Modded Skyrim - Tumblr Posts
Falkreath's graveyard at night. Can't get enough of the spooky aesthetic.
Sunset above Falkreath <3
Added Ciri to my modded mess and had some... Interesting moments
Screenshots from Helgen. You spend so little in-game time here, but there are so many interesting little details and dramas going on all around you.
(Alduin is modded, by the way.)
Teldryn Sero sees dead bandit: “Disgusting.”
Proceeds with dinner.
“Just try and kiss the cook. I dare you.”
More Teldryn Sero screenshots from my old PS4 save.
Somehow, Erik the Slayer followed me to Apocrypha. (Teldryn and Erandur stayed behind, big babies!) You could chalk this up to a glitch, but I like to think Erik is just that dedicated as a fighter. (Though, in all fairness, Teldryn followed me to Apocrypha on my last PC save, so maybe he just doesn’t want to smell like rotten seafood again.)
When you’re shivering but want to keep your weapon drawn...
Clearly Teldryn doesn’t care about safety.
Pffft.
Erik: “Ugh, Teldryn was that you?”
Meeting Inigo
"Isn't that my ring?" Madesi asks. Ravenna looks at her hand, confused. She's not wearing any- Oh. "Is it? I don't know whose this is," she replies, taking it off and holding it out, "If it is yours, I'm more than happy to return it?" Madesi scowls at her, eyes narrowed. "How kind of you, to return something to me which you've already stolen. Guards! Over here!" At Madesi's call, two guards shuffle over. Lucien cowers, while Ravenna, infuriated and dumbstruck, confronts Madesi. "I didn't take it from you! I said you could have it back if it was yours, why do we need to get the guards involved?" she demands. "Because I don't believe you didn't steal it. You’re only offering to return it because you were caught." In the background, Kaidan gets between Ravenna and the guards. "Woah, hey now. Let's not make this bigger than it is," he attempts to placate them, but they don't seem to care. In fact, they care so little, that they decide to arrest Kaidan along with Ravenna. Only Lucien is let be, but he trails behind the guards as they cart away his companions like a lost puppy regardless. Ravenna and Kaidan are shut up in the same cell, across the prison from a strange Khajiit with blue fur, who talks to himself in his cell. Ravenna looks to Kaidan as the guard locks their door. "I didn't steal that ring from him." "Know you didn't. Think it was that hooded bastard who bumped into you while we were at Brand-Shei's stall, must've planted the ring on you. Sorry I didn't notice when it happened." "Not your responsibility to look after me. Hopefully this will sort itself out quickly." As they are talking, deliberating what to do and trying to guess what may next happen, the Khajiit from across the room speaks to them. More specifically, he calls to Ravenna, waving his arm at her through the bars of his cell. "You there," he calls, "the woman! Do you recognize me?" Ravenna and Kaidan exchange confused gazes. "No," she calls back to him, "Should I?" The cat looks crestfallen. "You don't?" "No," she repeats. "You've not come to Riften to finish me off?" he asks. If Ravenna had liquid in her mouth, she'd have been spitting it out right then. "Why would I be here to 'finish you off'?" she asks. "You don't remember? The job? Anything?" "No, I don't know what you're talking about." "That," he begins, "That is my fault also." "What do you mean?" "Let me introduce myself. I am your so-called friend Inigo. I was the one who killed you, I tried anyway. I am guilty! Kill me!" "You didn't do a very good job, did you? Also, I'm locked up too. I couldn't kill you if I wanted to. Why are you in here?" "After I shot you I realized my mistake and turned myself in. Your body was gone, the guards did not believe me! I had to pay them to put me in this cell. It's where I belong. I needed to repent, I need to repent." "If you thought I was dead than why were you here waiting for me?" "I heard tales of an adventurer, both brave and resourceful, matching your description! I knew it was you, it had to be! I knew you were going to be coming for me, so I waited. Are you going to kill me? Or not?" "Kill you for what? I don't remember what happened." The cat - Inigo - sighs heavily. "I see I must relive it again, your memory is not what it was." Ravenna's memory is perfectly intact, actually, but she does not bring this up. "We met on a job." "What kind of job?" "The killing kind. We were hired by a lord called Dupan to kill his brothers," Inigo starts the tale and already Ravenna knows this wasn't her. This is an assassination job; a variety of work she usually never takes. "With them gone, Dupan would inherit a great fortune, and promised us much gold in return. Do you remember none of this?" "No. Inigo, I'm fairly sure I'm not who you think I am." "You are," he insists, "Before we left, Dupan said that if only one of us returned from the mission, that one would get the other's reward also. I was hooked on skooma at the time, and I had a bit of a debt problem, so..." "You killed me for my half of the reward," Ravenna fills in the blank. "I tried," he agrees, "That is what matters. It wasn't an easy choice. We had only known each other for a short time, but I grew to like and respect you. We got on well, and fought bravely side-by-side. I threw all that away for gold, and skooma." "Did you end up getting the reward?" She asks. "Hah. No, Dupan was murdered by his sister before I returned. Our deal died with him. Money is an evil like no other, my friend. It is only just that I die at your hand." "Are you still hooked on skooma?" "No. I am done with the stuff. I want to die with my senses intact. Kill me now, I am ready." "No," she replies, "Even if I were able to from here, I would not. Don't ask me again. I am not the person you remember-" "What's all the ruckus down here, lass?" another voice cuts in, and Kaidan sits upright in the chair he'd been occupying while all this went down, suddenly at attention. Brynjolf walks down the stairs, one of the guards trailing not far behind. “I cleared things up with the guards for you, lass. Bad business for the guild to make trouble with someone we’re hoping to recruit. You and your beau are free to go,” the thief tells them as the guard unlocks their cell and lets them out. Kaidan looks to Ravenna with raised eyebrows as they leave. “Trying to recruit you? That why you’ve been avoiding the guild all this time?” He asks. Ravenna nods. “‘Afraid so. They’ve known about me for years, unfortunately.” “That we have,” Brynjolf agrees, “We know she plays nice, but the guild wants her for reasons other than stealing - not that she wouldn’t make a fine thief if she were willing.” "And I believe I've made it fairly clear that I am not-" "Not yet," Brynjolf insists. "Not ever," Ravenna pushes back. "Keep tellin' yourself that, lass. I'll be seein' you," he offers his parting words - and a wink - to Ravenna before turning and heading on his way. Ravenna's attention returns to their new, blue friend. "You said you had to pay them to put you in here? Do you know where they've put the key?" she asks. Inigo nods uncertainly. "In a chest above the fireplace. Why?" "I may not be the person you think I am, but that doesn't mean they're not out there somewhere. Why don't you come travel with me, and we can look for them, instead of staying here to rot in this cell?" she offers. Inigo perks up. "I fight with you?" He asks, hopefully. Ravenna nods. "For now, until you're ready to move on," she says. "Ravenna, are you sure about this," Kaidan cuts in, looking concerned, "I'm not making extra effort to look after him." "I don't expect you to," Ravenna placates, "You just focus on me. Don't worry about him, and don't worry about Lucien - leave them to me. Besides, I'm confident this fellow can at least handle himself." "Fair enough," Kaidan agrees, "If you're sure." "I am," she says, and returns to Inigo, "Are you though?" "I am more than sure, my friend! I accept! I feel lighter in my heart now you have given me this opportunity!" Inigo cheers. "Very good," Ravenna answers sweetly, "Just mind your aim, would you?" "Do not joke about such things my friend," he says glumly, "The sadness I feel for what I have done is brutal enough, for now." "What's going on!? They said you two could leave already!" Lucien's voice echoes in from the hallway, "We need to go! The Vigil are here again!" "Oh, for the love of Talos," Kaidan laments as Lucien runs down the stairs, tripping over himself to get down to reach them. "The Vigil?" Inigo asks, "Who are the Vigil?" "We can explain that later, but for now, we have to leave. Get your things," Ravenna orders, and as Inigo gathers his belongings within his cell, Ravenna and Kaidan recollect their weapons and tools from the warden, Lucien panicking around them all the while. "Where to next?" Ravenna asks the group as they rush out the nearest Riften gates. "Whiterun!" Lucien suggests, "Hadvar surely warned Riverwood about the dragon, but we should still go and make sure the Jarl knows!" "Dragon?! Do you mean to say that you have seen a dragon, my friend?" Inigo asks. "Whiterun works," says Kaidan, "Lucien's right, someone has to make sure the Jarl knows about that fucking wyrm. We'd have to move on again quick, though."
Visiting High Hrothgar/Ustengrav
During the climb up to High Hrothgar, they visit all the shrines along the way, and as Ravenna reads out the text, Lucien and Inigo act out the events described on them, which takes a lot away from the whole experience in Kaidan’s opinion. Still, a small part of him appreciates it. The whole reason they’ve started this is because he mentioned in passing that he was interested in visiting the shrines, and Ravenna immediately insisted they do exactly that. Things turn a lot more serious when they arrive at the temple. The Greybeards look over all of them, and ask the prospective Dragonborn to step forward. Ravenna seems focused on the one who speaks to her, but Kaidan catches a few near-smiles on the crowd of monks, like they’re withholding their mirth at some joke only they are aware of. For the second time, Kaidan feels that strange agitation that permeates the very reality around them as the Greybeards prompt her to speak to them, but the experience of being near her when she shouts is so different from when the Greybeards do it. Where her shouts are a faint shiver, the Greybeards hardly whisper and the reality around them seems to flinch at their voices. Just being allowed to witness this is more than worth the climb they made to get here, and worth sitting through all of Lucien and Inigo’s singing on the way up. Speaking of Inigo and Lucien, the two of them have finally fallen silent, in favor of watching Ravenna’s training. Inigo is grinning, and the way he holds his closed fist over his muzzle is a bit telling. Kaidan can tell the Khajiit is barely holding back the urge to cheer for her. Lucien is smiling too, but, ever the scholar, there’s a focus in his eyes that suggests he’s more happy to be observing. Afterwards, the Greybeards challenge her to enter an ancient tomb they call Ustengrav, in search of the horn of Jurgen Windcaller. They stay in Ivarstead for one more day before they leave for Ustengrav, which is all the way up in Morthal. The journey there is sloughed in rain and snow, and they have to make innumerable stops on the route to Dawnstar just to warm up and make sure none of them are frostbitten. There is already a campfire set up from one of these stops when the sun rises, and now that everyone is living on Ravenna's nocturnal schedule, they decide to just camp out where they are; it's a good spot, anyhow. Of course, because nothing can be easy, they run into problems immediately; namely that Ravenna is the only person who thought to bring a tent. "When I came to Skyrim I hadn't exactly expected to do much tent camping, alright?" Lucien defends. "I lost many of my possessions when I volunteered myself to the Riften jailhouse," Inigo admits. "I had a tent and camping supplies, but they were left behind when the Thalmor kidnapped me, and I've not yet had the chance to recover them," Kaidan explains. So they'll all have to squeeze into Ravenna's one tent, looks like. They discuss sleeping arrangements. "I can stay in the far corner, away from the three of you," Ravenna offers, "Since my body isn't warm it could be dangerous for the rest of you while we're so far North." "Nonsense!" Declares Inigo, "My fur keeps me comfortable in this kind of weather, you can lay next to me if you like." "I'm afraid I've got poor circulation, so perhaps it'd be better for me to be next to Inigo as well," says Lucien. Everyone turns to Kaidan. "Do you have a preference?" Ravenna asks him. "I do," says Kaidan, "But it's not any of the three of you. I'll not sleep next anybody." "Are you sure that will be safe?" asks Inigo. "I've traveled alone in colder weather," Kaidan says firmly. "Whatever you say," Lucien dismisses in a tone of voice that says he isn't falling for Kaidan's bullshit. Nobody wants to dress for bed out in the cold, so they all do it inside the tent. Ravenna puts on her nightdress over her regular dress and pulls the regular dress off from underneath in a humorous tangle of cloth while Lucien changes his shirt normally, then puts his coat on and fastens it to keep covered while he switches his pants. Kaidan waits outside, shedding only his plate armor and leaving his gambeson on, not bothering with actual sleepwear. Inigo currently owns no sleepwear, so he strips down to just his regular pants, and borrows an overshirt from Lucien. They manage to get all this figured out without kicking or elbowing each other too much, and then all three of them stick just their heads and arms out of the tent to beckon Kaidan in with exaggeratedly seductive movements and language, like some sort of many-headed succubus-hydra thing. Kaidan tries very hard not to laugh, but can't keep himself from chuckling at the lot of them. They get up and get on the move again the next morning, only stopping briefly in Dawnstar to warm up and eat at the inn before they move out, keeping up until they make it all to Ustengrav, pushing through most of the giant tomb in just a matter of hours. Then they get to the end. “What the actual fuck,” Ravenna hisses out as she pulls something from the sarcophagus. “What is it?” Lucien asks. “Is something wrong?” Queries Inigo. Kaidan just looks on with narrowed eyes as Ravenna turns, glaring down at an unfolded sheet of parchment. “Someone else came here and took it already,” she says resentfully, “the note is only signed as being from a ‘friend.’ They’ve invited us to the Sleeping Giant inn, all the way in fucking Riverwood. We’re being yanked around Skyrim on a Gods-damned bootlace!” She offers the letter to her party to examine, and everyone expresses varying degrees of discontent.
Visiting Rosewood Manor/Meeting Viggo
It's been a long road to Ustengrav, and Ravenna is about fed up with it by the time they get back out. With arms filled by only disappointment and a mysterious letter and no horn to speak of, the four adventurers trudge back to Dawnstar for some decidedly necessary time to process and decompress. Ravenna makes sure to take a bath at the inn that lasts nearly an hour, and she comes out with her hair tied half-up, smelling of roses and lilies. Lucien ducks into the backroom of the inn right after her for his own bath, and Ravenna sits down in a far corner of the inn, experimenting with her magic while she listens to Inigo hum along to the awful singing of the innkeepers daughter. Kaidan, who had been sat at the bar, shuffles over to check out what she's doing, and maybe get a better grasp of her character, after the young boy who lives in the inn takes notice of it and asks Ravenna to turn him invisible (which she only pretends to do).
"What have you been getting up to over here?" he asks.
"Playing with light refraction to see how it affects my illusion spells," she says, too focused on her work to notice the awkwardly vacant expression that washes over Kaidan's face. He exchanges glances with Inigo for help, but the Khajiit shrugs unhelpfully. Ravenna pretends she doesn’t notice any of this interaction from her seat between the two of them.
"Go on," he says slowly, unsure of himself.
"Well, doing this is quite tricky, but it seems like this method could reduce the magicka cost on illusion casting exponentially- I just need to refine the method a little bit." Kaidan tries very hard not to show how utterly lost he is as he nods along. "Yeah, of course," he tries. Ravenna suddenly drops her hands, her spell fading from her fingertips. She turns to look at him.
"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you Kaidan." She is not asking. "Not a damn clue," he admits, "It's interesting to hear you talk about it though-” “It’s a curse! It has to be! I - “ a woman across the inn breaks down before a priest of Mara, and suddenly, Ravenna gets tangled in someone else's weird drama and they end up leaving early and moving to finish recuperating at Ravenna's family manor. Rosewood manor is a distant home on the border of Falkreath, the Reach just past its backyard. The home itself is large and equipped, with a showroom and training space in a separate building, a forge outside between that and the main house, a lovely outdoor kitchen for entertaining guests, and a study that is already covered in Ravenna's magical resources - journals aplenty have been filled in her handwriting over the years. She tours them through the home, shows them the balconies, archery perch, her own room in case they need help finding their way around, and anything else she can imagine they might need. They do have to discuss who stays where in the house, as there are two guestrooms in the main wing of the house and a last guest space in the loft of the master bedroom where Ravenna herself will stay; the space is cramped and seems like it was added in almost as an afterthought, and Inigo decides to volunteer for that space, being the smallest of the three men, and certainly the most comfortable with Ravenna so far, despite being the newest addition to their travelling company. Once that is figured out however, Ravenna retires for the day almost immediately after showing them around. It's nearly 2 in the afternoon already, and she still has to bathe, so as her three companions retreat to the other wing of the house for the day, they all expect not to see her again for several long hours. "AAAAAAH!!!!" Ravenna shrieks from somewhere upstairs, the sound accompanied by a loud thud. Inigo, Lucien, and Kaidan collectively waste no time rushing upstairs from where they had been reclining in her exuberant living room - and in Lucien's case, the kitchen, to see what exactly is amiss. When they start up the spiral staircase, they see the beginnings of why she is in such distress. When she gave them a tour of her family's manor earlier, the mannequin at the very top of the stairs had been, in fact, at the top of the stairs. Now, however, it seems to have relocated itself to block the doorway into the master bedroom. Ravenna's hair is still wet, and the floral scents of her soaps and perfumes waft into the stairwell from the room behind her. She's wearing only a short, blue silk nightgown - like she's about to go to bed, which she probably is. The whole scene paints a fairly clear picture of what's happened, leaving only one question unanswered.
"Uhm, how did that mannequin get there?" Lucien asks Ravenna, who is breathing heavily. Inigo flicks his tail curiously and scrunches his face. "Something smells off in here," he says, and it seems to be all the khajiit really has to add for the moment as his head swivels around, searching for answers. Kaidan is looking over Ravenna first, the room second, joining Inigo in his search for answers, though probably not seeking the same answers as their feline ally about the vampiress. Their view is quickly blocked off, however, by a herculean man with long salt-and-pepper hair and beard, both combed and braided meticulously to keep them out of his face. He towers over the scene, standing at what must be almost 9 feet tall, maybe taller, and the finery he wears is uniform, like something you might expect to see on the chief housecarl of a noble house. His skin is deathly pale, in a way that echoes Ravenna’s paleness. Putting it plainly, he looks as if he could be her father, other than the drastic difference in their stature.
“What have I taught you, Little Bird, about how to behave when an enemy has caught you off guard?” He asks. His voice is low, and deep; his tone, authoritative and commanding. The accent he speaks in is not the more current, modern Nordic accent, but instead an ancient ancestor to the modern Nordic accent.
“Never let them know how surprised I truly am,” Ravenna answers back with a huff as she pulls herself off the ground, “As if any intruder in the estate could ever get past you, Viggo.” Viggo’s lips quirk briefly, the barest hint of a smile he’s likely to offer his student while her allies are present. He glances back at her party, not to look at them exactly, but as a cue to Ravenna. “You have chosen your allies well. As soon as they believed you were in danger they came running.”
“If you’d like to speak to them, they are right there,” Ravenna replies flatly.
“Indeed, forgive me for being so inhospitable,” he replies like he isn’t going to do it again for the next group of so-called friends she takes up with, before finally turning to face Ravenna’s allies.
“Come, a lady’s bedchamber is no place to conduct introductions,” he instructs, moving the mannequin and herding them all back into the living room. Nobody dares raise an argument with him, and they all settle into the living area, including Ravenna, who seems to be the only one really at ease with him in the room. Even the usually jovial and unflinching Inigo is abnormally rigid.
“Well met,” Viggo says, in a tone that suggests this meeting is quite the opposite, “I am Viggo Eskildsen, housecarl and steward to Ravenna and the Rosewood estate.” He looks at them all expectantly.
“Err, good to meet you?” Inigo tries, regaining his confidence as he continues, “I am called Inigo. I am grateful to be considered welcome here, in my friend’s home.” This seems to appease Viggo, more or less, and the hulking man offers him a respectful enough bow of his head.
“My name is Kaidan, good to meet you,” Kaidan offers, ripping off the bandage without enthusiasm and barely making eye contact. Viggo’s gaze on the other hand becomes more pointed in response.
“Right,” is all he says.
“Uhm, my name is Lucien Flavius, sir. It is wonderful to meet you and an honor to be traveling with miss Ravenna,” Lucien replies, his voice shaking hinting at his true anxiety but otherwise keeping his composure surprisingly well.
“Very good, then. Well, for as long as you all have Ravenna’s approval, you gentlemen are welcome in this estate. I will probably more often be in my own home while all of you are here, but it is not far. If I am needed, Ravenna will always be able to reach me. And, Ravenna?” He turns back to her again, and her eyelids are drooping heavily, but she is listening, nodding to him, “I would like to speak with you in private.”
“Funny,” she says in a sleep-softened voice, “I was about to ask the same of you.” Viggo nods, standing and following the drowsy Ravenna further into the home, leaving Inigo, Lucien, and Kaidan to their own devices in the living room.
“Soooooooo,” Lucien is first to open the discussion once the intimidating Nord has left, “He’s a character.”
“That is one way to put it. He did not seem pleased to be meeting us, that is for sure,” Inigo agrees.
“Yes, I wonder why that is? After all, it’s not like we did anything wrong, that I know of.”
“Personally I don’t hope we’ll be here long enough to find out. He seemed off, for more reasons than just the obvious,” Kaidan comments.
“It is hard to distinguish since Ravenna is a vampire also, but I think he must have been one too. They don’t smell exactly the same, but they did smell similarly undead. Do you think that might be what seemed so strange to you?” Inigo asks.
“Probably,” Kaidan admits, folding his arms and leaning back in his seat, “I can’t stand vampires.” Lucien raises a brow at that. “If you can’t stand vampires, why travel with Ravenna?”
“It’s not as if I necessarily want to. But I owe her a debt, and I don’t like owing people. Especially not vampires,” he says. Inigo whistles. “What kind of debt must a man like yourself owe to make you work with a vampire, if you mistrust them so much?” Kaidan sighs heavily, before he finally answers.
“Ravenna saved my life.”
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Ravenna and Viggo step into her study, away from her three allies.
“Things have gotten very complicated,” Ravenna starts immediately once they’ve settled in.
“Complicated how?” Viggo asks patiently, “Start from the beginning.”
“On my way back here from the crypt, the Vigil of Stendarr cornered me just outside the hold capital in the forest. They know.”
“That is very near to the estate, are you sure you haven’t led them here?”
“I don’t think so, Lucien sent quite a few of them tearing through Cyrodiil looking for me instead, and the last handful followed us out to Riften, but we were already leaving right when they got there.”
“Good, if any others were in pursuit, I would’ve found them out already. That little Imperial helped you?”
“They are all helping me. They all know that I’m a vampire already.”
That makes Viggo raise his eyebrows at her. “Ravenna, are you certain that is wise?”
“Who knows. We’ve been through worse than just having three people who know, but in every case it was prompted by circumstance. I’d argue we’ve all got bigger things to worry about now, anyway. Have you heard about the dragons coming back at all?”
“I have. I have also heard that a new Dragonborn has been summoned to High Hrothgar. The gods are already working to set things back into balance.”
“Right. And speaking of that newly announced Dragonborn, guess who that is,” Ravenna announces with pretend enthusiasm. Viggo’s whole face shifts.
“No - you? Are you sure?”
“Sort of hard to misunderstand suddenly absorbing the souls of dragons after it’s happened to you, I’m afraid. I’ve already been learning words in the dragon language too - and using them. This is happening, whether we want it to or not.”
“Oh, Little Bird,” Viggo sighs sympathetically, “The burdens of destiny should never have fallen onto you.”
“I feel like the godly idea that any one person should be responsible for saving the world is frankly a major design flaw, even if having a giant spotlight the size of all Skyrim suddenly being put on me wasn’t sure to cause issue enough,” she replies with her face scrunched in distaste.
“You will have to be even more careful from now on, that is for certain. But, whatever becomes of this, know that I will always be here to support you. I hope your chosen allies will continue to feel the same as well, divines save them if they do not.” Ravenna nudges him with her elbow.
“I’ve been with them for a week and a half, you’ve met them for fifteen seconds. It’s too early for making threats.”
“Agree to disagree.”
Meeting the Stranger
They spend two days on Ravenna’s estate. Lucien does a lot of cooking when Ravenna doesn’t call on Viggo for it, and Inigo makes himself right at home at the archery perch. Ravenna joins him up there to practice her own aim with spells at one point, and they talk, Ravenna happily learns a bit about Inigo’s childhood, but insists there was nothing interesting enough to talk about happening during her own. Kaidan is as distant and broody as ever, but takes up in her library, helping himself to the wealth of historical and literary knowledge in her half-filled and two-thirds organized library. He does attempt to pick through her magic notes at one point, hoping to discover some horrifically evil magical studies or experiments she might be involved in, but ultimately the most vile thing he manages to make any sense of is a recipe that turns out to be for a lavender perfume she likes to wear. He’s torn at this point, between trusting the evidence he’s witnessed so far that she is just a genuinely good person, and his inherent distrust towards her for being a vampire - which is a predisposition he doubts he’ll ever be able to completely disregard. In the end though, he gives up wondering why he ever thought he’d find something amiss in the first place. Lucky he does before Ravenna corners him in the library, instead of after, but the conversation they have about a fictional hero’s epic she enjoys is surprisingly engaging, and Kaidan finds himself feeling oddly refreshed afterwards, accepting her offer to take it with him and read it on their travels.
When Lucien isn’t playing chess with Inigo, messing around in Ravenna’s kitchens and alchemy lab, and generally getting on Kaidan’s nerves - sometimes intentionally, sometimes not - he is training in magic with Ravenna. After their recent dragon encounter and subsequent chaos, Lucien has felt rather guilty for relying solely on the rest of the group to keep him safe - especially with the sudden increase in danger now that the dragons are back. He’s glad much of their training consists of poring over her old magic notes in the library, it’s far more to his liking than if they were to go out into her courtyard and swings swords at things for hours. Ravenna seems to need the refresher course too, Lucien notices as they go over her old notes -and when he says old, Lucien means old. All the pages, bindings, and faded ink remind him of the ancient and well-studied research materials he’d seen and read through at the libraries and colleges he’d been to in the Imperial City. In between the musty old books and hours of meditation, Ravenna and Lucien do some idle chatting. Lucien tells her about his family, she tells him that his parents sound like lovely people and tells him a little about her own doting mother and father. Inigo has been trying to get details about Lucien’s lover or lovers the last several days already, but it is Ravenna who finally manages to extract the information. Lucien reveals that his girlfriend is a poet back home in Cyrodiil, who sends him the loveliest letters. In exchange for the gossip, Ravenna regales him with tales about several previous lovers of her own, sharing misadventures of both romances and friend groups of the past. There’s certainly a pattern in terms of who Ravenna chooses for her partners, too, Lucien observes - between the tall, muscular nord who was her first love, the shorter, but built and cryptic dunmer spellsword she dated sometime after she first took to adventuring, and the burly orcish warrior who apparently set out to sweep her off her feet after she absolutely kicked his shit in during a one-on-one fight, Lucien cannot pass up the chance to tease her about how much she’s made her love life sound like a trashy romance novella. Then they get talking about actual romance novellas and find out they’re both complete suckers for them, so Ravenna picks one out from her collection for Lucien to read while they travel - at his own insistence. At one point Kaidan walks into the library while they’re discussing this shared guilty pleasure, only to turn on his heel, and immediately walk back out in disappointed silence.
Some of the fun and games end when they leave the estate, but not all. On the way out to Riverwood, they collectively do a crossword puzzle in a brain teaser book Lucien brought along, which they score by who can solve the most answers. All four of them almost tie, but Lucien wins by two points, leaving Ravenna in particular feeling miserably out of touch as she belatedly realizes she should have known both those answers. Lucien and Inigo run out of songs to sing at some point and when Ravenna gets bored she decides to get out some ridiculous book she brought along and start reading it aloud. Kaidan is pretty sure she has this book, not because it is a good book, but specifically because it is so horrible that it’s funny. It’s an awful novel about an edgy young woman attending the mage’s guild in Cyrodiil, and it’s so stupid, badly written, grammatically incorrect and riddled with spelling errors that Kaidan takes Ravenna’s hands in his and claps the book shut for her, nearly begging that she stop reading just so he doesn’t have to hear her purposely mispronounce another word. This ultimately starts an argument with Inigo - who, despite wholeheartedly agreeing that the story is horrible in every possible way - complains that he had become invested in the wizardess’s story. However, after they realize they made a wrong turn and have to backtrack an annoying distance everyone agrees that someone else should read the silly book next time they have a need for mindless roadside entertainment so Ravenna can properly navigate.
They finally reach Riverwood as the break of day nears, and if their mysterious friend wasn’t already at the Sleeping Giant, they would have ended up there anyway to rest while the skies were light. They go in, they ask for the attic room, and as the quartet crowds into the tiny room they were assigned, Lucien shuts the door behind them, and everyone begins searching the room for clues. They're all asking questions right now that aren't getting answered, but why someone took the horn and took off isn't one of them. That is obvious; someone wants something. Whoever took the horn wants something and thinks they can get it from the newly announced Dragonborn. Evidently, someone familiar with the Greybeards and their habits, too. The door opens, and the innkeeper toddles in, with answers on offer. Delphine is her name, and she passes the horn, not to Ravenna, but to Lucien instead. "So you're the Dragonborn I've heard so much about," she says with a sly grin and a glint in her eye like she's got it all figured out. All around the room, eyes dart, as an awkward tension rises. "It's, uhm. It's not me, actually," Lucien finally says, slowly. Delphine frowns. "Who is it then? Don't tell me it's him," she looks pointedly at Kaidan, who shakes his head, and looks down to Ravenna where she is sitting primly on the edge of the bed. A brief look of surprise shutters over Delphine's face before she finally just says "Huh, didn't expect that. Follow me." And so they do, although none of them can imagine how Delphine thinks she looks leading them all into her bedroom like it's not the most obvious thing in the fucking world. Inigo shuts the door behind them, and Delphine opens up her wardrobe's false back panel, leading them into a tiny secret basement. How charming.
With all the cards lining up on the table and the turnout looking like the start of a bad theatre orgy, Ravenna, Inigo, Lucien, and Kaidan gather around Delphine's conspiratorial little table, where Delphine grills Ravenna non-stop, grating her down like a block of eidar cheese and talking a big game without giving Ravenna any tangible reason to take her seriously. Delphine demands Ravenna's respect, but outright refuses her any in return, but she isn’t expecting it when Ravenna turns the tables on her.
“We remember what most don’t, that the Dragonborn is the ultimate dragonslayer. You’re the only one who can kill a dragon permanently by devouring it’s soul. Can you do it? Can you devour a dragon’s soul?”
“Yes,” Ravenna answers, “I don’t think I could possibly confuse what happens to me when dragons die with anything else, in fact. Hey, you wouldn’t happen to be working with the Blades then, would you?”
“What? No, I - how could you possibly know that?” Delphine sputters, caught off-guard.
“There aren’t a great many organizations out there dedicated to dragonslaying, that I know of. You’ve also got one of their swords there in the corner, just laying out. Had you thought I just wouldn’t notice?” Ravena indicates the weapon, something bearing a vague resemblance to Kaidan’s own sword.
“I-” Delphine starts, but Ravenna interrupts.
“Why did you feel the need to keep it from me that you’re a Blades member? Especially if you thought I was the Dragonborn,” she points out.
“I needed to make sure you weren’t a Thalmor plant,” Delphine snaps.
“Why are you even worried about the Thalmor?” Ravenna asks. Delphine briefly seems surprised that Ravenna is asking such a question, but not long enough to stop her from using the opportunity to recapture control over the conversation, using Ravenna’s ignorance to get things back where she wants them.
It takes her a minute, but eventually Delphine stops fucking around long enough to actually tell them what she wants, which turns out to be seeing Ravenna fight a dragon in person, because for some reason, the approval of the Greybeards - masters of the Thu’um and teachers of every known Dragonborn in Tamriel ever - isn’t sufficient for her. So they go meet Delphine in Kynesgrove, and take their sweet ass time doing it. They camp out again a few times on the way, and Ravenna vengefully entertains the idea of stopping on the way to visit the hot springs before ultimately dismissing the idea, if only for the looming threat of a dragon attack potentially on the horizon regardless of Delphine's nonsense. It is only after Ravenna has unwillingly performed her miraculous dragon soul-eating feat for the second time ever that Delphine stops talking down to her constantly.
“So you really are Dragonborn,” Delphine says, letting some of her genuine excitement show briefly before reeling herself back in, “I owe you some answers don’t I?”
“I’d certainly say so. Start with the Blades, what happened to you?” Ravenna asks, “Last I remember, the Blades were still a powerful faction in Tamriel, even if they were still awaiting another Dragonborn.”
“We were. But not powerful enough to bring down the Thalmor. Before the Great War, the Blades helped the Empire against the Thalmor. Our Grandmaster at the time thought they were the greatest threat to Tamriel. Back then, that was true, maybe it still is. So, we fought them in the shadows all across Tamriel, thinking we were more than a match for them. We were wrong.”
“Hold on. What great war?”
“The Thalmor started a war with the Empire almost thirty years ago now. Where’ve you been, girl?” As Delphine says this, Ravenna’s allies do some eye-contact exchanging behind her, as they all wonder about the same thing. Where has Ravenna been, during all this?
“Out of the country,” Ravenna answers vaguely. Technically not a lie either, she was in Solstheim, which is technically part of Morrowind, in a crypt, asleep. Her torpor had lasted about 30 years this time, so she’s rather out of the loop.
“Right,” Delphine agrees suspiciously.
“Moving on,” Ravenna expertly changes the topic, “What do you know about the dragons returning?”
“Not a damn thing, I was just as surprised as you to see that big black dragon here.”
“I recognized that dragon, the one we saw fleeing Helgen. Wasn’t that the same one?” Ravenna turns to her party.
“Far as I could tell,” Lucien agrees.
“Sure seemed that way,” Kaidan supplies.
“You have seen that one before?” Inigo exclaims.
“It was the one who attacked Helgen, I think while there was some sort of congregation of Imperial forces there,” Ravenna contextualizes.
“Interesting. Same dragon. Damnit, we’re blundering around in the dark here! We need to figure out who’s behind it all,” Delphine gripes.
“And how do you propose we do that?” Ravenna asks her pointedly.
“The first thing we need to do is figure out who is behind the dragons. The Thalmor are our best lead, if they’re not involved, they’ll know who is,” Delphine answers.
“What makes you think the Thalmor are bringing dragons back?”
“Nothing solid. Yet. But my gut tells me it can’t be anybody else. The Empire had captured Ulfric, the war was basically over. Then a dragon attacks, Ulfric escapes, and the war is back on. Now the dragons are attacking everywhere, indiscriminately. Skyrim is weakened, the Empire is weakened. Who else gains from that but the Thalmor?”
“I suppose you make a good case for the Thalmor - who is Ulfric again?” Ravenna is really not caught up on things.
“Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm and leader of the Stormcloak rebellion. He and his men are rebelling against the Empire over the outlaw of Talos wordship imposed by the White-Gold concordat that ended the Great War between the Thalmor and the Empire,” Delphine looks increasingly irate at having to catch Ravenna up.
“Why in Nirn would the Empire agree to outlawing Talos worship?” Ravenna asks, “Tiber Septim was their god and emperor first.”
“The Blades weren’t the only ones losing out against the Thalmor, girl. The Empire couldn’t defeat or sustain a war against the Thalmor, so they’ve made a peace with them instead, but tensions are still high and it will surely be short-lived. Another war with the Thalmor is just on the horizon once the Empire has the manpower and resources.”
“I see. And the Stormcloak fellow thinks going to war with the Empire’s occupation of Skyrim now, right before another war with the Thalmor is about to break out, is the best thing he can do for his country-”
“We aren’t here to discuss politics, girl.” Delphine cuts Ravenna off irately.
“My name is Ravenna, do not call me girl,” Ravenna snaps back with equal vigor.
“You will speak to me with respect, if you want me to help you investigate this,” Delphine raises her voice at Ravenna, and for a second the vampire looks like she’s about to drain her next victim.
”You are the rudest person I have ever met,” Inigo seethes from behind Ravenna before she can decide whether or not she's going to literally sink her teeth into Delphine.
"I-" Delphine starts, but this time Lucien cuts her off.
"You nothing, Inigo is right. Stop hazing Ravenna and lets just get back to it. There are bigger issues to be worrying about."
"You have no-" she starts, but is finally shut down a third time, by Kaidan.
"Shut the fuck up, Delphine," the very large and very annoyed man orders. Delphine, finally, shuts the fuck up.
"Just tell me how you plan to investigate this," Ravenna says, bringing things back into focus. Delphine takes a deep breath, and answers.
“If we could get into the Thalmor Embassy... its their center of operations in Skyrim. Problem is, that place is locked up tighter than a miser’s purse. They could teach me a few things about paranoia.”
“How do you propose we do that, then?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I have a few ideas. I’ll need some time to pull things together. Meet me back in Riverwood in a few days, and keep an eye on the sky, this is only going to get worse.”
The College of Winterhold
"So, just to recap, dragon necromancers are a thing now. Am I the only one who finds that highly, highly concerning?" Lucien asks the table as the four of them conspire over drinks at the Braidwood inn.
“It spells trouble,” Inigo agrees.
“Feels like there’s something that we’re still missing. I hope Delphine’s planning skills are better than her manners. Sneaking into the Thalmor Embassy won’t be an easy task,” Kaidan sets down his mug of ale. Ravenna doesn't chime in, and the other members of her party have silently agreed to let her be, under the impression that she must still be cooling off after the near-argument with Delphine.
Ravenna is here at the Braidwood, in body, but mentally she is trapped back in the moment that black dragon locked eyes with her. The terror of being seen by something so ancient and unknowable - being known by it - Ravenna hadn’t had time to process in the moment, but now, black wings and red eyes are all she can think about. It's terrifying - not just because that dragon knows her, but because she knows it as well. Bone-deep and as surely as she knows herself, unavoidable as the sun will rise. Its name is right on the tip of her tongue. In the midst of her contemplation, the conversations of her allies have been muddled into background noise, and she fails to notice when two of them have already departed to their rooms for the night. Kaidan is rousing her from her internal thoughts later into the day than she should be awake.
“Are you well?” he asks, sounding legitimately concerned, “Did Delphine’s hazing upset you that much?”
“She was annoying, but no. It's the dragon, the black one. When it was speaking to me in the dragon language, it said something. "Ruvaakkiir." I don't know exactly what it meant, but the way he said it - it felt like that dragon was calling me by name."
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“Delphine said she needed some time to plan, what do we want to do while we wait?” Ravenna asks at the breakfast table the next evening.
“That is a good question,” Inigo says, “We should certainly consider our options.”
“Well, I don’t know about the two of you -” Lucien says as he hurries to their table late - and carrying many notebooks and loose pages, “But I could use a break from dragon-chasing for the moment. Preferably to catch up on my research before we get put into any more serious life-threatening situations.”
“In that case, why don’t we trek out to Winterhold and see the college? I’ve actually never been there myself,” Ravenna suggests.
“Yes, why not?” Inigo agrees, “You two would benefit from studying among other skilled wizards.”
“I can’t say I care for the idea,” Kaidan scowls, "Getting involved with those mages."
"Why is that? Do you have some sort of issue with magic?" Ravenna asks.
"Magic users, aye," Kaidan replies without hesitation, "Have you seen what haagravens do to their captives? Or how a warlock can capture a man's soul inside a stone when they kill him?"
"Kaidan, magic can be used to do all sorts of good too," Ravenna counters, "It can heal the wounded and cure the sick, create light in the dark or guide the lost back to their course. It isn't any more good or evil than a sword in the wrong man's hands. Besides, aren't you at least curious to see the inside?"
Ravenna asks him that last question with a playful smirk and a twinkle in her eye even though he’s being a bit of an ass about the subject, and honestly he’s grateful for her good graces. He can think of many people who would take far less kindly to being told how much he hates the thing they’ve dedicated themselves to than she has. That, and he remembers the last time he heard her talk like this, back in Falkreath’s great cemetery. He doesn’t want to own it now any more than he did then, but he knows there is truth to what she says.
“I still think the College is hoarding all manner of knowledge and secrets from across Skyrim - but I can’t say I’d mind a look at their archives,” he relents, giving in to the warm teal-blue of her eyes even though he knows the color is an illusion. He can’t say he dislikes the way they light up at her little victory in the end, either.
They take a carriage out to Winterhold, since the weather is too harsh to make the journey on foot. Inigo, Lucien, and Ravenna squish together on the bench and read their silly book some more, leaving Kaidan alone and sad on the opposite bench. They even get the carriage driver in on it after their snickering and chatting peaks his interest. Winterhold, when they arrive, looks every bit the felled giant it is, but the college still towers proud over the otherwise ruined city.
After the comically unofficial entrance exam and a tour of the campus they tuck themselves away again at the Frozen Hearth, sleeping while the sun is up and joining the other students in the Hall of Elements for the night classes instead. Professor Tolfdir starts them off tame with ward spells Ravenna has been familiar with for almost 200 years now before having everyone prep their things to journey out to the ruins of Saarthal. Kaidan takes the time to rib Ravenna over these classes despite being at least as excited as Lucien to see those ruins as they make their way out and she and Inigo whistle silly tunes back and forth in the echoey Hall of Elements before they properly leave.
The journey to Saarthal is frigid, Kaidan has to walk close to Ravenna the whole way there to keep the snowstorm from pushing her over, and it is a relief when they finally enter the ruin. Ravenna is instructed by Tolfdir to assist the college enchanter, and Lucien tails her eagerly so not to miss out on anything they might learn. Of course, it doesn’t take much time before things begin to go awry, as the two of them are suddenly trapped after pulling an amulet off the wall. This issue is not solved until Ravenna puts on the amulet, which reveals another portion of the ruins. Tolfdir seems unbothered by this, and leads her and her allies further into the ruins - seeming to completely abandon his cautious attitude from earlier. Team Dragonborn has an entire eye-contact discussion about this before they ultimately follow him.
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A strange density fills the room when they walk in, which freezes the motion of Ravenna’s companions, but not Ravenna. It is followed by a flash that manifests into a man. He announces his affiliation with the Psyjic Order right away, knowing she is familiar. Ravenna remembers in fact, when the news of the Isle of Artaeum’s second disappearance began to sweep Tamriel. This Psyjic sorcerer tells her that something has been set into motion, which she will not be able to stop.
A good stretch of dangerous ruins later, she finds out exactly what kind of web they’ve gotten tangled into. The …Orb is unlike anything any of them have ever seen. It hums lowly and the air around it is electric, so alive it feels like the slightest touch of magic might set the whole room sparking. Professor Tolfdir decides to stay there with it, sending the rest of them back to the college, and on their way out, they approach another word wall. Ravenna hears it before she ever sees it, an ancient chant whispered to her ears only. The dizziness isn’t as harsh this time, but she still feels disoriented afterwards, and it doesn’t play nicely with the incoming fatigue that all of them are getting a taste of right about now.
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After they make their report to the Archmage, they rest at the inn, eat, bathe, et cetera. Another eventful day has Inigo and Lucien both retiring early, and Ravenna should be doing the same, but does not. Instead she bothers Kaidan, prying into his history a little for the first time since they’ve met.
Kaidan reluctantly reveals that he is in Skyrim to discover more about his heritage. Ravenna is surprised to learn that he doesn’t even know his own race, though she supposes if she had noticed it before now, she’d be curious about it too. She is not, however, surprised to learn that he was raised as a Nord. Certainly explains his disposition against magic, to some extent.
“Why didn’t you mention this to anyone while we’ve been travelling?” Ravenna asks, “We could have been helping you all this time.”
“I didn’t - Couldn’t -” Kaidan doesn’t let himself fumble for words for long, despite how bad he knows this is going to sound, “Look, I might’ve mentioned it sooner if the situation had been different. But getting accustomed to this whole ‘trusting-a-vampire’“ thing hasn’t been an easy adjustment for me, alright?”
Kaidan had leaned closer to Ravenna to whisper when he said the V-word and when he pulls back away she just blinks at him with those big, teal blue eyes. She takes a moment to respond.
“Was that … it?” She asks him, sounding unexpectedly unbothered.
“I mean, yeah,” he says it like a question, “Didn’t expect you to be so casual about it.”
“I’m used to the social consequences of my condition,” Ravenna says, leaning her head down on the table, “People are always distant towards me once they find out. Inigo and Lucien are the first people in many long years to be so comfortable with me even after knowing. I’m endlessly grateful for them.”
Every time Kaidan speaks to Ravenna, she seems more and more human to him. He’s not sure yet if he finds that relieving, or distressing. She clasps one of his hands on the table and promises they’ll help him figure out his origin along their travels, assuring Inigo and Lucien’s aid as much as her own, before trailing off to bed and leaving him alone with his thoughts.
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The next morning, Kaidan’s rude awakening is to something warm and furry hitting him in the face. For a moment he forgets that they are not camping, and fears that the fur is Inigo's and he's somehow wound up cozying into the stupid little cuddle pile his other companions form when they sleep in Ravenna's cramped tent. As he comes back to his senses though he remembers that they are staying at the inn. He pulls the mass of fur away from his face and realizes it is actually a large fur cloak. He also realizes Ravenna and Lucien are in his room, snickering at him.
"What is this?" Kaidan asks.
"It's a cloak," Lucien sasses, "Obviously."
"An expensive one at that, feel," Ravenna adds excitedly. Kaidan does, he runs his thumbs over the fluff in his grip and feels that, yes, the fur is thick and soft, the lining is insulating. It's nicer than anything he could afford on his own or make for himself.
"Okay, I see that. Why?" He tries again.
"Because it's cold out," Ravenna retorts, "Winterhold has no carriage service, remember? We'll have to walk back to Whiterun for those books, so I got each of us one. Lucien helped me pick yours out." Kaidan immediately checks the cloak for whatever practical joke Lucian hid in here.
"Oh, don't look at it like that, I haven't done anything -"
"Mhm, sure you haven't," Kaidan interrupts Lucien, pulling a large slug out from inside the hood of the cloak and throwing it at him.
Disturbing the Dust
Somewhere in the wilds of Solstheim outside Raven Rock, the still air of a sealed and concealed cavern nook is, for the first time in many years, disturbed by its sole resident. Ravenna Rosewood untangles herself from the nest of quilts and pillows she had submerged herself in when first entering her torpor however many years prior. She wakes up wretched, mind hazy and throat dry for the sanguine essence that is the basis of her continued sanity, and her delicate hands fumble on the table by her bed for the enchanted carafe left out in anticipation of this bloodthirst. Once the carafe is emptied, the rest is just a morning routine, simple and sluggish as any mortal's, filled with stretching and bones popping, bathing and skincare. It isn't morning though, and Ravenna knows it isn't because she never wakes up with the sun. She only rises with the moons, and indeed, once dressed in ashlander robes and hidden deep within a hood, she opens the concealed doorway to her hideout where Masser and Secunda are adrift in the sky to greet her. Raven Rock has retreated indoors to the comfort of its homes and inn for the evening, and, hoping to catch a ship back to Skyrim, Ravenna moves briskly through the town to the docks. She catches them at the very last second, but there is a ship returning to Skyrim, and with her charming face and a handful of Septims, Ravenna secures her passage with them in just the nick of time. The familiar bite of Windhelm's frigid air hits Ravenna for the first time in what must be decades as she leaves the ship, around midnight. Few are out and about at this late hour, save for two drunken men whom she hears harassing a woman outside the tavern.
"-eat our food, pollute our city with your stink, and you refuse to help the Stormcloaks!" one of the drunk men yells, and it's too early for Ravenna to go sticking her nose into everything but she decides immediately that she's going to anyway.
So much about the world can change while I hibernate, but never the people, it seems, she thinks to herself as she moves towards the noise, following her keen hearing. And what are the Stormcloaks? What about them makes people defend them like this? She wonders darkly as she overhears the male instigators calling the woman a grey-skin, a racial slur referring to a dunmer - and what's this talk about a war? As the two drunks begin to threaten the Dunmer though, she abandons her curiosity and confusion. She's not one for brawling, and magic will kill them, which isn’t worth it in a city full of guards to come to their aid, so Ravenna gets a bit creative to deescalate things. She screams, high and shrill, as loud as she can and darts out from the alley towards the trio, purposely bumping into the two drunkards, and trying to shove past them. "Werewolf! Get out of the way, werewolf!" she cries in a shaky, panicky voice, "Run!" And they do run, both too drunk to actually glance into the dark alley that she came from and purely absorbing Ravenna’s artificial panic in their drunken stupor, shoving her back towards where they think the creature is to try and get away. The Dunmer woman however is holding back her snickering at Ravenna's little performance, which she drops almost as soon as the two boors are gone.
"Are you alright?" The small vampiress asks, smiling conspiratorially back to the Dunmer woman.
"Better now they're gone. That was awfully clever of you, well done," the woman congratulates. Ravenna performs a flamboyant curtsey in response, swishing an imaginary skirt. "Why thank you my good lady. May I ask whose aid I've come to this evening?" The blood-drinker asks as she rights herself.
"Suvaris, my lady. And your name?"
"Ravenna. It's lovely to meet you, but I am afraid I have elsewhere to be at the moment. Please, be safe," Ravenna politely excuses herself before hurrying out of Windhelm and into the cold, unaware of the unwanted attention she has already drawn to herself as two Vigil of Stendarr watch her leave from the inn.
Thorns
The Eastmarch snowfall is harsh, but soon enough it gives way to the verdant hot spring that takes up the southern half of the hold. Steam from the springs rolls across the road, obscuring Ravenna from her enemies, and her enemies from her. It's a mostly peaceful walk though, for a while.
Until it isn't.
Ravenna realizes too late that the time has gotten away from her when she feels the sun's gaze upon her. Mara's love eases her pain, but even her Divine lady can only do so much for her, and she will still need to find shelter indoors and away from the light. Fortune favors her enough that the skies are still fairly overcast, and a light drizzle is beginning to fall, giving her time to choose. Past the mill and across the bridge are two buildings; a fortress, probably too occupied to risk entering and somewhat off-putting in the magical sense, even from a distance, and, a bit trickier to reach on the cliff face on the opposite side of the river, is a building Ravenna recognizes as once having been a prison. It's questionable placement had made it almost certain to be flooded out or washed away at some point, and sure enough, it seems ruined and vacant now. The rain isn't heavy, so Ravenna feels reasonably confident the water won't rise too much while she waits out the day. As soon as she makes it inside though, her heightened senses alert her to all the things that shouldn't be there. The smells of fresh food and armor oil, and the ozone scent associated with lightning and magicka; the sounds of a wooden chair scraping against the stone floor further down, all indicators that something is not right inside the prison. And as Ravenna presses further inside to look, she sees what it is - Thalmor.
From his chair at the bottom of the stairs the Thalmor soldier glares at Ravenna.
"Uh, I didn't realize this was a Thalmor outpost -" Ravenna begins anxiously, hoping to lie her way out of whatever predicament she's just gotten herself into but the soldier is already on his feet and drawing his blade and she knows she can't bullshit her way out this time.
"It isn't and you know it," he growls as he throws fire at her from further down on the staircase. Ravenna jumps out of the way in time but the soldier takes to opportunity to come closer to her and tries to cut her down with his short sword. Ravenna forcibly overtakes his will with her vampiric hypnosis before he succeeds, and he finds himself sheathing his sword.
"What are you really doing here?" She demands.
"We came to interrogate a prisoner," he responds unwillingly through gritted teeth.
"What kind of prisoner? Why here? Why not at your Embassy?" The vampiress scowls.
"We believe he has connections with the Blades, it is within our rights to arrest and interrogate however and whomever we see fit!" The elf screeches, torn between trying desperately to withhold information and arguing in defense of the Thalmor's justness in their actions - of which there is likely none, Ravenna knows.
"You're going to provoke a war with the Empire if you take one of the Emperor's personal guard prisoner. Is that really what the Thalmor wants? Don't answer that," she decides she's heard enough and ignores the confused and discombobulated response of the soldier as his body automatically obeys her next command that he kneel for her to reach his throat. He'll only kill her as soon as he is free again anyway, and Ravenna will not see the end of her extended life here. So she drains him, trading his life to continue her own. And it is worth it, she decides as soon as she sees what he's been hiding further down. The lower floor of the prison reeks of copper and iron - and below that smell, terror sweat.
Flesh Wound
A lone man, gorgeous and red-eyed, glares coldly at her through the bars of one cell as she approaches it in long strides. His cell is locked, but she finds the key on a table in the hall and opens the door. The man's gaze as she approaches is so intense that she falters even though she can literally smell his well-concealed fear. He takes advantage of her hesitation and spits at her, decorating the left side of her face with a glob of spit that is more blood than saliva and making her cringe. This is not an acceptable context, Ravenna believes, for her to be getting spit on, and she pulls a red handkerchief out of her pocket to wipe it away in disgust.
"Eugh - not one for first impressions, are you?" she grumbles irately to him.
"When I get out of here, I'll kill you all myself," he growls out at her, and Ravenna feels certain that he means every syllable, but she isn't his enemy and she tells him so.
"There is just me, and I'm not here to hurt you-"
"Then what are you here for? To use your witchcraft to force answers out of me? I've already told your men I know nothing," he interrupts her.
"Could we just skip ahead to the part where I let you out?” She asks, showing the key in her hand and ignoring his hostility. It is only then that it seems to dawn on the prisoner that she isn't one of his perpetrators.
"Wh- yes - why?" He asks, trying not to make it obvious that he's going through all five stages of grief right now, "Who are you, if you're not with the Thalmor?"
"Just someone, does it matter?" Ravenna replies with a shrug as she unlocks one of his wrists.
"Tell me your name at least," he asks quieter as he calms down and she moves to his other side and unlocks his other wrist.
"Hang on," she stops him as the lock clicks and the shackles suspending him are suddenly open. He isn't prepared for the force of his own weight - coudn't be, really, with how awkwardly he had been situated, but a very small arm grips his waist before he hits the ground. Ravenna makes a show of acting like holding him off the ground is a huge struggle, but her improved strength as a vampire makes it quite easy. After she helps him right himself she finally answers his question. "My name is Ravenna Rosewood. And you are?" "Kaidan. My name is Kaidan." "It's good to meet you," she says, holding out her hand as if for him to shake, but as he carefully accepts the invitation Ravenna instead turns and guides him over to the stool in the opposite corner of his cell. "I'm not going to force you to do anything, but I strongly recommend you let me tend those injuries before you go anywhere," she says matter-of-factly. "A healer, are you? That's a special gift," he praises as he compliantly takes a seat so she may work on him. "Just one of my many talents," she responds as she checks to see that none of his injuries have become infected, "Why were they keeping you here?" Kaidan scoffs at her. "They invited me to high tea, what do you think?" He glances back to meet her eyes as she begins the process of knitting his flesh back together and she arches one brow at him. "I dunno," he answers properly this time, "Some Justicars ambushed me outside of Falkreath." "Any idea why?" Ravenna asks as she digs her thumbs into the knots on his shoulders - she's sealed all his wounds by now. Kaidan hisses in discomfort (mostly), but doesn't stop her as he answers. "I don't know, they just kept asking me something about the Blades, and the sword I had." "What happened to the sword?" She inquires further as she finally takes her hands away from him and moves around to speak to him face-to-face. "One of the Thalmor got his hands on it. And I know I've got no right to ask, but I could use your help in getting it back," He tells her cautiously. Her brow furrows. "Is it that important?" She asks him. "This isn't me being sentimental," he insists, "They kept asking about it. If it's important to them, they shouldn't have it." "Very well,” Ravenna replies, “Where is he?”
Touch Grass
"Where is he?" She asks
"Deeper in the prison. And with luck, he's cornered like a rat."
"Just wait here," she assures. He doesn't and trails behind her anyway, but she doesn't go far. She almost turns a corner directly into the bastard but they can both hear him moving around and stop just shy. Bright lightning fills her palms briefly, and flashes as she directs it at the floor at the top of the stairs. The magic catches the Justicar's attention and Ravenna hurriedly shoos Kaidan back so they won't be in the way when the rune goes off - and it's quite the spectacle when it does. Sparks and lightning fly everywhere and the whole room feels charged afterwards. Ravenna walks over and picks up the sword off of the Thalmor's corpse, passing it to Kaidan.
"Believe that's yours," she says.
"I can't thank you enough. I know you didn't have to help me," he returns gratefully.
"What's the story with that sword?" Ravenna asks as they start looking around the room. Kaidan answers as he finds and re-equips his armor.
"The question on everyone's mind, even mine-" he pauses while pulling his tunic on, "-the sword belonged to my mother. I never knew her, but it's my only real clue to finding out who she was."
"Terribly sorry to hear that you didn't know you mother. That must have been difficult," Ravenna says sympathetically as she picks through ruined books in the adjacent room.
"It is what it is. Listen, Ravenna," Kaidan begins, "I owe you my life, and I'm not a man who is comfortable being in debt. So if you need, I'd be glad to travel alongside you and keep you safe until that debt is repaid."
Ravenna chuckles at that. "Just be happy and don’t get into any more trouble with the Thalmor. Do that, and you can consider your debt repaid."
Kaidan frowns. "If you ever change your mind, find me at the Dead Man's Drink in Falkreath," he says before turning to leave. Ravenna pretends to be preoccupied with one of the salvaged tomes as she watches him go.
She doesn't intend to follow him out at first, but suddenly remembering all the interesting things she'd heard in Windhelm motivates her to catch up with the swordsman, even following him back out of the building and ignoring the pain of being out under the sun.
"Wait one moment! Please!" She calls out to Kaidan's retreating form as he makes his way over the bridge. He stops, turning around and waiting on Ravenna to catch up to him.
"Change your mind already?" He asks when she finally reaches him, breathing heavily from jogging to catch up.
"No, but I'm actually only just recently back in Skyrim - could you catch me up on current events before you leave?" She requests. Kaidan agrees, and they spend several minutes propping themselves against the stone walls of the bridge while he updates her on the civil war going on in Skyrim. He talks her through the Great War between the Empire and the Thalmor, the White-Gold Concordat that sowed the seeds, and the less-than-exemplary choices the Empire and Ulfric are both making in response to everything. It all puts a frown on Ravenna's face.
"I've returned to Skyrim at a very tumultuous time," she grumbles.
"More's the pity," Kaidan shrugs, "The empire is struggling to establish the alliances they'll need to keep the Thalmor away, and Ulfric's rebellion is tangling all the small people up in the mess. It's bad for everyone." Ravenna nods, and for a few moments they just relax there while she lets the information settle with her, before finally she bids Kaidan goodbye again.
"Well, I'll not keep you any longer, we both have places we need to get to after all," She excuses herself. Kaidan nods. "Remember. Dead Man's Drink, if you ever need me."