I am both amazed and a bit embarrassed that despite my substantial connections to Skyrim's criminal underworld, I've never actually been to a skooma den before. It's not a happy place.
Well, okay, it actually is, but I can guess how these people are going to feel when they run out of money. If I still considered myself a Legate of the Legion, I'd be telling off this officer for his poor behavior.
But I'm not here to judge; I'm here to fill an ancient daedric cup with blood. Or something. Either way, my task pulls me out of the designated loitering area.
Now, these are just some bandits running a skooma den, so I don't feel too much animosity toward them. Usually, I'd kill them without a second thought, but I can't help but feel responsible for this place after my time in Elsweyr helping drug runners. It'd be proper bad form if I killed the businessmen I'd been helping just last month, so I, uncharacteristically, take a non-lethal approach. Besides, I became a vampire to prove that vampires don't have to be evil.
But all these considerations go out the window when I see another one of those freaky dogs.
So the skooma den's being run by vampires. Somehow I'm not surprised--they seem to be turning up everywhere now. The Dawnguard weren't crazy. I'm guessing the vampires come out and feed on the customers while they're passed out in the den upstairs.
So much for being non-lethal.
On the bright side, the revelation that this place of full of vampires and thralls dispels any growing suspicions I'd had that I'd trod into the wrong place again. Finding the redwater spring underground just confirms it further.
It's also kind of gross.
And they're putting this in skooma? As if drugs weren't bad enough already.
Soon after I fill the cup, I remember that I need vampire blood to complete Harkon's concoction (I still have no idea what this is for), but am happily surprised by the arrival of two lackeys from Castle Volkihar, presumably operating under orders from one of Harkon's rivals.
And apparently the conspiracies go even deeper. From what I gather, these two were each told to kill the other after acquiring the cup (and killing me). Which leaves us at an impasse. Except that I have a crossbow. It's just a matter of settling on a target.
And well, if I need to extract the blood of a vampire, I'm sure I'll figure it out.
The tunnel back to the surface takes me out at a bit of a weird place. The cage-lady's cool about it, though, even after I filch the key from her pocket and see myself out.
Dawn's come while I was down there, and standing in the sunlight, I feel a familiar burning sensation.
I don't have the patience to deal with this fool, so I take Odahviing up on his past offer. He makes good and is there directly. A bit too directly, actually--what has he been doing, following me?
I mean, as long as he's offering his services and keeping such a close eye on me, he might as well ferry me around Skyrim. I explain this to him but I don't think he can hear me over the sound of his own breath.
And wouldn't you know it, no sooner does the old coot kill his upstart brother before he takes off toward Riften without so much as a word goodbye.
This is why I usually like working alone. Friends are stupid.
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