Hello! I made this story not too long ago and decided to put it up. Only thing that belongs to me is the beautiful Onikara Nightshade and the positioning of the words.

I was down in the basement of my house, Benirus Manor, organising my alchemy ingredients

and mixing potions when I heard a scuffling upstairs. Knowing all the ghosts that had

haunted this place were gone, I immediately thought of rats or a burglar. I took the Blade

of Woe out of the pouch I always wore and snuck upstairs to see what it was. I surprised an

Altmer that had been looking for me.

"Carahil," I sighed in relief, "Send a note saying your coming next time!"

She laughed. "Sorry, Onikara. I didn't think you'd be so jumpy! You were in those ruins

again weren't you?"

"Well, yesterday I was, today I'm just trying out some potion ideas that came to me. To

what do I owe the honor of your visit."

"There has been some trouble around. The entire crew of a ship here in Anvil has been

killed. No one knows who did it. Some people think the Brotherhood is behind it, others

blame the Daedric Cults."

"I don't think it was the Brotherhood," I said firmly, "It couldn't have been."

She looked at me oddly. "How can you be so sure?"

I thought quickly, realising I had almost given myself away. "Well, who would've contacted

the Brotherhood to get rid of an entire ship full of people? It doesn't sound logical."

She seemed reassured. "You're right, Onikara. But who could it have been? You are strong

and a great warrior for a mage. Can you help solve the mystery?"

I smiled and nodded. "Just let me grab my armor and gear and I'll be on the case."

Carahil left and I went to the room off my bedroom that had my writing desk and the chests

where I kept my armor and weapons. Out of one I took the Dark Seducer armor I had received

in the Shivering Isles from a group of them I had helped before I became ruler, out of the

other chest I took my enchanted blade, Dawnfang. This blade had once belonged to an Orc

called Grommok and had very special abilities. I was determined to find the party who had

killed so freely in my new hometown. After putting on my armor, a shield, and Dawnfang, I

made my way to the docks.

After going through the gate, I saw it. The locals called it The Ghost Ship of

Anvil. There was an Altmer standing on the deck looking frustrated. I walked over to her

and asked her what was wrong.

"This is a travesty!" She cried, "A complete and utter travesty! The crystal ball is just

sitting there in the hold, but I'll be damned if I'm going back onboard."

She looked on board to me, but all I said was, "Crystal ball?"

She didn't seem to hear me.

"And nobody will help me! Nobody! Not with those spirits roaming the decks." She finally

noticed me standing there looking puzzled. "I don't suppose you'll help me?" She shook her

head. "No, of course you won't!"

"Actually," I broke in, "I'll be glad to help."

"Of course you can't! Nobody ever wants to help! That's the... Wait... Did you actually say

you'll help me?

I nodded.

"Oh, how wonderful! I can't thank you enough! I've been going out of my mind ever since my

crew was murdered."

"Murdered? Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes, This is my ship you see. The Serpent's Wake.I hired the crew to sail to Summerset

Isle to retrieve a family heirloom, my mother's crystal ball. They made the journey, and

arrived back all right, but then... Someone murdered them! All of them! Now their spirits

are haunting the ship!"

I put my hand on her shoulder to calm her.

"Don't worry. I'll get your ball... By the way, what's your name?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Varulae."

"Alright Varulae, I'm Onikara Nightshade. Where is your crystal ball on the ship?"

"It's in a chest in the ship's hold, but I couldn't get to it. I made it as far as the

Captain's cabin but the spirits nearly killed me."

She handed me a key and added, "You'll need this key, get the crystal ball and bring it

back to me here. Thank you so much!"

I smiled and told her again not to worry then unlocked the door to the Captain's cabin and

went in.

Immediately I saw a Spectral Sailor and the Captain's body in a pool of blood. The spirit

came towards me and I cast my powerful custom-made lightning spell at it. He was

immediately defeated. I collected some ectoplasm from the spirit's remains for my studies

and went down to the next deck.

When I first got off the ladder, I didn't see anything. I could hear the spirits wandering

around though so I readied my lightning spell again, turned the corner and let loose. I

ended up taking out three at once. I took note of the corpses, one an Argonian. This was a

very brutal killing. On the last deck I took out the rest of the Spectral Sailors and found

the chest containing the crystal ball. I grabbed it and took it back up to Varulae.

"You did it! You actually made it back with the crystal ball!"

"I said I would, didn't I?" I replied with a smile.

"Oh, thank you!" Varulae cried happily. She handed me a cutlass. "Here, please take this as

a reward."

"wow," I said, taking it and examining it, "A Damage Health enchantment I believe."

"Yes, it's the Captain's enchanted cutlass, Redwave. I managed to grab it when I was in his

cabin, before his spirit chased me out! Oh, thank you so very much!"

I smiled. "Anytime, Varulae," I said, "I'll see you around sometime."

She went off to the Flowing Bowl and I stood on the Serpent's Wake for a few minutes. These

spirits were very angry about what happened to them. I really needed more clues. I didn't

know where to start so I just decided to do a few of my Dark Brotherhood quests while I

thought.