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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
4-201-10-12 01:05
somewhere
I open my eyes and see the logs of the ceiling above me. Thank gods it's over!
Wait, where am I? This is not the Dånstar inn. The nightmare is not over.
I'm in a hut without windows. There's a piece of furniture in the corner that I suppose could be used as a small bookshelf. Currently, however, on it sits a woman wearing an armor that completely covers her face but leaves her thighs exposed. Sure enough, with legs like that she won't need any weapons against men, but it still looks kind of weird.
I am certain I'm awake, but I've no idea how I got here. I approach the woman. She says she's Astrid from the Dark Brotherhood. She says I "stole" a contract by killing Grelod when Aventus wanted Dark Brotherhood to do it. Now I have to repay it by killing one more person.
Is she drunk or something? My killing Grelod had nothing to do with the Dark-Brotherhood-summoning ritual. I just happened to walk in on Aventus while he was trying to perform the ritual, which he had been attempting to do in vain for so long that it had already become the talk of the town. Clearly Aventus had performed the ritual incorrectly, otherwise a Dark Brotherhood assassin would have arrived before I did. Or, if Aventus did perform the ritual correctly, then the Dark Brotherhood must be a real bunch of bungling nitwits to fail to get the job done during all that time I was wandering around places.
Even though my reasoning sounds logical to myself, I'm not sure it would be very fruitful trying to argue with that weird woman. Let's find out first what's going on. I turn around and see three people kneeling on the floor, tied up and blindfolded. Astrid says one of them has a contract on their head. I must find out which. If I kill the right person, I'll be free to walk out of here.
How about I just kill Astrid instead? No, I can't, because she may have hidden the key somewhere in this shack where I'll never find it. Besides, she's gotten me intrigued. Let's have a chat with those unfortunate prisoners first.
The man on the left is called Fultheim the Fearless. He begs to be set free because he hasn't done anything. I grill him until he admits that he's actually a sellsword and has killed many people, so someone may have a grudge against him, but would I please let him go anyway?
I tell him to shut his trap and walk up to the woman in the middle, Alea Quintus. She is by far the haughtiest person I've ever seen in my life. Tied up, completely helpless, she has the nerve to overflow me with vilest abuse:
I wonder where I should kick her first – in her face or between her legs. I can't make up my mind, so I turn to the third prisoner, a Khajiit man Vasha:
Somehow this isn't making me feel like sparing his life.
He is the very embodiment of confidence. He graciously offers me a beneficial deal – I let him go and his people won't carve his name onto my corpse.
What a madhouse! I decide that Vasha is the most insolent. I kill him. Then I remember I was supposed to figure out whom the Dark Brotherhood has been contracted to murder. Oops! I walk up to Astrid with an innocent look on my face and ask if I guessed right.
She laughs and says the task was a hoax. All she wanted was to make me murder someone upon her order. It didn't matter whom.
Um... am I allowed to leave then?
Sure, says Astrid smirkingly and tosses me the key. She proposes that I join the Dark Brotherhood. She shows me on the map where their headquarters is, and instructs me to say the passphrase "Silence, my brother," to be allowed to enter. I thank her. Then I walk to the door, equip my bow and shoot Astrid dead before she can even grab a weapon. I will certainly go to the Dark Brotherhood headquarters and say the passphrase she told me, but that'll be in order to stamp out that serpents' nest.
I make sure the key works. Should have done it before killing Astrid. [Chuckle.]
Now, what to do about the prisoners? Alea can't be allowed to live:
You just can't talk to me like that, especially when you're unarmed and incapacitated. I cut off her clothes and remove the hood that she complained prevented her from spitting on me. Then I unhurriedly whip her to death, cherishing the gradual change in her tune from supercilious you're-not-going-out-before-you've-washed-the-dishes to outraged what-do-you-think-you're-doing to fervent please-stop-this-is-too-painful to incredulous aghastness when she realizes the whipping is not going to cease.
Has Fultheim peed his pants listening to this? He hasn't? Maybe he's not such a miserable coward after all. But he's shaking like a leaf all right. Even his teeth are clattering. I tie him loose and tell him to strip naked. He can't control his hands, so I have to help him. I just want his gear. I mean, he hasn't got anything valuable on him, but it's a matter of principle. And yes, I wanted to see him nude. And maybe embarrass him a little.
Standing naked before me, he tries not to look at Alea's horrible corpse. As I eye his genitals, he covers them with his hands. A second later, he actually wets himself. I realize I'm still wearing the whip on my belt. I put it away, give Fultheim my most sensuous smile and walk out. "Fearless" as he is, he's welcome to take his chances with the nature of northern Skyrim. I guess I even left a couple of woven baskets and plates and such behind in the shack.
This frightening experience has turned out rather well. My only worry is that my followers who are still in Dånstar might suffer a bad shock when they see I've disappeared. This is the second time I'm doing it to them. Not that it's been my choice, but I still can't help feeling guilty for abandoning my closest friends like this. At any rate, they're too far for teleportation and I ought to let them sleep anyway. Now that I know where I am (which is between Solitud and Dånstar), I can send them a telepathic signal to meet up with me in Solitud. They'll get the message in their dreams and will know in the morning I'm all right. Lucky I wasn't teleported here from Solstheim or something.
Humming a cheerful tune, I begin marching west across the familiar marshland. On second thought, I'd better drop the tune. The many-legged inhabitants of this region may dislike it.
The place where Astrid had brought me to is actually quite near Ustengrav where the Gaybores wanted me to get that Jurgen Windcaller's Horn thing from (the green dot on the map):
But I'm not going there alone. I'll go to Solitud, wait for the girls to catch up with me, and then we'll proceed via Dragonbridge to Morthal, and from there it's not far to Ustengrav.
Soon I'm on the eastern shore of that strait or gulf Solitud lies at. I have to swim across in my armor, because there's little hope coming on land in a place where no one can see me. The swim doesn't wear me out at all this time. I don't know how the people in your world can handle being soaking wet all over, but for the people of Skyrim it's not a big problem. I mean, we don't exactly enjoy it, but we have the ability to get dry pretty quickly when the weather is not too cold. Except that I'd rather not look at my hair in the mirror for some time to come.
As I climb out of the water, I run into a city guard. He doesn't seem to be used to meeting swimmers here, especially briefly before the sunrise. I greet him awkwardly and then ask if he knows the Dark Brotherhood. Just to say something. He says he does and what about it. I say I killed someone named Astrid who claimed to be from the Dark Brotherhood. His jaw drops. Astrid, he says, is the leader of the Dark Brotherhood. He says I'll have to bring the news to a Commander Maro in Dragonbridge.
Sure, I can do that. But first I run all the way to the fortress to find Hadvar. I mean, I run in order to dry up sooner. I really need Hadvar after last night's horrible experience. Fortunately he is there. We take a room at the inn and make love. Then I bring a book from Adonato of Windhelm to Giraud in the Bards' College, and when the shops open, I sell all my excess loot, which I hadn't the chance to do in Dånstar, thanks to Astrid.
A little after 10 o'clock in the morning, my followers arrive, dead on their feet. I hug them and let them have some rest, as well as news, at the inn. Then we head south. By 11, we're in Dragonbridge. Commander Maro is very happy with my recent streak of bloodlust. Of course, he only knows about Astrid; naturally I keep quiet about killing the two prisoners. Maro wants our group to go and destroy the Dark Brotherhood. Absolutely. I'm not going to tell him that it was my plan anyway. It's always good to let men think they have made you obey their orders.
But first we'll travel to Morthal – after shopping, naturally.
When we approach Athragar's alchemy shop, I realize that going there alone is a lesser evil than risking an embarrassing scene in front of the girls. So I tell my followers to wait for me on the marketplace, I'll be just a moment.
I mean, if Athragar tries to rape me, I can scream and they will surely hear me on the marketplace, won't they?
I enter the shop. I guess I don't look too confident.
"Laura, do you think it's seemly for a woman to suck a man's dick when she has sex with him the first time?" Athragar asks after we've done trading.
I gasp. "Are you crazy?"
He smiles. "I thought you were not like that."
I stare at him intensely. "Do you talk like that to every woman who walks in?"
His glance is steady. "No. Only you."
"Pfft!" I shake my head and turn to go. Before I can touch the door handle, Athragar says: "I love you, Laura!"
I stop and turn to him. "You know, this is getting too ridiculous."
"I'm serious. I know what kind of a man you think I am and I can't blame you. But you can ask the women on the marketplace if they have ever heard about me sleeping around."
I'm confused for a second, giving Athragar an opportunity to go on:
"Laura, you are the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen in my life. I would really love to..."
I slam the door behind me without listening to the rest. Just how naive does that creep think I am?
I try my best to look like nothing is wrong as I fetch my followers from the marketplace.
My mood improves considerably as we run east along the road that leads through that beautiful cozy forest I told you that reminds me of home.
In Morthal, I report to the jarl about the good deeds I've done and she appoints me thane. As always, the title comes with a housecarl – a formidable man named Valdimar this time.
I feel like checking him out, so I let Jenassa go for the time being. She's not going to set out for Hviterun until tomorrow morning, so I use the opportunity to ask her how she feels about us traveling to Hammerfell to check up on Rayya's parents and siblings. Jenassa says the terrain between Skyrim and Hammerfell is so difficult that should the border posts be indeed closed, we don't have a chance. But she doesn't know the current situation. It's better to ask around in Morpork or Falkert, she says. Or maybe even Dushnikh Yal.
We stroll together to the house of the butcher Fjolmund. After I have reported to him that we have killed those vampires, I take part in slaying a dragon and do some shopping – you know, the usual. A little before 8 o'clock in the evening, I feel that now I am the one who's dead on her feet. I go to sleep after giving Lydia and Rayya a most severe warning that they can do whatever they want, but no one may have sex with Valdimar before I've had.
next awakening
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