13th of Heartfire 4E201
I woke up fairly early, and found Jenassa already up and having breakfast. I sat down to join her, and we made small talk about how we slept, and all the crazy stuff happening at the College. Mirabelle walked by the dining room and told us good morning as she passed the doorway. I got up and went after her, stopping her to ask about the Staff of Magnus. She thought it was a strange question, and asked why I wanted to know about it. I told her about the possibility of it being connected to the Eye of Magnus. She dismissed the orb as not being legendary enough to be called that, and told me to not jump to conclusions. I told her that the Augur had called it that, not me. She gave  me a look and chided me about getting into something over my head, and warned me to be very careful. I reminded her that I had asked about the Staff, and she told me that it was supposedly very powerful, but it had been missing for ages and was likely nothing but a myth. She added that the last she'd heard anything about it had been a few months ago, from the Synods, the mages from Cyrodiil. She told me about them, and about how she suspected that they weren't true mages like us at the College, but used more smoke and mirror style magic and were all talk. It seemed that they were asking about the Staff since they were trying to hoard magickal artifacts in an attempt to appear more powerful. They had seemed to think that the Staff was somewhere in Skyrim, in a dwarven ruin called Mzulft. She suspected that the Synod would be there, but warned me that they likely wouldn't want to help me.

Jenassa and I went to our rooms and got our gear together, then went to town for supplies before starting down the road to the south. We got interrupted during our shopping  trip by a dragon. It breathed ice at us, and kept landing on rooftops out of our reach. It finally landed after we enough fire and arrows into its hide, and I summoned a sword to attack it with. The guards and some of the townspeople helped, and we finally killed it. I thanked everyone for their help, and we went to the store at last. We got some supplies and sold her a few things, and I bought a ring from her that was enchanted to help your magicka recharge faster. Then, at last, we left town, walking around the dragon skeleton on our way down the road.

I wasn't looking forward to our trip, since the gods no longer made the animals stop attacking us. I was reminded of this when a bear near the road tried to tear us to shreds. This was going to be a long trip.

Another assassin tried to kill me!! I had almost forgotten about the Dark Brotherhood, and an Argonian woman came out of nowhere and attacked me! Thankfully Jenassa helped me kill them. Their note said the same thing as the other one had. They never said anything to me but yelled insults and taunts. I stood there by the road holding the note and shaking. Jenassa grabbed what she could from their body, then kicked it a few times for good measure. She managed to get me calmed down some finally and we continued down the road.

According to Jenassa's map, Windhelm was the next city between us and Mzulft. I didn't like it there, but I wasn't sure what choice we had. It was still barely past the middle of the day, so Jenassa suggested that we get as close to Mzulft as we could, and we could perhaps find a camp or inn along the road to stay at. I readily agreed, since  I didn't want to deal with the Nords in Windhelm.

We found a town! It was a small mining town south of Windhelm, called Kynesgrove.  We met a Dunmer woman in town named Dravynea, and she asked us to get her some frost salts. She used them to make a potion to keep herself cool in the mines. Without here there, the tunnels might collapse on the miners. I happened to have some frost salt in my bag, and I gladly gave it to her. She seemed surprised that I had helped her, and taught me about Alteration spells in return for my help. I also met the mine's owner, Kjeld, and he told us that he paid a fair price for any ore we managed to dig up. We still had a few hours left before dark, so I decided to help them out and make a few septims. Jenassa didn't like mines, so she said that she'd take our things to the inn and go ahead and get us a room for the night. I met a nice man in the mine named Roggi. He talked more about mead than mining though. He said that he'd even tried to make his own, but he'd been terrible at it. He also told me about the ore in the mine, and said that it was used to make glass weapons and armor. I saved a few to smelt into ingots in to work on Jenassa's glass mace with, and I sold the rest of the ore to Kjeld. He gave me four-hundred and twenty septims for only fourteen pieces of ore. I went to the inn to tell Jenassa the news.

I ran into Kjeld's son in the inn. His name was Kjeld the Younger, and he was very rude. He kept asking why I was there, and saying that I didn't look tough and he could best me with no problem. I sighed and ignored him and joined Jenassa at a table across the room for some dinner. At least his father was nice.

I told Jenassa all about the mine, and about the people there. She seemed impressed with how many septims that I had made, and thanked me for saving some of the ore to use on her weapon. After dinner, I went out to the smelter near the mine and made  the ore into ingots, then used some basic smithing equipment that I found near the inn to work on her mace. It took a while, but at last I finished. When I gave it back to her, she thanked me and said that it was even deadlier now than it had been. She told me that her art would be a little more beautiful now thanks to me. I was confused, but took it as a compliment.

There weren't any rivers or lakes close enough to the town for comfort, so I asked the innkeeper for a kettle of water and bathed off the best I could. My soap was starting to get low though, so I'd have to get more in the next large town that we came to.I washed my clothes as best I could, then Jenassa helped me and we managed to get all of our armor and weapons polished and cleaned. As I got ready for bed, I remembered Jenassa's compliment, and then it dawned on me. When I'd met her, she'd compared vanquishing her foes to making art. She was strange, and a bit morbid at times, but I was still thankful to have her here with me. Hiring her was the best thing I had ever done with five-hundred septims.

12th of Heartfire 4E201
I only slept a few hours last night, since I'd gotten so much rest in the carriage.After breakfast, I hurried off to find Tolfdir and ask him about the Augur. He told me that he hadn't spoken to him in some time, and supposed that he was still somewhere called the Midden. He then asked if I was going to go and see him, and that I tell him hello for him. I asked where the Midden was, and he told me that it was below the College, and warned me that it could be dangerous down there so I had better go prepared. I asked him for more information about the Augur. Apparently, he was a brilliant  student, but seemed too focused on how much power he could acquire, which led to an accident of some sort. On the way to the Midden, I ran  into Onmund and Brelyna. Both of them asked me to do a favor for them. Onmund asked me to get an amulet back for him from Enthir, and Brelyna asked me if she could practice some spells on me. I told Onmund I would help him, and he thanked me and hurried back to his studies. I then asked Brelyna what was involved in the spell casting, and she assured me that they were harmless. I warily agreed, and closed my eyes, bracing myself. She cast the spell, and I felt a little odd. She then asked if I felt alright, since I looked a little green. I opened my eyes slowly, and everything was green!! I scowled, and she started apologizing profusely, and said that she had tested the spell and that this wasn't supposed to happen. I asked what she did to me, and she sheepishly admitted that she wasn't sure, but that it should wear off at some point. I sighed and went back to my room and decided to learn my new spells and read the books Urag had given me until everything stopped being green.

It took almost four hours for that spell to wear off! I was thankful when it did, it was starting to make me sick. I went to find Brelyna and tell her the good news. She was glad that it had, and asked if she could try again, since she was certain that it would work this time. I sighed and agreed, hoping that this one wouldn't mess up. IT MESSED UP!! She turned me into a cow, then a horse, and then a dog! Finally she turned me back to normal, and I felt so sick that I threw up into the nearby magicka pool. She patted me on the back, and thanked me for being a good friend and for my help. I asked that we never speak of this again, and she agreed. She offered to follow me on my travels in Skyrim as a reward, but I thanked her and declined. There was no way that I was going to have her  watch my back until she learned more about spellcasting. Otherwise we might be in a fight, and she'd accidentally turn a bandit into a dragon! I told her goodbye and we went to find Enthir. On the way to his room, Jenassa jokingly said that I had made a fine steed. I punched her in the arm and stuck my tongue out at her. She just chuckled.

Enthir was not a very friendly mage. He was a Bosmer, and apparently dealt in hard to find goods. I asked him to give me Onmund's amulet, and he insisted that Onmund had made a deal with him, and that all deals were final. The only way I could persuade him to possibly return it involved getting a staff for him from a place called Sunderstone Gorge, which was located far to the south between Whiterun and Falkreath. I agreed, then went to find Onmund to tell him that I was working on getting his amulet back. When I found him, he was overjoyed, and thanked me profusely. Now it was time to find the Midden, and the Augur within.

I found a hatch on the edge of the courtyard, and we climbed inside. I readied my spells as soon as we got to the bottom of the ladder. A draugr and an ice wraith or two were the only threats in the first section, but we found an amazing forge thing of some sort. It needed something else to work completely though, some sort of round object according to the journal I found on a table nearby. I decided to try something out. There was an offering box that you placed items into, and then you pulled a lever to see what happened. I put in a broom, some frost salts, some moonstone ore, and a greater soul gem. Then I pulled the lever and a staff appeared! I tried out the staff, and it summoned what seemed to be a Frost Atronach.  The salts and moonstone were both pale and icy looking, so it made sense. I would need more ores, and more brooms, to try to make any more staves. Luckily there had been a broom nearby. I was definitely going to be coming back down here, especially once I found whatever piece was missing. We explored a bit more, and found a door leading further into the Midden. Not far inside we found a strange decoration on the wall, consisting of a skull, five hands, and what looked like leg and arm bones. It was the creepiest thing I had ever seen that wasn't trying to kill me. Further in, we came across some spiders, which explained the skeletons everywhere. Past the spiders, we found an odd room, with a daedric glove in the middle of it. According to a journal of sorts nearby, some students had been trying to summon something with its help, but they were found dead, killed in a terrible sounding manner. The investigator who left the journal had written that they were unable to move the glove from its pedestal, but he had pried the rings off of its fingers and placed them in the Arcaneum. He also conveniently left us a key. A room nearby was full of bones. Just full of them. There must have been at least ten or fifteen sets of remains here. Two sets got up and attacked us, but we knocked them back to the floor. In the room after the skeleton one, I found an alchemy lab, and a book that I tucked into my bag for later. After a little more exploring, we found another door. When I approached it, a voice said "Your perseverance will only lead you to disappointment" I slowly walked closer to the door, and the voice said "Still you persist? Very well, you may enter" Then the door opened and I saw the most amazing thing I had ever seen in my life. It looked like a magicka pool at first, but then a glowing mass of energy formed above it, filled with what looked like beads of ectoplasm. I had to squint my eyes from the brightness of it. It was the Augur. It told me that my efforts were in vain, and that those who sent me had not told me what they seek.  He told me that I was seeking knowledge, which would lead to my ruin, as it would also ruin Ancano, who had come here before me. He was looking for information about the Eye of Magnus. I knew he was up to something! That bastard. The Augur told me that to avoid the coming disaster, I would need something to help me see from Magnus' Eye without being blinded: I would need Magnus' staff. He then told me to go and inform the Arch Mage about all of this. The Augur then vanished, and the room became mostly dark. We hurried and found our way out of the Midden, so that we could warn the Arch Mage about Ancano, and to tell him what we had learned.

We found the Arch Mage in the Hall of Elements, standing near the orb. I told him that I had information, and that we needed to find the Staff of Magnus, since it was connected to the orb we found. He asked how I knew this, and I told him about my conversation with the Augur. Instead of being mad like I thought he would be, he seemed impressed. He even suggested that I have the honor of going to find the Staff, and rewarded me with. an enchanted circlet that would help boost my magicka reserves. He then suggested that I go and find Mirabelle, since she had been talking about the Staff recently. I was yawning and stumbling as I walked, so I decided to go and find her in the morning. Hopefully the fate of the College could wait a few hours. Even dragonborn mages need their beauty sleep.

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.