Atreyu’s Photo Diary – Skyrim Part 39

Part 38 Here
Chapter List Here

WARNING: ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM SPOILERS!

Lessons and Loose Ends

At Tel Mithryn I found Neloth at research as usual.

I didn’t get the chance to ask him about the Black Books. He started telling me he was hungry and ordered me to find his steward Varona.

I felt a bit daft running this errand for him. I had just saved the world for the third time after all. But I had nothing better to do.
I went outside and Neloth’s apprentice ran up to me in fright.

Talvas had managed to successfully summon his ash guardian, but it had begun attacking anyone who got close. He asked me to deal with it while he distracted his master so that he wouldn’t find out.
This was more my style than hunting for stewards, so I dove in.

It was tougher than most atronachs I had met, which was a surprise, but I was still able to handle it with relative ease.
I headed back inside to let Talvas know that the coast was clear.

In return for my help, he taught me how to summon my own ash guardian. He had also realised that for the spell to work safely, I would have to use a heart stone each time else the creature would be dangerous to me as well as any enemies.

I figured he owed me a little more for saving his skin than this spell that I was unlikely to use, so I asked him to come along with me. He mentioned that Neloth wasn’t teaching him as much as he’d like, so I thought some real adventure might be a better lesson.

Our first mission wouldn’t be all the exciting. We began looking for Varona. First, we tried her home, which was empty.

Next we tried the kitchen, where we found the cook Ulves Romoran.

We asked where she might be and he told us she had recently left for Raven Rock to get supplies.
I supposed we should trace her steps and see if we could find her and perhaps give her a hand. Running menial errands…

We hadn’t gone far on the road when we discovered what had become of her.

She had been killed in mytserious circumstances, but then again, most people who left their homes were ended by the wild creatures and bandits on the roads.
In an effort to be respectful, I carried the body back to Tel Mithryn and placed it among some heartstones.

So I had to break the news to Neloth.

He seemed annoyed at the inconvenience. He ordered me to go to Raven Rock and find him a new steward. He was certain that there would be a lot of people ready to jump at the chance to work with him.
These menial tasks were getting tiresome, but I had to go that way anyway.

At the docks, there seemed to be some kind of mishap during ship repairs.

I stopped by my house to outfit Talvas in something more suitable for our journeys.

Poking about in barrels outside my house, I stumbled across the Emberbrand wine that the Captain had been looking for.


He was nearby, so I let him know what I had found.

He gave me 2,000 gold for my trouble. Not bad at all.

Next I began asking around to find Neloth a steward.

Bralsa Drel said she would do it if he could get her skooma, then asked me to try to convince Geldis Sadri to allow her back in his inn.
Everyone else I asked said that the idea was crazy.



Geldis was not remotely interested either but suggested I ask his employee Drovas Relvi who was a little short on money. When asked about Bralsa, he said he wasn’t letting her in for her own good, so I agreed with him.
I spoke to Drovas and asked him about the new job.

He was very eager to get started and head off straight away. So I was happy to have sorted that out.

On the way back to Tel Mithryn I found another cryomancer in combat with a pyromancer.

I wondered why there were so many of these around.

I told Neloth I had found his new steward and in thanks he said I could have permission to use his unique Staff Enchanter.

As well as 500 gold for my trouble.
He then asked me another favour. He wanted some help with his heartstone research, so wanted me to find a Forsworn Briarheart. He wanted to learn their methods of replacing a heart with something else. He placed a charm on me so that he could take the memories from me once I had done the job as he didn’t trust me to take notes.

Before leaving with Talvas, I decided to have a look at the enchanter.

As I’m not much of a fan of staves, I didn’t make use of it, but I did notice Neloth’s own Black Book resting on his normal enchanting table.

It was called ‘The Hidden Twilight’.
Of course, I had to learn what it held.

This book was a little harder to navigate, with multiple paths open to me in a few places.

Near the end were two of the most powerful Lurkers I had come across.

I fought them, but as I was flanked by the mighty monsters and being bombarded by their powers, somehow I was overcome. I fell to my knees, thinking death was upon me.
A moment later I awoke back in Neloth’s study.

It seemed that death inside the books was not permanent, which was quite fortunate for me at this time.
I jumped back in and made my way back to the two lurkers.

I showed them my own abilities, using my ‘Marked For Death’ shout to weaken them and a combination of blade and magic to finish them, taking their souls in gems as I went.

My prize from the book was another ability: one that suited the lurkers.

We made the journey back to Skyrim, where I showed Talvas the way of the wilds.

I stopped by Windstad Manor to leave some loot when I received a message delivered by my old friend the courier.

Ralis was ready for me to meet him.
I would go to him when I had done this research for Neloth. But before that I thought I should show Talvas a few things he couldn’t learn at home.
I took Talvas with me to see to an open magical rift that I had left unchecked for far too long. I thought he would appreciate it.

I also took him to find the ‘Elven Sword of Dread’ at Mzinchaleft.

Having been through here before, it was a matter of going through the motions to grab it.

We also collected some bounties…

..and took in a few sights…

…before heading to a known Forsworn camp…

…and taking on a Briarheart.

He was carrying two of Red Eagle’s Fury. Perhaps the Forsworn hero had multiple versions of his blade.

It was time to head back to Neloth, but I had been thinking of my dealings with the Thalmor on Solstheim had left a sour taste in my mouth.
I knew that some of their number still lived in Skyrim and I was keen to see an end to them.
First I led my companions to Solitude to the Thalmor headquarters there.

Inside was empty. Of course it would be. Solitude under Stormcloak control would not happily have Thalmor presence.
Talvas did not seem happy about my poking about in there though.

I imagined he would like my next plan even less, so I told him to head back to Neloth and let him know I’d be there soon.

My next stop was the Thalmor Embassy, where I had attended the party all that time ago.

Here, there were always number of Thalmor warriors on duty. I also expected to find their leader Elenwen, who had been crucial in their involvement in the civil war. With her death, the last of the Thalmor leaders in Skyrim would be gone.
I was happy to use full force in my assault and for the first time called upon my Dragon Aspect power to annihilate the elves.

Their mages summoned atronachs against me, but between myself, an ancient dragonborn and my tribe-kin ally, we saw to them all.



After killing all the present Thalmor, I found that the front door was impossible to unlock. This put a damper on my plan to find Elenwen.
Fortunately, after my earlier visit, I knew that there was another way in and out.
I found the cave I had escaped through before.

It was a bit tricky to get back up the drop but with use of a Whirlwind shout I managed it.

To begin with a sneaked about the house, searching for Elenwen, but found that there was only one guard on duty here.

I dispatched her before she knew I was there.

I left this building and went into the rear courtyard where a couple more guards were patrolling before going back into the embassy proper.
Immediately on getting in another mage found me and tried to dill me as an intruder. He fell quickly and moments later, Elenwen herself turned the corner.

I’m not sure if she was ignoring the dead mage at her feet, but before I had a chance to pull my blade on her, she disappeared into thin air.

I used my Detect Life spell to try and find where she had gone. I saw the shapes of a few people. Two were in full armour, the other must have been Elenwen. She was heading for the door.
I went after her.
Back out in the courtyard I caught up with her.

She was still ignoring all the dead around her and was not attempting to take me on herself.
I had come for her though. If she wanted mercy, she would not get it.
Quite out of character, I struck the first blow.

She was Thalmor and had to be destroyed.

She was capable of defending herself, but I was too much for her.

She lay dead and with that, the Thalmor hold on Skyrim was a little weaker.
My cold-blooded murder reminded me of the duties I had earned as a member of the Dark Brotherhood. I had done this thing for the good of Skyrim and wondered if their ways were actually similarly motivated. If so, perhaps I would reconsider working with them.
I went back to the sanctuary.

I spoke to the people and read the books.
From what I could tell, the members were bloodthirsty cutthroats and the brotherhood was more about money than about justice.
I couldn’t be a part of it.

Before going back to Neloth I decided that I needed a steward of my own to take care of Windstad Manor. So began thinking of people to ask.
I remembered Illia, who had been living in a tower with the corpse of her mother since we had killed her together. Perhaps she would prefer a better home.
I began heading that way.

On the side of a road I saw a dead courier. I rushed over, thinking it was my old friend.

On him he had a message.

I imagined this was old and this man must have been here for some time.
This wasn’t my courier.

Simply another victim of the dangers of Skyrim.

Such as trolls and bears.

And ship crew turned bandits. Kjar would be happy that I’d finally dealt with this.

And dragons. Though I enjoyed taming them now.

An Imperial Camp full of troops were between me and Darklight Tower.
One of the scouts threatened me, so I cut him down.
Doing so caused the rest of the camp to come down on me.

Their leader Legate Hrollod was a hardy fellow.
I had cut down his entire troop including him, but he got back on his feet and went for me again.
I knocked him to the ground again and ran to loot his camp.

There the first thing I found was a tent full of wounded men.

They were all moaning and wishing an end to their pain. I granted it to them. Having killed the people who were probably taking care of them, it seemed cruel to leave them suffering.
At which point Hrollod came for me again.

I knocked him down again and ran before he could catch up.

Illia was not much interested in joining me again when I reached her, so I wondered who else might be suitable to take as a steward.
The Dawnguard had a number of members who had a lot more time on their hands now that I had beaten the vampire threat. I decided to go and see if there was anyone there I could hire.

I chose Ingjard, an attractive woman who seemed to have a good moral standing.

She also let me know that Gunmar had a job for me.
He needed me to kill the Vampire Master at Broken Helm Hollow.

The cave was very close to Fort Dawnguard, so I was happy to. It was also a chance to test Ingjard’s mettle.

The vampire had a clan of bandits working with him, who I assumed he eventually intended to turn.
We killed them all. I gave the Bandit Chief’s armour to Ingjard as a reward.

We hurried back to Fort Dawnguard to let Gunmar know the issue was dealt with.
On entry we bumped into Dexion, who asked me what I intended to do with the Elder Scrolls now that I had finished with them. I suggested that their being indestructible would make them good material for armour.

He wasn’t happy with the idea and asked that he could take them.
I said he could for 6,000 gold.
He wasn’t happy with that either, but agreed.
or some reason he didn’t take the Dragon scroll.
I went to Gunmar who gave me a reward that I didn’t need.

I gave it to Ingjard.
We then went to Windstad where I set her to work straight away. I also did a few improvements of my own.


She hired a nice young bard named Sonir.

I built an armory, greenhouse and storage room.


I left Ingjard in charge of decorating while I set off again.

I stopped by the College of Winterhold to let Tolfdir know that the rift was closed.

He gave me 1,500 gold from the funds that the Jarl had given to have the rift sorted out. I wondered how much he was holding back.
I bought from him a spell that I thought might be useful.

It was high time to head back to Solstheim, so when a dragon attacked Winterhold, I took control of him and had him carry me to Windhelm.

I landed nearby, hoping to avoid the dragon deciding to attack the townspeople if it decided to.
On my short walk to the dock, I passed an ancient vampire and his thrall, who unusually were not interested in a fight.

I grabbed my 1,500 gold reward from Kjar…

and returned to Solstheim.

Part 40 ‘Debts to Pay’ Here
Chapter List Here