Middas, 22nd of Heartsfire, 4E 201

  Having a late breakfast.

  I used up the last of the logs building furniture after I woke up, and made a lot of nails. I needed to think.

  I

  wanted to do something… Normal’s not the right word, but maybe it is,

  now? My old “Normal” involved doing things that typically meant waking

  up very hungover and/or in unfamiliar beds.

  I can tell the others are concerned, but I can’t get that word out of my head.

  The

  concept isn’t lost on me – I know you can make a family out of pretty

  much anything, like Old Tarquin and his cats - but it’s not something

  I’d ever thought I'd have before. At least, I think I want it? Maybe I’m

  afraid of it?

  Family are people you can trust and rely on. I’m

  not either of those things. I don’t know if I can handle that sort of

  responsibility.

  But maybe I can learn.

  -----

  And now we’re back in Candlehearth Hall.

  Luckily we didn’t run into that Rolff guy again.

  I

  spoke with the others after breakfast, and I confessed that I didn’t

  really know what I was doing. I didn’t have a plan, aside from

  adventuring to get money to finish the house, but I want to do more.

  That much I know.

  I also know that I don’t want to go to the Graybeards. At least, not yet.

  I’m not ready for that.

  I

  had put the Sanguine Rose in a barrel in the dining room because I

  don’t really have a place for it, yet. Valdimar gestured to it and asked

  if I had any plans for “that thing”.

  I told him that I just wanted to keep it safe.

  He

  nodded, and stroked his mustache and looked thoughtful for a second. I

  think he does that when he’s trying to find the right words. He then

  gestured to me and asked, “What about that?”

  I was wearing the small piece of the Gauldur Amulet that we’d recovered.

  I asked him what he meant, and he said that he thought the plan was to find the other two parts.

  I said that obviously, I wanted to, but not to use it. I just want to keep it safe.

  Valdimar

  had a small smile on his face, and Erandur nodded slowly. He saw where

  the big man was going, and said, quietly, “Like you do Alesan.”

  “And the dog,” Lydia chimed in. She leaned back in her chair, with her arms crossed. She looked smug.

  Shit.

  I’m gonna start tearing up again.

  They were right. It’s what I always do. I wasn’t responsible

  for my friends back in Cyrodiil, but I kept them safe. I was the one

  who tried to study alchemy, and who learned spells, and who figured out

  how to pick locks so they could get in to or out of things. I started

  hanging out with Dru because she’s cute and small and honestly not the

  brightest lamp on the street. I saw her getting picked on and taken

  advantage of, and she didn’t know that’s what they were doing, so I just

  declared myself her protector.

  Hell, I’m in Skyrim because I was

  trying to keep her safe. And I’m not talking about the stabbing. I

  flipped a coin to decide which way we split at the docks. Heads for

  North, Tails for South.

  I was supposed to go South.

  Look, if

  you knew her, you’d know she’d be lucky to last a week here. I know

  I’ve talked her up, and she’s really sweet, but she’s never done well on

  her own. I got sick and had to stay in a temple for a week once, and

  she ended up in jail! She was able to flirt her way past the guards, but

  a pretty face doesn’t mean a thing to a cave bear!

  I hope she’s

  all right. Like I said, she can flirt and pick a pocket, but she’s never

  been good at thinking ahead. I hope she’s gotten cozy with someone who

  can take care of her.

  Speaking of getting cozy, I need to get myself to bed soon. It’s almost three in the morning, but I can write some more.

  Besides, I slept a lot on the way here.

  Anyway,

  after I took a minute to pull myself together, I said they were right.

  It’s what I do. I looked to each one in turn, and Erandur winked at me.

  He knows better than the others.

  Then I stood up, and said that

  we’d better go. If word gets out that the Gauldur Amulet is real and

  able to be reconstructed, there’s no telling who’ll go after it. Last

  thing we need is another power-mad mage or vampire lord or - Divines

  forbid - the Thalmor taking hold of it.

  So, we set off for Solitude to sell off what we’d picked up in Morvunskar.

  Now,

  I haven’t mentioned it before because I hadn’t taken a closer look, but

  there’s a creepy abandoned shack in the middle of the swamp. It’s hard

  to see, but it’s there. I tried to check it out before, but the dog

  threw a fit and wouldn’t go near it. This time, I decided to look no

  matter what.

  I wish I’d listened to the dog.

  It’s clearly

  abandoned, and the door and path leading to it from the water’s edge is

  splattered with blood. There’s a little rowboat moldering in the swamp

  right there, with a rusty old lantern in it. It looks like who or

  whatever the blood came from was dragged from the boat, to the door, and

  into the shack.

  I tried the door (I’m Stupid, remember?) but it wouldn’t budge.

  We agreed that was a relief, and left. Quickly.

  In Solitude we sold off our goods, refilled our waterskins, and left the main gate so we could board the carriage.

  I

  checked the map before we boarded, and decided to go to Windhelm. It's

  north of Ivarstead, which is right by the lake with Geirmund's tomb on

  it, where Sigdis Gauldurson is with his part of the amulet. The others

  wanted to know why I chose that spot first, and it's pretty simple,

  actually: I know there's a carriage in Windhelm. There might not be one

  in Winterhold, which is the closest city to the ruins of Sarthaal where

  Jyrik is buried with the other fragment. I have no idea how hard it will

  be to get to Windhelm and then Ivarstead from there, so I'd rather just

  head to Dawnstar and then on to Winstad Manor when we've finished in

  Sarthaal, after we take care of Geirmund's Tomb.

  Lydia nodded

  approvingly and said that I must have used up all my Stupid for the day

  when I tried to open that bloody door earlier.

  I hope she's right.

  The

  trip was freezing cold, and we once again huddled into our cloaks in

  the back of the cart. The driver only had two fur blankets, so I shared

  one with Lydia, while Valdimar and Erandur hunkered down under the

  other. The dog stayed with us, and flopped in the middle of the cart, on

  all of our boots.

  Good boy.

  At some point I fell asleep,

  and Lydia woke me up when we stopped at the bridge into Windhelm. It was

  dark and I could tell it was very late. Erandur was grumbling about the

  cold and wondering why anyone would choose to live in a place like

  this. I agreed with him, and we all hurried in to the city.

  Which brings me here. It’s not been a very… Adventurous day, but at least I figured some things out.

  There is a blank page between this entry and the last, clearly skipped intentionally.

  Turdas - 23rd of Hearth Fire - Year 201 of the 4th Era

  Bronwen,

  This is Erandur. Please forgive me for writing in

  your journal. I assure you I have not read any of it - I only flipped

  through to find a blank page.

  I spoke with the others and we

  decided that it would be best to record your day for you. We know how

  important it is to you, so I volunteered. Right now, you're unconscious,

  and will be 'til morning.

  You'll learn this when you wake, I'm

  sure, but I want you to know that even as I write this, we're all safe,

  at the Braidwood Inn in Kynesgrove, a small village in the Eastmarch

  south from Windhelm. You're recovering from a severe case of Bone Break

  Fever, and you've had a hard day.

  I don't know how much of today you'll remember, so I'll start at the beginning.

  We

  left Windhelm for Ivarstead, and as we passed the road that leads to

  Morvunskar, you looked up and said we had some "unfinished business" to

  attend to inside.

  You were referring to the chest that you went to

  open when we were transported to that so-called party. There were also

  some unexplored areas, so we followed you up to the citadel.

  The

  chest wasn't without treasure, but I don't know what you found. I was

  distracted by the faint sound of footsteps, and made sure to warn

  everyone.

  You instructed us to get ready for a fight, and we set

  off down the hall. First, we found a small room with some bedrolls

  surrounding a shrine to Dibella. There were also some leather straps and

  a potion of some kind. You picked them up and whispered something to

  Lydia. A joke, I assume, because she laughed.

  Valdimar asked me if

  Mara's rites had anything that compared to the Dibellan mysteries. I

  can't see his face in that Dwarven helmet of his, but I swear I could

  hear his eyebrows waggling. I informed him that Dibella's arts are not

  frowned upon by followers of Mara, for she is also a goddess of love,

  and many see the two as sisters.

  He said that was "Good to know," whatever that means.

  The

  path split, one way going up and the other down. I was in the very

  back, but I saw you Conjuring down towards the lower level, and could

  hear a man shouting at you. The dog ran forward, and you disappeared

  down the slope with Lydia on your heels.

  It was only one mage, an Altmer, but he was well-versed in Destruction magic, especially Fire.

  After we defeated him and took his belongings, I had a chance to look at our surroundings.

  I hesitate to write what we saw. It was… Horrifying, and it disturbed you greatly.

  I

  will put a marker here and at the end of the part that bothered you.

  Please ignore my words between these marks until you are ready to read

  them.

  ~~~@~~~@~~~@~~~@~~~

  There was an iron gate, with a

  lever on the next wall to open it. Beyond the gate was a small room with

  a recessed floor full of hot coals, with several bodies, completely

  burned, on top.

  It was obvious to all of us that they weren't being disposed of in that room.

  They

  were contorted, as though in pain and trying helplessly to get away

  from the heat. One was suspended in a cage above the fire, the iron

  glowing red-hot.

  Those poor souls.

  I have no words for the anger I felt at witnessing such depravity, so I turned my focus to you.

  You stood there a moment, then turned and fled.

  You looked panic-stricken, like you did when you were reminded of Helgen, and your hands were ready with Flames.

  ~~~@~~~@~~~@~~~@~~~

  You

  rushed past us and up the other corridor. We knew you'd found the other

  side of the barred door when we had to dodge the crossbar as it

  clattered down the ramp. You'd simply thrown it from its brackets and

  ran into the main room.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  We found you there, pressed into a corner behind a Ward, with your other hand still ready with Flames.

  I

  went over and sat down beside you. I reassured you that you were safe,

  and there were no more enemies here. The dog came over as well, and

  wouldn't leave until you hugged him.

  It wasn't long until you were feeling well enough to get up, and we left.

  You went out the door first, and I ran into you because you stopped right outside of it.

  You were looking to the sky, and before I could ask what you'd seen I heard the wings of a dragon as it circled us, then roared.

  You

  froze, and as we got our weapons out to fight the monster, I turned to

  you just in time to see your face go from terror to rage.

  I know

  that face. I know that soul-deep anger. There's no word I can think of

  that properly describes it, but I know, at that moment, you were angry

  at Everything. Not just Nirn, the Aedra and the Daedra, but at the

  cruelty, the unfairness, the helplessness and fear and madness of it

  all…

  I know it well.

  Of course a dragon attacks right as you recover from one of your fits, breathing fire in your face and roaring its fury at you.

  All you can do in those times is roar back, and roar you did.

  You

  ran right towards its gaping jaws and Shouted a hailstorm down its

  throat, even as you yourself were surrounded in its fire. We did what we

  could with arrows and our own magic, distracting the beast and its

  minions while you ducked behind a bit of rubble, tipping back potions

  like you were winning a bet, then went back to do it again and again and

  again.

  It was a hard fight. I didn't know dragons could summon

  Fire Atronachs, but you Shouted the beast out of the sky, then filled it

  with shards of ice when it landed.

  Once the deed was done, and you took the burden of the foul beast's soul, we continued on our way.

  It

  started to rain when we got to the main road, which wouldn't have been a

  problem, but the storm worsened rapidly. Lightning started to strike

  all around us. We saw a traveler on the road ahead of us get struck!

  Thank Mara she was only a little hurt, but we were all in grave danger,

  out in the open as we were.

  You wanted to get us all to safety,

  and spotted a small, barn-like fishing hut across the river, with a fire

  inside. You led us down the embankment, and we swam across.

  You

  got out of the water first, and I watched you walk up to the open

  archway of the hut. I was horrified when I heard the sound of a bear

  growling, and looked up just in time to see you knocked back by a swipe

  of its paw.

  It had been inside the hut.

  You and the dog

  attacked it, with fire and fang until you ran out of magicka and pulled

  out your axe. You buried it in the beast's skull so deep you had to

  brace your foot on its head to get it back out.

  That's when we joined you.

  You looked up into the rain and said, "Shut up."

  We

  hadn't spoken yet, and when Lydia said as much you made a rude gesture

  upwards and said you were talking to the Divines. You swore you could

  almost hear them laughing at you.

  I know how that feels, too.

  We

  went into the hut and saw a pile of bones, still covered in bits of

  flesh, in a puddle of blood on the floor. This was clearly the work of

  the bear, so you set about seeing what you could find. You said there

  wasn't much, and we huddled around the fire, trying to warm up and dry

  off.

  Unfortunately, the fire didn't do much for us. The roof

  leaked all over, but we were starting to dry off a bit when you

  complained about being hot. I realized immediately that you had some

  sort of fever, then you started to shiver. Lydia said she thought she

  saw another light farther up the hillside, and ran out into the storm to

  check.

  She came back shortly and said there was a building up

  there, not sure what, but we'd be safe from the storm. We got you moving

  and placed our trust in Mara that the people there were kind, and would

  let you rest in a warm, dry bed.

  The storm that drove the bear to

  shelter in the hut was probably what kept everything else away from us

  as we went up the muddy hillside, led by Lydia. You started to stagger,

  and began to wander away. Valdimar had to grab you by the shoulders to

  guide you, and eventually we ended up carrying you between us. We had to

  nearly drag you because it was too steep for Valdimar to carry you

  safely.

  Honestly, I was quite worried for you as we struggled up

  that hill. You went from fighting a bear to weak and delirious in less

  time than it takes to boil water.

  Valdimar said a few prayers with me.

  At

  least you were awake and talking, but not making much sense. Something

  about a lady named Agrippina, and I think a man named Tarquin. You

  mentioned your friend Drusilla, too. At least, I think you did. You

  asked us where Dru was, and I assured you that she was all right.

  I pray to Mara that I didn't accidentally lie to you.

  Lydia

  already had a bed arranged for you when we got inside. She got you out

  of your armor and settled while we paid for beds and dinner for

  ourselves.

  Thank you for making sure we always have plenty of gold on us. That's very smart and kind of you.

  The

  proprietess, Iddra, insisted on making us all some fresh soup in

  addition to what we bought. She's very sweet, and brought in a small

  blanket for the dog to rest on. She made sure he got a good cut of meat

  after she saw the wounds he got defending you from the bear. Don't

  worry, he's healed now, and will be fine. I came in here to Heal you

  enough so that you could safely swallow a Cure potion. Apologies for

  that - Valdimar had to search through your pack for it. He said you

  always kept one on you, just in case.

  I know you say it a lot, but you're not stupid, Bronwen.

  You

  may be impulsive and rash from time to time, but I've not seen you act

  recklessly. You think before you do anything that might effect others,

  but you don't let fear of the unknown stop you, either. You're young,

  and you're going to make mistakes. I think you've accepted that, and

  that's a sign of wisdom beyond your years. Some of the choices you make

  may even turn out to be disastrous, but know that we trust you to always

  do what you feel is right in your heart, and for the good of all.

  Even if "what's right" involves unholy amounts of mead.

  +++

  Praise

  be to Mara - The potion has done its work, and the disease is gone. We

  gave you a drink and you managed a few sips of warm broth. After the

  others left, I gave you a sleeping draught I made so you can rest and

  recover your strength. I gained a considerable amount of alchemical

  knowledge from my time as a priest of Vaermina. The mixtures are

  especially potent, given my former alliance with her, and normally would

  bring terrors to the sleeper, but Lady Mara has taken pity on me. In

  Her Infinite Benevolence, She has bestowed upon me a blessing, like She

  did the ritual that destroyed the Skull of Corruption. Now, my

  preparations impose a deep, restful slumber, full of good dreams to heal

  the soul as well as the body.

  I will be back to pray some more after dinner.

  Sleep well, my friend.

  Fredas, 24nd of Heartsfire, 4E 201

  I feel like I've been stampeded by horkers.

  I'm still in

  bed at the Braidwood Inn, but it's early morning and Valdimar's asleep

  in a chair by the door, so I'm trying to be quiet. He looks like he

  needs the extra rest.

  There was some water waiting for me on the

  night stand, along with some bread and cheese. I've already finished

  everything, but I'm still hungry and thirsty. I read the entry Erandur

  wrote for me yesterday.

  I'm not sure how I feel about him writing

  in here, but at the same time, I'm glad that he did. I know he didn't

  read anything, and the fact that he and the others decided as a group to

  keep the journal going feels…

  It's touching. They know it's

  important to me, and they know I never miss a day, so they kept it up

  even though I couldn't, so there wouldn't be anything missing, and I

  don't know what I would do without them.

  Wait, I do know - I'd be rotting in a ditch, just like Lady Sabina said I would someday.

  -\-\-\-\-

  I've

  been ordered to rest until after we've all had breakfast, but I'm not

  tired at all! So, I'll write about the morning while I wait.

  The

  innkeeper, Iddra, crept in with a hot bowl of soup and a fresh cup of

  water for me while I was writing. I'm glad she did. I'd never felt so

  hungry and thirsty in my life! She came back in to set a mug of warm ale

  next to Valdimar, and whispered to me that the other two were already

  awake. Lydia was doing her normal morning sword drills, and Erandur was

  praying.

  She reassured me that he'd slept, and said that she would start breakfast once Lydia came back in.

  I thanked her, and as soon as she left I saw Valdimar open one eye and ask if she was gone.

  He

  said she'd been fretting after them almost as much as me! She refused

  to sleep until they decided on a watch for me and swore to her that

  they'd sleep when it was their turn!

  We laughed about it, then he surprised me by getting up and giving me a big hug.

  He

  normally calls me by my name, or sometimes "My liege" (It feels

  half-joking, but it could be habit from working for Idgrod) but when he

  spoke to me then he called me "Lass."

  He said it was good to see

  me on the mend, and was happy to know that, aside from the aching left

  over in my joints, I felt great! I asked after the others, and he said

  that Lydia had first watch, but he had to threaten to carry Erandur out

  of my room if he didn't stop praying and get some rest.

  Apparently

  Erandur tried to keep praying in their room, and Valdimar had to remind

  him that they'd promised Iddra they'd get some sleep. He laughed again

  and said that even though Erandur swore up and down that he was fine,

  Dunmer don't need as much sleep, that sort of thing, he fell asleep

  almost as soon as Valdimar threw a blanket at him.

  "He's a strange mer, that one," is what he said.

  Valdimar, you don't know the half of it.

  He

  got up and I went to follow him, but he told me to stay, and keep

  resting. He might be my housecarl, but his first job is to keep me safe.

  That, and Lydia said she didn't want to see me on my feet until

  breakfast at the earliest. He said he'd go tell the others that I was

  awake and feeling better, then he grabbed his mug and left.

  I took

  a second to check over my robes after he was gone. They and my cloak

  were hanging up by the fire to dry, and it looks like someone cleaned

  them, at least a bit. The tears from the bear claws were fixed, too. The

  stitching is clumsy, though, like whoever did it isn't used to sewing.

  Not much to be done about the burnt bits from the dragon fire, but oh, well.

  I

  can smell breakfast, so I'll stretch and actually rest for a bit until

  the others come in. We've got a ways to go until we reach Ivarstead.

  -\-\-\-\-

  Guess what?

  I don't think that blessing I got from Julianos did a damn thing.

  Well, it did cure me, but I don't feel any smarter.

  We're in Fort Amol, surrounded by dead mages.

  Fort

  Amol isn't far from Kynesgrove. Once I convinced Lydia that I was good

  to travel, we set off for Ivarstead. We walked back down the hillside

  (it really is steep - I'm surprised they managed to get me up it) and

  along the water until we found a shallow section near a mill that's

  actually not that far off. I think you can see it from the little

  fishing hut, but only barely. I don't think anyone could have seen it in

  that storm.

  I ordered more logs for the house because why not,

  and we kept going. We saw a group of adventurers fighting off a pair of

  thieves farther up the road, but they were finished before we got there.

  As I took what I could from the would-be bandits (why did the group

  just leave perfectly good loot?) I couldn't help but wonder if we

  counted as "Adventurers".

  I mean, we're setting out for a tomb,

  but it's not like we don't have a plan. Do the others we see know where

  they're going or what they're doing? Do they just poke their heads into

  every cave and ruin they come across?

  It's interesting to think about. Maybe I'll ask next time we run into some at a tavern or something.

  I

  started to feel a bit sick again, and asked the others if I looked all

  right. They agreed that the fever had returned. I know that happens

  sometimes, if it's bad enough. I assured them that I didn't feel near as

  terrible as I did last night, and Erandur backed me up. He agreed that

  it was just a mild case, but that we should get me taken care of quickly

  before it got any worse.

  Anyway, not far past that is a small

  rise, with a crossroads. There's a bridge to the left, just past the

  fort. I could see a signpost by the bridge, and went to cut across the

  patch of dirt in front of the fort to see if that told us the way to

  Ivarstead. There's no roads marked on the map, and I wanted to be sure.

  None of us want to circle around the mountain the long way!

  That's when I almost tripped over a dead Stormcloak.

  I

  looked up just in time to see a mage unleash a shower of Sparks at me!

  The fort had been taken from the Stormcloaks by a band of mages. They

  weren't near as easy to take care of as the ones in Fort Snowhawk, and

  we were all in bad shape once the dust settled. At least they're

  terrible at regular combat. I have some poisons I made that stop magicka

  regenerating entirely for a bit, and I think that made the difference.

  We

  got ourselves all healed (well, of damage - I was still sick), then

  looked around the courtyard to see what we could find. Erandur called me

  over to an alchemy table that was there. There was a shrine to Julianos

  next to it, so I got myself a blessing. I felt better right away, and

  decided to see what potions I could make at the table before checking

  the higher levels.

  There was a dead Dunmer mage on the ground nearby, with a half-melted ice spike through his chest.

  Erandur

  was crouched next to the body, and I asked if he was all right. He

  didn't look up at me, but lifted up the elf's hand and looked at his

  fingers. The dead mer had been the group's alchemist, he was sure of it.

  Erandur pointed out the stains on his fingers from all the plant dyes,

  and the dirt under his nails from tending to the garden and gathering

  materials.

  I almost always have ink on my hands, but they're

  usually covered in plant dye, too. Right now they're red from the

  mountain flowers.

  He said these mages don't wake up cackling like

  storybook villains and wonder which unwary travelers they were going to

  slaughter today. He gestured to the small patch of flowers that I'd been

  harvesting ingredients from just a few moments ago and said that this

  poor bastard was probably thinking about how he was going to keep the

  voles away from his deathbells.

  He stood then, and took a deep

  breath before he said, very quietly, that this could've been him. He'd

  paid his dues early on in the cult by working in the catacombs under a

  fort like this one in Cyrodiil. Vaermina's alchemists were in high

  demand, and the cult made most of their money by selling their services

  to other groups like this one.

  We were called away by Lydia, who

  was checking the tops of the towers while Valdimar walked the walls. She

  said that we'd better come look at what she'd found.

  On top of

  the tower was a dead Stormcloak in a puddle of blood, laid in a circle

  of candles that were still burning. A mage lay dead outside the circle,

  full of arrows.

  Valdimar sucked in a breath and tipped over one of

  the candles with his boot, breaking the circle and the silence as he

  muttered something to himself about "damned necromancers."

  I leaned over and asked Erandur if he was still sure these people didn't plan to kill anyone today?

  "I stand corrected."

  Valdimar

  and Lydia were curious, so I explained just what Erandur had said about

  how he didn't think they woke up here intending to kill people. He

  added that even though they were terrible people clearly doing terrible

  things, they were still people. Valdimar smiled and clapped his hand on

  Erandur's shoulder as he walked past on his way down the steps into the

  courtyard. "Spoken like a true priest of Mara!"

  Back in the

  courtyard, I argued that we had to go inside, and take care of the rest

  of them. If we didn't, any remaining magic users would just regroup and

  keep on doing whatever it is they were trying to do with that poor

  soldier up on top of the tower.

  They agreed that I had a point (even Erandur) so we went inside.

  There

  were only a few more of them than there were of us, but they fought

  like a bunch of dremora! I looked at their gear after we'd finished and

  they were all Adepts, at the very least, if their robes were anything to

  go by.

  That explains things.

  Honestly, there's not much to

  take in here. Sure, there were more alchemy supplies and some food, but

  not much gold. I can sell the gear, at least, but I think I'll get more

  for the few sets of Stormcloak armor we got outside.

  We probably should have just moved on, but oh, well. Clearly, I am not guided by Julianos.

  Clearing

  out this place took a lot of time, and even though it's not that late,

  we're going to stay here for the rest of the night. We found a sleeping

  area with plenty of beds. Even Septim has a bed, all to himself!

  Yes,

  we finally named the dog. Lydia said that Iddra and her children (I saw

  them playing as we left) were shocked that I hadn't named him after so

  long, and promised them that next time we came through, we'd stop by and

  tell them his name. So, after much discussion over dinner, and seeing

  what he would pay attention to, we picked Septim because he's as good as

  gold!

  And I just really, really like gold.

  Yes, silly, I know, but Lydia's choice was "Dog", so she can't say anything about it.

  I guess he's our dog, now.

  Anyway,

  I don't think we're far from Ivarstead, so tomorrow we'll head there,

  then rest for the night before heading out to Geirmund's tomb.

  Now, I know Bronwen's panic attacks from Helgen are purely

  narrative, but all of the game's external events did happen as I wrote

  them!

  I figured that the sight and smell of the burned bodies

  would trigger a panic attack, so I just turned around and bolted. After

  waiting for what felt like an appropriate cool-down time, I left the

  building and an Oblivion Dragon attacked us. Figuring that she'd either

  run or fight, I went with fight! And yes, I did fight as Erandur

  described. It was nerve-wracking from a Player standpoint, but I was

  very happy with how it went down from a narrative point of view. I was

  down to the last few potions, but everyone survived! Yay!

  I have a

  mod that has lots of travelers and random adventurers running around,

  and we really did see a lady get hit by lightning down the road!

  Logically, Lydia's a walking lightning rod in her steel armor, so

  Bronwen would want to get to cover ASAP. I saw Kynesgrove and the little

  fishing hut, and decided to go to the hut because it was closer and I

  wasn't sure we could get up that hill, anyway. Glad I was wrong.

  Yeah,

  when that bear came out of nowhere, I jumped for real and did get a

  little mad. I mean, poor Bronwen's been through a lot! Come on! I lucked

  out and got a cool cinematic shot of Bronwen doing exactly as Erandur

  described, though. And then I saw the little skull icon and the effects

  of the disease messing with my screen. I turned to my wife (who was next

  to me) and said, "You gotta be kidding me!"

  Even though it was

  only around 4 PM or something in in-game time when we got to Kynesgrove,

  I figured that the crew would stay the night. I've always felt that

  Cure Disease potions do cure the disease, but the effects on the body

  have to be recouperated from, like the fatigue and the pain and

  everything. I also think that Healing potions and spells can be painful,

  if your injuries are bad enough.

  I have to say - Playing the game

  from a Narrative standpoint and trying to do as much in-character as

  possible is way more fun than I thought it would be!

  I hope you've been enjoying Bronwen's travels so far!