JoS/Henriette/18th Journal - Payback

Sun's Height, 20th, 4E 202

I arrived at Karthwasten at the break of dawn. It's a small town, maybe half the size of Riverwood, not really any kind of travel destination, as they don't even have an inn. They rely extensively on ore and trade, and now those Nords are here because they want to take that revenue from them. Damn Silver-Bloods were picking on the locals when I arrived. Meanwhile, these people living here also get trouble from the Forsworn, effectively being picked on by both sides. Man, do I sympathize with them! Most of them are Bretons too.

I approached the village leader Ainethach and asked if there's any way I can help them, to which he simply commented that there's probably not anything a puny little girl can do… But in an off chance that I could do something, he asked me to get rid of them by any means necessary. I don't think they really knew who he was dealing with, so I asked, "that means I can kill them, right?" He said I'm welcome to try, but also warned me to not do anything that'll get me killed.

I had been waiting to pay back to those scumbags for a long time…

These men were pretty well equipped and their chief in particular had one of the most impressive Nordic Steel armor sets I've ever seen. No matter, I snuck into the mine and killed them one by one… Until I met their leader and pressed my dagger against his neck, telling him that he has made a mistake in allying himself with the Silver-Blood scum. He shouted for help, but when he quickly realized that everyone else was already dead, he just asked what in Oblivion do I want, that he would do anything to please me. He said he's just a mercenary, and that he's not even part of the family. He doesn't know what my problem is with them, but he's not part of it.

"Guilty enough", I told him as I bit into his flesh. I feasted on every bit of blood I could muster out from his pathetic body, and as soon as I was done, I took his head off his shoulders. I then carried it to Ainethach, who seemed a little horrified by the sight of blood running down my jaw. "These guys won't bother you anymore", I said. I then told him to forget about paying me, as killing those guys already satisfied me in more ways than a purse of gold ever could. Instead, I asked him to shut up about me being, well… Me. I didn't outright tell him that I'm a Vampire, but something tells me that he realized it.

I think I had impressed one of them, as he approached me, talking something about Forsworn kidnapping his daughter. Really, a daughter he says? She's apparently the only young woman in this entire village, so she's obviously the girl I'm looking for. I said that I'm actually here looking for her, that she's a Sybil of Dibella. Well, the father was absolutely ecstatic about the news, and told me where she could be held hostage. If I were to save her, he would personally reward me handsomely.

So, I set on a journey to the Tower captured by the Forsworn… Talk about reopening old wounds. I have to deal with the Silver-Bloods and the Forsworn all over again.

Sun's Height, 22nd, 4E 202

I was told that this is a tower, but really, it's a castle. Well, the tower is a part of it. I didn't really even know how to go about infiltrating the place, and that was for a reason. I never got a chance to even shoot one of the men guarding this tower before they had captured me.

They were joking about how it's not every day that whores just march in from the front door, usually they have to go raid villages to get them. It was about to get really ugly really fast, but one of the men told his friends to wait, and that he knows me. I immediately recognized him too. "That's the girl", he said, "the one who was imprisoned with us in Cidhna Mine."

He's Braig. As he himself said, he was with me in that prison, and he was one of my favorites down there. Now, he has apparently climbed some ranks, as he's the second in command here, right under the Briarheart. He wondered what I was doing here and scolded me about being told that Forsworn are my enemies now, that Madanach still longs to have me in his harem. He said that I should've stayed away from the Reach.

This castle is one of the most important bases of operation for the Forsworn, a lot of slaves and sacrificial lambs move thought this place, young women who are either destined to live in slavery, or to be butchered for the gods. I immediately asked him, which one is Fjotra. He asked me, how do I know that name, and I answered truthfully that I've been sent here to save her, and that she's a Sybil of Dibella.

After that, it was silent.

Braig sighed deeply and tried to explain to me that Madanach himself has an interest in this kid. So wait, I thought, she's a child? Indeed she is, about my age actually. Madanach isn't as hot about children as he is about teenagers and young adults, but he has a longing for certain someone, and that he likes to get them young anyway so they can be raised into fine bitches… I didn't have to ask him to clarify that this someone was me. I just knew.

It had only been me and him talking for a while, but then one of his men told me that they should let Fjorta go and take me instead. Braig said that it's not for him to decide, but rather their leader. After that, they took me up to the tower.

There was an old, giant Dibellan statue here along with a shrine, now completely ruined and covered in blood. Was that just a coincidence? I'm not sure. There were actually five women there already, four of who were already in their late teens or early twenties. It wasn't hard to figure out who Fjorta was. The Briarheart never even let Braig speak. He just laughed, tapped him on the shoulder and said good job to him, and dismissed him immediately. Then, he yelled that they have a new one, and let them have at me.

I was let off pretty easy… Well, considering that it was still a gangrape. Most of the men here were already satisfied, for the most part anyway. They took their sweet time, pinned my back against the floor and held me down with all their weigh… One by one, they did me in missionary position. They didn't even feel like using toys or any kind of bondage equipment, they didn't have any drugs either. They kept laughing about how wealthy I was, talking about how I must be some kind of successful adventurer, but not successful enough! My life as an adventurer is now over according to him and all my earthly possessions now belong to them… Same old bandit drivel I've heard before…

Then, they threw me into the cell with Fjorta. She asked me if I'm okay, and I nodded slowly. I told her that I was actually sent here to save her, that she might be a Sybil of Dibella, and I'm supposed to take her to the temple. She wouldn't believe me, but she was at least happy that people are trying to save her. I said that I still intend to do just that… How, I do not know…

Sun's Height, 24th, 4E 202

So, my dearest diary… It seemed near impossible for me to even figure out how to get away from here, on my own anyway. Braig came to me, for three reasons actually. First, he wanted to do me again just the way he used to do in the past. He was just as wonderful as always… He may have dressed it as a rape in front of his friends, but we really were just making love for real.

Second, he said that Madanach will be coming here and once he does, my days might as well be numbered. The security that is to be expected where his base of operations is located is around equal to what it's in the Cidhna Mine, except that if I end up in there, there's no way anyone would actually help me escape.

Lastly, he said that he wants to prevent this. He actually wants to get away himself, that he doesn't want to ally himself with the Forsworn anymore, that maybe we could work together. He had wasted so much of his life with the Forsworn, he never wanted to be part of them anyway, but now he is caught in a vicious circle he just can't seem to break. In other words, he wants to start over, but he doesn't know how or where. He asked me, how do I manage? How am I able to stay free and out of trouble for the most part?

I told him that first of all, I don't. I have a lot of enemies and a lot of people who want me either dead, imprisoned or enslaved, but that I also have some good friends to rely on. Most of these friends aren't law abiding citizens, and that my situation might not actually be much different actually… Except for the fact that I also have a family in addition to having friends. When he wanted me to clarify I told him that I want him to join the Dark Brotherhood. He could stop living his life in the wilds as a mere Bandit, he could start over, he could feel much safer and more importantly, he would feel accepted… He was a little hesitant to jump from one group of criminals to another, as it necessarily isn't what he had in mind for his future. It was a little hard convincing him, but in the end, he said that he'll do it.

It was a done deal, but there was still the little issue of actually breaking out. I told him, let me handle that. He brings weapons to me and the other prisoners so we can all escape together. Some of the women here are adventurers on their own right, so it's not going to be like I'm going to be ambushed from every direction like the last time. Besides, here in this tower, we had the high ground, we had some traps, some rocks to push down the stairs… Long story short, we were able to make it out thanks to his betrayal.

I told him to meet me in Dawnstar, that I need to reliver this little lady to the priestesses in Markarth. I would follow him as soon as I could.

Well, fast forward to me now being in Markarth. The priests thanked me for my service, and they let me commune with Dibella. Well, it's wasn't as much of a communion as it was just me praying to her. I was a little doubtful of if she would even answer to my prayer considering that I'm probably nothing more than Daedra worshipping filth in her eyes… I mean, she doesn't approve of crimes such as theft and murder, but she managed to surprise me. I could feel her touch and her blessing… Probably the last blessing I'm ever going to receive from her. Well, as I might've said before, I do have a lot of respect for this particular Goddess. She may not be as approving of me as I am of her, but all in all, she's not that bad. She likes art, love and sex, so… Yeah.

I'll be leaving towards Dawnstar tomorrow. After that, it's straight towards Winterhold.

Sun's Height, 25th, 4E 202

Well, now Braig is part of the Brotherhood. He was a little surprised to hear that I'm actually the Listener, he was in shock and in awe! …Oh who am I kidding, he doesn't know much about how this family runs, and he probably still doesn't understand just what it means. He went through the usual spiel of Nazir telling him that he'll probably end up dead in two or three weeks, but I just tapped him in his back and said that's Nazir's way of showing love. He'll do fine, he's a capable man, I know it.

Nazir also game me one contract. How unusual, I told him, why me? It's not even a contract given to me by the Night Mother. Well, it's connected to one of the contracts I've dealt with in the past, and I was requested by name. Nazir still gets a lot of business like that. I'm not sure who this mysterious contract is, but my target is some pirate captain. Well, I'll be glad to do this, but it'll have to wait.

Braig thanked me once again, he didn't even know how to thank me properly. I instructed Nazir to try and only give him jobs which don't involve him going anywhere near the Reach. It's for the best for him to stay as far away from that place as possible.

After that, I completed my usual tasks while I'm here, took the contracts from my Mother, meditated at the altar of Sithis, shared banter and stories with the members… Mostly with Babette. She always keeps telling me to visit more often, to which I simply replied, maybe she should visit me in the mountains!

I'll be spending a night here as usual. This time though, I won't be spending it alone. I'll make love to my daddy through the night… Yeah, Braig is still my daddy, he still likes that roleplay with me. I like it too…

Sun's Height, 26th, 4E 202

Now, I finally made it back to Winterhold. I met Enthir in the Frozen Heart Inn, and Karliah was there too. They were worried about something happening to me because I didn't return as soon as possible, and I did admit to getting to some trouble, but that it was completely unrelated to this matter at hand. Then, I handed Enthir the Journal along with my research materials, and he went through them really quickly. Like, this guy must be some kind of genius to be able to read this simply by looking at the rubbings I took from the stone tablet.

Revelations from the Journals were nothing short of shocking. It had evidence about Mercer's crimes against the Guild, which involve stealing money from its treasury for his own personal profit and fortune. How he has been able to do this, is with the help of a treasure called the Skeleton Key, a Daedric artifact he has stolen from a place called the Twilight Sepulcher, which in turn is devoted to the Daedric Prince Nocturnal herself. I was a little confused at first as I didn't understand the significance of all of this, but to quote Karliah, it's way worse than she thought. Nocturnal is linked to the Nightingales in some way, and that Mercer's betrayal of her is way more than just a betrayal of the guild. She stressed that we must go comfort the guild immediately with this evidence.

She's going ahead, but I'll catch her in hours I'm sure.

Sun's Height, 27th, 4E 202

So, everything that was written in the journal turned out to be true. The members of the guild weren't interested in hearing Karliah out, but they were trusting of me. I told them to please listen to her, and it was all it took for us to open the reinforced safe, the safe that supposedly cannot be opened without two keys, a safe that for all intents and purposes should be impossible to break into, and indeed confirm that it's as empty as a beggar's purse. The rage within the cistern was palpable.

Mercer apparently hasn't been around in the while, so nobody knows what he's up to. It was almost as if he knew he was going to get caught and disappeared accordingly… Well, that's exactly what had happened. He may be a backstabbing son of a bitch, but he's perhaps the smartest enemy I've ever encountered. In order to find out about his plans, I was tasked with infiltrating his apartment here in Riften. Only problem really was getting in, and I was on my own on that, but let's just say… My plan worked perfectly!

The place had few people guarding it, out of which the most notable ones was Vald, Mercer's personal bodyguard. He apparently used to work for Maven, but that isn't important to me. I can't believe that he didn't recognize me for a member of the guild. He was so dumb, or maybe he was just too horny to care. Either way, a big oaf with a tiny brain. I walked up to him, calling him from behind the gate. He obviously got very interested by this seemingly innocent little girl talking to him. I told him that I'm a little short on cash, and that he's allowed to do anything he wants to me for a tiny price, all while I flashed my panties at him. As soon as he opened the gate and started reaching for my body, I rolled behind his back and slit his throat. I wanted to drink his blood, but I didn't have time to indulge myself, especially not in the middle of the day. After that, I proceeded to infiltrate the house through balcony.

Mercer's house was connected to the Ratway, which was accessible through a poorly hidden secret entrance inside a wardrobe. The place was filled with traps, but nothing that I couldn't avoid. He had a little office at the end of the long corridor, where I found all kinds of treasures he owned, along with his journal and plans to go fetch some kind of priceless treasure called "Eyes of the Falmer".

As soon as I took this information to Brynjolf and Karliah, they were convinced that he must be stopped. Lucky for us, we know where he's going, and we might just be able to catch up to him, but before that, Karliah insisted that we have to go prepared. He had a place to show both of us.

Not too far away from Riften, near an old standing stone of the Shadow, a birth sign that I myself am born under, was a secret hideout dedicated to the Nightingales. Karliah wanted us to become Nightingales with her, and insisted that this would provide us with weapons and powers to take on Mercer… But I wasn't having it, no way, not after hearing what this deal is actually about.

Karliah told in no uncertain terms that those who become Nightingales strike a deal with Nocturnal to serve her in life and even in death. The full details of this deal aren't important, I'm not interested in going through them. The point is, I gave her a strict and unconditional "No". I didn't tell her the whole story about me being the Listener, about me being devoted to my Dread Father Sithis, but I told her that I only have one Lord I serve and there's no room for Nocturnal there. Me and Karliah got into an argument after that. Can't blame her since she's as devoted to her Goddess as I am to mine. She said we need to do this, it's the only way, but I insisted that I have my principles and I won't violate them. Brynjolf was telling me to calm down, that we should really listen to Karliah, but I just won't change my mind, no way. I won't take the Oath, never.

Brynjolf didn't care all that much, he was sympathetic to how I was feeling, but it's clear that I offended Karliah. She was SO pissed with me, and hadn't it been for Brynjolf trying to act as the middle-ground here, the plan would've probably fell into shambles. In the end, the two of them took the oath, while I waited for them to be finished. I told them that I still intend to help them defeat Mercer, because let's be honest, that guy tried to fucking kill me and I will send his soul to the void as a payback. I told Karliah to not think badly of me because of this, to which luckily she said that she's willing to forgive me, but only if I can actually carry my weight in the same way she and Brynjolf will.

We'll begin our Pursuit as soon as the sun sets. We all have a long night ahead of us so the best we can do is to at least get a little bit of rest.

Sun's Height, 29th, 4E 202

The place where we met is called Irkngthand, and it's an old Dwemer ruin in the mountains west of Windhelm. I've been near it before, and I think I've even seen it from afar, but never did I think it would house a treasure of the caliber that Mercer was hunting… Not to say I wouldn't have loved to get here randomly before he even knew it was located here!

The ruin itself was massive, leading deep underground, and as enemies we mostly had just Falmer and Charus. Mercer was ahead of us, and he had been able to sneak past most of the enemies, but he had also killed quite a lot. The Bandits that were camping out outside the ruins and inside near the entrance for example, had suffered massive damage at his hands. What these ruins had in store were no match for me, Brynjolf and Karliah. I think I even managed to convince her that me joining forced with her precious goddess never was necessary, as I was more than capable of holding my own. I'm not as good a shooter as she is, but hey, she's got many decades of practice behind her!

We caught up to Mercer in the main chamber of this ruin, where a massive, ancient statue of a Snow Elf was located, with eyes made of giant gemstones larger than anything I'd ever seen. He had just finished looting them, but he of course wasn't going to escape without confronting us. What ensued immediately after he was done wasn't a clash of blades though, but rather, a clash of words.

He congratulated me, complimented me on my skills. He said that maybe he had made a mistake in getting rid of me, and that maybe he should've tried to befriend me from the start and made me his ally, maybe even his lover… The way he said it was obviously intended to piss me off, but I didn't take the bait. Instead, I told him that there was only one way to find out whenever what he did was a mistake or not, and that was by facing us in this final battle… Or, facing me, only me. Brynjolf and Karliah had been locked out from the room by magic. How did Mercer do it, I do not know.

He then gave me one final chance. He could help me escape, he could spare me. We could start over, let bygones be bygones, and we could escape Skyrim together. I told him that there's no way I could trust him, to which he simply said: "That's a pity, because I was actually being dead honest with you." Whenever that's true or not, I will never know… Not that I would've wanted to escape Skyrim with him anyway.

He could cloak himself in shadows and turn himself invisible, but I could do the same with my blood magic. He possessed weapons stronger than I did, and skills greater than mine, but I had speed over him, and I could even detect his very lifeforce during his invisibility, something that he probably couldn't anticipate. My accuracy was enough to find their targets, but he could block most of them. The battle was difficult and I knew I wasn't going to be able to beat him with a bow. I had to get close. I knew I would have only one opportunity to surprise him. Lucky for me, it was enough for me to hit him once… But the cut wasn't deep enough. He was able to tackle me to the ground and wound me. He laughed at me, saying that a mere flesh wound won't take him down, and that now that I was within his grasp. I guess he was too dumb to consider that I had coated the blade with a very special brew of poison… You tend to get your hands in all kinds of nifty ingredients when you ally yourself with the Dark Brotherhood. After that, even though I was wounded more badly than him, he fell to his knees, unable to defend himself. I won, he lost, and I took his priceless treasures.

The cave was collapsing on us, and the ruin was being filled with water. It must've been a trap, perhaps a defence mechanism created by either the ancient Dwemer or the Falmer to protect this treasure of theirs. There was no way for us to escape from where we came from, and it didn't look like there was any other exit here either. We were sure this was going to become our watery grave, but fortunately, through the collapsing cave, we were able to find a path out of that predicament and out from the ruins.

With the Eyes and the Skeleton Key in my possession, I handed them to Karliah and Brynjolf, saying that I don't need them and what happens next is none of my business. Well, I actually kept one of the Eyes, but they didn't seem to care all that much. Maybe they thought it would be a suitable reward for me. I'm not sure how I'm going to get away with selling this though? Well anyway, Karliah talked something about having to return the Key back to its rightful place within the Twilight Sepulcher, but as I refused to become a Nightingale, it's not possible for me to enter that place and complete the task. Well, tough fucking luck! She sighed heavily, but thanked me for all I've done regardless.

As for Brynjolf, he asked me what's next for me… Truth be told, I haven't decided. I have a long, long path behind me and I just can't wait to get back home and relax for a bit, especially now that I'm carrying this painful injury caused by his enchanted blade. He said that he understood my needs and wished for me to return to the Guild soon. He's sure - they're both sure - that there will be a lot of people waiting there for me. It's unclear what will happen to the Guild and who will take the mantle of leadership. My guess is that Brynjolf, Vex and Delvin will share it.

After that, I decided to walk to Nightgate Inn, which happened to be nearby. I rented a room and here I am now, drinking mead to drown my pain in alcohol. Tomorrow I'll return home and hopefully I don't have to worry about doing anything for the foreseeable future.

• 19th Journal - Odds Jobs