I found what remains of the "Skyrim Wildlife Ecological Survey" of 4E 201
This collection of leaflets was found on the body of a small wood elf in Thalmor robes, found apparently murdered a mile or two from a Stormcloak camp.
Date: Tirdas, 1st day of Heartfire, 4E 201
A few days ago we began hearing about dragons showing up in Skyrim in the middle of Last Seed, as well as reports of grossly atypical animal behaviour. Maybe it’s the war, maybe it’s dragons, maybe it’s something else, maybe it’s nothing at all, but that damn Altmer Kivanion stuck me with trekking to this frozen land of Nordmen. ”Bean,” he said, ”it would do you good as a Bosmer to see something new.”
When Kivanion tells you to go somewhere, you go, unless you prefer months of counting mudcrabs or cliffracers.
So here I am in the Bannered Mare, the inn of Whiterun in central Skyrim. What I’ve seen on the way in is highly worrisome. I’ll jot down the main highlights now before I sleep and condense it into a more formal report when I haven’t imbibed one of the Nords’ abnormally large tankards of ale.
Some immediately disturbing observations:
Grossly out of balance predator-prey relationships among large mammals. I spotted 5 hares and 3 deer, but all of one fox, a bear, and 6 (!) wolves. The wolves were crazy, running at loud noises instead of away. That really caught me by surprise, I had to make use of an invisibility potion to get away.
Honeybees act confused. It’s Heartfire now, it’s freezing every night and snow threatens to come any day now, and they were still active. Active doing what, though? Lazily buzzing around their hive, not reacting to, well, anything. They didn’t appear to visit any of the colourful mountain flowers or plentiful thistles nearby.
Salmon in great numbers were making their autumn run, but the bear I spotted was more interested in chasing deer than eating its fill in the normal way.
Where are the wildlife tracks? Normally you find paths worn into the ground by passing wildlife, especially in difficult terrain. Here, there’s nothing. Animals seem to wander around willy-nilly instead of taking the path of least resistance.
Other notes:
The geology of the area is idiosyncratic. The many deep caves and uneven landscape suggests Karst landscape with a substantial layer of soluble rock close to the surface (I think it looks like dolomite), yet the prominent cliffs and surrounding mountains appear to actually be another type rock entirely. Is the vertical terrain due to some upheaval event in the far past? On the other hand, the vegetation indicates the soil might be quite basic, which would be consistent with an alkaline parent rock. The magical college in Winterhold might be able to shed some light here.
Date: Mordas, 2nd day of Heartfire, 4E 201
Woke up with a pounding headache. Made a potion with wheat as a base, mixed in with morning gruel, worked like a charm.
I’ve worked out a few hypotheses and a partial plan for testing them. I also came up with some new questions during the night.
- Where did the wolves come from? This land simply can’t support this many apex predators. Were they imported (by whom and why) or did they migrate here by themselves (from where and why)? Is their behaviour explained by the fact they’ve arrived so recently? Or is all this connected with the dragons somehow?
Datum: None of the guests here in the inn seem to understand what I’m talking about. No one reacts at being accosted by a hungry predator a stone’s throw from the city gates.
Conclusion: People are also mentally afflicted by something. Must watch out for my own sanity.
Hypothesis 1: It’s the dragons. Something they emit, be it pheromones, sound, alchemical residues, magical effects, or something else, causes animals and people to behave erratically.
Test: Map the behaviour patterns geographically, correlate with dragon sightings.
Hypothesis 2: It’s the ground. Some noxious exhalation has poisoned the minds of Skyrim.
Test: Correlate behaviour map with geological survey. Difficulty: animals and people’s behaviour are already correlated with the geography, so how do I tease out the difference? Alchemical tests of the air and soil? I brought no control samples. Can I find a place in Skyrim where people and animals act in a sane manner? What about new immigrants?
Hypothesis 3: It’s a conspiracy. Someone has intentionally sought to cause additional chaos in the midst of a civil war and dragon invasion. I’m having a difficult time coming up with plausible motives, and even more difficulty explaining their means. Why stir in a pot already stirred? Daedra?
Test: No empirical test.
Hypothesis 4: This is normal for Skyrim. That’s why no one seems surprised, and why there are so few children and old people playing outside. It’s been like this for a long time. The original cause may be difficult to tease out in this case.
Test: Compare current behaviour with descriptions found in regional literature.
As you can see, I’ve got my work cut out for me. The first two hypotheses seem the most reasonable, but checking them involves traipsing around the entire province during the onset of winter. The third is… not strictly scientific. So I’m going to start with hypothesis 4. There’s a bit of library here in Whiterun, but I’ve heard of a great one in a place called Winterhold. I hope it’s not too cold there.
I’m leaving this place tomorrow. I’ve gotten strange looks from a gang of rough-looking Nords as I’ve taken up an entire table with my notes, but there are empty tables so what’s the big deal? I made a show of paying out of my largest purse so they know I’ve got the full financial support of the Thalmor. That should shut them up.