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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
4-202-01-29 06:17
Dwelling E-1a, Dusk, Summerset, Aldmeri Dominion
Ever seen a sunrise in Dusk?
I let Bradwin have his good morning and then we eat breakfast together. I hug and kiss him goodbye and go to fetch my followers from the inn. We explore the rest of the dwellings. The higher ones are really difficult to get to.
This is one of the easy ones. Really.
One is inhabited by two bandits who are women – in the broadest possible meaning of the word. And very hostile.
Some have ghosts similar to the ones we encountered yesterday:
And this is one of the most glamorous-looking Khajiits I've ever seen (never mind the worn-out clothes):
A little before 11, we leave this somewhat deadly but generally nice place and travel to the west. Near that bandit village, we have to fight our way through another group of mages.
After that, there's nothing but the road and spruce forests and giant mushrooms ahead of us.
We wash ourselves in the ocean. Dusk is somewhat substandard in this respect. I wonder how the inhabitants keep themselves clean. Maybe we didn't explore quite everything.
We bathe only one at a time, the other three keeping watch. You can't be too careful in Summerset.
A little way to the west, we discover a strange village called Archen Grangrove that has houses shaped like spheres and half-spheres. In one of them, we encounter that nice Orc woman Dam we met in this region the last time.
There are no people on the streets. We move on without bothering to explore the place thoroughly.
When we approach Aro Pass, several bears rise to their feet in the long grass on the roadside. Of course, that's the bear colony we saw and bypassed by walking on top of the hill to our left last time. This time, we're right in the middle of it. I feel reluctant to kill the bears. After all, we are the intruders here. I remember I have the dragon shout Animal Allegiance. I use it and the bears near us become indeed friendly. However, that has the result that they attack the other bears further ahead who are still hostile.
I didn't count with that, but there's nothing I can do about it now. Animal Allegiance has a cooldown period like all dragon shouts have, and by the time I'll be able to use it again, their fight will be over. So all we can do is keep running. Should have just run away when we saw the bears. As I've told you, we can outrun even wolves, so bears have certainly no chance of catching up with us.
We admire the delightful pond west of Aro Pass and then we discover a place called Fort Sul. It consists of two citadel ruins almost entirely submerged in the mountain slope.
Inside one of them is a locked door. The lock is too complicated for me to pick, so we just continue our journey to Sunhold, taking a shortcut over the hills. We smile at the grumpy Orc who is guarding the mine entrance. (He's kind of cute in his grim way.) We mine a little and then go down the hill and in through the gate of Sunhold. It's quarter to three in the afternoon and we're in high spirits.
I visit Valante first to ask her if she has any new healing quests for me. She instructs me to go and cure a vampire hunter who was bitten by a vampire and is now in danger of turning into one herself – the worst imaginable thing to happen to a vampire hunter, as you can imagine. She's supposed to live east of Sunhold, near Aro Pass where we just came from.
Now I go to report to Lord Ish, the Summerset equivalent of a jarl or a thane. I'm asked to wait, and then he appears, looking very sleepy. He takes some time to realize that not only is his scouting party no more, Holly Falls has sunken underground and the surviving inhabitants need a place to live. He says he has no houses to give them, but he'll set up a refugee camp at somewhere called "North Platform".
That's obvious bullshit. There are, if I'm not greatly mistaken, three vacant houses – actually called "Vacant House number so-and-so" in this town. But I remember that, being a foreigner, and an official enemy of the thalmors at that, I maybe had better keep my opinion to myself.
I'm to bring word to Ocaro, the leader of Holly Falls, and that's in fact where we head right now, I mean after I've walked around in the town a little and talked to a passerby or two.
We leave by the northwestern gate and run to the northeast, approaching Holly Falls by the road this time.
Ocaro is visibly disappointed, but agrees that a camp is better than nothing. He says he'll start planning the trek and he'd appreciate if I checked back with them in a few days, to give them protection during the journey, because they'll be quite vulnerable, traveling slowly with women and children and all their stuff..
Now we'll go and see about that vampire hunter. Aro Pass lies to our southeast. In order to not travel along the road already so familiar, we go eastwards first and then find a way south across the hills. The trip is pleasant, apart from us getting attacked by those fish-like animals. The pond around which they lived is utterly adorable, I'm inclined to say even more so than the one at Aro Pass.
Looking at the water surface, I feel like I'm carried away into some kind of a different world, a realm of infinite peacefulness.
Lucky I've got my followers with me to bring me back to reality and remind me we have a job to do.
Lucky I've got my followers with me to bring me back to reality and remind me we have a job to do.
Nevertheless, Aro Pass is immensely heartwarming in the rays of the falling sun.
We find a woman Elara whose eyes are indeed of suspicious color. I use Valante's spell to cure her. Now, we ought to get moving if we want to make it to the Gemstone Cave before darkness, but I feel kind of dirty and decide to wash myself here in this scenic pond. I choose Spriggan Soap this time. No special reason, I just feel like it. The girls follow my example.
On our way towards the main south-north road, we are attacked by some magical abominations and by the time we reach the road, it's half past 9 and quite dark. We'd better turn south and return to Sunhold which is almost three times closer than any know settlement north of here.
This will also give me an opportunity to check out that interesting man Thoromhel whom I noticed the first time we were here. He lives alone in his own house.
While my followers make themselves comfortable in one of the Vacant Houses , I knock on Thoromhel's door and tell him I'm a traveler and have nowhere to sleep and could he possibly put me up for the night. I'm too tired to try and make up a more sophisticated approach.
Evidently recognizing me from the last time I was in Sunhold, Thoromhel goes along with the game, acting like such a request is perfectly natural. He offers me a half of his own bed and I accept politely.
Thoromhel is not what you'd call strikingly handsome, but he's really good. He's arguably the best lover I've ever had in my life. We do it deep into the night and it's hopeless to count my orgasms. (Not that I would.) I fall asleep immensely happy and immensely exhausted.
next awakening
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