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.