JoS/Henriette/21st Journal - The Eye

Evening Star, 17th, 4E 202

Just when we were about to take off on an adventure without a destination, Sissel asked me something about what she called "a weird cube" that has been sitting on the bookshelf gathering dust for a good while now. A realization hit me, and I uttered a soft and audible "damn it"… That's the runed Lexicon given to me by Septimus Signus, the guy who helped me locate one of the Elder Scrolls. I was supposed to return it to him ages ago because it should contain readings from the Scroll now… How could I forget it for such a long time?

Well, that's basically why we're currently in Windhelm, on route to Winterhold. Winter is almost at its coldest, so the journey is going to be very, very chilly.

I've also been looking for an excuse to visit the College. I'm not that interested in being a member, apprentice, or whatever anymore, not after I learned I had been evicted from a position I was never even supposed to have on my last visit, but I can't help but feel curious about that strange floating orb. Who knows, maybe my visit may lead to something! Serana, a mage as she is, has also wanted to visit there for a long while too. Perhaps she could join them? Well, that's for her to decide, not me.

Evening Star, 18th, 4E 202

We arrived at the Frozen Heart at the break of dawn and slept like a bunch of babies in the oh-so-warm sheets of the inn. The bed was a little small, but it's not like we have a problem sleeping together or anything. After I woke up, we decided to pay a visit to the College, and let's just say… Things have been happening while I've been away, and things continued to unfold dramatically when I arrived.

I was felt somewhat unwelcome at the College. Tolfdir wasn't happy to see me… In fact, I don't think anyone was. I have very few friends, and pretty much only Enthir was interested in talking to me in the first place. He asked something about Thieves Guild, about how Karliah is doing, but I admitted that I haven't dealt with them a lot since we defeated Mercer. Although the money and the connections are good, I never felt like it was my kind of guild… I'm more suited for assassination, and the only thing I genuinely enjoy stealing is hearts and blood… Blood literally, hearts both literally and figuratively. Snatching purses, candlesticks, and such just doesn't feel exciting to me.

Anyway, a lot of people were gathered in the Hall of the Elements when I entered, looking at the orb. It was brought to the College soon after being discovered, and they're still studying it. They've taken into calling it the Eye of Magnus, but they're still not sure what it actually is or what it does.

Oh, and let me briefly return to the topic of people who weren't happy to see me… Let's talk about Ancano. He's with the Thalmor, been assigned to watch over this guild or something… I've never had to deal with him, fortunately, and considering how much the Thalmor hate me… Well, his distaste for me is to be expected. That's fine, as I don't like him back. He's shady and secretive, and a pompous douche to top it off. Anyway, he informed me that there's some monk from the Psijic Order at the College who has specifically requested to see me in person, waiting for me in the Arch Mage's quarters. This was extremely strange because I had never even told anyone that I intended to visit the College, so how the fuck did I have a visitor waiting for me here? Oh, that's probably because we're talking about the "Psijics". It's some Guild of powerful mages that predates the Imperial-influenced Mages Guild and far surpasses them in power. Their study of magic is mainly focused on Mysticism, which isn't well understood by most folks. There isn't even a mage in College specializing in it. I wonder why?

Anyway, the man who wanted to speak to me is called Quaranir, a High Elf as well, although by no means connected to Thalmor. I'm pretty sure they're at odds. He was using magic to talk to me, let's just say, privately. I think he froze time or something. Maybe it was a barrier, I'm not sure… That's exactly what I meant by Mysticism not being understood well, or perhaps it's just me being dumb. He recognizes me as the one who set everything in motion here and as someone who must deal with the problem I've created. What problem, exactly? I'm not sure, but this orb is apparently too dangerous to stay here or something. I suspect this guy can see into the future or something… Yeah, he's a bit of a mystery… All I'm sure of is that as a mage, he's more capable than anyone in this College.

That Ancano bastard is distrusting of him, Quaranir is distrusting of that Thalmor tosser and the College, nobody here at the College even knows what to think of Quaranir, my reputation with both Ancano and the College are dodgy, and somehow this Psijic monk pretty much trusts only me in unraveling this mess. I feel like it was a mistake to even step inside the College… I don't really want to deal with any of this shit…

Still, at the same time, we've been looking for an adventure, and I think we got it now. I hope at least Sofia or Serana will be pleased to help the College.

No matter, Quaranir gave me a task to go talk to someone named Augur of Dunlain, who used to be a member of the College. Tolfdir might apparently know something about him. After that, Quaranir just left, leaving both Savos and Ancano mighty confused since neither of them had any idea of the discussions we were having "in private". Ancano especially was pissed, asking what stupid games are we playing around with him, demanding that I explain myself immediately. I just told him to mind his own business and "fuck off", to which he responded by being very offended and very outraged… I don't care if I offend him, that stupid knife-eared prick.

Then, I tried to meet Tolfdir, but he was busy and wished to not be disturbed. Bummer, I have to return tomorrow. It was time for some other business, and let's just say, something unexpected happened later too.

I departed for the northern seas and found my way into Septimus' stupid little frozen cave with that Dwemer box he's still trying to figure how to open. He didn't care too much about it taking months for me to return the box. I feel like he has no concept of time flowing, or maybe he's really just that insane. Well, to open up the box, he apparently needs blood, a lot of it from all kinds of different elves. Or, I could just use Dwemer blood, but I don't think that's going to work out unless I figure out a way to travel some three to four thousand years into the past… So, I have a new task from him. I doubt it'll take a year to see it to the end this time though.

And now, the strangest of the strange happenings… A Daedric prince appeared in front of me. This time, it was Hermaeus Mora in the form of a black mass of eyes and tentacles. Never mind the fact that he's about the most disturbing looking god I've ever laid my eyes on… Why am I talking to so many of the gods in the first place? I know I'm very, very special, and I'm very proud of all my talents, but I don't think it's normal for anyone to meet with so many gods!

He didn't have a whole lot for me to say, except that he's been watching me with great interest and that he wants me to carry out the work Septimus is doing. He called him useless, called me way more useful. I feel like he sees me as his puppet or something… Regardless, he seems to want this Dwemer box to be opened too. Makes me wonder, why? It's not like he's demanding me to do anything I haven't already been tasked with doing, so I will help him, or help Septimus I guess, help them both, I don't know… For some reason, I have a bad feeling about this.

It's time for me to rest for a while. I hope I can actually meet up with and talk to Tolfdir tomorrow.

Evening Star, 19th, 4E 202

Today sure was a busy day at the College. I met with a lot of people, learned a thing or two, had a little fun, and even know my next move.

Tolfdir was claiming to be busy again, but I could tell it was horseshit. He clearly was just avoiding me for whatever reason. I persuaded him to spare me a few minutes of his time by dropping the name of the person I was looking for, Augur of Dunlain, and it luckily captured his curiosity.

He didn't ask why I was looking for him, but he seemed very delighted to hear that name, saying that it's been years since they've talked, and then told me that he's hiding somewhere in Midden, which is an area underneath the College. I have a feeling he just wanted me to fuck off while acting nice… Well, whatever, I got my answer from him, so I don't need to bother him again.

As for me, the girls and the Midden? Well, it was time for some old-fashioned ruin exploring!

The college members are usually advised to not go there. Some do though, probably most actually, as evident by all manners of rituals that have been conducted here, some successful, some failing. Tolfdir himself called the place unpleasant, and I can sort of see why. There were some hostile creatures down there, including some undead, presumably products of necromancy being practiced in secret because it's against the law… There are also some more exciting experiments being carried out along with some carnal sin, but let's not get ahead of ourselves yet.

Augur didn't end up being the kind of "person" we expected. The best way to describe him would be to call him "a ball of light". He resides directly underneath a well that lies in the middle of the college courtyard. There's this beam of Magicka that goes through all of this… Is he connected to that? Anyway, he wasn't really talkative, but we got at least something out of him. He told me that I need the Staff of Magnus, which can be used to, well… Use the Eye of Magnus. He also talked about Ancano going down there to speak with him too… That bastard's starting to seem more suspicious by the day.

No matter, I started looking for information on the staff I'm looking for and decided to begin by heading to the Hall of Attainment, which is one of the two living quarters in the College, used mainly by apprentices and lower-ranking members of the College. I had to be pretty careful about who I talked to. My first bet was Enthir, but he knew nothing. He suggested talking to Mirabelle, who's essentially the second in command in this College. I've never really had to deal with her before. She was supposed to give me some tour when I joined, but I just told her point-blank that I'm not interested. I have a feeling she hasn't liked me too much since then…

Unfortunately, I couldn't find her. I could find her journal though. So, she keeps one too, huh? I decided to take a good read through it because why not, I've always liked snooping around and learning secrets that I probably shouldn't know about, and my oh my, does this woman have secrets… It's a little careless of her to leave such scandalous texts lying around on her table where anyone can just walk in and pick up the book. She talked about secret illicit relationships, several actually. From what I've gathered, she's had sex with Arniel, an old scholar, Onmund, a promising new student, Savos Aren the Arch-Mage himself, as well as Urag the librarian. Hah, I knew there was a reason he had all those lewd books about bondage and sado-masochism. He and Mirabelle have some naughty, naughty secrets… And it seems that it's actually her who's the dominant one in this relationship. I find it kind of hard to believe that she would've tied up and dominated the likes of Savos and Urag… That's simultaneously pretty kinky and also funny. I can just imagine seeing Urag tied up and gagged while being whipped by his mistress.

I, of course, am not interested in revealing any of this knowledge to Savos or Urag because I actually like them and don't want to put them in any kinds of uncomfortable situations… Onmund is pretty handsome, but he's clearly not interested in children… I might be able to hold some of this against him in return for some fun… And Arniel… He was there in Saarthal. I had almost forgotten about him, but he and I both remembered the encounter we had when I faced him and talked to him. Oh, and Mirabelle too… Because I found them together.

It would've been fun catching them on the act, but they were actually discussing business related to some Synod mages from Cyrodiil. They have not only come to see the Eye of Magnus while I've been away, but they've also asked a lot of questions, apparently. Just days before I came here, they had been asking about the Staff of Magnus too… Bingo…

I stepped into the conversation, and they were a bit upset with me when I told them that I wanted to know about the staff too, something about how it's rude to eavesdrop or something, and that they weren't interested in telling me anything. "You're not even an apprentice", she said. Me telling them "You tell me or everyone in the College will know about your dirty little secrets" was able to change their mind quickly.

They don't know anything about the Staff itself, but the Synod, who are also looking for it, were going on about some ancient Dwemer city called Mzulft near the border of Morrowind, and that if I want to learn something, I should probably seek out the Synod and go there too. It's literally the best clue they have regarding this staff, so I might as well follow along with it.

I thanked them and was already ready to go, but little did I know, me snooping in with Mirabelle's little secret and revealing it to her led down a path I'm not sure how I should feel about. Mirabelle, a talented wizard as she is, paralyzed me in one instant with a spell, bringing me to my knees. I still remember the words she said so clearly too… "You naughty little girl, you didn't actually think you would be getting away with blackmailing me?"

Yeah, I should've known better.

She took me down to Midden together with Arniel. They have their own hidden little room tucked away in here, and what a room it is. Filled with toys and torture devices and even some Dwemer machines, the room looks like a deviant's dream. Still bound by her magic, she tied me up in black leather, gagged my mouth with one of those feeder gags to keep your mouth open to be used freely, and blindfolded me too. She mounted me on a wooden horse and proceeded to whip my back and my butt, all while badmouthing me, calling me a stupid little brat, telling me that I should learn how to respect elders, that I should've known better than to cross her. She even called me "cowardly, sneaky whore" and "an embarrassment of a Breton", essentially making fun of how I can't even cast simple magic spells despite my blood. Like sheesh, that's harsh… I know she's a proud Breton herself, but there's no reason for her to make fun of me for my lack of talent in the schools of magic.

Moreover, I knew she was strict and stern, but I had no idea she was like this! I couldn't even respond to her in any way. All I could do was writhe in pain and scream with every single crack of the whip. Oh, but although it was painful, it was also so good. I'm a sucker for a bit of pain after all, and I don't even mind being badmouthed a little, as long as it's part of the play.

Until this point, Arneil had done nothing but watch, but then, Mirabelle ordered him to "give her a taste of your cock". He gave it to me from the front, while Mirabelle herself did me from behind with a strap-on… And did me she did. With no pressure or restrictions of cumming and going limp afterward, she just kept on and on and on and on… Slapping me around, still badmouthing me. It was only after about an hour of continuously doing me that Arniel finally ripped the mouth-gag from my face and let me respond to Mirabelle. All I could utter to her was, "I'm so sorry, mistress".

The punishment wasn't over, but she did accept my apology and claimed victory over me. Well, it's kind of hard to argue with that… She made me her bitch, at least for this one night. She warned me to never cross her again or that there would be more of where this came from. Well, duly noted…

I thought that was the end of my eventful day, but there was still one more discussion to be had at the College. Arniel came to speak with me privately. First and foremost, he called me a fool, but even though I was a fool to cross "his mistress", I could also be of use to him. He's been researching everything related to Dwemer for years, and since I'm going to be visiting Mzulft, there's something I could do for him. All he needs is some old cogs. Ten of them, in fact.

Why would he need cogs? Apparently, he's very fascinated by how the Dwemer even used to create machines as sex toys… I know they exist too. I was once struck by an ancient Dwemer trap that put bondage gear on me, but I've never been captured or raped by one. That also explained one of the machines Mirabelle had lying around in that room. It was one of those things. When I asked him, why can't he just use replacement cogs? Well, for starters, there's no blacksmith in Winterhold, and secondly, he went on and on about the importance of using authentic pieces of Dwemer metal. I told him sure, I'll bring him some stupid cogs… Then, I left the College for today.

Sofia and Serana were waiting for me at the Frozen Heart and seemed very excited about me telling them that we're going to some Dwemer ruin, saying something like, "finally, something exciting to do". Yeah, I've been a disappointment for my precious girlfriends recently… I'm also very glad it's about to change! Who knows, maybe I can get that Falmer blood that Septimus needs amongst other samples. Two birds with one stone, as they say! Or three, actually, if you count Arniel's request.

Evening Star, 20th, 4E 202

When we were about to arrive in Windhelm, we took a slight detour to visit the shrine of Boethiah. While the Dunmer were over-represented amongst the worshippers, there were a whole lot of people from different races there sparring with each other… Or maybe they were trying to kill each other for real. That might actually be much more likely given what went down later…

Instantly after being seen, they told us to get out, that this place isn't for children, and when I said that we're here for Boethiah, they just straight-up laughed at us. Like, really laughed, for a long time, each and every one of them. One of them came to me and jokingly gave me some dagger and explained how to commune with this specific God. He did it pretty condescendingly, and he was clearly treating me like a toddler, but whatever, I was told that Boethiah demands a sacrifice. I needed to convince someone to touch the pillar of sacrifice and then take the life of the pathetic fool who's stupid enough to go along with such a ridiculous demand.

I joked about weighing my options and asked if I should sacrifice Sofia or Serana, which they found funny. They eventually decided that instead of becoming sacrifices for me, they'll push me against the pillar and spill my blood all over the altar to commune with Boethiah themselves, killing me in the process.

…No way that actually happened. Lucky for me, getting some idiot to go along with this plan is very, very easy when you're a vampire and possess certain handy abilities.

There was an old farmstead nearby in the woods, now been taken over by a gang of bandits, so picking a sacrifice amongst them was what we decided to go with. I cast my little spells on some old Breton left standing after everyone else was dead, seduced him, and turned him into my thrall, at least temporarily. Then, as his new mistress, a mistress he cannot refuse an order from, I simply ordered him to take his own pathetic life at the altar of sacrifice. Nobody at the shrine could believe what they saw.

Then, the real fun began…

Boethiah wasn't initially interested in some puny little bitch being her champion, so instead, she laid down an interesting challenge. Everyone should fight to the death, and whoever was left standing would become her new champion. It was pretty easy for us three to kill everyone at the camp - and I even got some Dunmer and Orc blood for Septimus too - but then, we had a BIG problem. You see, this God said that there were still three left living, and she was furious at us, screaming at us, asking, "why aren't you three killing each other!?". She seriously wanted us to kill each other! The nerve! I don't care if you're a God, a Daedric Prince, or whatever the fuck you're supposed to be, but I would never hurt these two! I said it out loud, to which Sofia and Serana both just proudly declared that they're my slaves anyway and should be considered property and not real people. Obviously, they were kidding, and Boethiah saw we were kidding too.

At that point, I was sure we had angered her even more, but she just laughed at us and told us that we were very, very brave to talk back to her like that and that there's still a way for me to become her champion, not that I care much about that. She already has one, you see, and if I were to kill him, she would consider me worthy, but the way she said it suggests that the same gambit has been thrown to Sofia and Serana… Would either of them be interested in becoming her champion? I see no reason why not.

Her current champion runs some bandit camp out in the woods Falkreath, and if my memory serves me correct, the Jarl of Falkreath has ordered one fat bounty on his head too… So there's money involved in this too. It obviously won't be our first priority, but sure, he is as good as dead along with his minions.

Tomorrow though, we have some more important business to attend to.

Evening Star, 21st, 4E 202

We're now inside Mzulft, and it hasn't been a pleasant trip so far.

We found an old warehouse outside the excavation, which we presumed to be a part of this ruin. It could very well be, but it wasn't directly connected to the actual place we were set to explore. Inside it, we found something interesting, something potentially valuable. It's light blue in color, some kind of metal, I think… I wonder if there's a collector that would be interested in buying it or a researcher who could possibly know the answer to my question? There's Arniel, who might know something or be interested, and there's that one guy in Markarth too… I have a feeling he's my best bet.

Anyway, I'm getting a little sidetracked, so let's talk about what we have discovered inside the ruin so far.

First of all, we found only one survivor near the entrance, who didn't sadly live to tell us anything of importance. He kept talking about finding someone deeper inside the ruins and some crystal, but nothing that made much sense to me. Still, he was more useful than the corpses we found lying around.

Secondly, there are so many traps here, some of which laid untriggered by these Synod researchers. There was really just one that took me by surprise, but I'd be damned if I'd ever let some giant metal spears impale me to my death!

Speaking of things impaling people to death, we then came across something pretty horrifying: a giant, armored Chaurus insect raping some wizard's lifeless body. Like, that seriously disturbed me. Did she die from how roughly she was being raped, or was she dead before that monster even raped her? These armored bugs really are scary lovers, as if their spit isn't disgusting enough. Fortunately, we managed to kill this one without a problem.

We're not quite sure what lies ahead of us, but so far, the journey has been exhausting, and the constructs have been tough. I'm sensing there are more of those bugs ahead, but I'm not sensing much else beyond that yet…

Evening Star, 21st, 4E 202

We knew things were going to go down as soon as we started finding more than just corpses of these mages… Now, ahead of lied a trail of broken machinery along with some fresh Falmer corpses. Sure enough, there were some living ones ahead as well.

I've got to say, these kinds of enjoinments are much better suited for me when fighting against those ugly, blind fuckfaces. For starters, these places tend to be lit, and second, it's easy to hide your sounds under the rumbling machines still beating deep here in the hearts of these cities… For the longest time, my friends didn't even need to step in. It was just me shooting the enemies lurking ahead before they even had a chance to retaliate.

All in all, things were going pretty well, up until, well… They didn't.

We got into a sticky situation with Chaurus, and they got Sofia with their tentacles pretty quickly. Funny how it's always her getting screwed first by those things. Maybe it's because she can't dodge their spit at a close range, or maybe she's an easy target because she's always rushing in first, sometimes even when I'm trying to assassinate the target from a distance. Either she's a slow learner, or maybe she secretly enjoys tentacle rape? Anyway, she was out of commission for the time being, and Serana and I had a whole lot of bugs to squash alone.

Things got worse when the nearby Falmer realized the pickle we had found ourselves in. There were five of them, and we had to take them all at once. We managed for a minute or so but were quickly blindsided by a trap that caught us. The Chaurus tentacles got to us all, and there was nothing we could do to stop them except wait for them to be finished with us. They eventually let go of my friends, but I wasn't so lucky…

I'm still walking around, but the parasite that entangled itself around me has turned into some kind of living armor. It's stuck to my back, to my spine, and its tentacles are wrapped tightly around my body, making moving hard. They're pleasuring me too, even as I'm writing this. The parasite itself isn't moving all that much, but its tendrils are stuck up between my legs, and I think it's injecting some poison in me too… I have no idea how to get rid of it or if we should even continue forward with this adventure. We're kind of in the middle of nowhere though, so even if we did go outside, there's no guarantee I could find help.

I'll have to deal with this, but it sucks… I can't even wear armor on top of it…

Evening Star, 21st, 4E 202

Finally, we found a living, breathing Synod mage, and you can just imagine his shock when instead of seeing his allies, he found a trio of little girls who he didn't even recognize. He was also going on about some crystal, wasn't really willing to talk to us about much, not even after I name-dropped the Staff of Magnus…

Well, turns out I had found the stupid crystal he needed. Like, I just randomly found it, picked it up, and thought it could be worth selling to some vendor. Since I had what he wanted, and I wasn't willing to part with it without a price, he kind of had to give me what I wanted: information.

First of all, I asked for advice on the parasite that was on me. He suggested trying some ingredients, saying it might hate some of them… No idea why I hadn't thought of that! I had some alchemical salts on me, and stuff's poisonous to some mollusks and worms. I'm glad it worked, and since we had looted some of the robes this guy's ally had here, I didn't have to worry about walking around naked either.

Then, it was time for business.

There's this massive Dwemer machine up here, which kind of reminds me of that thing that I found down in the Blackreach back in the day. This Synod mage was talking about how it's used to collect starlight or something. Whatever, I just want the Staff. I'm not very good at magic, so I let Serana handle controlling it. It needed some heating and cooling in order to calibrate the crystals, so simple fire and frost spells were perfect for that. She can do both while I can barely conjure enough fire to light up a torch. Meanwhile, me and Sofia were trying to figure out how to operate the rest of the machine. The result we got is… Maybe satisfactory? The biggest takeaway is that the Staff is probably in a place called Labyrinthian, at least according to that crazy person.

Speaking of crazy, I had no idea what he was talking about, but he was really mad about something. To be fair, he has lost a lot of his friends to this wretched place, and apparently, "years of research" had gone into this, so I can't blame him for becoming a little insane and angry… Still, I'm not quite sure what it was that he was looking for, not that I care anyway. He talked about some great magical disturbance coming in from Winterhold, which kind of led him to suspect that they have something there in College. I mean, he's not wrong, but… I didn't tell him anything, not that it mattered. I couldn't fool him. He said he's gonna snitch on us or something, I don't know, he was acting like such a stupid little kid and pissing me off, and my friends too. We just threw our hands into the air, shrugging, and left. We literally couldn't care less because we're not even members of the College.

Now though, we have information, we have some Falmer blood, and yes, we even have some stupid Dwemer cogs for Arniel. I believe we're done here.

Evening Star, 23rd, 4E 202

When we arrived back at Winterhold, something strange was going on, and this something escalated from strange to very bad very quickly.

Ancano, that slimy bastard, is doing something with the eye, drawing power from it I think. He was able to create some kind of barrier to prevent us from coming to him. There were also some strange creatures attacking the town outside the College. I think they were wisps or something. While Sofia and I helped around the town, Serana helped Savos and Mirabelle take down the barrier.

Luckily, me and Sofia we were able to get rid of the wisps quickly, partially thanks to some adventurers who were staying at the inn as well. Sadly, things didn't go well inside the College, as they could only destroy the barrier once, and when it was erected again, appearing much smaller around the Eye of Magnus, it could not be destroyed again. Or, maybe it could have been, had it not been for an explosion caused by the second shield. Savos, the Arch-Mage… He sadly died from the blast…

Mirabelle was furious because of the whole situation. She was praying that I knew something, that I might have a solution for this, because she and everyone here are helpless to stop what's happening. I told her that the staff might be in Labyrinthian, which shocked her.

You see, before Savos died, he talked about Labyrinthian with Mirabelle. Apparently, he had some history with that place. Years ago, he and his friends led an excavation there, looking for something significant, but discovered only death and ruin. Savos had sealed the ruin away with magic, and Mirabelle held the key to unlocking that place in her hands. Did Savos know, or was this merely dumb luck and a coincidence? And if he knew, why didn't he talk earlier so some of this could've been avoided? I have no idea, but our next step is clear. We have to hurry, as we have no idea what Ancano is planning or what might happen because of him.

Evening Star, 25th, 4E 202

Labyrinthian, the ancient city of Bromjunaar, once the capital of Skyrim back when the dragons ruled this province… Oh dear, what have we gotten ourselves into?

Impressive little ruin, I must say. I've walked past it many times, but I never thought much of it, thinking it was just another ordinary Nordic ruin, but no… This place is way, way bigger! The excavation outside, which has been thoroughly dug through and looted of its valuables, alone is city-sized, and the actual burial inside is humongous! As for its guardians waiting for us immediately behind the front door? How about an army of skeletons with a dragon and a Dragon Priest! Still, that merely felt like a test, almost like an entrance exam, and I fear the worst is still ahead…

You see, someone is talking to us from the depths, talking in dragon tongue… I can't quite make out what he's trying to say, as I'm not well-versed enough yet. Maybe he's warning us to turn back, maybe he's inviting me for a challenge… I don't know, but what's for sure is that we're not leaving this place without our treasure.

Evening Star, 26th, 4E 202

We got what we're looking for, the Staff of Magnus. We had to go through a lot of trouble to get to it, and the problems are far from over… I hope our efforts weren't in vain.

This place's guardians were amongst the strongest we've ever had to face. Magic-wielding Draugr have never really been something we excel against, and their sheer number caught us by surprise. All those traps too… There were a couple of times where we genuinely thought it would be better for us to just turn back. Then again, we weren't sure if it would even be possible past a certain point. The only way out was to seek our exit forward.

We exhausted pretty much all of our potion supplies, and our armors were in terrible shape too. There were some Draugr and Liches that could drain our magicka away, and they really got to us. Serana got caught by surprise and even was raped by one, all while I couldn't even save her, being pressured by a foe of my own. Thankfully, Sofia was. That was near the end of our trialing journey deep into the main chamber of this ancient tomb.

Our final foe was a Dragon Priest who wielded the staff we were looking for, sealed away by two ghostly figures, who we suspected to be somehow linked to Savos Aren and his little excavation to this place… According to Mirabelle, Savos was the only one to survive, so it could be that these two spirits sacrificed their own lives either to help Savos escape, or perhaps to keep this enemy sealed off forever. Our foe himself was a lich so powerful that even standing in his presence was enough to drain our life force and magicka away from us. Fortunately for us, we had just enough strength left to defeat our enemy…

I entrusted the Staff of Magnus to Serana. I feel like she knows how to use it better than I do… Besides, considering what happened next, I'm glad I did, because if the staff was in my possession, this whole operation might've failed completely.

Our next mission was to escape this place, but we had one final roadblock in front of us. When we took off from Labyrinthian, we were ambushed by Thalmor. They blindsided us, caught us off guard, and subdued Sofia before she even knew what was going on. Me and Serana got away, but their attention was squarely on capturing me. "She's the one Ancano told us about", one of them said and pointed his sword at me. I told Serana to get out of here as fast as possible, use her invisibility to hide from our enemy's eye, and promised her that we'd be fine. Thalmor are not known to kill their prisoners after all. That's what she did, and we never saw her or the staff after that. She presumably thought it'd be in her best interest to hurry back to the College with the staff, given that I promised we'd escape.

I tried fighting back but ultimately failed. The elf pinned me down just like they did Sofia, and still thinking I was in possession of the artifact they were looking for, they demanded me to hand it over, only to realize the mistake they had made in not pursuing the third member of the party. Still, things were getting a little bad for me and Sofia, since we were essentially in the enemy's custody. We both know that these guys will go through any length to torture their prisoners of war, and although they didn't realize they had the Dragonborn in their hands, they would've surely come to know if it weren't for a lucky coincidence.

The Stormcloaks became our unlikely saviors after just one hour of being prisoners to the Thalmor, while we were being transported in chains towards the Thalmor Embassy. We don't actually know what came of the battle, as we simply used the confusion to our advantage to get away. We don't even know why the Stormcloaks were in the area… Perhaps they're patrolling the area because we're right under the shadow of Solitude after all, or maybe they were just traveling from A to B. I'm not sure… All I know is that it was a blessing in disguise.

We were still chained, so we had to seek help from Morthal. Luckily, we got it from a friendly Redguard blacksmith. He even did it for free after we told him it was by the Thalmor who chained us. I guess he doesn't like them too much either, especially when you consider the wars the Thalmor have waged in Hammerfell too… Anyway, we did our best to try and catch up with Serana, but it's a little difficult, considering we don't even know what route she took. I bet she's miles ahead of us already, given how much time has already gone to waste. We're currently in Dawnstar, but we won't be resting for long… Just enough to gather strength for the upcoming long and cold road through permafrost to Winterhold.

• 22nd Journal - Travels