Clark in Skyrim, A continued report from across the border. Options

[ghastley]

Previously: Clark visited Tel Mythrin, where Vicuña stayed to train with Neloth. Diablita and he continued to the Skaal village, but were diverted to look for Baldor Iron-Shaper. They found him in the clutches of a band of Thalmor and released him.

---------------

Part 44 - Northshore Landing

"So you know my purpose here, then? I suppose you must have found that dullard of a blacksmith. Unfortunately for you, my mission here is also a secret. To protect it, I have no choice but to silence you. Now, give me one good reason that I should not kill you where you stand."

It was clear to Clark that Ancarion was feeling a bit frustrated by the lack of success his mission was having. He suggested that if the map wasn't any use to the Thalmor at this point, perhaps he could just take it back.

Ancarion's response was a blast of lightning that sent Clark flying backwards over the side of the ship. He'd cast his mage armor spell before boarding the vessel, so he was more annoyed at being dumped in the cold water than anything else. But that kind of rudeness deserved a fitting response.

By the time he got back on board, however, Diablita had beaten him to it. "Where did Ancarion go?" he asked her.

"Most of him went over the other side of the ship," she replied. "But his head's rolling around the deck somewhere, if you want to go looking for it."

"It's the piece with the map that I need. I hope he landed on the shore, and it didn't get soaked."

Fortunately, the map was in a waterproof leather pouch in a pocket of his robe. "We should go check the location, and make sure this isn't a fake," Clark decided. "We'll take a sample back with us to Baldor, and he can tell us if it's proper Stahlrim, or not. You're carrying that pickaxe, aren't you?"

Diablita nodded. "How far is this 'secret source' from here?"

"Not far, but it's inland a bit, and we may have problems finding a way up the cliffs. The map shows a location, not a route to get there."

---

Even with the map, it wasn't easy to find the way in. Nestled in a corrie on the side of the mountain, it was hidden by the rocks from all sides but one. A circular stone wall, looking like one of the nordic ruins on the mainland, hid everything from view even from that side. They crested the wall, to find a set of stone steps spiralling down into a depression in the centre, ringed with draugr coffins. Each one had a lid of Stahlrim, instead of the usual stone. A few more like them were face-up in the middle.

Diablita took out her pickaxe and went to work on one of the middle coffin lids. It took a lot of blows with the pickaxe before anything came loose. "I can see why this needs a specially hard tool," she remarked. "I'd have broken an ordinary one by now."

While she continued hacking at the lid, Clark examined the piece she'd removed. It had the same blue sheen that he'd seen on Chillrend, and the Chrysamere. The Stahlrim didn't feel cold, even though he knew it was a magical form of ice. That presumably meant that it wouldn't melt like ice, either. He wondered just how one did forge the stuff.

"Baldor knows, or the Thalmor wouldn't have taken him," Diablita reminded him.

"Does the way back to the Skaal village take us past Castle Kaarstag? Glover Mallory mentioned that he'd lost his improved bonemold formula, and he thought the thief was heading there."

"Why would anyone go there? The place is full of Rieklings!"

"It seems this Esmond Tyne fellow, the one that stole it, thought he could fence a few things there, or at least that's what he told Glover. Maybe somebody else lived there before the Rieklings moved in."

"It wouldn't surprise me," Diablita concurred. "The Thirsk Mead Hall got taken over by a tribe of the little beggars."

---

They found Esmond's corpse just a short way into Kaarstag Caverns, the cave that formed the back entrance to the castle. Whether he was killed arriving, or leaving, wasn't clear, but it didn't really matter. The only important consideration was whether he still had Glover's formula for improved bonemold, which he did.

The Rieklings Diablita had mentioned didn't make an appearance. They must all have been further into the caverns. Clark wasn't interested in looking for them, so they left the way they'd entered.

---

Baldor confimed that it was real Stahlim. "I could make you a greatsword from it," he told Diablita, "but it would only be the equal of the one you have, and without its enchantment. Perhaps I could make you some armor, instead?"

Clark didn't expect her to want any, and he wasn't wrong. "I'm about as prepared as I can be for Miraak. I'd better talk to Storn. No more putting this off."

Diablita gave Storn all the facts she had, including how Septimus Signus had died when Hermaus Mora had decided he was no longer useful.

"But Herma-Mora was keeping him alive just to open that box, wasn't he? He'd have been dead long before without his intervention. That's why he crumbled into dust when you succeeded in retrieving the Oghma Infinium. And why you walked out with the book. The Demon of Knowlege is not preserving my life. I won't be changed." Storn dismissed her fears as groundless. "Besides, I'm an old man, with nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Give me the book, and let me do what is needed. I'll make sure he lives up to his side of the bargain."

Frea tried to persuade her father to change his mind. "Father, you must not do this. That book is... wrong. Evil. Against everything that you have taught me my whole life."

"I must, Frea. It is the only way to free Solstheim forever from Miraak's shadow. There comes a time when everything must change. Nothing that lives remains the same forever. Do not fear for me, my daughter. This is the destiny that the All-Maker has laid out for me"

"I stand beside you, father, as always."

"I am ready for whatever the foul master of this book has in store for me."

Storn opened the book. Diablita watched intently, as it had always been her reading the books before, and she had no idea what it looked like to anyone else. Frea had watched her reading one before, so she was the first to see that something was different this time. The tentacles that had pulled Diablita across into Mora's realm were acting strangely. Instead of just wrapping themselves around her father, the largest was rearing back like a snake about to strike!

And strike it did, impaling the old Skaal's head. "At last, the Skaal yield up their secrets to me." a voice spoke from nowhere.

"That's Hermaeus Mora's voice," Diablita whispered to Clark, as if he couldn't have guessed.

The voice addressed Diablita. "Dragonborn, you have delivered me the gift I requested. In return, I keep my promise, as befits a Prince of Oblivion: I give you the Word of Power that you need to challenge Miraak. You will be either a worthy opponent or his successor, as the tides of fate decree."

Frea stood frozen for a few moments as her father dropped lifeless to the ground, not believing what had just happened. Then she turned to Diablita. "Go. My father sacrificed himself so that you could destroy Miraak and lift his master's shadow from the land. Go, then. Kill Miraak. Do not fail."

Diablita looked at Clark, and pulled another book from her pack. "Wish me luck."

She opened the book, and Clark could see the tentacles emerge and wrap around her, just like they'd done with Storn. None of them threatened to impale her, though, and as he watched, she began to fade.

"Is this what happened before?" Clark asked Frea.

Frea was still staring down at her father's body. "What? Oh, yes, that's what she always looks like when she reads one of those books. And it only lasts a few minutes, even though she tells me it was hours to her."

[Grits]

"Most of him went over the other side of the ship," she replied. "But his head's rolling around the deck somewhere, if you want to go looking for it."
An appropriate response from Diablita. I love it!

Nice to have a ‘secret source’ that is actually difficult to find. You made me look up a new word, yay! Wait, no Stalhrim rings for Diablita? Baldor needs to expand his crafting range!

Best of luck to the Dragonborn. Hermaeus Mora may get more than he bargained for with Diablita as Miraak’s successor!

[ghastley]

Grits: I knew I should have called it a cwm.

-----------------------

Previously After a side-trip to rescue Baldor Iron-Shaper, and retrieve a map to a secret source of Stahlrim, Clark and Diablita the Dragonborn arrived at the Skaal Village. Diablita then left again, for Apocrypha.

-----------------------

Part 45 - Skaal Village

When Diablita rejoined them, fading back into full solidity, a glow of magical armour, unlike anything Clark had seen before, had formed around her. It was as if she was wearing a suit of dragonplate, but made out of light.

"Did you kill him? Is Miraak dead?" Frea demanded.

"Miraak is dead," Diablita confirmed. She reached into her pack and pulled out a mask, robe and various weapons. They were of a design that neither Clark nor Frea had seen before. "These were Miraak's. I suggest we put them on display in the Greathall, as a monument to Storn, who defeated him as much as I did."

"And what's that you're wearing?" Clark wanted to know.

"This is Dragon Aspect. I was right about it working better for me than for him. And the Bloodskal blade made up for his stealing dragon souls to regenerate. But I didn't get to kill him myself. When Hermaeus Mora saw that his defeat was inevitable, he finished him off for me. Skewered him with a tentacle, absorbed his body, and dropped the skeleton. I don't like to think what that felt like!"

Frea had been concentrating on something else. "I can confirm it. The Tree Stone is free, and the Oneness of the land is restored. But that just brings us back to where we were before Miraak's intervention, and we've lost Storn and our secrets."

"You haven't lost the secrets," Clark pointed out. "They're just a little less secret, which might be a good thing anyway. Anything important shouldn't be a secret, it should be shared."

"They were shared among the Skaal, of course," Frea agreed. "And that's why they aren't lost to us, as you just reminded me. Perhaps you have a point, but did it really need my father to die, to get it across?"

"I don't believe that Hermaeus Mora really has them, even now," Diablita added. "From what Storn told me, they weren't cold facts that could be written down in a book. They were ways to do things, that you can only learn by doing them. Like you can't learn archery from a book, you have to practice, instead."

Frea nodded in agreement, but warned Diablita that her contact with Hermaeus Mora put her on the same path as Miraak before her. "Do not get tempted to follow it."

"I won't," Diablita assured her. "But I will get a second opinion from Master Neloth. We'll be going back that way, won't we, Clark?"

"It's as good a route as any," he agreed.

---

"No, you seem to be clear of any influence," Neloth assured her. "Not too surprising, as it would have shown up when you read the book at Nchardak. You were affected, but gaining knowledge always does that. The point is that it's your knowledge now, and no longer dependent on the Daedric Prince."

"Now all that's left are the remaining Black Books, waiting for another ambitious fool to be lured into Hermaeus Mora's clutches. Speaking of which... I think I've located another book, if you're interested. Here, let me show you."

"Is this the last of them, or are there more after this one?" Diablita wanted to know.

"Well, you found the ones in Raven Rock Mine, and Benkongerike, we've dealt with the one at Nchardak, and the one I already had. Those and this new one are all my research indicates exist at present. Of course, Hermaeus Mora can always create more, if he chooses."

"I'll pass for now," she decided. "I've had my fill of Apocrypha, and Mora's minions."

"Are you sure? This isn't a job I can trust to Talvas, and Velith has more sense than to do that."

"That's a point. Where is she?" Clark asked.

"Looking for my former assistant, Ildari Sarothril. She was supposed to be lying dead in a sarcophagus down by the shore, but Velith found it empty. It seems that the heartstone I placed in her kept her alive, after all. I cast a divination, and determined that she was at Highpoint Tower."

"She was, but she's dead now," a voice behind them announced. "Here's the heartstone that caused all this trouble."

Vicuña walked over to Neloth and dropped a stone into his hand. It was about the same size as a human heart, and glowed red with obvious magical power.

"So Velith is Vicuña?" Diablita whispered in Clark's ear.

"Yes, her full name is Velith Telvanni. She's a member of Neloth's house, although she's most likely not a relative, or anything that close. Vicuña's a sort of professional identity, as she's not just a wizard."

"Well, that probably puts an end to all these Ash Spawn attacks," Neloth decided. "Now we can do something about the house."

"By 'we', I assume you mean me?" Vicuña asked. "And what's wrong with the house?"

Neloth pointed at the wall, where a large blister-like growth had appeared. "Ask Elynea Mothren what to do about it. She'll know."

"It looks like I have more errands to run." Vicuña told them. "I'll see you back in Skyrim some time."

"Yes, Skyrim," Clark agreed. "I need to get back and find out what happened to Brelyna."

Diablita wanted to know how Clark knew her little friend. "I'll tell you on the way back to Raven Rock," he told her.

---

Diablita didn't appear to be too worried when he did. She had a lot of confidence in the Dunmer's magical abilities, even if she didn't herself. "And it sounds like that Nord you've sent with her is just what she needs as a companion. I'm sure she'll take care of the trouble without our help."

Clark wasn't so sure. And then there was Serana, and her request. He'd better get back to the mainland as soon as he could. Except that it would be Sundas by the time they got back to Raven Rock, and the ferry didn't run until the following day.

"I've got some time to kill, now, too," Diablita reminded him.

---

On his way to the docks to board the Northern Maiden, Clark stopped off at Glover Mallory's forge and returned his bonemold formula. Glover thanked him profusely. "If there's any of my old Thieves Guild stuff you could use, it's all down in my basement. Here's a key. Go down and help yourself."

The Blackguard's Armour was tempting, but it wouldn't fit Gilda, and Clark couldn't see himself wearing it either. The fences back in Riften would buy it, of course, but nobody else would. The only thing that had any real interest for Clark was a letter. It appeared that Glover had written it to his daughter, Sapphire, but had never sent it. "Do you mind if I deliver this for you?" he asked the smith.

"No, it would be better if it's delivered by someone who can answer her questions. So if there's anything in there you want explained, ask me now."

[ghastley]

Previously: Diablita saved Solstheim while Clark stood around chatting to Frea. Clark picked up Glover's letter to Sapphire to take back to Skyrim.

-------------------

Part 46 - Back in Skyrim

By coincidence, Brelyna and Mjoll were staying the night at the Candlehearth Hall when Clark got back to Windhelm. "Show him the Staff" Mjoll urged.

"This is the Staff of Magnus," Brelyna told Clark, showing him an impressive-looking staff with a glowing orb at its tip. "We just went to Labyrinthian to get it. It turned out that Savos Aren, the late Arch-mage, had been there when he was young, and sealed the place up to trap the undead Dragon Priest Morokei, who was using it. Because it drains magicka, it's a particularly powerful one when used against mages, so Mjoll was just the right person to have with me. She's all brute strength and raw power, and the Dragon Priest didn't stand a chance!"

Mjoll was clearly proud of what she'd done at Labyrinthian. "Show him the mask, too!"

"Oh yes, this is the mask he was wearing. Ugly, isn't it? Mind you, it's probably better-looking than the undead face he was hiding behind it. If it wasn't so repulsive, the enchantment would almost make it worth wearing; I could use the magicka regeneration. Still, there are other things I could wear for that."

Clark was more interested in what had happened at the College. He'd heard that the Arch-mage had been killed in an explosion, and clearly Brelyna and Mjoll had survived. What was that all about?

"Ancano's taken control of the Eye of Magnus. Or at least he thinks he has. He's making it do all sorts of things, one of which is a shield around the Hall of the Elements, to stop us getting to him. It was the initial release of magical energy from the Eye that killed Savos Aren, and it also spawned some kind of creatures, sort of like wisps, that terrorized the town for a while. The Psijics sent me to find the Augur of Dunlain. He told me that this staff is the only thing that can control the Eye properly. It's not surprising that Ancano's getting bad results."

"So now you're headed back to Winterhold to take control yourself?" Clark asked. "If it's that dangerous, do you want to control it?"

"It's more a case of stopping Ancano before he destroys the rest of Winterhold, or the whole of Nirn. He's a Thalmor; that wouldn't be a bad outcome from his viewpoint. And I want my College back in operation. I can't learn anything with that kind of disruption going on."

"Aren't you learning just as much on these trips? Especially the combat aspects of magic, I'd have thought."

"That's not all there is to magic, and even that needs as much laboratory research as field trials. You need to develop new spells in an environment where you don't have to rely on them."

That made Clark think of Neloth's preferences in the matter. He'd prefer to keep the research to himself and let someone else do the riskier stuff. He'd left Vicuña doing that for him.

"I know that name, Neloth. My mother had a lot of tales to tell about him. Is he on Solstheim now?" Brelyna remarked. "And who's this Vicuña?"

"Her real name is Velith Telvanni. She went over with me to study enchanting with Master Neloth. I know she's already very good at it, so she's ready to take the next step of learning from the Master."

"I know her, too, from our days in Morrowind. She wasn't using that other name then. Why did she change it?"

"Probably to play down her Telvanni roots. It does make everyone expect you to be a Master Wizard before you're ready for that. She had other things she wanted to do first."

Brelyna laughed at that. She remembered what her friend Velith liked doing. Not that she was immune to those urges, either. She was a Dunmer, after all. She just had more dedication to her magical studies than Velith had. And smaller breasts, so she wasn't getting quite so many invitations to get distracted.

"If you knew her in Morrowind, does that mean you're from House Telvanni, too?" Clark asked.

"Yes, and you can't imagine the pressure you get to be an incredible mage, even before you've had the chance to learn how. That's one of the main reasons I came to the College of Winterhold. I could learn at my own pace there, and not have everyone rushing me. I prefer to do things thoroughly, rather than quickly, and make sure I have all aspects covered."

"I've been working on Conjuration and Alteration. My ambition is to merge the two, and improve the duration of my summons by reinforcing them with alteration magic. That's why I use staves for destruction, and it turned out that was the best tactic against Morokei, the Dragon priest who had the Staff of Magnus. He could drain my own magicka, but he couldn't stop me using staves against him. Or Mjoll. He had nothing to use against her."

"Do you think all that practice using staves will help you use the Staff of Magnus?" Clark inquired.

"I hope so. Although I don't really understand what it does, yet. Maybe it will become clear when we get back to Winterhold."

---

Clark's next destination was Riften. He'd left Gilda building the Thieves Guild back up, and looking into reducing Maven Black-Briar's influence on the city. Serana was most likely there, too, as she'd joined the guild as a suitable nocturnal vocation. And he had a letter to deliver to Sapphire.

At Honeyside, Clark found Gilda in residence, instead of Iona. She told him the housecarl was up north at Gloombound Mine, mining the ebony she needed for her new armour.

"I took her up there a few days ago," Gilda said. "I was already welcome in the strongholds, after the Karthwasten Mine clearance, so I thought it would be a good idea to take Iona and introduce her. They were a bit suspicious of her, and didn't react very well to her presence."

"Still, I wasn't expecting her to get into a fist-fight with the Chief! That turned out to be the best thing she could have done, although it didn't seem that way to me at the time. He likes strong women who don't get pushed around, and she certainly proved to be that. Mind you, deciding to fight him stripped to the waist probably helped a lot."

Clark smiled at that. What could Gilda have achieved?

"So that accounts for Iona. What about Karliah?"

"She's staying out of sight at the Nightingale Hall outside town. Maven Black-Briar doesn't know she's back, and we'd prefer to keep it that way. We have plans developing to deal with her, but we don't want to reveal anything until it's all in place and ready to roll."

Clark nodded. The Thieves Guild worked best in secrecy. He didn't expect her to tell him much about the plans until he needed to know, either. He asked about Serana.

"The vampire? She'll be somewhere around, but you won't see her until after dark, of course. I'd check the Bee and Barb this evening. Most people drop in to catch up on the daily gossip, at some time or other. But what do you want with her?"

Clark explained to Gilda about her wanting to get her mother back from the Soul Cairn.

"I can see why she needs you to do it, but are you sure you won't get trapped like her mother did? The Ideal Masters sound like they're not exactly trustworthy."

"I fully expect them to try something. But I'll have Serana with me going in, and both of them, hopefully, coming out. They should know the Ideal Masters by now, so there won't be too many surprises. By the way, what exactly did you tell Serana about my immortality?"

"Just the little I know, which is that you were made immortal by a Daedric Prince. And that sex was involved, naturally."

"It's just that she thinks it happened for me in sort of the same way it did for her. And although she hasn't described it in any detail, I don't think Molag Bal was as considerate as Nocturnal and Azura."

"What I don't understand is how she talked you into doing this for her. I know what usually motivates you, and that woman just doesn't. She almost seems to be afraid of it, not that anything else seems to scare her."

"Think about it, Gilda. If Molag Bal made her a vampire that way, it can't have been any fun. Wouldn't that put anyone off?"

"I just can't imagine. But then, I have no experience of Daedric Princes at all, and would prefer to leave it that way."

"You've talked to Nocturnal, haven't you?"

"Talked, yes. You know what I meant by experience. You can have too much of a good thing, and I know that from that contraption of Madesi's. I almost feel sorry for Rigel Strong-Arm."

Clark smiled at that memory. "Well, anyway, it's not so much that she persuaded me to do this, as that I'm curious about her mother. She's either the most manipulative monster imaginable, or the kind of parent that inspires complete devotion. There's no room for anything in between."

[ghastley]

Previously: Clark returned from Solstheim to get an update on Brelyna's progress, and how things were progressing in Riften.

----------------

Part 47 - Ragged Flagon

Serana wasn't in the Bee and Barb when Clark went there, but Sapphire was. Clark beckoned her over to his table, and ordered a couple of drinks from Talen-Jei.

"I've been meaning to ask you ever since I saw you in here; what's your real name?"

"Look, I don't really know you. I don't even really know anyone here. Why do you care anyway? It's not like we're family. This is a business. Look, you want to know about me? All right, I'll tell you. I'll tell you about the time I was a young girl, barely out of her teens... living on a pig farm in the middle of nowhere. Didn't have a coin to spend between our entire family. Ate the same slop we fed our livestock."

"That sounds horrible," Clark responded.

"Oh, wait... it gets much better. How about the fact that our farm was attacked by bandits, and that they killed my entire family who didn't even brandish a weapon against them. Here's the best part. They took me as a prize, and violated me for a fortnight. Tossed me from bandit to bandit like... like..."

"You don't have to go on."

"It's fine... I had to tell someone I suppose. Carrying around a weight like that... it hurts after a while. Cuts you inside like a dagger to the heart. Over time, I managed to gain their confidence. Then one night I grabbed a knife, waited until they fell asleep and cut their throats. I never returned to that pig farm you know. There's nothing for me there. So that's my sad story. What do you think?"

Clark reached into his pocket and pulled out Glover's letter, and laid it on the table in front of Sapphire.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Read it, and find out."

She did, twice. "I... I can't believe it. All those years on the farm, and my mother never told me about any of this. Words can't even begin to describe how much I appreciate you bringing this to me. Here, take this. I used to carry it for good luck, but I think you deserve it more than I do." She offered Clark her namesake gemstone.

"No you keep it," Clark told her. "Your father paid me well enough to bring the letter. But you can help me find Serana. I was expecting to see her here, too."

"She's probably still at the Ragged Flagon. Doesn't usually come here until it's a bit darker outside. Come with me, I'll take you down there."

Sapphire knew that Clark wasn't a member of the Guild, even though Karliah and Gilda were. The Ragged Flagon was open to anyone in the Ratway, if you had the coin, but if he went there alone, dressed the way he was, he'd be the target of every pickpocket, or maybe worse. She didn't doubt Clark could take care of himself, she was more worried about those who might get hurt trying to rob him.

---

Serana was sitting at one the tables, chatting to Delvin Mallory.

"Good evening, Uncle Delvin," said Sapphire.

"I ain't your uncle, so don't call me that. I may be old enough to be your father, but that's no reason to give me any lip."

Sapphire said nothing, but put Glover's letter in front of him.

"Glover's your father? I really am your uncle? Well, I'll be..."

Clark left Sapphire with Delvin, and took Serana back to the Bee and Barb. "I'm ready to help you get your mother out of the Soul Cairn, if you're ready to show me the way. What do we have to do to get there?"

"There's a portal back at Castle Volkihar. It used to be a lot harder to get to when the place was full of Harkon's vampires, but it's easier now they've been wiped out. We still have to go around the side of the castle and in the back way, as the passage through to the main entrance is blocked. It's probably a shorter route, anyway."

"And where's the castle? I've never heard of the place."

"Off the coast, west of Solitude. There's a jetty with a rowboat near the Thalmor fort. It only takes a few minutes to row out there."

"But getting to the jetty's going to take a few days travel. Do you need to travel at night?"

"No, I'll be all right if I just put my hood on. I'm weaker during the day, but my spells aren't, and I can look after myself."

"We'll take my carriage as far as Solitude, then, and I'll leave it at Katla's. Is there anything I should take to prepare me for the Soul Cairn?"

"Nothing special, but you might want a few health potions to use after we go through the portal. I suspect that it will drain you pretty drastically. The bonemen and wrathmen that prowl the place aren't any more dangerous than any of the draugr in this world, and you won't need any special equipment against them.
The only real problem will be convincing my mother to come with us."

"You said that she refused to believe that your father, Harkon, was dead. Is there anything we can take as proof?"

"Not really. When he died, he turned into a pile of ash. I have his sword, and his armour, but they aren't unique, and anyone could have stolen them without killing him. In principle, anyway. I can't really imagine anyone getting away with it, while he was alive."

"You'd better take me to where he fell, and if the ashes are still there, I can at least tell your mother I saw them. I assume they're somewhere I couldn't get to if he were alive?"

"That's true. If you can describe the Volkihar Cathedral to her, then she'll know you've been there, at least."

---

"Watch the gargoyles," Serana told Clark. "I think those are just stone, but sometimes they turn out to be alive." There were a couple of them lying dead on the ramp up to the main door, and two more sitting on pedestals.

Another was in the entrance hallway, looming over them as they walked through to the dining hall. The corpses of several vampires, and one or two in Dawnguard armour, lay around the floor.

"Through there, at the back. There's a door into the cathedral, and Father's ashes should still be by the altar, if these bodies remain."

Clark stepped over the remains of a large hound-like creature, and followed Serana to the rear corner.
Serana pointed at a passageway blocked by rubble. "That used to lead through to the courtyard where my mother tended her garden. I imagine she'll want to clear that if she moves back."

[ghastley]

Previously: Clark and Serana had arrived at Castle Volkihar, and looked around the Cathedral, so that Clark could help to convince Valerica that Harkon was really dead.

-------------------

Part 48 - Volkihar Cathedral

The Volkihar Cathedral was remarkably well-lit with natural light for a vampires' temple. Clark presumed that there was something about the stained glass that made the sunlight less oppressive. One shaft was illuminating a pile of ashes in front of an altar to Molag Bal. The altar was in the shape of a bust of the Daedric Lord, with a blood fountain issuing from its mouth. Clark took careful note of that, as he expected to describe it to Valerica to convince her he'd actually been here.

He poked through the ash pile, but there was little to confirm that it was Harkon's. It still retained an unnaturally red hue, but that meant little. His armour and sword had been taken, presumably by the Hunter when Harkon was slain. Wait, didn't Serana tell him that she had them, now?

---

Clark and Serana left the castle through the front door, and made their way around the outside to the old dock. This was currently the only way to reach Valerica's study, and the portal to the Soul Cairn. Once they'd cleared the passageway through to the courtyard, there would be another route, but now this was their only choice.

There were skeletons and gargoyle remains everywhere. Clark asked Serana if they'd had to battle their way past all of them before. "Not all of them. Most were already dead, although some were raised again as we passed. More than we wanted, I can assure you."

"Through here," she said at last, and opened a door into a large room, with a high ceiling, and a glowing pit where the floor had once been. Stairs curved down into a swirling purple mist. "The portal's down there," Serana told Clark, as if he couldn't have guessed.

"From what the Hunter told me when he first tried to go through it, I think it drains your health, if you're not undead. Lean on me, so you don't fall when that happens."

The Hunter' appraisal was accurate, and Clark had to stop and regain his composure on the other side. He cast a healing spell, which seemed to work normally for him. A couple of potions, and he was back to normal. Still, he hoped it wouldn't repeat on the way out.

"Which way is your mother? Do we follow the path ahead?"

Serana pointed at an archway ahead of them. "There's a wall dividing this place in two, and a barrier of magical force around it. That arch is the only gap in the wall, and the Boneyard, which is where I left my mother, is on the other side. We should be able to see it from there."

---

They passed several ghosts just wandering around looking lost, and half-way from the wall to the Boneyard, a couple of skeletal beings rose out of the ground and attacked them. Serana smashed them with ice spikes before they could get near. "I though we'd cleared them all the first time I was here," she told Clark. "I guess the Ideal Masters can raise more whenever they feel inclined."

They found Valerica fiddling around at an Alchemy lab near the door. Clark was initially surprised that Valerica appeared to be only a few years older than her daughter. But a moment's reflection, and he understood that they'd both stopped aging when they became vampires, so Serana had almost caught up with her mother.

"Who have you brought with you this time? That's not the man you came with before."

"No Mother, it's not. And I'd prefer you not reminding me about him. Clark is here to confirm that Harkon is dead. He's seen the ashes, which is all that's left, in the cathedral where the Hunter killed him."

Valerica asked Clark a few pertinent questions and he thought he'd convinced her he was telling the truth. "I know Serana wants me to return to Tamriel, but do you? Why would you want another vampire?"

"To start with, because it's what Serana wants. Also, she's told me what her father was like, and she doesn't seem to take after him. So she must have inherited her nature from you, and that's enough of a recommendation."

"You know the Volkihar aren't just ordinary vampires," Valerica insisted. "Behold!"

She began to transform before Clark's gaze. Her leather vampire armour melted away, leaving only a thin strip hanging down between her legs. Her face changed into a grotesque troll-like mask, with horns, and her hands and feet grew vicious-looking claws. Small vestigial wings spouted from her shoulders, and she lifted off the ground. The wings apparently gave her a form of levitation, rather than physical lift, as they hardly moved.

However, the majority of her body remained just as feminine as it started, and was now easier for Clark to see and appreciate. He told her so, and she transformed back, laughing. Her armour, however, didn't re-appear.

"You men are all the same, and that's why we love you," Valerica exclaimed. "Don't we, Serana?"

A look of disgust was on Serana's face. Clark imagined that children never consider their parents having any sexuality, but this looked like more. She appeared to be revolted by the whole idea of sex, perhaps as a result of her experience with Molag Bal. He'd need to talk privately with Valerica before bringing the subject up with Serana.

It did appear, though, that Valerica was going to return with them. She gathered the few items she'd need, and prepared to follow Clark back to the portal.

That's when the dragon appeared. He faded in from nothing on the wall opposite the steps from the Boneyard.

"Are you going to stop me leaving?" Valerica asked him. "Do you still hold to the Ideal Masters' bargain?"

"No, Qahnaarin, that was over when you two, and the other joor, defeated me. I come now because I perceive a chance of my own freedom. This new one, he was not here before, but he gives me the hope I need."

The huge beast's head turned to face Clark. "You know the Dovakhin, don't you? The one the mortals call the Dragonborn? I have seen her in your mind, and she appears to be close to you."

Clark was used to his weak telepathy bringing him the stray thoughts of others, but this was the first time it had gone the other way. Had the dragon really seen Diablita in his memories? He had no other explanation.

"Yes, I know her. How does that help you?"

"She is the only one that can use my name to summon me from this place. I cannot leave of my own accord, but if she calls my name in Tamriel then I am bound to appear there. I believe that each time that happens, the hold of this place on my soul will be weakened. You can take my name to her, and tell her of my need."

"I need to know more, before I agree," Clark responded. "Why are you here, and what was the bargain with the Ideal Masters that Valerica mentioned?"

"In my battles with the other dragons of Nirn, I sought advantage by the study of what you call necromancy. I made a deal with the Ideal Masters to guard Valerica until her death, in return for the ability to summon armies of undead."

"They neglected to tell me that she was immortal. So I have been here, bound by my agreement, all this time. I fear that I have been here so long, my body has become attuned to this place, and cannot return to Nirn without the power of the Dovahkin reinforcing me."

Clark pondered the dragon's request a moment. "I can take your name to her, but whether she chooses to call it will be her decision, not mine."

"That is a risk that matters little. If you do not, then there is no chance for me to leave."

Clark was not expecting the name to be a Thu'um. The ground shook, and the wind howled, as the dragon spoke his name, Dur-neh-viir. "Will all that happen again, when Diablita uses your name?" he asked.

"Of course. The language of the Dovah is a language of great power, which is why so few can master it. Now read it, too."

On the wall beneath the dragon, three clusters of symbols were glowing. Clark understood, without quite knowing how, that these were the three parts of Durnehviir's name, written in the dragon script. He wasn't sure how he'd convey that part to Diablita, but the dragon seemed to believe it was possible.

"I can say the name Durnehviir, of course," Valerica pointed out, "but I can't shout it the way the Dovahkin will be able to. And now, any of us could probably write it down, not that that would do anything on its own."

"Correct," the dragon agreed. "If you spent enough time practicing, you could eventually understand the meaning, and it would become a Thu'um for you, too. It would please me if you did that, but I do not expect you to devote that amount of time to my cause."

With that parting comment, he spread his immense wings and flew off.

[ghastley]

Previously: Clark had persuaded Valerica that Harkon really was dead, and Durnheviir had asked him to mention his name to Diablita.

----------------------

Part 49 - Return to Volkihar

Back at Volkihar Castle, Valerica took a few minutes clearing spider webs from her laboratory, and tossing the spoiled ingredients away. "I'll need to gather a lot of fresh supplies to get this place back to what it was. Let's go take a look at the rest of the castle."

It wasn't until she reached the courtyard that she made any further remarks. "It's good to be home again, but I hope the rest of the place isn't as run-down as this. I expected the parts we've just come through to have decayed, as nobody knew that part of the castle even existed. This looks like Harkon hasn't made any repairs since I went to the Soul Cairn!"

"That's probably right, mother," Serana concurred. "And I wasn't here to do anything about it. The passageway through to the main hall has collapsed, and we'll have to go around the outside."

"Really? I know Harkon never liked this part of the Castle, but just letting it fall into ruins? Oh, well, I have all the time in the world to fix it up again, and I think I'll start by replanting here."

---

"It looks like I have a good supply of thralls to help with the reconstruction." Valerica remarked when they entered the Castle Hall. "It's a pity Harkon himself didn't leave a corpse I could use."

She cast a spell over one of the vampire corpses, which raised itself up and walked over to the rubble blocking the passageway to the courtyard. It tried valiantly to lift one of the blocks, but failed. Serana raised a second one, and together they managed to move the block.

"I'd better stay here and help Mother for a while," Serana told Clark. "This appears to need two of us."

Clark pointed to a larger corpse in the corner. It appeared to be a troll, wearing armour. "Now that's different!" exclaimed Valerica.

She waited until the two thralls had put the stone block down where she wanted it, and cast her spell at the dead troll. As it floated up off the floor, one of the vampire thralls collapsed into a pile of ash. The other just stood there, moaning.

When Valerica found that the troll had the strength to move the rubble unaided, she told her daughter to release her thrall and go with Clark. "I can manage on my own, now."

Clark wasn't in any hurry to leave, however. He wanted to find out more about the whole story, from Valerica. Serana had no clue what was going on while she was in Dimhollow Crypt, so she hadn't been able to tell him everything. And there was a lot she wasn't saying about her early life, and becoming a vampire.

"Serana, while the troll's clearing the passage, why don't you get the other corpses to clear the rest of the hall? Just send each one down to the shore with some of the lighter debris, and you can leave its ash pile there when you raise the next one."

"What will you be doing?" Serana asked

"I need to talk to Clark for a while," Valerica replied, and led him back to the bedroom.

Bedroom wasn't a very accurate term in a vampire castle, of course. There wasn't a bed, just a pair of coffins. His and hers, Clark assumed.

---

Valerica began her tale with the chance meeting of one adventurer with another in a bar in some village in Tamriel. Harkon had been sitting at the bar when she walked in, and since she was confident she could persuade just about any man to buy her a drink, she 'd picked him.

He noticed the bow on her back, and asked her if she'd consider joining him in exploring a nearby cave. He wanted someone with ranged capabilities to watch his back, as he was very much a sword-and-board fighter. He'd heard from others that this particular cave was likely to be tough.

"I have a few spells I can use, too," she'd told him. "But they're mainly for when anyone gets too close. And healing, if it's really too close!"

He'd laughed at that, and admitted he carried a lot of potions, because he didn't have that skill. She agreed to trying that cave with him, to see if it worked out. They shook on the deal, and he bought her that drink.

"It was just as difficult as everyone had said, but we managed it," Valerica continued. "Our fighting styles meshed very well, and we didn't get in each other's way. Both against the bandits in the upper level, and the zombies, or draugr - I forget which it was, now - on the lower. And the loot in the chest at the end was as much as we both could carry."

"When we got back up to the first chamber, we dumped everything in a pile next to the bandits' bedrolls, ready to divide it up between us. He looked at me, and then the bedrolls, and I knew what he was thinking, because I was thinking the same thing. We just about ripped each other's armour off!"

"We were a successful team for quite some time. We didn't just work as a pair, sometimes we'd hire others for special projects. Often, we'd come back with more than we could sell, even after the others had taken a generous share."

"We found a small shack, with a bed and some chests we could lock, and made that our base. By that time we had enough self-control to go home first!"

"That's when Harkon started to notice that he had a problem. He was always looking back to see if I was all right. He asked me to marry him, so he could leave me safely behind with the family."

"I wanted a proper house before that, but we could afford it. So we found a place and moved in. As soon as I was pregnant with Serana, Harkon may me stay behind, and he hired mercenaries to take with him. I insisted they were male, of course!"

"And then one day he found himself in a nest of vampires. They were a lot stronger than he'd expected, and he was the only one of his band who got out alive. I made sure he was properly healed, as I'd heard you could get nasty diseases from vampires." Valerica smiled. "I was really ignorant about vampires back then."

"So was he, or he wouldn't have got into the position of losing his entire band of mercenaries. He told me he needed to find out more about them, so he'd be better prepared next time. I took that at face value, not realising that he was jealous of the vampires' power, and wanted it for himself."

"He went off on an expedition to the North, and I presumed that it included the College of Winterhold, and their library. Wherever he did go, it took him several weeks, and when he came back, he announced that we were moving. He'd found us a Castle to live in!"

This post has been edited by ghastley: Aug 24 2015, 03:51 PM

[ghastley]

Previously Clark, Serana and Valerica returned to Castle Volkihar and started to clean up. Valerica began to tell Clark the story that led up to Harkon's death.

----------------------

Part 50 - Daughters of Coldharbour

"That was Castle Volkihar, of course. It was empty when we got here, and although it was dirty and full of skeevers, it looked sound. Harkon told me that it had once been the home of a clan of vampires, and they had a shrine to Molag Bal there. But I shouldn't worry, Deadric Princes can only come to Tamriel if they're summoned, and who'd want to summon him?"

"Harkon hired some staff, to help us clean up the place, and maintain it after that. There was a delightful little courtyard where I planted flowers and medicinal herbs, and spent much of my time while I was waiting for Serana to arrive. Harkon didn't like it, it was too peaceful, and made him restless. He always seemed to want to go off and find a cave full of bandits to fight after he'd spent any time there."

"He never knew about the secret passage from there to my study. Nor did any of the staff. I didn't find it myself until Serana was already grown, and I'd been a vampire for several years."

"I should tell you about how that happened, shouldn't I?" Valerica inquired. "It will tell you a lot about Harkon."

"One of the staff came to the courtyard looking for me. I was surprised that Harkon didn't come himself, as he knew where I'd be. The servant asked if I'd come to the Cathedral, as Harkon had something he wanted to show me."

"I was curious why he'd chosen that place, as we rarely went in there. I always found the shrine, with its perpetual blood fountain, a bit too creepy. Molag Bal, to me, wasn't someone you worshipped. You'd prefer that he ignore you, or he could make a misery of your life, or even beyond. Harkon didn't seem to mind, but I'd always put that down to male bluster."

"Anyway, as soon as the door closed behind me, a huge black demon materialised next to the shrine, and Harkon was behind me, pushing towards him. And I mean him. The creature was naked; I'm not even sure he had skin. And conspicuously male."

"Molag Bal?" Clark asked.

Valerica nodded. "The King of Rape himself. I knew what was likely to happen next, and I wasn't wrong. You'll understand if I omit the nastier details. It was his intent to cause me as much pain and degradation as possible, and he knew how. I found myself thinking that I just wanted it to end, and If I had to die to make that happen, so be it."

"That's when it stopped. Clearly, that was what gave Molag Bal his satisfaction - his victim's total surrender. I collapsed on the floor and just cried. Nobody came to help me, not even Harkon."

"The pain went away faster than I expected. Especially as he'd sunk his jagged claws in my breasts, I was expecting to be healing myself for weeks. But I was whole again, and somehow felt more alive than before. Stronger, too."

"I got up and looked around. Harkon was there, watching me. And all the staff. With glowing eyes that told me they were all vampires. Every one of them."

"Harkon congratulated me on becoming a 'Daughter of Coldharbour'. He said that it was an honour not bestowed on many, as few survived the ordeal with Molag Bal. Before I could knock his teeth down his throat, he turned and walked out of the Cathedral."

"When I got back to my room, I saw in the mirror that I had become a vampire, too. And I'd started to calm down by then. There was a book I'd seen Harkon reading on the bedside table, and I picked it up and read about what I'd just become."

"It made some sense. Harkon, being Harkon, would want to become the most powerful kind of vampire possible, and he'd want that for his wife, too. Naturally Molag Bal doesn't want volunteers, so he wouldn't have been able to warn me, or it might have gone wrong."

Clark must have raised an eyebrow or something, as Valerica hastily explained. "No I don't mean I'd have been willing at all. Although Harkon might have thought that. He was 'vigorous' with me, to say the least, and he knew I like it that way. No, I meant that if I'd had any warning I might have resisted too well, and have angered Bal. Harkon did at least want me to survive."

"I still wouldn't be any hurry to forgive Harkon for this 'gift'. Yes, I was made more powerful, but it had hurt like... " She paused. "Nothing could hurt like that!"

"And then I though about Serana. Her parents had just become vampires, and she hadn't. How would she react? Of course, I hadn't figured out at that early stage that Harkon intended her to go thorugh the same ordeal that I had. Serana was still a child."

"When I did add it all up, I made sure she'd be better prepared than I was. I couldn't tell her anything, naturally, but I did everything I could to help improve her chances. I figured that I'd need to keep Serana a virgin, as losing it's painful, but survivable. Perhaps Molag Bal wouldn't need too much more pain from my daughter. And we trained her fighter-hard, so she'd be tough enough to withstand it."

"Of course, she had asked many times while she was growing when she'd become a vampire. I told her that vampires stopped aging when they were turned, so we'd want to wait until she was an adult. If we didn't, she 'd be stuck as a child for ever. That seemed to satisfy her curiosity."

"Keeping her virginity intact wasn't too hard at the isolated Castle. The vampire clan we'd gathered around us were firmly in Harkon's control, and we had mortal cattle in the basement cells for all their hungers. I tended to keep her with me, too, and not let her wander around where she might read the wrong books."

"I took her to the Cathedral on Bal's summoning day myself. I knew it was inevitable, and I couldn't stop Harkon doing it if I didn't. I don't think she had any idea what was going to happen, just that this was the day for her to become a vampire at last. She might even have been looking forward to that."

"Harkon took over once Serana was inside the Cathedral, and the door closed. He led her up to the altar and summoned Bal, telling him that he had a present for him. A virgin."

"Serana promptly screamed, and tried to run away. Which was exactly the right reaction. Molag Bal must have been able to sense her fear, as everyone else could. I turned away as he grabbed hold of her, and pulled her legs apart."

"I asked one of the others if it was over yet. She told me that it wasn't, that Molag Bal was taking much longer than he had with me. But Serana was still with us, and I shouldn't worry. When they told me it was coming to an end, I looked around to see her kneeling in front of him, and presenting her face for his 'blessing'"

Clark hadn't noticed Serana joing them. Her expression at being reminded of the events can't easily be described.

"What mother told you about total surrender, wanting to die just to end it, that happened for me, too. Right at the beginning, when I felt like I was being turned inside out the hard way. But he didn't stop, and I didn't die. The pain faded, more slowly than I'd have liked, but it did fade. I was just numb, and detached from what was going on, until he tried to drown me at the end."

"And I was a vampire, another Daughter of Coldharbour, just like my father wanted. At the time, we thought he just wanted us to be like him. That was what I wanted then, although I'd have chosen a different method. Just about any other way, really."

[ghastley]

Part 51 - Daughters 2

"It wasn't until later that we found out about the prophecy. Basically, that needed a Daughter of Coldharbour to die, so that her blood could be used in some ritual with Auriel's bow. The details of how to do that were in the Elder Scrolls, and Harkon started looking for the right ones. He found one of the three, and mother managed to steal it from him. That's when she hid me in Dimhollow Crypt, and tried to hide herself in the Soul Cairn."

"Harkon didn't know I already had one of the scrolls," Valerica added. "I took that one with me to the Soul Cairn to keep it separate from the one I hid with Serana. There would have been only one more needed, and then he could have started to look for the bow."

"But why did you think he intended to sacrifice one of you?" Clark asked. "Weren't there Daughters of
Coldharbour other than own his wife and daughter? I'd have expected him to be hunting for them, at the same time as the scrolls."

"Because there weren't any others," Valerica replied. "Harkon tried to summon Bal again the next year, but he wouldn't respond. I doubt the poor girl he'd found would have made it, but she couldn't even be offered."

"And I searched the archives that the Dawnguard kept," Serana added. "There are no reports of any since me. I don't think my father would have given up trying to create more, so I just have to assume that nobody else survived Bal."

"Or that he wouldn't answer the summon," Clark surmised. "Do you want to know what I think happened? I think you became a vampire at just the same point your mother described, when you surrendered control of your life to the Daedric Prince. But with your new vampire strength, you were able to withstand his assault, and he was having too much pleasure to stop. If you'd understood that, you'd have been able to control him, but you were a first-timer without any experience to draw on, and didn't. He dodged the arrow then, but now he's afraid of losing control again, and won't take the chance by coming here."

"Wait, you're saying Molag Bal is afraid of me?" Serana asked, incredulous.

"No he's afraid of not being able to control his own urges," Valerica responded. "But that's almost the same thing."

Clark was hearing other voices. Inside his head. Voices he recognised, because they'd been there before. "Yes, you can come and have a chat," he told them. "Just let me warn the others."

"Azura and Nocturnal would like to speak to us," Clark announced. "I think they overheard what I was thinking."

They materialised either side of Clark, and Azura gave him an affectionate squeeze. There was something different about the way she looked and he wasn't sure what it was.

"Bigger breasts," she told him. "I'd noticed you were spending time with some quite spectacular women, so I thought I'd give them a try."

Nocturnal had changed even more than her sister. She'd apparently got bored with her "black glow" and looked more like a mortal woman. Or rather, what a mortal woman would wish to look like. Hers might have been a bit larger than Clark remembered, too, but she didn't have them out on display the way Azura did.

"It appears that Clark also likes vampires," Nocturnal pointed out. "Even if Molag Bal doesn't favour these two any more."

"Yes, Molag Bal," agreed Azura. "Just the topic we came to discuss. I think Clark's hit the nail right on the head. Serana was more than he was expecting, and now he's bound to be ... embarrassed, at least."

"Especially now that we know about it," agreed Nocturnal. "He should just be glad that we haven't told Boethiah."

Azura giggled at that, a reaction the two vampire women weren't expecting from a Daedric Princess. "No, we wouldn't do that, would we? Not until it would be really useful, anyway. No point in playing your cards too soon, is there?"

"But now you know, if Molag Bal finds out that you know, aren't we in a lot of trouble?" Serana asked.

"No more than Valerica was in, in the Soul Cairn." Nocturnal replied. "I'm convinced the actions of the Ideal Masters were at Bal's bidding. That's as much as he's capable of, outside of Coldharbour. He can't take direct action in Mundus, so you'll be safe enough."

"And we're not forgetting the 'direct action' he took with both of you," Azura added. "He could only do that because he was summoned to do so. Harkon's dead, and nobody else would have the motivation to summon him against you. Besides, you control the shrine, and there aren't many others where he can appear."

"You can't destroy the shrine," Nocturnal pointed out. "Even we couldn't do that. But it's just an ugly ornament until someone uses it. And by use it, I mean more than just drinking some of the blood. It will sustain a vampire without getting Molag Bal involved at all, so I wouldn't even consider blocking the Cathedral off from the rest of the castle. The blood fountain's too useful."

"Does that work the same way as the ones in the Deadlands?" Clark asked. He'd been there way back when he rescued Cyndil the archer from the dremora.

"Yes, pretty much so," she agreed. "But those were set up to restore health. This one's a bit more vampire-specific, and wouldn't do you any good. But the magicka that powers it is all around us, and doesn't come from Bal himself. That's why the blood fountains in Mehrunes Dagon's realm would aid his allies and enemies alike"

---

After Azura and Nocturnal had gone, Serana spoke to Clark. "So they were the ones who made you immortal, weren't they? I'd assumed that if it wasn't Molag Bal, it would be Boethiah. After all, she's a woman, sometimes, and Gilda had said that sex was involved."

"And now you're curious, aren't you? Especially now you've met them, and they're not a pair of scary monsters."

"Azura's pair were monsters, but I wouldn't call them scary," Valerica agreed. She hadn't met Gilda, of course. Serana had, and she said nothing.

"Yes, well they weren't always like that," Clark replied. "And they're probably already back to normal size, since I didn't go wild about them. She's awesome anyway, and she should know that without my reminding her. But that's just one thing about her that will probably never change. She likes being admired, and wants to deserve it, too."

Clark sat the two women down, and started the lengthy tale of how he'd first encountered Nocturnal, in Minx's bedroom at the Cyrodiil Thieves Guild, and how that had led to him retrieving Azura's Crescent, when it was stolen by a Khajiit burglar.

"So you did it with both of them, but none of that made you immortal?" Serana queried. "And the way you described it, it sounded like you were having fun."

"He was," her mother answered. "Just keep listening. It will do you good."

"It was indeed very enjoyable, and after one particularly good session with Azura, she asked me if that wasn't the best I'd ever had. I told her it might have been second best, so of course she wanted to know when I'd had better."

"I told her that, no it wasn't her sister, who was as good, in her own way, but not better. She should think again. Who could be better than Azura?"

"It was herself, when I brought back the Crescent. She was so overjoyed to get it back, she just had to share that feeling with someone. That was what made it special, sharing the joy. Not trying to impress me."

"Azura was pleased with that answer, but she still wanted to know how I could even think about other times while all that was going on. So I had to tell how how I'd trained that ability as a spy for the Empire, with Taminwe in particular. And we'd learned as much from each other because we shared every new trick we discovered."

"Azura had noticed my emphasis on sharing. Was sharing the secret?"

"Not a secret, just something she might not have thought about before. She was the unequalled ruler of her own realm, so it just didn't come up, except for situations like this."

"Azura told me she'd rarely learned something new from a mortal, and she thought I should be rewarded. She asked her sister what she thought would be appropriate, and Nocturnal told her that if she kept rewarding me the way she usually did, I'd need to be immortal or I'd wear out!"

"Of course, when Nocturnal joined her to help do that, I started to wonder if they were putting my new immortality to the test. I told them that together they'd just set the new high mark, because that's what Azura liked to hear, and it was true, anyway."

"And by sharing, she'd remarked."

"Are you trying to suggest that the three of us...?" Valerica began.

[ghastley]

Previously: Valerica explained to Clark how she and Serana became vampires, and he told them how he became immortal, too.

-------------------

Part 52 - Azura's Shrine

It took a long time for Clark to talk his way out of that slip. Especially as he'd have liked nothing better, if only Serana had been ready for that. But he knew he still had a lot of work to do before her fear of intimacy went away.

He asked Serana if she'd made any friends at the Thieves Guild. He knew that Karliah was in hiding, and Serana and she had probably never met, but she'd told him that Gilda had sent her his way in the first place.

"Well, Vex is all business, and doesn't have time to chat; she expects me to be out doing a burglary somewhere, rather than sitting idly around the Ragged Flagon. Tonilia's much the same, and only talks to me when I have something to fence. Gilda's the Guildmaster, and I have to assume she's even busier than the others."

"But Sapphire and I have something in common, even if it's not something we like to talk about."

Clark wasn't at all happy with the idea that he might have just doubled his work, but Azura re-appeared to send things in a new direction.

"Are these better?" she asked him, with a little shake of her hips that set everything jiggling.

Clark was struggling to find a way to explain that he didn't believe in a "perfect size" - it all depended on the woman, and what she was happy with. And since no woman is ever content with the status quo, he didn't have an answer for her.

But thankfully, Azura didn't wait for an answer. "They're not the only reason I came back. I just remembered that I haven't sorted out the situation with my Star yet, and it might be just the quest for you two to get to know each other better. Go to my shrine up in the hills near Winterhold, and talk to the priestess there. She'll give you all the details."

---

"You two?" Serana asked, once Azura had disappeared again. "Which two?"

"You and Clark, of course," her mother replied. "I'm getting back to cleaning this place up, and I'm sure she knew that."

"And she definitely meant me, with that bit about getting to know each other. I'd think a mother and daughter don't need to do that." Clark understood what Azura had in mind, and it was a good approach. There would probably be some danger involved, but two immortals shouldn't need to be too concerned.

---

Aranea Ienith was glad to see someone visiting Azura's shrine. And of course, she was expecting them.

"Azura gives me visions of the future," she explained, "and so I'd already seen your arrival in my dreams. Come inside my modest abode, out of this cold wind."

The base of Azura's statue was hollow, and a small, but comfortable, dwelling for her priestess had been constructed inside it. There was a table and chair, a fireplace with a cookpot, some chests and cupboards, and a large, well upholstered, bed.

"Azura usually sends me men, who want to know their future. They need to make me tired and happy, so I'll have pleasant dreams. It's an arrangement that suits me, and presumably Azura too, as she does provide the visions. I'm sure it's not just a one-way connection, and she's sharing my dreams and recent memories, too."

"What do you already know about her Star?" Clark asked.

"Not much, so presumably there will be information about it in my next vision," Aranea replied. "Shall we begin the preparations?"

"Are we aiming for 'relaxed' or 'exhausted'? And how would you like Serana to participate?" Clark inquired.

"Relaxed, and any way she likes," the dunmer replied, taking off her hood, and shaking her hair loose. She had medium-length red hair, cut in a style that looked easy to maintain, in this remote location. She ran her hands through it a couple of times, and then stopped to rub her shoulder.

"I shouldn't stand out in the cold so much," she complained. "It leaves me feeling stiff in my back muscles,"

"I know just the answer for that," Clark announced, and dug in his backpack for a small vial. He pulled out the cork and gave it to Aranea to sniff. "This scented oil can really help, if properly applied."

Aranea smiled. "And of course you know how, don't you?" She took off her robe and lay down on the bed, so that Clark could begin.

"Gilda said you were a healer," Serana began, "but that's not how anyone's ever healed my back."

"Well that's because there's nothing that actually needs healing. Aranea's back isn't damaged, just a little tired, and I'm helping her muscles relax more than they normally would on their own. That's going to help her sleep deeply later on, too."

"And it really feels good, Serana. Did I get your name right? You should let Clark rub your back, too."

"Good idea," Clark agreed. "Serana, take your armor off, and lie down on the other side. There's plenty of oil for both of you, and I have two hands."

"Don't you need both hands for Aranea?" Serana asked. "You've been using both up to now."

"I'm happy with just one," Aranea answered for him. "Come on, join me! You'll like it."

Serana turned her back on them, and began to remove her things. First the hood and cape, then the belt that had her dagger attached. She placed them on the table, then sat in the chair next to it to pull her boots off. She turned her back again before sliding her pants down and stepping out of them. She picked them up and folded them neatly on top of the hood and cape. The leather layer of her armour had numerous hooks to undo at the back, and it took her an interminable amount of time to unfasten them all.

The bracers she wore over her shirt sleeves also took a long time to remove, especially as she had to do so with only one hand. Clark and Aranea were both watching, but not waiting. He was already massaging her legs, as the shirt slid off Serana's shoulders.

That too had to be folded before she came over to the bed. And then Serana shyly kept her back to them, and covered herself with her hands, for good measure. Aranea smiled at that, but managed not to laugh out loud.

Clark poured a little of the oil into the palm of one hand, and spread it over Serana's shoulders. "Hold your hair up out of the way a moment, so I can reach your neck," he asked her. She used one hand, leaving the other guarding her breasts.

"Your muscles feel tense," Clark dead-panned. "You'll really need my help to relax properly. I'd better use two hands to get started; Aranea won't mind."

Aranea propped herself on one elbow and watched Clark begin to massage Serana's shoulders and neck. As his hands reached her lower back, Aranea rolled over, and pulled one of them back to where she wanted it.

---

"This is going better than I expected," Clark was thinking. Serana was lying on her back now, and her hands were behind her head, not trying to cover anything.

And then suddenly he was lying on the floor, and Serana and Aranea were helping him back up. "What happened?" he asked.

"I think you must have tried to put something inside me," Serana answered. "I can't even do that myself. It's sort of like how you blink to protect your eyes. You don't think about it, it just happens."

"You can't do it?" Clark queried.

"No, it's like my hand gets paralysed and just won't move that way. And if I try to sit on something that would go in there, I levitate instead."

"So you pushed me away, somehow. The last time that happened to me, it was a Boss Draugr using the Unrelenting Force shout, but that felt different." Clark rubbed the back of his head, reflexively.

"Probably just Telekinesis, which is Alteration magic," Aranea suggested. "The closer you are, the stronger it is, and you can't can't get any closer than that."

"I'm sorry I didn't warn you, but I was really hoping that you'd be able to do what I couldn't. And everything before that had felt so good!"

"I don't have that problem," Aranea reminded them, "and we were supposed to be getting me ready to dream. Can we get back to that, please?"

The safest configuration was with Clark on his back. The worst that could happen that way is that Serana would levitate herself a little. She seemed to enjoy what he was doing, and Aranea was enthusiastically tiring herself out without needing much of Clark's concentration.

[ghastley]

Previously: Clark and Serana had gone to Azura's shrine and met Aranea.


-------------------

Part 53 - Nelacar

Aranea was the first to wake up. "I've had my vision," she told them. "You need to go into Winterhold, and find a mage there. He's not a member of the College, although he may have been in the past. Azura told me he knows how to find her Star."

---

They found Nelacar in the Frozen Hearth. At first he thought they were applicants for the College, or customers for his magical supplies, but Clark told him why they were really there.

"Azura's Star? Yes, Malyn Varen took it. He was incurably ill, and he saw the Star as the only hope of salvation. You know how soul gems work? Well they all break after they're used, except for one. Azura's Star is permanent, and that's why Malyn was so interested in it. He thought he could place his own soul in the Star and become immortal that way."

"However, Azura's Star won't hold a person's soul. He needed to change that before it would be of any use to him. Azura didn't like him doing that, and cursed him. He started having hallucinations, and shouting at things that weren't there."

"And in his experiments, he needed souls to trap. He actually killed one of his own students, just for his research, and that's when the College threw him out. He took his followers to Ilinalta's Deep, a fortress next to the lake, to continue his work. I stayed here in Winterhold, but I'm not exactly welcome in the College any more."

As they turned to leave, Nelacar had one further thing to say.

"You're not intending to take the Star back to Azura, are you? She was the one that drove Malyn insane. Daedra are evil, and Azura's no different than the rest."

---

They stopped briefly in Whiterun to pick up Lydia. It made sense to both of them that they'd want someone in the group with her fighting style.

"What do you believe?" Serana asked, as they travelled towards Lake Ilinalta. "Did Azura really drive Malyn insane, or was it the disease he had?"

"Probably a bit of both," Clark replied. "Her resistance to his efforts to corrupt the Star would have angered him, and helped drive his insanity, but I doubt she'd have been the initial cause. That was probably the disease."

"Could we catch it, assuming we find him?" she wondered. "If he couldn't cure it, we probably couldn't either."

"I have no idea," Clark replied, "but if none of his necromancer minions had it, it can't be easily transmitted. Just don't sleep with him, or anything like that."

"Is that likely?" Lydia wanted to know. "I've got another set of armour that almost shows my nipples for occasions like that."

"No, I'd have invited Gilda along if if was that kind of trip," Clark laughed. "Any armour almost shows hers."

---

"Let's go through there," Lydia said as they were passing the entrance to Brittleshin Pass. "I've never found much more than a few skeletons in there, and it cuts off a lot of the distance."

"Suits me," Serana agreed. "I'm not a fan of this Skyrim weather. I've spent enough time in caves, but anything's better than this sunshine."

They did encounter a necromancer half-way through, and he'd raised a few more of the skeletons, but nothing they couldn't handle.

"You'd better watch your back when we get to Ilinalta Deep," Serana told Lydia. "I nearly put an ice spike through you a couple of times."

"Then it's a good thing we came this way," Clark responded. "She'll be charging in, any time there are archers, like those two skeletons back there. Just remember that, and adjust your angle when it happens."

"And don't use the fireballs, either," Lydia added. "I sometimes have to remind Clark about those."

"The Hunter," and Serana scowled when she mentioned him, "mainly used a crossbow, so we were both starting off with a ranged attack. I'm not used to working with someone who prefers getting in close."

"If the enemy prefers ranged, that's when I prefer close-up," Lydia replied. "And I'm sure they charged at the two of you when they could, for the same reason. It makes you take the time to change weapon. Except when you've already got one out, so I like the way you're combining spells in one hand with a dagger in the other."

"Also, since we're working as a team, I can have you fire past me to bring them to us, while I'm waiting with my sword and shield ready. Clark will be up next to me blocking the spells with a ward. You've always got a bit of an advantage when they have to make the move, so Clark and I usually let them come to us. Except when they're archers, of course, because they want to stay away."

They were emerging from the other end of the cave at that point. "Ilinalta's Deep's not far from here, if I remember correctly," Lydia told them. "I haven't been in there, as it looked like it would be mostly flooded. I don't think the the foundations of the fort were much good, and it seems to have sunk half-way into the lake."

---

"How do we get in?" Serana asked. "It looks like the entrance would be well underwater."

"Top of that tower, if you can still call it that. There's a trapdoor in the roof."

The water level inside seemed to be quite a bit lower than it was in the lake outside. Clark surmised that something was draining it away elsewhere in the old fort. "There may be more to this place than it looks from the outside."

They found a skeleton shackled to a pillar in the entrance. A journal in the knapsack at his feet mentioned a story that the fort was haunted.

"That usually means necromancers," Clark suggested. "Moaning of the corpses they raise, rattling skeletons, all that kind of thing. But if this had been a Nordic ruin, then I'd expect draugr." He readied a ward spell, as well as drawing his sword.

"They don't usually go in for armour," Lydia remarked, "so I'll get better results with a bow, especially if I can sneak up on them. The two of you shouldn't be too noisy, in what you're wearing. And I need to practice my new Muffle spell."

There was nobody in the next room, and only one way out of it. Lydia took the lead up the narrow passage, creeping silently with her bow ready. She stopped, the bow twanged, and a small cry of pain indicated she'd hit someone. A thump suggested he'd not survived.

They caught up with Lydia, and saw a skeleton lurching towards them. Lydia was pulling out a second arrow, but Serana already had an ice spike ready for the possibility. The bones flew apart and its sword clattered on the floor.

Someone in the next room had heard that, and two more necromancers came rushing in. One ran into the arrow that Lydia had originally intended for the skeleton, and the other took a blow from Clark's blade. Serana's second ice attack finished the latter, and she was surprised to see a swirl of magicka flowing towards Clark.

Clark was busy fending off the first necromancer's flames with his ward, so he hadn't noticed. When Lydia drew her sword and joined in, the man soon fell.

"Did you just soul trap him?" Serana asked, pointing at the other corpse.

"Possibly," Clark responded. "I have picked up a few black soul gems recently, and one of them might have been empty. My sword will do that, as well as the fire damage."

"Nice. I haven't bothered putting any enchantment on my dagger, as I don't use it that much. But that looks useful, and it's a fitting response to necromancers."

"We need to continue," Lydia reminded them. "Or we won't find that Malyn Varen you were telling me about."

"We might not find him anyway," Clark told her. "If he did succeed with his plan, he could be inside Azura's Star by now."

[ghastley]

Previously: Clark and Serana had picked up Lydia to help them retrieve Azura's Star from Ilinalta's Deep. They've entered the ruin, and met the first Necrodudes.

----------------------

Part 54 - Ilinalta's Deep

They followed some more winding passages, until they could hear a couple of voices in the next room. Lydia turned back to the others and whispered. "I can't see around the corner, or I'd try and sneak-shoot one of them. But I have another tactic for these situations."

She stood up just by the corner of the passage and motioned for Clark and Serana to be ready next to her.

"I can smell necromancers," she announced in a loud voice. "Of course, the way they stink, they might be half a mile away."

As expected, the two men came running up the passage right into a flurry of blades. Clark had a ward up before the first one reached them, and Lydia's shield was blocking the other half of the space. Serana added a shock spell, to help drain their magicka, and they fell easily.

"Stay here, I can hear more of them," Lydia announced, and the others could soon hear the footsteps, too.
"Let them come to us, like the last two."

The first to arrive was a bandit that had clearly been raised by the necromancer following him. He didn't make much impression on Lydia's waiting shield, and an ice spike and a couple of sword thrusts took him down. The necromancer tried a fireball, now that his minion was gone, but Clark's ward was up, in anticipation of that.

Serana went back to shock spells against casting opponents, and he was quickly unable to use his spells against them. That was what Lydia was waiting for, and her sword finished him.

"No flames left?" Clark asked.

"Out of charge," she replied, "and no gems anyway. He's still dead, so what does it matter?"

"Unlike the next one," she continued, as she heard more footsteps headed toward them.

Clark just had time to re-cast his ward before a cloud of frost came their way. Lydia slowed noticeably, having taken much of the force of the spell. Serana had managed to duck around the corner, and she returned fire with a lightning bolt.

The necromancer staggered, but recovered before the slow-moving Lydia could reach him. Clark moved out into the room, as soon as he could get past her. He wanted to get some space between them, so the mage couldn't hit them all with one spell. The necromancer decided he was more of a threat than Lydia, and hurled more ice in his direction.

Fortunately Serana had had the same idea as Clark, and gone the other way. She fired more lightning at their enemy, as she moved.

And now Lydia had shaken off the frost, and was bearing down on him. too. He wouldn't last much longer.

---

Still, he'd been a bit of a challenge, even for three of them. They stopped to repair and recover, and Clark took the time to recharge Lydia's sword, using the black soul gem he'd filled earlier.

Serana was looking around the room, and found an couple of books, some potions, and some empty soul gems. She brought them back to the group.

"If you're thinking about enchanting your dagger, you should read this one," Clark told Serana. "A Tragedy in Black will teach you a thing or two about the subject. I haven't seen this other one before, though. I wonder what The Aetherium Wars were about?"

He read a bit further. "Aetherium, apparently. Well, we don't have time now to do anything about this, so we'll stow it until later." He put that book into his pack.

They moved on, and soon found themselves back in a familar room.

"Except we're up a level," Lydia remarked, "on that balcony we couldn't reach before. I guess this door is where we want to go through next."

"Yes, if I'm not mistaken, this should lead us to the tower. The one that was still above water, with no visble entrance from outside," Clark agreed. "And that probably means more necromancers are waiting for us."

---

There were more, and once again, Lydia had them wait around a corner while she hurled insults, to bring the necromancers to them.

"Where did you pick that up?" Clark asked. "You certainly didn't learn it from me!"

"I sort of got it from Gilda," Lydia replied. "We were always taunting each other while I was training her, and I realised just how effective it could be in a real combat situation. So I tried it out in a cave full of bandits, and it worked better than I'd hoped. Of course, Nords are easy to taunt. You just remark on how ugly their mother must be, because if they'd got their looks from their father, they'd never have happened. And if that doesn't work, then you tell them it's the stupidity they inherited from their father. One of the two is usually true, and that's what makes them mad."

"So that's why you remark on necromancers' smelling bad," Serana surmised. "Because they do."

"Precisely," Lydia agreed. "Now I just need the right lines for draugr."

---

The last room at the top of the tower was empty of necromancers, but a skeleton sat in a chair on a raised dais with a battered-looking Azura's Star lying at his feet. A tome entitled "Malyn Varen's Grimoire" lay on the floor nearby.

"What happend to this?" Serana asked, picking up the Star.

"The Star won't normally hold a person's soul," Clark reminded her. "Varen must have had to do a lot of experiments to find a way to corrupt it, and I'm sure this damage came from the ones that failed."

"Well, at least it won't get any worse now he's inside," she responded. "Do we take it back to Azura's shrine right away?"

"There's not much more we can do here," Clark agreed. "Have we picked up everything the necromancers don't need any more?"

"Just about," Lydia concurred. "And that reminds me, this book looks like something Serana would want more than I would. I found it a couple of rooms back."

Clark knew that one. The Doors of Oblivion was one of the first Conjuration books he'd read way back in Cyrodiil. Lydia handed it over unopened.

"We'll go back to Breezehome for now, and Serana and I will take the Star back tomorrow."

Lydia looked pleased at the prospect of Clark staying overnight. She knew that even though he'd probably be paying more attention to Serana, he'd not neglect his housecarl.

---

"You two go up the bedroom and get started, and I'll join you as soon as I've got the stew simmering. It shouldn't take me long." Lydia had already taken off her armour, and was now wearing just an apron. She probably wouldn't have worn that, but hot fat was too unpredictable, and she could take it off as soon as the meat was seared.

Upstairs, Serana was still wearing her full outfit, and seemed reluctant to take it off. "I don't want to promise what I can't deliver," she told Clark. "And it's not that I don't want to. You know what happened last time, and I feel so guilty about Aranea having to do everything for you."

"What she told me, was that she felt guilty about getting more than her fair share," Clark replied. "I'm sure that Lydia won't feel guilty about anything. I don't believe she ever does, no matter what she's been getting up to."

Clark had unlaced most of her armour by this time. He began to help her out of it.

"This time, we know what we can do, without any accidents, so as long as we warn Lydia, it should all work out. You seemed to like it when I did this before, didn't you?"

"You didn't do it quite that way last time. I think I like it even better now."

---

When Clark heard Lydia's footsteps on the stairs, he went to intercept her, and tell her what the ground rules were.

"She can't what? But that's the best part! Wait, does that mean I get it all?"

Clark turned to Serana. "I told you she had no sense of guilt."

"What do you mean? I'm not taking anything away from her, I'm just making sure it doesn't get wasted. What's to be guilty about? Especially as I know you'll be doing everything to make sure Serana's enjoying as much as she can."

"And it's more than I ever did before. It's just that I can almost imagine what I'm missing," Serana added. "Eventually, I believe that I'll want it more than I'm afraid of it, and I'll be cured. I just don't want to hurt my friends getting there."

[ghastley]

Previously: Clark, Serana and Lydia had retrieved Azura's Star from Ilinalta's Deep, with Malyn Varen still inside it.

------------------

Part 55 - Azura's Star

Clark awoke to the familiar feeling of the blood beginning to circulate in his left arm. Lydia had just moved her head off, and it was starting to tingle. He looked down to see where his other arm was, in case he disturbed Serana by moving it. Her fingers were entwined with his, and she was holding his hand between her thighs. The back of his hand felt moist.

Her eyes were closed, but he could see that they were moving. She was having a dream, a pleasant one, he hoped. She squeezed his hand gently and pressed it against her.

Lydia had woken up, and was looking over at the dreaming Serana. She rubbed Clark's left arm for him, knowing that she must have been sleeping on it again. "When you can feel this one again," she whispered, "give her a bit more help."

Clark brushed a curl of hair from Serana's face, and she didn't wake. Nor when his hand touched her shoulder, or her breast. Instead, her free hand joined his and guided it.

And then she woke up. "I was having such a nice dream," she complained. "Why did it have to end just then?"

"Why, what was happening?" he asked.

"It's what was about to happen," she told him. "You were going to... "

She let go of Clark's hands and sat up. "How much of that was dream, and how much was real?" she asked. Of course, Clark had no answer.

"I don't know either. When I woke up," he told her, "You'd started without me."

---

They reached Azura's shrine about dusk, which seemed appropriate. Aranea was pleased to see them, but somewhat horrified at the condition of the Star. Azura herself was more perplexed than horrified.

"I don't understand how mortals can have done that," her voice told them. "And I can't mend it while they're still in there. Someone will have to go in and do something about it."

"You mean me, don't you?" Clark guessed.

"Well, you are the best suited to this job. And I can give you some help, as I obviously understand the Star better than anyone else."

"While I don't know how Malyn Varen managed to enter the Star, I know that he can't have taken any weapons with him. As a mage, of course, he'll still have spells he can use. And the same will apply to any of his minions that he might have taken with him. I can send you in with your sword, which should give you a bit of offensive advantage."

"And even though we made you immortal, I still don't want you getting damaged. I think I know how we can improve your defence, too. Aranea, do you still have that mage's robe from the College? The Master Robe of Restoration, I mean."

"Yes, I do. I only wear this one because it's warmer."

"And don't you have some College boots with the Fortify Restoration enchantment to go with it? Fetch them both for Clark, while I do some more enchanting."

"Do you have a plain ring, Clark, and an amulet. I want to enchant them with Fortify Restoration, too."

Clark did have those items in his backpack. He placed them on the altar, and watched as they glowed with new magicka. Aranea emerged from her cell with the robe and boots.

"Together, these will make it possible for you to cast your ward continuously. It will cost you less magicka than you'll be regenerating, especially with the robe boosting that, too."

"It won't make the ward itself any stronger, but you already have the ability to block most spells, because they don't get any stronger either. The few that get past the ward won't be ones that can harm you."

Clark started to change into the ward-boosting outfit. "What's on that amulet you're wearing?" Azura interrupted. "Why would a man want that enchantment?"

"It's just a keepsake," he told her. "This is one I made for Gilda, but we replaced it with a stronger one later, and I kept the old one."

---

Aranea and Serana were pacing up and down by the altar waiting to for Clark to re-appear. The Star appeared to be gradually mending itself, and Azura had told them that it was due to Clark's progress inside.

"He's nearly done," she assured them, and as if on cue, Clark materialised next to the altar.

"I think I can explain how Malyn Varen managed to corrupt the Star," Clark announced. "He had help, and I believe it came from Mehrunes Dagon. I had to fight a number of Dremora mage guards in there, as well as Varen himself."

"With my ward stopping their fireballs and lightning, it was a bit of a stalemate. They kept retreating out of reach of my sword, and I had to chase them all around the interior. That's what took all the time."

"Look at the Star," Aranea urged. "It's back to its former glory again. All the chips and cracks are mended, and it's just beautiful."

"Yes, it is," Azura's voice agreed. "And Clark will look after it, and make sure that doesn't happen again."

"Me?" he asked. "Aren't there others who deserve it more? Or at least, will use it more? I hardly ever need to recharge my sword, and I've usually found some small gems that will do the job."

"Yes, you. I know you won't use it much for yourself, but you're always with someone else who has an enchanted weapon. All your housecarls do, except for Rayya, and I've already told Aranea what you need to do about that."

"Oh, so that's what that dream was about. I was so confused, with all the chests and ice and things. Was that Solstheim? And was that blue material Stahlrim?"

"Yes, Aranea, to all those questions. Clark, it will all make sense when you next go to Solstheim. Trust me."

Clark turned to Serana. "We should go back to Riften. Something Azura said earlier gave me an idea and I think Gilda can help."

---

"I hope you'll forgive me reminding you about the Hunter," Clark began, "but I'm curious. You implied that he wanted you, but you also told me that nobody had tried to ..."

"He wouldn't touch me, because I was a vampire. That made me unclean and unworthy, even though he was practically drooling down my cleavage most of the time. It was much the same when he met my mother. For a long time, I was convinced that was the reason she stayed in the Soul Cairn."

"I think we really started to get on each other's nerves. Especially as I preferred darkness, and he preferred bright sunshine. And he was always critical of the way I'd resurrect things, to practice my spell. He didn't complain when it was strong enough to get us some decent help, of course."

"Telling me to get myself cured was just the last straw. That was all for his benefit, and he wasn't thinking about me at all."

Clark decided to let the subject rest. He'd got the information he needed. He gave Serana a reassuring hug, which seemed to improve her mood again.

[ghastley]

Previously: Clark had gone into Azura's Star to evict Malyn Varen, and had been given it as a reward.

-------------

Part 56 - More Stones

Back at Honeyside, Clark was surprised to find Brelyna visiting with Gilda and Iona. She'd brought with her a pair of the Stones of Barenziah.

"When Jordis and Lydia helped me retrieve the books from Fellglow Keep, we found one of these, and I took it back to the College to try and find out more about them. The housecarls told me you'd started collecting them, but had less than half the set, so I figured you wouldn't need this one right away."

"I found another in my quarters when they made me Archmage."

Clark hadn't heard about that. The last he knew, Brelyna and Mjoll had been headed for Winterhold with the Staff of Magnus to try and stop whatever Ancano was doing there. It was time to catch up on that whole story.

"When we got back to the College, we found that there was a magical barrier around the whole place, created by Ancano, using the Eye. Tolfdir suggested trying the staff on the barrier, so I did, and it collapsed immediately. I wasn't too surprised by that, as Morokei had been using it to drain my magicka, so I knew that it somehow suppressed magical effects."

"That got us back into the building, but we still couldn't do anything to Ancano. I was reluctant to try, as that's what got Savros Aren killed, but when Ancano invoked the Eye's power to try and attack us, I had no choice but to use the staff to try and shut it down again. We were lucky that the Eye spawned a couple more of the wisp-like creatures it had the first time. They went after Ancano, and gave me time to shut the eye down."

"With the Eye no longer in his control, the others could attack him. Mjoll and Tolfdir together was more than he could handle."

"With Ancano dead, we still had the Eye itself to deal with. We had no idea what Ancano had done to it, and whether it was stable enough for us to attempt to take control of it. That's when the Psijic monks appeared and took the Eye away. Quaranir, the one who'd been contacting me at times and guiding me, suggested that that I should concentrate on getting the College back to normal. He called me Archmage, as if it was obviously my job now."

"I didn't feel much like an Archmage. I was only an Expert in a couple of the magical schools, although it wouldn't be long before I reached Master level. Still, there were Masters of each of the Schools that should be before me in line for the job."

"Tolfdir disagreed. The Archmage wasn't supposed to be a specialist like he was. That was too likely to result in one school of magic pushing the others to the side-lines. Colette Marence was already complaining that Restoration didn't get enough recognition, and that would only be worse if one of the Masters was in control of the whole College. Mirabelle would have been the obvious successor, if she had survived."

"I thought about the alternatives. Enthir wasn't right for the position, nor Nirya. I could certainly do a better job than either of them. Eventually, Tolfdir talked me into it, although I insisted that someone else fill Mirabelle's administrative position, perhaps him."

"I didn't take much persuading to take over the quarters. I like having my own alchemy and enchanting stations, rather than having to wait my turn for the ones in the halls. And as a young Dunmer, I'm sure I'll find a use for the bigger bed," she laughed.

Clark smiled at that. Trust a Dunmer to see that advantage. "Is that Amulet your badge of office?" he asked her.

"Actually, no, The robes, which I'm not wearing right now, perform that function. But they're a bit dull and unattractive. Fine for an old bureaucrat like Savos Aren, but I'd want something else. However, they do have just the enchantment I need, with extra magicka, skill fortification, and regeneration all on the same item. I can't do multiple enchantments, or I'd try and put it all on the amulet."

"So who's the Master Enchanter?" Clark asked. "Isn't there one at the College who can do it?"

"Not right now," Brelyna replied. "Sergius Turrianus is an Expert instructor, and does a lot of the College's work, but it's out of his range, too. There's a priestess of Dibella in Markarth, apparently, who can train higher, and Neloth over on Solstheim."

"And by now, I suspect your old friend Vicuña has joined them," Clark pointed out. "She was studying with Neloth, and I gather was getting close to Master level, too."

"There's another reason to go to Solstheim, too. I need some higher Conjuration training than I can get here in Skyrim, and Neloth's apprentice Talvas Fathryon can do that."

"He does Master training, but he's Neloth's apprentice?" Clark was amazed at that.

"Well, it is Neloth we're talking about. He's a level above most of us when it comes to magic."

"Is that why you're here now? You're planning a trip to Solstheim?"

"Yes, I have so many reasons to go there. Neloth, for the enchanting, Talvas, for the conjuration, and Velith and Diablita, because I haven't seen my friends for too long. And after saving the College from destruction, I need a vacation!"

"And Azura was just hinting that I need to go there to find Rayya some new weapons. That's if I understood what Aranea was telling me," Clark added.

---

Gilda added the two Stones of Barenziah to her collection. "That's exactly half the set, now," she remarked.

"Let Mjoll know about them," Brelyna told her. "She'll be out adventuring on her own again, now that she has Grimsever back, and I'll be in Solstheim for a while."

"Er, I'm not sure she'd want to help the Thieves Guild," Gilda pointed out. "She blames us for the current state of Riften."

"Oh, don't think she's just a dumb blonde," Brelyna replied. "She's quite aware that it's the Black-Briars that are the real problem. Now there's a chance you'll break away from Maven, I'm sure Mjoll will do anything she can to help that happen."

"I didn't tell Serana about them," Clark remarked. "There weren't any at Volkihar Castle, but that's not unexpected."

"Everyone in the Thieves Guild knows we're looking for them," Gilda replied. "And I'll let them all know we're half-way there. That will include Serana, of course."

---

Clark had sent a note by courier ahead of them, so Diablita was waiting on the dock in Raven Rock when the ferry pulled in.

"Greetings, Archmage Brelyna! I was half-expecting Vicuña to be with you. She went over to Skyrim looking for a staff for Neloth, and I thought she'd be back around now."

"Oh, so she doesn't know I'm visiting?"

"She'll find out from Captain Gjalund when she takes the ferry; on his next trip, I'd imagine."

"We're expecting to spend a few days here in Raven Rock before visiting Tel Mithryn, so it should all work out nicely to travel there with her," Clark pointed out.

"So what are your plans?" Diablita asked. "The letter didn't say much, other than that you were coming."

"That's because we don't have any for the first couple of days," Brelyna answered. "I just want to relax in Dunmer society and ignore the rest of the world for a while. Then I can get back to being Archmage at my own pace. We can make all the plans when Vicuña's back to add her input."

"Do you have any?" Diablita asked Clark.

"Only if you know anything about enchanted scimitars," he replied. "Azura implied that there were some on Solstheim that Rayya would like. She was rather vague about them, and I got the impression that they were part of a more complicated story. She told me I'd find out more about it when I got here."

"Well, the only unsolved mystery I have any clue about is a book about Haknir Deathbrand I found. It's at least partly based on fact, as I came across the island the book mentions. It's off the north-east coast, and the door to the tomb there is locked beyond my picking abilities. No indication of it being haunted, but maybe the ghosts are all inside."

When they got to Severin Manor, Diablita handed Clark the book. "There's a mention of twin swords near the beginning that makes me think this is what Azura meant. Where did you find this book?"

"That's not a clue," Diablita told him. "Since I found this one, I've come across more copies in various places. We could go back to the island I told you about, and look around there. It's not far from the Skaal village, so we could ask Frea if she knows anything about the legend. Skaal oral traditions have a lot of useful information you won't find in books."

"We'll go there later, when Vicuña's back," Clark decided. "Our priority is a visit to the Retching Netch for a bit of relaxation!"

[ghastley]

Previously: Clark and Brelyna arrived in Raven Rock to visit Diablita and Vicuña.

---------------

Part 57 - Raven Rock

As the new girl in town, Brelyna was quickly noticed, and she enjoyed flirting with all the men who hadn't brought their wives with them. "If I went into the Frozen Hearth in Winterhold, I don't think I'd get this much attention if I took all my clothes off," she remarked.

Clark smiled as he remembered her almost doing that the first time they'd met. And then he looked over at Diablita, who was just wearing her chains, and had to laugh.

Brelyna looked puzzled at first, and then saw where Clark was looking and laughed, too.

They talked to Sadri about the story in the Deathbrand book. "Oh yes, I've got a copy of that around here somewhere, too. I'd always assumed it was just a legend, like most of the other ghost stories you read, but you say the tomb actually exists?"

"Yes, off the coast near the Skaal village," Diablita assured him. "But of course it's locked, so nobody can find out if the legend is true. We were thinking of going back there and asking the Skaal what they know."

"Take some of my Sujamma with you. I'd like to know what they think of it. I'm always looking for new customers, and I don't have any contact with them."

"Have you tried sending a few samples over to Windhelm with Gjalund's ferry?" Clark asked him. "There's quite a community of Dunmer in the city who might like it."

"I don't know if it would still be good after a long sea journey," Sadri responded. "Sujamma needs to be fresh."

"It's less than a day's trip," Clark reassured him. "And good Sujamma doesn't sit around undrunk for long. Because the Dunmer know all about freshness, once they know where it comes from, they'll be coming here to drink it."

"Good point. Unless, of course, they won't touch it because it wasn't brewed locally."

"I'll handle the business of getting them to try it," Clark told him. "When I go back to Windhelm at the end of this trip, I'll take a few with me. Ambarys Rendar will be glad to provide his cutomers with authentic Sujamma, and I'm sure he won't mind if they think he made it himself."

"But I will!" Sadri exploded. "I'm going to label the bottles, so everyone knows it's Sadri's."

"Just leave the details to me," Clark insisted. "The first thing is to get them to taste it. Then we can tell them where it comes from. If they're surprised that it's imported, and still that good, it will make an even better impression."

Sadri looked unconvinced, but Clark knew he had some time to bring him around. He wasn't planning the trip back to the mainland for quite a while.

---

Since the next ferry from the mainland wouldn't come in for a couple of days, they all went off to the Skaal village. Frea didn't know anything more about the Deathbrand story, but Fanari Strong-Voice remembered that there was an island called Haknir's Shoal just north of there. "The only connection may be the name, of course. But since Gyldenhul Barrow is nearby, there's some chance there's more to it than that."

"Since it's close, we might as well check it out," Diablita agreed. "We'll still be back in Raven Rock in plenty of time."

Clark thanked Fanari for her help with a bottle of Sadri's Sujamma. "This is good!" she enthused. "It's not Nord Mead, by any means, but I like it."

He handed another bottle to Frea. "If Fanari likes it, maybe you will, too."

"It's different," she agreed. "I can taste a few familar herbs, but I've never had them in this combination, and certainly not in a drink. I'm not sure I'd drink this all the time, but I do like it."

"It's a bit stronger than mead," Clark agreed, "so I don't imagine anyone would change from one to the other. Sadri, in Raven Rock, makes it, and he'd be willing to trade, if you have something to offer in exchange."

"We usually have a good supply of meat and fish, and we've traded with the Dunmer for Ash Yams when we have a surplus," Fanari offered. "We should be able to work something out."

---

When they reached Haknir's Shoal, just a short walk north of the village, they found they weren't the first to the party. A small group of Reavers were there, camped on the island, and they'd been digging. A chest was visible in the hole they'd dug, and one of them was poking at the lock, trying to open it.

He stopped when the guard spotted Diablita approaching, and raised the alarm. An arrow flew towards her, even before they'd hailed them. "It's either a treasure they don't want to share," she guessed, "or they think we're the Redoran Guard come to arrest them."

Clark didn't think Diablita looked much like a Redoran Guard, but the first option was the likely one anyway. He raised his ward, and followed her. Brelyna cast Ebonyflesh, and pulled the staff from her back.

The Reavers were rather out-classed. It was quite probable that Diablita could have taken them out on her own. Brelyna incinerated the archer that had started it all with a fireball, and Diablita engaged the armoured leader. Clark waited until the mage in the party had exhausted her magicka against his ward and then moved in with his sword. He rather hoped she'd have the sense to run away, but she pulled out a dagger instead. End of mage.

The chest didn't have a very hard lock, so it was soon opened. In it, they found a helm made of Stahlrim. "Is this the cursed one the book mentions?" Clark wondered.

Since none of them ever wore a helm, they weren't inclined to try it. Not that they believed it was cursed; it just wasn't useful.

The Reaver Lord had a map that was of more interest. This island was marked on it, but so were three other locations, widely scattered around the coastline.

"One of them is near Raven Rock, and another near Tel Mithryn," Diablita noted. "We'll be going to both of those anyway."

"Hopefully, Velith will be back on the next ferry and she can join us," Brelyna added.

---

When they got back to Raven Rock, there were still a few hours before the ferry was due. They decided they had enough time to find whatever the map was directing them to.

Another small band of Reavers was there, with another chest they'd dug up. This time, though, they'd also disturbed a family of netch, and were too busy fighting them off to pay any attention to Clark and his companions. They waited until the last Reaver was dead, and the netch drifted back to where they had been grazing.

The lock on this chest was a little harder to pick, as if to compensate for the easier access to it. Eventually, though, Clark had it open, and found a suit of Stahlrim Amour inside. "It wouldn't surprise me to find the other two locations have chests with boots and gauntlets," he surmised. "But we'd better get back into town. The ferry's almost due."

---

They hung the armour and helm on a mannequin in Severin Manor on the way. Brelyna had noticed that they were enchanted, and she intended to examine them more closely after they met the ferry. "If Velith's on board, she'll make a better job of that than I can. Enchanting's her field, not mine."

---

Vicuña was indeed on the ferry, and Gjalund had told her she was expected. She showed them the ancient staff that Neloth had wanted. "Apparently this was made by someone called Azra Nightwielder, who was a pioneer of staff enchanting. Neloth's more interested in it as a historical record than anything else. The staff itself doesn't appear to be special, but he tells me that careful examination will reveal exactly how Azra went about adding the enchantment. Neloth has an enchanting station that uses Heartstones, but of course, they didn't exist back when this staff was made."

"What's a Heartstone?" Brelyna asked.

"Oh you can mine them in a lot of places on Solstheim," she replied. "I was forgetting you haven't been here before. Neloth thinks they came from the explosion of the Red Mountain, so he first found them on the Morrowind mainland. But most of the ash, and the heartstones, fell on Solstheim. Morrowind got the lava, and the floods."

She rummaged around in her pack, and found one. It glowed blood-red, and obviously was a source of magicka, much like a filled soul gem. "And like a soul gem, you can use it for enchanting, which is why Neloth is interested."

"We have something to show you, too," Clark added. "It's back at Severin Manor, so let's go there next."

[ghastley]

Previously: Brelyna, Diablita and Clark had collected a set of Stahlrim armour, reputed to be that of Haknir Deathbrand, from a series of chest buried around Solstheim.

---------------

Part 58 - DeathBrand

"There's more to the enchantments on these pieces than the immediately obvious," Vicuña told them. "Without the other parts, I can't figure it all out, but they were made to work together in some way. If you had the complete set, there's a further enchantment that would come into play. I'm sure Neloth would be fascinated, but you'd have to stop him destroying it all to find out how it works."

"Is that what he'll do with that staff you found?" Diablita asked.

"No, he reveres Azra's work too much to do that. It will take him a lot longer to examine the staff without taking it apart, but that's the way he'll do it."

"So it's possible to learn an enchantment without destroying something?" Brelyna asked, suddenly a lot more interested.

"Yes, sometimes. If it's an enchantment you know nothing about, then you have no choice. But if you take Fiery Soul Trap, for example, the one on Clark's sword, then a Master Enchanter who knows both Fire Damage and Soul Trap could duplicate it. With a bit more skill, you can combine more than just two."

"So the enchantment on my robes could be put on something else? There are a lot of enchantments on those, but they're all familiar ones."

"Let me take a look at them," Vicuña replied. "Once you're doing multiple enchantments, it's more a case of power than number. A lot of small ones isn't much harder than a couple of big ones."

Brelyna showed Vicuña the Archmage's Robes. "This may be a little more than I can manage, but well within Neloth's capabilities. Definitely something we could do working together."

"I can see why you'd want to wear something else, too. What did you want to put the enchantment on?"

"This amulet." Brelyna showed her the one she meant. "I had it made in the unique shape of the College symbol so it would make a good badge of office, and I can wear whatever I like with it."

"Or like Vicuña's own amulet, you can wear it without anything else." Clark pointed out. Diablita agreed, of course.

"Getting back to the Stahlrim pieces, we know where the others are, as we have a map. One of them is close to Tel Mithryn, so we'll take these with us when we go there. The other is up to the north-west, nearly all the way to Northshore Landing, where we got the map for Baldor."

"I'd suggest that you three go fetch that one, while I take the staff back to Neloth. I'll bring up the subject of the other enchantments while he's in a good mood, and we'll pick up the last piece when you get to Tel Mithryn."

That sounded like a good plan. They weren't expecting any greater Reaver problems at the other locations, so it wouldn't take all four of them. Neloth was a different matter, and Vicuña probably would do better on her own there.

---

There weren't any Reavers at Bristleback Mine, but there were Rieklings instead. Clark thought he preferred Reavers, as a ward is less effective against spears. Brelyna was inclined to agree. But at least the lock was cooperative, and they soon had a pair of Stahlrim gauntlets to add to the set.

At Tel Mithryn, the chest was guarded by Ash Spawn. Well, it would have been Reavers there, too, but the Ash Spawn had seen to them by the time they arrived. Clark's ward was better against firebolts than spears, and Diablita's sword cut through most things, anyway.

"Boots, do you think?" Clark asked as he started on the lock.

---

Vicuña had paved the way for them well, and Neloth was eager to take a look at the Stahlrim pieces. "Yes, there's an additional enchantment from wearing all of the set," he agreed. "Velith was right about that. But I also get the impression that this isn't all. There should be a shield to go with it, or possibly ..." He paused to think for a moment. "If there isn't a shield, it could have been constructed to use with two weapons, one in each hand. I'd be using two staves, but then I wouldn't be wearing armour. No, I'd imagine the original owner would probably have used a pair of swords."

"Don't try to kid us, We know you've read the book," Vicuña interrupted.

"Oh that book. Well, now you point it out, I see the connection. I was just drawing my conclusions from the evidence. Any correlation to others' conclusions should be made afterward, as you well know. If you don't do that, you just repeat their mistakes."

"And this key that was with the boots will probably provide the proof," Clark added. "I imagine it will open Gyldenhul Barrow, and we'll find a fifth chest there."

"Yes, well you'll have to go and find out, won't you? I have no interest in swords, so I can't help you there."

"How abount enchantments?" Vicuña resumed. "Could we duplicate this one for Brelyna?"

She showed Neloth the Archmages Robes. He raised an eyebrow when he saw them.

"These are the robes of office of the Archmage of Winterhold. How did you get them?"

"Brelyna is the new Archmage. They're her robes."

Neloth noticed Brelyna for the first time. She'd been off to one side, taking to Talvas, while the others were gathered around the Stahlrim armour.

His other eyebrow went up to join the first. He thought she was one of the two most beautiful women he'd seen, if she wasn't both of them. The resemblance was uncanny, although it couldn't be the same one. It had been so long ago. And they'd called her Brelyna. That wasn't the name he remembered.

"Brelyna ... Maryon?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Was Aryana Maryon your mother?"

She nodded again. "I presume you knew her in Morrowind. They tell me I look just like she did when she was my age."

---

They found a couple of Reavers trying to pick the lock on Gyldenhul Barrow. Naturally they were hostile on sight, but no match for Clark's team. The key Clark had found in the last chest fit the lock, as expected, but all that lay behind it was a small chamber with a pair of Stahlrim-covered coffins at either end. A dead Nord lay near one of them. Apparently he'd starved to death while trying to mine the Stahlrim with an ordinary pickaxe.

"Did you bring your Ancient Nordic pickaxe?" Clark asked Diablita.

"Of course. I expect those swords will be made of Stahlrim, too, and if I gather some extra material, we can see if Baldor Iron-Shaper can temper them."

Diablita hacked at the first coffin for some time before she chipped off all the Stahlrim. It really was a hard material, even in its raw form. The second one took just as long, but...

"There's nothing in this one, and the back's open. We can go through to another passage."

"Let's go," Clark agreed, raising his ward in case anything was waiting for them.

He soon dropped it again, as they emerged into a long room full of ... piles of gold. There were a few other items mixed in, jewels, weapons, armour, but no paired swords.

At the other end of the room was a door, locked with the same key they'd used on the outer door. It led to a tunnel, and Clark raised his ward again, and took the lead. Brelyna cast an armour spell, and followed. Diablita pulled her sword from her back and joined Clark at the front.

They emerged in a large, empty chamber, and Clark could see a skeleton lying near a single sword on an altar. It was a scimitar, and glowed with some kind of enchantment.

"I wish Vicuña had come with us," Clark said. "She'd be able to tell us more about that enchantment."

"Well she's helping Neloth enchant my amulet, so I'm happy to have her doing that. We'll find out all we need to know when we take it back to Tel Mithryn."

[ghastley]

Prevuiously: Clark Brelyna and Diablita entered Gyldenhul Barrow in search of swords. So far, they found one.

---------------

Part 59 - Haknir

Clark picked up the scimitar, and a noise from behind them told him they were no longer alone. He turned, and saw that a ghostly figure had appeared near the entrance, which was now closed off. The ghost was wielding twin scimitars, and charging right at them.

Diablita swung the Bloodskal Blade, and a slash of red fire crossed the ghost's chest. At the same time, Brelyna's lightning bolt hit him, and he disappeared again.

But around the room, four more ghosts had replaced him, armed with bows, axes and hammers. Diablita charged at the nearest archer, and Clark did the same on the other flank. Brelyna summoned a flame atronach to even the sides, and fired a second bolt from her staff at another ghost.

When the first wave had been put down, the twin-bladed ghost re-appeared. Again they fought him for a short time, and he winked out again, with more of his crew taking his place.

"Are these tougher than the last lot, or am I just getting tired?" Clark asked nobody in particular.

"Both," agreed Brelyna. "Keep your ward up. I need to re-cast my armour."

Diablita was running around shutting down the archers as they appeared. Clark and Brelyna stayed together, and he protected her with his ward while she poured lightning into anyone who approached. As she switched to a second staff, he took the first and re-charged it, without interrupting the ward.

"How do you manage to sustain that for so long?" Brelyna managed to ask, as the last of the current wave of crew fell, and Haknir popped back in.

"Fortify Restoration on my whole outfit," he replied. "Azura's idea, and it really works well."

Diablita's sword didn't need recharging. "But I do," she told them, chugging a stamina potion as she closed with the ghost again.

For a third time, he left them, and more of his crew took his place. Not as many in this third wave, but they looked better armoured than the ones before. "No archers this time, which is something positive."

Brelyna's fresh atronach now put the numerical advantage in their favour, and they spread out to flank the remaining ghosts. "And if Haknir appears in the same place again, we'll have him surrounded," Diablita noted.

"We have to finish these two first," Clark reminded her.

The one nearest Clark and Brelyna unexpectedly got a fireball in the back from the flame atronach, and visibly weakened. The other took advantage of the atronach's diverted attention to send it back to Oblivion. But that, in turn, gave Diablita the opening she needed. Thalin Ebonhand's ghost staggered as she struck, and he never regained his balance. Now only Garuk Windrime's ghost remained, and not for long.

Haknir was immediately back in their midst. But as Diablita had indicated, he was surrounded, and couldn't face them all. Since Clark was dealing the least damage, Haknir turned on him first, and flailed at the ward with his scimitars. Since a ward is best at deflecting spells, not blades, Clark was starting to wish he'd brought a shield.

But before Haknir could break through, he was brought to his knees by a powerful blow from Diablita, and a bolt of shock from Brelyna, arriving together. Clark quickly added a thrust from his sword, and Haknir finally fell. Among Haknir's remains they found a second scimitar to match the one Clark had taken from the altar, except that this had a different glow than the first.

"One absorbs health, and the other magicka," Brelyna noted. "but not unless you wield them together. And there's something else in the enchantments to weaken or destroy armour, physical or otherwise."

"I just hope Rayya will appreciate what we had to go through to get them," Clark remarked. "The set of armour was a breeze by comparison."

"These don't look like they're made of Stahlrim, though. Are you sure they're the right ones?" Diablita wanted to know.

"I'd imagine they used Stahlrim to help enchant them, but they actually look like they're made of steel. Still, Chrysamere was made from Adamantium, but looked like Stahlrim, and Chillrend is Glass that's blue, so I expect these will temper with something else entirely. We'll ask Baldor, when we go back through the village."

---

"Ebony," Baldor told them, "and you'll need the Daedric skill to do it. These are clearly an artifact with at least some contribution from other realms. I could never have made anything like them, and I doubt any mortal smith could."

"The armour you found is a set, but these swords aren't part of it. They all may have had the same owner, but there are two distinct styles. I would imagine the armour is local, but the swords look more like they came from Hammerfell. How Haknir got them is a tale that hasn't been written, but as a pirate, he'd have travelled widely."

"But can you help us temper them?" Clark wanted to know.

"Not I," the Skaal replied. "I do not want to work on Daedric pieces, so I never learned to do so."

Clark recalled Iona telling him that Balimund could work Ebony, and she was learning to do that for herself. That was a little short of Daedric, however. Perhaps Eorland Grey-Mane, although he had a style of his own. His pieces were the equal of Daedric, but not the same. Serana had mentioned that the smith at Fort Dawnguard could train to the highest levels, so maybe he could do it.

Whichever it was, they were all back on the mainland. And so was Rayya, which meant that it could wait until he went back.

---

Back at Tel Mithryn, Vicuña and Neloth had enchanted Brelyna's amulet to match the robes.

"There's just one small snag," Neloth told her. "The nature of the enchantment is such that you can't wear the robes and the amulet together. It just won't work a second time on the same person."

"That's all right. I wanted the amulet enchanted so I wouldn't have to wear the robes. They're practical, but they're dull, and boring. Besides, I don't want to have to wear the same outfit every day."

"And you should be wearing something with a bit more Telvanni style," Neloth told her. "You need to remind everyone where your magical prowess originates."

That gave Vicuña an idea, and she went to fetch Ildari's robes from her chest. When they got back to Severin Manor, she'd see if she could alter those for Brelyna.

---

"When I see a guard's eyes following me," Brelyna said, back at Severin Manor, "it's not the same here as it was in Skyrim. Over there, I could just feel the suspicion that I was about to blow something up. Over here, he's just being male."

"Well, if you like that feeling, we should do something about your outfit," Vicuña told her.

"And maybe her hair. That's a much better style than she used to wear as an Apprentice mage, but it's still a bit ordinary," Diablita added. "Still, that fits with the College-issue robes she's wearing. It's all a fit-in-with-the-crowd ensemble, if you ask me."

"I'm not sure I want to stand out from the crowd as much as you do," Brelyna answered. "I'm not built the same way."

"Perhaps you should," Clark responded. "As Archmage, you're supposed to be a figure of note, and draw some attention. And if the guards are noticing you, ..."

"Well, I am new here, and Velith and Diablita have been walking around half-naked long enough that they don't notice any more. Or not as much, anyway."

"So we need to stop that happening for you," Vicuña pointed out. "Prepare to strut your stuff!"

She held up Ildari's robes for Brelyna to look at. "We'll have to cut the front away; there's a huge hole where the heartstone used to be. But that's a good thing, because then your amulet will show."

"Won't I be showing a bit too much of me at the same time?" Brelyna complained. "I'll be feeling the cold if you go that far."

"We'll add an enchantment to keep you warm. Nothing says 'mage' like ignoring the elements, and dressing for pure visual effect. And yes, before you ask, I did that on mine. Being an enchantment, it doesn't wear off and give you a nasty surprise!"

Clark looked over at Diablita. Her chains couldn't offer much protection from frost, and he didn't recall her having enchanted them with anything but defense. "Same here," she admitted. "That's one reason I wanted to learn the mage armour spells instead. That, and needing a stronger enchantment than anyone could manage without a Sigil Stone. I could get enough frost protection, but not enough against physical damage."

Clark had a bit of advice to offer, from his memory of the Bear Riders. "When it's frost protection, enchant the piece of clothing you'll take off last."

"Good point," Vicuña agreed. "Even the most wispy piece of lace can hold a full enchantment. And if you need them, you won't easily forget them!"

The way Brelyna blushed made Clark think that had happened before, but he didn't ask.

[Grits]

Clark’s crew on this Solstheim adventure is probably my favorite combination of characters so far. I like the way they interact with each other. Brelyna is a delight. Now I’m wondering where she left her wispy lace items and how often this happens. New Winterhold radiant quest: find Arch-Mage’s panties!

[ghastley]

Grits: What happens in Morrowind, stays in Morrowind.

--------------

Previously: Clark, Brelyna and Diablita fought Haknir Death-Brand's ghost to retrieve his swords, and they took them to Baldor Iron-Shaper to see if they could be improved. Neloth helped enchant Brelyna's amulet, and Vicuña made her a new outfit.

----------------------

Part 60 - Return to Skyrim

He left the women discussing hairstyles. Brelyna wanted something that was easy to maintain, and Vicuña was advocating something more formal and up-swept. Brelyna was a slight figure, and needed some extra height. They both agreed that her ears shouldn't be covered, as they were so much a Dunmer hallmark, and hers were exquisite.

His feet steered him into town, to chat with Glover Mallory. Clark had delivered a letter to his daughter, Sapphire, and he wanted to know if she'd got in touch with her father.

"Yes, she did," the smith told him. "and I got another letter from my brother, Delvin, too. First time he's written in a long time. They both told me how much the Thieves Guild has changed since I've been here. I gather that apprentice of yours is the cause of that."

"Was Maven Black-Briar in the picture when you left the mainland?" Clark asked.

"She'd turned up in Riften, and bought the meadery, but wasn't involved with the Guild. I didn't like her, but that was just because she charged too much for her mead. It was good, but not that good."

"I'd suggest that Maven's had more effect than Gilda. She's just put things back the way they should have been."

"I'd disagree," Glover objected. "Mercer Frey was taking things in the wrong direction even before he had Maven's help. He's one reason I'm here, and the other is that I learned to mend Bonemold, which gave me the opportunity."

"So when's Sapphire coming to visit? Or will you be going over there?"

"Hard to say. We're both pretty busy these days. The Thieves Guild is humming again, and now the mine's re-opened, I have a lot of repair work to keep me active."

Just in case, Clark asked Glover about Daedric smithing.

"Beyond me," he answered, much as Clark had expected. "But I do know that it's not very different from smithing Ebony. There's a difference in incorporating the Deadra Hearts, when you make it in the first place, but the tempering process is almost identical."

---

Both Brelyna and Vicuña returned to Skyrim with Clark. Neloth wanted Vicuña to fetch a briar heart for him, preferably after witnessing its installation by a hagraven. He'd cast a memory spell on her that would show him everything she learned about the process, and he hoped to repeat it with heartstones.

His first attempt at that was, of course, Ildari Sarothril, and that hadn't exactly been a success. It wasn't clear if Ildari had been the cause of all the Ash Spawn, or whether the heartstone deposits did that, and she'd just harnessed them to her purposes. Vicuña was inclined to believe the latter, as Ildari hadn't been that powerful a mage.

"So you'll be heading back to the Markarth area, then. The Forsworn are all in the Reach."

"I'd certainly like to check in at the brothel there. Rhiada's been running the place in my absence, and being a mother at the same time. She probably needs a rest by now."

Brelyna had official duties as Archmage, and she needed to return to the College. She intended to go to Riften first, and pick up Mjoll to accompany her. Clark proposed that they all go there, and see if Iona would join him to help out Vicuña in her briarheart hunt. He'd also like to see how her smithing was progressing. He knew she was training it with a view to making her own ebony armour, and she might be getting close to making Daedric, too.

"If she has made a suit of ebony, she'll be a great addition to the party. That stuff almost makes you invulnerable, especially if it's fully improved." Brelyna enthused. "I wonder if she'd make some for Mjoll, too."

---

Iona had indeed made a suit of ebony, and the boots and gauntlets to go with it. "Then I ran out of ingots, and couldn't improve it. You don't have any, do you?"

Clark hadn't brought any back from Raven Rock mine. With Gloombound producing well, it wasn't the most profitable goods to carry. He'd taken a case or two of Sadri's Sujamma for the New Gnisis Corner Club, and hadn't had much capacity for more in his pack.

"We'll get some more from Gloombound later. It's a pretty decent set already, without the extra work. Did you make a helmet?"

"No, I can't see properly out of the full helm. I know I'd get a lot more defence by having a full matching set, but if it hampers my vision, I'd lose out on offense. I do have a matching shield, though."

---

Babies are cute, but a bit smelly at times, so Iona and Vicuña gave Rhiada's back and they all headed out of Markarth again. "Where's the nearest place to find a briarheart?" Clark wondered.

"The hagravens seem to prefer the higher elevations, according to Neloth. He thinks it's a bird thing, even if they can't fly. So I'm thinking that Dead Crone Rock, at the top of Hag Rock Redoubt, is our best bet. Unless those names were intended to be misleading, of course." Vicuña suggested

"Unlikely," Clark thought. "But the 'dead' part could mean the hagravens aren't there any more."

"We'll see when we get there," Iona decided for them. "It will all be a good test of my new armour anyway."

Clark was glad to note that she'd not been tempted to replace Chillrend with an ebony sword, just for looks.

---

The trail to Hag Rock seemed to be a playground for bears. There was one around each bend, and since Iona was eager to test her armour, they let her do most of the work.

"You're not finding the ebony a bit heavy?" Clark inquired. "It looks like it should be."

"I am getting a good workout, but that's no problem. Using it makes me stronger, and I'll be used to the extra weight before I know it."

Clark checked Chillrend, to make sure it was fully charged. They were almost at Hag Rock, so he used Azura's Star to be certain.

"Vicuña, if we see any archers, hit them with lightning before they can do us any damage. If we make the others come to us, my ward and Iona's armour and shield should be our advantage. Between us, we'll have most attacks countered. Your shock spells will work for mages, too, and drain their magicka."

"Iona, stay with me and keep Vicuña safe behind us. You won't want to get in her line of fire by running ahead anyway."

"We'll go up the nearest tower and across the bridge. The long way round would give us more cover, but it also lets them drop rocks on us."

---

Progress was slow, but steady. They stuck to their plan, at least until the giant frostbite spider appeared out of a hut near the top. That wasn't in the plan at all, but the general formation of Clark and Iona blocking for the spell-caster suited just as well.

There were no enemies left between them and Dead Crone itself. They'd killed one briarheart already, and taken his eponymous item for Neloth, but they were still hoping to find a hagraven making another.

"What do you expect to find in the tower?" Iona asked. "More spiders?"

"I doubt there's room for another of those, but who knows what else we'll find. Be prepared for the unexpected."

There were only Forsworn in the base of the tower, plus a few traps to avoid and neutralise. If there was a Hagraven in residence, she'd be at the top. It looked to Clark like the door ahead of them would open at the top of the tower, so he advised them all to sneak the rest of the way.

The door led to a long flight of steps, and Clark could just see another briarheart seated at a table on a landing half-way up. "If Iona can put an arrow in him, at the same time as you hit him with some lightning, we may get past without a fight," he suggested. The two prepared, and he tapped their shoulders simultaneously to signal the attack.

It worked, but of course the sound of the spell alerted the hagraven, who appeared at the top of the stairs to hurl a fireball at them. Clark raised his ward before she could do it again, and stepped forward. Iona stuck with her bow, firing over his head.

Vicuña's Dunmer resistance to fire allowed her to push past Clark and start to shut down the hagraven with more shock spells. As she abandoned the fireballs, and started to use her claws, Iona drew Chillrend and took over.

They stepped over the hagraven's corpse, pausing only to gather the feathers. On the altar beyond was a dead Forsworn, with his heart already removed. A briar heart was waiting next to him, due to be installed in the ritual they'd interrupted. And on the other side was another Stone of Barenziah.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Nov 11 2015, 11:19 PM

[ghastley]

Previously: Clark found another Stone of Barenziah while helping Vicuña with a mission for Neloth.

-------------------

Part 61 - Dark Brotherhood, Dark Armour

"This makes thirteen, doesn't it?" Clark asked Gilda, back at Honeyside.

"Fifteen," She corrected him. "I just found another up north in a nordic ruin called Yngvild."

"Why were you up there?"

"Vekel asked me to look for a set of books that were supposed to be hidden there. I owed him a favour, so I agreed to take a look. I found a nasty old necromancer and the Stone as well as the books he wanted."

"And the other one?"

"Mjoll just brought me that. Wouldn't say where she found it, but she knew from Brelyna that I was collecting them. Perhaps you can get the story from her."

---

Clark was better suited to persuading a woman to talk than Gilda was, and Mjoll soon confessed how she came to find the Stone. The part she was most embarassed about was Grelod.

"The old woman who runs the orphanage? What about her?"

"I killed her," Mjoll replied. "I didn't mean to, but I caught her beating one of the kids, and I put her across my knee to see how she liked it. I didn't even hit her, she just clutched her chest and went limp. Of course, the kids all cheered when that happened, the disrespectful little urchins. It took all I knew to calm Constance down, but when I reminded her that she'd be responsible for the orphans now, that seemed to get her back to rights."

"And the stone? Don't tell me they had one in the orphanage."

"No, I got that later. A courier delivered me a note with a handprint on it, and the words 'we know'. Nothing else, no signature or anything. Then that night I woke up in a shack miles away with a masked woman telling me I'd stolen a victim from the Dark Brotherhood. She wanted me to repay them by killing one of the other people she'd dragged to the shack. There were three of them, tied up with sacks over their heads. I don't kill anyone who can't fight back, so I killed the woman instead."

"She was Astrid, head of the Dark Brotherhood, and one of the Solitude guards told me I should report her death to the Penitus Oculatus in Dragonbridge on my way back here. So I did, and they asked me to finish the job by killing all the others at their hideout near Falkreath. That's where I found the stone, in their Sanctuary."

"Just like that. You killed them all, and found the stone."

"Well it wasn't that easy, but now I have Grimsever back, and improved, it's easier than it used to be. I didn't even need Brelyna and her magic this time. They came at me one a time, or I might not have succeeded, but I guess assassins aren't used to teamwork."

"I picked up this book for Brelyna, too. I don't know if she's read this one, but it has the symbol for alteration on the cover. She usually likes those."

---

If Mjoll was going to do that sort of thing on her own, Clark thought that Brelyna's idea of making her a set of ebony armour was a good one. And Iona wanted to improve hers, too, so a visit to Narzulbur and Gloombound Mine seemed like a good idea. Perhaps Mjoll would want to come along and help dig the ore.

"Almost didn't recognise you with your top on," Chief Mauhulakh greeted Iona as they entered the stronghold.

"What's that about?" Mjoll wanted to know. Iona had to tell her about her bout of fisticuffs with the Orc to gain Blood-kin status.

"Great strategy," Mauhulakh added, "She had me totally distracted. Doesn't just fight well, that one. She can think, too."

"I take it she beat you?" Clark inquired.

"Let's just say I conceded. It's all about putting up a good fight, rather than the outcome."

"We've come to ask if we can mine some more ebony, so I can improve my armour," Iona told him. "Can Mjoll help?"

"Maybe I should ask her to mine topless. It should be just as good from my point of view, and it hurts a lot less!" the Orc laughed, "No, just mine a bit more than you're using, and that will pay us back. There's plenty of ore down there, and every bit of effort digging it is appreciated."

"Can we use the smelter and forge too? It will save us carting it all the way back to Riften."

"Of course, if Dushnamub isn't using them. Give him your surplus ebony when you're done."

---

With all three of them swinging pickaxes, it didn't take too long to extract the ore Iona needed. There were a few iron veins there as well, and although they didn't need any for their current project, they took some of that up to Dushnamub, too.

"No need to smelt the iron. I don't know if I'll use for steel yet," he told them. "Most of my work is repairing pickaxes, and they use a lot of it."

Iona got busy making Mjoll's equipment. "I'll do all the forge work first, and then improve it all at the workbench after, mine and hers."

Pretty soon, Iona realised she didn't have enough leather strips for everything. "I have those," Dushnamub said. "What have you got in exchange?"

"How about my banded iron armour?" asked Mjoll. "I won't needing that any more."

Clark had enough gold to pay for the leather, but Mjoll was already taking off her cuirass, and he wasn't about to stop her. Iona wasn't going to be upstaged by anyone, so of course her armour had to come off to be taken to the armourer's workbench.

"It's a Nord thing," Clark explained to the incredulous Orc smith. "Mjoll's always saying how she finds the cold exhilarating. I notice neither of them is venturing too far from the forge, though."

"I hope you're not making mine too tight in the chest," Mjoll was saying. "I need more room than you do."

"You do not," Iona argued. "Mine are just as big as yours. Clark, settle this for us!"

"You're both smaller than Gilda, so why debate who's second? If it's just an excuse to argue, I'll find you a pit of mud to wrestle in, and charge admission."

That made both of them laugh, and Dushnamub grinned at the prospect, too.

As if to settle the question, Iona found that she couldn't remember which armour was which, but it turned out that it didn't matter. They really were the same size, at least when it came to the armour fitting them.

---

Dushnamub didn't do Daedric either. "Although we mine ebony here, I don't even use that. Orcish takes Orichalcum, and tradition's more important to us. I can improve that to the point where ebony's no better, anyway."

---

Back in Riften, Clark asked Serana about the Fort Dawnguard smith.

"Gunmar? If you want a suit of armour for your dog, or a troll, he's your man. A bit weird, but a great smith. About the only one in Skyrim who knows about making crossbows, too."

"Do you think we could get him to temper Rayya's scimitars?" Clark asked. "There aren't many smiths that can work on Daedric items. I have the ebony it would take, but not the skill."

"Well the problem would be getting to him," Serana pointed out. "I could go there, but I wouldn't want to, given that you-know-who is probably there. They wouldn't let you in, because you're not a member of the Dawnguard. The same with Iona, if she wanted training, she'd have to join them first."

"I know what you mean," Clark agreed. "Eorlund Grey-Mane is the only other smith I know who can train at that level, but you have to be a Companion before he'll do that."