Chapter 22: The growing vampire menace

[9th of Second Seed 4E 202]

On the previous day, Ysolda had mentioned that she needed a mammoth tusk. Fiona had looked at my house construction site and had decided that she wanted a tower added, and we had had a look into the basement of Dragonsreach and had actually found the strange door; Mephala, the Lady of Whispers, was trying to lure people to her. At this time, we were not yet sure how to deal with that.

In late morning Ysolda, Fiona and I met under the Gildergreen tree to start our mammoth hunt. Naturally, the Bosmer's housecarls Iona and Lydia joined us, and Jordis was with me, too. The first question was, of course, where to go to, and Lydia offered:

"From Whiterun, the closest giant camps are 'Bleakwind Basin' to the northwest and 'Secunda's Kiss' to the southwest. The distance is similar, but the former is maybe a little bit closer, and it's also mostly open area."

"Why would open area be good or bad?" Fiona asked.

"On open ground we can see much better where all of the giants are and such have a lower risk to get attacked by one of them without warning."

"And why do we need to go to such a giant camp if we're looking just for mammoths?"

"This is because almost all of them are herded and protected by giants; it is rather rare to find mammoths by themselves."

"Okay, but giants are dangerous, aren't they?"

"They sure are" I chimed in. "Remember the one we encountered when we first came close to Whiterun together?"

"Oh, yes, that was a scary sight."

"It was, and it took several strong people to bring it down. Now, in such a camp, we are likely to encounter not just one, but several giants."

"Oh."

"But that's why are heading out together, and we will see what we can do."

We agreed on Lydia's suggestion to go to 'Bleakwind Basin', and thus we headed first west and then northwest. Once we were off the main road, I sent Hanni and Nanni ahead to scout for potential danger, and Fiona kept to the rear with her Nymeria.

From the back, I heard the Dragonborn ask:

"So, how does the area of the camp look like?"

Lydia had an answer for that:

"As the name states, my Thane, there is a pond close to the camp area. There are some smaller and larger rocks around, and the main camp site is likely close to one side of that pond, probably close to some larger rocks, as this is where giants seem to like."

"Will we have a chance to get a mammoth tusk without fighting?" Ysolda was curious.

"Depends" Jordis replied. "If we are lucky and find a dead mammoth, maybe. Otherwise, there's going to be at least some fighting. If we're smart, we think about distracting the giants."

"How can we do this?"

"We might be able to scare one mammoth and have it run off, thus forcing the giants to either stay with the main herd or follow the single animal."

"But there might be two or three giants, and they could split?"

"True; let's see what happens. If there was a foolproof plan, mammoths might already be extinct."

When we approached the camp about one hour later, we saw three giants and at least five mammoths; that was a significant herd size, and they could afford to lose one animal. Of course, just killing one of those huge animals for one tusk would be a total waste, and I struggled to find justification for that. Maybe we should have gone to one of those bandit camps where mammoth tusks could usually be found? I vaguely recalled that there was a location where once could find plenty of dead mammoths and tusks somewhere below ground; but we were here now. We spent some time surveying the area from the top of a large rock, and initially I did not see an easy chance for us; the mammoths were all close together, and driving a single animal off might be tricky. While waiting, I got a chance to take in the view, and the location actually had more than just the pond, the giants and the mammoths. On one side, there was a structure which looked like the ruin of a small watchtower, and from there a stone walkway extended over part of the basin, supported by a stone pillar directly next to the roaring campfire. The walkway ended in another ruin, but I could not see if those structures were still in usable condition; the walkway looked like it was going to collapse if one of the giants even looked at it, and with the giant camp around, the point was moot anyway.

When I looked around again, I noticed that we were not the only group hunting for mammoth today. From the north, I could see a wolf pack approaching, and it seemed to be a large one, with about a dozen adult animals. They might be able to scare a mammoth, but they sure would not be able to kill one, right? I asked Jordis, who was right next to me, and she told me:

"No, wolves cannot kill a mammoth or even bring it down by themselves, but if they manage to scare if off and make it run away, there is a chance that it breaks a leg forcing it down. If that happens when that animal is far away from the herd, they get a huge free meal. I have seen that happening, although the failure rate is quite high. Apparently, it's worth trying for them."

I was curious to see if something similar might happen here, but he had to wait patiently until the wolves were all in position. Eventually, maybe 20 minutes after they had started their approach, some of them started to howl from various directions, and that got the attention from giants and mammoths both, specifically as the howling was quite close to the camp. One of the giants raised his club and approached the closest wolf he could see, but of course a wolf was more than nimble enough to not get hit. The problem was that there were about a dozen wolves and only three giants, and the wolves approached from several directions at once. I did not really see how it had happened, but suddenly there were four or five wolves between giants and mammoths, and one of the two non-adult animals became scared. The adults tried to calm it down, but when several wolves snapped in the direction of the scared mammoth, it started to run off, about northeast. One of the giants started to move and follow it, but as most of the wolves now threatened the other juvenile mammoth, all three giants decided to stay and protect their herd.

Three wolves followed the escaping animal, and with constant howling and snarling they managed to keep it running, towards a small series of ponds and stream coming down from 'Halted Stream Camp'. I understood that this was a big chance for us and signaled my companions to follow, which we did. My size and speed allowed me to be first, and I ran sideways to follow the single mammoth and three wolves on a parallel track. The race went on until the fleeing mammoth reached the first pond, and there it stood and looked around. The wolves approached, but maybe they had underestimated their adversary. The mammoth only saw three wolves and did not consider them a serious threat; after all, while the mammoth was not a full sized adult yet, it was almost there and only slightly smaller. While the wolves kept snarling and howling, the larger animal slowly started to head back, step by step, and there was nothing the three wolves could do about it; the rest of the pack was still busy threatening the giants and other mammoths and keep them from following.

I realized that this was a perfect opportunity. Jumping on top of a rock, I got my crossbow ready and released a bolt, hitting the mammoth. It stopped for a moment, but this was only a light injury for such an animal. Suddenly an arrow hit as well, and I noticed Ysolda not far from me, who had used a bow. Fiona was a little bit behind, but then also used her bow, and when another one of my bolts hit, the large animal slowly dropped to the ground, first having the kind legs failing and then the front ones. Hanni and Nanni were very excited and apparently looking forward to feed, but first I tried to not have the mammoth suffer for long. However, I failed to get a deadly shot in; probably the fat and muscle mass prevented that. Fiona solved that by shouting 'FUS RO DAH' directly at the mammoth head, and that was that; despite the size of the animal, it was thrown back a few meters, and now it was clearly dead, with the head caved in.

Of course, it was not only us recognizing that the mammoth was dead, but also the wolves. The three of them were kept back, though, mostly by Hanni and Nanni at my side and Nymeria at Fiona's side; all three of our pets growled and didn't allow the wolves to approach. Ysolda, Iona and I got busy and started to crack off the two tusks, while Lydia and Jordis cut into the meat. Lydia claimed:

"Jordis and I both know how to find the most tender pieces of meat, and we don't want to get that wasted."

Of course, with the wolves around, nothing would really get wasted, but I got her point, and I was curious to find out soon how mammoth meat tasted. However, we weren't there yet, and the wolves must have somehow managed to tell their friends about the dead mammoth here, as the entire pack started to approach now, with the obvious intent to challenge us for the meat. Fighting a dozen wolves would have been possible, but there was a much easier solution. Fiona and I looked at each other, and when the wolves were quite close, we shouted together:

'KAAN'

Instantly the wolves stopped their approach and did not show hostile intent any longer, but they were of course still interested in the meat. That was not a problem, as the carcass was quite large. While Ysolda, Iona and I finished to break off the tusks, Lydia and Jordis continued to cut off large sections of meat, with some wolves starting to feed almost next to them. This looked almost surreal, but it was practical. We needed to shout once more to get enough time, and finally we were ready to leave again. I carried one of the tusks and some of the meat, Ysolda and Iona carried the second tusk together, and Jordis, Lydia and Fiona got some more meat in their packs. It was about time to leave now anyway, as one of the giants approached, apparently trying to find out what had happened to that one mammoth. Hanni, Nanni and Nymeria needed some prodding, but when they realized that there was a giant approaching, they reluctantly followed us. We left the situation to the giant and the wolves and headed back towards Whiterun.

On the way back Ysolda took the opportunity to express her thanks:

"That was quite an experience! Thank you very much, everybody, for doing this, and I am glad that the hunt was mostly peaceful."

"Not from the young mammoth's point of view!"

"Correct, Lady Dragonborn, but that could not be avoided. But anyway, I do have my mammoth tusk now, and if Ma'dran approves, maybe I'll be able to become a caravaneer myself, one day. Now, I wonder if there is anything I can do do for you in return?"

That question was not directed at anybody in particular, but to the entire group. We did not have an immediate answer, but I suggested:

"Ysolda, if you ever manage to take over the Bannered Mare or at least become a junior partner to Hulda, you can make sure that, when we visit that place, we always get the best rooms and the best food for us and our friends."

"Deal!" the Nord woman shouted happily.

If the inn had been like in the game, there wouldn't have been anything like good rooms, but of course the house was much larger and had, according to my estimate, at least a dozen reasonable guestrooms. Naturally, I would not need a room in the inn in Whiterun, but Fiona would, until the house was ready.

When we got back to the city and were already close to the stables, a group of three warriors came along on the main road in the other direction. As far as I could see it, they were a male Orc with a grim look on his face, a female Bosmer with an athletic build, quite like Ferwen, but with a darker and somewhat grim look on her face, and a male Breton, although I was not sure about the race of the third person. Their armor reminded me of the Dawnguard, and indeed, when we got close, the Orc looked at us and bellowed:

"You over there. The Dawnguard is looking for anyone willing to fight against the growing vampire menace. What do you say?"

So, a Dawnguard recruiting patrol, indeed. Fortunately I was not forced to deliver one of the predefined replies, and I pondered my words carefully when I responded:

"Here in Whiterun we have not seen and heard much about a growing vampire menace yet, as far as I know; has it been more obvious somewhere else?"

"Haven't you heard that the Hall of the Vigilants was destroyed by vampires? They never took the threat seriously, and now they've paid the price."

The Hall of Vigilants was already destroyed? Wasn't that supposed to happen just before the start of the Dawnguard questline? Or did this only kick off when somebody, not necessarily me, of course, but maybe the Dragonborn, arrived at Fort Dawnguard? How would I find out? More precisely, would I need to care, or should I just have events run along? I needed to remind myself once more that I was not the main character here! Carefully I phrased my reply:

"No, I have not heard about that event yet, but it sounds serious. I am a little bit busy right now here in Whiterun, but if I change my mind, how could I help and where would I sign up?"

The sturdy Orc looked at me and seemed to appreciate my size:

"The Dawnguard could use somebody like you, I think, although fighting vampires is about much more than just size and strength. Report to Isran at Fort Dawnguard. And get moving if you're serious about it. The vampires aren't going to wait around to make their next move."

I nodded and added:

"My name is B'lushona, by the way, and I promise that I will at least consider it."

"I am Durak. Now, we've got to move on."

I noticed that he had not told me where this Fort Dawnguard was located. He did not have to, as I knew the location quite well, but he could not have known that; besides, there was no guarantee that the fort's location, or more important, the location of the entrance area, was the same as in the game. Maybe finding the place was a test, and only those who were serious about joining would actually get there? I wouldn't put it past Isran to set it up like this. For now, Fiona was asking with some concern showing on her face:

"Vampires? Was he serious? Are there vampires around?"

"He mentioned the Hall of the Vigilants, and this is far from here, Fiona" I tried to comfort her, although I did not really recall where and in which hold this hall actually was; I had never bothered to look for it in my games, and I was not aware of quests directly related to it, although I did vaguely remember that there were a few mods on Vigilants. I had to add, though:

"However, yes, there are vampires around in general."

"Oh no; I had hoped that those we encountered in Solitude were just there because Potema kind of created them. But what is this Dawnguard he mentioned?"

"It is a group of warriors dedicating their efforts to fighting against vampires. Those creatures are very strong and fast, and apparently one needs specific weapons and spells to kill them, like my crossbow."

"Right, your crossbow. I have seen weapons like this one back in my old life, too, but a crossbow is a little bit too heavy for me; I'd better stick with a good bow. Also, with a bow I can release an arrow like every five seconds or so, and I don't think that I could do this with a crossbow."

"No, it's more like one bolt every ten to fifteen seconds, but on the other hand, an arrow will not usually bother a vampire much, but a bolt will. Of course, one could have a bow enchanted, for instance to deliver additional fire damage, and that would definitely affect a vampire."

"Bows can be enchanted? Magically?"

"Yes, both weapons and armor can be enchanted, but there seem to be not many people who can do this. Silvia, Adrianne՚s daughter, is one of those."

The Bosmer nodded, but she had another question:

"The Orc mentioned something about a hall and Vigilants, and you said that this hall is far from here; do you know what that was about? What are Vigilants?"

I hesitated before I tried to explain:

"The Vigilants of Stendarr are a group of people who fight in Stendarr՚s name."

"Stendarr is one of those Nine Divines, right?"

"Yes, he is, and I recall his main request is like this: 'Be kind and generous to the people of Tamriel. Protect the weak, heal the sick, and give to the needy.'"

For some reason the words of those who had spoken to me in my original vision were like engraved in my brain. Fiona nodded:

"Well, this sounds quite good, doesn't it?"

"It does, I agree. Above and beyond that, he is strongly opinionated about what he calls abominations. Wait a second, I believe I copied that from a thin book Athis showed me some time ago, called 'The Four Abominations':

Thus Stendarr looked upon the world of mortals, and he found it afflicted by Abominations. And he made it known unto his priests, resolutes, and templars, that these unnatural profanities are abhorrent in his sight, and are to be exterminated by the Righteous without halt or mercy. For these Abominations are each and every the eternal enemies of the mortals of the Mundus, and shall not be suffered to abide among us.

And these Abominations are four in kind, and may be known thusly:

- The DAEDRA, those unworldly horrors that are not of the Mundus, but come from Oblivion to inflict cruelty and death upon the mortals of Tamriel.

- The MANBEASTS, those mortals who through traffic with the bestial Hircine do change their skins for those of animals, preying thence upon the innocent.

- The RISEN CORPSES, those restless undead whose rotting bodies persist with loathsome and unnatural vigor, sowing fear and agony among the living.

- The DEATHLESS VAMPYRES, who feed horrifically upon honest citizens, regarding righteous mortals as mere cattle to sate their unholy hungers.

Know these Four Abominations, O ye righteous, and gather to slay them where they appear."

Fiona was silent for sometime after I had read this, and eventually she replied:

"Maybe I don't want to understand all of that right now, actually. I have a feeling that I will have to learn and understand about Daedra and such more, too, but not right now, please; let's get back to that another time. For now, I'd like to talk more about Dwemer ruins and such, and Aicantar gave me some background. Although it is probably dangerous, do you think that I could see such a ruin on one day?"

"Well, I believe that you could and you should. In preparation for your later fighting, it would not hurt to gain some experience with all kinds of different enemies, like bandits, draugr, dragon priests, creatures, and Dwemer automatons. So yes, sooner or later you should also visit a Dwemer ruin, but of course together with your housecarls."

"Yes, sure. At least I am a little better in fighting now than I used to be. Lydia and Iona have practiced with me a lot, almost on a daily basis, so that I can at least handle a sword by now."

"This is good. What about your armor?"

She was wearing what looked like more or less standard hide armor, not much better than the one she found in Bleak Falls Barrow a long time ago. Fiona sighed and admitted:

"Yes, I could use better armor indeed. In Riften, I had a look at Elven armor, but I feel constricted by it; thus, I got stuck with what I know and feel comfortable in."

"What about we visit Adrianne and see if we find something better?"

She liked the idea, and we walked inside to see if the smith was available. She was, and she listened to Fiona's request:

"So, you are looking for better armor, but it needs to be very flexible to not constrict your movement and such? All right, I believe that the best I have for you is Scaled Armor. Want to have a look?"

Fiona did indeed want to have a look, but the smallest set Adrianne had available was still a little bit too large for her; even for a female Bosmer, Fiona was smaller and more petite than average, although her body had clearly gained some strength and endurance since she had come to Skyrim. Nevertheless, the Bosmer decided that she liked the look and feel, and Adrianne promised that she could easily adapt the set to her size properly within a day or two. We were ordering the full set with main armor, helmet, boots, and bracers, and Fiona also had a few ideas about minor modifications she would like to have. In addition to that I suggested:

"Let's also have the full set improved on the workbench as much as possible!"

Adrianne nodded, and she quoted a surprisingly low price; when I asked her about that she stated with a smirk on her face:

"Being able to claim that the Dragonborn got her armor from me is part of the payment, you know."

So, this was quickly accepted. Anyway, there was no need to haggle with the weapon smith, as the always gave me best prices; I was one of her main ore suppliers, after all.

Before I fell asleep, I thought about the Dawnguard story. I had at least started the related quests almost always when I had played the game, for various reasons. One of them was the spacious fort they used as headquarters and the cool weapons, specifically the crossbows and the quests to improve them further, another one was the events in the 'Forgotten Vale' and the path to get there, specifically the very special fauna and flora in the caves leading there, which I loved. The Vale itself was likely a very cold place in reality, but when playing the game temperature did not matter, unless one used a survival mod, which I had not done. The main reason, though, was Serana. She was such a cool lady, well, literally as a vampire, too, and just before I had left my old life behind, I had found a mod to add a huge amount of dialogue to her character, including a romance option. I would love to find her and see if she was as gorgeous as I imagined her to, like with her 'Seranaholic' looks; if I could convince her to be my follower (and maybe more), that would be so great. In the game, going into the place where she was waiting was the first thing to do after being accepted into the Dawnguard, but of course I could not know if my timing was going to be right. After all, I was not the Dragonborn here, and key quests would not just wait for me to show up. Hm, maybe I could just go to that cave without having the quest? On the other hand, could I afford to get involved? I was working on my new home, and I was very busy making enough money to pay the workers and all. In addition to that, vampires were likely quite strong and ferocious, and I'd sure need backup if I decided to confront some of them.

For now, Hanni and Nanni insisted on getting their necks rubbed and their bellies scratched for a few minutes, and once this task was completed, all three of us fell asleep.

[Author's Notes: Bleakwind Basin is supposed to look like in the mod 'Ryn's Bleakwind Basin'.

For Serana, I usually used the mod 'Seranaholic' in the game to give her the visual appearance I like.]