INUH's Skyrim journal

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Tirdas, 18th Last Seed, around 4:20 PM.

Wow. Things...things got a little crazy there.

I saw the Jarl and warned him about the dragon. He said he'd send some troops to Riverwood. Then he suggested I talk to the court wizard about a job. As it turned out, the job was to enter the Bleak Falls Barrow and retrieve that stone I'd looted yesterday. If that wasn't enough to convince me that the Nine were taking an interest here, what happened next certainly was. 

A soldier ran up to the Jarl and reported that a dragon was attacking a watchtower. I ran to the local alchemist bought every healing potion she had, then ran to the watchtower. No sooner than I'd arrived, a dragon swooped out of the air and started breathing fire and clawing people to death. The instant it landed, I was on it, ripping at its scales with my claws, letting the potions take care of the injuries it was inflicting on me. Maybe I should get myself a bow sometime...regardless, when it fell to my claws, I naturally started harvesting its bones and scales so I might someday make a legendary set of armor from them. 

But as I did that, a light poured out of it and into me. And I knew what that word from the wall meant. "Fus" is draconic for "force." And for reasons I still don't understand, I immediately looked up to the sky and shouted the word. As I did so, a massive shockwave emanated from my lips.

As I was wondering what was going on, one of the soldiers ran up to me and started yelling about how I was a Dragonborn, since they used to kill dragons and steal their power. I didn't believe him at first, but as I was returning to whiterun, a clap of thunder fell across the clear sky and I heard a shout from the Throat of the World, the highest mountain in Skyrim. It was miles away, but I could hear it as if the shouter was standing next to me. The shout was simply one word: "DOVAHKIIN." And I knew, somehow, that it meant "dragonborn." And that it was a summons addressed to me.

I have to go there. But first I have to meet with the Jarl again.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Tirdas. 18th Last Seed, around 6:20 PM.

This is all happening so fast...

First, I'd better make a note, some suspicious fellows near the gate asked me to look for a Redguard woman who was living in Whiterun, then report back to them in Rorikstead. I'm not sure I trust them, but I'll look into it. If they're untrustworthy, I can warn her; if not, I can hand her over.

I then went to see the Jarl. He said that I had to make a pilgrimage to High Hrothgar, home of the Graybeards, so that they could teach me about being a Dovahkiin. Then he promoted me to "Thane," which is apparently some sort of honorary title for heroes. This entails owning an enchanted axe that burns those struck with it (I don't generally use weapons, but it's quite nice; I'll hold onto it) and having a "housecarl" named Lydia to follow me into battle.

This is all getting kind of crazy...I think I'll forge some improved armor, then maybe look into the Companions. I need to take a moment before heading on a pilgrimage to some distant mountain temple.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Tirdas. 18th Last Seed, around 11:50 PM.

I forged myself some steel armor, then sold off my old stuff. I'd never tried steel before; I think I did okay.

Then I went to join the Companions. They directed me to their...he's not a leader, they insisted, but he decides who gets in. He had me spar with someone, then go on a bit of a runaround helping people do stuff. But they let me in by the end. I also met the blacksmith who runs the Skyforge, an amazing forge unlike any I've ever seen.

Afterwards, I did my first job...I didn't really like it. I had to intimidate the local alchemist, then tell her she knew what she had to do...based on the Companions' reputation, though, that's the exception rather than the rule. I hope so, at least.

At least I got paid.

Tomorrow, I'll try a different job. Hopefully it'll be better. For now, I'm going to sleep in the quarters in the Companions' guildhall.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Middas. 19th Last Seed, around 10:20 AM.

Ah, this job is much better. I have to go with Farkas to retrieve a fragment of Wuthrad, the weapon of the first Companion. This is apparently a trial to see if I'm honorable...I hope it goes well. I'm currently outside the Dustman's Cairn waiting for him. I hope this goes well.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Middas, 19th Last Seed, around 5 PM.

That...that was crazy. Why can't anything normal ever happen to me?

It started off fairly normal. We're going through the cairn, killing those undead things (Farkas said they're called Draugrs) and looting stuff. Then I step into a side room, pull a lever and get trapped in there. Before Farkas can free me, he gets attacked by a bunch of people with silver weapons, then turns into a werewolf and kills them all.

Apparently, the Companions are actually a werewolf guild. That...I didn't see that coming.

Then we reached the main burial chamber, which had another of those walls. I could read a word from it, like before. It said "yol." Dunno what it means...mabye I have to kill another dragon? I guess once I find the Greybeards, it'll all be clear.

Anyway, then I grabbed the fragment of Wuthrad and we made our way out of there.

I'm not sure how I feel about the werewolf thing...I guess I'm okay with it as long as they don't mind cats.

IanExMachina

(Become a were cat! )

ClockworkUniverse

Yeah, being a werewolf cat is going to be hilarious. Half the reason I joined the companions just now.

The other half was the shout I just got the word for.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Middas, 19th Last Seed, around 10:20 PM.

Well, I'm a full member of the Companions now. They did this big ceremonial thing where Farkas vouched for me. It was pretty cool. Then they sent me to the Skyforge to get a weapon from Eorland. I don't use weapons, though, so I just asked him to teach me a bit more about smithing. I did buy a bow, but since they're made of wood, he couldn't give me a Skyforge steel one. Always good to learn from the best. I then made some more stuff, and roughed up a bard who was being a little two forward about his affection for a local woman, and now I'm going to go to bed.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Turdas, 20th Last Seed, around 11:20 PM.

Took a job from Farkas today. Some crazy necromancer was causing trouble in Falkreath, so I hopped on a carriage and took him out. Falkreath's a nice wooded area. Very pretty, which is good, because the journey took up pretty much the entire day. I went there, did the job, came back, reported to Farkas and had him teach me a little about armor. And now I'm going to flop into bed. I hear there's a big job waiting for me, but it can wait until morning.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Fredas, 21st Last Seed, around 12:20 PM.

I talked to Skjor about that job. Apparently I have to meet with him in a secret chamber beneath the Skyforge tonight. That's not sketchy at all.

To pass the time, I had Eorlund teach me a bit about blacksmithing, then did some practice myself. It was expensive, but it'll be worth it in the long run.

After that, I looked into that matter concerning the Redguard woman. Turns out it was the barmaid at the local inn. She's actually nobility in Hammerfell and those people were assassins sent after her. I managed to get one of them who'd been caught sneaking over the city wall to tell me where the rest were in exchange for paying his bail. I'll take care of them tomorrow.

And now I don't really have anything to do until that mission tonight. I guess I'll take a nap, so I can be well-rested for it.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Loredas, 22 Last Seed, around 4:20 AM.

Wow...tonight was crazy.

I met up with Aela and Skjor under the Skyforge. They offered to turn me into a werewolf. I accepted, as the companions seem to be good people, showing that the stereotype of werewolves being crazy mass-murderers is probably wrong. So I'm a cat-wolf now. Weird.

Anyway, apparently turning makes you go crazy for a bit the first time, so I woke up way out in the countryside. Aela explained that we had to go kill a group of those werewolf-hunting Silver Hand zealots. I was all for it. If they just killed evil werewolves, I'd be okay with it, but as they are, they're just prejudiced murderers. We fought our way through the base and killed their leader, "The Skinner." I did this in my normal Khajiit form, since I knew they had silver weapons. Sadly, they'd killed Skjor. We avenged him, at least.

Aela then told me where the Silver Hand had gotten their hands on a fragment of Wuthrad near Riften. I'll be paying them a visit, but I found that I was near Ivarstead, the town where the base of the seven thousand steps to High Hrothgar can be found, so I headed in that direction. 

Almost immediately, I ran across a dragon, which swooped down and attacked me. Seriously, what's with all the dragons? Weren't they extinct or something? I killed it with my claws; it went down even easier than the other one. Maybe I didn't need that bow after all. Absorbing its power taught me the meaning of "yol." It means "fire." Shouting it lets me breathe fire. It's pretty awesome.

After that, I tried using wolf form to run faster. On the way, I was mugged by the most audacious bandits of all time. I took them all out and looted their stronghold.

At this point, I'm just exhausted. There's a bed here; I'm getting some sleep.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Loredas, 22 Last Seed, around 7:40 PM.

Set off for Ivarstead again this morning. Got lost on the way and found myself in front of a tomb. A descendant of the tomb's family hired me to help kill a necromancer who was defiling it. We did it, but his aunt was already dead, which was disappointing.

As I returned to the correct path, I was ambushed by someone in a red-and-blue cloak. I managed to kill her, but the note I found on the body chilled my blood. She'd been sent after me by the Dark Brotherhood. From now on, I'm moving furniture against the door when I sleep.

I also ran across a troll attacking a man. I helped him kill it. In its cave, I found a Stormcloak soldier's corpse, bearing a note directing him to investigate some attacks in the area. At least I was able to avenge him.

Then I arrived at Ivarstead. The innkeeper there told me of a ghost problem in their local barrow. I offered to look into it.

Now, then...I could do that, or I could climb seven thousand steps. I think I'll take the first option first.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Sundas, 23 Last Seed, around 12:30 AM.

Explored the barrow. I quickly encountered a ghost...who was actually just a guy using potions to make himself look like a ghost so he could investigate the barrow without drawing attention. He attacked me; I killed him. Why don't they ever just try to talk? There was also a door like the one the golden claw went into.

So I returned to the innkeeper and told him what was going on. As a reward, he gave me...a claw similar to the golden claw, but silver with sapphire claws. How convenient.

Then I explored the rest of the barrow. Lots of Draugrs, and a few skeletons this time. Eventually, I found another of those weird walls. The word of the day was "kaan." Guess I need to kill another dragon when I get the chance.

It's late. I should get some sleep. I have a lot of climbing to do tomorrow.

Forzare

I am not reading this journal yet because I want to stay as unspoiled as possible.

Also,

ClockworkUniverse

Fair enough. It's going to be pretty spoilery.

And that's awesome.

Forzare

ClockworkUniverse

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Sundas, 23 Last Seed, around 3:30 PM.

I'm exhausted.

I woke up early this morning so I could walk up seven thousand steps. And if that wasn't enough on its own, I gott attacked by wolves and a frost troll along the way. The wolves were pathetic as always, but I think that troll might have been stronger than a dragon!

Well, eventually, I reached High Hrothgar and spoke to the graybeards. They really know what they're doing. They explained that each shout actually contains three words. As part of my training, they taught me the word following "fus," which was "ro," meaning "balance." They also taught me a word from a new shout, which they called "whirlwind sprint." The word was "wuld," meaning, unsurprisingly, "whirlwind." It lets me dart about twenty-five feet forward in a second or so. That could be quite useful.

Then, for reasons I don't really understand, they sent me off to retrieve a horn from the tomb of Jurgen Windcaller. It's way away from here, in the marshes to the Northeast of Morthal. I think I'll do that once I've found a place to store my heavier things (dragon bones weigh a lot), retrieved the fragment of Wuthrad and killed those Redguard assassins.

And then, of course, I had to climb back down the seven thousand steps. Fun.

So for now...back to Whiterun, I suppose.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Sundas, 23 Last Seed, around 8:40 PM.

I took the route south of the Throat of the World this time. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that it led through Helgen. The village had become a bandit camp. The bandits are no more, though.

Then I passed a Redguard man who gave me a pair of gauntlets, said he'd find me later and that if I told anyone about it, he'd kill me. Shortly afterwards, a man wearing armor but lacking gauntlets came by and asked if I'd seen someone run by. I gave him his gauntlets and pointed out the direction where the fugitive had run. For my trouble, he gave me...a Septim. Don't get me wrong, I'd have done it for free, but really? One Septim?

Eventually, I arrived in Riverwood. Everything was closed, so I decided to stay the night at the inn and set off for Whiterun early tomorrow morning.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Morndas, 24 Last Seed, around 7:20 AM.

I'm...I'm really worried.

I wasn't able to sleep much last night. I just found myself wanting to get up and move...so I woke up early and set off for Whiterun, and something about the night air and looking up at the moons and the aurora just made me want to transform...so I did, and started running towards Whiterun. Along the way, I encountered some Imperial soldiers...they attacked me, and I killed them, and that's not really the part I mind, I mean, they were Imperials and all, but...I...I think I might have eaten one of them.

After that, I ran around for awhile until I changed back, after which I returned to Whiterun. I tried to take my mind off of it by having a drink and improving my armor, but...it really didn't help much.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Morndas, 24 Last Seed, around 5:10 PM.

I'm feeling a lot better now, believe it or not.

I looked around town a bit, selling the assorted loot I'd found over the last few days. I also decided to store those dragon bones and scales in Jorrvaskr. The Companions wouldn't steal from each other, and anyone trying to steal from us is in for a beating, so they should be safe there.

After that, I set out for Swindler's Den to deal with those assassins. They claimed that Saadia was a traitor or something who had fled Hammerfell years ago. I tried to get them to leave, telling them that I don't support revenge killings over something that long ago, but they wouldn't. We fought, and I slew them all. They weren't that strong, though they had the advantage of numbers, so I had to make use of some healing potions.

Next, I suppose I'll take a carriage to Riften, and from there I can go after that Wuthrad fragment.

As for that wolf thing this morning, I think I just need to be a bit more careful. Hopefully, things will work out. After all, Farkas seemed quite collected when I saw him in his wolf form.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Tirdas, 25 Last Seed, around 3:30 PM.

I slept for most of the ride to Riften. The carriage arrived around dawn, when I was awoken by a dragon's cry. It didn't land, though. It just flew off to the North. Too bad. Could've used the knowledge I'd have gained from it.

On my way to the Silver Hand fort, I was attacked by a bear. Barely managed to survive the encounter, and it didn't help that I stumbled into a Spriggan's lair immediately afterwards. While I don't use magic all that much, I definitely am glad to have that healing spell.

As I arrived at the fort, I found a small camp outside it. Turns out, the fort didn't belong to the Silver Hand at all. They'd driven the owner out. It's almost as if they're trying to lose all credibility as the heroes they' want to be. The guy hired me to take them all out and then pull a lever to open the gate. Since most of that was what I was planning to do in the first place, I accepted.

I entered through an escape tunnel, took out everyone in the base and did some looting. In addition to the normal stuff, like Septims, gems and metal ingots, I found myself a few spell tomes and the Wuthrad piece. And the owner of the fort gave me another spell tome. I have four in all: one spell turns your skin into wooden armor, another lets you see people through walls, the third creates a sword and the fourth prevents an ally from being a coward. The first two sound good, so I'll learn them on the way back, but the latter two don't seem all that useful to me. Maybe the court wizard back in Whiterun will buy it.

Ah, my carriage is about to leave. Time to head back.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Middas, 26 Last Seed, around 11:30 AM.

Arrived back in town early this morning, and got a little more sleep, though since becoming a werewolf, I haven't been able to much, and I don't really even feel like I particularly need it. Old habits, though.

Then I gave Aela the fragment. She told me that next, I need to steal some plans from a Silver Hand camp. Simple enough.

Then I headed into town and sold some of my stuff. I've got quite a lot of gold now, but not much to spend it on.

I forged some daggers for practice and profit. I finally figured out the trick to making Dwarven armor. Made myself part of a set, but the local blacksmith ran out of the appropriate metals. I'll stop back by in a few days.

For now, I'm going to head up to Morthal, and from there to Ustengrav to retrieve that horn.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Middas, 26 Last Seed, around 11:50 PM.

Arrived in Morthal, too late to go to Ustengrav, but too early to just go to sleep. Based on some conversations I overheard, it seems things in the town haven't been going so well. A house fire, disappearances, noises from the marsh and a newly arrived wizard, who people are suspicious of.

I was asked by the Jarl to look into the burnt-down house. The man who survived the fire, which killed his wife and daughter, apparently took a new lover excessively quickly. Nobody local wanted to look into it because they thought it was haunted. Turns out, they were right. The ghost of the man's daughter was there. She said she'd explain what happened if I played hide-and-seek with her. Sure, why not?

I spent ages searching around town. Didn't find her there, though I did stumble across two odd glowing plants that were producing a humming noise. I've never looked into alchemy, but this certainly makes me curious about what I'm missing...

Eventually, I checked the cliff above her house. My discovery there was quite surprising. I was attacked by a vampire woman, whom I killed (or re-killed or whatever the proper term is) with ease. The girl was in the coffin, and said something I had trouble following, but the gist was that the woman had turned her into a vampire just before the house fire. 

Nothing conclusive about who set it, though, but then the vampire's husband showed up, and said that she'd vanished when she was going to visit Alva, the woman the girl's father had just moved in with. Oh, dear. I'm going to check Alva's house out...but during the day. For now, sleep. If I can get any.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Turdas, 27 Last Seed, around 11:30 AM.

Once the sun was high in the sky, I waited for Hroggar to leave Alva's house, then broke in (not something I'm accustomed to doing, but I know a bit about locks) and made my way to the basement. Alva was there, sleeping in a coffin. She heard me enter, woke up and used some sort of spell on me. But I managed to take her out. I found her journal. She was working under some other vampire named Movarth. The Jarl gave me a team of men and asked me to go take Movarth out. I'm headed off now.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Turdas, 27 Last Seed, around 10:40 PM.

We headed to Movarth's lair. Except for the husband of that first vampire I'd killed, none of the villagers had the courage to go in. I can't blame them, and they didn't wind up being necessary, so it's fine. We took out Movarth and all of his minions. On the way out, I saw the ghost of Helgi again. She thanked me, then vanished.

At that point, I was fairly near Ustengrav, so I headed in. I had to deal with necromancers, draugrs and traps, but my claws dealt with the first two and Whirlwind Sprint with the last. Along the way, I found another wall of dragon text. This time, the new word was "feim," whatever that means. I really need to do some dragonslaying.

Then I arrived at the chamber of the Horn. And there I found...a note for me, saying that if I wanted the horn, I was to go to the inn in Riverwood and ask for the attic room. Because clearly, I hadn't already gone to enough trouble over it. Meh, at least I got some treasure, and the Jarl paid me pretty well for my trouble with the Movarth affair, so it's not a total loss. I guess I'll hop on a carriage and sleep a bit on the way back to Whiterun.

ClockworkUniverse

Note that I'm cheating a little on the "no fast travel" thing. I'm letting myself travel from any capital city to any capital city, even when there isn't a carriage there (though I'm paying for the carriage when it's available). That's because I figure it makes sense to expect every capital city to have them.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Fredas, 28 Last Seed, around 10:30 AM.

Arrived in Whiterun just as the town was starting to wake up. The blacksmith had gotten in a shipment of dwarven metal, so I made myself a fine set of dwarven armor and sold my old steel set. I sold other assorted loot, too. I kind of wanted to stop by the alchemist, since that weird plant had made me curious, but given that I had to rough her up a bit for my first Companions job (I still feel bad about that), I should probably find one in another town...

Then I headed to Riverwood, even though it was quite early. I asked for the attic room in the inn...and there wasn't one. Well, hopefully, whoever left the note heard me. I'm in my room now. I'm going to pretend to sleep, but for all I know, this is a setup. I already know the Dark Brotherhood is after me, after all...well, I'll be ready.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Fredas, 28 Last Seed, around 9 PM.

Well, today has been quite eventful. The inkeeper led me into a secret basement, where she explained that she was a member of an ancient order called the Blades. Apparently, they were an order of dragon hunters who, once the dragons were extinct, dedicated themselves to serving the old dragonborn emperors, but went into hiding after the last of them died centuries ago. She explained that the dragons were coming back to life, rising from their milennia-old burial mounds. And they won't stay dead anymore unless something steals their souls. And since I'm the only one known to have that ability, guess who has to kill every single dragon? Fun.

Then she explained that she expected the next revival to be from a burial mound near Kynesgrove. We rushed over to see what the cause of the resurrection was. Along the way, some Imperials tried to extort some gold out of us, but we proved worthier adversaries than they expected. Another Dark Brotherhood assassin showed up, too. He made the same discovery.

It turns out that black spiky dragon that interrupted my execution was responsible for the resurrections. It showed up, shouted at the mound for a bit then flew off. As the interred dragon climbed out of its mound, Delphine and I set upon it, she with sword and I with claw. It fell extremely quickly to our onslaught and I took its soul. I used this soul to unlock the meaning of "feim," which means "fade." Shouting it makes me enter a ghostly state in which I can't interact with the physical world, and thus can't be hurt.

Delphine then explained that she suspects the Thalmor of being behind the resurrections. I think she might just be paranoid about them, but she was right about the resurrection thing, so I'll at least go along with it for now. She wants me to meet her back in Riverwood in awhile to discuss infiltrating their embassy.

Kynesgrove has a mine, and though it produces Malachite, which isn't used in any armors I plan on creating, I did mine some ore for pay. I got a pretty good sum for my effort.

Now that I've got the horn, I think I'll head to High Hrothgar. Though on the way, I'll stop by that Silver Hand camp to steal those plans, since it's directly in between here and there.

ClockworkUniverse

Ma'Darra's journal. Loredas, 29 Last Seed, around 2:20 PM.

Got up early and set off. As I left the inn, I encountered a courier who delivered a letter. Apparently, someone saw my shout and wanted to inform me of a rumor that a source of power to the dragonborn could be found in a place called Silverdrift Lair. Sadly, that's way out of the way, so I won't likely find my way there for quite some time.

On my way to the Silver Hand camp, I spotted a dragon circling a mountaintop. I made my way up and slew it. This one attacked with frost instead of fire, which was lucky, because I'd found an amulet that protects against frost a few days ago. Once I'd absorbed its soul, I turned my attention to a draconic word wall on the summit. From it, I learned the word "fo." I felt it appropriate to put my newly acquired soul towards knowledge of that word, despite still not knowing what "kaan" means. "Fo" turned out to mean "frost," and shouting it lets me make use of the breath weapon that dragon was using. Could come in handy.

Then I went through the Silver Hand camp, killed all of them and took their plans. Nothing particularly special about it, but I want to take a moment to make note of a book I found there. It was called "Experimentation in the Physicalities of Werewolves," by someone named Reman Crex. The author of the book, it seems, fancies himself a scientist, so he captured werewolves and basically tortured them for measurements that really don't have anything to do with anything. There was no goal in these experiments, other than to grab a few numbers and kill the subject in the process. I can only assume that he was motivated not by science, but by some disgusting hatred beyond even that of the Silver Hand.

If I ever find Reman Crex, I'm going to rip his throat out.

Well, on that cheerful note, on to High Hrothgar.