Hey there, it's Destana back again.  I've been having quite the adventure in the Alik'r Desert.  Last time I got through all the trials to get here, I traveled the desert for a while, killed some Dunerippers. 

 

I ended at the Forgotten City, and when Nahtil and I walked in, a dozen ghosts came out of the buildings.  Even though I was trying to be stealthy, they noticed me immediately.  I laid into them with arrows, blasted them with Unrelenting Force, and then even more came out.  One of them even summoned a Clannfear.  

 

 

Nahtil went down.

"Dammit!" I shouted.  I ran out of the city, thinking a chokepoint would do the trick.  The Clannfear proceeded to knock me off my feet twice, paralyzing me for a second each time.  I ran up onto a dune to get some distance, but it seemed the Alik'r ghosts weren't in control of the Clannfear, which turned on them.  

 

 

This bought me some time to come up with a new plan.  Since they were in a huge group, I figured I would blast them with one of my strongest area of effect spells.  I gathered energy, rearing back, frost surrounding me, and let loose a Black Winter.  The Clannfear died immediately.  Seconds later, several of the Alik'r walked slowly through the blasting wind.

 

 

"What the heck?  How did they resist?" I let go of the spell.  I engaged the two next to me in melee, the rest of the horde slowly closing in on me and targetting me with spells and arrows. I destroyed one, then two.  I dodged a rogue fireball and retreated, then finding I was being overwhelmed I sprinted back into the city.  

 

I found Nahtil's lifeless body and charged up a Resurrection spell, "I need you to get up.  I need you to fight for your life!"

I hit him with a Blind Guardian so he'd have a phantom to guard him.  Then I supported with Elemental Blasts and Bolts, but the ones still in the city were numerous.

Nahtil fell again, and I retreated further into the city when I found they'd summoned a new Clannfear.

 

I knew it was time for my trump card.

"Alright, the big guns.  Fuck this!" I yelled, gathering power in my blood.  The Clannfear reached me and threw me off my feet again, but it was enough.  When I got up, I was in my Vampire Lord form.

 

 

I proceeded to melt them with Blood Storm.  The Clannfear got a good swing on me, but I was draining their lives faster than they could damage me.  After a few minutes, it was done.  I reverted to my normal form.  I found Nahtil's body.  Good, still intact.

I charged up another Resurrection and blasted him with light, bringing him back to his feet.

"Alright bud, it's time for you to go home."

"Until next time," he said, walking towards the exit of the city.

"Safe travels, my friend," I said back.  That's why you don't just invite random people to come with you.  Of course, he'd probably have been fine in a normal fight.

 

I walked around the city for a little while, but not finding any way into the main structure, I decided I would come back later.  I checked my map and found Duneripper's Nest.  Then I flew there.  This time, I approached stealthily and it worked.  Knowing they were weak to frost, I powered up another Black Winter and blasted down the channel that was their nest.  It didn't kill all of them, but it did make a huge dent in their ecosystem.  I mopped up the rest with my bow and smaller frost spells.

 

 

I ransacked the treasure in their lair and got enough blood to satisfy the request from the message board I'd picked up.  Next I decided I would check out Cyrodillic Collections in Hammerfell.  On the way, I found a tiny oasis that was surrounded by wolves.  I shot a couple with arrows, then landed and finished the rest with my frost spells.  I figure it's not a bad idea to practice my destruction skills.  

 

I looted the chest by the waterside, then saw myself in the waters.

"Huh I'm really dirty," I said.

Looking around and seeing noone, I took a huge drink, filled my waterskins, then I stripped and washed myself.  

 

 

I continued on to Cyrodillic Collections, but the Argonian woman there seemed not to want to talk to me at all unless I talked with her boss first - the corresponding shop that'd also just opened just outside Markarth.  I figured this was a strange business practice, but a lot of the locals knew about the teleport.  I figured I'd come back here later too.

 

Being systematic in my approach, I used Celerity and ran south, finding the Ben Erai watchtower.  

The first guard who saw me said, "Well, aren't you a pretty thing?"

I smiled big, "Thank you!  That's so nice!  I'm used to Skyrim guards, who are all jerks."

"Want to join us for a drink?  We're about to sit down to dinner," he replied.

And I did.  We shared stories and a few drinks.  And after drinks they became even nicer.

 

 

Let's just say I returned the favor.

 

 

Since it was almost nighttime and I was so close to Ben Erai, I returned to the city.  I walked in the Inn and returned the medallion I found at the Forgotten City to the man.

"Found your medallion, it was on a dead body," I said.

"You're not tiresome like the rest of the people I have the displeasure of dealing with on a regular basis.  Here," he said, handing me something called 'The Withdrawal.'  

I didn't pay as much attention to it as I probably should've, because I caught somebody saying something to him.

"What did that woman say your name was?" I asked.

"Metilius Aretino," he replied.

I pursed my lips, saying nothing about it for now, "Thanks."

 

As I walked out, I resolved to tell Aventus about this.  Maybe a distant relative?  Distant geographically, I mean.  The fact that he waved off his assistant being dead was also concerning.  But I'm pretty callous myself sometimes.

Not having to sleep and only about a day from a blood snack, I kept going.  But also, I guess absorbing ghost blood in VL form counts? I imagine it's like drinking mist. Well, the Clannfear gave me some vamp juice, though it was a bit spicy.

 

I flew to Al Shedim, one of the places I needed to go to progress towards the Grey Cowl. 

 

 

I got the drop on the wolves guarding the entrance and continued inside.  

In Al Shedim I found some weak-ass skeletons, tons of burial urns with lots of treasure, and traps that were all triggered off pressure plates.  So, a walk in the park for me.

Also, all the skeletons seemed to want to make a ton of noise and give their positions away.  

 

At some point, I heard the sound of groans in the distance.  An echoing voice (sounded like a ghost) panting as if fighting, and a mummy (which sounded like draugr but without the annoying Voice).

"Is that ghost getting sexually assaulted right now?" I asked out loud.  I spent the next few minutes looking for the ghost.  I would ask how you assault a ghost, but I've done... things with ghosts.  The forsworn are into some weird stuff.

 

When I finally found him, he was a blue-glowing figure, laying on the ground with his pants off.  And the mummy assaulter was nowhere to be found.  

 

 

"Sorry, ghost.  I feel your pain.  I give you the sweet release of double-death," I said, slashing him and killing him.  

All the mummies I met I made sure to terminate with extreme prejudice.

 

As I ventured further, I found several symbols on the reliefs that I made a note of. 

"How could you do that to your bud?  He was just an innocent ghost," I said as I killed two.  

I eventually found two pull chains, then found spooky dark set of stairs, leading down to a row of sarcophaguses. 

 

 

After I killed the many mummies, I turned the pullbars to match the symbols I'd seen earlier.  In random combinations until I got it right.  In actuality, there were several tiers of pullchains and mummy battles.  But this was no Forgotten City.  This wasn't a very large challenge.  Even the final boss of the dungeon got one-shot by me.

 

As Ben Sala was rising form his tomb, I shot him in the head, and he clumsily fell out onto the stone floor, dead.

 

 

"That's both hilarious and pitiful at the same time," I said to myself.  Then I looted the treasure, including the Key to Mora Sul.  Then I realized this place didn't have a back way.  Skyrim has really spoiled me.  So I backtracked out, and returned to Ben Erai, transporting to Falkreath, then using my own teleport to Markarth to find this new shop.  I found Bol, standing outside the gate in the rain.  Once again standing his vigil in exchange for food and friends.

 

 

"Hey Bol, how the hell are ya?" I smiled.  He stroked his chin, grunting approval, but saying nothing.

I flew over toward Cyrodillic Collections, and found a large group of wenches and beautiful servers standing out in the rain.  None of them wanted to talk to me, however, and I had no idea what they were doing here.  

 

 

I continued on a little bit, and a huge pack of Welwas attacked me (just around the corner) maybe that was enough to scare off the ladies.  I decided I would just call, "KAKE!" 

It only worked on about half of them, however.  But they started killing each other.

 

I rolled my eyes, waiting for the war to resolve.  

 

"This is taking too long," I said.  I decided I'd be doing the locals a favor, and blasted them all with Black Winter. 

 

 

Unfortunately, a random passerby decided he was going to jump into the fight and help just as I was finishing my cast and got killed by it.  

I sighed, "That was a stupid move.  But I guess I'll fix it."

I Resurrected him, thinking this would've been a useful power to have when Vex died.  Then again, I got captured at the time.

The guy walked away like nothing had happened.

"Dude?  Not even a thank you?!" I growled.  I shook my head and flew the rest of the way to the shop.

 

When I walked inside, I explained the situation and Neezari, the Argonian man said this shop was meant to be an Argonian heritage collection, like a museum.

"Another museum?" I asked, "Going to have a lot of trouble competing with the Dragonborn Gallery in Solitude."

 

I returned to the desert when I realized his first mission was sending me to Solstheim.  Haven't been there, not intending on going anytime soon.  

 

Next, Ancestral Cheetahs.  I entered the canyon and threw on Invisibility and Celerity so I could trip over rocks at breakneck speed (can't see where my feet are, har har).  At the first fork, I found a cheetah on the right, so I took the left path.  There was a gate at the top of that path, but due to my amazing jumping skills I just hopped over it, onto the roof of the shrine, and snuck in the back way.  I threw on the Amulet of Ancestral Cheetahs and popped out of the shrine to pet some big kitties.

 

 

I have no idea why they're called Ancestral Cheetahs.  

"Are you the ancestor of somebody?  We're friends now, you have to tell me," I chuckled. 

Then I left the area.  I was ready to get the Cowl if I wanted, but I figured I'd have more fun first.  I flew toward Khanzedum, an old fashioned dwarven ruin, to get four Centurion cores.  

 

For the most part, this place was somewhere in the middle challenge category.  Most the stuff got iced immediately by me, but some of the medium and large bots were more of a challenge, especially when they ganged up on me.  

 

I tried out Umbra finally, and despite having a huge amount of power, it was SLOW.  That's how you know I'm a dagger girl for life.  Everything feels slow now.

One of the random chests made me laugh when I opened it.  

"Grey Cowl of Nocturnal, huh?" I chuckled aloud, filing it next to my other copy of the Grey Cowl, "These replicas are all over the place.  But I know it's not the real one."

 

 

I got the first Praetorian shortly after, and noted it was attached to a form of apparatus.  I crouched and shot an arrow, pegging the thing, then yelled, "TIID!"

Slowing time, and I continued firing.

It went down in about four shots, and at no time did it actually find me.  I realized the apparatus was recharging the thing, but I'd dealt enough damage to take it out of commission before it got a chance.  It was just like the bot I fought with the Nerevarine a while back, though that one was invulnerable when it was being charged.  These just regenerated insanely fast.

 

I knew there were three more to kill, and I continued on.  I found a hallway with three bronze heads.  Using my detective skills, I deduced I would need to kill the other three at once.  When I stepped into the next room through a rough cave, I indeed found three, attached to each their own arch that kept them powered.  The gate behind me shut, but they hadn't activated yet.

 

 

 

 

"Need to be strategic about this.  I don't want to get pounded," I said.  I drew an arrow and shot it at the center one's head.  Then I shot again, shouting, "TIID!" As it flew through the air.

It had been nearly dead, but regenerated about half.

I drew another arrow, and another, firing them in rapid succession.

 

 

I blinked.  My Slow Time seemed to not ending.  And I seemed not to be affected by it, as I normally was.  I grinned.  Like a machine I drew arrows and fired them, filling the air with my assault.  

"I AM SPEED!" I yelled, "Who needs Fenrir's automatic crossbow?"

 

When Slow Time finally ended, I'd felled two of the three and the third was slowly walking towards me.  When it reached me on the stairs, I drew my weapons.  I guess it was too far away from its arch, because I dealt the final blow and that was all.

 

 

After the fact, it occurred to me that was some kind of time distortion.  Maybe Akatosh was involved?  

All I could say was, "Thanks, daddy dragon."

 

I swiped the goods, and went back to town.  I walked around and turned in all the crap to the people who wanted it, and they paid me handsomely.  

 

Going down my list of things I'd heard were here... I'd heard the Dark Brotherhood (unrelated to the current DB in the rest of Tamriel) were trying to get a foothold here and reestablish communication with the home branch.  I knew this because last time I'd visited the Dawnstar Sanctuary (a couple months ago), there was a recruit there with a message for Runa, but nobody wanted to travel out to the Alik'r desert in the middle of nowhere.  Well, it turned out, now I had an easy way to get to Alik'r and was a fairly prominent member of the DB myself.  I snuck into the Penitus Oculatus HQ in town and swiped their dossier on the DB.  Using my tracking skills, I found their sanctuary, hidden in a rock wall outside of Ben Erai.

 

"You're the one who killed the Emperor, aren't you?" He asked.

"How do you know me?"
"I am Tenerio.  We've had correspondence with the Dawnguard Sanctuary.  I've been waiting for you," he replied, "This is an old brotherhood sanctuary that's been vacant since the Great War."

"What can I do for you?"

"I seek simply to reestablish our sanctuary in Hammerfell.  Alik'r's perfect because not a lot of people come here," he said, "We have a few contracts on people right here.  Think you could help me out?"

I shrugged.  It'd been a while since I'd killed anyone just for money, "Sure."

"Perfect," he said.  

 

 

I decided I would use some subtlety and utilize my vampire drain skills.  The way I'd theorized I could use them while in the Estrus prison, then I'd used them against the bandit party I fought a few days ago, during sex.  I had been saving it as a last-last ditch ability, even after my bow, melee, magic, and vampire abilities gave out.  But I figured this was a good opportunity to hone these skills and not alert any authorities at the same time.  

 

It was just after nightfall.  I flew to my first target.

 

First was a woman at an oasis.  I had a few kind words with her and lured her away from her cohorts to the opposite side of the pond.  I used my fingers and an apparatus to get her off, draining her energy as I did.  I was lucky the man at the other end of the pond didn't notice us.  She dropped dead when I was done, falling peacefully into the grass.

 

 

The next target was an Argonian who'd been proclaiming himself a hero and had been fleecing people to get payment upfront for quests.  This one was a little personal.  I found him at one of the lantern shrines.  

"Hey random traveler, want a blowjob?" I asked right off the bat. 

He stood up, shrugged and started taking his clothes off.

He gave my throat the thrusting of a lifetime.  Men sure do like to do that to me.  Despite the struggle to keep concentration, I drained him and left him there.

 

 

My third target was a monk.  Tenerio didn't have a reason he'd been targeted.  Maybe I should feel bad about killing some of these people.  I have long since considered not doing any more jobs for the Brotherhood.  I found the guy at another lantern shrine and I said, "I bet the nights get lonely.  How about an open ticket to use my body however you want?"

He blinked, said nothing, then started taking his clothes off.  I thought he was supposed to have been a holy man. 

 

First he thrust into my mouth, because of course he did.  Then he picked me up and drilled me from behind.  Then he put me down and did the same.  This guy actually lasted a long time.  I drained him in the end, but I had fun while it lasted.

 

 

Next was a soldier.  I approached him in the street near the central gazebo (it was the middle of that same night now) in Ben Erai.  He was the lone patrolling soldier for the center of town.

"Hey soldier boy do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?" I asked.

"No.  But I wouldn't mind if you shook that sexy ass of yours," he replied.

"Want to get acquainted?" I asked, "There's nobody around."

"What did you have in mind?" He smiled.

"Whatever it is, I'm game.  We're all alone here in public," I replied.

And let me tell you, he was big.  Not Tsun big, but it'd been a while.  He pretty much just took me from behind immediately, going slowly, then at some point going extremely fast.  I stepped off, got on all fours in an attempt to escape the monumental sensations this man was giving me.  He just pulled me onto him again and finished what he'd been doing.

 

 

When he fell to the ground, I said to myself, "Too bad.  He was a good one."

This time, rather than finding him in the middle of the town, I loaded him up in a sack and flew to a distant location and dumped him in the desert.  

My next target was a guard at Ben Erai Fortress.  I found her standing watch outside Commander Syloria's room.

 

She smiled at me, knowing who I was, I guess.

"Hi, you're Laurentina, right?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Come onto the balcony, I want to show you something," I said.  She shrugged.  We walked past the sleeping Syloria and went around the corner.  

I felt a little bad about this one.  I wondered where this guy was getting these contracts.  When had I become so callous?  Anyway, I gave her heaven before sending her to oblivion.  When I turned the corner...

 

 

"Oh, Commander Syloria.. what are you doing out here?  It's still pretty early," I said.

"Sun's coming up.  Gotta get ready for the day.  What are you doing out here, Dragonborn?" 

I instantly felt extremely guilty.  She was going to ask about Laurentina, who was supposed to be guarding her while he slept.  Oh why did I give into my baser instincts to murder?

"Oh, I... wasn't doing anything.  Just waiting for you.  I'm ready to get the Cowl.  I just wanted to thank you.  Here let me distract... I mean, help you out..."

"Help me...how?"
I reached out for her, my thoughts almost entirely on the dead body around the corner like a telltale heart.  I needed to distract her.  I unclasped her armor buckles on her shoulders.

"W-what are you doing, Dragonborn?"

"I'm paying you back.  Just sit back and enjoy it," I replied.

She was shy, but she let me do what I was intending on.  I spread her legs and licked her to completion.

 

 

When she got up and had her armor back on, blushing, she said, "Well, that was... nice."
Maybe sensing something was amiss, she smiled a little bit and said, "That's how you pay people back, huh?  And you really enjoy doing things like that?  Seem so, you're very good."

I shrugged, "Yeah."

"Maybe you could help out the guards of Ben Erai."

I pursed my lips, "Yeah, sure, I guess I could do the same for the soldiers."

"All the soldiers," she corrected.

I bit my lip, "Yeah, all of them."

"Now where is that girl?"  She asked, walking back into her room.  I made haste with disposing of the body.  It was early in the morning, just after sunrise.  And I walked into the barracks.  Most of the daytime watches were still getting ready, some were still in bed.  My conscience was getting the better of me after having done what I just did.

I spoke up, "Hey, guys."

"Hey Dragonborn!" Some of them said.

"So I promised Syloria I'd give youall thanks.  You know, for holding the line for your whole lives just so I could come here and get the Grey Cowl," I said.

"Well, thank you," one of them said.

 

"No, I mean, I'm going to do something for all of you," I said.  

"What's~" One of them said, then I popped my boobs out of the blue cloth.

What ensued was something like a feeding frenzy, but for sex.  First I warmed things up with the female guard in the room.  Then the boys, being ready, took me two at a time.  This took about four hours.  And then at the end when I was completely spent and used up, I felt a little better about killing all those people wantonly.

 

 

It was all the work I had to do to make it right that made me feel even worse.  Honestly, in all my time I spent at Ben Erai after that, nobody seemed to mention Laurentina.  I wondered if the other guards hated her and had contracted out to get her gone.  Or maybe it was even Syloria.  She seemed to know when to press me to do sexual favors for everybody in the fortress.

 

I took a nap in one of the guards' beds.  When I got up, I washed the gallons of dried cum off my body and settled up with Tenerio.  The DB was functioning and they had new recruits.  I was done with it.

 

 

Next I'd heard an old man was searching for the lost Blades Temple in Hammerfell.  I found him in a southern town in Alik'r.  

"What's up, old guy?" I asked, "I heard you need some help."

"Hey there!  I heard you were in the area.  The Dragonborn, right?"  He had a very thick accent.  Looked like a Redguard, but didn't really sound like one.
"Yep," I replied.

"Name's Duraelm.  Been searching all my life for Wind Scour Temple.  I'm so close to finding it.  My grandfather used to tell me stories about the Blades and the Dragonguard.  I promised myself I would find the Hammerfell Temple and I think I did.  Only problem is I can't fight off the Dunerippers."

"Well, you're in luck, I can find Wind School Temple," I said, saying it like he had.

"Scour," he corrected.

"Scoop?"

"Scour"

"Just give me the location old guy!" I chuckled.

He marked three places on my map and I shrugged, "Be right back."

He raised an eyebrow, but I took off in flight.

I was back in under twenty minutes, "Found it."

 

His eyes went wide, "Could you... could you take me there?"
"Yeah.  My wife showed me how to tether other people in flight.  I honestly don't feel like carrying you, so you'll just float after me," I said.  I blasted him with the spell, then took off.  

 

Boom.  Easy.  He unlocked the hatch and we climbed down.

"Is this it?  It looks better than Delphine's temple," I said.

"This is it!  This place... it's filled with History.  I think I can make it functional again.  Maybe send a message to the grandmaster... what did you say her name was?" 

"Delphine," I replied.

"Yes, anyway, come back later.  I'm going to read the archives," Duraelm said.

 

 

So I left.  I traveled to Salas Kazas, a town on the northeastern corner of the region just south of an ancient Alik'r Temple.  It was now nighttime again (I had a long nap after my escapades).  I only found a couple guards and a woman named Sharza hanging out on her rooftop patio.  

I waved to her.

"Hi," she said, "Do you like poetry?"

I walked up the stairs, then said, "Excuse me?"

"I love poetry," she said, "Weltan is my favorite writer."

"Uhh..."

"I heard he's written a lot of poetry.  You look like an adventurer.  If you find his writings in your travels, could you bring them to me?" She asked.

I raised an eyebrow.  Not the strangest request I'd had, "Sure.  But where do you find books in the desert?" 

"Some say it may be in the mausoleum but I also heard some say it is in a library here," she said, "I didn't think we had a library here..."

 

I threw up my hands, "I've heard of the buried lost library.  But, I haven't been able to find it yet.  Nobody seems to have any clues!" 

 

 

From there, I decided I'd get a room at the Inn.  Salas Kazas actually had inn rooms, though the lobby was so small you couldn't even open the doors to the rooms fully.  That was fine though, it beat sleeping in the desert and getting sand in my buns.

 

After a few hours of sleep, I walked around town, still night, and found a few trinkets to steal.  I happened into a dwemer enthusiast's house, and after I woke him up he asked if I would gather a bunch of dwemer parts for him.  I sighed.  It'd already been to the dwemer ruin here.  

 

I sat outside at the Inn's tables for a while, looking over my map and quest log, trying to figure out what I had left before I went for the final area.  Forgotten City.  I flew there, making it by about 5 am, and this time, after some more digging I found the key to the gate in the city.  Ready for another dungeon crawl (and being through with all these cerebral tasks and feeeeeelings) I walked in to what was labeled, the 'Tomb of the Forgotten Draugr.'