I am Lena Wolf, Lena's life as it happens Options

[Lena Wolf]

Chapter 2

Matters of the Heart

19 Sun's Dawn, 4E202 - Back to Skyrim

Skyrim calls. But Lena wouldn't leave without seeing Hauk first, after all he was waiting for her in the Shivering Isles, and she didn't know how long she would be gone.

"And this time I am coming with you!" - Hauk was adamant. Ok, let's go.

Lena and Hauk crossed the border to Skyrim and reached Riverwood without anything significant getting in their way.

"Hello, brother" - Lena noticed Geralt on the porch of Sven's house. "Have you been talking to Sven's mother again? You know she spreads rumours."

"Yep, and where else do you think witchers get their contracts from?" - Gerald grinned. "Good to see you, sis. And I see you brought a Nord to Skyrim" - he nodded at Hauk.

"This is Hauk, we've been adventuring together back in Cyrodiil. Is there any food at the cabin? It's been a long way."

Lena always kept the hunter's cabin well stocked with supplies when she was around. She hoped that Geralt didn't leave it empty. He didn't, and soon the three of them were sitting by the fire with mead and roast.

"Hadvar is back in Riverwood" - Geralt remarked casually. "Something must be going on by the border. He claims he is on leave, but I don't believe him. He asked about you."

"Did he now? In what way?"

"Either he was sent to get you to join the Legion, or to prevent you joining the Stormcloacks."

"Well, there's no danger of that - I have no wish to meddle in Skyrim politics."

"Too late for that, I'm afraid. They all want you now - you're the Dragonborn. Why are you back, actually?"

"I need to find out more about this Dragonborn business, why I never noticed anything before, what it does exactly, except letting me shout, which is kind of neat but not world-shuttering. I mean, other people can shout too, and they are not proclaimed to be Dragonborn. Didn't Ulfrick kill the High King by shouting at him? Yet no one calls Ulfrick Dragonborn."

She didn't say anything about her investigation for the Dark Brotherhood. This was her business alone. Hauk was watching the exchange between Lena and Geralt and thinking how close they seemed, even though he knew they could not have spent that much time together - they only met fairly recently. And the difference in years... Geralt was much older then Lena, as he didn't "skip" nearly two centuries as Lena did while residing in the Shivering Isles. Yet he wasn't 250 years old as he should have been... Time must pass differently beyond the Great Maelstrom. Geralt looked just over 50, but was probably pushing 100 - you can't tell with witchers. His age only showed in the things he said - wisdom coming from experience.

The roast was significantly diminished and the mead bottles around them were nearly all empty, when they heard footsteps coming their way.

"Hadvar!" - Geralt saw him first. "I see you've heard Lena is back. Come and join us, before all of the roast is gone."

"This is--" Lena started introducing Hauk.

"Hauk" - Hadvar didn't look surprised at all. "Hello, old friend!"

Was that a secret handshake or some such that they exchanged?

"We've met during the Great War, but Hauk returned to Cyrodiil afterwards and I stayed in Skyrim" - Hadvar offered, making it clear that this topic was now closed. This meant only one thing - there was so much more to that!

The conversation turned to lighter things, to stories of recent adventures in Cyrodiil - Ayleid ruins, caves, battles with beasts and undead, comparisons of draugr of Skyrim with skeleton heros of Cyrodiil, that sort of thing. It was already dawning when Lena finally declared she needed a nap and went into the cabin, and Geralt went to Sven's house where he was staying - Sven's mother insisted he should use their spare bed. Hauk and Hadvar stayed by the fire a bit longer.

"How do you know Lena?" - Hadvar asked.

"Met her through the Mages Guild."

"Tracked her down?"

"No, that was a real coincidence. I spotted her at the Arcane University, thought she looked out of place somehow, made some enquiries... Then introduced myself and we've been adventuring together ever since. I was getting pretty bored without any work, you know. I didn't know she was Dragonborn until later."

"That she is, but it doesn't mean much in itself, I think we both know that. It's what she does with it, if anything."

"Is that why you're here?" Hauk didn't believe that Hadvar was hanging around exclusively on Legion business.

"Well..." - Hadvar looked a bit uneasy. "The Legion is not going to interfere unless she tries to join the Stormcloacks, which we don't believe she will."

"And?" - Hauk was not to be put off that easily.

"And... Are you two... Should I leave her alone?" Finally! The real reason.

"We are just friends at this stage" - Hauk wasn't about to burn any bridges either. "But she is not wearing an Amulet of Mara."

She wasn't, not at that point anyway. It wasn't that long since Lena returned from the Shivering Isles, found her citizen rights suspended, went to the Northern Realms, met Geralt, came back to escape the war there, ran around the Imperial bureaucracy to get her rights reinstated, and she was still in the process of recovering her repossessed property, and now also this Dragonborn affair added on top. Lena's life was too tumultuous right now for the Amulet of Mara! Perhaps later. Hadvar and Hauk both saw that, and each was willing to wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

20 Sun's Dawn, 4E202 - Hauk and Lucien

Jarl Balgruuf had made Lena a thane of Whiterun, granted her permission to buy a house within the city walls and assigned her a housecarl - Lydia.

"This is all extremely inconvenient" - Lena noted thinking over her investigation for the Dark Brotherhood at breakfast. "I hope the group here isn't going to be spooked by my status and will still take the bait and contact me."

Lucien had arranged for rumours to be spread that Lena was the one who murdered the woman at the orphanage in Riften in response to some young lad's summons. One small detail however: it happened before Lena returned to Skyrim, but Lucien summised correctly that the group of Skyrim assassins wouldn't know the difference. Information wasn't their strong suite. All Lena had to do now was wait for them to take the bait and contact her, and being a thane - even just in title - was very inconvenient for that.

"Jarl Balgruuf just wanted to be the first to claim the Dragonborn" - Hauk seemed to have read her thoughts. "You are here for Lucien, aren't you? No, no, don't tell me - it's your affair." He broke five eggs for an omelette.

"How did you know?" - Lena needed some answers now, and Hauk saw that.

"I didn't, but I guessed. You had no intention of going to Skyrim before, in fact in the past four months you've repeatedly said you were not ready. Then suddenly you were leaving immediately. It stands to reason you got an assignment to follow through, and that could have only come from Lucien."

"It could have come from any number of sources - the Fighters Guild, the Mages Guild, the Legion, the... what do I know!" - Lena wasn't satisfied as yet. The omelette bubbled and squeaked in the pan filling the hunter's cabin with enticing aromas.

Hauk gave her one of his looks taking his eyes off the pan for a moment - oh please!

"The Fighters Guild does not operate in Skyrim, they are terrified of the Companions, so no. The Mages Guild or the Legion - I would have known, as I'm a member of both, and in fact you haven't joined the Legion yet, so don't exaggerate. What is left? A personal favour for someone? Possible, but I doubt it would have carried this urgency."

"Ok" - Lena conceded that he could have just deduced that, accepting a plate with half an omelette that Hauk handed to her. "But how did you know I was going to meet Lucien when I left the Shivering Isles? I didn't know it myself, I was just going to do a few things and come back."

"I know Lucien."

"How?"

Lena was pretty certain that Hauk had never been a member of the Dark Brotherhood. Of course one did not need to be a member to have heard of Lucien Lachance, but Hauk's knowledge of him seemed to be more than hearsay.

"Our paths have crossed during the War. No, he wasn't after me and I wasn't after him, but we appeared to have had the same target, although with a slightly different purpose. I wanted information, and I reached the target first. Admittedly, there wasn't much left to do for Lucien when he appeared, but I let him fulfil his contract. We had a chat and parted ways. So I got the feel for the man."

"Which doesn't explain how you knew I'd be meeting him" - Lena wanted to know more, Hauk's delicious omelette disappearing quickly.

"When Garrus mentioned that someone gave you flowers that you carefully kept fresh in an urgently ordered urn, I knew it was from Lucien. Garrus was teasing me of course, but I knew just why you kept them - a reminder of things past, a recognition of his gratitude, more than gratitude - lily of the valley, was it? Of course you kept it, regardless whether you felt the same or not. And goldenrod and morning glory - back to business, sister. You've been promoted, whether you know it or not, so a special assignment wasn't far off. I wasn't certain of course when it would come exactly, but I didn't think it would be too long."

Lena suddenly saw a whole different side of Hauk. There was a lot more to him than met the eye, even after some four months of adventuring together, all the fights, the wounds and the campfires shared. With everything he just said, he still hadn't told her a thing about his duties during the Great War - that information wasn't his to give, the Legion was keeping its secrets. The same as Hadvar - be convincing without revealing anything of importance.

"I see..." - Lena started thoughtfully, picking at a bunch of grapes, deliberately, one by one. "Well, since you've figured out that much, you won't be surprised when something odd happens. Come with me to High Hrothgar, I need to follow up on that Dragonborn business anyway, and I could use the company while... well, I could use your company" - she concluded firmly, looking straight at him.

"Not taking Lydia with you then?" - Hauk gave her a wink, slicing up some cheese. "'I'll protect you with my life!' She's very eager, you know."

"'I am swooooorn to carry your burdens' - yeah, right" - Lena was particularly annoyed by that line. "She'll only get in the way and get herself killed. I'm not the kind of thane she was hoping to get assigned to. Although you might have been one - we can bring her along, if you like."

Was it time for another one of Hauk's looks? Perhaps. But he kept it to himself and just laughed.

"Ask Wolf to come too" - he said. "I think he's had enough of Sven's mother."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

21 Sun's Dawn, 4E202 - Helgen bypass

Lena, Geralt and Hauk set off to Ivarstead in the morning. From Riverwood, the shorter route was to circle the East side of the mountain, passing by Helgen.

"Is the place still closed?" - asked Lena pointing at some charred corpses displayed outside the main gates. "Did everyone just run away? The devastation wasn't that bad, surely."

"It's not the devastation that's keeping most people away" - Hauk replied sending a few fireballs to the top of the Helgen wall. "It's the bandits. After the initial confusion, they quickly moved in. Hadvar told me" - he added seeing Lena's raised eyebrows and her usual 'How did you know?'. "The Legion should have stayed at Helgen after the dragon flew off, but most soldiers were killed trying to contain the panic and save civilians, and Talius was too slow sending a new contingent. By the time they figured out that the danger had passed, the place was overrun with Thalmor followed by bandits - they appear to be friendly to each other somehow. The remaining Stormcloacks ran off to the nearby camp - so much for the Real Sons of Skyrim. So now you can't even pass by Helgen without getting peltered with arrows from the walls."

"We'll have to sort this out at some point" - said Lena, sending a few arrows of her own.

"I thought you weren't going to meddle in Skyrim politics?" - laughed Geralt. "Way to go, sis."

With the bandits' shouts still following them, they continued up the hill, only to be promptly attacked by a Stormcloack "patrol".

"What on Nirn...?" - Lena swore getting off her horse and spinning to face her attacker. "Put away that thing - you'll hurt yourself!"

It only takes one strike with a blade to put down even the heaviest fighter - provided you get his heart. She did. Geralt went for a decapitation, which was equally effective.

"They didn't seem to be such great warriors" - commented Lena, rather surprised at the easy victory. "Why pick a fight then?"

"They probably thought we were easy prey. Their camp is just behind those trees, and I bet they are out of mead - as well as everything else" - Hauk commented, looking over the bodies. "Look - poorly healed scars, frostbite and their stomachs stuck to their spines. Supply problems, clearly."

Feeling a little guilty for killing people in need, our party continued on.

(click image to enlarge)

"Haemar's Shame" - Lena pointed at a cave entrance. "There's a shrine to Clavicus Vile in there. Last time I was in Skyrim, his dog had me go clear the vampires from this cave. It was another one of Clavicus' deals, of course."

"How so?"

"The vampires asked Clavicus for a cure and he told them to assemble at his shrine. Then he banished his dog Barbas, knowing that Barbas would pick up someone who'd help him to get back. Of course that involved going through the cave and killing all the vampires. That was the deal - they were now cured of vampirism. They had not specified that they wanted to stay alive."

Lena shook her head.

"So what did you get as a reward?" - asked Hauk. "Was it the Umbra or the Rueful Axe or may be the Mask?"

"Nothing. I declined it all, and now Clavicus Vile is indebted to me" - Lena grinned.

"Oh - you are his worthy student!"

They laughed at the story descending the mountain pass into the frost-free landscape below.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: May 20 2024, 11:50 AM

[Renee]

Ah, so is Lena and her posse officially Imperials? Or did they just get caught up with the wrong Stormie at the wrong time?

"So what did you get as a reward?" - asked Hauk. "Was it the Umbra or the Rueful Axe or may be the Mask?"

"Nothing. I declined it all, and now Clavicus Vile is indebted to me" - Lena grinned.

Good for her!

[Lena Wolf]

Well, they are from Cyrodiil, so I suppose that makes them Imperial. Hauk is certainly Imperial, as he's with the Legion. Lena has not joined any faction yet, but I can tell you a secret - she's not joining Ulfrick, that's for sure. Her brother is neutral - or so he claims.

[Acadian]

Lena, thanks for the additional info you provided in your comment verifying a little more about weaving characters from other worlds/games/times into Lena's saga. Wonderfully creative - and a clever tool to support a neverending saga.

I did finish your first post and, in total, it does provide a good feel for Lena's complex comings and goings and her massive range. Nicely done and you have an engaging writing style!

I noticed that you added another episode, but I'll get to that within the next couple days.

[Lena Wolf]

Thank you, Acadian, glad you enjoyed it! I promise to hold off posting for a bit... although I wrote a few more episodes. They are like busses - you wait for days, and then several come at once. (Sorry for the tired joke!) I try to write them in such a way that missing a few episodes would not prevent you from following the story. It's like in life - sometimes you miss stuff and only hear about it later when it comes up in some other context. But I felt that a decent introduction was necessary, hence the very long first post.

I shall also be adding pictures in future!

[Acadian]

Well, I'm caught up as Lena continues her adventures, currently in Skyrim. Again, I like your idea of treating time freely and using characters from other games. May we expect to see such characters as Aloy, Minsc & Boo, Sir Keldorn at some point?

Having played Oblivion and Skyrim extensively before moving on to ESO in 2016, there are lots of nostalgically familiar moments here - with your own creative and welcome twists added.

[Lena Wolf]

Acadian - thanks for reading I know who Aloy is, but the other ones I had to google... No, not them - I never played those games. But this story already has Jowan from Dragon Age Origins. I didn't include any of it this time because the first post was getting too long already. Jowan is currently exploring the Imperial City, so he's busy. But we'll bump into him again later. The other games that are likely to be involved are: Two Worlds, Risen and Fable.

[Lena Wolf]

24 Sun's Dawn, 4E202 - Ivarstead - Ghost - Proving

They arrived in Ivarstead in the afternoon.

"Finally - some new faces!" - the innkeep was very welcoming. "Do come in!"

21 Sun's Dawn

Ivarstead was not a large village, but its location was very much at a crossroads, where the Whiterun-Riften thoroughfare split off North towards Windhelm. If there ever was such a thing as a Skyrim thoroughfare. The inn should have flourished though - and not just from High Hrothgar tourism. Yet it all looked a bit too quiet...

"It's the bandits. Nilheim might seem far away, but they ambush the road, so people stay away" - he explained. "That and that ghost..."

"What ghost?" - asked Lena sensing the real problem.

"In that barrow across the road" - the innkeep waved his hand. "He appeared about a year ago, out of nowhere. Haunts the barrow - chases everyone away!"

"That doesn't sound like a ghost to me" - Geralt whispered into Lena's ear.

"Has anyone gone to investigate it?" - asked Lena, not hoping for a 'yes'.

"No" - the innkeep didn't disappoint. "The guards say the Jarl isn't paying them enough to deal with ghosts, and none of us wants to either."

"You--" Lena started saying something unwise when Geralt pinched her in the small of her back - the only place he could get to that wasn't covered in armour.

"Don't" - he whispered. Then continued to the innkeep: "Well, would you mind if we took a look? We'll see if this ghost likes us better."

The innkeep looked at them as if they were mad, but had no objections to the enterprise, especially if they were to buy some food and drinks first. That did sound like a good idea, and after a meal and a few rounds of ale, they were ready to go.

"You two go" - said Hauk. "It doesn't look big enough for three people. And I've got an errand to run."

They left the inn together, then Lena and Geralt crossed the road towards the barrow, and Hauk crossed the bridge going South.

"Legion business" - noted Lena. "There's a camp that way."

...

Shroud Hearth Barrow was a typical Nord crypt with draugrs resting in their alcoves. Some of them would occasionally get up, disturbed by the intruders, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. A series of linked gates spiced up the adventure, with the inevitable poisoned darts pelting you if you pulled the levers in the wrong order. Lena wasn't keen on the poison, but Geralt just laughed - his witcher blood could take much more than that.

The extraordinary thing in this barrow was the ghost. Yes, there was one, it was true. May be not a real ghost, but certainly a ghostly apparition - he greeted them as they entered, howling quite theatrically: "Leeeeeave this place! Leeeeeeave this place!" But when they paid no heed to his warning and proceeded, he retreated further into the barrow, howling some more.

"This is not a ghost" - Geralt said firmly. "Not a ghost, not a wraith, not an undead shadow - this... err... apparition is a living man. Somehow."

"There's magic that can make you ethereal, although it is quite rare" - suggested Lena. "We'll need to get to him to find out."

They proceeded through the barrow, pacifying some more restless draugrs along the way, and finally entering a secret chamber hidden behind a sliding wall. The "ghost" was inside, now ready for a fight.

...

Spectral magic finally dispersed revealing a body of a Dunmer. His journal was right there on the desk - he was searching for a claw needed to unlock the ancient part of the barrow, holding great treasure - or so he believed. He couldn't find the claw, and too much of the spectral magic turned his brain...

"Oh! As simple as that" - the innkeep was shaking his head reading the journal. "And we fell for it!"

"Spectral magic is very rare..." - started Lena, but Geralt poked her again: don't.

"Here - take the claw" - the innkeep pulled it from under the counter. "It hasn't done anyone any good, and why should it be kept here at the inn? Use it, leave it at the barrow, do what you want with it - nobody goes into the depths anyway. Just don't leave it unlocked when you are done - the dead in there are said to be restless. We don't want to be overrun by ancient draugr as well!"

Lena stashed the claw in her pack. It was past midnight and they left the barrow exploration for another day. Hauk just returned from his errand too, so they rented rooms for the night and proceeded sampling the local mead by the fire.

"If anything unusual happens during the night" - Lena started turning to Geralt - "don't panic and let it happen."

"What are you expecting to happen?" - Geralt looked at her shrewdly.

"I don't know, we'll see. If nothing occurs, we'll go exploring the barrow tomorrow and stay here for another night" - Lena added as if it explained anything.

"You think they'll be imitating Lucien?" - Hauk obviously had an idea what she was expecting.

"I think they will, and I want to see just how good they are and what exactly they will do." Then turning to Geralt again she added: "Don't worry. Wait for me here - for days, if need be. I'll be back."

22 Sun's Dawn

"Well, that is a surprise" - a woman's voice said from the dark, then someone pulled off a sack that was covering Lena's head. She didn't recognise the place. "You picked up one of our contracts" - continued the woman. "Now you owe us."

Ah, yes, they fell for it.

"Who are you and what do you want from me?" - Lena decided to play ignorance.

"I am Astrid, the head of the Dark Brotherhood - the Dark Brotherhood, that's right." She checked for the effect of her words, and Lena quickly arranged her face in a suitable expression of horror and admiration. "Aretino's contract should have been ours" - she paused again, and Lena added a bit of fear to her expression. Astrid seemed to be satisfied. "You can repay your debt by killing one of these... err... subjects."

She pointed at three figures kneeling in the next room, their hands bound behind their backs, sacks over their heads.

"Kill any one of them, and your debt will be repaid, and what's more - we'll welcome you into our family." Astrid seemed to be sure she was making an offer that Lena could not refuse.

"All right" - said Lena, and thought to herself: "Better do it right. She seems to go for the theatrics."

She killed all three subjects before they could start protesting.

"Very good - I'm impressed!" - Astrid looked really taken. She told Lena how to find the Sanctuary, and how to enter. She would welcome her properly there. "Oh - and here's the key to this cabin. See you soon, sister!"

Astrid vanished. "Teleport" - Lena thought.

She exited the shack, finding herself on a moor, far from Ivarstead. The Sanctuary too was a good distance away. She whistled for her horse, Roach appeared and Lena rode South.

24 Sun's Dawn

Two days later she walked into the Vilemyr Inn in Ivarstead and found Hauk and Geralt playing Gwent at rather high stakes.

"Finally!" - Geralt greeted her. "That took a while."

"I told him not to worry" - said Hauk, folding the cards. "And he was losing anyway. Did you learn what you were hoping to learn?"

"Yes" - Lena replied. "I might have to follow up on a few things before we can return to Cyrodiil, but I need to think on that first. And go up to High Hrothgar."

It was late afternoon, and she didn't want to climb that mountain in the dark - she would go tomorrow. This night her sleep would be uninterrupted, and she needed a good rest after all that running around. The innkeep was pleased to have guests staying for a while, especially thirsty ones as these, so please, there's no need to rush - we've got rooms, food and mead at your convenience. How nice.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 01:29 PM

[Lena Wolf]

25 Sun's Dawn, 4E202 - High Hrothgar

"You should go alone" - said Geralt when Lena was finally ready to climb up to High Hrothgar. "It's up to you to do something with it."

Lena opened her mouth to argue, but Geralt gave her that look - don't even think about it. She closed her mouth, checked her blade and turned to leave.

"Wait, take this" - Hauk handed her a book. "Just in case."

She opened it - it was a Summon Dremora spell tome.

"Skyrim is shielded - you cannot summon any of your clannfears or daedroths, but dremoras do come through. It's best to be prepared." Hauk watched Lena take in the spell.

The climb started out easy, and quickly got harder and colder. Skeevers were replaced by wolves, wolves by ice wolves, ice wolves by...

"What was that!?"

Lena was flung down the steps with some force, but her iron cuirass kept her ribs from being smashed. A frost troll. She could just make it out against the blizzard.

The troll was approaching fast - Lena hid behind a rock. Quick - think of something!

Dremora. Time to try out the new spell!

"A challenger is near!" - roared summoned dremora. He fought bravely but the troll proved too much for him. Not waiting for the first dremora to disappear, she summoned another. And another. Then... wait...

The blizzard was getting really thick and she could hardly see what was happening, but the last dremora seemed to have defeated the troll and was coming towards her. He would be banished any moment now... surely his time was up...

"Here - take my arm" - he said helping her up.

"Sanguine!" - she wrapped her arms around his neck. "What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you, by the looks of it" - he laughed. "You summoned me to fight that troll."

"I'd never... I summoned a dremora!" - protested Lena.

"I am a dremora" - Sanguine pursed his lips.

She kissed him.

"It's been too long!" - she smiled. "But how did you get here? I thought you were back in your Realm after Sheogorath kicked us all out of his Palace."

"What Realm? I never bothered to build one - you know that!" - he laughed. "I've got a few islands, true, but the real fun is down here in Mundus. You got yourself noticed absorbing dragon souls and whatnot, and I thought you might need a hand."

"As long as it doesn't involve any goats, giants or hagravens, thank you" - she winked at him. "I've got to go see the Greybeards, but I didn't expect frost trolls along the way. It's supposed to be peaceful up here!"

"Perhaps they updated their security, or perhaps it was a test of your mettle" - Sanguine joked. "Either way, the troll is dead and the way is clear - as far as we can see, which is about three steps ahead in this blizzard. Come, I'll walk with you - I still know how to fight."

It was only now that Lena noticed an enchanted greatsword on his back. He came prepared.

"What have you done with the Rose?" - asked Sanguine.

"Lost it in a drinking game" - Lena blushed.

"That's my girl!" - laughed Sanguine patting her on the back. "If you want another one, you only have to ask - I'm sure I can come up with a suitable princely task for you!"

...

The weather at the top was remarkably clear, without any trolls in sight. Sanguine was taking his leave.

"Be careful now, little one" - he said, kissing Lena goodbye. "Don't let the Greybeards bore you too much. I'll be watching."

He waved and disappeared. Lena entered High Hrothgar.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 01:30 PM

[Lena Wolf]

25 Sun's Dawn, 4E202 - The next task

"Apparently, being able to absorb the dragon language straight from the dragons, doesn't make me a 'proper' Dragonborn yet" - Lena was saying to Hauk and Geralt in a rather annoyed tone. "I now have to go and fetch some horn from one of those crypts."

"And how is that going to prove you're Dragonborn?" - Geralt didn't get it either. "Anyone can go into the crypts, fight the draugr and get whatever is hidden in there, you don't need to be a Dragonborn for that! Unless there's a special test for you in that particular crypt?"

"There's no other way to find out but to go there" - said Hauk pragmatically. "Where is it?"

"Up on the moors, not far from Morthal."

"Charming" - Hauk shivered. "Never liked that place - too many monsters."

"Monsters?" - Geralt looked up. "As in - unnatural creatures to be slain by a witcher, or just unpleasant wildlife?"

"Both. Dangerous giant spiders and chaurusses, rogue draugr and skeletons, vampires, mad wizards, and of course unfriendly necromancers - they've got it all. Oh, and bandits and an occasional assassin - I believe they have their training grounds there." Hauk looked at Lena - "Isn't that where they took you?"

"How did you know?" It was becoming predictable, but Lena couldn't resist.

"Penitus Oculatus."

Of course. Just what exactly was Hauk's role in the Legion? It was pointless to ask - he'd never tell.

"Sounds wonderful" - Lena concluded. "Shall we set off straight away or shall we look around here some more? There are crypts to explore and bandits to slay" - she produced a bounty note for Nilheim.

"Let's stay here a bit longer" - Hauk wasn't keen on leaving. "The mead is good and the innkeep is friendly, so why not hang around some."

None of them was particularly keen to go to the moors just yet, so they decided to stay in Ivarstead for a few days.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 01:31 PM

[macole]

Just the mention of monsters will get Geralt's attention every time.

[Acadian]

Nice that Shroud Hearth Barrow is once again free of unghosts. Gerralt sure know his foes!

Oh, so that's what Astrid does if you let her live through your first encounter. Well, Lena does need info and to infiltrate deeper still.

"What have you done with the Rose?" - asked Sanguine.
"Lost it in a drinking game" - Lena blushed.
"That's my girl!" - laughed Sanguine patting her on the back. "If you want another one, you only have to ask - I'm sure I can come up with a suitable princely task for you!
- - Awesome!

So the Graydudes want Lena to head off to the other end of Skyrim to fetch a horn.

[Lena Wolf]

Just the mention of monsters will get Geralt's attention every time.

I think he might like it there on the moor. It might remind him of the swamps of Velen with the chill of Kaer Morhen.

Nice that Shroud Hearth Barrow is once again free of unghosts. Gerralt sure know his foes!

Witchers are trained monster slayers - and I mean unnatural monsters predominantly from other worlds. Witchers can also lift curses and they know some simple magic. But most of all they indeed know their foes - this is the key. They have extremely acute senses due to mutations that they accrue during their formative years. Only a third of all youngsters make it through the training - the rest die as their bodies cannot take the mutations. But those who live have exceptionally fast reflexes, acute senses, amazing stamina (all-purpose), very high poison resistance and greatly extended life span. Plus of course the knowledge of monsters and elite fighting skills - primarily swords, but they are trained to use any imaginable weapon. In other ways they are just people, in so far as a supermutant can ever be "just" a person. Oh, and they cannot sire children, which makes certain things easier.

[Lena Wolf]

26 Sun's Dawn, 4E202 - The Sanctuary

“Well, since you like the mead here, you won’t mind if I pop out for day or so, will you?” – Lena looked at Hauk and Geralt with a most innocent expression. “You can play around with your new bow, too” – she added turning to Geralt. “Or lose it to Hauk in Gwent.”

Geralt wasn’t used to bows. Of course he knew how to use one – mostly in theory – but he always preferred his sword and a fire spray. But now with the dragons around, he was lacking a ranged weapon, so started training with the bow. They picked up some bows from the draugrs in the crypt, quite decent ones, judging by the new scars on Geralt’s neck. Now he wanted to return the favour.

“All right, you go do your thing” – Hauk replied looking up from his roast. “I’ll keep him busy – the soldiers at the Imperial camp here are getting bored and could use some practice. They’ve never fought a witcher before, either” – he added, grinning.

“Be fair now” – Lena smiled complicitly – “let them attack all at once.”

She hugged her brother, waved to Hauk and left into the night.

…

“Ah, raw meat” – Arnbjorn greeted Lena at the Sanctuary – “Astrid told me all about you. I don’t like you, and I will never like you, so you best remember that – I love my wife. But you can’t be all bad, since she brought you in.”

“Nice to meet you too, Arnbjorn” – Lena was a bit bewildered. Was that a challenge?

“I’m a werewolf, and I love my wife” – Arnbjorn repeated.

“Ummm…” – Lena wasn’t sure what he expected her to say.

“Don’t listen to the puppy” – Babette joined the conversation. She was just a girl… a child… What sort of a group was this?

Lena’s face must have shown her confusion, because Babette explained: “I was a little girl… once. About 300 years ago. Vampirism keeps you remarkably fresh.”

“Yes, I know” – Lena thought. “But who are you feeding on, Babette?” But she didn’t say anything.

The rest of the group was just as colourful. An ex-Shadowscale, a Redguard in desert garb (in Skyrim?), a grumpy old wizard, a Dark Elf who loved books, walks on the beach and unicorns…

“…and then I stabbed it with a crochet needle, just for fun.” She couldn’t crochet though, that was obvious – she actually said “crochet needle” – what a give-away. They are crochet hooks, of course, not needles… Let’s hope she could tell her swords from her axes better.

“I’m just an old man who doesn’t like to talk” – the wizard said rather unconvincingly. Then told Lena how he was such a prodigy since an early age, doing all sorts of advanced magic as a child, then setting their house on fire – quite by accident – then…

“Yeah, I get the idea” – Lena thought, listening, nodding, and offering gasps of surprise in all the right places. “That monkey suit fits you to the tee.”

The Dark Brotherhood armour design was… err… unusual, to put it mildly. They had leather armour and mage tunics and trousers, some gloves, some boots, some hoods – you could mix and match as you wanted. Black and red design. The armour was skin-tight and made her look like a giant spider woman, the mage’s tunic had big triangles on the front and back, just like a jester, all with a big Black Hand on red background. “So much for being a secret organisation!” – Lena thought in disgust. “Or have they gone commercial?”

She packed away her suit of gifted armour and excused herself for not wearing it: “I’m not good with light armour – always preferred heavy. I’ll switch to it when I’ve got my skills up.” They didn’t insist.

The Sanctuary was quite a cosy place all in all. They seemed to have taken over an old crypt, but there were no draugr alcoves – perhaps those had been cleared. There was a word wall though.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” – Babette commented seeing Lena studying the Wall. “That’s supposed to be in Dragon Language!” Babette pointed at the hieroglyphs. “No one can read it though.”

“You have no idea” – Lena thought but remained silent.

“Silence suits you” – commented Astrid joining them. “Gives you an air of mystery.”

“Oops – time for some small talk!” Lena thought and said with a smile, turning to Astrid: “Oh, I am just taking it all in! It’s amazing!”

“Isn’t it?” Astrid seemed quite pleased with herself. “I see you’ve been getting to know your new family.”

“Yes! And what about you? Tell me about yourself!” Lena said enthusiastically.

“Well, I killed my uncle and liked it. Then I killed again – and liked it even more. Life has been getting better ever since.”

“We have a lot of fun here” – added Babette.

“Can’t wait to join in!” Lena said, thinking that it was best not to ask about Sithis – he was a god of death and chaos, not pleasure and fun. She found a copy of the original Five Tenets, still framed on the wall, but smudged with ale and blood – you could hardly read the text. No one bothered reading it, clearly. “Are there any rules I need to be aware of?” – she asked, just to be sure.

“No, we’ve done away with the Tenets long ago” – answered Astrid. “All that discipline, and look at the state of the Dark Brotherhood now – we are the last group in Tamriel!”

“Oh, I see” – Lena answered, trying not to laugh.

“The last group in Tamriel? I like to think of them as the Dark Knitting Circle” – she heard Sheogorath’s voice in her head. Yes, my Prince! You are right, as always.

…

Nazir had some contracts that no one wanted – just a few boring murders, not paying much, and under no time pressure.

“The targets aren’t going anywhere, so take your time” – he said, giving Lena the details.

“Yeah, why not just wait until they die of old age” – Lena thought making notes of locations. One was in Ivarstead – she might do that one first. She wasn’t planning on doing much work for them, but she wanted to see a few initial contracts through, to get a feel for how things were handled.

“I don’t want to get invested in someone who might be dead in a week” – said Nazir, cutting short their conversation. “Come back alive, and we’ll be the best of friends.”

“Oh, there’s no danger of that” – thought Lena, referring to both his statements. She thanked him for the contracts and took her leave.

…

It was raining dead hunters – there was one just outside the Sanctuary, and another one further up the road. There was no sign of struggle or wild animals anywhere.

“Sheo – is that your doing?” Lena asked into the emptiness. “I liked burning dogs better.”

She got no answer, and took it for a no. Was that a sign that she had embarked on a path of evil? Oh please keep up, it was way too late for that… Arkay embraced them all and never scorned her, and she didn’t much care for the rest. The god of death? I know him well… Welcome, Assassin.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 01:32 PM

[Lena Wolf]

27 Sun's Dawn, 4E202 - Nilheim - Riften

"Shhh - you'll wake him" - Hauk pulled Lena to the side. Geralt was still asleep in the other bed, it was 4 a.m. "You've got blood on your armour, you should be more careful - the guards here don't like murder." Hauk was wiping some smudges off Lena's cuirass.

"How..." - she started, but he put a hand over her mouth.

"Shhh..." - he looked at the door. "The guards have just been here looking for anything suspicious" - Hauk whispered into Lena's ear. "Give them half an hour and they'll forget about it, but you do need to lay low just now. They probably saw you come in."

And without another word, he quickly removed her cuirass and pulled her into the bed with him.

"Shhh..."

Lena saw where this was going and didn't protest - she trusted Hauk completely. He had far more experience in covert matters than she did - she'd simply get arrested and pay the fines, but it was far better not to get arrested.

"Oh - pardon me" - a guard walked into the room looking for Lena, and finding her in Hauk's embrace. "False alarm" - he added turning to another guard with a wink.

The guards left, and Lena raised her head to look over Hauk's shoulder. She saw shadows in the hall - the coast wasn't clear yet. She dived back.

The innkeep stuck his head into the door, looking at his guests with interest. The witcher was still asleep, clearly enjoying the comfort of a rather wide bed all to himself - here was a man who valued comfort when he had it. But the other guest... a Nord but not from here... and that girl - the witcher's sister... a much, much younger sister, by the looks of her... She was gone all day, then returned at night, and look where she's now... Well, love birds, you don't need to hide from me, I've seen worse.

The innkeep smirked and left.

"Thank you" - whispered Lena. "I'll be more careful next time."

She was tired after her long journey back and forth - the contract wasn't the only fight along the way.

"Skyrim has an awful lot of bandits" - she whispered to Hauk. "It must be the civil war, I don't remember it being that bad before. I am exhausted. Not all of that blood was from the contract."

She nestled next to her friend and fell asleep.

Hauk stroked her hair gently, thinking to himself again: "If only..."

...

"You can sleep some more, there is no rush" - Geralt looked into the room as Lena was about to get up.

"You heard me come in?"

"Of course I heard you, I'm a witcher" - he grinned. "I just didn't think it would help to show it."

"Well, I'm awake now, might as well get up" - Lena was putting her armour on. "What's for breakfast?"

...

It was a beautiful day, and Lena, Geralt and Hauk decided to ride East and see about those bandits at Nilheim that the Jarl wanted removed. As they approached the bridge to the tower, they saw a merchant sitting on the ground by his broken cart.

"Can you help me?" - he asked. "Bandits have attacked my cart and killed my horse. My camp is just over the bridge by that tower - get me there safely, and you'll be rewarded."

"Ai" - said Lena getting off her horse with a smile - "it will be our pleasure. Always up for a reward."

Of course this was a trap, but this time it were the bandits that got caught in it. Lena summoned a dremora already before the "merchant" declared that they would now be killed, and Hauk and Geralt were ready to join in while the bandits were still unsheathing their weapons. A short but fierce fight followed.

"We shall indeed be rewarded - he didn't lie" - laughed Lena. "But we will need to go to Riften for it. Shall we ride there today? The weather is lovely."

The weather was indeed lovely, and so they rode on.

...

"You have committed crimes against Skyrim and its people" - a guard stopped Lena's horse as they approached Riften. "Pay your fine and surrender any stolen goods."

"I think you're mistaking me for someone else" - Lena replied. "I don't steal. But I'll pay the fine since you asked nicely."

The fine was for an assault. She couldn't remember assaulting anyone unprovoked and not seeing it through.

"They couldn't prove murder and settled on an assault charge" - Hauk was explaining afterwards. "People rarely dispute assaults because everyone does it, just not everyone gets caught."

Ah, yes. She was in Skyrim.

The bounty for the bandits of Nilheim far outweighed the fine, and they still had plenty of coin for a meal and a room. They would stay the night, and go North West tomorrow.

Riften was strange. At the market Lena was approached by some fellow in expensive clothes insisting that none of her wealth had been earned by honest means...

"That depends what you consider honest work" - Lena thought spinning around. "You probably think I'm a wannabe thief and am going to be flattered."

"Well..." - she said hesitantly.

"I've got a proposition for you..." - Brynjolf suddenly broke off as Hauk stood behind Lena. "Well, I'll be at the Bee and Barb later if you want to talk."

"He's Thieves Guild" - Hauk said in Lena's ear. "Our paths had crossed at some point. I think he'll be staying out of your way now."

"Oh, that is interesting" - Lena was watching Brynjolf walk back to his stall on the market. She would remember his face.

They walked around the market some more, looked at the stalls, the Temple of Mara, the wooden houses on the main street. If it was supposed to remind Lena of Bravil, it didn't. Riften had the canal, the bridges and the wooden houses, and even the same patron Divine, but there was no Lucky Lady here and the atmosphere was decidedly different.

"I don't know you - you looking for trouble?" Lena was stopped by an aggressive looking character. "The Black-Briers don't want strangers poking their noses into their business."

"So, there is a business that needs poking, then?" Lena looked him straight in the eye. "Ogre" - she thought. "Equal in force and intelligence."

Maul wasn't used to not have an effect. He stared at Lena menacingly and clutched his fists. She smiled sweetly, but kept her gaze cold. Geralt appeared from a side alley - Maul didn't know him either. The dilemma of what to do next must have overwhelmed him, because he turned around and walked off without another word.

"What was all that about?" Geralt followed Maul with his gaze.

"I have no idea" - replied Lena. "A local bully, perhaps?"

"Another member of the Thieves Guild" - Hauk commented, catching up with them. "This town is drowning in them."

"The Jarl's steward didn't think that the Thieves Guild posed any threat" - Lena related her conversation with the steward earlier.

"That's a convenient stance if you can't solve the problem" - Hauk shook his head. "The Black-Briers are a powerful family, and they support the Thieves Guild. They also often call on your friend Astrid, but the relationship there is more strenuous, I understand. The Black-Briers are demanding customers."

Lena was listening with astonishment, although by now she should have known better.

"How..." - she started, but Geralt touched her arm.

"Let the man have some secrets" - he said. "It gives him an air of mystery."

They laughed and went to the Bee and Barb.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 01:32 PM

[Lena Wolf]

28 Sun's Dawn, 4E202 - The road to Windhelm

"Let's ride North to Windhelm first, then turn West to Morthal" - Lena was saying at breakfast at the Bee and Barb. "I've got business near Windhelm, and it will be fun to stay right under Ulfrick's nose - right, Hauk?" - she winked at him.

"Oh, don't mind me, Windhelm is not off limits for Imperials, you know" - he replied, focusing on fried eggs on his plate. "Gosh, Argonians can really cook when they want to."

They set off after breakfast and tried to avoid too many distractions along the way. At Shor's Stone Lena started wondering how to get to the top of the mountain, as there was no obvious path - just ragged cliffs.

"What's on the top of the mountain?" - asked Geralt examining the rocks.

"I don't know for sure, but many mountain tops here have Word Walls and some have dragons to go with them" - answered Lena trying to guess whether there was a Word Wall on this mountain top.

"All right, let's see if we can find a way up - sounds like fun" - Geralt agreed.

They circled around the mountain, coming to the Northwind Mine first, but deciding against going in - a mine would go down, not up, surely. Then they found an ascending path on the West and came to a delightful spot - Clearspring Tarn. There was a cave below with a hunting bow on display and a troll ready to eat it. They killed the troll and left the bow where they found it.

"This is good for deer, not people" - remarked Lena examining the enchantment. "Leave it for the hunters."

After a short break by the pond, they continued up, and with a little persuasion their horses jumped over some rocks and landed on a platform with a Word Wall. There were no dragons in sight, just three confused skeletons in a bad mood. The skeletons taken care of, they looked around - the place was a camp, with several tents and bedrolls, some occupied by more skeletons. Then they spotted a set of doors leading into the rock.

"I bet there are more skeletons inside" - predicted Lena looking at Geralt.

"Your bet is off - that's too easy" - he laughed. "Of course there are more skeletons inside. Dead miners and guards, by the looks of it."

"Probably killed by the dragon last time one was here" - added Hauk.

They went in to clear the skeletons. The mine passage was quite short, descending quite steeply. Soon they came out on the other side.

"Why, that's the Northwind Mine!" - Lena exclaimed looking around. "It does go up when you look at it from this end. How odd."

So they were now where they had started a few hours ago. They rode straight North this time until they saw Dwelmer steps going up the mountain on the East side of the road.

"Oh - a Dwelmer ruin!" - Lena was getting excited.

"If we go in there, we might not come out for days - they can be very extensive" - Hauk was running his fingers along the relief on the metal door. "Perhaps we should come back another time."

This was sensible, of course. And boring. Lena went up some more steps and found another door - it wasn't locked.

"We'll just take a peek and come right out" - she said and quickly slipped in before her companions could argue.

Fortunately, this particular hall was quite small and looked like a storage locker. There were ingots of Dwarven metal, some books, and a translucent shard.

"I bet this shard is important for something!" - Lena exclaimed pointing at it but not picking it up. "I'm not touching it - it is bound to send me on a quest that I have no time for."

"Then make a note in your journal and let's go" - Hauk was itching to investigate it as well, but he knew this wasn't the right time. "This is Mzulft, by the way."

"How did you..?" - Lena started, but her companions just laughed.

Continuing up the mountain a bit further, they came to an Imperial camp. It was nearly 3 p.m. and high time for a break and a late lunch. The commander was in his tent, so they went to say hello.

"Optio" - the Legate greeted Hauk. "Back in Skyrim again, I see?"

Optio? Wow.

"On private business mostly this time" - Hauk replied shaking his hand. "We were just passing, and I wanted to say hello."

"It's quiet around here" - the Legate looked at his soldiers tending to the food. "Neither the Stormcloaks nor the Thalmor like Dwelmer ruins much."

They laughed as if it was an insider joke. May be it was. The Legate was old enough to have gone through the Great War.

After lunch our party continued on to Windhelm. They arrived in the evening, and went straight to Candlehearth Hall. The bard was singing "The Age of Oppression", but otherwise the atmosphere was agreeable.

"I need to pop out for a bit - I won't be long" - Lena said to Hauk and Geralt once they got settled down with mead and roast. "Save me some roast."

She went back out into the blizzard.

...

Lena returned to Windhelm within the hour - her business didn't take long. She walked around the city a bit - it was rather dark and brooding, with overbearing stone buildings. She came to the Palace of Kings - the seat of Ulfrick Stormcloak. It was a grand building, certainly, but "magnificent" wasn't the term for it. Menacing, rather. Lena didn't go in and turned left instead, continuing her walk. Everything was decorated with eagles here - or were they vultures? There was a bird figure on every fence post, giving the area a feel of a battlefield.

"Interesting choice of decoration" - Lena thought. "I'm not sure how I feel about that."

She noticed that one of the houses was for sale.

"You've got to be friends with Ulfrick to buy it though" - she thought, half-considering it. "But I still remember that old charm spell..."

Walking down the steps she came to the Hall of the Dead. Like everything in Windhelm, it was big, and to Lena's surprise, it looked empty. There were plenty of alcoves, but only a few were occupied - by skeletons, not draugr. The priest wasn't forthcoming, and didn't even want to talk.

"Strange" - Lena thought. "But where is the shrine to Arkay? Surely, they've got one?"

After a while wandering through empty halls, she found it. She always offered a prayer for the soul that she'd just released.

As always, she received Arkay's blessing.

...

At the Candlehearth Hall entertainment was in full swing. Geralt was fighting two of the locals - apparently they provoked him.

"You say you're a Nord? Then prove it!"

"You want to fight me? Against the two of you, if I was kneeling with my hands bound behind my back and a sack over my head, then may be I'd be your equal. No, not even then."

Two minutes later no one was doubting that Geralt was a Nord. Mead and songs followed.

A mercenary in the corner had been looking at Hauk for some time. Finally he walked over to them.

"Mind if I ask" - he addressed Hauk - "were you not a travelling book seller some years back?"

"I might have been, why?"

"I'm Stenvar - I was but a lad then - you stayed with us on the farm during the War."

"If you say so" - Hauk's face was impenetrable. "I did stay with many families - accomodation during the War was hard to find, and a man has got to eat."

"I still have the book you gave me - The Book of The Dragonborn. I was fascinated by dragons, and look what happened - they are back."

"Umm... it is probably not your fault." Hauk's face was still impenetrable but Geralt and Lena were having a hard time not to laugh.

"Now I'm certain it's you!" - Stenvar wasn't offended, instead he laughed heartily. "I also now know that you were with the Legion at the time, Optio."

"You obviously also know that I am still with the Legion" - Hauk remained calm. "But I am no longer undercover and my rank is not a secret. Not even in Windhelm."

He looked around. A few people looked up at the mention of his rank, but War veterans were still respected in Windhelm, even if they were not with Ulfrick. Besides, Geralt's little display just before was enough to cool down most hot heads in the room.

"I wasn't thinking - I apologise" - Stenvar was getting red in the face. "I am a mercenary now, so mustn't take sides - mercenaries cannot be choosy." He crouched and lowered his voice. "I just wanted to ask - do you still do magic? I tried but it never came to anything."

"Of course, I am a Battlemage." Hauk snapped his fingers and a spectral rabbit hopped over the floor and into Stenvar's lap.

"Pumpkin!" - Stenvar exclaimed a little too loudly. Several people laughed. "You remember!"

"Pull up a chair and share some mead with us" - Hauk was now smiling. "Of course I remember."

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 01:34 PM

[Acadian]

The Dark Knitting Circle! And they have the goofy armor to back it up.
May I ask your inspiration for Babette? Her character seems familiar somehow.


Plenty of traveling as Lena's crew continues on to Riften then Windhelm.

[Lena Wolf]

The Dark Knitting Circle! And they have the goofy armor to back it up.
May I ask your inspiration for Babette? Her character seems familiar somehow.

Plenty of traveling as Lena's crew continues on to Riften then Windhelm.

The characters of the Dark Brotherhood are the real deal! And the armour too. Most of the dialogue is taken directly from the game. I didn't invent almost any of it... Not even Arnbjorn with his "I don't like you - I love my wife" line. I wonder what he'd say to a male Dragonborn? But he really seems to think that she's coming on to him... some ego there.

The whole Dark Brotherhood line in Skyrim is a parody of the line in Oblivion, and I don't mean it nicely. Which is why I have a "solution" in mind.

The Dark Knitting Circle is not my idea either. It comes from a mod that replaces all loading screens with Uncle Sheo's wisdom. So yeah, Lena heard Uncle Sheo's voice in her head. It's all true!!! I don't write fiction.

[Lena Wolf]

1 First Seed, 4E202 - Dawnstar

Going West from Windhelm and aiming for Morthal, they somehow ended up in Dawnstar.

"This doesn't look like a moor" - Geralt noted looking over the frozen landscape. "Are you sure we're going in the right direction?"

"It's Dawnstar over there" - Hauk pointed at some houses in the blizzard ahead. "We've veered North too much."

"We followed the road!" - Lena protested. "But since we're here, let's at least stop for lunch."

Dawnstar was a nice little village... err... hold capital. It did have a port however, with a longship moored in it and with a passenger boat taking you to Windhelm. They also had a blacksmith, an alchemist, an inn and a... Mythic Dawn museum.

"Oh, that brings back memories" - Lena grimaced. "I don't think I need to visit that - it might end badly for the owner."

They went to the inn for lunch.

"Why did you not mention that you were an Optio?" - Lena asked Hauk making short work of her roast potatoes.

"The same reason you never wear your Imperial Dragon armour" - Hauk smiled at her. "I am not an open book, and neither are you."

True. May be this is why they liked each other so much.

"While we are here, by the way" - Hauk changed the topic - "we might want to take a short detour North - there's an old Sanctuary there, from the time when the Dark Brotherhood still had branches in Skyrim."

Lena raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I know about that" - Hauk continued before she could ask anything. "I also know that it's been abandoned for a very long time. The enchantment on the door should still hold though, because no bandit was ever able to make it into their home - and no undercover Legionnaire either." He winked. "But you might be able to enter - or not, if the current group hadn't managed to break the enchantment yet."

This was interesting and warranted an investigation - they would ride there after lunch and stay the night in Dawnstar.

"Pardon me - I am a priest of Mara" - a dark elf approached their table. "I wonder if I could ask for your assistance."

"We are not looking to get married just yet" - Lena looked at him suspiciously. She didn't like priests of Mara, finding them too interfering in people's private affairs.

"It is not about that" - the priest didn't take offence. "This town is suffering from nightmares - perhaps you've heard, and I believe they come from an old shrine of Vaermina nearby. I was hoping one of you would come with me there - there will be fighting to be done, no doubt, too much for me alone."

"Do you know what exactly is going on?" - asked Lena, still eyeing him with suspicion.

"Not exactly, no, but I have an idea which needs verifying" - the priest was evasive.

"Who is Vaermina?" - asked Geralt with interest.

"A Daedric Prince of nightmares, in a nutshell" - answered Lena. "Well, a female Prince, but they don't call them Princess for some reason. Too cute, probably." She grinned.

"This sounds interesting, I'll go" - Geralt agreed. Then turning to the priest he added: "Let me finish my lunch and I'll come and find you."

The priest walked away.

"You two can take care of your respective business here in the meantime, and I won't be getting in your way" - he added shooting a glance at Lena and Hauk and returning to his stew.

It was true that Lena had business in Dawnstar, but she did want to go to Morthal first to get that horn from the crypt and be done with it. But it was not to be. Ok, Dawnstar first then.

...

Geralt went with the priest to a tower nearby. The priest was more than evasive - he was clearly hiding something. He also seemed to know too much about Vaermina, and mostly about Vaermina followers and their secret rituals. Geralt tried asking some careful questions, but got no satisfactory reply.

Then everything became clear. A group of orcs had attacked the tower wanting to kill everyone inside for the nightmares that they were having. The people inside were no match for the orcs, and after heavy losses they decided to seal the tower and place everyone inside in suspension in order to protect Vaermina's artefact. Geralt was to pass through the magical barrier and face the devotees and the orcs inside. There he was to find the artefact and the priest would then destroy it to lift the nightmares. Why the nightmares had started just now was unclear, since the artefact had been there for a very long time. Geralt wanted answers.

Inside the suspended realm, Geralt found three people deciding to erect the barrier, one of whom looked familiar... yes, it was the priest, and Geralt was looking through his eyes. He had been one of Vaermina's followers, yet he ran at the last moment leaving his companions to die in suspension with no means to escape or get help.

"And Mara accepted him as her priest just like that?" - Geralt thought, his opinion of Mara dropping markedly.

There were choices to be made. Kill the priest or spare him, destroy the artefact or claim it for yourself. Either way, the nightmares would be lifted, Vaermina said.

Geralt could never refuse a woman, so he killed the priest and took Vaermina's artefact.

"A crystal skull..." - he thought turning the staff in his hand. "Reminds me of a raven's crystal skull... another time, another realm... lilac and gooseberries..." He inhaled deeply - he could almost smell it. He never told Yennefer where he'd gone to. He was wondering whether she'd find him anyway.

...

With the business taken care of, our three friends gathered at the inn. It was only early evening, and although the sun had set, the aurora and the moons were giving plenty of light. They decided to ride to the old Sanctuary.

"Well, there's the door, but it won't open" - said Lena, having tried to unlock the enchantment. "My enchantment from Cyrodiil won't work of course, and the local group hadn't been able to break it either. Good."

The Sanctuary in the South that Lena had visited, also carried an enchantment - but it had been tempered with. It was secure enough to keep casual trespassers out, but it wasn't the original thing - Lena could tell. It felt wrong. The enchantment on this door however felt different, so it could well have been original. Whether anyone could still open it, remained a question that even Lucien wouldn't know the answer to. But the Night Mother would.

There was nothing else to do here, so they returned to Dawnstar. The news of Geralt's adventure in Vaermina's tower spread fast - no one cared for what happened to the priest, they only wanted the nightmares to be lifted, and with the skull in Geralt's possession, they were all sure their troubles were over. You'd think they would all rush to their beds for a good sleep, but no - celebrations were running into the small hours, and our party could hardly get any sleep at all. But they would still ride to Morthal in the morning.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 01:34 PM

[Lena Wolf]

2 First Seed, 4E202 - The Moor - Ustengrav

Riding West from Dawnstar, they soon saw the landscape change - they were coming onto the moors. Ustengrav was on the Eastern edge, and they decided to explore it before going into town. But first Geralt wanted to walk around the moor. It was obvious - the place touched him.

"It is cold, yet not freezing, there's the mist over the water, the buzz of dragonflies and the splashing of fish" - Geralt was getting poetic. "And rambling of walking bones right over there!"

A rogue skeleton put to rest, they continued wandering and trying not to get their feet too wet. The horses seemed to like it well enough, grazing on deathbells and nightshade. They were Nord horses - those mild toxins didn't harm them.

"I could well retire here, you know" - Geralt said looking at Lena.

"You? Retire? Whatever would you do with yourself?" - Lena couldn't quite imagine her brother chopping wood and making stew for the next couple of centuries.

"Well, provided Yen gets here, of course" - he looked into the distance with a longing.

"Did you tell her where you were going?"

"No."

Lena put her arm around Geralt's shoulders.

"But the djinn was gone, yet you both still felt the same, yes? Well then, she'll find you. She is a powerful sorceress."

"But what if..." - he didn't want to continue.

"Was that another test?"

"Ciri wanted her in Nilfgaard."

"Ciri is now the Empress - she made her choice. And what she said when she went to fight that Elf - did you forget?"

Ciri was Geralt's ward, and a daughter of an Emperor. She was also - in Lena's opinion - a selfish brat. Geralt had revered her though, which is why Ciri's disdainful remark to him was so painful: "What do you know of saving worlds? You are but a witcher." Lena could not forgive Ciri that, and Geralt of course could never forget it.

After that epic battle when their world was saved, Ciri took over the throne from her birth father and became the Empress of Nilfgaard. She decided she wanted Yennefer by her side as her adviser, and what Ciri wanted, Ciri got. Yennefer however wasn't that easy to manipulate, not even by Ciri - her unofficial ward. Lena believed that Yennefer would choose Geralt over Ciri in a heartbeat.

"Come, Wolf, you know her, she'll find you" - Lena stood before Geralt with her hands on his shoulders. "Give it time - it's not that easy."

A spectacular appearance of Yennefer stepping through a portal would have been nice right now, but it didn't happen. Finding Geralt on the other side of the Great Maelstrom was going to take time.

...

Ustengrav was just another crypt. Yes, it was extensive, and it had many draugr walking around, and even a remarkable waterfall grotto with an open sky and a Word Wall. It was all very impressive and a nice adventure in itself, but nothing looked like a test for a Dragonborn.

Then they came to an interesting setup of three stones and three consecutive falling gates. As you approached a stone, its associated gate was raised, and all three had to be raised for you to pass, yet you could never stand close enough to all three stones.

"Ok, you stand by that stone and you by this one" - Lena told Hauk and Geralt to take positions.

No, that didn't work. The stones wanted the same person to activate them all.

"So this is the test, then" - Geralt observed. "Do you have a trick to stretch yourself from here to there, Dragonborn? You don't even have a tail."

"I don't need a tail!" - Lena was feverishly thinking what to do. She stripped most of her gear and tried sprinting between the stones, which worked and got all the gates lifted at once, only to drop back to the ground by the time she got to the passage. She tried that again. And again. Hauk and Geralt stood there with their arms folded watching her with amusement.

"You may want to strip some more" - Hauk was being helpful. Lena wanted to punch him in the ribs, but again he was wearing armour, so she just glared at him instead.

Oh, wait. The Greybeards taught her this shout... It might just do the trick.

The Whirlwind Sprint shout got her through the gates, but only just. She'd been running back and forth for a good half hour before she finally cleared the gates and pulled on a chain from the other side to lock them open. Phew, what a test.

"So then, a Dragonborn is supposed to be swift, first and foremost" - Lena summarised her experience while getting dressed. "I'm ready for a snack now."

"Let's pass through those gates first" - Hauk was examining the mechanism. "They are not going to stay open for long."

Through the gates and up the corridor, more draugr were waiting, but eventually they found a suitable chamber for a lunch break.

"I was expecting something where you'd have to breathe fire" - Hauk said disappointedly. "Not run around in your knickers - as amusing as that was."

"I can't breathe fire" - said Lena defiantly.

"Isn't that what Firebrandy is for?" - Geralt chimed in.

"Well, if you are going to make fun of me, then at least pass me the cheese." She was going to be teased about this for the rest of her days, she just knew it. Best laugh it off then.

...

"Oh, that is an impressive hall - and there's an alter at the end!" - Lena exclaimed when they entered what looked like the main chamber. "The horn must be here."

There was a horn-shaped cradle on the alter, but no horn. Instead, there was a note asking the Dragonborn to come and see a "friend".

"What? In Riverwood?" - Lena was furious. "Is it the innkeep or the barmaid, do you think? And I thought you had to be Dragonborn to get here!!"

Hauk and Geralt backed off - Lena was almost breathing fire.

Alas, there was nothing else to do but to pack the note and leave.

"Whoever they are, they didn't make any friends here" - Hauk said to Geralt in a low voice. "Your sister has got quite a temper."

Geralt watched Lena put down a small crowd of draugrs with fire and rage.

"She'll cool off eventually" - Geralt said, keeping his distance. "This is what I must look like when I'm angry" - he thought to himself. He knew exactly how she felt.

...

It was quite late when they came out of Ustengrav, rather disappointed with the whole adventure. There was a fire pit and some bedrolls by the entrance, and they decided to camp right there for the night rather than go to Morthal. Lena was still fuming.

"I'll take the first watch" - she said. "I don't feel like sleeping."

Some hours later Geralt got up to take over, but instead of sleeping, Lena walked off into the moor.

No, she wasn't suicidal. She had spotted an abandoned shack nearby, and wanted to check whether that was indeed the place where Astrid had taken her. She still had the key.

The shack was covered in blood outside.

"Deer blood" - Lena noted, tasting it. "How theatrical."

Inside it was as she remembered it - damp, dark and dirty. The corpses of the subjects that she had killed were still there, now starting to smell. She looked around for a trace of the teleport.

"There it is" - she saw a faded imprint of a rune. "A single use portal. Astrid must have an activator with her, or a special spell. Their mage is really something."

This was clearly a custom spell created specifically for this purpose. Hauk was right - this was their training ground. Lena made a note to pay more attention to the mage next time she was at the Sanctuary, even if it did mean sitting through more of his stories of greatness.

She returned to the camp, now relaxed. She didn't have the horn, but at least she learned something at the shack, so the trip wasn't a complete waste. She could sleep now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3 First Seed, 4E202 - Delphine

The road to Riverwood was uneventful. Lena was unusually quiet and pushed on without distractions, Hauk and Geralt followed, sensing that it was best to let her be. In Riverwood Lena went straight for the inn.

"I am here to rent the attic room" - she told the barmaid.

"Well, we don't have an attic room, but you can have this one on the left" - replied the barmaid taking her money.

"This better be good" - Lena thought to herself going into the room and closing the door.

She didn't even have time to sit down when the barmaid came in asking her to follow. They crossed to the room opposite, where the barmaid opened a secret door leading to a cellar.

"Close the door and follow me" - said the barmaid in a commanding tone. She was no barmaid.

Lena decided to play along for now and see where this was going.

The cellar was set up as a small command post - armour, weapons, medicines, poisons and other supplies where here, as well as the crafting stations. There was a map of Skyrim on the table with some locations marked on it. It wasn't about the Civil War.

Delphine the barmaid gave Lena the horn and said that she was with the Blades. That figured. Elite troops who behaved like elite, weren't Lena's favourite people, and Delphine certainly fitted the profile - superiority incarnate.

"And if you prove to me that you are Dragonborn, I promise to tell you everything" - she said with an air of making an offer that Lena could not refuse. And this is where she was wrong.

"Thanks for the horn. I don't have to prove anything to you. Good day" - Lena said coldly and left.

The Blades weren't just the Emperor's personal guard, they were also dragon slayers, or had been, when there were still dragons around. There weren't many of the Blades left - the Thalmor were very thorough. But any troops can be rebuilt, and the Blades were no exception - fighting skills could be trained, no one was born a swordsman. What they needed however was a Dragonborn - someone who could permanently destroy dragon souls. The Blades' interest in Lena was obvious - they wanted her to fight and destroy dragons, now that the dragons were returning. They weren't interested in anything else. Lena didn't need to hear Delphine's story to figure it all out. She didn't know who else was around and how Delphine planned to rebuild the Blades, but she didn't care either. Find some other Dragonborn.

Thinking these thoughts, Lena returned to the hunter's cabin where Hauk was making stew.

"Well? Did you get the horn?" - he asked, stirring.

"Yes, here it is" - Lena turned it over in her hand. "It's a hunting horn."

"It's not what it is, it's where you got it from that matters though" - noted Hauk. "It was the barmaid, right?"

"Yes. She's with the Blades" - replied Lena rather reluctantly. She was annoyed and didn't want to talk about it.

"Yeah, I thought so" - Hauk smirked. "Never seen a barmaid command the ale to stop fermenting before."

Geralt returned with some venison and rabbit, and the mood much improved. They would have to go to Ivarstead again, but at least for now they could relax.

...

"I've got a house West from here" - Lena said at dinner, looking at Geralt. "In case you've had enough of Sven's mother. I hear she doesn't let you out of her sight when you are in Riverwood."

It was Geralt's turn to get annoyed.

"True - the woman is very persistent. Where is this house and why have you not said anything before?"

"It's not that far, but far enough" - Lena pointed down the road West. "It's by the lake there, near Pinewatch, if you know it. But I haven't been there in a long time, it might have squatters now. Pinewatch is a bandit base, after all. The Jarl granted me rights to the Lake View in exchange for some favours." Lena looked up from her bowl, and seeing a bemused expression on Geralt's face, she hastened to add: "Bandit removal favours. The Jarl is not very scrupulous who he associates with, and has regular disagreements that need 'resolving'. He wanted to make me a Thane, but I refused."

"Yeah, the Jarl of Falkreath has quite a reputation" - Hauk adding grinning.

"Well then, we need to ride there and see what it's like" - Geralt liked the idea. "I could use a break from Sven's mother."

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 01:36 PM