So I was making my way to Dawnstar for the first time on my Nord warrior. A ways outside town I encountered three Imperials talking amongst themselves, one commenting on when they would see some action. A ways up the road I managed to aggro an Ice Troll hiding among the cliffs nearby, and dodged him by ducking up the outcroppings.

Those same three Imperials caught sight of it as it tried to find me, and an epic battle ensued. It seemed they were having some trouble so I ran up and finished it off, and they of course commented they were always looking for strong recruits and I should head to Solitude. Apparently it was just the sort of action they were after!

After parting company, I continued over the hill to Dawnstar. I was doing some business with the local smith, listening to his story about the war and his pregnant wife, and the threat of pirates to the ships he worked on. As I was leaving I saw one of the guards running up the hill out of town with bow drawn, so of course I ran after to see what was happening, only to find the war right on the town’s doorstep!

Lo and behold, it was those same three Imperials! The overzealous cowards had apparently shot down a female guard who had wandered off alone at the edge of town near a snowberry bush, and the guards retaliated by summarily executing the lot of them. I refrained from intervention, as three men against a single female town guard not even in Stormcloak colors seemed a bit cowardly, whether I support the Empire or not, I don’t support the actions of THOSE troops!

Afterward as I was dragging the victims off to bury, a random townswoman wandered by and looked at the remaining dead Imperial with an arrow protruding from his spine. “Gods, what happened here?” Indeed, exactly my thoughts!

Radiant indeed! =)

nice

Err.. i think this whole thing is just the result of the npcs auto-attacking
(Npcs patrol and if they find a hostile enemy they auto-attack.. They comment on that always, even if you don't kill a troll, it's random.)

This pretty much.

I had revelers that gave me mead. The odd part is that they were wearing steel plate.

I'd want to wear armour before I wandered around Skyrim, even if all I planned was drinking: there's some nasty things out there.

I've not seen patrols attack town guards, but I've seen Imperial v. Stormcloak patrols before.