Scrolling Through GURPS (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)

[the_great_white_north]

Prologue

We'll Skip The Boring Bits

Sarah though she had life figured out by now. Steady job, nice boyfriend, and a decent flat she rented for far too much money. The car thing had to be rethought, as taking the bus took up a good hour and a half of her morning getting to work, but money was tight enough as it was, and spending another twenty a day on parking, on top of gas and maintenance was just too much to ask for.

Getting hit by said bus was unfortunate, but waking up after being hit by a ten ton bus was nice, even if she had no idea where she was when she arrived. Birds chirping, cloudy skies and pine trees every which way, save for the dirt road she was on, she could almost pretend she was somewhere on Vancouver Island, or perhaps further north, in the foothills, if it weren't for the smells.

Pine smelled different from cedar forests, and the cold bog was putting out smells she'd never smelled in her life. It was a new smell for someone who'd never travelled further than a hundred kilometres from the west coast of British Columbia. In fact, everything was a new smell. The river reed, as well as the creatures around her, were something completely alien to her nose, and while her mind was completely oblivious to her Isekai status, her nose wasn't.

Of course, that was hours ago, and she had a good idea where she was now.

A part of her realized that getting put into a world full of monsters and may be on the verge of civil war was probably bad for her squishy self, and that anxiety was getting worse the more she thought about it. She had no talent at anything martial, had no magic to speak of, and for the moment, had no survival skills to fall back on. Still, she appeared by a road, perfectly intact and not in a cart, which for a Skyrim start, was decent.

A consolation prize for never getting to see the Elder Scrolls VI, she had thought a few times.

After an entire morning of walking, the sun was now at it's highest point, and the weather was fine for what appeared to be the end of winter. Snow covered every peak in sight, and there were piles of it on every corner of the road that remained in the shade, yet the temperature felt like it was somewhere in the low tens, and with only a slight breeze and no moisture, it was perfect walking weather for someone who'd left their winter coat in their last life. She had a windbreaker, a polyester long sleeve shirt underneath, and a pair of jeans. She thank whatever deity involved that she'd been wearing proper shoes, as opposed to heels.

She was pretty sure it was Skyrim, as the large, imposing mountain in the east looked like it reached into the sky for kilometres, and the pine forest looked like the starting area around Helgen. It took a few hours to connect the world around her to the video game, because Skyrim on PC was a video game, and this was most definitely not Todd Howard's baby.

She had played Skyrim many times, even a couple of times without mods installed, but she never remembered a giant, flying whale in the sky. It had flown only a few dozen feet above her head from behind, before veering upwards into the clouds and out of sight. She'd never admit it, but she almost shit herself. She thought it was a dragon!

Now, walking down the dirt road that was more a mud trail that carts sometimes used in desperation, she came across her very first feature in this world she recognized, and a clear sign that her guess had been correct.

A clearing with three familiar stones stood in a row, each etched with markings and artwork that depicted something she knew by heart.

Warrior. Mage. Thief.

The three standing stones stood still in their own very large clearing, measuring somewhere around ten metres in diameter, and clear of everything from bushes and tree limbs, to even grass and mud. There were several tracks of carts that had stopped and paid their respects to the old monoliths, and at some point had broken camp here based on the cold fire pit, but currently there was no one here save herself and the wind.

Walking up to the stone, there was a buzz underneath the skin as she approached the first of them. The warrior. She wasn't sure if the stones provided the same bonuses in real life that they did in the game, and she didn't have a handy screen ala Solo Leveling, Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyo, or any of the other myriad of Isekai anime she'd watched. Usually, they always had a cheat or golden finger so the protagonist didn't die horribly in the first thirty minute episode.

Usually. Sometimes they got their cheat after their first death.

She shuddered.

She stared at the Stones, hoping for an answer. No popup came.

"So does the Warrior improve hiking?" she asked out loud, hoping for a sign from one of the many gods that she knew existed in this universe. "Could you, like, move a leaf or something for me?"

Very deliberately, the wind stopped moving entirely. She waited, then waited some more. The wind didn't pick back up. Picking up some grass, she flung in up above her head, and the clippings scattered in more or less a uniform pattern. Dropping a leaf, it fell straight down.

"Can I get something from you assholes?"

"Having trouble picking?"

The voice startled her, and she turned towards it. The man before her was normal looking, which in Skyrim should have been a red flag. Sadly, she didn't pick up on that. Instead, she saw the three piece modern bespoke suit the man wore, and latched onto it as something familiar and safe. It might have been the little pin of a dragon that made her trust the man, or the cane the man used that signalled vulnerability.

"I find that a coin toss helps." the stranger said, looking over at the stones with an amused expression.

"There are three picks." she pointed out.

"So there is," he said, almost sounding surprised. "Hmm. Dice? Do dice come in three sides?"

Reaching into one of his pockets, he pulled out a pack of cards, a couple of dice, and even a small chunk of cheese.

"Oh, I knew I left that somewhere," he commented, taking a bite of the cheese. "You eaten yet?"

"No, thank you," she answered, refusing the offered chunk of cheddar coloured cheese. "Did you get Isekaid too?"

"Nah, I came here on purpose." he said casually. "Truck-kun?"

"A bus," Sarah answered, surprised she knew enough fanfiction to know what he was talking about. "My bus, as a matter of fact. It was early for once."

"Ironic," he said with a slight smile. "A shame, though. I miss Truck-kun. He was always a riot of fun."

The two stared at each other, and Sarah realized that this might be her ROB. Random Omnipotent Being. The one who hands out power to the protagonist of the story.

"Not quite correct, on any of that," the being said, looking at her with a thoughtful look. "In fact, you are mostly wrong on everything, which in itself is rather impressive."

"I'm just trying to figure out what to do." she said, feeling somewhat frustrated. "With the future events and all that."

"Live, obviously." he answered. "Well, until you die, at least. Mortal's tend to do that, but here you have so many options! I'm sure you'll figure something out."

"I meant the whole Fate thing. Don't I need to defeat Alduin? Stop Mareek—"

"You aren't the Dragonborn," the man said, breaking her Isekai fantasy. "Akatosh is rather picky with who he picks, and outsiders aren't on his list. Sorry."

That derailed everything she had planned on her walk, but it also calmed her. Facing a dragon, even with superpowers, was something she wasn't really keen on doing. Call her a coward all you want, but she liked living.

That, of course, lead to the next problem. Not having superpowers in Nirn, of all places.

"So, what? I get to live through the Skyrim civil war without any sort of power?" she asked. "I'm an accountant."

"Who says there will even be a civil war?" the man asked, drawing her up short. "As you've already learned, this isn't Todd's baby, or Emile's. Hell, it isn't even Kirkbride's. We are, firmly, in uncharted, and now, with you in the mix, un-destined territories. Alternate Universe, or AU for short. Threads of Prophecy severed. Destiny butterflied out the yin-yang. Fate bent over a barrel and—"

"Thanks," she interrupted. "I got the picture."

"Excellent. Most people get rather queer when I mention their foreknowledge is useless."

"It is...rather scary, you gotta admit. Not knowing what's coming next?"

"It's also more interesting. Being able to predict things is a tad boring." he said, strutting around and kicking at a rock on the ground. The rock didn't move. "Azura can be a right bitch when she wants to be, and Akatosh isn't much better. It wouldn't surprise me if they put a random pack of wolves in your path, just to get you out of the way of their plan."

"But not your plan?"

The man turned and looked at her. "Do I look like a man with a plan?"

Something about the way he said it triggered something in the back of her mind, but she got distracted before she could figure it out. He looked over towards the road, squinted, then smiled, right before flicking his finger in the direction of Riverwood. Nothing seemed to happen.

"Besides, you already lived through one life without foreknowledge, what's another?"

The man walked around, looking at the statues one after another, then focusing on the fire for a brief moment before turning his head to the sky. The man left no footprints, although Sarah failed to notice that. Walking around to look at one of the statues a second time, he came to a stop and gave it a more thorough look.

"But back to the topic at hand. Any preferences?" he asked, staring at the statue of The Thief.

"Hard to tell. I don't know what skills are covered by each." she answered, wondering if she was going to get anything answered. "Do I get a system? Like the Celestial Forge?"

"A System? Oh, if only life were like a game. Rules, stat sheets. Loopholes." he said fondly. "Technically, you do have a, whatchamacallit, a magic finger. You just haven't...what is the word? Stumbled onto it yet."

"Well, do I get anything that will keep me away from packs of wolves? I kinda like not dying."

"Well, sure, you have..."

He startled for a moment, then stared. The man got a smile on his face, then chuckled as if he'd remembered a joke.

"Oh, Azura, you clever girl," he said, looking at something Sarah couldn't see. "Try to take my summoning gift away? Naughty, naughty."

"Don't suppose I get some destiny protection? Some..." she struggled to find the name of the power she was searching for. "Out-of-context protection?"

He scowled briefly, then smiled again. "I suppose there is something we can try."

"Any help would be appreciated."

"Oh, don't call it help." he said with a chuckle. "No, no, no. Definitely don't call it that."

He stood still for a moment, looking at something no one else could see until he straightened, looking towards one of the stone with the best impersonation of a wicked Cheshire grin. Once again, she didn't notice. He played with several dices, some were shapes she'd never seen before, before settling on a simple six sided dice.

"Hmm. I wonder..." he looked up, then smiled. "Ah, that's it!"

He reached somewhere else, and pulled another two dice and added them to the pile.

"Do you mind holding these?" he said, offering three dice. "Just got to make sure Clav isn't going to throw a fit. Or Bal. Or...well, a lot of people are going to be pissed. Might as well not give them a heads up. Saves me some effort. You still got those dice?"

Sarah looked down, only to frown. The dice were gone.

"Excellent." he said, not bothering to look. "This will be awkward for only a moment."

It was now that her brain decided to start working again, and her instincts screamed Danger! at the top of it's lungs, but it was too late. There was a flash, followed by a sharp pain on top of her head as a heavy book crashed into it, sending her tumbling to the ground.

"What the fuck? Could you have given that to me with HITTING ME!" she shouted as she got up, only to realize that the man had disappeared. In his place, the book was opened and ink filled itself on the pages, showing an ink drawing of herself on it getting hit in the head with the book. Beside it, appeared stats and attributes, skills and spells, as well as equipment, holdings, armies and several other categories. Page after page began to fill, most of which was empty, until finally stopping. It closed in on itself, and the front page was a picture of a massive tower.

Looking at it from the side, there was faint, but clearly legible writing in English.

The Character Sheet of one Sarah the Planeswalker, gamer of Nirn, powered by GURPS, and player of the Great Game to destroyer and/or unravel the threads of Fate, Prophecy, and Destiny.

Her eyes went over the wording several times. This was her cheat sheet. What will keep her alive in a province and world that was destined to end. Her eyes glanced over the last sentence, before asking her first question aloud.

"What the fuck is GURPS?"