Day 1
We have discovered a cave hidden near Balmora, and set up residence in it. It's bizarre, really. It appears to be well furnished for a place that seems to have been abandoned years ago. None of the others seem to think much of it, but it gives me the creeps. Something must have driven out the previous inhabitants, but there's no trace of anything dangerous. Could the guards know about this place already? If so... we could be in big trouble.
---
Day 2
Today was mostly spent setting up our new hideout. We should be done setting up shop within the day, tomorrow at latest. There has been little to worry about, but I can't shake this feeling that something is wrong. Lersor suggested I should either stop drinking, or take it up depending on my current disposition toward liquor. Orn assured me there was nothing to worry about, and that Lersor was an ass on a regular basis and not to take his comments personally. I didn't. I don't have time to worry about comments with the way I feel.
---
Day 3
We have finally settled in, without incident. Perhaps my worries were unfounded. Still, I prefer to be cautious. I'm not letting my guard down for an instant. Soldiers could rush through the entrance at any moment to cut us down. Of course, that's true with any smuggler's den, but one this close to town just makes me worry more. We only move at night, but it's still too risky in my opinion. Of course trying to tell the others this is useless... they think I'm just a coward. Maybe I am, but being a living coward sounds more enjoyable than a dead hero.
---
Day 4
I haven't had time to worry about the wrenching feeling in my gut lately. We have been far too busy with our contact in Balmora. She has been sending us a lot of things to sort through and prepare for shipping to the bases around other cities. I sent Lersor on a job taking the shipment to our Gnaar Mok outpost, just to get rid of him for a while. Orn was right about him, he is one of the most annoying Dunmers I have ever had the displeasure to meet. At least he won't be back for a few days.
---
Day 5
Another average day in the life of a smuggler. Moving silently, hauling goods, faint whispers coming from somewhere. Okay, maybe the last part isn't so average. I'm starting to think I might be going crazy, since nobody else has heard anything. Though with the snoring coming from where they sleep, I'd be surprised if they could. I had Rethin, our resident mage, have a look around. He came up with nothing, and suggested I might be overworked. Maybe he's right.
---
Day 6
Lersor returned, with a load of goods no less. No wonder it took him so long to get back. Sorting through what he brought was simple enough, getting it to the suppliers was not. Orn went out shortly after dusk to deliver an unusual piece to Ra'Virr, what he wanted with a thing like that is beyond me. Who knows how a Kahjiit thinks? The other was a bag of scrolls for someone he was supposed to meet in the Eight Plates, and a small shipment of diamonds for the local alchemist. The jobs went off without a hitch. Apart from the whispers echoing in the cave, and Lersor's cheek, this has been a most enjoyable venture. I only wish this feeling of dread would leave so I could enjoy myself.
---
Day 7
One week. One long, tiring week. We've moved a lot in our short time, and the boss is pleased. I wish I was. I still hear whispers at night... but there's nothing to be found when I look for their origin. It can't be the wind, I'm too deep underground. It could be one of the others using an invisibility spell to mess with me, but I doubt any of them have enough intelligence to pull something like that off. It could be ghosts... or something worse. If I hear them tonight, I'm taking my torch and silver shortsword and slicing every inch of the air I can reach, that way I'll get it regardless of whether it's a ghost or not.
---
Day 8
I must have looked a fool, swinging wildly at air. The voices returned, so I did as planned. By the time I had exhausted myself waving my sword around, the whispers had gone. I was left in a silence, just as uneasy as before. However, I have heard nothing from them since then. Maybe now I can get some peace.
---
Day 9
Silence... beautiful, wonderful silence... save Lersor being cheeky again. I can focus on my work now, and there's plenty to focus on. Moon sugar, gems, skooma, weapons and armor... Balmora felt like the hub of activity for smugglers that preferred land travel, and most of the shop keepers there had no objections to taking illegal goods. Our contacts in the Thieves' Guild were a great help as well, providing us with detailed reports and routes of the city guards. If not for them, this probably would have been a short job.
---
Day 10
It has been quiet for the past few days. Perhaps it was simply my imagination. I truly hope so, I hope everything has decided to quiet down from now on and let me relax a bit. If I can-
[The ink scratches off, as if the writer was interrupted. The following appears to be written by someone with trembling hands
Lersor is dead. Something happened to him, but I'll be damned if I know what. It was a horrid sight, as if his chest had simply exploded. Both Orn and Rethin had been with him when it happened, and they're just as ignorant of the cause. All they know is he went rigid, spoke in an odd tone, telling them to leave this place in a voice that clearly wasn't his, and then his torso was torn apart from the inside out. They are understandably more shaken than I am, being drenched in Lersor's innards. I have given permission to everyone to leave if they wish. Orn and Rethin did so without question, along with one other. However, three stayed behind with me. I only hope the four of us haven't made a mistake.
---
Day 11
The whispers have returned. I'm not going crazy, I know that now. The other three that remained behind could hear them now as well. We try to ignore them, going about our business, but it's getting difficult. They're not just happening at night anymore, they never stop. If it wasn't because the boss would rip my head off for abandoning a prime position, I would have left with Orn and Rethin. Of course, he hadn't been here. Hadn't heard what I heard, felt what I felt. I find myself jumping at the slightest noise, and the others all seem to be on edge as well. This place... there's something wrong with it. I just wish I knew what.
---
Day 12
The voices that echo in the cavern are becoming constant, and clearer. Through I can't understand the words, I can sense their meaning. They are cold, full of hatred and bloodlust. How I know that, I cannot tell, but the more I hear the whispers the more terrified I become. My mind continues to play tricks on me, I see shadows move that simply can't be there in the first place, candles blowing out without a trace of wind, and the nightmares of unspeakable horror I see whenever I dare to sleep. One of my number had departed, and I do not blame him. I curse myself, being such a loyal fool. Or perhaps it was cowardice, as the others had said so many days ago. I feared the wrath of my boss more than this place, but that can't last long. I'm beginning to lose my mind here.
---
Day 13
We are leaving. While we were gathered in what we made the dining area, a message appeared on the cave ceiling, presumably in blood. "You had your chance to leave, now we are coming for you." It read, and the three of us that remained tore out of the area in a flash. I don't know what left that message could be, and I don't intend to find out. I'm leaving this journal here, along with a note at the entrance, to warn off any others fool enough to set up residence here. Stay away. Far away. Lest whatever protects this cave decides to come for you as well.