Slayer Gothic 2 - Dawnguard
Part 4
The trip back to Fort Dawnguard had gone without any sort of problems, much to everyone's surprise as there were no shortage of bandits and monsters around, and I had entered Fort Dawnguard while very much looking forward to cleaning up and rest after my latest mission. Thankfully Isran had granted us some time to get some sleep before the Moth Priest took a look at the Elder Scroll. There had not been away of telling when a warm bed would be available to me again so I'd taken the chance to get a solid eight hours of sleep while I could. As a Slayer could function on as little as four hours sleep a night, but I was more worn out than normal.
While at the fort Serana stayed close to me as much as possible, as clearly she didn't trust Isran nor the rest of the Dawnguard for that matter. In turn they avoided her at all cost. A few of them even acted as she wasn't even there.
That had made it tricky to fall asleep, as she been in the room with me, but I had somehow managed to close my eyes while a vampire was in the room.
Now I was in Irsan's study, standing around while waiting for the Moth Priest to do this thing
"I'm impressed you could find a Moth Priest so quickly" the leader of the Dawnguard said, while only looking at me.
Isran had a strange way of making people feel as though they were being reprimanded when he was actually complimenting them.
"Is everything ready?" I asked.
Isran nodded.
"For the reading? Yes" he told me "Just let the old man know when you're ready."
I looked over at Dexion who smiled at me as he finished mentally preparing himself to read the scroll.
"Did these guys treat you okay?" I asked.
Dexion's smile became less cheery.
"It's not exactly the hospitality I'm used to" he told me "but your friend Isran has seen to my needs well enough. And might I add, this is a remarkable fortress. I have colleagues back home that would love to study this place in detail".
Since I wasn't planning on staying any longer in this reality than I needed I wasn't going to concern myself with the Dawnguard's future any more than I had to. So if someone got around to studying this place or not, was none of my business.
"Are you prepared to read the scroll?" I asked.
His smile let me know he was before he said anything
"Oh, most certainly!" the old man answered "Let me find out what secrets the scroll can tell us"
Serana reached out and handed Dexion the Elder Scroll. Dexion held the scroll at arms length and glanced around the room. Somehow he knew how many people were here, despite being blind, because he looked directly at each of us. I knew he was blind due to having read an Elder Scroll before so I had to wonder how he would handle reading another. It would cost him something of that I was sure.
"If everyone could please be quiet." Dexion requested, "I need to concentrate".
He unrolled the scroll and began describing what he saw.
"I see a vision before me, an image of a great bow. I know this weapon!" Dexion exclaimed. "It is Auriel's Bow!
With a glance Serana indicated to me she too knew about the bow. I also did, but since I wasn't surprised to hear it mentioned in the scroll I didn't react.
"Now a voice whispers, saying 'Among the night's children, a dread lord will rise'" Dexion said, his voice rather chilling.
There was no mistaking what that meant or whom the scroll was talking about
"In an age of strife, when the dragons return to the realm of men, darkness will mingle with light and the night will be as one" the priest then said.
The dragon part made it clear that Harkon was going to act soon as this was an age of dragons, however we still didn't know what his plan was. Even I only knew that it involved using a magic bow that would somehow blot out the sun.
"The voice fades and it's words begin to… shimmer and distort" Dexion whispered.
By the sounds of things he was straining to hear whatever it was the scroll was telling him.
"But wait, there is more here" he then said. "The secret of the bow's power is written elsewhere. I think there is more to the prophecy recorded in another scroll".
Dexion paused for a moment.
"Yes, I see it now. It speaks of the potency of ancient blood" Dexion informed us.
He wasn't done just yet.
"My vision darkens," he was now saying "And I see no more".
He sounded as if he was sad that the reading had ended.
"To know the complete prophecy, we must have the other scroll" we were then told.
That was when I noticed that reading the scroll already seemed to have taxed the priest.
"I must rest now. The reading has made me weary" Dexion said with a sigh.
At least we had an idea of what to do next. Although I had no idea where to look for an Elder Scroll.
"Come on old man, let's get you to bed" Isran said, surprisingly kindness .
As the Dawnguard leader lead the priest out of the room, I turned to look at Serana.
"Something on your mind?" I asked.
She nodded
"Dexion said we needed another Elder Scrolls. I think I know where we can start looking." Serana said.
I was glad to her that, but also a little confused.
"Why didn't you say something earlier?" I wondered.
I soon got an answer.
"Half the people in this fortress would just soon kill me as talk to me" she pointed out "and you didn't invite me into your bed last night. I did everything short of throw myself at you".
I was speechless.
"You know I've been without company for centuries" the vampire was now saying.
She sighed before speaking again.
"I've gotten more affection from my father, than anyone else since I woke up, and that's saying something" she then said.
Sensing an opportunity to direct the conversation away from matters of sex I grasped it.
"What is it between you two?" I enquired "I get that you don't like your father, and he's not exactly friendly, but I think there's more going on between you".
My own father than been absent for almost my entire life, but I knew enough about the relationships between parents and children to know that Harkon was not going to get a Number One Dad mug anytime soon.
"Ever since he decided to make that prophecy his calling in life, we have kind of drifted apart." Serana said "I don't think he even sees me as his daughter anymore. I'm just a means to an end for him".
I was now having sympathetic feelings towards. I didn't like it. I would have cleanse myself of this weakness by killing some monsters.
"Anyways, we need to find my mother, Valerica" the female vampire was now saying "She'll definitely know where it is. And if we're lucky, she'll have it with her".
I now had a question.
"Do you know where your mother went?" I asked.
Serana seemed unsure.
"The last time I saw her, she said that she'd go somewhere safe… somewhere that my father would never search. Other than that, she wouldn't tell me anything" she reported "But the way she said it 'someplace he would never search', It was cryptic, yet I think it was a clue".
She then went on to say more.
"But I can't imagine a single place that my father would avoid looking" Serana said with a shrug.
A smile crossed my face when I figured it out. I only vague memories of the DLC, but it was enough.
"She's at your father's castle" I told the vampire "Hiding right under his nose. He'd never both looking in his own house".
Serana's eyes widened
"There's a courtyard in the castle. I used to help her tend the garden there. All the ingredients for our potions came from there. She used to say that my father couldn't stand the place" the vamp said "I don't think she's there, but she might have left a trail for me to follow".
We had no where else to look, and I knew that existence had a sense of humour so it wouldn't surprise me in the Elder Scroll we sought was buried somewhere in that garden.
"They aren't going to let me walk in through the front door" I pointed out "Not that I would be stupid enough to try".
Serana snorted
"True" she agreed "But I know a way we can get to the courtyard without causing an alarm".
I had the horrible idea that she planned to fly straight up and then dive into the courtyard from a great height. That way any guards on the wall wouldn't see anything. The idea alone scared the shit out of me.
"No flying" I insisted.
Serana laughed.
"No, there's an unused inlet on the northern side of the island that was used by the previous owners to bring supplies into the castle. An old escape tunnel from the castle exits out there. I think that's our way in".
Sneaking into places was something I could do.
"I'll need to gather a few things and then we'll be off" I decided as we made our way back to the room I'd slept in last night "Hold on we don't have to swim, do we?"
The vampire was amused.
"Yes we will" she told me.
I could swim, but I really didn't want to as the water in Skyrim was freezing cold. In fact a lot of it was ice. I was going to have be careful when I swam. I would need something water proof to stash my armour in, and a way to prevent frostbite. The locals should have ways to deal with such things.
(Line Break)
Harkon's Castle.
I gingerly moved into the water and grimaced as the cold penetrated my skin. From behind me I heard Serana giggle, she found my discomfort to amusing for some reason, and make thing worse she wasn't effected by the cold.
When we got out of the water I saw a few roaming skeletons, some sort of guard, but they weren't very effective so I figured they'd been placed here a while ago, and then forgotten about. Serana dispatched them quickly and reanimated them before I'd finished drying myself off.
"Nicely done" I praised.
I then quickly took my armour out of the bag and put it back on. Serena disapproved of this judging by her expression, she clearly been without sex for a good long while if a nearly naked half frozen man was a thrill to look at.
Not long after we got inside the castle I heard a guttural growl echoed through the tunnel, and soon a vampire leaped out at us. The vampire had a mace which it used to shatter the skeletons in short order.
Then it came after us. Serana moved quickly to one side, dodging a lunging attack. She continued to dance around the vampire's attacks until she saw an opening. Then she drove a knife, that she'd picked up somewhere along the way, into the vampire's heart. Unlike a living being, the vampire did not bleed, only dissipating into ash.
"I thought we came this way so we wouldn't trip any alarms" I said.
Senera smirked.
"Trust me if my father knew we were here we'd already have been captured" she said.
Rather than exchange any more words the two of us continued to creep through the cobweb filled hallways and along the way we dispatched numerous zombies and skeleton guardians.
Finally, we came upon a barren courtyard, and I noticed how disheartened Serana looked at this discovery.
"Oh no…" she said quietly "What happened to this place?".
It had been neglected for some time judging by the state of the place.
Serana stared silently, unable to say or do anything. I guess that this place had really set into perspective just how long she had been gone.
"This was my mother's garden" the vamp said "She would have hated to see it like this,"
What had my attention was the massive sundial that was set in the stone floor. It was a little tarnished and some of the hour markers were missing. As I looked at the hour markers more closely, I could see each of them reflected the waning and waxing of the moon. Which made sense as vampires didn't like sunlight, so a normal sundial would be useless to them.
"Something's wrong with the moon dial" my vampire ally said "Some of the crests are missing and the dial is askew. I didn't even know the crests could be removed".
Serana stared at it a moment, and I could tell that she was deep in thought.
"Maybe my mother's trying to tell us something?" Serana mused.
What that could be I didn't have a clue.
"Let's start by finding the pieces" I suggested "then we can try solving the puzzle".
Serana looked at me and nodded, before she started looking around.
It didn't take us long to find the pieces and once all of them were placed, Serana began twisting them in place. Finally something stirred. The moon dial began to move on its axis and stairs were revealed.
"A passageway. I should have expected nothing less," Serana said, while shaking her head in amusement.
Quickly we made our way down the stairs and soon we ended up moving through what remained of a dining hall filled with gargoyles and skeletons. The skeletons were all sitting at the table. Only they didn't remain sitting for long.
Thankfully I was a Vampire Slayer, which meant beating up the undead was kind of my thing, as such I had no trouble breaking the skeletons apart with my bare hands. I made things easier for myself by picking up a mace that one of the skeleton's had been carrying. My sword wasn't the best weapons against these creatures, as it was hard to shatter skulls with a kananta, and while I had an ebony war-axe in my pouch there had been no time to grab it.
Next some gargoyles joined in with the fun. Serana's ranged magic dealt with them easily enough. When her mana started running low I finished the gargoyles off by hitting in the head with my nice new spiky mace, which was also made of ebony.
After dealing with few more pesky skeletons we found another smaller dining hall, as well as more gargoyles, and I was left wondering why this castle had so many dining rooms, but then I realised the servants, guards and nobility might have eaten separately.
After entering through a raised and rusted iron gate, we found the ruins of what I would call a church. At the heart of it was a broken statue. This was an odd thing to find in a castle full of vampires as holy places made them uncomfortable. Then I remember that Senera's family hadn't always been vampires and they hadn't always worshipped Molag Bal, at some point in the distant past they would have worshipped the Divines like most other people did.
"Hold on was this a temple to Mara?" I asked.
Serana looked around the room and nodded but said nothing on the topic. Not that she really needed to as the symbol of that goddess could be seen on the altar. I'd played Skyrim enough to know it when I saw it.
"There should be a switch somewhere" the vampire then told me.
I walked around the room, and soon found the switch, which I used to open up another hidden passage, this place seemed to have as many Hogwarts, in fact given how large this hidden part of the castle was it shouldn't have gone unnoticed by the people living in it, so I wouldn't be surprised if magic had been used to hide it.
The room that lay inside was some sort alchemist's lab. At the centre of the room was a metal device similar to the moon dial from the courtyard only much larger.
"Look at this place" the vamp on my side in wonder "This has to be it! I know she was deep into necromancy but I had no idea she had a setup like this!"
Serana was marvelling at the room, which was filled with alchemy supplies both common and rare if I was any judge. Also there were also bookshelves along one of the corner walls that were completely filled with musty books. If either Giles or Wesley were here they would have to dragged out of this room while kicking and screaming.
What interested me was the mammoth skull that was mounted on one of the walls, it was bigger than the doors so I wondered how it had gotten into the room. I also wondered what had happened to the rest of skeleton. Then I decided that I really didn't want to know.
When I turned to look at Serana I found that she was looking over the alchemy lab as well as the stocked shelves
"Look at all this," she said, sounding completely blown away "the potions I could make".
She then looked down at the circular design at the centre of the room.
"And what's this thing?" she asked herself "I'm not sure about this circle, but it's…something."
Then she faced me.
"Let's look around. There has to be something here that tells us where she's gone," Serana said, "My mother was meticulous about her research. If we can find her notes, there might be something that can tell where she has gone".
I figured this could take a while as there were a lot of papers to go through, and I found myself wishing that Giles and/or Wesley were here after all.
(Line Break)
"Gothic come see what I found" Serena requested.
I went over to the vampire and saw that she had found a collection of notes.
"My mother has gone to the Soul Cairn," Serana said ominously.
I'd heard of that place, at least the name, but I couldn't recall anything about it.
"What is the Soul Cairn?" I asked the vamp.
Rather than answer right away she reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out an empty soul gem, which she then held it out for me to look at.
"This is soul gem" she said "I assume you know what they are for".
I nodded to confirm that I did.
"Ever wonder where the souls inside these go after they're used?" Serana enquired.
Truthfully I hadn't spent much time thinking about such things. While playing the game I'd just assumed the soul was either used to power the enchanted or that it went to the afterlife.
"I've never used one" I said.
At least not a real one. Capturing and storing someone's soul in a game was one thing, but in real life the idea of doing such a thing made me feel a bit ill.
"I don't blame you" she replied before getting back to the matter at hand "When a soul gem is used to enchant something the soul is transferred to the Soul Carin and in exchange you get an enchanted object".
I had not known this, and it was unsettling to hear. I had soul gems in my bag, I'd looted them, but that was actually okay because they were just pretty rocks unless you knew the Soul Trap spell. Which no one in Sunnydale did, thankfully.
"So your mother went to the place that souls go to when someone uses a soul gem" I summarised "but she went there physically".
Serana nodded
"Now we need to gather some ingredients" the vamp went on to say "It appears my mother was able to create a portal to the Soul Cairn. I should have foreseen this, she was also so obsessed with the place"
She paused for a moment and grimaced.
"From what I understand, the Soul Cairn is a terrible place" she was now saying "My mother went there to escape my father and to protect me. Gothic, I can't ask you to follow me there".
I didn't see the big deal.
"I've been to places my people would call Hell" I told her "and I came back again. Its kinda my job".
Besides how bad could the Soul Cairn be?