Our latest mission is simply to regain the pale, which I understand to be the flat lands around Whiterun. Lydia, ever one for local knowledge, suggests we start on the north coast and work our way south. Without any sort of better plan I agree, and it's a pleasant Turdas morning when we set off, having found rest for the night in a free bed tucked away in the Blue Palace.
We progress over some ice flows before I look north and see an interesting looking island of rocks some way out in the frozen waters. It's about a thirty minute swim, but I eventually arrive at the iceberg haven. I do one lap but find only some Nordic barnacles for my troubles, and then cut my losses and dive back in the water and swim vaguely south east.
We make land at the wreck of the Brinehammer, and then continue south to the imperial camp we discovered last time Lydia and I were in this neck of the woods. The Legate there gives us a disinformation mission, which makes a nice change to our usual follow-us-into-battle tasks that Lydia and I have been dealing with ever since we enlisted. We set off for the inn at Dawnstar, making sure that we look like a simple apprentice mage and his bodyguard on their way to Winterhold for the new term.
We meet Erandur at the Windpeak Inn, who seems to be no worse for wear after we abandoned him at the spooky death cave or what ever it was we signed up to do last time we were in town. He dashes outside waving his mace and shouting for us to follow him. I get Lydia to rent us a room while I have a fruitless search for an alchemy table. We head back outside, but after a short spell with Erandur following us I figure enough is enough, and I'd better finish what we started.
We head back up death mountain, and leaving Lydia outside I head in to the castle of nightmares. Turns out it's pretty straightforward, except that Eran has to stop now and again to spin yet more lines in his tangled tale of doom. In between battles I pick up and thumb through a book that tells the tale of the arch mage Gauldur and his three sons, who were all murdered by some ancient king. I'm sure at some point I fought a zombie with the name Gauldurson, though the tale says at least one of the murders happened near Solitude, and I don't think that's where I met my man.
Eventually we find some magic potion that will transport me to some other sort of dimension. I down the tonic easily enough, and find myself talking to a Mohawk sporting elf called Veren Duleri or something like that. He tells me to release the miasma, a stasis inducing gas that is keeping the orcs and mages alive in the castle's corridors. It is a task that relies on my innate sense of direction and spatial awareness, which is somewhat unfortunate as my skill set is based more around sneaking about and looting from corpses.
Eventually the task is completed, and I reunite with Eran in the here and now. We fight our way toward the object of our efforts, and eventually come back to Veren and his pal. Eran seems to have some history with Veren which culminates in battle being met. With an elvish sword and a shout that turns then into incicles we manage to prevail, though Eran is a little distressed at having to kill his old buddies. As he dispels the barrier around the malevolent shrine we came to dismantle a soft voice in my head encourages me to kill Eran and take the artifacts for myself. For a moment I am tempted, but I hold back and wait to see what Eran does first, figuring I can always freeze him with my voice and get a head start escaping the temple.
It turns out he destroys the magical skull and then offers to join me in my travels, which makes me glad I didn't murder the old boy. I decide to keep him in reserve for now, and head back outside to join up with Lydia again. Job done, we leave the temple and I make my way back to town for a well earned rest before Lydia and I continue with our disinformation mission for the empire.
