19th of Sun's Dusk, 4E 965

Lodiramor's Journey

Lodiramor was walking down the bridge to the main road of Winterhold, the College's Master Wizard, Sonine, argued with him.

"But who will fulfill your role while you, what, trek the entire province over what you saw in a dream?" She was furious with Lodiramor, who seemed a little too confident in what he was doing.

"Does that question really need answering? If I were to die it would be you who would become Arch-Mage. Thus in my time looking for answers, you are the one who will guide and protect the College," Lodiramor said, not turning to face Sonine as he continued down the bridge. When he reached the main road, he mounted a white horse held in place by a College mage. "I'm afraid I must depart, as I have no time to waste. I must find what I need before he arrives here in Winterhold. This is not just a matter of my own curiosity - this is about saving lives. I bid you goodbye, and I hope to see you again."

Lodiramor turned from her and started off on his horse. He rode through the city and onto the road to Windhelm, which he guessed would take a couple days on horseback. From there, he would take a ship from the Windhelm port to Solitude.

As he rode through the blizzard, his thoughts dwelled upon his first stop - the castle off the coast of Haafingar. Lodiramor read of - so he believed - the castle in a journal of the Dragonborn, which was moved from the Arch-Mage's quarters to a restricted portion of the Arcanaeum after his disappearance. It had said:

Of all of my travels, another place I found absolutely stunning was the great castle in the Sea of Ghosts. It wasn't necessarily beautiful, but it is staggering in terms of size, and it could host a small city's population in its walls.

Lodiramor wanted to get there as quickly as he could, eager to learn the secrets of the Dragonborn. First, he would have to make it to Windhelm, and he had to remain focus in case the Skyrim roads turned dangerous - as they were known to do.

After riding for several hours, his horse was growing tired. The snow had slowed down as he progressed further south and to lower elevations, however, and Lodiramor thought it would be best if he quickly found shelter. He had passed the abandoned Whistling Mine a couple hours beforehand, and hoped he would find something sooner rather than later.

And, not too much time later, he approached a cave. Wanting to get rest, he dismounted and brought his horse through the small entrance. To his dismay, he was not alone. A chaurus and two falmer were present in the room. Lodiramor tried to detect if there were any more life, and there was none.

Lodiramor drew a dagger from his hip, and held it above his hand with the use of telekinesis. He pushed his arm forward, and so went the dagger - in a direct path towards the chaurus and sticking into its head. One falmer, seeking to respond, readied a bow to fire at Lodiramor, as the other charged. Lodiramor held out his staff in one hand and thrust the head at the falmer - who were sent flying back to the cave wall. He raised his left hand and sent two successive fireballs at the falmer, making sure they were dead.

Lodiramor tied his horse to one of the natural structures of the cave and took a roll off the horse to sleep on. His thoughts lingered on the Dragonborn as he drifted off to sleep, hoping to have just one more day of travel before he could travel to Haafingar by boat.

Whiterun

Maengvor sat on the throne of the Jarl of Whiterun, waiting for the Empire's next move. He knew they had been in Falkreath, and wondered when exactly they would begin laying siege on Whiterun. Everything was going according to plan - almost everything, at least.

He received word that the daughter of the Jarl, Mavla, was a part of the leadership heading the Legionnaires to Whiterun. Maengvor viewed this as a problem. For, if she were able to meet him, she would almost assuredly challenge him to a duel in the old Nord way. In truth, Mavla was just a waste of time. His interest was mostly in Titertius Mede, son of the Emperor.

His waiting was interrupted by one of his servants, who requested his presence in the court wizard's office.

"Why is it that you have called for me to be here?" Maengvor asked the two servants in the room.

"We have word from Velmril, the one who you stationed at the College of Winterhold," one of them said. "He performed the ritual to give us this message."

"What did he say?" Maengvor asked, growing somewhat impatient.

"He said that the Arch-Mage of the College is looking for information of some sort regarding the Last Dragonborn. He's on his way to Windhelm as we speak," the servant said.

Maengvor was displeased, for he planned on growing influence in the College subvertly and then having the Arch-Mage killed. Without the Arch-Mage, taking Winterhold would be an easy task. But it seemed that was all by the wayside now.

"We must accelerate our plans," Maengvor said, seeming somewhat frantic. "I hadn't expected there to be movement against us from anyone but the Empire at this point." Maengvor motioned for them to follow as he left to meet with his inner circle. When they reached the room in which Maengvor's inner circle was stationed, he had them wait in the corner as he addressed his closest followers.

"My friends, I'm afraid there must be a change of plans in how we address the upcoming siege," Maengvor said. "The two in the corner have alerted me that the Arch-Mage of the College is moving against us sooner than I had expected." After the short acknowledgement, Maengvor gestured for them to leave the room.

"What is the new plan of action, my lord?" The one closest to Maengvor asked.

"We must leave for the Rift immediately, Sernira," Maengvor said, putting his hand on the Dunmer's shoulder. "We will leave some of our followers here to fight the Imperial Legion, but it will just be an exercise in futility for the Legionnaires. They will not find the leadership of this group, and even if they take back this city, they will have a very decent amount of loss in their invading forces. I will go with a small number of our followers first, and each of you will do the same after me. We must not make the appearance of an entire army leaving this city - our movement must be covert and hidden. Are there any questions?"

Maengvor looked around his circle, to see nobody raise their hands.

"Very good. I must depart, now," Maengvor said, before leaving his closest followers.

20th of Sun's Dusk, 4E 965

Windhelm

Lodiramor strolled along on his horse, finally getting to the Windhelm Stables. When he saw who he presumed to be the owner, he dismounted from the horse and approached the owner - an Altmer female.

"Is there anything I can assist you with today?" She asked.

Lodiramor pulled his horse towards the Altmer, saying, "I was wondering if I could leave my horse with you. I'm planning on taking a boat to Solitude from here, and I need a place to leave him."

The Altmer approached Lodiramor, and said, "I can keep him, but only if you have the gold to pay for it. 50 Septims now, and 30 for every week he stays. If you can't pay it when you come back, it's my horse."

Lodiramor reached into his bag and took out his gold, counting out 50 and giving it to her, and then handing her the lead and said, "Thanks for your time." He then walked further down the road, to the Windhelm docks.

The Windhelm docks were full of Argonians, and Imperials from the East Empire Company, as well as a few Nord deck hands. He approached one of the Nords, and asked, "Where can I find transportation to Haafingar?"

The Nord, sitting on the dock, replied, "Talk to Chaentus. The East Empire Company is shipping some goods to Solitude on the 22nd. I'm sure if you give him enough gold, he'll let you on his ship. He's over there, the bearded Imperial in green." He pointed to an middle-aged Imperial in noble clothing - definitely someone who might be in the East Empire Company.

Lodiramor walked over to Chaentus, who was observing some Nords unloading some goods from a ship.

"Hello, sir," Lodiramor opened, "I hear you're sending a ship off to Solitude in two days. I was wondering if I could come on board for transportation."

Chaentus looked at Lodiramor, and asked, "How much gold you got?"

Lodiramor reached in his bag, and replied, "Would 300 gold be a fair compensation?"

Chaentus raised an eyebrow at Lodiramor, unsure of what background Lodiramor came from that would allow him to have 300 gold to spare. "400," he said flatly.

Lodiramor frowned but reached into his bag, pulling out four smaller bags of 100 coins each. He gave Chaentus the bags, and asked, "When does the ship depart?"

Chaentus looked at the bags, and then at Lodiramor, and said, "Be here at dawn on the 22nd. If you miss the departure I'm not giving you your coin back. Good day."

Annoyed at the Imperial's greed, Lodiramor didn't bid goodbye and simply turned from Chaentus, walking away. Now, he would have to find an inn to stay in for two nights.

Whiterun

Titertius faced his Legionnaires, and saw a sea of soldiers eager to face the threat that has taken Whiterun. Titertius stood upon a rock, and started speaking.

"It's time, soldiers. We've traveled all the way from the Imperial City to quell this threat, and I for one am ready to bring justice to this maniac. For some of you, this was an attack on your home. For the rest of you, this is an act of aggression against our united Empire. I don't know what's hiding behind those walls, but it's time to strike fear into the hearts of whoever would slaughter innocents. Fear of justice. Fear of you." Titertius drew his sword and raised it to the sky. "This is for the Empire! This is for Whiterun!"

Titertius, sword still drawn, mounted his horse again and started riding towards the city as his men prepared siege equipment. Even though he still saw no archers on the walls, and the drawbridge was still down, he was sure there was a hell of a battle waiting behind those walls.