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.