4th of Heartfire 4E201
I had the best sleep ever yesterday and last night. Jenassa said that I slept nearly a whole day, and that she had come to check on me every few hours. There was even an extra room that didn't belong to anyone near mine. She had apparently claimed it as her own, and had slept there. No one seemed to mind. She also told me about exploring the college and town as I slept. She had found a few ore veins in town, and told me where they were. I got up and had a nice breakfast, learning my new spell as I ate. When I managed to cast it, even Jenassa seemed impressed as I pulled a bow and arrows seemingly out of midair. Tolfdir wandered into the dining room, and he seemed out of sorts. I asked him what was wrong, and he told me that he had misplaced his alembic and asked if I could help him find it. I said that I would, and Jenassa and I started our search.
I ran into Phinis again and bought another spell called Revenant. It seemed pretty powerful and he looked a little too happy to sell it to me. He had some better robes for sale too, but I didn't have enough septims. Still no sign of Tolfdir's alembic yet. As we searched, I wondered why he hadn't said anything about the orb thing. I would have to remember to ask him about it after we found his alembic for him.
We found it! It was upstairs in the Hall of Countenance. Now all we had to do was find Tolfdir again.
After looking for hours, and not finding him anywhere, we decided to take a break and have some lunch. I started studying my new spell as we ate. It looked like we weren't going to be heading out of town today at this rate.
A man ran up to me in the middle of town and challenged me to a duel. I told him I wasn't interested, but he attacked me anyways. I'm sure he regretted his decision after Jenassa got him with her sword. I felt bad for him, but I had tried to get him not to fight with me.
I was practicing spells in the courtyard of the college when a dragon decided to come down and attack us. I hoped that the Arch-Mage wouldn't mind the new decorative dragon skeleton outside.
I spent all day and most of the night looking for Tolfdir, and still couldn't find him. Maybe he'll turn up tomorrow. I decided to give up for now and go and get some sleep.
Monday, May 28, 2012
2nd and 3rd of Heartfire 4E201
I skipped breakfast this morning and ran out the door. Jenassa bought herself some food and brought it along. It was still snowing just as bad as it was last night, but at least I could see a little better in the daylight. An Altmer woman named Faralda stopped us at the entrance to the bridge that led to the college and told us to stop. She asked what I wanted, and I told her that I wanted to learn as much as I could about magic. She gave me a test to see if I had any skill with magic. I had to cast the spell Fear onto the seal on the ground. I did it, and she welcomed me to the college as an Apprentice. As I followed her across the bridge, I was amazed that it was still standing. There were a few places where the edges of the bridge were missing, and I carefully looked down. It was a long drop. The college itself seemed to be on a floating island at first, but then I realized that the land holding it up was just very narrow under its base. I suspected that the only reason that the college was still intact was due to magic. When we got to the gate leading into the college, Faralda told me to seek out the Master-Wizard, Mirabelle. I nodded and thanked her, then practically skipped inside. Jenassa shook her head with amusement and followed.
I found Mirabelle in the courtyard, arguing with a Thalmor named Ancano. She was reminding him that he was only here because the arch-mage allowed it, and that the college wouldn't bow to his every whim like the Empire did. I liked her already.
Its so nice here! Mirabelle gave me a short tour, then showed me where my room was and gave me my college robes. They were only novice ones, but I'm sure I could buy better ones later. I changed in my room and freshened up a bit, then she showed me to my first class where I would meet my fellow apprentices. As I headed into the bulding, I wondered if an assassin could get into the college. I hoped not, but I would be on my guard nonetheless.
Ancano was in the classroom, likely spying on us. I didn't like him already. Something about him seemed sinister. I quickly forgot about him though, when I met the other apprentices and our teacher, Tolfdir. My fellow apprentices were a a cocky Khajiit named J'zargo, a Nord named Onmund, and a Dunmer named Brelyna. They all wanted to rush into learning spells, while I agreed with Tolfdir that we should learn to be safe before anything else. They all grumbled and told him not to listen to me. He decided that we should learn about something safe and practical, a ward spell. He had me demonstrate to the class how to use it properly. I stood across from him and cast it, making a wall of magic form in front of me. He cast a fireball spell at me, and the ward completely blocked it. He congratulated me, and suggested that we all practice our ward spells. Then, he told us about an excavation that the college was doing nearby at a place called Saarthal. He asked us to meet him there in a few hours, so we could have a hands on lesson about application of magic throughout history.
I got to meet the Arch Mage, and was pleased to see that he was a Dunmer too. His name was Savos Aren, and he was very friendly and welcoming. He told me what happened in Winterhold, an event called the Great Collapse. No one knows what caused it, but many blamed the college since it had come out of it mostly unscathed.The Sea of Ghosts came alive, and waves battered the town and college, destroying most of the town and causing many people to pack up and leave. It sounded like it was a terrible time.
I met another Dunmer, a man named Drevis Neloren. When I spoke to him, he seemed surprised that I could see him. Apparently he had been working on some sort of invisibility spell that hadn't worked. I wished him luck with his future experiments and made my way to Saarthal to meet with the rest of my class.
I didn't want to get lost, so I decided to use my new Clairvoyance spell to show me the way through the snow.
I met Tolfdir and the others outside of the ruins. There would definitely be draugr here, it looked just like a typical barrow. It was supposedly one of the first cities of men in Tamriel. Tolfdir explained that the College had taken an interest in the sight since many of the tombs had magickal wards on them. I followed them inside, excited about what we could learn here. Jenassa kept one hand on the hilt of her sword, just in case.
When we got inside, Tolfdir gave us all tasks to do. My task was to find a man named Arniel Gane, and help him to locate any enchanted artifacts that were in the ruin. Arniel pointed me in the direction I was to look, then got back to his research. I managed to find three rings on the ground, and an amulet on the wall. When I took the amulet down from its spot, large spikes went up in the passageway behind us, trapping Jenassa and I inside. She quickly drew her sword and I got my spells ready, in case anything was going to come out and attack us. Nothing happened, so I went over to the newly risen bars and talked to Tolfdir through them, explaining what had happened. He suggested I try using the amulet to see if anything would happen. When I put it on, the wall it had been hanging on started glowing and making an odd sound. He suggested I cast a spell at the wall, so I cast a spike of ice at it. The wall crumbled and the spikes went back into the floor. Tolfdir got excited, and wondered why this part of the ruin was hidden. He suggested we see where the hidden passage went to. I nodded, and readied some spells, just in cast of draugr, or worse things. Jenassa kept her sword drawn, and drew her war axe as well.
We followed Tolfdir down a winding passageway, and stopped in a small room with a desk in the middle of it, and standing coffins around the room. Suddenly, the light in the room changed, and a man in robes appeared. He told me that I had set in motion a chain of events that could not be stopped. He then said that judgement had not been passed on me, since I had no way of knowing about it, but that judgement would be passed on my actions in the future, and how I deal with the dangers ahead. He then said the Psijic Order would be watching me, and I alone had the power to prevent a disaster. He said to take care and reminded me that the Order would be watching me. Then, he vanished, and the room returned to normal. Apparently, only I had seen it, Tolfdir and Jenassa seemed to have been oblivious. I told Tolfdir about what I had seen, and he seemed shocked, since the Psijics had been gone for ages; even the island they lived on had vanished. He didn't know what connection they had with this place, but suggested we continue on. Suddenly, draugr came out of the coffins around us, they didn't last long though. One of their coffins had concealed a doorway, so we went inside.
We made it down another small passageway, and emerged into a circular room, with coffins all around, and a bridge in the middle of the room. Draugr came out of the coffins when we entered, but we soon dispatched them. Tolfdir remarked that he had never seen anything like this in a Nordic ruin before, and suggested Jenassa and I go on ahead while he examined the room. He said he'd catch up to us in a bit. He either had a lot of faith in me, or was very scatterbrained when it came to the safety of his students. I shrugged and exited the room, and we both had our weapons of choice ready for the dangers ahead.
We were nearly killed by a draugr. We went through a few passageways, and killed draugr along the way. Then, we came to a room with six of the rotating pillars. Thankfully the one they were supposed to be on was pictured on the wall behind them, nearly hidden from view. It took both of us to get them all into the right place, then I pulled the lever at the end of the room and the gate opened. in the next room, a draugr came after us from his coffin. He was so powerful that he could shout! He knocked Jenassa back a few times, and wounded her so badly that she fell to the ground. He even defeated my flame atronach, causing it to explode in a blast of fire. I attacked him with my conjured sword, not relenting until he fell to the ground. Then I killed him and hurried over to heal Jenassa. She got to her feet, and said that she hoped I wasn't expecting a thank you.
We kept going, and ended up in another room. There were pictures the walls, much like the Hall of Stories in Bleak Falls Barrow that had the dragon claw door. There were more puzzle pillars here. We would turn one, and the others would move. This was going to take a while.
It took about an hour or so, but we figured it out. We decided to stop and have something to eat, since both of us were getting tired. Tolfdir caught up to us finally when we were eating. He asked how we were, and Jenassa gave him a look that would make a dragon turn around and fly away. I was thankfully that he didn't see it in the shadows. We pressed on, and found an old alchemy lab in the next area. I managed to get it working and made us some potions to replenish our supplies. We then headed to the next area, but in the way out Tolfdir stepped on a pressure plate on the floor, causing poisoned arrows to shoot out of the wall. I helped heal everyone, then we continued on. I hoped we were getting close to the end of this place, I kept stumbling from sleepiness.
The next room had the strangest things in it. Not only was there a giant floating sphere in the middle of the room, but there was also a draugr guarding it. None of our attacks worked at first, so Tolfdir cast lighting at the barrier around the sphere while we distracted the draugr. He managed to break the barrier, and we soon defeated him. Jenassa even picked his staff up off of the table and used it against him. he was wearing a broken amulet around his neck, and had a note on his body. I read it aloud to everyone "Be bound here Jyrik, murderer, betrayer. Condemned by your crimes against realm and lord. May your name and your deeds be forgotten forever. And the charm which you bear be sealed by our ward." Tolfdir said that it sounded like a part of the Gaulder legend, and that the paper must have been a writ of sealing. I pocketed the amulet, and we went over to investigate the giant glowing orb that was floating in the room.
We studied it for a while, unsure of what it could be. Tolfdir asked if I could head back to the college and tell the Arch-Mage about it, since he didn't want to leave it unattended. I agreed and we left, going through a door in the back of the room. As I walked in the passage beyond, I heard the same chanting I had heard from the wall in Bleak Falls Barrow. The wall even looked similar, if a bit smaller. It also did the same thing as I approached, with the glowing and the streams of light. I didn't think I'd ever get used to this.
Out at last! It was snowing badly when we made it out of the ruins, and I had no idea what time of day it was. It was dark out though, so I used my Candlelight and Clairvoyance spells to help us find our way back to the college. On the way there, we passed two sabrecats. I summoned an atronach to help fight them, but they just stood there, not attacking us. I even got right next to them, and they just looked at me. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen. I shrugged and we hurried back to Winterhold before they changed their minds.
The sun was starting to rise by the time we made it back to town. I passed a few of the instructors from the college on the way in and stopped one of them to buy a spell book. His name was Phinis Gestor, and he was the expert on Conjuration at the College. The only spell I could afford that I didn't already have was a Bound Bow spell. I would have to save up to get some better robes. I put the book in my bag for now, and we started searching the college for the Arch Mage.
I was stumbling with tiredness by the time we found the Arch Mage. I told him that we'd found some sort of orb thing, and that Tolfdir thought it was important. He then asked me to go to the library, to start research on what it could be, and rewarded me with a Staff of Magelight. I sighed and sleepily headed to the library, wondering when I would get to sleep.
The librarian, Urag gro-Shub, had already heard about what we were looking for, and said he didn't have anything that could help us anymore. He said that some books had been stolen by a runaway apprentice named Orthorn, and that one of them may contain something I needed. He took them to give to a group of mages in a place called Fellglow Keep that used to be students at the college. The Arch Mage had kicked them out for their dangerous research that was against the rules of the college. It seemed that I would have to get the books back if I wanted to learn anything about the orb. While I was there, I asked if he had any books for sale, and he showed me a few that he said weren't worth adding to the library. One of them was about the Black Sacrament, so I bought it. Maybe it would help me find out who was trying to have me killed, or at least offer some clues. According to Urog's directions and Jenassa's map, Fellglow Keep was far south of Winterhold, closer to Whiterun. I wouldn't be able to make it that far on no sleep. I was so tired that I didn't even feel like learning my new spell. I could learn it tomorrow. On the way out of the library, Ancano stopped me and questioned me about what we found in Saarthal. I didn't tell him much, and gave vague answers. He informed me that he would expect a full report when Tolfdir returned, then walked away. I shrugged and wandered off to find my room and get some sleep.
I skipped breakfast this morning and ran out the door. Jenassa bought herself some food and brought it along. It was still snowing just as bad as it was last night, but at least I could see a little better in the daylight. An Altmer woman named Faralda stopped us at the entrance to the bridge that led to the college and told us to stop. She asked what I wanted, and I told her that I wanted to learn as much as I could about magic. She gave me a test to see if I had any skill with magic. I had to cast the spell Fear onto the seal on the ground. I did it, and she welcomed me to the college as an Apprentice. As I followed her across the bridge, I was amazed that it was still standing. There were a few places where the edges of the bridge were missing, and I carefully looked down. It was a long drop. The college itself seemed to be on a floating island at first, but then I realized that the land holding it up was just very narrow under its base. I suspected that the only reason that the college was still intact was due to magic. When we got to the gate leading into the college, Faralda told me to seek out the Master-Wizard, Mirabelle. I nodded and thanked her, then practically skipped inside. Jenassa shook her head with amusement and followed.
I found Mirabelle in the courtyard, arguing with a Thalmor named Ancano. She was reminding him that he was only here because the arch-mage allowed it, and that the college wouldn't bow to his every whim like the Empire did. I liked her already.
Its so nice here! Mirabelle gave me a short tour, then showed me where my room was and gave me my college robes. They were only novice ones, but I'm sure I could buy better ones later. I changed in my room and freshened up a bit, then she showed me to my first class where I would meet my fellow apprentices. As I headed into the bulding, I wondered if an assassin could get into the college. I hoped not, but I would be on my guard nonetheless.
Ancano was in the classroom, likely spying on us. I didn't like him already. Something about him seemed sinister. I quickly forgot about him though, when I met the other apprentices and our teacher, Tolfdir. My fellow apprentices were a a cocky Khajiit named J'zargo, a Nord named Onmund, and a Dunmer named Brelyna. They all wanted to rush into learning spells, while I agreed with Tolfdir that we should learn to be safe before anything else. They all grumbled and told him not to listen to me. He decided that we should learn about something safe and practical, a ward spell. He had me demonstrate to the class how to use it properly. I stood across from him and cast it, making a wall of magic form in front of me. He cast a fireball spell at me, and the ward completely blocked it. He congratulated me, and suggested that we all practice our ward spells. Then, he told us about an excavation that the college was doing nearby at a place called Saarthal. He asked us to meet him there in a few hours, so we could have a hands on lesson about application of magic throughout history.
I got to meet the Arch Mage, and was pleased to see that he was a Dunmer too. His name was Savos Aren, and he was very friendly and welcoming. He told me what happened in Winterhold, an event called the Great Collapse. No one knows what caused it, but many blamed the college since it had come out of it mostly unscathed.The Sea of Ghosts came alive, and waves battered the town and college, destroying most of the town and causing many people to pack up and leave. It sounded like it was a terrible time.
I met another Dunmer, a man named Drevis Neloren. When I spoke to him, he seemed surprised that I could see him. Apparently he had been working on some sort of invisibility spell that hadn't worked. I wished him luck with his future experiments and made my way to Saarthal to meet with the rest of my class.
I didn't want to get lost, so I decided to use my new Clairvoyance spell to show me the way through the snow.
I met Tolfdir and the others outside of the ruins. There would definitely be draugr here, it looked just like a typical barrow. It was supposedly one of the first cities of men in Tamriel. Tolfdir explained that the College had taken an interest in the sight since many of the tombs had magickal wards on them. I followed them inside, excited about what we could learn here. Jenassa kept one hand on the hilt of her sword, just in case.
When we got inside, Tolfdir gave us all tasks to do. My task was to find a man named Arniel Gane, and help him to locate any enchanted artifacts that were in the ruin. Arniel pointed me in the direction I was to look, then got back to his research. I managed to find three rings on the ground, and an amulet on the wall. When I took the amulet down from its spot, large spikes went up in the passageway behind us, trapping Jenassa and I inside. She quickly drew her sword and I got my spells ready, in case anything was going to come out and attack us. Nothing happened, so I went over to the newly risen bars and talked to Tolfdir through them, explaining what had happened. He suggested I try using the amulet to see if anything would happen. When I put it on, the wall it had been hanging on started glowing and making an odd sound. He suggested I cast a spell at the wall, so I cast a spike of ice at it. The wall crumbled and the spikes went back into the floor. Tolfdir got excited, and wondered why this part of the ruin was hidden. He suggested we see where the hidden passage went to. I nodded, and readied some spells, just in cast of draugr, or worse things. Jenassa kept her sword drawn, and drew her war axe as well.
We followed Tolfdir down a winding passageway, and stopped in a small room with a desk in the middle of it, and standing coffins around the room. Suddenly, the light in the room changed, and a man in robes appeared. He told me that I had set in motion a chain of events that could not be stopped. He then said that judgement had not been passed on me, since I had no way of knowing about it, but that judgement would be passed on my actions in the future, and how I deal with the dangers ahead. He then said the Psijic Order would be watching me, and I alone had the power to prevent a disaster. He said to take care and reminded me that the Order would be watching me. Then, he vanished, and the room returned to normal. Apparently, only I had seen it, Tolfdir and Jenassa seemed to have been oblivious. I told Tolfdir about what I had seen, and he seemed shocked, since the Psijics had been gone for ages; even the island they lived on had vanished. He didn't know what connection they had with this place, but suggested we continue on. Suddenly, draugr came out of the coffins around us, they didn't last long though. One of their coffins had concealed a doorway, so we went inside.
We made it down another small passageway, and emerged into a circular room, with coffins all around, and a bridge in the middle of the room. Draugr came out of the coffins when we entered, but we soon dispatched them. Tolfdir remarked that he had never seen anything like this in a Nordic ruin before, and suggested Jenassa and I go on ahead while he examined the room. He said he'd catch up to us in a bit. He either had a lot of faith in me, or was very scatterbrained when it came to the safety of his students. I shrugged and exited the room, and we both had our weapons of choice ready for the dangers ahead.
We were nearly killed by a draugr. We went through a few passageways, and killed draugr along the way. Then, we came to a room with six of the rotating pillars. Thankfully the one they were supposed to be on was pictured on the wall behind them, nearly hidden from view. It took both of us to get them all into the right place, then I pulled the lever at the end of the room and the gate opened. in the next room, a draugr came after us from his coffin. He was so powerful that he could shout! He knocked Jenassa back a few times, and wounded her so badly that she fell to the ground. He even defeated my flame atronach, causing it to explode in a blast of fire. I attacked him with my conjured sword, not relenting until he fell to the ground. Then I killed him and hurried over to heal Jenassa. She got to her feet, and said that she hoped I wasn't expecting a thank you.
We kept going, and ended up in another room. There were pictures the walls, much like the Hall of Stories in Bleak Falls Barrow that had the dragon claw door. There were more puzzle pillars here. We would turn one, and the others would move. This was going to take a while.
It took about an hour or so, but we figured it out. We decided to stop and have something to eat, since both of us were getting tired. Tolfdir caught up to us finally when we were eating. He asked how we were, and Jenassa gave him a look that would make a dragon turn around and fly away. I was thankfully that he didn't see it in the shadows. We pressed on, and found an old alchemy lab in the next area. I managed to get it working and made us some potions to replenish our supplies. We then headed to the next area, but in the way out Tolfdir stepped on a pressure plate on the floor, causing poisoned arrows to shoot out of the wall. I helped heal everyone, then we continued on. I hoped we were getting close to the end of this place, I kept stumbling from sleepiness.
The next room had the strangest things in it. Not only was there a giant floating sphere in the middle of the room, but there was also a draugr guarding it. None of our attacks worked at first, so Tolfdir cast lighting at the barrier around the sphere while we distracted the draugr. He managed to break the barrier, and we soon defeated him. Jenassa even picked his staff up off of the table and used it against him. he was wearing a broken amulet around his neck, and had a note on his body. I read it aloud to everyone "Be bound here Jyrik, murderer, betrayer. Condemned by your crimes against realm and lord. May your name and your deeds be forgotten forever. And the charm which you bear be sealed by our ward." Tolfdir said that it sounded like a part of the Gaulder legend, and that the paper must have been a writ of sealing. I pocketed the amulet, and we went over to investigate the giant glowing orb that was floating in the room.
We studied it for a while, unsure of what it could be. Tolfdir asked if I could head back to the college and tell the Arch-Mage about it, since he didn't want to leave it unattended. I agreed and we left, going through a door in the back of the room. As I walked in the passage beyond, I heard the same chanting I had heard from the wall in Bleak Falls Barrow. The wall even looked similar, if a bit smaller. It also did the same thing as I approached, with the glowing and the streams of light. I didn't think I'd ever get used to this.
Out at last! It was snowing badly when we made it out of the ruins, and I had no idea what time of day it was. It was dark out though, so I used my Candlelight and Clairvoyance spells to help us find our way back to the college. On the way there, we passed two sabrecats. I summoned an atronach to help fight them, but they just stood there, not attacking us. I even got right next to them, and they just looked at me. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen. I shrugged and we hurried back to Winterhold before they changed their minds.
The sun was starting to rise by the time we made it back to town. I passed a few of the instructors from the college on the way in and stopped one of them to buy a spell book. His name was Phinis Gestor, and he was the expert on Conjuration at the College. The only spell I could afford that I didn't already have was a Bound Bow spell. I would have to save up to get some better robes. I put the book in my bag for now, and we started searching the college for the Arch Mage.
I was stumbling with tiredness by the time we found the Arch Mage. I told him that we'd found some sort of orb thing, and that Tolfdir thought it was important. He then asked me to go to the library, to start research on what it could be, and rewarded me with a Staff of Magelight. I sighed and sleepily headed to the library, wondering when I would get to sleep.
The librarian, Urag gro-Shub, had already heard about what we were looking for, and said he didn't have anything that could help us anymore. He said that some books had been stolen by a runaway apprentice named Orthorn, and that one of them may contain something I needed. He took them to give to a group of mages in a place called Fellglow Keep that used to be students at the college. The Arch Mage had kicked them out for their dangerous research that was against the rules of the college. It seemed that I would have to get the books back if I wanted to learn anything about the orb. While I was there, I asked if he had any books for sale, and he showed me a few that he said weren't worth adding to the library. One of them was about the Black Sacrament, so I bought it. Maybe it would help me find out who was trying to have me killed, or at least offer some clues. According to Urog's directions and Jenassa's map, Fellglow Keep was far south of Winterhold, closer to Whiterun. I wouldn't be able to make it that far on no sleep. I was so tired that I didn't even feel like learning my new spell. I could learn it tomorrow. On the way out of the library, Ancano stopped me and questioned me about what we found in Saarthal. I didn't tell him much, and gave vague answers. He informed me that he would expect a full report when Tolfdir returned, then walked away. I shrugged and wandered off to find my room and get some sleep.
1st of Heartfire 4E201
We headed out early, eating our breakfast on the go. I stopped by Arcadia's shop to make a few potions for our trip, and to sell her a few that we couldn't use. Her shop was still closed, so I cast some illusion spells on the townsfolk and guards until it was time for her to open. Thankfully no one seemed to mind.
We left town and headed out to the carriage. The driver, a man named Bjorlam, asked if we needed a ride and where we wanted to go. It cost fifty septims to get to Winterhold, but we were on our way at last! I decided to take a nap in the carriage in case we got there late in the evening.
Jenassa woke me up when we got to Winterhold. It was cold and snowing, and seemed very desolate. It was also dark, and well past sunset. Most of the buildings I could see were just ruins. I was about to ask someone what had happened here, then I heard something loud overhead. The dragon shrieked and circled the town a few times, but didn't attack. I was very thankful for that, since this town seemed to already have enough trouble. Since it was so late, I decided to stay at the inn tonight and find the college in the morning, if it was still there. The snow was too bad to see much in the dark.
Everyone in the inn was friendly, and apologized for the state of the town. They also told me that most of their business came from visitors to the college, which was north of town. I got ready for bed, excited about going to the college tomorrow.
We headed out early, eating our breakfast on the go. I stopped by Arcadia's shop to make a few potions for our trip, and to sell her a few that we couldn't use. Her shop was still closed, so I cast some illusion spells on the townsfolk and guards until it was time for her to open. Thankfully no one seemed to mind.
We left town and headed out to the carriage. The driver, a man named Bjorlam, asked if we needed a ride and where we wanted to go. It cost fifty septims to get to Winterhold, but we were on our way at last! I decided to take a nap in the carriage in case we got there late in the evening.
Jenassa woke me up when we got to Winterhold. It was cold and snowing, and seemed very desolate. It was also dark, and well past sunset. Most of the buildings I could see were just ruins. I was about to ask someone what had happened here, then I heard something loud overhead. The dragon shrieked and circled the town a few times, but didn't attack. I was very thankful for that, since this town seemed to already have enough trouble. Since it was so late, I decided to stay at the inn tonight and find the college in the morning, if it was still there. The snow was too bad to see much in the dark.
Everyone in the inn was friendly, and apologized for the state of the town. They also told me that most of their business came from visitors to the college, which was north of town. I got ready for bed, excited about going to the college tomorrow.
31st of Last Seed 4E201
We left early, even though we were both sore from the chairs. As we started down the mountain, I was trying not to be mad at the Greybeards, but failing. They has asked me to come all that way, and they couldn't even give us food and a bed to sleep in! I decided to go to the College anyways, that horn would still be there. It was in a tomb after all.
I could see Bleak Falls Barrow from the side of the mountain, it looked so small from up here. I decided to carefully climb down the side of the mountain and go to Riverwood, since people were more friendly there. Jenassa looked at me like I was crazy, then sighed and followed me.
It took over half of the day, but we did it! We had a few scares on the way down, and had to catch each other a few times, but to me it was worth it. Alvor, Sigrid, and Hadvar were happy to see us, and invited us to join them for lunch. They asked about our travels, and were shocked when I told them that we had just climbed down the side of a mountain to get to Riverwood. We said our goodbyes and Sigrid gave us some food to take with us. It was nice being around friendly people again.
I stopped by Lucan's shop and replenished some of our supplies, then we headed to Whiterun. My plan was to have a good nights sleep there, then head for Winterhold in the morning. Jenassa suggested we take a carriage there, since it was far to the north. And she admitted that her legs were a bit sore from climbing the seven-thousand steps and then climbing down the side of the mountain. I agreed that a nice carriage ride did sound good.
It was still a few hours before nightfall, so I turned more iron into gold, then made more rings to sell. After I finished, sold some to Belethor, then took my purse of septims up to Farengar to get more spell books. I got fourteen spell books in total: Bound Battleaxe, Calm, Clairvoyance, Fast Healing, Fear, Frost Rune, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Rune, Magelight, Muffle, Reanimate Corpse, Soul Trap, Steadfast Ward, and Turn Lesser Undead. I only had three-hundred and thirty-six septims left, but I had now gotten every spell book that Farengar had. I would have to go to the college now to get more. Hopefully I could replenish my supply of septims in order to get them. When I got to the inn to tell Jenassa about my purchases, she seemed surprised that I had spent so much on books. I assured her that we'd still have enough money left to get our room, the carriage ride in the morning, and some supplies. I reminded her that I also had plenty of ingredients to make potions to sell and use. She nodded and went back to her dinner. I headed over to get our room for the night, and a man stopped me and said that I looked like someone who could hold their liquor. He offered to have a drinking contest with me, and if I won I could get some sort of staff as a prize. He introduced himself as Sam Guevenne. I told him that I didn't feel up to a drinking contest, but perhaps some other time I would take him up on his offer. I was also a bit paranoid still, what if he was another assassin and planned to poison me? I dismissed my worries and got our room from Hulda, then headed upstairs to learn my new spells.
Jenassa came up after she finished her food, and unloaded her gear before getting ready for bed. I had my dinner as I studied. It took a few hours, but I finally managed to learn all of my new spells. I decided to go ahead and get some sleep, since we had a big day tomorrow.
We left early, even though we were both sore from the chairs. As we started down the mountain, I was trying not to be mad at the Greybeards, but failing. They has asked me to come all that way, and they couldn't even give us food and a bed to sleep in! I decided to go to the College anyways, that horn would still be there. It was in a tomb after all.
I could see Bleak Falls Barrow from the side of the mountain, it looked so small from up here. I decided to carefully climb down the side of the mountain and go to Riverwood, since people were more friendly there. Jenassa looked at me like I was crazy, then sighed and followed me.
It took over half of the day, but we did it! We had a few scares on the way down, and had to catch each other a few times, but to me it was worth it. Alvor, Sigrid, and Hadvar were happy to see us, and invited us to join them for lunch. They asked about our travels, and were shocked when I told them that we had just climbed down the side of a mountain to get to Riverwood. We said our goodbyes and Sigrid gave us some food to take with us. It was nice being around friendly people again.
I stopped by Lucan's shop and replenished some of our supplies, then we headed to Whiterun. My plan was to have a good nights sleep there, then head for Winterhold in the morning. Jenassa suggested we take a carriage there, since it was far to the north. And she admitted that her legs were a bit sore from climbing the seven-thousand steps and then climbing down the side of the mountain. I agreed that a nice carriage ride did sound good.
It was still a few hours before nightfall, so I turned more iron into gold, then made more rings to sell. After I finished, sold some to Belethor, then took my purse of septims up to Farengar to get more spell books. I got fourteen spell books in total: Bound Battleaxe, Calm, Clairvoyance, Fast Healing, Fear, Frost Rune, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Rune, Magelight, Muffle, Reanimate Corpse, Soul Trap, Steadfast Ward, and Turn Lesser Undead. I only had three-hundred and thirty-six septims left, but I had now gotten every spell book that Farengar had. I would have to go to the college now to get more. Hopefully I could replenish my supply of septims in order to get them. When I got to the inn to tell Jenassa about my purchases, she seemed surprised that I had spent so much on books. I assured her that we'd still have enough money left to get our room, the carriage ride in the morning, and some supplies. I reminded her that I also had plenty of ingredients to make potions to sell and use. She nodded and went back to her dinner. I headed over to get our room for the night, and a man stopped me and said that I looked like someone who could hold their liquor. He offered to have a drinking contest with me, and if I won I could get some sort of staff as a prize. He introduced himself as Sam Guevenne. I told him that I didn't feel up to a drinking contest, but perhaps some other time I would take him up on his offer. I was also a bit paranoid still, what if he was another assassin and planned to poison me? I dismissed my worries and got our room from Hulda, then headed upstairs to learn my new spells.
Jenassa came up after she finished her food, and unloaded her gear before getting ready for bed. I had my dinner as I studied. It took a few hours, but I finally managed to learn all of my new spells. I decided to go ahead and get some sleep, since we had a big day tomorrow.
30th of Last Seed 4E201
We got up this morning and had breakfast at the inn. Wilhelm warned us again about the barrow as we ate. I reminded him that we were just going up to High Hrothgar. I didn't tell him this, but maybe we would investigate the barrow when we got back. Sure, it was likely full of draugr, but perhaps also full of treasure. There wasn't a shop in town to buy any more supplies from, so I just got some extra food from Wilhelm and we started on our way.
Just up the first section of stairs, still in view of the town, we found an etched tablet. It said: "Emblem | Before the birth of men, the Dragons ruled all Mundus. Their word was the Voice, and they spoke only for True Needs. For the Voice could blot out the sky and flood the land."
We met a man named Barknar near a second tablet. He said he liked to walk the steps and meditate on the emblems, and he would usually do some hunting along the way. He said he never went all the way up to the monastery though, but some that did would leave food or supplies for the Greybeards. As he walked away, he warned us to look out for wolves on the path up. I decided to read the second tablet. It said: "Emblem || Men were born and spread over the face of Mundus. The Dragons presided over the crawling masses. Men were weak then, and had no Voice." Were these tablets some sort of history? I wasn't sure, but I would look out for more on the way up. There was already snow on the ground, and we still had a long way to go. I wasn't looking forward to the cold.
By the time we got to the third tablet, snow was all over the ground and falling pretty fast. The wind felt like it had ice in it. I had to keep wiping off the tablet to read it. It said: "Emblem ||| The fledgling spirits of Men were strong in Old Times. Unafraid to war with Dragons and their Voices. But the Dragons only shouted them down and broke their hearts." I had a feeling that the dragons broke more than their hearts.
In front of the fourth tablet, we met a woman named Karita. I asked her about herself, and she said that she was just a pilgrim, and preferred to leave it at that. She only told us about how she made the trip here every few years, and she would walk the steps and meditate on the emblems. She was the second person to say that they did that. I wondered what was so special about these tablets. They just seemed like a tale of history to me. The fourth tablet said: "Emblem |V Kyne called on Paarthurnax, who pitied Man. Together they taught Men to use the Voice. Then Dragon War raged, Dragon against Tongue." I remembered Kyne being one of the Divines, but who was Paarthurnax? Jenassa just shrugged and said she had no idea either. We told Karita goodbye, and she warned us to watch out for wolves. We had only seen one wolf so far, the rest were a spider and some ice wraiths. I hoped that the monastery was close now, my fingers and toes were starting to feel numb.
There was something much worse than a wolf guarding the fifth tablet. It was a frost troll. He knocked Jenassa to her knees at one point, but we managed to defeat him with the help of my flame atronach. I read the fifth tablet while we healed our wounds. "Emblem V Man prevailed, shouting Alduin out of the world. Proving for all that their Voice too was strong. Although their sacrifices were many-fold" We stopped to have a light snack under an outcropping of rocks nearby, and thawed out a little.
We made it to the sixth tablet, with much difficulty. The winds and snow were getting bad, and it was getting hard to see the path ahead. I huddled against the stone altar surrounding the tablet and read it. "Emblem V| With roaring Tongues, the Sky-Children conquer. Founding the First Empire with Sword and Voice. Whilst the Dragons withdrew from this World." If the dragons had left, then what were they doing back here now?
I looked through my pack, and found a potion of resist cold. We shared it, hoping we'd make it to the top before freezing to death.
The seventh emblem was on a small ledge of rock, hanging out over the mountainside. I crawled up to it so I wouldn't slip and fall off, and read what it said. "Emblem V|| The Tongues at Red Mountain went away humbled. Jurgen Windcaller began His Seven Year Meditation. To understand how Strong Voices could fail." Not far away was the eighth tablet, and thankfully it was in a more secure place, next to some rock that sheltered us some from the wind. I read it as we had some mead to warm us up a little. "Emblem V||| Jurgen Windcaller chose silence and returned. The 17 disputants could not shout Him down. Jurgen the Calm built His home on the Throat of the World." So this was the man that chose to live way up here? He must like cold and snow a lot. As we continued, I felt bad for those who had helped him build a monastery up here.
The ninth tablet was under a statue of Talos, and within view of an enormous stone building. Was this the monastery? If so, I couldn't imagine how they had built it with all the snow and wind around, much less the journey to get the building materials up this high. I read the tablet while Jenassa looked up at the statue. "Emblem |X For years all silent, the Greybeards spoke one name. Tiber Septim, stripling then, was summoned to Hrothgar. They blessed him and named him Dohvakiin." That's the word they had yelled down the mountain! I was wondering what it meant, when Jenassa gently shook me and reminded me that we were freezing. She'd spotted another tablet also, near the monastery. I hurried over to it and read it so that we could get out of the cold. "Emblem X The Voice is worship. Follow the Inner path. Speak only in True Need." When I had finished reading it, blue glowing lights surrounded me then vanished. I didn't think much of it as we headed up the steps. I dropped Klimmek's bag of supplies into the chest, then went up the rest of the stairs. I stood at the door nervously for a moment, then opened it and went inside.
A man in grey robes walked up to me, saying something about a Dragon born appearing at this moment in the turning of the age. I wasn't sure what he meant, but asked why he was calling me Dragon born. He said that first they must determine if I truly was, so they wanted me to shout at them. I did, and he got knocked backwards, along with three other men in grey robes who had walked up after he spoke to me. He welcomed me to High Hrothgar, and introduced himself as Arngeir. He then asked why I had come there. I told him that I wanted to find out what it meant to be Dragon born. He explained that I was not the first, and that there had been many in the past since Akatosh had first blessed mankind with the gift. I told him I was ready to learn all I could. He seemed a bit skeptical about whether or not I would have the discipline for it. He told me that my dragon blood gave me an inborn ability to learn Words of Power, which were spoken in the dragon language. Each Shout had three Words of Power apparently, and each word learned made the shout stronger. Another of the Greybeards, Einarth, taught me the second word of the Shout I had already started to learn. The word was "Ro" and the shout was known in the common tongue as Unrelenting Force. I guess that's why people fell down and stumbled when I shouted it at them. Arngeir explained that most people would have to use and meditate on a word constantly to learn it, but I could obtain the knowledge directly by absorbing a slain dragon's life force. That explained the soul business whenever I killed a dragon. Since there wasn't a dragon around to kill, Einarth let me learn from him by sharing some off his power. They then gave me a test to see if I had learned properly. They had three targets appear, and told me I needed to Shout each one down. I did, knocking a few of them sideways in the process. Thankfully they didn't get mad; they seemed more surprised than anything. My next trial took place in the courtyard outside. They taught me the first word of a different shout, called Whirlwind Sprint. It was hard focusing on learning the word "Wuld" since I was shivering so badly. Arngeir noticed this and shouted something I didn't understand, making the sky above clear and sunny, with only a few clouds. I watched one of the others demonstrate the shout they had just taught me, and he sped forward, making it through a gate outside before it shut. I did the same, though not as fast as he did. It made me a bit dizzy going that fast. Arngeir then gave me my last trial, I had to go somewhere called Ustengrav and bring back the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. He then promised that they would teach me more once I returned with it. Ustengrav was very far to the west, in the marshes of Hjaalmarch. I felt sad as we went back inside since I had wanted to go to the College of Winterhold next. They wouldn't even share their food or let us sleep in their beds, so we had some dinner from our stores in our packs, and decided to sleep in a couple of chairs.
We got up this morning and had breakfast at the inn. Wilhelm warned us again about the barrow as we ate. I reminded him that we were just going up to High Hrothgar. I didn't tell him this, but maybe we would investigate the barrow when we got back. Sure, it was likely full of draugr, but perhaps also full of treasure. There wasn't a shop in town to buy any more supplies from, so I just got some extra food from Wilhelm and we started on our way.
Just up the first section of stairs, still in view of the town, we found an etched tablet. It said: "Emblem | Before the birth of men, the Dragons ruled all Mundus. Their word was the Voice, and they spoke only for True Needs. For the Voice could blot out the sky and flood the land."
We met a man named Barknar near a second tablet. He said he liked to walk the steps and meditate on the emblems, and he would usually do some hunting along the way. He said he never went all the way up to the monastery though, but some that did would leave food or supplies for the Greybeards. As he walked away, he warned us to look out for wolves on the path up. I decided to read the second tablet. It said: "Emblem || Men were born and spread over the face of Mundus. The Dragons presided over the crawling masses. Men were weak then, and had no Voice." Were these tablets some sort of history? I wasn't sure, but I would look out for more on the way up. There was already snow on the ground, and we still had a long way to go. I wasn't looking forward to the cold.
By the time we got to the third tablet, snow was all over the ground and falling pretty fast. The wind felt like it had ice in it. I had to keep wiping off the tablet to read it. It said: "Emblem ||| The fledgling spirits of Men were strong in Old Times. Unafraid to war with Dragons and their Voices. But the Dragons only shouted them down and broke their hearts." I had a feeling that the dragons broke more than their hearts.
In front of the fourth tablet, we met a woman named Karita. I asked her about herself, and she said that she was just a pilgrim, and preferred to leave it at that. She only told us about how she made the trip here every few years, and she would walk the steps and meditate on the emblems. She was the second person to say that they did that. I wondered what was so special about these tablets. They just seemed like a tale of history to me. The fourth tablet said: "Emblem |V Kyne called on Paarthurnax, who pitied Man. Together they taught Men to use the Voice. Then Dragon War raged, Dragon against Tongue." I remembered Kyne being one of the Divines, but who was Paarthurnax? Jenassa just shrugged and said she had no idea either. We told Karita goodbye, and she warned us to watch out for wolves. We had only seen one wolf so far, the rest were a spider and some ice wraiths. I hoped that the monastery was close now, my fingers and toes were starting to feel numb.
There was something much worse than a wolf guarding the fifth tablet. It was a frost troll. He knocked Jenassa to her knees at one point, but we managed to defeat him with the help of my flame atronach. I read the fifth tablet while we healed our wounds. "Emblem V Man prevailed, shouting Alduin out of the world. Proving for all that their Voice too was strong. Although their sacrifices were many-fold" We stopped to have a light snack under an outcropping of rocks nearby, and thawed out a little.
We made it to the sixth tablet, with much difficulty. The winds and snow were getting bad, and it was getting hard to see the path ahead. I huddled against the stone altar surrounding the tablet and read it. "Emblem V| With roaring Tongues, the Sky-Children conquer. Founding the First Empire with Sword and Voice. Whilst the Dragons withdrew from this World." If the dragons had left, then what were they doing back here now?
I looked through my pack, and found a potion of resist cold. We shared it, hoping we'd make it to the top before freezing to death.
The seventh emblem was on a small ledge of rock, hanging out over the mountainside. I crawled up to it so I wouldn't slip and fall off, and read what it said. "Emblem V|| The Tongues at Red Mountain went away humbled. Jurgen Windcaller began His Seven Year Meditation. To understand how Strong Voices could fail." Not far away was the eighth tablet, and thankfully it was in a more secure place, next to some rock that sheltered us some from the wind. I read it as we had some mead to warm us up a little. "Emblem V||| Jurgen Windcaller chose silence and returned. The 17 disputants could not shout Him down. Jurgen the Calm built His home on the Throat of the World." So this was the man that chose to live way up here? He must like cold and snow a lot. As we continued, I felt bad for those who had helped him build a monastery up here.
The ninth tablet was under a statue of Talos, and within view of an enormous stone building. Was this the monastery? If so, I couldn't imagine how they had built it with all the snow and wind around, much less the journey to get the building materials up this high. I read the tablet while Jenassa looked up at the statue. "Emblem |X For years all silent, the Greybeards spoke one name. Tiber Septim, stripling then, was summoned to Hrothgar. They blessed him and named him Dohvakiin." That's the word they had yelled down the mountain! I was wondering what it meant, when Jenassa gently shook me and reminded me that we were freezing. She'd spotted another tablet also, near the monastery. I hurried over to it and read it so that we could get out of the cold. "Emblem X The Voice is worship. Follow the Inner path. Speak only in True Need." When I had finished reading it, blue glowing lights surrounded me then vanished. I didn't think much of it as we headed up the steps. I dropped Klimmek's bag of supplies into the chest, then went up the rest of the stairs. I stood at the door nervously for a moment, then opened it and went inside.
A man in grey robes walked up to me, saying something about a Dragon born appearing at this moment in the turning of the age. I wasn't sure what he meant, but asked why he was calling me Dragon born. He said that first they must determine if I truly was, so they wanted me to shout at them. I did, and he got knocked backwards, along with three other men in grey robes who had walked up after he spoke to me. He welcomed me to High Hrothgar, and introduced himself as Arngeir. He then asked why I had come there. I told him that I wanted to find out what it meant to be Dragon born. He explained that I was not the first, and that there had been many in the past since Akatosh had first blessed mankind with the gift. I told him I was ready to learn all I could. He seemed a bit skeptical about whether or not I would have the discipline for it. He told me that my dragon blood gave me an inborn ability to learn Words of Power, which were spoken in the dragon language. Each Shout had three Words of Power apparently, and each word learned made the shout stronger. Another of the Greybeards, Einarth, taught me the second word of the Shout I had already started to learn. The word was "Ro" and the shout was known in the common tongue as Unrelenting Force. I guess that's why people fell down and stumbled when I shouted it at them. Arngeir explained that most people would have to use and meditate on a word constantly to learn it, but I could obtain the knowledge directly by absorbing a slain dragon's life force. That explained the soul business whenever I killed a dragon. Since there wasn't a dragon around to kill, Einarth let me learn from him by sharing some off his power. They then gave me a test to see if I had learned properly. They had three targets appear, and told me I needed to Shout each one down. I did, knocking a few of them sideways in the process. Thankfully they didn't get mad; they seemed more surprised than anything. My next trial took place in the courtyard outside. They taught me the first word of a different shout, called Whirlwind Sprint. It was hard focusing on learning the word "Wuld" since I was shivering so badly. Arngeir noticed this and shouted something I didn't understand, making the sky above clear and sunny, with only a few clouds. I watched one of the others demonstrate the shout they had just taught me, and he sped forward, making it through a gate outside before it shut. I did the same, though not as fast as he did. It made me a bit dizzy going that fast. Arngeir then gave me my last trial, I had to go somewhere called Ustengrav and bring back the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. He then promised that they would teach me more once I returned with it. Ustengrav was very far to the west, in the marshes of Hjaalmarch. I felt sad as we went back inside since I had wanted to go to the College of Winterhold next. They wouldn't even share their food or let us sleep in their beds, so we had some dinner from our stores in our packs, and decided to sleep in a couple of chairs.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
29th of Last Seed 4E201
The three revelers were still on Annekke and Verner's porch when we got up. The one who was almost naked was still almost naked. I was starting to wonder how he didn't freeze to death. Hrefna hugged me goodbye and told me to stay safe.
A giant sabre toothed cat attacked us not far from Darkwater Crossing. There were three nightshade plants near where it had come from. As I picked the flowers, I wondered if the cat had caused the deaths here near the roadside. I was thankful that we killed him though, so he would never sneak into Darkwater Crossing and attack anyone.
I killed another dragon, near where I had first looked out over the bluish green lakes.Luckily he was somewhat distracted by a few wolves and a sabrecat further up the path. The same thing happened as with the other one: he started to burn, and what I assumed was his soul came out and into me. I was more prepared this time, so I managed to stay standing. This wasn't the dragon from Helgen either, which meant he was still out there, somewhere. Jenassa just stood there in amazement for a moment, then shook herself and rifled through her bag to get out the burn salve.
We met a man on the side of the road near a bridge. He said he was attacked by bandits and they ransacked his cart, but he didn't seem to be injured. And he still had his weapons. I gave him some food and wished him better luck in the future. He had the strangest look on his face before I turned to walk away, like he had been cheated or something. His smile as we wished him luck seemed very forced. I hoped that he didn't trick any travelers into giving him any of their money.
I got attacked by an assassin! We were so close to the man near the bridge that I could still see him sitting there, and I turned around, and a Khajiit in black and red leather came running at me, swinging her weapons and hissing. I managed to defeat her, with the help of Jenassa and my atronach. There was a note in one of her pockets that said: "As instructed, you are to eliminate Nightshade by any means necessary. The Black Sacrament has been performed-somebody wants this poor fool dead. We're already received payment for the contract. Failure is not an option. -Astrid" Who was this person, and why were they after me? And who was Astrid? I asked Jenassa if she knew anything, and she said that the Black Sacrament had to do with hiring the Dark Brotherhood to kill someone. I had heard of them before, but I didn't know much about them. Why would someone want to hire them to kill me? I started to shake as I sank to the ground. Jenassa said that she saw a farmhouse in the forest nearby, and that she would help me walk to it.
We made it to the farm, and two sisters lived there, with a guard watching their farm. Their names were Avrusa and Aduri Sarethi, and they were Dunmer from Morrowind! They were so nice, and gave me some food and drink to help me calm down. As I ate, Avrusa told me about her alchemy shop that she used to have in Vivec City, but she had to leave it and take her sister with her when the Red Mountain erupted. She also told me about how she was able to grow nirnroot. She had a mentor who taught her everything he knew, but she hadn't seen him in years. I asked her if there were anything I could do for her since she had been so kind, and she asked if I could find some jazbay grapes for her so that she could use them to help fertilize her crop of nirnroot. I said I would, and she thanked me. She asked about our journey, and I told her that I was headed to Ivarstead to go up the seven-thousand steps to visit the Greybeards. She said that travelers on pilgrimage to there sometimes stopped at her farm to buy food, and that Ivarstead wasn't too far from her farm. I thanked her for her help and the food, and promised to return with her grapes as soon as I could. I decided not to tell her why I had been so shaken up when we got there, and thankfully she didn't ask. I guess she just thought I was very hungry or something. As we left, her sister tried to get us to bring her with us. I told her it was too dangerous and she just sighed and went back to what she was doing, which was running around randomly. She must have been really bored out here on this farm. I thought it was very pretty and relaxing.
We passed a Khajiit in robes on a bridge. He said "M'aiq wishes you well" as we went by. I would have stopped to talk to him, but I wanted to get to Ivarstead before nightfall. Maybe we would see him again someday.
The sun was starting to set when we made it to Ivarstead. In front of the bridge to the base of the steps, we met a Bosmer named Gwilin and a Nord named Klimmek. He told us about High Hrothgar, and that he usually made deliveries of dried fruit and preserved food to the monastery, but he had yet to actually meet any of the Greybeards. He was going to make a delivery there soon, but one of his legs was giving him a little trouble, and the climb tended to wear him out. I offered to take the food up there to them, since I was going there anyways. He thanked me and gave me his bag of supplies, and asked that I leave it in the offering chest at the top.
I looked up at the mountain, and decided that we should stay at the inn tonight and head up the steps in the morning. I didn't want to slip on some ice in the dark and fall down the side of the mountain. Jenassa agreed, and we went to the inn. Gwilin was in the inn having a drink when we got there, and he welcomed us to town, and told us about his philosophy on staying cheerful and happy. He was rather friendly and smiled a lot. Jenassa was looking at him as if he were slightly not right in the head. As we said our goodbyes he told us to have a great day.
We got some food and rented a room from the innkeeper, a man named Wilhelm. He warned us to stay away from the barrow near the edge of town. We told him we were headed to High Hrothgar, and he said that many pilgrims came through town to go there, but that most of them returned disappointed. I put most of my gear in the room, then headed out to have a nice bath in the stream running next to the town.
I was a bit worried about the journey up the mountain, but if pilgrims could make it to the top, then so could we. I would probably have to buy some new boots when we got back though.
The three revelers were still on Annekke and Verner's porch when we got up. The one who was almost naked was still almost naked. I was starting to wonder how he didn't freeze to death. Hrefna hugged me goodbye and told me to stay safe.
A giant sabre toothed cat attacked us not far from Darkwater Crossing. There were three nightshade plants near where it had come from. As I picked the flowers, I wondered if the cat had caused the deaths here near the roadside. I was thankful that we killed him though, so he would never sneak into Darkwater Crossing and attack anyone.
I killed another dragon, near where I had first looked out over the bluish green lakes.Luckily he was somewhat distracted by a few wolves and a sabrecat further up the path. The same thing happened as with the other one: he started to burn, and what I assumed was his soul came out and into me. I was more prepared this time, so I managed to stay standing. This wasn't the dragon from Helgen either, which meant he was still out there, somewhere. Jenassa just stood there in amazement for a moment, then shook herself and rifled through her bag to get out the burn salve.
We met a man on the side of the road near a bridge. He said he was attacked by bandits and they ransacked his cart, but he didn't seem to be injured. And he still had his weapons. I gave him some food and wished him better luck in the future. He had the strangest look on his face before I turned to walk away, like he had been cheated or something. His smile as we wished him luck seemed very forced. I hoped that he didn't trick any travelers into giving him any of their money.
I got attacked by an assassin! We were so close to the man near the bridge that I could still see him sitting there, and I turned around, and a Khajiit in black and red leather came running at me, swinging her weapons and hissing. I managed to defeat her, with the help of Jenassa and my atronach. There was a note in one of her pockets that said: "As instructed, you are to eliminate Nightshade by any means necessary. The Black Sacrament has been performed-somebody wants this poor fool dead. We're already received payment for the contract. Failure is not an option. -Astrid" Who was this person, and why were they after me? And who was Astrid? I asked Jenassa if she knew anything, and she said that the Black Sacrament had to do with hiring the Dark Brotherhood to kill someone. I had heard of them before, but I didn't know much about them. Why would someone want to hire them to kill me? I started to shake as I sank to the ground. Jenassa said that she saw a farmhouse in the forest nearby, and that she would help me walk to it.
We made it to the farm, and two sisters lived there, with a guard watching their farm. Their names were Avrusa and Aduri Sarethi, and they were Dunmer from Morrowind! They were so nice, and gave me some food and drink to help me calm down. As I ate, Avrusa told me about her alchemy shop that she used to have in Vivec City, but she had to leave it and take her sister with her when the Red Mountain erupted. She also told me about how she was able to grow nirnroot. She had a mentor who taught her everything he knew, but she hadn't seen him in years. I asked her if there were anything I could do for her since she had been so kind, and she asked if I could find some jazbay grapes for her so that she could use them to help fertilize her crop of nirnroot. I said I would, and she thanked me. She asked about our journey, and I told her that I was headed to Ivarstead to go up the seven-thousand steps to visit the Greybeards. She said that travelers on pilgrimage to there sometimes stopped at her farm to buy food, and that Ivarstead wasn't too far from her farm. I thanked her for her help and the food, and promised to return with her grapes as soon as I could. I decided not to tell her why I had been so shaken up when we got there, and thankfully she didn't ask. I guess she just thought I was very hungry or something. As we left, her sister tried to get us to bring her with us. I told her it was too dangerous and she just sighed and went back to what she was doing, which was running around randomly. She must have been really bored out here on this farm. I thought it was very pretty and relaxing.
We passed a Khajiit in robes on a bridge. He said "M'aiq wishes you well" as we went by. I would have stopped to talk to him, but I wanted to get to Ivarstead before nightfall. Maybe we would see him again someday.
The sun was starting to set when we made it to Ivarstead. In front of the bridge to the base of the steps, we met a Bosmer named Gwilin and a Nord named Klimmek. He told us about High Hrothgar, and that he usually made deliveries of dried fruit and preserved food to the monastery, but he had yet to actually meet any of the Greybeards. He was going to make a delivery there soon, but one of his legs was giving him a little trouble, and the climb tended to wear him out. I offered to take the food up there to them, since I was going there anyways. He thanked me and gave me his bag of supplies, and asked that I leave it in the offering chest at the top.
I looked up at the mountain, and decided that we should stay at the inn tonight and head up the steps in the morning. I didn't want to slip on some ice in the dark and fall down the side of the mountain. Jenassa agreed, and we went to the inn. Gwilin was in the inn having a drink when we got there, and he welcomed us to town, and told us about his philosophy on staying cheerful and happy. He was rather friendly and smiled a lot. Jenassa was looking at him as if he were slightly not right in the head. As we said our goodbyes he told us to have a great day.
We got some food and rented a room from the innkeeper, a man named Wilhelm. He warned us to stay away from the barrow near the edge of town. We told him we were headed to High Hrothgar, and he said that many pilgrims came through town to go there, but that most of them returned disappointed. I put most of my gear in the room, then headed out to have a nice bath in the stream running next to the town.
I was a bit worried about the journey up the mountain, but if pilgrims could make it to the top, then so could we. I would probably have to buy some new boots when we got back though.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
28th of Last Seed 4E201
We got up early today and had a nice breakfast before heading out to the bandit hideout. The little girl, whose name was Hrefna, told us goodbye and to come back and tell us more about our adventures. I gave her one of the gold rings I had made to remember me by, and promised to visit again someday.
A mage attacked us on the way to the bandit hideout. She was carrying a spell book, that taught the spell Fury.
I decided to learn it, just for the sake of the knowledge. Maybe I could cast it on a bandit sometime and have them attack other bandits.
Outside of the bandits' cave, they had placed burned corpses on spikes, and there were skulls on the ground and blood everywhere. I had a hard time thinking of a reason why I shouldn't kill these people.
It took most of the day, but we managed to defeat all of the bandits in the cave. We decided to head back to Darkwater Crossing and tell Annekke the news, then rest there for the night again before continuing on our journey tomorrow morning.
When we had nearly gotten back, we stopped by three men drinking by the roadside. They asked if I would like to join them in having some Honningbrew mead. I declined, but offered to give them the bottle I had in my pack in thanks for their kindness. They thanked me, and gave me an enchanted necklace for my 'good deed'. One of them was nearly naked, and I kept having to avert my eyes in case his loincloth shifted in the breeze.
We stopped near the bridge out of town to wash off the blood before talking to the residents of Darkwater Crossing again. I didn't want to scare them. I wondered why the men by the road hadn't said anything, then remembered that they had seemed rather drunk.
Annekke was happy that we had killed the bandits, and showed me some tips she had learned about wearing light armor effectively. She even offered to come with me on my travels, but I didn't take her up on the offer. I didn't want to endanger her life out there, even if she had been an adventurer once.
It was still a bit before dark, so I decided to do some mining to help them out in return for their hospitality and kindness. Annekke's husband, Verner, even offered to pay me for any ore I mined. As I was mining, I overheard Hrefna talking to Sondas about Morrowind. She said that she heard that it was black and gross and that no one wanted to live there anymore. He said that he'd have to take her word on it, since he'd never been there. If she only knew how right she was.
I went out of the mine to sell the ore to Verner, and I saw the three revelers on their porch. One was sweeping, one was sharpening a sword, and the one wearing only a loincloth was sitting there eating some bread. It was the strangest thing. Verner paid me a good price for the ore though.
Hrefna talked to us for hours, then finally fell asleep. I hoped she would stay safe, and that the war and dragons would never come here.
We got up early today and had a nice breakfast before heading out to the bandit hideout. The little girl, whose name was Hrefna, told us goodbye and to come back and tell us more about our adventures. I gave her one of the gold rings I had made to remember me by, and promised to visit again someday.
A mage attacked us on the way to the bandit hideout. She was carrying a spell book, that taught the spell Fury.
I decided to learn it, just for the sake of the knowledge. Maybe I could cast it on a bandit sometime and have them attack other bandits.
Outside of the bandits' cave, they had placed burned corpses on spikes, and there were skulls on the ground and blood everywhere. I had a hard time thinking of a reason why I shouldn't kill these people.
It took most of the day, but we managed to defeat all of the bandits in the cave. We decided to head back to Darkwater Crossing and tell Annekke the news, then rest there for the night again before continuing on our journey tomorrow morning.
When we had nearly gotten back, we stopped by three men drinking by the roadside. They asked if I would like to join them in having some Honningbrew mead. I declined, but offered to give them the bottle I had in my pack in thanks for their kindness. They thanked me, and gave me an enchanted necklace for my 'good deed'. One of them was nearly naked, and I kept having to avert my eyes in case his loincloth shifted in the breeze.
We stopped near the bridge out of town to wash off the blood before talking to the residents of Darkwater Crossing again. I didn't want to scare them. I wondered why the men by the road hadn't said anything, then remembered that they had seemed rather drunk.
Annekke was happy that we had killed the bandits, and showed me some tips she had learned about wearing light armor effectively. She even offered to come with me on my travels, but I didn't take her up on the offer. I didn't want to endanger her life out there, even if she had been an adventurer once.
It was still a bit before dark, so I decided to do some mining to help them out in return for their hospitality and kindness. Annekke's husband, Verner, even offered to pay me for any ore I mined. As I was mining, I overheard Hrefna talking to Sondas about Morrowind. She said that she heard that it was black and gross and that no one wanted to live there anymore. He said that he'd have to take her word on it, since he'd never been there. If she only knew how right she was.
I went out of the mine to sell the ore to Verner, and I saw the three revelers on their porch. One was sweeping, one was sharpening a sword, and the one wearing only a loincloth was sitting there eating some bread. It was the strangest thing. Verner paid me a good price for the ore though.
Hrefna talked to us for hours, then finally fell asleep. I hoped she would stay safe, and that the war and dragons would never come here.
27th of Last Seed 4E201
I had a nightmare again last night, though it didn't wake anyone up but Jenassa this time. The dragon from Helgen came after me for killing the one outside of Whiterun. I woke up just as he was flying down at me with his mouth open, ready to eat me alive.
We headed out after breakfast. The odd men from before were still there just inside the gate. One stopped me and told me that they were looking for a Redguard woman, and would pay me for any information. They said she was a fugative, and was likely not using her real name. They didn't tell me anything other than that, not even why they were looking for her. Before they left, they said I could find them in Rorikstead if I had any information. They suspected that she was in Whiterun for some reason.
I asked one of the locals if they knew how to get to High Hrothgar, they said that the easiest way was to go to a village called Ivarstead and walk up the steps, unless I preferred climbing a mountain. I followed the sign outside of town, and soon we were on our way.
Found another of the stones that glow when you touch them, just off the road and on a small hill. A woman there attacked us, raising some nearby skeletons from the dead to help her. I could see why she liked it there though, there was a nice view of the surrounding land.
We found Valtheim Keep, not too far from Whiterun, and managed to find a sword matching the description that Amren had given us. I decided to take it back to him, since I didn't know when we would be back near Whiterun. The bandits there were very difficult, but Jenassa and I fought them off. With help from my flame atronach of course. I also wanted to sell off most of the things we'd gotten there, so our journey to Ivarstead would be easier.
On the way back, a woman in rags ran up to us, asking for help. She said she'd been kidnapped by some bandits at a place called Mistwatch, but she had managed to pick the lock and escape and now had no idea where she was. I offered to help her get to Whiterun and showed her which direction it was in, but she said she'd be ok now that she knew where it was. I followed her anyways, just to make sure she'd get there safely. She stopped at the farm near the stables outside of town and helped them pick crops as if she knew them. I shrugged and we headed into town, thankful at least that she was somewhere safe.
Amren was overjoyed to get his father's sword back, and was surprised that we'd managed to defeat all of the bandits who had it. In return for getting it, he taught me his father's favorite sword and shield technique. It was early afternoon, so we decided to head out again and get as far as we could before nightfall.
I didn't see the woman in rags when we left town. Maybe she went somewhere else? I just hoped she was ok, Skyrim wasn't a very pleasant place sometimes.
A Khajiit attacked us on the road, before we got to the standing stone on the hill. I defended myself but stopped when he fell to the ground and yelled "Mercy!". Jenassa shot him with her bow, killing him. I asked her why, and she said that he would have just attacked us again when our backs were turned. And she reminded me that he just attacked us without provocation. Still, I felt bad for him, and wondered if he had thought that we were bandits or something. I guess it didn't matter now. I wondered if I would ever get used to seeing so much death.
The sun was settting when we stopped in a small mining settlement called Darkwater Crossing. A woman there named Annekke talked to me, and told me that she used to be an adventurer too until she settled down and got married. She even found the mine that the town was later built up around. She asked if I could do her a favor, and take care of a bandit that she had seen going back to his camp when she was out scouting recently. I said that I would, in return for a place to sleep for the night. She agreed, and even got us something to eat and some soap so that we could bathe in the river nearby. According to Jenassa's map, we had passed the bandit hideout on the way here, not too far away. We could go and get them in the morning, then continue heading to Ivarstead.
I looked out at the land nearby while Jenassa was laying out her gear near the bedrolls they had loaned to us. It looked familiar, and I remembered meeting those soldiers near here, up on a hill, nearly a month ago. I guessed that Darkwater Crossing must have been the dwellings that I had seen in the distance, before I ran into those soldiers and got captured alongside them.
On the way to the bedrolls, I met another Dunmer, a man named Sondas. He told me about working in the mine, and said that the ore dust was causing people to get sick. He was going to send a letter to Windhelm for aid, and I offered to take it there for him. He thanked me, and told me to deliver it to a man named Quintus in a shop called the White Phial. He also told me about the town, and how dangerous the falls nearby were. A man named Derkeethus had been swimming near them looking for fish, but no one had seen him in a long time. I took his warning to heart, and decided to have my bath close to the shore.
We had a nice dinner of fried fish and vegetables, and talked to the local miners. Everyone in town was so kind, even the storm cloak soldiers wandering around guarding it. A young girl living there kept asking us about our adventures. I told her as much as I could, leaving out the parts about having to kill so many people who had tried to kill me. She was still young, and didn't need to be having nightmares. I just hoped I wouldn't have any tonight.
I had a nightmare again last night, though it didn't wake anyone up but Jenassa this time. The dragon from Helgen came after me for killing the one outside of Whiterun. I woke up just as he was flying down at me with his mouth open, ready to eat me alive.
We headed out after breakfast. The odd men from before were still there just inside the gate. One stopped me and told me that they were looking for a Redguard woman, and would pay me for any information. They said she was a fugative, and was likely not using her real name. They didn't tell me anything other than that, not even why they were looking for her. Before they left, they said I could find them in Rorikstead if I had any information. They suspected that she was in Whiterun for some reason.
I asked one of the locals if they knew how to get to High Hrothgar, they said that the easiest way was to go to a village called Ivarstead and walk up the steps, unless I preferred climbing a mountain. I followed the sign outside of town, and soon we were on our way.
Found another of the stones that glow when you touch them, just off the road and on a small hill. A woman there attacked us, raising some nearby skeletons from the dead to help her. I could see why she liked it there though, there was a nice view of the surrounding land.
We found Valtheim Keep, not too far from Whiterun, and managed to find a sword matching the description that Amren had given us. I decided to take it back to him, since I didn't know when we would be back near Whiterun. The bandits there were very difficult, but Jenassa and I fought them off. With help from my flame atronach of course. I also wanted to sell off most of the things we'd gotten there, so our journey to Ivarstead would be easier.
On the way back, a woman in rags ran up to us, asking for help. She said she'd been kidnapped by some bandits at a place called Mistwatch, but she had managed to pick the lock and escape and now had no idea where she was. I offered to help her get to Whiterun and showed her which direction it was in, but she said she'd be ok now that she knew where it was. I followed her anyways, just to make sure she'd get there safely. She stopped at the farm near the stables outside of town and helped them pick crops as if she knew them. I shrugged and we headed into town, thankful at least that she was somewhere safe.
Amren was overjoyed to get his father's sword back, and was surprised that we'd managed to defeat all of the bandits who had it. In return for getting it, he taught me his father's favorite sword and shield technique. It was early afternoon, so we decided to head out again and get as far as we could before nightfall.
I didn't see the woman in rags when we left town. Maybe she went somewhere else? I just hoped she was ok, Skyrim wasn't a very pleasant place sometimes.
A Khajiit attacked us on the road, before we got to the standing stone on the hill. I defended myself but stopped when he fell to the ground and yelled "Mercy!". Jenassa shot him with her bow, killing him. I asked her why, and she said that he would have just attacked us again when our backs were turned. And she reminded me that he just attacked us without provocation. Still, I felt bad for him, and wondered if he had thought that we were bandits or something. I guess it didn't matter now. I wondered if I would ever get used to seeing so much death.
The sun was settting when we stopped in a small mining settlement called Darkwater Crossing. A woman there named Annekke talked to me, and told me that she used to be an adventurer too until she settled down and got married. She even found the mine that the town was later built up around. She asked if I could do her a favor, and take care of a bandit that she had seen going back to his camp when she was out scouting recently. I said that I would, in return for a place to sleep for the night. She agreed, and even got us something to eat and some soap so that we could bathe in the river nearby. According to Jenassa's map, we had passed the bandit hideout on the way here, not too far away. We could go and get them in the morning, then continue heading to Ivarstead.
I looked out at the land nearby while Jenassa was laying out her gear near the bedrolls they had loaned to us. It looked familiar, and I remembered meeting those soldiers near here, up on a hill, nearly a month ago. I guessed that Darkwater Crossing must have been the dwellings that I had seen in the distance, before I ran into those soldiers and got captured alongside them.
On the way to the bedrolls, I met another Dunmer, a man named Sondas. He told me about working in the mine, and said that the ore dust was causing people to get sick. He was going to send a letter to Windhelm for aid, and I offered to take it there for him. He thanked me, and told me to deliver it to a man named Quintus in a shop called the White Phial. He also told me about the town, and how dangerous the falls nearby were. A man named Derkeethus had been swimming near them looking for fish, but no one had seen him in a long time. I took his warning to heart, and decided to have my bath close to the shore.
We had a nice dinner of fried fish and vegetables, and talked to the local miners. Everyone in town was so kind, even the storm cloak soldiers wandering around guarding it. A young girl living there kept asking us about our adventures. I told her as much as I could, leaving out the parts about having to kill so many people who had tried to kill me. She was still young, and didn't need to be having nightmares. I just hoped I wouldn't have any tonight.
26th of Last Seed 4E201
Last night was one of the strangest nights of my life. We managed to defeat the dragon, thank the gods that he wasn't the same one from Helgen. After he fell, we got closer to make sure he was truly dead, and he started burning. Irileth ordered everyone to get back, in case something bad happened. We moved away from it, but as he burned strange lights came towards me, surrounding my body. It was like that wall in the barrow, only it felt more powerful. I got so dizzy that I had to crouch down for a bit to keep from falling over. When I looked up, everyone was standing around me looking at me strangely, and nothing was left of the dragon but his skeleton. The guards kept saying I was something called a 'dragonborn', someone who could kill dragons and steal their power. Irileth told them they should trust in their strength instead of myths and legends. They said I could try something called shouting to prove it, and suggested I try it. I did, and what looked like a strong ball of wind came out, knocking a few of the guards off balance. I apologized to them, but they seemed more excited about me being a dragonborn and getting to kill a dragon with me. One told me he was even proud to be my battle brother. Irileth said she was taking command at the watchtower for now, to get things cleaned up. She asked if I could head back to Whiterun to let the jarl know what happened.
We were nearly back to Whiterun when a sound like thunder came down from the sky, and the ground shook. We also heard a voice say "do vah kiin" and more thunder. Jenassa just shrugged her shoulders when I asked what she thought it was. I wanted to go straight to the inn, but I figured that the jarl would still be awake, waiting for news about the dragon. Hopefully Farengar would have some sort of salve for these burns.
Some strange men were arguing with one of the guards just inside the gate. I didn't stop to see what was going on.
The jarl was still awake, and I told him about the dragon. He told me that I was apparently a dragon born, since the noise we had heard outside of Whiterun was a summons. Some men known as the Greybeards were summoning me to their monastery on top of the Throat of the World, known as High Hrothgar. He also said he had been there once, and mentioned there being seven-thousand steps to the top. He also mentioned that I should hurry there, since you weren't supposed to refuse their summons. In return for me helping to kill the dragon, he named me the Thane of Whiterun and gave me an axe to serve as my badge of office. He also assigned someone named Lydia to be my house carl. She was waiting near the door to Dragonsreach, and I asked her what a thane was and what a house carl was. She explained that a thane was someone of great importance in a hold, and that if I were to commit a crime, I could tell the guards who I was and they wouldn't arrest me. As my house carl, she told me that she was sworn to protect me and all I owned with her life. She didn't seem too enthusiastic about it though, most likely since the jarl had ordered her to do it. I thanked her, and told her that I appreciated her nonetheless. I also told her that since I didn't own much that I could manage to guard it myself. She nodded and said that she'd stay here at Dragonsreach for now, and if I ever needed her I could find her here.
We went to the inn for dinner and some rest. I wondered if my muscles would ever stop being sore.
The sun was setting by the time we woke up. I wasn't too surprised, since we had gone to bed in the early hours of the morning. We both decided to just stay at the inn and relax with a nice meal, then rest here for the night before trying to go anywhere. I wondered who the Greybeards were, and why they lived on top of a mountain. I asked Jenassa, she she shrugged and said that perhaps they just didn't like visitors. We would need to get more supplies in the morning. According to Jenassa's map, we had a long way to go to get to their monastery. I hoped that we wouldn't run into any more dragons on our trip, and that maybe after we went to see them, I could finally go to Winterhold to the mage's college.
Last night was one of the strangest nights of my life. We managed to defeat the dragon, thank the gods that he wasn't the same one from Helgen. After he fell, we got closer to make sure he was truly dead, and he started burning. Irileth ordered everyone to get back, in case something bad happened. We moved away from it, but as he burned strange lights came towards me, surrounding my body. It was like that wall in the barrow, only it felt more powerful. I got so dizzy that I had to crouch down for a bit to keep from falling over. When I looked up, everyone was standing around me looking at me strangely, and nothing was left of the dragon but his skeleton. The guards kept saying I was something called a 'dragonborn', someone who could kill dragons and steal their power. Irileth told them they should trust in their strength instead of myths and legends. They said I could try something called shouting to prove it, and suggested I try it. I did, and what looked like a strong ball of wind came out, knocking a few of the guards off balance. I apologized to them, but they seemed more excited about me being a dragonborn and getting to kill a dragon with me. One told me he was even proud to be my battle brother. Irileth said she was taking command at the watchtower for now, to get things cleaned up. She asked if I could head back to Whiterun to let the jarl know what happened.
We were nearly back to Whiterun when a sound like thunder came down from the sky, and the ground shook. We also heard a voice say "do vah kiin" and more thunder. Jenassa just shrugged her shoulders when I asked what she thought it was. I wanted to go straight to the inn, but I figured that the jarl would still be awake, waiting for news about the dragon. Hopefully Farengar would have some sort of salve for these burns.
Some strange men were arguing with one of the guards just inside the gate. I didn't stop to see what was going on.
The jarl was still awake, and I told him about the dragon. He told me that I was apparently a dragon born, since the noise we had heard outside of Whiterun was a summons. Some men known as the Greybeards were summoning me to their monastery on top of the Throat of the World, known as High Hrothgar. He also said he had been there once, and mentioned there being seven-thousand steps to the top. He also mentioned that I should hurry there, since you weren't supposed to refuse their summons. In return for me helping to kill the dragon, he named me the Thane of Whiterun and gave me an axe to serve as my badge of office. He also assigned someone named Lydia to be my house carl. She was waiting near the door to Dragonsreach, and I asked her what a thane was and what a house carl was. She explained that a thane was someone of great importance in a hold, and that if I were to commit a crime, I could tell the guards who I was and they wouldn't arrest me. As my house carl, she told me that she was sworn to protect me and all I owned with her life. She didn't seem too enthusiastic about it though, most likely since the jarl had ordered her to do it. I thanked her, and told her that I appreciated her nonetheless. I also told her that since I didn't own much that I could manage to guard it myself. She nodded and said that she'd stay here at Dragonsreach for now, and if I ever needed her I could find her here.
We went to the inn for dinner and some rest. I wondered if my muscles would ever stop being sore.
The sun was setting by the time we woke up. I wasn't too surprised, since we had gone to bed in the early hours of the morning. We both decided to just stay at the inn and relax with a nice meal, then rest here for the night before trying to go anywhere. I wondered who the Greybeards were, and why they lived on top of a mountain. I asked Jenassa, she she shrugged and said that perhaps they just didn't like visitors. We would need to get more supplies in the morning. According to Jenassa's map, we had a long way to go to get to their monastery. I hoped that we wouldn't run into any more dragons on our trip, and that maybe after we went to see them, I could finally go to Winterhold to the mage's college.
25th of Last Seed 4E201
It was nice being around friends again. Sigrid fed us breakfast, and even gave us some soap to use. We both went out to the river, and went far enough away from Riverwood so that no one would spy on us. It took a couple of hours to get the smell of draugr off of us and our clothes and gear. Jenassa cleaned and sharpened her weapons as we waited for everything to dry. I made a few more notes in my journal and practiced some of my spells. Jenassa asked me why I stop to write in this book so much, and I told her that it was to help me remember things that I had learned during my travels, and to keep up with my memories.
We stopped at the trader in town before heading back to Whiterun. I wanted to see if he had any spell books. When we walked in, he was arguing with a woman who I learned was his sister. She was trying to get him to go after someone, but he was against it.I asked what had happened, and he said that some thieves had broken into their store, but they only stole one thing: a solid gold ornament, in the shape of a dragon's claw. I reached into my bag and pulled out the claw from the barrow, asking him if it was his and explaining where we had gotten it in case he thought we were the thieves. He thanked us both and rewarded us with six-hundred septims. I bought a couple of spell books from him, a frostbite spell, and a lesser ward spell. I also bought a ring to fortify your magicka energies, and sold him all of our unwanted spoils from the barrow. I talked to his sister, Camilla, and she said that they had come here from Cyrodiil. She and Lucan, her brother and the store owner, had come here after the Great War ruined everything. I felt bad for them, but I was thankful that they had made it here safely. We said our goodbyes, and they welcomed us to come back anytime we were in town.
On the road back to Whiterun, we ran into a man that looked very sick. He said he was one of the afflicted, and that he would have been dead if not for the protection of Peryite. It seems that their leader here had lost his way, so he was fleeing to High Rock to avoid the wrath of Peryite. He told us that we should look for someone named Kesh at Peryite's shrine if we wanted to know more. The shrine was far to the west, so it would probably be a long time before we ever got near enough to it to see what was going on. I asked Jenassa her opinion on it. She said that Peryite was a daedric lord, and that he was most likely dangerous. But, usually daedric lords rewarded mortals who aided them with unique artifacts, so it might be worth the risk.
We spent a few hours in the market after we got to Whiterun, buying more supplies. I also turned more iron into gold to make more jewelry, in case I needed to sell any. We stopped by Arcadia's too, and she let me use her alchemy lab to replenish our potions.
The sun was starting to set by the time we made it up to Dragonsreach. Farengar was talking to a woman when we got to his rooms. She was wearing a hood, so I couldn't see her face very well. He was happy to get the dragon stone, and the woman seemed impressed that I had managed to get it. I was going to buy more spell books from him, but Irileth ran in and interrupted, saying a dragon had been sighted nearby and we needed to come with her at once. Farengar seemed excited, but I knew better. I had seen what a dragon could do in Helgen. A guard who had come in with her told us about seeing the dragon, and that he ran as fast as he could to warn everyone in Whiterun. He had spotted him near the western watchtower. After telling the guard to go rest, the jarl ordered Irileth to get some men together. The jarl then turned to me and asked that I go with Irileth to help fight the dragon, since I had more experience with them than anyone else here. I didn't bother telling him that I had been wearing rags with my hands bound and running for my life in Helgen, so I didn't really qualify. He also said that he hadn't forgotten my helping Farengar, and said that I could buy a house in the city now. He also gave me some boots. I sighed and followed Irileth out of Dragonsreach, dreading what was to come.
We stopped near the main gate and Irileth gave a rallying speech to the four guards that were to go with us. One of them kept expressing doubt and fear, but became more optimistic by the end of her speech. I only hoped that this was not the dragon from Helgen. A whole group of imperial soldiers and mages couldn't bring him down, and there were only seven of us going to fight this one. Hopefully I would get to see the sun rise tomorrow.
It was nice being around friends again. Sigrid fed us breakfast, and even gave us some soap to use. We both went out to the river, and went far enough away from Riverwood so that no one would spy on us. It took a couple of hours to get the smell of draugr off of us and our clothes and gear. Jenassa cleaned and sharpened her weapons as we waited for everything to dry. I made a few more notes in my journal and practiced some of my spells. Jenassa asked me why I stop to write in this book so much, and I told her that it was to help me remember things that I had learned during my travels, and to keep up with my memories.
We stopped at the trader in town before heading back to Whiterun. I wanted to see if he had any spell books. When we walked in, he was arguing with a woman who I learned was his sister. She was trying to get him to go after someone, but he was against it.I asked what had happened, and he said that some thieves had broken into their store, but they only stole one thing: a solid gold ornament, in the shape of a dragon's claw. I reached into my bag and pulled out the claw from the barrow, asking him if it was his and explaining where we had gotten it in case he thought we were the thieves. He thanked us both and rewarded us with six-hundred septims. I bought a couple of spell books from him, a frostbite spell, and a lesser ward spell. I also bought a ring to fortify your magicka energies, and sold him all of our unwanted spoils from the barrow. I talked to his sister, Camilla, and she said that they had come here from Cyrodiil. She and Lucan, her brother and the store owner, had come here after the Great War ruined everything. I felt bad for them, but I was thankful that they had made it here safely. We said our goodbyes, and they welcomed us to come back anytime we were in town.
On the road back to Whiterun, we ran into a man that looked very sick. He said he was one of the afflicted, and that he would have been dead if not for the protection of Peryite. It seems that their leader here had lost his way, so he was fleeing to High Rock to avoid the wrath of Peryite. He told us that we should look for someone named Kesh at Peryite's shrine if we wanted to know more. The shrine was far to the west, so it would probably be a long time before we ever got near enough to it to see what was going on. I asked Jenassa her opinion on it. She said that Peryite was a daedric lord, and that he was most likely dangerous. But, usually daedric lords rewarded mortals who aided them with unique artifacts, so it might be worth the risk.
We spent a few hours in the market after we got to Whiterun, buying more supplies. I also turned more iron into gold to make more jewelry, in case I needed to sell any. We stopped by Arcadia's too, and she let me use her alchemy lab to replenish our potions.
The sun was starting to set by the time we made it up to Dragonsreach. Farengar was talking to a woman when we got to his rooms. She was wearing a hood, so I couldn't see her face very well. He was happy to get the dragon stone, and the woman seemed impressed that I had managed to get it. I was going to buy more spell books from him, but Irileth ran in and interrupted, saying a dragon had been sighted nearby and we needed to come with her at once. Farengar seemed excited, but I knew better. I had seen what a dragon could do in Helgen. A guard who had come in with her told us about seeing the dragon, and that he ran as fast as he could to warn everyone in Whiterun. He had spotted him near the western watchtower. After telling the guard to go rest, the jarl ordered Irileth to get some men together. The jarl then turned to me and asked that I go with Irileth to help fight the dragon, since I had more experience with them than anyone else here. I didn't bother telling him that I had been wearing rags with my hands bound and running for my life in Helgen, so I didn't really qualify. He also said that he hadn't forgotten my helping Farengar, and said that I could buy a house in the city now. He also gave me some boots. I sighed and followed Irileth out of Dragonsreach, dreading what was to come.
We stopped near the main gate and Irileth gave a rallying speech to the four guards that were to go with us. One of them kept expressing doubt and fear, but became more optimistic by the end of her speech. I only hoped that this was not the dragon from Helgen. A whole group of imperial soldiers and mages couldn't bring him down, and there were only seven of us going to fight this one. Hopefully I would get to see the sun rise tomorrow.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
24th of Last Seed 4E201
We decided to head to the barrow today, to get the dragon stone. After breakfast, we headed towards Riverwood. Farengar had said that someone there could point us in the right direction, and I wanted to visit Alvor and Sigrid, and see how they were doing. And say hello to Hadvar, if he was still there. I remembered him saying something about needing to go to Solitude, I just hoped that he hadn't left yet.
Everyone was happy to see me, and Sigrid packed us some food to take to the barrow. Hadvar tried warning us against it, and said it was likely full of draugr. I asked about them, and he said they were the remains of people who died long ago, that came back to life to defend their tombs. That scared me a bit, but Jenassa just assured me that she would make sure that they stayed dead for good this time. We said our goodbyes, and Alvor thanked me again for getting the jarl to sent soldiers to protect Riverwood.
More bandits, some on the path there and others inside the barrow. We overheard two of them saying something about someone named Arvel taking a claw and running with it. We stopped in a room, where a bandit pulled lever only to be killed by poisoned arrows. I tried to just walk past the bandits on the way here, but they ran after us and attacked. We decided to rest for a moment, and try to get this gate open. It may have something to do with the pillars along the wall...
We worked together, and managed to move the pillars to where the symbols on the wall on the carvings matched the symbols facing out on the pillars. I pulled the lever, and the gate opened! I felt bad for the bandit who had been killed by the arrows, but I kept telling myself that he had likely killed innocent people and probably deserved a horrible death.
We found Arvel, he had managed to be captured by a giant spider. After we killed the spider, he asked to be cut down, and promised to share the treasure in return. I cut him down, and he ran off further into the barrow, mocking me. I would have sent an atronach after him, but he was a fellow Dunmer like Jenassa and I. Granted, that didn't make him any better of a person, since he was still a bandit. I wondered if there were worse things than spiders here.
Arvel met his end at the hand of a few draugr. They weren't very happy to see us either, but Jenassa kept to her word and dispatched them.They smelled worse than the dead mammoth in Halted Stream Camp. Arvel had the claw, and a journal talking about a hall of stories and a puzzle, and something about a solution being in your hand. It was hard to read, since the pages were stained with who knows what. Most likely it was mead or grease from food. I put the journal and claw in my bag and kept going. Jenassa stayed at my back, and watched for danger.
We stopped again, to rest and have our meal. We managed to find a hallway like room with no draugr in it, so it didn't smell so bad. The walls had carvings on them, and at the end of the hall there was a door with rings in it. I thought about all of the draugr we had just gone through to get here, not to mention the dangerous traps that nearly killed me. What was in this place that needed to be guarded that much? I finished my food and flipped through Arvel's journal while Jenassa finished hers. Then it dawned on me, the room we were in was the hall of stories he had mentioned. I walked over to the door and looked at the rings. They had pictures on them like the pillars before, only smaller. Then, I remembered Arvel's journal saying something about the claw and the solution being in your hand. I held the claw next to the door, then noticed that the holes in the middle of the door matched the nails on the claw. I tried it, but the door didn't do anything. I sighed and held the claw, then noticed that the bottom of it felt strange, so I flipped it over. There were the symbols again! I called Jenassa over, and we moved the rings after much struggling and cursing, and managed to get them to match up with the symbols on the claw. Then I tried the claw again. The lock moved and the rings went around and the door slid down, then vanished into the floor. We had done it! Hopefully the dragon stone was close, I already missed breathing fresh air and feeling the wind in my hair.
We got the dragon stone, at last. The room it was in was rather large, and strange. There was a large wall with carvings all over it, and as I got closer, it started chanting at me, and the room became dark. Then, some of the carvings on the wall began to glow, and light came out of the wall and surrounded me. Then, it stopped, and everything got normal again. Jenassa worriedly asked me if I was alright, and I assured her that I was fine. We started looking around for the dragon stone, and I opened a chest, which made a coffin nearby pop open, and a very mad draugr came out and yelled at Jenassa, knocking her off balance. I summoned an atronach, and the three of us fought him off after Jenassa gained her footing again. The dragon stone was in his coffin. I picked up, then we headed for what I hoped was the exit. I had no idea what time it was, I only knew that I was tired and needed sleep.
It was dark by the time we crawled out of the barrow. The exit was on the side of a mountain, so we had to climb down, then head to Riverwood from there. I tried getting a room at the inn, but the cook said that someone named Delphine rented rooms to people, and she wasn't home. Thankfully, Alvor and Sigrid were still awake, so we asked if we could stay at their house for the night. I offered to pay them, but they turned down my coin and said that we could stay as long as we needed to. Only the smaller bed was available, so we both squeezed in as best we could. Tomorrow I decided to have a nice bath in the river, no matter how cold the water was. Hopefully they would forgive us for making their house smell like draugr.
We decided to head to the barrow today, to get the dragon stone. After breakfast, we headed towards Riverwood. Farengar had said that someone there could point us in the right direction, and I wanted to visit Alvor and Sigrid, and see how they were doing. And say hello to Hadvar, if he was still there. I remembered him saying something about needing to go to Solitude, I just hoped that he hadn't left yet.
Everyone was happy to see me, and Sigrid packed us some food to take to the barrow. Hadvar tried warning us against it, and said it was likely full of draugr. I asked about them, and he said they were the remains of people who died long ago, that came back to life to defend their tombs. That scared me a bit, but Jenassa just assured me that she would make sure that they stayed dead for good this time. We said our goodbyes, and Alvor thanked me again for getting the jarl to sent soldiers to protect Riverwood.
More bandits, some on the path there and others inside the barrow. We overheard two of them saying something about someone named Arvel taking a claw and running with it. We stopped in a room, where a bandit pulled lever only to be killed by poisoned arrows. I tried to just walk past the bandits on the way here, but they ran after us and attacked. We decided to rest for a moment, and try to get this gate open. It may have something to do with the pillars along the wall...
We worked together, and managed to move the pillars to where the symbols on the wall on the carvings matched the symbols facing out on the pillars. I pulled the lever, and the gate opened! I felt bad for the bandit who had been killed by the arrows, but I kept telling myself that he had likely killed innocent people and probably deserved a horrible death.
We found Arvel, he had managed to be captured by a giant spider. After we killed the spider, he asked to be cut down, and promised to share the treasure in return. I cut him down, and he ran off further into the barrow, mocking me. I would have sent an atronach after him, but he was a fellow Dunmer like Jenassa and I. Granted, that didn't make him any better of a person, since he was still a bandit. I wondered if there were worse things than spiders here.
Arvel met his end at the hand of a few draugr. They weren't very happy to see us either, but Jenassa kept to her word and dispatched them.They smelled worse than the dead mammoth in Halted Stream Camp. Arvel had the claw, and a journal talking about a hall of stories and a puzzle, and something about a solution being in your hand. It was hard to read, since the pages were stained with who knows what. Most likely it was mead or grease from food. I put the journal and claw in my bag and kept going. Jenassa stayed at my back, and watched for danger.
We stopped again, to rest and have our meal. We managed to find a hallway like room with no draugr in it, so it didn't smell so bad. The walls had carvings on them, and at the end of the hall there was a door with rings in it. I thought about all of the draugr we had just gone through to get here, not to mention the dangerous traps that nearly killed me. What was in this place that needed to be guarded that much? I finished my food and flipped through Arvel's journal while Jenassa finished hers. Then it dawned on me, the room we were in was the hall of stories he had mentioned. I walked over to the door and looked at the rings. They had pictures on them like the pillars before, only smaller. Then, I remembered Arvel's journal saying something about the claw and the solution being in your hand. I held the claw next to the door, then noticed that the holes in the middle of the door matched the nails on the claw. I tried it, but the door didn't do anything. I sighed and held the claw, then noticed that the bottom of it felt strange, so I flipped it over. There were the symbols again! I called Jenassa over, and we moved the rings after much struggling and cursing, and managed to get them to match up with the symbols on the claw. Then I tried the claw again. The lock moved and the rings went around and the door slid down, then vanished into the floor. We had done it! Hopefully the dragon stone was close, I already missed breathing fresh air and feeling the wind in my hair.
We got the dragon stone, at last. The room it was in was rather large, and strange. There was a large wall with carvings all over it, and as I got closer, it started chanting at me, and the room became dark. Then, some of the carvings on the wall began to glow, and light came out of the wall and surrounded me. Then, it stopped, and everything got normal again. Jenassa worriedly asked me if I was alright, and I assured her that I was fine. We started looking around for the dragon stone, and I opened a chest, which made a coffin nearby pop open, and a very mad draugr came out and yelled at Jenassa, knocking her off balance. I summoned an atronach, and the three of us fought him off after Jenassa gained her footing again. The dragon stone was in his coffin. I picked up, then we headed for what I hoped was the exit. I had no idea what time it was, I only knew that I was tired and needed sleep.
It was dark by the time we crawled out of the barrow. The exit was on the side of a mountain, so we had to climb down, then head to Riverwood from there. I tried getting a room at the inn, but the cook said that someone named Delphine rented rooms to people, and she wasn't home. Thankfully, Alvor and Sigrid were still awake, so we asked if we could stay at their house for the night. I offered to pay them, but they turned down my coin and said that we could stay as long as we needed to. Only the smaller bed was available, so we both squeezed in as best we could. Tomorrow I decided to have a nice bath in the river, no matter how cold the water was. Hopefully they would forgive us for making their house smell like draugr.
23rd of Last Seed 4E201
I woke up with a headache. It was already after midday by the time I got out of bed and had something to eat. Hulda didn't mention this morning, thankfully. Jenassa didn't either, she just made sure I ate and gave me some potions out of my pack. I decided not to ask about any available bounties today, and focus on my newest spell instead. I would go to Adrianne, and learn how to make ore into workable metal, and how to make it into jewelry. And, if I became any good at it, I could make money that way, and maybe the blood staining me would fade.
I spent most of the day learning from Adrianne. She taught me how to smelt ore into ingots, and heat the ingots and shape them into jewelry. It was hard at first, but my rings got prettier and prettier. I gave Adrianne a few to thank her for helping me. I sold some to another shop owner near Arcadia's shop, a man named Belethor. He asked me if I had any relatives I'd be interested in selling to him, then quickly apologized and said it was a joke after he saw the look Jenassa was giving him. I still had a lot of my rings left over after he bought as many as he could, so I decided to save them to sell later.
I met a girl named Ysolda in the market earlier. She told me about the Khajiit caravans, and mentioned wanting to become a merchant herself. She said that one of the Khajiit had offered to help her, if she got a mammoth tusk for him. I wanted to help her, and Jenassa reminded me about the tusks we'd gotten. I gave her one of them, and she thanked me and taught me about trading and bargaining, to get better deals. I remembered Hulda mentioning her in passing, saying that she was wanting to retire one day and sell the inn to Ysolda. I thanked her for her help, and wished her luck in becoming a merchant.
I got a few more books with the money I made from selling my rings. Two were fire spells, one that was a stronger version of the first fire spell I learned, and the other made a circle of fire on the ground that would explode if an enemy walked on it. The other two spells were a stronger protection spell, and one that gave people courage. It didn't take me long to learn them all. I asked Farengar about where he learned magic while I was buying spells, and he mentioned a college in a town called Winterhold, far to the north. I made up my mind to go there to learn, as soon as we went to the barrow for the jarl here.
I went up and got another spell before I headed to the inn to rest for the night. It was called Candlelight. When it was cast, it made a ball of light hover over my head. The light moved with me, no matter how fast or slow I went. I thought it would be useful if I were ever in a dark cave. During dinner, I asked Jenassa about going to Winterhold with me after we got the dragon stone. She said that she would go too, and wouldn't let me go alone. I wondered if I had made a friend, or if she was only with me because I had paid her. Either way, I was thankful that I wouldn't be going alone.
I woke up with a headache. It was already after midday by the time I got out of bed and had something to eat. Hulda didn't mention this morning, thankfully. Jenassa didn't either, she just made sure I ate and gave me some potions out of my pack. I decided not to ask about any available bounties today, and focus on my newest spell instead. I would go to Adrianne, and learn how to make ore into workable metal, and how to make it into jewelry. And, if I became any good at it, I could make money that way, and maybe the blood staining me would fade.
I spent most of the day learning from Adrianne. She taught me how to smelt ore into ingots, and heat the ingots and shape them into jewelry. It was hard at first, but my rings got prettier and prettier. I gave Adrianne a few to thank her for helping me. I sold some to another shop owner near Arcadia's shop, a man named Belethor. He asked me if I had any relatives I'd be interested in selling to him, then quickly apologized and said it was a joke after he saw the look Jenassa was giving him. I still had a lot of my rings left over after he bought as many as he could, so I decided to save them to sell later.
I met a girl named Ysolda in the market earlier. She told me about the Khajiit caravans, and mentioned wanting to become a merchant herself. She said that one of the Khajiit had offered to help her, if she got a mammoth tusk for him. I wanted to help her, and Jenassa reminded me about the tusks we'd gotten. I gave her one of them, and she thanked me and taught me about trading and bargaining, to get better deals. I remembered Hulda mentioning her in passing, saying that she was wanting to retire one day and sell the inn to Ysolda. I thanked her for her help, and wished her luck in becoming a merchant.
I got a few more books with the money I made from selling my rings. Two were fire spells, one that was a stronger version of the first fire spell I learned, and the other made a circle of fire on the ground that would explode if an enemy walked on it. The other two spells were a stronger protection spell, and one that gave people courage. It didn't take me long to learn them all. I asked Farengar about where he learned magic while I was buying spells, and he mentioned a college in a town called Winterhold, far to the north. I made up my mind to go there to learn, as soon as we went to the barrow for the jarl here.
I went up and got another spell before I headed to the inn to rest for the night. It was called Candlelight. When it was cast, it made a ball of light hover over my head. The light moved with me, no matter how fast or slow I went. I thought it would be useful if I were ever in a dark cave. During dinner, I asked Jenassa about going to Winterhold with me after we got the dragon stone. She said that she would go too, and wouldn't let me go alone. I wondered if I had made a friend, or if she was only with me because I had paid her. Either way, I was thankful that I wouldn't be going alone.
23rd of Last Seed 4E201
I woke up screaming in the early hours of the morning. Jenassa was shaking me and trying to wake me up. I got so scared that I fell off of the other side of the bed and huddled in a corner. Hulda came in to check on us, since my screams had alarmed everyone in the tavern. Jenassa asked her to bring up something to eat then sat on the floor a few feet from me, giving me my space. It took some food and two bottles of mead for me to stop shaking. I could tell that she wanted to ask me what was wrong, but had decided to give me my privacy. I wouldn't have been able to tell her anyways. It was so horrible. All of them, all the bandits I had killed, they were surrounding us, blaming us for their deaths. I defended my actions, since they were horrible people who had killed and hurt so many people that the jarl wanted them dead to keep his people safe. They ignored me and charged, and Jenassa and I fought and fought and fought, but we were overwhelmed. They killed her and came after me, and I woke up as they were trying to slice me open. I started shaking again, remembering the dream, and I wondered if they were right. Was I not just as horrible as they were? Sure, they had killed and hurt people, but maybe I was no better than them. My hands and weapons and clothes were stained with blood, just as much as theirs.I looked up at Jenassa, my vision blurred with unshed tears, and I wondered how she remained so calm, so resolute, even when she was covered in the blood of her enemies. She never faltered when they came after her, screaming for her death. She laughed in their faces and sent them to Oblivion.
I had a few more bottles of mead then crawled into bed. The last thing I remembered before falling asleep was feeling a hand resting on my shoulder.
I woke up screaming in the early hours of the morning. Jenassa was shaking me and trying to wake me up. I got so scared that I fell off of the other side of the bed and huddled in a corner. Hulda came in to check on us, since my screams had alarmed everyone in the tavern. Jenassa asked her to bring up something to eat then sat on the floor a few feet from me, giving me my space. It took some food and two bottles of mead for me to stop shaking. I could tell that she wanted to ask me what was wrong, but had decided to give me my privacy. I wouldn't have been able to tell her anyways. It was so horrible. All of them, all the bandits I had killed, they were surrounding us, blaming us for their deaths. I defended my actions, since they were horrible people who had killed and hurt so many people that the jarl wanted them dead to keep his people safe. They ignored me and charged, and Jenassa and I fought and fought and fought, but we were overwhelmed. They killed her and came after me, and I woke up as they were trying to slice me open. I started shaking again, remembering the dream, and I wondered if they were right. Was I not just as horrible as they were? Sure, they had killed and hurt people, but maybe I was no better than them. My hands and weapons and clothes were stained with blood, just as much as theirs.I looked up at Jenassa, my vision blurred with unshed tears, and I wondered how she remained so calm, so resolute, even when she was covered in the blood of her enemies. She never faltered when they came after her, screaming for her death. She laughed in their faces and sent them to Oblivion.
I had a few more bottles of mead then crawled into bed. The last thing I remembered before falling asleep was feeling a hand resting on my shoulder.
22nd of Last Seed 4E201
I met some Khajiit today, outside of the gates in Whiterun. We headed out after breakfast and there they were, selling supplies. I bought some things from them, and asked about their homeland. The one selling the goods, named Ri'saad, told me about Elsweyr, but got sad after a few minutes since he missed it. They were here to make a good profit, since the war and dragons had scared away a lot of the trade. They smiled and waved as we left, and hoped that our road would lead us to warm sands. I doubted that anywhere in Skyrim had warm sand, but thanked them nonetheless.
Halted Stream camp was full of bandits. There were many outside, which we dispatched with relative ease. As we headed inside, I glanced over at Jenassa and noticed that she was covered in blood. She didn't seem to mind. The bandits inside were much more difficult, and their leader nearly bested us both. I used one of my spells, summoning a flame atronach from Oblivion to help us. He didn't last long after that. We both sat on the ground for a bit after that, resting and sharing a potion to get our strength back. It smelled terrible in there, and I noticed the source of the smell: a dead mammoth. The bandits had killed it and dragged it inside somehow. Jenassa remarked that she had noticed some tusks on the way inside, and said that we should take them back with us and sell them. I nodded and wondered what else we could sell, then saw a large chest across the room.
After about an hour of searching, I managed to find not only plenty of treasure and things to sell, but also an amazing spell book. By learning the spell within, I was able to turn some iron ore that I had found on the shelf into silver, and then turn the silver ore into gold ore. Even Jenassa seemed impressed. Then we both noticed not only more iron ore lying around, but also that the entire cave was full of iron ore veins. I smiled and decided to get to work digging it out. Jenassa went back to the first section of the cave and grabbed me a pickaxe. She sat on the chief's bed and read a book while I worked, and I didn't stop her. She deserved to rest since she'd nearly been killed on my behalf.
I stopped to take a break, and Jenassa finally told me something about her past. She said that once she had considered being a bandit, but decided that she liked clean clothes and fresh mead. I chuckled and smiled, and we both shared a bottle of mead that I had gotten in town.
After many hours, I finally got out every last bit of iron ore that I could manage. The sun was starting to set by the time we got outside. There weren't any beds outside, and we didn't want to go back in there with that mammoth so we decided to go wash off in a stream nearby then head back to Whiterun for the night. The water was very cloudy by the time we got finished.
It was dark before we got back, so we went to the inn for some dinner and rented the room for the night. I turned more iron into gold and decided that I would ask Arcadia about smelting ingots and making jewelry tomorrow, after we turned in our bounty and got the reward.
I met some Khajiit today, outside of the gates in Whiterun. We headed out after breakfast and there they were, selling supplies. I bought some things from them, and asked about their homeland. The one selling the goods, named Ri'saad, told me about Elsweyr, but got sad after a few minutes since he missed it. They were here to make a good profit, since the war and dragons had scared away a lot of the trade. They smiled and waved as we left, and hoped that our road would lead us to warm sands. I doubted that anywhere in Skyrim had warm sand, but thanked them nonetheless.
Halted Stream camp was full of bandits. There were many outside, which we dispatched with relative ease. As we headed inside, I glanced over at Jenassa and noticed that she was covered in blood. She didn't seem to mind. The bandits inside were much more difficult, and their leader nearly bested us both. I used one of my spells, summoning a flame atronach from Oblivion to help us. He didn't last long after that. We both sat on the ground for a bit after that, resting and sharing a potion to get our strength back. It smelled terrible in there, and I noticed the source of the smell: a dead mammoth. The bandits had killed it and dragged it inside somehow. Jenassa remarked that she had noticed some tusks on the way inside, and said that we should take them back with us and sell them. I nodded and wondered what else we could sell, then saw a large chest across the room.
After about an hour of searching, I managed to find not only plenty of treasure and things to sell, but also an amazing spell book. By learning the spell within, I was able to turn some iron ore that I had found on the shelf into silver, and then turn the silver ore into gold ore. Even Jenassa seemed impressed. Then we both noticed not only more iron ore lying around, but also that the entire cave was full of iron ore veins. I smiled and decided to get to work digging it out. Jenassa went back to the first section of the cave and grabbed me a pickaxe. She sat on the chief's bed and read a book while I worked, and I didn't stop her. She deserved to rest since she'd nearly been killed on my behalf.
I stopped to take a break, and Jenassa finally told me something about her past. She said that once she had considered being a bandit, but decided that she liked clean clothes and fresh mead. I chuckled and smiled, and we both shared a bottle of mead that I had gotten in town.
After many hours, I finally got out every last bit of iron ore that I could manage. The sun was starting to set by the time we got outside. There weren't any beds outside, and we didn't want to go back in there with that mammoth so we decided to go wash off in a stream nearby then head back to Whiterun for the night. The water was very cloudy by the time we got finished.
It was dark before we got back, so we went to the inn for some dinner and rented the room for the night. I turned more iron into gold and decided that I would ask Arcadia about smelting ingots and making jewelry tomorrow, after we turned in our bounty and got the reward.
21st of Last Seed 4E201
It was thunder storming when we left the inn this morning but we decided to go anyways, after we had breakfast. On the way to the bandit lair, we passed a ruined tower, still in use by the town guards, and a large fort. The fort was occupied by bandits; I saw a few walking along the walls.
We found the cave that the bandits were in, thankfully there were no bandits guarding the entrance. I decided to tell the dog to wait outside, since I didn't want any bandits killing him. He whined but sat down on the ground. I left him some food and Jenassa suggested that we sneak in to take our foes by surprise.
The bandits fell to our combined might. They had a dog too, but he wasn't friendly at all. He bit Jenassa and she yelled at him. After the dust settled I healed her with one of my spells, and she raised an eyebrow and looked sideways at me, then shrugged and mentioned that she hoped I wasn't expecting a thank you. I wondered why she worked so hard to keep everyone away. She certainly didn't seem as interested in telling me about herself as most of the other people I had met were. We found a few septims, some supplies a few things that we could sell in town, and a treasure map. It was badly drawn, and seemed to show that the treasure was located outside of Whiterun. Jenassa looked it over and suggested that we try to find it on the way back to town.
The dog was gone when we got back outside. I didn't see any blood anywhere, and his food was gone. I looked around and called out for him, and wished that I had given him a name. Jenassa helped me look, then finally suggested that perhaps he had simply wandered off. She patted me awkwardly on the shoulder and assured me that he would be fine, and that we would keep an eye out for him in our travels.
I saw some Thalmor on the way back to Whiterun. One was wearing robes like mine, and the others had on golden armor. All three of them ignored us as they passed, as if we were beneath them. Jenassa looked like she wanted very badly to make them bleed.
We managed to find the treasure, on a hill behind one of the farms outside of town. There was a pretty ring in the chest we found, silver with a garnet in it. I gave it to Jenassa as a gift for her help, and she put it on. I saw her start to smile then quickly stop herself. I smiled to myself as I put the rest of the treasure in my bag.
We sold some of the armor and supplies that we'd gotten from the bandit lair to Adrianne, a blacksmith just inside of the town gate. I mentioned that I was headed to the jarl's court, and she asked if I could take a sword to her father the steward. It was a gift for the jarl that she had made, though she wasn't sure if he would even accept it. I took the sword and promised to deliver it.
The steward paid us one-hundred septims for the bounty, and thanked us for bringing the sword, paying us twenty septims for the trouble. I asked him about the city, and the palace. He told me it was called Dragonsreach, and about his duties as steward. I noticed Jenassa yawning out of the corner of my eye as he droned on and on about day to day life in the court, so I thanked him for his time and headed to Farengar's rooms to get more spell books. He got onto me for not bringing him the dragon stone yet, but sold me a few spells anyways. I got one called Oakflesh, which covers me in protective magic energy, one called Ice Spike to hurl sharp blades of ice at my enemies, and one to raise the dead. Jenassa glanced through the last book as we walked out of Dragonsreach and seemed intrigued by it, but in the end handed it back to me and decided not to try it. We decided to head to the inn for something to eat. Hulda had another bounty letter waiting and handed it over with our food. Jenassa read it as I read my new books between bites of food. She told me that it was for the death of the bandit leader located at a place called Halted Stream Camp, which was located north of Whiterun.
It was dark already by the time we got done eating, so we decided to head to the bandit camp in the morning. I stopped by Arcadia's shop again and made a few more potions, then we went to the inn for some rest. Jenassa slept on the edge of the bed again like last night, as if she were afraid that I would harm her in my sleep. I missed my dog.
It was thunder storming when we left the inn this morning but we decided to go anyways, after we had breakfast. On the way to the bandit lair, we passed a ruined tower, still in use by the town guards, and a large fort. The fort was occupied by bandits; I saw a few walking along the walls.
We found the cave that the bandits were in, thankfully there were no bandits guarding the entrance. I decided to tell the dog to wait outside, since I didn't want any bandits killing him. He whined but sat down on the ground. I left him some food and Jenassa suggested that we sneak in to take our foes by surprise.
The bandits fell to our combined might. They had a dog too, but he wasn't friendly at all. He bit Jenassa and she yelled at him. After the dust settled I healed her with one of my spells, and she raised an eyebrow and looked sideways at me, then shrugged and mentioned that she hoped I wasn't expecting a thank you. I wondered why she worked so hard to keep everyone away. She certainly didn't seem as interested in telling me about herself as most of the other people I had met were. We found a few septims, some supplies a few things that we could sell in town, and a treasure map. It was badly drawn, and seemed to show that the treasure was located outside of Whiterun. Jenassa looked it over and suggested that we try to find it on the way back to town.
The dog was gone when we got back outside. I didn't see any blood anywhere, and his food was gone. I looked around and called out for him, and wished that I had given him a name. Jenassa helped me look, then finally suggested that perhaps he had simply wandered off. She patted me awkwardly on the shoulder and assured me that he would be fine, and that we would keep an eye out for him in our travels.
I saw some Thalmor on the way back to Whiterun. One was wearing robes like mine, and the others had on golden armor. All three of them ignored us as they passed, as if we were beneath them. Jenassa looked like she wanted very badly to make them bleed.
We managed to find the treasure, on a hill behind one of the farms outside of town. There was a pretty ring in the chest we found, silver with a garnet in it. I gave it to Jenassa as a gift for her help, and she put it on. I saw her start to smile then quickly stop herself. I smiled to myself as I put the rest of the treasure in my bag.
We sold some of the armor and supplies that we'd gotten from the bandit lair to Adrianne, a blacksmith just inside of the town gate. I mentioned that I was headed to the jarl's court, and she asked if I could take a sword to her father the steward. It was a gift for the jarl that she had made, though she wasn't sure if he would even accept it. I took the sword and promised to deliver it.
The steward paid us one-hundred septims for the bounty, and thanked us for bringing the sword, paying us twenty septims for the trouble. I asked him about the city, and the palace. He told me it was called Dragonsreach, and about his duties as steward. I noticed Jenassa yawning out of the corner of my eye as he droned on and on about day to day life in the court, so I thanked him for his time and headed to Farengar's rooms to get more spell books. He got onto me for not bringing him the dragon stone yet, but sold me a few spells anyways. I got one called Oakflesh, which covers me in protective magic energy, one called Ice Spike to hurl sharp blades of ice at my enemies, and one to raise the dead. Jenassa glanced through the last book as we walked out of Dragonsreach and seemed intrigued by it, but in the end handed it back to me and decided not to try it. We decided to head to the inn for something to eat. Hulda had another bounty letter waiting and handed it over with our food. Jenassa read it as I read my new books between bites of food. She told me that it was for the death of the bandit leader located at a place called Halted Stream Camp, which was located north of Whiterun.
It was dark already by the time we got done eating, so we decided to head to the bandit camp in the morning. I stopped by Arcadia's shop again and made a few more potions, then we went to the inn for some rest. Jenassa slept on the edge of the bed again like last night, as if she were afraid that I would harm her in my sleep. I missed my dog.
20th of Last Seed 4E201
Breakfast was also delicious! And I slept so good that all my soreness melted away. I got up refreshed, and headed out to chop more wood.
I got into a fight after a delivery of firewood to Hulda.. A woman in the inn, named Uthgerd, walked up to me and got in my face, challenging me to a fight. She seemed a little drunk, and I was going to back away slowly, but then she added that she'd bet me one hundred septims that she could knock my hide to the ground. I decided that I could use the money, and accepted. I barely managed to beat her, and healed myself after I had the coinpurse in my hands. Totally worth it. She seemed impressed, and offered to travel with me so she could see how I handled trolls. I declined, since she was a bit drunk, and because I wanted to hire Jenassa.
I recounted my gold and decided to stop at one of the market stalls for some lunch before chopping more wood. Carlotta, the owner of one of them thanked me for my business and we made small talk. She mentioned having trouble with the men in town, especially the bard Mikael. I offered to talk to him for her, and she shrugged and said I could try, but that it likely wouldn't do any good.
I got into yet another fight, this time with Mikael. I tried persuading him to leave Carlotta alone, but he just called me jealous and refused. I won, again, and he swore that he would leave her alone. She was very happy, albeit surprised that I had managed to get him to stop chasing her, and rewarded me with two-hundred and fifty septims. I started to wonder if I could fight anyone else in town for some extra coin.
I decided to go ahead and hire Jenassa, since I had enough to now, plus some extra. Maybe she could help me decide on what supplies we would need. Plus I didn't want anyone else hiring her and leaving me stuck with that Uthgerd woman.
Jenassa and I talked, and decided that we would need more supplies than I had money for. She offered to help chop wood, since she felt that she'd gotten lazy waiting for someone to hire her. I accepted and borrowed her map to make notes in my journal. I also wrote down plants I had found and what I could use them for, and made a rough map, adding places I had been so far. I wondered if we'd be able to get supplies and spell books.
We sold more wood to Hulda, and she mentioned a bounty letter that had been dropped off by one of the guards. I took it and showed it to Jenassa, who thought it would be a good way to make some money. It was for the death of the bandit leader located at Redoran's Retreat. We decided to have some dinner and rest at the inn, and head out in the morning to stop the bandit leader. Jenassa seemed to smile a little too much at the thought of ending his life. I was thankful that she was on my side.
I decided to try and think of something to name the dog tomorrow.
Breakfast was also delicious! And I slept so good that all my soreness melted away. I got up refreshed, and headed out to chop more wood.
I got into a fight after a delivery of firewood to Hulda.. A woman in the inn, named Uthgerd, walked up to me and got in my face, challenging me to a fight. She seemed a little drunk, and I was going to back away slowly, but then she added that she'd bet me one hundred septims that she could knock my hide to the ground. I decided that I could use the money, and accepted. I barely managed to beat her, and healed myself after I had the coinpurse in my hands. Totally worth it. She seemed impressed, and offered to travel with me so she could see how I handled trolls. I declined, since she was a bit drunk, and because I wanted to hire Jenassa.
I recounted my gold and decided to stop at one of the market stalls for some lunch before chopping more wood. Carlotta, the owner of one of them thanked me for my business and we made small talk. She mentioned having trouble with the men in town, especially the bard Mikael. I offered to talk to him for her, and she shrugged and said I could try, but that it likely wouldn't do any good.
I got into yet another fight, this time with Mikael. I tried persuading him to leave Carlotta alone, but he just called me jealous and refused. I won, again, and he swore that he would leave her alone. She was very happy, albeit surprised that I had managed to get him to stop chasing her, and rewarded me with two-hundred and fifty septims. I started to wonder if I could fight anyone else in town for some extra coin.
I decided to go ahead and hire Jenassa, since I had enough to now, plus some extra. Maybe she could help me decide on what supplies we would need. Plus I didn't want anyone else hiring her and leaving me stuck with that Uthgerd woman.
Jenassa and I talked, and decided that we would need more supplies than I had money for. She offered to help chop wood, since she felt that she'd gotten lazy waiting for someone to hire her. I accepted and borrowed her map to make notes in my journal. I also wrote down plants I had found and what I could use them for, and made a rough map, adding places I had been so far. I wondered if we'd be able to get supplies and spell books.
We sold more wood to Hulda, and she mentioned a bounty letter that had been dropped off by one of the guards. I took it and showed it to Jenassa, who thought it would be a good way to make some money. It was for the death of the bandit leader located at Redoran's Retreat. We decided to have some dinner and rest at the inn, and head out in the morning to stop the bandit leader. Jenassa seemed to smile a little too much at the thought of ending his life. I was thankful that she was on my side.
I decided to try and think of something to name the dog tomorrow.
19th of Last Seed 4E201
For the first time in a long while, I feel rested. I woke up today, and had a nice breakfast with Alvor's wife Sigrid. She apologized for acting rude before, and explained that they didn't get many visitors in Riverwood. I asked her about the town, and her family to make conversation. She told me about her daughter Dorthe, and how she never seemed to want to do girlish things. She was either helping her father with the forge, or playing with her friend and his dog. She asked if I had any children back home. I said I didn't, and that I wasn't even married. She patted my hand and told me that I'd meet someone nice one day. As she got up to clear the table, she thanked me again for helping Hadvar escape Helgen. Thankfully, she didn't mention my being a prisoner. I noticed Hadvar was still asleep, so I thanked Sigrid and headed outside. I sold some of my gear from Helgen to Alvor, and made small talk as we discussed prices. He seemed to be a nice enough man, and I could tell that he cared for his wife and daughter. I hoped that the dragon from Helgen never came here, or any other dragons for that matter. I decided that the sooner I got to Whiterun, the safer my new friends would be.
I met another elf on my way out of town. A Bosmer named Faendal. He said it was good to see a familiar face so far from home. I thought that was strange, since I'd never been to Valenwood, his homeland. I bid him farewell, and he warned me to be careful of someone named Sven. As I left town, I wondered why I had yet to see another Dunmer. So many had left home, yet where were they?
The road to Whiterun was pleasant enough, and thankfully there wasn't any snow. Everything here looked so green, and...alive. How different it was from Morriwind. I saw some soldiers on the road, Imperials by the look of their armor. I saw that they had a prisoner with them, so I slipped off of the road and made my way to Whiterun through the fields, in case they were still looking for survivors from Helgen.
I saw another giant man near a farm outside of Whiterun, he was fighting with three warriors. I gave them all plenty of space, just in case the giant won the battle. At the gate, a guard informed me that the city was closed due to dragons in the area, and would only open for official business. Thinking quickly, I persuaded him that I had news for the jarl about a dragon attack in Helgen. He agreed to let me in, but warned me that they'd be watching me.
On the way up to the jarl's court, I passed a man and his wife arguing about something. As I got closer, I realized that he wanted to get a sword that had been his father's and she was against him spending their money to hire someone to get it. As she walked away, he greeted me and made small talk. After finding out I was a traveler, he told me where he'd tracked down the sword to,and asked if I could keep an eye out for it. It was in a place called Valtheim Keep. I told him I would and wished him luck with his wife. Also, nearby, there was a beautiful, albeit very dead tree, and a crazy man yelling near a shrine. He was talking about the oppression of the Thalmor, badmouthing elves in general, and extolling the benefits of worshipping Talos. He looked at me as I passed, and grew quiet for a moment, then kept on with his ranting. I'm not sure if it was my Thalmor robes, or my dog that confused him the most. As I headed up the steps to the jarl's palace, I wondered why he hadn't been arrested yet by Thalmor, and why there was a giant shrine to Talos in the middle of the city. Someone here was either very brave, or very foolish.
I finally met a Dunmer today, though it was not a happy meeting, not at first. As I walked into the jarl's court, she ran over with her sword drawn, demanding to know who I was and why I was there, since the jarl wasn't expecting anyone. The dog started growling at her, so I quickly tried calming her and told her that I was there on behalf of Alvor in Riverwood, she still seemed suspicious, and only sheathed her sword when the jarl told her it was alright and asked that I come forward. Thankfully the dog calmed down as well. I nervously told the jarl about Alvor, and the dragon in Helgen. I left out the part about them trying to execute me. They decided to send some soldiers to Riverwood after arguing a bit about it. I stood there awkwardly as he yelled at his steward and felt very out of place. I glanced down at the dog and smiled at him, and he gave me what looked like a lopsided smile in return. At least he was as out of place as I was. I looked back up to see the Dunmer walking past me, and she gave me a small nod as she passed. The jarl, who I learned was named Balgruuf the Greater asked me to come closer. He thanked me for helping the people in his hold by bringing this message to him, and had his steward give me some armor as a reward. I thanked him and he nodded then seemed lost in thought for a moment. He stood and asked me to follow him and mentioned something about a project and a court wizard and me helping somehow. I didn't understand most of what he said, because there was a little girl standing off to the side, yelling at a little boy about wanting a dress and having him chastise her and call her a spoiled baby. I wondered if these were the Jarl's children, the poor man.
The court wizard and the jarl asked me to go to a place called Bleak Falls Barrow, to get something called a dragon stone. Farengar, the wizard, seemed very dismissive and arrogant, but he gave me a good price on some spell books. I figured that I could stand to learn a few new spells, especially if I was going to be headed into a barrow. He also asked if I would mind delivering some frost salts to the alchemist in town, named Arcadia.
Arcadia was very nice, if a bit strange. She seemed to be in love with Farengar, and kept asking if I was sick. But, she did have a few useful potions, and gave me a few tips on alchemy. I practiced a bit on her alchemy lab on the corner, and made a few decent potions. I would have to learn more, and look out for ingredients in my travels. Potions cost too much to buy.
I walked around town to explore, and met the Dunmer from the jarl's court near the gate. I cautiously asked her about herself. Her name was Irileth, and she told me about meeting Balgruuf, and fighting in battle with him. She went on to tell me about all of the dangers he faced, and expressed regret at not being able to kill those who caused the jarl mental stress. She also warned me that she was keeping an eye on me as she walked away.
I noticed a shop nearby, called the Drunken Huntsman, and decided to go inside. I was getting low on septims, and thought that maybe I could ask about any jobs in town.The man behind the counter was a Bosmer named Elrindir. He told me about how the shop got its name, which was an interesting story. He also mentioned having a brother, Anoriath. I asked about work in town, and he said I could either chop wood for the inn, the Bannered Mare, or that I could ask the jarl about work. I thanked him and turned to leave, when I noticed a Dunmer sitting at a table in a small alcove. I walked over to speak to her, and learned that her name was Jenassa, and that she was a mercenary. She also seemed to enjoy death, and likened causing it to an artist making a painting. I couldn't afford to hire her, but I decided to save up for it, since I could use the help. And, based on my experience so far, who knew when I would see another Dunmer?
I gave the dog some wood to chew on while I chopped wood. It was hard work, but paid well. Hulda, the innkeeper, thanked me for bringing it to her, and paid me five septims for each piece I gave her. I'd have enough for hiring Jenassa and supplies in no time at this rate.
After hours of chopping wood, I wearily made my way back to the inn and decided to get a room for the night. I also got some food for me and the dog, and set his in a bowl on the floor for him. I learned my new spells from the books, and tried the Healing Hands one out on the dog. He seemed to like it. The others, Bound Sword, Conjure Familiar, and Conjure Flame Atronach all seemed dangerous and likely to get me kicked out. I decided to save them for later. Dinner was delicious. I couldn't wait for breakfast in the morning. The bed was amazingly comfortable too. I wondered how well I would sleep tonight.
For the first time in a long while, I feel rested. I woke up today, and had a nice breakfast with Alvor's wife Sigrid. She apologized for acting rude before, and explained that they didn't get many visitors in Riverwood. I asked her about the town, and her family to make conversation. She told me about her daughter Dorthe, and how she never seemed to want to do girlish things. She was either helping her father with the forge, or playing with her friend and his dog. She asked if I had any children back home. I said I didn't, and that I wasn't even married. She patted my hand and told me that I'd meet someone nice one day. As she got up to clear the table, she thanked me again for helping Hadvar escape Helgen. Thankfully, she didn't mention my being a prisoner. I noticed Hadvar was still asleep, so I thanked Sigrid and headed outside. I sold some of my gear from Helgen to Alvor, and made small talk as we discussed prices. He seemed to be a nice enough man, and I could tell that he cared for his wife and daughter. I hoped that the dragon from Helgen never came here, or any other dragons for that matter. I decided that the sooner I got to Whiterun, the safer my new friends would be.
I met another elf on my way out of town. A Bosmer named Faendal. He said it was good to see a familiar face so far from home. I thought that was strange, since I'd never been to Valenwood, his homeland. I bid him farewell, and he warned me to be careful of someone named Sven. As I left town, I wondered why I had yet to see another Dunmer. So many had left home, yet where were they?
The road to Whiterun was pleasant enough, and thankfully there wasn't any snow. Everything here looked so green, and...alive. How different it was from Morriwind. I saw some soldiers on the road, Imperials by the look of their armor. I saw that they had a prisoner with them, so I slipped off of the road and made my way to Whiterun through the fields, in case they were still looking for survivors from Helgen.
I saw another giant man near a farm outside of Whiterun, he was fighting with three warriors. I gave them all plenty of space, just in case the giant won the battle. At the gate, a guard informed me that the city was closed due to dragons in the area, and would only open for official business. Thinking quickly, I persuaded him that I had news for the jarl about a dragon attack in Helgen. He agreed to let me in, but warned me that they'd be watching me.
On the way up to the jarl's court, I passed a man and his wife arguing about something. As I got closer, I realized that he wanted to get a sword that had been his father's and she was against him spending their money to hire someone to get it. As she walked away, he greeted me and made small talk. After finding out I was a traveler, he told me where he'd tracked down the sword to,and asked if I could keep an eye out for it. It was in a place called Valtheim Keep. I told him I would and wished him luck with his wife. Also, nearby, there was a beautiful, albeit very dead tree, and a crazy man yelling near a shrine. He was talking about the oppression of the Thalmor, badmouthing elves in general, and extolling the benefits of worshipping Talos. He looked at me as I passed, and grew quiet for a moment, then kept on with his ranting. I'm not sure if it was my Thalmor robes, or my dog that confused him the most. As I headed up the steps to the jarl's palace, I wondered why he hadn't been arrested yet by Thalmor, and why there was a giant shrine to Talos in the middle of the city. Someone here was either very brave, or very foolish.
I finally met a Dunmer today, though it was not a happy meeting, not at first. As I walked into the jarl's court, she ran over with her sword drawn, demanding to know who I was and why I was there, since the jarl wasn't expecting anyone. The dog started growling at her, so I quickly tried calming her and told her that I was there on behalf of Alvor in Riverwood, she still seemed suspicious, and only sheathed her sword when the jarl told her it was alright and asked that I come forward. Thankfully the dog calmed down as well. I nervously told the jarl about Alvor, and the dragon in Helgen. I left out the part about them trying to execute me. They decided to send some soldiers to Riverwood after arguing a bit about it. I stood there awkwardly as he yelled at his steward and felt very out of place. I glanced down at the dog and smiled at him, and he gave me what looked like a lopsided smile in return. At least he was as out of place as I was. I looked back up to see the Dunmer walking past me, and she gave me a small nod as she passed. The jarl, who I learned was named Balgruuf the Greater asked me to come closer. He thanked me for helping the people in his hold by bringing this message to him, and had his steward give me some armor as a reward. I thanked him and he nodded then seemed lost in thought for a moment. He stood and asked me to follow him and mentioned something about a project and a court wizard and me helping somehow. I didn't understand most of what he said, because there was a little girl standing off to the side, yelling at a little boy about wanting a dress and having him chastise her and call her a spoiled baby. I wondered if these were the Jarl's children, the poor man.
The court wizard and the jarl asked me to go to a place called Bleak Falls Barrow, to get something called a dragon stone. Farengar, the wizard, seemed very dismissive and arrogant, but he gave me a good price on some spell books. I figured that I could stand to learn a few new spells, especially if I was going to be headed into a barrow. He also asked if I would mind delivering some frost salts to the alchemist in town, named Arcadia.
Arcadia was very nice, if a bit strange. She seemed to be in love with Farengar, and kept asking if I was sick. But, she did have a few useful potions, and gave me a few tips on alchemy. I practiced a bit on her alchemy lab on the corner, and made a few decent potions. I would have to learn more, and look out for ingredients in my travels. Potions cost too much to buy.
I walked around town to explore, and met the Dunmer from the jarl's court near the gate. I cautiously asked her about herself. Her name was Irileth, and she told me about meeting Balgruuf, and fighting in battle with him. She went on to tell me about all of the dangers he faced, and expressed regret at not being able to kill those who caused the jarl mental stress. She also warned me that she was keeping an eye on me as she walked away.
I noticed a shop nearby, called the Drunken Huntsman, and decided to go inside. I was getting low on septims, and thought that maybe I could ask about any jobs in town.The man behind the counter was a Bosmer named Elrindir. He told me about how the shop got its name, which was an interesting story. He also mentioned having a brother, Anoriath. I asked about work in town, and he said I could either chop wood for the inn, the Bannered Mare, or that I could ask the jarl about work. I thanked him and turned to leave, when I noticed a Dunmer sitting at a table in a small alcove. I walked over to speak to her, and learned that her name was Jenassa, and that she was a mercenary. She also seemed to enjoy death, and likened causing it to an artist making a painting. I couldn't afford to hire her, but I decided to save up for it, since I could use the help. And, based on my experience so far, who knew when I would see another Dunmer?
I gave the dog some wood to chew on while I chopped wood. It was hard work, but paid well. Hulda, the innkeeper, thanked me for bringing it to her, and paid me five septims for each piece I gave her. I'd have enough for hiring Jenassa and supplies in no time at this rate.
After hours of chopping wood, I wearily made my way back to the inn and decided to get a room for the night. I also got some food for me and the dog, and set his in a bowl on the floor for him. I learned my new spells from the books, and tried the Healing Hands one out on the dog. He seemed to like it. The others, Bound Sword, Conjure Familiar, and Conjure Flame Atronach all seemed dangerous and likely to get me kicked out. I decided to save them for later. Dinner was delicious. I couldn't wait for breakfast in the morning. The bed was amazingly comfortable too. I wondered how well I would sleep tonight.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
18th of Last Seed 4E201
When I woke up, the sun was already up, and my new friend was still there, watching me from the doorway. I got up and stretched, and decided to try to make it to Riverwood. Hopefully there wouldn't me any more bandits along the road. I didn't want to go to the camp I had seen, but I made a mental note of where it was, just in case I decided to return.
I came across a man on the road in armor. I walked by him, only to have him start attacking me! Thankfully he was no match for my companion and I. His armor was too heavy to carry, but he had a few smaller items of value in his hip pouch. I left him by the side of the road. Some mud crabs attacked us when we stopped at their pool to get some water. I killed them and took their claws, in case we got hungry later. Horrible creatures. I found a strange glowing plant near the water's edge, and it made a chiming noise. I picked it, in case it was valuable.
I followed a small footpath from the pond, and heard wolves howling nearby. I went the opposite direction that I heard them from, and came across a stone circle with an altar in the middle of it, and skeletons everywhere. The woman there was not happy to see me, and attacked. She didn't last long. I also found more nightshade there, and added it to my collection.
I came across a hunter on horseback, and traded her some of my septims for some food. I couldn't help but be reminded of the hunter who had saved me.
I found a shrine not too far from the road. There were dead worshippers everywhere, and an altmer wearing robes like the Thalmor at Helgen. He had a note on his body from who I assumed was a superior, chastising him for believing that there was a Talos shrine in the area here. It told him to come back with proof of it, or not at all. I took his robes, cleaning them off in the lake nearby. They looked comfortable, and not scratchy like the ones I'd gotten in Helgen. I took a quick bath in the lake, rested for some lunch, setting my new clothes out on some rocks to dry in the sun.
Further down the road and around a bend, I came across three stones. They each had carvings on them. I touched the one with a carving depicting a mage on it, and it came to life, glowing and shooting a column of light into the sky. The dog just barked at it.
At last, a town! This seems to be Riverwood, that had Hadvar mentioned. An old woman near the gate started yelling about a dragon, and a man near her chastised her for it, saying that people would think she was crazy. If that were my son (he had called her mother) I wouldn't stand for him talking to me that way. I was going to tell him she wasn't crazy, but then I spotted Hadvar and went over to him. His uncle Alvor invited us into his home, and I met Alvor's wife and daughter. She welcomed me, and told me I was pretty, and warned me to stay away from her husband. I sat down and had some food that she brought us while Hadvar told them about our ordeal in Helgen. I held some food under the table for the dog, who had followed me inside and sat at my feet. Alvor gave me some supplies, and asked if I would help them in return for their hospitality. He told me that the Jarl in Whiterun needed to know that there was a dragon on the loose, so he could send soldiers to help defend Riverwood. I decided to stay here for the night, and head there in the morning. Another night in a bed, I could get used to this.
When I woke up, the sun was already up, and my new friend was still there, watching me from the doorway. I got up and stretched, and decided to try to make it to Riverwood. Hopefully there wouldn't me any more bandits along the road. I didn't want to go to the camp I had seen, but I made a mental note of where it was, just in case I decided to return.
I came across a man on the road in armor. I walked by him, only to have him start attacking me! Thankfully he was no match for my companion and I. His armor was too heavy to carry, but he had a few smaller items of value in his hip pouch. I left him by the side of the road. Some mud crabs attacked us when we stopped at their pool to get some water. I killed them and took their claws, in case we got hungry later. Horrible creatures. I found a strange glowing plant near the water's edge, and it made a chiming noise. I picked it, in case it was valuable.
I followed a small footpath from the pond, and heard wolves howling nearby. I went the opposite direction that I heard them from, and came across a stone circle with an altar in the middle of it, and skeletons everywhere. The woman there was not happy to see me, and attacked. She didn't last long. I also found more nightshade there, and added it to my collection.
I came across a hunter on horseback, and traded her some of my septims for some food. I couldn't help but be reminded of the hunter who had saved me.
I found a shrine not too far from the road. There were dead worshippers everywhere, and an altmer wearing robes like the Thalmor at Helgen. He had a note on his body from who I assumed was a superior, chastising him for believing that there was a Talos shrine in the area here. It told him to come back with proof of it, or not at all. I took his robes, cleaning them off in the lake nearby. They looked comfortable, and not scratchy like the ones I'd gotten in Helgen. I took a quick bath in the lake, rested for some lunch, setting my new clothes out on some rocks to dry in the sun.
Further down the road and around a bend, I came across three stones. They each had carvings on them. I touched the one with a carving depicting a mage on it, and it came to life, glowing and shooting a column of light into the sky. The dog just barked at it.
At last, a town! This seems to be Riverwood, that had Hadvar mentioned. An old woman near the gate started yelling about a dragon, and a man near her chastised her for it, saying that people would think she was crazy. If that were my son (he had called her mother) I wouldn't stand for him talking to me that way. I was going to tell him she wasn't crazy, but then I spotted Hadvar and went over to him. His uncle Alvor invited us into his home, and I met Alvor's wife and daughter. She welcomed me, and told me I was pretty, and warned me to stay away from her husband. I sat down and had some food that she brought us while Hadvar told them about our ordeal in Helgen. I held some food under the table for the dog, who had followed me inside and sat at my feet. Alvor gave me some supplies, and asked if I would help them in return for their hospitality. He told me that the Jarl in Whiterun needed to know that there was a dragon on the loose, so he could send soldiers to help defend Riverwood. I decided to stay here for the night, and head there in the morning. Another night in a bed, I could get used to this.
17th of Last Seed 4E 201
The sun was still a few hours from setting after we made it out of Helgen, so after resting for a bit I decided to explore a little, and perhaps find somewhere to rest for the night. I wasn't sure how far away Riverwood was, so I decided not to take my chances and risk traveling after nightfall. I managed to find a small road, and just off of it was a camp. There were bees flying around, and a hive in a tree nearby, but thankfully my presence didn't bother them. The camp seemed abandoned, so I looked around, picking up a potion and a book lying near a chest. I tried the chest and found it to be locked, but it soon opened, without breaking my lockpick. Inside were a few septims and a bluish purple crystal. I shut the chest and got up, then heard voices behind me. Apparently the camp was not abandoned after all, it was a home to three bandits. I decided to try out my newly learned spells, and they were quickly defeated, my fire and lightning ending their attacks. I rested for a moment and used my healing spell that I had learned, smiling as the pain from their wounds lessened before vanishing completely. I didn't have many healing potions, so I'm thankful that I learned this spell. I took their gear to sell when I reached a town and left them there to explore the area around the camp.
I found more nightshade near their camp, next to the road. I picked it, since all that I had collected had been taken when I was captured. I wondered why it grew here, most likely caused by the death of those unfortunate enough to meet the bandits nearby. They wouldn't be harming any more travelers now at least.
I came across a house that had been burned, and a two burned corpses outside. Since it was so close to Helgen, I guessed that this was the doing of that dragon. I heard barking close by, so I went to investigate. I found a dog, wounded in a fight with two wolves. He had emerged victorious, but injured. I decided to use one of my potions to help him, since he didn't bite me and seemed friendly enough. As I walked back towards the burned house, I heard him following behind me. I was tempted to shoo him away, but stopped myself. He was just as lost as I was. I sighed and called him over, scratching him behind the ears. He wagged his tail, and barked. I guess I'll have to think of a name for him now.
After searching the house, I looked around outside, noticing another camp down the hill near a waterfall. It was starting to get dark, so I decided not to go investigate. I shared some of the food I had left with the dog and decided to rest in the house tonight. It was surprisingly intact, only some scorch marks along the roof and side marked it. There was even a bed inside. I placed some nightshade near its former inhabitants and went inside, and decided to get some much needed rest.
The sun was still a few hours from setting after we made it out of Helgen, so after resting for a bit I decided to explore a little, and perhaps find somewhere to rest for the night. I wasn't sure how far away Riverwood was, so I decided not to take my chances and risk traveling after nightfall. I managed to find a small road, and just off of it was a camp. There were bees flying around, and a hive in a tree nearby, but thankfully my presence didn't bother them. The camp seemed abandoned, so I looked around, picking up a potion and a book lying near a chest. I tried the chest and found it to be locked, but it soon opened, without breaking my lockpick. Inside were a few septims and a bluish purple crystal. I shut the chest and got up, then heard voices behind me. Apparently the camp was not abandoned after all, it was a home to three bandits. I decided to try out my newly learned spells, and they were quickly defeated, my fire and lightning ending their attacks. I rested for a moment and used my healing spell that I had learned, smiling as the pain from their wounds lessened before vanishing completely. I didn't have many healing potions, so I'm thankful that I learned this spell. I took their gear to sell when I reached a town and left them there to explore the area around the camp.
I found more nightshade near their camp, next to the road. I picked it, since all that I had collected had been taken when I was captured. I wondered why it grew here, most likely caused by the death of those unfortunate enough to meet the bandits nearby. They wouldn't be harming any more travelers now at least.
I came across a house that had been burned, and a two burned corpses outside. Since it was so close to Helgen, I guessed that this was the doing of that dragon. I heard barking close by, so I went to investigate. I found a dog, wounded in a fight with two wolves. He had emerged victorious, but injured. I decided to use one of my potions to help him, since he didn't bite me and seemed friendly enough. As I walked back towards the burned house, I heard him following behind me. I was tempted to shoo him away, but stopped myself. He was just as lost as I was. I sighed and called him over, scratching him behind the ears. He wagged his tail, and barked. I guess I'll have to think of a name for him now.
After searching the house, I looked around outside, noticing another camp down the hill near a waterfall. It was starting to get dark, so I decided not to go investigate. I shared some of the food I had left with the dog and decided to rest in the house tonight. It was surprisingly intact, only some scorch marks along the roof and side marked it. There was even a bed inside. I placed some nightshade near its former inhabitants and went inside, and decided to get some much needed rest.
17th of Last Seed 4E201
I never thought I'd see this book again! Today has been the worst day of my life. Apparently, those travelers I ran into were rebels, and criminals, and wanted men. We were ambushed by Imperial soldiers, and I was knocked unconscious in the struggle. I woke up in the back of a cart, wearing rags with my hands bound. A man across from me was talking to me, and one next to me had a gag over his mouth. The man across from him seemed upset, and kept saying things about not belonging there, even though he was a horse thief. We stopped finally, in a town called Helgen. Then, they got us to get off of the carts, and had us walk over near a block on the ground when our names were called. The horse thief tried to run, and they shot him with arrows. I decided I wouldn't make the same mistake he did. When it got to be my turn, the man with the list looked at me with confusion and asked me who I was. I told him my name was Nightshade, and I was from Morrowind. That wasn't my real name, but it didn't matter. I had decided soon after I left my home to leave my name behind too. It only seemed a fitting name, since I had seen so much death, much like the pretty flowers I found during my journey. He asked what to do since my name wasn't on the list. The woman next to him decided that I should go to the block anyway, despite the list. He expressed his condolences, and assured me that my remains would be returned to Morrowind. As I walked to the block, I laughed softly, wondering who he was going to send my bones to. I had no family left.
A soldier started speaking to the man in the gag, telling him that his death would bring an end to the war.He only grunted in reply. I wondered why his mouth was gagged, then the soldier ordered the priestess to give us our last rites.As she spoke, I looked over and noticed a soldier reading my journal. I grumbled and sighed, then had my attention returned to the priestess as she was interrupted by one of the rebels. He said something about getting this over with, and basically willingly went over to the block. The woman who ordered my sentence pushed him to the ground, then he taunted the soldiers before a man with an axe chopped his head off. I jumped slightly as his head rolled away, then heard a roar in the distance. The soldiers dismissed the sound, and the woman ordered me to come to the block next. Tears started to slide down my cheeks as I stumbled over, the soldier with the list looking me with sadness in his eyes. It seemed as though he knew I shouldn't be doing this, yet he could do nothing to stop them. I stopped next to the block, the body of the other man next to my feet. I was pushed roughly to the ground, and looked up at the man with the axe. I heard the roar again as the man raised the giant ax over his head. I started to close my eyes, then saw something in the sky over his shoulder. It was huge and black, and the source of the sound we had heard earlier. I opened my eyes and tried not to scream as it landed in the tower behind him, the soldiers around us screaming and drawing their weapons. The dragon shouted and the ground shook, the sky grew dark, and balls of fire fell from above. I saw the man with the ax fall, then the world went black for a moment.
I woke up to screams, and the man who was across from me in the cart waking me up, telling me to follow him. His name was Ralof, if I remembered right. I ran towards a tower, dodging fallen rocks and dying men, then I saw the soldier who had my journal. He had been killed by a rock it seemed. I quickly looked around for my book, ignoring all around me for a moment. I spotted it and hurried over to pick it up, my efforts harder since my hands were bound. I ran into the tower nearby, Ralof shutting the door behind us. Inside were a few soldiers, and the man who had been gagged: Ulfric Stormcloak. They debated the legend of the dragon outside, then decided that we needed to keep moving. We ran up the tower,only to have the dragon knock a hole in the wall and spit fire at us. After he flew away and the fire went out, I jumped through the hole on the wall and into the top floor of what was left of an inn. As I ran, I looked around for a knife or dagger to cut my bonds, but I didn't see any. I jumped down through another hole and ran outside, seeing the soldier from before who had been kind to me. He was helping a couple of villagers and told me to stay with him if I wanted to stay alive. We both ran, ducking and dodging dragon fire. I ran past dead people, wounded people, and people shaped piles of ash. I didn't stop to ask if he could cut my bonds. We stopped outside of a keep, and Ralof was there. They argued for a moment and both asked me to follow them. I decided to follow the soldier, I think his name is Hadvar, at least that's what Ralof called him. We made it inside, and he cut my bonds and helped me find some gear. We then made our way through the keep, fighting soldiers he called Stormcloaks along the way. At first he tried to reason with them, but they attacked anyways. We kept going, finding sparse supplies along the way, and narrowly missing getting crushed by falling ceilings. Before we made it out, we had to fight spiders that were bigger than I was, and even a bear. At last, we escaped and stopped outside, watching the dragon fly off in the distance. I thanked him for his help, and agreed that it was likely best if we split up. He told me that his uncle in a nearby town called Riverwood would help me, and wished me luck. As he jogged away I wondered if I had made the right decision in not going with him, then shrugged and rifled through my bag for some food and something to write with. After all that happened, I needed to stop and breathe for a bit.
I never thought I'd see this book again! Today has been the worst day of my life. Apparently, those travelers I ran into were rebels, and criminals, and wanted men. We were ambushed by Imperial soldiers, and I was knocked unconscious in the struggle. I woke up in the back of a cart, wearing rags with my hands bound. A man across from me was talking to me, and one next to me had a gag over his mouth. The man across from him seemed upset, and kept saying things about not belonging there, even though he was a horse thief. We stopped finally, in a town called Helgen. Then, they got us to get off of the carts, and had us walk over near a block on the ground when our names were called. The horse thief tried to run, and they shot him with arrows. I decided I wouldn't make the same mistake he did. When it got to be my turn, the man with the list looked at me with confusion and asked me who I was. I told him my name was Nightshade, and I was from Morrowind. That wasn't my real name, but it didn't matter. I had decided soon after I left my home to leave my name behind too. It only seemed a fitting name, since I had seen so much death, much like the pretty flowers I found during my journey. He asked what to do since my name wasn't on the list. The woman next to him decided that I should go to the block anyway, despite the list. He expressed his condolences, and assured me that my remains would be returned to Morrowind. As I walked to the block, I laughed softly, wondering who he was going to send my bones to. I had no family left.
A soldier started speaking to the man in the gag, telling him that his death would bring an end to the war.He only grunted in reply. I wondered why his mouth was gagged, then the soldier ordered the priestess to give us our last rites.As she spoke, I looked over and noticed a soldier reading my journal. I grumbled and sighed, then had my attention returned to the priestess as she was interrupted by one of the rebels. He said something about getting this over with, and basically willingly went over to the block. The woman who ordered my sentence pushed him to the ground, then he taunted the soldiers before a man with an axe chopped his head off. I jumped slightly as his head rolled away, then heard a roar in the distance. The soldiers dismissed the sound, and the woman ordered me to come to the block next. Tears started to slide down my cheeks as I stumbled over, the soldier with the list looking me with sadness in his eyes. It seemed as though he knew I shouldn't be doing this, yet he could do nothing to stop them. I stopped next to the block, the body of the other man next to my feet. I was pushed roughly to the ground, and looked up at the man with the axe. I heard the roar again as the man raised the giant ax over his head. I started to close my eyes, then saw something in the sky over his shoulder. It was huge and black, and the source of the sound we had heard earlier. I opened my eyes and tried not to scream as it landed in the tower behind him, the soldiers around us screaming and drawing their weapons. The dragon shouted and the ground shook, the sky grew dark, and balls of fire fell from above. I saw the man with the ax fall, then the world went black for a moment.
I woke up to screams, and the man who was across from me in the cart waking me up, telling me to follow him. His name was Ralof, if I remembered right. I ran towards a tower, dodging fallen rocks and dying men, then I saw the soldier who had my journal. He had been killed by a rock it seemed. I quickly looked around for my book, ignoring all around me for a moment. I spotted it and hurried over to pick it up, my efforts harder since my hands were bound. I ran into the tower nearby, Ralof shutting the door behind us. Inside were a few soldiers, and the man who had been gagged: Ulfric Stormcloak. They debated the legend of the dragon outside, then decided that we needed to keep moving. We ran up the tower,only to have the dragon knock a hole in the wall and spit fire at us. After he flew away and the fire went out, I jumped through the hole on the wall and into the top floor of what was left of an inn. As I ran, I looked around for a knife or dagger to cut my bonds, but I didn't see any. I jumped down through another hole and ran outside, seeing the soldier from before who had been kind to me. He was helping a couple of villagers and told me to stay with him if I wanted to stay alive. We both ran, ducking and dodging dragon fire. I ran past dead people, wounded people, and people shaped piles of ash. I didn't stop to ask if he could cut my bonds. We stopped outside of a keep, and Ralof was there. They argued for a moment and both asked me to follow them. I decided to follow the soldier, I think his name is Hadvar, at least that's what Ralof called him. We made it inside, and he cut my bonds and helped me find some gear. We then made our way through the keep, fighting soldiers he called Stormcloaks along the way. At first he tried to reason with them, but they attacked anyways. We kept going, finding sparse supplies along the way, and narrowly missing getting crushed by falling ceilings. Before we made it out, we had to fight spiders that were bigger than I was, and even a bear. At last, we escaped and stopped outside, watching the dragon fly off in the distance. I thanked him for his help, and agreed that it was likely best if we split up. He told me that his uncle in a nearby town called Riverwood would help me, and wished me luck. As he jogged away I wondered if I had made the right decision in not going with him, then shrugged and rifled through my bag for some food and something to write with. After all that happened, I needed to stop and breathe for a bit.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
15th of Last Seed 4E201
I've met a few travelers on the road. A few of them were injured, so I helped them by sharing some of my potions with them, and asked if I could walk with them in return. They agreed, though a few of them seemed hesitant to trust me, even though I had aided them. Some even stared at me with hatred in their eyes. I shrugged it off and walked with them, thankful for at least some company. One of them keeps peeking over my shoulder, watching me write. I want to ask who they are, and why they are all wearing matching uniforms, but I don't want to press my luck. They seem scared, as if they are running from something, or someone. We've stopped, and some of the men in the front have drawn their weapons. I don't know wh...
I've met a few travelers on the road. A few of them were injured, so I helped them by sharing some of my potions with them, and asked if I could walk with them in return. They agreed, though a few of them seemed hesitant to trust me, even though I had aided them. Some even stared at me with hatred in their eyes. I shrugged it off and walked with them, thankful for at least some company. One of them keeps peeking over my shoulder, watching me write. I want to ask who they are, and why they are all wearing matching uniforms, but I don't want to press my luck. They seem scared, as if they are running from something, or someone. We've stopped, and some of the men in the front have drawn their weapons. I don't know wh...
14th of Last Seed 4E201
My path has taken me to what seems like the side of a mountain. I am looking out over a very far drop. The land below me is dotted with green lakes, smoke and steam rising across the land. In the distance I see giant creatures with large curved teeth and long noses, their hides covered in hair. I can hear them walking from where I stand, and their calls to each other sound like the signal horns of soldiers. Walking with them are large men with huge clubs. Its almost as if they are herding them. I guess if you're that tall a sheep or goat wouldn't make for much of a meal.
I see what looks like huts in the distance also, I'll try heading there. I only hope that the people there are friendly.
My path has taken me to what seems like the side of a mountain. I am looking out over a very far drop. The land below me is dotted with green lakes, smoke and steam rising across the land. In the distance I see giant creatures with large curved teeth and long noses, their hides covered in hair. I can hear them walking from where I stand, and their calls to each other sound like the signal horns of soldiers. Walking with them are large men with huge clubs. Its almost as if they are herding them. I guess if you're that tall a sheep or goat wouldn't make for much of a meal.
I see what looks like huts in the distance also, I'll try heading there. I only hope that the people there are friendly.
13th of Last Seed 4E201
I've been traveling for a few days now, stopping to rest at night. Its a little warmer here, and I am thankful to see less snow. I have yet to see anyone else, only the occasional deer, rabbit, or fox. I heard some wolves in the distance, but they didn't get any closer to me.
I've made my camp for the night in the base of a fallen tree. Its almost like a small cave. The air is chill, but not so cold that I will need a fire. I saw some smoke in the distance before the sun went down, perhaps it means that there is a town or settlement nearby. I hope so, this land is starting to seem empty.
I've been traveling for a few days now, stopping to rest at night. Its a little warmer here, and I am thankful to see less snow. I have yet to see anyone else, only the occasional deer, rabbit, or fox. I heard some wolves in the distance, but they didn't get any closer to me.
I've made my camp for the night in the base of a fallen tree. Its almost like a small cave. The air is chill, but not so cold that I will need a fire. I saw some smoke in the distance before the sun went down, perhaps it means that there is a town or settlement nearby. I hope so, this land is starting to seem empty.
11th of Last Seed 4E201
I have avenged the death of the hunter. I hope that her soul will find peace now. I killed two of them with my daggers, cutting their throats in their sleep, one of the other three woke up when I tripped over a stray mead bottle, and sounded the alarm. I drove both of my daggers into his chest before he could get to his weapon, then the other two came after me with screams of rage and hatred. I fought them, a few of their strikes wounding me. I stumbled, bleeding heavily, thinking I was going to die; then I remembered the protection that my ancestors gave me and called for their aid. Suddenly fire surrounded me, burning the bandits yet not harming me. They screamed and fell to the ground, writhing in agony as their flesh burned. The flames stopped, and only when I knew that they were dead did I drink a healing potion. I recovered my strength and looked around their camp for anything that I could salvage, finding many valuable items, and a few books with foodstained pages. I read them, and learned a spell to heal myself, a spell to send fire at my enemies, and another to cast lightning from my hands. I also found a few healing potions. I left the dead where they were and headed down the road, keeping an eye out for danger.
I have avenged the death of the hunter. I hope that her soul will find peace now. I killed two of them with my daggers, cutting their throats in their sleep, one of the other three woke up when I tripped over a stray mead bottle, and sounded the alarm. I drove both of my daggers into his chest before he could get to his weapon, then the other two came after me with screams of rage and hatred. I fought them, a few of their strikes wounding me. I stumbled, bleeding heavily, thinking I was going to die; then I remembered the protection that my ancestors gave me and called for their aid. Suddenly fire surrounded me, burning the bandits yet not harming me. They screamed and fell to the ground, writhing in agony as their flesh burned. The flames stopped, and only when I knew that they were dead did I drink a healing potion. I recovered my strength and looked around their camp for anything that I could salvage, finding many valuable items, and a few books with foodstained pages. I read them, and learned a spell to heal myself, a spell to send fire at my enemies, and another to cast lightning from my hands. I also found a few healing potions. I left the dead where they were and headed down the road, keeping an eye out for danger.
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