About this image

Part 1 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=32115
Part 2 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=32689
Part 3 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=33752
Part 4 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=35892
Part 5 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=36420
Part 6 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=39293
Part 7 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=39859

(possible minor spoilers)

Balgruuf appointed Audva as a thane of Whiterun Hold and allowed her to purchase a small house within the city. Historians agree that it was a shrewd move on his part to keep such a powerful individual nearby, both as defense and to keep an eye on her. It should be noted that throughout her rise to power within the various factions in Skyrim, she continued to take care of bounties posted in Whiterun Hold, which she didn’t do in other holds, save perhaps a short period in Hjaalmarch.

Throughout her history she vigorously defended Whiterun. Captain Aldis related a story to me of two bandits turning themselves in at the Solitude gates because Audva had caught their band raiding a caravan in Whiterun Hold. Supposedly she killed two of them instantly, while the other four ran. She gave chase and over the course of several days killed another with her bow. Another was lost to wild beasts, and the long chase ended in Haafingar with their surrender to the Legion. They were found dead in their cells the next night, one of them headless. Aldis claims that no one saw Audva in the area at that time, but he didn’t think anyone else with that level of skill would go through that much trouble to kill a couple of bandits.

Many scholars are puzzled by her loyalties to the various factions and Jarls because she was such an independent and influential individual as well as being unstoppable in personal combat. I find it odd that they would be confused by this. Some of my colleagues have even attempted to paint her in a positive light simply by the fact that she could’ve easily killed every Jarl, through stealth or open assault (as the Markarth bloodbath incident proves), and taken those positions for herself, but because she didn’t, they herald her as some sort of virtuous hero.

What they overlook is this simple fact : she began life under uncertain terms and was raised among Forsworn who never fully accepted her before eventually exiling her. The fact that she called herself “Exileheart” shows how deeply this cut her, and how she identified herself. Then Balgruuf offers her a place of her own, both physically and socially, where she is accepted for what may be the first time in her life, and scholars are confused by her loyalty to him? Follow her history just a little further and we see the scene repeated with the mages at the College of Winterhold, the Thieves Guild, the Companions, and finally the Dark Brotherhood. In all of the above cases it was her ability which gained her entry and caused her to swift rise through the ranks, not because she wanted political power, but because they all became families to her, and they would not, could not exile someone with her level of talent, and she knew this.

Why then did she accept the mantle of leadership in each of these groups? Many wager it’s because she greatly respected people who had obviously earned their positions, and given her distaste for inept people in positions of power (see her interactions with Wuunferth “the un-talented” as she referred to him), they have a good case. I think that in addition to the above, she cared for those who had took her into their fold, and the members of those families looked to her supreme expertise for guidance. What greater sign of respect and acceptance is there than to become the leader of a group?

Continued in part 9 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=43368