JoS/Henriette/25th Journal - The Forge

Morning Star, 31th, 4E 203

Finally, answers. It was a long discussion, and I'm sure I'll be forgetting some important details, but the revelations I got from Aliya blew my mind away. We have stopped at Four Shields Tavern to talk, and from here, I'll be on my own tomorrow as I deliver the shard to my Master.

Before I get into what I learned today, I want to talk about a very confusing Khajiit we came across on our travels. He looked like he wanted to talk to us, but most of the things he said to us either didn't make sense, sounded irrelevant, or even made up. His name is M'aiq, by the way. When he saw the tattoo on top of my stomach though, he said something that caught my attention. "Ah, this one is a sinner, yes?" he said, with a smirk on his face. "It bears the mark of lust."

I asked what he meant, but the only reply I got from him after that was, "M'aiq is done talking." I tried to press the issue because I really have no idea what this tattoo is supposed to be or what higher power it's attributed to, but Aliya eventually convinced me to not follow this Khajiit. "He's harmless", she said. "Pay no mind to him and his ramblings." Yeah, maybe it was for the best to shrug it off. It's not like any of his other ramblings made sense either.

Let's start with Aliya herself. While adept with a sword, she's a magister by trade and claims to be the reincarnation of Indoril Nerevar, the heroine now known to the land of Morrowind as the Nerevarine. It's a name I had heard beforehand, but I had never looked much into it, so I don't know what kind of connotation her title carries. Still, it makes her somewhat similar to me. The return of Nerevar was prophesied thousands of years ago, just as the return of Alduin and the last Dragonborn were. It also makes her pretty old, considering that she was born in the late third era. How has she managed to keep her youth? Well, this is her explanation: "You contracted Sanguinare Vampiris yourself, right? I caught a different kind of incurable disease. It has never been completely cured, but its negative effects are gone for good, so I don't have to worry about it. It has made me immune to aging." Huh, I never had any idea such a disease exists… She didn't go too much into it though. "Too many bad memories", she explained.

How about our Master then? Well, he somehow manages to be an even more complicated case. His name is Constantine Quintus, and although he's a mortal, his story begins with his ancestors in the late second era. It was a busy time with Tiber Septim trying to conquer and unite all of Tamriel, and one of the keys that helped him was actually the acquisition of Numidium from Morrowind, which was an ancient, powerful Centurion that the Dwemer had essentially created because they wanted to build themselves their own god… Or something like that. Numidium is another whole story and mostly unrelated to this, but Constantine's ancestors operating from behind the scenes had their part in history as well.

In their time, our Master's ancestors were some of the most accomplished scholars specializing in Dwemer history and technology, with their work and contributions mainly regarding how to control and command Dwemer animunculi. Their names may have been forgotten to the annals of history, and whenever it was by design or by chance, there's no way of knowing. Probably by chance, since not every historian turns out to be a famous one. Still, their texts, researches, and books had survived in a secret underground library underneath the research team's head's mansion in the city of Anvil, in part of the building that had since been abandoned.

By the time Constantine became an adult, he had inherited a legacy of a once-great, now-forgotten family, but that didn't stop him from being ambitious and greedy, and he would stop at nothing to gain influence in any way he could. He would even go on to align himself with the local thieves guild in Cyrodiil, as well as some bandits, which allowed him to amass more wealth for his family's name where his father and grandfather didn't really care for that. This partly explains why he's so well-connected even with some of the more "shady" factions of Tamriel, but back to the topic, which is his ancestor's research. He was first to discover the underground library that had stayed hidden underneath the house's basement for over centuries, most likely by chance due to him doing extensive repairs to the building.

He was obviously awestruck by the forgotten legacy of his ancestor. Handwritten books and journals filled to the brim with secrets and research spanning over decades, with every single page filled with text being more valuable than an ingot of pure gold, he knew he had something spectacular in his hands. He found something in these texts that also inspired him to set up a base in Skyrim.

The Dwemer only had tribes and states in very select provinces of Tamriel, mainly spread here in the cold north and Hammerfell as well as Morrowind, where their civilization began, but Constantine discovered that there had always been plans and desire for Dwemer expansion into the south and across all of Tamriel, as told by his ancestors. As advanced and mighty as their various clans were back in the days, they didn't have the means of conquering all of Tamriel back then, but it's not hard to imagine it was in some of their leaders' minds. They were, after all, a highly imperialistic and ambitious race of elves.

Anyway, according to some of the research these plans had, they even went as far as building massives armies of machinery to get ready for the invasion that never happened. Nobody knows where such a warehouse or a factory could lie, but Aliya herself theorizes the central hub of production being in Avanchnzel, but when she visited that place a year ago, most of the sleeping animunculi were ruined beyond use already with only a handful of constructs still defending the once-great city.

Another piece of research that inspired him was one regarding plans for one particular staff that had been recovered from a Dwemer ruin by Constantine's ancestors, a staff that potentially could've been used during this invasion as well. Found in pristine condition, this blueprint pictured an artifact capable of controlling Dwemer animunculi more directly. They have been built to be subservient to the Dwarves to begin with, so the researchers weren't quite sure why such an artifact was necessary for them to be researched, and perhaps that why this staff was never built. Are there staffs in this world that can control some automatons? Yes, there are these "Spider rods" or whatever you want to call them! What makes this different? The potency of its enhancement. Its wielder gains an unrestricted ability to control any Dwemer automaton freely, no matter who wields it, and not just the weaker ones either, but also those really large and powerful ones. Once placed under the control of its magic, it can control the construct almost indefinitely, and it can place many machines under its control at once. Basically, whoever wields it holds power to potentially command an army of Dwemer automatons.

The key ingredient to forging this staff is Aetherium, the precious luminescent metal Dwemer discovered somewhere in Skyrim. The texts say that it was used to craft some of the most potent weapons and tools of its time, even rivaling those that gods themselves have created. In those texts, it was even speculated that the Tools of Kagrenac could've been made partially from this material, although there's no evidence for this claim, especially when you considered that those artifacts were created in Vvardenfell and that the tribes of Dwemer in Resdayn and Skyrim were actually at odds regarding many subjects. Then again, she said that "Keening" does suspiciously share the similar shade of blue as Aetherium does, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the same stuff. All that matters is that you can make really fearsome shit out of Aetherium! Dwemer even fought wars over this precious, rare, and powerful material. That's how much potential and power there is in them.

In short, Constantine is looking for Aetherium because he wants to build some staff. What does he need an army of Dwemer animunculi for? In Aliya's words, "It doesn't matter", and that "It can't be anything good". According to her, that man is a genuine sociopath with no regard or respect for anything else has his own advancement and growth in both power and finance. Aliya considers this to be a huge deal and a big no-no. If there's one thing she has learned from living for over two hundred years, it's that some of the Dwemer secrets and research are better left undiscovered, forgotten, and cast into some distant plane of Oblivion where no mortal would dare to go seek them out.

Still though, most of this is just theories and speculations, but Aliya seems to take the whole thing very seriously, and obviously Constantine wouldn't waste time and resources on this if he believed it to be a fairytale either. The only question left was, how did Aliya get mixed up in all of this?

"By coincidence", she said. "Katria was my friend. She used to come to Markarth a lot to work with Calcelmo, who in turn has hired me many times to work for him. As you already know, she spearheaded the research into Aetherium here in Skyrim, which got me interested in the topic as well. I wanted to help her. That eventually led Constantine to her, which in turn also introduced me to him."

She managed to get close to Constantine by posing as a mercenary and by working for him. Some seduction and powerful Illusion magic was also needed to get into that stubborn man's head, but for Aliya, that's just par for the course and business at this point. That's how she has been able to find out so much about all of this. She believes to have gained his trust, and the fact that he has no idea about just how much Aliya has been able to sabotage his work and set back his quest is a testament to just how good Aliya is at what she does.

While that does answer a whole lot of my questions, it also raises some. Like, how did he come to learn of me and my crimes? That's something that I still really want to know. What Aliya told me helps me make sense of how that guy has so many connections with the underworld and bandits. It could also mean that he really isn't as influential as he says he is, unless that castle and some of the people in it are really, really corrupt to the core. Wouldn't surprise me, considering how corruptible so many of the guards are… Money does rule a lot of things after all, and if there's one thing I've learned about my Master, it's that he has lots of it. Still, even if it was the case that he had less institutional power than I initially expected, he's too dangerous for me to simply dismiss as harmless. If anything, it could make him even more dangerous in other ways.

Anyway, that's the gist of it all. My hand hurts after writing all this, and so does my head…

Aliya will wait here as I head to hand the shard to my Master. What we'll do from there depends a lot on what actually happens between me and our Master, but the plan currently is to find the fourth shard as soon as possible. All I know is that my debt to him will be gone. I can't wait to see my precious old friends either. I'm just dying to hold them both tight in my arms… I wish they forgive me for letting them get involved in this ugly mess.

Sun's Dawn, 1st, 4E 203

I returned to my Master with the piece, alone as was planned. He was surprised by that, asking what came of the mercenaries he had hired? I told them that I was the only one to survive. Of course, that was a complete and total lie, and for a moment, it looked like he might've seen through it… Luckily though, he accepted my story. "What a shame. I had so much trust in them", he said. "But the good news is that now, with three pieces in my hands, all I need is one more."

He talked about its potential location and how it's without a doubt the hardest piece to find. He spoke about how he's been sending mercenaries to survey the area where he thinks it could be and many close-by Dwemer ruins, but also about how they've had little to no luck yet. Regardless of this, the good news was that he has nothing in store for me now.

"I will have to gather a new excavation party to acquire it", he said. "Of course, I want you to be part of it, as you continue to prove yourself loyal and useful, but I need time to hide other mercenaries. Consider your debt to me paid, but don't forget, you still belong to me."

Then came the bad news.

You see, he said that he's not willing to release Sofia and Serana from their captivity until all four pieces rest safely in his hands. He didn't outright say it, but there must be some doubt in his mind still about my motivations, even though he says otherwise. Damn it, I should've expected this… It's his insurance policy to make sure I don't get a chance to backstab him. Like really, he brought my story up, didn't he? I'm a little worried, not gonna lie…

Still, the biggest takeaway that's in my favor is that I get to walk free. It ultimately doesn't matter whether he trusts me or not, because he certainly shouldn't trust me anymore. Oh, my Lord, I will come after your life and free myself from your oppressive shackles no matter the consequences…

Now me and Aliya can safely go on with our plan of heading to Raldbthar, but we must stop by in Dawnstar to discuss business with the Brotherhood first. Aliya wants to make it official. She has a big list of names she needs assassinated, and this list includes Constantine Quintus. She said that I'll get the full list of names together with my "superiors" later as we get to discussing business. I guess she doesn't actually know my disposition within the Brotherhood? Ah, whatever… I don't need to correct her on such minor details.

Sun's Dawn, 3rd, 4E 203

We got down to discussing business… At least Nazir and Aliya did. I just listened, like the good listener I am… Sorry for the dad joke, my sweet diary…

As Aliya wanted to make this business sound very official, she said that her primary motivation is purging Solitude of its corruption and described her targets as "slimy, cowardly bandits posing as noblemen and -women", which probably isn't too far from the truth. She gave Nazir four targets, out of which the first one is Constantine Quintus, an Imperial businessman. The second one is Constantine's main associate, the current head of the Skyrim branch of the East Empire Company, who according to Aliya is "As corrupted by money as that crazy preacher in Whiterun is devoted to Talos".

The third target is a young woman who works as secretary to General Tullius himself, an escort on Constantine's payroll. The fourth and final target is some nobleman who advises Jarl Elisif in political matters as a thane and is perhaps the least important person on the list, but a high priority target regardless. How is that escort more important of a target than a thane and an advisor to Elisif? Probably because Tullius is more important than Elisif or something? Oh, whatever, it doesn't matter.

I also mentioned Gulum-Ei by name, and to my surprise, Aliya said he's not important at all and should be spared. I thought he's kind of an important figure considering his connections to the bandits, but Aliya disagrees. His relationship to the bandits is just that; connection. He's an independent merchant and a fence who left the Thieves Guild some years back due to bad business and has since resorted to dealing with other kinds of criminals. "My guess is he's going to crawl back to Riften, considering that the Guild is on the rise again", she said. I don't like that lizard, so I hate to agree. He might be more beneficial kept alive.

These targets really are a testament to how far my Master's influence reaches. However, once this blow would be dealt, the rest would crumble down in the progress, and Solitude would without a doubt become a better place. Aliya gave us a payment of five thousand Septims in advance and said that we would receive an additional two thousand and five hundred for each target we would bring down.

Did we accept? To quote Nazir: "You're damn right we accept".

Aliya then got into details. The manners of elimination didn't matter and could be done in secret or in public for all she cared. All that matters is that all four targets are killed within as small a timeframe as possible. Of course, for this, she promised a bonus. She provided us with information, maps about layouts of our target's workplaces and homes, as well as even keys. She also said that whoever would be going after Constantine would also be tasked with retrieving the Aetherium shards for an extra-extra reward, to which Nazir replied, "We're not thieves, but we'll see what we can do".

I can safely head out to Raldbthar now with Aliya. Nazir said he was a little disappointed that I wouldn't be joining in with the killing, but he also understood that what I was doing with Aliya was also important. He just didn't ask why. Nazir, Babette, Gabriella, and Cicero will deal with the killing, and I'm sure Cicero especially will be thrilled to kill someone because he doesn't exactly get to be involved with the killing often as the Keeper. The other members of our Brotherhood will assist in killing any potential obstacles like guards that get in our way and securing safe escape routes from the city.

Sun's Dawn, 6th, 4E 203

I actually forgot one very important detail: we had to visit my home too. Why? I have this sinking suspicion that we'll be needing a key. The same Dwemer ball thing that opened the gate in Alfland should also work in Raldbthar.

Sissel was surprised to see me with a stranger instead of my two besties. After explaining what had happened, she was mortified and sad that there was nothing she could do. Regardless, I told her we were about to set everything right, promised her she would be seeing the others soon, and headed out for our little Dwemer excavation.

Now, it's just me, Aliya, Katria, and a whole lot of Falmer on our little adventure deep into Raldbthar, although as a ghost, Katria hasn't been really capable of doing anything so far. There were some bandits outside camping, but something tells me they are in no way related to our Master. We did quick work of them after they threatened to capture us.

I'm glad I have at least Aliya as my help, as I usually have to rely a lot on Serana and Sofia to destroy the constructs here. I'm ill-equipped to deal with them with bows, arrows, and daggers, but heavy weapons as well as fire and shock magic do the trick.

I might've already mentioned this before, but despite being a mage, Aliya is a very good sneak. She also taught me a little trick she apparently learned first while exploring the various Dwemer cities of Vvadenfell, a way to disable the automatons temporarily with magic. Not sure why she showed me this because it's not like I could replicate that kind of trick even if I wanted to. Still, we avoided quite a few fights because of this. We had no such tools against the Chaurus and the Falmer, so we had to actually do our best to kill them. We managed brilliantly.

We did get into some problems though… Well, she did. She may have been an adventurer for a long time, but she does her flaws, as we all do. Namely, she can be a little clumsy regarding her surroundings.

There's this large room with a drawbridge. It wasn't working thanks to some bones being stuck in various machineries and cogs spread around this great hall. We had taken care of the enemies and got around searching these dumb bones when we found a little hive. Falmer used parts of this room to breed pet Chaurus, and Aliya, utterly oblivious to the risk of being caught by tentacles hiding underground guarding the eggs, got herself caught like a fly in a spiderweb.

I tried to help her, but I got caught too. In a sense, I guess I ended up helping her by sharing the burden with her and by making sure that the tentacles get bored of us faster. We managed to drag ourselves out from that hive, which we had no reason to enter to begin with. The stuck bones were all elsewhere. Aliya did some important work here as well, as she could walk on water to reach one tricky bone. There was even one stuck on some machine out of our reach. Before I could even suggest shooting it down, she started levitating in the air to grab it.

No, no, let me rephrase that… She started fucking levitating. I asked her where did she even learn a trick like that, to which she simply replied, "Morrowind". When I commented that levitation magic has been illegal since the late third era, she just smirked at me and said, "Sucking blood from mortals is also illegal, but that doesn't seem to bother you." Yeah, she got me there.

We're going to rest for a while because we can't continue like this. We have made sure that the drawbridge works now, but we're yet to press the button. There's a giant centurion behind it, and we want to be ready for it.

Sun's Dawn, 10th, 4E 203

After just two more fights with animunculi, we found the last piece. Luck was with up in the sense that we didn't actually have to go to Blackreach as I initially expected we would. It was right there near the entrance waiting for us. There was also a still functional lift that took us back to the surface. Everything was going fine, too damn fine…

As soon as we got out from the lift, we realized that the enemy had been waiting for us in ambush and caught both of us with arrows coated with paralyzing poison, a poison that seemingly also could drain away one's magicka too. Aliya was unable to defend herself. Katria got away easily because she's a ghost, but I still had a few tricks up my sleeve, or should I rather say, down my throat.

Three mercenaries tried to apprehend me, but I unleashed my voice to blast them down from the top of the Dwemer tower to which the lift had brought us. It was a long enough fall to prove deadly for anyone. Paralyzing poison was starting to wear down, and I was able to take hold of my daggers, ready to try and save Aliya. With the enemy's sword on her neck though, I couldn't make a move, not without them killing her. That's when I heard Constantine's voice.

"Did you honestly think you would be able to outsmart me like that?"

He was standing there with some of his mercenaries as his protection. Constantine had figured out what we had been doing, and he was not letting us get away with it. The men searched Aliya for the piece of Aetherium but couldn't find it. I was planning on giving it to her here on top of the tower… Luckily I didn't part with it earlier.

"So, the piece is with you, my dear Henriette? I'm not going to ask for you to simply give it to me because I know you won't do that. However, if you know what's good for you, you will follow me to the Ruins of Bthalft. See to it, and I will forgive your conspiring against me and even make sure you'll be rewarded."

I could do nothing as I watched them take Aliya away. I knew I couldn't trust him about being forgiven. There was no way it was happening anymore. I knew that the planned date for those assassination contracts was that day too, and since he isn't in Solitude, it only made sense for me to try and kill him myself. At the time, I just didn't know how to get away with it, not that I ever got an opportunity anyway.

From there, I traveled to the place I was told to go with Katria. Neither of us knew that would be the exact place for the forge, as Katria's own map shows it to be much farther west, but at least we knew where we were going. I had walked past that place so many times. It's directly south of Ivarstead by the road.

Bandits, or mercenaries, whatever you want to call them, had a camp at the ruins, and they were waiting for us, together with Constantine, but Aliya was nowhere to be seen. I asked where she was, asking is she safe, to which Constantine said he would reveal that information to me after our quest had been done. Arrows and swords pointed at me, I figured out that I had to play along with his rules after all. He instructed me to obey him and hand over the shard, so this could all be forgotten and forgiven. I wish there would've been another way to resolve this, a safer way perhaps… I will never know if there was… I ended up giving the shard to him, bringing his quest one step closer to completion.

He then placed them at an altar to combine them as one, and as he removed the now complete Aetherium key from the pedestal, a tower rose from beneath the earth, revealing a secret entrance to the long lost Aetherium forge. He told me to follow him, and I did.

I wanted to kill him there and then, but like I already said, I knew I wouldn't be able to get away with it, not with all those guards around me. At the same time though, I didn't know if I would get another chance. He had everything he needed with him, and he was going to create his staff. We walked for what felt like an eternity, my heart was pounding, I just wanted to find resolution, an answer, something!

We arrived at the forge, and what a magnificent sight it was. Constantine's men were somehow able to stop the steam from pouring into the room from underneath the smoking hot floor, after which Constantine himself approached the mighty forge, still guarded by his own men. With schematics in his hands, he instructed his assistants to bring the other materials. They placed the piece of Aetherium on the forge and started creating their artifact. This was nothing like a normal process of smelting weapons, as the forge did most of the work. It was even over in a figurative blink of an eye, whereas usually crafting a staff out of metal would've taken hours, it was created in just a mere minute.

That's when he and his men realized they weren't alone anymore. The Dwemer constructs had been activated and were ready to kill the intruders. Constantine, with the staff in his hand, used his newly acquired weapon to stop the constructs. All at once, they stopped and ceased their attack. They seemed to be at his disposal. His plan looked like it had worked. He loudly announced that he now has the ability to wield an army of animunculi and have them do his every bidding!

One more construct was approaching, rising from the lava from behind the forge. It was a centurion, made from darker metal than the others I've seen, and most importantly, it was at least twice as big, easily the biggest machine I've ever laid my unfortunate eyes on. Constantine's eyes beamed as he realized that this weapon too would be at his fingertips. He used the staff to control it too! Except, he didn't. The staff never actually worked. The automatons hadn't stopped because of him controlling them or anything, and the centurion wasn't stopping either. With its giant hammer arm, it swung at Constantine, throwing him to the ground.

His men realized they had to fight, and I realized it quickly too. Yeah, no way in Oblivion I would ever die here! I always go on about how I'm ill-equipped against automatons, but let's be real, I know how to fight against these things better than these low-wage mercenaries do.

It was a long and difficult fight. Many of the mercenaries fell before the army of automatons, but our enemies were falling too. There were just me, and two others left standing when all we had in front of us was the centurion. It was most definitely our most difficult foe and the foe that had pretty much killed everyone else too. I had to use all the powers in my arsenal for my assistance. I tried getting close to it because arrows weren't going to work, but luckily, my daggers had strong enough boons to shock that automaton's pants off. My voice proved quite useful too.

It killed off two of the remaining mercenaries, but the damage had already been done. I'm not sure if I would've managed alone one on one even against a centurion… Luckily I didn't have to. I was able to finish it off. I was left alone.

I approached what I thought to be Constantine's corpse, only to find him still alive. With so many of his bones cracked though, he wasn't going to even sit up from that position or defend himself for that matter. I suppose he must've realized it too, although he didn't beg for his life. He just started laughing and coughing up blood. I'll try to re-enact the discussion we had right there and then.

"All this work, gone to waste", he said.

"You got what was coming to you", I told him.

"Maybe you're right", he admitted and closed his eyes for a moment while he let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "Not like it would've mattered anyway. This staff doesn't even work."

I felt especially cheeky at the moment and felt like teasing him. "I bet you're just dumb and don't know how to use it."

"Hahaha, maybe so… It doesn't matter anymore…" His laughing had made him start coughing again. "So, this is where I'm going to die, huh… Such a grave doesn't fit me at all…"

"Before you kick the bucket, you better start talking", I told him while gently stepping on his chest. "You have evidence of me killing the Emperor, right? Is there physical evidence?"

"There's no physical evidence, but if I accused you publicly, nobody would doubt me."

That, I was willing to believe instantly, but I wasn't fully satisfied with the answer. "Then, how did you find out? Who told you and why?"

"I knew people who were involved in the assassination, those who were orchestrating it, those who had contracted the Dark Brotherhood… The conspiracy to assassinate the Emperor is more complicated than you may think… The Council essentially wanted to make a martyr out of him for the greater good of the Empire… The Emperor and his Elder Council wanted you to kill him…"

"That doesn't even make any sense. Do you seriously expect me to believe all this?"

"Hahaha, I suspected you wouldn't buy it…"

"Who told you? I swear if you're just making this up…"

"You know who… Amaund Motierre…" As he spoke that name, I started believing that there could be something to what he was telling me. "He came to Skyrim on behalf of the Council, on behalf of the Emperor… He came to me too, you see… After your sanctuary had been burned to the ground by Penitus Oculatus, he thought he would have to resort to some other means of killing the Emperor… He knew I had resources at my disposal, and I had a plan of myself on how to get rid of him too… We were supposed to sink the ship when he was about to leave… Make it look like an accident, you know… But to our surprise, it never came to that, because you finished the job, didn't you? My scout saw you enter and leave the ship… That's how I knew it was you, but that's also why I didn't have any concrete evidence… I simply contacted you and tried to put you under my thumb because I thought I could use you to my advantage…"

Could all of that really be true? I stayed quiet for a moment while I looked back at how my assassination of the Emperor truly went down. He was never really that scared, he had accepted death. I was too excited at the moment to notice anything weird about his demeanor, but maybe, just maybe, he was so calm about facing his death because he genuinely was expecting to die…

But that's just so ridiculous! This whole situation is ridiculous! Never mind that, I don't care about the Emperor that much anymore, but if Constantine really didn't have evidence, he really fooled me into thinking I was in more trouble than I realized. I mean, can you blame me? I took part in a murder plot greater than anything this continent has seen during this era and succeeded, so there were many who wanted me dead, and his voice does carry weight like he says. He could've accused me without evidence successfully. He also knew I would be so clouded by my fear of being discovered that I would be fooled… And fooled I was, like the fucking fool I am.

Oh, but I'm not too angry. After all, aren't you a fool too, Constantine? You thought you were going to create some godly artifact that could control an army of Dwemer constructs, only to craft a useless piece of junk! Aliya too, what a fool you are for getting worked up over nothing! I just couldn't help but burst out laughing at that moment. I kept laughing out loud for at least ten whole seconds. It must've confused him quite a bit.

"Alright, one more question", I said as I took a healing potion out of my pocket. "Tell me where my dear friends are, and I'll spare your life."

"They're all at Autumnwatch Tower", he replied. "I was planning on leaving Skyrim once I had my staff and return back home… I was planning on taking you four along with me… I have grown quite accustomed to my life as a slaver, you know… I wanted to bring my own little slave Empire back to Cyrodiil…" Then, he started coughing up blood again. It was clear that he was not going to live for much longer, not without a remedy at least.

I thanked him for the information he had given me and sat down on top of him with a mischievous grin on my face. "Hold still", I said, as I for a moment looked like I would feed the potion to him… Instead, I sank my teeth to his throat. He tried to scream and resist, but his grip was too weak to even take hold of me, much less push me off. Not like it wouldn't have mattered if he did, I had punctured his windpipe beyond repair and moved onto his shoulder. At this point, he was already dead, but I continued to drink his blood anyway. I mean, why let a perfectly good meal go to waste?

I wasn't expecting this to go down quite the way it did, but at least I'm glad it's over.

Katria came to me. She had been watching, and she sighed deeply. "I once told Aliya", she said, "that it's not as dangerous as she thinks it is, but she kept on insisting that she has to stop him no matter what. Looks like the events here proved me right."

"I won't tell that to her though", I said as I flashed my tongue at her.

"Yeah, please don't. She'd be sad. She hates losing and especially dislikes being proved wrong… Still, that must've been the last of Aetherium that exists in Mundus. It has been such a long time, after all. It's sad to have that priceless treasure of the past go to waste like that, but at least my life's work is done now. I, no… We found the forge, and it's every bit as glorious as I dreamed of. I thank you for your help, and be sure to give my thanks to Aliya as well."

I asked her why not just thank her herself, but she had no intentions of lingering in this world as a ghost no longer. She was ready to move on, and move on she did. I was finally left alone, and there was just one more thing to be done… No, two, actually. The first thing I did was take the Aetherium Staff into my hands, walk it up to the pool of lava, and toss it as far out as I could. Aliya wanted to keep Aetherium out of Constantine's hands but never really wanted to use it for herself or her own gain. This staff is useless anyway. Good riddance, I say.

After that, I traveled to Autumnwatch Tower. Last of Constantine's men were there keeping watch, waiting for their master to return. There were only two of them, so assassinating them was child's play. After that, I was finally reunited with my friends. Everyone was there: Sofia, Serana and Aliya. It had been such a long time, and they had lost all hope. So had I, at one point… Now though, we're all free.

Aliya said she doesn't quite know what to do with her life next. She has done so much, had so many adventures, even spent years traveling in Akavir, but the only things she really seems to care about these days are research and learning more about magic. She says she could just go home, but she doesn't want to face the responsibilities that come along with meeting all her associates living there. I could see she was jesting and responded by saying she shouldn't try to avoid her responsibilities… But if I want to be an accomplice in that, she could come live with me for a while, and I suggested that to her. I told her I had a perfect place for her to settle down in not so far from here, a place where she'll always be welcome. Maybe she could even teach Sissel, who's interested in magic. She was glad to accept my invitation. I'm not sure if she will extend her visit for long, but even if it's just for one week, I'm glad to have her around.

Now, we're finally home. We're all home, and I'm here writing this. I've told my friends everything that has gone down, and I've heard good news from Dawnstar as well. Me and Aliya traveled there together to finalize our business. The Brotherhood got their payment as was promised, and now we have our peace and quiet…

Ah, just kidding… My friends will have peace and quiet, but I've been itching to get this little business done with for a while now. It's always been haunting me at the back of my head, and now I think I'll see my mission to the end.

Alduin, I'm coming for you.

• 26th Journal - A Date with Destiny, pt. 1