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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
4-202-01-03 05:29
Calixto's House of Curiosities, Windhelm, Eastmarch, Skyrim
As I open my eyes, I'm in my house in Windhelm. Lydia is breathing calmly next to me. So are Jenassa and Jordis on their mattresses. I slip out of the bed quietly, get dressed and go out.
How could that Orc slavehunter overwhelm the four of us instantly? What kind of extraordinary magic was that? Why didn't any of those powerful forces interested in saving the world step in for me? Or was it all meant to be like that? Another episode in the Psijic Order's perverse entertainment?
Maybe the slavers' attack succeeded because it was very close to Mixwater Mill? Meaning, we had started to move, but weren't yet in our proper travel formation? Or maybe we were too close to each other because we were too careless?
Stop thinking nonsense, Laura! We weren't and they didn't, because it didn't happen. It was a dream.
I remember I wanted to help that orphan child Sofie. But where am I supposed to find her this early in the morning? I walk to the eastern gate where she used to sell flowers. Unsurprisingly, there's no one there. I turn around and walk slowly back. Lydia has just come out. I wave at her. She doesn't look entirely awake.
"Did you see it too, Laura?"
"What do you mean?" I ask, even though I have no doubt as to what she means.
"How we were captured and brought to an auction."
I nod.
Lydia seems genuinely scared now. "Do you think that's what would have happened if you hadn't had that hunch about having to kill that Orc?"
I shrug lightly. "Maybe. I don't know." I see little point pondering it, and yet I can't help being curious. "Where were you sold to?"
"I can't remember," answers Lydia after a second of reflection. "And I don't want to talk about it."
"Neither do I. Where are the others?"
"I left them sleeping."
I shrug again. "Let's wake 'em up then."
Over the breakfast, I ask casually if Jenassa and Jordis slept well and if they had any interesting dreams. They reply they did and hadn't.
It's getting light while we leave the city by the northern gate.
I suppose this horse belongs to the city guards.
A few people in the elven refugee camp are already up and about.
Walking downhill, we witness a magic battle on the shore. A mage and a spriggan hurl glowing things at each other. We crouch down to avoid getting spotted, and observe fascinatedly. We realize the mage is also being pestered by something that looks like a very large mucrab. We are quite far, though, and the light is still poor, so I'm not sure.
Eventually, a horker joins the battle, and it seems to me that the spriggan is starting to attack the horker instead of the mage.
Now, I don't care much about some roaming wizard getting killed, but I don't appreciate an attack on a nice horker. So I draw my bow and kill the spriggan. It bursts out in flames and I realize it was really a flame atronach. Then I shoot the mage as well and am pleased to see that the horker is alive, leaving the area quickly. Well, quickly for a horker.
This was no less than the second time I mistook a flame atronach for a spriggan. How can I avoid that mistake in the future? Maybe by paying attention to that glowing trail an atronach leaves behind while moving?
We run on.
Approaching Amol City, we notice two men walking across the snow at some distance:
Since decent people rarely walk around wearing mage robes, we try to bypass them sneaking, only to be attacked by two trolls coming from the opposite direction, and then an icewraith. By then the two travelers have noticed us too. We try to leave them behind by running into the town, but they follow us and the town guards engage them. Naturally, we must go back and kill the mages instead of letting the Amol City guards do our dirty work for us. They're a couple of necromancers.
We do some shopping. I haven't really anything left to sell apart from a bunch of armors too expensive for most Skyrim traders to buy, but I still visit traders to restock on metal ingots and soul gems.
In Winterhold, I go to the library first.
Ertzebet and I greet each other cordially without hugging (because we're in front of people), after which I approach Urag, asking if he knows where I can find Elder Scrolls.
Looks like I chose an unfortunate formulation, because Urag gets really incensed. He rebukes me most severely and makes it very clear that even if they had an Elder Scroll here, it would be guarded so that no thief in the world would have a chance to get near it, and neither, most assuredly, would I.
So you don't have any Elder Scrolls. Thank you, that's what I needed to know. How about literature about them? Surely that's not too dangerous for mere mortals to lay their eyes on?
It takes Urag some time to calm down and to remember that I'm technically his superior. I think with all those... centuries, I daresay, of experience he's had in this world, he shouldn't get thrown out of balance so easily, don't you agree? But there's hardly any point telling him that. Instead, I study the book "Ruminations on the Elder Scrolls" Urag has placed carefully on the table before walking away, still not entirely happy with my presence here.
Ertzebet has heard it told that the author, Septimus Signus, is crazy (albeit the best expert on Elder Scrolls) and his book doesn't make much sense. But I discover that when I unhurriedly focus on the words and allow their emotional energy to enter my mind rather than think logically about their meaning, I find myself getting a pretty good idea of what the author was trying to say. Even though I close the book none the wiser as to how to find that particular Elder Scroll I need to bring to my friend Paarthurnax, I can certainly state that "Ruminations on the Elder Scrolls" is much more interesting to read than the vast majority of books I've seen in Skyrim.
Gingerly, I approach Urag again. He notices my hesitation and says with a sigh: all right, ask your questions. I think he's not so angry anymore.
I ask if Mr. Signus is still alive.
Urag says the last he saw him, Septimus was planning on traveling to some islands north of here. That's all he knows. I guess I'll have to go looking for that maybe-not-all-that-crazy genius.
As I begin walking out of the library, I realize I'm itching for a fuck, pardon my bluntness. Not from Urag, obviously, and neither from Tolfdir into whom I run next. I ask Tolfdir if anything of importance has occurred during my absense, and he says there has indeed. In The Rift, there's a "rupture" from which some evil magic is leaking into our world. Judging by the words of the jarl brought here by a courier, Tolfdir believes it to be residue from the Eye of Magnus which, as you probably remember, the psijics took away from the College assuring they'll make sure it'll be safely contained. It looks like they didn't quite succeed. Therefore, Tolfdir suggests I'll grab my Staff of Magnus and go check it out.
I have no objections, in principle. Unfortunately, I no longer have the Staff of Magnus. Since I found it useless against conventional enemies, I saw no point carrying the dead weight along. Now I'll have to find out whom I sold it to, and the poor people down southeast will have to put up with some magical horrors for possibly a considerable time.
I check my map. The place Tolfdir indicated is not far from Largashbur. Those Orcs just keep having bad luck! Should I tell them that possibly Malacath isn't their true god? No, it doesn't sound like a good idea. Besides, that story in my dream was a hoax to begin with.
Of course I won't tell Tolfdir any of this. Looking over his shoulder, I notice Onmund. I figure he's the best in terms of dick I'll be able to find around here. (Gods, what a dirty mind I'm having today!)
While pretending to listen to Tolfdir, I in fact observe Onmund conversing with Brelyna. I'm still as positive as can be that there's nothing between them, except, probably, Onmund's general readiness to jump in the sack with pretty much any good-looking woman, should an opportunity present itself. After I've said goodbye to Tolfdir, I give Onmund a wink and his bright smile leaves no doubt of his receptiveness. But I need to go and see Enthir first. I give him the Staff of Tandil he wanted, firstly because I have no use for it, and secondly because I'm curious to find out what's that mysterious item Arniel wanted from him. It turns out to be a Warped Soul Gem which Enthir insists can't be used to capture a soul, which is why he can't imagine what Arniel wants it for.
I'm curious to find out that as well. Well away from Enthir, I give the soul gem to Arniel. I've been noticing that the more I help him, the more he is willing to reveal to me. This time, he says with great many words that he's researching one of the world's biggest mysteries – the disappearance of the Dwemers (aka Dwarves). It is said that they vanished instantly. Arniel is, by his own words, "attempting to recreate the circumstances of the event". For that, he needs a device called Dwarven Convector which unfortunately got molten down during his experiments. Now he wants me to go and explore Dwemer ruins and try to find some Dwarven Convectors left behind by the Dwarves.
I am to use them on the Warped Soul Gem precisely according to the instructions he has restored from Dwemer writings. "Scraps, really," as he's careless enough to specify, after which he quickly hands me the Warped Soul Gem and says he'll teach me a spell required for using those Convector things.
Does that man ever do anything himself?
Why, of course he does! He'll have to double- and triple-check his calculations.
Right. Didn't think he'd do it before sending me out to operate devices of the kind he had blowing up in his face.
I won't let him speak. Yes, I understand it didn't literally blow up in his face. I meant it as a figure of speech. The fact of the matter is I'm very irritable today. I'm not surprised, because it's that time of the month and the dream I had last night didn't exactly help. But that's not the point. The point is that my curiosity regarding Arniel's pursuits has now been satisfied in full and I'm giving him a piece of my mind. I tell him he's obviously a bungler whom I wouldn't trust to get the Magelight spell right, and he hasn't got one shred of responsibility. How can he possibly have the nerve to try and RECREATE the conditions where the Dwemer civilization vanished? Never mind he has no chance of succeeding. The point is he believes he can succeed. Considering that, has it never occurred to him that by "recreating the situation" he might cause the disappearence of the humankind?
Now Arniel is really angry about my "patronizing him" as he puts it. He demands I give him his soul gem back. I tell him to forget it and shut the fuck up and get out of my sight, or I'll have him dismissed from the College and expelled from Winterhold, in which case he, with his level of magic skills, won't reach Amol City without getting eaten by snowbears.
Without waiting for Arniel's reply, I turn around and leave. It occurs to me that I should send him to Tel Mithryn and introduce him to that oafish disciple of Neloth. They should get along well – and with any luck annihilate each other.
I smile at that fantasy as I ascend the stairs looking for Sergius to whom I have soul gems to deliver. Proper soul gems, that is. I hear some horrible unearthly noise several times. It's hard to describe. Something between an atronach exploding and a dragon priest arising from his coffin. Has the rupture in The Rift made its way to Winterhold already?
Having reached the upper floor, I look around without seeing anything suspicious. I talk a little to Faralda and she acts like nothing is wrong. As I walk out of her room, I notice an eerie glow.
I mean the one on the right. That thick blue beam on the left is always there. Protects the College or something.
Well, let's find out what it does. I carefully step closer, and then into the whiteish-yellow glow. Nothing happens. A second later, I hear the same mildly explosive and very repulsive sound again quite close. I look in its direction and see Collette practising some spell. Damn her! She scared the hell out of me. And she's supposed to be specialized on Restoration! That spell she keeps casting sounds like she's trying to make Winterhold fall into the ocean.
I leave quickly before I do something terrible to her. I finally find Sergius in the library. I give him the gems and as a return favor I persuade him to put a special enchantment on Mr. Signus's book that points to the whereabouts of the author. Sergius warns me that the enchantment merely shows his direction, not whether he's alive or dead. No problem. I'll find out. Thanks.
I'm taking the book with me. My murderous glare keeps Urag's mouth shut.
It's high time for me to go and find Onmund now. I hope he can improve my mood.
I jump when I notice Onmund waiting right outside the library door. Has he been following me? Well, come to think of it, why should I be running after him?
I feel like doing it up on the roof of my living quarters, the highest point of the College. Onmund looks at me with boundless desire. He'd probably do it in front of his parents if I asked him to.
Going up the stairs, Onmund is silent, but when we've reached the roof, he says awkwardly he has a problem with Enthir and would I help him with it? I tell him to shut up and strip. As there's quite a lot of snow, we do it standing up, facing the huge statue of Azura on top of a mountain even higher than this roof. The act itself is average, but you have no idea what a spectacular view we would have here if only the weather deigned to clear up for a minute.
We are in the middle of that sunbeams-shaped roof on the left, if you look very carefully.
I meant to say this roof turns out not at all a good place for lovemaking. But I had to find out.
"All right, what did want to talk about?" I ask Onmund when we have closed the door behind us. He follows me to the bed. We're warm enough after sex, but I could use a little cuddle. Talking is also much easier lying down.
Onmund informs me he entered uncautiously an agreement with Enthir and sold him his valuable family amulet because he had fallen out with his family, but now he realizes how wrong he was to part with that precious heirloom. Unfortunately, Enthir refuses to sell the amulet back, and Onmund's heart is bleeding and would I please talk to Enthir?
Wait, wait, wait! What agreement?
Oh, it's not important, says Onmund.
He can't fool me for one moment, but I'm not saying anything. I'll talk to Enthir first, and then I'll suck Onmund's dick just a little, and he'll tell me anything to make me continue.
All right – his penis. I'm sorry.
I touch Onmund down there, trying to make it appear accidental. Doesn't look like he can do it one more time. I wonder if there are spells to make men hard, and if there were, would men be offended or grateful if we used them on them? What school of magic would it be anyway? Alteration? Illusion? I hope it's not Illusion. [Laughing.] Maybe I can recommend Arniel a more useful and less dangerous line of study?
In a gabbing mood again, am I not? Whatever. I open my mouth in the real world, telling Onmund noncommittally I'll do what I can, and we'd better get going now. It's six o'clock in the evening. I had actually intended to travel to Summerset today, but now it's so late that the girls and I had better spend the night here and leave tomorrow morning. As I have nothing planned for the evening, I can just as well go and talk to Enthir now. Later... well, maybe I'll ask Onmund to spend the night with me. Surely he'll be up to it after a few hours of rest. Or maybe I'll let Lydia do it to me with a strapon? Might be fun. I'll discuss it with her. But now to Enthir!
Enthir is a tough negotiator. After a lengthy verbal duel, we come to the solution that he won't return the amulet, not even for money.
This affair has gotten me curious like the proverbial cat. I withdraw for the time being to rethink my strategy. I must say I kind of appreciate the personality of Enthir. It's a fascinating challenge to figure out what might be the best approach to get him to reveal me his secret. Somehow I doubt I can win him over with my feminine wiles. I must ask Jenassa to give me a... brain? Is there such a saying? I mean, when someone needs to do someone physical, you give him a hand, but when he needs to figure something out, can you give him a head or a brain? (Not give him head. I know what that means.)
Never mind me. I know I need to get into female company real soon because my speech bladder is dangerously full . I think I'll go and see if Ertzebet is free. I'm sure she won't betray me if I ask her about Enthir's possible weaknesses. Or who knows, she may have heard something about Onmund's secrets. Isn't it marvelous how full the world is of possibilities?
When I get outdoors on my way to the library, I realize it's actually not too dark yet. If we're really quick, I think the girls and I will be able to find Mr. Signus and return before the night. I mean, the way back here is easy, because we know exactly where the College is and what it looks like, and should it really get too dark, we can use my magic ring.
Right! We'll do that. Chatting can wait. I find my followers and we descend to the coast.
Well, I was wrong about that "not too dark" part. But never mind. I put on the ring. Its light can't reach farther than a few meters which is why we won't be able to do any reasonable navigation. That's why I take one of the two Waterwalking potions I have left. Now I won't have to find out where the coastline is and how to get from one island to another. The girls can go back to Winterhold, really. I'll be careful and should I meet anything dangerous, I'll return and we'll go there again together in daylight.
Jenassa asks me if she may spend the night with her boyfriend Nelacar and join us in the morning. Sure. Keep him away from his "research" and let the good people of Winterhold sleep peacefully for one night? What could I possibly have against it?
The girls return up the hill and I run into the darkness in the north, led by nothing except Sergius's enchantment on the book. I find a cave named Septimus Signus's Outpost. Shouldn't have bothered with the potion, by the way, because I was running on very solid-looking ice blocks most of the time.
I descend a ladder that takes me to the edge of a deep icy cave.
Septimus Signus is quite alive. He tells me about a most amazing Dwemer invention. It concerns the question how to read Elder Scrolls which, as you may know, is highly dangerous for a human being. I don't know the exact specifics, but the popular wisdom is it can make you blind or insane. Septimus himself admits readily he has suffered mental damage from working extensively with Elder Scrolls. But he has discovered that the Dwemers possessed a machine that could transmit the contents of an Elder Scroll onto a metal object called Lexicon from which a human being can read the information without damaging himself.
He means he has an empty Lexicon in his possession to which the contents of an Elder Scroll could be transmitted.
That's amazing. Septimus is truly a great man. I mean, not because of that Lexicon thing. He really knows so much. I can't believe those pompous jerks in the College look down on him. I admit, you have to really focus, in order to understand what Septimus is saying, but he is actually giving me useful information while there are so many wannabe philosophers all over Skyrim who torture my ears with nonsensical blabber trying to make themselves look smart. Or let me put that thought into simpler words – Septimus's speech may be more difficult to understand than, say, Arniel's, but that's mainly because the latter hasn't got one fifth of the former's intelligence and is therefore simply not able to say anything even remotely profound.
But does Septimus know where I can find the Elder Scroll I'm looking for? Yes, he does. In Blackreach. That's the very place I've been trying to locate in order to liberate that girl imprisoned by Fellaqui. Please, Mr. Signus, tell me you know where Blackreach is! Please, please, pretty please! Yes, yes, I know about Alftand, but where is Alftand?
He knows!! He shows Alftand to me on the map. It's southwest from Saarthal, not very far. I'm so happy. I wouldn't hesitate to have sex with Septimus if only he asked me to. But he says nothing to that effect, so I just thank him and leave. For that matter, he might well be too old for that.
The girls and I will go to Alftand tomorrow morning. Summerset can wait. We'll find the scroll and transcribe that empty Lexicon Septimus gave me. This is what it looks like:
Then I can bring him the contents of the Scroll he can study safely, and the physical Scroll I can bring to Paarthurnax for whom, I presume, it's not dangerous because he's not human. Or at least he didn't say anything to that effect, and if there should be a problem, he'll figure out something.
I feel like I'm flying over the ocean as I travel back to Winterhold, but in fact I'm just running on ice, and very briefly in shallow water near the coast.
After that it's uphill to the arches below the College, ring off, up the stairs and into my quarters. Lydia and Jordis see I'm triumphant and energetic. We'll go to a Dwemer ruin tomorrow, I tell them. It's nothing special, never mind. Let's go to sleep.
Yeah, in my dreams! They won't let me close my eyes until I've told them everything. As a reward, I learn – as a follow-up to my earlier witticism on Jenassa and Nelacar – that sex indeed drains men's magical energy somewhat, or maybe it's the other way around. At any rate, Lydia heard from Haran, the innkeeper's wife, that for several days after each visit by Jenassa, Nelacar's dubious magical activities decrease significantly. We all find it utterly hilarious.
next awakening
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