Memoirs of a Landless Lord

[Deleted3507349User]

By the time we made Whiterun I'd come to several conclusions. If Serana had not allowed me to bind it at night I likely couldn't have forced the issue, and it was obvious it didn't really need me for the trip to Volkihar. So why did it want me along? Not for my sparkling companionship, certainly. I'd made no effort to hide my hatred and distrust of it and it's kind. It needed me for something else, I was sure, and there's only one thing I could think of that a sucker would need a human for; but by Malacath I wasn't going to be a thrall! I decided not to bother binding it from now on, and see what happens if I let it think I trust it a bit. I was glad we were spending tonight in Whiterun at my home, my housecarl Lydia and I could take turns keeping watch overnight. Perhaps I could pry a bit more info out of it as well in a more relaxing atmosphere.

 

We sat by the fire and talked for a while after dinner (for Lydia and I, that is, naturally it didn't eat with us). Serana was pretty tight-lipped about everything, we had a mutual distrust. I tried several avenues of conversation, but the only useful bit of information I could get is that it's mother and father have had some sort of falling-out, and it clearly favors it's mother in the dispute. We went to bed early, the carriage for Solitude leaves at 4am, and I definitely wanted to be well-rested and alert for the trip.

 

We arrived at Solitude shortly before noon. Neither of us wanted to delay, so we headed out for Volkihar as soon as our feet hit the ground. We followed the road west, then cut north through a mountain pass and followed the coast to Icewater Jetty. For a change, we saw nothing more threatening than a herd of horkers. Y'know, somehow I expected something a little more elegant than a battered rowboat, although it does blend in and escape notice far better than a yacht. Then again, Castle Volkihar is clearly visible from the jetty so it's not like they can hide.

 

We crossed the channel and arrived at the end of a causeway leading to the main gate of the castle. As we neared the gate, Serana surprised me by warning me to be careful. Serana didn't seem to be sure that it was entirely safe for either of us, and suggested I let it do the talking. Vampire it may be, but that sounded like an excellent notion to me. I had absolutely no idea what I was walking into and if I escaped this place with most of my hide intact I was going to count my blessings. Looking up at the foreboding edifice guarded by gargoyles, I didn't think it was likely I'd ever see the outside again.

 

There was a single solitary sentry on watch inside the portcullis. He recognized Serana immediately, which I found surprising. He wasn't a vampire, so I figure he had to be a thrall, yet he recognized Serana who'd been imprisoned for what? Hundreds or thousands of years? I had no idea thralls were gifted with immortality. The evil of vampires knows no bounds, I can think of no worse torment than to strip a man of his mind and will for eternity. He raised the gate, and we entered the castle proper.

Edited October 5, 2012 by digitaltrucker

[Deleted3507349User]

A vampire named Vingalmo was waiting for us as we entered. As soon as it recognized Serana it went before us and announced Serana's return. I served in His Imperial Majesty's Legion for a long time, and I've been in more battles than I care to remember, but still I felt my gorge rise as we entered the main hall. This was sickening, vampires sat at long tables feasting on victims while helpless thralls stood by to wait on their masters. Lord Harkon, the ancient vampire that headed the clan, presided over the diabolical feast. I couldn't tell if Harkon was pleased more by Serana's return or the Elder Scroll, but I had definite confirmation of the rift between Harkon and his wife. Harkon said “If only your traitor mother were here, I would let her watch this reunion before putting her head on a spike”. Harkon then said "For centuries we lived here, far from the cares of the world. All that ended when my wife betrayed me and stole away that which I valued most". Perhaps there is something in this we can exploit in the inevitable confrontation.

 

As I stood there, fully expecting to be killed or enthralled, Harkon made me an offer that shook me to my core. In return for freeing Serana it offered me it's own blood and the power of a vampire lord for myself! Harkon even went so far as to demonstrate it's vampire lord power. I've never seen nor heard of anything like this. Harkon grew to the height of a troll and grew stubby wings, and floated a few inches off the floor! Wow, and I thought regular vampires were ugly, this thing was just hideous! When I asked Harkon what would happen if I refused it's 'gift' Harkon said that I would “be prey, like all mortals”, but that my life would be spared this once and I would be banished from Castle Volkihar. Sounds good to me! I didn't expect to get out of here with my hide intact. I politely declined his offer and with a wave of his hand I was transported outside to the boat we'd arrived in.

 

I have a lot of food for thought while I journey back to Dawnguard, not the least of which is the reason I was allowed by the vampires to not only get inside Volkihar, but why I was allowed to go free...and why Harkon so badly wanted me to share in his power.

[Deleted3507349User]

Well, I didn't have the time for introspection I thought I'd have on my trip back to Dawnguard. Every damned thing in Skyrim tried to kill me (or so it seemed). Several times I came across the wreckage of wagons and bodies of dead merchants. One of them was odd, though; the bodies were riddled with arrows of a uniquely primitive make. I've seen arrows made by every race in Tamriel, but never anything like these. Is there some extant aboriginal race in Skyrim unknown to the loremasters? If I ever get a chance to relax perhaps I'll look into it. In the meantime I'll keep my eyes open. Just because a weapon is primitive doesn't make it any less deadly.

 

I traveled south through Rorikstead, planning to stop in Whiterun at my home. A life of soldiering has taught me to never pass up a chance to sleep in your own bed. As I neared the Western Watchtower, thoughts of home were replaced with thoughts of pure survival. I chanced upon a lone giant walking the road. I didn't take much notice, I'd already seen several of them and I've learned that unless you trespass in their camps or harass their mammoths they usually ignore you. Not THIS time! As I passed him he started shaking his club and growling. Now, I'm as brave as the next guy, but even I'm not fool enough to fight a giant alone without a VERY good reason. So I ran. I ran right into a sabre cat. Great! As I expected they immediately started fighting each other, allowing me to put more distance between us. My elation was short-lived, though, as almost immediately I was attacked by a group of Thalmor. I kept running. I escaped the Thalmor and kept on running to Whiterun. By the time I got to the stables I was almost falling down from fatigue.

 

I staggered into my house and collapsed into a chair. Lydia warmed up some leftovers and I ate and went to bed, wondering what I've done to annoy the Thalmor. The last time I ever had to deal with them was during the great war, but I wasn't anyone particularly important. I can't imagine there's a price on my head from that time. At least, I've since passed several groups of them without incident. Very mysterious.

 

I got up the next morning and decided to buy a horse. If this journey is any indication, I'll need a faster mode of travel than my feet and carriages get to be too expensive after a while. The stable master outside of Whiterun suggested that I pick a good name for the horse, but I know better. You never name anything you might wind up having to eat. The rest of the trip to Dawnguard was uneventful, until I neared Snow-Shod farm near Riften. I arrived just as a group of guards were dispatching a troll. The troll must've been after one of their cows or something.

 

I made my through the canton leading to Dawnguard and arrived just as a group of vampires showed up. Luckily, Isran and the rest of them were all outside at the time. Between all of us we made short work of the suckers. What did they do? Trail me all the way from Castle Volkihar? If they did, how on earth did they stay hidden the whole way? My time in Skyrim is generating far more questions than answers. I'm beginning to get irritated.

 

I made my report to Isran. He was irritated that they wanted Serana back and she delivered an Elder Scroll to them. Seems to ME I tried to tell him that before we left, but I held my tongue. It's not the first time someone in charge over my pay grade doesn't pay attention to the important details. Mainly it reminded me that I need to watch my own back, the foolishness of others can easily get me killed if I'm not careful. Isran in his wisdom decided that all of this put together with the attack on Dawnguard meant that we needed some more help. Guess who got volunteered to go recruiting? Yup, me. Well, off I go to track down a couple of people. I just hope there's a plan behind this.

[Deleted3507349User]

There are two people I needed to find; Gunmar, who is some sort of animal trainer, and Sorine Jurard, who's supposedly an expert on dwemer weaponry. Intelligence reports had Gunmar located at Cronvangr Hall, so I headed there first. Wow, am I glad I bought that horse. It's so much easier to outrun bandits, wolves, and assorted nuisances on a horse. I don't mind putting myself at risk to complete a mission, but it makes no sense taking on every minor in Skyrim if I can avoid them just as easily.

 

I found Gunmar exactly where he was reported to be; hanging around outside Cronvangr Hall. I relayed Isran's request to him, and got quite an earful in return. Seems like there's some hard feelings between these two, and according to Gunmar Isran doesn't play well with people who disagree with him (unless he needs them, of course). It's not really a surprise to hear it, I had that feeling from Isran myself after the debacle with Serana. At any rate, Gunmar accepted Isran's invitation...except we needed to deal with a rogue bear first. Gunmar ran into Cronvangr and I followed.

 

Cronvangr Hall isn't supposed to be all that big, but judging by the amount of webbing around the entrance it's home to a fair number of spiders (and in this case, the bear). Gunmar was nowhere in sight, so I kept my head down and crept along with my crossbow at the ready. The spiders never stood a chance. I discovered a hidden cave section that surprisingly contained a few minor vampires. As I entered I heard them talking amongst themselves about how hungry they were and how scarce “prey” was. Well, DUH! You're out in the middle of friggin' NOWHERE! I helped them in their dilemma with a few well-placed steel bolts.

 

I finally encountered the bear in the inner chamber. Gunmar was still conspicuously absent. As I looted the body of the now-dead bear Gunmar FINALLY showed up to thank me for my help. 'My help' consisted of 'doing the entire job for him' since as far as I could tell he hadn't managed to make a single kill anywhere. Maybe he was too busy trying to train the spiders or something. At any rate, he agreed to go to Dawnguard to help Isran. I just hope whatever Isran has in mind for him doesn't involve any actual combat.

 

Next on my list; Sorine Jurard.

[Deleted3507349User]

Rumor has it Sorine is located out in the middle of nowhere north of Markarth, so I saddled up my steed and off I went. I made sure to stop by Breezehome for a good meal, of course. I'm going to have to find something for my housecarl Lydia to do. She seems to spend all her time sitting upstairs carbing out on bread, and she's getting a little hippy.

 

The journey to Sorine's last known location was uneventful (barring the standard isolated wolf packs), with one entertaining exception. Somewhere well past Rorikstead I had a bandit jump out at me. This turned out to be extremely poor judgment and timing on his part, since almost immediately two sabre cats joined in the fun. I cantered away, leaving them to play, and chuckling at the fleshy screaming fading into the distance.

 

The intelligence on Sorine's location also proved accurate, and when I crossed a small stream just south of her position I noticed a small satchel on the north bank. I dismounted to pick it up, and when I examined it I found Sorine's named stenciled on the inside flap. The satchel contained a fair amount of dwemer gyros, I'm sure she'll be glad to get these back.

 

Sorine and I had a nice little talk. Turns out she has the same low opinion of Isran that Gunmar does. Apparently Isran was quite abusive to her when they parted. Sorine was concerned with the news that the suckers have themselves an Elder Scroll, but she flat-out refused to join Isran in Dawnguard without – you guessed it – at least one dwemer gyro that she needed for her research. She claims that mudcrabs stole her satchel containing some gyros. It seems doubtful to me, but then I have found shiny objects like rings and things in mudcrab nests. At any rate, she was so happy to get the satchel back she let me keep all the gyros save one. Now, what can I make with gyros? Build a mobile? She promised to head for Dawnguard and meet Gunmar and I there.

 

Back to Dawnguard for me. I hope the trip back is as easy as it was getting here, my horse and I could both use a good rest.

[Deleted3507349User]

My trip back to Dawnguard was mostly uneventful. I made sure to revisit the area where the sabre cats and the bandit had their little party. To my total non-surprise, both cats were alive and well. I took the opportunity to relieve them of their pelts, teeth, and eyes...and got some decent gold and a healing potion off the body of the dead bandit.

 

Nothing else happened until I got almost to Helgen. By this time it was well after dark, and there were two gargoyles in the middle of the road! I spurred my horse past them before they had time to get organized and when I was well down the road I dismounted and went sneaking back, crossbow at the ready. I was able to put two bolts into the nearest one before they began their counter-attack, and I felled one before it had covered half the distance to me. I put two more bolts into it's partner, then switched to my trusty Dawnguard warhammer for the final showdown. Turns out it works just as well against these stony beasts as it does vampires. There's some really good loot on a gargoyle, by the way. I didn't see anything larger than a rabbit the rest of the way to Fort Dawnguard.

 

When I entered the fort, I found that Isran had managed to get some of the security system working. Iron gates closed off the exits from the central receiving area, and Gunmar, Sorine, and I were bathed in a concentrated beam of sunlight from the oculus in the ceiling. I'm not sure how that was done since it was just after midnight, must be magic. I pity the sucker that gets caught in that beam, though. I'd wondered why the floor had a large grating covering a pool of water. It's obviously there to make the clean-up of ash easier.

 

Isran welcomed Gunmar and Sorine and gave them their assignments; Gunmar to train battle trolls and Sorine to perfect her crossbow designs. I, on the other hand, was greeted with some shocking news. A vampire had come to Fort Dawnguard on purpose, just to meet with me! I wondered who it was, since the only suckers I'd had anything to with were Serana and daddy Harkon and I highly doubted Harkon would put his skin at risk. Serana might, I suppose, and there was definitely some tension between those two. The big question is whether the goal of this visit was for our benefit or the vampire's. Isran shared my suspicion that it was the latter reason. Gunmar and Sorine went off about their work, and Isran and I went to interview our third new guest.

[Deleted3507349User]

The mysterious visitor was indeed Serana. It was a fairly lengthy interview, but the situation boils down to this; Harkon is trying to some control the sun based on some prophecy he found. Harkon's wife Valerica and Serana realized that this would REALLY irritate the human population, giving people the motivation to finally exterminate vampires once and for all. So, they stole the Elder Scroll from Harkon and sealed it away along with Serana. Apparently Serana is somehow necessary for the prophecy to be fulfilled. Serana brought the Elder Scroll to the Dawnguard asking to work with us to stop Harkon. Now, the only people that can read Elder Scrolls are Moth Priests, and guess what? By an AMAZING coincidence one has been seen wandering around Skyrim. I don't like this. Isran and I had a discussion after our interview with Serana. Neither one of use really trusts Serana, but we need to confirm the truth of all this. Serana and I are going to see if we can find this Moth Priest and see if we can discover what this prophecy actually entails.

 

The next morning, Serana and I made our plans for finding the Moth Priest. We decided that his ultimate destination was most likely the Mage's College in Winterhold. It won't hurt to ask carriage drivers and in taverns either. Those folks usually know what's going on around Skyrim. No news travels faster than rumor after all. As we prepared to leave, Sorine came up to me and told me she'd found evidence of lost weapon technology in Mzinchaleft. I think Serana and I will go there first. Perhaps I can get a better handle on Serana's motives before we find the Moth Priest.

 

We made the now-standard stop at Breezehome in Whiterun, of course. On our way to Dragonsreach (to learn any new enchantments from gear I'd found) we came across an orphaned girl in the central plaza of the Cloud District. Poor thing, she'd lost her parents and was thrown out by her aunt and uncle to beg in the streets to survive. I gave her a gold piece and continued on to the palace, deep in thought.

 

I talked with the Jarl's steward Proventus when I got there, and arranged to have my alchemy room in Breezehome remodeled into a bedroom. I can't stand the thought of little Lucia living that way, and I can always use the alchemy table at Arcadia's. I know what it's like to be orphaned.

 

Lucia was thrilled to join my household, and the contractors did a great job on her bedroom. I just hope she and Lydia get along.

 

The journey to Mzinchaleft was uneventful, and our exploration of the ruin was fairly typical of Dwemer ruins; a few Dwemer constructs defending the place and a couple of mechanical puzzle devices to work around before we located the schematics Sorine wanted. I had several long conversations with Serana during this trip, and quite frankly Serana troubles me. Serana doesn't act anything at all like any vampires I've encountered before. Serana acts more human than most, and doesn't appear to have the blood thirst. I'm beginning to get the feeling there's a lot Serana regrets about being a vampire. Despite myself, I find that I'm beginning to trust her...slightly.