[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]

26-27 Last Seed, 4E202 - Deadlands - Mammoths

"Oh wow, look at that!" - Garrus was clearly enjoying himself. "And what's this?"

"Drink" - said Hauk. Lena shot him a glance but drank. "It's a blood fountain" - he added, turning to Garrus. "Adapted for non-vampires. Drink - the fight is still long."

"No! I am not drinking blood!" - Garrus protested with indignation.

"You do if you want to stay alive" - retorted Hauk, leaning to the fountain and drinking. "It's not the time to be squeamish."

Garrus looked at him with horror, but he must have seen the wisdom in his words because he too drank.

"All right, I've tasted worse" - he grinned. "But why exactly are they trying to keep us alive?"

"They are not, that's for the dremoras and xivilai, but it sustains mortals as well."

"So the blood is actually..." - Garrus' face contorted with horror again.

"Mortal, yes" - Hauk's eyes were hard. "But it's processed. You are not a cannibal."

"I no longer regret to have missed the Oblivion Crisis" - said Garrus through his teeth. "Let's keep going. Where is this Sigil Stone?"

...

The tower had many floors, with ever increasing defences. Where they encountered beasts on the lower levels, they now had to deal with groups of xivilai led by a dremora mage. Lena was mostly staying out of the spells and with good reason - a single hit would knock her out, they were that strong.

"How on Nirn did you manage it back then, on your own?" - Garrus wondered helping her up.

"With difficulty" - she admitted. "I used stealth a lot and tried to avoid fighting, although it wasn't always possible... Let's go" - she cut herself off, it wasn't her favourite topic.

They climbed another level, and there it was: the Sigil Stone.

"Right, this is what we came for" - Lena turned to her companions. "Stay close and hold on to me when I grab it."

They stood among the burned down houses again, but the fire had completely disappeared.

"It worked, we're back" - Lena smiled at them. "How long were we in there?" She looked at the sky - it was dusk. "What day is it?"

"Day?" - Garrus was surprised. "Why, the same day as when we went in, surely?"

"Not necessarily" - Hauk looked at Lena with understanding. "Time passes differently in other realms. We should find someone to ask."

It was midnight when they reached Sungard - the woodcutters' settlement. They hoped to stay the night at the workers' house but were told to leave. "We are not an inn! Go to Greenwall" - was the reply.

So they rode on.

27 Last Seed

About half way to Greenwall in the middle of the wilderness the dark night sky suddenly turned red - another Oblivion gate sprang open. Wild beasts turned onto each other, nightmarish creatures came out of nowhere - giant spiders and giant snakes. A herd of mammoths rushed down the mountain attacking everything in their way, followed by a pack of wolves attacking the mammoths...

"What on Nirn has just happened?!" - shouted Garrus who was falling asleep in the saddle from exhaustion moments earlier. The horses bolted and ran off.

"Spread out and run!!!" - shouted Hauk, and that's what they did, heading towards Greenwall and trying to stay close to the road so as not to get lost.

The mammoths turned their attention to the wolves, spiders and snakes and lost sight of three humans running away from the fight. The road made a few turns, and suddenly darkness fell, complete with a starry sky.

"Wow! Is it all over?" - Garrus slowed down, looking back. Hauk was catching up without much effort but Lena... well... she was on her last legs, but still running. "Gosh, you look tired!" - Garrus caught her as she decided to just drop on the ground then and there.

"Getting knocked out has its price" - she managed, breathing hard.

"Watch out!!!" - screamed Hauk, summoning a clannfear. "We are not done yet!" One last mammoth was thundering down the road after them. But at least it was just one mammoth, not half a dozen as before.

Thump!

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall - or something like that" - Lena grinned, having touched the mammoth with a paralysis spell. "They do make for a lot of steaks!"

"Let's hope we won't have horse meat for dinner as well" - said Hauk grimly. "I like Luna."

They whistled for the horses and listened for the sound of hooves, and sure enough all three horses appeared from behind the trees. With a huge sigh of relief, they got into the saddles. It was dawn.

"I want to go back and see whether the Oblivion gate is still up there" - said Lena, not looking at her companions.

"What - now?!" - Hauk didn't think it was a good idea. "We should ride to Greenwall and sleep for two days straight!"

"Yes, now, and Greenwall can wait" - Lena looked at him and he saw that she was serious. "Did that Oblivion gate just disappear? I need to know. There was nothing there just last morning, no gate, no spiders, no mammoths, no wolves. Where did it all come from?"

They retraced their steps almost all the way to Sungard, but there was no Oblivion gate anywhere, just a lot of dead animals - wolves, leopards and spiders, but no snakes. A herd of mammoths was grazing on the slopes, they rode carefully past and the mammoths did not attack.

"They are not suicidal, you know" - said Hauk. "But they do panic easily, so it's best they don't see any fighting."

"Like giant snakes attacking giant spiders - yeah, I can see how that would be upsetting" - smirked Garrus. But jokes aside, it was rather disconcerting that the nightmare just vanished without a trace.

"Vaermina?" - Lena wondered aloud.

"We'll need to ask around" - nodded Hauk.

Finally they reached Greenwall. It was nearly midday.

-----------

Skyrim is mostly TWMP Skyrim Improved with all the dependencies. The Oblivion gates and the animals are certainly theirs! And this is just by the border..! Do we dare to venture further in?

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Oct 2 2021, 08:59 AM

[Lena Wolf]

27-28 Last Seed, 4E202 - Oblivion gates of Skyrim

"Stay here, I'm going to investigate a few things" - Lena told Hauk and Garrus. "No, I've slept enough" - she cut off Hauk's protests. "I'll go quietly and try not to spook the mammoths." She turned around and was gone.

"She's gone to see if that Oblivion gate would reopen again" - Garrus noted quite unnecessarily. "It's like she feels personally responsible for it..."

"That's because she does feel personally responsible for it" - Hauk looked at him sideways, refilling his mead. "She closed hundreds of gates during the Crisis. Most people would run away from them, she would run in. Now that habit got re-awakened."

"But why would she do it? We closed that one gate, and promptly another sprung up!"

"Yes, that was odd" - Hauk nodded. "This is how it was during the Oblivion Crisis, but of course there was a reason for it then. I wonder what is going on now."

"How do you know so much about the Oblivion Crisis and the gates?" - Garrus suddenly realised that Hauk could not have lived through it. "Weren't you born much later?"

"Indeed, I'm only 51 - in actual years" - he smirked. "The Oblivion Crisis - I read about it, talked to people who went through it, there are actually quite a lot of them around still, but they don't like to talk about it much, understandably so. As for the gates... they didn't completely vanish after the Crisis was over - and you see them here again. I closed a few myself."

"Wow!" - the innkeep overheard that last sentence and was now offloading food and drink on their table. "Wait... I've heard of you. The Specialist."

"Is that what they call it?" - Hauk grinned.

"We do have Mehrunes Dagon's gates popping up here and there, they never really stopped popping up in Skyrim, in spite of all the shielding" - the innkeep explained, turning to Garrus. "No one knows why really. It stopped for a while during the Great War, but then restarted again. The Legion has been keeping on top of it - that's something that Stormcloaks don't realise, that they will have to take over that duty if they win the war."

"At least we didn't have a dragon swoop in onto us yesterday as well" - Garrus shook his head. "So what's with the Specialist?" - he looked at Hauk and the innkeep in turn.

"Someone who specialises in closing Oblivion gates" - the innkeep shrugged his shoulders. "And other sensitive business." He finished taking roast off the spit and placed a well-laden plate in front of Hauk. "Your dinner, Optio" - he smiled.

"Thank you" - Hauk winked at him. "Yes, I've closed a few gates as and when they appeared" - he turned to Garrus who was now admiring his own well-laden plate. "But I wasn't aware of any trouble in this area. Was that development quite recent?" - he asked the innkeep.

"Fairly" - he nodded. "But mostly these are not ordinary gates - they come and go. We couldn't call the Legion for help because they keep shifting and moving, it's a nightmare, really. And always at night. We barely leave our houses after nightfall."

"But it seems to be quiet during the day" - Hauk looked up from his roast. "We rode for two days or so without running into anything more threatening than a fox."

"That's right, but gates bring other curses with them... werewolves, trolls, giant spiders, monsters of all kinds the likes of which we don't normally see... Not your usual daedra either..."

"And Lena went into the night to investigate!" - Garrus exclaimed with worry. "Should we go after her?"

"No" - Hauk shook his head. "She'll be better off on her own. She'll cloak and sneak about and hopefully see something without getting into any fights at all."

28 Last Seed

"Well? It took you a while!" - Hauk greeted Lena when she returned in the evening of the following day. "What did you discover?"

"I found the gate" - she told them. "It was further off the road than we thought. I went in and closed it. It was lucky this wasn't the one we went in together - it took a long time to get to the tower - the right tower, there were two others."

"But it's done now" - Hauk motioned the innkeep for another tankard of mead for her.

"Yeah..." - she nodded, relaxing. "Oh, you know those giant snakes?" - they nodded. "They are not aggressive, it appears. They were just wound up by all the fighting around them."

They chatted a bit longer, and finally Lena had to admit that she was much too tired and had to rest. Adventuring could wait until tomorrow.

[Renee]

Post 47: nice, look at Hauk's armor! So golden and glittery. The mobs will get distracted as they are blinded by its glorious, perfect shine.

You described the Arena fight well. Oh gosh. What a crazy summon at the very end.

They bathe at the end.

Post 50: Aw, they can't stay at Cropsford. I love Imperial Bridge Inn, and so do my characters. That place is magical when the sun's setting.

Yes that is the question: what exactly are Hauk and Lena? Are they a pair? Or just conveniently they sometimes get closer than usual? Their explanation is best, I suppose. Things... happen sometimes.

[Lena Wolf]

Yes that is the question: what exactly are Hauk and Lena? Are they a pair? Or just conveniently they sometimes get closer than usual? Their explanation is best, I suppose. Things... happen sometimes.

I posted a cameo #12 in the shorties thread which didn't make it into the main story.

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

[Lena Wolf]

29 Last Seed, 4E202 - The Rift

"Tomorrow we'll go West" - said Lena yawning. They were staying at the Greenwall Inn and wanted to get to Riverwood and possibly go on to Falkreath. "Look - I marked some of the villages that we passed" - she spread a map on the table.

click to enlarge

"Look at all these crypts along the border!" - Garrus exclaimed with excitement. "The innkeep tells me the draugr in there are really tough!"

"And how is that a good thing?" - Hauk looked at him suspiciously. "Haven't you had enough fighting undead in Cyrodiil already?"

"We'll see tomorrow" - Lena shook her head and went to bed.

The next morning the weather was beautiful and they could see The Rift in all its glory.

"So, which way to Riverwood?" - asked Garrus. "North through Sungard or South and then West through the mountains?"

They didn't know. They decided to try North, riding the way they came two days ago. Some mammoths were still grazing on the slopes, but since Lena had closed the Oblivion gate, they hoped to see little trouble on the way. Well... up until they ran into half a dozen of werewolves.

The fighting was intense mostly because the werewolves went for the horses, the horses bolted and everyone ended up chasing everyone else. The werewolves weren't wearing armour though and easily outran the humans and the horses both. They could knock you out with one swipe, too...

So by the time the fighting was over, it was well past midday and our party was still near Greenwall. Besides, two of the horses had been knocked out and needed healing...

"We won't get very far this way" - Lena examined everyone's wounds. "We should go back to the inn and try again tomorrow."

They walked back to Greenwall, leading the horses along.

"But what about this crypt?" - Garrus pointed at an entrance near a wayshrine. "How bad can those draugr be?" - he shrugged, pushing a heavy door.

"They can be pretty bad" - cursed Lena facing half a dozen draugr in a cramped burial chamber. Garrus had been already knocked out and Hauk was fighting his own draugr squad behind her.

...

"All right, you have a point" - Garrus rose to his feet massaging a massive bump on his head. "If we want to get to Riverwood, we should get up early tomorrow and avoid any werewolves, Oblivion gates or Nordic crypts."

"Wiser words have never been spoken" - nodded Hauk, not really expecting such a sensible turn of events.

"And anyway - what's in Riverwood?" - Garrus looked at Lena with a question. "I thought you wanted to go North?"

"Yes, well, it's North, sort of" - Lena smiled. "But with all the monsters around, I thought we should check there."

"Yes, he's there" - Hauk said in her ear. "The innkeep told me." And then turning to Garrus he added: "The witcher is in Riverwood - the White Wolf, Lena's brother."

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

I am working on Southern Skyrim updates for TWMP Skyrim Improved. I've been planting trees all day yesterday replacing frosty pines by birches and aspen trees in The Rift! Because, you know, Hauk is right - it's not The Rift without birches...

[macole]

13 Last Seed, 4E202 - Traven and Mannimarco
"And so both Hannibal Traven and Mannimarco are dead" - Caranya said, standing over their bodies. "As dead as they can be, anyway."

Sorry for having fallen so far behind. I've just finished reading your adventure with Mannimarco and Traven. Very exciting and well done. Much better than the original Mages Guild ending.

This post has been edited by macole: Oct 10 2021, 05:21 AM

[Lena Wolf]

Thanks, Macole! Traven and Mannimarco are both dead... but what of the Mages Guild? Who will be the new Arch Mage? Which policies will they issue? Hold on to your hats...

[Lena Wolf]

30 Last Seed, 4E202 - The way to Riverwood

"Time to get up!" - Lena nudged Garrus awake at dawn. "Let's see if we can get to Riverwood before the nightfall with all the monsters."

"All right, let's get going" - Hauk got up too. "North or South West?"

"Let's try the Northern route again" - decided Lena.

...

"So, this is where we closed the first Oblivion gate" - Garrus pointed up the hill. "It seems quiet there now."

They made the climb to Riften Watch just to be sure. Yes, all was quiet.

"The barracks are all burned down of course, but we are back anyhow" - a guard greeted them. "Someone went in and closed that gate even before we had time to call in the Legion. The Jarl put out a bounty on the Sigil Stones - the steward will pay you a hefty sum for each one, even if the gates were not in The Rift." He gave Lena a meaningful look.

"What makes you think we have any Sigil Stones?" - she said with suspicion.

"Oh, nothing" - the guard rolled his eyes. "A wild guess. Three adventurers stand before me - a battlemage, a warrior and a stealthy type - perhaps an assassin. They climbed all the way up to this hill while the devastation is plain to see from below. Every normal person would walk away, they walk in. The battlemage and the warrior have Legion training - I can tell just by the way you stand!" - he smirked at Garrus who started making disbelieving noises. "The stealthy type..." - he looked Lena over. "Well, I don't know what you are exactly, but that's Nightingale attire" - he smiled broadly. "You know Karliah? She sends her regards" - he winked. "You are in Riften - welcome. Go see the Jarl's steward at the Keep" - he pointed East. "Shadow hide you."

"Oh" - Lena smiled back. "I suppose we're quite obvious."

Hauk laughed, clapping the guard on the shoulder.

"Good to see you're trained as well as we are" - Garrus put out his hand. "I'm with Cheydinhal City Guard."

"Welcome, Captain" - the guard shook his hand. "Yeah, it shows..."

They chatted for a while about this and that, looking over Riften from the Watch. The Keep was set into the mountain side - there were rumours of Dwemer catacombs going deep into the rock. The town itself nestled around a lake, with most houses backing into the slopes.

"We'll have to visit the town another time" - noted Lena looking at the sun about to plunge into the lake. "We are trying to get to Riverwood, and we were hoping to find a route from these parts somehow..."

"For Riverwood you are too far East" - the guard shook his head. "Head back the way you came and follow the road to Nimalten City - which is a small farming village and no city at all" - he smirked. "Hire a guide there to take you to Riverwood - he knows hidden mountain passes and you'll arrive within a few hours."

"Mountain passes!" - exclaimed Lena. "Of course... We tried to find our own way across the mountains, but couldn't."

"Well, those guides must make a living somehow" - the guard winked. "They know which passes are relatively safe and which are sure death traps to stay away from. They are not marking any of this on your map either, don't bother asking. And you'll never find it yourself even after you've walked with them a few times."

That certainly matched Lena's experience. Whenever she'd been sent to one or the other cave or crypt, finding a way through the mountains was always a task worthy a Dovakiin. Or a local mountain guide, as it appeared.

...

In the meantime the sun kept sinking, so Lena, Hauk and Garrus hurried back to Nimalten City where they hired a guide to Riverwood, arriving a few hours later. Evenings were busy in Riverwood, with the hunters back in the village and the farmers done with the day's work. The place was buzzing with activity, in particular around the inn.

"Welcome to The Sleeping Giant Inn!" - they heard a familiar voice as they entered. "Come on in - I've got a clean mug here somewhere..." - Orgnar rummaged under the counter. "We've got mead and rooms, I cook - there isn't much else to tell. See Delphine if you want to sell werewolf meat, she's got a use for that" - he grinned. "You won't find it in my cooking though."

"Thank Akatosh for that!" - grinned Hauk, taking a seat next to Camilla Valerius and winking at her. "How have you been, Orgnar?"

"Fine, fine" - Orgnar grinned back, busying himself with food and drink. "Who's the Imperial?" - he nodded at Garrus.

"Oh he's all right" - Hauk smiled reassuringly. "He's new to Skyrim but he knows the world isn't black and white. Captain of the Guard in Cheydinhal. But you know who the Count of Cheydinhal is? Andel Indarys."

"A Dark Elf? Say no more" - Orgnar nodded.

And while Hauk and Garrus went about sampling Orgnar's cooking with due attention, Lena looked around for her brother. The White Wolf was playing Gwent with a couple of hunters, and judging by the broad grins on their faces, it was a brilliant time to pull him away from the card table.

"Geralt!" - Lena made a theatrical appearance. "Back with Sven's mother, I see?" - she winked at the hunters who chuckled, folding the cards. The game was over.

"Not with Sven's mother, but I am staying at her house, yes" - Geralt put away his purse, although there didn't seem to be anything worth putting away in it. "And what brings you here, little sister?"

"Oh, this and that" - Lena winked, taking his hand and leading him away from the table. "We need to catch up. In private."

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

Geralt's apparance, weapons, armour and signs are courtesy Classic Witcher based on Witcher 2.

In TWMP Skyrim Improved there aren't many land routes between different inhabited areas. Instead, you have to find a guide and he'll take you where you want to go (fast travel). The mountain ridges in between are very steep, quite impossible to climb, not even with Shadowmere or a mountain goat. Clearly, the guides take you through mountain passes, but there aren't any built. I plan to change that. Since I'm currently just exploring Southern Skyrim, I shall build some passes connecting The Rift and Falkreath Hold. Riverwood is in Falkreath Hold here because Whiterun is more to the North East compared to Skyrim The Game. I might change it later, especially since there's no Whiterun city in TWMP Skyrim Improved. And no Riften, either, which is my current building project, now that Riverwood is done.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Oct 11 2021, 01:12 PM

[Lena Wolf]

30-31 Last Seed, 4E202 - Catching up with Geralt

"Geralt! Back in Riverwood, are you?" - Lena embraced her brother. "I thought you were building a house on the moor?"

"It is being built" - Geralt nodded. "I don't have to supervise though. I'm a witcher, not a builder" - he winked. "And there are monsters here in need of my attention."

"Monsters awakened by the Oblivion gates - we've heard" - Lena nodded. "Werewolves and trolls and such."

"As well as rampaging ice worms and mammoths" - chimed in Garrus who was watching Geralt with rapt attention.

"That's just wild life spooked by the fighting" - Geralt turned to him. "I try not to fight wild life."

"'Try to' being the keyword here" - grinned Hauk. "We tried too, but that mammoth was set on trampling us to death."

"You've got to calm it first, of course" - Geralt smiled. "I thought you mages knew the spell... Oh wait - you're a battlemage."

"Touché!" - laughed Hauk. "I never thought of calming it..."

The tavern was getting loud with tales of hunting the mammoths while avoiding being trampled to death by the rest of the herd. After a while, Lena got up and tugged on Geralt's sleeve.

"We need to catch up - in private" - she shot a glance at Hauk - you know this already. Hauk nodded in understanding.

"Well, there's always Sven's mother's house - she gave me the attic, says it's good to have a man around the house again. I don't think Sven likes this very much" - he grinned. "Let's go."

"Isn't she talking your ear off with her praise of Sven?" - asked Lena on the way.

"She is, but he's still a little boy to her, she doesn't see him as a grown man, you know" - Geralt shrugged. "I wouldn't exactly call him mature either, but he's not a little boy."

"Is he still trying to impress Camilla with his poetry?"

"Not after you put a stop to it" - Geralt grinned. "It's open rivalry now between him and Faendal, to everyone's amusement - neither of them can fight, although Faendal is a fine marksman. Trouble is, it's no use in a fist fight."

Lena was glad to see that Riverwood was still a lively place.

Sven's mother's attic was set up as a large guest room not just with a bed but also with its own dining table, and Lena had to admit that aside of having to listen to Hilde's praise of her boy, this was a very comfortable place to stay. Geralt got drinks out of the cupboard and gestured her to the table.

"You look like you are about to burst with all the things you want to tell me" - he said, grinning. "So let's hear it, little sister."

Geralt didn't wear heavy armour, but he was sitting across the table from Lena, and was thus protected from sudden punches under the ribs. Lena had to settle on glaring at him instead.

"I found a letter from our father - to both of us. I found the fortress where he was stationed. He might still be alive. Lucien and I... I don't know what exactly... but I chose him. Also, I am pregnant."

"Whoa! Slow down!" - Geralt sat back in his chair. "Yes, I see the need to catch up. Who's the father?"

"What?"

"Who is the father of your child?" - Geralt grinned, knowing full well that his question was confusing.

"Oh... I am not sure" - Lena blushed. "Hauk or Lucien."

"Well, that's not too bad. I'm glad you finally admitted to yourself that there has never been anyone else for you besides Lucien. It wasn't really a choice, was it?" - he looked at her with his penetrating gaze.

"But when we were at Lake View..." - Lena hesitated. "You told me to leave him alone!"

"I told you not to toy with him, that's not the same. Also, I asked you about your feelings, and you couldn't answer."

"That's also what Hauk said..." - Lena nodded. "It is strange really that he and you and possibly even Lucien should understand my feelings better than I..."

"Nothing strange about it - happens all the time" - Geralt shrugged. "The same as me and Yen."

"Have you heard from her? She isn't here yet, I take it?"

"She isn't here yet, no, but I've had a raven" - Geralt smiled. "No messages - or rather the raven itself was the message. Sent through a portal - it was reeking of magic. Yen herself will have to travel by ship though, and that takes months and months."

Lena nodded - she made the journey to the Northern Realms and back herself. The Great Maelstrom in the Middle Ocean was unpredictable - not only could it swallow ships whole, but because of the time dilation around it, you never knew how long the journey would take, assuming you survived it. It was not surprising therefore that such journeys were rare, and so Yennefer could not be expected to arrive in Skyrim quickly.

"So, to the other news then" - Geralt changed the topic. "Our father. Tell me."

"Delphine gave me some old papers - in exchange for services still to be rendered - and I followed up on them, looked around and found the fortress where our father was stationed. Wolf Asgarsen, Commander of the Second Legion charged with protecting the border crossing into Cyrodiil. I found it, found the fortress and inside it found some papers. It's not far from here - we should go and you can see it for yourself."

"Just like that?" - Geralt was amazed. "I think there's more to tell, sis."

"There is, plenty more" - Lena nodded. "But it's best told when we are there. We'll take Hauk and Garrus as well - there were a lot of Legion papers there too, Hauk will want to see those, and Garrus I expect will just enjoy the adventure."

"Garrus seems like a steady fellow" - Geralt nodded. "Who sees much, says little."

"Exactly."

31 Last Seed

The Pale Pass Fortress was set into the rock on the Northern side of the Jerall Mountains - it was all inside the rock, the only thing visible outside being a heavy iron clad door. Last time Lena was there, she sneaked past the wraiths and skeletons roaming the old halls, but with four people going in, there was no sneaking to be expected - they'd have to fight the undead. But then again, with four people that wasn't going to be a problem.

The fortress was fairly large and it took them a few hours to reach the Commander's quarters in the depth of it. The two wraiths that guarded the office put up a remarkable fight, but they too were put to rest, for a while at least. Lena showed Hauk the Commander's desk filled with Legion papers, and Hauk quickly became engrossed in them. Garrus volunteered to try and rekindle the fire in the kitchen, leaving Lena and Geralt to talk.

"This was the Commander's bedroom - our father's bedroom" - Lena led Gerrit into the room behind the office. "There is a safe behind that tapestry where I found our father's letter. It's got a blood enchantment on it, and if it is done right, you should be able to open it."

Geralt didn't have to be asked twice. He pushed away the tapestry and put his hand on the door of a small safe. The lock clicked and he retrieved a heavy scroll. [1]

...

"So... we have a name now - Wolf Asgarsen" - Geralt rolled up the scroll. "That certainly explains your last name and the choice of the witcher school for me" - he mused. "And you think he could still be alive?"

"He could be" - nodded Lena. "He would be about three hundred years old now. Too much for a regular Nord, but he was - is - Dragonborn, that changes things."

"Well... but this scroll feels old. The letter was most likely written just after the death of your adoptive grandmother, and perhaps just as the Oblivion Crisis was unfolding. It could have been what prompted him to write it. That was two hundred years ago though, he would have been just pushing hundred then - nothing unusual even for a 'regular' Nord." Geralt wasn't convinced with Lena's reasoning. "I think you are giving in to wishful thinking. I too wish he was alive, but I think he's been dead for two hundred years now, sis."

Lena was sitting on the Commander's bed, looking rather forlorn. She so wished their father could still be alive... but she had to agree with her brother's arguments - it was highly unlikely. Geralt sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, at least we've found each other" - he kissed her forehead, pulling her into an embrace. "Or rather you found me" - he smiled, looking into her eyes. "Remember Flotsam? Master Witcher is still at your service." [2]

"Yes, I remember" - Lena smiled at him. "I also remember that Master Witcher was in need of my healing quite a few times. Remember Velen?" [3]

"Filthy beasts" - Geralt was reminded of the plague of ghouls spreading through the battlefields covered in corpses. "It isn't easy fighting a dozen at a time, even for a witcher."

"I want to go to Falkreath to see if there are any archives of the Second Legion" - Lena said quietly, not letting go of Geralt. "In case there are any records of where Father could be buried..."

"I'll come with you" - Geralt nodded. "But first - what about the wraiths?"

"What wraiths?"

"The two wraiths that were guarding the Commander's quarters - the wraiths of his two lieutenants that Mother had killed. They need to be put to rest."

"But we've just put them to rest?" - Lena already forgot about all the things a witcher could do, besides fighting monsters.

"No, we've just defeated them for now, they will rise again soon enough" - Geralt shook his head. "I want to put them to rest permanently."

"Oh right - with a ritual!" - now she remembered how it worked. "And you will need an object that binds them to this world... Like what? We've got nothing of theirs and nothing of our mother's that we could use..."

"We can do better than an object - you are here."

"Me?" - Lena wasn't sure where this was going.

"You witnessed it... after a fashion."

"I... Oh! The dream!" Lena remembered a strange dream she had when she fell asleep in this very room last time she was here. "But that was just a dream..." [4]

"Not just a dream - it was a memory. You were there - in your mother's belly" - Geralt was watching Lena's face, unsure how she would react. "You were there when Mother assassinated those two lieutenants, you witnessed it all. But to release the wraiths, you will have to relive the memory."

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

[1] - 24 Sun's Height, 4E202 - The letter -- Chorrol version: page 11, post #218 -- Full colour version

[2] - 12 First Seed, 4E195 - Flotsam -- Chorrol version: page 1, post #1 -- Full colour version

[3] - 28 First Seed, 4E202 - The Fade - Memories -- Chorrol version: page 4, post #63 -- Full colour version

[4] - 23 Sun's Dawn, 3E417 - Pale Pass Fortress -- Chorrol version: page 11, post #216 -- Full colour version

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Oct 12 2021, 02:43 PM

[Lena Wolf]

31 Last Seed - 1 Hearthfire, 4E202 - Wraith exorcism witcher style

"Geralt wants to exorcise the two wraiths here" - Lena told Hauk and Garrus when they were all sitting comfortably at dinner in the old Pale Pass Fortress. "So we'll need to wait for them to rise again - which won't take long - but it means that you two shouldn't be here" - she looked at them in turn.

"What about you?" - Garrus raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you leave too?"

"I am a part of the ritual" - Lena looked uneasy.

"Of course - those are the wraiths of the Commander's lieutenants that your mother had assassinated" - nodded Hauk. "They are here for you and Wolf."

"This sounds dangerous" - Garrus shuddered. "But I suppose you know what you're doing." He gave Geralt a long look. "Any chance I could stay and watch? I've never seen a witcher at work - especially at exorcism."

"Sorry, no" - Geralt shook his head. "I work alone."

Garrus sighed but didn't insist.

It was getting late in the day, and with the fortress now quiet, the four of them spent the night there, with Hauk and Garrus leaving in the morning. Lena and Geralt remained to exorcise the wraiths.

1 Hearthfire

"How long do we have to wait for them to rise?" - Lena asked Geralt when they were alone.

"We don't have to wait, really" - he smiled. "We'll summon them. But first we must prepare. Since they died together, they will appear together, and fighting two wraiths should not be taken lightly, especially the ones seeking revenge against us personally." Geralt was setting out potion vials on the table. "These are for me - witcher potions" - he turned to Lena. "I've been experimenting with local flora, and I've come up with a few things. But they are lethal to non-witchers, as usual."

"Yeah, I know this smell!" - Lena uncorked one vial and sniffed it. "Deathbell, nightshade, wolfsbane and... ectoplasm?" - she looked up Geralt in disbelief. "And that's a potion?"

"For me - yes" - Geralt grinned. "This gives resistance to spectral damage - the chill, among other things, and wolfsbane prevents transformation. I drink it for protection, but you will have to drink it to start the ritual."

"But it will kill me!" - protested Lena. "All that deathbell and nightshade - I am not a witcher, remember?"

"I know - you will drink this first" - he pointed at another vial. Lena uncorked it and sniffed.

"Pure nightshade extract?" - she exclaimed. "Are you mad?!"

"I am not trying to kill you" - Geralt took her by the shoulders. "Remember the Court Wizard in Windhelm? Wuunferth the Unliving?" Lena nodded. "Do you know how old he is? And how he is managing to still stay alive?"

"No, but I expect you'll tell me" - Lena looked at Geralt suspiciously. "I do remember him needing a lot of nightshade extract."

"Nightshade extract blurs the boundary between life and death, facilitating the transition between the two. Thus it is a potent poison - if the person ingesting it remains in death. But it can equally resurrect someone who's already left life - hence its use in Necromancy. Or it can prevent someone dying by allowing them to make the transition back into life as soon as they are dead." Geralt stopped explaining, noticing Lena's confused and disbelieving look. "The best way to stay alive is simply to not die" - he smiled.

"You want me to go into the Fade" - Lena remembered when she went there to look for Hauk's spirit. "And this extract will put me there similar to Jowan's blood magic ritual. The only question is: how will I return?" She raised her eyes to Geralt's.

"There is no portal with this - not like with Jowan's ritual. You will have to come back to life before the nightshade extract wears off." Geralt met her gaze. "I won't be able to give you more - I'll be fighting the wraiths."

"All right" - Lena swallowed, steadying her shivers. "So I will actually die - like Hauk died. But Hauk returned, so I know it is possible. I will simply have to... what?.. refuse to die?"

"Exactly" - Geralt nodded. "Wuunferth does it every day."

...

Geralt tried to explain what Lena might face in the Fade once she took the nightshade extract, but Lena stopped him fairly quickly - there was no knowing what she might face exactly. The important question was how she were to summon the wraiths. But Geralt didn't have an answer to that - she would have to improvise. Find the wraiths, make them appear in Mundus and come back before the potion wears off. Simple.

"The spectre potion should help you find the wraiths in the Fade" - Geralt tried to reassure Lena. "In fact, they should be looking for you. Drink it immediately after the extract - before you fall into trance."

"Well, there's no time like the present." Lena drank both potions.

...

Lena was cold. She was floating in mid-air surrounded by frozen mist. The place was eerily quiet, even though she thought she could see movement in the distance - but may be it was just the wind curling the mist into swirls.

"Is this death?" - Lena wondered. She didn't feel dead - although of course she didn't know how that would feel.

"Ahhh, you are here!.." - a voice echoed all around her. "Finally!.."

"Where are you? Show yourself!" - Lena called, looking around. A frost spell hit her by way of an answer. The wraith. The frost would normally chill Lena to the bone and trigger her vampirism, and so she braced for the surge in her blood, but nothing happened. "Wolfsbane" - she thought. "Geralt's potion is working."

Another frost spell was coming in, and Lena was just able to see the direction where it came from before it hit her. She threw a fireball and saw a shape light up in the distance. The battle was on.

But battling the wraiths was not why she came to the Fade - and indeed she could not hope to win, for even if she defeated them, it would be most likely already too late for her to return to life. No, she had to compel these wraiths to rise in Mundus instead - and she had to do it quickly.

"What is your name?" - she asked the wraith, dodging a frost spell and moving towards it.

"My name?" - the wraith stopped throwing frost for a moment. "You don't even know my name?" Now it was enraged, shooting frost spears with renewed vigour. "Am I just a target to you as I was to your mother?"

"You weren't just a target to her, she was quite particular about your death, but your name was not in the papers" - Lena tried to speak calmly, while dodging the frost. "I wish to know the name of my father's traitor who ordered his execution by his own wife."

"They weren't married - that union would have never been blessed by Mara!" - the wraith protested, but stopped throwing frost for some reason.

"Leave Mara out of it!" - cried Lena, now facing the wraith. "Where is your partner?"

"We should finish this Wolf spawn while she stands before us!" - another voice came from behind. Lena stood between two wraiths, who suddenly resumed throwing frost at her.

"If you kill me now, my brother will make sure you'll never find peace!" - she exclaimed, desperately trying to think of something to say to them.

"Your brother? You have a brother? There is more Wolf spawn?!"

"He is in the Pale Pass Fortress, waiting for you in our father's quarters" - Lena saw her chance to get them to rise in Mundus.

This seemed to have worked. The wraiths faded and vanished, crying "Insolence!" and "You'll pay for this!", and perhaps even "Why won't you die?!", but Lena could not be sure about that one. With her task hopefully accomplished, she now needed to return to the mortal realm.

"Simply refuse to die" - she repeated Geralt's words to herself. They made so much sense at first, but now, floating in mid-air surrounded by frozen mist, they weren't helping her to find a way out.

[Renee]

Post 53: The part when she heals Jowan with aloe is a nice touch, which hints at your first choice of a profession, Lena.

Lithnilian claims he guessed Lena's sign correctly, ha. Hmm, isn't that the mage who resides within Imperial Bridge Inn? Yep, sure is. He's the guy who rambles on and on ... something like "Ten years of research down the drain!"

Wow, his rant against Traven is spot on. I love how NPCs in Oblivion have rich little moments of dialog like this, how some are just commoners who have nothing much to say, while others really are ingrained within controversial stretches of society. I only mention this because those of us who love Oblivion used to sometimes get slammed by those who preferred earlier games. "Oblivion is shallow, all the NPCs have nothing to say but mindless banter about mudcrabs and goblins..." Which is BS. I mean, I don't know if Lithnilian actually says all the things in this chapter but I can certainly hear him doing so. Plenty other people in this game certainly do.

Whoa, Jowan has quite a tale to tell himself. Indeed, the stars don't have many answers about love and life, yet supposedly they are what created all of us.

[Lena Wolf]

Post 53: The part when she heals Jowan with aloe is a nice touch, which hints at your first choice of a profession, Lena.

Magic can only heal you so much. The real healing is done by your body.

Whoa, Jowan has quite a tale to tell himself.

Jowan is from Dragon Age Origins, and it is his story the way I played it - with the choices that I made. He screwed up so badly, there was nothing left to do but to board a ship and sail to Tamriel.

[Lena Wolf]

1 Hearthfire, 4E202 - The Void - Wraiths

"Goodness, look at you - you're frozen!" - Lena's grandmother put her arm around Lena leading her towards a fire. They were no longer floating in mid-air, they were in the Niben Valley where Lena grew up, walking towards their cottage. "Come - you need to warm up." The Niben could be cold in winter, and Lena would often be shaking by the time she'd had enough of swimming.

"Thanks, gran" - she smiled at her grandmother, embracing her. But... wait... something wasn't right. Lena's adoptive grandmother had been dead for two hundred years. Would her spirit really want to keep Lena in the Fade? "No, I won't come with you!" - Lena exclaimed, pulling away. "You are not my grandmother!" And without waiting for the demon to transform into its more powerful form, Lena broke free and dived into the frozen mist.

"I want to return to the mortal realm" - she said into the mist. "I refuse to stay here. I refuse to die - it isn't my time!"

...

"You cannot judge whether it is your time or not" - a strong but distant voice answered. "I may take you any moment."

Darkness penetrated the mist, brilliant darkness shining with ever changing tones of black. "A black light" - Lena thought, marvelling at the phenomenon. "Luminescent darkness. The Void." Which meant that the voice belonged to Sithis.

"I accept that you will claim me one day, but I have unfinished business in Mundus, including business in your name" - she said into the void. "Lucien will be waiting."

"Lucien..." - the voice seemed to search for the meaning of this name. "Oh - Lucien Lachance. His time has not come yet. Forgive me, but he is but one assassin... he holds no power over me."

The voice seemed to grow bored and trailed off, but the darkness around Lena didn't dissolve, it was holding her in The Void. She felt it thicken somehow, and was wondering whether the nightshade extract was wearing off. In the mortal world invoking Lucien's name brought most situations to a swift conclusion, but Sithis wasn't impressed - and why on Nirn did she think he would be? What was one assassin - no matter how brilliant - to an Old God?

And yet, mortals, or their souls, did matter - otherwise why would Sithis engage her in conversation?

"You ask deep questions, mortal" - she heard the voice again. "Yes, mortal souls matter, daedric souls matter, aerdic souls matter - for they all come from me through Anuiel and then Lorkhan - the path of Creation is long and convoluted. I am Chaos and Change, and you claim not to serve me. Yet you take lives in my name, then pray to Arkay for their souls - and who is Arkay if not my descendent? And soon you will bring another life into this world - and in whose name will that be? Look at you - Chaos and Change is all there is."

"What happens to the souls that I release in your name?" - Lena had to know.

"They come to The Void."

"But I pray to Arkay for them..!"

"And what do you think that means?" - the voice sounded amused. "Arkay's rites protect the bodies and souls of those mortals from Necromancy - from simple Necromancy, I might add, as performed by most mortals. It is a simple enchantment placed upon the body, for as long as at least some of it remains intact. The soul comes to The Void though - for where else would it go?"

"And there... you devour it" - Lena said mostly to herself.

"I what now?" - the voice laughed. "It is amusing to hear you say it. I do not feed on souls - I do not feed at all."

"But then... what is the difference? If all souls end up in The Void, in whoever name they are taken..."

"There is no difference" - the voice seemed to enjoy the conversation. "Daedric souls spend time here too, but they get new bodies to inhabit, while mortal souls do not. The only way to return a mortal soul to Nirn is through Necromancy - something that Arkay's rites seek to prevent."

"Do mortal souls persist forever?" - Lena was getting consumed by this discourse, but wasn't there something she needed to be doing quite urgently? She could not remember.

"No, they are mortal. They fade after a time - a very long time, but eventually they dissolve into The Void from whence they came."

So... then she was home. If The Void was where all mortal souls eventually went, then she had arrived already. But wait... something wasn't right about that... or was it? No, she must be imagining things...

Lena started to relax, letting go of that nagging feeling that she had forgotten something important. What could it possibly be? She didn't want anything, she didn't need anything, The Void had embraced her completely.

"Ouch!" - a sharp pain in her liver woke her up from her reverie. What was that?! "Ouch!" - there it was again. The pangs of pain were coming from inside her, as if something or someone was kicking her liver... "Ouch!" That last kick brought a flood of memories with it - her life, her friends, her baby kicking inside her belly - all of it in Mundus where she had to return to. Urgently. Now.

"I am going" - she said into the void around her. "It is not my time yet. My life is not yet finished - I have people waiting for me and I carry this new life in my belly. You cannot have me yet, Sithis."

"Ahhh..." - she heard a sigh in the distance. "There aren't many who can resist the pull of the Black City." The darkness around Lena turned into a whirlpool. "I shall wait for you, Dragonborn."

...

Lena opened her eyes and saw a dimly lit fort chamber around her, she was lying comfortably on a bed, someone had covered her in warm blankets, a fire was burning in an urn... A heavy wooden door was closed, but through it Lena could just about make out sounds of battle - clashing of steel, pops and bangs of destruction spells, shrieks of... wraiths? Wraiths! Geralt was fighting the two wraiths that she had summoned. Now she remembered.

"You filth!" - Geralt was muttering swinging his Blue Meteorite Silver sword from one wraith to the other. "You will depart this world!" It wasn't just a matter of defeating them - it had to be done in the right way, otherwise the wraiths would rise again.

"Can I help?" - Lena put her head through the door. She didn't want to spoil the ritual.

"Take the Viper Silver sword in the bedroom and join the dance!" - Geralt shouted without looking. "These two mean business!"

Lena looked around the room and spotted a silver claymore with a serpent etched on the blade. She lifted it - it was like a regular silver claymore, except of course a witcher would wield it with one hand... The Viper was a light and fast weapon - by witcher standards - Geralt called it his silver dagger. His usual silver sword - the Blue Meteorite master sword - was longer and heavier, a superior weapon if you could handle it, and he was now swinging it from one wraith to the other, Lena reminded herself. She grabbed the Viper sword with both hands and joined the battle.

"Ahhh - the younger Wolf spawn returns!" - screeched one of the wraiths throwing frost at Lena as she emerged from the bedroom. Lena dodged the spell just in time, but was unable to respond with fire - she was no battlemage and couldn't cast spells while holding a claymore, she had to hold it with both hands, or it would just drop to the ground. So instead she swung it at the wraith, not expecting to inflict much damage but hoping to distract it enough to give Geralt room to manoeuvre. The wraith gave a screech of pain and reeled back from the sword.

"What on Nirn..?" - Lena looked at the sword in amazement. "Oh - you don't like a witcher's sword, do you?!" It wasn't just a silver claymore.

"Your technique needs work" - Geralt grinned in between the swings of his own. "And your footwork is all over the place! Who trained you?"

"No one!" - Lena shouted, dodging another frost spell. "I had to learn as I went along!"

"That shows" - Geralt did a pirouette elegantly landing right next to her. "You're using that sword as if you're chopping wood. It's not an axe!"

"Save the lesson for a straw dummy - they don't fight back!" - Lena didn't approve of her brother's timing with tutoring. "These two are trying to kill us!"

"They won't kill us" - Geralt patted Lena on the shoulder, momentarily including her into his shield bubble. "Not now that you're here. Inadequate footwork or not - they still stand no chance against the two of us. Watch this!" He stopped his attack, allowing the wraith to hit the shield bubble several times before the bubble burst, pushing the wraiths into the far corners of the room.

"I feel better" - Lena said with amazement.

"That shield restores you with every hit it takes" - Geralt smiled at her. "And pushes away the enemies when it bursts, giving you a moment to explain its workings to your little sister - or to cast a new shield" - he winked at her. "What now, you filth?!" - he lunged towards the wraith, stung by its frost spell.

Lena watched, thinking that neglecting proper instruction might have been a mistake on her part. "He got it, even from that distance" - she marvelled at Geralt's moves. But she wasn't a spectator in this battle - a hit from the other wraith reminded her of that. "All right, here comes my inadequate footwork - watch out!" - she swung the sword wildly at the wraith making it screech with pain again. The dance continued.

...

"Depart this world never to return - I compel you!" - Geralt thrust his sword into the wraith for the last time as its essence shot upwards, disappearing through the ceiling. One down.

The remaining wraith switched its attention from Lena to Geralt, making Lena suddenly realise that this wasn't a friendly dance. These wraiths carried swords, and Geralt was bleeding from several wounds, yet his reflexes weren't slowed - he literally ignored the pain. "But he can still bleed to death while ignoring it" - Lena thought, shooting some healing spells at him, to no effect. Whatever potion he had ingested before the fight, was blocking common healing. She lunged at the wraith making it turn around. "Cast your shield! You are bleeding out!" - she shouted at Geralt, who seemed to only now notice a puddle of blood he was standing in.

"Bloody nuisance!" - he cursed, reaching for a potion on his belt. "That cannot be healed by the shield" - he swallowed the contents of the vial, grimaced, cursed again, and turned green - or so Lena thought. His veins bulged, covering his face in a strange blue-purple pattern, his skin getting ashen pale underneath. "I hate this stuff!" - he muttered, throwing the empty vial aside and resuming his attack on the wraith.

"You look awful" - Lena commented. "But your bleeding has stopped."

"Ekimmara decoction" - he shot her a glance, parrying the wraith's attack. "Restores your health with each..." - lunge - "successful..." - lunge - "hit" - lunge and twirl. The wraith screeched and backed off. "Depart this world, you filth!" - bellowed Geralt, attacking the wraith with renewed ferocity.

...

Finally the battle was over. Geralt walked over to the firepit in the kitchen and dropped to his knees.

"Leave me to meditate" - he looked at Lena. "This will take a while." He looked exhausted, the potions and decoctions that he had drank, had poisoned him as well as protected him, but he wasn't in danger of dying - Lena's experience with healing witchers during her stay in the Northern Realms had taught her that. He would recover, all he needed now was rest - the witcher way. Lena added some logs to the fire and left Geralt to his meditation, then crawled into the bed for some rest of her own.

[macole]

A really exciting tale. To go from sticking your thumb in death's eye, to waking up caught in the middle of a battle with wraiths had me on the edge of my seat.

[Lena Wolf]

Thanks, Macole! Caution isn't Lena's strong suit... So why not poke Sithis in the eye?

[Lena Wolf]

1 Hearthfire, 4E202 - Election of the Council of Mages

Raminus Polus wrote to all the Wizards in the Mages Guild inviting them to the Arcane University to elect a new Council and a new Arch Mage and to discuss the future of the Mages Guild and its direction. The Council chamber wasn't big enough for such a gathering, so they used the lobby instead. All of the chapter heads were present but most of the university wizards declined to join the meeting, saying that they would abide by whatever new rules the re-instated Council would agree on.

The discussions started with Necromancy, continued with Necromancy and ended with Necromancy, also touching on Illusion and Conjuration a little. The one thing that all the mages agreed on, was restoration of the school of Necromancy - whether or not the Mages Guild would practice it within its ranks. Various spells could then be re-assigned to the actual schools where they originated, and that included spells forbidden by other laws, such as the Levitation Act - just because a spell was forbidden, it did not seize to exist. With this definition, much of the old pre-Traven order could be restored, with all spells that tap into the life energies or deal with the undead to be assigned to the school of Necromancy.

"Except of course where they are beneficial to the living, because that's Restoration" - interjected Carahil.

"Like Absorb Health, perhaps?" - Caranya raised an eyebrow. "That's hardly beneficial to the victim."

"But it is even being taught by the chapel priests! It's beneficial!" - Carahil retorted hotly. "As well as Turn Undead!"

"There's a Necromancy spell if I ever saw one!" - Bothiel suddenly joined the discussion. As a curator of the Orrery, she didn't affiliate herself with any one school of magic. "How is it Restoration?"

"It separates the Living from the Undead" - Carahil looked at her with disdain. "I would have thought it was obvious."

"Life and death are one and the same" - Caranya defended her. "You cannot know one without knowing the other. Hannibal Traven knew that, which is why he switched to Restoration after he denounced his affiliation with Necromancy. And you know it too, Carahil." Caranya fixed her with a steady gaze. "You studied and worked with Traven long enough to have figured him out. Don't deny it now. He re-assigned Necromancy spells to other schools in order to be keep using them, but it backfired. You either accept they are Necromancy and include the school, or you exclude the school and give up the spells. You cannot have it both ways."

"Yes, I know, and we all agree with that" - Carahil returned Caranya's gaze. "Are you saying that I am trying to keep some spells under Restoration for the sake of keeping them?" - she sighed and sat down. "Yes, you are probably right. We should give up all of them."

Several people turned to look at Carahil. She was going to vote against Necromancy.

Lunch time was rapidly approaching, which prompted the gathering to finalise their list of spells brought under Necromancy. It included Reanimate and Summon Skeleton, Zombie, Wraith and Lich from Conjuration; Detect Life, Soul Trap and Spell Absorption from Mysticism; and Turn Undead and Absorb Life Energy - health, magicka, fatigue, skills and attributes - from Restoration. Turn Undead was a bit of a contested point - the spell had recently been moved from Conjuration to Restoration, but many felt that it would have been better placed with Illusion because it resembled Demoralise spell. But since it was going to be moved to Necromancy anyway, that argument was closed before it even begun.

The mages also agreed that Conjuration should include research into long term binding and that Mysticism be allowed to resume their research into Levitation, Teleportation and Telepathy, regardless of political constraints. They were putting forward a vision for an ideal world.

"The Psijic order are proficient in it" - Tar-Meena from the Mystic Archives pointed out to everyone's surprise. "And we have tomes and tomes on its theory and practice - it's time someone actually read them. Because when - and I mean when, not if - when the Psijic Order makes contact with one of us, we should be able to at least recognise it for what it is and not think we are dreaming!"

"Yes, this will happen soon" - Dagail said in a surprisingly clear voice. "I have seen this. Soon, if not already."

And with that, a kitchen aid came in to announce that lunch had been served in the dining hall, and everyone got up, eager to take care of the most important event of the day.

...

"Settle down, settle down!" - Raminus Polus called the gathering to order, waking up several mages who were snoozing after an opulent lunch. "We now have to elect the new Council, or perhaps should we vote on the use of Necromancy first?" - he looked around. "To ensure that we have like-minded people, and such." Raminus was eager to avoid the dissolution of the new Council on its very first day.

"Vote first!" - several people cried. After all, every Wizard who was willing to meddle in Mages Guild politics, was in that room. A show of hands followed.

"Necromancy is out" - said Raminus, having tallied the count. "By a large margin, too."

"I propose we vote on the other subjects too" - Irlav Jarol rose from his seat. "I imagine many of us will want to know whether their research will be welcome in the new Mages Guild." He looked at Raminus with significance. "Such as long term binding in Conjuration or Telepathy in Mysticism."

Noises of approval followed, and Raminus called a show of hands on each of the contested subjects.

"Sorry, Irlav, no long term binding studies, and sorry Dagail - no research on topics banned by the politicians" - he looked apologetic, realising that this was going to cost the Mages Guild its members. "And... sorry, Kud-Ei - but mind control spells are out too, upholding late Arch Mage's ban."

The assembly appeared to be intolerant to each other's research interests, opting for a very conservative approach for the Mages Guild instead.

"What do you propose to do with the Archives that house the tomes on all those forbidden subjects?" - asked Tar-Meena, her eyes narrowing.

"We must keep the Archives!" - several mages exclaimed from their seats. "Never destroy the books!"

"There is your answer" - smiled Raminus.

Tar-Meena nodded and folded her arms defiantly, but didn't say anything. Everyone knew she would not keep the Archives locked... and everyone felt that the Mages Guild was about to be split up.

"Are we ready to elect a new Council now?" - Raminus looked around him. There was no hostility among the mages, but most faces closed. "Please bring forward your candidacies."

"Well, don't look at me!" - Jeanne Frasoric said brightly as if she expected to be elected. "I'm with Necromancy, remember? We are out."

"The Leyawiin chapter will leave the Mages Guild" - Dagail looked around. "There does not seem to be room for true Mystics within your ranks any longer." Several people nodded - this wasn't surprising. The previous voting had stripped the school of Mysticism of most of its spells.

"Illusion is not complete without 'mind control' spells as you call them" - Kud-Ei said softly, but without hesitation. "I refuse to close half of our research. We won't stand with you."

"If that's what the Bravil chapter wants, then there won't be a Mages Guild hall in Bravil - and it won't be much of a loss" - Teekeeus glared at Kud-Ei. "You've always been too soft with your mages, Kud-Ei. Don't think we don't know about Henantier!" - he snorted. "The Chorrol chapter stays with the Mages Guild and we will not allow any research into long term binding!"

"Are you sure that all of your mages are behind you on this, Teekeeus?" - Irlav Jarol challenged him. "I know for a fact that Athragar has been working on long term binding. And what have you done with the book on the Finger of the Mountain? Stashed it in your private chest, no doubt?"

"You've got that book?" - Tar-Meena glared at Teekeeus. "And you didn't say anything? It belongs here in the Archives!"

"I... well..." - Teekeeus didn't expect that turn of events. "I had to keep it safe from Earana!"

"Earana at least could read it, and you cannot!" - Tar-Meena retorted. This caused a bit of a commotion in the assembly, with several people talking at once.

"I wonder if dishonesty can be tolerated among the heads of Mages Guild chapters" - Deetsan stood up, addressing everyone. "May I remind you of the events at our Hall when the previous head Falkar actually murdered an associate and attempted to murder another?" She too glared at Teekeeus. "I am not suggesting that Teekeeus would go as far as that, but concealing a rare and powerful artefact like the book on the Finger of the Mountain should not go unpunished!"

That met a round of applause and some noises of approval.

"Teekeeus no longer speaks for the Chorrol chapter" - announced Raminus Polus. "They will need to elect another leader, unless someone here would like to take it over?" - he looked at the mages before him.

"I would be honoured" - Irlav Jarol stood up. "Conjuration is my area of expertise, after all."

"True" - Raminus inclined his head. "But considering that this assembly just voted to ban research into long term binding, you would also immediately take the Chorrol chapter out of the Mages Guild." Raminus looked sad. "What's left of it."

"Yes, I would" - Irlav looked sad, too. "But do you have a choice?"

This was a difficult question and was put to the vote - a vote by the assembly of mages in the process of breaking up its own Guild. The vote put Irlav at the head of the Chorrol chapter, with all the consequences of that.

"Well... Is any of you still staying with the Mages Guild?" - Raminus looked dejected. "Mages Guild with a lot of prohibitions, as voted by this assembly."

Everyone started talking at once. Some argued that the rules should be softened so that all the chapters could remain within the Guild; others were pointing out that it would only lead to conflicts as there would be many mages opposing one another; yet others were advocating exemptions for the Arcane University so that forbidden research could still be carried out there... People wanted the safety of the rules with the freedoms of the lack of rules, and it wasn't possible - not even by magic.

After much criss-cross discussion, they decided to form two separate factions - one with strict rules that were voted for previously, and the other that allowed more freedoms. The teaching at the Arcane University would be undertaken by the conservative faction, but all research facilities would be open to both. If there ever was a compromise, this was it.

The conservative faction would not have an Arch Mage, but instead it would be ruled by its Council comprising the heads of its chapters and one or two prominent scholars from the University. It wasn't a large faction, with only the Anvil, Cheydinhal and Skingrad chapters joining it. Because it decided against electing a head, it called itself The Synod.

"Well, they seem pleased with themselves" - Caranya said to Dagail in a low voice. "Of course, those are the least controversial schools of magic - it will be easy for them to follow the rules."

"They didn't have half of their research banned" - added Kud-Ei softly. "We couldn't just throw out half of our spells!"

"And they didn't get either Conjuration or Necromancy" - Irlav joined them, equally quietly. "We can combine our efforts again."

Bothiel was standing with Raminus Polus on the other end of the room, watching the mages talk in groups that they've just formed.

"Will you keep the name of the Mages Guild?" - she looked at him with some sadness. "They are not enemies, these mages, the war is over. We now have The Arcane University, The Synod, and this... College of Whispers" - she pointed at the group of "quitters" talking quietly between themselves.

"What a brilliant idea!" - Jeanne Frasoric suddenly turned to her. "This is what we should be called!" - she beamed at everyone around. Like it or not, the name was going to stick.

[macole]

Dang, a fiesty, finger-pointing Mages Guild meeting. Exactly what I imagine would happen when Arch-Mage Jandaga announces his retirement to devote his time to the Archeology Guild and adventuring.

[Lena Wolf]

Thanks, Macole! That's based on real life, I assure you.

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

2 Hearthfire, 4E202 - Siblings

Lena woke up in the Commander's quarters in the old Pale Pass Fortress after a long and restful sleep. Her trip to the Fade and subsequent wraith exorcism with Geralt left her thoroughly exhausted. She stirred in the bed and listened for any sounds from the other rooms, but all was quiet. Geralt must still be meditating. Lena got up and walked over to the kitchen where she had left him by the fire the night before.

He was still kneeling in front of the fireplace, his eyes closed. The poisoning caused by his potions and decoctions had all but cleared, and his skin looked almost normal again. Now he just looked tired. "So much for witcher meditation being restful" - thought Lena. "It doesn't replace sleeping in a bed." She added a fresh log to the embers and cast a fireball at it as quietly as she could, but Geralt's eyes opened, regardless. "I'm just rekindling the fire" - she said in a hushed voice, not sure whether her brother was still meditating. His eyes closed again, so he must have been.

Sitting there in the kitchen pecking at some stale bread and overripe cheese, Lena absent-mindedly glanced over the vials of witcher potions set out on the table - many empty - and Geralt's satchel propped open with more vials inside. Vials and an old map - a map of the Northern Realms.

Click to enlarge

It was a piece of a larger and undoubtedly fancifully decorated map, but Geralt was only interested in the geography, not the fancies - at least not of that kind. It was a war map, and Geralt had made some annotations of his own. Lena folded the map to focus on the annotations.

Click to enlarge

Gors Velen and Flotsam in Temeria and Kaer Morhen all the way in Northern Kaedwen. Kaer Morhen - the seat of the Wolf Witcher school, Geralt's home. He even traced the fortress icon in ink - he missed it, Lena thought. She had never been to Kaer Morhen herself, having spent her time in Northern Temeria - from Flotsam to Velen, following the war, following Geralt, trying not to make him feel like he's being shadowed by his little sister mother hen. Coming to Skyrim meant leaving his home behind, and it must have been hard, in particular now that the old fortress of Kaer Morhen lay all but in pieces. They were no longer training new witchers, the old halls already felt empty without the young voices, but there were still enough of the old witchers around for drunken adventures during the long nights of the winter months... Would the fortress rise again? Would the Wolf school rise again? It all seemed very problematic. Perhaps if Geralt had not left... But he had. Was there ever a way back?

"What are you doing with that map?" - Geralt's voice brought Lena back to the reality of the Pale Pass Fortress. He looked almost refreshed after his meditation, the toxins now completely flushed from his blood.

"Reminiscing..." - Lena raised her eyes to him. "The same as what you are doing carrying it around with you, I expect" - she smiled. "You miss it" - she pointed at Kaer Morhen. "That I understand. But why Flotsam and Velen? There was nothing there but death and misery."

"You were there, for one" - he smoothed out the map. "I learned I had a sister, it was a big thing. And Velen - you followed me there, you know what took place." He smiled at her and winked. "Or did you think I never noticed? Waking up with bandages all over could only mean one thing - you put them on."

"It could have been Keira Metz!" - Lena protested, hinting at Geralt's fling with Keira, or may be rather her fling with him, but at any rate Keira was a good friend who would have bandaged Geralt without hesitation, especially if it involved removing his clothes first.

Geralt laughed but didn't argue. "Where do we go from here?" - he asked eyeing stale bread and runny cheese with suspicion. "I've just cleared poisons from my body, I'm not eating that."

"There's an old inn just on the other side of the mountains" - Lena rummaged in her bag producing an apple for him instead. "It's abandoned, but I stocked it up last time I was there - it's not far from Bruma. Roach likes it - it's got stables and hay. And a bath house."

"Roach has got good taste - yours and mine both!" - Geralt gave her a broad grin, devouring the apple. His horse was also called Roach - in fact, it was his habit to call every horse he owned Roach. Lena was now doing the same, and she couldn't explain why.

"All right, then we should not tarry. What do you want to do with that?" - she pointed at the scroll with their father's letter that they had found here.

"I'll take it" - Geralt stashed it in his bag. "We might need it in Falkreath."

"Falkreath?"

"That's where you wanted to go, wasn't it?"

Yes, this is where Lena wanted to go to search the Legion Archives for any records about their father. It all seemed so far away and so long ago after her trip to the Fade... It must have been reflected in her face, because Geralt looked at her and frowned.

"You need to put that trip to the Fade behind you, don't let it eat at you like that" - he looked concerned. "You are back, you are here, and I am sorry for having put you through it - it was too much, I think. I should have gone myself."

"Yourself?" - Lena jerked back to reality. "And fought the wraiths there? Out of the question." She glared at him for making such a preposterous proposition. A contest of sibling rivalry - or sibling over-protection - was in full swing. Geralt was about to make a suitable retort, but then changed his mind.

"Well, it's good to see you are really back" - he grinned. "Come - I want to explore that bath house!"

...

It was late afternoon when they finally made their descent on the Southern side of the Jeralls and saw the roofs of the old Pale Pass Inn in the valley below. Lena's Roach knew about the hay in the stables and picked up the pace, and Geralt's Roach followed suit sensing good things ahead. The inn looked untouched since the last time Lena stayed there, for it was completely out of the way of everything, and no one had any reason to go there. Geralt wasted no time chopping the wood for the bath house - he was serious about his baths.

"This looks like a proper Nordic bath house" - he remarked with satisfaction. "Bring the mead - you need a soak too."

"When was the last time we sat by the pool like this?" - Lena asked, descending into the water. "You know you're supposed to sit by the pool and not in it?" - she grinned at her brother.

"The Nords don't know what they are missing" - he stretched, returning her grin. "As for the last time... And you wonder why I marked Velen on my map?"

The night was young and memories were filling the room.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Oct 21 2021, 04:41 PM

[Lena Wolf]

21 Second Seed, 4E195 - Velen - Fyke Isle - Oreton

"Geralt! Just when I started to miss you" - Keira Metz greeted Geralt on the doorstep of her cottage just outside of Midcopse, Velen. "I have a favour to ask of you."

"Of course you do" - grinned Geralt. "Let's hear it."

"Bed bugs..." - Keira was lost in thought.

"Excuse me?"

"Bed bugs!" - she spun around to face him. "Keira Metz has bed bugs! Keira Metz, adviser to King Foltest, member of the Lodge of Sorceresses, Keira Metz has bed bugs!!" She looked at Geralt in desperation. "This place is killing me! I've got to get out of here!"

"So why are you here in the first place?" - Geralt raised an eyebrow. Velen was as opposite to the luxury of a Royal Court as one could imagine. Nothing but swamps, now largely filled with corpses left by the war.

"Hiding! I am hiding, of course!" - Keira exclaimed as if it was self-evident. "King Radovitz of Redonia is the last standing king of the Northern Realms - and he ordered all mages to be burned at the stake! That's enough to drive anyone into the swamps of Velen."

Keira looked dejected. A proud and wilful woman, she seemed to have been driven to despair by the filth and bed bugs of a rural hut she was now forced to inhabit. Like all sorceresses, she looked much younger than she was, and although she was younger than Geralt, it wasn't by much. Keira was a passionate woman, and one of the few sorceresses who believed that her ability to bear children had not been destroyed by her vocation, which in turn made her favour witchers for her romantic pursuits, for witchers were sterile. Geralt fell victim to her charms more than once - and never regretted it. Keira wasn't Triss - she was not likely to tease Yennefer about it, and Yennefer wasn't jealous of Keira - why not, Geralt wondered. May be because Keira was only after a bit of fun?..

It didn't look like she was after a bit of fun this time though, she might have joked about the bed bugs (or had she?), but she had her mind set on a serious endeavour - one that required a witcher. She needed Geralt to clear out a tower that had belonged to a local baron, a tower now infested with ghosts and wraiths that were terrorising the land around it - or so the locals believed.

"Do it for me, please" - she looked at him with her most innocent of expressions. "The locals think it's something I could undertake, but it isn't a job for a witch - it's a job for a witcher."

"All right, I'll look into it" - Geralt nodded. "Only, what is it that you're not telling me?"

"I... well..." - Keira could see that Geralt wasn't fooled. "There was a mage living in that tower as well, he was doing some interesting research..."

"Which was the reason the mob killed them all, right?" - Geralt had seen it before.

"It might have been, or it might have contributed to it, but anyhow... There was a plague outbreak then, and he was trying to understand it."

"Right... And you want his notes" - Geralt guessed.

"No!" - Keira looked outraged. "Well... yes. May be. But I need to look around there first, and I can't do it with all the ghosts and wraiths haunting the place!"

Click to enlarge

...

Fyke Isle barely rose above the level of the surrounding lake, making it into a particularly wet swamp. It had an ancient stone amphitheatre where the local druid conducted seasonal rituals, and a walled tower that used to belong to the baron. "What a desolate place for the Lord of the Land to live in" - thought Geralt, drudging his boots through the mud. "Best get to higher ground as soon as possible - fighting drowners in the water is never a good idea." It wasn't - drowners were quick and agile in wet conditions, reanimated corpses of people who drowned, they were at home in water, and although a single drowner was hardly a challenge to a witcher, a group of them presented a significantly greater threat. Add to that water hags and even a lechen, and Geralt was bleeding out even before he had reached the tower. He found an abandoned hut just outside a tall log wall surrounding the baron's estate, and decided to stay there for the night to allow his wounds to heal. He rekindled the fire in the grate, dropped to his knees and started to meditate.

...

"I told you - he's in there" - an unkempt individual in ripped Redonian armour whispered to his equally unkempt companion wearing bits of armour of several armies. "He's asleep - we grab his swords and run before he wakes up!"

"Those swords are worth a pretty penny" - chuckled the second individual. "But I want his armour too - these rags can't even keep the rats out."

"All right, but only if you're quick! I don't want to fight a witcher even if he's naked!"

They exchanged nods and glances and crept silently towards the hut. Approaching the doorway and looking in, they stifled a sigh and a curse, taking a few steps back to discuss a new strategy.

"He is not naked, and his swords are still on his back" - the first individual summed up the situation, embellishing it with a generous helping of swearing. "What do we do now?"

"What else is there to do?" - the second one looked grim, picking up a heavy rock. "We'll have to take it off him, won't we? And without fighting."

...

"I c-can pay for my d-drink!" - the noise from the table next to Lena's made her turn around. The inn in Oreton was getting loud, and the innkeep was refusing to serve any more drinks to some of the patrons. "I h-hic... have this f-fancy sword to sell, see?" - the fellow waved a long sword before the innkeep who was still refusing to serve him drinks.

"Oh that's one nice sword!" - Lena put on her friendliest smile. "I bet you are proper invincible with that!"

"Ay, that I am, miss-sh..." - the drunkard turned to her, swaying somewhat. "Best swordsman of the land, I am" - he pounded his chest proudly.

"Hey, no, you're not!" - his equally drunk companion interjected. "You can't even l-lift this other one!" He lifted the second sword, thankfully still in its scabbard. The effort made him sway dangerously on his stool.

"W-what good is a sword that you can't lift?" - remarked the first fellow, and Lena had to admire his logic. "W-what good is any sword without a drink?!" That was a good point, seconded by the rest of the inn - everyone was now watching the boast with great interest.

"Why don't you two show us your skill?" - a quiet voice suggested from the back corner of the room. "I'm sure the innkeep would serve you drinks then."

"Out! Out you go! Both of you! Anyone wanting to fight - out!!" - the innkeep wasn't about to risk her livelihood to a pair of drunken fools. Lena followed them to the yard, noticing familiar armour pieces distributed between them.

"That gear is not theirs" - the quiet voice from the corner said in her ear. "But you know whose it is and you want it."

She turned around. The man was unremarkable, not a farmer, perhaps a trader, a travelling merchant - she'd never met him before, but something about his face was familiar. The eyes... yes... something odd about the eyes.

"Is it that obvious?" - she smiled at him. "Yes, I want that gear."

"Then let me help you get it" - he smiled back, and before Lena could stop him, he walked over to the two drunkards, shook them awake, set them facing each other and cast a spell - barely perceptible, but Lena noticed. The drunkards unsheathed the swords they were holding and started swinging them wildly at each other... and soon they both lay dead.

"So much for the skill" - the crowd watching the fight was dispersing with yawns of boredom. Someone tried to pick the gear off the bodies, but the quiet man from the corner cast another equally imperceptible spell, and the people just walked away. He picked up the swords and pulled Geralt's armour off the bodies, taking it to Lena.

"Here you go, miss" - he handed it to her with a smile.

"Thank you" - Lena took the gear, trying not to look too mistrustful. "Why did you do it?"

"Is that what you want to know?" - the stranger lifted an eyebrow. "Not who I am, not what I am doing here - but why I helped you just now?"

"I know who you are, we've met before" - Lena looked at him darkly. "Of course I cannot refuse you now - what do you want of me this time?"

"Nothing" - the man smiled slyly. "Nothing at present. I'll be in touch." He turned to leave, then looked at her again. "He's on Fyke Isle" - he pointed South. "Bring bandages."

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Oct 22 2021, 05:54 PM

[Lena Wolf]

2 Hearthfire, 4E202 - Pale Pass Inn

"And so when I woke up stark naked in that hut, all covered in bandages - I knew it was you" - Geralt looked at Lena with significance.

"It could have been Keira Metz" - Lena shrugged. "It was she who sent you to Fyke Isle in the first place."

"True" - Geralt conceded, a twinkle in his eye. "But if it had been Keira, I would have found my loincloth flung into the furthest corner of the hut, not hung neatly by the fire freshly laundered. Although I am flattered that you did not pass up the opportunity to see what's underneath. It did not require bandaging."

"I had to be thorough!" - Lena sent a splash his way. The pool of the Nordic bath house at the old Pale Pass Inn was steaming around them.

"But I heard of the incident in Oreton" - Geralt remarked, the smile gone from his face. "You should be careful with the Merchant of Mirrors. His help is never free."

"I know and I didn't ask for it - he intervened before I could remember who he was" - Lena looked back at Geralt. "I see you too have had the pleasure of his assistance?"

"On more than one occasion" - Geralt grimaced, rubbing the side of his face, it felt like burning. "Where had you met him before?"

"Here in Cyrodiil, but that's a memory for another time. You still didn't get to the bit of us sitting in bath house like this - you only got to the hut in a swamp."

"All right" - Geralt laughed. "So then, looking around the hut, I saw my armour folded neatly and the swords laid out as if on parade. I know I didn't do it - and Keira didn't do it either. I felt a bump on the back of my head, and figured out what must have happened. And yes - before you say anything - I did make a mental note to lock the door next time before meditation and not rely on me waking up in time..."

"Which mental note promptly got lost, considering the number of times I found you in an unlocked hut later" - Lena pointed out.

"May be" - Geralt grinned. "Or may be I didn't want to make it too difficult for you to enter" - he winked, sending a splash towards Lena. "And anyway, we're out of mead."

That was a serious situation, and Lena had to twist and stretch to get more bottles from behind her. With the drinks renewed, reminiscing continued.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Oct 25 2021, 09:50 AM