During our trek North, we come across a smashed carriage near to a giant's camp. A poor Khajiit lies dead amongst the ruins.



We decide to investigate this tragedy and find another dead Khajiit next to a giant, that is clearly guilty. Upon nearing him to ask it some stern questions (Hoth has assured me that he speaks the giant's language), it immediately becomes hostile.



We don't need a translator for this kind of behavior. It is obviously guilty of the murder of those innocent travelers and it apparently does not seek atonement for it's crimes. Elendyl and Hoth barge in and hack at the titan, keeping it too occupied to mount much of a defense. I run to and fro to administer healing where needed.



Eventually it goes down, and we can give the Khajiit spirits at least some rest.

After that gruesome task we head further north, following the road. We could cut straight West through the wilderness, but Hoth advises against it. We would have to cross the river without a bridge, while further north lies Windhelm. There we can safely cross and perhaps test the quality of their inn.

We have only made it about a mile from the previous giant's camp, when we come across some smashed Alik'r corpses. In the distance we can see the culprit moving away. Another giant... What on earth is going on?



We go after it in pursuit. I'd call it prudent to smother this giant insurrection in the bud, before it gets out of hand.



We gain on it right when it reaches its mount. Elendyl can prevent it getting on and escaping, and keeps harassing it so that Hoth can wade in with powerful blows. This one was more heavily armed though, and the battle lasts for quite a bit longer. This time my healing magics were much more sorely needed. Unfortunately, the mammoth is a loyal beast and tries to protect its master. There is no calming it and sadly we have to put the magnificent beast down. If only it would have had a more deserving master. It's only crime was loyalty.



This post was edited by hATemOnkEy on Feb 18 2015 04:31am

As dusk begins to fall, we pass a small place called Kynesgrove. What with all the rampaging giants around, we decide it best to stay at the Braidwood Inn and not take any chances camping outside.



Early morning in the pouring rain we head to the Shrine of Talos. It isn't very hard to find, but when we pass Windhelm temperatures start to drop again. By the time we reach the Shrine our clothes are drenched and frozen. The plan was to go from the Shrine of Talos to the Shrine of Julianos, but the weather forces us back towards a city.




Fortunately it's not a long ride to Windhelm, so we spur our horses to go as fast they can go to get us to a warm fireplace. Although the city looks magnificent, it also has a foreboding air.

When we try to enter the city, we are approached by an Orc named Durak. He tells us of the Dawnguard, an new organization of vampire hunters under the lead of a man named Isran. They are looking for people willing to take on the fight and stop the vampire menace. We haven't seen much of vampires on the road, but Durak tells us that vampires have destroyed the Hall of Vigilants! He urges us to go to Riften and look up Isran at Fort Dawnguard.



Once inside the city gates, we go straight for Candlehearth Hall. It is a cozy enough in and it takes us no time at all to get comfortable, away from the frigid weather. Hoth is very taken by the Bard singing the same old classics, may Mara bless his efforts.



The next morning after breakfast, we decide to stay in the city until this wicked weather lifts up. You'd think traveling for so long would give you some resistance to the elements, but we'll have to wait a bit longer, I guess. So we stroll about looking for shops and entertainment, when we come across a scene of grisly murder.



Upon speaking with the guard, it seems that there is a killer on the loose. This is the third girl that has been slain in a short amount of time. Each time there are no witnesses and no obvious motive. The guard babbles about some rumors of civil war and that this has caused them to be stretched and unable to solve the murders. This is the first time I've heard about a possible civil war and frankly, it sounds like an excuse.
I'll take this straight to the steward of Windhelm!

First thing in the morning we get an audience with Jorleif, the steward. He reaffirms the guards excuses of a possible civil war, but he'll allow us to help the investigation out. He assures us to give assistance wherever he can, except of course putting more men on the task.



After talking to some of the people close to the crimescene, we head to the Hall of the Dead to question Helgird, the priestess of Arkay in charge of the care of the dead. It seems that both Hoth and Elendyl are uncomfortable in the tombs for some reason.



Ignoring them, I head further to Helgird. She can tell us that this was not a robbery and that the cutmarks are from a curved blade used by the Nords. After the interview, we go back out. Still pondering Helgirds answers, Hoth noticed a trail of blood on the ground. We follow it to Hjerim, a house owned by one of the other victims of the murder spree. Sadly, it is locked. We'll head back to the steward with all the information we found today.

The steward reveals that the mother of the owner of Hjerim is Tova Shatter-Shield and is still in the city. Once we found her, she is reluctant to give information at first. But after a bit of persuading we can convince her to give us the key to the house so we can investigate.



Once inside we stumble upon the true horror this madman has unleashed upon the city. Human remains are strewn across the room and seem to be centered around a foul shrine. Luckily we find a bunch of clues, not in the least a journal of the Butcher.



Following up on the information received, we can puzzle together that none other than the court wizard Wuunferth the Unliving is the murderer! We run back to the steward to give him this vital information, and to his credit he dispatches the city guard at once to arrest him. Strangely, Wuunferth yields to the guards without putting up a fight. He meekly follows them to the dungeons. You'd think a ravening murderer and necromancer would summon vile creatures from Oblivion and whatnot, but not this one.

We have lingered in Windhelm long enough and although the weather remains freezing and forbidding, we have to press on and find these shrines. We decide to go to the Shrine of Julianos first. That way we can make a tour where we first go to Julianos' Shrine, then head on to Mara's Shrine and then head on to Whiterun. From there we can plan the rest of our journey.

We leave Windhelm around noon to have at least some solace of the sun, but it doesn't last for long. Luckily, around nightfall, we come across the Nightgate Inn at Lake Yorgrim, where we can stay for the night.



After a refreshing rest and a heartening breakfast, we leave the inn to go to Julianos' Shrine. Luckily it's not much further, although finding it proved a little bit harder as it was well hidden in the snow. These storms of the past few days really made things hard on us. But not as hard as the pilgrim that perished near the shrine. At least, that's what we think happened.



Under grey skies we continue West to Mara's Shrine. At least it's not snowing anymore. The way to the shrine was uneventful for once, meaning we just have to combat the elements and not whatever the wilds of Skyrim care to throw at us.
It doesn't take us very long to find the shrine, this one not being hidden at all. We pay our respects to Mara and head on South to Whiterun.

When we head South, the horses are restless. At first we thought that they could smell their stables as we're not far from Whiterun at all. But not much later, the true reason presents itself. There are bandits hidding all over the landscape. Obviously they decide to attack us, mistaking us for unwary travellers. Elendyl and Hoth rise to the occassion, I suspect they were itching for battle as they wade into the midst of these miscreants. From the camp of these first bandits, we espy another one less then half a mile North. We decide to do our civic duty and mete out justice to these as well.



Come to think of it, it's pretty absurd that this many bandits can congregate within scouting distance of Whiterun itself.



The bandit leader at the second camp had some Orcish armor on him. Elendyl looks mighty envious and I see no qualms at him having it. It will help him protect me and as an added bonus he looks really fearsome. From this bandit camp, we ride to Whiterun to inform the steward of the increased criminal activity outside his walls. But not before we meet up with Avicenna and tell her of our latest adventures. Being the kind soul that she is, she offers to repair the Orcish armor so that Elendyl can wear it to our audience with the steward.



This post was edited by hATemOnkEy on Mar 17 2015 04:58am

We decide to go to Zenithar's Shrine near Markarth next. Mainly because it's so out of the way, that it would be a hassle to do it later. When we start in the morning, we're quickly distracted by a strange mechanism that opens a hole in the ground.



Sadly though, it doesn't open up to a mysterious cavern or some cursed dungeon, but it's just a hole in the ground. Albeit with a chest and a skeleton, but no clues nor anything as to why this thing is here or who this person used to be.



The rest of the way to Markarth we seem to be the target of several bandit groups. Hoth and Elendyl dispatch them easily enough, but they are a hassle that seriously impedes our progress. Luckily though, they seemed to be using an abandoned fort as their headquarters. It appears that all these seemingly seperate bandit groups were in cahoots. The fort looks pretty foreboding, but my bodyguards take absolutely no time to clear it out.



The rest of the way to Markarth is uneventful, but we only reach the citygates near midnight.

Upon entering Markarth, we are witness of an assassination in the marketplace. It happened so fast, there was nothing we could do. In a flash of an eye, an unremarkable man pulls out a dagger and stabs this poor woman in the back. All the while shouting something about some Forsworn. The guards take care of him in quick order though. They assure me that there is no such thing as the Forsworn. Some man tries to talk to me about a note or some other, but I'm too tired to take much notice. Wearily, we head to the inn.

We only leave at noon to find the Shrine of Zenithar. We spent much of the morning pouring over our map to find a good route to it, and then to backtrack to find Dibella's and Arkays Shrine. Apparently we passed Arkays Shrine near Yorgrim Lake, which is a right pain in the butt. So that's the route we're going to take. We head up in the highlands to find Zenithar's Shrine, then go towards Dawnstar to find that of Dibella and then go South East towards the lake to get to Arkay's Shrine. And then we should have visited all of them.

Strangely enough, for this entire journey nothing much happens. It's almost like the old days with Elendyl and I. Just scouting the land, and enjoying every minute of it.







It was a long trek and luckily I remember that there is an inn near the lake, the Nightgate Inn to be exact. Some hot food and a warm place to sleep will do wonders.