FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Gamer Diaries

Skyrim

By Evan Drake

Part XXXI: Secrets of the Companions

The Companions are werewolves! I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen Farkas change right in front of me. He was a force of nature, cleaving through enemies with a savage might I had never seen before. The mercenaries didn't stand a chance. He ripped through their armor with ease. Even when they tried to block, the air filled with the sound of breaking bones and shrill screams of pain.

It was actually hard to watch. I covered Khash's face for most of it. I heard the stories of how frightening werewolves were, but seeing it in action was something else completely.

Part of me feared he would turn on us after the slaughter but he had changed back once the killing was done. He explained that only the most trusted members were given the beast blood and that I had nothing to worry about.

The Companions were nothing if not honorable and trustworthy so I went on with a clear head.

But I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if I became a werewolf. Would I even accept it? What was the price of that power? How would it react to my Dragonborn abilities? I had so many questions and no one to turn to for answers.

And who were these silverhand thugs who were so determined to kill us? They especially wanted to kill members of the companions. Farkas didn't seem to know why. All he knew was they were werewolf hunters.

I didn't know what their problem with the companions was, but it made things harder for me. Since I had joined them that meant they would be after me as well. Great. Khash didn't seem deterred in the slightest. It made me worry about the kid.

But in the end, we managed to get what we came for and even fought a dragon on our way back to Whiterun. I was worried Farkas wouldn't survive the fight this one went down even faster than the others we fought.

Maybe I was getting stronger.

---

##

Part XXXII: Reckless Behavior

What a fool I was! I knew better than to travel at night. I knew it, but Skjor had a job for me and I didn't get paid unless I saw it through. A criminal bound for Markarth escaped his escort and was loose in the wilds, but they had given up on bringing him in alive. What the poor bastard didn't know was they marked him when he got caught so he could be easily tracked via a spell.

I didn't have time to wait around since the guy already had a head start. We didn't get far before the vampires caught up to us. Now they were sending assassins to kill me. Nice to know I had gone up in the ranking.

But after that fight, I felt...weird. I was really thirsty and the sunlight bothered me. But I couldn't be turning into a vampire. I fought dozens of vamps already, I should be resistant to it.

Still, I asked Serana about it. She said it wasn't a good sign but until it progressed further, it was too hard to tell.

I wasn't going to wait that long. We killed the escaped prisoner and had reason to go back to Whiterun anyway. Hopefully, a healer could cure me before it was too late.

We got to the city but Skjor found me first. He dropped a coin purse in my hand and wanted me to come to the underforge.

He made an offer...to become a werewolf. I didn't know what to say, except yes. I needed power and lots of it. In the short time I had been here, I had assassins, bounty hunters, mercenaries, cultists, and even dragons screaming for my head. I needed to be stronger, I needed to stay one step ahead of my enemies, I needed to protect Khash and Lucifer and Serana.

What happened next is still a blur to me even now. According to Serana I didn't hurt anyone. After I changed, I fled the city and the Companions had to track me down. She wasn't too happy about my transformation either and had a few choice words for Aela.

I had never seen Serana this upset. Technically the Companions didn't give me much choice but it was still my choice to make. I didn't really care about being one of them. I wanted power and now I had it. But only now I realize the cost was too high. I could have easily hurt someone. I could have woken up in a sea of blood and Khash's horrified expression frozen on her disembodied head.

I should have known better.

But I didn't have time to think on my failure. Aela wanted to "celebrate" my new power and had a mind to raid a fort filled with silverhand mercs. I still didn't know why the silverhand were so bent on killing us but now that I was a werewolf, I had to do something about them. Even outside of my wolf form, my senses were sharper. My aim had improved drastically, getting pinpoint shots in the dark. The downside was my sense of smell increased and I could smell the stench and rot.

These silverhand guys are crazy. Werewolf heads were mounted on spikes and pelts hung from the walls. They tortured and experimented on them then left the bodies to rot. Whatever werewolves had done, they didn't deserve this.

They killed Skjor. He had gone in alone and they overwhelmed him. Aela raved about getting revenge. Honestly, I just listened to shut her up. I didn't know him that well and I didn't care. More importantly, I was done with all of this. I had enough to deal without adding quests for vengeance to the list.

I was shocked to find Serana still outside. Now that she had a chance to cool down, she decided to accept me for what I was now and would move forward together. I couldn't explain why, but hearing that made me happy.

But once this was over, I would look into a cure.

---

Part XXXIII: On the Road Again

It was still dark when we left the silverhand camp, but I didn't care. I wasn't spending another moment in that nightmare hole from Oblivion. With my new werewolf powers, it was easy to find my way even among the swirling snow and darkness.

I say that even as I lost my way and wound up in the middle of a pond. The idea was get to the nearest city then ride to Morthal. That was the idea anyway. Right before we parted ways, Aela said we were close to Windhelm. Oh, goody, well, it was better than the middle of nowhere at least.

Before leaving the pond, we found a trap door. I knew it had to be a smuggler's hideout or something, but it was dark and cold and the others needed rest so we snuck inside.

Biggest mistake of my life.

The moment I reached the end of the ladder, I smelled the rot and stench. It was stronger than anything I had ever seen before. Then in the semidarkness at the end of the tunnel, I saw it. Whatever it was, it was the ugliest son of a bitch I had ever seen. It's body was pale and stretched far beyond its limits. With each movment, I could see its bones shift, its muscles bulging, and its organs pulsing. Serana told me it was a mutated form of vampire, someone who had been turned and gone feral. They were bestial but not to be taken lightly.

Somehow we had stumbled onto a vampire den. The irony that was right under the nose of hardcore werewolf hunters wasn't lost on me.

Either way, I wasn't about to take chances with these bastards. Using the new spell I learned from Florentus, I managed to kill most of the vampires before they even knew we were in the room. The others didn't last long.

Thankfully, my new spell didn't effect Serana mauch. The spell only affected undead but Florentus said I should be able to focus it to only affect those I want it to. Glad that crazy old man was right.

Whatever was going on here, some poor smuggler had been tricked into helping the vampires. He must have outlived his usefulness because we found what was left of him.

We made a quick sweep to make sure we didn't miss anything than got out of there. I wasn't sleeping in a vampire den. That place stank.

Luckily daybreak wasn't far off so we decided to travel through the night and sleep during the carriage ride.

On the road, we attacked by a random wood elf. I never met the guy before and had no idea what he wanted with us or why he thought he could take on four well-armed travelers bare-handed. That was until I searched him and found the empty skooma bottles. That fucking drug was making victims out of everyone. We left his body for the wolves and moved on.

---

Part XXXIV: New Players

The ride to Morthal was uneventful. I found I couldn't sleep. I just felt restless and stressed. With everything going on, how could I not be?

Getting to Ustengrav didn't take long and we ran into little trouble on the way. We did find bodies and fresh blood. Always a good sign for trouble.

A group of mages had decided to invade the place for one reason or another. I didn't know and I didn't care. All I knew was they were in my way. Some well-placed illusion spells and shots from the shadows took care of the "welcoming committee". We ventured further and found the draugr took care of the rest.

The place was a lot bigger than I thought. It had have been part of some underground city or something. Either way, that was for someone else to figure out. What sucked the most was the traps still worked. The good news though was the draugr forgot the traps existed and were easy to lure into them.

We came across a massive chamber with another word wall. I did my thing and barely felt lightheaded this time. Looked like I was getting used to it. The whole trip felt a little too easy. That should have been my first major red flag, but I was too naïve to know any better.

After slaughtering our way through a bunch of undead and giant spiders what did we find? Nothing. The horn was gone. The only thing in its place was a damn note from "a friend". To say I was pissed was an understatement. The others didn't find it funny either.

The note mentioned going to the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood. We agreed to get back to Morthal and head there as soon as possible. Solitude could wait. I needed answers. Who knew about the horn? Who knew I was Dragonborn? How did they know I would show up to get it?

Serana mentioned it could be a trap but I wasn't so sure. The ruin itself made for a great ambush spot and it seemed awfully elaborate for a trap.

---

Part XXXV: Cloak and Dagger

Turned out the contact waiting for us in Riverwood was none other than Delphine, the innkeeper. I knew something was off about her, but I had her pegged as a retired adventurer, not someone as resourceful as she was. I had been playing her game for a while, the dragonstone I retrieved from Bleak Falls Barrow was because of her. I'm surprised I didn't recognize her back in Whiterun when she met Farengar, but I was also distracted at the time.

She didn't try to kill me which was a plus, but she also claimed to be part of an ancient group of dragonslayers.

But that wasn't the crazy part. The crazy part was how she claimed the dragons were coming back to life. It wasn't the craziest thing I've heard given that I've been neck deep in undead since coming to this country but it did seem pretty out there. Apparently another dragon was going to resurrect near Kynesgrove which wasn't far from Windhelm. She promised answers if she got proof I really was dragonborn.

Hope she didn't bet money I wasn't because she was about to be very disappointed.

On the ride there, I decided to ask the others what they thought. Serana and Khash believed Delphine was on our side. Lucifer thought the whole thing was crazy and recommended I watch my back.

The whole thing did have me wondering. The Greybeards mentioned the return of the dragons may have something to do with me, with the return of the Dragonborn. I didn't like the idea that this could all be my fault. That was the last thing I needed was every angry widow and orphaned child screaming for my head.

I was used to taking on the world but I couldn't ask the others to fight with me. But even as I though it, Serana said she would have my back no matter what happened and the others agreed. I knew nothing I said at this point would convince them otherwise so I let it drop.

I'll never admit it, but I'm grateful.

---

Part XXXVI: The Next Move

I thought I had seen everything. I thought nothing would surprise me anymore.

But recent events have proved that I know nothing about the world and it's far bigger than anything I could imagine.

Getting to Kynesgrove was easy. The moment we got there, some woman came running at screaming about how a dragon was attacking the place. It had circled over and landed on top of the hill nearby. We drew our weapons and got ready to slay another dragon.

But it wasn't just any dragon. It was...him. The black dragon who attacked Helgen, the one from my dreams. I couldn't explain it, but just looking at him, I knew it wasn't a fight we could win. I knew we stood no chance.

I watched, dumbfounded as this dragon raised another from the dead. This was the most advanced necromancy I had ever seen. It didn't just reanimate a corpse. It watched the skeleton claw its way out of the dirt, the flesh, muscle, and sinew growing back on it like the peeling of layers. It knitted back together perfectly, life renewing its freshly grown eyes. Life. Not a hollow reanimation, not a mindless husk driven by instinct but true life and feeling.

The dragon spoke to me, but I couldn't understand a word. It mocked me for my ignorance and I just stood there and took it. Anyone else would be eating their own tongue but I just stood there, shaking like a fresh hatchling.

Then something struck me across the face pretty damn hard.

Khash said, "What are you doing?! The dragon is attacking!"

I snapped out of it and helped the others bring down the revived dragon. The black one from before had flown off, not even finding us worthy of squashing.

Just like the others, I absorbed its soul when it finally fell. Delphine was satisfied and told me everything. She was a member of a group called the Blades. They served the Emperor or some other nonsense until the Thalmor did what they always do and nearly wiped them out.

Speaking of the Thalmor, Delphine believed they may know something about the dragons coming back because we were left with more questions than answers. Of course, the only way we were getting those answers was by sneaking into the Thalmor Embassy, the most tightly guarded place in Skyrim. I'd rather face 10 dragons then try to break in that place.

But we didn't have another choice. Delphine told me to meet her back in Riverwood while she came up with a plan to get me in there.

---

Part XXXVII: Behind Enemy Lines

I'm no fan of the Thalmor, but personally I have no reason to hate them anymore than I hate anyone else. They're assholes, but what society doesn't have them?

Still, when Delphine explained her plan to get me into the Thalmore Embassy, I was skeptical. The Thalmor don't play around and a swift death is the best outcome if I get caught.

Worse, I have to do it alone. Three argonians and a vampire stand out way too much as it is. Luckily, stealth and infiltration are what I thrive at. I've broken into plenty of high-risk places and no one had any idea I was there.

I'm worried about Khash though. After what she told me about her father, she's afraid I won't come back. I promised I wouldn't put her through that again, but it was a lie.

But I do know I'll burn that place to the ground before I let them take me. But that wasn't the point. It actually bothered me to lie, and I've told plenty. That damn kid is in my head.

Serana was pretty excited up until she learned that she wasn't coming. Delphine could only secure the one invitation which meant she was benched. I was planning on it anyway. The thought of something happening to her--Focus dammit. I can't afford to get caught up in emotions.

Delphine's contact was some wood elf named Malborn. I didn't like the look of him but as paranoid as Delphine is she wouldn't send me to someone untrustworthy.

It's raining now so we have to wait until tomorrow to enact our plan which is good because the party doesn't start yet anyway.

Hopefully this goes well.

---

Part XXXVIII: Just Another Lead

I infiltrated the Thalmor Embassy and lived to tell it! If wasn't for them having spies in every damn corner of the world, I would love to put that on my list of achievements right next to the time I drank a Nord under the table.

I honestly don't get why Serana likes high-end parties. I have never been more bored out of my mind. It isn't a party until someone's dancing on a table with their smallclothes on their head or until there's a drunken duel with spoons. I recognized most of the faces there, obviously the jarls and nobles who won't ever admit to their dirty dealings with me. It was fun to watch them squirm when they saw me but also pissed me off. Regardless they wouldn't rat me out so it was fine. Getting away from them was pretty easy too. One bottle of alcohol and they were all looking away from the exits. Dumbasses.

The infiltration was a complete bust. They figured out Malborn helped me and it was only because of the influence the others have had on me that I bothered to save his ungrateful hide (which he didn't thank me for).

What I did learn was surprising though. The Thalmor have no interest in ending the civil war and they have their hooks in Ulfric Stormcloak even if the bastard doesn't know it. What useful information for the next time I visit Windhelm. I also learned they don't know shit about the dragons and are more clueless about them than we are. I still haven't decided if that's good or bad or not.

The Thalmor bastards took a guild member from the Ratway I think I met him once but either way he knew about some old guy hiding out down there that the Thalmor were very interested in. The information I had gathered said he was most likely this dragon-expert, Esbern.

Thankfully, the escape tunnel didn't lead far from Solitude and I quickly met up with the others. We agreed that it was important that we get the information to Delphine quickly rather than handle anything else. It wasn't like the Thieves Guild was going anywhere in the meantime. The vamps would be a problem but with one scroll in our possession and Serana's mother most likely guarding one of the other ones we had time to focus on the dragon threat.

Delphine agreed that Esbern was our best chance at finding out why the dragons were returning and we made plans to get back to Riften as quickly as possible. A carriage would take too long with the Thalmor likely on their way, but the maps revealed a back path that cut through the mountains. We could use it to get into the Rift quickly and reach Riften with minimal fuss. Delphine used it in the past and said it was well-guarded by the Stormcloaks but they were stretched thin meaning there would likely be wild beasts on the road.

So long as they aren't mudcrabs, I'll take wild beasts over the other shit I've had to deal with.

---

Part XXXIX: A Taste of Adventure

How long had it been since I had a taste of adventure? How long since I appreciated the sounds, the smells? The feeling of the wind? Not long enough to miss it, but I did like that it was a breath of fresh air from all the running about we had been doing.

We had to go past Helgen to reach our mountain pass. Now that the Imperials had been cleared out, bandits moved it, but we didn't have to fight our way through them so we got around pretty easily. We came across some Stormcloak soldiers who ignored us which was fine by me. Other than a brief run-in with some wolves and a thief who realized just in time I was a guild member (he would have had a VERY bad day if he hadn't), we were pretty much left alone. No vampire assassins. No random dragon attacks.

It was a shame we couldn't take in the sights. We were on a time limit and had to move fast.

Once we entered the Rift, we found an abandoned hut. A journal left by its occupant revealed it hadn't been left behind for long. It didn't mention any random bandit attacks or dragon sightings. Honestly, the owner was gushing over how peaceful the location was. We decided not to test that theory and moved on quickly.

I knew the good times weren't to last forever since we somehow stumbled upon a ruined tower that a dragon decided to call home. Once we put him down, another word wall taught me a new shout: Krii, Kill.

Something told me I was going to get a lot of use out of that one.

The rest of the trip to Riften was just bear after bear after bear, I swear how often do bears fuck that the woods are infested with these things?! On top of that, we came across some orc tribe whose shaman begged for our help to lift some curse or the other, I wasn't paying attention. I just told her I'd help so she'd shut up. The others looked ready to lob our heads off, so we moved on.

I never thought I would feel unsafe being surrounded by people. Any one of them could be a Thalmor agent.

I didn't relish the idea of going back into the Guild without completing my job but my feet hurt, my body ached, I hadn't eaten a decent meal or slept in days, Thalmor assassins were likely on my ass, and I just got finished fighting half of Tamriel's bear population and a fucking dragon. I WANTED Mercer to say something to me.

Scared bastard didn't say a word. I asked Vekel if he knew about Esbern. He told me in exchange I had to help him get some stupid books from some supposed necromancer. He was very vague on the details but something told me this wasn't a typical job. I would worry about it later. Free of charge he warned me that dangerous-looking elves who wouldn't give their names also passed through. The damn Thalmor had beat us here. Wouldn't be hard if they already had spies all through Skyrim. But that they hadn't left said we still had time.

If I didn't believe that Esbern was crazy before, I did now. He had to be out of his mind to even want to live in the Ratway. The first thing that hit me when I entered the underground was the smell. It was even worse than the other zone. To say nothing of the filth and the people who lived in it.

But that wasn't important. What was important was that Esbern was alive and paranoid as ever. Thankfully I was able to convince him of the dragon threat and he agreed to trust me.

I was not prepared for what he said. The dragons coming back wasn't some conspiracy. It was the dragons themselves. It was the end of the world. The black one, called Alduin, was also known as the World Eater and he would consume everything, the living and the dead. And only a Dragonborn could stop him.

Only I could stop him. I was tasked with stopping the literal end of the world. I mean, stopping the vampires from putting the sun out didn't sound so different but it wasn't necessarily my fucking job!

I didn't even have time to process it because the Thalmor were coming. The Ratway was well out of sight of any guards making it ideal for making people disappear. We had to fight our way out and agreed that leaving under the cover of darkness was our best bet. To make matters worse, an assassin attacked us on the street. Too bad for her, I was in with the Thieves Guild and even for a bunch of pocketpinchers, we look after our own. Sapphire's dagger found her while she was so focused on me. I recognized the assassin. It was the khajit from the kitchens in the Thalmor Embassy! She had to be the one who sold out Malborn.

These Thalmor aren't playing around. They had notes that mentioned me by name. Looks like I made a new enemy. A very dangerous new enemy.

Fuck. My. Life.

Once we were in the wild, we vanished. Good thing, too. Our trip back to Riverwood was uneventful and I finally got a chance to sit still and take a breath without worrying about someone standing over my shoulder.

Esbern mentioned some abandoned temple containing what he called "Alduin's Wall" which holds the key to defeating the dragons.

Sounded like bullshit to me, but I've been absorbing power from walls since I got here so I kept my mouth shut.

---

Part XL: More Adventures

We agreed it was far too risky to use caravans from this point forward. The Thalmor were watching and would know exactly where we were going and it would narrow their search.

Instead, we had to walk. Karthspire was to the west, so we went west. I decided we weren't waiting until morning. The harder it was for the Thalmor to track us, the better. (I'm starting to sound like Delphine)

Traveling the wilds on a cloudy night wasn't the best idea but given my werewolf abilities made it easier, but I was grateful when the sun finally came up. At least until we heard the dragon's roar in the distance. We couldn't figure out where it was coming from and didn't relish waiting for it to ambush us so we decided to hide in a nearby cave until it passed us by.

As luck would have it, our cave turned out to be infested with spriggans. Luckily, the hunter who stumbled onto their nest survived long enough to tell us. After some prodding from the others, I healed him and we went inside to take care of the plant monsters. It didn't take much to put the spriggans down. The hunter was grateful and gave me his lucky dagger as a thank you. I didn't believe in luck but I also said the same thing about fate until it kicked me in the ass. A little extra luck wouldn't kill me.

We thought our little adventure in the cave would have bought us time to avoid the dragon. It dropped on us while we were passing an Imperial patrol. The Imperials weren't much help but I've gotten pretty good at killing dragons lately. It seemed strange that the dragon was roaming the area almost as if...

Were they tracking me?

It made sense. If this was a plot by Alduin and I was the only one who could stop him, it made since the other dragons would want me dead. How was it, in the time I came to Skyrim I became the most hated person here?

We knew when we entered Reach territory because we found an overturned cart with a dead horse by the side of the road along with bear traps. Bandits didn't use those kinds of tactics and the process was foreign to me. We agreed to keep our eyes open.

No bandits but we did come across a battle between the Stormcloaks and Imperials. Until a dragon swooped down and made short work of both sides. But I had been practicing my magic on the road and it would take some getting used to but I was confident my new spells would make all the difference in the upcoming battles.

Lucifer mentioned the dragon coming from the South so we decided to take a slight detour and see if we could find its lair with hopefully another word wall.

While we searched for the dragon's lair, a woman wearing rags ran up to me. She came very close to an arrow in the neck if I hadn't seen she was unarmed and wasn't charging any spells. She explained she had been taken prisoner by some bandits who held in a place called Mistwatch. I almost thought she was scamming me, but then I noticed the filthy and pale skin, the bags under her bloodshot eyes, and how bony she was from being half-starved. No way she made this up. I pointed out Markarth on my map and how to get to the main road. The dragon most likely scared off most bandits and predators so she should make her way there safely.

From what she told me about Mistwatch, it was somewhere between Windhelm and Riften. There was no time to go back but I made a mental note to clean that place out at the first opportunity.

Our search for the dragon's lair led us to a Nordic ruin. It didn't make sense for the dragon to be staying there, but somehow I knew there was something useful here. We camped outside for the night and planned to search the place in the morning.