Kidnapping

Dear Diary,

I forgot to mention something last time.  In all of the ruckus going on in Riften I forgot I also happened to kill some old hag who was torturing some orphans and keeping them captive.  It seemed like the right thing to do at the time, so I didn't think much of it.  Turns out she was a contract for the Dark Brotherhood, and I wasn't supposed to do that.

We went to sleep in the inn, and next thing I knew I woke up in a shack.  A woman was in one corner, and three people were tied up on the other side of the room.  She explained I had to repay my debt for killing Grelod, by killing one of these people.  I was going to refuse, but she said one of them already had a contract on them and I had to figure out which one.  It seemed rather sick to play games with people like that, but I decided to play along for the moment to see if I could find a way out.

I interviewed each one.  One was an honorable Nord who just happened to be a mercenary.  Seemed like an honest heart.  The second was a mother of six, so that was out.  The third was a bit of a jerk, and with some persuasion told me he had killed plenty himself, and was a crime lord.  Well, seemed like a win win.  We would all get to leave and this one Khajiit who would probably be dead by either a competitor, someone seeking vengeance or the law.

So I shot him.  In hindsight it seems rather cold but at the moment I felt I had no choice.  The woman in the corner introduced herself as Astrid, and I recognized her name from all the notes I had collected from failed assassins.  She said I could join them if I liked, and I agreed.  It was part just wanting to get out of the shack, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to go and check them out.  If nothing else I am sure they had some interesting books to swipe.

I left the shack and realized I was just south of Dawnstar.  I found a courier and wrote a note to Jzargo back at the inn, in case he was still there. I also made note that he needs to be a better guard...cat.  I then went south to their hiding place.

The Sanctuary was west of Falkreath and kinda creepy.  As I walked inside I found a group of members gathered, having a conversation.  They seemed rather friendly, chatting about their latest contracts.  While they dealt in murder, they were fairly chipper and seemed all there.  I expected a bunch of psychos screaming while lifting dead animals, or practicing on fresh corpses.  One of them was even a little girl, Babette, who I traded potions and recipes with.

I found Nazir, a redguard, in the back working on something.  He mentioned since I was a "new member" I could do some contracts.  I'm not one for wanton murder, but I figure I could check these people out and if they seemed bad it's a good chunk of gold for doing it.  Another win win.  The first was in Ivarstead, just east of here.

I scoped out the rest of the Sanctuary, swiped a few books I had never seen before, and went east to Falkreath.  I found Jzargo outside the gate, and told him what happened.  He apologized, and made note not to drink milk before sleeping in an unfamiliar place, it makes him pass out.  I gave him a hug and we then took care of business around town, selling a few things, making a few items, and then staying at the inn for the night (minus any milk).  Before we slept we walked around the inn and chatted up the people there.  One man I had talked to before said an ancient ancestor had risen from the dead recently and was a vampire.  He said he had gathered followers and taken up residence in Bloodlet Throne just east.  It was on the way to Ivarstead, so I agreed and we left town.

We climbed the mountains east of Falkreath and got to Bloodlet Throne later in the day.  There was a blizzard outside so we were glad to get inside, even with the strange wolves howling from somewhere deeper in the ruin.  We fought our way to the interior past a few weaker vampires and hired thugs, and eventually came to a large opening in the cave wall.  We looked in and it was like a small fighting pit.  There were cages in the walls all around full of wolves and above them in a throne sat the vampire flanked by cronies.  He said  something to them and released the wolves, refusing to fight but rather wanted to watch me fight the wolves.  The animals were no match, although I felt bad for them.  After we had whooped them the vampires decended, angry we had killed their pets.  The vampire lord was quite tough, but I singled him out while Jzargo fried the others.  I gave the vampire a taste of his own medicine with Mr. Thirsty, but the axe only got a taste of him before the Razor kicked in and obliterated him.  Dagon had something against this vampire it seemed.  Jzargo was right behind me with a goofy grin on his face.  In his mismatched dwarven gauntlets (note: need to keep an eye out for that final piece of his ebony armor) he held up two of the vampires proudly by the hair, like a...cat and his mouse.  I stared and he dropped them, realizing what he was holding.  We checked for loot and left out the back.

It was getting late, so we camped out behind the old fort (sleeping lightly).  The next day we left for Ivarstead.  We are staying at the inn here and scoping out the first target for the brotherhood: Narfi.  Haven't found him yet, but we will see what he's up to.

Until next time,

- ST