Alftand, Markarth, Irkngthand, Solitude: Wonders discovered.

It was just after 8:00 AM when The Sentinel finished their quick sweep of the area, then said I could come down the ladder.

Seconds after I finished climbing down, Dwemer automatons appeared out of the ether and amongst The Sentinel. Another Dwemer Dragon had been waiting for me to make an appearance.

It landed then tried to make a meal out of Thorald. I hit it with Dragonrend, and The Sentinel quickly dealt with the automatons.

The Sentinel were quick learners and had figured out how to fight a Dovah. They surrounded it and did not let any Shout or breath weapon catch more than one of them in its cone. If it targeted one of them with its jaws, that Sentinel would go defensive while the other three went all in offence.

The dragon was getting frustrated as it turned from one annoying attacker to the next.

Every few minutes it would summon more automatons. Then one Sentinel would get its attention while the other three dealt with the newcomers.

The Sentinel were doing well but not damaging the metal dragon quick enough. One slip and it would tear one of my friends in half. The fight had to end quickly to reduce that chance.

I used my Thu’um and yelled,

“MAGES ABOARD NAFALILARGUS, AID THE SENTINEL!”

The three Master Mages exited the cabin, slid down the ladder and quickly joined the melee.

The air crackled with lightning and flames. Electricity drained the dragon’s Magicka reducing how often it could summon more automatons.

The Master Mages and Sentinel kept moving, confusing both dragon and automatons.

A co-ordinated burst of lightning from the mages critically wounded the dragon.

The Sword and Board warriors finished it off.

The fight attracted the attention of a large Goblin tribe. The Sentinel and Master Mages turned their attention to them.

Unlike with the Dwemer Dragon, I had no interest in just watching, so I fought beside them.

Once again, the tactics and synergy were faultless. They had immediately transitioned from fighting a dragon to Goblins.

Soon the ice and snow were littered with dead Goblins, and all was silent.

I thanked the master Mages, who returned to the cabin of Nafalilargus.

The morning sun hardly made any difference, and it was still quite dark as I surveyed the carnage.

We headed for an ice valley where I thought there might be an entrance to one of the towers. I looked up, Nafalilargus was blocking the view of Langley’s cabin. He would have had an excellent view of both Dwemer Dragon battles from up there.

Kyne marked a goat.

I killed it with my bow. I must go and prey soon.

We found an entrance to a tower. I told The Sentinel, “I don’t know if this is the place we are seeking, but I don’t mind a bit of exploring.”

Golldir replied, “Probably too small for dragons inside, so it has to be more fun!”

We entered, and only a few automaton spiders lived in the tower.

We made our way upstairs and found the body of Antenir, a researcher from The College of Winterhold who had been missing for several months. Tolfdir will want to know what happened to him.

On a table was a hastily repaired staff, a weird Dwemer device and Antenir’s journal. I read the relevant entries to The Sentinel,

“19th of Evening Star, 4E 204

I have finally reached the ruins of Alftand, and they are more breath-taking than I could have imagined! Even in the bitter cold of this damned province, my excitement has not waned. I will soon possess the most significant work of the Dwemer, Bthurmec.

20th of Evening Star, 4E 204

After much investigating, I have finally located the north tower, and it appears that much of it has become buried beneath the glacier. Fortunately, the entrance is still accessible. Tomorrow I will enter the ruins themselves.

21st of Evening Star, 4E 204

Despite the sorry state of these ruins, they still inspire a sort of awe. Once, in the very place I stand, a Dwemer Tonal Architect worked to unravel the mysteries of Aetherius. Destruction was the fate of much of their work, but Bthurmec will be intact, I know it.

22nd of Evening Star, 4E 204

I have made it further into the ruins. Fortunately, the security systems do not seem to be operational. Understandable, as this place seems to have narrowly escaped being obliterated by the shifting of the glacier. It appears, however, that the further in I get, the more of the ruin is intact. This fact bodes well for my objective, for surely Bthurmec will be in the most secure part of the tower.

23rd of Evening Star, 4E 204

Dagon take it all! The staff is damaged! Years of work, countless hours of research and its broken! I was correct that the staff would be in the most secure part of the tower, not so in my assumption that it would be intact. It has a jagged fissure running its length, and appears to be nearly powerless. My attempt to use it resulted only in a painful shock and a flow of residual Magicka. The fact that it has any magic left at all is a testament to the immense power it once held. I have worked so hard, and come all this way, and I will not leave empty-handed.

24th of Evening Star, 4E 204

I have set up a makeshift workshop at the top of the tower. I will attempt to repair the staff myself.

25th of Evening Star, 4E 204

I seem to have found a way to repair the crack in the staff. I have enchanted a piece of troll leather to turn Magicka away from itself, and used it to wrap the cracked portion of the staff. It seems to be working to reflect the Magicka into the staff. It is a small victory, and I still have a long way to go, but it is quite encouraging. And at least I don’t have to worry about the staff losing any more power.

26th of Evening Star, 4E 204

I thought I heard a clanking noise earlier today; perhaps I was wrong about the destruction of the security systems. The sound probably just came from the pipes, somehow, despite the cold, steam still appears to be running through the ruin (good thing too, or I would have frozen to death by now). Just in case, I am going to lock the door to my workshop. One should not take unnecessary risks.

27th of Evening Star, 4E 204

That’s done it! All I had to do was focus the residual Magicka through an accessory soul gem. Of course, that’s easier said than done. I’ve had to construct an addition onto the staff. It routs the energy through the soul gem, and back into the power source, but the staff is now showing signs of life. Tomorrow I will test it from the balcony. My victory, however, is tinged with unease. I once again heard the sounds of scratching on the door to my workshop earlier. I hope that it is just a wolf, or some other creature, but I know it is unlikely that one could make it this far into the ruin.

28th of Evening Star, 4E 204

It was spectacular! I tested the staff on a passing fox earlier, not that much of it is left! At first, I thought it had not worked properly, as the fox seemed unaffected. But suddenly an enormous meteor came hurtling from the sky, and obliterated the fox. I felt the shockwave from here. It appears that the staff creates some connection to Aetherius, and tears a piece loose, hurtling it towards your target with such force and speed that I doubt anything alive could withstand it. Unfortunately, upon using the staff, it broke once more, shattering the soul gem. Because of the nature of my design, this will most likely be a recurring problem. I will make a device to allow me to make the necessary repairs to the staff quickly. If only I had a more potent soul gem, perhaps that could be my next project, creating an unbreakable soul gem? Unlikely, given the fragile nature of all soul gems, however, I have accomplished the impossible before.

30th of Evening Star, 4E 204

I have completed my repair tool; however, the constructs in the tower below grow more restless. The clanking and scuttling are almost constant now. I think it may soon be time to begin planning my exit from this tower.”

Ugor said, “It looks like the metal spiders got him.”

“Yes, he was probably running out of food and tried to make it outside. The staff would only work outside, so would not have been any help in here.”

“Is that one of the relics of the Snow Elves?”

“No, but it is a good find and worth studying. However, Antenir’s journal has given me a clue as to where we should look next.”

We headed downstairs to the exit. I asked The Sentinel to prepare in case another Dwemer Dragon attacked.

Morgan said, “I know where you are going to look next. In the ice!”

“Yes, the journal reminded me the ice valley is a glacier. The shifting ice may have covered entrances. Did you figure that out or did miniature fleabag tell you?”

“I figured it out. And Jo’zaka says fleas would be embarrassed to call you home.”

I laughed as we exited. There was no Dwemer Dragon to greet us.

Once we started looking closely at the ice instead of simply walking past it, we soon found a covered entrance.

I melted the ice with a simple Flame spell.

We entered, and it was eerily quiet. With some places, you can sense there have been no visitors for a very long time. This building was one of them.

Not far in, the Snow Elf spirit appeared and asked us to follow.

There were many destroyed automatons. I said to The Sentinel, “During the Falmer uprising, I think the Snow Elves destroyed these automatons. I have no concrete evidence, just a hunch.”

Will O’ Wisps appeared. In my experience, they are often spirits who have not yet moved on but can’t manifest themselves fully.

The guiding spirit would move ahead quite some distance, then wait for us at particular intersections.

“Can you sense them?” asked Morgan.

“The restless spirits? Yes, there are many of them. Can you see them, they look a bit like a fine mist?”

“Now you have mentioned it, yes I can.”

I was glad we had the guiding spirit, as the building was large with many turns.

The number of Will O’ Wisps increased.

So did the number of other spirits.

Our guide walked through a door that had a purple lock.

A spent Dwemer key lay on the floor before it.

The spirit stopped and stared at the body of a Dwemer then faded away.

I picked up a green Dwemer key from the ground.

The spirit had gone, so we explored without her guidance. In front of a large door was a Falmer totem.

We were immediately attacked by a large group of Falmer when we entered the room. The Sentinel went into action, soon killing them all.

One Falmer had an excellent looking staff. When I picked it up, I could detect a weak Dweomer that would damage health and sap Magicka.

I asked Morgan, “This looks like Snow Elf design. What do you think?”

“It is wooden, so I doubt it is Dwemer.”

“Good point!”

There was an empty stasis chamber, so I assume that is where the Falmer found it.

At the back of the room was a Dwemer Lift.

It went down a floor, leaving us facing a long corridor.

Where the long corridor turned right, an angry spirit, similar to one we saw yesterday, appeared. It called me names once more and attacked with powerful frost magic.

The Sentinel quickly destroyed it.

At the end of the short righthand corridor was a portcullis and lever. This setup made sense as I could feel a breeze. It was to protect an exit.

Down a long slope was a door that led outside.

We made it back to Nafalilargus without incident. We had the blue Dwemer key from yesterday and the Green one from today. It was time to see what was behind the locked door at Irkngthand.

The Sentinel warmed themselves in the cabin while I flew the airship.

It was about 3:45 PM by the time we made it to the front entrance of Irkngthand.

We entered. Then I used the blue key, and the locked door opened.

Several corridors later we came to an arboretum.

I could hear automatons, so hand signalled The Sentinel to crouch and approach the room silently.

The Dwemer experimented with many automaton designs. One of the more dangerous ones was called ‘Draman’.

Despite peppering it with arrows, it rushed us and attacked with mighty blows of its mace. Ugor was severely injured and brought to her knees.

Morgan healed her, and the Orsimer warrior rejoined the others to finish off the Draman and destroy the weaker automatons.

The arboretum had several stories. We stayed on the main path that spiralled upwards.

Near the top we found a finely detailed statue of the Snow Prince. He was the last great leader of the Snow Elves and was buried with honours by the Nords. The same Nords intent on genocide! I have never understood the Nord pride in such barbarity as Ysgramor, and his followers, committed. It is another reason I despise The Companions.

We encountered several Dwemer Centurions, but they provided little hindrance to our progress.

At the end of one corridor was a door with a green lock.

The key we found that morning in Alftand opened it.

We snuck up on a Falmer compound and killed them all including their tamed Skeever and Chaurus.

Just beyond the Falmer compound was a room with Dwemer Stasis Chambers containing Snow Elf relics.

The same as yesterday, pushing some buttons on the balcony released the stasis fields.

I could then retrieve the relics.

A door exiting that room led to a Dwemer Lift. Another angry spirit was there to greet us.

We cut her down, and I pulled the lever.

The lift went up a long way. It stopped in a dark corridor with a steeply sloped floor that went downwards.

We headed down and were soon in a long, level corridor where our guide met us.

She stopped and stared at a room ahead of her. When we got close, she vanished.

The room was full of spirits and Will O’ Wisps. We would have to jump down into it, and I could not see an exit. We jumped down anyway.

The guide reappeared, but it was her who attacked us with frost magic this time. Each time we defeated her; she would crouch down for a while, then attack again.

We repeated this process six times.

Then the other spirit replaced her. It seems they were the same being!

This time the scantily dressed spirit did not attack but just stood there. Intuition told me to cut her down, which I did.

Upon a platform, our guide reappeared surrounded by Will O’ Wisps.

When I approached, she said something to me then vanished with a blinding flash.

I asked Morgan, “Does Jo’zaka know what she said to me?”

“He says if you did not have all those barriers up to protect your mind, you would know.”

“Yes, I understand that is how telepathy works, but I can’t risk lowering my defences. I bet Jo’zaka speaks to you in Ta’agra.”

“Correct because he can’t speak the common languages of us apes.”

“Can you please ask him what the spirit guide said?”

“The spirit said, ‘Well done!’”

“I am glad we did what was needed, but it would have been nice to have some clues! I still have no idea about that dual personality thingy that went on.”

“How do we get out of here, Wulf?”

“The circles on the ground, what do you think they are?”

“They don’t look like lift wells.”

“But they are a type of well.”

“Water wells!”

I smiled at the young mage and made my way to the edge of one circle.

I then used Flames to melt the ice and snow covering the water beneath.

I dived in, and it was shallow. At the bottom lay a skeleton and locked chest.

I picked the lock and opened the chest. Inside was a unique dagger with many Dweomer on it. I am sure Auryen will want it for the museum.

I surfaced then melted the ice and snow on the second well.

At the bottom of that one was a lever, which I pulled.

I surfaced and found the lever had opened a portcullis leading to a small room.

There was a chest in the room, but it only contained some jewels and gold.

Behind the chest were sliding panels.

When I opened the panels, we found ourselves just above the exit.

We exited Irkngthand, then boarded Nafalilargus.

I was sure we had gathered all the Snow Elf relics we could for now. So, the Sentinel rested in the cabin as I few the airship via ether to Markarth.

It was just after 2:30 AM when we docked.

We made our way to Understone Keep and then Calcelmo’s headquarters.

I walked up to Calcelmo and asked, “Do you not sleep? It is almost 3:00 AM!”

“Faleen finishes her watch in half an hour. Then we shall both retire for the night.”

“I am glad to see that bit of work I did for Lady Mara resulted in something ongoing.”

“We will always be thankful.”

“We have collected quite a few things for you to study. Where can we put them?”

Calcelmo quickly made room on a table, and we placed the relics we had found.

I told him where we had found each item, and he was like a child, not knowing which toy to play with first.

He would pick one item up and start muttering to himself then reluctantly put it down to pick up another.

We left him to it, and I silently wished Faleen luck in dragging him off to bed.

When we exited Understone Keep, a disembodied voice speaking the ancient language of the Snow Elves whispered a few words then went silent.

“Uh…Morgan?”

“Yes Wulf, we heard it as well. She told us to meet her near Fort Greenwall. I can also understand her language now. I have let her into my head.”

“Just as we thought this field trip was over, we now get to visit Riften!”

I did the ether travel to Riften while The Sentinel got some more rest. I might be used to all of this manic combination of travel and combat, but they were not. This field trip was turning out a lot longer than I expected. It has been invaluable training.

Riften was shrouded in early morning fog when we came out of the ether and docked.

The city was only just coming alive at 6:00 AM. Nobody took much notice of the Wood Elf and Imperial soldiers who disembarked the airship.

Just before exiting Riften I told The Sentinel, “It is a bit of a walk to Fort Greenwall, but the roads are a lot safer than when I first walked them. Our troops now populate the fort. During the Civil War, it was home to a huge bandit gang.”

We made it to the outskirts of Fort Greenwall without any hostile encounters. I could see our guide standing near a cave and approached her.

She smiled, spoke something then vanished.

I said to The Sentinel, “I guess she wants us to enter that cave. It must go underneath the fort.”

Morgan replied, “Good guess. She was pleased we came here. It must be important to her.”

We entered and found ourselves ankle-deep in very cold, but clean, water.

We turned a corner and came across Legate Herebane Sorenshield just standing and staring ahead.

Herebane is a well-known explorer who has written many famous books on ruins and the different beasts and wildlife he has encountered within. Urag is proud to have first edition copies on his shelves.

In his travels, he had learned to appreciate and befriend many other scholars of different races and origins. He joined the Legion at the beginning of the Civil War as he did not want the racist elements of Skyrim to win. He was a proud Nord but could not stand the thought of Ulfric and his kind ruining his homeland.

He turned out to be an exceptional soldier and commander, and by the end of the conflict had earned the rank of Legate.

He had been contemplating leaving the Legion and returning to his previous occupation of exploring ruins.

I convinced him to remain a Legionnaire as he was the type of commander we could use when the Akaviri invade. He was free to continue his love of exploration as long as the time was split equally with training young officers. I was not surprised to see him exploring the caves underneath Fort Greenwall.

I said, “Hello, good to see you again, Legate Herebane.” He turned, drew his sword and attacked!

He was an expert swordsman, and I did not feel like testing my ability to block him for long. I parried then slit his throat without hesitation.

Thorald exclaimed, “What the fuck was that all about?”

“I have no idea!”

“Well, it is too late to ask him now. You drew your sword, parried an expert swordsman then killed him before I even realised what was happening!”

I searched him and found nothing to tell me why he attacked. I would have to put that mystery behind us for now.

At the end of the narrow passageway was a gate. I picked the lock, and we entered a small cavern.

The was a ladder that led to a grate above. I knew that would exit to the courtyard inside the fort.

I looked into the pool of water that covered most of the cavern’s floor. I could see it was quite deep.

I said to The Sentinel, “I think there is a tunnel in the water leading somewhere. Follow me single file. You can’t drown so don’t panic even though it will be pitch black!”

I dived in and could barely make out sunken chests.

A few drowned Legionnaires had sunk to the bottom.

We swam along a horizontal tunnel.

I checked behind me to make sure nobody had got lost or wedged.

As part of training to be a Sentinel, they had all got used to the Dweomer I had placed on their armour. It allowed them to breath underwater, but it was not like a gilled animal. The water did not get past their mouth, but the required air was extracted from it using a regular breathing action. During training, it took some a lot longer to be courageous enough to try it than others. Morgan was one of the few who showed no fear at all.

The water level eventually dropped enough that we could wade instead of swim.

Our guide was waiting for us at the edge of a precipice.

She was staring at a passage across the expanse of a large cavern.

When I asked her if that is where we should go, she nodded her head then faded away.

It looked like there was some sort of settlement of which most has collapsed into a deep ravine. The architecture was not so much Snow Elf but Ayleid in design. I suppose there may have been some similarities in the past.

I said to The Sentinel, “I think this is important enough to pursue. It will take skilful construction as well as archaeological knowledge to make sense of it all. I think this will be a good test for the Explorers Guild.”

We made our way back through the water-filled tunnels to the room with the ladder.

Then we climbed out and made our way back to Riften.

Morgan wanted to ether us to Solitude, so I let her. I climbed into the cabin and had a quick chat with Onmund.

“Enjoyed your first couple of days?” I asked him.

“I was thinking how relaxing it was, then you called us out to fight that metal thing this morning.”

“It was not as powerful as the one last night but still too strong for The Sentinel by themselves. I thought it would be informative to see how well you three fought beside them.”

“I thought we meshed very well since we have never trained together.”

“I was more than a little impressed! That is how we will defeat the Akaviri. The synergy between magic and sword must flow like that.”

“It was rather fun apart from the fact you could be swallowed whole and pooped out the next day.”

I laughed as I retired to my room and lay down. Meeko jumped up beside me, and I remember giving him a casual scratch behind the ear just before my eyelids got too heavy.

The bell announcing our docking at Solitude woke me. Meeko was one side of me, Kayla on the other and a small black bundle lay at my feet.

“Excuse me, lady and gentlemen. Can you move so I can get up without one or more of you falling to the floor?”

Kayla moved over a little, then Meeko crawled over the top of me and lay on the opposite side of where he was. Jo’zaka stretched, yawned and then vanished.

It was not long after 11:00 AM when we made our way down the plank.

We entered the guild house and soon found Professor Patero Marassi. He bowed then asked, “What can I do for you, Majesty?”

I explained to him in detail what had occurred and what we had found under Fort Greenwall.

He was more than a little excited as he said, “Oh my! That is quite amazing! I’ll start making arrangements immediately and rally the crew. We’ll meet you there in a few days.”

“I want you to formally invite Master Calcelmo to participate in the dig and exploration.”

“Why? You are just inviting arguments and tension, not needed expertise!”

“I expect to be dealing with adults so your petty squabbles will need to be left behind. It was his work that led to this discovery, so he has every right to participate in a dig for which I am paying. Also, Queen Rigmor will be joining us. I may yell at two grown men arguing like children, but she will just kick you both in the privates.”

“I apologise, you are right, he should be with us. Anything else, Majesty?”

“I will see if Knight-Paladin Gelebor wishes to join us. His insight might be invaluable, don’t you think?”

“The last Snow Elf? I have never had a chance to meet or speak to him. That is something to look forward to.”

“He is not the last. He has found many of his kin in stasis and is building up a sizeable enough population that his race may become viable again. I will do everything in my power to make sure they remain free from persecution.”

“Give us three days to set up camp and start construction of what sounds like extensive scaffolding.”

“I will see you then.”

The Professor was immediately in a rush to get the other guild members up to date and preparing.

I heard some chattering and looked down. “Hello, Fafnir! Are you coming along as well?”

More chattering. I asked Morgan, “Can Jo’zaka please tell me what he just said?”

Morgan laughed then replied, “Jo’zaka says you are a dumb ape. Racoons don’t talk!”

“Neither do Khajiit who I have turned into slippers.”

“Jo’zaka pleads for mercy! He says he regrets being near your stinky feet when you fell asleep earlier and would not like to be near them again.”

I reached down and gave Fafnir a good scratch behind the ear then told him, “Racoons are so much cuter than Alfiq.”

Morgan said in a huff, “Jo’zaka is not trying to be cute!”

“Then he has done an excellent job. Even a Sload is cuter.”

We made our way back to the airship with Morgan staring daggers at me.

I asked Morgan, “Would you like to ether us to Bruma?”

She gave me an obscene sign, then headed for the ladder to the cabin.

I laughed and asked, “I’ll take that as a ‘no’ shall I?”

J’zargo performed the ether jump to Bruma while I sat and had a late lunch with the others. The smell of food dragged Morgan from the bunk area where she had retreated in a huff not long before.

 A couple of hours later, the bell rang to let us know we had arrived in Bruma. By the time I left the cabin, Rigmor had already climbed the ladder. She gave me a sloppy kiss for a greeting.

 “Glad to see you too my Queen. It looks like the shorter days in parley have improved your mood.”

“Having Inigo in the throne room improves the mood. He comes up with the best insults!”

“Does his colouring attract comments?”

“Not since Blackwell warned supplicants that they would spend a day in the cells if they could not keep a civil tongue.”

“Both squads of Sentinel have proved to be exceptional. We chose well, my dear.”

“Even young Morgan? I know she is not a child, but still, I worried.”

“She is a joy to have around and was exceptional in both skill and bravery. Jo’zaka is still acting as her guardian, and he is useful as well.”

“When I heard the bell earlier, I told Mum and the others we would sit down and have dinner together.”

I used my bard skills to put on an act.

“I would love that. But before we head that way; I have something important to ask you.”

“What? Why are you looking so serious all of a sudden?”

“I know this is short notice, and would understand if you say no.”

“Wulf, what is it?”

“It is just that, well…”

“Well, what? Please, just take a deep breath and get it over with.”

“Let me compose myself as this is going to be hard…”

“You know I love you! Just take your time.”

“A lady Snow Elf ghost kept asking us to follow her, and she led us to unexplored ruins underneath Fort Greenwall, and the Explorers Guild are going to do a dig there, and I was wondering if you would like to join it and we could spend some time in my house in Riften and visit the marketplace just as two ordinary citizens and…”

At first, Rigmor looked worried.

Then her eyes grew wider as I rambled on.

Then her mouth opened in shock.

The next thing I knew, she was kissing me again, which I took as an affirmative.

When Rigmor finally released me, we started making our way to the castle.

Morgan came running up and stood in front of me with a stern look and hand on hip. Without even knowing what the issue was, Rigmor took a stance that indicated sisterly solidarity.

“Yes Morgan, is there something I can do for you?”

“I want to know if you think Jo’zaka is cute!”

“No, I don’t.”

Morgan looked upset, and Rigmor was about to tell me off.

I said to Morgan with all sincerity, “He is not cute, neither are you! He is a very handsome Khajiit. You are a beautiful young woman. Cute is for babies and children, neither of you are those.”

Morgan smiled then said, “When he fell asleep at your feet, that was the first time he had done that with anybody but me!”

“I know that Morgan and I was honoured, truly. He was instrumental in our success these past few days. He is now part of your Sentinel Squad if he wishes. We could even get a uniform made. Not that he bothers to wear clothes, though.”

“You know Meeko will demand to be in a squad as well.”

“He can join Inigo’s squad. I think Kayla would like to be guarding Rigmor more than flying around in the airship. So that is what will happen.”

Morgan did a quick curtsy to Rigmor and ran back to join the rest of The Sentinel trailing behind us.

Rigmor whispered, “So after spending a few days with her, how old do you think she is?”

“I have no idea. We have encountered many Dunmer who look her age that we know are in their thirties or even forties. She only seems childlike because there is a total lack of cynicism from her.”

“And she shows childlike wonder in new things.”

“She is just another mystery for us to ponder Milady.”

With that, Rigmor and I entered the castle and headed for the crowded dining table.

I enjoyed catching up on the local gossip. Sigunn was looking more relaxed than I had seen her since I arrived in Cyrodiil those few months ago.

It is my birthday in a few days.

Not my actual birthday. I have no idea what date that is or even how old I am.

Four years ago, I was captured by the Imperial Army while in the presence of Ulfric. I don’t remember any of that part of my life. You may say I was metaphorically born a few days later.