Hour 6: A Feudal Feud

I eventually make my way to the far north of the island and brave the wintry, glacial hellscape that makes the snowfields near Winterhold seem like an idyllic paradise. On the way, I come across some outcast Nords who seem to have been driven out of their mead hall by a Riekling (goblin) insurrection. I initially try to kill all of the Nords for being so feeble, but it turns out they're mostly immortal 'essential NPCs', so I reload and find their mead hall. Bizarrely, the goblins aren't hostile and are able to (just about) talk, and they take me to their leader:

The Rieklings just wanted to get out of the cold, and the goblin chief wants me to assist him with some favours. Balls to that! I'll never help filthy, feeble goblin scum! I summon my skeleton horde and do battle, quickly overwhelming his entire entourage, but it turns out he's also an essential NPC and can't be killed, so I have to reload again. Now I'm mightily displeased. The game lets me interact with some Nords who want me to kill the goblins, and then meet the goblins themselves and see that they're not so bad (except, they are). There should be tons of different ways to play out this scenario, and I don't see why I shouldn't be able to kill either or both sides according to how I want to play the game. Instead, my hands are held (and tied) and I'm forced to go along with the way the game wants me to play. The whole thing would have had so much more depth in Oblivion, and it's all the more frustrating because of the undeniable amount of effort Skyrim does put into this weird little side-quest. I decide to leave this annoying quest for now, and continue north.

A view of the snowy, harsh terrain in the north of the island

In the glacial mountains of the far north I slay more pesky Rieklings, and am assailed at one point by three Were-bears. These are humans which transform into bears, and, once transformed, they prove to be completely unstoppable and far beyond my capacity to overcome. Fortunately, after a few re-loads I manage to intercept and slay them before they transform.

I eventually come across a Nord ruin called Benkongerike, full of foul Rieklings, and decide to explore it.