He and I traveled into Whiterun to do some trading. I walk with less concern about the dangers of the land these days. Powerful friends and powerful armor coupled with the returned strength of my gift and my sword arm has empowered me.
From there we passed up the river to Riverwood and I found Faen in town, having recently returned from a hunting trip. I surprised him with a gift of a complete set of Marcalite Elven Armour, the great light armor creation of the elvish race in this time.We enjoyed a nice evening together in the local pub. I really like Riverwood and wish I had a home here.
The next morning we traveled up the mountain to discover the location of the ruins I had seen from the heights of High Hrothgar. It took some doing but we finally located the place. Faen had never been here, but said it was rumoured and named Skywatch Pass. I had the two of them stand guard as I looked around. Thinking it might be home to a Dragon Lord I found instead it was home to a nest of bandits. A tunnel through the mountain lead to a watch tower. It would appear this was a complex designed to look north to defend the heights of the mountain. May be that the elder monks took the complex they now occupy from an more ancient time.
We spent the night of the 27th of Sun's Height back in the Inn in Riverwood. I approached the Inn Keeper after settling my two friends for the night, and asked for a private room in the attic. She looked at me curiously and said no such room existed but she did have a room for me. I had just settled down when she knocked upon my door. She is the one who had the horn which she readily gave to me but more. She lead me down into a secret room below the Inn. And she shared much.
She is a part of a group, one of the few remaining.
I suspect she is a blade. After the death of Martin and my deposition as Archmage of the Citadel, the ruling elite of the Council of the Imperial City had after a brief series of battles orchestrated a piece with the Thalmor. The Blades must have resisted such and been targeted to be wiped out, and so now must exist very much in secret.
She believes the Thalmor are behind this. She sees political gain for them by keeping the empire disstablized and so facilitating a rebellion in the north against the empire. She believes the Thalmor seek to hold all the land and may be looking for something in particular.
She also told me the dragons are not returning from some other land, nor are they being birthed from well long hidden eggs, but are coming back to life again, being brought back by something. She said many of the dragons that have been slain have been known to have been slain in previous ages. And their burial mounds are empty. So the round mounds I have notice all over the north are dragon burial sites. In fact, the dragon stone, that I recovered for the Jarl of Whiterun from the Barrow in my first days in the north, is a coded map of their locations. Delphine believes there is a pattern and the next resurrection will occur near Kynesgrove across the river from Windhelm in the Eastmarch. She left the room and I was free to explore her hidden cove and behold I found what I think is proof and perhaps a gift left behind. An well crafted blade saber akin to the saber given to me in the past when I first had been adopted by them as a fellow guardian of Martin the Emperor.
On the 28th of Sun's Height Faen and I set out east. Having been told by the librarian of the College that more writings of Shalidar might be foundin Muskavar, we stopped there. Rogue mages had set up and would not submit to the Codex so I brought justice to them.
Kynesgrove was not difficult to find once crossing the river. As Faen and I entered town, a young woman ran up to me and exclaimed that a dragon had flown up to the ancient old dragon mound on top of the ridge. I left Faen to watch over the village and made my way carefully up the hillside. Delphine was already there and horror awaited.
And the Black Dragon raised the dead. A skeleton shambled forth and took on flesh and power. And they spoke to one another. And then the Black Dragon spoke to me. It knew I was there. I rose and stood open and cleared and defied it, but it refused me, claiming me fool and of not threat. And then it sent its newly raised minion to destroy me. It too spoke to me, naming itself Sahloknir.
But my armor and my gift is strong and it underestimate me. Sahloknir will not rise again, not this time.
There on the mountain side Delphine admitted she is indeed a survivor of the Blades, one of the few after the Thalmor sought to hunt them down when they went into league with corrupt ruling council that now governs the Emperial City and the Empire. She strongly believes this all points to the Thalmor. She said she was off to seek out information regarding this angle. I could not constrain her.
Faen and I spent the night in town in the Inn. A mage named Drayynea was there. I shared the Codex for the Mages of the North with her. She will follow it. She is from Morrowind, part of the exodus escaping great tragedy there.
The next morning I followed up on a tale I had overheard the night before. While the locals didn't know all that took place on the hillside above, they had heard the roars and smelled the fire and had seen the black dragon fly. And tounges wagged. I learned that some hunters had seen a dragon flying near a place called Bonestrewn Crest. Talk of this dragon had also been about the courts of Windhelm, so I decided to see if a dragon had nested there. It had. And my suspicions that they are guarding ancient sites of power is proving correct. No Dragon Lord lay here, but a word wall was here.
I traveled down to Windhelm to announce that two dragons had been killed just south of town. But that was not the only killing. A young lady had been killed as well, part of her body missing. It would appear the court mage is not the guilty party. I visited with Wuunferth in his cage, and he said that he had never kept a journal and knew the amulet as a Necromancer amulet of legend with great power. He thinks the person has a pattern and should strike soon. And he thinks the person is seeking parts from the strongest of the races and so predicted he would strike in the Stone Quarter and go for a woman. Seems it is almost always women who are targeted. I kept watch in the cold of the first night in town deciding this must stop. And saw nothing. It was frigid and snowing. The locals stayed in. The next day I grabbed a meal in the Dunmar district hearing the familiar complaints of discrimination and hatred by the Nords and especially their leader. And I was concerned as I saw Imperial Legion Armor and weapons stashed on shelves there. It would not surprise me if they were to help in some up rising. The discontent is large. Then I walked back to the Stone Quarter to explore and grow more familiar with the area of the next night when I hard a scream. The murder had struck in daylight in open sight. I ran him down and as there was no doubt took his life. It was Calixto. Examining his house I found plenty of evidence. He was embalming tools and in a journal written to a dead lover claimed he was near to creating a new body for her spirit. Forbidden arts. Dark evils. A warped mind. I contacted Jorlief the warden of Windhelm to release the mage.I stayed that night in the Inn in Windhelm. Had a nice long conversation with a pleasant local by the name of Brunwolf. He agreed that Ulfric Stromcloak is a "Nord only" leader and overlooks the needs of the other races, including bandits who have been assaulting caravans of elves and Kajits. He shared the location of their nest.
So on the 31st I departed Windhelm to enter the nest of bandits on the 1st of the new month. As I left, I was stopped by a young orphan selling flowers. Her parents were both dead and this was how she got food. I gave her some coin, then thought better of this. I hired a local Nord woman, as trade here is limited due to the civil war, and a carrage and sent the child to the Pale estate with a letter to take her in and care for her until my return.
Then I proceeded to the outlaw den. There were about a dozen in those ancient caverns and they had caged lions for some reason. Their leader wasn't much of a warrior. I had left Faen to guard the entrance should any try to run. Upon my exit the great Black Dragon was circling and calling rage at me, but would not draw near.
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