Author's Note:
Dear all,
This is not a new story, sorry :D As the title suggests, this is merely a summary of all the important plotlines in my fanfic Northbound Pilgrimage. I know that my fic is very long and I do a lot of continuity stuff, which is why I thought that it would be nice to provide something like this. It is for those of you who wish to refresh your memory before delving into the second book and don't have the time or inclination to re-read the whole thing, (not so much for those who wish to pick up the second book without reading entirely through the first one, I obviously wouldn't recommend that :D not only because I would like you to read the actual book, but because even the summaries can get a bit confusing without the larger context). Of course, reading the whole book again to refresh your memory would be much better (I hope :D) but I know how time-consuming that would be, so hopefully these summaries prove useful :) Beware, some of the plotline summaries are a bit long :D Yeah, I know, they're supposed to be summaries, but it's kind of hard to squeeze in 150 chapters. And also, with the way a lot of the plotlines intercept and interweave into each other, it was kind of an ordeal O:) So, seriously, if you haven't read the book, this will only be confusing and probably not very interesting to read since summarizing plots kind of… butchers them :D
I also encourage you all to ask any questions in the comments/reviews here. If there are any things that didn't make sense to you, that you would like explained/justified, I am more than happy to try and provide any non-spoilery information. In case you have some requests or suggestions for Skyrim plotlines, chapters from a different character's points of view (or even specific smut if you want :D ) again I encourage you to tell me and if I can work with the idea, I will hopefully be able to write those and include them in the following books ;) No promises on when those would appear though. I would have to incorporate it into the story so that it makes sense.
Alright, let's get to it.
I hope that this is helpful. And… major spoilers, obviously :D
Also, don't expect any quality writing here :D it's really just summaries O:)
Aeyrin's Backstory Plotline
Chapters: I, IV, XIII, XVI, LXXX, XCVIII, CII, CIII, CXVI, CXXXIV, CXXXV, CXXXVI, CXXXVII, CXXXVIII (1, 4, 13, 16, 80, 98, 102, 103, 116, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138)
Aeyrin is a twenty-one year old Bosmer, born in Cyrodiil to a Bosmer father and presumably also a Bosmer mother. She grew up with only her father Faldaen in the slums of the city of Chorrol. Her father is a skooma addict, scraping by and relying only on the schemes of his dealer, the Khajiit Ri'zhassa, to provide money and sustenance for him. The real identity of Aeyrin's mother is unknown – her only source of information is her father, whose delirious state makes his take on her unreliable.
Ri'zhassa sees an opportunity in an addict with a child. Most of his clients are usually unable to last long enough to bring a steady income to him, but Ri'zhassa decides to use Aeyrin for begging, robberies or pickpocketing – anything so that she can get some money for her father and he in turn can pay for more skooma. Aeyrin has many traumatic memories of her time with her father. Aside from the abuse inflicted by Ri'zhassa, and the faded claw-mark scars on her left thigh as a permanent reminder, her father left her just as affected. Many times she has served as a lightning rod for her father's anger and erratic behavior in his withdrawal. But as resentful as she was, she still did not believe his actions to be completely malicious. He was sick. He needed help, yet there was no way to help him. Ri'zhassa was the main target of her ire.
When she is eleven, the two men come up with a new way to make money off Aeyrin and her father takes her to the side alleys to offer her up to the first man who agrees. Fortunately for Aeyrin, that man happens to be a priest of Stendarr and he takes the young girl with him without question. He pays her father, but instead of anything else, he takes Aeyrin with him to the temple and offers her a new home – a shelter, education, and protection. Aeyrin, while hesitant to abandon her sick father, still agrees to stay.
During her years in the temple, Aeyrin finally finds some peace and happiness. She makes friends and new family. The most important one being perhaps the man who rescued her from her father – the Master of the temple in Chorrol, Therien. Aeyrin trusts him with everything and she has a prominent father-figure in him throughout her life. They still exchange many letters during her travels in Skyrim too. Another important figure in Aeyrin's life in the temple is her fellow cleric Azshan who in the end admits to having romantic feelings for her right before undergoing his vigil and taking his vows to become a paladin. Aeyrin is worried over reciprocating due to Azshan's vows and they part ways on a rather awkward note. Nevertheless they stay in contact and even though their adventures keep them apart and their communication lags more and more, they return to the easy friendship they shared before.
Aeyrin's father storms the temple often, demanding his daughter back, but the priests don't even let her see him. She is regretful over not being able to help him, but living with him was not helping. It was only feeding his habit. Aeyrin knows of no better way than to stay away.
When Aeyrin turns eighteen, a choice lies in front of her. She is offered to undergo a vigil to become either a priestess or a paladin. Yet none of the paths seem right to her and she feels that she seeks something else – both from her life and from her faith. Master Therien suggests that instead, Aeyrin goes out to the world and travels and learns of the values of the Eight by experiencing them rather than reading about them. As daunting as it is, Aeyrin cannot help but be excited by the prospect. And after Master Therien calls this whole endeavor a 'pilgrimage', she has no more doubt on her path.
Aeyrin travels for nearly three years all throughout Cyrodiil, meeting new people and experiencing new things. Only when her religious curiosity starts to lead her towards the forbidden branch – the worship of Talos, she decides to travel to Skyrim and learn more of the things that the Thalmor attempted to erase from history.
After many happenings in Skyrim and after meeting Bishop and traveling with him for some time, it becomes apparent that Aeyrin has a very destructive obsession with skooma. Whenever they deal with dealers or smugglers of this drug, an uncontrollable rage overcomes her and she barely has anything in sight other than killing the men participating in the trade, and destroying their goods.
At one point in their travels, Aeyrin is introduced to paladins of the Order of the Imperial Dragon, only to find her friend Azshan among them. They are happily reunited and Azshan promises to teach Aeyrin more magic techniques to perfect her healing and other paladin skills. He helps her promptly with some spells against the undead and Daedra when she plans to help the Order assault a vampire lair.
When the Thieves Guild plotline progresses, Aeyrin surprisingly runs into her father in Morthal. Faldaen claims to come to reunite with his daughter after getting clean from his addiction. He mentions being on a business trip to meet some buyers for his exotic goods and he suggests that Aeyrin joins him on the road so that they can reconnect. Aeyrin is conflicted and neither her nor Bishop really believe his story. Faldaen's behavior becomes more and more suspect but Aeyrin is determined to come with him.
The tension between Faldaen and Bishop escalates on the road and Aeyrin sees no alternative but to make Bishop leave. Bishop is upset, but complies nonetheless. He is convinced that Faldaen means her harm and secretly follows them throughout the journey.
Faldaen is proving more and more disappointing to Aeyrin and their relationship is strained at best. After many more disappointments, she no longer wishes to help him as her father, she gives up on their bond and thinks of him more as a stranger. She even refuses to hear any 'real' information he offers about her mother.
When they finally get to their destination, it turns out to have been an ambush, orchestrated by Ri'zhassa to capture Aeyrin for the bounty issued by Mercer Frey. Aeyrin manages to dispose of the ambushers, along with Bishop who decides to make his presence known, and she confronts her father. She learns that he has been consuming special potions to appear sober through their interactions and she learns that Ri'zhassa has been in Skyrim to guide him, but left before she could actually confront him. The story hints at a conflict between Aeyrin and Ri'zhassa in the past which resulted in Ri'zhassa's interest in her to turn more personal. The trade for Aeyrin included a large amount of some special blue skooma and Aeyrin makes sure to destroy every last bottle. Bishop asks if she wants to kill Faldaen and even offers to do it for her, but she refuses. She has no more interest in her father and leaves him there to whatever fate awaits him.
Instead of being upset, Aeyrin feels good about the events – they brought her some much needed closure.
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Bishop's Backstory Plotline
Bishop's backstory is partly based on the official origin story available at the SRM website. I highly recommend you all to read it. It is an amazing story and it ties to a lot of events in my fic. Nevertheless, I will try to include everything that is the most relevant in this summary.
Chapters: IV, V, XIII, XVIII, XXXIII, XXXIV, XXXV, XXXVI, XXXVII, XXXVIII, XXXIX, LI, LX, LXI, LXVIII, LXXIII, LXXIV, LXXV, LXXX, CVI, CVII, CIX, CX, CXIII, CXVII, CXXXI, CXXXII, CXL, CXLI, CXLII, CXLIII, CXLV, CXLVII, CXLVIII (4, 5, 13, 18, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 51, 60, 61, 68, 73, 74, 75, 80, 106, 107, 109, 110, 113, 117, 131, 132, 140, 141, 142, 143, 145, 147, 148)
Bishop is a twenty-seven year old Nord born to two Nord parents. He has nine siblings, two of the same parents, others only related on his mother's side. The entire family formed a bandit clan that has ravaged Skyrim for its riches during his childhood. The clan was banished from several cities and Holds, including the Rift, Falkreath, Whiterun and finally Haafingar along with the entirety of Skyrim. Before their complete banishment (issued by High King Torygg and pertaining to the Haafingar Hold and subsequently the entirety of the Skyrim province both), the name Thrice-Banished has been branded upon them to signify their crimes (or their achievements, depending on how you look at it).
The family eventually leaves Skyrim, after their final banishment, when Bishop is only four years old. They settle in Cyrodiil, where soon after Bishop's younger brother Jules is born. Jules and Bishop form a strong bond and after events yet unspecified in the story, they leave for Skyrim again together when Bishop is seventeen.
They struggle in Skyrim to survive – they had no skills apart from banditry and they had no connections. Eventually, Jules gets sick and his condition improves only when the two brothers manage to stumble upon an old witch living in the forests of Falkreath who helps heal him. She refers them to a bandit clan in the Rift in the Lost Knife caverns where they can make a living and thus they return to their roots.
The bandit clans are constantly warring among each other and Bishop and Jules get passed around from one chief to another. They are none too concerned over it. Jules's illness returns again and again and they need the money. Eventually Bishop finds an old crumbled tower belonging to the bandits where they breed pit wolves. Bishop forms a fast bond with one of the cubs, Karnwyr, and they become inseparable ever since. The old witch sometimes tends to the wolves there and Bishop and Jules eventually agree to man the lookout tower on most days to be close to her in order to keep Jules healthy whenever the sickness returns. One day, the witch delivers the sad truth to Bishop – Jules's condition is incurable. As a half-Khajiit, his conception was never meant to be possible. He is doomed to an early grave.
Their lives go on with that knowledge, until one day another clan war erupts once more and a man named Thorn comes up victorious, taking over the Lost Knife hideouts. His methods are different – he is brutal and ruthless. He subjects his men to deadly training, which Jules barely survives, and he makes sure to make an example of anyone that defies him. Thorn revels in torturing his victims and those disobeying him both. And since Bishop takes no pleasure in the things that Thorn has him do, he is on the receiving end of this treatment regularly. Especially since Thorn finds out that Bishop is one of the famed Thrice-Banished. Thorn is intent on seeing the legendary bandit prove himself, and never forgets to threaten him with the still very valid bounty. Bishop finds ways to cope, namely meaningless escapades with the bandit women. One of which leaves a rather prominent impression on him – a bandit runner named Neeshka, who causes several deaths in the clan when she overreacts over their casual relationship ending.
Bishop and Jules both have enough of living under Thorn's rule and find a way to escape. The Thieves Guild is rumored to take rejects from Thorn's band and offer them protection. They make use of talented people and since the Guildmaster has a certain deal with Thorn, he does not try to jeopardize it. The Guild takes them in, but soon enough, Bishop realizes that the Guildmaster, Mercer Frey, uses the ex-bandits only to do the work too dirty for his other members. He knows that the bandits are used to it.
Bishop is determined not to let that stand and he plots to break free from Mercer too. When Jules starts a romantic relationship with one of Mercer's spies, an especially loose-lipped one named Raven, Bishop senses an opportunity and pries information from them about who else in the Guild is fed up with Mercer's way of things.
Bishop forms a kind of rebellion, but eventually, Raven warns him no to go through with overthrowing Mercer. Bishop does not listen and, fearing for his friends' lives, Raven sells him out to Mercer. Bishop is the only one to take the blame in the end, thus Raven achieves his goals of protecting the other Guild members. But in the end, Mercer decides to punish Bishop in a different way than one would expect. He knows all too well how much more Bishop cares about his brother's well-being rather than his own and so Mercer sends Jules back to Thorn. Bishop has no choice but to follow.
When they are back with the bandits at Lost Knife, Thorn revels in having the upper hand. He has Jules thrown into a corpse pit, leaving him there while he always promised to let him out when Bishop 'proves his loyalty'. Bishop doesn't protest any longer and does what he is told, but Jules's condition worsens considerably. Eventually, Jules is let out, barely alive, and he's assigned a healer – a woman named Elisie. Bishop keeps doing as he's told just to keep Jules out of the pit and in good hands. He becomes jaded and distant and it puts a large strain on his relationship with Jules. In the meantime, Jules and Elisie's relationship progresses.
One day Bishop finds a letter in Jules's chambers, addressed to the Order of the Imperial Dragon and their leader Casavir. It talks of a plan to ambush an upcoming operation of Thorn's – an operation which is supposed to include Bishop. Bishop is convinced that Jules betrayed him for his own selfish reasons and he decides to retaliate. He tells Thorn what he has found and reinforcements are sent on the mission.
The paladins and the bandits clash at the location, but Jules is brought along by the paladins as an assurance, to avoid a trap. Jules is cut down in the fray, but Bishop is miraculously spared. It is unclear how the battle ends – some manage to retreat but a lot of people die. Only later Bishop finds out what happened. Elisie is pregnant with Jules's child and he was trying to secure them a way to leave Thorn with the help of the paladins. He ensured that in that deal, Bishop would be left alive. Filled with regret and guilt, Bishop continues his work for Thorn but sabotages him at every turn. He blames the bandit chief for all their misfortune and he makes sure to make his life just as miserable. Thorn eventually gets fed up, but he does not want Bishop dead. He still might make use of the bounty on him after all and he takes some measure of pleasure from toying with his enemies. He lets Bishop free, but with a poignant threat – he will watch him, and every time Bishop even thinks about finding someone to care about, he will take them from him. Thorn knew that was more of a threat than his life back then.
Bishop, finally free, finds Elisie and for a time, he only hunts the local wildlife to provide for her and the child. Soon enough, however, Casavir turns up to care for Jules's family as he had promised, but when he sees Bishop (a bandit who had ratted out Jules's plan and thus caused deaths of his fellow paladins) he tells Elisie about what Bishop had done, how he betrayed Jules and what atrocities he participated in with the bandits. Elisie never wants to see Bishop again and he has to make do with the knowledge that she is safe with the paladin.
Month later Bishop returns to check on Elisie, only to find both her and the paladin gone. By collecting rumors, he finds out the truth – Casavir left a long time ago and soon after, the villagers noticed that Elisie is pregnant again. Bishop is enraged, convinced that the paladin abandoned her because of the pregnancy, because he had his fun with her but needed to keep the proof of it secret to 'uphold' his vows. Bishop wants to find Elisie to make sure that she and her children are safe, yet nobody knows where she has gone.
With no other options, Bishop and Karnwyr retreat to the wilderness, embarking on their lone journey and mostly solitary life.
At one point Bishop forms a casual relationship with a merchant in Falkreath named Ysolda. They spend time together for a while, but eventually they part ways when she falls in love with another man and gets engaged. Bishop is unconcerned and thinks the affair to be over with until he finds out that Ysolda was assaulted by bandits near Falkreath. It becomes clear that it was Thorn's attempt to make good on his promise and Bishop quickly warns Ysolda to move and to stay away from Falkreath. Ysolda's fiancé does not agree with the approach, however, and instead attempts to exact revenge. He is killed by the bandits and Ysolda finally listens, yet she bears a deep hatred for Bishop after what has transpired.
When Bishop meets Aeyrin and their relationship progresses, it becomes clearer and clearer that there is no escaping from his past. At first he keeps everything a secret because he fears her abandoning him, but eventually he keeps the secrets to protect her. He knows she would want to kill Thorn and eliminate the threat, but he is too concerned for her life. Even when Neeshka appears back in his life and threatens to expose his relationship with Aeyrin to Thorn, he can think of no better avenues than to murder her to prevent this.
Bishop's past comes to surface often though, from encounters with the Guild, to meeting Casavir and to the reveal of the bounty on his family. Bishop reveals many of the things that happened in the Guild to Aeyrin, all save for Thorn's involvement. When Casavir appears, Bishop is desperate not to have a repeat of the situation with Elisie, but his attempts to steer Aeyrin away from listening to Casavir only fail. In the end, he shares the story with her and for the first time he tells someone about Jules. The bounty on his family is brought up during their next visit to Solitude, anonymously delivered to Elisif. But since he and Aeyrin helped Queen Elisif with ridding her hold of an insane summoner cult, Elisif decides to pardon Bishop (on Casavir's recommendation no less). Aeyrin finds out about the bounty eventually as well and when she questions Bishop, he finally admits to it. He makes her promise him not to try and help getting rid of it. He fears that it would make things worse. And sure enough, one day Aeyrin is threatened by general Tullius, who was present when the news of the bounty and the pardon were revealed at the Blue Palace. She is asked to bow down and proclaim her allegiance to the Empire unless she wants the bounty to become public knowledge in Whiterun. Instead of telling Bishop, she decides to act and tries to convince Jarl Balgruuf to pardon Bishop. It doesn't go well, however, and Bishop is only left with enough time to leave Whiterun before he is officially banished from the entire hold.
Secrets are revealed gradually, but with no mention of Thorn until a bounty is issued by Mercer on Aeyrin's life. Bishop calls Karliah to help and to get rid of the bandits (Mercer's army) and soon enough an operation is organized to kill Thorn and decimate his operation. Bishop still keeps Aeyrin in the dark about Thorn, but when he leaves her alone to proceed with finding Thorn's lair, she discovers hints of his lies in his pack. Enraged, Aeyrin storms of only to be captured by Thorn's men.
After her rescue and after Bishop manages to kill Thorn, he brings Aeyrin back to the cabin of the old witch to heal her and hide her. There he tells her the truth at last.
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Aeyrin and Bishop's Relationship Plotline
Chapters: II, III, IV, IX, X, XI, XII, XVIII, XX, XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVIII, XXXIII, XL, LVII, LXXIV, LXXV, LXXX, LXXXVIII, CII, CVI, CX, CXIV, CXXX, CXXXI, CXXXII, CXXXIX, CXLI, CXLII, CXLIII, CXLVII, CXLVIII, CXLIX, CL (2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 20, 24, 25, 26, 28, 33, 40, 57, 74, 75, 80, 88, 102, 106, 110, 114, 130, 131, 132, 139, 141, 142, 143, 147, 148, 149, 150)
Aeyrin meets Bishop right after her ordeal in Helgen. She is approached by him after being harassed by a couple of drunkards and after a few more lewd looks form Bishop, she decides to ignore him and slips by him. He returns to her inside the tavern and tries to speak with her more. In the end, he tells her that Karnwyr has been kidnapped by bandits and Aeyrin offers to help him out of her sense of duty from her vows. They agree to join up and travel to save Karnwyr.
Their relationship is strained and uncomfortable at first, but once some issues are resolved and Karnwyr is back with them, their friendship starts to slowly develop. They agree that they make a good team and consent to travel together further. Bishop seeks a more intimate relationship too, but Aeyrin rejects his advances in the beginning.
After some of their travels, they become closer, but when Aeyrin's identity as the Dragonborn is revealed, Bishop thinks that she's too much trouble and he decides to leave her. It doesn't last long though as after a drunken night, he realizes that he may have overreacted about some silly Nordic legends when the coin and adventure is good and they agree to go back to the way they were again.
Their relationship is progressing again and after Bishop takes Aeyrin to Nilheim and kisses her, it becomes more intimate. Bishop slowly starts to open up to her about some of his past, but soon enough a conflict at High Hrothgar puts a damper on their affections. After an argument, Bishop leaves her in the monastery and goes drinking in Ivarstead. When they reunite in the morning, it is revealed that he had spent the night with another woman and Aeyrin turns cold. She refuses for their relationship to go beyond friendship and even that is strained.
To somewhat spite what happened and to find some other people to fill her life in Skyrim, Aeyrin decides to join the Companions. Bishop still comes along, but their relationship remains cold. They spend a lot of time apart and only after that Aeyrin starts to miss their closeness. Slowly she lets Bishop back into her life and eventually, they become at least comfortable friends.
After the Dragonborn plotline progresses, they agree to get back to where they left off at Kynesgrove after a fierce dragon battle. Since then they become inseparable and they start to rely on each other more and more. Bishop opens up more about his past, as does Aeyrin, and they fall into a comfortable routine. Their intimate relationship progresses along as well.
Bishop confesses his love for Aeyrin in Solitude when she is locked in Castle Dour for recuperation after being gravely wounded. He goes through a lot of trouble to see her and confesses his feelings. She reciprocates and their relationship progresses again.
Along the way, they start to face many hurdles. Bishop's secrets are catching up to him and his strain to keep them hidden often angers Aeyrin. Her own brashness in some matters does the same to him, however, and more than once her rashness makes Bishop feel like she is callous to his own feelings and his well-being.
When the truth of Bishop's past comes knocking on the door incessantly, their relationship shatters. Aeyrin suspects that Bishop no longer trusts her because of her brash mistakes and she decides to prove him wrong. Somewhat inadvertently, however, she discovers his secrets in the process, about Thorn and about the bounty issued on her head, she gets into a fit of rage and decides to take matters into her own hands in earnest. That only serves to get her captured by Thorn and put through a traumatic experience.
When she is rescued and healed, Bishop tells her the truth about everything. Aeyrin feels overwhelmed – she feels that their relationship has taken a wrong turn and she cannot bear to think of everything they did to hurt each other. She feels a need to escape and leaves Bishop for good, ending their relationship. She assures him of her love and of her willingness to have him in his life, but she needs time away for now. Bishop is left alone, shocked. He is determined to make things right and get her back but has no idea how to do it.
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Dragonborn Plotline
This one is still largely similar to the Skyrim Main Quest, but I've briefly written it all anyway. Not everyone remembers the questline after all and there are still some things added by my story.
Chapters: I, II, III, V, VII, VIII, XII, XIX, XXIII, XXIV, XXIX, XXXI, LIV, LVIII, LXIX, LXX, LXXI, LXXII, CXXI, CXXII, CXXXIII (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 19, 23, 24, 29, 31, 54, 58, 69, 70, 71, 72, 121, 122, 133)
When Aeyrin travels from Cyrodiil to Skyrim on her pilgrimage, she gets waylaid at the border by Stormcloak soldiers and agrees to share their fire. She is betrayed soon after and escapes certain death only because of an Imperial ambush which interrupts the Stormcloak ruse. Unfortunately, all the survivors are brought straight to Helgen for execution.
Before she meets her dire fate, however, a black dragon attacks Helgen, interrupting the execution. Aeyrin is aided by an Imperial soldier Hadvar during her escape from the chaos and led to the small town of Riverwood. She then volunteers to inform Jarl Balgruuf of the dragon and travels to Whiterun where she is hired on another mission – to retrieve a mysterious 'Dragonstone' from nearby ruins.
In the ruins, Aeyrin encounters her first Word Wall. Unfortunately, the effects of it are deafening drumming in her ears and blinding light in front of her eyes. Ever since then, any Wall she encounters causes her to be incapacitated in battle until she absorbs the Word on it.
Aeyrin and Bishop return the Dragonstone, but later on one of their travels, they stumble into a battle already in progress. They soon find out that they would be fighting their first dragon. After the battle is finished, Aeyrin unknowingly absorbs the dragon's soul, but the process causes her intense pain. To this point, she has no direct control over the agonizing moments and they feel different each time, depending on what Shouts the dragons use against her. There were only two times so far when she had managed to end her agony prematurely by sheer will, but she still has no idea what helped her do that. The power of her own Shouts, which Aeyrin discovers after the battle with the first dragon, is all too unfocused and destructive and she refuses to use it all at first. Only dire circumstances and natural survival instinct can ever force her to make use of them.
After the first dragon, Aeyrin is summoned by the famed Greybeards for training. They explain their ways to her and attempt to teach her restraint, to teach her to control her instincts so that they wouldn't force her to use Shouts. That training proves ineffective and in an anger outburst at the development, Aeyrin finds out that the Shouts in fact are not as uncontrollable as it seemed. Emboldened, she requests that the Greybeards train her in control rather than restraint, but none of them are able to. They instead agree to leave her to manage her powers on her own and they only ask for a test of her abilities by sending her to the ruins of Ustengrav – accessible only to the Dragonborn.
Gradually, Aeyrin becomes more confident with her Shouts and they almost become a second nature to her. She is still wary of their range and destruction though and attempts to only use them when she is certain that it is safe to do so.
In Ustengrav Aeyrin learns about a secretive 'friend' who asks to meet the Dragonborn and she and Bishop travel to Riverwood to meet with that person. The woman, Delphine, turns out to be a member of an ancient order of dragon slayers and protectors of the Dragonborn – the Blades. And after verifying Aeyrin's identity and informing her that the dragons are in fact being resurrected, Delphine voices her suspicions about the Thalmor being the culprits for the creatures' return.
While Delphine ponders on another course of action, Bishop and Aeyrin return to their travels. During their time in Morthal they have a strange conversation with Jarl Idgrod who tells them about her vision depicting the dragons. She mentions the feeling of hope and victory and 'black wings, clipped by blue light and loud sound'. None of them have any idea what the vision would actually suggest though.
Soon enough they receive a note from Delphine, asking to meet. After a long discussion, reluctantly, Bishop and Aeyrin go along with Delphine's plan to infiltrate the Thalmor Embassy to learn what the Dominion knows about the dragons' return. Bishop takes care of the heist and even rescues a former Guildmate of his, but he is severely wounded in the process. After reuniting, they seek help for him while Delphine runs off to study Bishop's findings. When Delphine returns with the information, she tells them not only that they have been watched by Thalmor for a while now, but that the Dominion knows about another Blade agent hiding in Riften. Due to the developments with the Thieves Guild plotline, however, Bishop and Aeyrin send Delphine alone to Riften so that she can rescue the man on her own.
Aeyrin's powers and abilities are still a cause of a lot of pain and she manages to control them only in frustrating bouts of ups and downs. Sometimes she withstands them with only some trouble, or she manages to control a Shout with surprising precision, other times she suffers endlessly during the absorptions and wreaks havoc with her Shouts beyond her control. And without any further avenues, Bishop and Aeyrin agree to arm themselves with knowledge and travel to Winterhold to search through the libraries. There they learn about how dragons ruled Skyrim in the past, only to be defeated by the Dragonborn later, during a brutal war. They learn about dragon societies and of their worshippers. They also find a mention of Alduin the World Eater, but not much else. They still have no idea what any of that means. It is, however, obvious that dragons are no mere mindless beasts.
After a while, they are informed of the success of Delphine's mission and subsequently they are summoned to meet her in the Reach. There they are introduced to the lost Blades agent – a lore master, and a lot of their questions finally get answered. Not much to their liking though. Esbern informs them that dragons are being resurrected by none other than Alduin and he talks about a prophecy which he suspects to be referring to Aeyrin – the last Dragonborn, destined to face Alduin before he destroys the world. Nothing more is clear. Not the outcome of their face-off nor the means to defeat the dragon. Esbern only assures them that he knows where to find answers – in an old temple in the Reach.
They continue towards the temple and after many trials, they reach a carved wall – Alduin's Wall, as Esbern calls it. He tells the tale of the ancient Dragonborn and how they defeated Alduin, and he claims that the Wall holds the answer to how. He is, however, unable to fully decrypt it in such a short time. While Esbern tries to make sense of the Wall, Delphine mentions her intention of reforming the Blades and she asks Aeyrin and Bishop to keep an eye out for any trustworthy and reliable recruits. After a few hours, Esbern finishes his preliminary interpretations and he becomes relatively convinced that the key to defeating Alduin is a Shout. He knows nothing more, however, and Bishop and Aeyrin are left only with the option to ask the Greybeards.
The Greybeards offer only excuses and vague warnings, but soon they are interrupted by their leader's Shouting, demanding the Dragonborn's presence. Aeyrin and Bishop travel up the Throat of the World onto the very peak where they encounter the leader – a dragon, Paarthurnax. Paarthurnax again answers many questions. He explains to Aeyrin how the absorption process works and why she is in pain. The absorption is a last battle of wills, capable of killing her, should she prove weaker. But with each soul consumed, she herself becomes stronger and it is easier for her to learn new Shouts. He also explains why absorbing every dragon's soul feels different – it is due to the echo that each Shout leaves in the Shouter, it is an imprint on the soul for a time and the pain mirrors those. He offers no solutions to lessen the pain.
Paarthurnax does speak of the Shout mentioned on Alduin's wall, but he regretfully has no way of knowing it, since it was man-made and specifically designed against dragons. He mentions that during the last battle where Alduin was defeated, the Dragonborn used an Elder Scroll. He suggests that it would hold more answers for them.
While they have come far and learned a lot, Bishop and Aeyrin still have no idea how to defeat Alduin. They have a vague suggestion to find a hopelessly lost Elder Scroll, even though they have no idea if they need a specific one, or even where one could find such a thing. And they certainly have no idea what it would do. Their other option is to wait until Esbern manages to decipher the rest of Alduin's Wall and hope that some useful information comes from it.
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Thieves Guild and Thorn's Bandits Plotline
Chapters: XIII, XVI, XXXIII, XXXIV, XXXV, XXXVI, XXXVII, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX, LXXIII, XCIX, C, CXIX, CXXIV, CXXV, CXXVI, CXXVII, CXXVIII, CXXIX, CXXXIV, CXXXV, CXXXVI, CXXXVII, CXXXVIII, CXXXIX, CXL, CXLI, CXLII, CXLIII, CXLIV, CXLV, CXLVI, CXLVII, CXLVIII, CXLIX, CL (13, 16, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 49, 73, 99, 100, 119, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150)
When Bishop and Aeyrin visit Riften for the first time, Bishop's connection to the Thieves Guild is revealed (see Bishop's backstory). Eventually they get tangled up with a small skooma dealing ring. They decimate their operation, but not without Aeyrin Shouting and alerting the outside of their presence. When they try to leave, they are interrupted by two Guild members who are intrigued by finding the Dragonborn. Nevertheless they are left alone for now.
On their next visit, they are ambushed by a thief named Raven who forces them to meet the Guildmaster – Mercer Frey. Mercer claims that their actions against the skooma dealers have put a damper on his operations and now the two are in his debt. He blackmails them into helping his endeavors. He imprisons them in the Warrens and he demands a favor from the both of them.
He has Aeyrin accompany him to a gathering of influential people where he presents her as his ally and has her absorb a dragon's soul for everyone's entertainment. Meanwhile Brynjolf watches Bishop in the Warrens and he reveals that Mercer is still in business with Thorn and uses him to scare the members. Bishop once more notices a hint of dissent in the ranks of the Guild members.
The favor from Bishop includes him having to infiltrate the Goldenglow estate and steal the deed to that place. In the meantime Aeyrin is being watched by Raven, who proves particularly loose-lipped. She notes the dissent too and at the same time, she notices that Raven seems to carry a torch for her, to a degree. While they talk and Raven reveals more and more of Mercer's intentions, they are interrupted by Frey himself. Angry, Mercer drags Raven away and leaves Aeyrin with a sadistic Dunmer called Ravyn who makes Aeyrin's stay in the Warrens even more dreadful. Bishop succeeds with his task in the end and is returned to Aeyrin. Fortunately, as per the agreement, they are both released the next day. They receive a mysterious letter right after, which suggests that its author wants to take Mercer down. They are convinced that the letter is from Raven whose fate is currently unknown.
Sometime later another mystery letter arrives and asks for a meeting at Honningbrew meadery. When Bishop and Aeyrin arrive, they are greeted by Raven, who is suspiciously silent, and a Dunmer woman. She introduces herself as Karliah. Bishop recognizes her name as the one who had killed the last Guildmaster. Karliah corrects him and tells him that Mercer in fact killed Guildmaster Gallus and that she wishes to get rid of him. She introduces them to her operation and she asks for their help. She has plans to take down Mercer and all his allies, which would include Thorn. Bishop practically leaps at the chance.
Raven is later revealed to have had his tongue cut out by Mercer for spilling secrets.
Their first mission takes place in the meadery itself. They work together to counter Mercer's sabotage of a mead tasting event, therefore making him fall in disfavor with Maven Black-Briar. They are successful and no one is the wiser. They all agree to cooperate again in the future to take Mercer down for good.
Their next mission takes place in Solitude where Aeyrin and Bishop play the role of a bait to lure one of the Guild members into Karliah's grasp. This would ensure that he would not find out about Karliah's sabotage of Mercer's operations in the area as well as give her a chance to talk to him. Karliah convinces the Guild member that Mercer is stealing from the Guild and sows even more dissent into the ranks.
Afterwards Karliah sends Bishop and Aeyrin to get rid of Mercer's skooma ring, led by a particularly unlikable Altmer who Aeyrin has wanted to kill for some time, ever since they decimated his operations near Riften out of their own initiative. This operation is much larger – it occupies an entire fort named Fellhammer. They succeed in taking down the place, but Aeyrin flies off the handle when she sees the scope of the operation and causes untold chaos. This way, they have no way of knowing if anyone escaped and Bishop is upset that their involvement with Karliah might be revealed and Aeyrin might be hunted by Thorn.
They encounter Karliah by chance in Winterhold then and they find out about her current mission. She is attempting to translate Gallus's journal which should hold many secrets about Mercer and his plans and tactics, but it is heavily encrypted into several obscure languages. She asks for a tracing of Dwemer and Falmer scripts from a laboratory in Markarth.
Bishop goes to procure the tracing, but after he returns, he runs into a Guild member, Sapphire. She tells him that Mercer knows about his and Aeyrin's involvement with Karliah, since the Altmer from Fellhammer had escaped, and that Mercer has issued a bounty on Aeyrin's head. Bishop is horrified at the prospect and even more so when he cannot find Aeyrin. He is told that she left with Thongvor Silver-Blood and Sapphire promptly informs him that Thongvor is one of Mercer's associates. Luckily, Aeyrin is rescued from Thongvor's ambush by several Forsworn warriors (see Markarth and Forsworn).
Bishop notifies Karliah about the bounty and insists that it is time to take care of Thorn. They avoid any place that could prove dangerous while Aeyrin is still kept in the dark about Bishop's past with the bandits. Eventually, Karliah calls a meeting while they are in Morthal, but before the time for the meeting comes, they are intercepted by Aeyrin's father, who eventually tries to claim the bounty as well (see Aeyrin's backstory).
Once they finally meet with Karliah, she reveals her plan – they are to go to Falkreath and decimate Thorn's clans. There are other operations in other Hold, all scheduled to attack at the same time and overwhelm the bandits. Aeyrin is, however, still kept in the dark and when she finds out the truth about Bishop's secrets, her anger leads her to leave her safe hiding place in the Falkreath tavern and get captured by Thorn's men (see Bishop's backstory).
Bishop rushes to find Aeyrin and ignores Karliah's pleas when she asks him to wait for reinforcements. He is promptly captured too and tortured by Thorn just like Aeyrin. In the end he manages to goad Thorn into dueling him and by a lucky shot, he kills him in the ring. He is, however, quickly under attack and barely makes it out of the ring. Fortunately, that is when Karliah and her men attack as well and they give him enough leeway to find Aeyrin and get her out of that place.
He brings her to the old witch's cabin and heals her as much as he can. When she wakes, he tells her the truth about everything, but Aeyrin does not take things well. She leaves Bishop, insistent that she needs to be away from him (see Bishop and Aeyrin's relationship).
When the dust settles, Bishop meets with Karliah and other ex-bandits (Sapphire and Thrynn). They rejoice over Thorn's death but Karliah is not pleased. Their operations in the Rift failed due to the messed up timing and they have lost Maven Black-Briar's support again. Bishop hardly cares about any of that after he was left by Aeyrin and merely collects their retrieved equipment and the money for Thorn's head.
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Companions Plotline
Chapters: VI, VII, XV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII, L, LI, LII, LV, LXXVI, CXI, CXII, CXXXI (6, 7, 15, 26, 27, 28, 50, 51, 52, 55, 76, 111, 112, 131)
Aeyrin encounters the Companions several times in her travels with Bishop. First they notice Karnwyr fidget and bark wildly while walking through Whiterun and Bishop explains that he has always been that way near Companions. Neither of them have any idea what could cause that, however, so they pay it no mind. Later they find themselves near the Companions battling a giant and after Aeyrin helps out, they extend an invitation for her to join. Aeyrin considers it, but she soon gets distracted. The next time they encounter them is during a battle with a dragon and with combined forces, they manage to fell the beast. Aeyrin again considers joining them.
After her relationship with Bishop takes a bad turn, she decides to look for other friends in Skyrim and joins the Companions. They welcome her, but she has a bad impression that she is only welcomed so warmly because she is the Dragonborn. All of them are curious about that, and one of the senior members, Aela, even takes a strange interest in Aeyrin's Stendarrite upbringing. Their fascination with her creates a strange tension with the junior members, but she is glad to at least be on good terms with the members of the so-called Circle – the elite senior warriors. While her relationship with Bishop improves, she continues to spend time at Jorrvaskr and go on quests with the Companions. At one point, she asks for Bishop to join one of her adventures with Vilkas, who only begrudgingly agrees. Vilkas and Bishop do not get along well and, in the dungeon, Vilkas even purposefully directs the battle so that Bishop's life is endangered. Bishop keeps this fact to himself, uncertain about Aeyrin's reaction with their strange relationship at the time.
When Aeyrin is riddled with sickness after long exposure to cold, Bishop's leads for the cure take them to Whiterun. He leaves Aeyrin at Jorrvaskr to recover, where she becomes closer with the members of the Circle as they take care of her. During her recovery, even Bishop becomes somewhat friendly with Aela and one of the junior members, Athis.
The next time they arrive in Whiterun, they spend a night at Jorrvaskr and tell the Companions of their adventures in Morthal with a nest of vampires. After Aeyrin describes their gruesome lair, Aela and Skjor start questioning her over the temptation to become a vampire. When she promptly dismisses their notions, Vilkas and Farkas suddenly call everyone from the Circle for a secret meeting, ending the evening prematurely for no obvious reason.
The next visit to Whiterun proves even stranger. Aeyrin runs into Farkas in the marketplace and when she mentions visiting Jorrvaskr, he quickly deters her away, claiming that everyone from the Circle is on a mission. Confused and dejected, Aeyrin doesn't press further.
After some time, Aeyrin and Bishop return to Whiterun and before Aeyrin visits the Jarl to ask him to pardon Bishop for his bounty (see Bishop's backstory), she runs into Aela who asks to speak with her that eve privately. However, when things with the Jarl turn sour, Aeyrin is forced to leave Whiterun with Bishop and she merely sends Lydia to make up some excuse to Aela.
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Windhelm Plotline
Chapters: XLI, XLII, LXXXI, LXXXIII, LXXXIV, LXXXV, LXXXVI, LXXXVII, LXXXVIII (41, 42, 81, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88)
During their initial visit to Windhelm, Aeyrin is rather crestfallen about the situation in the city – about the squalor in which the elves and the Argonians live. She and Bishop spend some time with the elves there, finding a budding and cheerful community despite their struggles.
They also form a friendship with one of Bishop's past flames – the barmaid Susanna, who is also very concerned about the elves. They agree to take her to the cornerclub with them one day.
The next time they visit Windhelm, a mysterious killer called the Butcher ravages the streets. The elves are plagued by unfair orders issued by Ulfric and their lives are made even worse. Despite that, the elves still manage to enjoy their lives and, eventually, Bishop and Aeyrin make good on their promise and bring Susanna to the cornerclub. Susanna is scared – there is some bad blood between her and the elves over a misunderstanding. It turns out that the man she had loved, a Dunmer, was killed by Stormcloaks because of a scorned soldier. Susanna is blamed by the elves, but eventually conversation develops and the misunderstanding is cleared. Susanna is finally happy to be accepted again and she even claims to have found 'someone special' the next day.
Tragically, the day after that her body is discovered – another victim of the Butcher. Aeyrin is heartbroken and enraged and takes matters into her own hands, but without any better ideas, she only resorts to watch the streets at night, despite Ulfric's orders against the elves prohibiting her presence there at all at those hours. Things don't go well, and Aeyrin ends up imprisoned and banished from Windhelm by Ulfric (see Civil War).
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Paladins Plotline
Chapters: LX, LXI, LXIII, LXIV, LXV, LXVII, LXVIII, LXXI, LXXII, CII, CIII, CIV, CV, CVI, CVII, CVIII, CIX (60, 61, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 71, 72, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109)
When Bishop and Aeyrin visit Solitude for the first time, they run into a paladin from Bishop's past (see Bishop's backstory) – Casavir. Bishop is upset over this and he tries to steer Aeyrin away from him, but she is adamant to speak with the man. Casavir invites Aeyrin to talk over dinner and despite Bishop's protests, she agrees. During the dinner, the two start to form a slow friendship, which at times turns uncomfortable due to the paladin's conflict with Bishop. Eventually Bishop admits to being afraid of Casavir poisoning Aeyrin against him with his opinion, just like he had done before with Elisie, but Aeyrin reassures him. Not entirely convinced, Bishop starts putting up less resistance, but he is still too wary. Soon enough Casavir invites Aeyrin to accompany him to an annual ball to honor the coming of winter. Aeyrin accepts again, much to Bishop's dismay. The ball is an uncomfortable event for Aeyrin. She seems to be the center of attention since Casavir announces her as the 'Dragonborn' and most people are not impressed with what they see. Although she enjoys speaking with Casavir, the ball fills her with anxiety. Bishop is concerned both over Casavir spilling his secrets and over Aeyrin acting strange before the ball and he decides to crash the event. Casavir is far from impressed, but Bishop at least manages to take Aeyrin's mind off of people's uncomfortable stares.
Early morning after the event Casavir comes knocking on the door of their room at the inn. He insists on Aeyrin helping him with a dragon, although she is still drunk and had no sleep. This particular dragon appears to be more dangerous than a regular one and so Aeyrin and Bishop reluctantly come along with Casavir. They stay away from the battle, but the subsequent absorption is still too much for Aeyrin and she passes out. She is torn by Casavir from Bishop's arms but when he sees her draw breath, his relief is replaced by anger at the paladin getting her into this state and he lunges at him and assaults him. He is promptly knocked out and arrested.
When Aeyrin wakes in Casavir's chambers, she inquires about Bishop. She pleads for his release but Casavir is adamant. In the end, he reveals the truth about Bishop to her – how he bothered Elisie after Jules's death and how Casavir discovered the rumors of her leaving town pregnant, suspecting Bishop of being the culprit (upon which he also suggests that Elisie was not a willing participant). Aeyrin already knows this story, but a lot differently. She is convinced that they are both wrong and the entire thing is a misunderstanding. She tries to tell Casavir but he won't hear it. In the end she simply concentrates on Bishop's current predicament and eventually convinces Casavir to release him.
During the same stay in Solitude, after their infiltration of the Thalmor embassy, Bishop is gravely wounded. Aeyrin is rejected with him at the temple in the city due to a large number of injured soldiers and without any other ideas, she seeks Casavir's help. Casavir reluctantly agrees and heals Bishop.
After a while, Casavir contacts Aeyrin and asks her if they could meet again so that he could introduce her to his contingent. The next time Aeyrin and Bishop are in Solitude, they arrange a meeting with the paladins. Aeyrin is overjoyed to find her childhood friend Azshan among them (a fact which Bishop is not too thrilled about). During the evening, Aeyrin agrees to both being taught better restoration spells from Azshan and to helping Casavir and his contingent to battle a clan of vicious vampires. Azshan teaches her spells useful against undead and Daedra and she embarks alone with Casavir the next day on their mission while Bishop grumpily stays behind. The battle with the vampires goes south and Aeyrin is bitten and loses a lot of blood. Casavir takes her back to the Castle to recover.
When Bishop finally finds out what had happened, he flips out at Casavir and assaults him again. This time Casavir doesn't arrest him, but he forbids him from getting anywhere near the Castle, leaving him unable to see Aeyrin. Without any further avenues, Bishop waits at the inn until Aeyrin returns, but before that happens, he is unexpectedly called into the Blue Palace. There the Queen informs him privately that she has gotten an anonymous note about the bounty on his head (see Bishop's backstory) but for his services to the city, she grants him a pardon.
On his way back from the Palace, Bishop runs into Azshan who has a message for him from Aeyrin, but instead of giving Bishop the message, he claims to have a better idea. He takes him to a back entrance to the Castle and gives him building plans, leaving Bishop free to see her if he's subtle enough. From that point onward, Bishop visits Aeyrin until she is free to leave, spending a fortune of invisibility potions.
Right before Aeyrin is released, however, she suddenly comes down with an unexpected fever. She is bedridden and barely conscious. In time, it is revealed by the healers and alchemists that Aeyrin was poisoned. Casavir investigates incessantly, following one lead after another. The evidence in the end points to Bishop and he is called in front of the court. He is accused of his crimes and his pack is searched – revealing the pardon to Tullius as well as the invisibility potions and building plans. He is banished from Haafingar (again), but before he leaves, he accuses Casavir of orchestrating this to keep Aeyrin to himself. His accusation is not supported by any evidence, but it plants enough doubt in those present.
Bishop is escorted out of the city, but Casavir is unconvinced of his guilt after the outburst at the Palace. He searches on and follows the clues until he uncovers a large conspiracy of the nobles who wished to keep Aeyrin bedridden to claim damages from the crown over their property which has been decimated by a dragon. He follows the clues towards one of the thanes to find who could have actually done the poisoning.
In the meantime Aeyrin is up on her feet and when she hears the news, she investigates on her own. Casavir learns of the culprit – Azshan, but he also learns of his contingency plan which would implicate the entire Order. Aeyrin arrives at the same location after her own investigation and discovers Casavir there. Rather than risk the Order, Casavir takes the blame himself and admits that he had poisoned Aeyrin.
Aeyrin is shocked but she wants nothing to do with any of this any longer. She goes back to Elisif and asks her to pardon Bishop from these unfounded accusations as well as to end the investigation. Elisif is reluctant, but she complies. In the end, when Casavir returns to the Queen, she makes it clear that she is now sure of Casavir's guilt – she had been convinced both by Bishop's accusation, Casavir's lack of proof and Aeyrin's reluctance and Casavir has no way of convincing her otherwise.
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Lydia's Plotline
Chapters: LII, LIII, LXXIV, LXXV, CXII, CXIII, CXXXI (52, 53, 74, 75, 112, 113, 131)
After helping the city of Whiterun with a second dragon in the vicinity, Aeyrin is granted the title of 'thane' along with a house and her personal housecarl. Since she has no knowledge of this housecarl's existence, their meeting is a bit more awkward then they would have liked when she enters Aeyrin's new house unannounced. Despite all that, Aeyrin works on building a more friendly relationship with the woman – Lydia.
Lydia turns out to be a talented cook and after some convincing, Bishop agrees to get some tips and lessons from her to improve his own cooking on the road. Bishop and Lydia slowly form a friendship of their own and their stays in Whiterun become a pleasant diversion.
On the fateful night when Neeshka comes to Whiterun and threatens Bishop with revealing his current attachments to Thorn (see Bishop's backstory), Bishop sees no other avenues than to kill her in the middle of the street. Panicked, he chooses to drag her corpse into Breezehome and he asks Lydia for help. After some convincing, Lydia reluctantly agrees to get rid of the corpse for him.
Lydia is riddled with guilt after what they have done and when Bishop and Aeyrin visit Whiterun the next time, she seeks reassurance from him. Bishop tells her the truth about what has been going on and he admits why Neeshka has been in the city in the first place – to locate the Redguard barmaid Saadia for Thorn. Lydia decides to repent herself by helping Saadia out of her predicament.
After a lot of convincing, Saadia tells Lydia that she has been hunted by the Alik'r warriors for speaking up against the Thalmor. Impressed by her courage, Lydia takes it upon herself to rid Saadia of her pursuers. She finds out from her that one of the Alik'r has been captured by the guard when they aggressively looked for Saadia. Lydia questions the captured man and finds out the location of the rest of the Alik'r. She is not confident enough to take them on by herself though and she subtly recruits Bishop to her aid under the pretenses of a hunting lesson. The two of them kill the Alik'r and do everything that they can to ensure that the bandits think that the Alik'r had simply left with their target without paying them. Saadia is relieved at the news and promises to tell Lydia the whole story one day.
The next time Bishop and Aeyrin visit Whiterun, they find Lydia and Saadia in Breezehome together. When Saadia leaves, they tease Lydia relentlessly until she admits to having feelings for Saadia, but she despairs about not being able to act upon them as she is uncertain whether those feelings would be reciprocated. Bishop and Aeyrin encourage her to take a chance and Lydia eventually agrees. But when Aeyrin's failed attempt at ridding Bishop of his bounty in Whiterun forces them to leave, they are left only guessing on how their relationship has developed.
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College of Winterhold Plotline
Chapters: XCIII, XCV, XCVI, XCVII, CXVIII, CXIX, CXX (93, 95, 96, 97, 118, 119, 120)
When planning to visit the College of Winterhold for lore and enchantments, Aeyrin and Bishop stop at the Winterhold inn for the night. They are faced with an abrasive mage named Darren. He attempts to belittle the both of them and Bishop is convinced that he is actually trying to seduce Aeyrin. She disagrees and they make a bet. In the end, to force the outcome, Bishop goads the mage enough that he attempts to attack Bishop with magic. He is promptly punched by Aeyrin and subsequently escorted out of the inn for attempting to cast a spell there.
The next day Bishop and Aeyrin are allowed into the College but only after Aeyrin agrees to have the mages study her Dragonborn abilities. After numerous experiments, the two of them are finally allowed to retreat to the apprentices' quarters where they unfortunately run into Darren again. He is no less abrasive than before and he is no way apologetic.
Afterwards Bishop and Aeyrin are hired to clear out the ruins of Saarthal for the mages so that they can study them without the fear of being attacked by draugr. They leave with an expedition of apprentices and one of the senior mages, Tolfdir. They clear the ruins, but in the last chamber, they find a strange glowing orb. It mesmerizes them for a while and it has an odd dragon priest guardian. They manage to slay the priest in the end but before they can tell Tolfdir about their finding, Darren hunts them down in the ruins to exact his revenge. He is, however, mesmerized by the orb too and he approaches to touch it. Despite their warnings, he proceeds to touch the unfamiliar object and is struck by a charge of energy and wounded. They instantly get Tolfdir to help.
After the incident, Bishop and Aeyrin find out that Darren is alive, but a bit worse for the wear. The orb is transported to the College for study, but nobody has more information about it. When the dust settles, Bishop and Aeyrin finally make use of the library and enchantments, but there is one more thing that delays their departure. A young apprentice Brelyna asks for help with testing her spells. Bishop is horrified at the prospect but Aeyrin agrees. She is subject to several miscast spells, turning green and nauseous as well as other things. When she is finally turned to normal and Bishop stops seething, they are free to leave the College. But not before Brelyna asks them to test her friend J'zargo's scrolls.
When they test the scrolls they find them just as flawed as Brelyna's spells. But in the end, they use their flaws to their advantage. Nevertheless they return to the College to confront J'zargo and in the end, they are rewarded with a ring that allows them to breathe underwater. When they set out to leave the College again, they are approached by a Thalmor agent. He inquires about the orb, calling it 'the Eye', but due to his condescending attitude, Bishop and Aeyrin play clueless and tell him nothing about what they have found in the ruins.
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Pilgrimage and Dissident Priests Plotline
Chapters: LXXXII, CXV (82, 115)
Aeyrin attempts to find out more about Talos worship when she's in Skyrim, but that proves harder than it sounds. The Nords are mistrustful of her and the Empire supporters prove to be too dangerous when they get a whiff of her purpose there.
After long travels, she finally finds out that Talos worship is alive and theoretically legal in Windhelm. When her other endeavors permit, she visits the Master of the local temple and asks about Talos. She is disheartened at his attitude as he insists on her being naïve, that she cannot know Talos unless she knows war. And the only war he actually seems to consider worthy enough seems to be the one ravaging Skyrim. As Aeyrin has no interest in helping in the bloodshed, she leaves crestfallen with only a few religious books to show for her efforts. Outside the temple, however, she is approached by a young Nord priestess Jora.
Jora is intrigued by Aeyrin's interest and inquires whether there are others like her in the Empire-occupied lands. After some discussion on the matter, they both agree to stay in contact and to correlate with Master Therien to find pilgrims willing to learn the ways of Talos in secret. They plan to form a chapter of dissident priests, hidden from Thalmor eyes. The endeavor would definitely put a giant target on all of their backs if discovered, but they are determined to proceed slowly and cautiously.
For now, Master Therien gathers support in Cyrodiil while Jora looks for likeminded Nords and Talos worshippers who would be willing to help them.
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Civil War Plotline
Chapters: I, XLI, XLII, XLIII, XLIV, XLV, LXII, LXXXI, LXXXV, LXXXVI, LXXXVII, LXXXXVIII, CVI, CVII, CXXX, CXXXI, CXXXII (1, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 62, 81, 85, 86, 87, 88, 106, 107, 130, 131, 132)
The Civil war has been ravaging Skyrim for a long time now.
Aeyrin is confronted with its effects right when she crosses the border and Stormcloak soldiers trick her in order to kill her, as they are convinced that she is an Imperial spy. Luckily the deed is interrupted by an Imperial ambush, but the soldiers in turn are convinced that she is a Stormcloak spy, an elf purposefully planted in their camp as a prisoner. No amount of convincing saves her from heading towards the headsman's axe (see Dragonborn).
When she is later helped by an Imperial soldier Hadvar, he insists that she would be a good candidate for the Legion. Aeyrin is reluctant to participate in any war, however, especially after what had happened in Helgen.
In time, when Aeyrin and Bishop visit Windhelm, Ulfric Stormcloak gets a wind of her identity as the Dragonborn and summons her to the Palace of the Kings for dinner. Before the event, however, Aeyrin is invited on another occasion to the Palace – for a concert performed by a famed bard, Alec. The concert is held for Ulfric, yet Alec gives much more attention to Aeyrin, which angers the King considerably. Aeyrin fears for the bard's life, but there is nothing to be done.
During the dinner, Ulfric dismisses all questions about Alec and instead attempts to intimidate Aeyrin into joining his rebellion. Aeyrin stands up to him and refuses to be manipulated. While angry, Ulfric lets her leave, but he assures her that unless she stands with him, she stands against him.
When Bishop and Aeyrin reach Solitude, they are similarly summoned into Castle Dour to meet with General Tullius. Unlike Ulfric, Tullius outright assumes that Aeyrin will support his cause and when she refuses, he gets equally angered. She encounters Hadvar on her way out of the Castle but he only makes the same assumptions and she leaves him too, soured by the experience.
On their next visit to Windhelm, there are rumors about a mysterious killer. The attempts to capture this so-called Butcher lead Ulfric to enact insane laws, largely directed at the elven and Argonian citizens. Aeyrin is angry at the development and tries to find more information. In the meantime she finds Alec back in Windhelm, performing again. She is baffled by his presence after what happened the last time and questions him on it, but he is only oddly dismissive and evasive.
When their friend Susanna gets murdered by the Butcher, Aeyrin decides to take matters into her own hands and she investigates the streets at night, regardless of the fact that it is at the time illegal for her to do so.
Their efforts don't go so well and Aeyrin gets herself arrested and dragged into Ulfric's dungeon. When Bishop considers getting her out, he is presented with an opportunity by a nobleman, Brunwulf Free-Winter, who chastises the guards dragging Aeyrin away. He sends a message with them to Ulfric, to remind him of the dragon menace and to release Aeyrin promptly. Bishop questions Brunwulf after the guards leave with Aeyrin. Brunwulf tells him about the fragile hold that Ulfric has on Windhelm and about how dependent he is on the nobles' coffers. The nobles are none too pleased with him ruining trade with the Empire and he is losing their support fast. Because of that, Ulfric has to placate the nobles whenever he can. Brunwulf promises to ensure Aeyrin's release in the morning, but she still has to spend a couple of hours in the dungeons.
There Aeyrin is visited by Ulfric and his torturer. Ulfric continues to threaten her and chastises her for meddling in his city's affairs. He promises to take more drastic measures if she attempts to defy his laws again and he leaves her to get whipped by the torturer. In the end when she is released, he proclaims her to be officially banished from Windhelm.
Barred from Windhelm, Aeyrin and Bishop's adventures continue. The only other development from either war-leader comes when Aeyrin receives a letter from General Tullius right after they escape their problems with the paladins in Solitude (see Paladins). Since Bishop's bounty has been revealed to Tullius, even though he had been pardoned in Solitude, the General threatens to expose him in Whiterun unless Aeyrin procures the Jagged Crown for him and presents it to Elisif, swearing loyalty to the Empire. Aeyrin refuses to bow down to him and instead she goes directly to Jarl Balgruuf. The plan backfires and Bishop is promptly banished from Whiterun Hold.
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Markarth and Forsworn Plotline
Chapters: CXXI, CXXII, CXXV, CXXVII, CXXVIII, CXXIX (121, 122, 125, 127, 128, 129)
When Aeyrin and Bishop travel through the Reach, Aeyrin has a feeling of being constantly watched. After locating Sky Haven Temple, they go to Markarth to proceed with Karliah's mission. While Bishop takes care of that, Aeyrin is approached by a Nord man – Thongvor Silver-Blood. He asks Aeyrin to help him out with Forsworn attacking one of his mines and the neighboring settlement. After she agrees, he rushes her to action while Bishop is still gone.
When they reach the mine, the entire endeavor is revealed to be an ambush and Thongvor and his cohorts attack Aeyrin. She is overpowered and subdued, but before she passes out, she notices her attackers fall one by one by an unknown assailant.
In the meantime, Bishop returns to the inn only to run into a Guild member Sapphire (see Thieves Guild and Thorn's Bandits). She warns him about a bounty on Aeyrin's head, issued by Mercer. Bishop frantically looks for Aeyrin but she is nowhere to be found. Finally he finds out that she has left with Thongvor, who is promptly revealed to be an associate of Mercer's by Sapphire.
Bishop rushes to Aeyrin's rescue but he tracks only a carnage of bodies along with Forsworn arrows.
Aeyrin awakens in a Forsworn camp, fussed over by a man and a woman. They introduce themselves as Cael and Robin – a chieftain of a Forsworn tribe and his sister. Cael explains that they have been watching Aeyrin in the Reach and that they have seen her absorb a dragon's soul. Cael is full of admiration for her, but the rest of the tribe is mistrustful.
The situation gets even more tense when Bishop appears at the camp and demands to see Aeyrin. A battle ensues, but Cael commands his men to stop it before anyone comes to serious harm. Relieved that Aeyrin is alive, Bishop does not force the battle either. They are allowed to remain at the camp unarmed until morning, but Cael ensures that they leave right after. Still, he speaks of hope for their people to coexist.
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Dawnstar Plotline
Chapters: XCVIII, XCIX, CXVII (98, 99, 117)
On their first visit to Dawnstar, Bishop and Aeyrin are plagued by strange nightmares. They torment them all night but in the end, neither of them can remember their content. Unnerved by this, they agree to leave Dawnstar early. The ferryman taking them to Solitude tells them that this has been going on for everyone for some time, that no one is able to sleep peacefully. The phenomenon is apparently worse for travelers since they are less accustomed to this. Their following visit goes in much the same way and they become more and more determined to avoid the town.
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Additional Information
Aeyrin and Bishop have accepted a quest to retrieve the famed White Phial for the alchemist Nurelion. After overcoming a lot of trouble with retrieving it (including Aeyrin succumbing to a vicious illness), the Phial was returned to the Altmer, but it was cracked. Crestfallen, the man sent Bishop away with only meager payment for the work, but at least his assistant Quintus compensated him by giving him a recipe for a potion to cure Aeyrin. (Chapters XLVI, XLVII – 46, 47)
When in Solitude, Queen Elisif asks Bishop and Aeyrin for assistance with rumors of a strange cabal of witches, apparently intent on summoning the Wolf Queen Potema back to Nirn. After tracking down the cabal, Bishop and Aeyrin attack the witches, but the witches panic and start the summoning ritual instead of concentrating on retaliation. Bishop and Aeyrin have a lot of trouble stopping them in time. They succeed in the end, but there remains a strange energy in the air. They dismiss it as some remnants of the ritual and return to Solitude for their reward. (Chapters C, CI – 100, 101)
Aeyrin and Bishop sponsored a young promising warrior Erik in his wishes to leave home and become an adventurer. They provided equipment for him and fabricated a story about an impressive quest to ensure that his father would be confident enough in the boy's abilities to let him leave. Later they encounter Erik during a battle against a dragon. When things look dire, Erik appears and finishes the beast off, saving their lives. (Chapters LIX, CXX – 59, 120)
Aeyrin has been named a blood-kin of the Orc tribes when she helped a few of them defeat a dragon. She has been invited to visit their tribe in Narzulbur. (Chapter CXXXVII – 137)
Aeyrin's treasures:
A silver ring with a carved wolf's head – originally given to Bishop by Jules. Bishop gave the ring to Aeyrin after telling her about his brother. The ring was stolen by Thorn during her capture, but Bishop retrieved it during their duel and subsequently gave it back to Aeyrin.
A headband with an enchanted rose – given to Aeyrin by Casavir for the ball. Safely stored at Breezehome.
A bracelet with briars and the droplets of Dibella – given to Aeyrin by Cael after he had rescued her, a symbol of cooperation between their people. Safely stored at Breezehome.
A white fur cloak – purchased from Niranye in Windhelm to survive the awful weather.
A book on Dragon language – used to decipher the Words from the Walls.
Books on Talos – given to Aeyrin by the Master of the temple of Talos.
Strange potions – retrieved from a barrow near Ivarstead. They make one look like a ghost.
A mask of a dragon priest – recovered after an exhausting battle upon escaping Raldbthar. Safely stored at Breezehome.
A broken but strangely powerful amulet – recovered from the ruins of Folgunthur in Hjaalmarch. Safely stored at Breezehome.
Bishop's treasures:
A silver ring with a carved dragon's head – given to him by Aeyrin as a symbol of the man he has become.
Dark leather armor reinforced with thin Dwemer plates – commissioned by Aeyrin in Markarth with the plates being of her own making.
A ring which muffles movement – given to him by Delphine for the embassy infiltration.
A ring which allows one to breathe underwater – given to him and Aeyrin by J'zargo as an apology for his faulty scrolls.
A pardon for his banishment from Haafingar and Skyrim – given to him by Queen Elisif.
A mysterious note – found in his pack on a random occasion. Origin unknown. The note has a large black imprint of a hand upon it with the words 'We know' below.
Aeyrin's Shouts:
FEIM, FO, FUS RO DAH, IIZ, KAAN, KRII, LOK VAH KOOR, STRUN, TIID, YOL TOOR, ZUL MEY GUT
Some of the smaller plotlines are not included, either because they are generally finished or because they are not mentioned very much further on. You will, of course, undoubtedly come across references in the second book which cannot be understood by just reading the summaries, but they should be sufficient for some reminders :) You can of course just re-read the book for the best effect if you don't recall all the plotlines :D I did put a lot of work and a lot of love into it :)
In any case, I hope this little guide was helpful. If any of you can think of any important information that is missing, please let me know.
Otherwise, see you in the second book. Very soon ;)