Journal of Ruby Rose, Huntress

4E 201, 6th of Hearthfire (Hearthfire's like September or something here)

So, the Greybeards say writing things down could be good for me and my focus. Unfortunately, Weiss had all of the pencils and pens, so I'm doing this with a quill. At least the paper's pretty good.

Well, I've been thinking about what to write down. The whole situation is crazy. We're stuck in another world. Magic is everywhere. There are actual dragons flying around reeking wrecking making a mess of things. And now I'm destined to fight their overlord, Alduin. Argneir says he's the Nordic God of Destruction. I don't know how they expect me to fight a god, but I'm hoping that's just his way of exaggerating and Alduin is just a really tough dragon. Actually, that's still pretty scary. I've only fought two dragons, and one of them said that he was weak compared to others when we beat him, and I know for a fact that he could have stomped just about any Grimm I've ever come up against. Even that Giant Nevermore from initiation wasmostly difficult because it was airborne.

4E 201, 7th of Hearthfire

Well, meditating has helped me figure out some stuff. Apparently the dragons were sort of ranked and/or divided into types. They didn't really care about the different types themselves, but it helped their human servants to tell apart which dragons were bigger bosses than others.

So the weakest are 'Brown' Dragons, but that doesn't mean they're always that color. It's supposed to have something to do with closeness to the ground, but Mirmulnir's memories on it are fuzzy for me. Just trying to think about it gives me a headache. These guys shouldn't be a problem for me and my team, but to everyday people they're still dangerous.

Blood Dragons are just above them. Paalduzaam was a Blood Dragon. Apparently they get this name because they tend to be bloodier than other dragons, usually getting injured by stuff that wouldn't hurt the tougher kind and that browns would just avoid.

There are some other groups I can't remember, but Mirmulnir was known as an Ancient Dragon, way above a Blood Dragon. Weirdly, I know it doesn't have to do with age, but I don't know why. I know they aren't the most powerful, but they're just at the start of the groups that can take on whole armies and come out with just a few wounds. I knowthere's at least two ranks above Ancient, but I can't remember what they're called. I just know that there are some dragons who could have easily beaten Mirmulnir as he would be able to beat Paalduzaam.


Journal of Weiss Schnee,

12th of Hearthfire 4E 201

My studies into the arcane go well, but I have not neglected my training with my Semblance or my sword skills since I've arrived here at the College of Winterhold. Some people do find it odd that I would practice such a skill while learning magic, but those people are halfwits who won't be able to defend themselves the moment an enemy resistant to magic charges them head first.

While I've tried researching a cure for my vampiric condition, all I've found so far are cures for other conditions. It appears that nearly every strain of vampirism requires a different cure, though there are rumors of there being a place in Cyrodiil that can cure any form of the affliction, but, as these are just second-hand written descriptions of very old rumors, I'm not putting much trust in them.

I have noted several interesting things about my newfound biology, though. Most things don't pain me much, even being wholly penetrated by a piece of wood or a blade only stings. Having my leg impaled just before the witch hunt my teammates and I went on only stung about as much as when I was cut across my eye. Fire, however, has only become more painful. I think I've started to develop a phobia of it.

Of course, there's the problem with sunlight. It doesn't necessarily hurt me, but what would have once seemed an enjoyable sunny day has become blindingly bright and sunbaked. And it does affect me, as being in sunlight slows my ability to regenerate Aura and magicka alike. It's also exhausting, and now I'm afraid that whatever the sun used to do to my skin will be nothing compared to a sunburn I'll get as a vampire.

Biologically, everything appears normal. My heart beats, I bleed when I'm cut, and I still digest food. I never feel actual hunger though, and eat more out of habit than anything. It seems my body just processes it all thoroughly. All I really crave now is blood, but I am more than satisfied with just two liters every week. On that note, it appears that the blood does not necessarily need to be man, mer, or beast-folk. Animal blood, while not as filling, provides me the necessary sustenance. The faculty here has been most accommodating in that matter. On a side note, Brelyna now knows about my condition. I explained how it happened after her experiment and my eyes shifted colors. She took it with gusto, surprisingly, and even offered to provide blood without me asking to. She's a good friend, I should get her something.

Among other things, I've discovered that I'm still fertile, of which I will not go into detail on how I know. At the very least, there seems to be a precedent of vampiric parents, though not very much. While at least I can have an heir, there really isn't much need as it's universally agreed upon that vampires are immortal and unaging, which is annoying in itself as I looked forward to gaining my last few inches into adulthood. I also don't know if having a child is a good idea at all for me as there isn't any written indication on what the child of a vampire is like. I only found three examples of vampires having children, one about a mother who then drained her newborn, one about a pair of vampires whose house was then burnt down taking them and their unborn child, and something about a vampire who was once a lord whose mistress fled him with their love-child. The last one seems to be indicative of another tale, but the library doesn't have that particular book anymore, apparently stolen by some wayward students.

At the very least, it's not all bad, though I am a little unsure of these shrinking returns that certainly mark this as a curse. Hopefully I'll be able to dig up a cure soon, but until then I'll work on reaching a level of magical aptitude where transporting us home becomes not only feasible, but inevitable.


Experience with Giants

In traveling I've run across a fair amount of wildlife and seen a lot of different peoples and cultures. Ranging from the Khajiit of both Anequina and Pelletine, to the Dunmer of Morrowind. I've seen trolls of every kind you could imagine, big cats of every environment, giant worms digging through sand for locomotion, and the odd life cycle of kwama. I have met people as varied as the creatures they live alongside and against, but one of the oddest cases I ever came across was that of the Giants.

Living almost exclusively in Skyrim, Giants are said to have come from Atmora alongside the ancestors of the Nordic peoples. In fact, many ancient historical accounts tell of Giants being a part of Skyrim's armies, battling alongside Men against the armies of the Falmer and Ayleid. Yet, from what I've seen, Giants live segregated from the Nords, out in primitive nomadic clans rather than in towns or settlements. I asked what would have caused this sort of change at nearly every level, but lord and peasant alike seemed to not only not know, but didn't seem to understand why I would ask.

Then I came across something terrible. A group of mages were hunting Giants and their mammoths, collecting mammoth hides, meat, and bones while using pieces of the Giants for alchemy. They had an assortment of traps and magical setups that would fell the beings once led into their grasp. Thanks to my experience in crafting translation amulets, I was able to quickly make another one specifically for Giantspeech and assisted a clan tribe known as The Broken Limb, who were being harried by these rogues. I was able to counter the magics, while they easily smashed them, quite literally in most cases. After that I was accepted as a 'Friend of Jo'Tunn', which is quite similar to being known as Bloodkin to Orsimer. I may have also inadvertently taught a few Giantesses how to more properly use healing magic, as their best healer was frightfully amateur.

Despite my best efforts though, I cannot grasp why the Nords seem so complacent about the Giants' lot in their world. These are their historical kin, perhaps closer to them than the Minotaurs are to the Cyrods, and they hadn't had the sort of conflict those groups had in times past. Even the Forsworn primitives, who would only ever benefit from an alliance with the Jo'Tunn, look to them more as competition and a source of sacrifices.

Perhaps when I return from my trip to Solstheim I will have time to better look into the situation, and maybe even get the Pigmole University to assist in rectifying it. At the very least, the Giants could make use of basic sanitation, metallurgy, and agricultural methods to improve their livelihoods. They already know some form of 'green' Alteration magic to assist plants in growing, discovered by their own efforts. Who knows what their fresh perspective could add to the world. The only comparison we have is the architectural ingenuity of Mulukrin, otherwise known as goblins, and anyone who's been the target of 'the goblin-hall prank' knows how much a difference they made there.

Jesse Kay, the Heavy Scribe