(AN: Yay reviews, and in case you don't know, he will be back shortly.)

(First off, about Eorlund. He doesn't admit that he's one of the Companions, just that he works for them. Secondly, Eirik respects Adrianne because she was the first one who taught him smithing. So he respects her, which is why he went to her first. As far as the blade upgrade, yes, that is from the unofficial patch and he goes along with it because there are more pressing matters on his mind. Also, I kind of suggested that it would be reforged as such. Don't worry, Mjoll will say something about it.)

(Vex stabbed Eirik because, for a bit, I feel like he's been getting off too easily. He needs more dire straits, more life-or-death situations. Maybe that's just from me watching Doctor Who, where every episode has everyone in risk for their lives. I need that more often. As far as the Thalmor go, I ask you this: does the Empire know or not know of their actions and if they do know, why aren't they doing anything about it? Is it because, as you yourself said Cyrus, Skyrim is just a big block of ice which depends on Cyrodiil for resources, so they don't give anything to Cyrodiil and therefore wouldn't be as much of a loss? But if that's the case, why even bring the Imperial Legion in?)

(I'm gonna start reading some of HP Lovecraft's works, because when I first came here, I got a distinct Lovecraftian impression from the atmosphere and what was going on in Solstheim. Yay, Lovecraft!)

Raven Rock

It had been on the eve of the twenty-eighth of Heartfire when Eirik and Mjoll boarded the Northern Maiden, bound from Windhelm to Raven Rock on the island of Solstheim. Eirik spent most of his time huddled in a corner of the huge drekkar, as he was still recovering. Of course, this gave him plenty of time to hear of Mjoll's many adventures in Morrowind. While she had not been to Solstheim proper, she had been to the surrounding lands and knew, from rumor, little of what awaited them on the isle. The population consisted mostly of Dunmer, the dark elves, with Nordic presence being negligible at best. She told him of encounters with a secluded group of shamans called the Skaal, who were Nords living on Morrowind proper. But she knew not if any of them were to be found on the island. Then, of course, there was Red Mountain, or Dagoth Ur in the Dunmer tongue, the great volcano in the center of the island of Vvardenfell, which sat in the center of Morrowind. Legends spoke that it was formed out of the heart of Lorkhan, the aedra who made the world Nirn. Near the beginning of the Fourth Era it erupted and, as Mjoll told Eirik, it was in a state of constant eruption ever since she first crossed the mountains of Skyrim and beheld that gray, bleak land beyond. But mostly she spoke of the creatures that inhabited Morrowind, such things as he had never seen in his entire life.

At last, after two days at sea, the Northern Maiden passed on into a sea of smoke. The captain, Gjalund Salt-Sage, told them that this meant they were nearing the southern coast of Solstheim, which was shrouded in a giant ash-cloud from Vvardenfell. This they could see from the ship like a great cloud that, far in the south, was still high in the sky. Near at hand, it was like a giant cloud that nestled upon the water's edge. The captain told them that the cold winds from the farthest north cooled most of the ash, but it would still be hot and stuffy in Raven Rock, the port-town on the eastern corner of the island.

With torches lit, the ship passed through the clouds and arrived at the bay where Raven Rock was located. By this time, Eirik was well enough to be up and about on his feet and he saw this new land for the first time. It was dull and gray, covered in a thick layer of gray-white ash. The air was filled with ash, like a snowfall in winter, but it was warm and not cold and Eirik coughed as he breathed in the hot ash. The sun, which was bright and clear, sometimes overcast, in the skies of Skyrim, was hidden under the clouds of ash, giving the illusion of an almost eternal dusk. From where their ship was, they could see a town on the edge of the bay, covered in ash.

"Well, here we are," captain Gjalund said to Mjoll and Eirik. "Can't say I'm glad to be back here. Maybe you can find out what's troubling the people here."

Eirik nodded. He had remembered Mjoll and the captain getting into a very heated argument when they first arrived. He was resolute on refusing to set sail for Solstheim and it took everything they had to convince him to sail. That wasn't exactly the best situation, not with angry glares from the yellow-green eyes of the Argonians on the dock exchange at Windhelm. It was common knowledge that the Argonians, reptilian humanoids from the Black Marsh far in the south-east of Tamriel, were looked upon with contempt by many of the Nords of Skyrim. Ever close and secretive, they were an easy target for those who saw outsiders as threats to the Nordic way of life. As such, those Argonians in Windhelm lived in the Assemblage on the dock exchange. Eirik, for one, kept his distance from them, because they weren't exactly friendly to him, regardless of what he thought of them. There would be few Argonians in Solstheim, though. They had taken Morrowind from the Dunmer earlier in the Fourth Era, causing very strong racial prejudices between the Dunmer, displaced from their homes by the eruption of Vvardenfell, and the aggressive Argonians who had taken their ancient homeland from them as well.

The Northern Maiden settled in at the docks, and Gjalund sent his crew to securing the ship. While they were preparing to leave, a Dunmer in fine red clothing boarded the ship. When he saw Eirik, his red eyes squinted with suspicion.

"I don't recognize you, Nord," he said, speaking in an upper-class voice of authority. "So I assume this is your first visit to Raven Rock, outlander. State your intentions!"

"I'm looking for someone called Miraak," Eirik said. "Have you heard of him?"

For a moment, the Dunmer's v-shaped brow was twisted in thought. He spoke his response hesitantly. "I'm not...entirely sure. Nevertheless, as long as you're staying here, remember this. Raven Rock is sovereign territory of the House Redoran. This is Morrowind, not Skyrim: while you're here, you will be expected to obey our laws. Any questions?"

"You don't seem to trust outsiders," Eirik stated.

"And with good reason!" the Dunmer snapped. "I am Adril Arano, second councilor here at Raven Rock. The security of this town is my responsibility."

"Have there been any security issues?" Mjoll queried.

"Of course," Adril replied. "This isn't exactly Blacklight. We're on the frontier and there have been a fair share of ruffians. But I won't let them get the best of us, not after all we've put into this town."

"Are you sure there's nothing you can tell me about Miraak?" Eirik asked.

"Who?"

"Miraak!"

"I'm sorry," Adril shook his head. "I'm almost certain I know the name, but I cannot place it! I...I think it has something to do with the Earth-Stone, but I'm not entirely sure."

"Thank you," Eirik said.

"Remember," Adril said, posturing himself before the Nord. "We're watching you."

Eirik and Mjoll disembarked from the ship and onto the docks. It felt good to have solid ground beneath their feet again, even if it was covered in a foot of ash. The guards here were covered in bonemold armor from head to toe that looked like burnished bronze. Eirik soon discovered that while walking ash wasn't exactly hard work, it soon became difficult by reason of the ash kicked up from each footstep. The town of Raven Rock had high walls of stone on either side, and most of the buildings were made after the fashion of the hide of giant insect creatures like the chauri: all covered in ash. While they walked, Eirik noticed that more than a few red eyes were turned their way, most of them with a kind of quiet contempt.

"Why are they looking at us?" Eirik whispered to Mjoll.

"They distrust Nords as much as Argonians," Mjoll replied. "They invaded Morrowind in the First Era and the Dunmer have never forgotten that."

"I see," Eirik sighed. Just then, he saw a Dunmer guard approach him. Instead of saluting him, as most of the Nord guards did, he turned to Eirik and glared at him from the slit in his helmet.

"What do you want?" the guard asked.

"I would like directions to the Earth Stone," Eirik said.

"Can't you look for yourself?" the guard retorted. Then, with a disgusted grumble, he pointed back east. "That way."

Eirik turned where he was directed and saw a long peninsula on the northern border of Raven Rock. Eirik turned to thank the guard, but he was back on his appointed rounds. Eirik and Mjoll then made their way thither to the northern border of the town. Once outside, they turned east and began walking towards the peninsula. The land was covered in ash, and what few ash-covered plants had survived the century or so of ash-fall were only the hardiest.

Now they came to the tall stone to which they had been directed. It stood in the midst of two ash-covered pine-trees, under which stood a bald Dunmer in red robes, watching several people working about the large shrine. Mjoll and Eirik approached the Dunmer, who turned to greet the newcomers. Though he was red-eyed and blue-skinned with a fiercely prominent brow, like the others of his race, he greeted them with unusual kindness. But perhaps kindness wasn't the proper word: it was more like profound curiosity.

"You there," he said. "You don't seem to be in quite the same state as the others, very interesting."

"State? What state?" Eirik asked.

"See for yourself," the Dunmer said, pointing to the shrine.

Eirik turned to the shrine and saw a group of people working with hand-tools on the shrine. Most of them were Dunmer - guards, men, women and children, townsfolk of all ages - but some were Nords clad in thick hide clothing, so thick that Eirik wondered if they were not packed with horker blubber. They all seemed to be speaking in the same lifeless, droning voice. The words they said, however, unnerved Eirik as he heard them speak in the dreary, ashen landscape.

"Here is the shrine..." said they. "That they have forgotten...Here do we toil...That we might remember..."

"May I ask what it is you're doing here?" the Dunmer asked.

"Oh, I'm looking for information about someone called Miraak." Eirik said. "Do you know anything?"

"By night we reclaim..." droned the workers. "What by day was stolen...Far from ourselves...He grows ever near to us..."

"Miraak," the Dunmer mused thoughtfully for a moment or two. Nearby, the people spoke on in their monotonous mantra.

"Our eyes once were blind..."

"I remember now!" he exclaimed. "But no, that makes very little sense."

"Now through him do we see..."

"Tell us, please!" Mjoll asked.

"Our hands once were idle..."

"Miraak, he's been dead for thousands of years," the elf replied.

"Now through them does he speak..."

"What does that mean?" Eirik asked.

"And when the world shall listen..."

"I'm not sure," said the Dunmer. "It might have something to do with what's going on here, though. Fascinating! I'm afraid I can't give you any answers, although..."

"And when the world shall see..."

"Although what?" Eirik asked.

"Listen!" Mjoll spoke, turning their attention to the last words of the chant. In the dead air, filled with ash, sun hidden from view in a land seemingly forsaken by all the Divines, the words these workers spoke in dead, droning unison made their skin crawl and their blood run cold.

"And when the world remembers...That world shall cease to be..."

"What are they saying?" Eirik asked breathlessly.

"I'm not sure," the elf said. "Although, as I was about to say, there are ruins near the center of the island. My research has shown that they were part of an ancient temple dedicated to Miraak. If I were you, I'd look there for answers."

"Haven't you been listening?" Mjoll asked. "Something's wrong with these people!" She turned to the Dunmer. "Haven't you tried to stop them?"

"Me? Of course not!" the Dunmer exclaimed. "To do that would prevent whatever happens when they're done. I've been waiting too long to see what happens when they're finished, I just have to see how all this turns out!" He turned and walked away, leaving them alone with the hypnotized people, chanting their endless words of doom. Eirik looked on in horror at this, his mind racing with fear of what they were doing and if it was contagious or not.

"Oi! Stormcloak!" a voice shouted.

Roused from his thoughts, Eirik turned about and saw a figure clad in what used to be the black clothes of a thief with a black hood and cloak on his shoulders: now they were covered in gray-white ash. Nearby, Eirik heard Mjoll groan in frustration. That one who had spoken was now wading through the ash to meet them, dagger in one hand. At last he came to a halt near where they stood, then chuckled aloud.

"You certainly took your damn time getting here," Crixus said. "Welcome to Solstheim."

(AN: As good a place as any to close a chapter.)

(Blah blah, I'm being unfair to all the races, etc. Morrowind was part of Ysgramor's empire, then invaded by the Argonians, so of course they distrust outsiders. Because it's okay for the other races to be racist, only when it's the Nords is when it's bad. Yes, Crixus is back and I feel I didn't get through just how horrifying this place can be. Don't worry, we have next chapter to show more.)