16 Mid Year

Failure. I can only just contain my disappointment. Our prey was in sight and he slipped through our fingers like the oily Argonian eel he is.

We arrived in Riverwood days earlier and stayed outside town until the eve of the shipment. Waiting by the mill at midnight we yearned for a glimpse of our elusive target. If not at midnight exactly then nearly so his troupe came into view. Riding a black horse he directed the shipment's delivery and entered the smithy's house for a period of thirty minutes or so. The four he has previously been seen with unloaded the cargo and chatted amongst themselves. As Verax exited the home I got my first good look at the Argonian. Almost completely shrouded by the robes (an affront to the Thalmor!) I could somewhat make out his visage and his nose coming out from under the hood. Even from a distance I could see the menace of his darkling eyes as they scanned the area but did not detect us.

Strangeness followed strangeness. After speaking briefly with his subordinates he simply left town without his horse, housecarls or any weapon it seemed. He took the path out of the town gate and began walking into the murky forest. We quickly followed him into the night as he set a seemingly random path through the landscape. I saw easily why others had so much trouble keeping track of such a beast. Carrying no torch or lantern he navigated through the brush and we followed aided by magical sight. It would have been near impossible for amateurs to both track him and remain unnoticed. After a number of direction changes the target straightened his route and eventually followed a river upstream as it wound through the forest.

I did not expect what happened next. He began talking to himself as he walked through the darkness. I could not hear all of the words but he appeared to be having a conversation with no one that included stops to hear what the other person was saying. It was as curious as it was worrisome. I may have heard "That is your opinion, Lucien." but I can't be sure.

We were coming up to a waterfall which would perfectly mask a sudden increase in speed and allow us to catch him. I was perplexed by his behavior but I turned to signal my mer regardless. When I turned back the Argonian had vanished. Gone, into thin air. We searched in vain for hours but it was no use. Daylight revealed the trick: he back tracked on his own foot prints and simply dove over the edge of the path into the river. The steady but low roar of the coming waterfall all but nullified the tell tale splash of his exit. I had felt eyes upon me as we searched and it is likely he saw us. How upsetting.

29 Mid Year

We have returned to Whiterun. I have received a list of dates, times, and locations that confirm at least some of Verax's activities. After serious investigation I deemed it necessary to utilize every Imperial contact at my disposal to follow a unlikely possibility that had to be ruled out. At great cost I have obtained copies from what is left of the Penitus Oculatus on the assassination of Emperor Titus Mede II. I paid for them based on my own hunch and a series of unsettling coincidences.

What began as a simply routine check on dates has turned into something far more sinister. What I've found is nothing short of amazing, even historically important. In their ultimately unsuccessful bid to protect the Emperor the Oculatus battled the Dark Brotherhood quite literally across Skyrim. They burned out their sanctuary near Falkreath and supposedly killed the entire den of assassins. Obviously they failed and least another score of their agents along with the Oculatus commanding officer died in further violence. Most interesting however are the documents on the individual assassins themselves. While no living assassin has ever been captured and interrogated several have been spotted fleeing the scenes of their crimes. The reports mention not one but two Argonians in their employ. While this is not unusual (especially given the existence of the Shadowscales) in itself there is an interesting fact in the report on the Emperor's death. Though he was never apprehended and killed close to a dozen Oculatus agents single-handed the assassin who poisoned Titus Mede's double was most definitely Argonian. The interview with the terrified cook who unwittingly aided the assassin confirms it: the Argonian was male, he was Verax's height and had pale white scales. The assassin also escaped by quite literally jumping off the city walls to the waters some hundreds of yalms below Solitude.

This alone would be highly suspicious to any investigator. It is not as if Argonians are in short supply (though ones as pale as Verax are indeed uncommon) but it is too convenient. It seemed a high ranking Imperial had the same idea as Verax was questioned the very night of the assassination attempt. Already a well respected citizen by then he was still roused by the city guard from sleep in his own manor. An understandably livid Verax was questioned and vouched for by his housecarl as well as district guards as having not left the manor all night. The Jarl intervened on his behalf but he was never presented before witnesses. The cook, by the way, was found dead less than a week after the poisoning attempt.

As if this was not enough circumstantial evidence the crux of my reasoning is too rational to ignore. While I surmise that Verax had the audacity to return to his own manor undetected after the assassination attempt this is not my main argument. The report I mentioned earlier places him not once, not twice, but three times in the Solitude area around the times of high profile assassinations including the Emperor! If only I had access to his ledgers I could definitively place him in the city within days of said events.

Too many coincidences. Verax's presence, his night time preference (when all of his hits were made), his combat record against us and his uncanny infiltration skills all add up. There's even the jumping into water to avoid tracking technique he used albeit in a far grander fashion than in our encounter. I do not believe for a second his innocence in being "woken" from his sleep by the guard. He may have even gone straight home after evading the Oculatus.

I can hardly believe my own findings. There is no doubt in my mind Verax is not only a member of the Dark Brotherhood but an absolute master assassin. To send a single agent into the depths of a heavily guarded castle to poison an Emperor would be suicide for anyone else. Verax is either the head of the order itself or their very best operative. I've no doubt that if I were to cross examine the wounds on Titus Mede with the ones on our strike team in Riften they would be identical. Had there been any survivors from the attack on the Katariah they would have almost certainly told of a pale Argonian with a dagger whose curvature was unlike any other.

This explains the suspicious lack of information on him at the Thieves Guild and the unwillingness of his order to help. I am unlikely to receive the crucial information I seek from Riften as no doubt the rabble fears the servants of Sithis more than they desire my gold. I will write to the emissary right after this entry. This task may be beyond my current capabilities. At the very least I will require a larger task force.

2 Sun's Height

The Merchant's festival is in less than a week. There are no reports from my Nord spy about anything going on in Riverwood and I did not suspect there would be. We've tipped Verax off by failing to apprehend him and I don't expect the same trick to work twice. Perhaps with the extra merchant activity in Whiterun we will stumble onto a different avenue of attack.

3 Sun's Height

News from headquarters. I have received word that I am to lead a force of 20 (!) to combat this threat. In addition I am to hire mercenaries whenever my prey is located to minimize the chances of Thalmor casualties. My detailed report was apparently well received by his Lordship and he has expressed approval over my progress thus far. If Verax is as dangerous as I believe he is then the sooner and not the later we must catch him.

7 Sun's Height

With the help of my subordinates I am beginning to fathom a strategy for snaring my quarry. My agents will pose as weapons dealers interested in his stock. It will take several purchases (which may be recouped by resale in order to offset some of the costs of this operation) to gain his confidence. A large, false order will then be placed but requiring a face to face with the man himself in order to allay the 'buyers' fears. My contacts must either be completely clean or unaware of the machinations behind their purchases. Were I to use any Thalmor connected agents Verax would sniff them out in an instant.

30 Sun's Height

I have arranged for the first sale to take place. At the same time I have hired close to 40 mercenaries of various stripes who will be on call when needed. With a total force of over 60 to cover a widespread area I believe we have more than enough to subdue a single assassin no matter how talented he may be.

6 Last Seed

The first purchases have been made. Things have gone smoothly and the merchandise, I must say, is quality. The blades are not uniform in style however leading me to assume that he has multiple smithies in his employ, he collects the base items from fallen foes before improving them himself, or both.

16 Last Seed

Not much to report. The second order cannot be rushed so we have spent time gathering more information. We are still stymied at his seemingly random movements. Some interesting reports coming in that we'll have to sift through and verify the accuracy of.

29 Last Seed

Unsettling news. With a full team at my disposal we have uncovered two extremely important and equally unnerving facts about our friend.

Firstly, I have found that Verax's scales were not always pale but were once dark and gray. Reports from Riverwood (my now thoroughly obedient Nord contact there) indicate that when he escaped from the headsman's axe at Helgen he arrived with nothing but the clothes on his back and weapons taken from the dead. Several townsfolk clearly recall the dark, almost Dunmer like tint to his scales.

It was late 4E 201 when he began requiring deals to be made at night and seen in Thalmor robes. This coincides with an extended stay in the Morthal area (Side note: Verax is also Thane of Morthal and if memory serves the Jarl of Morthal was on the guest list at the embassy party. Connection?) which had been plagued with missing people, mysterious fires and chilling rumors of dark magic at work. In rides Verax to clean up the town's problem stemming from a vampire coven not a hundred yalms away. Verax personally led a angry mob bearing torches (no sarcasm, this truly happened) to attack the den and they succeeded in destroying vile creatures within. It is only after this time that Verax took to wearing heavy Thalmor robes and folk recall his newly whitened scales.

We have stumbled on a simple yet powerful truth: Verax was bitten during that raid and has lived as a vampire ever since. This presents a unique set of circumstances in dealing with him that will have to alter our plans. While a master vampire typically begins a coven somewhere underground Verax is not a typical case. He remains above ground, mingles with the high born of the Holds and frequently travels in the middle of day. No doubt much of this is to keep up his masquerade as a hero of Skyrim. Despite his wide variety of contacts he is rarely spotted in the company of others excepting regular but short trips to the Companion's hall in Whiterun. Other than his housecarls he has no known associates and if he is leading his own coven it has not ever been discovered. Interesting enough he has personally destroyed several more nests of his new brethren around Skyrim since the Morthal encounter. I believe this disassociation with his kind means that we will not have to deal with a flock of Verax's progeny guarding their sire.

While it can be problematic dealing with his kind it does provide a framework with which to work in. We must draw him out in the open as a he is too stealthy to be caught in the open (being a master of stealth and evasion twice over, by trade and nature). My battleground must be an open field with no cover or rivers nearby. It must be fenced in with rows of men to prevent escape. It must be day time. I must have ample flame.

This news unfortunately is rather incidental compared to the second bit of news. We have checked, double checked and triple checked statements to confirm their accuracy and all signs point to them being true. I believe Verax to be Dragonborn as reported mainly from Whiterun. It has since been confirmed in six of the nine holds where he has felled the dragons that have been plaguing Skyrim. Awed citizens and guards alike report (and confirm my suspicions) not only his skill but his acts of devouring of dragon souls.

Unlike previous discoveries of his character this is by far the most troubling. Descended from Akatosh himself Verax is responsible for more than a dozen confirmed kills of draconian brethren and likely many more out in the wilderness with no witnesses. I do not need to embellish the impact of this incredible discovery nor can I overstate the danger involved with tracking this individual.

It is possible we seek out the deadliest combatant in all of Skyrim, perhaps even all of Tamriel. His connection to the Blades is now painfully obvious as they have served the Septim line for centuries and been dragonslayers long before. It is no far stretch to believe they have learned of his bloodline and now seek to guide him towards their goals. I have written to my superior in this matter. My optimism regarding a swift end to this mission is gone. I am no longer sure we can prevail even with a small army to take down one man. I shudder to think of the casualties involved had we acted earlier without properly ascertaining our target's threat level. I am sure had we engaged him on that dark road in Riverwood I would not be alive to write this now.

I can only trust in my Thalmor brothers and sisters. I pray his Lordship makes the correct decision about this mission.

3 Hearthfire

Today is the day of Tales and Tallows. It is an old necromancy holiday and thus has the common rabble locked inside their homes. I hope it is not an ill omen that today a letter arrived from the Embassy. I have received grim confirmation to continue my schemes. Verax must be stopped even if we are to lay down our lives. I have informed the troops and their reaction was as mine. We have come too far to back down like cowardly Men. Thalmor supremacy must come to Tamriel no matter the cost.

I pray not for my own safety but for success. Even if none of us remain to tell of it Verax's death or capture is for the sake of all. We dare not fail them, we dare not falter.