Hey guys, sorry for the delay. My girlfriend just came home from a two month long mission trip. I hadn't seen or heard from her in a long while so I have been spending a lot of time with her. Also wanted to let you know that I am splitting the story in half.
Hadvar IV
We had just finished moving everything into Proudspire Manor when the Jarl walked in.
Aldis and I both turned to salute our liege lord. Even though he was officially retired he was still working for her and serving her. I was the new Captain of the Solitude Guard.
I was in charge of the well keeping of every citizen within the borders of our Hold.
"At ease, men." She smiled. Her smile could light up a room. The woman was beautiful beyond measure.
"My Jarl, what brings you to this mess?" Aldis grinned back at her. His hands waved around at the boxes that had been strewn about. Many were on their way into the home while others were left by the previous owner.
"I came to check on your move in, of course. It's a Jarl's official duty when someone moves into our finer homes." Then she winked. "Unofficially, I have come to check on your progress on the task I have already gave you and to give you a new one."
"A new task?" I looked at the woman. We had made some headway against Erikur, but we needed to finish the mission before we were given more.
"Calm down, Hadvar." She laughed. "Something has come up, it is urgent but I want you to keep working on the Erikur stuff as well. Back to business, first how do you like your new home?"
"It is more than enough for me. I have slept in a barracks for most of my adult life. I do like the subtle things though. Snowberries growing in pots at the stairs. Those will come in handy if we have someone out in deep cover in the wilds and they need to fight the cold off. Weapons lined up downstairs, on racks upstairs, all over the place. Supplies in boxes in a room downstairs. You must have thought of everything."
"I am pleased you like it. I actually just asked Falk to take care of this stuff. He has been working for the court of Solitude since he was a young man in some way or another. I thought he might know what to do." She began to walk to the fireplace, Falk kept it roaring as Sybille stays cold. Elisif's hand wandered over to a goblet and poured wine off the shelf into her goblet. "Now, the mission report."
"Hmm." Aldis cleared his throat out. "Follow us upstairs. We have a room set up for this."
We had a room set up next to the master bedroom. Two single beds were in the room should an operative ever need some where to stay the night. A map of Skyrim's Nine Holds was placed over a board. A small red pin was tacked onto Solitude.
"Oh I almost forgot." Elisif held her hand over her mouth. She set the wine goblet down with her other hand. "Our reinforcements from High Rock are here! They caught a force of Stormcloaks in Karthwasten killing their own men. They aren't sure if it was a revolt or if Ulfric is just culling his undesirables. We caught several of their leaders, but it will take a few more days before they make it to Solitude. When they get here we will figure out who was in charge and what was going on."
We both shared in her excitement for a few moments before getting to the report.
"We have word from Maven." I told the Jarl when we had the door shut behind us. Sybille had taken care of sound proofing the room for us.
"Black-Briar. I hate dealing with that woman. What did she say?"
"Our thief friend is an Imperial sellsword named Marcurio. Walked into the Bee and Barb one day before the Civil War started, wanted to make money as a mercenary. Problem was, no one wanted an Imperial Mage at their side at the time. Tensions were high, it would have been right before the War started so I figure Ulfric had already been around rallying allies and men." Aldis speculated.
"And from there he met a recruiter for the Guild. We haven't learned this man's name yet. We just know he is a Nord. Right before the Dragonborn disappeared three years ago Marcurio killed the previous Guild Master and took over. He has spent the last three years rebuilding the Guild." I finished telling her about the man I met at the tavern.
"Now they are a powerhouse. They have their hands in the coffers of every one of the major Holds, including ours. Erikur is their inside man in Solitude. It is how he stays rich and finds so many business connections. He apparently got too big for his britches and turned on the Guild." Aldis gave even more information to Elisif.
I did not know all of that. He had only told me a little as we went. I guess Aldis saw it as a need to know basis.
"Did this Marcurio person say anything else?"
"Erikur was bought out by the Thalmor. Would sell us to Ulfric for the right price according to Marcurio." Aldis growled. His anger was evident in the way he spit out Ulfric's name.
"What evidence do you have?" She became the Jarl of Solitude again. Strictly business. "I can't imprison one of my thanes for no reason. My people would call me Elisif the Cruel."
Fat chance of that. She would always be Elisif the Fair, beloved of the people.
"His 'aide'." I answered. "Follow us downstairs."
When we got to the basement we found Sybille Stentor in her natural environment. A scrying table had been erected in the corner of the room. She was bent over it, working diligently with two stones in her hand. I recognized them as soul gems. With her bent over I could somewhat see what Aldis had on his mind with her. I still can't get over the whole she is a vampire and will suck your body dry of all its blood.
"Hello dear." Aldis called out to his lover.
"Hello Matthias." That word would always sound awkward. Aldis would be what I called him until I died. Captain was his first name, not Matthias.
"How is everything?" He asked her.
"Oh, Elisif!" She called out to the Jarl when she saw her. "I did not see you behind these two."
"Sybille, what is all this here? Do you not already have one of these at the Palace?"
"My Jarl, I am a vampire. I never sleep, unless I choose to. So I bring my work home with me. After I couldn't detect anything in Wolfskull Cave I decided to find new ways to scrye. Better ways."
She held up the two soul gems. One was way too dark in color to wave around in front of a Jarl.
"Do you know how much a soul is worth?" She asked the Jarl. "I once knew a man named Balthazar who taught me. He sold many illegal weapons before being killed by a rebel."
"Honey, back to the High Elf you have locked up." Aldis interrupted.
With a stern look at the Captain, she waved her hand at the door down the hall. It slowly opened. Inside was a High Elf in what appeared to be a drunken stupor. Elisif gasped at the sight when she walked in.
Melaran's eyes were as red as a Dark Elf's. He seemed to be drunk on something other than alcohol.
"Honey, what did you do?" Aldis called out down the hall for his life.
"You told me to get the elf talking, so I made a deal," She yelled back. I heard her footsteps as she walked down the stone floor of the basement.
Deal?" My voice was in unison with both the Captain's and the Jarl's.
"All High Elves want power. Well most everyone wants more power." She said it like it was an everyday fact of life. "All I did was offer him more personal power than the Thalmor ever could and I offered him a way to gain more."
"What did you get in return?" I looked to her for a logical answer.
"In return for turning him for me turning him, training him, and sending him away?" She looked quizzically at Aldis and myself. Like it should be common sense to both of us.
"Yes." I answered the damn question.
"He will tell you everything he knows of Erikur, of Erikur's dealings with Elenwen, information on Elenwen and the Thalmor. Any and all high ranking Thalmor agents in Skyrim."
Matter of fact was that she had made a pretty damn good deal.
"What if the vampire causes trouble in my Hold?" Jarl Elisif asked.
I know an Orc with some friends that can help." She then handed the gem to the High Elf. "What do you think?"
"Is this really time?" I shouted at the mage.
She muttered something about the ignorance of Nords as she left the room.