Got delayed unexpectedly after slaying the giant at Cradle-crush Which by the way had claimed the life of another alchemist in the mean time. He was also a fellow dark elf, I wonder if he was from Windhelm? While returning to the city to speak to the inn-keep and inform him of the giants death, I was stopped by an Argonian dock worker. For some reason he thought that complaining to me about how he wasn't payed enough would make me do something miraculous and he'd have more gold...
Needless to say that didn't happen, but the interruption was long enough that a certain fellow who was one of the higher ups in the east empire shipping company was able to accost me as well. It seems that the members of the east empire company from Solitude who witnessed my retrieval of the verse of Olaf the one eyed sent word to its branch in Windhelm. Basically they wanted my help to fight off some pirates who, at the command of certain unscrupulous Nords in this city, were attacking their ships and stealing or sinking their purchases. I was hesitant to help until the mentioned that Haldyn, a powerful fire mage, was part of their party. Then I was practically begging to be part of the trip. I'd heard of Haldyn, folk here in Skyrim spoke of him as an all powerful mage who wielded fire like it was another limb. I am always eager to test my skill, and what better opponent than a mage who is much more feared than I am?
Well, the battle was short, and I stand unimpressed. I must admit, I did use my talent at stealth to land the first blow, thus staggering him and getting in another free shot as well. So perhaps I tilted the tables in my favor from the beginning. But what wise mage wouldn't do so given the opportunity?
I was handsomely rewarded for my time by the Company, which I gratefully received. On my way back south, I passed through Dawnstar. After a harrowing dragon attack had passed, and I was able to catch my breath, I began to feel that their was a strong Daedric presence in the town, and I was not much surprised when I was approached by a priest of Mara. He had just heard of my success in disbanding the Blood Horkers, and was practically begging me to assist him in ridding Dawnstar of the Curse of Vaermina. I know very little of Vaermina, save she is associated with sludge and decay and nightmares I now also know that she is a vicious liar who will do anything to see the naive fall.
I agreed to helping the priest. The temple, Nightcaller temple as it was called, was full of a strange gas, known as Miasma, which had put all of its occupants underneath a strong spell of sleep. When we unsealed the door however, they began to wake up. It was mostly occupied with followers of Vaermina, with a few remaining Orcs who had apparently tried to raid the temple, only to fall victim to the Miasma as well. We dispatched of them easily, as they were confused and, although very hostile, lacked much motor control at all.
We finally came to a point in the temple where their was a powerful magical barrier blocking any progression. The priest of Mara then revealed to me that he was the only priest of Vaermina to have survived the attack without falling under the spell of the Miasma. Somehow he managed to flee the temple. He also stated that he was wracked with guilt afterwards which is why he become a priest of Mara. Interesting. However, his prior knowledge of Vaermina's temple did come in handy, as he knew of a certain torpor which could induce some sort of waking dream-like state on an individual.
Of course he volunteered me to do it. I'm still not exactly sure what it was that I drank, or what the images and words that I saw were. But it was certainly a dream, for in it I could see everything as if my eyes had never been touched by the flames. Somehow I managed to navigate the dream world well enough that I was able to dissipate the magical barrier. After I did so, I awoke. I had an awful headache, my eyes were on fire, and my throat felt like sandpaper. All side effects of the torpor, according to Mara's representative.
Finally we reached our goal, the source of Dawnstars' nightmares. The skull of corruption. I am torn between the choice I made at this point. The skull is, of course, being a Daedric artifact, incredibly powerful. However, it is also incredibly evil and, since it is an artifact of Vaermina, uncontrollable I allowed the priest to finish his ritual and destroy the skull, or at least banish it. It was a battle though for me, it didn't help that Vaermina was whispering into my head the whole time, commanding me to slay the priest and claim the skull.
After that little event, the priest of Mara pledged himself to me, saying that if I ever need his assistance, he will be at the temple, waiting for me. The evil side of me remembers the challenge the followers of Boethia presented me with. But the sensible side of me screams, 'anyone but a priest of a divine!'
Spending the night in my corner of flour sacks again in Windhelm. Hopefully I'll be able to leave tomorrow, they are having problems with murders around here, but I looked into it a little, and it seems that they are only affecting Nord women, and as the Nord women around here are almost without fault complete bitches, I find it does not affect me at all.
I visited the castle after I got back from Dawnstar today. Just listening to Ulfric and his advisers talk is enough to make one sick. It's as if the only lives he considers sacred are those of the Nords who side with him. It's enough to make me want to join the Empire just so I can have an army to back me when crush his neck beneath my boot. His castle mage, Wuunfurth also seems a sketchy type. He claims to be a master of Destruction, and then in the same sentence told me he could never train me anything as my skill was so great. I'm not sure about him, he has an aura of undeath about him. One that is ever so familiar to me.
