The next morning, before I leave the city, I use the forge at the smithy to turn the hides I'd collected into hide bracers, which weigh less than the hides did, somehow. Leaving the city via the back gate, I travel down the empty space between the wall and a rocky cliff-face, reaching a road leading to the blocked off gate on the other side of the keep. Following the road towards a bridge across a stream, three wolves leap out of the surrounding trees, ganging up on me. Three slices with my sword and three split throats later, the wolves lie skinned naked behind me as I duck into a crack in the cliff-face on the left side of the road, marked as the entrance to the track to Fort Dawnguard by an almost completely rotten wooden sign.
Emerging from the darkness of the short passage, I find before me a snow covered track leading into a deep ravine, into which a waterfall cascades, creating a pool at the right. Near this pool, a young blond Nord hesitates. The young man approaches me when he spots me.
"Oh, hey there!" He says brightly. "You here to join the Dawnguard too? Truth us, I'm a little nervous – I've never done anything like this before. I hope you don't mind if I walk up with you?" I shrug, then continue along the road, slower so the kid can keep pace. "I'm Agmaer. Hey, uh, don't tell Isran I was afraid to meet him by myself. Not the nest first impression for a new vampire hunter, I guess. I heard what's going on – the vampires, the Dawnguard, all of it. I wanted to help. So here I am. You've probably killed lots of vampires, huh? I'm sure Isran will sign you right up. Not sure he'll take me. I hope so." Rounding a bend in the track at the top of a short rise, a great castle comes into view. It is immense – the grey stone is incredibly intimidating, and showing absolutely no sign of the building's age at all.
"That must be it! Fort Dawnguard… wow. Bigger than I expected. Where is everybody?" The boy's right – despite the size of the place, it seems deserted. Another short, sharp twist in the path, and we reach the massive wooden doors, up a short flight of steps glowing golden in the light of two braziers. "I guess this is it. Wish me luck!" Agmaer pushes open one great door and disappears inside. As he does so, a man wearing armour I've never seen before appears round a corner, probably from the wooden walkway around the front of the castle I'd spotted from the track.
"Here to join the Dawnguard? Good. Isran will decide if you've got what it takes. Go on, he's right inside." The man takes station next to the great doors as I follow Agmaer into the massive circular entry hall.
It is well lit, open to the sky above and lit around the edge by braziers. There are three exits into the rest of the fort, and a balcony surrounds it. The centre is edged by four curved pools, covered with iron grates so no-one steps into them, and in the middle of this area, a dark man in the same style armour as the fellow outside argues with a Vigilant of Stendarr.
"Why are you here, Tolan?" Asks the Redguard, who must be Isran. "The Vigilants and I were finished with each other a long time ago."
"You know why I'm here." The Vigilant retorts. "The Vigilants are under attack everywhere. The vampires are much more dangerous than we believed."
"And now you want to come running to safety with the Dawnguard, is that it? I remember Keeper Carcette telling me repeatedly that Fort Dawnguard is a crumbling ruin, not worth the expense and manpower to repair. And now that you've stirred up the vampires against you, you come begging for my protection?"
"Isran, Carcette is dead. The Hall of the Vigilants… everyone… they're all dead. You were right, we were wrong. Isn't that enough for you?"
"Yes, well…" Isran seems to back down, if only slightly. "I never wanted any of this to happen. I tried to warn all of you… I am sorry, you know." He turns away from the Nord and takes a step towards me. "So who are you? What do you want?"
"I'm here to join the Dawnguard." I reply.
"Got a fire in your belly to kill vampires, eh? Good for you. But look around – there's really not much to join yet. I've only just started rebuilding the order."
"What can I do to help?" I ask him.
"I need someone out in the field, taking the fight to the damn vampires, while we're getting the fort back into shape… Tolan was telling me about some cave that the Vigilants were poking around in. Seemed to think it was related to these recent vampire attacks." He turns back to the Vigilant. "Tolan, tell her about, what was it, Dimhollow?"
"Yes, that's it. Dimhollow Crypt. Brother Adalvald was sure it held some long lost vampire artefact of some kind. We didn't listen to him any more that we did Isran. He was at the Hall when it was attacked…"
"That's good enough for me." Isran comments. "Go see what the vampires were looking for in this Dimhollow Crypt. With any luck, they'll still be there. Here, you should take a crossbow." He says, handing me one. I've never used one before, but it seems pretty easy to work out. "Good for taking out those fiends before they get too close. Feel free to poke around the fort and take what you need. There isn't much yet, but you're welcome to anything you can use."
"I'll meet you at Dimhollow." Pipes up Tolan. "It's the least I can do to avenge my fallen comrades."
"Tolan, I don't think that's a good idea. You Vigilants were never trained for –"
"I know what you think of us." The Nord interrupts. "You think we're soft, that we're cowards. You think our deaths proved our weakness. Stendarr grant that you do not have to face the same test and be found wanting." He turns back to me. "I'm going to Dimhollow Crypt. Perhaps I can be of some small assistance to you." He heads off out the door.
Isran spots Agmaer hovering in the shadows. "You there, boy. Stop skulking in the shadows and step up here. What's your name?"
"I'm, uh… my name is Agmaer, sir." He stammers.
"Do I look like a sir to you, boy? I'm not a soldier, and you're not joining the army."
"Yes, si- Isran."
"Didn't I tell you to step forward? Hmm… farm boy, eh? What's your weapon?"
"Uh, my weapon?" Agmaer looks even more nervous than he did before. "I mostly just use my pa's axe, when wolves are attacking the goats or something."
Isran tosses his head back in laughter. "'My pa's axe', Stendarr preserve us! Don't worry; I think we can make a Dawnguard out of you. Here, take this crossbow and let's see how you shoot."
"Uh, crossbow?" Agmaer asks. "I've never –"
"Yes, a crossbow. Best thing for killing vampires. Just take a few shots at those crates over there."
As Agmaer follows Isran's orders, I explore the lower floors, finding a forge with a smelter, which I use to make iron ingots before heading out the door and back through the crevice towards Riften.
I haven't travelled far when a crazed High Elf attacks me, throwing lightning at me while waving an orcish dagger around wildly in his other hand. Dodging the lightning is no mean feat, but I soon get close enough to slash at the man with my Dwarven blade, cutting off the hand casting the spell before hacking the fellow's neck open. Picking out the valuables from his bag, I continue along the road and follow the wall to the gate into the city.
I descend the stairs and walk along the wooden walkway along the stagnant canal to the alchemy shop, Elgrim's Elixirs. Once inside, I use the lab to make several potions, then sell the results to the woman who must be the wife of the owner, before returning to the market and selling the rest of my loot to a Dark Elf at his stall.
Leaving Riften, I follow the road past the three watchtowers to Fort Greenwall, which has already been re-occupied by a bandit gang. I can't be bothered clearing out the inside, so I deal with the ones outside, loot their corpses, then continue down the road, dealing with a pair of wolves along the way, and through the mining town of Shor's Stone. The route between the hamlet and Valtheim is interrupted by many angry creatures, and a thief who is stupid enough to try to rob a heavily armed adventurer, who is by no means in a good mood by that time.
Passing the river towers, I decide to detour to Riverwood to drop off my latest collection of items I want to keep. It's getting late as well, so I'll probably rent a room there. Crossing the bridge, I pass a trio of Imperials escorting their prisoner to Solitude.
I reach the quiet town at sunset, and duck into the Trader first to sell off what I'd collected since Riften. At the inn, I make sure the door is closed behind me before opening the secret door, though I'm not entirely sure why; Delphine isn't coming back and I wouldn't be surprised if Orgnar knew about the room anyway. Into the chest goes the dragon priest's mask, the ivory dragon claw and several other things. Returning to the common room, I rent one of the rooms on the other side and almost immediately fall asleep.