Aedric the Hunter - Chapter 17: Spirits and Stormcloaks

• Posted by Ponty March 23, 2012 - 1,329 views

  3^rd Hearth Fire 4E201

  The early morning’s changing of the guard woke me from my slumber, after hiding out in Fort Hraggstaad the night before, away from the prying eyes of the Thalmor Justiciars. But it wasn’t time to bring the documents back to Delphine in Riverwood yet – I still had unfinished business in Solitude. Hopefully I could evade any Thalmor investigators while I found out what was going on with Potema, and got my new orders from General Tullius. Eating a quick meal from the fort’s kitchen, I tried to avoid starting conversations with the other soldiers – I wanted to be gone from Haafingar as soon as my commitments here were fulfilled. Retrieving my horse and making my way back to Solitude, I spotted a search party of Thalmor scouring the lower parts of the mountain the Embassy was situated upon. Taking my steed off the road, I carefully made my way down the cliffs right in front of the city, avoiding all contact with the elves. Stabling my horse once more, I headed back inside the walls of Solitude and made straight for the Blue Palace. It was still quite early, but stores were already open and people were going about their daily business. I was surprised not to see any Thalmor inside the city itself, even though I did keep to the shadows as much as possible. The guards opened the doors into the Palace and I entered.

  “I take it the courier reached you, Aedric?” Falk Firebeard asked as I entered the court. “Aye, he did.” I replied. “There’s a matter that requires our immediate attention. When you released Potema’s spirit from Wolfskull cave, we thought it had dispersed completely. The city’s Priest of Arkay, Styrr, has recently informed me that Potema has taken refuge in her tomb itself, among her old followers.  We have so stop her!” “By ‘we’ you mean ‘me’ don’t you?” “Well, yes. You were the one at Wolfskull cave, so you’re the only one who has dealt with this sort of thing already. What I need you to do, is go into Potema’s Catacombs, clear out her followers, and bring her remains back to Styrr so that they can be sanctified. If you could do this for us, all of Solitude would be in your debt.”

  I met with Styrr in the Hall of the Dead, an old Nord with a long white beard.  “So you’re Aedric.” I nodded. “Falk’s told me great things about you – I hope you’re up to the task.” “You – and Solitude – can count on me, don’t you worry.” “I hope you’re right. Here’s the key to Potema’s Catacombs, you can get in through the Temple of the Divines, in Castle Dour.” With that I took the key and left the Hall, making my way to the Temple. Upon entering I was approached by one of the Priestesses. “What brings you here today, child?” “I’m here to deal with the Potema issue.” “Ah, you must be the one Falk told me about – it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ll let you get started, right this way...” She led me down under the temple, into a musty old room and to a locked gate. “The catacombs are through there. Be careful – and may Kynareth guide you.” Fitting the key into the lock, I opened the gate and descended further below Solitude.

  The staircase went down several stories before opening into a hallway filled with cobwebs and rotting wooden furniture. The stench of death permeated the whole place – while not unusual for a tomb, it certainly wasn’t pleasant. The hallway opened up onto a mezzanine level, overlooking a room filled with more furniture, not to mention several undead minions lead my a vampire. They were, rather foolishly, standing in a pool of oil. Igniting it with a shout of “YOL!” destroyed their frail bodies in the flames. Passing over the bodies after the flames died down I followed the old corridors forward, pushing my way through the cobwebs into another room. Several Draugr were resting in the walls, but they didn’t seem to awaken as I approached. Leaving the dead to their rest, I pressed on. That was, until the sound of whirling steel met my ears. Instinctively ducking under the blow, I drew my two shortswords in one fluid action and stood to face my attacker. One of the Draugr had stealthily pulled itself from the grave and snuck up behind me, its greatsword missing my neck by inches. The body proved to be fragile however, and I sliced its legs from under it, and it toppled over dead. Continuing further down the corridor, I was much more aware.

  I picked my way through part of Potema’s horde of Draugr and Vampires with relative ease, I made my way into a lower section of the catacombs. I was immediately met by a somewhat tougher Draugr, which was dispatched with a quick Shout and flurry of blows, and came to a Nordic puzzle of three rotating stone discs with portcullises in them. But before I dealt with the puzzle, I noticed a vampire standing in a room just off to the side. The constant grinding of the stone discs masked my movement, and I tapped on the iron bars of the door with the flat of one of my blades. She turned about, drawing a sword and moving over to the door. I was unseen, hidden in the shadows beside it. The door opened, and the vampire turned to her left in her search for the unknown intruder. Emerging from the shadows, I grabbed her by the neck with my left hand, and slit her throat with the shortsword in my right. There’s a reason I liked shortswords for close-quarters work – they were just short enough to manoeuvre in a tight space and slit a man’s throat, and just long enough to still fight with effectively. The puzzle was common sense, really, and I had the way forward open in no time.

  Evading the firebolts from a pair of magical traps, I weaved my way into a further hallway, where a vampire and powerful-looking Draugr were waiting for me. They must’ve heard the constant grinding of the puzzle door stop.  Firing a shot on the run, killing the weak vampire instantly, I moved to engage the Draugr standing in the middle of the well-lit, square room. It drew in breath as I drew out my blades, and I retaliated with a quick “FUS!”.  The two waves of unrelenting force met between us, cancelling each other out. The Draugr cocked its helmed head to the side in puzzlement, and drew its ebony sword. I opened with a forward spinning slash from my offhand, staggering him, and following up with a quick thrust from my other sword. The thrust pierced the rusted armor with ease, and I followed up with a scissor cut from both weapons. This didn’t seem to deter it, and it retaliated with an overhead slice, just catching the side of my arm. It tore through the leather on my shoulder, but found little purchase on the skin beneath. Shrugging off the light wound, I slashed several times all over the Draugr’s fragile skin,  and finished it off by thrusting both blades through its head. Draugr tended to make slow, deliberate and powerful attacks – but this made them all the easier to evade.

  After retrieving a key from the fallen Draugr I descended one last time into Potema’s Sanctum. I battled my way through the Wolf Queen’s remaining forces with bow, blades and Voice, and finally came to a large iron door. Pushing it open, bow in my other hand, Potema’s spirit was hovering in the center of the large hallway. The room had 3 tiers, the top two lined with sarcophagi and the bottom simply a flat floor. Potema’s voice boomed throughout the chamber. “You’ve come far, mortal. But can you stand against my inner council? Let’s see!” With that, most of the graves burst open, the Draugr within finally woken from their eternal slumber. I had an arrow on my bowstring before they could act, and stood in the doorway to take them out from a distance. A lance of soul energy from Potema’s spirit lanced around the room, shocking everything in its path. I felled 4 of the undead before slinging my bow back over my shoulder and drawing steel. Hacking my way through the Draugr in a whirling dance of death, I felled the weaker ones quickly. A booming laugh echoed around the room, and almost half the slain Draugr were struck by bolts of energy, and picked themselves back to their feet, ready for battle once more. I retreated a little and drew my bow again and the repetitive creak-thwap-thud rang through the hall as I shot them all back down. As the last one fell, the final sarcophagus opened and a heavily armoured Draugr with a huge horned helm stepped out. I was spun to face him, drawing my shortswords. It was too late to move out of the way when the Draugr shouted “ZUL HAAL VIIK!” projecting an odd looking wave in front of him. As it blasted past me, my blades were ripped from my grasp and carried towards the wall. A deep sound of amusement came from the Draugr as I turned tail to retrieve my weapons. Sprinting across the room, I picked them up mid step, and turned to face the Draugr one last time. Shouting “FUS RO DAH!” I threw it back into the centre of the room, and sprinted in front of a lance of soul energy. Pinning it to the floor with my boot, I slashed at the helpless abomination several times, finally draining it of life force. Its glowing eyes dulled, and Potema’s soul swirled around, blasting through a door on the opposite side of the room to a throne upon which sat a single skull with a circlet upon its brow. A ghostly from of a robed skeleton appeared on the throne, and advanced towards me. A bolt of lightning missed my head by inches, and I sidestepped a second before entering close combat with the spirit. It was wielding an enchanted elven longsword, and it struck truly and powerfully. It sliced into my side, sending magical lightning coursing over my body, but I still fought on. The seeming spectral figure did have a physical form, and I hewed it apart with my blades. It was incredibly resilient however, and managed to land several hard blows. I finally severed the spectre’s spine, and it collapsed into a pile of magical residue, blade by its side. Staving off the effects of my dire wounds, I healed my skin back together with some magic. It was difficult to maintain my focus, and I took my time working the restorative energy. With my body back in one piece, I collected the skull sitting atop the throne and walked back through up into Solitude.

  “Well done, Aedric! Well done!” said Styrr, as I handed him Potema’s remains. “Even if Falk doesn’t admit it, Solitude owes you a debt of gratitude.” “It was a difficult battle, but I came through. It was an honor to serve the city,” I replied. “Save your honeyed words for the Steward! I’ve got to go sanctify these remains so this can’t happen again.” Leaving Styrr to his work, I left the Hall of the Dead and returned to the Blue Palace. “I take it you were successful?” Falk asked, with a worried tone. “I battled my way through the catacombs and Potema’s remains are now in Styrr’s good hands,” I replied. “I’m surprised you came through – I thought I was sending you to your death...” “Hah! Have you so little faith in my ability?” I jested. Falk chuckled and continued. “I wanted to think so, but I wasn’t too sure... but you prevailed against the odds, and you must be rewarded.” He handed me a sack of coins and fine shield with the crest of Solitude on it. “We now count you as a Protector of Solitude – a worthy title for one such as yourself.” I bowed. “Thank you. I must take my leave – I have business to attend to before the day is out.” “Ah, no problem- I’m sure you’re a busy man.” I turned to leave but Falk stopped me again. “A Justiciar came here while you were in the catacombs, looking for someone who matched your description. That wouldn’t happen to be you?” “Oh, no, no no. I’ve had no such dealing with the Elves.” Falk shook his head. “Be careful Aedric. Try not to get yourself killed.”

  Making my way back across the city to Castle Dour, I met with General Tullius in the war room. He was poring over a map of Skyrim, with little blue and red flags dotting the landscape, and a series of blue flags surrounding the eastern part of Whiterun hold. On top of the map was a schematic of Whiterun’s defences – something was going on. “Ah, Aedric, I was about to send someone to look for you. I trust your here for orders?” “Ready and eager, sir!” “Alright. I’m told you’re a Thane of Whiterun, so I need you to do something for me. Deliver this scroll-” he said, handing me a scroll case, “To Jarl Balgruuf. It contains critical intelligence about the Stormcloaks’ movements in the Hold – we think they’re planning to attack Whiterun. We can’t lose that city – you need to convince him to let me garrison troops in his city.” “You can count on me, General.” “I certainly hope so. We can’t lose that city.”

  Travelling to Whiterun was just the same as it always was – the roads were clear and the weather was good.  Still no bandits to accost me by the side of the road, no dragons swooping down from above, and no Thalmor out to kill me – life was good. Stabling my horse in Whiterun, I made the climb up to Dragonsreach to speak with the Jarl. The guardsman at the door greeted me by my title, and I entered the hall and addressed the Jarl. “Greetings, Dragonborn,” Jarl Balgruuf said. “What brings you to my court today?” “I have a message from the General,” I replied. “No doubt wanting to garrison his troops in my castle. How many times must I deny him?” “Ulfric is planning to attack the city, and he wants to lend you some of his men.” “Hmph. Give me the reports... interesting...” Balgruuf, Proventus and Irileth squabbled for several minutes about what to do next. Finally Balgruuf spoke to me again, drawing his axe. “Take this axe to Ulfric Stormcloak – it’s time for him to declare his intentions. And I want you back here immediately – I think we’ll need every able body to defend Whiterun.”

  The last order of the day was to tell Delphine what I learned at the Embassy. Balgruuf’s axe in my pack, I returned to the stables and rode up the familiar path to the small village. But this time someone was waiting for me. I spotted an odd shadow lurking in the tall grass on a corner, and dismounted my horse, swords drawn. Then the shadow moved. With a shriek, a female Khajiit member of the Dark Brotherhood lunged out of the shadows and attempted to pin me to the ground. I was knocked to my back and deftly rolled to the side, dodging the deadly thrust from her Dwarven longsword.  Getting back to my feet, I deflected another two blows from her offhand dagger, and tried one of the manoeuvres Aldis taught me. I lowered my guard momentarily, and like a good fighter she made an attack with both weapons at my exposed torso. I whipped my swords back up, deflected her blades aside, throwing her arms back. Now her guard was open – and I thrust both weapons right through her chest. It seemed alot of people wanted me dead – or they were just really persistent. Perhaps it would be good to investigate the Dark Brotherhood while I was in Windhelm to speak with Ulfric? I pushed the body back into the grass and continued towards Riverwood. Delphine met me just inside the Sleeping Giant and escorted me down to her secret room. “Well, what did you learn?” “The Thalmor nothing more than we do about the dragons.” “Are you sure? I find that hard to believe.” “Well maybe you should’ve gone in yourself, hmm?” “Never mind. I was just so sure it was them. Well did you find anything else useful?” “They’re looking for someone called Esbern. Apparently he knows something about the dragons,” I said, tossing her the dossier. “This is the only file I found on him, and I killed both the interrogators.” Delphine’s face lit up. “Esbern!? He’s alive! I figured the Thalmor would have gotten him years ago – crazy old man. Figures they’d be on his trail though if they’d want to find out about the dragons. You see, Esbern was one of the Blades archivists – an expert on the ancient dragonlore. Obsessed with it really – but I guess he wasn’t as crazy as we all thought.” “Apparently he’s hiding out in Riften – I’ve got some connections there. I’m sure I can find where he is.” “Probably down in the ratway would be my bet.” I nodded in agreement. “If you think I’m paranoid, you haven’t seen him yet. Just ask him where he was on the 30^th of Frostfall. He’ll know what it means.” “How close do you think the Thalmor are?” “Well if you’ve taken their files, and killed their questioners I’d say we still have a few days. But don’t push it.”

  I was surprised to find Hadvar drinking back in the inn, with many of the other citizens of Riverwood. I spent much of the rest of the night catching up with the people and sharing stories. They seemed in awe of my experiences – and now that I was retelling them I was too. And yet more of them awaited in the coming days...

   

  There's a multitude of tasks for Aedric to complete. Choose a couple you think are the most important!

  1. Bring Balgruuf's axe to Ulfric Stormcloak (Eastmarch, Imperial Legion)
  2. Investigate the Dark Brotherhood (Eastmarch, Personal)
  3. Return to the Thieves Guild with information from Gulum-Ei (The Rift, Thieves Guild)
  4. Return to Riften to find Esbern (The Rift, Dragon Investigation)
  5. Go back to Shor's Stone to see Sylgja (The Rift, Personal)

  Next chapter is up, read it here

  Notes: Let me know what you think of the new choices system. I noticed in the last chapter many people said to simply do Delphine's quest, but I ended up doing another quest as well, so I think this is going to work better. Also I think the third screenshot is my best yet!