Morrowind Day 105 - Nord Cultists

28 Sun's Dusk

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Today was something of an embarrassment for me. Too much of it was spent correcting mistakes I made during the previous days and too little of it was spent moving forwards with any one of my many tasks on Solstheim.

I replaced breakfast with a splash of water on my face this morning, eager to see my small home in Ald'ruhn again and re-equip myself for this dangerous island. My enchanted amulet, certainly the most prized possession I have, made the trip back to Vvardenfell a quick one.

The spear and dagger enchanted to summon their Daedric counterparts were on the top of my list, but I also wanted to bring the actual Daedric weapons sitting in my manor to the north.. I thought initially to bring the Daedric bow as well, but archery has been the only aspect of combat with which I have not been having issues, so it remains my stronghold.

It was gratifying to see a clear sky when I left the house, perhaps my theory that the Blight storms need to lose their power gradually has some truth to it. Before starting my walk to the manor I stopped at the Fighter's Guild to purchase as armorer's hammers. I have no great skill in repair, so I bought as many as I considered reasonably, assuming that I would wear out many of them to little effect.

From the manor I took my Daedric spear, dagger, and a rare short slashing blade favored by the Bosmer, as well as a few more armoring hammers and an amulet enchanted to help me blend in to my environment. No Blight storm harassed me on the walk to Khuul and I reached the village just before noon. Fortunately S'virr was already there, saving me the trouble of having to either loiter at the village or attempt a walk across the sea.

The boat trip was just as grueling as the first time was and I set foot on the island well after dark, still with a long walk to Thirshk to survive. On my way there I had several interesting encounters.

The first of these was with a Nord who kept to the high standards set by the Ashlander bandits of Vvardenfell by immediately charging me with a dagger in her hand as soon as she saw me. My Daedric slashing blade made very short work of the woman whose dagger was silvered and probably of local manufacture. She might have been one of the 'snow witches' the soldiers have been warning me about.

Further on I came upon something even stranger. I heard the sound of many people chanting in some strange language as I worked my way towards the river and I crested a hill to see a very odd sight: Cavorting among the trees were a group of Nords, some of them without clothes, several wolves, and one of the plant-creatures. The clothed Nords were armed and armored and the four of them seemed to be on the watch for anything that would disturb whatever this was. The naked ones clenched daggers in their hands, but paid no attention to anything but spinning and jumping and occasionally yelling at the sky. The wolves and the plant-creature did nothing at all, but cooperatively remained within the group of Nords as they jumped and twirled around them.

As how these things usually go, one of the Nords spotted me and the entire group, Nords, wolves, and the plant-creature, sprang at me. I was some distance away however and managed to kill all of the wolves with arrows before they reached me. The naked cultists were next to tumble to the ground riddled with arrows, but by then the plant-creature and the Nord guards were on me. My decision to bring the Daedric spear was an excellent one and they fell quickly, the plant-creature three times.

I could find no hint as to what the group was doing or why. More curious is how the Nords managed to survive the cold without wearing anything, for I found no discarded clothes to suggest their state had been a recent one. I know I am cold all the time on this island, it makes me almost long for the hot, choking stink of the Dwemer ruins.

The remainder of my walk to the mead hall of Thirsk was surprisingly without event. I was welcomed as heartily as I ever have been and my bedroll was still available. My first task tomorrow must be to re-visit the Wind Stone, complete the ritual, and move on to the next one. I shall also start to look into the fate of the mage's lost airship. I feel a great deal more confident with my new assortment of equipment and hope to make a great deal of progress tomorrow so that I can make up for the complete lack of today's.