[X] My Assistant

[Lena Wolf]

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum - just moved from Bethesda.net which is closing. I have been writing Lena's story for the past half a year or so, she travels in Cyrodiil and Skyrim, does stuff and lives her life. This is not a novel - it has a beginning but no end, until she dies, which is hopefully not for a long while yet. It is a saga, a feuilleton - as they used to say in the old days - the story develops as it is being written, bit by bit. I hope you like it.

I have more than a hundred entries written already, so I am not going to repost them all here, unless you really want me to. They are all published in my blog: MasserAndSecunda.wordpress.com which I started as a way to keep track of things for myself and keep everything in one place.

I shall now repost a few of those entries here, so as to introduce you to the characters and some key points that get referred to later on.

The running story takes place in the 4th Era, taking off in year 4E201. I had to twist the arm of the lore a bit to correct false accounts on a few things that allegedly took place in the 200 years since the Oblivion Crisis. But we all know how easily false accounts become "historical thruths", so I have no qualms about that. 😀 And yes, a lot of people that Lena met back in the day, were still around 200 years later. Considering how much mixing has been going on in Cyrodiil between men and mer for thousands of years, most people have some Elven blood in them, so the question of life span becomes rather academic.

Thank you for reading and I hope to engage with you all! You'll see me around - and I'll be reading so many good stories that people have posted here!

Yours -
Lena Wolf

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I am Lena Wolf. I was born on the 17th of Sun's Height, 3E417, in Cyrodiil to a Breton mother, and therefore was declared Breton. I have never been to High Rock, so when Hadvar promised to inform High Rock of my execution in Helgen later on, it made no sense at all. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. When I was 4 years old, my mother died of swamp fever, and our Argonian neighbour took me in. She was old already then, so we called her Gran. Gran always hinted that my unknown father was not unknown at all, just that it was best to keep it quiet until time comes. Time for what? Who knows. Wait and see.

As I turned 16, Gran got older still, and one day said there was something very important that she had to impart to me before her passing. She still couldn't name my father, but, she said, when the time was right, I should go to Skyrim to find out. How was I to know when that would be? Oh, not for a while yet, not for a long while. And she died.

Freedom at 16 proved exhilarating at first and cold and hungry soon after. Having tried this and that without much success and having had enough of goblins stealing my sweetrolls, I walked into Bravil's Mages Guild hoping to steal one of theirs. Instead, I found myself being thrust at a dinner table and loaded with all sorts of food, sweetrolls included. The mages took me in, taught me magic towards which I appeared to be inclined, taught me alchemy for the body, soul and enemies, and gave me a reason to venture into the caves in search of wisp stalks. The guards kept joking seeing me returning from my expeditions with yet another rusty sword or piece of armour, but the local smith fixed them up for me and taught me a few moves. Finally the goblins were getting their come-uppence!

Fighters Guild was not for me. Yes, I dealt with the headmistress's son in Chorrol and with the cowardly elf in Skingrad, and yes, the lich took some effort and lots of Freds to defeat, but I got bored with the routine and sort of quit. Well, got busy elsewhere. Free-lancing with Dark Brotherhood proved infinitely more fun, they didn't mind my vampirism, and Oblivion gates needed taking care of, too.

That disaster sorted, life got back to normal. Of course by then I found a cure for vampirism and joined the Arcane University, right on cue to face the King of Worms. Fortunately, Uncle Sheo decided to look in on us right about then, and the Shivering Isles provided a spot of sanity in a world gone mad. I still spend every autumn there.

So what do I do these days? I live. I potter about. I keep my home free from goblins and rats. I roast dreugh for dinner. I occasionally take a contract for another Ayleid sculpture or another bag of Welkynd stones. There's always a lich in someone's basement or a bunch of scamps needing a good home. And one day I'll go to Skyrim to find that important thing, but the time hasn't come yet.

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28 Last Seed, 3E433 – Lena’s Story begins

Lena Wolf's story begins at 16. Being quite young and still inexperienced, that last sweetroll she stole finally landed her in the Imperial Prison, and the story of the Oblivion Crisis was set in motion.

Everyone knows how that went, so we'll skip the details. Lena delivered the Amulet of Kings and was sent to Kvatch to fetch Martin, but went to Bravil first, stopped by the Mages Guild there hoping for a sweetroll that wouldn't land her back in Imperial Prison, got caught by the mages, but not handed over to the guard but fed and accepted into the guild instead... And what with one thing and another, she got completely side tracked by everything happening at once, including closing many Oblivion gates and fighting necromancers and vampires. She didn't realise what the Porphyric Hemophilia thing was until one morning she woke up a vampire herself! The mages still treated her well like before and she could progress in the guild, but the Fighters Guild wouldn't even talk to her - "We don't want your sort here!" The same with most merchants, but not all - for example the chap at the Main Ingredient in the Imperial City wasn't afraid at all and traded as normal, so we always shop there whenever we're in town.

Lena must have killed some non-bandit by mistake because Lucien turned up at night, and there of course at the Sanctuary she met another vampire and no one was bothered by her occasional feeding (although she usually didn't feed on guild members but rather on beggars and often went hungry as it came with benefits, not just curses). So eventually she progressed far enough in the Mages Guild that the Count of Skingrad hinted that perhaps they could help each other...

By the time she cured her vampirism and got to finally ousting Mehrunes Degon out of Cyrodiil, nearly 3.5 years have passed, bringing it to Sun's Dawn 3E437. The 3rd Era was coming to an end. Then Uncle Sheo decided to look in, and a mad prophet turned up in Anvil.

The Oblivion Crisis affair had her run around a lot and win a prestigious title, and I guess she should carry that title with pride, but in truth she'd rather forget about the whole thing, as well as Martin's panicked reaction there. Some Emperor he turned out to be! Perhaps it's true that you need to grow up as one.

With the Dark Brotherhood she advanced rather far, although not quite to the top. She only joined because Lucien said that being a vampire was fine and also he knew her mother. He probably lied about that, but who knows. She didn't mind the work, I guess she is not a do-gooder. So she wasn't even considering questing for the Knights of The Nine and simply killed the prophet. Oops! He, err, ate something rotten, it appears.

But the one title she enjoyed was that of Lord Sheogorath. What fun we had! Sanguine practically moved in to the New Sheoth palace, and Hircine had the time of his life running around the countryside chasing Gnarls. Why, even Vermina melted seeing the whole population of Dementia having nightmares all on their own. Meridia of course had to lecture everyone on their lack of virtue, so we sent her packing. But then Sheo himself returned, and in his usual charming manner first joined in and then kicked everyone out, Lena included. Jygg messed up his head, I'm telling you.

As for the Thieves Guild, Lena declined their every invitation. She's no thief. Gosh, I think I found a virtue!

The 4th Era saw Lena venturing out again, from now on always avoiding to deliver any suspicious amulets, and being watchful of the Hemophilia thingy. She had plenty of dealings with daedra - no, the closure of the Oblivion Crisis did not in fact prevent the daedra from entering the Mundus in the future, but it did cool things off a bit.

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12 First Seed, 4E195 - Flotsam

Lena Wolf returned from her stay in the Shivering Isles only to find that nearly 200 years had passed in Mundus in the meantime. She was no longer a "current" citizen, having missed the census for so long, and all her property had been repossessed by the Empire. Even her Mages Guild membership had been revoked. This was more than upsetting, and Lena boarded the first ship out of Anvil. It was bound for the Northern Realms.

The Northern Realms were kingdoms on the other side of the Great Maelstrom of the Middle Ocean. The journey was long and perilous, and even time itself was said to dilate along the way. People rarely made the journey more than once in their lifetimes, except for the ship's crew of course. Those sailors were tough, and inspired confidence. Lena was leaving.

The Northern Realms were at war. A constant war with each other and with the Southern kingdoms where Nilfgaard was building an empire. This had been going on for so long - for centuries - that people mostly ignored it, except when the menfolk got drafted to fight for the current king. The people still kept to the old country names, paying no heed to the king in charge.

Lena found herself in a small border town named Flotsam. It was a port on a major river and proved as refined as its name suggested. But the town had no resident healer, and Lena saw an opportunity. Her skills in magic and alchemy could be put to a good use, and with the help of a local herbalist she updated her herb knowledge and opened a practice.

Despite all odds, life in Flotsam proved quiet and largely uneventful. Trade flourished and there was no shortage of work for a healer. One day an old witcher walked in, badly wounded, looking to buy some herbs.

"I can't let you go anywhere" - was Lena's response. "I've got a bed free, you need to rest."

But despite Lena's best efforts augmented with the witcher's special potions, the witcher was not recovering. His wolf medallion kept buzzing - magic or danger, it was both, and he was dying.

The old man knew something though, or had seen something. He gave Lena his medallion and said that she should search for a white wolf with the same sort of trinket, and that it would make her complete once she found him. And then the old witcher died.

Wait, didn't we hear such a story before? First her Argonian grandmother telling her on her deathbed to search for something extremely important in Skyrim, and now this story about a medallion-wearing wolf?

But one day at the market Lena bumped into a fellow with white hair, and a shiver went down her spine. Yep, he wasn't looking where he was going and got her with the tip of his enchanted sword. A few choice recommendations were ready to roll off Lena's tongue when she spotted a wolf medallion around the fellow's neck. So, instead of giving him a piece of her mind, she politely enquired whether Master Witcher would be good enough to stop by her practice after hours because she needed his expert advice on a small, ah, matter. Flattery will get you everywhere, and come evening, the White Wolf turned up at her house.

"I am Geralt of Rivia - at your service."

Recalling the words of the old witcher, Lena was expecting a certain turn of events that would make her complete, at least for the night. But boy was she mistaken. The shiver that went down her spine back at the market, wasn't from any sword enchantment - it was her wolf medallion buzzing like mad near Geralt (Lena took to wearing the medallion because it went with her last name so nicely). The old witcher had re-enchanted the amulet with her essence, so it responded quite violently to another being with a similar essence. Lena and Geralt were related.

Having talked through most of the night, they got through a lot of Cyrodillic Brandy and Argonian Bloodwine, and having eliminated the impossible, the only remaining conclusion, no matter how far-fetched, was that they must be siblings. Having given up her first child with the unknown but obviously important Nord, Lena's mother kept the second child, and swore to raise her daughter in ignorance of the great heritage that made her son into the White Wolf and hoping that the little girl would be spared world-shattering responsibilities. Ha!

Since that chance meeting in Flotsam, Lena and Geralt never really lost sight of each other, although never paraded their connection either. As both of them were in the habit of regularly freaking out local world leaders, church heads and powerful sorcerers, it seemed prudent not to aggravate matters too much.

Geralt got embroiled in local politics despite his best judgement, then the war broke out for real with the Nilfgardian Empire invading the North. Death and destitution was everywhere. Lena made her way to Novigrad and boarded a ship back to Cyrodiil.

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Hauk Serc-Hanssen

Iver and Hauk Serc-Hanssen were twins born under The Lord on 21 First Seed 4E151. They were Nords, and as such were expected to become warriors. Nords value their traditions, and Nords living in Cyrodiil do so even more, although admittedly many of them have taken in too much of the mildness of Nibenay to be called sons and daughters of Skyrim. So when the boys started showing above average abilities in magic, their parents blamed the very soil of Cyrodiil for "mellowing" their children. The Serc-Hanssens were definitively the Nord sons of Cyrodiil.

"Well, if they are going to be mages, let them be battlemages at least" - was their father's verdict. And the boys were enrolled into education with the Mages Guild as well as training with the Legion.

At twenty, Iver and Hauk had joined both the Arcane University and the Imperial Legion, and have completed their Battlemage training. Then the Great War broke out. Iver was drafted into regular forces, but Hauk was sent to Skyrim to a special unit - scouts, messengers, liaisons, logistics, that sort of thing. At least, this was the official designation.

Nobody knows what that unit actually did in Skyrim, and those who know will never tell, so it's safe to assume they were maintaining a covert front behind the enemy lines. The unit wasn't large, so it was easy to disperse it without a trace after the war. Some even claim that the unit never existed - after all, Hauk had been seen on the front lines of many official campaigns... or was that Iver? Who could tell! They were twins, after all...

After the war, Iver and Hauk left active service with the Legion and returned to the Mages Guild, doing smaller assignments, training new apprentices, and generally settling back into a civilian life style. Iver got busy with the Guild and the University, while Hauk... well... Hauk kept disappearing from time to time, for several weeks or even months on end, then suddenly coming back looking like he had spent all this time outdoors and in cold water. Hauk looked out of place among mages that never left the comforts and security of the walls of the Imperial City, so he left his Mage's Staff and a few other important things with Iver at the University and joined the Legion again. Or had he ever left?

Years later, when Travis became the Arch Mage and banned necromancy, Hauk got into an argument regarding limiting the types of spells available to battlemages - the "code of conduct" was Travis' idea and Hauk disagreed. But arguments with the Arch Mage are doomed to failure, so not wanting to be banished from the Guild altogether, Hauk boarded a ship to Antaloor and was gone for several years - enough time to cool things off. Upon his return he was made to understand that although formally he would still remain a Mages Guild Evoker, he did not need to expect any assignments or promotions from the Guild.

At 50, Hauk found himself bored with nothing to do, and no family to take care of. Neither he nor Iver ever married, but Iver was still busy with the University and with the Guild, while Hauk... he wasn't exactly too old for the Legion, but there were no wars going on, apart from the usual regional conflicts that were as repetitive as they were pointless. Would he be interested in training up some recruits? No, thank you. Well, then... exactly. They had nothing of interest for him either.

One day Hauk stopped by the Arcane University to see Iver when he spotted a new member - a new apprentice, he was told. She didn't look new, she looked like she had done it all before and was simply going through the motions. She was also making some custom spells that were much too complex for a new apprentice. Who was she? Things didn't add up.

A few enquiries with the older members of the Guild made it very clear that whoever she was, Lena Wolf was not a novice and not a youngster, despite her youthful appearance. There was mystery there, some darkness perhaps, but Hauk was not a shiny new penny either. Lena was muttering to herself about doing some adventuring to raise funds for a house... raiding some Ayleid ruins in search of ancient statues and Welkynd stones... doing some contracts for the Fighters Guild - the sorts of things that "regular" warriors would rather avoid, like fighting liches and wraiths... What fun! Hauk would introduce himself and offer to join her. Let the new life begin.

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5 Sun's Dusk, 4E201 - Lena and Hauk meet

Skyrim can wait. Back in Cyrodiil Lena still has a lot to do. She needs to get back her house in Bravil which got repossessed by the county under the feeble excuse that Lena had been absent for a couple of centuries. So what! She had business in the Shivering Isles - time passes differently there, and longevity is not an issue for a vampire anyway... ex-vampire... What does it matter?!

The house got taken, and there's nothing left to do but to buy it again. Which requires funds, which in turn requires some serious adventuring.

Thinking these serious thoughts, and possibly muttering to herself, Lena spent some time at the Arcane University making custom spells and picking ingredients in that lovely garden of theirs, as well as shopping in the Market District. There, quite absent-mindedly, she bumped into something shiny. Looking up and shielding her eyes, she realised that she was looking at a highly polished suit of steel armour, probably the best looking steel armour in the whole of Tamriel. Inside it was a tall Nord on the better side of 40.

Hauk Serck-Hanssen was a Mages Guild battlemage, currently doing what all soldiers do in peace times - nothing. Hauk was a Mages Guid Evoker, just like his twin brother Iver (who insisted on dropping his last name out of false sense of modesty), but unlike Iver, Hauk was not a "proper" battlemage. "It doesn't become a battlemage to meddle with schools of Illusion or Conjuration - such mind-altering magic is for vampires and necromancers!" - you'd think Arch Mage Travis would have outlawed those schools along with Necromancy, given half a chance. Hauk took no notice of this new order of decent behaviour, and as a result his assignments became far and few between.

Picking up Lena's muttering about "needing to raid a few Ayleid ruins for Welkynd stones" and "going goblin hunting in Skingrad County", he put on his most gallant expression and introduced himself - "On behalf of the battlemages, may I welcome you to the Arcane University--" and then cleverly did not say "Recruit" or "Apprentice". Because this is not how you get into the good books of a young and pretty Breton who somehow does not seem to be in her early 20s as her looks might suggest.

But instead: "Can I be of some assistance on the goblin hunt, not that you would need any, of course?"

Why, what do you know! Adventuring with a friend is so much more fun! Lena's University life just got more interesting.

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24 Sun's Dusk, 4E201 - Dragons - The White Wolf

Later at Olav's the conversation was light, both Lena and Hauk avoiding the topic of dragons. Then Hauk could avoid it no longer.

"Tell me about the dragons in Skyrim."

"Well, there isn't that much to tell. I went over the border about a month ago - just before we met, in fact. You've heard about the Skyrim bandits that used to terrorise the border regions, well, I read they were finally defeated - again, so probably not for the last time. But it was safe to cross just then. My adoptive grandmother told me on her death bed that there was something important I had to do in Skyrim, but I never knew what. To do or to see or to find out - that was all unclear. I've been to Skyrim before a few times and nothing particularly important happened, so I didn't think this time would be any different.

"But this time it started strange and it continued even stranger, which is why I returned to Cyrodiil within a week.

"Firstly, as I was crossing the border, I got arrested by the Imperial Legion and sentenced to beheading - although they admitted that I was not on the list."

"That sounds a bit harsh!" Hauk interjected, although he could believe it perfectly. "Did they at least know what you've supposedly done?"

"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was captured together with Ulfrick Stormcloack - the rebellion leader. He was the one they were after, and everyone else - me and another fellow - was coming along for the ride."

"Sounds about right. So how is it that you're still alive? Although I can see now why you are not in Skyrim."

"Oh, that has nothing to do with it. Just as they were getting started with the executions, a dragon attacked and sent everyone running for cover. It was breathing fire and chaos was complete. One of those rebels was trying to pull me to come with them, but I followed an Imperial soldier instead."

"That seems like a strange decision considering that the Legion was going to execute you!"

"Not really. The Legion is methodical and prefers to err on the side of caution - better execute one too many than one too few - but they are also level-headed, and I figured they'd reconsider my sentence, especially since I wasn't on their list to begin with. The rebels on the other hand, looked hot-headed, and anyhow I did not want to get embroiled in Skyrim politics."

"So who sent the dragon?"

"No one knows. But I think no one sent the dragon. I think this was a coincidence and the dragon business is unrelated to the rebellion. They also have Thalmor patrols everywhere searching for the cult of Talos - and that too is unrelated."

"Yes, we got ourselves in a right mess with the Thalmor."

"Well, that Imperial soldier took me to a nearby village - his uncle was a blacksmith there, and they made me welcome, I don't see why. But apparently helping the guy fight the rebels back in Helgen counted as 'saving his life', although I was mostly trying to save mine."

"I bet you fought bravely and impressed him, plus you didn't put an arrow between his shoulder blades. That counts for a lot in Skyrim."

"I suppose so. They asked me just to do one thing for them - to go to their local town and inform the jarl about the dragon, ask him to send some guards to this village in case a dragon turns up there. Ok, that's the least I could do. Plus, I ran into my brother there, and figured I'd be staying for a while."

"You have a brother?"

"I do. It's a long story for another time. He stayed in Skyrim, so if we go there together, you can't avoid meeting him."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world! When are we leaving?"

"Not tonight."

"I see" - Hauk felt that there was more. More about the dragons, more about the brother, much more of everything. Perhaps the best thing was just to let it develop at its own pace. Too bad that Nords are not blessed with patience... "Well, let's get back to the dragon then. Did you go to see the jarl?"

"I did. He thanked me and mentioned some errands that I might do for him, in case I was in need of coin. Fine, life was getting back to normal. Until a couple of days later a dragon attacked a watchtower causing chaos in the jarl's palace. Of course they will never admit it was chaos, but why else would they ask me of all people to help fight the dragon? 'You survived Helgen, you know more about dragons than anyone here!' I knew how to run away from one... but sure, I joined them."

"So how do you fight a dragon?"

"How do you fight any flying creature? With arrows or spells, what else can you do? We got it down and got it killed. An I absorbed its soul."

"Whoa!!" That was something else. It wasn't just about slaying a fearsome ancient monster, it was about taking over its power too. "You are Dragonborn?" Hauk knew exactly what it meant, what it implied and why Lena needed time to get her head around it. Each Dragonborn throughout history had a mission to accomplish, and choices to make, and none of it was easy.

"Yeah, that's what I discovered." Lena was relieved that she did not have to explain what it meant. She wasn't sure herself yet. "The Greybeards called me, but I haven't gone to see them, not yet anyway. Instead, I returned to Cyrodiil to get my head in order."

"And your brother?"

"He is not Dragonborn, if that's what you're asking. But he'll be there for when I am ready to go to Skyrim to find out more."

That wasn't what Hauk was asking, and they both knew it. But should Lena drop another bomb by saying that her brother was the White Wolf? Did Hauk even know who that was? Yeah, he probably did. He seemed to know a lot of things...

"My brother needed some time for himself. He's been through a lot in the last few years, so he came to Skyrim to get away from it all for a time, to get his own head in order. Our father was a Nord - that much we know - so Geralt figured Skyrim would be a perfect destination, a perfect change of pace."

"Geralt?" Yep, Hauk knew that name.

"My brother is the White Wolf."

Things were making sense now. The famous witcher was not Dragonborn, but it took more than an average person to become a witcher at all, and Geralt was quite a character. The news of the Northern Realms did not reach Tamriel very promptly, but eventually things became known, and some of them were even true. Hauk heard of the Wild Hunt that was tormenting the Northern Realms, and of the frost and ice that the Wild Hunt left in its wake. They were said to be wraiths - but what would wraiths want with the living? Why would they abduct whole villages at a time? Hauk thought it more likely that they were beings of flesh and blood coming from another realm looking for slaves, and the frost was simply their magic. The witchers would fight them, and it was said that an apocalyptic battle recently took place. The Wild Hunt was gone. For now or forever? The White Wolf was involved somehow, some said it was he who defeated the Wild Hunt king, other said no, the White Wolf was captured and was a prisoner himself, and someone else had to free them all... Whatever of it was true, it wasn't a walk in the park, and if the White Wolf was now here in Tamriel, then the Wild Hunt must have been dealt with. It wasn't in his character to run away. "His Nord blood wouldn't let him" - Hauk thought. "He finished his mission and came to seek out his roots."

"So what now? Are you going back to Skyrim at all?"

"Yes, I'll have to, I need to find out more, at least. But there is no rush, and my home is still here."

"Yeah, in Bravil" - Hauk remembered the effort that Lena put into getting back that house.

"Yeah."

The publican had been topping up their ale and mead for a long while already. Whatever those two were discussing, was keeping them drinking, and there's nothing wrong with that. Besides, they mentioned Skyrim - what better topic could a Nord wish for under his roof?

The regulars were finally going home, but Lena and Hauk didn't feel like sleeping. The conversation still hung in the air, and they just sat there, drinking silently for a while. They were getting more and more at ease with each other, no longer needing to talk.

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31 Evening Star, 4E201 - Lucien Lachance

"What did Lucien want?" - Asked Hauk at breakfast at Count's Arms.

"He... I thought you were asleep!"

"I was, until he banged the door on his way out. Who else comes to visit you in your sleep?"

That was solid logic, and there was no point arguing.

"He wanted me to rejoin the Brotherhood" - Lena conceded.

"Rejoin?"

"Yes. I was suspended after I refused to kill everyone in the Cheydinhal Sanctuary."

"And you lived?" - that was most unusual. The Dark Brotherhood wasn't just another Guild, transgressions came with a death sentence.

"Oh, they were sending assassins after me for a time until it transpired that the traitor was much higher up than anyone in the Cheydinhal Sanctuary - he was a Black Hand, and he was out for revenge after Lucien personally. That's a completely mad story" - Lena shook her head. "Then I was no longer the target and they let me be. Now they decided it was time I returned to the family."

"And will you?"

"Already have."

Hauk wasn't surprised. After Lucien's visit the night before, Lena disappeared for 24 hours. She returned during the night. Lucien's ways were rubbing off on her.

"So, if you were given a contract on my life, would you kill me?"

"First of all" - Lena was getting cross - "they would not give me a contract on a friend unless this was a test or a Purification Ritual. And second of all, this would be against my principles, so I'd kill the contract giver instead, and they know it. So you're quite safe from me" - Lena smiled.

"You put friends above your oath?"

"I do not serve Sithis. I have rejoined because Lucien did know my mother - he hadn't lied. When I refused to purify Cheydinhal, he exclaimed 'Just like her mother', and I learned later that indeed their paths had crossed."

That was as much as Lena was willing to tell, that was obvious. So Hauk dropped the topic.

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5 Morning Star, 4E202 - Lucien's offer

I've been promised the abandoned house in Cheydinhal for keeping a cool head and sparing them all back then. I was to perform the Purification Ritual with which I would break the tenet to never harm a brother. But were I to refuse, I would break the tenet to never refuse a contract. I did not believe the "evidence" and chose to refuse the contract. Another assassin was sent to perform the Purification, and failed. I had to face the Wrath of Sithis, but it wasn't my first wraith... Living assassins were sent after me, all in vain. Then the "evidence" that I discarded, was proven to have been fabricated. The traitor was much higher up and he was after Lucien Lachance personally, which of course broke a tenet of the Brotherhood. I was cleared, but it was considered best for me to stay away. Until now.

Lucien came to see me a week ago - they wanted me back. But they owed me, not just their lives, but their continued existence as members of the Brotherhood. Would I accept a promotion? Surely, I would make a superb Black Hand. No, thank you. I do not serve Sithis, and I dare to say it - I'll kill his wraith again if I have to.

"You are just like your mother. And your great-uncle, he too went rogue." Lucien hadn't lied, I received my great-uncle's will - he left me his sanctuary near Leyawiin. But he served Sithis, and I don't. I just want a normal house.

"A house? I think we can arrange that" - Lucien brightened up. "The Count here is not keen to have an ugly abandoned house in the city, but we are very persuasive. Plus, he still remembers - less than fondly - Morag Tong from his native Morrowind. I think he would be pleased if the house was no longer abandoned. But would you be willing to allow access to the Sanctuary through it?"

As I am the only member who likes to use that door, it isn't much of a problem. New members have to earn the right to use direct access, so new members need that route through the house, but I was the last new member to join, and that was 200 years ago. I would not worry. After the traitor used a new member - me - to try to get to Lucien, Lucien has been reluctant to accept anyone else.

"Go see the Count in a couple of days. What do you want to call the house?"

"The Wolf Sanctuary."

"How befitting" - Lucien smiled.

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5 Sun's Dawn, 4E202 - A visit to Lucien

Lena knew where Lucien lived and how to get there bypassing the guards. Of course she did, she spent a lot of time there herself. It was time to let Lucien know about her little enterprise. Lucien knew what's been done already and guessed rightly that she had plans for more.

On a piece of parchment Lena wrote a list of names.

She sealed the letter and left it on the table.

She returned a few days later. There was a brand new silver dagger where the letter had been. The barrel with poisoned apples had been unlocked. A bouquet of flowers lay on the bed: goldenrod, morning glory, lily of the valley, blue hyacinth. Good fortune, my dear - yours, always.

"The choice of a lily is... unusual" - Lena thought. "I would have expected something more neutral..."

She took the flowers. She knew that Lucien would see them in the Wolf Sanctuary kept fresh and understand her acceptance. But she wasn't laying ambrosia fruit on her bed.

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

14 Sun's Dawn, 4E202 - Death and Resuscitation - Wolf House - Prince Sheogorath

"This isn't as crazy as I thought it might be" - Hauk was saying at breakfast.

12 Sun's Dawn

Having breakfast at noon is not crazy at all if you only went to bed at 4 a.m. as they did. They brought the tongs and calipers to Tove, and he paid Lena 5 septims for each one, resulting in a very tidy sum.

"Oh I insist - for your trouble."

"That wasn't crazy after all to drag them all the way to here" - Hauk started to see sense.

After that they had a job to do at Xedilian.

"Now that I had to kill the Gatekeeper again, I need to fix Xedilian" - Lena was trying to explain it to Hauk. "It will attract people that don't belong here and make them belong."

Xedilian was overrun with grummites. They had removed the resonator crystals and attached them to their magic staves which made them so much more dangerous. At one point four Deathbringers and a Magus swarmed on Lena and Hauk from all directions and got them surrounded. Lena was using a lot of poisons but they weren't as effective on these grummites as they were on the ones in the hatchery. The battle was ferocious and Lena got knocked out - and couldn't get up. When Hauk finally dispatched the last of the grummites, Lena was still on the ground. Not unconscious but dead. One of the Deathbringers apparently kept hitting her after she lost consciousness - he was determined to live up to his title.

Hauk tried healing spells on Lena, cure poison and cure paralysis, smelling salts and aloe sap, to no avail.

"Ok then, it's the old-fashioned way again" - he thought removing her armour for CPR.

Resuscitation was successful. Lena sat up, still dizzy but alive.

"That was some battle... Thanks for bringing me back" - she said watching Hauk sorting through a pile of potions, clothes and pieces of armour that he dropped in the rush to get her heart beating again. He was still casting healing spells at her and at himself, and the sweat on his torso was shimmering in the mist of restoration magic.

"We'll need to take a break now" - he said wrapping Lena in some robes from their pack. "You need to warm up - don't bother wearing these, you'll be warmer in a wrap."

Being a Battlemage was clearly different from being an Adventurer, and having gone through the Great War behind the enemy lines taught Hauk survival skills like no training ever could. He actually knew what he was doing.

...

After a rest with some food and drink, they put their armours back on and decided to continue going through Xedilian. After all, they seemed to be nearly done.

"So this is the frog that got me?" - Lena stood over a grummite that lay where she had gone down.

"That's the one" - Hauk confirmed. "He just wouldn't quit which probably saved my own life - I would have been overwhelmed by an extra one joining in."

"I'm glad you weren't" - Lena looked at Hauk realising that were the roles reversed, she would have done everything in her power to bring him back.

13 Sun's Dawn

Xedilian was restored and the first group of adventurers was taken care of. Knights of Order appeared too, and were dispatched. Lena and Hauk stood outside again, it was mid-morning. They hadn't slept, but neither of them wanted to just now.

"What's next?" - asked Hauk.

"We could walk back to Passwall and rest at the inn there for a while" - Lena pointed West - "or we could start towards New Sheoth and get distracted along the way" - she pointed North East grinning.

"East" - said Hauk and started walking.

...

It didn't take long and they ran into another ruin and decided to investigate. Xalara housed some zealots, and obviously had to be thoroughly searched for the Fork of Horripilation.

The Fork wasn't there, but they found some substantial loot in an urn held by a statue.

"Good thing real Hungers aren't nearly as big as this one" - remarked Hauk admiring the statue. "Very decorative though."

He was definitely getting into the spirit of the place.

Xalara was a bit of a labyrinth with traps, sliding wall panels, collapsed sections and newly dug out bypasses. They kept coming out near the entrance which would normally be welcome, but in this case it wasn't because Lena was determined to search every nook and cranny for the Fork. Of course it was all for naught, but you wouldn't know it until you'd done it.

Exhausted, they decided to eat the zealots' food and sleep in their beds. It was getting quite late anyway.

14 Sun's Dawn

In the morning they set off for New Sheoth, this time intent on getting there without distractions. The landscape was swampy, but the water wasn't deep, and they didn't expect any creatures apart from baliwogs. Then suddenly Lena got knocked out.

"Whaaa-?" - Hauk heard her yelp but couldn't see what attacked her. Summoning a dremora just in case, he felt a little like that Orc adventurer that fell victim to Xedilian's magic - how do you fight the unseen?

The next moment Hauk was hit from above by a Skulking Scalon - a creature with a power to turn invisible and jump high and far. So this was what knocked out Lena - a scalon's touch also carried an electrical charge.

Hauk staggered, but his dremora swung into action, and soon the scalon lay defeated.

"Ugh, those scalons can really surprise you" - Lena was saying wringing out her skirt. The swamp wasn't deep to walk in, but it did get you thoroughly wet if you fell in.

New Sheoth wasn't far, and they didn't tarry and longer.

...

"We need to go see the Prince about Xedilian but not in these wet clothes" - Lena said as they entered Crucible. "There's a house here that we can use - it was left to me by a chap I did a favour for." There was no need to explain what the favour for Hirrus Clutumnus was.

When Hirrus left Lena the house, she went to have a look and didn't like it. Too much blood, torture tools and self-flailing in there. But now her wet clothes under her iron armour were chilling her to the bone, and she was ready to make use of the house even with Hirrus' spirit still hanging about.

They entered. Someone had redecorated. Gone were the torture tools, blood stains and cobwebs. Gone was the gloomy atmosphere - it's amazing what a few tapestries can do. It was still a Dementia house, but it was now clean and welcoming.

Dylan. It had to be.

But Dylan himself wasn't there, so Lena and Hauk spent some time in the Wolf House - as it was now known - to freshen up and rest. There was food, good wine and mead, and even fresh sweetrolls... nothing that Hirrus would have kept there.

In the afternoon they went to see the Prince. Lena put on a Red Finery dress that she had found in the cupboard. Hauk couldn't take his eyes off her.

The Prince was galant, as always, making jokes and never letting you forget who was in charge. Lena let him get on with it, not argueing or reminding him of things past. They both knew it was just a façade. He sent her to get acquainted with the new Duke and Duchess - Thadon and Syl, again? Well, yes, the same ones, or may be their twins... But they won't remember you, so don't you worry. But didn't I cut Syl's heart out last time? Yes, you did, but we don't let such minor details get in the way. Off you go now and enjoy your felldew.

Coming out of the Palace, Lena noticed that the Flame of Agnon wasn't burning - the Saints and Seducers must have been quarreling again. She had work to do.

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

15 Sun's Dawn 4E202 - Another letter from Lucien

"Before I get embroiled in Shivering Isles politics, I need to return to Cyrodiil for a bit" - Lena was saying to Hauk at breakfast. "There are a few things I need to take care of, on my own." She looked at him somewhat uneasy.

"Of course" - Hauk nodded. "Give Lucien my regards. I'll stay here - can I use this house?"

"Please do" - Lena gave Hauk a long look. He was planning something. "But I don't think I'll be meeting Lucien" - she added.

"You'll see."

...

Returning to Cheydinhal, Lena found a letter waiting for her on the table at the Wolf Sanctuary. It was from Lucien:

Darling Wolf,

Come and see me at your convenience. We have business to attend to.

Yours -
Lucien

She went in the evening, planning to sleep at the fort if necessary, while waiting for Lucien to appear. She didn't have to wait long.

"I need you to go to Skyrim" - said Lucien pouring the wine. "There's a group there that calls themselves the Dark Brotherhood and is taking on contracts, but we don't have a branch in Skyrim and the Night Mother does not talk to anyone there. Go see what they are all about."

Lena heard of them when she went to Skyrim before, but because the Dark Brotherhood had a regional structure, she didn't expect to know any of them. Now it turned out they were imposters, which went some way to explain why they tried to kill her - and didn't know who she was. No one verified their contracts, obviously.

"How do you want me to approach them?" - she asked Lucien, helping herself to cheese and grapes.

"We'll bait them - we'll spread a rumour that you've gone after one of their contracts. They'll be in touch."

"If the Night Mother doesn't speak to them, then where do they get their contacts from?"

"From rumours, mostly. People know how to summon us - the real us - and so they perform the Dark Sacrament over and over, thinking that more is better, no doubt. Then, when no one comes, they start talking about it, and sure enough, soon afterwards someone appears."

"Your friendly neighbourhood assassin, here to help" - grimaced Lena.

"Quite. Ham or mutton?" - Lucien was taking roast off the spit.

"Mutton, please, and some of that orange chutney on top."

Two old friends sat down for dinner. Nothing unusual about that.

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

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."

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Jul 8 2021, 07:19 PM

[Lena Wolf]

29-30 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Lena is back in Cheydinhal

Lena walked into the Cheydinhal Sanctuary.

"Oh - you are back!" - Antoinetta Marie ran up to her. "We were so worried!" She hugged her warmly. "You are not angry with me, are you? For before?" She looked at Lena with a troubled expression.

"No, I am not angry with you" - Lena laughed. "Good to see you!"

"Lucien is not here" - Antoinetta said apologetically. "But Ocheeva will want to speak with you... I assume" - she added and winked.

Lena went to see Ocheeva, shaking her head.

...

"So there's still no news, and Lucien has got work to do" - Ocheeva was saying matter-of-factly. "He won't sit still, you know him" - she smiled. "At least he agreed to stay here for now."

"Yeah..." - Lena nodded. "Let me leave him a note."

I am back - I miss you.

She folded the parchment and left it on Lucien's bed.

"I'll be upstairs" - she smiled at Ocheeva.

...

"You have very interesting friends" - Lucien dispelled his cloak finding Lena nodding off over her book, a wine glass in her hand. "Careful, you'll spill that" - he steadied her hand.

She raised her eyes to meet his. "Sanguine?"

Lucien nodded. "That was... unexpected."

"He saved me" - she rubbed her eyes, the book sliding off her lap. "I would have died there without his help. That assassin is clever."

"Sshhh..." - Lucien kissed her, raising her from her chair. "It's late, let's get you to bed, we'll talk tomorrow."

"But..." - Lena grabbed his arm.

"I am not leaving" - he said, smiling. "No need to venture into the Void just yet."

30 Mid-Year

They were still asleep when there was a knock on the basement door. Lucien woke up first, reaching for his dagger under the pillow. He wasn't used to sleeping in Lena's house.

Before there was another knock, he was on his feet, casting chameleon instead of bothering with clothes. Lena woke up too.

"It's from the basement - someone from the Sanctuary" - she said, shaking off her sleep. "May be there's news."

They heard the door creak and a voice calling into the house: "Hello!"

"Up here!" - Lena shouted, then hastened to add: "Just a minute! Give us a moment to... Oh, hello Antoinetta."

Antoinetta's grinning head appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Good morning!" - she said. "Don't mind me... Oh!" Lucien's chameleon ran out just as he was clipping his dagger belt - before any clothing.

"What news, Antoinetta?" - he asked completely unphased, picking up the other weapon belts.

"Teinaava returned during the night" - she said, watching Lucien with rapt attention. "They caught an intruder."

"Then it's time to go" - he turned to Lena. "Let's speak with Teinaava first, then you ride to Leyawiin and I shall gather the others and follow." He finished with the belts. "You can tell Telaendril" - he looked at Antoinetta - "that you've seen more than she, and perhaps she'll return your septim" - he winked. "May I get dressed now?"

The time for waiting was over, it was now time to act.

[Lena Wolf]

30 Mid-Year, 4E202 - Teinaava's report - Lena at the Leyawiin Sanctuary

Teinaava confirmed that the intruder to the Leyawiin Sanctuary was Rayenna.

"We heard someone approach - sound carries under water" - he grinned. "There were some splashes, but no one entered. Then we knew they were looking for another way in. I stood in the hall with my back to the hatch, while Fenris crouched in the shadow. He is very capable, you know" - he looked at Lucien - "very stealthy, very controlled. Anyway..." - Teinaava stretched uneasily, wincing somewhat. "Then someone entered, and before I knew it, they were upon me. Remarkable! She is a Silencer, all right."

"So she attacked first?" - Lucien didn't sound surprised.

"Indeed" - Teinaava confirmed, bowing slightly. "Of course, she had to - she was intruding. Fenris paralysed her while I was keeping her busy, then..." - Teinaava looked at Vicente who was listening from a short distance away. "I've never witnessed a vampire attack, and I count myself lucky that I didn't have to fight one like Fenris."

Vicente smiled. "Impressive, isn't it? I take it he was hungry?"

"He was" - Teinaava nodded. "But you will find him well fed now - he's been keeping Rayenna subdued."

"He must take a lot of her blood each time for it to work" - Vicente came closer. "She hasn't got long to live this way."

"We aim to resolve it swiftly" - Lucien turned to him. "Will she live a few more days?"

"A week at most" - Vicente confirmed. "If Fenris is careful."

"We don't need a week" - Lucien was satisfied. "We leave now."

...

Lena was the first to arrive at the Sanctuary, late at night. She entered to the sound of groans coming from the cells. She tiptoed down the stairs.

Rayenna was sleeping in her cell, groaning in her sleep. She looked pale but not sickly. Lena turned back and went upstairs, looking for Fenris.

"Mistress!" - he greeted her in the dining hall. "I have done as you asked, but too much blood has dulled my senses. I didn't hear you come in." He looked guilty.

"It will pass, do not worry" - Lena smiled. "Thank you!"

"I found this in her pocket" - he handed Lena a packet. "Documents."

"Bait" - Lena smiled. "You read them?"

Fenris looked down. "I should not have... I deserve punishment." He kneeled.

"Well, it is not a problem" - Lena unwrapped the packet. "We didn't tell you not to read them." She scanned the papers. "I see Lucien was thorough. But these are copies - not the originals."

"But they suggest..." - Fenris looked up at Lena. "They suggest that you supported the traitor."

"They do, don't they?" - Lena chuckled. "Clever Lucien to select these. Mathieu Bellamont and I exchanged those letters when I was still just an Assassin - before the Black Hand decided to Purify Cheydinhal. And of course I did not suspect his involvement until much later. He never contacted me after that - because I refused to perform Purification throwing his plans in disarray. And by the time I figured him out, I had other priorities." She lifted Fenris by the shoulders. "I had to choose which promise to break, and he stood no chance."

"Why?" - Fenris looked into her eyes. "He was your family."

"So was Lucien, Ocheeva and the others - not all family ties come from blood, and Mathieu Bellamont was a very distant cousin. We never even met until I discovered him."

"And then?"

"And then I told him that he had lost me." Lena returned Fenris' gaze. "Family ties can be broken."

"Yeah, I know." He nodded and turned away.

Lena felt uneasy - she touched a nerve, but there was no other way to put it. She left Fenris alone for a while and went into the cells to return the packet of documents to Rayenna's pocket.

[Lena Wolf]

1 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Rayenna's interview

"What now, Rayenna? Sa'sinar is most disappointed" - the Khajiit stood outside Rayenna's cell at the Leyawiin Sanctuary.

"I..." - Rayenna heard her name and tried to open her eyes. She felt drowsy, her body didn't obey her. She wasn't paralysed exactly, but she had no strength to move. She tried to remember what happened. "I... found a traitor" - she finally managed to speak. Why was she so sluggish? "She plotted against the Brotherhood... Her Great-Uncle and her Cousin were both traitors!"

"And whom do you mean?" - Sa'sinar bared his fangs. This wasn't a smile.

"Lena Wolf, of course!" - Rayenna was awake now.

"What proof do you have?" - Sa'sinar's face was impassable now.

"Letters... notes... and a will!" - Rayenna fumbled with her robes, retrieving a packet. "Here - see for yourself!" She passed it to Sa'sinar through the bars. He took it.

"And what were you doing here?" - he asked, without unwrapping the packet.

"Why, this is her Great-Uncle's Sanctuary!" - Rayenna tried to shake off her tiredness, but her body was hurting too much. "I came looking for more proof of her deception! I wanted to know what she was planning, but..." - she broke off, massaging her neck.

"But?" - Sa'sinar was still impenetrable.

"I was attacked" - Rayenna looked up at him.

"Attacked?" - a faint smile touched Sa'sinar's lips. "But you were trespassing. And were you not the first to attack?"

"How do you..?" - she started, then saw Teinaava's figure appear behind Sa'sinar. "There! He's behind you!" - she cried, pointing at him.

"That" - Sa'sinar turned, pointing at Teinaava - "is your Brother from Cheydinhal, do you not recognise the armour?"

Colour drained from Rayenna's already pale face, making her look more like a ghost of herself. Yes, she did recognise the armour. She recognised it the moment she entered, seeing Teinaava in the hall with his back to her. But prevention was better than cure, she always used to say, and so she attacked. No one would know how it went once he was dead. But then... as Teinaava responded in kind and they were locked in combat, someone else stabbed her, and she fell, paralysed. Then something happened. She felt a sharp pain in her neck and everything went black.

She woke up in a cell, she tried the door - it was locked. She found her lockpick, but her fingers were so clumsy and sluggish, she could not work the lock. She tried a spell - if fizzled out. She was tired, so tired. Perhaps if she slept a bit, her strength would return.

"Sa'sinar wonders" - his ears turned to the sides, as if to listen to every sound from every direction. "Why did Rayenna suspect Wolf in the first place?"

This was a trick question. He knew exactly what started this, but he was giving her a chance for a neutral explanation. She hadn't prepared for a question like that.

"I... felt it" - she finally managed. "A woman's intuition, you know" - she smiled brightly, it was worth a try.

"Intuition..." - Sa'sinar turned his ears forward, facing her, now listening to everything she had to say. "And does Rayenna's intuition tell her where Wolf might be now?"

"Oh, is she missing?" - Rayenna's delight brought some colour to her cheeks. "I really wouldn't know where she'd be..." She was grinning ear to ear.

"It seems she received a letter" - Sa'sinar suggested.

"From a friend? That must be it!" - Rayenna nodded as vigorously as her painful neck would allow. "Abandoned all her responsibilities and took off after her friend - I told you she was not to be trusted!"

"Yes, we found a letter" - Sa'sinar reached inside his robes. "This one" - he handed a blood-stained note to Rayenna through the bars.

"Oh my - Boethia's Realm!" - Rayenna beamed. "No one returns from there" - she passed the note back to Sa'sinar with satisfaction.

"Really?" - he turned one ear to the side. "I didn't find it that hard myself." He touched the hilt of his sword - a one-handed katana, burning with a fire enchantment.

"Goldbrand!" - Rayenna paled. "I've never seen you carry it..." - she raised her eyes at Sa'sinar.

"Sa'sinar is not vain" - he answered simply. "But he is not the only one to carry it - the sword is not unique. Sa'sinar still wonders, however..." - he fixed Rayenna with his gaze. "Why does the handwriting in that letter resemble Rayenna's handwriting so closely? Sa'sinar compared it to Rayenna's reports... One could almost say they were written by the same hand."

"Almost, but not exactly!" - Rayenna cried in indignation. "I am being framed!"

"Rayenna thinks so?" - Sa'sinar turned his ears to the sides again. "Sa'sinar hears other opinions as well."

What was the point of these questions? Sa'sinar was Rayenna's Speaker, surely he was on her side? She'd just given him the proof that Lena Wolf was a traitor... or at least that her great-uncle and cousin were traitors, making her untrustworthy. Rayenna couldn't find out anything about Lena's mother, and assumed that she died young - she did hear rumours that Lena had been brought up by her grandmother. An Argonian grandmother? It was hard to believe, but stranger things had happened. The one thing that Rayenna still couldn't understand, was Lena's age. She couldn't have been in her twenties, not if it was indeed one and the same Lena Wolf as that mentioned in the will and in the letters. When Rayenna came to this Sanctuary, she was hoping to find proof that this Lena Wolf was a different person, an imposter, hijacking a long-dead assassin for... what, exactly? Who knows, this wasn't important! The important thing was to get her removed, by whatever means necessary, Boethia's Tournament included. But Sa'sinar was now asking her all these questions... not looking at the proof she'd given him... not releasing her from the cell... What did it all mean?

Suddenly Rayenna understood it: he was waiting for a confession. He did not mention that evening when he caught Rayenna spying on Lucien Lachance's fort, but he knew of course that it was the root of it all. What was she to do?

"I am very tired now" - Rayenna said, half-closing her eyes. "My body hurts, and my neck hurts even more for some reason. My mind is in a fog, too, and I don't even know what I am saying. Please - can we continue this later?"

"Rayenna does not have a 'later'" - Sa'sinar looked straight at her. "The vampire that has been feeding on her, will finish her next time he feeds."

"No! You cannot allow it!" - she cried, jumping up from the floor with newly found force.

"Sa'sinar cannot afford to have a Silencer who allows her passion to cloud her mind, to send her Sister to a certain death, to get caught, and then not to have the courage to tell her Speaker about it!" - Sa'sinar's face was perfectly still - he was boiling with cold rage. "This" - he threw Rayenna's packet back into her cell - "was bait. Placed in Rayenna's home by Lucien Lachance for Rayenna to find."

Rayenna was lost for words. She was finished, this was the end. Her plan failed. Yet she still had a glimmer of hope - if Lena was dead, she could not defend herself.

"I should have told you" - she sat down, keeping her gaze to the ground and slumping her shoulders. Perhaps Sa'sinar would forgive her, one more time. "But those documents - do they not show that Wolf was a traitor?" - she looked at Sa'sinar with hope in her eyes. "At least the traitor is dead now, isn't she?"

"It is all true - these are copies of real documents from the Archives of the Dark Brotherhood" - Sa'sinar nodded. "But who do you think Wolf really is? Do you really think that Lachance would make just anyone his Silencer? After he was without one for two centuries?" He shook his head in disappointment. "Rayenna will wait for the Night Mother's judgement. The vampire will not touch her until then."

He turned around and left - he'd heard enough. They have all heard enough - Ungolim, Lucien and Lena were standing just out of sight, they had decided that Sa'sinar should conduct the interview on his own. Ungolim would consult the Night Mother, but no one expected her forgiveness.

[Lena Wolf]

3 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Rayenna's sentence

Ungolim returned from Bravil, ready to deliver the Night Mother's judgement on Rayenna. He and Sa'sinar went down to Rayenna's cell in the Leyawiin Sanctuary. It has been two days since Sa'sinar's interview with her, and as he promised, Fenris was not feeding on Rayenna since then. She regained a little strength and was sitting on her bedroll awake. She did not try to escape as she knew it was pointless.

"You have broken the Brotherhood's tenets" - Ungolim addressed Rayenna through the bars. "You have attempted to get your Sister killed. You have broken into her property and attempted to murder your Brother. You have not had to courage to confess. The Night Mother made her judgement. Are you ready to hear it?"

"'Attempted'?" - Rayenna was surprised. "So she still lives?" - she asked, not trying to conceal her disappointment.

"Indeed she does" - Ungolim confirmed. "Which is why your punishment is not death."

He waited for her to ask another question, but Rayenna just sat there, looking at Ungolim and Sa'sinar in turn. Sa'sinar spoke.

"Rayenna is no longer a member of the Black Hand. She will return her robes. She is no longer Sa'sinar's Silencer. Rayenna's rank has been dropped to Murderer."

"Initiate rank" - Rayenna murmured. If this was all, it was a most merciful sentence indeed.

"You will be exiled" - Ungolim's gaze was hard on Rayenna. "Every time you sleep, you will face the Wrath of Sithis in the very place where you sent your Sister to die - Boethia's Arena. You will fight for your life, and if you die there, Sithis will devour your soul."

Mercy was not in the Night Mother's nature.

"For how long?" - Rayenna asked, her lips barely moving.

"Indefinitely."

Her life was forfeit.

...

Rayenna stood on the shore of the Topal Sea. She wore plain black robes, having left her Black Hand robes behind. The faces of Ungolim and Sa'sinar were fresh in her memory, with their closed and disappointed expressions. The Wrath of Sithis would certainly be deadly, and she deserved it, she thought. Deserved it for failing. The image of Lucien's hard and cold eyes on her would haunt her dreams far more than Sithis. She lost her prize. He was there, watching her leave, his hand around Lena's waist. And Lena... no, she wasn't in her twenties, she was at his side and it was where she belonged.

Rayenna looked around, considering what to do. Her horse should still be at the stables, she would go home to Anvil, and then... time would tell.

[macole]

A life time of not so pleasant dreams.

[Lena Wolf]

A life time of not so pleasant dreams.

Indeed. But the wraith would only attack her once every night. So defeat the wraith, then sleep peacefully.

This is based on the original punishment if you break one of the tenets. In the game you only have to fight the wraith once, and you are forgiven. You can can break a tenet three times, and the wraith becomes stronger each time. When you defeat it the third time, you are kicked out of the Dark Brotherhood. However, this treatment is reserved exclusively for the player. If you talk to the other members, some will tell you here and there that the wraith would be attacking you in your sleep for as long as your exile lasts, and it is never as short as one night. And there's no such thing as quitting the DB - if you offend them more then once, your next sentence is death. But of course it would have been too harsh for the player... Or would it? Anyway, I used that to come up with a suitable punishment for Rayenna for her betrayal of the Brotherhood.

[Lena Wolf]

3-5 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Holidays on the Topal Sea

"You should take some time to rest" - Ungolim was saying to Lena and Lucien. "This was a most unpleasant business." He shook his head. "But I hope we won't hear from Rayenna for a while - you both know what she's facing." He gave them a long look, then smiled, as if shaking off a memory, and continued, turning to Lena: "This Sanctuary is beautiful. And your... err... associate... Fenris - he is most impressive."

"He is" - Lena nodded. "But he is not ready to join us yet. It's too soon." She looked straight at Ungolim. "He has not freed himself yet."

Ungolim returned her gaze.

"I see" - he finally nodded. "So be it." He turned to leave. "Don't rush back."

Rayenna was to face a wraith every time she slept - the Wrath of Sithis. Yes, both Lena and Lucien knew exactly what was awaiting her as they had each been exiled for a long period of time while Mathieu Bellamont was ravaging the Brotherhood. Lena was also being hunted for perceived treason. The assassins could not follow her to the Shivering Isles, but the Wrath of Sithis found her anywhere. The exile and the hunt were called off when she finally managed to unmask the real traitor - with Lucien's help, and in the nick of time, as the assassins were circling around him too. When it all came to light... It wasn't so much the wrath of Sithis that some of the other Speakers had to face, but the wrath of the Night Mother - for being careless, for jumping to conclusions, for making it possible for the traitor to progress so far. She didn't haunt them in their sleep - she killed them where they stood.

Rayenna would lie low for a while... but she was too strong willed to let the wraith take her. They all felt certain she would be back, one way or the other. But for now they could relax.

...

Fenris stood in a far corner of the hall, his keen hearing allowed him to follow the conversation. He was flattered by Ungolim's praise, but he felt uneasy about the suggestion that he might join the Dark Brotherhood. It was like Lena put it - he did not feel that he belonged to himself yet, and he liked his Mistress. He would take his time - after all, he was immortal.

...

Lena and Lucien took Ungolim's advice and stayed at the Sanctuary for two more days. Fenris was doing all the chores, and they had no excuse not to rest. They walked along the shore of the Topal Sea, watched the moons cross the starry sky and spent a lot of time doing "nothing" in the most inventive ways.

"Such heavy breathing will attract trolls" - Lucien pulled away from Lena letting her catch her breath. He smiled in amazement, watching her. "Where do you hide all that passion?"

She pressed his hand to her chest, her heart racing. "In here" - she smiled. "It's been locked up for too long."

"Sanguine was right - your Nord blood runs hot."

"Sanguine?" - Lena laughed. "What else did he say about me?"

"Nothing that I haven't discovered for myself" - Lucien took her into his arms. "Look" - he pointed up - "the Apprentice is ruling the skies this month. It's your birthday soon, but you have no age."

"Well..." Lena considered the stars above them for a while. "Perhaps it's for the best. This way I am never too old for anything."

She jumped up, pulling Lucien on his feet with her.

"...such as a midnight swim" - he thought, following her into the warm waters of the Topal Sea, casting waterbreathing just before diving. Their clothes stayed on the shore, but Lucien quickly grabbed his dagger belt - slaughterfish were never far away. "She didn't bring any weapons" - he noticed. "Mages."

The waters were warm but murky, and Lucien quickly lost sight of Lena. He wasn't a mage really, and couldn't cast a life detection spell. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his leg - a slaughterfish bite. He twisted, spun upside down and stabbed the space where the fish would have been. The water was now not just murky, but also red. The pain in his leg was gone - someone touched it with a healing spell. Lena. He felt her arms around him, her hands sliding along his body searching for more wounds... "Mmm..." - he closed his eyes for a moment. She tugged him to follow her out of the cloud of red mist.

They were quite a distance from the shore, and the water was almost clear there. They came up for air, their heads bobbing on the waves.

"We can swim in peace now" - Lena said, kissing him and covering them both with a cloud of waterbreathing. The other slaughterfish would swim to the blood, so as long as they stayed away from it, the fish would leave them alone.

They couldn't speak under water, but there was no need for that. Lucien never considered using waterbreathing for anything other than to cross submerged passages, but Lena showed him a whole new application. She kept renewing the spell, and he felt unexpected appreciation for the Argonian ways. Their bodies felt almost weightless in the water, and movement was slow and fluid, possible in every direction, not constrained by gravity, not requiring a solid foundation below. A few twists, and the notions of "up" and "down" lost their meaning.

The moons were sinking into the horizon when Lena and Lucien finally came ashore, exhausted. Several slaughterfish were floating on the water, dead.

"Look, they got into a fight with each other trying to eat that first one that bit you" - Lena pointed at them. "We should bring them to Fenris to cook for dinner."

Lucien nodded. "Serves them right." His dagger was digging into his side, so he unclipped the belt. "You swim under water like an Argonian."

"I was raised by an Argonian, remember?" - Lena laughed. "I used to wear a waterbreathing ring at first, but by now the spell is like second nature."

"You should teach our children that" - Lucien looked at her, smiling.

"If they come..." - Lena stretched out to touch him. "I think my past vampirism had destroyed all that."

"But the Mazken Wellspring would have restored you" - he sounded certain. "You might be with child already."

"But then..." - she sat up, looking worried and alarmed. "I mean... I can't be sure..."

"I know" - he stroked her face, smoothing out her frown. "The child will be ours, regardless."

[Lena Wolf]

7 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Preparations for Nenalata

"Hauk, are you in?" - Lena opened the door to Hauk's house in the Imperial City after he didn't answer the knock. She heard some rumbling from below, it sounded like he was training. She went to the basement.

Hauk was attacking a training dummy with a sword in his right hand and a spell in his left - shock on touch, she noticed.

"I didn't think you needed to train any more" - she said after a while. "Surely, you've done this often enough already!"

"I have" - he nodded, putting down the sword. "But it never hurts to keep it fresh. It's good to see you" - he whispered into her hair as her embrace knocked the air out of him.

"I missed you!" - Lena declared, releasing him so he could catch a breath. "That dreadful assassin business is over, it's time for an adventure!" She poured them mead from the keg and dropped onto the bench under the minotaur head. "Umm, I hope that head isn't going to fall on me" - she looked up - "like on that poor Bosmer in Bruma."

"It's not" - Hauk laughed, settling down next to her. "As long as you don't cut the strings" - he winked.

"How did you..?" - she started, her eyes growing wide. She never told him about that job. She got no answer though - Hauk just laughed into his mead.

"So, what's that about an adventure?" - he asked, grinning.

"Mr. Umbacano wants me to accompany him to Nenalata."

Hauk looked at Lena with suspicion. "And this bothers you - why?"

"Well, I got him an Ayleid crown..." - Lena was staring into her mead. "I actually had to steal it from another collector." She shot Hauk a glance. "And you know how much I like stealing."

"But?"

"Well, I did it because that collector suggested I present Mr. Umbacano with another Ayleid crown instead, and that somehow seemed even worse."

Lena fell silent, still studying her mead.

"And?" - Hauk prompted her. "Come on, let's hear it! It's me you're talking to, remember?"

Lena looked at him, gathering her thoughts.

"That other collector claimed that Umbacano wanted her crown in order to awaken some ancient Ayleid power, something dreadful that would destroy us all. I thought she was exaggerating, but now that he asked me to take him to Nenalata, I'm not so sure. You remember it, don't you?"

"I do" - Hauk said heavily. "Near Fort Grief. Lots and lots of high level undead, very angry, lots of traps too, and we couldn't get through to the last chamber."

"Yeah..." - Lena nodded. "Garrus nearly died several times, and I had to hide from their spells." She shuddered. "But it's not that which worries me."

Hauk looked at her with understanding. "If that was just the welcoming committee, then what is hiding in the locked chamber? And why does Umbacano want to go there, now that he's got that crown?"

"The Crown of Nenalata" - Lena nodded. "Exactly."

They sat drinking their mead in silence for a while.

"So, when are we leaving?" - asked Hauk, grinning.

Lena leapt onto his lap, her arms around him again. "Not before we're done here... I missed you - didn't I say?"

...

"Does Lucien know?" - Hauk surveyed heaps of clothing thrown off in a hurry around his basement. "What you're doing to me?" He kissed her again, rolling her over onto her back on the thick rug.

"Well, I never told him directly" - Lena blushed a bit. "But I never denied anything either, and he knows you're more than a friend. You didn't send me away" - she looked at him with a smile.

"It's between the two of you, of course" - he was serious now, sitting up and stroking her cheek. "But I still want to stay your friend - and his, too. So if you don't tell him, I will. Or we never do it again."

"You know we can't promise that" - she kneeled behind him, running her fingertips over the tops of his shoulders and watching his body respond as it always had. "We share too much."

"I'll talk to him" - he closed his eyes with a moan, falling back onto her. "Later..."

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Aug 2 2021, 03:26 PM

[Lena Wolf]

7 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Hauk and Lucien

Hauk knocked on the trapdoor to Lucien's fort but there was no answer. He lifted the door and peered inside, and not seeing anyone, he entered and left a note on the table.

We need to talk. I'll be waiting as usual. Hauk.

He walked to the main door to the fort, entered and settled down to wait by the entrance, far enough from the guardians roaming the fort. It could be a long wait.

...

"Hauk" - someone touched his shoulder, awaking him from his slumber. Lucien. "Come on."

They walked over to Lucien's trapdoor and went in.

"So, what's on your mind?" - asked Lucien, putting wine and mead on the table.

"Lena."

"Ah" - Lucien didn't look surprised. "Well, I know about you two - it's not exactly news."

"Yes, but things have changed between you and her."

"Yes and no" - Lucien was watching Hauk and sipping his wine. "She and I go too far back to feel threatened by our attachments to other people. You mean too much to her to just give you up. That would cause a great wound, and I love her too much to allow it."

"I always wondered about that side of you" - Hauk returned Lucien's gaze.

"What side?"

"Compassion."

Lucien laughed. "I am an assassin, I haven't got any."

"I recall different" - Hauk's eyes became hard with a memory. "Those times that we met during the Great War... I would have continued, but you insisted they'd suffered enough."

"They told you all they knew" - Lucien's eyes were hard too.

"I had to be sure."

"I was sent after them for that very reason."

"Why send you? A novice could have killed them at that point."

"Not with you around. Would you have let a novice disturb you?"

"No, that's true" - Hauk smirked. "I would have locked him up until I was done - in the best case."

"Exactly" - Lucien nodded. "The target wasn't the challenge - you were."

They sat watching each other in silence for a while, each reliving the same memories. Then Lucien got up to turn the spit - the roast was ready, he took it off and started carving it. Hauk silently passed him the plates, dressed the table, sliced up the tomatoes - this wasn't the first time they shared a meal.

"I understand it was you who prompted Lena to have me come to Skyrim with her" - said Lucien, returning to the present.

"Not in those words, but yes" - Hauk studied his mead. "I always felt her heart had been taken long before we met. She had to face it."

"Still not comfortable with uncertainties, are you?" - Lucien smiled.

"Can't say I am" - Hauk grinned at him. "Must be my Nord directness. Which is why I'm here. She would leave it untold but I couldn't, especially since she's been to the Wellspring again."

"Don't worry about that" - Lucien was quite serious. "The child will be either yours or mine, even if it isn't clear which for some years. We both have dark eyes and dark hair, and Lena's father was a Nord, so unless the child has sanguine eyes, we won't know."

"Does your father still live?"

"He does, I think. But he stays away for obvious reasons."

Hauk nodded. "Rayenna may have had Mephala's help."

Lucien looked up. "Deepscorn Hollow?"

"We think so. As a reward for starting the feud in Bleaker's Way."

"Then things are more serious than we thought" - Lucien looked into the distance, thinking. "It won't be immediate, but she could become a major threat, if she joins Mephala."

"I can take a message if you like" - Hauk looked straight at Lucien.

"You know how to find him?"

Hauk nodded. "We maintain contacts in Morrowind as well, I'll find out."

"Then do it."

It wouldn't be the first time that a Legion operative took a message to a Morag Tong assassin. All Hauk needed to know was whether Azarath Salvel was alive at least until recently. He would either find the man himself, or learn of his death. He'd have to prepare things first, but they felt there was no immediate rush - Mephala would certainly let Rayenna get a good taste of the Wrath of Sithis.

[Lena Wolf]

8 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Vindasel - Sardavar Leed

"Wake up and let's go!" - Lena was tugging on Hauk trying to wake him up. She'd been to Chorrol the day before to arrange for the month's supplies to the Battlehorn Castle, she got up before the first light and returned to the Imperial City when most people were just about waking up. Most people except Hauk who was still asleep, not being an early riser.

How do you wake up a Nord who probably had had too much mead last night? Was there such a thing as too much mead in a Nord's eyes? A bucket of cold water would have done the trick for a Breton, but Lena was pretty sure that Hauk wouldn't even notice. But fire... he was sensitive to fire, born under the Lord. But burning him would be cruel, no she wouldn't do that. Well, may be just a little...

Lena readied a beginner's fire spell - it wouldn't even leave burn marks, it was more of a warm touch. She turned it onto herself - she was now smouldering all over. "It feels like being back in Oblivion deadlands" - she thought. "No, that isn't a nice way to wake up" - she dispelled the fire, changing her mind. May be she'd just let Hauk sleep until he woke up on his own.

"Is it morning already?" - a sleepy voice came from the bed. It was impossible to tell the time in a room without windows. "Why is your face so red?"

"Good morning!" - Lena exclaimed, startled. "I was thinking of ways to wake you up."

"And it made you blush like that?" - Hauk was grinning. "I'm not quite awake yet, so go on!" But Lena just shot him one of those glances, and Hauk gave up with a sigh. "Ok, what's the rush?"

"It's time to get going towards Nenalata" - Lena was pouring over a map. "Mr. Umbacano will be expecting us in two days. It won't take us that long to get there, but I thought perhaps we could take a detour some place nice."

"Such as?" - Hauk looked up.

"There are four Ayleid ruins, six forts and two caves directly along the way" - she grinned at him. "Take your pick."

...

Vindasel greeted them with two storm atronachs by the entrance.

"Have we been here before?" - Lena asked, looking around.

"No" - grinned Hauk.

They went in.

The ruin was empty. There were traps and Welkynd stones, rats and mudcrabs, but nothing of significance. A far chamber was set up as a camp site. A woman in full ebony armour was pacing it, her hand on the hilt of her sword. Lena and Hauk stood on the gallery watching her.

"Friend or foe?" - Lena wispered to Hauk.

"Foe" - he wispered firmly.

Lena nodded, knocking a poisoned arrow and crouching. Shadowhunt sent a silent shot. The woman jerked, cursed and ran towards them with a... cry of joy? Bandits were getting stranger by the day.

The fight would have been fierce if Lena's poison hadn't worked, but it had. The woman got sluggish and slow, and even though her sword strikes were still strong enough to paralyse a daedroth, she couldn't do it also to a battlemage and a clannfear at the same time. Lena had an arrow at the ready for another shot, but the hulking daedroth completely blocked the corridor in front of her. Ten seconds later it was all over.

"Huh... That was quick" - Lena kneeled over the woman. "All ebony... Oh! And look at that sword!"

She took the sword that shimmered with an enchantment. "Umbra" was engraved on the blade.

"Clavicus Vile's sword" - she showed it to Hauk. "It eats souls."

"It sends life energy of a defeated enemy into a soul gem" - Hauk corrected her.

"That too. But it also eats souls" - Lena passed the sword to Hauk. "Feel for yourself."

The sword hummed in Hauk's hand.

"It's like the Dawnfang. I think I like your Honorblade better" - he looked at Lena, returning Umbra to her.

"Agreed." She dropped the sword. "Clavicus can come and fetch it himself."

"Thank you..." - the woman wispered, touching the blade. Her hand was bleeding now, and a shimmer of magic covered her body. She closed her eyes and let out her last breath. Umbra took her soul.

...

"Remind me never to enter this place again!" - Lena said with a shudder when they stood outside. Hauk didn't argue.

They continued on the Ring Road East to the next Ayleid ruin - Sardavar Leed. A spider daedra and a storm atronachs greeted them by the entrance, so they went in. The layout inside was complicated, with a conjurer or a daedra waiting around every corner. Lena and Hauk got separated and had trouble finding each other again, and although they often could see each other, it was on different levels without a clear path from one level to another.

It was past 11 p.m. when they finally got together, having cleared the main section. They found the conjurers' living quarters as well as a door leading deeper into the ruin. They knew they couldn't sleep not knowing what was waiting for them further on, so they stopped for a short break and continued.

Sardavar Leed Lattasel turned out to be a small chamber with a huge poison trap - as you stepped into the central section, walls rose around you and noxious gas started pouring into the sealed chamber. As soon as they entered, a daedroth ran to greet them, setting off the trap. The walls stayed up long enough to fill the chamber with gas, then dropped briefly, only to rise again. The daedroth died of poisoning, and a conjurer shared its fate. Even Hauk got caught in the trap for a short time, but he escaped when the walls dropped again.

"This is one dangerous trap" - he cursed, casting healing spells. "That gas is extremely potent... Hey!!" - he spun around when a clannfear rammed him in the back.

"That's not mine!" - Lena cried, summoning her own clannfear.

A conjurer behind a grate swore they would die on the spot - "And now you die!"

"I'll send your bloody soul straight to Sovngarde!" - Hauk replied in kind summoning a daedroth while Lena was frantically searching for the button that lowered the grate.

The conjurer fell even before the grate was fully lowered - one swipe of Hauk's daedroth was enough.

"Don't make promises you can't keep" - said Hauk to the dead conjurer.

"The same goes for you, Hauk" - Lena felt she had to defend the dead man's honor. "He wasn't a Nord."

"I was speaking metaphorically" - Hauk objected. "There must be some other place where his people's souls go..." He kneeled to look into the conjurer's face. "Breton. Where do Breton souls go?" Hauk looked up at Lena.

"Don't ask me - I have no idea!" - she shrugged. "I guess we'll see."

"You are going to Sovngarde, of course" - Hauk said firmly. "You are half-Nord and you are Dragonborn."

"Uriel Septim was Dragonborn, and he was an Imperial" - Lena objected. Were they really discussing life after death?

"Then he's gone to Sovngarde too, he must have done."

"Let's not rush to find out, shall we?" - Lena took Hauk's arm. "What we need in this life now is food and sleep. Come on."

They returned to the main section of the ruin and eventually found a way to the conjurers' living quarters. It was past 2 a.m. and a high time for a meal and a rest.

[Lena Wolf]

9 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Culotte

"Well, where next?" - Lena and Hauk were walking on the surface of the Upper Niben. "We have all day - Mr. Umbacano won't be expecting us until tomorrow." Lena surveyed the shores.

"There - that submerged ruin" - Hauk pointed East. "Culotte, I think."

They entered. A foul stench greeted them.

"Ugh, zombies" - Hauk grimaced, readying his fire. "Best to burn them from a distance."

Culotte was a crypt. Rows of sarcophagi filled a large hall, and that was it. Zombies were roaming between them.

"This isn't what I'd call an adventure" - Lena turned to Hauk, wrinkling her nose.

"No, more like a civic duty" - Hauk nodded. "Come on - now that we are here, we ought to put them down. They will rise again of course, but still..."

It took several hours but eventually the crypt of Culotte was quiet once again. It was early evening when they stood outside inhaling deeply, trying to clear their lungs of the stench of decomposing flesh.

"We should spend the night in Bravil - we are out of provisions" - Lena pulled last two bottles of mead out of her pack. "Of course we have some food at Fort Grief, but it's only what keeps..."

"Yeah, I could use a good meal" - Hauk nodded. They had to get ready for Nenalata tomorrow.

They were crossing the Niben when Hauk decided to do some fishing battlemage style.

"See - you don't just get the fish, it comes seared already!" - he grinned.

[Lena Wolf]

10 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Nenalata

The morning started out rainy. Lena and Hauk crossed the Niben feeling wet from above as well as from below. Mr. Umbacano was waiting for them near the entrance to Nenalata.

"It's best if we scout ahead first" - Lena told him. "There bound to be undead inside."

"By all means!" - Umbacano looked relieved. "I'll wait here until it's safe!"

Lena and Hauk went in.

"Something tells me that Umbacano can defend himself perfectly well" - she turned to Hauk. "But I didn't want him under our feet."

"Indeed" - Hauk nodded. "Did you bring your Spellbreaker? It will look better on your arm than in your pack" - he winked.

"Right" - Lena fumbled with it. "I'm not used to carrying a shield, but I'll need it, I fear. And this" - she put on an elven helm.

"This looks old!" - Hauk whistled. "Is that the other Ayleid crown? No wonder you didn't want Umbacano around."

"Yes, that's the one - it has strong magic resistance."

...

"Phew" - Lena dropped onto a sarcophagus half way through Nenalata Wendesel. "How many wraiths and liches was that so far? A dozen?"

"Probably, not counting their summons" - Hauk dropped next to her. "I lost count, I admit."

"Six portions of ectoplasm and seven handfuls of bonemeal, and I haven't collected them all" - Lena looked in her pack.

"That'll be plus seven never ending skeleton hero summons" - Hauk was examining a large dent in his armour. "With dwarven battleaxes!"

"Yeah, my armour is completely shattered" - Lena observed, stripping. "I'll need to mend it first..."

"You can't mend such damage here" - Hauk pointed out, picking up her grieves. "Better change into something else, or wear it for the sake of the enchantment."

"I know" - Lena pulled out a fancy blue dress. "My raiment of Arden-Sul! Trust the Manics to come up with a battle dress like that... All silk and lace and gold thread embroidery. Crab sandwich?"

With the attire sorted, it was high time to have lunch.

"At least you didn't get knocked out by the wraiths this time" - Hauk noted, making short work of the stack of crab sandwiches. "Although..." - he looked into Lena's face by the light of his torch. "It might be the light, but you do look pale."

"Yeah... I'm cold, too" - Lena admitted. "But there might be an advantage to that" - she said, smiling. "Remember Malada?"

"Your vampirism got triggered" - Hauk nodded. "It was useful against the living, but we are expecting more undead."

"If it really kicks in, it will make me much stronger... for a time" - she smiled at him. "I want to try it."

"Or you might collapse in the worst possible moment" - Hauk shook his head. "But I suppose you have to experiment..."

...

"So, this is it" - they stood in the final hall, having cleared another half a dozen of wraiths and liches. "Umbacano will have the key for that." Lena ran her fingers along the carving. "Wait... this looks familiar."

"The stone tablet from Malada" - Hauk nodded. "I bet that's the key. But we haven't got it, so let's go bring him here and see what happens."

...

"Oh yes, this is it!" - Umbacano stood in the final hall. He pressed the tablet from Malada into the socket on the wall and chanted an incantation. The tablet was important, but it wasn't all.

The wall opened and they entered the throne room of the Ayleid King of Nenalata.

"Finally!" - Umbacano was jubilant. "It falls to me to restore our glorious Empire!" He sat on the throne wearing the Crown of Nenalata.

"Somehow I don't think he means the Empire of Tamriel" - Hauk said in Lena's ear. "He must be a descendent of the last King of Nenalata. He is a High Elf."

Lena nodded. "Prepare for battle."

Umbacano's incantation caused more wall panels to slide open releasing six nether liches. The throne room swarmed with a dozen undead - some of the liches summoned wraiths rather than skeletons. Umbacano himself became hostile and joined the attack. He might have summoned something as well, it was hard to tell.

Lena and Hauk got separated, and Lena got battered by the skeletons. She tried to ignore them and get to the liches, but she couldn't heal fast enough, not with the liches and wraiths shooting spells at her as well. It was all she could do but to keep her summons going in between the knock-outs.

"Dessos" - she thought. "We need better help."

Dessos was less effective than a clannfear against the skeletons but more effective against the liches and wraiths. The skeletons kept banishing him though.

"Right, here we go" - Lena though. "A sacrifice is required."

She swallowed a potion to fortify her already very considerable magicka reserve and summoned Dessos with long term binding. Then she hit four skeletons in succession with a ranged fire spell and ran into the adjacent chamber. The skeletons followed, with a wraith joining them as well. She wasn't going to fight them - she wanted to lead them away. She went down repeatedly over and over again, but the skeletons stayed with her, hitting her every time she regained consciousness. She was going to have a lot of broken bones... and she was growing colder with every hit of the frost spell from the wraith.

"So much for all that spell absorption" - she thought. Although it would have been a lot worse without it.

She heard Hauk cursing from the next room, and Dessos roaring, at least they were still there, fighting. She would get up to her feet as soon as those damned skeletons were banished... But the liches had summoned them with long term binding too, they would not be banished until they were defeated...

"The Royal Guard" - she thought. Those were no ordinary undead.

One by one the wraiths and skeletons were banished as Hauk and Dessos defeated the liches. But even a single skeleton was enough to keep Lena down. The fighting in the main chamber continued. Lena heard a scream - was that Umbacano? Then - "Your life is forfeit, mortal!" followed by a loud slam of metal against stone. Another frost spell hit her and everything went permanently dark.

...

"She is not waking up" - Lena heard a deep and hoarse voice far away. "But I'm still here..."

"Then she's still alive" - another deep voice answered.

Everything inside her hurt... Every bit of skin hurt too. Every bone seemed to be broken. Again.

"Let it go and rise a pure-blood" - a powerful voice spoke in her head. "Leave your mortal life behind."

"Molag Bal?" - Lena thought she knew the voice.

"I shall raise you above the half-breed you once were. You will know the true power of a pure-blood."

"'You might be with child already'" - Lucien's voice sounded in Lena's memory.

"And my child?" - she asked.

"You will bare a pure-blood" - the voice answered. "And nothing will desecrate my gift - there is no 'cure' for a pure-blood!" The voice sounded triumphant. "Your pain will seize. Rise and take your place of power! Or die as cattle."

Lena's body wanted to say yes - the pain was intense, her head was spinning, she needed blood. She wasn't a proper mortal anyway, so why bother with the pretence...

"Exactly" - the voice answered her thoughts.

"So why haven't you taken me already?" - she wondered. It wasn't like Molag Bal to ask for permission.

"He needs consent" - another familiar voice sounded in Lena's head. "Ironic, isn't it? We can all devour mortal souls for breakfast, but we cannot own them without consent. Not any more, that is."

"She will still serve you, Sheogorath" - Molag Bal snapped irritably. "Get out of my way!"

"Typical" - Sheogorath mused. "I am not in your way - we're both in her head! Which is mad, if you ask me!"

A treacle of warmth was spreading through Lena's body. Where was it coming from?

"She needs more, let me" - a deep hoarse voice sounded far away.

"Bloody liches, I wish I didn't lose so much blood fighting them" - a familiar deep voice cursed.

"You mortals have less blood to begin with" - the hoarse voice was familiar, too.

"Well, I guess I won't be dying today, Molag Bal" - Lena said in her head defiantly. "A mortal and a dremora are trying to bring me back."

"Then suffer your mortal pain, you fool! But remember my offer."

...

Everything in Lena's body was hurting. She felt the cold of the stone floor she was lying on. She opened her eyes and saw Hauk's pale face above her. He was sitting with his back against the wall, Lena's head resting on his lap. He was asleep and he looked exhausted.

Lena raised her head and saw Dessos sitting against the other wall by her feet. He was covered in burns and cuts, but bruises were not showing on his dark skin. Steel and daedric armour was lying further in the chamber. Swords, staffs and battleaxes were piled up in the corner.

Dessos must have heard Lena move because he opened his eyes and looked around.

"It worked" - he said and smiled.

Hauk woke up too.

"You gave us a fright" - he said, stroking her hair.

"But you two prevailed" - Lena smiled, looking at them in turn.

"How did you survive? Those skeletons and wraiths were relentless" - Hauk shot Dessos a glance, still looking at Lena. Dessos nodded.

"Molag Bal" - Lena stretched, preparing to sit up. "He wanted to raise me as a pure-blood, but Sheogorath interfered."

"Pure-blood what?"

"Pure-blood vampire." Lena sat up and turned to prop herself against the wall. "Then your blood brought me back."

"Ironic" - Dessos smirked. "Molag Bal's own curse turned against him."

"How is it that you are still here?" - Lena turned to Dessos, realising that she had summoned him in what felt like a previous lifetime.

"Long term binding" - Dessos reminded her. "I cannot leave until you release me, or my body dies."

"Oh" - Lena blushed. "Right." She tried to scramble to her feet.

"There's no rush" - Dessos stopped her. "I'll go when you two are both able to walk. Lord Sanguine would be displeased with anything less. You might still need my blood."

They spent a few more hours in that chamber next to the throne room of the last King of Nenalata. Healing potions flowed as freely as mead, and everyone was glad that Lena had stuffed her pack full with provisions before setting out in the morning. They slept some more, and eventually they were able to walk. Dessos accompanied Lena and Hauk to Fort Grief and only agreed to leave after they cleared out the rats. Lord Sanguine would have been displeased with anything less, of course. But Lena wondered whether it was Sanguine's will that Dessos was following, or his own.
______________________

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Aug 6 2021, 02:58 PM

[Lena Wolf]

11 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Cheydinhal home

"Gods, that was something else!" - the events of the day before were still fresh in their memory. "I could use a rest now" - Lena was nibbling on her cheese sandwich.

"Cheydinhal?" - asked Hauk, watching her face. "I'll be staying at the Mages Guild there from now on." Lena squeezed his hand in thanks.

...

They got to Cheydinhal in late afternoon, stopping at Fort Farragut first to leave a note for Lucien. He wasn't in, and Lena briefly considered staying at his fort to wait for him, but then she changed her mind. The Wolf Sanctuary was a better home.

I'm back - will you join me? Wolf.

It was a bit awkward... They both were so used to living independent lives. They were still independent of course, but Lena wanted to see Lucien more often than just once an eternity. She hoped things would fall into place somehow.

...

Lucien returned to his fort in the middle of the night, bleeding - his target had put up quite a fight. But no matter, it wasn't the first time. He was looking for frost salts to press to the wound, when he noticed a note on the table. Lena was back.

What Lucien would normally do with a wound like that, was to stop the bleeding with a healing compress, take a cold bath to cool the fever, and then sleep it off. But now Lena was back, and he knew that she'd come to check on him in the morning. Normally he would just cast chameleon because he wouldn't want her to see him... But somehow none of what used to be normal applied any more. He wanted to see her even though he knew she'd start fussing over his wound. He'd have to change his habits, well, at least some of them. He put a healing compress to stop the bleeding, packed some of his spare clothes and stepped on the ladder to leave.

"Better move some of the blades as well" - he thought, making another pack. "Then I'll be able to leave straight from her place..." Things started to change.

...

Lena woke up to the sound of the front door clicking shut. Someone used a key to enter. She heard light footsteps on the stairs, her hand closing on the Sufferthorn under her pillow. She could see the top of the stairs from the bed. Lucien.

She was next to him in a split second.

"I missed you too" - he laughed, reciprocating her embrace. "Ouch."

"You are hurt!" - Lena pulled back, looking him over.

"Yes, but it's no longer bleeding" - he said dismissively. "And you had your bones broken again, and worse!" Now Lucien was looking Lena over.

"Yes, but it's mended" - she smiled. "Bath?"

"Let's."

Evidently, they both knew what to do.

[Lena Wolf]

12-13 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Mages Guild politics

Lena walked into the Cheydinhal Mages Guild looking for Hauk.

"Good morning, Warlock" - Deetsan greeted her. "If I could have a word?"

"Of course!" - Lena smiled warmly.

"Not here - walk with me" - Deetsan hissed - Argonians weren't good at whispering.

She went out the door and Lena followed.

"I've heard what happened in Bruma" - said Deetsan when they were behind the Mages Guild Hall. "This is most distressing, but not surprising. You should know that Traven was very displeased with you not eliminating them all, although of course he couldn't very well order an execution. He wrote to all Guild Hall heads to warn about you as a potential Necromancy sympathiser - we are to report anything suspicious. Don't worry, I am not about to report anything, and besides there isn't anything to report, but if eventually there is, then, well, it won't be reported..." - she broke off, with what looked like a blush on her cheeks. Did Argonians blush? Must have been the wind.

"Thank you" - Lena smiled. "These are turbulent times. Not all necromancers are out to murder people..."

"Of course not!" - Deetsan breathed with relief. "We are quite safe here with Alteration, I think, but other Guild Halls don't fare as well. Traven has now banned summoning any undead as well as spells that absorb life energies."

"But Summon Skeleton is the only novice summon!" - cried Lena. "How is anyone to learn Conjuration without it?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he banned the whole of Conjuration" - Deetsan's eyes narrowed. "Be careful what you say around Trayvond though - with his views..."

"Yes, I remember" - Lena nodded. "He wouldn't practice Illusion, Conjuration or... Necromancy. Yeah, I remember him saying that."

"Anyway, we should get back before the others start getting suspicious" - Deetsan started walking towards the hall. "Do what you have to do and let's hope not everyone will be dead by the time Traven and Mannimarco settle their little dispute."

...

Back at the Mages Guild Lena found Hauk in the basement tending to his armour in old Falcar's room - none of the mages wanted to use it, so they converted it to guest quarters. A couple of letters lay on the desk.

"Letters from Iver and Jowan" - Hauk nodded towards them. "Both asking to meet" - he shot Lena a glance. "Iver specifically asked for you, something must be going on."

"I think I know" - Lena sat down with a sigh. "Nenyond Twyll. Those battlemages that perished there, had no idea what to expect. Kud-Ei mentioned it wasn't the first time either."

"May be" - Hauk didn't seem convinced. "It's not like Iver to get involved in politics though. I suppose we should just go and see. When you're ready to leave" - he smiled at her.

"Tomorrow? Imperial City first, then we can go to Bruma from there" - she nodded. "I suppose it was Volanaro who wanted a word, rather than Jowan. But it will be good to see them both." She fell silent for a while, thinking of something. "Hauk - why don't you join us for dinner tonight?"

"'Us'? Lucien's getting used to being seen around town, is he?" - Hauk laughed. "Of course I will come."

"Lucien is getting used to the idea that people know him in this town" - Lena nodded with a wink. "Even if most of them are smart enough not to say so in his face."

13 Sun's Height

Iver was shooting shock spells at a training screen with obvious anger.

"Oh hello!" - he saw Hauk come in. "Wolf not with you?"

"Plundering the alchemy garden" - Hauk grinned. "Lunch?"

"Yes, better not here."

They picked up Lena on the University grounds and walked into the City.

"The King and Queen tavern" - Iver insisted. "It will be busy but not rowdy, and less chance to bump into someone we know."

Lena and Hauk exchanged glances, but followed.

"So, what's going on?" - Hauk fixed his brother with a steady gaze when they finally had their plates full of food in front of them at the King and Queen tavern.

"Traven is dropping battlemages" - Iver said angrily. "We are being moved to the Legion."

"Oh?" - Hauk raised an eyebrow. "I didn't receive any communications like that."

"You wouldn't, he practically dismissed you already years ago" - Iver rolled his eyes. "He's getting rid of us in groups, I haven't had the notice yet either, but some others already had theirs."

"So what do you want me to do?" - asked Lena unsure.

"Contact me if he sends you on a mission with battlemages" - Iver looked straight at Lena, just as Hauk would have done. They still looked nearly identical, having aged in the same way. "None returned from Nenyond Twyll, or from three other missions since then. And I for one don't want to be sacrificed."

"More Ayleid ruins?" - asked Hauk.

"Some" - Iver nodded. "But it's not the ruins that worries me, it's how he phrases the assignment. He wants a frontal assault..."

"...and this is not how you survive a battle" - finished Hauk. "I see."

"But why?" - Lena looked at them in turn. "Why would Traven want to hunt down battlemages?"

"Not all of us" - Iver shook his head. "Like I said - some are being transferred to the Legion, mostly the young ones who joined only recently. But those of us who've been around for a while... I think he is afraid we'd refuse to fight old friends who joined Mannimarco."

"Or even worse - join your friends and Mannimarco" - Lena nodded slowly.

"You could leave until this is over" - suggested Hauk without conviction.

"No" - Iver shot him a glance. "It's not as bad as it was for you then. I just need to survive until I get transferred to the Legion. With you out and about, the Legion will keep me in the Imperial City and in full view."

"And no one will be certain which Serck-Hanssen they've seen strolling around" - Hauk smirked. "Yeah, that's an old trick, Optio." They laughed and turned their full attention to the food on the table.

...

Lena and Hauk left the Imperial City after lunch heading North to Bruma. To save the time, they crossed Lake Rumare behind the Imperial Prison, coming out immediately at the start of the Silver Road. The trip was uneventful, bar the usual bandits, ogres and minotaers stalking the roads. It was past midnight when they arrived in Bruma.

"There you are, Optio!" - a boy with a Skyrim accent greeted Hauk as soon as they came in through the gates. He looked around searching for something. "Olav has been expecting you! He did say you'd have a wolf with you though..."

"I am Wolf" - said Lena laughing. "What's going on?"

"Someone is waiting for you!" - the boy shouted, running off.

The public room at Olav's was filled with people drinking, most of whom had already had more than enough to make the conversation slow and repetitive. Olav was standing in the corner surveying his guests, undoubtedly watching for the signs when it was time to throw the next one out.

"Optio, Wolf" - he greeted Hauk and Lena as they came in. "I've kept your room free for you, you'll find a package on the bed. Unless you wanted supper first?"

"Supper first" - said Hauk, taking a seat. "Unless..." - he looked at Lena, impatience written all over her face. "Go see what's in that package, it can't be such a great secret if they left it on the bed in an inn!"

Lena dashed to the room - her curiosity got ahead of her supper.

"We are to go to the Cloud Ruler Temple" - she handed Hauk a note that she found on the bed. "I recognise the handwriting" - she grimaced.

"We'll see tomorrow" - Hauk nodded. "She can wait."

[Lena Wolf]

14 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Cloud Ruler Temple

"I thought the Cloud Ruler Temple was ravaged by the Thalmor" - Lena turned to Hauk as they walked out of Bruma's North gate.

"They made a big fuss about it but in truth there was nothing to do here - the Blades had been gone for a long time already. This unit didn't survive the Oblivion Crisis" - Hauk explained, making long strides towards the Temple. "The next Emperor didn't trust them to protect his person" - he smirked.

"So the Blades are really disbanded, are they?" - Lena looked into the distance where the Temple outline appeared in the fog.

"I didn't say that" - Hauk winked. "I only said they were gone from here."

"Ah."

A leather-clad figure came onto the road from behind a rock, facing them.

"Optio, Champion" - she greeted them. "Thank you for coming."

"Delphine" - they nodded a greeting.

"I apologise for my poor information earlier - I do know now who you both are. And you are right" - she turned to Lena - "you have nothing to prove to me, Champion."

"Please call me Wolf or Warlock" - Lena grimaced. "Champion is a title from another lifetime."

"As you wish" - she bowed her head slightly. "But you are also Dragonborn, I'm sure the Greybeards are right, and so the Blades need your help again."

"And I won't be joining you again" - Lena said, looking straight at her. "'Honorary Knight Sister' is not my idea of an honour."

"Well... All right, I won't say I wasn't going to offer it" - Delphine smiled. "But I have something better for you: help us and I shall tell you about your father."

Lena went pale.

"This is blackmail, Delphine" - she said quietly.

"This is a fair trade" - Delphine answered. "I have information that you want, and you have the skills that I seek."

"To put towards achieving goals that I do not care for" - Lena objected.

"Well, if you are not interested" - Delphine raised an eyebrow - "then I'm sure someone in Morrowind would get a writ for a certain Speaker and his Silencer."

"Like I said - a blackmail" - Lena smiled, her eyes cold. "I shall help you, Delphine, but I want your information and proof upfront, so that the extent of my help could be weighed against your payment. And Morag Tong... that's just a hazard of my trade."

Delphine had overplayed her hand - there was nothing left but to agree.

"Olav has the documents" - she said with a sigh. "I trust to see you both in Riverwood soon."

She disappeared behind the rock.

"Why did she want you here as well?" - Lena wondered aloud.

"She thought I'd support her" - Hauk smirked. "But it doesn't work that way - wrong unit."

He turned around and started walking towards Bruma. Lena sprinted to catch up.

[Lena Wolf]

14 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Wolf Asgarsen

Lena's heart was racing with anticipation as she and Hauk entered Olav's Tap and Tack. Olav had the documents revealing the identity of Lena's father - or so Delphine had said. Olav smiled in greeting and pointed to their room. A package was lying on the bed.

"This is it" - Lena breathed, unwrapping it. "Let's see..."

The package contained an old scroll and two letters with broken seals. Lena started with the scroll.

To the Commander of the Second Legion Wolf Asgarsen -

Imperial Legion order of 27 Second Seed, 3E396

In view of recent unrest throughout the Empire, your Legion is permanently assigned to maintain peace in the Southern and Western reaches of Skyrim, and in particular the Pale Pass area, both in Skyrim and Cyrodiil. You are to eliminate any and all potential threats before they arise. Your base is to be the Pale Pass Fortress.

Wolf Asgarsen... The name was certainly suggestive, but the date was more than twenty years before Lena's birth. Besides, just because there was a Legion Commander by that name, it did not yet prove anything at all.

"Do not succumb to wishful thinking" - Lena told herself, putting the scroll aside.

She opened one of the letters. It had no date or signature.

The Commander has undesirable connections. His lover is a Dark Brotherhood assassin, which, as I am sure you agree, presents danger to the Empire. Neither our secrets nor our troops may be safe, should Asgarsen's loyalty to his lover prove higher than that to our cause. I propose the elimination of both - Wolf Asgarsen and Lilian Delacour.

The second letter looked similar - the same kind of parchment, the same simple wax seal without a mark, the same signs of ageing.

We have performed the Black Sacrament, and the money has changed hands. Ordering a killing of a Dark Brotherhood assassin by another Dark Brotherhood assassin was a stroke of genius, my friend! The contract has been accepted, now we wait. Asgarsen hasn't got long to live!

The letters fitted with what Lucien had told Lena and Geralt already. It was something, certainly, but it wasn't a definite proof. Lena decided that these clues would buy Delphine some of her services, but no loyalty.

"At least the parchment is the actual Legion issue" - Hauk noted, having examined them as well. "They might well be genuine, or else someone simply had genuine Legion parchment at hand."

"They are clues, not proof" - agreed Lena. "I suppose I'll need to investigate this in Skyrim somehow."

"The Second Legion had links with Falkreath" - said Hauk. "You might find something in the archives there, if any archives were kept at all. Not about this Dark Brotherhood business - this is clearly clandestine - but about the Commander himself."

"Yes..." - Lena mused, lost in thought. "If I can find out more about him, it might answer a few questions."

She folded the letters and the scroll and stashed them in her pack.

"That Imperial order also said that the Second Legion would be stationed at the Pale Pass Fortress" - she looked at Hauk, puzzled. "But we've been there looking for that necklace for the Countess, and all we found were ancient ghosts, remember? From the time well before that order. How could the Legion have been stationed there then?"

"It couldn't have been" - agreed Hauk. "Not where we have been, anyway. Perhaps there is another fortress somewhere around there? May be closer to the modern crossing into Skyrim? We do still call it the Pale Pass, even though it isn't the same trail."

"And also" - Lena continued - "assuming this is all true, then would it not suggest that my mother had lived in Bruma or nearby?"

"Do you not remember?" - Hauk looked at her searching.

"No, I was too little" - Lena shook her head. "My mother died when I was four, and I don't remember her at all. I grew up on the Niben. But I was born elsewhere, gran did mention that..." - she strained to remember. "But she didn't say where exactly. Only that I should go to Skyrim to learn about my father."

"Then that's where you should start - in Falkreath" - Hauk said firmly. "There are too many unknowns this side of the border."

[Lena Wolf]

14 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Bruma Mages Guild

"Good to see you!" - Volanaro greeted Lena and Hauk as they entered the Mages Guild in Bruma. "So you got my note."

"Yes, we figured it was from you" - grinned Hauk. "How are things?"

"Fine, quiet for now" - Volanaro smiled. "Jowan is here somewhere - he's been showing J'skar some of his spells. The same effects, different technique - very interesting." He wanted to say more, but restrained himself - the two mages before him were no academics. "I just wanted to fill you in on what we've done and heard around here."

"Gladly" - Lena nodded. They walked to the dining room - a conversation always went better with wine on the table.

"Since we no longer report to the Arch Mage" - Volanaro started - "we've reinstated our enchanting and spellmaking altars - they are in the alchemy hall, if you need them. Selena now also sells poisons, not just potions" - he smiled. "She will gladly buy any suitable ingredients from you, for more money than you'd normally get elsewhere. You would not believe the demand on poisons that we are seeing! It's almost nearing the demand for mead."

"How is Jeanne holding up?" - asked Lena, grinning to the memory of the pranks they played on her.

"She's her usual self" - Volanaro chuckled. "Still working on that scamp. But truth be told, her Illusions are far better than you would expect. She must have been holding back because Traven considers that school 'evil'. And..." - he looked around, then lowered his voice - "she can levitate."

"Oh!" - Lena and Hauk exclaimed in surprise.

"There isn't much known about her past" - Volanaro continued in a low voice. "But it would appear she spent time in Morrowind. So..."

"...what else can she do?" - Hauk finished his sentence with a chuckle. "Oh Jeanne!"

They chatted about other mages they knew, then Lena thought of her assignment from Traven to retrieve two missing artefacts.

"I suppose you've heard that the Council of Mages fell apart and Caranya and Irlav Jarol left the Imperial City, taking each an important artefact" - she started, looking at Volanaro. "Traven wants me to retrieve those items, but I don't think it will be that straightforward. Any thoughts?"

"Caranya is a necromancer" - Volanaro answered after a moment's pause. "She used to come here often enough - we had common projects. But I would not have thought she'd join Mannimarco fully, she's too independent."

"So you don't think she took the Necromancer's Amulet for Mannimarco?" - Lena asked with hope in her voice.

"No, I don't" - Volanaro smiled slyly. "She will probably say it, but I am pretty sure she'll keep the amulet for herself. Unless she plans to use it to weaken Mannimarco instead."

"How so?"

"That amulet raises your magical abilities, true, but it also significantly drains your life forces. Caranya might use it in the most unpredictable ways." He laughed softly. "I would not be so sure whose side she is on."

"And Irlav?"

"He isn't a necromancer, I don't think so" - Volanaro scratched his head in doubt. "A conjurer, rather. What did he take?"

"The Bloodworm Helm."

"Oh, yes, that makes sense" - Volanaro nodded. "It fortifies your summoning ability, while allowing you to absorb life energies from others. Akin Blood Magic, I would say. And I bet he has no plans to bring it to Mannimarco."

"Just using the crisis for his own ends, then" - Lena nodded.

"Conjuration has suffered a lot from Traven's bans too" - Volanaro agreed. "Irlav had to give up all his studies on long term binding. He mostly worked with daedra, but he can summon undead, too - hence his interest in Ayleid ruins. He won't be giving up that helm easily though."

"Well, may be he doesn't have to" - Lena mused. "My personal goal here is to minimise bloodshed, not to help Traven wage his war."

[Renee]

"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."

Ha, I know this guy. Skyrim has a bunch of little clever moments like this. Seems like Lena and Hauk didn't fall for this ruse.

Another thing. You have beautiful sunny weather in your game apparently, all the way to Riften. I only am noticing this because on Xbox, this is what I have noticed too. The sun shines a lot in the Rift, definitely more than 50%. But I've heard a couple gamers who play this game on PC often see much more overcast weather. And that's without any weather mods added. One of my friends has claimed "the sun never shines in my Riften". Odd.

I am enjoying this whole segment into Riften, by the way. First she gets accosted by the guards, yet she makes more money from defeating Nilheim. I love that you add NPC dialog into these chapters. Even the scene where Maul seems as he's about to confront Lena, but then he walks off without doing anything. Adds a bit of edge. Skyrim has a lot of edgy stuff going on when it comes to ordinary townspeople, just like TES 4 has a lot of goofy, nonsensical stuff going on. It's good that you've captured this.

[Lena Wolf]

Another thing. You have beautiful sunny weather in your game apparently, all the way to Riften. I only am noticing this because on Xbox, this is what I have noticed too. The sun shines a lot in the Rift, definitely more than 50%. But I've heard a couple gamers who play this game on PC often see much more overcast weather. And that's without any weather mods added. One of my friends has claimed "the sun never shines in my Riften". Odd.

The Rift is usually sunny on PS4! It's often foggy in the morning, but then the fog clears. I have no weather mods, so this is just as it comes.

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

A note to faithful followers of the story: Lena has been arguing with Roach lately, and it is never a good idea to argue with your horse. So she's stuck in Bruma for a few days until Roach cools off - Roach is jealous of Luna (Hauk's horse) who is apparently younger, prettier and has bigger... you know what. But once this is sorted, they'll be off again.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Aug 9 2021, 09:29 AM

[Renee]

"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"

Har har.

Interesting how Geralt is the one who went into the temple near Dawnstar. See, Lena can't get to everything. A lot of us approach these games in the same way. One character won't do every quest, and so on.

I am up to post 31

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 17 2021, 01:00 PM