everything seems to be going well.
"We've run into an issue with furniture. No one here is a carpenter and I don't want to drain the coffers hiring the job out to a nearby carpenter in Falkreath." Lokir explains.
"Oh? Is that all? I should be able to do some simple work." I tell him off-handedly remembering how the smithing and house crafting systems work.
"Boss, is there anything you can't do?" Lokir asks in disbelief.
"Fly… At least for now." I say after some consideration making him and Inigo chuckle before Inigo screams out in pain as he grips his head.
"Agh! It is happening again! My mind is vibrating! It feels like it is on the end of a rope!" Inigo shouts as I rush to his side to keep him from falling over.
"Wait!" Inigo shouts as his eyes shoot open, "I see something! A cabin? Trees? A face! It is fading… It is under the rug! Aagh!" Inigo shouts in pain once more, holding his head in his hands, as Lydia rushes to his side in concern.
"Thank the gods, it is weakening… Ugh… It is over. Ow." Ingio says wincing slightly as he leans into Lydia's embrace.
"What happened? What did you see?" I ask him in concern.
"I saw brief flashes of a cabin in the snow. It was surrounded by trees. What is happening to me?" Inigo says at a loss, his gaze cloudy.