Entry 13.

It occurred to me recently that it has been weeks since I last opened my journal, let alone wrote anything of worth. I now aim to remedy this, however I must be brief as just this morning I received a letter from a man who’s work I have been investing in asking me to come see him as soon as possible.

In the time since my last entry I learned more of this Miraak, mainly that he was hiding within Hermaeus Mora’s realm of Oblivion and that the only way to reach him was through the use of a Black Book. The Black Books being tomes that Mora has placed throughout Tamriel and oddly enough mainly on Solstheim, to lure mortals greedy for knowledge into his realm.

I was told by the Skaal’s Shaman pointed me towards a powerful Dunmer mage who he claimed would be able to assist me in my search for the book that I needed. I found the mage living within a giant Mushroom.

The mage called himself Neloth and spoke as though he was superior to everyone else present. I grew used to being talked down to during my time with the Companions of old and I needed his knowledge to find the book, so I said nothing of it.

Neloth not only new which book it was that I needed but also where to find it. He led me to a half-submerged Dwarven ruin which he claimed held the tome and true enough it was sealed within. After days of fighting the contraptions that the Dwarves left behind and activating mechanisms that we didn’t truly understand, we were able to free the book from where the Dwarves has sealed it. Within the book, I spoke to Mora himself and he promised me the power to defeat Miraak in exchange for the secrets of the Skaal.

When I returned to the Skaal village and explained Mora’s offer I was surprised at how willing the Shaman was to give up the secrets his people had been protecting for so long. When I questioned him, he simple stated that Miraak would cause more damage than revealing their secrets would prevent.

The moment the Shaman opened the Black Book, Mora’s tentacles burst forth a pierced his flesh. At the same time, I felt a power rushing through me and a word of power formed in my mind. Once Mora was done with the Shaman he released his lifeless body, which collapsed beside the tome that had caused his death. Once I had retrieved the book from beside the body I tore it open and dove in to face Miraak.

Our battle was fierce, so fierce in fact that I recalled a dream from several nights before in which I was overwhelmed by Miraak’s Thu’um. Using what I had seen within the dream I managed to avoid the attack which would have felled me and in turn I backed Miraak into a corner which was enough for Mora to run him through.

Much like as the dragons do when I slay them, Miraak flesh started to burn and his soul flowed into me. As his flesh burned, Mora told Miraak that I would be his new champion, but if this monster thinks that he can trick me where he failed with Ysgramor then he will be sorely mistaken.