Skyrim Day 101 - Forbidden Knowledge

2 Evening's Star, 4E201

College of Winterhold

~~~

I found myself unable to rest after the battle I partially led in Windhelm. The conclusion of the civil war elicited excitement and relief among the Imperial soldiers; the emotion was nearly palpable. From what few citizens I saw scurrying about I suspect they'll be wary of the Imperials for quite some time, but I do not believe they will be treated harshly.

The little Dwemer device the crazy hermit near Winterhold, Septimus Signus, gave me some time back has been making a humming noise as of a few days ago. I looked at it as I left Windhelm, ready to throw it into the river if it appeared ready to explode. Through some method unknown to me the device, which consists of four metal tubes attached to each other, is now full of blood. I can only assume that each vial holds the blood of an Altmer, Bosmer, Falmer, and Orsimer slain during my regular encounters with thieves and bandits. As I wanted to visit the College anyway I thought this a good opportunity to lighten my considerable load.

The city did not appear to be overly damaged, but then again the battle did not last very long. The stable just outside the gate was damaged and a few of the farmhouses destroyed, but I am sure the townspeople will rebuild. Their survival in Skyrim depends on it.

The walk from Windhelm to Winterhold was no better than it usually is, the only excitement came in the form of two Trolls who thought me an easy meal.

The College always looks to be one strong breeze away from collapsing into the sea, but by the wonders of magic or simple Nordic engineering it persists in its existence. My destination lay beyond the College inside a small cave accessible only by hopping between ice floes while trying not to irritate the resident Horkers.

Septimus was still pacing about his cave, muttering too low for me to hear anything. He was still sane enough to recognize me as I carefully stepped down the icy walkway and began to crow about how he could "hear their life energy". I approached the raving man with one hand on my dagger and the other outstretched with his device, but he had eyes only for the strange machine. Holding it in two hands he briefly danced around jabbering about the mixture he needed to make.

I thought the device was going to...do something in a Dwemer-like fashion, maybe link to the giant cube and unlock it somehow, not hold four vials of blood he needed to mix into a potion. I am fairly certain I managed to keep my disgust off my face, but I doubt he would have cared or even noticed if I had failed.

Septimus worked quickly, separating the four bloods each into a small bowl, then adding a sprinkle of powder I could not identify to each one. Once each mixture seemed to thicken he mixed them all into a larger bowl, added a quantity of bonemeal, then lapped up the foul sludge like an animal. Not only did this somehow unlock the Dwemer cube, it also made me wonder why I helped him to begin with.

Heedless of the possibility that Dwemer guardians were waiting to dismember him he rushed inside immediately, but the only thing there was a book on a small pedestal.

Septimus had time only to express his confusion and displeasure before he suddenly burst into white flames and burned away to ash in a matter of moments. I suspect, and hope, that he felt no pain. I was rather wary about approaching it myself, but something about it felt familiar, so I took the book and fortunately did not suffer flames shooting out of my body.

I did, however, experience the extreme unpleasantness of coming face to...something, with Hermaeus Mora, the Daedric Prince of Knowledge. In that instant, far too late, I realized why the book looked familiar: it was the Oghma Infinium, the book of knowledge Rajhin stole.

The ever-changing mass of eyeballs and tentacles was difficult to look at, but Hermaeus Mora is not known to be overtly hostile, so I was not greatly concerned. He welcomed me as his champion, but I was not going to accept a debt of service to a Daedra. He was unconcerned about my refusal to accept his title, stating that everyone winds up serving him eventually. With that, he disappeared and I was free to leave.

The walk back was not any more pleasant and I arrived just as the sun was starting to rise and the College starting to wake. I managed to avoid speaking to anyone while on my way to the Archmage's chamber.

I will not be opening the Oghma Infinium. Instead, I will leave it with Urag gro-Shub tomorrow morning as I leave for Riverwood. A Daedric weapon is one thing, Daedric knowledge is an entirely different thing altogether and not to be trifled with.

Morrowind Day 101 - House Cleaning

24 Sun's Dusk

~~~

I woke for the first time in a long while with absolutely nothing to do. No Ashlanders to woo, no House Lords to convince, no mad God to slay. I finally have accomplished what I was sent here to do and to become, but what is to follow is to be decided only by myself.

My battle yesterday with Dagoth Ur nearly cost my life and it did cost me most of my armor, which has been ruined beyond any hope of repair. Though I slept well, I am still hurting and decided to make today as easy on myself as possible.

So in that way moving my possessions out of Ald'ruhn and to Indarys Manor became the order of the day. All of my Daedric equipment that I brought to Red Mountain yesterday, even the bow and dagger that I did not use, is in very poor condition. The spear I can understand, but I must have been sorely lacking in my diligence for the dagger and bow to be in such a shape despite what little either has been used.

The first things to be moved were my extremely valuable and largely useless collection of Daedric weaponry. Even the dagger is weighty and I find that I simply have no use for the things.

Leaving my small home, I anticipated clear skies and was quite disappointed and surprised to find myself in the midst of another Blight storm.

I thought the defeat of Dagoth Ur would have put an end to these things, but apparently not! I can only hope that with his absence, whatever creates these storms will gradually lose power and they will eventually cease altogether.

So rather than the peaceful walk to the Manor that I was expecting, it was the all too familiar blind stumbling through the hills. Fortunately the stumbling was without incident and I arrived at my small fortress quite quickly. The ring provided to me as a token of Azura's thanks gives me a great deal of endurance and I am pretty much able to jog along without tiring, making the trip a lot easier than it has been in the past.

The Daedric weapons were unceremoniously dumped into a chest in my bedroom, then I Recalled back to Ald'ruhn for the second trip, this time most of my spare gems and alchemy ingredients. The trip to the Manor was repeated and for the third time I Recalled back to Ald'ruhn and brought most of my remaining weapons and armor to the Manor. Hardly the stuff of stories.

I am far more used to action-packed days than what this one had been so far, so my fourth Recall back to Ald'ruhn was my last for the day. Instead of going back to the Manor with more sundries, I went to the Mages Guild and was sent to the Guild in Vivec, where I believe I was expected by someone.

Lord Vivec was pleased to see me, though not surprised. He felt the disconnection of his divinity when the Heart was destroyed and took his loss of God-hood in rather good spirits, stating that he never really regarded it as part of who he was and that rebuilding the Temple would happily occupy him for some time.

He did confide that he had concerns about how the rest of the Tribunal, Almalexia and Sotha Sil, would deal with their lose of divine powers. It is Vivec's belief that Sotha Sil may never notice he lost them, so absorbed is he in discovering this world's mysteries. As for Almalexia, Vivec was concerned. God-hood was a mantle she wore a lot more heavily than Vivec and he feared that her reaction would bring harm to herself and to others. He had not communicated with either of them in a long time and could only give me the most basic of information regarding either individual.

For me, Vivec had no doubts: In his mind, I would continue to be the Protector of Morrowind, not by given duty, but simply out of who I have become. I suppose he is right, I find I have no desire to return to Cyrodil any longer and there are still tasks awaiting me here on Vvardenfell.

And elsewhere, as it turned out. I Recalled back to Ald'ruhn for the last time today (no doubt to the relief of the amulet!) and was approached outside the Guild by a stammering man asking if I was Kerra and if I could help him with something. His story was...an interesting one.

To tell it in full would be giving it more attention than it deserves. The man was a wizard of little renown who had heard rumors of an amulet that would make him irresistible to the ladies who one can assume have only shunned him so far. This amulet is supposed to be somewhere on the icy island of Solstheim. The wizard hired a group of 'sailors' he did not know to crew a ship he had enchanted sufficiently to be able to fly to the island, retrieve this amulet, and fly back. 

Naturally that was the last he heard of the sailors, if that is really what they were, or his magical flying vessel. He wanted me to go to Solstheim, find some evidence of what happened to his ship, and of course bring this amulet back to him. I agreed to give myself something new to do, but the only way to Solstheim without a flying ship of my own is to hire a boat out of Khuul. Not my preferred form of travel, but there seems no other way.

Having to go north will give me a reason to give Mehrunes Dagon the old dagger he covets so much, though I am somewhat anxious as to thought of what my "reward" for completing this task shall be.