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SPOILER INFO
This fanfic novel is largely based on the events that occurred in an actual game of Skyrim I played. Therefore, it's inevitably a spoiler.
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previous day
4-201-09-05 07:44
Windpeak Inn, Dånstar, The Pale, Skyrim
It's a charming winter morning. I still feel sleepy, but the chilly air outside makes me alert quickly.
I decide to do the nightmare quest right now. That sinister temple Erandur wants us to go to is not far from the town. If I went to Hviterun first, only the gods would know when I'd be back here again, and in the meantime all those nice people would have to suffer from infernal nightmares every night.
So I tell Erandur to go on ahead, I'll follow in a minute. My minute turns out pretty long, what with bath and breakfast and all. Running to the Nightcaller Temple, we find Erandur already there, fighting several huge bears. As soon as the girls and I are in the range, we start shooting at them. I can't believe those beasts can be so tough to kill. They look like they could swoop up ten Erandurs (or about 20–30 Lauras) and eat them for breakfast. Most incredibly, Erandur survives the long battle.
Nightcaller Temple... The name alone sounds blood-chilling. But you haven't yet heard the story that goes with it. I hope I'm not boring you. I'll try to give you the gist of it as concisely as I can. The temple is dedicated to Vaermina, that demon-deity I told you about last night. It got attacked by a large group of Orc robbers. The priests of Vaermina saw themselves overwhelmed. In order to avoid annihilation, they did something desperate – released a gas known as Miasma into the temple. Miasma made everyone fall asleep, priest and bandit alike. That happened several decades ago. In the meantime, Vaermina has apparently gotten annoyed by not being worshipped, and her evil energy has, as it were, seeped out of the temple and into the minds of the people in the nearest settlement, Dånstar.
Erandur warns me that when we open the temple door, Miasma is likely to dissipate quickly into the atmosphere and the sleepers inside might easily wake up when they hear us approach. What's worse, there are certain complicated reasons why only the two of us can enter the temple. My followers will have to remain outside.
Do I need to tell you that the girls are extremely worried and skeptical? Especially Lydia thinks I'm crazy. But I'm the boss. We're all about the same age (with the obvious exception of Jenassa), but I'm nevertheless the one who makes the decisions. And I'm cool as a cucumber. I just know it'll all turn out well. And I know I have to do it. I can impossibly walk away now.
So in we go, just Erandur and me. There are wide stairways, spacious halls. The place could really use proper lighting, though. In that case, someone would of course have to clean up all that dust and cobwebs. To say nothing of the dead bodies, the number of which we regrettably increase.
Erandur leads me to a doorway blocked by an impenetrable barrier of glowing blue energy:
By this time I've begun to wonder how come Erandur knows his way about this place so well. So he decides to confess that he was one of the priests of Vaermina. On that fateful day when the Orcs invaded and the Miasma was released, he escaped at the last moment, leaving his "brothers and sisters here to die", as he puts it. Since then, he's been serving Mara to do penance for his sin. If he'll succeed in putting an end to those nightmares, he hopes to be able to come to terms with his conscience.
Fine. What about that barrier, then?
Erandur says we'll have to go to the temple library. The books may contain a clue as to how to bypass that thing. I follow him back up the stairs to a locked door to which he has a key. On our way to the library, we see indeed many sleeping people. Some of them wake up before I get a chance to shoot them, but fortunately for us they are so confused from oversleeping that they're incapable of putting up any resistance. Only once do I make a mistake. It's when a priest and an Orc wake up and start fighting each other. I decide to wait it out and then shoot the survivor. That's the Orc. When I go past that place a little later, it turns out the priest is not dead, he was just knocked out, and now he actually manages to hit me a couple of times with his magic. It's no big deal, though. I finish him off. Maybe it was a good thing. Not only did it teach me to be more careful, I now don't feel like a complete butcher.
The library is a sorry sight. Most books are burnt. Luckily, though, we find the kind of book Erandur needed.
He learns that there's a magic drink called Vaermina's Torpor... heavens, now it get's really complicated. Bear with me, please. I'll have to drink that potion, Erandur says. It'll cause me to fall asleep. In my dream, I'll go back to that last day when Miasma was released. I will be in someone else's body and say words that are not mine. But once I have become able to move, I'll have to find the switch which turns that magic barrier off. Huh. I hope I got it right.
We move on, looking for that potion and killing some more people disturbed in their sleep. This time I have more work, as reading about that Torpor thing has made Erandur very agile. He keeps running past me and attacking the sleepers before I can shoot them. But it's not really dangerous. Nothing like those incredible bears we fought outside.
We find the potion and return to the blue barrier. Erandur tells me to drink the liquid in the bottle, promising to watch me and bring me out of my sleep, should anything go wrong. Yes, I know, it sounds more than crazy. But once again, I feel absolute trust in this man. So I drink the potion.
I find myself in a hazy yellow-greenish corridor, talking to two men in purple robes who address me as "Brother Casimir". They talk about having no choice but to release Miasma.
As soon as I can move, I start running. There are groups of priests and Orcs in fierce combat here and there. Luckily no one pays special attention to me as I rush past. I'm not at all sure I'd be able to use my weapons in this state, nor have I any interest in spending a second more than is necessary in this place, visually fascinating as it may be.
I run from one room to another, up and down stairs, looking behind every corner. Finally I see a place which looks very much like that blue barrier from the inside. There's a chain which must be the switch Erandur was talking about. I pull it and the dream disappears. I wake up in exactly the same place, except that it's in the reality – the grim castle walls, the glowing blue barrier with Erandur standing in front of it exactly where I left him. The only difference compared to our situation before is that I am inside.
There's a chain on the wall, just like in that recent dream of mine. I pull it. Nothing happens. What's wrong? I can't talk to Erandur. He just stands there beyond the barrier like he's not seeing me. What am I to do?
I look around. There's a small platform with a soul gem on it. I take the gem. I pull the chain again. Now the barrier vanishes.
Erandur rushes in, overjoyed. He has never seen anything like it, he says. How he envies me, he says. I can but shake my head in astonishment. He's very welcome to have that hallucination in my stead the next time.
Now we must go to a place called "inner sanctum". There's something evil in there with which Erandur needs to perform some ritual using the good energy of Mara and then the nightmares in Dånstar will cease. Whatever. Lead the way.
We meet two more priests. They are the ones I talked to in my dream, apparently the closest friends of Erandur. (He's also Brother Casimir as you may have guessed.) They are rather reproachful of him for having ditched them. I don't see what difference it would have made for them if Erandur-Casimir had just lied there in slumber next to them. But they want to kill him – and me while they're at it. It's two against two, but those two are very much awake, and very competent battlemages. Fortunately, Erandur who's had decades more of practice is too tough for them. I hope I was also of help.
Pay good attention – it gets really eerie now. I walk behind Erandur to a hall, in which is a staircase lined with candles. On top of the stairs is a glowing arc in front of an image that vaguely resembles a not too pretty woman. The whole setting looks quite stylish, as well as properly sinister.
When Erandur starts calling upon Lady Mara, an ethereal female voice begins to talk to me, insisting that Erandur is going to betray me, because he wants the "magic skull" (don't ask me whose) for himself. I presume the speaker is Vaermina. She urges me to kill Erandur. I don't believe her. I wait patiently until Erandur has finished his ritual. It takes considerable time.
To tell you the truth, it's a boring wait. He just stands there, and there's that glow, and that's it. No voice talking to me anymore, and generally nothing going on I could perceive. So let me pass the time by telling you about enchanting , as I promised I would.
Enchanting means putting on a weapon or a piece of armor a magical effect that'll be a bonus to the item's usual, physical properties. For example, a body armor can be made to give you extra carryweight, or gloves can be made to increase your Lockpicking skill. While you wear those gloves, it's easier for you to pick locks. You take them off, you're back to normal.
Do you remember, I told you about the magic ring Mr. Hlaalu in Riverwood gave me? It diminishes the damage you take from fire 5-fold. That is also an enchantment. Basically, every mage who has the proper skill can put such an enchantment on any ring that is not already enchanted.
Enchanting is done with the help of a device known as Arcane Enchanter . You can pretty easily find them in places where mages work. For example, Farengar, the court wizard of Hviterun, has one that you can use unless you're someone whom he hates – and he certainly doesn't hate me. ;-)
Oh, excuse me. Erandur seems to be approaching the end of his ritual. I'm somehow having a sensation like the air is getting fresher around here. As if something evil was disappearing.
It's done. Now... Erandur kind of changes. No, he doesn't turn into a monster. He remains what he is. But he looks at me with an expression, the meaning of which I know very well. With his voice... let's say, less confident than before, he offers to accompany me on my travels. When I don't look too enthusiastic, he quickly says he'll remain here and establish a temple of Mara, and if I ever need anything from him, he'll be here for me.
Now, Erandur is old, obviously, but he doesn't look too old. He irradiates unmistakable vitality. If I wasn't having my period right now, some things may be different. In this reality, though, I just excuse myself as neutrally and civilly as I can, and hurry to join my followers outside. They are very relieved to see me, although they kind of expected to see me alive and well when they had this vague feeling a few minutes ago as if something evil that used to be there was no longer there.
It's already dark. I'm dog-tired. Frankly, I wouldn't recommend Vaermina's Torpor.
On our way back to Dånstar, I tell the girls everything that happened. They're all oohs and ahhs, but I don't even feel horrified recalling what I just went through. This has to be Bardslayer's doing, I realize. He saw my future and knew that this endeavor seemed scary but I would end up quite safe by the end. I'd so like to ask him about it, but I don't think he'd answer.
I'm also curious about what would have happened if I had killed Erandur like Vaermina asked me to do. I'm sure it's something I don't want to know.
Um... That was illogical, right? [Chuckle.] Lucky I'm a woman. I don't have to feel guilty for being illogical.
Back at the Dånstar inn, I can barely muster enough patience to get out of my armor before throwing myself onto the bed.
next awakening
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