Part 28 Here
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WARNING: ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM SPOILERS!
Mind-Control, a Madman and Miraak
Gjalund’s port in Solstheim was Raven Rock. The ship drew in and I could see straight away that this was a very different land to Skyrim.
As we docked, an elf named Adril Arano met us.
He seemed concerned about checking every new arrival on the island, watching out for the safety of his people. This seemed reasonable.
He explained that the island was predominantly Dunmer, but had been invaded by Argonians some time ago.
I questioned him about Miraak, but he knew nothing. He suggested I have a look at the nearby Earth Stone, which might help.
As I stepped onto the dock, Adril spoke with Gjalund about business. I let them get on.
Not far away I could see the Earth Stone he had mentioned, so I decided to look there before hunting for the schematic I had come for.
The guards here seemed far more well equipped than those of Skyrim. I wondered if they expected trouble.
At the stone I met another elf named Neloth, who was curious about the artifact.
Guards and peasants alike were working on it and he wished to learn what it was meant to be. One peasant seemed to even be worshipping it.
I asked him about Miraak and though at first he was not sure, he remembered that there was a temple in the centre of the island dedicated to him.
Appreciative of the information, I took a closer look at the stone myself. I placed my hand on it and moments later found myself waking from a daze having become one of the workforce.
Neloth told me that I had simply set about working on it after touching it as though hypnotised. He advised I not touch it again for fear that I might not snap out of it a second time.
That seemed wise, so I decided to distance myself from it and get on with the reasons I had come.
I left Raven Rock behind me, noticing how dark and grey everything was.
I did not much like the island so far. Not a long way from Raven Rock I came across a miner who had been crushed to death by his own haul.
Grim.
Further along, there was an abandoned house.
It was locked beyond my means, so I pressed on.
I suppose it should have been expected that I soon run into bandits of sorts. These called themselves Reavers.
Some were armed in more unusual equipment that I had not seen before.
I fought through a few of the Reavers before going inside the fort.
I did not know what had been occuring here, but clearly the bandits were up to no good, murdering innocents.
As well as a number of Draugr. Curious.
I defeated their leader and found myself alone.
Free to look around and see what they were up to, as well as locate the schematic, I happened to flick through a book that was kept separate from the bookshelf.
It spoke of a lost treasure of pirate Haknir Death-Brand. If I had time, it might be fun to go searching for it.
In the meantime, I grabbed the schematic I was here for.
In the corner of the room I noticed a hidden passage, yet could find no way to open it.
I reasoned that my exploration of this place had come to its conclusion.
As I stepped outside, I noticed in the distance some strange shapes.
Curious, I approached cautiously.
They appeared to be very unusual creatures of some kind. They made no move to attack or flee, so I did not provoke them.
As I walked further along the shore, I noticed more wildlife.
Just a little way further I noticed a man in rags muttering to himself, so I went to see what was wrong with him.
He spoke something about being misunderstood, but I was interrupted by the boar-like creature attacking me before I could learn more.
Having cut the pig down, the man turned on me. I had no idea why he would, but in defence in ran him through.
He carried a note recording some of his ramblings.
It meant little to me.
I had wasted enough time, so I decided to make my way to the Temple of Miraak as I should be.
Solstheim’s bandit problem was similar to that of Skyrim.
It also had its own brand of hostile little green men.
Organised into tribes it would seem and just like Falmer, were happy to adopt ruins as their homes.
I wished no trouble, but the creatures were not happy to see people pass close to their living space.
As they were not looking to leave me be, I fought back.
Having removed the guards from the outside, I felt that the message had been suitably sent and felt no need to venture in. I had a destination to reach after all.
As I walked further, I saw what looked like a camp, manned only by a dead bandit reaver.
Stepping close to investigate, I found that it was a trap set up by more of the little men. They ambushed me from all sides.
Little blighters!
This was a strange place, with strange creatures. I was sure I would learn a lot while here.
In a strongbox I found an East Empire Pendant. I wondered what it was doing here.
Following the mountain path about, I couldn’t help but notice a dragon laying siege to a ruin.
From this distance I could not tell if it was attacking bandits or innocents, so I clambered down to get a closer look.
Strangely, I found it was attacking draugr. Up until now, I believed the draugr to be servants of the Dov. Perhaps this had displeased the winged master.
The draugr or the dov seemed to be guarding a word wall.
My appearance turned the situation into a three way battle. While I fought a group of undead, the dragon sent some others running. I had not seen draugr run in fear before.
While the number of powerful draugr seemed countless, they summoned more allies from the planes of Oblivion. The dragon circled overhead, swooping in to blast flames at anyone it could scorch. Meanwhile, frost trolls wandered in from the wild hearing the noise and looking for prey.
As deathlords attempted to hack me to pieces and weaken me with thu’um, their archer allies vollied at me from a distance.
It was a tricky place to be.
I decided to even the odds a little and called upon Durnehviir.
He distracted the dragon above me, while I dealt with the hordes below.
Having provided enough distraction, Durnehviir returned to the Soul Cairn, leaving me in a one on one battle with the Serpentine Dragon.
I had never seen its like. It was hideous. Not elegant like the dragons I was used to.
I used Dragonrend to keep it grounded and we charged each other with the force of two armies about to collide.
It was possibly the toughest dragon I had ever fought. I was close to death, but pulled myself back in the nick of time. A battle of thu’um power as well as brute force and finally, with relief, I was victorious.
Now with the area clear of monsters, I was free to approach the word wall.
I learned the word ‘Earth’ as part of an ability to control nature.
Happy to be out of the battle, I continued my trek to the Temple, only to be met by more trolls.
I wondered why I thought these creatures only lived in Skyrim. They clearly had a larger population on this small island.
Walking with intent, I passed a number of ruins and forts, but did my best to avoid distraction.
At Snowclad Ruins though, some half naked men ran at me bearing the fists.
I don’t know why they were so dressed, or found offence at my presence, but it was explained to me shortly after by what happened next.
Werewolf brothers?
Werebears!?!
Very dangerous.
Cutting down the beastmen as I had done to so many bears and men before, I continued on my way.
I noticed another of the stones some way off the path and thought I might be able to learn more of their mystery if I took a closer look.
It was the same situation here as before.
A number of people mindlessly working on it, not willing to converse with intrigued passers-by.
A small village was not far off.
At first it seemed deserted, but I soon noticed a few inhabitants.
I was not sure what magic they were performing, but it seemed to be working.
As I continued along the path towards the temple, I saw yet another standing stone.
This Beast Stone was guarded, which made a change.
As I fought the cultist, some of the strange green men worshipped the stone, oblivious to the sparks flying about their heads.
Eventually I reached what must be the Temple. It looked more as though it was only partially built rather than being a ruin.
Dragon bones scattered the ground around it.
About the place were a large number of reavers simply working on construction, much as those about the stones had been.
There was nothing much for it but to go in.
Inside, I found one person who did not seem brain dead.
Frea told me that she had come to find a way to help her people. She believed this Temple held the answer. We joined forces and no sooner had we agreed to find a way inside, had a few cultists appeared, showing us the entrance.
Together, we beat them and went inside.
Frea decided to stop for a while and try to find some useful items. I found a few potions which might help, as well as the usual lost gold stashes.
Whatever went on in this place, it didn’t seem pleasant.
Frea and I fought our way deeper into the temple, hoping to find the reason for what was behind the strange mindwashing going on above ground.
I found it surprising to meet draugr down here working with the cultists.
I had Arniel provide some backup for a short time.
With the room emptied of enemies, I took a moment to sit in the high throne and look over the room.
I decided that it was not the sort of place I would put a throne.
Deeper still, even more powerful deathlord draugr came in waves.
Having cut our way through them, we found ourselves in a room where the passage was barred by a number of large pendulous axes. Deadly.
Frea told me she would wait while I got through them. For some reason, she imagined that I had more chance of surviving the gauntlet.
I didn’t much appreciate her idea of seeing if I might survive while she sat back.
She had no idea of my ability to become temporarily invincible..
I reached the other side and pulled the lever to halt the swinging. Frea caught up once the danger was clear.
I noticed that one of the claw doors had been here at one time.
I wondered how much deeper this temple would go. It held yet more dangerous enemies, including a Master Cultist, expert in his arts.
Having defeated him, I felt he may be a useful ally, so I brought him along.
The Temple stretched on and the deeper we went, the more guards we ran into. I was even able to recruit a second master as a thrall.
We reached what we thought may be the end of the Temple. A closed room, decorated with the bones of a Dov…
..containing a word wall.
I learned the word ‘Strength’, which would imbue me with the inner power of a dragon.
As I read the word, behind us, a number of draugr burst from their coffins.
The leader carried a key..
..which opened a secret door hidden inside a central coffin leading further into the old ruin.
Frea allowed me to push the button which might spring a trap. Fortunately, it didn’t, simply open the passage onwards.
It had taken a long time, but we finally reached our goal.
This Black Book clearly held importance.
It reminded me of the note I had taken from the madman.
I picked it up and opened it.
A flash of green light and I was dazed. I should learn not to fiddle with these things so often.
My eyes opened and I was somewhere else. Confused and dazed, I could see a serpentine dragon, a number of seekers and a a more regally dressed cultist.
This was Miraak, the one who I had been looking for.
He taunted me, telling me that I did not know the true power of the Dragonborn, claiming that the title belonged to him.
I feel that in my state, I was lucky that he did see me as a threat and had me sent back to Solstheim to share the fate he had planned for its people.
I was back in his temple, book in hand.
Frea told me that we should return to her village and show the book to her father. If he knew anything, we could then plan what to do next.
I followed her lead.
Her father, Storn Crag-Strider, was one of the men I had seen before in the village. The spell was apparently a protective barrier, keeping the remaining people from falling under Miraak’s spell.
He told me that as Dragonborn, I may be able to prevent Miraak’s plan. I should learn a word of power from a wall further north and use it on the nearby Wind Stone. It would hopefully free his Skaal people from the spell.
The word he wished me to learn was the one I had already found with the serpentine beast, so I headed directly to the standing stone.
As I shouted at the stone, the frame about it burned away and the people working on it grew confused as their minds returned to them.
Just as the Skaal came to their senses, a creature appeared and attacked.
Stood against an entire tribe, it was beaten, though a number of the men sat wounded.
The leaders began their walk home. I wondered how long it had been since they had been there.
Back at the village, Storn explained that there were more stones that I could do the same for, which would hopefully slow Miraak down, weakening his grasp on Solstheim.
He also explained that I would need to seek out more Black Books and learn their secrets. The one I had read had taken me to the place that Miraak existed. The others might help me confront him properly.
He mentioned that Neloth, who I had previously met, had visited him before asking questions about the books. He even had one to show as an example.
I would have to seek him out and get the book. With this information, I now had leads on two of them. I wondered how many there were altogether or how many I would need.
I spoke to the Skaal leader, Fanari Strong-Voice who asked me to help defend the village from bandits. She pointed me in the direction of Haknir’s Shoal, where a group of pirates were camping and causing trouble.
It was nearby and because of the treasure, I now had two reasons to visit. So I did.
On the Captain’s corpse, I found his treasure map, directing the way to the treasure.
Their camp was here as they had found part of it.
I ran back to the Skaal village and delivered the good news to Fanari, who rewarded me with 1,500 gold.
One of the tribesmen, Deor Woodcutter was expressing concern that a friend was missing.
Fanari seemed to think little of it, so I spoke to him.
He told me that he thought he saw Baldor Iron-Shaper being dragged away by elves heading south west.
I told him that I would look into it…
Part 30 ‘Four Shards, Three Closed Doors, Two Cultist Thralls and A Fabled Forge’ Here
Chapter List Here
