11th of Heartfire 4E201
I had more nightmares last night. They weren't so bad that I woke up screaming, but they did leave me shaken. I dreamed that all of the mages had come back to life, and they stormed our room and dragged us both to the Caller woman to experiment on us. When we got to the ritual chamber, Orthorn was there on a table, and she was already hurting him, he looked at me and asked why I hadn't saved him, then he just screamed. I was so shaken that I didn't even want to eat breakfast this morning. Jenassa had some, and looked at me worriedly. She didn't ask what was wrong though. When we left, the bodies of the mages we'd killed were already starting to smell a little. It was terrible. We hurried out of there as fast as we could. I wanted to go and have another bath, and then take the carriage from Whiterun to Winterhold. Luckily, we found a small pool outside of Fellglow Keep, and the water seemed clean. I hurriedly washed myself off, and Jenassa did the same. I was glad that we still had plenty of soap left, since it took a lot of it to get all of the blood off of my armor. I dried the water off of it with a shirt, then we got dressed and made our way to Whiterun.

A skeever attacked us on the way back to Whiterun. I guess that meant that the blessing of the gods no longer applied. It was nice while it lasted though. We made it to Whiterun in record time, and I hired the carriage outside of town. I figured that it would be night when we got there, so I decided to rest on the trip so that I could deliver the books when I got to the college. Hopefully everyone would still be awake.

I was right, it was dark when we got there, a few hours past sunset. I hurriedly ran through the snow to get to the College, already missing the warmth of Whiterun. On the way in, I ran into Phinis, and he mentioned something about some missing apprentices. Yisra, Ilas-tei, Borvir, and Rundi were their  names. Yisra had been working on flame cloak spells, Ilas-tei was working on illusion spells, and Borvir and Rundi, who were twins, were trying to use frost to help improve mead. I asked what they looked like, and Borvir matched the description of the mage we had found in the ruins not far from Winterhold. I even showed him the dagger I had found, and Phinis said that it looked like Borvir's. I decided that I would keep an eye out for the other three in my travels. Also, since I had plenty of septims now (over six-thousand I think) I decided to get a few more spells. The only ones that he had that  didn't know already were Banish Daedra and Conjure Frost Atronach, so I bought those and an adept level hood and robes. After that I went around to the other instructors to see if any of them had any spells that I didn't know already. Drevis did, so I bought them. One, called Frenzy, seemed to be a stronger version of Fury, and the other, called Rally, was a stronger Courage spell. I was still wide awake, so I decided to go and see if Tolfdir ever got back, and if he had any spells I could buy. And he'd be happy to finally have his alembic back. I was so tired of carrying it around.

I found Tolfdir in the Hall of the Elements, along with..the orb thing. How had they gotten it out of Saarthal and into the College? It was bigger than the door was! Not to mention it never could have fit through any of the doors in Saarthal. Tolfdir was happy to get his alembic back, and gave me thirty septims and a soul gem.  Sadly, he didn't have any new spells for sale. It was getting late, and I was starting to get sleepy again, so I decided to go and deliver the books to Urag in the Arcaneum, and then get some sleep. He was happy to get the books back, and asked if I had read one in particular. The one called Night of Tears seemed to have some significance. Now I wished that I had read it. He said that I should mention it to Tolfdir, and gave me a few books as a reward for my trouble. I put them in my bag for now, but I would read them before going to bed. I stopped by and talked to Tolfdir on the way to my dormitory, since he was still in the Hall of the Elements downstairs from the Arcaneum. I told him about the book, and he seemed to think that it had been about something buried beneath Saarthal..something that men and mer had fought over. I didn't like the sound of that. Then Tolfdir went on to talk about the orb, and certain characteristics about its appearance. The markings on it didn't match anything they'd ever seen before. He then went on to say that he could feel it radiating magicka. Then, Ancano interrupted his lecture, and claimed that he must speak with me immediately. Tolfdir got very angry, and said that he was being inappropriate because we were involved in serious research. Ancano insisted that the matter couldn't wait, to which Tolfdir replied that he had never been interrupted like this before, and was shocked at the audacity of it all. He then promised that we would continue at a later date, when we could avoid interruptions. I liked Tolfdir, he wasn't afraid to tell off a Thalmor. Ancano then addressed me, and said that I must follow him. I asked what was going on, and he explained that someone claiming to be from the Psijiic Order was here and wanted to speak to me. He wanted to know why, so he said that I was going to go with him, and we were all going to have a little 'chat'. I raised an eyebrow at him, and asked "Aren't you just an advisor here?" He seemed to grit his teeth and replied "Technically that is true, but I still report to the Aldmeri Dominion and this is a situation that cannot be ignored. Don't worry, you can return to your petty squabbles and meaningless 'research' a soon as this matter is resolved." I sighed and followed him, wanting to get this over with. We went to the Arch Mage's chambers, where the Arch Mage was waiting with a Psijic Monk. He looked similar to the one I had seen in Saarthal, but he was a different person. He made the room freeze around us like the monk had in Saarthal, and said that it was good to meet me in person. I asked what was going on, and he explained that he had frozen the room so that we could speak privately. He then told me that he didn't have much time, so he must speak quickly. He said that they had tried contacting me before now, like they had in Saarthal, but he feared that the orb downstairs was interfering. He also said that the mages at the College had taken to calling it the Eye of Magnus. But, we were all in danger because of it. And the longer it stayed here, the worse things could get. I asked him what the problem was, and he told me that the Eye was very powerful and the world wasn't ready for its power yet. I told him that I would help him however I could, but that I had no idea what to do. He told me to seek out someone called the Augur of Dunlain here at the College. I asked who he was, and he told me that he was once a student, but was now something different. He didn't know where I could find him though, but suggested that I ask around the College about him. He then said that they would be watching over me, and to never forget that the ability to succeed was within me. He then unfroze the room around us, and the Arch Mage asked him what it was that he had needed. Then Ancano interrupted and demanded that he tell him what he wanted. It was like no time had passed to them! I hid a smile behind my hand as the Psijic Monk, whose name was Quaranir, acted like he didn't know what Ancano was talking about, and said that there must have been some misunderstanding and that he had to leave. Ancano got angry and said that he wasn't leaving until he found out what Quaranir was up to. Quaranir insisted that he wasn't up to anything, and apologized for possibly offending anyone. Ancano just scowled and walked off angrily. I had to almost bite my tongue to stop from laughing. The Arch Mage came over to me after Ancano and Quaranir left, and said that he wasn't sure what happened. He was worried that he had somehow offended Quaranir. I wanted to tell him that that wasn't the case, but I didn't want to let him know that anything was amiss and cause him to worry. I asked him if he knew anything about the Augur of Dunlain, and he offhandedly asked if Tolfdir had been telling stories again, even after he had been told that the Augur wasn't appropriate discussion material. The Arch Mage then asked me to remind Tolfdir about that, and told me to have a good evening.

I went back downatairs to the Hall of the Elements to see if Tolfdir was still there so I could ask about the Augur, but he was gone. I decided that it was past time for bed, and went to my room to get some sleep.

10th of Heartfire 4E201
We had a quick breakfast this morning, then set out on our journey to Fellglow Keep. I gave Jenassa a few of the healing potions I had made as we walked, just in case she needed them. Ri'saad was back outside of the town, and I sold him many of the potions I didn't need. I told him about meeting the other Khajiit caravans in my travels, and he asked if they had been kind to me. I told him that they had, and that one of the caravans even helped fight a dragon in Dawnstar. He seemed surprised, and said that it must have been a sight to see. As we left, he again told us that he hoped our road would lead us to warm sands.

We managed to find the treasure near Valtheim keep that the map led us to. Thankfully there were no bandits to hassle us this time. And, there was even a path nearby that led up the mountain to Fellglow Keep. I wasn't sure what we would find when we got there.

The keep was mostly ruins, with only part of it still standing. We weren't able to get into the  main door, but we managed to find another door that led to the dungeons. Judging by the hostile mages outside, we were sure to find more resistance within the keep.

There were a couple of mages just inside, and they had imprisoned a few vampires in the dungeons. I let them out, and they helped us kill the mages in the next room, then ran out of the dungeon. It was still daytime outside, so I hoped that they would be alright. The room near the dungeon was horrible. There were bodies laid out on the tables in the room, in various states of decomposition. Two of them were even vampires. And, they had a poor dead Khajiit up in a cage suspended in the ceiling. What kind of people were these mages? And what were they doing to these people? Blood was everywhere in the room, and I had to cover my nose to keep from losing my breakfast. They all looked like they had been tortured to death. I vowed to kill every single mage in this place, to avenge these poor people's deaths.

Further down, we managed to find Orthorn in a cage, being guarded by a mage and a few wolves. After we defeated them I went over to talk to Orthorn. He seemed excited, and asked if the arch mage had sent us to rescue him. I told him no, and that I was just here for the books he had stolen. He sighed, and apologized profusely for stealing them, and said that he was stupid and that it wouldn't happen again. I asked why he was locked up, and learned that his new "friends" had tricked him, and had locked him up until they were ready to use him as a test subject. He also told me that someone named the Caller had the books now. I let him out, and he thanked me, and promised to help me get the books back, then he planned to return to the College and beg them to let him back in. Orthorn offered to come along and help, and I decided to let him. I wasn't sure what we were going to face further into the keep, and we could probably use the help.

In the next area, there were three mages practicing spells. One of their targets was a dummy, and the other two were vampires. One of the vampires was already dead, but the other was still alive. They were both in small cages hanging from the ceiling. There didn't seem to be any way to let her out, and I didn't think it would be right to leave her stuck in there to suffer. I summoned my bow and put her out of her misery. I also left a nightshade flower in the cage for her, and wished her better luck in the next life.

Orthorn warned us that the next area was full of necromancers, so I readied my summoned bow and picked them off before they could raise the dead against us. A few skeletons came out of their coffins regardless, but soon they were just piles of bones again. More mages were in the rooms beyond, and we fought them, but Orthorn was killed in the battle. I felt terrible, and wished I had told him to just leave, even though he had seemingly betrayed the College. We pressed on, though I was a bit saddened. We needed to find this Caller, and make them pay for all of this bloodshed.

After a few more fights, we finally made it to the last chamber. The Caller was rather angry at us, and wouldn't give up the books without a fight. We managed to defeat her, and I collected the books, wondering which one we needed back at the College. In the room beyond her ritual chamber, we found a bit of treasure, and a floor hatch back into the keep. It led to a room we had been in before, with the main door to the outside nearby. It was dark when we went outside, and I was exhausted. We had seen some beds in some of the rooms that the mages slept in, and I decided that we would stay here tonight and go back to Whiterun in the morning. We found the room farthest away from all of the dead bodies, and barricaded ourselves inside with some chairs. I was too exhausted and depressed to even bother eating, so we helped each other out of our armor before getting ready for bed. We decided to keep our weapons nearby though, just in case. I wondered if I could even fall asleep in this place.

9th of Heartfire 4E201
I was right. It was the next morning before I finally felt rested enough to wake up. Jenassa had already gotten up and ordered us some breakfast. I thanked her and ate, feeling very famished after having slept for so long. I also felt very dirty, so after breakfast we hurried and packed our gear so that we could get on the road. I wanted to get back to somewhere without so much snow so that I could finally have a bath. More Khajiit were outside of town, and a female was selling wares. Her name was Ahkari. I was about to sell her some of the things that I had found in the temple, but suddenly the other Khajiit drew their weapons. I wondered why, then I heard an all too familiar sound. I looked up, and a dragon was circling around Dawnstar. We managed to defeat it, with the help of the town guards and the Khajiit. The Khajiit had vanished, and I went to look for them to thank them for their help against the dragon. When I found them, they were fighting a frost troll nearby. Sadly, one of the miners that went with them to help got killed by the troll. I healed the survivors with my spell, and summoned my atronach to help with the troll. We all defeated him, and I made sure that they were all alright as we walked back towards the town. One of them, a male named Kharjo, told me that bandits harassed the caravan often during their journeys between towns, but that they usually scared them off. I asked if they had been giving them trouble lately, and he mentioned a skirmish that they had had not too long ago. One of the bandits had stolen his moon amulet. His mother had given it to him when he was just a cub, and it was his only memory of home in this cold land. I felt bad for him, and offered to get the amulet back for him. He said that was kind of me, and told me where they believed that the bandits made their home. He then asked me to be careful; although he missed his amulet, my life couldn't be replaced as easily as it could. When we got back to the dragon skeleton, I looted what I could from it, and sold what I didn't need to Ahkari. She told us goodbye, and hoped that our road would lead us to warm sands.

Along the road from Dawnstar, we met a trio of Thalmor. They all told me to move along, and that what they were doing didn't concern me. They also snidely called me "citizen". I remembered my oath to myself, and started loudly praying to Talos. They got angry and attacked us. We defeated them, and I took their armor and robes. I left them there by the side of the road as a message to any other Thalmor that came down this path. Oddly enough, I didn't feel bad killing them. They had not only started the Great War, which claimed thousands of lives, but they also dragged people off to "interrogate" them for worshiping a divine that they held dear to their heart. And on top of that, they were making the rest of the elves look bad.

At last, it was getting warmer! It was the middle of the afternoon by the time we got close enough to see Dragonsreach in the distance. I was so excited that I started jogging down the road, determined to finally have a bath in the river that ran near the town. About halfway there, there was an odd looking man standing in the road next to what seemed to be a broken down cart. As we got closer, he lamented that he was stuck, and said something about his poor mother being unmoving and at rest, but that she was too still. I asked him what was wrong. and he told me that poor Cicero was stuck, and that he was transporting his dear sweet mother's corpse to a new crypt, and his wagon wheel broke. His manner of speaking was rather odd, and I glanced over  at Jenassa to see what she thought about him. She was looking at him with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. I asked him if there was any way that I could help, and he started dancing and said that of course I could help him. He asked me to go to the Loreius farm just up the hill, and convince Loreius to fix his wheel. Apparently Cicero had aslready asked him for help, but he refused. He promised that he would reward me with "gleamy shiny coin" for my help. I talked to Loreius, and he said that Cicero had already asked him for help many times, and wondered why he wouldn't leave them alone. I asked why he wouldn't help him, since he would surely pay them for their help. He scoffed and said that his reason had nothing to do with money. He said that Cicero was completely out of his head, and that there hadn't been a jester in Skyrim for a hundred years. He then went on to say that he doubted that it was his mother in the box in the wagon, and he thought it must be war contraband, weapons, or skooma. And he didn't want to get involved in anything illegal. I reminded him that he was a stranger who needed help, and asked him to do the right thing. He got flustered, and wondered who I was to come here and tell him his business. I tried again, persuading him that helping him was the right thing to do. He sighed and agreed that I was right. He needed help, and if he turned him away what kind of man was he? He apologized for his rudeness and asked me to tell Cicero that he would be down to help him soon after he gathered his tools together. Cicero was so happy that he started dancing again, and said that even his mother thanked me for my help. He then rewarded me with four-hundred septims. I thanked him and wished him better luck on the rest of his journey, and we continued on to the river to finally have a bath.

We managed to find part of the river that had a strip of land around it, to shield us from the strong current. There was a sabrecat on the middle of it, sitting near a chest. He didn't bother us, and I picked the lock on the chest, finding a few septims inside. Then we spent what seemed like hours bathing and washing all of our clothes. We laid the clothes out to dry on some rocks, and sat on the shore and had a light meal. It was nice to be somewhere warm again. I planned to stay in Whiterun tonight, then go and find Fellglow Keep tomorrow. Since it was near Valtheim Towers, we could also look there for the treasure shown on the map I had found.

I felt so much better as we walked to town after my bath. Jenassa said that it was the best bath she had ever had. Now we wouldn't have to worry about townfolk running away from our smell. I did some trading with Adrianne, and bought some more moonstone so that I could improve the rest of our armor. I also stopped by Belethor's shop to sell some things, and by Arcadia's to make more potions for us. I even made enough poisons to sell to her for a nice profit. I made enough to buy all of the ingredients that she had in stock, then sold more potions back to her to get all of my septims back. And I still had at least thirty to sell later. Alchemy was turning out to be a very profitable hobby. We then made our way to the inn to get dinner and a room for the night. Outside of the inn, a courier stopped me and gave me an invitation to a new museum that was opening up in Dawnstar. I thanked him, then read it as we walked into the inn. It said: "Silus Vesuius Presents The Museum of the Mythic Dawn A History of the Cult that Toppled the Septim Dynasty Inside of his very own home in the great capital of the Pale, Dawnstar Free and open to all citizens of Skyrim". I bought us some dinner, and showed the pamphlet to Jenassa as we ate. She thought it was strange, but admitted that she was a bit curious about what the museum could possibly contain, since the Mythic Dawn had been seemingly wiped out over two centuries ago. After dinner, I rented a room from Hulda, and we made small talk as she showed it to us out of habit. She told us goodnight, and said that it was good to see us again. Of all the beds I had slept in across Skyrim so far, the one here at the Bannered Mare was the most comfortable.

8th of Heartfire 4E201
The library had more of the sleeping orcs in it, as well as some of Vaermina's priests. Thankfully, they were fighting each other as well as us, so they didn't pose much of a threat. After we defeated them all, I asked Erandur what we were looking for in here. He told me about the book we needed, called The Dreamstride. Apparently it was a book of alchemical recipes, and had Vaermina on the cover. I had to climb around the ruined library, and nearly fell a few times, but I found the book. The book was about using something  called Vaermina's Torpor to enter a state known as the Dreamstride. I asked him if it was some sort of potion, and he said it was. The priests apparently drank it to enter the Dreamstride, which let people use dreams to travel various distances in the real world. I told him that seemed impossible, but he said that the phenomenon was well known is lore concerning Vaermina. He said that he had never actually seen it himself, so he wasn't sure how it was going to go. I sighed a bit and asked if that meant that I was going to be his test subject. He said that it wouldn't work on him, since he was a priest of Mara. It apparently only worked on priests of Vaermina, or the unaffiliated. I told him that it sounded dangerous, and asked how he could be so certain about it, and he agreed that there was some risk involved. He then swore on Lady Mara that he would do everything in his power to keep me safe. I swore a bit too, under my breath, and asked where we could get some of this stuff. He said that there should still be some in their laboratory, and hoped that there was a bottle still intact. I doubted it, based on the sorry state that the library was in, but I didn't tell him that.

The hallway to the laboratory and the laboratory itself had more of the sleeping orcs and priests. We defeated all of them, and he asked me to look around for the Torpor. There were so many potions and ingredients left intact despite the damage, and I collected ingredients as I looked for the Torpor. There were even a few nightshade flowers. I found the Torpor, and took it up to Erandur. He was relieved that we found a bottle intact, since the laboratory was in shambles. He then asked me to drink it. I hesitated for a moment, then uncorked the bottle and drank it.

I will never ever ever drink any of this Torpor stuff again. After I drank it, I felt so dizzy that it nearly made me sick, and when I opened my eyes, I was somewhere else. Everything looked hazy, and there were two priests standing in front of me, talking about some orcs breaching the inner sanctum. I then realized that this was the past, decades ago, and I must be in Nightcaller Temple still. Whose dream was this then? The only other person who had been around me was Erandur, so I thought it might be his since he had once been a priest of Vaermina. But, they called me Brother Casimir, and asked if I had made my peace with things, I said I had, and they told me that I must go and release the Miasma, while they stayed there and guarded the Skull of Corruption. I tried talking to them, but I started walking away from them, as if I were not in control of my actions. It was like I was being dragged along behind someone, powerless to get free. There was fighting going on everywhere, but thankfully Brother Casimir was unharmed as he ran to release the Miasma. He pulled the handle on a carved figure, and the Miasma was released. Then, suddenly, I was myself again. I fell to the ground in a coughing fit, then looked around. Somehow, I was on the other side of the barrier we had been trying to get past. So it really did work after all! I could see Erandur on the other side, oblivious to my being over here. I noticed that  the barrier was coming out of what looked like a soul gem, so I carefully grabbed it. The barrier vanished, and Erandur came over to me, seemingly very excited that the Torpor had actually worked. He said I had vanished right before his eyes after drinking the Torpor, and appeared again on the other side of the barrier. I told him that it was like I was actually there, and he got a bit envious of my experience. He lamented that he would only get to read about it through his studies of the Skull. I told him that we could discuss it later, but right now we needed to keep moving. He agreed, and we both made our way to the inner sanctum where the Skull rested.

On the way there, we fought more of the "awakened" as Erandur called them, and I picked up more potions and alchemy ingredients along the way. It seemed each priest carried at least one potion and one ingredient.
In a sleeping area, I found some clean and undamaged robes of Vaermina, and put them into my bag. They weren't enchanted or anything, but they looked pretty. Went into the dining hall, more awakened, though only orcs. It was dark in there, so I had tripped over one of them, causing him to wake up and start swinging at me. They didn't stay awake for long. After that, and a trip down a hallway, we found the inner sanctum. Unfortunately, the two priests from the dream were there, and they were not happy. They seemed to recognize Erandur, and called hin Casimir. So it was his dreams I was in! They called him a traitor, and said that he had left them to die before the Miasma took him. He argued, saying that he was just scared and wasn't really ready to sleep. They said they'd had enough of his lies, and that they couldn't allow him to destroy the Skull. Erandur then said that they left him no choice, and the fighting began. We managed to defeat then, and Erandur lamented that he had known them, and they were his friends. He said that Lady Mara must be tormenting him, but I reminded him that they were trying to kill us. He nodded, and said that if they had, that the fate of Dawnstar would have been sealed. He thanked me for my wisdom, and remarked that I had a unique way of looking at things. He then went up the stairs to remove the barrier around the Skull, using a ritual he'd been given by Lady Mara. I looked around for treasure, and found a chest with some nice things in it. He was still doing the ritual, so I sat down on the steps and had something to eat. My stomach had been rumbling for hours it seemed. I was just wondering what Jenassa was doing when I heard a woman's voice all around me. She said that he was deceiving me, and that when the ritual to destroy the Skull was fnished,  Erandur would turn on me. She the told me to kill him quickly before he finished the ritual, and to claim the Skull as my own. She then added "Vaermina commands you!" So this voice was the daedric lord Vaermina? I wasn't sure what to do. Erandur had been pretty level with me so far, after he told the truth about everything. But, he had killed two of his friends to get to the Skull. I decided to let him finish the ritual, since daedric lords were bad news. If he attacked me after that, then I would defend myself. I had taken down dragons, so I figured that I could defeat a priest. He destroyed the Skull, and didn't turn on me. I was glad that I didn't kill him. He asked me to forgive him for not seeming more relieved, since this place had taken its toll on him. I asked him if he was going to be alright, and he said that he would eventually. He told me that he would stay here in the Temple, near the shrine that I had built, atoning for his past sins. But, if I ever asked him to, he would come with me on my journey. We walked back to the entrance of the temple in silence, both seemingly lost in our thoughts.

Jenassa was dozing on the bench when we got back to her, but woke up when she heard us. She half reached  for her weapon, then realized who it was. I told Erandur goodbye and wished him the best of luck. I told him that I would come visit the next time I was in Dawnstar. Jenassa gave him a small nod, and we left the temple to go back to Dawnstar and get some rest. On the way back, I told Jenassa all about what had happened, even the part about Vaermina trying to get me to kill Erandur. She seemed surprised, but said that it was probably best not to trust a daedric lord that gave people nightmares. I was so tired that I kept stumbling in the snow on the way back, and Jenassa kept having to catch me. When we got back to town, I decided to go to the jarl to tell him that the nightmares were over, and then go to the inn and get some much needed rest. The jarl just thanked us, and said not to bother him again unless it was important. I grumbled under my breath, and then we made our way to the inn. I rented a room and stumbled after the innkeeper as he led us to it. I was too tired to even eat anything. I had a feeling that I wasn't going to wake up for quite a while.

7th of Heartfire 4E201

Hadring served us breakfast this morning, and wished us safe travels on our journey. I made sure to mark the location of this inn on Jenassa's map, in case we were ever in the area again. I even said goodbye to Fultheim, but he just grumbled at me.

It wasn't snowing as badly as it was last night, which was a relief. I decided that we should follow the road, with no stops until Windhelm. I noticed a road sign near the inn, and it had most of the major cities on it. Whiterun was in the opposite direction that we needed to go, but maybe we could deliver the Phial, and then take the road there. I asked Jenassa what her thoughts were, and she said that we may as well save our septims and walk. And if our business in Windhelm took longer than expected, we could stay at the nice inn again. I agreed, and we set off for Windhelm.

On the way back we passed by a mill. We'd gone by it before, but I was in a hurry then. I stopped and talked to the workers, one of them was friendly, and the other was very rude and told me to get lost. The friendly one suggested I talk to the mill's owner, Aeri, if I was looking for work. I talked to her, and at first she thought I was one of the Jarl's "men". I told her I wasn't and she apologized, and explained that the Jarl of  Dawnstar was waiting on an order of lumber, and he wasn't known for his patience. She then asked if I would mind delivering a letter for  her if I was headed that way. Since we'd be going that direction anyway, I told her I would. She thanked me and got back to work, and we continued on to Windhelm.

On the road, we met a Dunmer in black robes named Faldrus. He said that he was on a pilgrammage to the Shrine of Azura, which was in the mountains to the northeast of where we were. He even marked its location on Jenassa's map for us, then wished us well and we parted ways.

We found Nurelion upstairs in his shop after we made it back to Windhelm .He wasn't happy that the Phial was cracked, and even accused me of breaking it. I told him that it was like that when I found it, and he scoffed and said that I probably didn't have the knowledge to damage it if I wanted to. He gave us only five septims for our trouble, and said that we could show ourselves out. I tried not to be upset as I went back downstairs, because he had seemed so sad to see that the Phial was ruined. Quintus stopped us downstairs, and thanked us for our efforts. He then apologized for Nurelion's temper, and rewarded us with five-hundred septims.He said that he thought we deserved a reward for our trouble, even though the Phial was damaged. We said our goodbyes and he thanked us again, and said that he would do all that he could to make Nurelion's final days less painful. I felt very sad as I left the shop, and a bit angry that Nurelion's dream had been taken from him by fate. Hopefully he would at least have peace soon.

I bought Jenassa a few pieces of Elven armor from the blacksmith in the market, to thank her for helping me get out of all of our battles alive thus far. He didn't have a complete set though, just the armor and helmet.And I had found an elven shield in Curalmil's cave. I bought some moonstone to improve them with, and the blacksmith's assistant helped me improve them. It took a while, but I finally got it right. She thanked me for them, and we went back into the White Phial so that she could change. Quintus stayed upstairs with Nurelion and promised not to peek. I helped her get into her new armor, and it fit perfectly. She loved the shield too, and said it was very strong yet light as a feather.

There was still a good bit of daylight left, so we started off, taking the road to Whiterun. I couldn't wait to get somewhere warmer so I could take a bath!

We passed the mill again, and I remembered the letter I had been given to deliver. So, Dawnstar first then Whiterun.

On the road near the inn we'd found last night, a half naked man wearing bits of fur ran up to us. He told me to hold some boots for him, and not to snitch on him or double cross him, or he'd kill me. I stood there for a moment, awkwardly holding the boots as he crouched down and seemed to be sneaking away from us. A few seconds later, another man ran up, still just as half naked. How did the snow not bother these people? He asked if I had seen someone run past just now, and I held up the boots and said that they must be his. He seemed surprised and wondered how I got them, then thanked me and gave me a septim for my trouble. he then said something about tracking down a thief and murdering him, and ran off after the first guy. I walked away to let the second man get his revenge on his own.

We ran into the three revelers drinking mead again, near a roadsign. One walked up to me and asked if I wanted to have a drink with them. I declined, but offered him a honningbrew mead out of my bag like I had before to see if he would remember me. He took it and thanked me, giving me another necklace just like the first one he had given me. I wished them well and continued to Dawnstar, wondering why the one wearing only a loincloth hadn't frozen  to death. I was also surprised they didn't remember me. I guess when you stay drunk all the time you tend to forget things.

Passed a spider walking down the road. It ignored us, thankfully.

We found a large fort, which the road ran through the middle of.  I went around it to avoid trouble, but the bandits inside saw us and attacked anyways. Now I had a chance to try out my new word! I made sure Jenassa wasn't anywhere nearby, and went after a bandit. I shouted at them, and they staggered slightly and seemed a bit weaker. I wondered what all three words together would do. And where would I even find them all? We managed to defeat all of the bandits without too much trouble, and I looted their bodies for gold, gems, and anything valuable. Normally, I would have felt terrible doing this, but they had started the fight. I was trying to go around them and avoid it, but they wouldn't have that.

We passed three Thalmor escorting a  prisoner not too far from the fort, being attacked by spiders. I decided not to help them. After all, if they were so "superior" (as their taunts to the spiders claimed), they would have no trouble with a few spiders. I did wait to see if the spiders killed any of them though, since they were wearing Elven armor. Sadly, they all lived, and only their poor prisoner was killed. I decided to talk to one, and see what she would say.I asked her about the prisoner, and she said they had been taking the man to be interrogated. I asked her what right they had to do this, and she said that the Imperial law banning Talos worship gave them the right to.I jokingly asked her what was wrong with worshipping Talos, and she said that it was against the law, and any faithful Imperial citizen would know that. She then added "Unless there's something you wish to confess?" I decided to see what would happen if I said I worshipped Talos, and she then said that I would die a heretic's death, and all three of them attacked us. We defeated them easily enough; so much for the supremacy of the Thalmor. And now Jenassa would have a full set of Elven armor. And there would be a set left over for me, and an extra set of robes. Not to mention one less trio of kidnappers dragging people off in the night for their beliefs. I decided right then and there to make it my mission to rid Skyrim of the Thalmor, one trio at a time. I would pick a fight with them along the roads, and send them to Oblivion.That way, no one would have to fear them anymore. Plus, we would get plenty of Elven armor and nice Thalmor robes in the process. I went over to the body of their prisoner that had been killed by the spiders and closed his eyes, then placed a nightshade flower on his chest. I hoped that he would find peace in the next life with his ancestors. I left the Thalmor where they were.

The  sun was starting to set when we finally made it to Dawnstar. I guess places looked closer together on the map. A guard patroling near the edge of town told us that we had come to Dawnstar at a bad time, since everyone in town was having nightmares. I wondered what was giving them nightmares as I made my way to the Jarl's longhouse. OUtside, he was arguing with a woman about her bodyguard wearing Legion armor, and seemed to not trust them at all. He then warned them that if he caught them sending a letter to General Tullius that he would have them both executed. I rifled through my bag for the letter to get its delivery over with, but when I looked up he had already gone back into his longhouse. I went inside, dreading meeting this man. I greeted them, and tried to state my business, and he said "Unless you're here to solve this nightmare problem, I don't need you" I asked him about it, and he seemed almost upset that his town was being plagued by nightmares. He then said that a priest of Mara that had gotten to town before us told him that the Divines would cure the nightmares, but until they did he didn't have anything to discuss with outsiders. I sighed and held out the letter, telling him who it was from. He read the letter, and lamented the fact that they needed the lumber, since Aeri and her men would make fine Stormcloak recruits. He then thanked me dismissively for my time, and rewarded me with four hundred septims for delivering the letter. I put on my best false smile and left, thankful that at least the trip had been worth it. It was getting dark outside, so I decided that we may as well stay here for the night and go to Whiterun in the morning. In the main room of the inn, there was a Dunmer man in priest robes. Was this the priest of Mara that the jarl had spoken of? I decided to talk to him out of curiosity. He said that the people in town were all in serious danger due to the nightmares. I told him that dreams weren't real, and asked what he could do anyways. He then told me that these weren't normal dreams, but nightmares caused by the daedric lord Vaermina stealing peoples memories and leaving nightmares behind. He then said that he needed to stop Vaermina before the people in town were damaged permanently. I asked what his plan was, and he said that he was going to return to a place nearby called Nightcaller Temple and stop her there. I asked him what he meant by returning there, since he had only just gotten to town. He sighed and said that he had already said too much, and if anyone overheard him they might start to panic. He asked for my help, and asked that I please trust him. I felt that he was hiding something, but I decided to trust him for now, and to help him for the sake of the people in town. No one deserved to have a daedric lord stealing their memories and leaving nightmares. Not even mean people. He said that the temple was nearby, and that we must hurry. Jenassa and I followed him out of the inn, and I wondered if we'd get to sleep at a decent hour tonight.


The Dunmer, whose name I learned was Erandur, led us out of town and through the snow. On the way, he told us that it felt good to finally have a chance to help the people of Dawnstar, since watching them suffer had been difficult. I wondered why he hadn't tried helping them on his own, then figured that he had needed someone else to go with him to stop whatever was harming the people. His intentions seemed noble, but  I kept my spells ready just in case. He told us about the tower we were going to, and how it used to be called the Tower of the Dawn, but that it was abandoned for years before Nightcaller Temple was established inside. He also said that the priests preferred to keepp to themselves, and rarely went into town. He seemed to know a lot about this place, for an outsider. I didn't share my suspicions with him though. I glanced over at Jenassa, and she looked just as suspicious as I did. I was glad that we were both on our guard. He continued talking about it, and said that it had been abandoned for decades. He then told us that he had visited it recently, and built a small shrine to Mara inside of the temple, to seek her guidance. So, he had been there before. Why didn't he stop the nightmares while he was there? Something wasn't right about all of this. It started snowing harder as we travelled, and the wind picked up, blowing the snow all around us. I hoped that this place was at least somewhat warm, even though it was abandoned. Maybe he had built a fire pit along with his shrine.

There was a white sabrecat outside of the temple, seemingly guarding it. Thankfully, he didn't attack us. I thought he would go after Erandur possibly, but it seemed that the protection of the gods extended to him as well. Erandur stopped us outside of the doorway and warned us about the possible dangers inside the temple. He told us that years ago, an orc raiding party had attacked the temple, since they were being plagued by nightmares like the people of Dawnstar. I asked if they managed to stop the nightmares, and he said that they weren't. The priests in the temple had released something called the Miasma, since they knew that they couldn't defeat the orcs. It had put everyone in a deep sleep. I laughed a little, and asked why it was so dangerous if they were asleep. He said that he feared that once he opened the door, the seal keeping the Miasma in would let it escape, causing it to wear off and the orcs and the priests might wake up. He asked me to follow him, but asked Jenassa to wait outside and keep watch. I asked if she could at least wait near his shrine since it was so cold and snowy outside, and he sighed and agreed. I readied  my spells, and we all went inside.

It was a little warmer inside, and Jenassa dragged a bench over next to the shrine of Mara since that was the only place that had candles lit in the room.  She then wished me luck and pulled out a book to read and a bottle of mead. She didn't wish Erandur luck; I think that she still didn't trust him. Erandur cast a flame spell on a figure carved into the wall and it changed, becoming nothing but purple air. It still looked like the figure, but we could pass through it easily. The space beyond was filled with a blueish purple fog, and I tied a cloth over my nose and mouth so I wouldn't breathe it in and fall asleep. Erandur led me over to a metal grate, and showed me what was causing the nightmares. In a room below, there was something he called the Skull of Corruption, surrounded by a barrier of some sort. At the bottom of a nearby staircase were two sleeping orcs. They woke up when we got close and attacked. So his theory had been right after all. Next to them was a purple barrier, blocking off our access to the Skull thing that we were after. Erandur cursed, and said that the priests must have activated the barrier when the Miasma was released. I studied it for a moment, and remarked that it looked difficult to breach. He said it was actually impossible to breach, then had an idea. He thought of a possibility, but said that he needed to check in their library to confirm that it could be done. I looked sideways at him, wondering how he knew so much, and told him that he seemed to know quite a bit about this place. He sighed, and said that there was no point in concealing the truth any longer. Aha, I knew he was hiding something! He told me that his knowledge of the temple came from experience, and that he used to be a priest of Vaermina. I told him that he should have told me the truth to begin with, and he agreed, and said that he didn't know what to say. He then told me about the night that the orcs attacked, and about how he fled in fear and left his brothers and sisters to die. He spent the last few decades in regret, and found redemption through the divine Mara. He had vowed  to right his past wrongs, and to stop Vaermina. I thanked him for telling me the truth at last, and assured him that I was ready to try out his plan. He still had his key to the library thankfully, and asked that I follow him to it.

6th of Heartfire 4E201

Last night wasn't the best sleep in the world, but it wasn't the worst either. At least we had somewhere safe to rest, and we didn't have to stay in that rude woman's inn. Ambarys served us a nice breakfast, then we got our gear together and made our plans for the day. I wanted to sell some of our stuff, talk to the boy summoning the Dark Brotherhood, and get the White Phial for Nurelion. I asked Ambarys about shops in town, and he suggested that we visit Sadri's Used Wares, right next door. I thanked him and we headed to the shop.

The shop was closed since it was still early in the morning, so I decided to explore the town. During our explorations, we passed a Dunmer woman and a young Nord boy, talking outside of a house. I slowed down to listen to what they were saying, and overheard them talking about a boy named Aventus Aretino.  So this was his house! I waited for them to leave, then decided to pay him a visit. His door was locked, but I managed to pick the lock easily, and we both went in quietly.

He didn't hear us come in, and we heard him chanting, over and over "sweet mother sweet mother send your child unto me for the sins of the unworthy must be baptized in blood and fear". I quietly got out the book about the Black Sacrament that I had found and looked through it. It was the same! He really was trying to get them to come here! I shut the book and ran over to the room he was in, then stopped with my mouth hanging open. There was a skeleton on the floor, surrounded by candles, and the boy was stabbing a heart and what looked like a chunk of human flesh while he was chanting. There was also a nightshade flower near him, and he would pick it up and rub  the petals onto the dagger in his hand before resuming his ritual. Behind me, Jenassa said "Oh my" which caused the boy to look up at us, as if he had just realized that we were there. He jumped up and exclaimed "You've come at last! I knew you would!" I asked him if he was alright, since he seemed exhausted and confused. Apparently, he thought we were from the Dark Brotherhood! I tried to tell him I wasn't, but he insisted that I was, and said that since I was there I could accept his contract. I asked him what he was talking about, and he told me about losing his mother, and being sent to an orphanage called Honorhall in the town of Riften. He said that the headmistress there, a woman named Grelod the Kind, was horrible, and abused and  mistreated the children there. Then he told of his escape and his plan to contact the Dark Brotherhood and have them kill Grelod for what she had done. I asked him if he was sure about this, since having someone murdered was a very big deal. He assured me that  he had never been more sure of anything in his life, because she was a monster and deserved to die. As we left, I asked Jenassa what we should do. She shook her head and said that I would have to make that decision on my own. Defending myself was one thing, but killing someone because a boy had asked me to? I wasn't sure what to do. Since she wasn't likely going anywhere, I decided to put it out of my mind for now. We didn't have time right now to make a trip to Riften anyways.

Sadri's Used Wares was open when we passed by it again, and I went inside to sell that orc's armor and weapons. The owner, Revyn Sadri  made an offhand remark about none of his goods being stolen, but I ignored it and bartered with him. I sold all of the orc's things, and a few other things we were carrying that we didn't need. As we left, he thanked us for our business and wished us a good day. Since my coinpurse was a little heavier I decided to go and find the jarl's palace, and see if the court wizard had any spells that I could buy from him.

The palace was easy to find, since it was the largest building in town. We went inside, and I overheard Ulfric talking to someone about Whiterun. I ignored them and went to find the court wizard.

It took a lot of exploring, but we managed to find him, tucked away in a room upstairs. Sadly, I already knew all of the spells that he was selling. I figured that I would have to go back to the College to get any more advanced ones. He wished us luck in an off hand manner, then went back to his alchemy. I saw a strange floating gem in a small golden box on a table near the door as we were leaving, and I quickly picked it up. I then hurried out before he noticed that it was gone. I had never seen anything like it. Jenassa asked why I had taken it, and I shrugged and said that I had felt like it. The truth was that I suspected that it had magickal properties, and that I wanted to take it back to the College to figure it out. We left the palace and decided to head out of the city to go and get the White Phial.

It took a few hours to get to the cave, though it was hard to tell what time it was since it was storming and snowing so badly. There was a white sabrecat sleeping outside of the entrance, but he let us pass without attacking us. I was thankful that the gods still pitied me and kept animals from attacking me, or whatever the case truly was. We made our way inside, our weapons out and ready in case of danger.

There was a skeleton just inside of the cave, and a cart with a chest in it was behind him. I peeked into the chest, and found some nice things to sell, and a few septims. Maybe he was a treasure hunter? I wondered what happened to him as we continued further into the cave. In the next open area, there were half broken coffins, burial urns, and snow and ice everywhere. And there were two more sabrecats. They didn't attack us either, they just watched us curiously as I walked around peeking into urns and fishing out their contents. When I'd first looted burial urns, I felt a bit bad. But then I thought about it, and realized that no matter what I did, the draugr in these places would attack me anyways, so why not make some coin? Its not like they were going out in droves to the towns to use it anyways. We went through what felt like a maze after the first cave area, with draugr and traps everywhere. More draugr than traps though. There was also plenty of gold and loot to be found. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally made it to what seemed to by Curalmil's crypt. I was looking up at the wall in the back of the room when suddenly the coffin in the middle of the room, and the four near the sides of the room popped open. Four draugr came out, as well as a mean looking one that I assumed was Curalmil. The regular draugr weren't much of a threat, but Curalmil nearly killed us both. I kept having to resummon my atronach while drinking potions to stay alive. At last though, we defeated him, and I went up to look at the wall more closely. It was another of the chanting ones. As the words glowed and came out of the wall surrounding me, I felt a chill. It wasn't like a chill from the cold, but one when you feel when something bad is coming after you. It felt very sinister, and full of malice. I didn't know what it meant, since I didn't understand the dragon language, but I used one of the souls from a dragon I had slain to learn its power anyways. I would test it out on the next enemy that crossed my path. I was looting the chest that was against the wall when Jenassa called up to me, telling me that she'd found something. I grabbed all of the treasure and hopped down to see what she was talking about. She had found what looked like a dead end in a passageway that ran beneath the chanting wall. There was a stone basin nearby, on a pedestal. Since we hadn't found the Phial we came for yet, I suspected that this basin had something to do with it. I took out the potion that Nurelion had given me and uncorked it, then poured in into the bowl. It glowed bright green, then a section of the wall behind us broke loose and slid into the floor. A secret room! We went inside, and it was amazing! There were alchemical ingredients everywhere, and potions. I started gathering them all up, thankful that they had been preserved for so long down here in this  sealed room. I was nearly done grabbing everything when Jenassa cleared her throat and pointed at the back of the room. On a small column was a white bottle. It was the Phial! I went over to it, then frowned. It was cracked. I sighed and carefully wrapped it in a cloth from my bag, then put it in the middle of my spare clothing to keep it from breaking further. Nurelion wasn't going to be happy about this. I gathered up the rest of everything in the room, and we headed out, taking a side door to see if it would lead us any closer to the exit. It did, thank the gods, it led right into the cave with the sabrecats. They still ignored us, and we climbed back out of the cave. It was dark outside, and storming badly. The white sabrecat was still there too, very warm in his  fur coat. I knew we wouldn't make it back to town in this storm, so we went the other way along the road, hoping to find a camp or cave to take shelter in.

We found something better than a cave! An actual inn!! I didn't see it through the storm, but thankfully Jenassa did. We hurried over to it and went in to get out of the cold. The innkeeper, a man named Hadring, greeted us warmly and welcomed us to his inn. I ordered us some food and mead, and we had a delicious dinner and talked to Hadring. He told us  about his inn, and about how it had been in his family for generations. I asked if he got much business, and he said not really. Usually only stray travelers like us, with the exception of two regulars. One, a man named Fultheim, apparently came here to drink away his troubles. The other was an orc, but Hadring couldn't remember his name. He said he spoke very well for an orc though, and was paid up for weeks. I was surprised that he could afford that, and Hadring said he was a writer, and apparently made a lot of money. Hadring even let him go wherever he wanted to in the inn, since he was paying so much to stay there. I noticed Fultheim at one of the tables in the main room, but he looked like he didn't want to be bothered. I didn't see the orc anywhere. I thanked Hadring for dinner, and asked if we could rent a room for the night. He showed us to our room, and we got ready for bed, thankful that we'd found this nice place full of friendly people. Well, one friendly person at least. I wasn't sure about the other two. Tomorrow if the storm wasn't so terrible, we could take the road back to Windhelm and give Nurelion the bad news.

5th of Heartfire 4E201
We got up and had a nice breakfast, then started to look for Tolfdir again. The dragon skeleton from last night was still outside, but most of the mages at the college just went  around it. Maybe they had gawked at it before we got up. After a few hours of searching we gave up, and decided to go ahead and go to Fellglow Keep to get those books. We packed some supplies, a lunch and enough food for the journey, and got our gear together and headed out. There was no carriage in the town, so we had a long journey on foot ahead.

We passed a bear and some wolves on the road, and they didn't attack us either, what was going on?
I noticed some ruins not far from the road and decided to see if there was any treasure there, since I needed more money for my spells. In the ruins, there was a bandit who attacked us, and a dead mage, who I assumed had been killed by the bandit. Jenassa waited outside while I looked for treasure. After a few minutes, I heard her scream and fighting, then she yelled something to me and ran off. I ran out and followed her. She was chasing some glowing balls that kept attacking her, and they led us to what looked like a ghost woman. Jenassa yelled something that sounded like "whiskmuffer" then attacked. I summoned my atronach and my new bow, and we all fought. The ghost woman summoned others like her to help her fight.  We both got knocked down a few times, and had to hurriedly drink potions since there just wasn't time to do healing spells. My atronach had gotten defeated quickly, and I didn't have the time or magicka to summon another. After the fight was over, we were both broken and bruised and bleeding, We leaned on each other, and hobbled back to the ruins. I healed myself and made Jenassa some healing potions with a lab that was there, then we both sat by the fire and  had some food. I asked Jenassa what that thing was, and she said it was a wisp mother. I told her what I had thought she yelled out, and she looked at me like I was crazy and laughed a little. I looked around and found a few things to sell, and a treasure map. From the picture, it looked like Valtheim Keep. I showed it to Jenassa, and she said we  could probably stop there and have a look on the way.

We rested a bit, then decided to get moving again, but we would stay on the road this time. No more exploring ruins for now.

After a while we came to a road sign. One way pointed to Whiterun, which is where we were headed, but the other pointed to WIndhelm. I remembered Sondas giving us a letter to take to someone in Windhelm, and thought about them needing medicine. I decided to go there first. It was a major city according to the map, so they would hopefully have a carriage. Then we could just take a carriage ride to Whiterun. Not too far from the sign, we passed a white sabrecat. He just looked at us as we passed and didn't try to attack us. Maybe the gods had decided to take pity on us and calm the animals.

It was nearly sunset by the time we got to Windhelm, but they had a carriage! There were also some farms outside of the city, so I went and got some wheat and blue flowers to make more healing potions with. There was also a Khajiit caravan outside of the city, but there was Khajiit I had never met before selling wares. His name was Ma'dran. I remembered the girl in Whiterun talking about him promising to help her get started with a caravan. I was going to ask if he'd gotten a mammoth tusk from her yet, but decided he should have a nice surprise in his future. .

On the way into the town, we heard the gate guards talking. They said that a boy in town named Aretino was doing some sort of ritual and trying to call the Dark Brotherhood. Why would a child do such a thing? I decided to find him tomorrow before we left, and ask him what he was doing.  

Just inside the city gate, two Nord men were harassing a Dunmer woman. They accused her and all of the other Dunmer in the city of being Imperial spies. They also referred to them as "gray skins" and "parasites". After they threatened to kidnap her later and find out of she was a spy or not, they walked away. She seemed a bit shaken, so I asked her if she was alright. She sighed and said that the Dunmer in the city being harassed by the local Nords was nothing new, and that one of the men who had been harassing her, Rolff, was one of the worst. She also told me about the Gray Quarter in the city, which was a whole district of our people. I asked her where the inn in town was since it was getting dark, and she pointed me to a building nearby called Candlehearth Hall. She went to walk away, then I remembered the reason we came here and asked where a shop called the White Phial was. She showed me where the market district was in the city, then told me farewell.

We managed to make it to the White Phial just before they closed. When we went in, there were two men arguing. One seemed to be very sick. We found out that the sick man was the owner of the shop Nurelion, and the other man was his assistant, Quintus. After they were done talking, I gave Quintus the letter from Sondas. He read it and seemed worried, and assured me that he would get the medicine to them right away. He also rewarded me with four-hundred septims for my trouble. Nurelion walked over to see what was going on, and I asked him if he was alright, since he seemed so sick. He told us all about what they had been arguing about, and his life's work in finding something called the White Phial. He had even found its location finally, but was upset that Quintus wouldn't let him go and get it. Quintus argued that he was in no condition to make a trip, and he didn't even know what other dangers there could be in its resting place. I pitied him; he'd spent his whole life looking for it, and he was so sick that he might die  before he could see it. I told him that I would go get it for him, and he smiled and told me where to find it. He also warned me about the Phial's maker, an alchemist named Curalmil. We were then given a special alchemical mixture to use to get to Curalmil's resting place. He asked us to hurry, then went back to his room to get some rest. As we left, Quintus thanked us, and asked that we please be careful.

It was dark when we left the shop, so I decided to go ahead and go get a room for the night. Rolff was outside of the inn when we approached. I tried to walk past him and he stood in front of me, blocking my path. He then called me a filthy gray skin, and told me to go back to Morrowind. Jenassa seemed to growl at him, and I told him that I didn't like his attitude. He said that was too bad, since this was their city. He then proceeded to tell me that he could "punch me back to where I came from". He even added one-hundred septims to the wager. I was already mad, so I was thankful for an excuse to knock some sense into him. I matched his bet and we fought. Jenassa kept her hand on her sword the whole time just in case he tried anything. I knocked him to the ground, and he tried to trick his was out of the bet by saying it wasn't a fair fight. Jenassa glared at him, and I told him to give me my money. He did, then walked away grumbling and nursing a bottle of ale. I walked into the inn, feeling a bit better after putting him in his place.

The inn was horrible! The innkeeper, Elda, was rude to us, and even made the remmark "more dark elves, just what WIndhelm needs" I was so angry that I walked away without renting a room. I accidentally bumped into the barmaid, and she apologized and was very friendly.Her name was Susanna. She told me that if I wanted a real drink, that I should go somewhere in the Gray Quarter called the New Gnisis Cornerclub. She also apologized for Elda's behavior, and said that she didn't understand why she hated dark elves so much, since she knew so little about them. She then wished us a good evening, and got back to her duties. Since I had calmed down a little, I went to the desk again to rent a room. Before I could even ask to get one, Elda said "Maybe you should just move along". I was so angry that I stormed off, not looking where I was going really, which caused me to bump into an orc woman in heavy armor who had just come into the inn. I apologised to her, and she said "What's a milk drinker like you doing here? Go home to your mother!" I was already angry because if Elda, and her remark didn't help much. I told her she shouldn't talk to me that way, and she said "Why not, what are you gonna do? Cry?" then she shoved me a bit. I kept my footing and told her to back off, then stepped around her and headed for the door. I heard her say "I don't have to take that from you!" and the sound of a sword being drawn. Well, if she wanted a fight, I was definately in a fighting mood. We managed to defeat her, and I took her armor and weapons and gear to sell, ignoring the horrified looks on the faces of the other patrons at the inn. Jenassa helped me put  it all into our bags, then we left, leaving her there on the floor. I doubted that we would be staying at that inn ever. I decided to investigate this Cornerclub that Susanna had mentioned.

We found the Cornerclub, and it was full of Dunmer! They were all so kind and welcoming to us. The owner, a Dunmer named Ambarys, welcomed us to sit down and have a drink and something to eat. As we ate our dinner, we talked to him about the city and his club, and I asked him all kinds of questions. He even apologized for the state of his tavern, and said that the whole Gray Quarter was like this. He had even tried to get Ulfric to come see it, but he always said he could never find the time. I wondered if it was the same Ulfric from Helgen. I asked about him, and he confirmed my suspicions, it was the same man. No wonder it was so bad here, they had a war criminal as their leader. I told him about our ordeal at the inn, and he apologized and said that we were welcome to stay here as long as we liked. He didn't have any beds available, but he found a couple of bedrolls for us to sleep on and said  that we could stay in the storage room for the night. We thanked him and paid for our dinner, and I gave him some extra for the lodging. I felt conflicted as we got our bedrolls and gear situated for the night. I had finally found some of my people, which made me happy. Yet, we had just killed a woman in an inn, in public, and it wasn't bothering me as much as it should have. I sighed and figured that it must  have been because she attacked us first that I was justifying it as alright. It didn't seem to bother Jenassa in the least, though killing people was creating art to her. I had a feeling that one day, my heart would be as cold as the snow falling everywhere here in order to survive. I just hoped that I could put it off for as long as possible.