I decided to head to Riften.

On the way there, I fought a Blood Dragon. Supposedly dragons are pretty easy to beat once you're a high enough level; well, I'm not there yet, and this dragon took a few lives to beat.

I saw a Standing Stone on my compass and decided to pay it a visit. There was a conjurer there who attacked me, but I was victorious. I made it to Riften's south gate (I had looped around from the west) and was told this gate was closed to travelers; no reason was given. I went for a short swim around the city and got to the north gate. There, a guard wanted me to pay a "traveler's fee;" I called him out on trying to take people's money for himself, and he let me in for free.

So, I had finally arrived at Riften. I strolled around the city, gathering up plenty of quests and information, and payed a visit to the Jarl. There was no option to buy a house, so I guess I better get working to make a name for myself.

I went to the prison to speak to a man about getting a horse he promised to sell to someone. He told me the horse and its papers were at the family lodge. I expected a homey little inn. Instead, I got attacked by mercs. That's not good for business. I killed some more mercs inside, grabbed the papers, and the horse (obligatory I'M ON A HORSE). I took the horse to the man, he paid me, and just walked away. Without the horse. Uhhh what.

Next I decided to help out the Temple of Mara by uniting lovers. The third pair happened to be GHOSTS. Next, they asked me to distribute some pamphlets, so I distributed those pamphlets LIKE A BOSS.

A strange Argonian woman demanded I take this "Lexicon" from her and take it somewhere. She didn't speak any more of it, how mysterious. I also met another Argonian woman who had a Skooma addiction. I helped her out and she told me where the dealer was. I went to the Jarl and she asked me to take care of it, as guards would always tip him off.

I busted down the door and yelled "THIS IS A DRUG BUST EVERYONE GET ON THE GROUND," but they decided to attack me instead. I found the source of the Skooma and the Jarl asked me to take care of it.

On my way there I ended up in a fight with two bears. A Fugitive runs up to me to ask me to hold on to something DURING THE BATTLE. I tried to skip the dialog, but to no avail; all I could do was sit by while my character got mauled to death.

I found a watchtower with dead Riften guards, apparently the Legion had attacked. I was too late to do any good, so I told them to requiescat in pace ("Yeah, rip.") and went on my way.

In the cave I found some surprisingly tough and magic-resilient gamblers. With a bit of difficulty I cleared the place out.

When I left the cave, there was a dragon circling above. He never landed or made any move to attack and eventually flew away; all of my ranged attacks had missed.

When I returned I was allowed to buy a house and was made Thane. I moved all of my belongings out of Whiterun into my new home. I'm disappointed by the lack of smelters in Riften, but otherwise this house is superior in every way. I'll just have to deal.