Tales of Warrog: Chapter 6

It's dark days for Warrog, as he is greatly unappreciated in the Thieves Guild, and not making a lot of money.

Day 18
I stopped over at the Thieves Guild, and they wanted me to check on a guy up in Solitude. I hopped on a carriage and had to listen to the driver tell me the entire history of the city. Save me, Divines, it was a long trip.

Day 19
I entered Solitude to witness an execution. Something about him letting that guy in Windhelm escape. I honored his death by looting his body. He had an Amulet of Akatosh on. I checked again with the blacksmiths for the ingots I need, but no such luck. I grabbed another Cure Disease potion after being infected by those rats on the previous mission.

The guy I was supposed to meet was in a pub. Another Argonian. Why me? He wouldn't fess up unless I got him some alcohol from the Palace. It was out in the open and not even guarded. I'm beginning to think that all Argonians are lazy. He at least gave me some soul gems for my "troubles." Beyond that, he wouldn't give me much information apart from admitting he was the middle man between the business dealings. /yawn.

I tailed him out of the city and into the East Bay Company, or something or other. I made it look like I was talking to people just off a ship. Inside, the wardens were not happy to see me. They were even less happy to see my axe. The Argonian doubled back and saw me, but thought nothing of it as he continued on to a cave.

Inside were a number of bandits, and more spiders. They were tough fights, but I managed to slay them all and loot what little they had. The Argonian begged for his life, and I was very tempted to kill him outright. Still, I needed the money for my payment. He finally gave a name to the mysterious woman: Karliah or something. She killed the previous guild leader. Maybe she wasn't getting paid much for the work she was doing; I can understand that.

Day 20
I reported back to Mercer, and he knew who she was and where she was. Odd. As my "payment," I could get an upgrade to one piece of my thieves guild armor. Wooo, big spenders here. I decided to upgrade my gloves to help my ability to pick locks since I must have gone through ten lock picks in the cave, opening chests. Some of them were locked with one gold inside. Who does that? Maybe it has sentimental value, like it was the first gold piece they ever made... or stole.

Mercer said I should meet him at some Sanctum to investigate this Karliah. Looks like another long walk north.

Near the Sanctum I found a dead horse. Not wanting to waste a good loot, I looted the body and found a couple potions. I found Mercer nearby. Apparently he killed the horse, saying it belonged to Karliah. When asked how he knew this, he scoffed at the question. He better be right, otherwise some guy just lost a perfectly good horse... and perfectly good potions.

Mercer unlocked the door to the Sanctum, and inside we found numerous draugr and traps. For being the one who wanted to be extra quiet so as to not set off an alarm of our presence, Mercer sure talks up a storm. I'm content with a few grunts as I swing my axe, but Mercer has to call out one-liners with each strike of his sword. I think he's kind of full of himself.

We came upon a Draugr Scourge, and Overlord. I used up many of my health potions in defeating them. It took some strategy. As Mercer engage the Overlord, I led the Scourge and his Frost Atronach back the way we came. Fun fact: Frost Atronachs are so big, they can't fit through some doorways. It took only one more swipe with my axe to finish the Scourge off, dispelling the second Atronach he summoned after the first ran its course.

Although it was not the best location, having Mercer on one side of the Overlord prevented me from using my Frost Breath Shout. Sipping potions and putting enough power attacks in was enough to kill the Overlord. We found two more Draugr inside, but they were easy enough. I learned a new word: Disarm. I don't know how useful that would be. I much prefer to just dis-arm my opponents with my axe. There was also a chest with a Steel Plate Helmet that was enchanted to help my Restoration Magic. So far, apart from the one time I used flame, I have used healing magic after fights to save on potions. It's also more durable than my Steel Horned Helmet, so it's a good replacement.

We found a door that requires a claw, like the one I used the Golden Claw on. Wish I hadn't have left it back at my house. Mercer was able to open it though. I suspect he has a claw as well. Note to Warrog: Find out if Mercer has a claw and obtain it.

As soon as I stepped inside, I was hit and paralyzed. I'm not sure where it came from as I suspect Mercer did not have that kind of weapon, otherwise he would have used it against the Overlord. As I lay on the ground, Karliah talked to Mercer. Apparently, it was Mercer who killed the last leader of the Thieves Guild. Karliah drank an invisibility potion and escaped. Mercer tried to kill me by stabbing me in the stomach.

Dumbass should have aimed for the heart as I awoke outside with Karliah. She tried to tell me why she saved me when a Snow Tiger rudely interrupted us. So I rudely interrupted him with my axe into his mouth. I resumed the conversation with Karliah, and found some interesting facts. They belonged to a sect within the Thieves Guild called the Nightingales. Sounds okay, I suppose. Gallus left his journal which is written in a strange language. It's up to me to decipher it. Oh the life of a thief: going to libraries to do research. The guy who can translated it is at the College of Winterhold. Did I mention I hate mages?

I would have to hoof it since Karliah's horse was dead. She didn't seem to notice her potions missing. On the way, I encountered a Frost Dragon. After getting my butt nearly kicked by the Overlord, I wasn't about to handle a dragon on my own. The last one I fought, I had help from a Giant. I tried to sneak past. He ate a guard, and I was too distracted that I didn't notice the two wolves ambushing me. The sound of my slaughter altered another snow tiger. Note to Warrog: Become Jarl and outlaw Snow Tigers, wolves, giant spiders, and giant rats.

Winterhold was in sight, so I ran for it, not caring if I brought the dragon into town. He was too busy chomping on goats to heed me any mind. It was midnight by the time I arrived, and the shops were closed. I did find my contact in the Inn. He told me it was written in Falmer, but didn't say what a Falmer is. I guess some guy over in Markarth can help out, but he's difficult to deal with. I think I'm getting the runaround here.

Day 21
Might as well stop over in Whiterun to sell all this loot. After fighting the Overlord, I think it's time I get a more powerful weapon. Unfortunately, none of the merchants had anything to sell. On the plus side, I did find a corundum ingot on one of the draugrs, so I made myself a lock. I hopped on a carriage to Markarth and had to listen to the driver talk about Dwarves and "Kah-Jeet." This guy is so racist. In retrospect when I arrived in Markarth, I should have stopped at my house to drop a few things off. I don't think I'll be getting a bunch of loot on this mission though.