Padfoot
Professional Thief, Hunter, and Explorer
The sun was becoming more and more visible, ascending from the east and through the clouds. Light shed on Padfoot as he was finishing his pipe off. A line of Soldiers bearing the same armor we is wearing walked out single file, led by a middle-aged Imperial man, and behind him a much younger Imperial woman, who was clearly in charge of all the order shouting. "Padfoot. It's nice to see you again. I trust you have a good report for me?" The commander spoke with kindness and a smile, it was clear to the Bosmer that if he were to take orders from anyone, it would be someone who treated everyone with kindness and equal respect, much like the man standing before him. "Record timing my friends... err, comrades. I just finished my pipe." With care, he sucked in one last time and put his favorite non-violent instrument back into his front left pocket. "General Psyrakon." he spoke, averting his words now to one person. "You had given me quite a bit of time to do some scouting, you requested to find a suitable Bandit Camp around Whiterun so that the soldiers can do some stress testing, well - there are many camps around here, and you've given me just enough time to scout the nearest ones, and take some notes."
He casually leaped from his leaning position against one of the pillars of Belethor's General Store and approached Simus. He gently grabbed Simus' shoulder and led him to a vacant merchant stand just next to Belethor's, facing the Bannered Mare Inn with the Whiterun Main Gate in the rear, but not quite in the center of street. He very quickly took out his map from his bag, and unrolled it on the merchant stand. He slid to the side giving the General room to stand directly over it. Padfoot's map was covered in circled locations, arrowed down to tiny notes giving general statistics. "General, within the closest distances to the town of Whiterun, I've come across 3 Bandit Den's worth mentioning." Padfoot reached his finger out and touched one of the circles on his map. "This one known as 'White River Watch,' and for good reason. It's inside one a cliff almost directly East of Whiterun, passed the bridge heading to Windhelm and Riften." he slid his finger downward, following the arrow he drew down to some notes, "There are two scouts patrolling the outside, and with an elevation advantage they'll see us before we see them. I had to climb up a steep slope from the back to get by them. There's a blind guy keeping watch on the main entrance, a bit ironic - but I didn't mind the lack of difficulty. Including these 3 I'd say there's probably 12 or 13 guys total. Their leader is really stretching it. They have a caged wolf in the sanctuary. I overheard two of the bandits saying their Leader is trying to have them tamed so that they can start attacking Guards on the road." He looked up at Simus, "That's option number one. It requires a bit of strategy, but the most difficult part is getting to the scouts. Once we get in it can easily be overrun. There's a really nice view of Whiterun Hold once you get to the top, but as far as difficulty goes it may not be worth it, though it's location is especially convenient - literally right down the road."
Clearing his throat, Padfoot looked back down at his map again. "Option number two is known as 'Redoran's Retreat.' It's directly Northwest of Whiterun and about a mile out. It's a small den consisting of two big rooms and maybe 8 Bandits. There's nobody keeping watch outside the sanctuary at any time of the day. It's literally not even worth mentioning due to how easy it would be to take this place with a squad of soldiers, but the only reason I mention it is because the Bandit Leader actually has a record in Windhelm, and has a big price on his head. Not only that, he's been on the run for about a year. Bringing his head to Ulfric when he arrives might spark some reassurance of your loyalty to him, but then again - this mere Bandit probably doesn't keep Ulfric Stormcloak up at night."
Without pause, Padfoot quickly continued with excitement. "This final one is my personal favorite, and one I highly suggest. It's called 'Fort Greymoor' and it's directly West of the Stables, you couldn't miss it if you followed the main road, it's huge. The walls are constantly patrolled with by 7 bandits all day every day, there were a couple of boulders near the eastern wall that I hid behind. It took me almost 3 days to figure out the pattern of just the outer wall. As I climbed up the side I noticed 5 Guards in the courtyard, a Blacksmith with an assistant at the forge located at the South-East corner and 3 Bandits usually sitting at a big table eating and drinking on the opposite corner. The patrol shifts change in the middle of the day, and anyone not on patrol duty sits at this table." With a quick gasp for air and a flashing smile, Padfoot continued informing Simus. "Already this place is crazy, and we haven't even been inside yet. There's a total of 5 entrances inside, no back-doors. There's three at ground level, the middle door leading into the main room of the entire fort, while the other two lead up to the tower-like buildings, and the 2 entrances on the top level are entered by climbing the stairs up to where they all patrol from. There's approximately 17 more Bandits within the Fort, with the majority of them usually in the main room."
Padfoot looked up again. "Those were the three worth scouting, due to proximity of course. It's definitely your decision to decide what's best. The last one I mentioned, Fort Greymoor, I couldn't find any distinct reason to raid it like I did the other two, other than the fact that they're Bandits. It is however the one I would suggest, because not only does it put up a challenge, but it will probably be the style of combat that will be taking place throughout this squad's tour. High quantities of enemies in larger forts, couldn't find a better place to practice in all of Skyrim I'd reckon. Lucky it's so close."
The Bosmer felt he did a good job, he had just rifled loads of information at the General and knew it may take some time for him to process, Padfoot was patient and loved to hear compliments of his efforts, but he knew he had to make a good first impression. All he wanted to do at that moment was ask how he did or introduce himself to the others or smoke his pipe again, but the fact that he is now a soldier that has to take orders and have another person of a higher rank tell him what to do and when to do it, really hit him hard right then and there. He wasn't used to people telling him what to do, he was usually asked, and there were large sums of money at the end of it. Sometimes people even begged him. He may not like the lack of independence but Padfoot certainly wasn't going to be rebellious. He was a perfectionist in things he wanted to be efficient in, and being a reliable soldier was one thing he recently added to his list. This whole adventure is merely a goal. His finger that was guiding the General's eyes moments ago were now wrapped up with his other fingers on the merchant stand. He wasn't leaning his forearm or his waist up against the stand like he is usually inclined to do, instead he was standing tall with his arms down and his hands together so as to give off a sense of formality when the Bosmer presented his work. It was another effort to impress the General. God, he sure was over thinking.
He casually leaped from his leaning position against one of the pillars of Belethor's General Store and approached Simus. He gently grabbed Simus' shoulder and led him to a vacant merchant stand just next to Belethor's, facing the Bannered Mare Inn with the Whiterun Main Gate in the rear, but not quite in the center of street. He very quickly took out his map from his bag, and unrolled it on the merchant stand. He slid to the side giving the General room to stand directly over it. Padfoot's map was covered in circled locations, arrowed down to tiny notes giving general statistics. "General, within the closest distances to the town of Whiterun, I've come across 3 Bandit Den's worth mentioning." Padfoot reached his finger out and touched one of the circles on his map. "This one known as 'White River Watch,' and for good reason. It's inside one a cliff almost directly East of Whiterun, passed the bridge heading to Windhelm and Riften." he slid his finger downward, following the arrow he drew down to some notes, "There are two scouts patrolling the outside, and with an elevation advantage they'll see us before we see them. I had to climb up a steep slope from the back to get by them. There's a blind guy keeping watch on the main entrance, a bit ironic - but I didn't mind the lack of difficulty. Including these 3 I'd say there's probably 12 or 13 guys total. Their leader is really stretching it. They have a caged wolf in the sanctuary. I overheard two of the bandits saying their Leader is trying to have them tamed so that they can start attacking Guards on the road." He looked up at Simus, "That's option number one. It requires a bit of strategy, but the most difficult part is getting to the scouts. Once we get in it can easily be overrun. There's a really nice view of Whiterun Hold once you get to the top, but as far as difficulty goes it may not be worth it, though it's location is especially convenient - literally right down the road."
Clearing his throat, Padfoot looked back down at his map again. "Option number two is known as 'Redoran's Retreat.' It's directly Northwest of Whiterun and about a mile out. It's a small den consisting of two big rooms and maybe 8 Bandits. There's nobody keeping watch outside the sanctuary at any time of the day. It's literally not even worth mentioning due to how easy it would be to take this place with a squad of soldiers, but the only reason I mention it is because the Bandit Leader actually has a record in Windhelm, and has a big price on his head. Not only that, he's been on the run for about a year. Bringing his head to Ulfric when he arrives might spark some reassurance of your loyalty to him, but then again - this mere Bandit probably doesn't keep Ulfric Stormcloak up at night."
Without pause, Padfoot quickly continued with excitement. "This final one is my personal favorite, and one I highly suggest. It's called 'Fort Greymoor' and it's directly West of the Stables, you couldn't miss it if you followed the main road, it's huge. The walls are constantly patrolled with by 7 bandits all day every day, there were a couple of boulders near the eastern wall that I hid behind. It took me almost 3 days to figure out the pattern of just the outer wall. As I climbed up the side I noticed 5 Guards in the courtyard, a Blacksmith with an assistant at the forge located at the South-East corner and 3 Bandits usually sitting at a big table eating and drinking on the opposite corner. The patrol shifts change in the middle of the day, and anyone not on patrol duty sits at this table." With a quick gasp for air and a flashing smile, Padfoot continued informing Simus. "Already this place is crazy, and we haven't even been inside yet. There's a total of 5 entrances inside, no back-doors. There's three at ground level, the middle door leading into the main room of the entire fort, while the other two lead up to the tower-like buildings, and the 2 entrances on the top level are entered by climbing the stairs up to where they all patrol from. There's approximately 17 more Bandits within the Fort, with the majority of them usually in the main room."
Padfoot looked up again. "Those were the three worth scouting, due to proximity of course. It's definitely your decision to decide what's best. The last one I mentioned, Fort Greymoor, I couldn't find any distinct reason to raid it like I did the other two, other than the fact that they're Bandits. It is however the one I would suggest, because not only does it put up a challenge, but it will probably be the style of combat that will be taking place throughout this squad's tour. High quantities of enemies in larger forts, couldn't find a better place to practice in all of Skyrim I'd reckon. Lucky it's so close."
The Bosmer felt he did a good job, he had just rifled loads of information at the General and knew it may take some time for him to process, Padfoot was patient and loved to hear compliments of his efforts, but he knew he had to make a good first impression. All he wanted to do at that moment was ask how he did or introduce himself to the others or smoke his pipe again, but the fact that he is now a soldier that has to take orders and have another person of a higher rank tell him what to do and when to do it, really hit him hard right then and there. He wasn't used to people telling him what to do, he was usually asked, and there were large sums of money at the end of it. Sometimes people even begged him. He may not like the lack of independence but Padfoot certainly wasn't going to be rebellious. He was a perfectionist in things he wanted to be efficient in, and being a reliable soldier was one thing he recently added to his list. This whole adventure is merely a goal. His finger that was guiding the General's eyes moments ago were now wrapped up with his other fingers on the merchant stand. He wasn't leaning his forearm or his waist up against the stand like he is usually inclined to do, instead he was standing tall with his arms down and his hands together so as to give off a sense of formality when the Bosmer presented his work. It was another effort to impress the General. God, he sure was over thinking.