13th of Morning Star

Erik and I stopped by the school to see how Esbern's getting on. Esbern's made good progress with the school. The are sleeping quarters for the children built. It's not luxurious but it's a damn sight better than sleeping in doorways or under benches. He's gotten the kitchen working too and hired a cook. That's good news, even if the rest of the place is still being built. At least this way, if I come across a child in a really bad circumstances, I've got somewhere to send them that's out of the weather. Stables and classrooms are being built now. Shadr's agreed to come from Riften to take over the stables here, as soon as they're up. He says horse breeding might help with generating income so I'll need to talk to Balgruuf to see if we can get a bit more land for that. Teacher's quarters, a library and classrooms will be next. I had to tell Esbern to build himself some quarters. I have hired the grumpy old drunkard from Windhelm and sent him to Urag so that Urag can train him to be the school's librarian. He was one of the only people who was kind to Lucia after her aunt and uncle put her out. My plan is consign him to his own personal plane of Oblivion - namely the library here at the school. Erik thinks farming might also be another stream of income, especially if we can start producing alchemy ingredients at scale. I think that's a fine idea but I'll need yet more land from Balgruuf.

I'm staying on here for a few days to help with building the smithy. I've had ideas for some improvements percolating in my head for a while and this seemed like the perfect chance to try them out. The design I have in mind uses pivoting panels for the walls and roof so you can rotate them to catch the breeze and keep the heat down in summer, or close them up more to keep the heat in during the winter. I've also added smokestacks on the smelters and over the forges to clear out the smoke. I plan to add a casting facility so that we can cast shapes, not just forget them out by hand. We'll need things like this for war against the Thalmor.

18th of Morning Star

All in all the new foundry building is a success. Almost everything seems to be working as I had intended. The roof panels need a few minor adjustments to seal out the rain better, but that's adding some flanges on the edges of the panels. With nothing else left to do, I'm headed to White Run and then Windhelm to see if Balgruuf and Ulfic have settled this nonsense between them. If they have, then we can begin in earnest and kick the Empire and the Thalmor out of Skyrim. If they've settled that, then I'll give Balgruuf a copy of the dossier on Ulfric. Gods, that thing explains a lot about that man. Ulfric needs saner voices around him than Galmar's to help him knit himself back together. I hope to be one of those voices and I'm hoping that Balgruuf will be another.

20th of Morning Star

Ulfric and Balgruuf have settled their differences. That much at least is going according to plan. After a long discussion with the Circle and dragging out lots of dusty old records, we've agreed that I'll be permitted, as Harbinger, to help Ufric if Ulfric agrees that we take this war to the Thalmor once the war for Skyrim is settled. One thing I discovered at the Mage's College is that a lot of the Altmer don't like the Thalmor any more than I do. Apparently, the Thalmor aren't any kinder or gentler to their own people than they are with folks here. Once the few that were there trusted me, I was told stories about people disappearing in the middle of night and all the same kinds of things that they've been doing here in Skyrim. We might even be able to cultivate a 5th column among the Altmer that want to see the Thalmor deposed. That throws a wrench in my "wipe them from the face of Nirn" plan and I'll have to figure out what we're to do about that. That's going to require some time for me to think and to plan. We'll have to find a way to sort the sheep from the goats as the saying goes.

Right now, I have no time. We're in the thick of it. Since Balgruuf has agreed to keep Ulfric's axe, there won't be a fight for Whiterun. That's a relief. I wasn't planning to fight against Whiterun. I've spent too much time in the Bannered Mare drinking with those men and swapping stories. I can't imagine trying to kill them. Mryfwill's wisdom becomes increasingly apparent to me, fronted with such a proposition. I'd be horrified if I had to face Vilkas or Farkas in battle. I don't know if I could do it.

Galmar demanded that I head out to the Serpent Stone and bring back some ice wraith teeth. Bah! I should just feed him his own but I've decided that I'll play his little game this once. I've got a bag and when it's full of ice wraith teeth, I'll be back to Windhelm. It was a cold couple of days of poking around and daring the damnable things to come and attack me but I think I've got about twenty or so of them. We'll see what Galmar thinks when I get back to Windhelm.

21st of Morning Star

I walked in with a bag of ice wraith teeth and dumped them out all over Ulfric's war table. I think Ulfric almost snickered. Galmar seems surprised but I've joined the Storm Cloaks and our first task was going after the Jagged Crown. Galmar keeps calling me Unblooded. If that keeps up, I'm going to show him Unblooded by bloodying his nose for him. Maybe that will be bloody enough for him. I've killed plenty of Imperials and Thalmor already. I carved a path through that embassy and whole Merry Band plus the prisoners that the Thalmor were keeping all left packed to the gills with Altmer valuables. I free every prisner I pass on the road. I'm the Harbinger. Who are you again? Gah! That man really rubs me the wrong way.

We got to the tomb where this thing is supposed to be hidden. The whole place was swarming with Imperial soliders. We came over the top and I skipped running down the stairs in favor of just jumping into the middle of a bunch of the Imperial soliders. Erik jumped right behind me and turned, taking my back. Between the two of us, we counted maybe ten kills in those first few minutes. Having watched Galmar fight, I've got a new appreciation for his skills even if he annoys me almost to violence at times. After that, it was just yet another old crypt and Erik talking to me about his fears of being a draugr when he dies. I told him that if it makes him feel better, we'll put him on a pyre like we did for Skor and Kodlak. That seemed to quiet him.

We made through the crypt to find that the Imperials didn't know how to open the door. They had the claw for it but didn't seem to know how to use it properly. It was a swarm of draugr but I managed to kill quite a few of them. I also managed to locate the crown. It was on the head of the worst of the lot. Instead of trying to take it. I just tore into him with Dawnbreaker before he could even start moving. He managed to get a few steps from his throne but that was it. Galmar ordered me to carry it back to Ulfic with all speed. At least I'm not Unblooded any more. If you can't sense the sarcasm in that statement, its only because you can't see my face as I'm writing this. Talos help me, but I may end up jacking his jaw yet.

22th of Morning Star

I've delivered the crown to Ulfric. We'll see what the moot makes of this, when the time comes. I'm not as certain as Galmar that some ancient ornament will sway them much either way. We didn't run into much trouble but it was hard ride though the night to make sure no one could stop us. I have a new amulet that alerts me when something wants to attack. That's been useful beyond words. It might be nothing more than a troll or a dragon or it might be the entire Legion. Either way, the early notice is helpful.

Our next task was to take Fort Neugrad. What a despicable pit of a place. If there was any doubts about what I saw in the basement of Helgen, what I've seen at Neugrad dispelled them - rather forcefully. Galmar sent me there to liberate some of our prisoners. We've taken the whole fort. I'd rather see someone killed cleanly than kept like that and tortured. I'll say no more about it other than this. Our former brethen, the Imperials, have learned far too many lessons from the Thalmor. Separating from them so that we can take them over and remake them, without these odious practices, was the right decision. I'm now more certain of that than ever. Once the fight was over, I took off into the tree line and Erik held my hair while I left my lunch under a bush.

24th of Morning Star

Gods above! What is wrong with people? We hit Fort Snowhawk and it was more of the same. I didn't puke at what I found this time, but those little cages over the fires... I'm starting to get angry and when I get angry the world moves. Fus, indeed. If I find Ulfic doing these things, I don't know what I'll do. I've seen the prison he keeps in Windhelm and by these standards, its a resort. I'm headed home to see the girls and sleep. I need a reminder that there is still good in the world and that Erik and I aren't lone specks of light in the darkness.

25th of Morning Star

Ulfric had the nerve to tell me that I'm personally responsible for retaking Riften. I told him that he need not posture so when no one's around. Markarth was gift and you knew it. How much good has the silver flowing out of Cidhna done your cause? How many smuggler's tunnels are there into Riften? Tunnels, I might add, that I could move half his army through until we were ready to come boiling out of the Ratway and take the town. To his credit, he laughed and told me that he should have known that I'd see the truth of it. I'm not Kodlak, but I'm not lacking in wits either. I'm still surprised that Tullius ever agreed to the swap. I wouldn't have taken it.

27th of Morning Star

The more of these "forts" that we take, the more it turns my stomach. Greenwall was just like the last two. Clear signs that they'd been torturing people. Greenwall was apparently a bit more raw about how they were doing it. There was an axe in the basement. Ysgramor's beard - an axe, like the ones you cut wood with. What could anyone have done to deserve that? My stomach rolls at the sight of all leather straps and the blood spatters. I know what you were doing down here where no one could hear the screaming. You'll pay for this... all of it. I'll find out who was here and if we didn't get them when we took the place, then I'll settle up with them later.

Erik says to be patient. He's right in this much. I'll want to be very sure that I have the right people when I strike. Murdering innocents doesn't sit will with me, so I give him that. By the same token, I won't allow this filth to continue to operate.

29th of Morning Star

We arrived at the Storm Cloak camp but Erik and I are both exhausted. It's been a long week of hard travel, little sleep, and lots of fighting. Someone shoved a mug and a bowl of stew into my hands and I almost face planted in the bowl. Since it would be a shame to have write an epitaph that we drowned in a soup bowl, we stopped to sleep in the camp for a few hours before pushing on. It's another fort - Hraggstad this time.

30th of Morning Star

Hraggstad was better than the others. Cells, for sure, but they were clean and no signs of people being tortured at least. That was something of a relief. Erik and I got separated in the fighting. I hadn't realized how much I've been relying on him to cover my back. He really has come into his own, but he's unfortunately stuck in my shadow. It's shame since he's really quite capable in his own right. I keep trying to push him to go do things on his own but he's content to stay with me, to watch my back, be my strong shoulder, and generally be my partner in everything - even the boarding school. Most of what I do wouldn't be possible without him. People give me credit but I only stand so tall because he lifts me up.

Galmar wants me to wear the Storm Cloak officers gear. I won't do it. Everyone knows that I'm the Harbinger of the Companions. The Companions won't be getting into this until we're ready to sail to Summerset or, Talos forbid, the Thalmor invade Skyrim. I may be supporting the bearded monkeys because they're the best chance we have to get the empire out of Skyrim, but they got a ways to go to earn my respect. Instead, we struck a compromise. I'll get something made that's distinctive so that it's clear which side of the fight we're on. Galmar is right about that much, the troops need to see me. I will say one good thing about Galmar. He leads from the front. He's not afraid to jump in with that hammer of his and get into it right beside the troops. It worries Erik because I'm essentially turning myself into a target for the Imperial troops, but I'd have been just as much a target with that stupid bear skin hat and human jaw bone hanging from my neck. At least my way, I won't embarrassed by what I'm wearing and the armor will be stout enough to be useful. None of the Storm Cloak standard issue, even for the officers, is that good.

I found a smith to make us both some new armor. I had it done in the old Atmoran style. It's really distinctive from every angle, including upside down. It's also good at holding the fire and frost protections that I've come to rely on when fighting dragons, so it works out well. I'm certainly pleased with it. I had another set made for Erik and Erik looks fierce in it, especially when he's angry and scowling. He says that he wants to be so famous that bards everywhere sing of his deeds and this is certainly the armor for that to happen in.

We take Solitude and Fort Dour tomorrow. As i understand it, this will finally sever the tie with the Empire. I do hope Rikke is there. She's got a bit of comeuppance coming. How many like me has she sent to the block for no reason other than the sheer fact that she could? How is that any different than the bandits? At least I can understand the bandits. They want to rob you. Rikke? It's a personal power trip with her, I think. Either way, you're just as dead so I'm not really seeing a distinction there. I only managed to escape because a dragon attacked Helgen.