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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
4-201-11-13 06:19
Uthgerd's House, Hviterun, Whiterun, Skyrim
I leave Lucia some money, but I can't be bothered to wait for the shops to open. I'm itching to move on to great adventures further east.
Me and my followers exit the city by the eastern gate. As we walk through the suburb, we meet a group of Companions, apparently returning home from a mission. Aela is among them and she stops to have a little chat with us. Among other things, she happens to mention a town called Blackmoor west-northwest of Hviterun.
We wish her luck and proceed to the magic shop. Nearby is the smithy of an Orc named Lerguk. He looks so strong. I think I'll try to get to know him more closely the next time. I've never been with an Orc before. Might be interesting.
The weather is lovely as the girls and I travel east-northeast along the northern bank of White River.
The Shrine of Talos ought to be comfortably reachable, and from there a path goes uphill to the north as I remember, and from there it won't be far to Fellglow Keep, our destination.
As a matter of fact, I'm most curious to know if Jenassa spent the last night in The Drunken Huntsman or in the palace like my other followers. I mean, she used to live with Anoriath, but now that she has Nelacar... But I hesitate to bring it up in case she feels uncomfortable about it. I'll watch out for a moment when she's not around and ask Lydia and Jordis.
A dragon attacks us when we're halfway to the shrine. After his long circling around, I finally get a good shot at him. He dies from my first arrow. I can't believe my eyes. He's really dead. Well, that's fine with me. It's not like I enjoy fighting dragons. Neither, must I say, do I enjoy Miraak stealing dragonsouls from me as he does now. More precisely, I don't even care about the stupid dragonsouls, but Miraak's gloating is becoming intolerable. Why can't he just take the bloody soul and be gone? I won't put up with his sneering any longer. I will return to Solstheim and destroy him for good.
We run up that path next to the Talos shrine and soon reach Fellglow Keep which is more a ruin than a fort.
Lurking between the rubble are a few nasty-looking mages whom we kill. Then we find a downward staircase that leads to an underground door.
Inside, we are greeted by a rather unusual sight. There are four large cages (or prison cells if you prefer) with humans inside. Middle-aged women. I step closer and look one of them in the eyes. They are glowing in yellow. Like those of a very hungry vampire.
All those women are vampires. They just sit there without any sign of hostility. Still, they're vampires, so we shoot them dead. They don't try to run or beg or anything, just sit there and look at us with complete resignation. Please don't ever remind me of this. Let's just move on and forget all about it.
There are halls and passages as usual in fortress interiors. Mages here and there. A cut-up vampire corpse on one of the tables.
The dead man on the floor is a mage we just killed.
It looks like the mages had imprisoned the vampires and were using them for some horrid experiments or rituals. A nest of vipers unlike any other, this place is. We move on looking for those magic books from Winterhold. Suddenly we hear a man begging us to let him out. He's in another one of those cells. His name is Orthorn.
Wait, what was the name of that renegade mage who, according to Urag, stole from the College library those books we've come here to get? That was Orthorn, confirms Jenassa.
Now, this is getting interesting. I say, why don't we step up to the cage and hear what the man has to say? We don't have to let him out immediately, do we? [Grin.]
Well, Orthorn has been most underhandedly deceived! He stole the books to help this group of mages here with their work, but instead of welcoming him as a valued partner, they locked him up as a prospective guinea pig. Indignation and desperation are pouring out of the poor man in cascades.
I ask Orthorn where are the books he stole from the Winterhold College. He says he has no idea, they were taken away from him.
I inform him that as a sign of my ardent compassion and mercy, I'll let him live. I turn my back to his cell and motion to the girls to come along.
The mages in this dungeon are pretty good (in a bad way) with their magic, but we're lucky they're so unperceptive.
We're approaching from this side, you morons!
They ought to be used to the dim lighting and it's their home ground to begin with, but surprisingly they're having a tough time noticing us whenever we creep closer, so most of them are dead before they can even put their ward up. We find more vampires in cages, some alive, some dead. The alive ones are very meek and humble. I wouldn't have thought I'd ever feel sorry killing vampires, but my heart really bleeds for these ones. We still kill them, though. It would be grossly irresponsible to let a vampire just walk away, considering what it would need to do in order to keep itself alive.
A somewhat different battle awaits us in an oblong hall with coffins on both sides. From those rise undead skeletons. Although many, they're fortunately very slow and thus not hard to kill. A few of the corpses are even kind enough to remain in their coffins without bothering us.
After another battle with a group of nasty mages,
I'm not sure what that projectile is. I only noticed it when looking at this picture.
Could be an arrow shot by a follower above and behind me.
Could be an arrow shot by a follower above and behind me.
The passages lead to what appears to be the library, with a layout similar to Nightcaller Temple and, come to think of it, Winterhold College library, although the latter is incomparably more beautiful.
We kill a rookie mage in his sleep and proceed to a large round hall with candles everywhere and pedestals with books on them here and there. There's a High Elf woman in a hooded robe called The Caller. She says it's nice to meet us and we have laid waste her projects. It sounds like a loving mother admonishing her naughty children. I say I want the books that have been stolen from the Winterhold College. Now she gets a little offended. She says we killed her assistants and disrupted her work, how can we expect her to give us anything?
Finally she agrees to let us have the books.
The funny thing is that even though Fellglow Keep as such was completely unfamiliar to me, I remember The Caller and this hall very clearly. The moment I walked in through that door, I was able to vividly recall a dream, which had to be from a past incarnation of Bardslayer's, because I was a man in that one. Just as in this reality, I kept insisting she surrender the books until she did. Then I overwhelmed her and raped her, and as a compensation I let her live. I clearly remember her last words: "You have what you came for. Now leave." A sad woman defeated in every way.
Unlike in that dream, I have no reason to let The Caller live. She is the puppetmaster behind this unspeakable "research" facility. Even though she handed over the books I needed, I don't feel right to let her potentially gather a new pack of followers and recreate all this. And, of course, she can't earn my mercy in the way she could a man's. And, come to think of it, she's too overbearing as well. "Just one of Aren's lackey's", she called me. Even a High Elf should have more sense than to use such expressions while facing four seasoned warriors.
All right, all right, I'm done gabbing. I just felt I ought to explain to you why I chose to kill her.
One of those three books tells an interesting story about how the elves destroyed the Nord settlement of Saarthal, after which the Nords led by Ysgramor chased all the elves out of Skyrim. The second book is about Artaeum, the island of the psijics, and the third one tells about the Ayleids who in the distant past ruled over the Imperials who were their slaves. I'm strangely fascinated to find out more, but I have to postpone a thorough lecture until later. It's almost 6 in the evening and we're far away from populated places, so we need to get a move on.
Before leaving, we bring Orthorn some food and water. I tell him to sit tight, I'll have the jarl send some soldiers over to arrest him.
I exit the dungeon with the girls and we head east. There are mountains between here and Kynesgrove, so we'll need to find a way through. As we ascend, the ground gets snowy. We reach that Dwemer ruin Bthardthamz... Albthand... yes, Raldbthar, thank you Jenassa... in heavy snowfall. There are new bandits whom we regrettably have to kill, because the terrain is far too difficult for trying to sneak past them.
We descend eastwards and run into another group of bandits. They run back and forth searching for us and shouting threats, but they are so stupid that they keep running away from us onto the other side of a hill while we are running around that hill trying to get a shot at them. By the time they realize it and turn around, we have taken up perfect positions in their very camp and the moment they step out of their cover, they're pierced by our arrows.
It's past 8 now and completely dark, apart from the little reflection from the snow. There are sleeping mats here, but it seems to me that if we take the path to the north that passes between two mountain ranges, we'll end up on the Dånstar–Windhelm highway and then we'll have plenty of time to reach Windhelm tonight.
My calculation proves correct. The path takes us to the river just west of the bridge that is southeast of Anga's Mill. The snowstorm has grown weaker.
That's Anga's Mill across the river. I hope they're nice and warm, resting in their houses after a day of good work.
Windhelm is to our right, just a little way away.
Windhelm is to our right, just a little way away.
In Windhelm, I tell my girls to wait for me at the inn or in our home as they please while I have important business in the palace.
Yrsarald wants me in an unusual position. For a moment, I'm afraid he'll stick it into... you know. He doesn't. I'm spared this time. But I know I'll have to let him someday. He's really big, but it can't be helped. There are some things a woman has to put up with. I think it's a fair price for the advantages we have, though.
Tonight's position is extremely enjoyable if exhausting, and that goes for the both of us. After we're done, Yrsarald says nothing except "Keep you eyes open," before he turns away from me and closes his eyes. Has he heard about my misadventure in the throne room or is he just concerned with my safety on my dangerous travels? I couldn't say. I'm too exhausted to think about anything, but I'm not as fortunate as Yrsarald. I'll have to go out into that cold and walk through the city center to my house. And it's friggin' quarter to two in the night!
I put on my clothes, kiss Yrsarald's shoulder and hurry out of the palace. When I enter my house on tiptoes, my followers are already fast asleep. I'm not surprised. Lydia is so cheeky she has occupied my bed. I don't even mind. Her sleeping mat is perfectly warm and comfortable.
next awakening
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