On my way down the hill from Dragonsreach, I first encounter Heimskr. He talks about the power of Talos, and I ask him why the worship of Talos was outlawed. He says this was done because the emperor is a coward; Heimskr says he does not fear being arrested because he is a prophet of Talos. I next encounter Brenuin, a drunkard, who thanks me after I give him 1 gold. I walk near Amren, who is arguing with his wife Saffir about hiring people to help him reclaim his father's old sword that is in a thieve's hideaway. I offer my help to him, and he says if encounter the sword and bring it to him he will be very grateful.
I then entered the lower part of town, which seems to be where most of the Merchants live. It is centered around the small open market area and the homes of the traders. I speak to Jon Battle-born who asks me why I am in Whiterun. I tell him that I am there to seek my fortune, and he says that people here are lazy and will pay someone else to do anything for them. He says that he's always lived in Whiterun and mentions the petty conflict that arose between the Battle-borns and Grey-manes. He says the appearance of a dragon is a real problem that people should worry about, not petty feuds.
I talk to Ysolda in the market; she says she wants to become a merchant and hopes to buy the Bannered Mare from Hilda once she has enough money. She says she needs to procure a mammoth tusk for a merchant, and I offer my assistance; she says she will teach me about trading. I then walked to the Warmaiden's and talked to Ulfberth War-bear. He says they have all kinds of weapons, big and small. He says that most of the weapons here were crafted by his wife, and he praises her skills, calling her an artist.
It appears that the population of Whiterun is almost equally split between males and females, perhaps with slightly more men. Most are human, but there are a few of the more obscure races represented as well. Most people appear to be traders/merchants or skilled craftspeople. They tend to talk about things most pressing to their own affairs, as well as statements about the state of the empire and the local politics. All of these conversations that I have observed and participated seem necessary to make the player aware of their role in the game; while there are snippets of irrelevant chatter, most conversations rely on actions the protagonist has made, or are in place to offer the player even more options of gameplay with additional side quests.
I think Heimskr is very opinionated in his subject and I wonder if there is someone else in Whiterun who has the opposite opinions of him. Personally, he annoys me to no end, but I wonder if you had the chance to sit and listen to his whole sermon? It's kind of racist. I don't think I got the chance to talk to Jon Battle-Born, but it's interesting to me that, being a Battle-Born, he scorns the conflict between them and the Grey-Manes.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you covered the majority of the population in Whiterun. I found it interesting how you took on small quests for different townspeople. I simply talked to the townspeople as much as possible but did not offer to assist them because I felt it was a distracting from the quest that our assignment calls for. But offering to help Ysolda in exchange for her teaching you to trade sounds like a good deal. One group you didn't mention was the Companions. I spent time talking to their clan and found them very interesting. They were not concerned with the war between the Imperials and Stormcloaks or the feud between the Battle Borns and Gray Manes. I thought it was interesting how this huge neutral group was located in the middle of the feud .
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