Prologue
First the rumours ran through the streets, spreading quickly from Rifton to Ivarstead and Windhelm, Whiterun and Falkreath and Winterhold, Rorikstead and Dawnstar and Morthal, Markath and Dragonsbridge and Solitude. The words were soon followed by men and women in thick armour, who held speeches in the streets about shadows and undead creatures lurking in them. They went in the inns and told their stories, they handed pamphlets to the citizens, they talked to the people, and fear and hope grew in the hearts of Skyrim's children.
In one night, in Markath, a shadow sneaked out of the Hall of the Dead. Silent like a moth, it walked through the streets and no guard heard it. The shadow searched for something it finally found on the market square: a sheet of parchment, covered with words:
Vampires!
The creatures of the Night are in our middle!
They suck the life from Skyrim and her citizens!
But fear not – the
DAWNGUARD
Has risen again!
Join our fight
To liberate our Home!
Come to Fort Dawnguard in the Rift and vanquish the Evil!
For the first time the shadow made a noise: a quiet chuckle escaped its lips.
In the morning, several corpses were floating in the pond near the Cidhna Mine. From Markath in the direction of Rifton, bandits and Forsworn were attacked during the next two days. The silent killer left not a single drop of blood in the bodies. The last dead were found near Ivarstead, then the murders stopped as suddenly as they had begun.