The morning of the next day I spent thinking about the best way to earn a steady flow of cash, after a bit of pondering I decided to check out the blueprints I got from the tower quest.
I started reading the animonculus manual and thankfully it was written in Tamrielic. While some Dwemer translations and dictionaries were created over the long millennia since their sudden disappearance not one was a complete version. There were of course some who still lived that had actual contact with the Dwemer, but they had better things to do than to enlighten the masses.
The spider workers described were larger than the usual ones in Dwemer dungeons, also less complex and with a simpler construction, but they could work and follow basic commands which is all I needed really. They could either be powered by soul gems or a specialized ward that I would have to refill daily or install a strong enough power source.
After some thinking, I decided I would go for a cheaper copper and iron design that would allow me to produce more of them and just throw them at people's problems. At first, I would rent them to mines and the college expeditions, which might even speed up Saarthal's excavation.
I wasn't really sure that would be a good thing.
The parts themselves weren't all that expensive to make, but I would also have to get a place to hold them so it was time to finally talk to the steward about getting me a house. I was still pretty wealthy from the expedition and realistically I could afford my plans for enchanting a set of jewelry, but it would end up being suboptimal and it was better to invest the money. As I was walking over the college bridge, I swear I could see Shalazar moonwalking in the air for whatever reason. Convincing myself I was still waking up and seeing things I moved on. On the way to the Jarl's keep, I visited the blacksmith I bought my spear from, when I gave him my order for the parts he looked at me weirdly and started grumbling about weird elves but after I explained what it was for he seemed a bit more interested. We agreed on a good price for the both of us, he didn't try and swindle me thanks to my growing reputation. Thankfully there was no crowd in the keep when I arrived, I quickly found the steward and asked him about the list he promised me.
The middle-aged Nord man scratched his cheek in embarrassment "Well... there is no good way for me to say this, there is only one plot of land in the entire city for sale, and while it is empty it is at least a very large one."
I facepalm "All that pomp and ceremony and all you have is an empty plot, let me guess it's at the edge of the cliff where no one wants to build anything?" I ask referring to the rather large amount of empty land between the town and the cliff, apparently, people got paranoid after the collapse and even after all these years no one wanted to build there.
The poor steward looks like he wants the ground to swallow him before muttering "Yes, that is unfortunately the case" before he rights himself "We understand this is a great inconvenience for you, but the Jarl is not going to dishonor you after publicly giving you the rights."
He takes a moment to write something down and do some calculations while I wait, impatiently tapping my foot. Finally, he stands up again "We are prepared to offer you the land for half price and make the plot larger if you don't mind it being on the cliff face"
I look over the map he offers me for a bit, and to be fair they are making a really good offer here, guess they don't want to be shamed for playing me after the whole public show. The plot of land is the entire western part of the cliff face, between the college bridge and the town wall, it is just near the exit that leads to the docks. If I was conservative I could fit a good five houses in there, but I would obviously build some kind of business on such a good spot. I turn from the map toward the steward "And what is the price of such a large piece of land?" "The price for the entire thing would have been five thousand septims, but since we are offering it to you it will be reduced to two and a half thousand."
I raise an eyebrow, that is dirt cheap but at the same time it is just an empty piece of land I would have to invest in, a rather elegant trap to make me give the money I got from the expedition back to the hold.
Thankfully I had something close to ten thousand septims at the moment, so it's not like I wouldn't be able to do anything with it. It would however slow down my enchantment plans by almost an entire year if I didn't start earning money in other ways, which was uncomfortably long.
After a bit of thinking I mentally slap myself, I am still young, and apparently getting a bit of a scare in a massive dungeon is enough for me to panic and start chasing power almost as if I would die tomorrow. Taking a moment to relax I make a decision.
The steward looks very happy and relieved now that I have accepted.
'Apparently, he was under a lot of pressure because of their blunder, but as long as I profit from his incompetence I will forgive him' I think with just the slightest bit of malice.
He writes down the deed and signs it in the name of the Jarl, after he is done I look it over and everything seems to be in order, so I sign it as well.
I quickly go to the college to grab a small chest of coins, because two and a half thousand gold coins are not something one can simply carry in their pocket, that reminds me, I have to ask Tolfdir or Phineas about storage magic.
The steward takes me to the plot and shows me around the place, my neighbors are an alchemy shop and some houses, thankfully there are no noisy smiths or stinky tanners in the vicinity so I have more options.
I thank the steward and return to the college.
Once I am back in the dormitory I wait until my colleagues are gathered and we celebrate my purchase of land, which is a very big deal in Skyrim. After sharing a toast I ask them about any ideas they might have for a business and we spend the evening discussing, with Morrigan suddenly acting like she didn't spend the last week ignoring me.
Finally, I decide on a plan. I would make two buildings, the first would be an inn and bathhouse hybrid I would use to fleece anyone visiting the docks and gather information, naturally I will make the whole thing a high-end establishment, presentation is paramount after all.
The other, smaller building would be a manor for me to live in, I would build it in a mixture of Nordic and Dunmeri architecture, using a part of it to hold a workshop for my Dwemer spider business and as storage, I would also make space for my enchanting business. Finally, I would set up a proper ancestral shrine, no reason not to abuse the knowledge of the sixth house after
The initial construction would be done using the spiders I end up building in the meantime to advertise them as best as I can.
Unfortunately, I would still have to plan the whole thing and find an architect to actually design it..... 'well that is for tomorrow's me to worry about' I think flippantly as I throw myself onto my bed.
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