Skyrim Day 076 - Winter Hideaway

1 Sun's Dusk, 4E201

Winterhold

~~~

Fort Dawnguard does not advertise itself as comfortable for the waylaid traveler from the outside and does nothing to change this once you enter. Dexion finished the reading of Serana's scroll at around two in the morning, but within the entire fortress there was no free quarters for Serana and I, so it was right back out the gate for us in pursuit of the remaining two scrolls, dubbed 'Dragon' and 'Blood'. Not the first night I have gone without sleep, but I would rather not make a habit of this.

Fortunately for me the only lead we had for the 'Dragon' scroll was that Urag, the College's irascible Orsimer librarian, might know where to start looking. The alternative was to start the search for the 'Blood' scroll, requiring a trip across the entire province to a castle garrisoned by vampires. Finding the 'Dragon' scroll first was fine by me.

Almost immediately upon exiting the little canyon which housed the Dawnguard Serana and I were set upon by a group of vampires, one powerful enough to match Serana's magicka, but once I finished dispatching the weaker assailants the leader fell to a combination of vampire magicka and Khajiit swordsmanship. Disappointingly, none had anything of value.

The night gave way to an overcast, hazy morning as we left the sparse pine forest and entered the sulfuric hot springs separating Riften from Windhelm. An assassin from the Dark Brotherhood sprang out from beside the road, wisely cloaked with an Invisbility potion or spell, but the unwisely attacked us from the front, denying himself the benefit of surprise.

Other than a duo of master-less Mammoths crossing the road some way ahead of the assassin's corpse we encountered nothing else on the way to Windhelm.

I met a small group of Khajiit camping by Windhelm's gatehouse, but they were there not to trade, but to pull fish from the nearly-frozen river to sell, dried and prepared, to the caravans.

They were willing to ferry Serana and I across the frozen river for a few Septims, sparing us a much longer walk around the hills west of Windhelm. Just out of sight of the river we came under attack by two woman-spirits, each summoning hostile energies similar to those I fought at Winterhold. They were likely the 'wispmothers' the Nords speak of, the first of which I fought weeks ago.

They had been guarding a shrine to Arkay, but I could find no reason why.

Within sight of the College we came upon two bandits arguing near the body of a dead woman. Guessing what had transpired, I motioned Serana to take the one on the left while I readied my crossbow. It was darkly amusing to watch my victim simply drop dead with a bolt through his throat, whereas Serana's was flung sideways by her magicka, across the icy ground and over the cliff behind him.

The woman died wearing a powerfully enchanted pendant around her neck, probably the reason the bandits had been arguing. A letter on her body mournfully informed me that if I was reading it the author was likely dead. The unnamed woman explained that the bandits had broken into her home and taken everything she owned, including the pendant, a family heirloom. She was the last of her family and the comfort  the pendant brought her was dear to her. Regardless of the risk, she was going to get it back, even if it meant her death...which it did, but I am certain she approved of the bandits' fate.

This may be the first day I have visited the College without being suffocated by a snowstorm. The sky was cloudy, but the air was clear of snow and ice.

Urag was as happy to see me as he was anyone, which is to say not at all. He laughed when I asked about finding an Elder Scroll, wondering if I even knew what I was asking for...which I felt was pretty rude to say to the current Arch-Mage, if I may say so.

For his derision the Orsimer was not particularly knowledgeable about them either, content to use frustrating metaphors and state utter nonsense, such as the falsehoods in the Scrolls being truer than the truths...which would cease to make them falsehoods. The only actual help he was able to provide was in the form of a small volume written by a former student of the College, an Imperial named Septimus Signus.

It was titled 'Ruminations on the Elder Scrolls' and consisted entirely of nonsense. When I asked Urag what help it was supposed to be he laughed and said it was to prepare me for when I met the man. Surprised, I asked when the book was penned and found that it was only months old, the man wrote it, left it in at the College, then rambled about a great Dwemer treasure at the tip of the province...just north of Winterhold. Urag made it his business to know where exactly Septimus had disappeared to, but judged the man mad enough to not bother about his "discovery".

The walk along the peninsula north of Winterhold was as miserable as I feared: it was windy, snowy, and very, very cold. We were forced to precariously hop across ice floes just to reach the cavern Urag had found, one wrong step would plunge us into a sea equal parts ice and water. The mad man's boat, now frozen fast to Skyrim, came as a great relief.

Septimus was utterly mad, but he had found something interesting: a giant Dwemer puzzle cube wider than he was tall and taller as well.

He was a very difficult man to talk to, but I managed to get out of him the assurance that there was an Elder Scroll still in Skyrim, despite either the Empire or the Thalmor sweeping the province for them, which he meant was unclear. Predictably Septimus would not tell me where the Scroll was until I performed a task for him.

The Dwemer cube was driving him madder than he already was. He simply had to get inside no matter what was required...so long as he did not have to leave the cave. His belief was that the Scroll would tell him how to open the giant cube.

He claimed that an ancient Dwemer city, Blackreach, more ancient than all the others, lay underneath Skyrim. To reach Blackreach I would have to "delve to the limits, then beyond", a clear description of a city underneath a city, I think. He suggested either 'Tower Mzark' or 'Alftand'.

The Tower is unknown to me but I visited Alftand while searching for Arniel's Dwemer cogwheels a month ago or so. Apparently I missed a lower level, Blackreach, during my first visit and will now have to suffer a second. At least it is not far.

We had only to walk back across the treacherous ice floes, avoid the Horkers, then climb up the frozen beach underneath the College while under constant assault by shards of ice blown about by the coastal winds. Because this was not difficult enough we came under assault by three Trolls and a Dragon once we advanced past the beach.

The Dragon landed right next to Serana, bringing her to her knees. I pulled my crossbow free of my belt, but knew I would not be able to to fire quick enough to save her life. Fortunately, the Trolls arrived ahead of my bolt.

They fearlessly loped over to the Dragon and started beating its armored hide with their fists, doing little more than annoying the beast and distracting it enough to give Serana time to retreat and regroup.

Against a Dragon the Trolls, even three of them, had little chance. Once the last was dead Serana and I launched our attack, her with magicka, as usual, me with crossbow and blade. The first Dragon was a terrifying ordeal, this one...not anymore. Serana too seemed to have quickly gotten used to the routine, only craning her head slightly as the Dragon's soul rushed into my body...a process which I still do not understand. Am I supposed to do something afterwards?

By the team we returned to Winterhold most of it was already sleeping. Rather than waste more time trudging up to the College we wordlessly agreed to head directly for the Inn in the hope for an early start at Alftand tomorrow morning.

Morrowind Day 76 - Back to the Zainab

29 Frost Fall

~~~

I spoke to Galsa about this morning about the stronghold before starting my day. I expected some sort of news, but she said that the construction was proceeding as planned and that she would leave word with the Mage Guilds when I was needed. Her indifference felt a little rude, considering it was being built for me (and the House, of course). I am sure it will not be long until she is badgering me to take care of some minor problem.

My agreement with the mercenary captain of Tel Vos was to visit the camp of the Zainab and find out what trade opportunities existed between the two of them. I had meant to do this yesterday, but never found the time. It was first on my list of tasks to do today and would provide a good opportunity to scout the area. My previous visits to the area kept me to the coast and the roads to my various destinations. A large part of the interior was still a mystery to me, which is always unacceptable.

Dandera Selaro is the Smith outside of Under-Skar and she has grown accustomed to my visiting her every morning to have my equipment repaired. The repairs to the bow I received from Sul-Matuul have been very expensive, owing to its age and enchantments. Most of its use has been against blighted wildlife rather than Daedra and the repair expense is not really worth it. Dandera had no bows for sale, but I knew the Razor Hole in Balmora did.

Holding the cheap short bow reminded me of my first days on this island and how far I have come since then. A sheaf of cheap iron arrows plus the bow barely cost me fifty Septims and will hopefully save me money going forward.

I could have gone to Caldera to have Folms send me to the coastal fortress again, but I went to Sadrith Mora instead so that I could explore the islands surrounding the town. My expectation was that I wound find nothing but cliff racers and mudcrabs...and my expectation were mostly correct. There is a Daedric shrine surprisingly close to the town, but I could not find a way into it. I did walk away a little richer in Frost Salts after besting the ruin's guardians, so there's that.

I came across a shipwreck just off the coast of the town's island. The ship was wedged between two large rocks, almost entirely out of the water. I have never seen any evidence of waves in the waters surrounding Vvardenfell, so it must have taken an amazing lack of seamanship to cause the ship to end up where it did.

The lack of seamanship is understandable, for the meager remains of the ship's stores included a few bottles of Skooma and some satchels of Moon Sugar. Smugglers are not known for their skill at sea and while I know nothing of boats, the coastline certainly looks daunting what with all the strange rock pillars littering the sea.

When I made my way back to the mainland I was greeted by a sword-wielding skeleton who was likely guarding a tomb I found nearby. Further on I spotted two bandits arguing around their campfire and I tried to sneak past them. Normally this would not pose a problem, but one of them managed to catch me and shouted an alarm. I felled both with three shots from my new bow. The ease at which I alone can dispatch them makes me wonder why there is even a bandit problem in the first place. Political, I suppose. The Imperial Legion could certainly take care of it, but that would require far more soldiers than is practical and the Great Houses are too busy bickering among themselves to accomplish anything at all.

The sky was begining to grow dark and I still had not made much progress towards the Zainab camp. My wandering had not been a waste of time though, for I explored a good deal of previously unseen territory. The whole experience almost made me feel like I was back in the Auxiliaries again. I started to head directly towards where I thought the camp was and ran into a comical duo guarding another shrine.

The tombs in the west of the island never had skeletal (or mudcrab) guardians, so I guess the practice is due to being in Telvanni-controlled land. A single skeleton does not mean much to me any more, but neither does the few coins and dusty potions that tombs usually cough up. Khajiit are not born to be delving underground anyway.

The night seemed to close in early, but I suppose the day's lack of terror and violence made it seem to go by quicker. The night was amazingly clear and I was treated to a smear of bright purple stretching across the sky. I do wonder what causes so much purple to end up over Morrowind, for it cannot be any action of Dagoth Ur's to cause this kind of weather.

I passed Indoranyon fortress and a small squat tower just behind it that I had not seen before, but had no interest in exploring. It looked similar to the the Telvanni hideaways I have visited once or twice and if this was the same I had only undead, an irate wizard, and a few coins waiting for me. Best to skip such a thing. A nearly naked Nord was pacing across the road in front of the tower and he started yelling and waving his arms while I was still a good distance away. Strong as they are, a naked unarmed Nord would have no chance against a well-armed...anything, so I let him approach.

His story was a short one: He had been escorting a 'witch' named Iveri Llothri when, according to him, she attacked and put him under a paralysis spell. She, for some reason, stole all his armor, clothes, and a prized axe he charmingly called 'Widowmaker'. Naturally he wanted my help in finding Iveri, exacting bloody revenge, and retrieving his stolen goods. There was something about his tale that did not ring true to me and I refused to help him, ready to cut him down if he became angry. But he shrugged and said he would figure it out on his own.

By then it was nearly pitch-black and the second group of bandits were very easy to see clustered around their campfire. I was able to sneak past them without a fight, only to encounter another of the winged Daedra just beyond them. I was concerned that fighting the creature would create enough noise to summon the bandits at my back, but I need not have worried. The Daedra crumpled after a few arrow shots, having made it no more than halfway to me from where she had been stalking about.

As seems to be my habit I reached my destination late into the night. The Zainab were very welcoming of me and ushered me into the Ashkhan's tent before I could explain why I was visiting. His wife was out, but Kaushad was in a jovial mood. He winked at me and confided that he realized that Falura was no high-born Telvanni lady soon after I left after being named Nerevarine. This deception met with his approval and he stated that a Nervarine clever enough to fool the Ashkhan of the Zainab was a good thing indeed. He said that he was much happier with Falura than he would have been with some, in his words, 'stuck-up Telvanni lady'. He gave me a fine shirt as a token of his appreciation and hoped it would remind me of them when (if) I wore it.

He had nothing to say about trade goods, disdainfully pointing out that such concerns were beneath an Ashkhan. He recommended I speak to the tribe's trader, Ashur-Dan, and the wise woman. Falura walked into the tent as I was leaving and was just as happy to see me as Kaushad was. She expressed her happiness and bemusement at being wife to the Ashkhan and wryly pointed out her change of fortune: from slave to a companion of the Nerevarine, to wife of the Ashkhan of the Zainab tribe.

Ashur-Dan was not cooperative. In his opinion the tribe did not need anything from the outlanders at Tel Vos. He was genial, assuring me he did not blame an outlander like myself for misunderstanding the Ashlanders. I suspect he had no idea who I was. 

The wise woman Sonummu was far more helpful. She knew why I was asking about trade goods and that Aryon hoped to bind the tribe closer to the Telvanni through trade relations. She saw more help than harm in the exchange and asked that I relay the tribe's need for potions to cure common and Blight diseases. The hunters travel far and cannot return to the camp to be cured before the day is out, hindering the day's catch. She claimed that the Ashlanders as a people just never got the hang of 'bottling magic' and us 'roof-loving people' were far better. Interesting.

I had only to go to Tel Vos now and tell them what I learned, but it was late, so I am staying with the Zainab tonight. I will try to make it to Vivec tomorrow and speak to the Archcanon regarding Dagoth Ur.