“Never liked caves, dark, damp, usually spider infested...or worse.” Farkas remarks as we scout out the entrance to a strange looking cave, seemingly inhabited by vampires. Having been approached by a member of the Dawnguard, a group of vampire hunters a few weeks back with a mission to see what’s hidden in the caves. “Wait a minute, how do we avoid catching vampirism?” I ask crouching down to inspect one of the bodies. “Lycanthropes are immune to it, nothing to worry about.” I look up “Well thank you for that lovely tidbit of information, I don’t suppose you could have mentioned it earlier, perhaps in Morthal?” Farkas shrugs “Morthal was like five of them it wasn’t anything to worry about either. C’mon let’s keep moving you can loot bodies for whatever magic stuff you’re looking for later.” With a less than pleased noise I agree and stand up as we go further into the cave.
As expected, it’s infested with vampires and their pets. I scream slightly as a demon-like dog comes running toward me and blast it with a flame spell before having a hand clamped over my mouth “shh, vampires are known for having very sensitive hearing.” Farkas whispers and releases me “What the bloody hell is that thing?!” I whisper gesturing to the now burning dog. Farkas looks it over and looks at its collar “seems to be something called a ‘death hound’ fitting name really. That’s terrifying...but not quite as scary as the gargoyles.” I nod, those stoney bastards are not to be trifled with. “This really is an odd place.” I remark as we clear out the last of our foes looking at the increasingly intricate architecture. “Anna! You’re going to want to see this.” Farkas calls having opened the gate to another room. I run down the hall to meet him
“Well...That certainly is interesting” I exclaim as we look at the new surroundings. A sort of labyrinth is set out on the floor with various pillars making a maze like puzzle. “What is it?” I shrug “I have no clue but we’re going to find out.” I reply as I head down the stairs to where the inigma lies.
“Here help me push these around.” I ask gesturing to the pillars. Eventually, with quite a lot of trial and error we solve the puzzle and the braziers atop the pillars light up. Suddenly there’s a rumbling and the floor begins to shake as another pillar in the center of the floor arises and opens.
“Is that…?” Farkas trails off reaching for his sword of out instinct “uh huh.” I murmur in reply. It seems the pillar in the center is no ordinary pillar, but a form of coffin, and inside is no ordinary woman either. It seems she’s likely a vampire, with an elder scrolls strapped to her back. She stumbles out before regaining her balance and practically screams when she sees us, and we do the same at the shock from the sound. “Who the hell are you?!” The vampire asks, but doesn’t attack, if anything she sounds confused and perhaps a bit scared. “Um, I’m Anna, and this is my husband Farkas.” I introduce “...Who are you?” I question in return “My names Serena, Serena Volkihar.” The vampire replies “And by the way, you cant have it.” She adds. “Can’t have what?” I ask and Serena points to the scroll strapped to her back. “Did my father send you?” The two of us shake our heads “Nope, we were sent by a guy named Isran.” Serena sighs “Well that’s a relief. You two seem nice, I wouldn’t have wanted to kill you.” I laugh nervously “Yeah, dying wasn’t exactly on the agenda for today.” I joke. Serena pauses and looks around “What year is it?” She asks “201st year of the fourth era.” Her eyes widen “fourth era?! When did that happen?!” She asks shocked. “Uh, 201 years ago?” I reply “Well who’s the high king? We should get to the Capital, how far are we from Windhelm?” I look at Farkas for help “Solitude is the capital city, not Windhelm. But if you’re wondering we’re maybe a couple of days away by walk.” Serena looks shocked again “What do you mean Windhelm isnt the Capital of Skyrim?!” She exclaims then stops abruptly dropping her arms to her sides “How long was I asleep?” She murmurs to herself. “I don’t know but maybe we can try to figure that out when we get back outside...this place is starting to freak me out.” Serena agrees and shows us a shortcut out of the cave. It’s good to be back in the fresh air and sunlight, though I’m not sure Serena is as much a fan of it. I dig through my bag and find a light jacket with a hood “this might help while you’re still adjusting.” I offer and toss it to serena. “That’s Solitude there.” I point to the city in the distance. “Huh. It’s bigger than I remember.” Serena says.
“So you’re telling me there’s now an empire based out of cyrodiil, Daedra invaded at some point, the altmer suck as usual, there’s a civil war. Windhelm is no longer the Capital, Morrowind is a mess, and gold is now called septims? Also there’s maybe 9 gods now?” Serena asks over dinner at Solitudes local inn “Man, mom locks you up for your own safety and you miss all the fun.” She remarks “Oh there’s also dragons again as of now, don’t forget the dragons.” Farkas adds and pauses before laughing slightly “Really Len, you of all people, how could you forget the dragons?” I sigh “It’s been a long day what can I say and I just recounted the last 2 and a half eras. But he’s right there’s now dragons.” Serena sips her tea “...Interesting. And thanks for the food by the ways, couple of thousand years of sleep sure makes you hungry.” That makes me smile a bit “And I know what you’ll probably ask at some point, but no I don’t need to drink blood. Bit of a perk for my families strain of vampirism I guess. Lower vampires need it but vampire lords, not really.” Thats interesting actually, I make a mental note to myself to research it more. Serena looks around the inn “I guess I might as well stay here for the night and do some reading to catch up on all I’ve missed as I’m not sure how the guards would take to a strange women wandering around in the middle of the night, and that won’t provide much info anyways.” Serena explains. I check the time and as expected it has gotten quite late, no wonder I’m beginning to feel sleepy. “Sounds like a good enough idea. We should probably head home, it’s been a long and at times quite terrifying day. We’ll be down the street if you need us.” And on that note pay for dinner and head home.
“Well, we learned about some new animals, cleared out a spooky cave and made a new friend, I’d call today eventful for sure.” I remark tugging off my shirt and getting changed before practically falling into bed. “I have a question.” I remark, half asleep, Farkas looks over at me “What is it?” He asks “Can you tell me a story? So I don’t have nightmares about today?” Farkas sighs and gently picks me up, placing me on top of him “A short one, only because I know you and anything remotely scary is a bad combination when it comes to sleeping soundly...and I’d rather not be woken up at three in the morning by an ear piercing scream of terror.” And so he sits up slightly and begins. By the end I’m much more at ease and quite tired and so he lays back down, one hand holding me with the other plays withthe the loose strands of hair that had fallen away from my ponytail. Eventually, I fall asleep, and wake up to sunlight streaming through the window, and an otherwise empty bed.
“Glad to see you’re awake.” I push my face back into the pillow “What do you mean? I’m still asleep.” I hear a slightly amused scoff from behind me as the covers are thrown back “Come on, time to get up.” I whine “tiredddd” and pull the pillow over my head. “Don’t wanna get up. Go away.” But, Nords are stubborn and not easily defeated, in battle or otherwise and my attempts are folly as Farkas simply rolls me over and picks me up. “Good morning.” I whack him with the pillow. “Do you want me to throw you in the bath?” He asks “No.” I reply “So don’t hit me then.” I pause, look at the pillow still in my hand, back at him…
And hit him once again
“Alright then you leave me no choice, bathtime it is then!” He takes the pillow from my hands and tosses it back on the bed before walking over to the already drawn bath and despite my protests, throws me in nonetheless still in my nightclothes.
“Well, it’s better than you ripping my shirt again.” I mutter splashing the warm water around. A bucket of water is dumped on my head before I can realize “Was that really necessary?!” Farkas sits down beside the bath “To be honest, probably, that cave was pretty disgusting.” I give him an annoyed look and splash him lightly but wash my hair anyways...he’s probably right.
“So, shall we go check on our new friend?” We find her in pretty much the same spot we left her at the previous night, though in a much more contorted position “I needed to stretch out, what can I say.” Serena remarks. “Nice little library selection here I gotta admit, kept me busy the whole night.” Serena informs us she already ate breakfast, and avoided paying using a little vampire mind trick. “With a power like that you’d make a great thief.” I joke “No need, my family is rich, just wait until we get to my home.” Serena replies “But first, might as well walk around the city a bit, I really need to stretch my legs.” Thankfully it’s a nice day to wander a bit and see what’s going on around the bustling city. “This is a much nicer place than I remember it being” Serena remarks looking around before stopping “So this is the Capital now? Is Windhelm still around at all? Palace of the kings and all that?” She asks and I nod “Yep, cold, snowy, pretty racist, leader of the stormcloak rebellion is the current Jarl, the snow quarter has been renamed the grey quarter and the people there generally suck.” Serena scoffs “Great nothing’s changed then.” I glance at Farkas “What is it with Nords and the potential to be unchanging assholes?” I ask, he simply shrugs “I guess when you’re that far north you’ve got nothing better to do then freeze and be miserable?” He offers “At least the people in whiterun and solitude are kind of nice, even if it’s no Daggerfall.” I nod “Daggerfall might be better but even it’s got its unsavory characters.” Serena looks at me “What’s Daggerfall?” Ah, I knew I was forgetting a bit of information “Back in the third Era the province of HighRock finally united as one country and the city of Daggerfall on the Iliac bag was declared the capital of the country, or the southern part at least, there’s also Wayrest, and Sentinel as major cities. I’m from Daggerfall originally.” Serena makes an intrigued noise “I was wondering why you had a talent for magic, makes sense now, Bretons are known to be skilled mages.” Serena pulls out a map “Now moving on, if we’re here, then my home should be...here.” Serena points to a spot on the map off the coast “It’s on an island...Hope you’re both ok with a short boat ride.” I frown “I hate boats.” I mutter under my breath “You’re just scared of th because of one bad experience as a child, are they really that bad?” Farkas asks and I give him a look “Yes, for a matter of fact they are. They move around, they can tip, and you might get your clothes soaked if your not careful, all in all...I don’t like them.” Serena smiles “I get what you mean. Thankfully this is a pretty sturdy boat, if I’m remembering correctly.” And so, though reluctantly, we set off.
“See that castle kinda thing out there?” Serena asks pointing as we get to a small dock about an hour outside Solitude “That’s where we’re going. And I’ll warn you in advance, my father and his court aren’t exactly fond of strangers...or werewolves for the matter” Point noted. We climb into the little rowboat and the ferrymen takes us across, thankfully the water is calm...ish. The guard at the gate of the castle looks shocked to see us, or well, mainly Serena, and immediately opens the barred gate, telling her “welcome home.” As she passes by. “Are all the people here vampires?” I ask looking back at the gatekeeper and his rather...odd, appearance. Sunken cheeks, high cheekbones, eerie yellow-orange eyes, and incredibly pale skin...even for a Nord. Serena nods “Some, though, are more powerful than others.” Serena explains. “You’ll see.” She remarks. “I’m not sure I want to see.” I hear Farkas mutter under his breath as we go inside the castle.
As we walk inside, we come to a rather abhorrent sight, long tables line the hall, on them various people lie...and are feasted on by the halls residents. One looks up and notices us “Serena? Is that really you?!” Serena gives a slight awkward wave as if to say “shut it.” but politely, it doesn’t work as the vampire stands and announces to the rest of the hall Serena’s return. The man who seemingly is their leader, or just likes to dress like a king, walks up to us. “My long lost daughter returns at least. I trust you have my elder scroll?” Serena sighs in annoyance “After all these years, that’s the first thing you ask me? Yes I have the scroll.” Serena’s father makes a small sound of frustration “Of course I’m delighted to see you, my daughter. Must I really say the words aloud? Ah, if only your traitor mother were here, I would let her watch this reunion before putting her head on a spike. Now tell me, who is this stranger you have brought into our hall?” Serena gestures to me “This is my savior. The one who freed me.” He turns to me “For my daughters safe return, you have my gratitude. Tell me, what is your name?” He asks. “You first.” I reply bluntly. “I am Harkon, lord of this court. By now my daughter will have told you what we are.” I nod “You’re vampires.” I reply “Not just vampires. We are among the oldest and most powerful vampires in Skyrim.” Harkon notes...great, just what I needed to hear, surrounded by a bunch of bloodthirsty powerful vampires...fantastic. Harkon gestures around the hall “For centuries we lived here, far from the cares of the world. All that ended when my wife betrayed me and stole away that which I valued most.” I hesitantly ask “What happens now?” And Harkon looks at me “You have done me a great service, and now you must be rewarded. There is but one gift I can give that is equal in value to the elder scroll and my daughter. I offer you my blood. Take it, and you will walk as a lion among sheep. Men will tremble at your approach, and you will never fear death again.” Harkon then transforms into a kind of monster, demonstrating his power. “I’m a werewolf. What will happen if I accept your gift?” I ask hypothetically, curious to know the answer while already knowing my stance on the matter. “Yes, I can smell it on you. The power of my blood will purge that filth and make you whole again.” I notice Farkas subtly roll his eyes, might give him nightmares but even he doesn’t think it’s filth. “I don’t want to become a vampire. I refuse.” Harkon makes a rumble of anger “I will spare your life this once. But you are banished from this hall.” Harkon raises his hand and a sudden rush of wind knocks us back and out the doors, as we land the gate slams shut in front of us. “Didn’t go too well, huh?” The guard asks “Obviously not.” He shrugs “Harkons always been testy, don’t take it personally. Serena seemed to like you, if I were you I’d keep an eye out for her again. She and her dad have some...problems. Don’t expect her to stay here long at all. Don’t know why she came back in the first place, really.” We get up and bid the guard farewell for the tidbit of information before heading back to the ferry. “Well that went smoothly.” I joke “might as well report back to Isran we lost our vampire.”
Isran is intrigued on what our little adventure entailed, and is surprisingly not upset about us losing Serena, if anything he’s happy we got a look inside Volkihar castle. After catching up he sends us to gather some of his old friends to join his cause. One, we find hunting a bear and assist in its demise in order for him to agree, the other we find along the banks of the Karth river, apparently mubcrabs stole her satchel of Dwemer gyros, I happened to have one on me and she agreed to head to the fort immediately. When we get back, we find Serena already there, the guard at the gate was right, she’d escape at one point or another. Isran, while annoyed, allows her to stay at Fort Dawnguard so long as she minds her own business, as she was helpful with reporting her father's plans.
Once again, Serena tags along with us, this time, to Windhelm. We stop outside the city briefly and Serena stops and looks “Yeah...What do you mean this isn’t the capital of Skyrim?!” She exclaims. I guess the fact that thousands of years have passed hasn’t quite caught up with her yet
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