We are immediately greeted by ravening skeletons. We cannot expect to be able to let our guard down in here, not even for a second.



All along the way, we are accosted by undead apparitions and ghostly spellcasters. Finally though, we see a bigger structure in the distance. It's likely that Valerica is holed up in there.



Cautiously, we make our way to it. Once there, Valerica comes out to greet us. She is untrustworthy of us at first, but after Serana confronts her, putting her in a difficult position as a mother, she relents and agrees to help us obtain the second Elder Scroll. First we need to vanquish the three Keepers of this place to nullify a forcefield protecting the scroll... And so we head out to do just that.



These evil beings are not to be trifled with though. They stand their ground and fight for all they are worth, which appears to be quite a lot. We've been awake for quite a while too, and the fatigue is starting to drain all of our vigor. In the end, we are able to defeat them all, but it takes up most of our mental and physical resources.

After these battles, we return to Valerica and she guides us to the resting place of the Elder Scroll. Our usual luck shows (or lack thereof) itself and an undead Dragon appears to fight us. Apparently the weakening of the forcefield has woken it and prompted it to investigate.



Already fatigued, this battle taxes us to our limits. This thing keeps summoning its foul minions and flying all over the court yard. None of us are archers and it is only Serana that is able to hurt it at all. But eventually, it comes down to the ground, where Elendyl and Hoth charge it immediately hacking at its wings so it won't take off again. Finally, the foul beast is defeated and we can go collect this Elder Scroll. Strangely though, the corpse seems to completely disintegrate...



After saying our goodbyes to Valerica, we make to leave her castle. Right outside, that bloody dragon sits waiting for us. Weirdly enough, it doesn't attack, but pleads with us to help it. It wants to be free again and roam the skies of Tamriel. It tries to smooth talk us, calling us a dragon as well (although I fail to see how that could be considered a compliment at all...), trying to bribe us with knowledge of powerful spells, but it is to no avail. I will not unleash this thing upon Tamriel and its inhabitants.



We leave it sitting there and make haste towards the portal and back to the real world. We are exhausted and practically starving as our supplies did not hold up for the amount of time we ended up spending in there. We leave the vampire castle by the same route and make camp on the shore and out of sight. The next morning, with rumbling stomachs we ride for Solitude.

lol she's nude?

fantastic logging and commitment to the characters backstory.


only issue i see is as a devout worshipper of Stendarr, why are you summoning flame atronachs from the Daedric plane of Oblivion for most fights? seems a little counterintuitive. small nitpicking, but i feel as serious as you're taking this, each detail matters.

moar pls!

We stay in Solitude for a while to rest and gather back our strength. However, we can't dillydally too long as we have to find the last Elder Scroll. Serana assumes that the mages probably know more about it and suggests we head to Winterhold. So as soon as we feel ready we head out.

It feels good to be in the sun again, although Serana disagrees what with being a vampire and all. Serves her right.
Anyway, the sun doesn't stop the undead from attacking us on the way.



With the confusion of the fight, we kind of lose track of where we were going and ended up following the road to Windhelm. Serana keeps nagging me about the harsh sunlight, so eventually I give in and buy her some clothes that offer more protection to her.



Having done her that favor doesn't seem to please her though, as she keeps her nagging up constantly. I understand it's hard for her, but sometimes she really gets on my nerves...

Anyway, after this small detour, we arrive at Winterhold and go straight to Urag gro-Shub, the librarian. He can offer us some directions to someone named Septimus Signus, who should know more about the whereabouts of this final Elder Scroll. Apparently, he has hidden himself away as far North as he can to some mysterious study. We decide to head out immediately.

As expected to air is deadly frigid, and we have to make haste to find his shelter. It's a shame though, as the views are astounding..



Septimus turns out to be a strange, but helpful man. He tends to babble, but after a while we can figure out that the final Elder Scroll should be in Blackreach under a Dwemer ruin called Aftand. He does ask us to transcribe it for him when we find it, as he also is studying these Scrolls. He gives us the necessary equipment to copy it's contents and we part ways that same night.

We head back to Winterhold to spend the night and warm up. In the morning it appears Tolfdir is heading out on an expedition to a Dwemer ruin nearby. As it is on the way, our parties decide to travel together. Seeing as he's with the newest recruits of the Mages' College, he asks us to accompany him inside to assist with whatever is within.
There's nothing more than a couple of undead lingering in it's depths and they are dispatched of rapidly. However, we do make a strange discovery. Some kind of floating ball is hidden all the way in the bottom of this ruin. Neither Tolfdir or Serana seem to know what it is or what function it might have. Toldfir asks us to bring news of this to the Archmage, as he thinks it's best if he stays near it to study and protect it if necessary.



We promise we will, but more pressing matters await us first. We need to travel to Aftand as fast as our horses can carry us. We waste no time and begin our descent immediately. Luckily, making our way down doesn't cause us too much problems as Hoth and Elendyl rush forward to slaughter everything in our wake. You'd imagine these monsters taking notes and staying the heck away from us, but it seems they're not bright enough. Anyway, we find Blackreach fairly quickly and continue our search for the Elder Scroll. I must say, it is a hauntingly beautiful place, in a depressing sort of way.



At last, we come across a peculiar mechanism that seems to operate when you direct reflected light to certain places of it's exterior. It took some figuring out, but finally I'm able to make it work. We've been at it for a while, but now we finally have all three Elder Scrolls needed to decipher the prophecy.



So now, time is of the essence and we need to make our way back to Dawnguard Castle post haste. Luckily, we don't have to backtrack, because Hoth was able to find a back way out, which takes us back to the surface about an hour's ride to Whiterun.

We decide to pass there to give the Jarl his Dragonstone and Danica that dagger we got of the witches.

As we make our errands and prepare to ride for Dawnguard Castle, Irileth comes running in. Apparently a Dragon has been sighted nearby and is terrorizing the land. To his credit, the Jarl wastes no time to gather a hunting party and asks us to help in taking this beast down.
Seeing as we can hardly refuse, and that there is no guarantee that that Dragon won't attack us anyway, we accept. We join up with Irileth near a watchtower where it has been last sighted. We barely have time to take up positions before it appears again and attacks immediately.



The battle is fierce and we lose a couple of soldiers. It's a sad fact that I could not help all of these brave men and women defending our homeland. Hoth as a mercenary can stay calm and composed, but Elendyl is outraged. To see these warriors of our adopted Hold being swatted away like bugs makes him lose all sense of selfpreservation. The moment the beast touches down, he rushes forward hacking at it's wings. Inspired by his bravery, the rest of the soldiers rally and we're able to take this horror down for good.



Something strange happens though. The Dragon's body evaporates and I get infused with a powerful surge of essence. According to one of the guards, I am a Dragonborn. One who can speak with the Dragon's tongue and absorb their souls. I'm not sure I believe in these Nordic myths, but undoubtedly something extraordinary just happened.

The Jarl hears our story with interest and tells us to meet the Greybeards, old mystics that live on top of the Throat of the World. They would be able to make sense of what has happened here. Again, we promise we will, but we have more pressing matters at hand.

What is becoming clear though, is that we need an archer in our fellowship. Twice we've had to fight a dragon, and twice it has taken us a long time to force the beast to ground. None of us are skilled in archery. The Jarl, seeing our plight, tasks Lydia to travel with us. She is a skilled warrior and very capable with a bow.
We spend some coin kitting her out and prepare to head South East.

Right before we head out though, I realize that Hoth is hiding a wound. Apparently he got smacked against a wall during the fight with the Dragon, but has been unwilling to show us. It looks pretty bad though, so I decide to leave him in Breezehome. Predictably he protests furiously, but eventually he has to back down. He's no use to us now and I don't want him in unnecessary danger. I promise him we'll be careful and come to pick him up after we're done with this vampire business, so he has time to heal up.

So slightly later than expected we leave for Dawnguard Castle. We need to make a stop on the way though, which gives us the opportunity to collect some Eldergleam sap for Danica, which she needs to heal the Gildergleam, a sacred tree important for her cult.

Topic tracked, brilliant read so far.

Updates?

At Dawnguard, we come to the disconcerting conclusion that Dexion has gone blind. Too much exposure to the Elder Scrolls has taken a toll on his eyes, perhaps even so much that it cannot be healed. All hope is not lost in learning all about the prophecy. There is a ritual to summon Ancestor Moths which can help us reveal the answers we need. We need to travel to the Ancestor Glade and hope that this works. There is no guarantee.

Luckily it's not that far. Only a mile or so East of Falkreath.

As we are riding towards Falkreath, a Dragon drops out of the sky and assaults us. Time for Lydia to prove her mettle!



The cursed beast is obsessed with me for some reason. Could it be about that Dragonborn myth the Whiterun guards told me about? Anyway, as I skip, hop, jump and dance around avoiding it's claws and breath, the rest of the party wastes no time in hacking that thing into oblivion. Lydia didn't really need to show her skill with the bow, as the Dragon didn't really fly about. This massive target on the ground is pretty hard to miss, but at least she fought valiantly with her new fellowship.

The rest of the way to the Glade is calm. Tranquil even.
Which is a good way to describe our experiences in the Glade itself. It's a beautiful and halcyon place. After looking around and finding a strange sort of peace, we perform the steps that Dexion has explained to us. As we progress through the ritual, more and more of the Ancestor Moths come flocking towards me.



Until finally, I start seeing the visions. At first they are blurry and unintelligible, but slowly they start making sense.



We need to travel to Darkfall Cave to collect Auriel's Bow. Harkon must intend to use this legendary weapon to destroy the sun. He must be stopped and so we head out as fast as we can.