It's time I got my hands on that black soul gem. Last night's events being yet another indication of my vampirism as a problem, not an asset, I'm ready to move things along. Problem is, I don't know where to find such a gem.
I know my contact in the guild, Enthir, has a talent for acquiring certain items of interest, including the daedra heart I used to forge my bow, so I wonder if he can help finding an object that exists only to trap the souls of men. I head to Winterhold and am happy to see it quiet, sunny, and dragon-free.
Enthir gives me a suspicious look when I tell him what I'm looking for, so I explain that it's for probably the best cause a black soul gem's ever been put to--curing someone of a crippling daedric illness. Yes, someone will have to die, but do we really care? I have killed thousands. Thousands!
But he tells me that, unfortunately, he doesn't have one at the moment and can't tell me where to find one. I'm out of there in seconds. So now I'm up in the north again, carriage-less. I have to leg it out south again.
My bad mood is only agitated when I encounter just such a disposable human soul on the glacier. Shame.
But worse than a wandering human brigand is the group of Altmer who evidently killed this guy's friends. I know the Thalmor and I are ostensibly on the same side since I crushed Ulfric's rebellion, but for some reason their agents make every effort to kill me when there's no one looking.
But these guys don't get the chance to see me.
Shiny armor and prodigious talent with magic aside, one elf is still worth only one arrow. So this shouldn't take long.
Unfortunately, my aim is a little rusty shooting vertical, so two of my shots go wide and the surviving elf takes cover behind the ice.
Well, I'm not only an archer. I put the bow away and quietly crawl along the lip of the rift for a few seconds, and then drop down silently in the snow.
Surprise.
I search their bodies and find a note of some interest on the mage's person--a note from someone signed "E", instructing all Thalmor agents to kill me on sight. It's nice to feel loved.
The dragons get it, too, but their loving is a bit of the rougher sort. At least we're both on the same page.
If only Lisin and the Graybeards were with me now. If they saw how many dragons I've killed, maybe they would stop bugging me about my destiny and leave me alone--am I not doing enough?
Then again, if not for them, I wouldn't be out here in the first place.
But still, I'm already Skyrim's nurse and nanny. Does no one know how much I do for them? Well, I guess Dawnstar does, but didn't I kill that dragon? And the one after that?
So there you go, Skyrim. Be grateful.
But all my trials and tribulation aside, I'm not getting any closer to finding a black soul gem. I suppose there's nothing else to do but head to Riverwood and see to whomever took my horn. If they're competent enough to slip through that crypt, maybe they're also the sort of person who knows about black soul gems. It's a long shot, but it's all I have.
On my way to Winterhold, I come across an interesting scene. Turns out the Alik'r are still looking for Redguard women to kill. I should probably get back to Saadia and put all this to rest. I'd forgotten about it what with ending an entire civil war.
So before going to Riverwood, I make a quick stop at Whiterun. Saadia's happy and she's rich, which is the best kind of person to know if you're in the Thieves' Guild.
So I go up to Riverwood and order the stupid attic room. It's not an attic room but I'm too distracted to care.
The innkeeper comes in, probably to ask me if the room is okay. I ignore her, trying to figure out where I can find the black soul gem. And then she tells me she knows I'm the Dragonborn.
Well, that gets my attention. She says she's the one who left the note, and gives me the horn. Part of me just wants to leave, but she keeps talking. Evidently she knows exactly who I am and brought me here to meet me. She has me follow her into a room, and then through a hidden doorway into a secret basement.
Now I'm definitely curious--hidden doorways are kind of my specialty.
But I get distracted again when I see what's on the wall.
That sword kind of looks like mine. Huh.
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