26th of Heartfire, 4E201
We woke up early this morning, and had a nice breakfast at the inn. My appetite hadn't fully returned yet, nor had my energy. I had a stamina potion to help me get some energy back, then we went over our plans for the day. I wanted to buy the house for sale in town, and we'd need to stock plenty of supplies for our trip to Labyrinthian. We left most of our gear at the inn for now, and headed to the Dragonsreach to see the steward. When we got there, and the steward greeting me as a thane, Marcurio seemed surprised and impressed. I paid the steward for the house, and went ahead and bought all of the furnishings and supplies for it. It would take a few hours for the house to be ready, which meant we'd have plenty of time for shopping. On the way out, I introduced Marcurio to Lydia, and told her that I'd finally bought a house in town. She seemed relieved that she wouldn't have to sleep in the servant's quarters of Dragonsreach anymore. I told her it would be a few hours before it was ready, and she thanked me and went to pack her things. As we headed to the market, Marcurio asked me how I'd managed to become Thane here too. I told him about fighting the dragon here, and getting the Jarl's court wizard the dragon stone from Bleak Falls Barrow to help figure out why and how dragons were returning after so long. I also told him about the other people in town, and how I'd helped a few of them. He asked about Lydia, and I told him that the Jarl had assigned her to be my house carl. As we shopped for supplies, he wanted to know why I hadn't had her following me around and guarding me. I explained that at the time, Jenassa had been with me. He got quiet after that, then changed the subject to what foods we should take with us. After we bought the food, he apologized for bringing up Jenassa. I told him it was alright, since he hadn't known.

We had lunch, then checked on the progress of the house being ready before doing some some shopping for alchemy ingredients. I wanted to make some potions  for the journey, and sell some to make some extra septims. While I was buying ingredients from Arcadia, she asked if I was alright and mentioned that I looked sick. I would have been concerned, except that she always said things like that. The last time I'd been here she'd asked if I had the rattles. I suspected it was an attempt by her to sell more potions. I spent a while making potions, and Marcurio sat in the corner reading a book.

After selling a few potions and buying some, we went to check on the house. It was all ready to move in, thankfully. We got our gear from the inn, and put everything we didn't think we'd need in Labyrinthian in the house. Lydia even had a room of her own, and made herself comfortable. As we were putting up our non essentials, Marcurio mentioned being worried about our funds getting low after buying the house and everything. I told him he'd never have to worry about that, so long as I had some iron ore. He looked confused, until I showed him what I was talking about. I didn't have any iron ore on me, so we headed to the blacksmith and I bought a chunk of it. Then, I cast the spell, turning it into a chunk of silver ore. After I handed it to him so he could see that it was actually silver now, I took it back and cast the spell again, turning it into solid gold. I gave it to him, and told him he could keep it. He looked so amazed and almost worshipful. Then, he got on his knees, and begged me to never fire him. He also vowed to follow me to Oblivion and back, if need be. People were starting to stare, but he didn't get up until I promised to never fire him. I went to the house to pack my bags for our journey, and he said he'd be there in a moment, but he had some shopping to do. He returned not long after that, with a bag full of all of the iron ore that had been available for sale in town. I turned it all to gold for him as he packed, chuckling at how silly he was the whole time.

We decided to leave that afternoon, and take a carriage back to Morthal to stay at the inn there. Then, we'd get up early, and head to Labyrinthian. We told Lydia goodbye, and I gave her some septims to buy anything she'd need while we were gone. She promised to watch the house for me, and  we went out to hire the carriage.

That night, we made it to Morthal in time to have a nice relaxing dinner, with plenty of time for sleep afterwards. Jonna was happy to see us again, and made sure our food was amazing. When we told her where we were going tomorrow, she looked worried and asked us to be careful. I spent some time writing after dinner, then we both got ready for bed to get some sleep. Marcurio promised to cook us a nice and energizing breakfast in the morning. I was worried about tomorrow, and I hoped we'd make  it out, and manage to find the Staff. The College, and perhaps all of Skyrim, was counting on me to stop Ancano.

25th of Heartfire, 4E201
Marcurio wasn't in the bed this morning when I woke up, so I went to go and find him. He was on the floor of the inn, still in his steel plate armor, and surrounded by empty bottles. Amazingly his circlet had managed to stay on somehow, though it was very crooked. I tried waking him up, but he wouldn't. So, I went and got a bucket and filled it with water. And dumped it on his head. Nothing. I filled the bucket again and tried again. Still nothing. At last, on the third bucketful of water, which I'd used a frost spell on to make it extra cold, he finally woke up. I helped him up and out of his armor, then left him in the bedroom  with some soap, a kettle of warm water, and some rags, and told him that he should clean himself up. I took the armor outside and cleaned it as best I could. I had no idea how he'd managed to get ale in his gauntlets and boots. I also washed my new outfit I'd gotten from Alva, and left it outside to dry in the breeze.

I ordered us some breakfast, and wrote some notes in my journal while I waited  for it to get ready. Marcurio wandered in and sat next to me, still looking a bit out of it. I gave him a stamina potion to wake him up, and patted him on the shoulder. Our meal was simple, but rather good, and Marcurio ate all of his and some of mine that I didn't eat. I wasn't as hungry as usual for some reason. He asked what our plans for the day were, and I told him that we needed to go and see the Jarl to tell her the good news. Then, since there was only an alchemy shop in Morthal, we'd head to Dawnstar to sell some of our unwanted gear and fix up our armor and weapons that the vampires had damaged. I also told him that I'd counted my septims, and I finally had enough to buy a house for sale in Whiterun. Then I put my things away, and told him to get dressed in his nicest robes to go and see the Jarl with me. When he went to change, I went outside to grab my new clothes. I brought them inside, and Jonna let me borrow a room that wasn't being used at the moment to change in. My new outfit was rather nice,and well made, but a bit revealing. No wonder Alva had managed to seduce half of Morthal. Marcurio was waiting for me in the main room of the inn, and dropped the apple he'd been eating when he saw me. I tried not to blush and asked him if he was ready to go. I had to ask him a few times before he finally nodded. Then we left the inn, and headed for the Jarl's longhouse.

The Jarl was happy, if a bit surprised, to see us alive. She said that she didn't think I could do it, and that Morthal was now in my debt. She also handed me a coinpurse full of eight hundred septims. I didn't have any pockets big enough, so I gave it to Marcurio. He'd been scowling slightly when the Jarl had pointedly ignored him, but the gold cheered him up. The Jarl also mentioned that she'd heard of my aiding her people, so she made me the Thane of Morthal. Her guard captain handed me an enchanted greatsword from her armory to serve as my badge of office. I thanked her, and told her that it was an honor to be named her Thane. Marcurio noticed me struggling with the giant sword as we left, and offered to carry it for me. I handed it over with my thanks, and told him that he could keep all of the gold from the Jarl for being so sweet.

We made it back to the inn, and got our gear together for the trip to Dawnstar. I also changed into some plain clothes under my armor, since I didn't want my new outfit getting messed  up. Marcurio helped me bring his inside where I'd left it out to dry, and I helped him into it. Then, we gathered our gear and bought some food for the journey, then started to Dawnstar.

Our journey was uneventful, with the exception of a few frostbite spiders along the road. Then, near Dawnstar, we came across a trio of Thalmor. We walked past them, then Marcurio started talking about how wonderful Talos was, and made sure that he was loud enough for them to hear. It was very hard for me not to giggle. They attacked us of course, for being heretics, and I finally got a set of Elven gauntlets! I would sell the rest of the armor we got though. Outside of Dawnstar, we found Ahkari's Khajiit caravan. Then  I remembered that we'd managed to get Kharjo's amulet. I dug it out of my bag and walked over to him, then handed it over with a smile. He thanked me, and not only offered to fight at my side if  ever asked him, but he also rewarded me with a coinpurse full of one thousand septims. I thanked him, and went over to sell some of our things to Ahkari. Then, we continued into the town and headed to the blacksmith to get  our armor fixed up. When we got there though, there wasn't anything to fix the armor on. Oh well, we could fix it in Whiterun. I still traded with the smith though, and soon we were on our way to Whiterun. I'd never owned more than a small shack before, so I couldn't wait to actually have a house.

It was dark by the time we  made it to Whiterun, and all of the shops had closed hours ago. I stopped by the smith anyways to borrow her equipment, since she'd said before that I could use it anytime. I managed to get all of our gear looking much better, and repaired what I could. Marcurio seemed impressed by my smithing abilities at least. We decided to go to the inn for dinner and sleep, since it was too late to go and buy a house from the steward. We sat at one of the tables in the corner and had a nice dinner. The inn was thankfully quiet, since I was feeling rather tired from our journey. After dinner, I did some writing in my journal, and Marcurio went ahead and got the room for us. Then he stayed upstairs for a while, probably to count his coins again. When I went upstairs a while later, I found him already asleep. I quietly got out of my armor and climbed into bed to get some rest myself.

24th of Heartfire, 4E201
We got up and skipped breakfast for now, and went out to watch Alva's house. The plan was to wait until Hroggar left for work, then Marcurio would stand guard outside and keep anyone from going in while I searched the house. After what seemed like ages, Hroggar finally left. I waited for him to get out of sight, then asked Marcurio to wait outside while I went in to search the house.

The door's lock was slightly difficult to pick, but I managed. I quietly searched the main room, and didn't find anything. Then, I noticed a door at the bottom of a stairwell. I crept down the stairs, and quietly opened the door before shutting it behind me. Inside, Alva was in the middle of the room, sleeping in a coffin with no lid on it. There was blood on the floor in places, but no sign of a journal or a letter or anything. I slowly walked over to her coffin, and looked inside. There, under one of her shoulders, was the corner of a leather bound book. I slowly reached inside and took hold of it, then managed to remove it without waking her. Then I went over to the shadows to place it in my bag. She suddenly sat up, as if someone had called her name from upstairs, and ran out the door. The journal was still in my hand, so I stayed in the shadows and read through it in the dim light. She really was a vampire! And she was planning to enslave all of Morthal to use as vampire food! I had to get this journal to the Jarl. I didn't  hear Alva returning so I ran outside to get Marcurio. I ran over to tell him the news, then a dragon landed on top of the Jarl's longhouse. The journal could wait. We fought the beast, and managed to defeat it with the help of the guards. I left Marcurio near its remains to get his gold, and went to look for anyone in need of healing. Everyone was fine, but a few of the guards had gotten burned. I ran to the inn to get them one of my jars of burn salve, and passed the jar around to them. I would have healed them with a spell, but after their reactions to the wizard moving to town I didn't risk it. I let them keep the salve in case they'd need it, and went to find Marcurio.

I found him in the middle of town, and told him the good news. He was burned and asked if I had any more salve, so I took him back to the inn to get another of my jars. I helped him out by applying the salve while he ordered us a rather large breakfast. As we waited for the food to be done, I  told him about what had happened in Alva's house, and he asked about the journal. I wiped off my hands to keep from getting any salve on it, then handed it over to him to read. He laughed at one point, which I thought was strange. I was going to ask him what was so funny about vampires planning to enslave the town, but Jonna walked up with our breakfast. I cleaned off my hands and started to eat, while Marcurio finished reading. He ate some of his food between pages, and I watched his face develop more and more of a scowl. At last, when he finished, he handed the journal back with a grumble and focused on his breakfast. I put the journal away again, and finished my food.

After breakfast, I asked Marcurio if he wanted to come with me to see the Jarl. He seemed upset, and said he just wanted to stay at the inn. I reminded him about the reward in an attempt to cheer him up, but that didn't even work. I sighed and told him I'd be back soon, and made my way to the Jarl's longhouse.

The Jarl was pleased at my evidence, although the mention of Movarth had her worried. She called Alva a traitorous bitch, and said that Morthal owed me a debt. She then told me that Movarth was the name of a Master vampire that she thought had been destroyed a century ago. She made  mention of my reward for solving the crime, but asked that I do her another favor. I agreed, since this town had already seen much hardship. She said that she was going to gather together some able bodied men in town, and wanted me to lead them to Movarth's lair and clear it out. I assured her that I would, and hurried back to the inn to get my gear and to see if Marcurio would come with me.

He would, thankfully. We hurried to get our gear together and our armor on, and we went out to lead the men the Jarl had gotten together. Though, outside, we found out that she'd been a tad misleading about the able bodied part. She'd gotten the townsfolk in town together to help us. I sighed, since I didn't have armor or decent weapons for any of them to borrow. We all went out to the vampires' lair, which turned out to be the cave I'd seen on the way back from the marshes. No wonder there was blood outside. When they saw this, they all got scared and wanted me to go in first. Only Thonnir offered to go in with us. I thanked him for his bravery, but told him that we could handle it. I didn't want him getting killed too. He thanked me, and wished us luck, and asked us to avenge his Laelette. I promised that I would, and we waved goodbye to the retreating townspeople and crept into the cave.

In the first area, we had to fight two spiders. I wondered why they hadn't attacked the vampires. The smell in this place was terrible. A few of the thralls were processing the dead, and one was looting their bodies for spare septims. It was terrible. There were ribcages, and arms, and legs, and skulls everywhere. And so much blood. Compared to all this, my time in the shack had been clean and fresh. We found Movarth, and more thralls and vampires, around a feast table feasting. There were not very happy to see us. We managed to kill him, and one of the vampires and a few thralls, but a one of the vampires fled. We went after her, and Alva was there. I yelled with rage and attacked her for everything she'd done to Morthal. Then she and the other vampire attacked back, casting their draining spells on me in between dagger strikes from Alva, and a mace knocking into me from the other vampire. I fell to the ground, and would have been dead if not for Marcurio. He cast turn undead on them, making them run away, then hurled lighting at them until the fell. He helped me up and got me some healing potions out of my bag. I drank a few, then regained enough strength to fully heal myself. I still felt a little weak, but otherwise I was fine. I'd need to get my armor fixed soon though. Marcurio wanted to explore and look for treasure, so we did. We managed to find a rather large and ornate chest near the main room, but it was guarded by a vampire's thrall. And he was armed with a very powerful staff that hurled ice storms at us. My life was again saved my Marcurio, and I threw atronachs at the thrall until we managed to kill him. He searched his pockets, and I looked in the chest. Inside were a few septims, a beautiful silver and ruby ring, some elven weaponry, one of which was an enchanted bow, and a giant gem the size of my fist. When I picked it up, a voice came out of nowhere. It said something about a new hand touching the beacon, and that I must take it to Mount Kilkreath. There was a temple that had been defiled, and I would become the voice's champion if I cleansed it of evil Marcurio was staring at the gem like he wanted to marry it. I gave him the gold, and the ring, and the weapons. Then we went through the rest of the ruin, taking gold from the pockets of the vampires and thralls we'd killed as we went. I also took Alva's clothes, since they were very nice and I'd never seen any like them. We eventually found what seemed to be Movarth's room, and I took a book and some enchanted boots from it. At last, when we had gotten every septim and bit of loot that we could find, we made our way back to Morthal to tell the Jarl of Movarth's death.
The Jarl was asleep when we got back to Morthal, so we went ahead to the inn. Marcurio helped me out of my armor, and got my journal for me. I smiled as he went to help Jonna cook food to celebrate our defeat of the vampires. Before I knew it, my writing was mostly done, and I had some of Marcurio's cooking to enjoy. He really could cook, which made me wonder why he became a wizard instead of a chef. Everyone in town bought us drinks, but I didn't feel like waking up with a headache so I gave mine to Marcurio. When I went to bed, he asked if I was alright. I told him that I was, and told him to go and enjoy the celebrating. He could get the attention tonight all he wanted to. I just wanted to enjoy some nice sleep. Tomorrow, I was going to wash Alva's clothes and try them on. Hopefully they wouldn't look terrible on me. As I heard the celebrating in the next room, I wondered how many buckets of water it was going to take to wake Marcurio up.

23rd of Heartfire, 4E201

23rd

When I woke up, I was dizzy and disoriented. I was also no longer in the inn in Morthal. It took a few minutes for my vision to clear, and I stumbled out of the bed into a standing position. It was dimly lit, and there was a woman sitting on top of a ookshelf.In the faint light of a candle near her, I noticed that she was wearing the same armor as the assassins that had tried to kill me. Before I could say anything, she asked me if I had slept well. I asked who she was, and where in the hell we were. She replied "Does it matter? You're warm, dry, and still very much alive. The same can't be said for old Grelod, hmm?" I seemed surprised that she knew about that, and made a remark about it. She explained that half of Skyrim now knew about it, but added that she wasn't criticizing me, since it was a good kill, and the old crone had it coming. Plus I had saved a group of children in the process. I was going to ask how she knew that I had done it, when she mentioned that there waas a slight problem. I asked her what that problem was, and she told me that I had basically stolen a contract from the Dark Brotherhood, and that I must repay them for it by killing someone. she then told me that she'd collected three people from around Skyrim, and gestured to them. They were all on their knees with their hands bound behind them, and black sacks over their heads. According to the woman, one of them had a contract on their head, and she tasked me with figuring out which one it was. I didn't want to kill any of them, and told her that I wasn't having any part of this. She then said that unless  killed someone, I wasn't ever going to leave here. I had gotten myself into this  by killing Grelod,according to her, and now I had to get myself out of it. I tried the door and it was locked tight, and all of my lockpicks were in my bag in Morthal. I sighed and went over to the three captives, to see if I could figure out which one had the price on their head.

The first captive I talked to was a khajiit named Vasha. He seemed evil enough, and even admitted to being a murderer, a thief, and a "defiler of daughters" When I asked if anyone would pay to have him killed, he laughed and said that he got disapointed if a day went by without someone trying to kill him. He then promised that if I let him go, he wouldn't have his associates hunt me down and butcher me in the streets. I nearly killed him for being such an ass, but I wanted to see if the other two were any worse. The second captive was an Imperial woman who refused to tell me who she was. She then told me that she would have spit in my face if she wasn't wearing the sack over her head. I asked if someone would pay to have her killed, and she told me that she was a woman living in Skyrim with six children and no husband, and she didn't have time to be nice. She also added that she had made a few enemies. The last captive was a Nord named Fultheim, who was a mercenary. I asked if someone would pay to have him killed, and he got scared and said he didn't want to die. I persuaded him to tell me, and he explained that he'd been a mercenary for years, and he'd killed people, so it could be that someone had wanted revenge. He then asked what he had done, and said that he was sorry for whatever it was. The Nord had been kind, even though he admitted that he had killed a lot of people as a sellsword. The Khajiit was going to die just so he couldn't hurt any more people. I wasn't sure about the Imperial. She made up my mind though when she heard me walking by her by threatening to kill me once she got out of there. So, in the end, I decided to kill all of them. They had all killed people, or threatened to kill me if I let them go. I was going to summon a bow and shoot them from across the room, but I decided to make some art instead, art Jenassa would be proud of. My dagger would be my brush, and their blood would be the paint along the walls and floor.

I wiped by dagger off on my robes, and silently walked back over to the woman on the bookshelf. She called me an overachiever, and said that it must have been one of them, so why take chances? I didn't say anything in reply, and she remarked that I remained silent and listened when most others would speak. She then assumed that I knew that all that mattered was that I had killed someone as she asked. I sighed and asked if I was free to go, and she said that I was, but why stop here? She gave me the key to the shack, and invited me to join her "family". She said that I could find the entrance to their Sanctuary in the pine forest near falkreath, just off the road and hidden from view. When I got to the door, it would ask me a question. I would need to answer "Silence, my brother" and I would be allowed inside. She then hopped down from the bookshelf and said she'd "see me at home". Then she left me there. I had no idea where I was, and no map, so I went outside to see if I could recognize anything.

Outside, it was still dark, but getting lighter like it would be sunrise soon. I seemed to be on an island, in a sea of marsh and bog water. I couldn't see very far, since purple fog floated around and blocked my view. There was a boat in the water nearby, but it was very rotten looking and only had one oar. The woman had probably taken the only good boat for miles. I sat on a blood covered crate outside of the shack and waited for the sun to rise so I could figure out where the hell I was. At least I had my journal with me, since I kept it close by in case Marcurio tried to sneak a peek while I slept. From now on, my map was going to stay in it. Not that a map would  do much good with no known landmarks to go on. 

As I watched the sunrise strain to filter through the clouds above, I remembered that Marcurio would be waking up soon. Maybe not though, since we had gone to bed rather late. He would be waking up eventually though, which meant that I had to find out where I was and how to get back to him. I managed to find a way off of the island by jumping onto smaller ones near  one of the sides. On the "mainland" as it seemed to be, I came across a barrow with some bandits and mages outside. I crept past them while they were distracted by trying to kill each other. I kept going, heading south west from what I could tell of the sun's direction. Before long, I came across a cave, with blood and bones all over the place outside. What kind of marshes were these? First a shack on an island where people kill people, and now this cave? I noticed a slightly worn path heading away from the cave, and followed it. It led me back to Morthal, of all places. As I got close to the town, a very worried looking Marcurio ran up to me, asking if I was alright. So he had woken up on his own. I told him that I was fine, and he looked at me like I was crazy. Then I remembered that I was still covered in blood. We went to the inn, and he excitedly told the innkeeper that he'd found me. She got me some warm water and rags, and he started cooking breakfast. I managed to get all cleaned up and into fresh clothes by the time he was finished. He had made omelets again. The innkeeper even had breakfast with us. After we finished, he said that we should wait until I got to feeling better before heading to Labyrinthian. I was fine, but I had a feeling that he wanted to try and get that reward from the Jarl before we left. I was right. He asked if I felt alright enough to go and speak to the Jarl, and I nodded. I was thankful that he hadn't asked what happened to me. I wasn't ready to tell him about any of that yet. 

The Jarl, a woman named Idgrod, greeted us in a strange and cryptic manner. I asked her about the house fire, and she told us that the villagers believed it to be cursed. Hroggar had claimed that his wife spilled bear  fat into the fire, but everyone else seemed to think he'd set the fire himself. I asked why he would do that, and she replied "Lust can make a man do the unthinkable". Whoever this Alva was that I kept hearing about, she must either be very pretty, or very good at casting illusions. The Jarl asked us to sift through the ashes of the house, and see if we could find anything. She also promised to reward us if we  found out that Hroggar was guilty or innocent. 

We walked to what was left of the burned down  house in silence. I stepped over the threshold and crouched to look through the debris that was on the floor. I heard Marcurio step through what was left of the doorway, then I heard a child's giggle nearby. I looked up, and noticed what seemed to be the ghost of a young girl. She was giggling at Marcurio for some reason. I wasn't sure why, until I noticed where she was pointing. His circlet. I had gotten so used to it that I'd forgotten he was still wearing it. I asked the girl who she was, and she told me that her name was Helgi, but she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers. I told her that I was a friend, and she told me about the house fire. The smoke had woken her up, and it was hot so she hid. Then she got cold and dark,  and wasn't afraid anymore. I felt terrible for her. She then told me that she was lonely, and asked if I would play with her. I  promised to, if she'd tell me who set the house fire. She agreed that she would tell me, if I could find her before the 'other' did. We had to wait until dark to play though. I asked who the other was, and she said that she couldn't tell me since she was so close. Then, she said she'd see me tonight, and vanished. I turned to leave, and Marcurio was standing in the doorway, looking at his circlet. He asked if I had one that looked a little more masculine. I resisted the urge to giggle and we went back to the inn to see what I had. I took them all out and laid them on the bed, and told him that he could pick one. He looked at them all, and finally settled on two. They looked the same, silver with moonstones set in it, but one was the enchanted circlet that the Arch Mage had given me. I decided to give it to him, since he was a mage as well. I made him promise to take care of it though. He agreed to, and put it on. It matched his armor better than the other one had. And, it did look less silly. I put the rest of them back up, and we went to tell the Jarl about the ghost.

I told the Jarl about Helgi's ghost asking me to play hide and seek with her after dark, and she suggested that I look in the graveyard for her. It would be hours before nightfall, so I decided to explore the town to see if there were any good shops. I found an alchemy shop! When we went inside, the woman behind the counter said "Oh good, you found her!" I glanced at Marcurio, and he explained that he'd come here looking for me since I liked alchemy so much. I bought every ingredient that she had, and went over to her alchemy lab to make some potions.

A few hours later, I'd managed to make about thirty or forty of  them. I had started to lose count. I picked them all up from the floor around my feet, and carried them over to the counter. Lami, the shop owner, offered to buy some, and I sold her a few. I couldn't sell many though since she didn't have enough to buy more than ten. I glanced over to Marcurio to ask if he'd help me carry the others back to the inn, and he was staring at the potions with his mouth hanging  open. I got his attention at last and asked for his help, and he hurried over to carry some of them for me. As we left, I made a mental note to start taking an empty bag with me to the alchemy shop. He didn't seem to mind helping me though, and kept staring at the  bottles like they were full of liquid gold. We put them away in my bags, wrapping some cloth around them to keep them from breaking. It was early afternoon, and all of that alchemy had given me an appetite. We went to the common room to get some lunch, and the innkeeper was giving Marcurio the oddest look as we told her what we'd like for lunch. I glanced back and forth between them, then shrugged and went to sit down. I took out my journal to write, and Marcurio sat next to me and fiddled with his silverware.

After lunch, I decided to explore the town and see if there were any good ingredients growing around. During my search, I noticed that the boats in town near the small wooden docks looked just like the one I'd seen near the island. I met Hroggar near the sawmill also. I told him that I'd seen Helgi's ghost in his house, and all he said was "that's nice". I was shocked, and reminded him that it was his daughter, so he should care, and he just mentioned that he didn't need Helgi anymore, since he had Alva to take care of now. Who in Oblivion was this woman? I felt terrible for his poor wife and daughter. Hopefully their souls would find peace when we discover who killed them. We still had a few hours before dark, so I decided to go back  to the inn and read some of my books. Marcurio went into the bedroom, and  I heard him rummaging around in his bags, then the sound of gold being counted. That man and his treasure.

When nightfall finally came, Marcurio and I left the inn and headed to the cemetery. I decided to sneak, and actually play hide and seek, for Helgi's sake. When we made it to the cemetery, I saw a woman in black robes messing with something. It looked like a coffin, but I couldn't really tell. I was about to creep closer when Marcurio stepped on a branch, causing the woman to see us. I turned to remind him to watch where she was going, but I never got to say anything. She was on us in an instant. She yelled with fury and attacked, but her attacks were weak and easily brushed off. Marcurio made short work of her with his spells, and I went over to look for Helgi. It was her coffin. She told me about the woman who had attacked us, Laelette,   and how she'd been told by Alva to kill her and her mother. She hadn't wanted to though, and had tried turning Helgi into a vampire so they could play together forever. But, Helgi had been burned in the fire anyways. She then said that she was tired, and wanted to rest. As I walked away I saw a man running over to where Marcurio was. He went over to Laelette's  body and was screaming something. Then, suddenly, he stood up and dropped her when he realized that she'd been a vampire. I talked to him, and learned that his name was Thonnir. Laelette had been his wife, and he had thought that she'd gone to join the Stormcloaks. I asked him if she acted odd before she left, and he said that she's started spending a lot of time with Alva, even though she'd despised her just the week before. I told him that it seemed like they may have met after all. He asked what I meant, and I told him about suspecting Alva to be a vampire. He got  angry suddenly, and insisted that Alva had nothing to do with all this, and that his wife had met her fate out in the marshes. He also said that we couldn't prove anything to the Jarl, then walked away. I had no idea how to get proof, so we went back to the inn to figure it out. We got some dinner, and I got out my journal to write. After a few minutes, Marcurio said that maybe Alva kept a journal too. I thought about it, and said that it was possible. If she did though, how would we get it? As I was thinking, I noticed someone walk into the inn. A woman, with dark hair and somewhat pale skin. I got up casually to get us more ale, and asked the innkeeper who she was. She told me that it was Alva. I went back to the table and gave Marcurio his drink, and told him what I had learned. He sipped his ale, then went back to eating his dinner. I wrote more in my journal wondering how we'd get hers. She wasn't home now, so it would be a good time to go into her house. Then I remembered Jonna mentioned that Hroggar lived with her. She probably had him guarding the place. I decided to go and see if he was walking around town. If he was, then no one would be at the house. I told Marcurio that I was going outside for some fresh air, and he nodded.

I didn't see Hroggar anywhere in town, which meant that he was probably in her house. I sighed and went back to the inn. We'd probably have better luck tomorrow, with her asleep and him out working at the mill. I  told my plan to Marcurio quietly, and we both went to get some sleep.

22nd of Heartfire, 4E201


It was freezing when we got to Winterhold, and still dark out, so I assumed that it was some time before sunrise. We hurried up to the College to thaw out. Marcurio seemed a bit impressed that I was a member of the College, and said that he'd always wanted to visit. I headed for the Hall of the Elements to go and see if the Arch Mage was still awake. When we got inside though, all hell was breaking loose. Inside, Mirabelle and the Arch Mage were standing in front of a ward someone had cast in the doorway to the main room. Someone being Ancano. They asked me to help them destroy the ward, and we all cast spells at it. The Arch Mage didn't know what Ancano was doing in there, but he assured me that he'd have his head for it.  We ran inside after the ward broke, and Ancano was doing something to the Eye of Magnus. Suddenly, a blinding light came from it, and we were all knocked backwards by something. When I woke up, a wounded Mirabelle was shaking me, and asking me if I was alright. She said that she needed me on my feet, and we were in trouble. I was dizzy, but ok. Ancano had cast another ward around the Eye, and the Arch Mage wasn't anywhere nearby. She asked me to hurry and look for him to see if he was alright. He wasn't anywhere inside of the Hall, but he'd been blown clear into the courtyard outside. He was dead, and the other mages at the College were around him. Tolfdir ran up to us and told us that something was happening in the town, and when I told him what had happened with Ancano, he suspected that it must have been whatever was done to the Eye. He went to check on Mirabelle, and Marcurio and I went into town with the rest of the mages to protect the townspeople. The creatures we found in the town were like ice wraiths, mixed with those creatures that the wisp mother had sent after Jenassa and I. We managed to defeat all ten of them, and Faralda and Arniel from the College offered to stay behind while we reported back to Mirabelle. After this, I'm sure Winterhold was going to hate the College even more than it already did. Mirabelle said that I needed to go and get the Staff. I told her that I'd be headed to Labyrinthian then, and she was shocked that I had learned that the Staff was there. I asked why, and she explained that coincidentally, before the attack, the Arch Mage had talked with her about Labyrinthian, and had given her an amulet and some sort of necklace. He told her that she'd know what to do with them when the time came. She handed them over to me, saying that they must have been meant for me. She then asked us to hurry and get the Staff before Ancano brought the College down around everyone. Looked like we weren't going to get any sleep tonight. According to my map, Labyrinthian is a ways to the west of Winterhold, past Whiterun.
When I got into town, there were more of the things there, attacking the mages and guards. After they killed a few, a courier who had been hiding ran up to me to deliver a letter to me. I asked him who it was from after he handed it over, and he said that it was a creepy fellow in a black robe. He didn't know who it was, and he couldn't see his face, but he was paid quite a bit of money to get that note to me. As he bid me good day and walked away, I carefully unsealed the wax on the note. A black handprint was in the center of the paper, with the words "We know" scrawled under it. I had no idea what it meant, so I just stuck it in the middle of one of my books to keep it from getting messed up. I gave Marcurio a stamina potion, and I had one myself, so that we could stay awake. We had a long journey ahead of us.

By jogging and walking fast, we managed to make it to Whiterun early that afternoon. Near the city, we ran into two farmers who had lost everything to a dragon. I shared some of my gold and food with them, and they thanked me and wished me a safe journey. We stopped in Whiterun to get something to eat, and I wanted to sleep so badly. I knew that we couldn't though, since the College, and perhaps all of Skyrim, was in danger thanks to Ancano. Marcurio had an idea though. Since Labyrinthian was close to Morthal according to my map, we could take a carriage there, and nap on the way. I thought it was a wonderful idea, and we hurried to rent a carriage ride.

It was after dark when we got to Morthal. Outside off the Jarl's longhouse, there was a man arguing with some of the townpeople about a wizard being in their midst. I asked the man who they'd been yelling at what was wrong, and he explained that the people were upset about recent events, and were looking to the Jarl for guidance. I asked what had been going on, and he explained that a wizard had moved into town, strange noises were being heard in the marshes at night, and that there had recently been a tragic house fire. He then bid me goodnight and went into the longhouse.

We went to the inn for dinner, and Marcurio asked the innkeeper if she knew anything about the events in town. She told us about the house fire, since it was all that everyone in town was talking about. A fire had started, and a man named Hroggar lost his wife and daughter in the blaze. He claimed that it was an accidental hearth fire, but the innkeeper said that the rumor around town was that he'd started the fire himself. Apparently, he'd started living with another woman only a day later. She also added that the Jarl would like to know the truth, and would probably be willing to pay anyone that could discover it. At the mention of a reward, Marcurio became much more interested, and suggested that we go and speak to the Jarl. I reminded him that it was almost the middle of the night, and he sighed.

 I didn't like the idea of wandering through the marshes or the wilderness in the dark trying to find Labyrinthian, so I decided that we should get a room and get some actual sleep. The only room available just had one double bed, so I told Marcurio that he could avoid sleeping on the floor as long as he behaved himself. He promised that he would, and added that he was too tired to misbehave anyways. I set most of my gear against the wall, and got into bed in some basic robes with my black dagger strapped to my belt, just in case Marcurio decided to break his promise. A little discomfort was a small price to pay for feeling safer and getting to sleep in a bed.

21st of Heartfire, 4E201


I had to pour a bucket of water on Marcurio's face to wake him up this morning. My shaking and yelling  hadn't worked. Apparently, the townspeople had been buying him ale all night, and he'd had too much to drink. He'd only gone to bed a few hours ago. I helped him to a table in the inn's common room, and got us some breakfast. I also gave him a few potions to clear his head and wake him up. After breakfast, we got our gear together and went outside. I told him that it would be cold in Windhelm, so if he wanted a bath he needed to take one here where it was warmer. I let him borrow my soap, and he went to the river to bathe, leaving his stuff on the inn steps next to me. I went through my notes and did more writing while I waited. After Windhelm, we really needed to go to Winterhold. I still had to tell the College about what I'd learned about the Staff of Magnus. We could take the carriage in Windhelm to get there though.

Marcurio seemed more awake after his bath, and he was wearing his circlet again. Apparently he'd taken it to the river to wash it properly. It was much prettier now that it was cleaned up. It still looked a little silly, but it was starting to grow on me. I had a few circlets that I wore because they were enchanted, and one had even been given to me by the Arch Mage. I checked my map to see which way would be best, and we started on the road.

Not far from Ivarstead, I got to prove to Marcurio that I really was the Dragonborn. A dragon swooped down and attacked us. We managed to kill it without too much  trouble, though Marcurio was freaking out the entire time since he'd never seen a dragon. When the dragon started burning like they always did after they died, he ran and ducked behind a rock. I just stood next to it, waiting for its soul to surround me. After it was over, and only the skeleton remained, Marcurio came out of his hiding place. He stared at me in shock, and was speechless. At least until I pointed to the small pile of gold coins that had been in the dragon's belly. He excitedly ran over and picked them all up. I took a few of the dragon's bones, since they seemed to sell well in my experience. I had no idea what the merchants in towns used them for though. They were a bit heavy, so Marcurio offered to carry them for me if I'd split the money from selling them with him. I promised that I would, and we continued on our way to Windhelm, leaving the dragon behind.

Our bags were nearly as full as we could get them, so we  couldn't travel as fast as I wanted to. Hopefully we would at least make it to Windhelm before nightfall. I also hoped that it wouldn't rain, since it had been overcast for all of our walk so far.

We passed by the ruins of Mzulft early that afternoon, and I half hoped to see Jenassa there, sitting out on the steps waiting for me to come back. I knew that would never happen though. I'm sure that her spirit was there, and terrorizing any Falmer that we hadn't managed to kill. Not far from Mzulft, an Altmer mage came out of nowhere and attacked us. At least she had a few gems and a nice staff on her.

We had our lunch on the road, and managed to make it to Windhelm around sunset. The market was still open, so we decided to sell some of the things we'd picked up to make our bags lighter. I also stopped by the blacksmith to repair and improve our weapons and armor. I left Marcurio in the market so he could do some shopping, and went to talk to Aventus. I had told Marcurio that I was just going to run an errand. I didn't want him thinking I was a murderer or anything. Aventus was so happy to hear of Grelod's death that he hugged me and and thanked me for saving him. He rewarded me with a family heirloom, which happened to be a plate. He then assured me that he would return to the orphanage soon, but he'd allow time for them to "clean up the mess". I told him goodbye and went to get Marcurio from the market. We had a carriage ride to catch. I decided to get some sleep in the carriage, so I'd be able to stay awake when we got to Winterhold to talk to the Arch Mage. Hopefully he wouldn't be asleep yet.

20th of Heartfire, 4E201


We woke early this morning, and had a delicious breakfast at the inn before setting out for the barrow. Marcurio had Wilhelm into making something called scrambled eggs, and they were amazing!

With the dragon claw in hand, we were able to make it further into the barrow now. We fought a few draugr and skeletons in the first few rooms, and one of the draugr was wearing a copper circlet with rubies set into it. Marcurio took it off of its head, wiped it off, then put it on. He then asked if I had wanted it, and I shook my head. He grinned and we continued further into the barrow, his circlet resting on his head crookedly.

Further in,we encountered more draugr, and one really tough one in a room near some puzzle pillars. No solution was on the walls or anywhere nearby, so I didn't know how we were supposed to get any further into the ruin. There was a bridge across a gap, but we couldn't get it down. I assumed that the puzzle pillars must have something to do with it. In the room with the tough draugr, Marcurio accidentally stepped on a pressure plate searching for treasure, and it made something in the walls move. There were four spinning stone doors along the wall.  Behind each door was a carving, and each carving had one of the symbols from the pillars.Then I remembered that there were four pillars. It must be the solution! I got Marcurio's help moving the pillars into the right place, and we stepped on another pressure plate, which lowered a bridge and opened a door towards where we needed to go.

Inside of the nearby hallway, there were more traps, and a flame trap that activated when Marcurio grabbed a gold ingot off of a pedestal in a room next to the hallway. Thankfully he had quick reflexes and didn't get burned.At the end of the hallway, we found a large room with platforms and steps, and lots of coffins. We crept inside, and the doorway we'd come through shut behind us, thanks to a gate sliding down and blocking our exit. Then the coffins started to burst open, and the skeletons and draugr were upon us.

We killed most of them in the room, and Marcurio was searching their pockets for trinkets, when the last coffin burst open. A draugr crawled out of it, and came after us. He even shouted at us,knocking us both backwards. Was he a long dead Dragonborn too? Or did he just learn like the Greybeards had? When he finally fell to the ground in defeat, a bridge behind his coffin dropped down, and we continued further into the ruin. We found a large chest in the room beyond, and Marcurio ran towards it. I stopped him, since it could have some sort of lock or trap on it. He was about to argue, then noticed a bit of old rope attached to the side of the lid. I disabled the lock attacked to the rope, then we opened it. Inside was a fair amount of coin, which I let him keep. I took a beautiful set of boots for myself. They looked like my elven boots, but had green glass made into them. They reminded me of my bow that I had found in a chest. I couldn't remember which ruin I'd gotten it in though. At the back of the room, there was another chanting wall, like in Bleak Falls Barrow. Marcurio didn't want to go near it, but I told him that it was alright. When some of the letters on the wall glowed and shot out of the wall to surround me, Marcurio sounded like he was having a heart attack. He asked if I was alright, and I looked at him like he was crazy. Then, I explained that this happened if I got near one of these walls, because I was the Dragonborn. He still didn't seem to believe me about that. There was water all around the floor of the room, and Marcurio went for a swim to look for treasure that the ancient Nords might have hidden under water. He managed to actually find a chest, but he couldn't get it open because it was locked. I sighed and waded in after him to go unlock it. I really needed to teach him how to use a lockpick. I managed to get it open, but it only had a couple of potions, a few coins, and a soggy magic scroll inside. He was going to leave the scroll, until I told him how much they sold for in the shops. Thankfully the enchantment on it had kept it from completely falling apart. We laid it out on a cloth square, then carefully rolled it up. Marcurio stuffed it into his bag, and we went through a nearby door to see where it led. Through it was a secret passageway, which opened into the room Wyndelius had been staying in. We hurried out of the ruin and back out into the wonderful fresh air.

I felt gross and smelly, so I decided to take a bath. Marcurio took most of my things for me, and told me that he was going to get something to eat at the inn. As he walked away, I noticed that he was still wearing that circlet that he'd found in the barrow. I decided not to remind him about it,  since it made me giggle to myself.

After a relaxing bath in the river, I headed to the inn for some dinner. I found Marcurio at a table with a few of the townspeople, in the middle of a grand story about our adventures in the barrow. I also noticed that he was still wearing that circlet. Either he really liked it, or he didn't realize how silly it looked on him. I sat at the bar and talked to Wilhelm, and had a nice dinner. He asked me if all of the things Marcurio said about the barrow were true, and I told him that most of it was, with only a little embellishment. He seemed amazed that we had survived. After dinner, I went ahead and rented a room for the night, since it was getting late. I got my bag and gear from Marcurio, then went to get ready for bed. I took out my books, and read the spell book that Stalleo had given me. It taught a spell called Detect Life. Unfortunately, I couldn't use it to detect undead, machines, or daedra. It would be useful in bandit lairs though, so I could see how many were in rooms before going into them. I tried it out, and everyone in the inn glowed purple, even through the walls. I noticed a few more notes about the spell, and it explained that enemies would show up differently than friends. Well, that would be handy. Enemies, and those likely to be hostile towards us, would glow red. Friendly people would glow purple. Hopefully it could be used to spot assassins hiding along the road as well. I put my books away and decided to get some sleep. Hopefully Marcurio wouldn't stay up too late, since we had a long day of travel ahead of us tomorrow.

19th of Heartfire, 4E201
When I woke up this morning, Marcurio was gone. I got worried at first, then heard whistling nearby. I looked over the wall, and saw him walking around outside of the fort gathering birds' eggs. I thought it was strange, but to each his own I guess. He came back to the camp not long after that, while I was polishing my armor. Then he asked if I was hungry. I said that I was, and he asked me to find us some plates and silverware while he cooked breakfast. I found some, and took them down to the river nearby to wash the bandit off. After I managed to get them clean, he called down to me and told me that breakfast was ready. When I got back up to the camp, he had a little table set up, with food on it. He explained that he'd noticed the food in the bandits' kitchen in the fort last night, and hated the thought of it going to waste. So, he'd gotten up early to go and get it, then planned what to cook. We had some salmon, and ale, and some things he called omelets. They were eggs cooked with vegetables and meat and cheese in them. I didn't care what they were called, they were delicious! After breakfast, we put out the fire and he packed up some of the food and cookware into his bag in case we needed it again. As we left the fort, I wondered if Jenassa had ever eaten an omelet before. If she hadn't, it seemed sad that she never got the chance to. I thought about her often, and tried not to cry when I did. Marcurio seemed nice enough, but I didn't want him thinking that I was weak or anything. I didn't know if I could trust him or not, but for now I was thankful for his company. And his breakfast ideas.

We made it to Ivarstead that afternoon. We would have been there sooner, but we had taken a shortcut through the forest. The shortcut had ended up taking longer due to bandits and spiders and wolves, but I did manage to find an enchanted circlet. And we found some treasure near part of an outside Dwemer ruin. In town, Klimmek was happy to see me again, and gave me a thousand septims for the delivery. Perhaps it had been worth it visiting the Greybeards after all. While we had lunch, Marcurio asked what I'd done to get all those septims, and I told him about the climb up the seven thousand steps. After my story, he asked who Jenassa was, and I told him all about her, and about our time together. I tried to keep my emotions in check, but I ended up crying anyways. I didn't tell him about Aventus though, or killing Grelod. I didn't want him turning on me and reporting me to the guards. While I'd been talking about Jenassa, and crying, he kept looking like he wanted to comfort me, but stopped himself. He did give me a hankerchief though. He told me about himself, and about leaving Cyrodiil behind after a falling out with his family. He also confessed that although he supported the Empire, since he was an Imperial, he didn't agree with what the Thalmor were doing. He'd heard stories about people losing family members to them, and their family had never seen them again. I told him about my mission to free the roads of Skyrim from them, and he thought that it was a good idea, and promised to help me. We talked for hours, and didn't realize how late it was until some of the villagers in town started coming to the inn for dinner. It seemed that we weren't going to be doing much travelling for the rest of the day, so I went ahead and rented us a room for the night. Wilhelm, the innkeeper, told us a story about the barrow near the town, saying that it was haunted. The only person who had tried exploring it was a treasure hunter about a year ago, but the night he left they heard screams from the barrow and he was never seen again.

During dinner Marcurio asked if we could explore the barrow. He seemed to think that it might be full of treasure, and that the ghost story was a fabrication of the locals to get people to come gawk at the barrow and stay at the inn. Since we'd been relaxing around the inn all day, I said that we could explore it. I warned him that barrows tended to be full of draugr though, at least in my experience. He assured me that he wasn't afraid of a few dead ancient Nords.He also told me that one of his hobbies was studying the ancient Nords, and their ruins and barrows. I added exploring the barrow to my list, and he laughed a bit. It seemed that he was started to understand how I ended up with so many things to do.

We explored the first section of the barrow, and found the ghost that everyone had been talking about. It was the treasure hunter, and he'd made some sort of potion to make himself look like a ghost. After reading his journal, it seemed that he had eventually gone insane. We couldn't get any  farther into the barrow than we did for the same reason that he was stuck: we didn't have the claw that unlocked the puzzle door. I took the journal, and some of the potion to study, and we went back to the inn to tell Wilhelm about what we had discovered.

Wilhelm was angry that the treasure hunter, a Dunmer man named Wyndelius, had been tricking them all for a year now. He thanked me for taking care of him, and gave me a sapphire dragon claw as payment. It was ironic that Wyndelius had been tricking the one person whose help he needed to get the treasure in the barrow. It was starting to get late, so I decided to finish exploring the barrow tomorrow. Marcurio seemed like he wanted to go back tonight, but he understood that we needed to be well rested to avoid having traps or draugr kill us. Thankfully the room at the inn had two beds, so we wouldn't have to argue over who got to sleep on the floor.

18th of Heartfire, 4E201
I left the inn around the middle of the night in my regular clothes, with my robes and dagger hidden in a bag I was carrying. When I made it to the orphanage, I hid behind a tree and changed quickly, then left my bag buried under some leaves. I made sure that no guards were patrolling nearby and crept inside, amazed when I discovered that the door had been left unlocked. When I got inside, I saw Grelod and Constance still awake and sitting in the dining room. It was the middle of the night, why weren't they asleep? I sighed mentally and hid in the shadows, watching them to wait for them to go to bed. I didn't have to wait long, thankfully. I waited to make sure that Constance had fallen asleep in her room, then I quietly crept through the room of sleeping children to Grelod's room. I slowly and carefully shut the doors behind me, looking at the bed often to make sure she didn't wake up. I went around her bed quietly and looked down at her, my dagger in hand. Even in sleep, she looked wicked, her teeth bared in a cruel grin. Most likely she was dreaming about hurting the children again. I was about to cut her throat, then remembered that if I did, her blood would get all over me and it would be obvious that I had killed her. I crept back around the bed and carefully climbed onto it, then quickly slit her throat from behind. She screamed and gurgled, then died. Suddenly, I heard the children in the other room, and I quickly hid in the shadows near her wardrobe so they wouldn't see me. They ran into the room and stared at Grelod, and I got as close to the wall as I could, afraid that they would see me. When they realized that she was dead, they started cheering. Cheering! They danced around in excitement, and said "We love you Dark Brotherhood!" and "Aventus really did it!" I could hear Constance in the other room also, running around and screaming in fear. I waited until everyone went back to bed, then placed a nightshade flower on her pillow before sneaking back out into the night. Outside, I changed  back into my regular clothes, then went back to the inn to have another nap.

I studied my dagger as I got ready for bed in my room. It had managed to kill her so easily, so effortlessly. I didn't even realize that it had cut her until she screamed and gurgled. I polished it with a scrap of rag, amazed that it had only gotten a few small drops off blood on it. I wrapped it up in some leather, and placed it under my pillow for safekeeping, then laid down to have a nap. Hopefully I wouldn't be woken up in the early morning hours by a guard intent on arresting me.

Marcurio was still on his bench when  I went downstairs for breakfast, snoring a little loudly. I walked over and gently kicked the bench with my boot, causing  him to wake up in sudden confusion and he nearly fell off of the bench. I held out a coinpurse with five-hundred septims in it, and asked him if he wanted some breakfast. He took the gold, and counted it as we waited on our food at the table. Satisfied that it was the full amount, he smiled and said that he would come with me. I would see how long it would take him to regret his decision.

After breakfast, we went down to the alchemy shop so that I could make him some healing and magicka potions. I also made a few potions and poisons to sell for profit. I stopped by the general store, and got Marcurio some enchanted jewelry: a necklace to fortify his magicka, and a ring to help his magicka recharge faster. He thanked me, and put them on. I also gave him a few of the potions I had made.I also got myself a necklace that would help improve my smithing.  I was nearly out of septims again now, but I knew that I could make more. I stopped in the market to check my list of things to do. Near Riften, we could go and take Avrusa her jazbay grapes, go and get the moon amulet for Kharjo, or go to the Dwemer ruin and put the lexicon back. I didn't want to go into the Dwemer ruin, so I decided to deliver the grapes. Marcurio saw my list and asked me what it was. I told him that it was a list of all of the things I'd been asked to do since I came to Skyrim. I had started writing them in my journal to keep track of them all. He then asked how long I had been in Skyrim, and seemed surprised when I told him I'd been here a little over a month. He shook his head, and said that maybe I should start telling people that I was busy. When I told him that most of the things I had done so far paid rather well, he changed his mind. We left Riften and headed for the Sarethi farm. From there, we could go and get Kharjo's amulet, since it wasn't far.

I didn't talk much on the way to the Sarethi farm, and Marcurio only asked me a few questions. I did tell him about being the Dragonborn though , to warn him about having to fight dragons. He didn't seem too impressed though, but I suspected that was because he thought I was lying. Oh well, he would find out soon enough, based on my luck.

Avrusa was very happy when I brought her the grapes, and gave me a few potions in return for my help. She also invited us inside for lunch. When we left a little while later, she said that I could come back and visit anytime. I checked her off of my list, and we headed down the road towards Treva's Watch, and the stolen moon amulet.

On the way to Treva's Watch, another assassin came after me. I hadn't even seen her coming, since I had been stopped to pick some flowers for my potions. Thankfully Marcurio had seen her, and fried her with a powerful lightning spell. I found the contract in a pocket, only a little burnt from the lightning. It said the same thing that the others had. I remembered Aventus then, and told Marcurio that we'd need to go to Windhelm soon. He asked why an assassin from the Dark Brotherhood had wanted to kill me, and seemed surprised when I told him that she wasn't the first one to try. I also thanked him for saving me, and gave him a ruby that  I had found in her pocket.

We made it to Treva's Watch not long after that, and found three people camped a ways from the fort. One, a man named Stalleo, asked me if I was there to help. I asked him what he was talking about, and he seemed to think that Marcurio and I were reinforcements, and said that he hoped we were good. I sarcastically said that we were the best, and he seemed pleased, and said that they had lost some good men trying to take the fort earlier in the day. Apparently sarcasm was something he didn't catch onto. He went on to say that he suspected someone named Brurid of taking over the fort, since they had had bad blood between them since the High King's death. His family had been kidnapped, and his home had been taken away while he and his guards were off fighting somewhere. Marcurio asked what we would get in return for our help, and Stalleo said that in addition to the posted reward, we could take whatever we wanted. Since we had no idea what the posted reward was since we weren't really mercenaries, I had no idea what to expect. We were going to take a secret entrance and sneak in, but one of the bandits spotted us from the walls and started shooting arrows at us. Stalleo and his guards helped, but one of the guards was killed. I summoned an atronach through the locked front gate, and Marcurio used his lightning to blast them from the walls. After all of the ones outside were dead, Marcurio gave me a boost up the side of one of the walls, and  I went in to find a way to unlock the gate and let him in. I found a lever in  a small gatehouse outside, and pulled it. It opened the gate, and Marcurio ran in with his spells ready. I told Stalleo and his remaining guard to wait back at their camp, and we went inside to take care of the rest of the bandits.

We managed to find Kharjo's amulet not far into the fort, in a chest guarded by a bandit chief and a few bandits. They didn't last long at all. I admit, I had been skeptical about Marcurio being a "master of the arcane", but he did do quite a bit of damage with his spells. And, thankfully, he didn't hit me with any of them. I put the amulet around my neck so I wouldn't lose it, and let Marcurio take what he wanted from the room. Then we stopped and had a quick meal before going to rid the rest of the fort of bandits.

Marcurio and I got separated in a fight against at least twenty bandits. I'm hiding in a room I found, and sending atronachs after them. I ran away from the fight to get some of them to follow me so we'd have a better chance of survival. I don't know if he's still alive or not, but I hope he is. I finally managed to kill all of the bandits that had followed me, and went to find Marcurio.

I found him alive, and rifling through the pockets of the bandits he had killed. I didn't know how he had managed it, since he was wearing only mage robes. Nearby, I found the body of what seemed to be another bandit chief, and took his steel plate armor. I cleaned it up a bit, then took it to Marcurio. He looked like he didn't want to wear it, but I insisted. I had to help him put it on though, since he'd never worn armor before.

A few hours and many fights later, Treva's Watch was at last free of bandits. I went to tell Stalleo the good news, and told him that I hadn't seen him family while we were in there. He thanked me, and said that they would go and find them after they got more supplies. Hopefully they had left before the bandits came. As a reward, he gave me something I valued: a spell book that I didn't have yet. Marcurio didn't ask for a reward for himself, I suspect  since his pockets were already lined with gold and trinkets that he'd gotten from the bandits. It was late, so we found a couple of bedrolls outside and shook them to get some of the bandit smell out. One of  the bandits' camp fires was still burning, so we moved the bedrolls and their little wooden lean to's that had been over them closer to the fire. Marcurio thanked me for bringing him here, since he'd gotten so much treasure. I went over my notes again, and noticed that I'd never gone back to tell Klimmek that I'd taken the food to the Greybeards. They may have been rude, but he seemed like a nice enough man. We were near Ivarstead, so I decided that we'd stop by and tell him tomorrow. But, for now, it was time to sleep.

17th of Heartfire, 4E201
I got up early and had some breakfast, then bought more preserved food since mine was getting a bit stale. I left the inn and wandered around town, stopping near a building whose name seemed familiar. It was called Honorhall Orphanage. I wondered why since I'd never been here, then remembered the boy in Windhelm. He's asked me to kill the orphanage's headmistress. I decided to go inside and see if she was really as horrible as he claimed that she was. I crept inside, and overheard her telling the children that they would get extra beatings if they didn't so as they were told, and told them that they were never going to get adopted since no one wanted them. So, she was mean and horrible, but was is enough to deserve death? I decided to talk to the children there, to find out more about her. One told me that she was the meanest person in Skyrim, and that she sometimes locked them somewhere she just called "the room". Another begged me to take them out of there, and said that Grelod had been meaner since Aventus left, and he was worried that she was going to kill one of them. He said that the other woman in the orphanage, a woman named Constance, was nice to them, and would even sneak food to them when Grelod wasn't looking. Apparently, Grelod only let them eat one meal during the day. Another suspected that she must be part Hagraven, since she was so mean. I talked to Constance, and asked if Grelod was always mean, and she said that she was. The townsfolk had started calling her "Grelod the Kind" as a joke. I explored the orphanage, and found  a room with what looked like prison shackles on the walls. Was this the room she put children in? So she beat them, half starved them, and had them afraid that she was going to kill them. I had my answer. I would go to Shor's Stone for that ore sample, bring it back, and then figure out how to save those children from that horrible woman.

On the way to Shor's Stone, I decided to stop and get rid of a few of the bandits. They probably robbed travelers that were too foolish to go around the fort. I had to rely on my atronachs for help, but managed to defeat all of the ones outside. In Shor's Stone, Filnjar was happy to see me again, and I told him that I was there for the ore sample. He was glad, since he's sent a letter to them about it weeks ago. He handed it over, and said that they could chip off whatever they thought was a fair payment for their time. I sat on his steps and had some lunch, then made my way back to Riften. Hafjorg was happy to see me again, and gave me a few potions in return for getting the ore for them.

I spent the rest of the day wandering around Riften. I picked some flowers growing around town, and found some nightshade in the cemetery. I went outside to the docks and met two Argonian women. One, named Wujeeta,  begged me to help her by giving her a healing potion. She had tried some skooma a few months ago, and had been addicted ever since. Her boss, a man named Bolli, had threatened to fire her from her job at the Riften Fishery if she came to work on skooma again. The potion  would help her cleanse the poison from her body so that she could start over. I had plenty of potions, so I gave her one. She thanked me, and gave me a gold ring with a diamond in it for my help. I remembered that skooma was illegal, so out of curiosity I asked her where she got it. She didn't want to tell me at first, since she was afraid that they would kill her. I persuaded her to tell me, and she told me that she'd gotten it from a man named Sarthis Idren. He was apparently hiding out in the warehouse on the docks, but no one could get inside. She said that he had always met her outside the door with a bodyguard. I asked if anyone had the key, and she mentioned that she had overheard Bolli telling someone that only the Jarl had the key. When I turned to go back into town, another Argonian came up to me and begged me to take something called a lexicon from her. Her name  was From-Deepest-Fathoms. She was dressed like an adventurer. She seemed very troubled and begged me to take the lexicon away from her. It burdened her terribly, and she said that she couldn't take the memories haunting her. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I decided to help her anyways. She handed it over and said that I must return it to Avanchnzel in the west. She insisted that it must be returned to them. I told her that it would be and she walked away. It was wrapped in cloth, and felt like a square box. I carried it back into town, to look at in the light of my room at the inn, since it was starting to get dark.

When I got to my room, I closed the door and sat down on the bed. I carefully unwrapped the lexicon, and gasped when I saw it. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was black and dull bronze, and made of metal. On its surface, strange red runes and symbols glowed. As I sat there studying it, I realized that I had never asked where Avanchnzel was. All I knew is that it was west of here. But, most of Skyrim is west of Riften, so that didn't give me much to go on. I decided to go back out to the docks to see if she was still there, so she could show me where it was on my map. When I found her, she kept saying "Its yours now, I won't take it back, I won't!" I calmed her down, and asked her where Avanchnzel was. She said that she wasn't going back there, and I took out my map and asked her to show me where it was so that I could go there. That calmed her down a little. It was near the mountains not far from Riften. I thanked her, and asked what sort of place it was, and she told me that it was a Dwemer ruin. I sighed and thanked her, then went back to the inn for dinner.

I sat down at one of the tables in the inn, and set the lexicon on the tabletop, wondering what I was going to do. Talen-Jei came over and asked me if I needed anything, and I asked him to get me some salmon steaks with bread and cheese. And a few bottles of ale. As I waited for him to get back with my food, a man in robes sat down in the chair across from me. I didn't notice him at first, since I was starting at the lexicon. He cleared his throat to get my attention. I told him hello, and he asked if I was an adventurer. I told him I was, and he smiled. Then, he asked if I needed someone to guard my back. I asked what he meant, and he explained that he was a mercenary for hire. Then he apologized, and introduced himself as Marcurio. He further explained that for a mere five hundred septims, I could have a master of the arcane at my side. I couldn't tell if he was serious, or if he was trying to flirt with me in some way. I told him that I would think about it and get back to him, and he thanked me and went back to the bench he'd been sitting on near the door. Talen-Jei came with my food not long after that, and I thanked him and paid him for it, then enjoyed my dinner.

After dinner, I went back to my room to store my gear and plan my attack on Grelod. I couldn't wear my armor, it was too noticeable. None of the clothes I had would blend in the shadows, so I went to see if I could get any that would from the general store. I bought some black robes and soft shoes from the store owner, and went back to the inn to get ready. It was still early in the evening, so most people were still awake. I decided to wait until the middle of the night to go to the orphanage. The only weapon I had to use that didn't shine in the light of my room was my black dagger. Only the edge of the blade reflected the light, though it was faint. It would be perfect. In a few hours, those poor children would be free of that horrible woman. I only hoped that I wouldn't get caught and arrested. As I waited for the middle of the night, I went over all of the things Jenassa had told me during our travels. She would often tell me to strike my enemies from the shadows, in order to take them by surprise. She had also told me to be careful in places when we were sneaking, and to watch where I stepped, lest I trip over something and make a sound to give myself away. I wished that she was here now, since she'd know exactly the best way to kill Grelod. She probably would have even killed her for me, if I asked her. I decided to take a quick nap to rest some, so that I would be more alert later.

16th of Heartfire, 4E201
I made myself eat something when I woke up. It wouldn't do any good to have made it this far only to collapse from hunger. When I had first opened my eyes, I sat up and looked around for Jenassa, then remembered what had happened and started crying again. It took a while, but I managed to pull myself together enough to eat and get my armor back on. I got my gear together and took my runes off of the floor, then headed back to the locked door.

I found Jenassa's shield on the floor near the stairs up to the door, and I picked it up. It was still in fair enough shape, so I decided to keep it. I still had a few ingots of  moonstone, but I'd need some blacksmith equipment to get my armor and her shield back in full working order. The key opened the door with ease, and I started down the long hallway towards wherever it led to.

I found another dead creature at the end of the hallway in front of a closed door. It was locked, but a voice came from the other side when it heard me, asking if I was someone named Gavros. I remained quiet and readied my weapon, just in case it was some sort of trap. He wasn't happy to see me, and demanded to know who I was. I didn't tell him my name, just that I had come here looking for the Synod. He congratulated me and told me that I had found them, since it seemed that he was the last one alive. He made a halfhearted joke about being surrounded by angry machines and angrier Falmer. I asked him what a Falmer was, and he gestured to the dead creature outside of the door. So that's what those damned things were! He went on and said that all hope was lost though, and that they had come there for nothing, since Gavros was lost. He'd had some sort of crystal with him that they needed. I asked him about it, and he told me about a focusing crystal, and said that the cold had broken it. Gavros had left to go back to Cyrodiil to get another, and had left everyone to fend off the Falmer. I got the thing with the crystals in it that I had found out of my bag, and asked him if it was anything like what he needed. He became excited then, and said that whoever I was, I may have saved their project. He asked who I was, and I told him that I was from the College of Winterhold. He was a bit hesitant to trust me, since our arch mage hadn't even wanted to give them an audience when they visited the College, but he decided that he would look past that, since I had found the crystal thing for him. He told me that his name was Paratus, and bid me to follow him. He explained that they were there to use some sort of machine that the Dwemer had made to harness starlight and use to figure something out. He wasn't sure what, and it just seemed strange to me. The machine was very large though.As we walked up to the top, I made up my mind not to tell this man the real reason that I was here: to look for the Staff of Magnus. When we got to the top, he had me put the focusing crystal into the machine, and then we had to get it focused. I asked him how we would do that, and he said that I would have use heat and cold to further calibrate the crystal. Without his help, since he was just standing there, I managed to figure out that the three beams of light coming from the crystal would need to line up with three glass circles around the room. There were three buttons on a platform nearby, and each one moved one of the rings that the glass circles were in. The rings were part of the domed ceiling above us, and it amazed me that all of this still worked. It took a while, but at last I managed to get it to work. One of the beams of light illuminated a wall nearby, and it showed what looked like a map of Tamriel. Paratus was excited at first, then said something about the results not being what they should be. He said that the entire map should have been lit up,but that something was interfering with it. Something from Winterhold. He got angry at me then, and accused me of trying to stall his work. I told him that I had no idea what he was talking about. He yelled more, then realized that I really didn't know what he was talking about. Then he said that there must be something very powerful at my College, and asked me what it was. I told him that I wasn't going to tell him unless he told me a few things first. He guessed that we did have something there, and said that it was causing some interesting results. He told me that they had gotten the idea to use this place from the Orrery in the Imperial City, and that they were using it to project a map of Tamriel, and it would show them sources of great magical power. The only places that showed up though were Winterhold, and some place that he claimed could only be Labyrinthian. He then mocked me, and said that he'd beaten my game, and that the Synod now knew that we had something at the College. He told me to go off and get my Staff from Labyrinthian, and that that we could have it since he know knew that there was something even more powerful at the College. He then said that he was going to go back to Cyrodiil and tell the Synod there all about it. I decided not to let that happen. We fought until I defeated him, using Jenassa's shield to crack his skull. I dragged him out to where the dead Falmer was so it would seem that they had killed each other, and messed up the machine so that no one else could use it. I was tired of this place, and hurried to find a way out.

In front of a door, one of the Psijics appeared  and told me that I needed to get back to the College at once and tell the Arch Mage what I had learned. He looked like the one from Saarthal. He assured me that I was on the right path, and that I had  the ability to prevail in the end. Then he vanished. I went through the door he had been in front of, and it led down a small hallway and to the world outside. I ended up on the side of a mountain, but I didn't care. I was outside! The sun was hidden by clouds, but it was enough that its light filtered through them. I carefully climbed down the mountain, and made my way onto the top of some of the ruins. In a chest there  I found a dagger. It was black and deadly looking, with golden scrollwork all over the blade and handle. I strapped it to my belt, and climbed down the rest of the ruins to the ground below.

When I got to the ground, the sun had broken through the clouds. I sat down in the grass and had some food, then decided what to do next. Jenassa still had her map, and I didn't want to have to go back into that place to get it. I had scribbled a few notes and sketches into my journal, but they were mostly of the area around Whiterun. I remembered that I had been close to Darkwater Crossing, so I decided to head there, at first anyways. Then the more I thought about, the more I realized that I would only get sad again when Hrefna asked where Jenassa was. I made it to a fork in the road. One way led to Darkwater Crossing, and the other I had never been on. I took the unknown road, hoping that it would lead me to a town where no one knew me.

I came across a small settlement called Shor's Stone. The blacksmith there, a man named Filnjar, welcomed me, but told me that he hoped I hadn't come looking for work in the mine. I asked him why not, and he told me that it was full of spiders. They'd almost killed him and one of the miners when they showed up. He was worried that soon they'd come out of the mine soon to look for food. I asked him why the I'd seen around hadn't helped him, and he scoffed and said that they gave him some nonsense about looking out for enemy soldiers. I offered to kill the spiders for him, if he'd help me fix my armor in return. He made an even better offer, and said that if I kept my word, that he would not only gladly help me, but he'd line my pockets with as much gold as he could scrape up. I agreed, and went to the mine to kill the spiders. The spiders weren't much of a challenge, and I found some ore veins in the mine.I was going to leave them, but noticed that the ore looked like my new dagger. I dug out some of it, then went back to tell Filnjar that the spiders were dead now. He was very happy, and gave me one thousand septims for my help. He hadn't been kidding about lining my pockets. We went to work on my armor and weapons, and in a few hours we had them all looking like new again. I asked him if he knew where I could get some supplies and a map, and he told me to head down the road to Riften. I thanked him for his help and set off, waving goodbye to him from the road.

There was a fort over the road not far from Shor's Stone, but it looked like it was full of bandits. I crept around it, since I didn't want to deal with any fighting right now. I made it to Riften not long after that, and one of the guards at the gate tried to get me to pay some "visitor's tax" for the privilege of entering the city. I told him that this was obviously a shakedown of some sort, and he gave up and let me into the town. It amazed me that the neither Filnjar or the guards here commented on my appearance. I hadn't bathed or anything since getting covered in Falmer blood. I probably smelled horrid too. I decided to go to the general store in town to get some soap as soon as possible. Jenassa had been carrying mine.

In the market, a man stopped me, and tried to tell me that I'd never done an honest day's work for all of the coin I was carrying. I ignored him, and he said that he could take a hint, and told me to come and find him if I wanted to make some money. He then went back to his stall and started trying to sell people something called "Genuine Falmerblood Elixer" I fought the urge to flake off some actual dried Falmer blood and throw it at him. I went over to the blacksmith nearby, to see if he had any better armor that I could wear. I'd gotten some boots from Filnjar, but I needed better gauntlets. The smith, Balimund, asked me if I'd come to see him perform miracles with steel. I smiled and told him that he seemed proud of his work and he gave credit to his forefathers, and their recipe for flame. Apparently, his forge used fire salts, and it allowed him to forge superior weapons. I was impressed, but he seemed sad. I asked him what was wrong, and he said that he'd used the last of the fire salt that he had, and his forge was dying. I happened to have some in my bag. I handed them over, and he thanked me and told me that I'd "warmed an old smith's heart". He then rewarded me with one thousand septims. He didn't have the gauntlets I needed, but at least I had managed to help him, and make some coin in the process. He told me that I could come back and use his forge anytime, and thanked me again for my help. I managed to find the general store, and bought myself some soap, a map and fresh clothes. I also sold him a few things, and asked if there was an alchemy shop in town. He told me that there was, and that it was down on the lower level near the canal. I managed to find it, and I was greeted warmly by a woman inside. She introduced herself as Hafjorg, and told me that this was her husband Elgrim's shop. I sold her a few potions, and she asked if I would mind doing her a favor. I said that I would, and she asked if I could go to Shor's Stone and pick up an ore sample from Filnjar. I wondered why he hadn't mentioned it while I'd been there, but I supposed that he'd been to happy about the spiders and it had slipped his mind. It was starting to get dark when I left the alchemy shop, so I decided to head to the inn to get some food and a room.

When I got to the inn, a priest was there yelling at everyone, and saying that dragons had returned because Mara was angry at everyone's constant drunkenness. The innkeeper, an Argonian named Keerava, got onto him, and the barman talked to the priest and asked him to stop using the dragons as an excuse to harass their customers. He then asked him to keep the sermons at the temple, and to let everyone sin in peace. Keerava wasn't  very friendly, but the barman Talen-Jei was. He offered to make me one of their special drinks if I wanted one. He also asked if I was an adventurer. I told him that I was, and he asked if I could do a favor for him. He explained that he and Keerava were in love, and he wanted to marry her. But, according to Argonian tradition, he needed three flawless amethysts to finish an engagement ring for her. I had gotten a few of them in Mzulft, so I handed three over to him. He thanked me, and gave me some sort of poison as a reward. I thought it was strange, but put it in my bag to sell later. I rented a room from Keerava, and asked her to bring up a kettle of warm water. She did, but it was cold, so I just heated it up with a flame spell. I bathed myself as best I could, and got all of the blood off of me. Then I put on some of my new clothes and got into bed to write. Riften wasn't the best town, but I had seen a few other Dunmer here, and they didn't seem to be racist against us here. And a few of the people I had met were nice. I looked over my map and made a few notes on it, then tucked it away in my bag. I'd forgotten to buy dinner, so I ate some of my food stores, and decided to get something fresher for breakfast.

15th of Heartfire, 4E201
I don't know how long we slept, only that I was still tired when we woke up. I was tempted to go back to sleep, but my desire to get out of this place stopped me. I got  out some of our food for breakfast as Jenassa looked out the room's barred window. There were no signs of anything out there at the moment, and thankfully nothing had tried to get in. We ate in silence, afraid that something would hear us talking and come after us. We washed our breakfast down with a few stamina potions to keep us going, then got our armor and gear back on. I pocketed the room's key, just in case it opened any other doors. A key was much faster than a lockpick, and lockpicks couldn't lock doors behind you. At least not that I knew of. I removed my floor runes and opened the door as quietly as I could. Nothing out there, thankfully. We set out further into the unknown, our weapons ready for the inevitable things that would surely try to kill us.

Not far from the room we stayed in, I found more moonstone ore. I managed to mine it without anything coming to attack us. In a nearby hallway, we found another of the Altmer like monsters, dead. There weren't any machines around though, except the ones attached to the walls, just pipes and gears. We weren't sure what killed him, but we didn't stay around long enough for it to come kill us too. Down the hall, we found a locked room. I tried the key and it opened it. Inside was another of the insect monsters, but my frost atronach took care of him. It was a bedroom. The bed was on a raised, what was it called, dais I think? It was larger than the other room, and also had a table with a chair and a chest sitting on it. In the chest was a beautiful amethyst, a gold and amethyst necklace, and a silver one with an emerald in it, that seemed to be enchanted. There were dishes everywhere, and various metal components from something. I also found a helmet on the desk. It seemed to cover your whole head, and a likeness similar to some of the metal decorations we'd seen on the wall was made onto it. I wondered if they just liked that face, or if perhaps they all looked like that. I left it sitting on the desk, and we continued further into the ruin.

In the next room two more of the creatures were skulking about, and one of them even summoned a bound sword like I used! I explored the room after we killed them, and we found what seemed to be a water reservoir. Amazingly, the water was still clear and seemed to be drinkable. We refilled our water jugs, and had some to drink. I was glad that the creatures hadn't spoiled it. We found another bedroom near the reservoir, and it had one of those large insects in it. I had to summon  two frost atronachs to kill it. In the room, there was a large chest on a desk. It seemed that the bedrooms were getting nicer and nicer. It worried me though, that these bugs had somehow managed to get into them though. I found an amulet to one of the divines in the chest, as well as another amethyst. The Dwemer seemed to like them. I also found the main piece of a set of armor, which Jenassa said looked Orcish. How had this gotten here? She picked it up and managed to fit it into her bag after throwing out a few other things. I asked her why she wanted it, and she said that it was worth quite a bit of money. That seemed to be a fair reason. If we got out of here alive, we were going to be able to afford to buy a feast fit for a Jarl, or even a king.

I'm never going to make it out of this place. Those creatures, those horrible horrible creatures, managed to kill Jenassa. I flew into a rage and shouted at them, knocked them backwards and cutting them until they fell, and even after. I was covered in blood and had gotten it everywhere. I held her for hours it seemed, begging her to come back. I could have raised her from the dead, but it wouldn't really be her, just a soulless zombie that looked like her. I cried and cried until I was empty. Then, hate started to fill me. Hate for this place, those creatures, and for the gods for letting her die. There was no dirt to bury her in, everything was stone. I knew that she hated it underground, but I hoped that she would forgive me. I managed to carry her back to one of the bedrooms, and laid her on the bed. I made a bouquet of nightshade and lavender for her, and left it clutched in her hands on her chest. I also left a note with her, letting anyone that found her know that she had fought bravely, and had fallen to the horrible creatures of this accursed place. I left her there, and locked the door behind me. Now it was time for me to make some of her art in her honor. My brushes would be my sword, my bow, my spells, and my hands if they had to be. The paint would be the blood and insides of those creatures. The canvas would be the walls and floors of this place, and any of their fellow creatures who got too close while I was killing them.

I went back to the room where the creatures had been, and tripped over something in the dark.I picked it up and carried it over to some light to see what it was It was a metal sphere, with a metal ring around it. Part of the sphere was missing, and there were crystals inside. I assumed that this had been the crystal thing that the dying mage had been talking about. It was broken, likely thanks to those damned things. I put it in my bag anyways, in case I managed to find one of those Synod mages alive here. Along the side of the room, I found another dead one. I kicked her body out of spite, for coming to this place. If they hadn't come here, I wouldn't have been sent here, and Jenassa would still be alive.Part of me knew that it wasn't their fault, but I still blamed them anyway in my anger and despair. I tried all of the doors in the room. One, I couldn't pick open, and my key didn't open it. Another, I managed to pick open, and it had a small chest and some moonstone inside. I left it where it was. The third door led down a hallway,and seemed to be my only option.

I  found two more of the creatures, already dead. I stabbed them anyways out  of hate. There were more dead in a room nearby, and one of the sphere machines was there, curled up and waiting.  I summoned a frost atronach and shut the door behind them. My atronach didn't last long. Thankfully it didn't come out of the door after me, and I kept to the shadows. I did it again and again, each atronach being sent back to Oblivion faster than I liked. It was my only option, since I knew I'd never survive if I fought it. For a brief moment, I considered letting it kill me, but quickly dismissed the thought. If I did that, Jenassa would never forgive me. Soon it did come out though, and I had to fight it. I kept summoning atronachs to distract it, and hacked at it until it finally fell to the ground in pieces. It had cut me up pretty badly, and I downed a few healing potions to heal my wounds. I limped back to the room it had been in, and kicked and stabbed at the dead creatures in the room. It was a bedroom, larger than any of the others I'd seen so far. I searched the dead creatures to see if any had any healing potions, and ironically one of them had a nightshade flower in his pocket. I took it of course, and kicked him for defiling it by touching it. A chest in the room also held another key, probably the one I needed. I was exhausted, so I dragged the creatures' bodies out of the room, tossing them into the hallway. Then I shut the door and places a few runes just inside of it. I used some of the scrap metal in the room to patch up my armor as best as I could. It was still in terrible shape. Luckily I knew a couple of mage armor spells that I could use if I needed to. I crawled into the bed, not even bothering to eat anything.

14th of Heartfire, 4E201
This morning, we had a nice breakfast with Roggi. He talked more about mead, and said that he missed travelling to Riften, where the best mead in Skyrim, Black-Briar mead, came from. He hadn't been there in years. When we left, I stopped to tell him goodbye and gave him a bottle of Black-Briar mead that I had been carrying around to sell someday. He stood up and gave me a hug, then ran around the inn celebrating. I  laughed and told him goodbye, and to enjoy his mead. Jenassa just shook her head, but I could see a small smile in the corner of her mouth.

We continued south from Kynesgrove, and I found a lot of alchemy ingredients growing along the way. I even found some of the "rare" jazbay grapes for Avrusa Sarethi. I found the twenty bunches that she had wanted with relative ease, and grabbed a few more to experiment with myself. I guess they were only rare if you didn't know where to look. We kept hearing a dragon roaring in the distance, and we finally saw him further south. He was west of the road, and circling around his roost. I was going to ignore him, but then I spotted the falls near Darkwater Crossing in the distance, and remembered my friends there. I couldn't leave that dragon alive and have them in danger. We took off across the volcanic tundra, weapons in hand, to defeat the dragon.

He flew to us and spewed fire down on us. Jenassa shot him with arrows until he landed, then I finished him off with my sword and my frost atronach. He set me on fire, and I jumped on top of his head, slicing at his eyes and face until he finally collapsed in death. I healed our wounds and burns, and we made our way to his roost to see if he'd had any treasure. There was another chanting wall, and a large chest.I didn't know why such a large dragon needed a chest that would have been too small for him, but I doubted that I would ever find out. In the chest was a coinpurse of septims, a scroll, an Imperial helmet, and an elven greatsword. It was too heavy for either of us to carry without difficulty, so we left it there for an adventurer to find. I left the helmet too, it was dirty and grimy, and you could buy an Imperial helmet in almost every town in Skyrim. We climbed back down from the dragon's roost, and hurried back to the road.

At last, we made it. We'd seen what looked like Dwemer stonework from the road, so we followed a footpath up the hill and found the ruins.  According to where we were and the mark on Jenassa's map, this seemed to be the right place. We readied our weapons just in case and went inside. Just inside the door we found a wounded mage mumbling something about a crystal being gone. Jenassa looked around for trouble and I sheathed my sword and hurried over to him to help him. He bled to death before I could help him. Before he died, he said something about finding someone in something called an Oculory. He was clutching a book in his hand, so I gently closed his eyes and took it to figure out what had happened. Apparently the Council of the Synod had sent them here with a crystal of some sort  to do something, but something had gone wrong. I kept his book, and tried to open the door near him, but it was locked. I apologized to him and searched through his pockets for a key. Thankfully he had one. I used it to open the door and pocketed it in case we'd need it later. We walked quietly, heading further inside with our weapons ready in case of trouble.
Not too far from the door we spotted a dead mage in a hallway, and were nearly killed ourselves when spikes suddenly came down from the ceiling. There hadn't been a tripwire or anything. Thankfully they didn't go far enough to kill us if we flattened our bodies against the floor. We waited on them to stop trying to impale us,then got up and hurried over near the mage and out of the way. There was blood everywhere. He didn't have any sort of journal or research log with him, but he did have a magicka potion. He wouldn't be needed it anymore, so I carefully put it into my bag. Not far from the dead mage, we were attacked by metal spiders! How were these machines still working? The halls were filled with gears and pipes, all making noise and turning away. The Dwemer had vanished ages ago, yet all of this still worked without them. It was enough to nearly make my head spin. The spiders had soul gems in them also. One had fallen out when Jenassa broke it nearly in half attacking it. If we made it out of here alive, we'd have plenty of septims after we sold these gems.

We also found some moonstone ore veins. I remembered moonstone being expensive at the blacksmith shops, so I mined as much as I could. Jenassa was getting a little nervous as I mined, because we kept hearing an odd clicking sound. We soon found out what it was. It was a giant insect of some sort, and it was nearly the size of a small pony! I summoned a frost atronach to block it from getting closer to us, and we aimed around it to shoot at the creature. We found two more mages in the area that it was in, dead with their faces splattered with some sort of greenish liquid. They'd been torn up and partially eaten as well. Near one of them, we found two bedrolls. There was also a table near the platform that the bedrolls were on, as well as some food that was beginning to spoil. Another moonstone ore vein was near the table, so I quickly mined  the ore before any more of those things came. Further along, we found two more of them, but they were thankfully smaller and a little easier to kill. They spit some sort of poison at us, but thankfully missed. It smelled foul as it flew past my head. More machines attacked us in the next area. They were about our size, and seemed to be half man and half sphere. They also moved very fast. I wished that we could find a lever somewhere that would turn them all off. I didn't like things coming out of walls to attack me. We were both getting hungry, so we found some shadows to hide in and quickly healed our scrapes and bruises and had something to eat. I summoned an atronach to guard us. Further into the ruin, we found more traps and machines trying to kill us. I discovered that my frost atronach seemed to last longer against the metal beasts, so I decided to summon him from now on.

Through a door and down a hallway, we found a few dead machines and a dead creature that I'd never seen before. It looked like an elf, but it was eyeless and nearly nose less, and had sharp teeth and claws. It was wearing rags, and had weapons and armor plates, made from a material that looked like the shells of the insects we'd seen. We found another dead one and more dead machines further down the hall. They looked like Altmer that had been cursed to become monsters. I hoped that we would only find dead ones.

In the next area, we found more dead machines, but I saw one of the cursed Altmer creatures skulking around between the shadows. We crept closer and stayed still in the shadows, and he walked right past us, wheezing heavily. I summoned my bound bow and killed him from the darkness. We also found another
dead mage, seemingly throttled to death by the creature.

Hours later, after trekking through miles and miles of creature and bug infested tunnels, we finally made it back into what seemed to be the Dwemer ruin again. We'd found a few more mages in the tunnels, probably dragged there by the creatures. Just inside the ruin, we found a locked room that the creatures hadn't managed to get into. I picked the lock, and we shut the door behind us and looked for something to block the door with. All of the furniture was carved stone, but I did find a key on a table that fit the lock in the door. We locked ourselves in. It was a small room, with a table, a chair, and a stone bed with a long dead skeleton on it. There was also a chest on the table with a beautiful emerald ring in it. We pushed the skeleton off of the bed and made a mattress of sorts with some of our clothes. We ate some dinner and studied the room. Most of the room was chilly, but it was warm near the bed thanks to some steam coming out of a few spinning gears in the floor. I put some fire runes near the door in case anything managed to get in, and we huddled together in the small bed. We'd been through the closest thing to hell that we could imagine, and we were nowhere near out of it yet. I wondered if we'd ever get to see the sun again.