Part 40 Here
Chapter List Here
WARNING: ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM SPOILERS!
A Pointless Journey With A Fruitless End
I had to bide my time before I would be able to deal with Mogrul. I felt my best bet in the wait would be to go cave exploring and see if I could find the last Black Book.
My first visit was the Glacial Cave on the northern shore.
It was a hideout for some rieklings, who as it turned out, seemed to be guarding the skull of a frost giant.
This must be Karstaag.
It made sense then to next to go the ruins of Castle Karstaag and see if the skull didn’t want to go home.
Back into the cave I had previously poked my head into, though this time, I would have to fight through the tribe.
It was obvious that this place had been constructed by more skilled hands than the rieklings.
Though they had put it to good use.
Even as I fought the tribesmen who were at the ready, yet more lay wait in ambush inside barrels.
I could see that there had been adventurers who had not fared so well passing through these caves.
Reaching the cave exit, I was in a clearing where some of the tribe leaders were posted.
Cutting the last of them down, I retrieved a key to the icy door which would let me leave this place directly.
They had been guarding the throne of Karstaag, where the remains, except the skull lay.
I placed the skull in it’s rightful place. I’m not sure what I was expecting. An undead giant to reward me for reuniting his head with his body? A small amount of satisfaction for returning something to its rightful place?
Instead, the skeleton burst into life, blasting me clear across the space.
The spirit of Karstaag attacked us and he attacked hard.
The giant had great strength as well as powerful cold magic to use against us.
His club swings and foot stomps were strong enough to throw me about like a child’s ragdoll.
It was quite humiliating.
Struggling to find my feet half the time, I called in for some help to distract the ancient king.
But Kenny did not last long at all.
I called upon my Dragon strength to help me finish the monster.
I still suffered some shakes.
Finally though, the battle was mine. The many powers I had earned in my quests were too much for Karstaag.
He exploded in a mist of ice, leaving little remains.
But I was granted permission to summon him to fight at my side 3 times, should I need him.
So with that little unexpected adventure seen to, I continued my search for the Black Book. Next stop was Hrothmund’s Barrow.
Inside was much like most tombs at first.
But the main chamber was a huge flooded hall…
..which emptied itself as I walked in.
At the end of the hall was an axe lodged in a marked stone. Some kind of memorial or shrine I assumed.
I could find no secret doors or levers to activate anything. As I left the hall, it reflooded once more.
Entering again emptied it.
I tried a few more things to see if I could get a response.
Nothing.
This place was a dud. Time to move on.
Next stop was the Broken Tusk Mine.
This was another camp of rival rieklings.
Among their loot I found another pendant.
Inside were more of the rieklings. Some of my own joined me to raid the mine.
No sign of a Black Book however, so I moved on to nearby Bristleback Cave.
I expected to find yet more of the little fellows here and was not surprised that near the entrance were some dead reavers as warning to anyone else who might wander in.
I explored the many caverns and their corners and was attacked at every turn.
My tribe-kin attempted to help, but the enemy numbers were great.
I found another pendant however.
But apart from that, the bounty was poor for the sake of so much bloodshed.
At the dock where I had previously met the Thalmor, I was attacked by a few mudcrabs, among them a particularly large specimen named Old Salty.
I had to kill them all, but their flesh would make a good meal. The strange leader was carrying some shoes and a tankard, which seemed quite odd.
Having explored almost all of the northern part of Solstheim now, I decided to have a look around the small islands just offshore and make use of my recently acquired waterwalking boots.
On the first island, was an Elder Dragon sat by its burial mound.
I hit it with a Dragonrend shout, at which point it fled for the mainland.
It was at this point I noticed that the dragon had left behind a large group of horker allies to see to me.
I cut through the beasts, and after doing so, the dragon returned to face me itself.
I dealt with it as I had dealt with so many of its kind before.
I set off for the next island.
This one was a riekling resort. They did not take kindly to my presence.
I destroyed them and found another pendant in their stash.
The third and final island lay a little way off.
This one was home to a Spriggan matron, furiously guarding her plants, which just happened to be giant Nirnroots.
She summoned some of her children to help her see me off, but I overcame.
I helped myself to some Nirnroot samples, found another lost pendant..
..and returned to the mainland.
I passed through the Skaal village, where the woman Morwen asked that I take her mother’s necklace to Falkreath where the priest Runil could place it on her grave.
I agreed, though I did not know when I would next be in Skyrim, let alone Falkreath.
I walked back to Raven Rock. Some Morag Tong assassins had stalked me there and attacked as I arrived. I alerted the Redoran Guard to their presence, turning their ambush into a huge mess for them.
As the last of them was cut down, the courier arrived with a message for me from Ralis.
He was finally ready to show me his progress.
I went straight away as the camp was so close by.
More trouble it seemed.
More miners had been killed by more unearthed draugr. It was up to me once more to clear them out and search for survivors.
I went inside and my hope dwindled as I found that some had been killed in their attempt to escape.
The draugr that had done this roamed the entryway.
It looked like a lot of digging had been done while I had been gone though.
Through the closed bars I could see what looked like a sacrifice.
I fought my way through the corridors to see if I could find anyone who had managed to save themselves.
The ruin had some interesting puzzle doors designed to slow down unwelcome intruders.
The woman who I thought had been sacrificed had a note on her.
I must admit, I had my doubts about Ralis myself. Asking for money from strangers, doing none of the work and seeming to have survived both attacks. True, nothing altogether sinister about that, but he was an odd chap.
Just a little further along, I found Ahzidal’s Ring of Necromancy.
I didn’t think I’d have much use for it, but took it anyway.
As I left I noticed that a word wall seemed to be slowly being uncovered. I could hear the dragon chants that I usually associated with them.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, but to continue work, Ralis asked for 3,000 septims. He said that this time he would hire some mercenaries to watch for undead while the miners dug.
I handed over the money and agreed to wait for his word.
With little to do but twiddle my thumbs, I decided to deliver Morwen’s necklace. I sold my numerous pendants to Fethis Alor at Raven Rock then boarded the ship to Skyrim.
I stopped off at Windstad Manor, where my staff count was growing with the new addition of carriage driver Engar.
I had him take me to Falkreath so I could easily drop off the necklace.
Runil was happy to oblige.
Having to wait for word from Ralis, I thought now might be a good time to look for more of the shards of Barenziah. I had been carrying 15 of them around for so long now and was getting a bit fed up of it.
Using the power of clairvoyance I began my search. The road led me past a group of Imperial soldiers with a stormcloak captive.
I passed him a woodsman’s axe and hit him with some magic to boost his power and we battled the captors.
He immediately ran for his life once the guards were beaten and I continued following my magical path.
I passed by a mysterious pile of ash, remains of some unfortunate person. Among them was a fork belonging to someone named Balbus.
As well as this there were some unusual items including a daedra heart, troll fat and a spider egg.
Behind me, I saw what had likely been the cause of death.
I saw to them, ensuring they would harm no one else and moved on.
The claivoyance spell was not always reliable, so I hoped it would take me to the gems as I hoped.
Close to Mixwater Mill, an argonian tried to sell me skooma. I was not interested.
Finally, the spell led me to the ship which would take me to Solstheim.
At this point I realised that clairvoyance had failed me again.
I boarded the ship and we set sail. I had to tell Morwen I had delivered her necklace anyway.
I arrived at Raven Rock as usual. It was dark and I spotted Mogrul outside the Retching Netch threatening Fethis. Perhaps this was my chance. I crept up to a place I could stay out of sight.
There I donned the gear that would make me less visible to anyone who cared to look.
By this time, it was too late. The orc had entered the inn.
I would have to try again later.
Dedicated to my cause, I stayed on the roof all night and waited until morning when the people were usually about.
I knew Mogrul to patrol the market and hoped we would do so today. My guess was right.
I fired a shot from my enchanted bow that struck him hard and set him alight.
He had no idea where the arrow had come from and in haste to defend himself angered a nearby guard.
The people of Raven Rock led by the Redoran Guard fought him and in moments he was dead.
Slitter, who had fought at his master’s side, was brought to his knees but surrendered.
The threat was over, and I had gotten away with it.
I could now happily go back to the Skaal village and let Morwen know I had delivered her necklace.
I walked there and as I went I was met by yet another of the rambling madmen I had encountered before.
My experience was that these men had read Black Books and had been driven mad. I was fortunate enough to not have suffered this. I was excited that this man would hold the key to finding the final book I sought.
I managed to get a small bit of sense from him. He told me he had read the book in Tel Mithryn.
This was a disappointment..
Then for some reason he attacked me.
My tribe-kin beat him into submission.
I let him live. There was little sense in ending him.
Perhaps I would visit Tel Mithryn soon anyhow…
