We're finally in Riverwood, but we can't go back home yet. We got new marching orders from Delphine.
I had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy.
Anyway, we got out the door as soon as we could, and guess who we ran into as soon as we got outside of town? A bunch of Thalmor Agents escorting a prisoner!
We killed them all. I don't think any of them were guards, though. None of them were wearing fancy armor. They were all strong mages, wearing Justiciar robes, and they carried Glass axes and daggers. One even had Ebony on him.
The prisoner ran off before we had a chance to help him, but he'll be all right. I'm sure he'll get himself untied and such as soon as he gets into town. There's no love for the Thalmor in Rorikstead.
We kept going, and the weather started to get bad. I heard a loud noise over the thunder in the distance, and looked up to see a dragon flying around farther up the road.
It - I didn't realize it was him.
He was waking up another dragon.
Ugh, I'm getting chills just thinking about it! It was so eerie! Seeing that skeleton crawl out of the burial mound and shake off centuries of grave dirt from its bones was just…
If I have nightmares I'm blaming him. I'm glad Vigilance likes hugs.
The flames bringing the flesh back onto the bones just looks wrong, too. It's a reverse of what happens when I take the soul.
We hid behind some rocks, and Vigilance didn't run! The opposite, actually. His head was low and he was growling. Valdimar even had to grab the neck of his armor to hold him back or else he would've lunged before Alduin left.
I knew we could fight the one he brought back, but not Alduin himself. He'd send us straight to Oblivion.
He left, and the other dragon stretched and took to the sky. Once it got its bearings it started to attack someone nearby we couldn't see.
I heard a familiar Shout, and saw there was another Tongue there. I also heard more shouting, but just regular yelling. Alduin's ritual-thing or whatever it is attracted the attention of another band of adventurers coming the opposite way.
With attacks coming from both sides, it didn't take us long to put the dragon back in its grave.
The adventurers saw Alduin wake his fellow dragon from the dead. They hid behind some stones and trees just like we did. They were mostly Khajiit, but the Tongue was a Nord, and there were two Dunmer in their party as well. They couldn't believe what they'd just seen, and they all stared at me as Erandur helped me off the ground after the dragon's soul rushed into me.
Vigilance did NOT like the dragon soul! He barked and bit at the lights!
He's very protective.
Anyway, the adventurers wanted to know what in Oblivion they'd just seen, and I tried to explain it as best I could without giving too much away. I didn't explain the dragon soul or anything like that, just that it looks like the big pointy dragon Shouted the other one out of its tomb. Maybe that one can do necromancy?
That seemed to satisfy the others, and they asked their Tongue friend if he'd ever heard of a Shout like that. He just shrugged and said it was possible. He said he's only studied a few, then asked Lydia how many she knew!
They'd heard me Shouting, but didn't see me. Since I'm obviously not a Nord, they just assumed it was Lydia doing it. She said she only knew the one, and the man nodded. He wished her luck with her studies, and she did the same, then we parted ways.
I'm perfectly fine with people thinking Lydia can use Shouts. The more we can confuse anyone who might be on our tail, the better.
The thunder and lightning didn't let up, though, and I didn't feel any less jumpy as we went along the road. I kept flinching at the thunder, and once I almost threw a Firebolt when the wind tore the branch off a tree too close to my head.
The others could tell I was getting worse, and Lydia suggested that we get out of the rain. There was a cave nearby, so we sought shelter in there.
Turns out, it wasn't a cave, but an old Nord tomb that doubled as a pass through the mountain. It was also full of skeletons and a necromancer who was clearly using whatever or whoever he could find in there (or grab from the road) for parts.
When we came out the other side, we were on the shore of Lake Ilinalta, near a ruined dock. The weather had cleared up, and I could just see the road that I know isn't far from the homestead I bought in Falkreath. It was quiet, with no sign of Alduin or other dragons. It was actually quite nice, so we followed the shore in the general direction of Riverwood.
We ran into a troll, and once he was taken care of we heard an old lady asking if we were all right.
Her name is Anise, and she lives all by herself in a little cabin hidden in a stand of trees above the shore. We said we were fine, and after she said she was good, too, (she called the troll a "pest"), we asked her the easiest way to Riverwood.
She said we could either follow the shoreline down the craggy mountainside, or we could swim for it. She pointed out a calm, narrow section of water right above the falls. There's a fisherman's camp on the other side, and just up the hill I recognized the trio of standing stones that I'd seen on my first trip into Riverwood.
She said the fisherman was the kindly sort, and while she usually hailed him for help crossing with his boat, we'd have no trouble on our own.
We thanked Anise for her help, and found that she was right. It was fairly shallow and the current wasn't bad at all, despite being a bit close to the falls. We got to the other side with no trouble, and we were soon back on the road.
When we got here I took a moment to do some trading with Lucan. He was glad to see me, and we shared some small talk while we bartered. He's still not happy that Carmilla wants to help so much with the business; he thinks she should just get married and settle down, but it could be worse. She could be like me!
We all had a good laugh at that, and soon found Delphine at the inn. She had us follow her into her room, and locked the door behind us once we were all in her "secret basement".
I swear, either Orgnar doesn't care or he's got the thickest head in Skyrim. How could he NOT know about it?!
Anyway, she was disappointed to learn that the Thalmor were just as clueless as she was about the dragons' return. She was more than a little pissed that Malborn's cover was blown and that I hadn't exactly been able to "sneak in" in order to get the papers she wanted, but come on! She's the spymaster! She should know that sneaking around isn't exactly something I'm known for!
Learning that her old friend Esbern's still alive raised her spirits, though. She wants us to go to Riften to make sure the Thalmor haven't gotten to him. She said he'd be hiding somewhere in the Ratway, and while he's a million times more paranoid than she is (I guess that's a requirement for being a Blade) all I have to do is ask him where he was on the 30th of Frostfall. She said he'd know what I was talking about.
Unfortunately, she said I'll have to talk to Brynjolf, that red-headed guy who sells fake potions and keeps calling me "lass". The Ratway's in his territory, and if Esbern's down there, he'll know.
She saw me sneer, and laughed. According to her, most people can't resist him!
Well, I'm not most people.
After that, we came back up here to the main room and saw it was well past nightfall. We considered going to Whiterun, but decided to just stay here for the night. We'll head for Riften in the morning.
While we had dinner, I had a chance to ask Delphine about that note I got. She has no idea who might've sent it, but she does know where Autumnwatch tower is. She marked it on my map. It's a bit south of Ivarstead, so we'll probably head there first, then go to Riften along the back road.
Delphine said it shouldn't take long at all, so long as Helgen's not overrun with bandits again.
The others went quiet, and I could feel them looking at me as I said we were going around the north face of the mountain.
Delphine started to argue, and said it would take too much time, we were being stupid, blah blah blah - I told her we would go as fast as we could, but I'd sooner visit Oblivion before I set foot in Helgen again.
She demanded to know why I wasn't going back when Gerdur (I hadn't noticed her at the bar) came over and said, "You wouldn't ask that if you knew what happened there."
Before Delphine could get a word in, Gerdur said that Ralof stops by from time to time, and she overheard him telling Hod how he still had nightmares.
I haven't had the chance to properly thank her for all the help she gave me when Ralof first dragged me out of Helgen, so after I made some introductions (and explained how we knew each other) I offered to buy her and Hod a round or five.
She was happy to see I was doing well, and gladly accepted my offer of drinks. I handed Orgnar some extra septims to pay for a meal the next time they came in for one, and just said I've been "out adventuring with my friends."
Delphine didn't apologize when Gerdur left, but instead griped about how I should've just told her I had a Spirit Wound. She's seen them enough times, and says she knows better than to pry.
I don't know if I trust a spymaster to not pry about anything, but she didn't say anything else about it after that, so I'll take it.
I asked her if she had a chance to read the papers I found on Ulfric, and she nodded. She said she figured as much. He's slipped through their claws enough and had too many lucky breaks for it to be mere coincidence, and it seems the Thalmor target the area around Windhelm more than other places. They're clearly trying to bait him and the people there as an excuse to start fights and keep things going.
Gods, he's so easy to control.
We went to our rooms shortly after that, and I sat down to write. I'm sharing with Lydia, as usual. She agrees that it's better to let people think she's the one who can Shout.
It's pretty easy, too. I usually don't use them unless we're fighting a dragon, and most people run away before the fight even starts. Besides, I'm an Imperial - Why would anyone think I'd be the one Shouting?
I wonder how many people who aren't Nords learn that? I mean, you obviously don't have to be a Nord to be a Dragonborn. Do they just have a harder time, or doesn't it matter? Would the Greybeards even train them?
Huh. I'll have to ask Arngeir next time we go up there.
Anyway, I need to sleep. We have a bit of a walk ahead of us.
this could be either me looking for an excuse to get my friend watch one of my favorite movies or just a thought i had after i realised a character i like is a little similiar to a character a friend of mine likes.... who knows
