Cearbhail: New chapter. Finally. I was out of it for a couple days. Been having trouble sleeping. Anyway, this chapter's done and hopefully I'll have a new one up sooner. Enjoy.
Dear journal,
You know those moments where you have that troubling thought in your head and it keeps nagging at you. The sad thing is that you remember once what it was and why it mattered so much? Well, we just had that moment. Traveling up the mountain to where a nest of nine or so dragons were flying around shooting their Thu'um everywhere. Why? I thought about the reason why as we approached. Then I just forgot about it because of Ria and her Dragonbornness.
Well, we couldn't hold it back anymore. Once Ria was up on her feet, Esbern checked the map. This is the cave we need to go down. For some reason, the dragons were drawn to it. Must be the bow's power. Maybe, maybe not. We don't know it's here, we were just told to come here. All thanks to Cecilie's magical map. Either that or she doesn't care about the bow and just led us to here so that we'd meet Ria at the dawn of her turning into a Dragonborn. With how she manipulates us from time to time, I wouldn't expect anything else.
But, we found a cave that matches the description. We're already down into it. Well…so far down that we can't turn around. Why can't we turn around? Well, as we were crossing the bridge, Ruby just 'had' to have the moonstone on the other side. So, we waited for her to mine up the moonstone. Then as we started to turn around due to our not having anywhere else to go…the bridge snapped. I blame Fiirnar. He just had to check the ropes and mention that they looked old and decrepit. You NEVER say stuff like that. It makes things break out of coincidence. And right as we were standing on the bridge too. Now we're at some abandoned camp drying out our armor and clothes. And Ruby's and Pantu's fur.
Lydia…
…
I closed my now dry journal, glad that I went the extra mile to secure paper that was enchanted to resist water damage. Ruby and Pantu were hugging the campfire as closely as they could. Both were in fresh dry clothes that were already soaked just by changing into them. We tried to dry them off but with all that fur it was near impossible. Put a damp cold dark cave into the mix and you get very impossible. Ruby was already starting to sneeze. She was probably going to be sick by the end of the hour.
Of course, it's understandable. All of us are pretty much freezing our butts off. If you've ever touched or felt or even dove under cave water, or a cave river, you know just how cold it is. It's near freezing! Now, imagine you're in a current of a cave river, completely submerged. The river is pulling you further and further down, you're losing breath, and it's freezing. Then suddenly, giant-assed spiders are in the current as well, spitting poison through the water, poisoning you. It's not fun.
Just when your lungs can't handle it holding your breath anymore, you come flying out of the waterfall and crash onto a wet cold pillar of rock. And if that's not bad enough two soggy wet cats half the size of you fall on top of you. They smell nasty by the way…wet Khajiits. If you can imagine all of that, congrats, you understand why I hate this quest already.
"Where do you think we are?" Ria asked as she rubbed a towel through her hair.
Esbern readjusted his sling on his arm. Oh yeah…he broke his arm when he landed on his side. "If I had to say…in an underground cave carved out by an underground river."
Ria glanced back at him. "Thanks…that was so helpful."
Serana, sitting by a fire that Babette had cooked up, smiled. "Well, there's no use complaining. We're here and there's no changing that."
Ria doubled no her. "Easy for you to say. You don't have an expiration date. You don't have to feed to stay alive. I do!"
Babette and Serana smiled. Babette looked up at Serana and said, "So, who should we eat first?"
Serana looked over at Ria and scanned her. It was a very creepy glare. "I vote for the werewolf."
Ruby looked up from the fire, directing her eyes to Ria. "Don't worry. My everbag has a large number of fish, deer, rabbits, fruits, and vegetables. As long as we let them continue populating as I have been allowing, we should be fine. I really should let some wolves in…just to counter the large amount of deer."
Ria looked relieved, but after she shook her head, I think I could tell that it was fake. "Well, that's nice. Now we can just sit down here and die from old age instead of starvation!"
Ruby looked offended. She crossed her arms and looked away. "Well, we don't have to stay down here. My bag takes whatever form I wish it to. All I have to do is change the environment and we'll have a wonderful town to live in."
Fiirnar sighed as he leaned back on a rock. "That does not help us, though. Sure, we can survive…but at what cost? What we need to do is find a way out."
Finally, someone was making sense. I nodded to Fiirnar and said, "I cannot believe I'm saying this, but I'm agreeing with the Thalmor."
He glanced at me, totally bewildered. "What? Why would that be hard to believe? I'm a sensible person."
Esbern only shook his head at Fiirnar. "You just don't get it, do you? You're not in the presence of Thalmor lovers."
Fiirnar only turned his head away and flicked his hair. "Well, then. More reason to stay. I'm sure I can show you just what we're all about in due time."
Oh, we know what you're all about. I thought to myself as I pushed myself back onto my feet.
My hands were freezing. My feet were still too numb. It hurt to walk, but if I didn't do something soon, I was sure that my legs would lock up for good. I was once again out of my armor and into a spare dress that I kept inside Ruby's bag. I'm sure we all had something in her bag that she just lugged around with us.
Zaliika walked back into the camp, rubbing her arms. She looked paler than she looked before she left. Of course, she was the first one to be warmed up. She was cold-blooded. She almost died from being underwater for so long. She passed out just because of the cold. Getting her revived was not easy. Esbern and Babette had to carefully use their magic to warm her up.
Zaliika glanced at Pantu and nodded. "I followed the cave that leads out. It leads to a…temple, I think. I saw someone sitting near a table, but I didn't approach him. I know what it means when you see a person in the middle of nowhere just…waiting."
Esbern nodded. "Ah yes…either a very powerful lich, or a desperate quest-giver."
I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on. Just because there is one guy…under all this water…next to a temple…so far underground that no one knows that it exists…" I shook my head. "Forget it. I can't win in this battle of logic. Should we just…shoot something at him and see if he survives?"
Serana shrugged at that. "That sounds reasonable. If he's some boss, he'll most likely die easier. And if he's important…well…I'm sure we know what won't happen."
Esbern groaned as he pushed himself up. "How about you just let this old man go up and talk to him? If I get a negative reaction, you know what position I'm in. If he bows…well, you know what position we're all in."
We all nodded to that. It was a fairly agreeable plan. Let the old guy go in. He's more paranoid than all of us, grasps a full knowledge of magic and Conjuration, and he's most likely a few years from passing away anyway. Better than sending in Serana or Zaliika. I won't mind sending in Fiirnar though.
Esbern slowly made his way through the cave, most of us behind him. Ruby and Pantu were finishing up their fur fluffing and getting dressed in drier clothes. Zaliika wrapped herself around Babette, who was using fire magicka to keep them both warm. Fiirnar walked beside Esbern and offered to go up with him. I sure hope he did. Maybe I'd fire my arrow anyway and 'miss'.
Esbern finally held up his hand and said, "Go no further. Let me approach with Fiirnar and see just what this…is that an elf? A white elf? Hmm…could it be? That old armor…" He stepped away from us and we all started sinking into the shadows.
Stealth. It was not something I was good at, but was increasingly becoming dependent on. So much of what we do is surrounded by sitting still and blending in. I hated it. The feeling of watching all your sides, hoping no one hears or sees you. I'd rather just charge in and kill the things I'm trying to sneak by. The only problem with that is…we don't know what's going to be up ahead. Ten trolls, twenty? A dragon? Maybe ten? Who knows?
I watched as Esbern jogged up to the supposed elf. The elf crossed his arms and waited for him to walk up. When Esbern got close enough, he and Fiirnar started talking to him. The elf talked back. Then Esbern looked astonished, started glancing at his armor, his mouth moving faster and faster. Fiirnar just looked uncomfortable and started backing away.
…
I groaned as I shifted off my knees and actually sat down. I had been sitting like this for almost an hour now. It was getting so bad that everyone was falling asleep. I handed the bow over to Ria and said, "You're shift has begun. Just wait until Esbern gives us a sign that the thing is hostile."
Ria took the bow with a growing smile. "Jeez, with how long he's been asking questions, I'm sure that it's not threatening."
I rolled my eyes as I placed my hands behind my head. I allowed myself to lie down and I heard several spots in my back and knees crack back into place. "Fine, then don't. I'm tired. Wake me when Esbern returns."
"Esbern's returning." Ria replied almost as instantly as I finished telling her.
I groaned as I sat up. Esbern was indeed jogging back to us, a boyish grin already covering his face. He rushed up, yelling, "You'll never guess who I just talked to."
Ruby sat up, yawning. "Are we starting again?" She stretched her arms, yawning again. "Did you talk to a mammoth-riding monk?"
Esbern pulled back for a second. "What? No…" He shook his head, saying, "What type of question is that?"
"Is he the first Dragonborn whose soul was trapped here by Alduin during the first human uprising?" She asked, brushing off her dress.
Esbern sighed. "No…he's…"
Ruby held up her hand. "No, I have to finish. Is he the first Psijic monk?"
Esbern crossed his arms. "If only he was. But listen he's…"
"Is he a ghost of a Bosmer? Because he looks like a Bosmer." Ruby said, looking over at the mysterious elf.
"NO! Blast it! It's not a Bosmer it's…"
"Is it the last of the Snow Elf race?" Ruby asked.
Esbern's face turned bright red and screamed, "NO! He is not the last of the Snow Elves…he's the last of the snow elves!"
Ruby turned away. "You don't have to be so mean about it. Besides, you just said I was right."
Esbern allowed himself to calm down before looking at Ruby. "I'm sorry, you are correct. He is the last of the Snow Elves." He glanced up at me. "And thank you for waiting. It is not every day you get to meet the last of a doomed race. A paladin at that. I talked to him and he said that he has been waiting for someone to wander in. He wants us to go kill his corrupted brother, who has the bow we're looking for."
I nodded. "Ahh…so the desperate quest-giver."
Esbern nodded in return. "Yes, very desperate. Our paladin seems unable or unwilling to do this himself. Saying he's too weak to defeat him and all the 'betrayed'. Which are our common Falmer it would seem."
Serana chuckled to herself. "It's a good thing I did not come down here by myself then. If an ancient paladin who gets their strength from their holy god cannot best a tainted elf…then what chance would a vampire like myself have?"
Esbern nodded. "Would any of us stand a chance? His brother was once a paladin as well, but something happened and he lost his mind. Now we must go in and kill him."
Zaliika shifted from her seat, glancing up at Esbern. "That seems a little extreme. Can't we try talking first?"
I chuckled as I looked over at Zaliika. "Trust me. If a paladin says that his brother is twisted…he's probably exactly like us. So yeah, we'll try talking to him first."
Fiirnar walked up to us, scratching the back of his head. "I'm sorry, but I seemed to have dozed off. What did you two talk about?" He asked Esbern.
Esbern smiled. "He agrees with me about the giants being an ancient civilized race. They were the founders of the Gargantuan Empire, the empire that existed long before men or mer. In fact, most of what the Dwarves discovered was already here. They just moved in and replicated the Giant's designs. So, it stands to reason that as we evolved, we became smaller to compensate the fact that we had to all fit on this world. So, Argonians and the Tsaesci are in fact…related to the dragons. Chickens did come from eggs…and hunters existed long before chickens."
Fiirnar nodded. "Yes, that much makes sense. But what could have happened to the Giants to make them become simple nomads?"
Esbern patted Fiirnar on the back. "The same thing that caused the dragons to disappear and the Dwarves to vanish. Can you imagine what kind of event might have caused all three of those to happen?"
Fiirnar could only shake his head. "No idea at all."
I shook my head. "Esbern…as much as I enjoy messing with him, now's not the time to fill his head with ideas."
Esbern's face deflated and he crossed his arms. "I'm enjoying an intellectual process with my new thinking buddy. But out." He looked over at Fiirnar. "Think about it. Humans suddenly rise in power, dragons disappear. Dwarves vanish and chickens are suddenly hatched from eggs. Giants become unintelligent and bunnies become very important in religious holidays. Can you piece it together?"
Fiirnar rubbed his chin as hard as he could. He finally sighed in defeat. "I can't think of anything. What are you theories?"
Esbern smiled and shook him. "It was the moment the Daedric Princes turned Jyggalag into Sheogorath. The sudden creation of madness and chaos…it only makes sense that our world would explode into impossible scenarios. Dwarves achieving mastery and then…vanishing. Returning as draugr. Immortal dragons dying. The slave races rising up, claiming the world as their own…only to be recaptured by elves. Religious figures taking bunnies and colored eggs as religious symbolism for the rising of the Dragonborn. It all makes sense."
Fiirnar finally nodded, understanding. "And the Oblivion Crisis, when Jyggalag returned to power, creating a new Sheogorath. Which a year later resulted in the Aedra War." He shook his head, grabbing it in pain. "The rise of the Aldmeri Dominion…it all makes sense."
"So then…why now?" Esbern asked.
Fiirnar looked up at Esbern with new eyes. "There's a new Sheogorath."
I rolled my eyes and looked away. I cannot believe Esbern just wasted our time tricking Fiirnar into believing that the Daedric Prince Sheogorath was responsible for all the events that DID NOT HAPPEN. As much as his 'theories' sounded plausible, there was no chance that Giants were civilized, Dwarves were draugrs…or that bunnies represented religious icons. That's just stupid. And none of that was because of a Daedric Prince of madness.
Cearbhail: You never know...maybe Sheogorath is responsible for the Giants becoming roamers. Hmm?
