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

[Acadian]

Poor Roach, the mountain goat cliff runner!

'The Dunmer were not treated fairly! No? No less fairly than the Nords in Morrowind. It goes both ways.'
By Julianos' little teapot, this is ever so true! Having traveled most of Tamriel, the Dunmer of Morrowind and Altmer of Summerset are notably worse about treating outsiders than the Nords of Skyrim. That said, a breath of fresh air after leaving Ulfric's palace is always welcome.

[Lena Wolf]

5 Rain's Hand, 4E202 - Stenvar - Ansilvund

"Well, what do you fancy doing today?" - asked Lena after they delivered the broken White Phial to Nurelion.

"Mzulft" - said Hauk decisively. "There's that Aetherium shard there, and of course the ruin proper. As well as a few caves nearby - who knows, they could be interesting. And..." - he hesitated. "Let's take Stenvar with us. The boy looked bored, he could use an outing."

"Hardly a boy any more" - Lena smiled. "He looks fully grown to me."

"Still a welp" - Hauk grinned. "And will probably complain about the cold in the caves. He always liked forts as a kid, always running off, and his mother going after him. His mother! She was a fine woman..." Hauk trailed off in memories. "I stayed with them quite a lot."

"Sounds like you knew his mother really well" - Lena prompted cautiously.

"Yes... Her husband had run off soon after the wedding, gods know what he was thinking - just as the War started. I met her right after that, running a farm on her own."

"So Stenvar..?"

"Is not mine, I don't think" - Hauk was looking into the distance. "I think she was already pregnant by her husband. But we'll never know, I guess. And" - he looked at Lena sternly - "he doesn't know it, so please refrain from any mentions of me possibly being his father."

"I think by now he would have guessed!" - Lena exclaimed. "He's old enough to know how these things work!"

Hauk glared at her.

"I said no. I don't want it talked about."

Well, that was final.

...

Lena was walking up to Stenvar's table at Candlehearth Hall and already heard his well-rehearsed pitch: "If it's a mercenary you want, then the strongest one is right here... Oh hello" - he recognised her from their brief encounter last time. "All on your own this time? Sorry, I forgot your name."

"Wolf" - said Lena. "And yes, I do need some backup - planning to explore Dwelmer ruins on the Eastern border."

"Wolf?" - Stenvar swallowed. "So that white-haired fellow last time..."

"Is my brother" - finished Lena. "But he's not here today. Coming?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" - Stenvar was on his feet.

"Your fee" - Lena handed him a purse.

"No, I couldn't..."

"Yes, you can. Or shall I just drop it off with the innkeep here?"

"Well, that's a bit excessive... I do owe her money, but not that much..." - Stenvar stashed away the purse. "Let's go."

"Hello Stenvar" - Hauk stepped out from behind a column. "Keeping well, I trust?"

"Optio..." - Stenvar did keep his voice down this time. He looked at Lena and Hauk and back at Lena again. "So why do you need me?"

"We had a hard time with Centurions in the last ruin" - Hauk offered. "And we thought it would be fun to meet up. And please just call me Hauk."

"If I knew you'd be there, I would have never taken the money!" - Stenvar exclaimed with indignation, reaching for the purse.

"Which is why Lena went to see you alone" - Hauk stopped his hand. "Keep it, you will be earning every bit of it, I promise."

...

Mzulft was a disappointment - it was locked.

"Blasted magical locks!" - Lena cursed putting away Nocturnal's skeleton key. "We'll have to see if Farengar in Whiterun has something to open such things. But until then we can't get in!"

The Stony Creek cave nearby provided a welcome opportunity to blow off some steam. The bandits were clever - they used runes and traps in the narrow passages, and Lena got knocked out a couple of times. But then Stenvar and Hauk coming behind her caused some surprise...

"Oh, this is one nice bow!" - said Lena picking up a bow from the chief. "Wait, this looks familiar... Look Hauk - it has a randomised enchantment! 'The Edge of Ruin' it's called... It was Syl's. I wonder what it is doing here?"

"Wasn't it yours at some point? I remember you talking about it" - asked Hauk examining the bow.

"Yes, it was... Or one just like it" - mused Lena. "A lot of things went missing while I was travelling between here, Shivering Isles and the Northern Realms..."

"Shivering Isles and the Northern Realms?" - Stenvar whistled. "And I haven't even been to Morrowind!"

"You stick with us, and soon you'll wish you never left Candlehearth Hall" - laughed Hauk.

Leaving the cave and following a dirt road South and into the mountains, they found a camp in front of a wooden door. A mage picked a fight.

"Now why is it never possible to talk to them calmly?" - asked Hauk looking around. "I do hope I just knocked him out rather than killed - he was just a novice!"

"He was told to guard the place" - said Lena. "His self-importance overruled his thinking. Let's go in."

Ansilvund looked like a mine, but turned out to be an excavation site of a Nordic crypt. They were greeted by draugr and more mages.

"This is strange" - said Lena looking at draugr wrapped in linen stacked along the walls. "Necromancy?"

"Looks like it" - agreed Hauk.

Stenvar sighed. "I prefer to fight bandits. At least when I kill them, they don't get up!"

...

It was snowing lightly when they came out. Ansilvund was the crypt of Holgeir and Fjori, now being defiled by Lu'ah al-Skaven in a misguided revenge after her husband fell in the Great War. A woman in grief using the grief of Holgeir to... what, exactly? There is no logic in grief.

They sat at the camp by the entrance, they needed a break. They didn't speak.

Lena couldn't help but think of that dagger through Hauk's heart and her own venture into the Fade after him. Jowan had given a piece of his soul to let her do that... She would never forget it, or the grief she had felt seeing Hauk dead on the ground.

She put her head on Hauk's shoulder, he pulled her close. She was silently crying. Hauk stroked her hair, letting the tears run.

Stenvar looked up from the fire, raised his eyebrows in a question. "I'll tell you later" - Hauk mouthed to him. For now they'd just sit there, by the crypt of Holgeir and Fjori, holding each other close.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 02:01 PM

[Lena Wolf]

5-6 Rain's Hand, 4E202 - Tolvald's Cave - Kagrenzel

It was getting late, so they decided to spend the night at Ansilvund making use of the campfire and bedrolls inside. Lena turned in early, but Hauk and Stenvar sat by the fire for a while.

Stenvar was waiting for Hauk to tell him why Lena had been crying, but he didn't want to ask. When they were sure that she was asleep, Hauk passed Stenvar a bottle of mead, moved closer and started to talk quietly.

"It was just last week. Some bandit sneaked up on me and put a dagger through my heart."

Stenvar froze.

"I died. She went after me."

Hauk took a sip from his drink, staring in front of him.

"To Sovngarde?" - Stenvar whispered.

"To the Fade - the place you have to cross to get to Sovngarde. I stood there in front of the gates, but they wouldn't let me in - said someone was searching for me. They'd let me in when that person stopped searching."

They sat there in silence - it wasn't a story you heard every day.

"Which is why we came here for a bit of diversion" - continued Hauk. "Some diversion this crypt proved to be! But may be it's for the best. We'll try to find a Dwemer ruin tomorrow."

"Her grief was so intense" - said Stenvar looking at Lena sleeping. "But she's so young! Just early twenties by the looks of her..."

"Yeah, she looks early twenties... but she went through the Oblivion Crisis."

"Two centuries ago?" - Stenvar was taken aback.

"Yes, she was in her early twenties then" - Hauk confirmed. "But she isn't as old as that. Those other realms she spent time in - time passes differently there. She has probably lived around 50 years in all."

They sat drinking mead in silence for a while.

"You've got to keep her close, Da" - Stenvar said quietly.

"Yeah..." - Hauk was lost in thought. Then - something Stenvar had said jerked him out of it: "Da?"

"Oh, I figured it out a long time ago" - Stenvar smiled. "You must be."

"It's not certain. It could be your Ma's husband."

"That worthless git? No, I'd rather it be you."

"I wasn't around enough. Not what a father should be" - Hauk looked at Stenvar with unease. "I loved your mother though."

"It was the War - you were in the Legion. You were around more than many others. And you kept coming back until she died..."

"At which point I abandoned you!" - Hauk sounded guilty. "Something a father should have never done."

"I was almost twenty already! You didn't need to look after me any more!" - Stenvar protested.

"Yeah, I suppose you grew up by then..." - Hauk passed Stenvar more mead. "But still..."

"I'm glad you are back" - said Stenvar. "Ma was happy around you. We both were."

They sat by the fire deep into the night.

6 Rain's Hand

"Oh, something smells good!" - Hauk woke up to the aroma of toasted sweetrolls. Lena was cutting up fruit for breakfast. Stenvar woke up too.

"Did you two drink all the mead you could find here last night?" - she asked pointing at a pile of empty bottles.

"We might have done" - Hauk grinned.

"Where's my armour?" - Stenvar looked bewildered.

"Oh - here" - Lena tossed it to him. "I found some pelts, thought you could use a bit of extra padding, seeing how you kept complaining of cold yesterday..."

"Oh" - Stenvar turned bright red. "Thanks."

"It's like I said..." - Hauk laughed, but Stenvar glared at him and Hauk didn't continue.

...

"There's supposed to be a Dwemer ruin here to the East" - Lena was pouring over a map. "Kagrenzel. And no, I am not holding the map upside down."

"We must have taken a wrong path up the mountain" - said Hauk soothingly. "But here is a cave - you never know, it could be fun."

Tolvad's Cave was not a cave but a cave system. It was large, complicated and filled with falmer. Some Dwemer pipework was visible too, but whatever stood here once, had long collapsed. The caves also housed several ghosts of unfortunate Dunmer fleeing the eruption of the Red Mountain some two centuries ago.

"I suppose it is not surprising to find them here, so close to Morrowind. And they almost made it!" - said Lena with regret. "But the falmer got them..."

"The falmer nearly got us as well" - Hauk reminded her. "How many did we fight at once in that chamber with the waterfall? A dozen? More?"

"Definitely more if you count the chaurusses too" - Stenvar joined in. "This is a dangerous place."

It was nearly 6 p.m. when they came out, not sure what to do.

"Well, it's getting too cold to go searching for that other ruin" - said Hauk. "Let's return to Ansilvund for the night and try another path tomorrow."

They retraced their steps, and just as they were ready to dismount, Lena spurred Roach on and was gone up the mountain.

"Hey, don't get too far ahead!" - Stenvar shouted spurring on his own horse. Lena had found another path.

Indeed, that was the right path to Kagrenzel, and they soon saw Dwemer steps and stonework. They entered.

"Is that all?" - said Lena, disappointed. "Just the one chamber?"

They stood in a chamber with a high ceiling supported by several columns. In the centre there was a pedestal with a glowing orb over it and a couple of fresh corpses underneath.

"That orb looks like trouble" - said Hauk.

"Exactly!" - exclaimed Lena excitedly and grabbed it.

...

Lena came to lying on the ground feeling thoroughly wet and cold. Someone was removing her armour. She decided not to look.

"How are we going to get it to dry in here?" - someone said. The voice sounded familiar.

"We'll have to make a fire" - another familiar voice answered. "Or go without - we've got some clothes in the pack."

"She's still out though. And cold. Why is she not warming up? I mean, I hate cold but I warmed up already!"

"She's... well... she's got a condition."

Someone was rubbing Lena's body with oil - lavender? - as she slowly noticed the feeling returning to her fingers. The fog started to clear, too. She opened her eyes.

"Hauk!" - she tried to say, but no sound came out of her mouth.

"She's waking up!" - the other voice said. Stenvar.

"Oh good" - Hauk put away the oil. "Drink this." He brought a goblet to her lips, helping her to sit up.

It smelled... familiar. Lena drank.

Colour returned to her cheeks almost immediately. She sat up on her own, now holding the goblet, still drinking. The fog lifted.

"More?" - Hauk rolled up his sleeve, removing the clamp from his vein.

Yes, she needed more. Stenvar went pale.

...

"She was a vampire once" - Hauk was explaining it to Stenvar while Lena was sleeping off the lavander oil. "She took the cure, and she doesn't bite necks any more, don't worry. But she doesn't regenerate as well as she should, and sometimes she needs blood to recover. The cure isn't perfect."

Stenvar was still looking shocked.

"I fought some vampires before" - he shuddered. "They were terrifying. I didn't know it could be cured."

"It's hard to obtain - practically impossible for most, and as you can see, the side effects are... rather deadly."

They were sitting on an edge of a deep pool of water - the pond under a waterfall. The water was coming directly from above - so high, you couldn't see the source.

When Lena had touched the glowing orb in the Dwemer ruin, some mechanism was activated, the floor tilted and they were dropped into this pool right under a pounding stream. The shock of the fall and the ice cold water made Lena black out, and if it wasn't for Hauk and Stenvar, she would have drowned. They pulled her out, and while Stenvar was getting out of his own dripping wet armour, Hauk cut his vein and prepared a goblet of blood.

"She'll be back to normal when she wakes up" - said Hauk checking the bandage. "And she'll be angry with me for this - or at least she was last time I offered."

"Mmm... thank you, Hauk, I'm not angry" - Lena was waking up. "But what are we doing here?" She looked around.

"Didn't I tell you that orb was trouble?" - laughed Hauk. "Come on, there must be a path to the surface somewhere."

They followed the stream and eventually came out in the Stony Creek cave, now devoid of bandits after their visit the day before. Still wet and cold, they stood outside.

"Well, what now?" - Lena turned to her companions. "Where do we spend the night?"

"Ansilvund" - they pointed up the mountain.

Ansilvund. Again.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 02:02 PM

[Lena Wolf]

7-8 Rain's Hand, 4E202 - Whiterun - Assassin's End - Irkngthand

"We need to go to Whiterun to see Farengar about opening those magical locks" - said Lena in the morning. "Then we can return here again and try entering Mzulft." [1]

"That's assuming Farengar actually has something suitable" - noted Hauk. "But if anyone does, that'll be him."

They set off West from Ansilvund riding over the geisers. Everything was quiet until Hauk and Stenvar got into a fight with a couple of giants at the Broken Limb camp.

"What?!" - Lena couldn't believe her eyes. "Are you two that bored?!"

"Always wanted to fight a giant!" - shouted Stenvar. "We can take them together!"

"What did they ever do to you?" - Lena shouted back, but no, Stenvar wasn't listening. "Surely Hauk should know better!" - she thought, but apparently he was having too much fun.

Thump! Thump! Thump! The giants got angry. Their thundering clubs shuddered the ground - there was no way for Lena to use any kind of targeting - bow or spells. Then... something flew through the air. No, not something - someone. Hauk got sent flying, landing in a pool, knocked out.

"He'll need a hand getting up" - figured Lena rushing to him.

"Ooh thanks" - he said. "Those giants aren't joking."

Next it was Stenvar flying through the air, landing on rocks and needing a healing hand. Lena gave up targeting giants and just kept running between Hauk and Stenvar trying to keep them alive.

Eventually, the giants were defeated.

"Well, at least let's get their cheese" - said Lena checking the mammoth cheese vats. "And let's find a road and just ride to Whiterun, ok?"

"Only if you promise not to touch any strange orbs" - laughed Hauk. He had a point.

...

Farengar had what they wanted - a ring of unlocking. Mzulft would be open to them now.

"Can you two hang back here for a few hours?" - Lena got up from a table at the Drunken Huntsman. "I need to check on something."

"I thought we said no business this time!" - Hauk protested.

"It won't take long, I promise!"

Lena was out the door. Some things never change.

There was a rumour of an old Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary East of Whiterun [2], and she had to investigate. She found it - and was able to enter, her enchantment from Cyrodiil obviously worked. A Dark Guardian recognised her - this one was a ghost.

"Sister" - one of the assassins greeted her with a nod.

"How does he know?" - she wondered. "And who are they?"

"We are not really here" - an assassin in Daedric armour addressed her, seeing her confusion. "We are the memories of the assassins that were here long ago, when the Dark Brotherhood still had branches in Skyrim. You were able to find the cave, and then to enter the Sanctuary, so you are a Black Hand. We greet you." He bowed.

"But I wasn't able to enter the Sanctuary in Dawnstar" - Lena remembered that failed attempt.

"The Dawnstar Sanctuary had been corrupted" - an assassin in mage robes joined in. "As was the one near Falkreath, as you have undoubtedly noticed. But this one is better protected, so the enchantment still holds. The Dawnstar Sanctuary has been sealed against misuse."

Lena walked around the Sanctuary. A dormitory, a store room, an armoury - everything you'd need, without the fuss.

"Are you bound to this place forever?" - she asked the assassin in Daedric armour.

"Not forever" - he replied, looking up. "We shall depart, now that you are here - even if you don't stay. You've found this place, and our task is complete."

"Thank you" - Lena murmured. This was certainly an interesting turn of events.

...

"Right, see - I'm back, and it didn't take long" - Lena walked into the Drunken Huntsman. Hauk was talking to a dremora, with Stenvar eyeing them suspiciously from a far corner.

"At least with that dremora hanging around here, Nazeem has not dared to come in!" - Jenassa was saying to Stenvar. "He seems harmless. Pays for his board, too!"

"That's not just any dremora" - said Lena in passing. "Sanguine!" - she ran up to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Drinking mead, thank you very much!" - Sanguine laughed. "And catching up on gossip" - he nodded at Hauk. "I hear you've been getting yourself into trouble again?"

"I never!" - Lena protested. "What have you been telling him?" - she turned to Hauk.

"Oh, you know, of daggers and strange orbs" - he winked. "Here - have some mead."

But Lena didn't want to stay too long.

"Come on - time to go" - she urged Hauk.

"Go where?" - he looked at her in disbelief. "The sun has practically set already."

"Enough time to make it to the Nightgate Inn before midnight" - Lena insisted. "I want to try Irkngthand tomorrow, now that we can unlock that door."

"I told you she's recovered" - Hauk turned to Sanguine. "Don't worry."

...

They rode in silence for a while, Lena going steadily North. Stenvar levelled his horse with Hauk's.

"She is friends with a Daedric Prince?"

"Yep."

"To the point that he's looking in on her?"

"Yep."

"What else are you not telling me?"

"Oh, there's plenty. You'll find out in time" - Hauk laughed.

8 Rain's Hand

"Well, here's Irkngthand" - said Hauk as they approached the ruin. "The entrance is on the top floor, and there's no way to get to it... unless you want to drop in from above?"

"Exactly" - Lena smiled.

Stenvar looked perplexed.

Dropping in from above meant climbing the mountain first. They spotted a path going up and took it.

"No, not again!" - Lena watched in disbelief. "Did you decide to kill all giants in Skyrim?"

But obviously they had to have the cheese, and so... Hrmnph. With the Tumble Arch Pass cleared, they continued their ascend.

"This doesn't look good" - said Hauk. "A Word Wall with a massive sarcophagus next to it. I bet it's a Dragon Priest."

"A what?!" - Stenvar started asking when he got hit by a firebolt that almost toppled him over. "Oh I see!"

The fight was intense at first, but then Krosis levitated a bit too far from the edge and... fell off. You wouldn't normally expect an ultra powerful Dragon Priest to commit such a silly error, but there he was, stuck between the rocks, not able to rise or to shoot spells upwards. Ha!

Lena summoned a fire atronach that graciously floated level with Knosis tickling the Priest with its own fire spells, all the while rather enjoying the firebolts. That, and Lena's and Hauk's ice spikes and thunderbolts eventually got him killed. Incredible.

Just below Shearpoint was a small plateau from which one could jump onto the roof of Irkngthand, and then hopefully onto the ledge with the door.

"I'll go" - said Lena. "Follow if you can, but don't worry if you can't. Wait for me down in the camp." And she was off before anyone could object.

...

Lena came out after 1 a.m.

"Finally!" - Hauk looked worried. "What sort of time do you call this?"

"The time to explore the ruin while avoiding the fighting" - Lena smiled. "For the most part." She dangled a sack with 21 falmer ears. "There was far more where this came from, and I didn't collect them all either."

"Anything else?" - Hauk looked suspicious.

"Yes, I ran into Brinjolf in there." [3]

"Oh" - Hauk's eyes darkened. "What did he want?"

"Well, he wasn't there for me. It seems I walked into something - he was evasive. I lost him somewhere among the falmer slave pens, I think" - she winked.

"So that's why it was locked" - Hauk concluded. "Damned Thieves Guild."

"So can we go back to the inn now?" - Stenvar yawned. "It's too cold out here."

The Nightgate Inn beckoned.

"Let's hope we can share in the fun in Mzulft" - said Hauk getting into the saddle. "That's another ruin with a magic lock."

"We'll find out tomorrow!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[1] PS4 mod "Ring of Unlocking".

[2] PS4 mod "Dark Brotherhood in Whiterun" with my own story.

[3] While Lena was exploring, a Thieves Guild quest "Blindsighted" got triggered. She tried to follow it through, but it glitched in the end, so she left the way she came. Brinjolf might be permanently stuck there now, so beware.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 02:03 PM

[Lena Wolf]

9-10 Rain's Hand, 4E202 - Mzulft

They reached Mzulft before lunch and unlocked the door. All seemed quiet. Someone had disposed of the automatons already. Soon they came upon the first body: a mage, possibly from Cyrodiil.

"Mages Guild?" - Lena looked at Hauk. "No, these are not our robes. The Synod - a new group. They must have mounted an expedition, then things seem to have gone very wrong."

"Those machines back there were pretty broken" - noted Stenvar. "So what killed the mage?"

"I give you two guesses" - said Lena, fingering the sack with falmer ears.

"Oh."

"And let's not forget their insectoid friends!" - reminded Hauk. "There's one right there!"

"Well, you wanted to fight something that would bleed. Green blood ok for you?" - teased Lena.

Following the first flying chaurus, they came to a chamber where the mages had set up camp. Alas, all they found were more corpses. Falmer and chaurusses were lurking in the rocky passage ahead.

"Falmer are blind" - Lena turned to her companions. "So let's take advantage of it. Be very quiet and you can easily sneak up to them."

She cast a muffle spell and crouched, Hauk did the same. Stenvar shook his head and crouched. Lena went ahead, signalling them to wait. One, two, three falmer hit with poison arrows, not dead, but no longer at full strength, and they still couldn't hear her. She summoned a dremora and ran back.

The battle was sharp and short, with the dremora taking the heat with archery support from behind.

"There can be no other end" - the Churl returned looking pleased with himself.

"Thank you, my friend" - Lena said, patting him on the arm. He smiled but didn't answer.

"You talk to him?" - Hauk asked when the dremora was banished. "I thought they despised mortals."

"They do" - Lena confirmed. "But it doesn't hurt being polite. Besides, it is usually the same one that keeps turning up."

"I never paid attention to the ones I summoned" - admitted Hauk.

"Well, may be that's why they despise mortals" - smiled Lena.

...

It was nearly midnight but they were still wondering through Mzulft. They were getting tired and hungry.

"We should make camp or find a quiet corner to rest" - said Hauk. "This ruin goes on and on."

"What - sleep here? Among these machines?" - Stenvar didn't sound enthusiastic.

"Not among the machines" - Hauk corrected him. "I did say find a quiet corner. The Dwemer had living quaters here too."

They entered what looked like a town square with doors leading in four directions. All was quiet, someone killed the falmer and destroyed the automatons.

"The Synod mages" - Lena pointed at another dead mage. "They've put up a good fight!"

In one of the corridors between two locked doors stood a Synod mage over a falmer body. The first living Synod mage.

"Hello" - Lena greeted him. "I am so sorry for your friends. Come with us - you'll be safe now."

But he just stared at her and shook his head.

"There's an Imperial camp nearby" - said Hauk. "We'll send some Legionnaires to get you out. Stay here."

The mage looked up at the mention of Legionnaires and nodded.

"Let's go" - Hauk beckoned them on. "He's in shock."

They walked away. They would explore the door behind that mage later, first they needed rest. One of the other doors from the central square led to what looked like living quarters. There was a table there and a bed - all made of stone. They decided to spend the night in that chamber.

10 Rain's Hand

Sleeping on a stone bed was as uncomfortable as sleeping on the floor, so they didn't argue about places. Still, it was safe and they were tired. In the morning they went to investigate the last remaining corridor behind the Synod mage.

The mage wasn't there - he seemed to have found a quiet corner for himself too. They unlocked the door - and found another mage, and a camp. Behind it was a huge Dwemer sphere - a mechanism of some sort.

"This must be what the mages came to study" - said Lena. "Impressive!"

The second mage didn't want to leave either, so they let him be. There was another corridor branching off - and another locked door.

"Blessed be Farengar and his curiosity" - muttered Lena putting on the Ring of Unlocking again.

The lock clicked. The door led outside.

"What?!" - Stenvar couldn't believe it. "We could have been out already last night! I would have preferred to sleep with the bears rather than among those machines!"

"We didn't know where that corridor led" - Hauk tried to be reasonable. "It could have very well been another falmer infested passage, and we were tired and needed rest. Sometimes you just have to know when to stop."

Stenvar had to reluctantly agree than another long fight with the falmer could have turned out badly for them at that point.

They climbed down the cliff and found their horses waiting where they had left them - they were directly above the entrance.

"Well, where to next?" - asked Hauk looking around. "We've cleared this area, I think."

"The Imperial camp" - said Lena pointing up the mountain. "We promised those mages to send help. Then we'll see."

...

"And you are sure those ruins are not haunted?" - the soldiers that the Legate had sent to the ruins wanted confirmation.

"I guarantee you - they are not. And we and the mages before us have cleared out all of the falmer and chaurusses too" - Hauk sounded reassuring. "Most of the mages died doing it, sadly."

"When Optio tells you it's safe - it's safe!" - said the Legate glaring at them. "And you've got your swords, don't you? Off you go now, bring those mages here if they want to come, but don't insist if they don't."

"I don't blame them" - said Stenvar. "It's nothing like fighting bandits."

They sat by the fire recounting to the others what was inside Mzulft. Somehow fighting Stormcloaks paled in comparison.

...

"Should we be returning to Cyrodiil?" - asked Hauk looking at Lena. "See how Jowan is getting on with Volanaro?"

"Yes, I think it's time" - she looked pensive. "I've got a job to do in Skingrad, too... and another one also in Skingrad - that one's for Mages Guild. Something that the Count asked specifically for me!"

"Vampires - it must be" - concluded Hauk. "He knows you can be trusted."

"Well, we can go together, and even bring Jowan - it isn't as secret as that." Lena turned to Stenvar: "I guess we part ways then. Take care of yourself, Stenvar."

"Come and find me again next time you're around" - he got up. "I'll be getting bored at the Candlehearth Hall."

Lena and Hauk got up too, headed back to Helgen and over the border to Cyrodiil.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 02:04 PM

[Renee]

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

Very much agree with this decision, and so does my one character who was going through Dark Brotherhood years ago (way back in 2011).

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

This amused me. She's got a meeting with the Speaker about something so serious, and she's eating grapes with cheese.

Interesting how Hauk and Hadvar already know each other. I am up to Sun's Dawn 20 by now.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jun 22 2021, 02:44 PM

[Lena Wolf]

12-16 Rain's Hand, 4E202 - Skingrad vampires

Lena and Hauk arrived in Bruma on the 12th, almost two weeks after they left.

"Good holiday?" - Jowan greeted them. He's been staying at the Mages Guild - Volanaro managed to convince Jeanne that it was a charitable thing to do to allow Lena's friend to stay with them, considering that Lena was a Warlock and had the ear of the Arch Mage.

"Yes, I think it was a good holiday, all things considered" - Lena decided. "I have things to do in Skingrad, so why don't we take a coach to there, and I'll fill you in on the way."

13 Rain's Hand

"What happened to the unicorn?" - asked Hauk at breakfast the following morning. They were staying at Lena's house in Skingrad where she used to have a stuffed unicorn in the bedroom. The unicorn was now gone, replaced by an alchemy lab behind a partition.

"Sent it to Skyrim" - she smiled. "Geralt was talking about getting a house of his own, so he'll need it. I doubt Yennefer will be able to bring hers from the Northern Realms."

That was that. She didn't take any further questions.

...

"Well, what do you think we should do?" - Lena turned to Hauk after they spoke to the Count of Skingrad. "Talk to the vampire hunters or go see the vampires for ourselves first?"

"I don't think we need to see the vampires" - said Hauk. "The Count wants them gone, it's understandable."

"Ok, hunters then. Let's ask around town."

...

"We're here to protect!" - said Eridor and continued talking until Lena couldn't take it any more.

"They are in the Bloodcrust Cavern!" - Lena had enough of it. "Go get them." Then turning to Hauk and Jowan, she added: "I have a headache! Let's go to the Two Sisters Lodge for a drink."

The Lodge teamed with vampire hunters.

"Well, there are no vampires here!" - Mog gra-Mogakh told them. "So stop sneaking around and start buying drinks!"

Which they did. Were they ever going to hunt the vampires?

"Well, they are not in a hurry" - said Lena in the evening. "I've got another job to do, and it may take a few days, I just don't know. Why don't you two keep an eye on the hunters while I'm gone? I'll leave in the morning."

"Is that far away?" - asked Jowan.

"No, it's right here in Skingrad. A closed party of some sort" - Lena explained. "And it is likely that everyone will have their own objectives there. I don't really know what to expect."

"Well, be careful" - said Hauk. "We'll keep an eye on the hunters."

15 Rain's Hand

Lena was gone for a day and a half, returning in the evening. She looked tired but satisfied.

"Unbelievable!" - she let herself drop into a seat with a goblet of wine. "The small talk nearly killed me!"

"I'm glad it didn't" - laughed Hauk. "But I know what you mean."

"Any news about the hunters?"

"Not as such, but they seem to have disappeared."

"Oh?"

"Mog gra-Mogakh complained that they scampered without paying, and that now she'll have to clean out their rooms as they left their 'filthy smelly stuff' behind" - explained Hauk. "I think they might be dead."

"We'll need to go check the cavern tomorrow, in case any of the vampires survived" - Lena was looking thoughtful. "I wonder what made them come so close to the city, and not any city, but Skingrad specifically. Were they hoping that the Count would welcome them with open arms?"

"Probably not, but there might be a reason. We should ask" - agreed Hauk.

"Aren't they just going to try to kill us on sight?" - Jowan couldn't quite imagine what this conversation would look like.

"That's what we need to find out" - answered Lena, looking straight at him. "When I was a vampire, I didn't attack people on sight. Many vampires don't stop being people. Some however do turn into wild predators attacking everyone. We need to find out what these ones are like."

"Tomorrow is going to be interesting" - concluded Jowan.

16 Rain's Hand

"Was that a hunter?"

They were standing over a corpse near the entrance of the Bloodcrust Cavern.

"Hard to say" - Hauk turned him over. A pale face stared at them. "He is not wearing armour - just clothes - but he's got a sword and a shield. Yes, probably a hunter - sucked dry."

They entered the cave. Another corpse - Eridor. No bite marks.

"Hello!!!" - Lena shouted into the cave passage. "Can we talk?"

Footsteps.

"You dare come in here?!" - a vampire appeared, claymore at the ready.

"Yes, I do" - said Lena calmly. "Not afraid to get infected and you won't like my blood. I want to speak to the head of this coven."

"And they?" - the vampire glared at Hauk and Jowan.

"They will kill you and spill your blood unless you cooperate. Now."

The vampire hesitated but then sheathed his weapon and asked them to follow. The matriarch was waiting in the next chamber, having listened to the exchange unseen.

"You wanted to speak with me" - she turned to Lena. "Speak."

"What is it you seek so close to Skingrad?" - asked Lena.

"We seek the cure - the Count has it" - the matriarch bared her fangs. "We shall terrorise the populace until we get it."

"Have you asked the Count for it?"

"No, but isn't it obvious? He is just sitting on it!"

"Well..." - Lena looked into the faces of the vampires at the back of the room. "You do realise that it has side effects?"

The matriarch stepped towards Lena and bit her neck. Lena didn't look worried - and Hauk held back Jowan who wanted to attack. The bite was but a scratch, a drop of blood appeared, the matriarch tasted it.

"Yes, you would know" - she said with satisfaction. "Come - we need to talk."

...

"As simple as that" - Lena looked at Janus Hassildor with urgency. "Leave them be, and you will never need to worry about vampires in Skingrad because these ones will defend their turf. And there will be no attacks on your people - they'll be keeping captives."

"Oh?" - Count Hassildor wasn't convinced yet. "Captives? Any of my citizens?" - he looked angry.

"No, just a pair of vampire hunters" - Lena smiled. "They weren't up to the job, it seems."

Count Hassildor smiled.

"Very well" - he looked at Lena intently. "But how did you convince them to forgo the search for the cure?"

"I told them that I still had to drink blood - and Hauk showed where he cut his vein for me... when I was close to death."

"You spoke to Vicente then" - the Count relaxed.

"It was a huge shock to learn that I still needed blood... but I've accepted it now. Some of the vampires in that coven may prefer suicide instead."

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 02:04 PM

[Lena Wolf]

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

This amused me. She's got a meeting with the Speaker about something so serious, and she's eating grapes with cheese.

Well, they are having dinner. Just because it's a business dinner, there is no reason to ignore grapes and cheese. Besides, these two have a history together, they are not exactly strangers.

Interesting how Hauk and Hadvar already know each other. I am up to Sun's Dawn 20 by now.

Well, they are obviously both in the Legion. And I always felt that there was far more to Hadvar than just being an ordinary soldier. He's not saying much, so that can only mean... yep, there's a lot more to him than what meets the eye!

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Jun 22 2021, 03:55 PM

[Lena Wolf]

16-17 Rain's Hand, 4E202 - Obligations - Fenris Bero

"Well, that was interesting" - Lena looked at Hauk when they were outside Castle Skingrad. "So Mannimarco has returned. Traven will want to know that - but should we hurry back?"

"I wouldn't hurry" - Hauk said slowly. "If Traven hasn't figured it out for himself yet, he isn't much of an Arch Mage."

Lena nodded. The information was important, of course, but she felt that the Count had simply used it to ask Lena's help with the vampire hunters. She would have given her help regardless though.

"Well, if we are not going to worry about Traven for now" - she continued, lost in thought. "Then there are a few obligations I need to follow up on. Namely, trouble has been brewing in the Shivering Isles with the Saints and Seducers quarrelling again, and also I need to check up on the Leyawiin Sanctuary - I had asked Borba to fix it up."

"Then I suggest Leyawiin first" - Hauk looked at her intently. "This seems important somehow. Surely it can't be just about the furniture?"

"It isn't..." - Lena blushed. "There's someone there. A slave."

"What?!" - Hauk and Jowan looked indignant. "You..?!"

"I didn't!" - Lena protested. "I didn't buy a slave! Or at least I didn't know I was buying a slave! I was buying the original furnishings left behind by my great-uncle, and suddenly there was a slave there as well."

"What does the trader have to say about that?" - Hauk looked stern.

"He... well... Let's just say he was a swindler and a slave trader, so I had to have Borba change the furnishings, but I can't just abandon that slave. Especially since he's a vampire."

"Riiiight..." - Hauk whistled. "That explains your sudden warmth towards the vampires in the Bloodcrust Cavern. So what do you intend to do?"

"I wish I knew" - Lena looked uncertain. "There's also a captive there - for the vampire to feed on. I tried to wake him up, but he seems to have been infected with Narcolepsy, so there's nothing I can do for him. And the vampire needs to feed. I want to make this slave into a free person again."

"That might not be so easy" - remarked Jowan. "In Tevinter - a neighbouring kingdom of where I'm from - slavery is so common, that many slaves have accepted it and don't even want to be free. And that's where Magisters kill and bleed their slaves for blood magic rituals - and the slaves... they just think it's normal! People get used to all sorts of things..."

"Then we should go to Leyawiin and check on this slave" - concluded Hauk. "What's his name?"

"Fenris Bero."

"What?! And you kept that for last?!" - Hauk laughed. Jowan looked at them with a blank face. "I'll tell you later" - Hauk promised. A lesson in the history of Morrowind was on the cards.

17 Rain's Hand

They took a coach to Leyawiin, arriving within a day. The Sanctuary was just a short walk from the city.

"Mistress!" - Fenris Bero kneeled before Lena as they entered the central hall. "You have returned!"

"As I said I would" - Lena replied. "Is there any food in the stores?"

"Yes, the Orcs filled it up" - Fenris pointed at the storage. "I haven't touched anything."

"Right..." - Lena looked at Hauk and Jowan. "Can you two take care of dinner while I talk to Fenris?"

She took him into the study and closed the door.

"Please don't kneel, you are not my slave."

"But Mistress!" - Fenris was confused but he remained standing. Lena sat down.

"Tell me about your life with Rowley."

"Well..." - Fenris seemed hesitant. "He... started by sending us out for assassinations, as he said, but he always insisted we bring back loot, and that's what got the others killed. I was lucky, I guess. Then, when I was the only one left, he kept me in his house... I tended to his garden and made his poisons for sale, and he... kept me chained most of the time... He'd come for satisfaction often enough, and if I performed well, he'd give me blood... Just enough to survive."

Fenris dropped to his knees, but Lena didn't insist he'd get up. His story echoed what she'd heard before.

"Then, when I was no longer good enough, he'd beat me, keep me hungry, not give me any water or food at all, and no blood... Then once I was weak and beaten, he'd come for satisfaction again... But in the last few years I was never good enough for him... He used to have other slaves, but they seemed to have gone... or died... Then suddenly he brought me here and said that I had a new master now - a Mistress - and good riddance. You bought me, and I am sorry I am probably no use or satisfaction to you either..."

Lena listened wondering more and more what to do with him.

"Fenris" - she started. He looked up. "Rowley is dead - I killed him." Fenris froze. "And you are not a slave here. Do you wish to leave?"

"You are sending me away, Mistress?" Tears ran down Fenris' face and he was shaking all over. "I... I have no where to go."

Lena had said the wrong thing. She sat down on the floor next to Fenris and put her arm around his shoulders.

"I am not sending you away" - she wiped away his tears not unlike Lucien had wiped away hers some weeks back. "I killed Rowley Eardwulf because he was a traitor - to my great-uncle, to the Dark Brotherhood, to all of you new recruits, and certainly to you. He did not deserve to live."

"And he was with the Crimson Scars, and you are with the Dark Brotherhood. I am ready to die by your hand, Mistress!" - he looked resolved.

"He was with the Dark Brotherhood before he was with the Crimson Scars, and that is why he had to die" - Lena replied. "But you are a different matter. You were not involved, and I absolve you. It is in my power - I am a Silencer."

"And who is your Speaker?"

"Lucien Lachance."

They were already sitting on the floor, so Fenris could not kneel. Still, he could prostrate himself before Lena, and there he was. Every attempt she made to tell him that his enslavement and suffering were over, seemed to have gone wrong. How do you bring back someone who's been a slave for over 200 years?

She let him lie there for a little while, then she propped herself up on an elbow and started stroking his hair. After a while, Fenris looked up, his grey Dunmer skin having a white undertone, his vampire eyes light pink.

"When was the last time you fed?" - Lena asked.

"I haven't touched the prisoner" - he said. "I hadn't earned it."

Weeks, then. Perhaps months. Now, try not to say the wrong thing again, Lena.

"I shall have work for you" - she said, lifting him up by the shoulders and looking straight into his face. "But I need you at full strength. Feed on the prisoner. Eat the food. My companions and I will stay here tonight and leave tomorrow, but I shall be back in a few weeks. You will need to come with me then. Be ready."

Fenris straightened up.

"Yes, Mistress."

She got up and left the room to join Hauk and Jowan at the table.

"Well? How did it go?" - Hauk asked.

"He's a slave" - Lena answered grimly. "He doesn't know how not to be."

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 02:05 PM

[Lena Wolf]

18 Rain's Hand, 4E202 - Bravil - Shivering Isles

"Go on - you need to do it on your own" - Hauk and Jowan were seeing off Lena as she prepared to enter the Shivering Isles. "Sheogorath wanted you to do those tasks for Syl and Thadon, and you don't want me there getting under your feet" - Hauk smiled. "As much as I would love to." He kissed her on a cheek. "Jowan and I will explore Bravil while you're gone - I don't think Jowan appreciates the finer points yet" - he winked.

"Well, all right" - Lena conceded. "But don't let me catch you in that den when I'm back."

"No, we'll keep to the chapel."

Mmm. Whatever. Lena stepped through the portal.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 02:06 PM

[Lena Wolf]

18-21 Rain's Hand, 4E202 - Lady Syl

Lady Syl wanted me to find a conspiracy against her and suggested I enlist the help of her Court Torturer. How could I refuse!

"I like assertive leadership" - said Herdir. Well, we'll get along fine then.

Most people had nothing to say, but they all got a good zapping anyway - leadership needs to be asserted, not merely assumed. Cutter got a triple doze because she asked for it. Literally.

But what do you know - Lady Syl was right this time - there was in fact a conspiracy against her. Some people want her dead. But how complicated! A Black Sacrament is all you need, and someone comes and does the job for you - me. Oh wait, we have no branches in the Shivering Isles.

After a day of fun torturing everyone... err... making enquiries, we got a lead on a secret meeting location, and then I had to sneak around and listen in. I got bored, got stuck at Bernice's chatting with Ushnar and his terror of cats (and Khajiits), then ran around after Bisha to try and get him to leave - and missed the secret meeting. Never mind, there's always tomorrow. Got a nice skinned hound as a reward.

Slow investigations have their merits - provided there's enough wine in stock.

Lady Syl was pleased with the result, and the head of the conspiracy was executed. She's right not to execute everyone involved though - she'd soon run out of citizens.

And here it is - my Ruin's Edge. Not "The Edge of Ruin" that I found in Skyrim. Although the enchantment is similar, the Skyrim bow is a fake - much too heavy and takes way too much charge to work.

On to the next task now: get the chalice for Thadon. It's a tricky one - I'll have to take felldew to enter the cave, and continue taking more felldew to keep fighting the elytra. But in the end there's the chalice - it clears up the built-up addiction. Yeah, I've done it before... But last time I was a vampire, and that addiction didn't do much to me at all. This time it will be different, I can tell...

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 02:08 PM

[Lena Wolf]

21-23 Rain's Hand, 4E202 - The chalice

"Come on - take it" - Dylan held Lena tightly around the waist, his low voice hissed as he spoke into her ear. He dropped his mace and held her close to his bare chest. "Now."

Lena was dizzy, the room was spinning in her sight, but she was still resisting.

"No, I can't!"

Dylan unclipped his collar, and his upper armour dropped to the floor. It was hard to refuse a Dark Seducer. His scent was sweet, enticing, irresistible.

"You must" - he hissed, holding her closer still.

The room was spinning faster and faster, Lena was about to faint, to slip away into the white whirlpool ahead... The darkness behind her was rushing in too, swallowing her... Which would devour her first - the velvet darkness or the blinding white light, sharp as her Sufferthorn... Sharp as...

She bit Dylan's neck and drank. She had fangs again.

22 Rain's Hand

Lena woke up in a feather bed in what looked like a party room. There was wine, fruit and felldew everywhere, as well as several fresh corpses. Dylan was next to her on the bed.

"Ah, you are awake" - he said, now not trying to speak softly. There was a fresh bite mark on his neck, he looked a little pale, noticeable even on his dark blueish skin. "Thadon tried to get you killed. Ex-vampires cannot have felldew."

"But I'm alive?" - Lena was trying to remember what happened. Thadon had sent her into this cave with elytras, she had to have felldew to enter, then to have more to survive, then...

"Yeah, alive, but only just."

Dylan must have followed her, she vaguely remembered him joining in the fight with the addicts when she reached the chamber where they were feasting - the chamber with the chalice.

"I remember getting the chalice - and your help in battle" - she looked at him, now noticing the bite marks. "Did I..?" - she touched Dylan's neck lightly and a drop of blood oozed from the bite.

"You had to have blood" - he said. "Fresh blood of a living being, not a corpse. Blood not tainted by felldew" - he glanced at the corpses of the addicts. "You would have died - the chalice would have killed you."

"And you--"

"I am not mortal, but it seems to have sufficed" - he looked at her fondly. "I missed you."

...

Lena couldn't go anywhere just yet, she was still dizzy and weak. Dylan collected the fruit around the room and brought it to her, carefully avoiding wine and felldew. Lena ate, biting into the fruit and touching her incisors with her tongue after every bite - they seemed to have returned to normal sized teeth.

"Your fangs have retracted" - Dylan noticed her worry. "You are not a vampire."

"So what am I then - a part-vampire?" Lena didn't like this. Although she had drank blood once since she took the cure, she hadn't bitten any necks - she thought she had lost her fangs. Apparently, not completely.

"You are an ex-vampire. You lost your immortality but not your addiction."

He caressed her face and looked into her eyes.

"Amber. That's good. I'll take you to the Wellspring again. Thadon can wait."

He rolled over onto his back and closed his eyes. Lena was going to say something, but he was already asleep, his long wake over.

23 Rain's Hand

"Hello, Thadon" - said Lena approaching the table in the House of Mania. "Here is your Chalice."

"You..." - Thadon stuttered - "how are you..."

"Alive?" - Dylan prompted him, emerging from the shadows. "That was a mean trick you played, Thadon."

"Not any meaner than what she did last time around!" - Thadon retorted glaring at both of them. "You!" - he turned to Dylan - "You were supposed to be dead! Mazken scum!"

Dylan didn't seem to be offended, rather amused.

"Dead? Me? You need a sip from that chalice, Thadon."

"Well now, isn't that fun!" - Sheogorath appeared at the table. "It all turned out splendidly, it seems!"

"My Lord" - Thadon bowed.

"Thadon - tszt - tszt! You knew she was an ex-vampire - I told you!" - Sheogorath wagged his finger in front of Thadon's face. "Good thing she had friends, eh? Or may be bad thing for you, because now she'll go after Syl again. Cutting the heart out and all that nonsense - very bloody."

"But My Lord--" Thadon started, but Sheogorath wasn't listening.

"I see you haven't forgotten us completely" - he turned to Dylan. "I shouldn't allow that sort of thing, you know, rebellion and all that, but since it is all in good fun... I'll let you off. Will she turn into a Mazken now that she drank your blood?" - he looked Lena over. "No, probably not - as pale as ever. More blood! More blood is what she needs, keep trying. I'm sure Thadon can supply the felldew."

"My Lord..." - Thadon started, looking bewildered. "You knew this would happen? That this... scum" - he glared at Dylan - "would rescue her?"

"Of course I knew, I'm the Prince! Knew, know, did I know? May be not! But suspected!" - Sheogorath was piercing Dylan with his gaze. "Mazken scum, you say? Well, she seems to like him! Tastes good - and not just the blood! But there's no accounting for taste, is there?" - he looked at Thadon. "Not the way you carry on with Syl, I shouldn't think!"

Thadon was finally realising that there was no reasoning with Sheogorath - Wide-Eye had been making him signs for a while already. Nothing happened in the Shivering Isles without Prince's knowledge and approval, and if it did, then it didn't last. Thadon should stop embarrassing himself.

"Well done and run along now" - Sheogorath looked at Lena again. "Find something to do. Or it will find you - you never know what it'll be!"

Sheogorath vanished. Thadon was still glaring at Lena and Dylan, clutching the chalice to his chest. It was time to leave.

"Did you have trouble with Sheogorath after I left?" - Lena asked Dylan once they were outside.

"Trouble?"

"Because you left the Mazken order?"

"No... well... it depends what you call trouble" - he looked at her sideways. "I was banished for a while. To Oblivion, you know. He only brought me back when you returned."

"What?!" - Lena was outraged. "I'll have to have words with him. He's to leave you alone."

They entered Crucible.

"How may I serve?" - a Mazken guard greeted them, glaring at Dylan. There was a lot of glaring going around that day.

"Oh, don't mind him" - said Dylan, referring to Sheogorath. "He's not as crazy as he likes to appear. Let's have something to eat."

Sickly Bernice was happy to serve them food and drink, but avoided talking to Dylan. Mazken didn't normally come to her taphouse, certainly not male Mazken, but she dared not contradict the Duchess' Inquisitor - Lena. Not after that Inquisition she'd been subjected to... If it was food and drink they wanted, food and drink they got, she had rooms too, no questions asked. Not like in that other inn in New Sheoth...

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 02:08 PM

[Lena Wolf]

23-24 Rain's Hand, 4E202 - Dylan

"Thank you for decorating this house" - Lena and Dylan entered the Wolf House in Crucible. "I wasn't fond of Hirrus' tastes" - she smiled.

"I know" - Dylan smiled back. "I didn't lose my memory just because I've been banished."

...

When Lena had become the sitting Lord Sheogorath, she tried to make some changes to the Palace Guard - she requested that male Seducers should also serve in the Palace. This was an outrageous request - their ranks were much too low for that kind of honour. But she was the Lord - albeit temporary - and her will could not be ignored. Yet only one male Seducer appeared, the others had chosen to please their Mazken superiors instead.

Dylan was not like the other Seducers - he was curious. He wondered what his new duties would be, what kind of services were required of him. Why did she request a male? Surely, that could only be for one thing...

Actually, no. Lena was mistrustful of women, mortal or daedra. She had been betrayed by her "best friends for life" all too many times, she hated rivalry, bigotry, jealousy and small talk - all the vices that she associated with the fair sex. She preferred men, and she had learned to avoid the ones that were only after that one thing.

After some initial misunderstandings, Dylan decided that Lena wanted a bodyguard. He still couldn't see why she'd prefer a weaker male, but figured she must have felt inferior compared to a female Seducer. After all, Lord of the Land or not, Lena was still a mortal - an inferior race in every respect.

Dylan accompanied Lena to every cave and ruin that she delved into. Her people needed her help, be it with fetching the never ending bottles of Aquanostrum, or with rooting out an overgrown nest of elytra or grummites - there was always something to do. With every expedition, with every battle and with every healing session afterwards, Dylan's attitude was slowly changing.

"What happened to you?" - he asked Lena once, suddenly noticing her wrinkled face covered in sores, her stooped posture and her swollen joints. "Your appearance does not reflect your essence."

"I was a vampire, I took the cure, and this is the side effect" - Lena replied.

No, that couldn't be right, he wouldn't stand for it.

"That cure crippled you" - he said with indignation. "How do you cope?"

"Oh, it doesn't hurt" - smiled Lena, running her hand over the swollen knuckles. "And I am used to being shunned."

"I'll take you to the Wellspring tomorrow."

This was the first time that Dylan took the lead in their partnership - he was no longer a bodyguard, he was now Lena's friend. He found his purpose and he would never return to the Mazken order.

24 Rain's Hand

They spent the night in the Wolf House. The air was thick with the mix of their scents. It had been too long.

"Dylan" - Lena was devouring a sweetroll for breakfast. "Come with me to Mundus - you'll get lonely here again once I'm gone. I'll be back, I will always come back, but I can't stay here."

"And I'll be here when you come back" - Dylan replied with a smile. "If not always like this night."

Lena looked at him with a question in her eyes. "Why not?"

"Because one day you will choose one man for yourself, and you mustn't choose me. I belong here, I shall wait for you, and I shall always remain your friend." He looked her in the eye, then took her face in his hands. "However, until such time--" he kissed her.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 02:09 PM

[Acadian]

Oh, I remember bits and pieces of Shivering Isles - including Syl and Thadon. How bittersweet about Dylan.

[Lena Wolf]

How bittersweet about Dylan.

Dylan... he still needs to find his way, too. He tells Lena not to choose him - but when was the last time she listened to reason?

[Lena Wolf]

24-25 Rain's Hand, 4E202 - Cylarne

"The Saints and Seducers are quarreling again - the Great Torch is not burning, I'm sure you noticed" - Sheogorath looked at Lena with significance. "So you know what you've got to do!"

Indeed, she knew what to do. Go to Cylarne, have them fight it out, get the flame, bring it back to New Sheoth and relight the Great Torch. Simplicity itself.

"Well, this will take a few days" - Lena turned to Dylan when they were outside. "Last time I had to do a lot of negotiating between them..."

"But you sided with us - that's the important bit" - Dylan reminded her.

"And may be this is why this time I'll side with the Saints" - said Lena.

Dylan followed her quietly for a little while, until they got onto the gallery around the Palace gardens. Then he pulled her into a corner with her back against the wall.

"You do not side with the Saints" - he hissed, trying to keep his voice down. His gaze was intense - he meant it.

"No, I had no intention to" - admitted Lena. "I am sorry for teasing you, Dylan."

He took a step back, releasing her, but didn't say anything. His gaze was still intense.

"There is more fire inside him than I ever knew" - thought Lena watching Dylan sideways. "Much more!" Had she forgotten that he was a daedra?

...

The way to Cylarne was long, and they got side tracked as usual. The night fell but they were only half way - on the coast near the Breakneck Camp. The views were worth it though.

They spent the night at the camp. There wasn't much to eat there, and they nearly cleared their supplies. They would need to pick fruit and mushrooms along the way.
25 Rain's Hand

"Leave that greenmote alone!" - Dylan was trying to prevent Lena from eating it. "You know it's poison, just like felldew."

"But Thadon eats it every day!" - Lena protested. "Along with the rest of his courtiers. It's not poisonous in small amounts."

"Thadon also indulges in felldew, but you can't. Leave it alone."

Perhaps she should listen to the voice of reason for once.

...

They reached Cylarne in the evening. This time Lena decided not to negotiate but to help the Mazken defend the Altar of Despair. Dylan was pleased with that - he didn't look forward negotiating with the Aureals.

The Mazken won, their losses were significant, but nothing like the losses on the Aureal side. Dylan fought bravely, proving them all wrong for excluding males from service.

Then Grakedrig Ulfri sacrificed herself on the Altar of Despair to light the Flame of Agnon.

"This is the greatest honor that can be bestowed upon a Mazken" - said Dylan, looking wistful. "I wish it could be me."

Lena looked at him in horror.

"She will be back, of course" - he smiled. "Reborn at the Wellspring."

Cylarne now belonged to the Mazken, and Lena wanted to look around the other half of it - the Underkeep that used to house the Aureals. It was partly flooded but otherwise seemed inhabited - the urns held the usual healing potion supplies. The walls were decorated with tapestries of Mania and the Aureals.

"This section seems to be permanently occupied by the Aureals - look at the decor" - she turned to Dylan. "The same as the other section seems to be permanently Mazken. This would make sense, given the two Altars and the duality of this land. So why the quarrels?"

"How can it be any other way?" - asked Dylan, looking perplexed. "Sheogorath is the only one to possess both sides, the rest of us are either one or the other, so we fight. Otherwise we would be the same." He took Lena's hand. "You have chosen a side too - you've never requested male Aureals to serve in the Palace."

"It is true" - Lena agreed. "I don't like Saints - they are haughty. But I tend to prefer Bliss... although I love that house in Crucible..." She smiled. "But you should see my houses in Cyrodiil - Mazken tapestries and Mania rugs..."

"And that's why he chose you as his Champion" - said Dylan, kissing her fondly. "Come on, you've got a Great Torch to light."

As they came out of Cylarne, they ran into an Obelisk of Order. You had to put three Hearts of Order into it to shut it down, and Lena had four hearts in her pack, so she figured the job would be finished quickly... Not so. The Obelisk would only shut down once the Priest of Order was dead. Eleven Knights of Order later, Lena and Dylan finally prevailed, having been knocked out multiple times in the process. The Obelisk seized to function.

They continued on. Literally ten steps further ahead they saw another Obelisk... Thirteen knights had to be fought at that one, plus the priest of course. The Greymarch was really on.

It was 5:30 a.m. when they reached Camp Talltrees, finding a Heretic consorting with a Knight of Order. But not for long.

"We should stop here and rest" - said Dylan. "You haven't eaten anything since the morning - and no, greenmote doesn't count."

He was right, of course. They ate the fruit and mushrooms that they had collected along the way. Lena wasn't sure about sleeping with the Flame of Agnon burning on her, but Dylan convinced her not to worry. The way to New Sheoth was still long.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 02:10 PM

[Lena Wolf]

27-29 Rain's Hand, 4E202 - Ebrocca - Cann - The Sanctum of Decadence

"Why did you light the Great Torch for Mania?" - asked Dylan in the morning. "While you gave Cylarne to the Mazken?"

"The quarrel over Cylarne was between the Mazken and the Aureals, but the Torch is for the people of the Isles. I lit it for Dementia last time, so now it was Mania's turn. Besides, I like the dress. Well, either dress, really. You know I can't choose between them - I belong in both halves."

"As a true Lord Sheogorath must do" - he smiled. "So what's next?"

"Sheogorath wants me to become a Duchess of one one of the halves, but like I said - I can't choose. Or rather: I don't want to choose this time" - Lena got out of bed. "Are we out of sweetrolls?"

Greymarch could wait - breakfast was far more important at that point.

"Besides, I have other obligations" - she continued. "Sickly Bernice wants her Aquanostrum, there are Obelisks to shut down, and I still haven't found the Fork of Horripilation for Big Head - he had lost it again. So get up - we've got things to do. I wonder whether they've got sweetrolls in Bliss?"

...

"Ebrocca" - Dylan figured out where Lena was headed when they passed Highcross without stopping. "Why are we here?"

"The skeletons have been bothering people, so we need to go and calm them down a bit" - she smiled.

"I hate fighting the undead" - Dylan cursed under his breath but followed Lena inside.

Ebrocca had buttons everywhere - buttons that either caused the floor under you to open or some spell to be fired at you, none of it beneficial to your health. Lena pressed such a button, fell through the floor, fought some skeletons in an enclosed cell. There was no way out, just another button to press. She pressed it, fell through the floor, had a great skinned hound to fight, found another button... This continued for some time, and she started wondering what was on the lowest level, and hoping it wasn't just an enclosed cell.

Fortunately there was a way out, or at least a way deeper into the ruin, and it wasn't another fall. She went through a door and found Dylan on the other side. He had pressed another button and had a similar journey - it seemed it made no difference which button you pressed, really.

...

"So... Clanfather Malifant, dead again" - Lena stood over the body of an elderly mage whom they have finally killed, for the third time in a row. "Let's hope he'll stay dead for a while now."

"You know he'll rise again" - said Dylan. "And someone will have to come and kill him all over again, three times in a row."

"And I shall be back to do it again, yes" - Lena looked at Dylan with a smile. "The work is never done."

They checked the coffins stacked around the main chamber, removing any weapons - there was no need to arm those skeletons any further.

"Ok, this will stay quiet for a time" - Lena was satisfied. "We can go."

"Provided we find a way out!"

Eventually, they did.

28 Rain's Hand

"While we are in the area" - Lena looked around as they woke up the next morning - they were staying at the Frenzied camp. "Cann is nearby - and we ran into some heretics around that place. They might have the Fork of Horripilation - we should go and check."

"Go and do a lot of fighting, you mean" - Dylan sighed. "Ok, but then we need a good breakfast first. Even if there are no sweetrolls."

They had no sweetrolls but they did have fruit and mushrooms that they had collected the day before - Mania was full of sweets. Most of it was nutritious, if also mildly hallucinogenic.

29 Rain's Hand

"Twenty-seven hours!" - Dylan was quite indignant. "Twenty-seven hours it took us to go through those ruins, and for what? Still no Fork!"

"Well, we did stop a number of times to eat and rest" - Lena was trying to calm him down.

"Thank Sheogorath for that!" - she wasn't being very successful. "And we're out of everything now, so still have to go picking fruit before we can find a camp and get some rest! And will probably have to fight more heretics for some dirty bedroll!"

"Definitely more fire inside him than I ever suspected" - thought Lena. Dylan was no longer restraining himself - Lena was no longer his Lord of the Land. She was glad of it.

Cann was a very large ruin, designed for entertainment it seemed. It had a large lobby area, an amphitheater, participant rooms, and many open chambers for small performances.

It also had traps, sliding floors, spellcasting statues - the usual. And heretics, at least thirty heretics with angry hunger summons, as well as the actual hungers. It has been a tiresome business. And indeed, they did not find the Fork of Horripilation anywhere.

"I have an idea" - Lena brightened up. "Follow me."

...

"What?! Dunroot Burrow?!" - Dylan couldn't quite believe it. "Look, if you want blood, just ask!"

"No, this is not what I had in mind" - smiled Lena. "What Thadon forgot to mention, is that there is no need to go through the burrow to reach that room with food and beds where they had the chalice. And that's where we're going - no felldew needed."

Dylan brightened up. They went around the big tree, then down the hill, and they stood in front of the ornate wooden door to the Sanctum of Decadence. The hall was empty.

"Finally!" - Dylan sighed a sigh of relief. "There's still plenty of food and wine here. Let's stay a while."

He unclipped his collar, letting his armour drop to the floor. It was time to relax and unwind.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 02:11 PM

[Lena Wolf]

30 Rain's Hand, 4E202 - Sheogorath

"My Prince" - Lena approached Sheogorath's throne. "I must speak with you."

"Oh how good of you to visit!" - Sheogorath smiled. "Let's hear it then!"

"Leave Dylan alone - he said you banished him when I was gone. After you banished me, I should add" - she glared at him. Lena was not afraid of Sheogorath. "Dylan deserves better."

"Says you!" - Sheogorath was amused. "You are not the one who created him though! That was me! And he defied me!"

"Well, technically he didn't" - Lena smiled slyly. "You made me Lord Sheogorath, remember? And I - Lord Sheogorath - ordered male Mazken to serve in the Palace. So it is in fact all the other ones who didn't come, that defied you."

Sheogorath laughed.

"Well said, well said! Did you hear that, Haskill? I chose well!" - he turned to Lena again. "But what would you have me do, otherwise? The boy was lonely, I did him a favour. I brought him back as soon as you returned."

"He must learn to deal with it" - Lena looked at Sheogorath sternly. "Like mortals do. We can't just be tucked away when things turn sour - we have to go through it."

"But he's not mortal, is he?" - it was now Sheogorath who looked stern. "Tame him too much, and he'll fall to pieces when you die. Which you must, one day! Then he will have to spend an eternity grieving."

"Or learn to live with it, like we do" - Lena was not giving up. "Besides, there are ways for mortals not to die."

Sheogorath looked at her, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

"You are full of surprises! There are ways, she says..." - he looked at Haskill. "What do you think, Haskill? You're an immortal mortal yourself - by my grace. Should we grant her wish?"

"My Lord, I'm sure you don't need my opinion..." - Haskill started in his usual tone, but then changed his mind. "I think you should let him go. If he wants to return, he will."

"Well, well" - Sheogorath whistled. "Even Haskill dares to speak up. Good for you, Haskill! But don't do it again." He turned to Lena. "No, I won't. Not yet. May be later. Come and see me again once you make up your mind - and if you choose him. What is he to do if you choose another? Even I am not that cruel - wrong Prince, ask Clavicus Vile for something like that."

Sheogorath was looking at Lena with those amber cat's eyes of his, quietly smiling. Amber cat's eyes, like those of her brother... Sheogorath wasn't mad at all.

He was right, and Lena was ashamed of herself now. She hadn't thought it through. "'What is he to do if you choose another?'" - Sheogorath's words echoed in her head. "'Tame him too much, and he'll fall to pieces when you die.'" Indeed, she hadn't thought of that. Eternity was not something that mortals were good at comprehending - even those who'd been immortal once.

"Thank you, My Prince" - she bowed. "You are right, of course."

"Run along now" - the Prince said kindly. "Come visit us again - and bring some cheese next time. I've had enough of yarn and lettuce."

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 26 2024, 02:11 PM

[Renee]

20 Sun's Dawn, 4E202 -- I love the reasoning, how Hauk figures out Lena came to Skyrim due to DB affairs. Also that she finds it inconvenient that she just became thane. This is the first time I'm reading Lena gains a house, but doesn't immediately go crazy decorating it.

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.

And THIS is why she's kept him as her most faithful companion so far, right? If the guy is good at gleaning information she'd think was safely within her private thoughts, this is why he's been with her most prominently. It's the sort of thing which grabs one's attention, early in a relationship. To know that somebody is paying attention.

Well also, he knows how to cook, apparently.

Love the part when she makes fun of Lydia. "I am swoooorn to carry your burdens..."

Holy [censored] am I done with Post One??? woo hoo! Sorry it's taken me so long to read, but I hate skimming stuff. If I'm going to get into someone's tale, I'm not going to skim.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jun 27 2021, 03:09 PM

[Lena Wolf]

20 Sun's Dawn, 4E202 -- This is the first time I'm reading Lena gains a house, but doesn't immediately go crazy decorating it.

She didn't get that house yet. The Jarl granted her the right to buy it, provided she had the coin. The coin to buy and decorate it - quite a considerable sum. She didn't have it, as it happens, and when she viewed Breezehome and all the options, she was distinctly underwhelmed, especially since Lidya would be living there too. Whatever happened to privacy? Surely, her property didn't need protecting inside the city walls? That's what city guard is for... Anyway, Lena even looked at some extension proposals from independent architects. Make a grand house out of it - add a cellar! And you can have your sleeping coffin there too, and a cattle cell with a prisoner... That brought back some memories that Lena would rather not have brought back. Begone, Architect! Before I change my mind...