Initiation Complete:
It appears that in return for the troubles that ailed us these past few days and weeks, the divines saw fit to offer us swift passage back to the Throat of the World. Where once we were as unaware as the rest of the residents of Skyrim of the shortcut between Riverwood and Ivarstead, Delphine was kind enough to inform us of its location after listening to her. While the shortcut was underground and in no way fit for commercial travel, it sufficed for our purposes, and we shaved off what very likely would've been another week's detour around the base of the mountain. After we completed the rest of the march aside from the cave shortcut, Baldur informed us that he'd like us to stay behind in Ivarstead while he was delivered the horn. It was an odd request, but once he enlightened us to the fact the Greybeard's initiation ritual involved them speaking to them with none of their power held back, we agreed with the wisdom of his recommendation. I much prefer having all my limbs intact, thank you very much.
If the slight reprieve from constant travel wasn't a chance for the two of us to rest and relax, it at least bought me enough time to digest what I thought of the ancient orders we'd been encountering. Granted, I only began writing down my thoughts after the Greybeards' deafening initiation of Baldur was completed earlier this afternoon, but I digress. Both the Blades and the Greybeards, while diametrically opposed in terms of how they handle conflict – one with prayer, the other with armed conflict and espionage – both possessed their merits in how they assisted Baldur, and by extension all of us, on our journey.
The Greybeards have offered Baldur wisdom and words of power to help him hone his divine gift but exhibit the same isolationist attitude Vyrthur does. Though they find it their duty to guide and train the Dragonborn, they'd sooner die than take direct involvement in the dragon crisis. Granted, it's against their religious beliefs to use their Thu'um in anything but self-defense, but they don't seem to even have a care in the world regarding the prospect of everything they know being destroyed.
In some ways, Delphine doesn't fare much better in morality. All three of us understand that Delphine, for all her desire to help Baldur end the dragon threat, finds the conflict as more of a conveniently newfound purpose for her than anything. She'll likely end up trying to make our party as obsessed with dragon hunting as she is in a bid to consolidate the power of the Blades through powerful allies, for whatever good that does her order of one remaining member. Baldur even went so far as to say she'd leap out of this whole mess without a second thought if the Empire repealed the disbandment of her organization. Given her secretiveness and her order's history of espionage, the three of us are inclined to believe she's hardly the paragon she makes herself out to have become since the dragons started showing up. Nevertheless, she provides the best chance at finding a way to stop the threat for good, which is more than the Greybeards can say, devout consultants and trainers of the Dragonborn or not. In the end, the allegiance of the Dragonborn lays with Baldur himself, and time will tell where it lands.
If I had to guess though, I think he leans more in favor of the Greybeards. His affinity for them is much more than the surface-level gifts of power they've bestowed upon him, nor the wisdom they impart concerning his destiny being tied in battle with Alduin. The Greybeards respect him as a man, haven't a single chance of caring about the life he once led, and show just as little likelihood of using him a pawn in their non-existent political games. Delphine on the other hand is too much of a wild card, too likely to try and end up using us, for him to consider her a true ally. Temporary partner, sure, but ally? Never. Baldur himself said that even with the knowledge of her past we have, so much remains shrouded in mystery that there's a high likelihood she only meticulously crafted her story to earn sympathy. It wouldn't be the first time he'd encountered someone with a silver tongue in his life.
But again, she's our best chance in rooting out a solution, so we must at the very least remain on neutral ground with her; which, come to think of it, might be harder to maintain than I'd have once thought.
The three of us had a brief exchange concerning the unseen leader of the Greybeards – Paarthurnax. Even a commoner without the slightest hint of understanding of dragons could tell you that's not a Nord's name, nor a name you'd find among any of the mortal races of Tamriel. Given that dragons seemingly are unable to die permanently unless a Dragonborn is involved, it followed that Paarthurnax is a dragon member of the Greybeards. His name, and the histories in Winterhold's library both imply that Paarthurnax was once the lieutenant of Alduin himself, though he did end up obeying the divines' order to teach mankind how to use the Thu'um and rid themselves of their dragon masters. Given that Delphine is committed to hunting down all dragons, it follows that she'd be none too quick to request us to hunt down the ancient dragon personally if she were to find out he still yet lived. With this sound theory in hand, we resolved not to inform Delphine of our ideas concerning the leader of the monks. The only problem is, given the Blades' prior status as dragon hunters, there's a high likelihood that she already knows that he survived, or at the very least his body was never found. Only time itself will tell if she's aware and willing to act on that knowledge or not, not any of our group.
Once Baldur returns from High Hrothgar in what I assume will be a day's time, we'll be off to Solitude once again. Our well-justified concerns about Delphine are something that we can certainly keep from showing long enough to have her help us on our quest, not that we have much choice in the matter. We earn Delphine's scorn, and we lose our best chance at attaining a lead on the Thalmor's potential involvement with the dragons' return.
Casting aside my concerns about Delphine though, there's at least one positive I've been able to take from my day spent walking and scribing my thoughts down. Ivarstead being the farming town it is has no shortage of foodstuffs to offer, and as such I made the most of what coin Balgruuf bestowed upon us a while ago. I managed to collect a fine assortment of wines, breads, and even some cheeses during my short shopping spree in the market stalls, and if nothing else I'll be able to spend the rest of the evening quietly enjoying Glorel's company. Now all that's left to do is figure out how to invite her on an outing without having her tear out my throat for waking her up. I'm sure I'll come up with something.
Diplomatic Immunity:
Even with the weather firmly on our side and the wind at our backs, we made impressive time to Solitude, all things considered. What should've taken along the lines of a week and a half – even with the fair weather – we shaved down to a simple four days' journey from the slopes of the Throat of the World to Solitude's most popular inn, and for that I'm grateful. I'm also grateful that our mission, while not entirely as successful as we would've hoped, bore considerable fruit in terms of a possible lead for us to follow.
When we arrived in the inn Delphine instructed us to meet her at, it couldn't have been more than a minute before she found us among the crowd. Not that spotting a Mer with snow white skin is a particularly challenging task, but still, her choosing to endure the rowdy Nords' drunken stupor to make sure she'd notice our arrival, instead of joining in herself to drown out the noise, was a testament to her duty if nothing else. As was expected, Glorel and I were told to hang back and trail behind Baldur when he proceeded on his undercover mission to the Thalmor Embassy, seeing as we're both considered active enemies of the Thalmor because of Ancano's meddling. I don't think I'll ever figure out for certain how Delphine created a forgery capable of passing by Thalmor security, but I have a few ideas given her spy background.
After Baldur was done passing off his gear to a Bosmer inside-agent of Delphine's, as well as after he was done sassing us about our past encounters with the Thalmor not being very covert, he was carted off in a noble's wagon while we trailed behind a respectable distance on foot. I will admit, I wasn't as concerned with the potential conflict with the Thalmor as I was relieved that Delphine was going to wait for us back in Riverwood. The less time I need to spend with her analytical gaze on me, the better. I left the Chantry in part to escape that sort of thing, not endure it with another person's pair of eyes.
In the few short hours that followed, though Baldur didn't give us specifics beyond needing to kiss up to nobles and quietly kill a few Thalmor, he did end up retrieving whatever information the Embassy contained concerning the dragons. It was underwhelming, to say the least, though interesting reading all the same. The Thalmor are as dumbfounded concerning the dragons as the rest of Skyrim, so much so that they're unaware that the dragon that attacked Helgen was indeed Alduin himself. What was interesting – though unsurprising – was the fact the organization planned on not helping to end the crisis, but to keep as far out of the issue as possible. In their eyes, even if the dragons attacked them, the damage they'd have already done to the Empire's forces here would only serve to weaken the Empire more than it would them. Given the likelihood that the Aldmeri Dominion plans on destroying the Empire wholesale someday, it isn't a surprise they're all to eager to sit back and watch the province burn.
Other than that small dossier on the dragons, Baldur did manage to find some documents of a member of the Blades called Esbern. By the contents of the dossier, the Thalmor are convinced that either he – due to his knowledge of dragonlore – or the Blades at large are responsible for the reemergence of the dragons. Granted, we already know the Blades have nothing to do with the crisis, but the fact the Thalmor seem convinced he's privy to knowledge no one else possesses is enough for us to take their suspicions to heart. Whether or not Esbern is the man the Thalmor believe he is regarding having useful information about the dragons' return remains to be seen though. With any luck, we'll be finished with wandering aimlessly around for a solution to the crisis when we find him, or at least soon after.
As much as I'm sure Delphine would like us to report back to her as quickly as possible, the Thalmor have likely already deployed a force to hunt down Esbern, and we can't afford to stop in Riverwood if we want to reach him before they do. If nothing else, rescuing him will earn us one more ally (as well as more of Delphine's trust) and another person who appreciates lore the way I do. Skyrim's mages may call me a hero first and foremost, but there's a reason my family name is Lorebinder, and I intend to honor our family's dedication to knowledge. Granted, our primary objective is to find Esbern to solve the dragon crisis, but the potential to save ancient knowledge is certainly a bonus to me. Until then, we have a lot of ground to cover and very little time to find Esbern before the Thalmor do.
Authors Note: As with many of Bethesda's design decisions, I found the need to report back to Delphine about the dossier a bit redundant. Does the player character not know how to read? Come on Bethesda, anyone in the Dragonborn's situation would be able to put two and two together about Esbern, right? Anywho, don't worry, Sindri and Glorel's time in the sun will return in due time. Just gotta… finish crawling through the slog that is the first and second arc of the main quest… oh boy.