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Hey, it's me, Destana. After a year of making the Thieves' Guild great, learning to play Lute better, slaying dragons, raiding forts and 'persuading' them to join the Stormcloaks, attending magic college and having Damien, my son (with a couple months off before and a week off after for me), Ulfric and the gang were ready to raid Solitude. I decided I would leave Damien with Iona and Sanguine. He didn't want to get involved this time. Something about meddling in the affairs of mortals far too much. (Honestly, I think he was getting bored of Skyrim). So I brought the regular crew: Inigo, Sofia, Vilja and Shirley. I want to say it was an epic battle. It was, of course. Ultimately, General Tullius fell like so many of his men before him. It all came down to him and his main guard. When she said she would fight to the last breath, I had been behind her and slit her throat before the boys could lay into her. Then Tullius. Ulfric nodded to me, "Do you want to do the honors?" Part of me thought there might have been too much killing these past few months, but I was still on my high horse about doing whatever I wanted. "Do it. I want a clean death," Tullius said, "The harshness of Skyrim has a way of carving a man down to his true self." "Damn. This man speaks truth," I said back. I took out a dagger and stabbed him. We walked out into the courtyard and presented the General's body to the amassed people, including Jarl Elisif the Fair. Galmar shouted, "I present to you, Ulfric Stormcloak, hero of the people, liberator and High King of Skyrim! "I am indeed Ulfric Stormcloak, and at my side the woman we know as Stormblade, and the world knows as the Dragonborn," Ulfric said. "Velvet Acid Talos," I muttered, but I held my tongue because I didn't want to interrupt his speech. "And indeed, there are many that call us heroes. But it is all of you who are the true heroes! It was you who fought a dying Empire who sunk its claws into our land, trying to drag us down with it. It was you who fought the Thalmor and their puppets who would have us deny our gods and our heritage. It was you who fought your kin who didn't understand our cause, who weren't willing to pay the price of our freedom. But more than that, it was you who fought for Skyrim, for our right to fight our own battles... to return to our glory and traditions, to determine our own future!" Ulfric continued, "And it is for these reasons that I cannot accept the mantle of 'High King.' Not until the Moot declares that title should adorn my shoulders will I accept it. "I would swear my fealty to you, Jarl Ulfric!" Elisif shouted back. "You, of course, will remain Jarl of Solitude," Ulfric reponded. He paused, then continued, "A great darkness is growing, and soon we will be called to fight it, on these shores or abroad. The Aldmeri Dominion may have defeated the Empire, but it has not...defeated... Skyrim!" He walked over to us as the crowd cheered. "I told you not to call me Dragonborn. It's a silly legend," I said. "Even so, Stormblade, it's our legend," Galmar said. "So when are you going to be High King? What does it take for the moot to meet?" "Now, I wait," Ulfric replied. "Smart call, Ulfric," Galmar nodded, "Letting Elisir keep her life. You will be High King some day." "Damn, it was nice having you on this one, Ulfric. Your shouts are almost as good as mine," I smirked. "Because you're dragonborn, you cheater," Ulfric replied, "Took me ten years to learn Unrelenting Force." I chuckled, "Maybe you should join my team in the field someday. Maybe it's combat experience that made me so damn good." Ulfric and Galmar laughed. I counted up my dragon souls in my head. Nine. I only have basic shouts though, as I hadn't looked for any more word walls. We retired to Windhelm. I hung out at the Palace of Kings for a few hours, reveling with the Stormcloaks and my group. But it was a sad revel this day. I knew this campaign was at an end. They would stay here, though some would scatter to occupy the holds and keep them from falling back into Imperial rule, and I had my own business to conduct. Of course, I had one more night with Ulfric for the road, as I knew it might be a while until I saw him again. I'm strange like that. I think I like having sex with important and exotic people. Part of me says it's because of the novelty. Part of me has a roll of parchment in my pocket and I'm checking off important men (and women) as they come along. I returned to Riften, to find Sanguine on one of his 'business trips.' I cuddled my baby through the night. In the morning, I gathered together my group. Sitting at the table in Honeyside, I said, "You guys. This last year has been awesome. And we never thought of a name for our group." "How about the Dragon..." "Don't you say it too, Sofia," I growled. Inigo added, "Fusrodorians!" "The Fighting Mongooses," Vilja said. "How about the Stormblade Sentry?" Sofia asked. "Damn. For once you said something smart, Sofia. Okay. I'll allow it," I said. "Thanks... hey wait!" She started. I tossed a fat sack of coins on the table, "This is your final paycheck." "But why? You need us!" Sofia said. Sofia was kind of annoying, and she never shut up. But she was good in a fight, and really good looking, so I let it slide most of the time. "I definitely don't. But I WILL miss you," I replied, "There's no reason for me to roll around with a huge company for the time being. I promise I'll come call on you again someday." "You know, we never did my quest," Vilja said. "Stick around. I'll pay you to look after Damien. I promise I will help you with it someday," I smiled. To be honest, Vilja and I had never really connected. Maybe it was her vacant eyes and responses that made no godsdamn sense. "I will see you again, friend, I know it. I'll be hanging out in the Riften prison," Inigo said. "Again with the prison. You know I'm thane here. And Whiterun. We have more than enough money to buy the vacant house in Whiterun and put you up there." Shirley nodded, "I expected this day would come. Especially with your new baby. You deserve a vacation." Shirley had always been like a grandma to me. And extremely durable to boot. I said goodbye to them and they all went their separate ways. I told Sanguine later that I'd be going it alone for a little while. He was okay with that, which I figured. He always seemed to be the last one in combat. Immortality has it's drawbacks too I guess. Though, maybe he'd just revive in Oblivion? "You know, you're right. Although we might not see each other again if I die," he explained when I asked him, "It can take days. Or decades. Or centuries." Vacation? Fat chance. But I was still thinking about where I would go and what I would do. The Dark Brotherhood didn't seem like they needed me for now. The Thieves' Guild was great again and they seemed not to need me anymore (all I had left to do at this point was to turn in the Skeleton Key, which I was considering because I'm such a nice person). I could investigate the Orb for the mages... Ultimately I decided to do a couple of low-impact jobs to get myself back in the solo-adventuring mood. I would need to modify my fighting style if I was going to go it alone. I thought on my skills, and my fallbacks were utter mastery of archery, stealth and lockpicking and my mid-level skill at pickpocketing, one-handed weapons, light armor and shields. But now I was a mage too. Illusion was probably my best skill, being good enough to bend minds and make myself invisible (adept+). My destruction was adept at best. Allies don't like you blowing them up with your enemies. Conjuration: adept at best, as I usually had enough real meat shields to tank for me. Restoration was fairly high, seeing as how I spent a lot of time patching up allies. Alteration was a side skill, and I only had enough for mild conveniences. And enchanting... what the heck is enchanting? I'd never spent much time on any of the crafting professions for the same reason Vikings never learned to farm - I usually take such things from my enemies. The first thing I did was explore the tunnels around the Ragged Flagon. Seemed like a light warmup now that I was... let's say 'unburdened' by pregnancy. Mostly rats and stray vampires. I kept my distance and burned/shot them from afar. But what intrigued me was the reports of ghosts I'd heard about when I first started here. I delved deeper into the tunnels and found that there were actually ghosts down there. I made them double dead. There was a sword there I snagged - Dawnfang. So I finally got a replacement for Dragon's Oath. Then as I was reading my quest log in the Flagon later that evening, I noticed I have a note about some bandits stealing the Armor of the Crusaders. I went to get it and blew them up. Amateurs don't deserve such nice armor. Let me tell you, it looks hideous on me. I kept the body piece, with the Nightingale Gloves and Boots. Helmet? Are there invisible helmets anywhere? I went with a Circlet of Archery or Destruction for now. Then I returned the Skeleton Key. I returned to my baby and did things mothers do with their babies. In the morning, I returned to the Flagon. Brynjolf said he wanted to see me, now that I finally returned it. "So you've finally decided to return the thing that was cursing us to begin with," Brynjolf smirked as I approached. "Nocturnal and I had an arrangement," I said, which may or may not have been a lie. I mean, I did pray to her sometimes when I was about to steal things, and I kept praying to her to tell her I was going to return it when the guild reached this point. And now I'd fulfilled my end of the bargain. Brynjolf continued, "Well, my friend... the time's come to make it official. It's time to become our Guild Master. Don't worry, I promise this will be short and sweet. If you'll just meet us in the center of the cistern room, we can begin." I walked to the center of the cistern and all the many members of the guild surrounded me. The inner circle, Vex, Delvin, Karliah and Brynjolf were in the inner ring, with everyone else in the outer ring. Brynjolf started, "Look, I've never been good at these things, so I'm just going to keep it short. Being Guild Master means more than just getting a cut of all the loot, it's about being a leader and keeping this rabble in order. With that in mind, I propose that the position of Guild Master should be yours. Delvin?" "Agreed." "Vex?" "Sure, why not," she replied. "Karliah?" Brynjolf continued. "Absolutely." "Everyone is in agreement, so all I can do now is name you Guild Master and wish you good fortune and long life," Brynjolf smiled. He handed me a key and a necklace while Tonilia stepped up to hand me Guild Master's armor, "And..." "And?" "And we have a little treat set up for you," he continued. "Treat?" I smiled, not sure if they were about to all knife me in the back or give me a chest of gold. But when all of them started to take their clothes off, it became clear what was going on. "You're the cumdump, right?" Vex snickered. "One last go-around before we have to call you boss," Delvin smiled at me. I instinctively pulled my armor off, "You know that position is still going to be okay by me, right?" That was a long day. I don't know if you know this, but because of my 'vigorous' recruitment (and of course, a lot by some of the higher ups) the guild has over thirty members. And they all got their turn. Afterward, I felt like I needed a bath, possibly a Skooma, and a priest. I retired to Honeysideto snuggle up with Sanguine after a thorough scrubbing. And... it'd been a few days since I'd seen him so we had sex too. But in the morning. With all that, I took a few days before I went adventuring again. I talked to Brynjolf and we decided he was going to be the front man. I was more the planning guy who collected earnings. I think I'd stolen everything possible from Skyrim - at this point the Ragged Flagon was much less ragged, and was lit up with opulence, with fence shops like a black market. Though, it was still in the sewers. Speaking of priests, I decided I would go get Mara's blessing after that display. You can't be too careful. Maybe go figure out what is with the Dibellan Priestesses at some point. I walked into the church to find nobody there, so I sat and waited, realizing I'd gotten up early in the morning. "Ah, greetings Thane," Dinya smiled, tidying up around the shrine. "What's that altar there?" "He calls himself Dudestia. A small, cult following. Apparently, not one of the big divines. More like a friend of Mara, I guess," Dinya said, "Have you met our new priests?" I shook my head. "One of them is from Nyhus, along the Cyrodiil border. Have you ever been to Cyrodiil?" I shook my head again, "Can't say I have. I've been thinking about getting away for a while. I certainly have the money to take a trip to Cyrodiil, or Elswyer. Maybe just a jaunt to Bruma." "What about Hammerfell?" She asked, turning to me. "Hmm..." I thought, "Maybe someday. But there's not really anything for me there now." I looked up at the sun, and down at my now leaking boobs. "Blah. Time to nurse again. Damien's probably up by now. Sorry, gotta go," I stood and walked towards the door. "Beautiful motherhood," she said, "I look forward to our next meeting." I opened the door. "Oh, and congratulations!" Dinya said as I was leaving. I froze, then turned around. She didn't know I was Thieves' Guild Master. She probably didn't know I was one of the leaders of the Stormcloak rebellion. I mean... I had Damien nearly a month ago. Maybe it was that? "Congratulations for what?" I asked finally. "Oh, you don't know?" She asked. I blinked, "I must be in some kind of deja vu level of Oblivion. Is this really happening again?" Dinya blinked, "It seems as though it is. You're pregnant again." "...Shut up. You're not serious," I'm sure my face contorted into something that looked like rage, but then I calmed and turned to look at her. I walked back over, "Okay. Okay. Could you do the test, and just like before..." "You want to know who the father is?" Dinya asked. ".....Yes," I said, a little embarrassed, though I don't really know why. She closed her eyes, and focused for a few seconds, "Ulfric Stormcloak." I pursed my lips, stood, and started to walk out. I turned back towards her, said nothing, then walked out. "Congratulations!" Maramal emerged from the back just in time to shout. I guess he'd been eavesdropping. "Shut the fuck..." The door slammed that'd been shutting behind me. I took a deep breath. I wondered how Sanguine was going to take this. I imagined, probably alright. One of the byproducts of so much debauchery was children. I walked in to Honeyside and sat at the dining table. Sanguine emerged from whatever he'd been doing downstairs and handed me Damien, which I popped on my boob. "Hey, can I tell you something disturbing and somewhat incriminating?" "Dear, you are a criminal. And I assure you I cannot be disturbed," he sat down opposite me. "I'm pregnant again," I said. "I figured it'd happen sooner or later, because we never use protection. So damning," he chuckled. "It's not yours," I said. He looked at me silently for a few seconds, then he smiled again, "I was just pausing so you'd get the worst anxiety about my answer." He laughed, "I also figured that would happen too." "Not mad, are you?" He took my hands, "We both entered into this knowing the other wasn't going to be exclusive. Why the hell would I be mad? Would it surprise you to know I've fucked probably over a million people in my time?" "Just how old are you, anyway?" "I dunno. What is time, even? If you want to get technical, I'm et'Ada, a spirit who has been around since the beginning. I vaguely remember the First Era, the Merethic, Dawn and before. Though understanding and reality wasn't what it now is," Sanguine replied. "That's a very cerebral answer," I smiled. I knew he wouldn't be mad. It did make me feel small, though. I always knew I was merely a blip in the infinity of his immortality. This made me sad. But, after I thought about it, it made me feel a little happier. The most beautiful flower only blooms for a short time. "Hey, you asked," he smiled, "Are you going to be just as rough on yourself during this pregnancy as the last time?" "I think," I started, "I'm going to check out what's going on with Helgen. But that's it. I'll keep attending classes and getting better with magic." "Say, dear," Sanguine said. "Yes?" "This might sound out of left field." "What is it?" "Do you want to adopt a child?" "Well... why?" "There's a young girl down at Honorhall that's been there since adoptions started. I walk around town sometimes and I notice her, looking sad. Almost all the original orphans from when you murdered that old crone have already been adopted. What do you think?" "I think..." I was going to say he doesn't always think his decisions through. But then instead I said, "Alright, sure. Iona, think you can take care of another couple kids?" Iona stepped in, "I am your sword AND your shield." Sanguine and I looked at each other. Crippling social anxiety makes her say random phrases? "I think, also, we should find a bigger house," Sanguine put his feet up on the table. I nodded, taking a couple of Skyrim Guidebooks off the shelves and flipping through them on the table. "Says here there's a plot available in northern Skyrim," I said, "That's right next to that abandoned shack the Dark Brotherhood kidnapped me in. Could provide easy access when I start working with them again." "What hold?" Sanguine asked. "Ugh," I cringed, "Solitude. I HATE Solitude. But the location is so good. It's right next to the Sea of Ghosts. And we can design it. Ugh... Solitude. I guess I'll work on that. But that will be all for this pregnancy. Maybe if I figure out a better telekinesis spell I can help build it without moving a muscle." Sanguine laughed. I guess I was going to Solitude to do some more 'public service.' But first I would stop off in Windhelm to break the news to Ulfric. I technically could marry two people, due to the new Tenets of Dudestia, but I didn't really want to marry Ulfric. Our relationship was more casual than that. We were friends; war buddies. The sex was convenient. When I arrived, he was brooding on his throne, and I was thinking on what I would say. It'd only been weeks since I saw him, and he seemed not to have made a single move; politically or otherwise, but it seemed like it'd been a while for me. I stood in the doorway, thinking about what was going to happen.

Hey, it's me, Destana. At this point, I'd been living in Skyrim for about four months, and it was right around Saturnalia and the turning of the new year to 2E 202. I turned 19 back in Last Seed (I know, I'm younger than you might think on account of my mad skills). Last time Ulfric Stormcloak sent me to deliver an axe to Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun. I was accompanied by an entourage of Inigo, Vilja, Sofia and Shirley. I'd been to Whiterun previously (even recently, infact to contact Vilja). But when I approached, the gates were closed on account of dragon attacks. "Dragons?" I asked incredulously, "Aren't they extinct? Or like... mythological?" "Sorry, no passage into the gates," the guard returned. "I have an important message from Ulfric Stormcloak for the Jarl. I believe it is a challenge. Or an ultimatum," I raised the axe. "The Jarl will want to hear this," the guard opened the gate. I went straight to the Jarl. "Hold! What makes you think you can interrupt us during an important council meeting?" Jarl Balgruuf said. "I have an urgent message from Ulfric Stormcloak." "I'm sure he told you it was very urgent," Balgruf said, "Save it. We're having a council meeting about the recent dragon attack on Helgen." "I... think Ulfric was there," I said. Balgruf stroked his chin for a moment, studying me, "On second thought, you may be able to help me. Would you do me a favor while you're here? Let's talk to my court wizard." I jogged into the adjoining room. Farengar Secret-Fire nodded to me and said, "What do you need, traveler?" "The Jarl said you needed help with something." "Well I'm very busy, I don't think I do." "Be careful, you're about to step on your own Shock Rune," I joked. Farengar jumped, then he smiled, "I see you're a mage as well. What did you say you needed?" Jarl Balgruuf stepped in behind me now, "Use her for your project." "I see. I have an errand. And by errand I mean a ruin that holds information about the dragons. Bleak Falls Barrow," Farengar replied, "Think you're up for it?" "Easy," I bought a couple spell tomes from him and then turned to the Jarl. "Ulfric wanted me to deliver this axe, by the way," I said. "The man is persistent. I'll give you your answer after you've dealt with this matter," he replied. I sighed, getting on the road to the Barrow. I think I'd been there before, but all these ruins are kinda the same. Nope, not been there. I'm going to stop trying to guess, these ruins all look the same. There were a mix of bandits trying to raid the tomb, but they felt like we were their competition so they had to die after they attacked us. A giant spider, a man wrapped up in webbing with a golden claw. He ran, but the draugr got him and I put him down with my crossbow before he could be ripped apart by the undead. And I claimed the puzzle claw. We continued on past a hallway with blades. I just ran through and activated the pull chain so nobody else had to endanger themselves. We plowed through this time, even more than before. If there was a measure of the level of evil power of a place - this one seemed very low. A couple puzzles, like nord ruins do, and another word wall. This one was, "Fus." Wait wait wait... Fus! I'd heard that word. I stood there, brain firing on all dwemer cylinders for a moment, thinking, 'Fus. That's the thing the draugr keep shouting at us when they blow us back. Are these word rune things some kind of words of power? Wait... Ulfric supposedly shouted the High King to death or something. And I keep seeing these walls and they're reacting to me.' I also picked up a Gem that talked to me, revealing herself as Merida. I slid it into my pack to sell it later. And... the Dragonstone! I brought it back to Farengar. He was speaking with a woman named Delphine. He turned to me, "A cut above the usual brutes the Jarl sends my way. That is where your job ends and mine begins, friend. My friend here is the one who knew where to find it." "How?" "Don't worry yourself about that," she replied, not looking up at me from the Dragonstone. "Farengar! Adventurers!" Irileth, the Jarl's housecarl bustled in, "There are reports of a dragon attack!" "This will be perfect for my research if we can down it!" Farengar smiled. I smiled too. I wanted to see one of these things in action. See if they were really real. Irileth went to the Jarl on the raised area above the mead hall. He was talking with a guard. "My Jarl, I saw a dragon circling over head near the Western Watchtower. I ran for my life. I thought it was going to kill me." "Good work son, dragon hunting is no one-man job. You may have saved Whiterun if we can kill it outside," Balgruuf turned to us, "Friends, Irileth, take some guards and go hunt that dragon. It cannot make it to the city!" I nodded, getting a little excited now. "Oh and if you do this for me I'll let you purchase property within the hold." I blinked. Damn. If I'd known it would be that easy I wouldn't have wasted my time in Riften, though I was much more invested in the Thieves' Guild. I can with my company onto the field near the Western Watchtower. As we passed the stables, Sofia said, "Did I just hear correctly? The Jarl wants you to go fight a dragon? You're not seriously considering it are you?" "Sofia, you can see how fast I'm sprinting, right. I'm what you call an adrenaline junkie. I routinely put myself in deadly situations," I had a big grin on my face. "If you look around here, you will often find butterflies," Vilja said from behind us. "Shor's bones, Vilja. Eyes on the prize!" I shouted back as we neared it. Hmm, no dragon nearby. I poked my head into the tower, which was now half-collapsed and on fire. As I came out, Irileth was just arriving with the men. "Where's this beast?" She asked. I shrugged. The guard who'd spotted it originally shouted, "Oh gods! Here it comes!" I hit amidst the rubble as it glided past. Everyone else was already firing arrows. I pulled out my crossbow and silently trained a bolt at it. I could feel my heart racing. The rush was palpable. After a dozen arrows shooting it, it landed right near me. I shot it in the neck. Vilja jumped on its back and was slashing. I drew my sword and faced the thing directly with shield up. It went down surprisingly fast between the dozen of us. It slumped over, dead, allowing an eerie calm after the rush of terror the dragon brought with it. I stepped up to the dragon to poke at it. Then... something strange happened. I felt a rush of power, not unlike that power at the word walls. The dragon's magic, or spirit, or force drained the flesh from it's bones and surrounded me. I could feel that chanting again just like the word walls. It surrounded me, soaking into my very bones. "WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?" I shouted. The calm returned. I could feel some sort of power within me. When I opened my mouth to ask if anybody knew what just happened, it came out as, "FUS!" A bunch of the guards fell over. "My gods, I'm sorry!" I said, "What did I just do?" "That was a shout!" One of the guards said, "You must be truly dragonborn!" "Dragonwhat?" I asked. "You're dragonborn. You absorbed the dragon's power," another guard said. "Whatborn?" I asked. "You can shout now, you couldn't before right? The only explanation is that you're dragonborn." "...whatwhat?" I asked. "I don't know about any of that. I do know that's a dead dragon. We know we can kill them now. Just... go talk to the Jarl," Irileth said. As I walked through Whiterun with my entourage, I could hear more shouting. I looked up to find no dragons - I'd noticed when the dragon breathed fire he spoke words just like I'd done when I said 'FUS.' "Huh," I shrugged. Must be nothing. I approached the Jarl again. "What happened?" He asked. "The dragon is dead, but so's the watchtower. Something weird happened when I approached it. I absorbed some sort of power from the dragon and now it's just bones," I explained. "So it's true. The greybeards are summoning you." "Who?" I asked. "Masters of the way of the voice. Shouts," he explained. "If you are dragonborn, then you owe it to Skyrim to go talk to them," Hrongar said, a warrior standing off to the side. I stared daggers at Hrongar, "I don't owe Skyrim shit. If anything, it owes me quite a lot. And I imagine that debt is not going to go out of the red anytime soon." "What do the greybeards want with her?" Aventus asked. A woman from his court. "It's for them to know," the Jarl replied, "Even if you don't believe in our legends, you should go see them." I gritted my teeth, "Okay. But the only reason I'm going to see them is because I've seen what these shouts can do. But, hey, the reason I came here. Will you take the damn axe?" After a few moments of discussion, he returned the axe, "Give this to Ulfric. He has my answer." Then he turned to his scribe, "Get me a pen and some parchment. We're going to tell General Tullius what our conditions are for allowing his Legionnaires into this city." I sighed. Well that was bad news. I decided I would take that trek to High Hrothgar before I returned to Windhelm. We slept at the Inn, and I played, not knowing if and when I would be allowed back into the city since I was a Stormcloak. Then we set off. It was a long and grueling climb, and when I reached the front door, the old men were waiting for us. "So the Dragonborn appears," Arngeir said. He seemed to be in charge. "I'm answering a call. I'm not sure about this whole dragonborn business," I folded my arms. "We will test if you truly have the gift," he said back, "Let me taste of your voice." "That is seriously one of the strangest things anyone has ever said to me," I replied, "And I'm not really sure how I did it." I thought about it for a few seconds, then let out a, "FUS!" "Welcome, dragonborn. We will do our best to help you fulfill your destiny." I squinted at him, "Destiny, huh? What's my destiny?" "Whatever you choose." Oh. I'd thought he was going to say it was my destiny to save the world, to slay the dark lord... in accordance with the prophecy or whatever. I shook my head. Those sorts of stories always annoyed me. Anybody with sound mind and a strong back can do anything if they put their mind to it. "We will teach you the second word of Unrelenting Force - Ro," Arngeir said. Another greybeard spoke the word and the burning runes appeared on the floor. As with the word walls, the knowledge streamed into me. "Normally years of practice allows someone to use shouts. As a dragonborn, you can absorb a dragon's knowledge and power directly and fuel your shouts. It took you moments to master what it took many a lifetime," Arngeir said. "Now, demonstrate your Thu'um," he continued. "FUS -- RO!" I shouted. It blew Vilja and Sofia off their feet. I said, "Seriously guys, you should probably stay out of my way while I'm doing this." Arngeir and the others walked towards the courtyard and I followed. Sofia mused, "I can't imagine being a greybeard. Having to sit in silence all day. I couldn't do it." "Clearly," I said, telling the others to stand back while we do this shouting business in the courtyard. "I will teach you a new shout," Arngeir said, and another of the greybeards repeated the process. This was 'WULD,' the Whirlwind Sprint. The greybeard who'd gifted me the shout then said, "WULD!" And ran through a gate almost faster than my eyes could see. "Now you," Arngeir said. I raised an eyebrow. I turned toward the gate and it opened again. "WULD," I said, passing through the gate harmlessly. This one would be useful for trapped hallways. "What's next?" I smirked. "Next you must recover the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller," Arngeir replied. "Ah, here we go," I smiled, tired from the last couple days of song-and-dance Balgruuf and now these guys were putting me through. "I'll go get the horn..." "Thank you, dragonborn," Arngeir said. "....eventually. When I get around to it," I explained, "Thanks for clarifying for me what all the word walls are about. I've already found several. Thanks for the new powers. I'll take that, but you can keep the destiny. I may or may not be a dragonborn or whatever. But I choose what my destiny is. Me. There's been a lot of talk of what I owe Nirn or Skyrim, or whatever. But the world is pretty much shit. I wouldn't give a shit if it gets burned to the ground. So I'm going to go back to Ulfric Stormcloak and let him know his civil war is on. And when and if I decide to come back here, its going to be because I want to. Are we clear?" I could see the looks of distain on their face, but I didn't care. "C'mon guys," I said. As we were walking out of there, Inigo said, "That seemed a little harsh." "Yeah," I said, "Probably. I'm tired of being forced to do things I don't want to do. I have priorities. Me and mine." And we traveled back to Windhelm. I put the axe on the table. Ulfric shook his head, and Galmar smiled. "We're going to hit them where it hurts," Galmar said. "Make preparations. I want you there on the battlefield, Destana, on the front lines," Ulfric said, and I nodded. That obstinate pig-headed Jarl would get what was coming to him. We went back to Whiterun. While we mustered up, I got wise and stripped off my Nightingale armor as Galmar talked, putting on robes and a circlet of destruction I'd picked up from the college. I readied Elemental Bolt on my offhand and drew my sword. I casted Rally and charged with the Stormcloaks as we stormed the gates. This time, I blew down the barricades and archers with explosive magic. When we finally reached the hold, the Jarl fought a good fight but surrendered before he and Irileth were killed. It was hard to fight someone who'd I'd fought beside only days before. And there were many deaths. I silently pledged to study restoration to see if there was a spell that would bring the recently dead back to life. "You would fight the Empire?" Balgruuf asked, "Now I know why the Greymanes weren't on the wall today." "We are the blood of the empire, and if it were ours, we would be able to worship whoever we damn well please," Vignar Greymane responded, "We should be fighting the elves, not bending knee to them." "Yeah, screw the Thalmor. They destroyed Hammerfell too!" I shouted. "Tell me, how many of those dead men out there once called you friend?" Balgruuf shouted. "Enough! All of you!" Galmar shouted, "There is a burning city out there that needs a government." Vignar took control as Jarl. It pains me, because Balgruuf was one of the good ones. I returned to Windhelm to report. That was the start of our war. I'm going to skim over a little bit. The next nine months gets a little tedious. The things to know are: - The Stormcloaks had the Jagged Crown and the Civil War was just beginning. I became instrumental in this conflict. At first, I was a shock trooper, bringing an eclectic cadre of sellswords to the mix to bolster the Stormcloaks' troops. Then I stood shoulder to shoulder with Galmar in deployment of troops when they realized just how valuable I was. These attacks were seldom - once every few weeks. Usually they were Imperial forts, usually near a hold. And for some reason, no reinforcements ever came from down south. Was the Empire really spread that thin? - After I took a hold with the Stormcloaks, I would play the Inn as a bard, and stay in the Inn before returning to Riften. But see the next bullet - - A few weeks back I took down Mercer Frey (with a little help from a few friends). As I was traveling around with my group, I was doing oddjobs for Vex and Delvin (which I would talk to them until they gave me the *right* jobs, winning us contacts in every major city. When my group would retire to the Inn after a raid, I would stay up and rob the place blind, returning to the guild the spoils after I took a cut of the plunder for my group. - In the morning after each raid I served as the go-between for the men and Ulfric, bringing him news of our victories. I often visited him after hours, and often shared his bed with him. I mean, I was pregnant and in control of my body. Why not? - Despite the College of Winterhold dealing with the Orb problem, they started up regular classes again. I would attend them between the raids - I was trying to master at least some magic. Besides just being cool and generally good for grouping, I thought about what could be GREAT if I ever went to prison again. If I'm stripped of all weapons and armor, well, I can still melt faces with Destruction. I can still bend minds with Illusion (or straight-up go invisible and walk out). I can pick locks without a lockpick with Alternation. I can summon meat shields or summon my own weapons with Conjuration. Infinite possibilities. - Dragons were returning to Skyrim. One bit of 'public service' I deigned to perform, if I was truly dragonborn, was to defend holds as they were attacked by dragons. During this few months I must've killed a dozen dragons (again, with help from my group), and they were getting worse. Most of them led to a dragon kill orgy. I mostly kept to interacting with my group, and each hold's guards usually had a dogpile with each other and the warriors involved. I think we might've started to get a reputation. - Last but certainly not least, I was pregnant with Sanguine's (the daedric lord of debauchery and now my husband) baby. Now a thane of Riften (probably because of all the 'public service' I did), I was spending all my off time with Sanguine and Iona in Honeyside while I continued to get bigger. You might say I was a very busy woman during this period. The nine months of my pregnancy rolled by in a hurry and my baby boy was born just a few days before my 20th birthday. Given the circumstances, I named him Damien. I wasn't sure if he was going to come out red and spiny or looking relatively human. But he was brown, with brown eyes and my near-white eyes. I wasn't sure what to think of this - or if he would manifest demonic powers later, but he was beautiful and perfect. I will let you know now - over the next few years his skin lightened to very pale, along with his hair. He looked Nordic, though he still had my eyes. One last note: on a dare, I got my first (semi-)consensual tattoo. I was drunk, the men and I were at an Inn after a raid, and somebody... I think it might have been Rolof bet me he could drink more than me. In this case, he won. And surprisingly, he didn't demand I have sex with him or something else. He told me I was a true Nord in spirit, having almost bested a Stormcloak warrior and I had to get something to commemorate. I got two axes across my stomach. The boys approved. "What are those tally marks?" One of them asked. "Don't ask. I don't want to talk about it. And yes, it is permanent, just like these," I said, pointing to the axes. They were better than most the Nords out there. Things like this made me want to stay with the Stormcloaks and see this through. This was near the end of the Civil War. Ulfric and Galmar and the men were gearing up for the Empire's final bastion: Solitude. With a grin, I volunteered to head the charge. Because, godsdamn I hate Solitude.

Hey, it's me. Destana. Big news from last time. I was pregnant. Time counter: about three months in Skyrim. I decided I would find what I believed to be Sanguine's human form, Sam Guevenne. So I went to Rorikstead, which I'd been blathering about in my drunken state. I bought a horse from the Markarth stables and headed out, avoiding all uninteresting conflict. I got to Rorikstead after having traveled through the night and put up in the Frostfruit Inn for the night, after playing a set on my lute. Got some food and drink, then went in search of ... whatever it was I needed to find here that I'd done wrong. It didn't take me long for someone to recognize me. "Hey, you!" A man yelled, "You've got a lot of nerve showing yourself in this town again. What do you have to say for yourself?" "I'm sorry," I said, I was wondering if he'd remember me, but obviously I'd transgressed against him pretty fiercely. "Sorry's not good enough! Not while my Gleda is still out there, alone and afraid. You kidnapped her and sold her to that Giant." "Did I say anything about where I left a staff?" I asked. I remembered Sam had said something about the Sanguine Rose (name of the staff and the picture still tattooed on my butt). "You mentioned something like that... when you were running off with my goat! Tell you what - you bring back my goat, and maybe I'll give a damn about your staff," he replied. "Help me retrace my steps and I'll pay you for the goat," I offered him a sac of septims. "Nope. 1000 gold," he replied. "A thousand??" I shouted. I pulled out a bigger sack and handed it over, sighing. The East Empire's money floweth. "Fine, but I'll still be missing my Gleda. Doubt I'll ever have a prize winning goat again. Most of what you said was gibberish but you left a note. The only bit I could read was 'after repaying Ysolda in Whiterun." So I took my horse and rode to Whiterun as fast as I could travel. Took the better part of the day. At nightfall, I found Ysolda. "So, you're finally back. Look, I've been patient, but you still owe me," she said, immediately recognizing me. "Owe you??" I said harshly, figuring I was going to go broke pursuing this venture. "Aw, what's wrong? Did the engagement fall through? Look, how about we call it even, as long as you bring back the wedding ring? That's really a shame - I was so looking forward to the wedding. You said you'd have all the most interesting guests," she replied. "Do you know what I did with it? Things are kinda fuzzy. Also three months will do that." "You went right to give it to your fiancée! Don't you even remember where you left him? And after you told me that sweet story of how the two of you met in Witchmist Grove! I can see why he left you." "That's pretty harsh. And I was very drunk," I considered my options. This time maybe I could appeal to her sympathy without actually spending more money, "I just need to get to the wedding. Please..." "You must have had a wild night if you can't remember that. But I suppose everyone gets the jitters before their wedding. And I did say you could take a bit of time paying me back. You said the ceremony was going to be at Morvunskar. Don't forget..." I walked away. Thinking to myself, I realized that my 'con' was actually me being sincere. I actually wanted to find Sanguine. I had put on a mask to play pretend that was my own face. I smiled silently, walking towards the gate and my horse again. Wait, what is Morvunskar? I took out my log and map. Actually, not far from here. I rode there and dismounted far enough away. I said to myself, "I wonder if with illusion magic I could sneak past all the bandits or necromancers or monsters here. I should really consider learning more magic than the basic handful of spells I know. Make me a better thief." I know not every engagement with enemies needs to be described, so, suffice to say, I'm just going to say I overcame this area (mostly through sneaking). What I remember is some banter between bandits and a necromancer who talked to herself. Eventually I found a portal, just hanging out in the ruin. It transported me to a version of Sanguine's realm. This time, I imagined it was fully dialed down to the lowest level. I mean, I was still stripped naked, my clothes in my pack from the get-go. I walked through the green grass and trees and found where all the torture devices and cages were a nice table, chairs and some food and drink there. Probably a dozen men were there, and as I looked between them, noticed that they were not only wearing the same thing, but looked like copies of one another. No Sanguine. I looked between them. The calm that'd fallen over the group ended, and they started to drink and eat again. What would Sanguine do (WWSD)? Spread debauchery. "Who are you guys?" "Just a bunch of commoners. Don't concern yourself with us," the one nearest me said. "Well uh..." I pondered, "Want to have... group sex?" "How many we talking, here?" One of the other ones said, with the same exact voice. "I dunno, I guess..." I mentally counted them to be seven, now that I was paying attention, "Four on one, then three on one? That seems pretty even." The four nearest me got up, and I had my answer. As they surrounded me, a figure turned the corner from the woods, in his Sam guise. He stopped for a minute, watching before he approached. "Oh, no, don't stop on my account. Enjoy," he smiled, "Of course you found me out. I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it." "Did you say..." I trailed off as one of the 'commoners' went down on me while the others were using their six hands to fondle me, "You needed something to repair the staff, by the way?" "Oh, you can throw all that out," he chuckled, "We're waaay past that stage in our relationship. This was meant as an introduction before you came to the more... risque version of this place. But, I mean, this does have it's own joys. Please, go ahead. I can talk while you sample the pleasures." "Who..." I gasped as two of them sandwiched me between them, rubbing both ends for penetration, "Who are these guys? This is super weird." "Don't worry too much about it. Bearer of my staff," Sanguine dismissed his disguise, this time in full daedric armor, and he sat on his throne to continue watching us. "Be honest," I moaned in between my words as they began to thrust. Four-on-one. "Why did you choose me?" I asked between breaths. "I don't always think my decisions through. But you... you're going places. Maybe a little influence from your old uncle Sanguine could help adjust your course a bit..." "Please...don't...call yourself... an uncle," I gasped. A few minutes of thrusting and the group let me down. "So you're all in, then?" He asked. "All... in," I smirked, weakly standing up. Then I realized I had the three more who were now approaching me, "Talos bones." "Could you... think of curses that use my name, now that you're my adherent?" He asked. "Sanguine's sack!" I shouted as I was taken again. He clapped, "Bravo!" It was about a half hour of fun and then I reappeared in Morvunskar, sticky enough that I needed a bath. I immediately cursed to myself. He'd sent me back and I hadn't even accomplished what I wanted to. Still, maybe he knew already and was just messing with me. "Okay, maybe if I go back the other way," I said to myself. But as I got outside, I considered something. He wants me out here, spreading the word. I don't really want to live in Oblivion, either, nice as it may seem with him. I don't actually have a house that is good enough for a child to live in. Not going to have a baby in the sewers. The problem, as I understand it, is there are limited parcels for houses in the cities as they stand. The people who own property are either the recipients of generational wealth (their grandfather owned it, etc) or they're politically connected and can either afford to buy the one or two vacant houses in the hold (possibly afffordable) or buy land and build their own (which was definitely out of my price range). In order to command that amount of clout, I would need to be made a thane of a hold. Most likely, Riften would be my best bet. Maybe Maven could make it happen if I did a few more jobs for her. Or an easier solution for the time being: maybe one of the guilds has actual living space. Not the Pit Fighters, Thieves, or Bards which I was already a member of. They all have common rooms. I doubted the Companions did for their new members. But the College of Winterhold! That was a possibility. I would just need to demonstrate the basic aptitude for magic and maybe I could weasel my way in. I mean, I know like, six spells. I'd always wanted to study magic. So I traveled back to Windhelm (slept awhile in the Inn while I was there). I told Aventus that I'd done his job. As much as it made me feel bad that I did it, it made the kid happy. I'd already seen letters going out to people advertising a revitalized adoption program set in motion by Constance, the younger woman at the orphanage. So, I guess I did some good, if a little heavy-handed with my actions. I then took the carriage to Winterhold, not wanting to tempt fate on the road. I arrived early in the morning and decided I would go ahead and talk to admissions, or whatever they had. When I got off the carriage I stepped into the middle of a blizzard. I walked through town, avoiding any distractions, and came upon the bridge. A mage from the college, Faralda, blocked my path, "What are your intentions in approaching the college of Winterhold?" "Uhh..." I thought about the least murderhobo response, "I just wanted to have a look around inside." "Ha! Humor is often in short supply here. But I sense that perhaps you're after more than just that," she replied, "How about a small test?" "Test?" "Yeah. Cast a healing spell on me." I frowned a little. The only healing spell I knew healed myself. I shrugged. "A newbie, huh? 30 gold and I'll teach it to you." "Done," I smirked. Drop in the bucket. She showed me how to basically modify the self healing spell to heal her, and I cast it. I get how some wizards just want to learn all the magic, because I felt that drive to collect them all at that moment. I smiled, and she stepped aside. "Go talk to Mirabelle. She should be in the courtyard. You should be able to get a tour and be able to make it to class if you hurry. I'm Faralda, by the way," she waved. "You mean that was the whole entrance exam?" "That's it," Faralda replied, "You'd be amazed how many people can't make it this far. The fact that you picked up a few spells on your own speaks volumes." Godsdamn I could get used to all this praise. I marched over to Mirabelle, who seemed to be just taking care of everything. Handing out orders, directing people (even those older than her). A damned Thalmor wizard was talking to her. "I believe I've made myself rather clear," she said to him, "You are a guest here. We'll not bow to your demands like the Empire." "Yes, of course," he replied snidely and walked off. She turned to me and said, "Welcome to the college. Are you here for a tour? Did you speak with Faralda?" I nodded emphatically. "Alright, we can make this quick so you can join the Alteration class in about an hour... in the Hall of Elements," Mirabelle walked briskly and explained as quickly as she could. She led me to a tower with a circle of rooms, "And here is your room. First on the right." I blinked. It was that easy. I opened the door and found enough room for a person to live and work and study. When I turned, Mirabelle was gone. I actually wanted to learn about magic, so I sped off to the Hall to find an older man getting ready to start his lecture. Tolfdir, the Alteration master. "Welcome!" Tolfdir shouted, "We were just about to begin. The first thing to understand about magic is by its very nature, it's volatile and dangerous. Unless you can control it, it will destroy you." Brelyna, A female student said, "We all understand that." "Of course, my dear," Tolfdir replied, "You all possess some innate ability in magic. True control, mastery, takes years." J'jargo, A khajit replied, "What are we waiting for? Let's get started." "Please, please. Your ambition must be tempered with caution..." Tolfdir started. A male student, Onmund interrupted him, "We've only just arrived. You have no idea what any of us are capable of." I looked at them with disdain. Tolfdir was a sweet aged man and they were showing him a lot of disrespect. "Maybe give us a chance to show what we can do," Onmund continued. "You've been quiet so far, what do you think?" Tolfdir turned towards me. "I think people should listen and learn when possible," I paused to let my rebuke take effect, then I said, "I think showing practical knowledge is good. Obviously some people here are masters already." "Alright, I suppose we can try something," Tolfdir responded, "We'll start with a ward. I'll teach you all a ward which you can use to block spells." He turned to me, "Would you mind helping me with a demonstration? Are you familiar with wards?" I pursed my lips, "Honestly, I don't know any alteration." "That's alright. I can teach you a basic ward for this purpose," he replied. He spent a few moments teaching me the hand motions and methods of casting it, then moved to an opposite pedestal. "Ready?" He asked. I put my left hand out, firing up a Lesser Ward. Not too bad. For like 5 seconds, then I dropped it as I was out of magicka. "You have to keep the ward up. I wouldn't want to hurt you." I could feel them chuckling at me under their breath. High crust brats. I kept my right hand open and held a magicka potion. I put up the ward again, as some magicka had come back. Tolfdir blasted me with a firebolt, which was cancelled by the ward. I didn't need the potion so I put it away. "Excellent start. Please continue practicing with wards," Tolfdir said, "I suggest we take a field trip. The college has excavated the ruin of Saarthal nearby. We should venture there tomorrow morning." "But professor! It's Fredas!" "OH, right you are, right you are! We'll pick this back up on Morndas. Don't forget, Saarthal, bright and early at sunrise on Morndas," Tolfdir said, dismissing the class. I went to the circle that held my room, and of course, I couldn't help but snoop around a little bit and see if anything valuable was just lying around. Behind people's locked doors. After about an hour I returned to my room. J'zargo was in the circle, looking at a book as he walked. "Hey," I said. "No time for talk. Need to get ahead," he said. "Quite the gunner," I folded my arms, "You guys should show some respect. He may be old, but he's a vast wealth of knowledge." "Peh, I need to get stronger now. I've no time to waste with this, or you," J'zargo didn't even look up at me, "Where do you hail from? The streets? You'd probably not even make a good fucktoy for J'zargo." "Are you kidding? I'd make an excellent fucktoy!" I said back. Wait. "Let us put that to the test then!" He shut his book, finally looking up to me. I backed up, stepping into my room, and he shut the door behind us. "Okay, I guess," I said, committing to this spreading debauchery thing. There was a nice rug to insulate my back from the stone floor. It was cold outside. "You seem to be excited to be here," I said when we finished. "Yes, J'zargo wishes to find things to make him a powerful mage. Hopefully small things that fit inside pockets that won't be missed." I smirked, "A cat after my own heart." He went back to his studies, and I wondered what I should do for the time being. It was only a few days. Sanguine could wait. And I was pregnant, but not *that* pregnant. I poked around the school for a few hours, buying various tomes and learning a few more novice spells before settling on making Illusion my primary school of focus (for obvious reasons). I was flipping through my quest log when I realized that dumb job the Stormcloaks gave me was just north of here. I went to Tolfdir and bought a very specific tome - a spell that protected me from exposure. I gathered some wood, got a wool cloak, walked to the tallest tower on the northern end of the College and looked down at the Sea of Ghosts. I could see the island the Ice Wraiths would be on, though this was going to be a bit of a trek. I casted the Warmth spell, drank a Cold Resist potion, then I did what any normal human being would do, I jumped. I landed in the icy water below and swam to shore. Immediately I took out wood from my pack and built a campfire, drying myself off. It took a few minutes but I was okay. I traveled north, jumping from icy island to island, making sure not to go in the water again. "What the fuck is that?" I saw a figure in the sky, looking like a distant bird, or other kind of flying creature, but it vanished as soon as it appeared. I shook my head. I reached the marked place on my map and decided it was a good time to practice what I'd learned. Sneaking (as always) I shot a Firebolt at the first Ice Wraith I saw, and I immediately realized I was not so great at magic yet. It took the blast and angry, came right for me. I drew Dragon's Oath and changed to Flames on my offhand. I slashed at the thing, pelting it with fire, until it went down. I wondered then if there was a way to sneak attack with spells - or at least cast them quieter. Whatever. I touched the Serpent's Stone while I was there. Then I collected what the Stormcloaks wanted (for another day to turn in) and made my way back to the college. It was late afternoon, as the wood gathering and preparation took longer than the trip, and I decided I would go ahead to bed. I did not wake up in the college.

Hey, it's me. Destana. Ever had a life-changing experience that basically told you to keep doing what you're doing but gave you a purpose? I had that last time. I would go find a way to contact Sanguine again in the future, but for now, it was time to return to the guild. I walked through the gates and to the Bee and Barb. Maven accepted the papers, but it didn't give us a lead as to who was trying to buy the meadery. My reward: an Orcish Dagger of Freezing. I grinned. This would pair well with Dragon's Oath on my main hand. Fire and Ice. I went through the front entrance to the sewers to the flagon. "You! Stop right there!" A man shouted. "Uh what?" "Pay us a toll or get gutted!" Another man brandished an axe. "I'm with the guild," I said, realizing I'd been going through the grave or the grate by the stables every time I came through here except for the first time. The bridge was now raised and these men were threatening me, "You guys were so nice a couple months ago when I came through here." "Oh, it's you," they put their weapons away, "Want us to lower the bridge?" "It's okay. I'll go through the graveyard," I backtracked up to the city again, and immediately got plugged by an arrow. "What the..." I reflexively crouched behind the railing. I looked over to who had been shooting me. Dawnguard? "I'm not a vampire!" I shouted, but the man said nothing, reloading what I realized was a crossbow. I peered over to the guards, who seemed to be either not paying attention or waiting to see how this played out. I dashed for the graveyard and slammed the gate behind me. I narrowed my eyes, "No, I'm not going to take this." I turned and opened the gate, shot at him with an Elven Bow and arrow combination. When he fired back, I'd swung the gate closed again. "You're a bitch!" I shouted, "Shouldn't have attacked me!" I swung the gate open again and let loose another arrow, then shut it as he fired back. Finally, he went around the other side and shot at me from behind. I used terrain to my advantage to get close to him, took out my fire and ice combo while he took out his waraxe. I used a death by a thousand cuts strategy as he tired himself out only doing power attacks until he showed signs that his poise was running out, then I moved in and double-slashed him across the chest. I searched his person. "I wonder why this is a thing...?" I found no note on him, or anything strange. Maybe he thought I was a vamp or something? Well, anyway, free crossbow, and some steel bolts. Having never seen anyone carrying either of these, I knew I'd have to save them. Anyway... I went down the graveyard entrance and took a much needed nap (accommodating as he was, Sanguine's realm wasn't all that comfortable). When I walked out to the bar in the flagon, it was after midnight. I fenced some things with Tonilia (who was up unusually late) and then decided I would poke around. I went into the large bunkroom, thinking I might find Brynjolf in here, though when I got there I realized he was probably sleeping in the Cistern - if he was sleeping. Only one person was actually asleep here. Vex. I walked over to her. I bit my lip. I was thinking about the cockamamie job she and Delvin put me through. I scratched my chin as I looked on her. What would Sanguine do(WWSD)? Spread debauchery. I gently pulled her pants off and went down, trying to pleasure her into not wanting to resist before she fully woke up. By the time her eyes were open, she was moaning, it was dark, and she didn't seem to mind it. Once we got into it we both pulled our clothes off and I flipped over and rubbed mine against hers. When we both finished, she said, "I was going to teach you this one anyway. Seducing women and stealing from them while they're occupied." She laid back down and passed out. Had she realized I'd stolen her Guild Master Boots off the floor when I sped out of there? She never mentioned it again, so, I guess not? I'm the one getting my feet wet and my hands dirty all the time. I went over to the cistern then. Mercer accepted the news with a bit of anger, and then told me next I would be going to Solitude to shake down the guy who he thinks is responsible. Ugh... Solitude. I headed over to the bar in the flagon to accept all Vex and Delvin's quests again, this time it seemed free from funny business. "Oi," Delvin said, pointing to the seat across from him, "Want to practice your seduction skills?" I sat, "What do you mean?" "When you're sucking a man's cock, he'll be hard-pressed to notice you're taking his coinpurse. If you handle the coinpurse correctly that is." I smirked, "Been talking to Vex?" "Always," he sneered back, "You had a go with her, how about me?" "Alright," I said. I led him to the bunkroom and gave him a blowjob. He complimented me on my skills. When we came back to the bar, though, I blinked. Half the people had paired off and were having sex now. Vekel and Vex, Ethelinda (the barmaid) and Dirge, Tonilia and Arius. Sanguine, was this your doing? I smiled. When Vex came up from fucking she said to me, "So, how about it?" "How... about what?" I asked, puzzled. "I heard you wanted to be the guild's cumdump." I nearly immediately said no. Then I opened my mouth and said, "Yes, I want to be the cumdump for the guild. Let all the members or associates fuck me." "Well, I guess that's possible. If you know what you're getting into," she smiled, "You just go on your next mission and when you get back, I'll have let everyone know." I blinked. I... didn't mean to say that. But I felt almost like it was the only thing I *could've* said. Strangely, I didn't correct her. I just turned around, bought some food and drink from still naked Vekel, fenced the rest of my goods with Tonilia (I often have to split this up because I am kindof a kleptomanic packrat), shelled out more than a thousand gold to Arius (Ugh, just take the money) to clear my bounty from Solitude, then climbed out the grate by the stables. I tried not to think about what I had just done. When I arrived in Solitude, I decided not to waste time and went right to my target. He was sitting in an alcove, away from prying eyes. "Let me guess, by your smell you're from the guild," Gulum-Ei said. "I'm here about Goldenglow," I said. "Don't know what you're talking about," he said. "You can drop the act, Gulum Ei," I said. "Oh, wait... did you say Goldenglow Estate? My apologies. I'm sorry to say I know very little about that... bee farm, was it?" He asked. "You acted as a broker for its new owner." "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. I can't be expected to remember every deal I handle." "Identify the buyer and we'll forget what we know," I said. "No way. I'm keeping my hands clean," he replied. Dammit. "Give me the buyer's name or I'll kill you," I gritted my teeth. "Hasn't Mercer Frey taught you people anything? You kill me and your only contact with the East Empire Company vanishes. That's not smart for business." Talos' bones! Either I need more training in persuasion or this guy isn't going to budge. I sighed. My jaw is getting tired. I leaned forward, letting my breasts dangle even in the Thieves' Guild armor and rubbed the front of his trousers with my hand, "Nobody needs to know what you told me." "I'm not telling you..." He groaned a little as I took the dick out of his trousers and started to lick it. I was quick, and we weren't seen. When I was done he said, "Well now that I'm satisfied, I bid you good day." He stood and started to walk off. I swallowed the load, my face contorting with rage. I put my hands on my weapons, but a little voice in my head said, 'If you kill him, you won't get anywhere.' I nodded to the voice, realizing I could just follow him. I took a deep breath and crept out at a safe distance. I followed to the East Empire Warehouse, which I expected. I wasn't sure if he knew he was being followed, but this just got a lot harder. As he went deeper into the Warehouse, I noted they seemed to have a lot of guards. I climbed up onto a platform as I watched Gulum-Ei, and when he passed by a guard passed by the other way. I waited a minute, then dropped and slit that one's throat. Hey, danger in the line of duty. If you're put off by random murder, then there's plenty more where that came from. I crept forward, walking up stairs to the side (to check if there were guards watching from up above) and I found a sleeping loft. One guy asleep. Well, it had taken me all day and half the night to get here so it was night-time again. I crept past him to find a man sitting at a table, counting money with his back to me. I walked forward to knock him out and he got up, drawing a sword. Damn. Well, I slashed him a couple times and like a noble he went down, but I hadn't killed him. So I bound and gagged him. I reached into the chest next to him to find... 8000 gold!! One wonders where I would put all this. And on his person was another 2000 gold. Infact, the chest seemed to be holding much more than I could carry so I looked for the most valuable and/or useful things and swiped them. And... I guess I would call this a consolation prize, I got on top of him and fucked him. Then I tied him so tight he'd need help to escape. I crept past the sleeping man again and shot another guard with my bow and one of my best arrows. He closed the distance and I jumped out from behind a small ship and daggered him in the back. I got the last guard in a similar way to the first one, then followed the trail into Deepwater Grotto. As I entered, two men were talking - Bandits, rather than the guards I'd encountered before. Was I even going the right way? Why would the East Empire Company employ bandits? Maybe not as wholesome as they might seem. And I like that in my mind, I was justified in what I was doing. I drew an arrow and shot the little guy, an Archer. A second arrow to his head sent him dead in the water. But the other guy was nearly at me now. Some kind of bandit champion, he bowled me over with a greatsword. I got up, found myself fighting and losing against this brute Orc. After only a few swipes he knocked me off my feet again, stripping the weapons from my hands and then stripping my trousers. I fought the urge to yell as he got on top of me and thrust into me. But knew if there was a chance of me moving forward I'd need to let him get what he wanted. "You're a fool and I'm going to kill you," I whispered as he fucked me from behind. When he was done several minutes later, he sheathed his sword and put back on his armor, going to pick his companion out of the water. Delvin and Vex, you have taught me well, though this tactic is my own. I snuck over to him, still naked with my dagger in hand, and jumped on his shoulders, digging dagger into his throat. He collapsed into the water. If he was alive before, now he was also drowned. Gritting my teeth, I redressed and pressed on. I found two paths: a bridge and a path of spider webs. I used Flames to burn my way through, and got the giant spider inside with an arrow. On the other side, I ripped through the web with my sword and stabbed a bandit woman in the back. Her partner, a man, came at me with a sword, but found himself wanting against my superior skill (hah, right. If only they could all go that way.) and went down easy. Next segment. Somehow I slipped up because the whole group heard me coming and drew weapons. I noted that the archer was going out to the bridge adjacent to get a better shot at me and not approach. Smart. I hid around an outcropping and waited for the warrior, a barely clothed woman to turn the corner. When she did, I slashed her up with a combo from two weapons. She turned and ran, and I fired an arrow in her back. I turned to find a Dog swimming to shore next to me (obviously the archer's pet) and plugged him as well. Then I turned to the archer, who'd already hit me once. We played the strafe game as he walked back across the bridge, we trading bowshots back and forth. We each got a good shot or two in and as he rounded a stone pillar, eyes still on me he set off a log trap and it swung into his chest, pulverizing him and he fell into the water, dead. "My gods," I said. As I looted, I realized it wasn't just me that'd killed the dog. He'd also hit a bear trap as he came onto shore. I laughed out loud. Somebody is looking out for me. And the final bit I found a stone plateau on the right with a small boat in the water. There was a stone pillar and deep behind the pillar was a set of cages, supplies, and Gulum-Ei. Three guards. I hid behind the face of the plateau for the first guard to come out, then stabbed him in the back, dumping him in the water. The second guard was far enough away he didn't hear, but when he came towards me I broke my stealth because he was a friggin ghost. We fought, but the went down in seconds. Not a very good ghost. Now he's double dead, I guess? What do you pay a ghost in, ghost money? The third one was an archer. I jumped up onto the plateau and snuck behind the huge shelves full of loot and plugged him with arrows. When he finally was able to figure out where I was, I already had three arrows in him and the fourth took him down. This was a good day (well, except that one, but I don't think about that). I strode up to Gulum-Ei, "Give me the deed. I'll decide if I'm going to kill you in a minute." "No need to be hasty!" He forked it over, "It's Karliah who's doing all this. I didn't even know it was her until after she'd already set the plan in motion." "Who?" "He really hasn't told you anything, has he?" Gulum-Ei said, "She's the one who got the former guildmaster killed." "Alright," I silently wondered why they weren't giving me the full story. "So you gonna let me live?" He asked. "Sure. But next time a lady sucks your dick, be more forthcoming," I said through gritted teeth. I looted everything of value, then walked out and traveled back to Riften. Too many of these trips across the whole of Skyrim were leaving me dog tired. I slept again, this time it seemed like for a day and a half. When I got up, I felt terrible. It was about sunset again. I figured maybe I would take a stroll around Riften, like a normal person rather than the murderhobo I was. I thought maybe I would go to the shrine and get a blessing and it might cure my ailment, but I found myself at the entrance to the Honorhall Orphanage. And I couldn't remember I was asked to do something here. I figured I'd go inside. Children could be fun. It might ease my feelings. As I stepped in and stood in the doorway, I could hear an old woman talking to the children. "None of you will be adopted, you worthless wretches. You'll always be here. Get used to it. Now go to bed!" She said. I peered around the corner. Grelod the Kind, she was named. And now I remembered. That kid in Windhelm wanted me to kill this woman. Gods, she kept talking. She was horrible, berating them. Telling them they were worthless. But she took care of them. Why? Maybe... funded by the Jarl? Oh my gods, the idea was already in my head. I was already thinking about how to kill her. As I looked upon them, I noticed a younger woman who seemed to be consoling them and helping them as they went to bed. She was the *real* kind one here. Maybe I didn't need to kill the old woman. Maybe I could use some magic and scare her into being a better person. I... didn't really know a lot of magic, and that seemed like it would backfire. Maybe I could give her a savage beating. But, still, brittle bones. I sighed. Okay. I would wait until she went to bed. Then I would feed her poison. Something to keep her from suffering. Gods, I put my hands on my face, I was really going to do this. I waited a few minutes for all the little eyes to shut, then I quietly crept to the backroom, like a Saturnalia elf bringing presents in the form of murder. I shut the door behind me and went through my pack. Aversion to Frost, Aversion to Shock, Weak Stamina. Dammit. I pulled out my sword. In for a silver, in for a septim. This was going to get messy. I stabbed her cleanly and swiftly and she let out a groan. I darted to the cubby with her desk. Just as I expected, the children hadn't been asleep after all. They rushed in. Dammit. Fuck. I don't know why I did this. I looked at my pack again. Limited Invisibility. That would work. I drank it and snuck past them, closing the door behind me, and sprinted out the front door. Aventus, it is your lucky day my friend. I couldn't tell you what on that day compelled me to do that, but I was still feeling sick, so I walked to the temple of Mara. I got the blessing, and I still felt like garbage. I sat down at a pew for a few minutes. "Oh, congratulations!" A dunmer woman said. Dinya Balu. She was the wife of the head priest, and a priestess of mara. "Excuse me?" I asked, "Are you mocking me? I feel like shit." "No, no. Are you telling me you don't know? And you came here just by coincidence?" Dinya asked. "What are you talking about?" "Oh, praise Mara! A miracle! You're pregnant!" ".... what?" I asked. I imagine I didn't have an ounce of happiness about my face. "I mean, if it's unwanted, we have things to take care of that," Dinya said, "Discreetly." I shook my head, "No." I sat there for a moment. Puzzled that I'd messed up mentally tracking my cycle, and not sure what to do. "Tell me," I turned to her again, "Are you able to tell who the father is?" Dinya blinked. Then she smiled again, not trying to judge, I'd wager, "Simple." She concentrated a few seconds, then she tilted her head, "I'm not sure how to tell you this..." "Tell me what?" "No, really, I mean, I don't know what to tell you," Dinya replied, "It's as if the father... doesn't want me to know. What kind of man possesses that kind of oddly specific power?" For the first time in this conversation, I smiled, "I know who." It made sense. He fucked me probably twenty times while I was there for only a couple days. And maybe supernatural sperm does whatever the fuck it wants. Maybe it can wait around until I'm fertile. Maybe it can just get things started without my body even being at the right phase. Who knows. I stood, hungry grin on my face. "Where are you off to?" Dinya asked. "To find the father and tell him the good news," I said, then I turned, "Hey. I need a Necklace of Mara." "Amulet of Mara, and of course," Maramal said, trading the septims for the necklace, "Should we expect you back here within a few days?" "...Maybe," I said back, smiling as I walked out. Dinya blinked again, waving, maybe realizing that this was not your garden-variety happiness. As I suited back up in my traveling clothes I racked my brain about something that'd long laid dormant in my quest log that seemed to be screaming at me now. I flipped through the tome to find, 'A Night to Remember.' To explain myself, I had a quirky way of logging each event that happened with a memorable title until I saw something through to completion. A Night to Remember was the time when I just joined the Thieves Guild and I woke up in the Temple of Dibella after a night of drinking. And at once, I experienced a brain blast. Sam Guivenne! He had the same damned face as Sanguine and the name sounded the goddamn same! I got on a carriage to Markarth, to travel by horse to Rorikstead (I was stacked enough now I could buy 20 horses), the place I'd been blabbing about when I woke up from my night of revelry with Sam. I'm going to show my cleverness now and sweep that bastard off his feet.

Hey, it's Destana again. Despite having a generally bad time in Solitude, I decided to go back. You know those times when something goes really right (even against very bad odds) for somebody who's completely mad and they judge it to be the will of the gods that they performed the action that led them down that path? This could've been that moment for me. In a sense. This is a stealth mission. When I woke up (it was before the farmer and his wife awoke) I threw on my gauntlets and boots. My body armor was somewhere in one of the ruins. And most of my odds and ends were in Solitude Prison. My reason for going back wasn't just to get my gear though. It wasn't just a test of my stealth skills now (though I viewed it that way). I wanted the damned Jailer dead. I grabbed a set of basic clothes, some gold and some food from the farmer (sorry farmer). Then I headed back to Solitude. It took another day or so to travel there, but I knew the landmarks so it seemed quicker this time. By the time I got there it was early in the morning. Which, as a thief, was a great time to be doing what I was going to be doing. I scoped out the city itself - on a great arch. I thought to myself it might be possible to scale the side and get in via the wall. I would just need rope to make rope arrows. I walked along the path between the city and the East Empire docks until I saw a small opening, which... led to a door. This had promise. I grinned, swallowing and steeling myself. It was locked, with a fairly difficult lock, taking me about an hour and at least 20 lockpicks breaking in the lock before I got in (good practice). I climbed up to find I was inside a tower on the wall. I walked up the stairs and I was on a small bridge between the wall and the castle. Really? This is the security in this place? Anyway, I jumped down onto the wall, nearly losing my balance, then slinked over to the back of Radiant Raiment. The roof was butted up against the wall, so it was easy. "Hey, how's it going?" One guard said to another, and I darted to the back of Radiant Raiment's roof. "Oh, you know. The waiting. It's sooo boring," the other guard said. I weighed my options. I opened up my journal and remembered what had brought me here in the first place. 1. Retrieve the Copper and Moonstone Circlet from Radiant Raiment. Okay. That would be easy. I would wait for the guards to patrol away and I'd pick the lock and do the deed. The door was barely locked. The first thing I noted when I entered was voices coming from upstairs. Okay, not so easy. I searched downstairs, grabbing some fine clothing and finding a challenging lockbox to pick with 400 gold inside. Then I found the circlet. About this time the denizens had gone to sleep and I figured I shouldn't press my luck any further. As I exited, a guard stood maybe a dozen feet away with his back to me. So I reentered the house and looked at my next quest target. 2. Get a Jeweled Flagon in Addvar's House. By my map it looked like that was halfway across town. I threw together some rope and arrows and made rope arrows (!) to get back up on the roof. I jumped to Bits and Pieces, then back on the wall, over the bridge and across more wall. I looked across the courtyard. It was going to be a hell of a jump to reach the catacombs entrance building, and then to the triplex that included Addvar's house. I looked around, then dropped and rushed across the yard, flattening against the walls. I could see the guards' torches, which gave them away, so it wasn't a difficult prospect to avoid them. Addvar's lock popped open (I was getting good at this now) and I walked in. Greta and Addvar were fast asleep in the upstairs bed, so I took what I needed as well as all the valuables, and stealthily walked out the front door. 3. Next target. Erikur's house is right next to here. I flipped deeper in my quest log and remembered where I saw his name. He was a Sweep job target, and he'd forced himself on me while I was incarcerated in the Blue Palace. I weighed my options. I could steal the things Vex wanted, but if I killed him I wouldn't get anything. And the screaming. It would alert guards. Besides, he wasn't the real problem here. It was the system itself. As I approached his house, I noted he had a backdoor. I decided I would do this in style. Then I noticed he had a balcony with a door to his second floor. REAL style. I jumped up and picked the lock (again, easy) and stepped inside. First I went to the third floor and looted what I could. I spied a couple having sex and didn't disturb. (Not Erikur, who are these people)? I made my way around the house, finally finding Erikur's room on the first floor and shut the door behind me. I waited there for several moments, thinking of the things I could do to him right now. I looted his room. Finally I settled on something. First, I bound and gagged him in his sleep. "Mmmmph?" He struggled, but I brought lots of rope. I got on top of him and did the same thing those men had done to me: used him to give me an orgasm and left him there, tied and naked. He was trying to shout for guards but my gagging technique was pretty good. I had to retie him, but I hoped it would hold at least until I did my non-quest related business in the castle. To be honest, I can't say it was one of my finer moments. I also can't say he didn't enjoy it (unlike most of my experiences with the opposite). It was more of a power thing. I stepped out again, feeling like I was beating the system now. A guard turned a corner, and I rolled forward (I'd just learned how to roll in stealth) and slipped in the (unlocked??) backdoor to the Bards' College. Several people were up and about in the college and I just casually walked around, acting like I belonged. Their leader, Viarmo, accosted me as I passed through the large common room, "Are you here to study the ways of the bard?" I squinted, then I said, "Uh.. yeah. I've always wanted to play music." "Well, all you need to do at this time is get an instrument and play. Feel free to take one of the lutes from the room here. Come back to me when you're a little more experienced and we can talk about your entry," he smirked. I wasn't sure how to take that at the moment, but I had a mission to do, so I just nodded and grabbed a lute, throwing it in my pack. Maybe It'd fetch a good price. From there I used another rope arrow to scale the wall, sneaking all the way. I dropped down to a balcony, door leading adjacent to the courtyard. I waited for the guards' torches to pass again and snuck on the edge of the courtyard to Castle Dour entrance. Not remembering which way the dungeon was, but finding the castle unusually unguarded, I picked right. As I stealthed down the stairs, I found... guards. This was a barracks. But... they were all sleeping. Not even a watch? I wondered at that moment if somebody above was watching over me... or below. I decided I would ride the wave and walked through a gate and to a chest I'd seen from the door. Locked, very difficult? Must be something very good inside. After several minutes of fumbling (honestly, all it takes is time and a vast supply of lockpicks, I'd been looting them as I went)... the chest had Imperial Dragon Armor in it. Heavy armor, not my style. But... on my body was a good a place as any until it was time to sell it. And, a sword! Dragon's Oath. I picked it up and equipped it immediately. This would be my main sword for a while. I went back up the stairs and down the opposite side into the dungeon this time. The pattern of clean stone turned into dingy dungeon and I knew I'd made it. I turned right, dodging an Imperial Soldier around a stone structure. I followed the ring and down the stairs to the holding room where they'd first stripped me and put my gear in a chest. "HEY! I know you!" The guard in the holding room shouted. Scanning the room, the jailer was nowhere to be found. I thought over my options for a split second. Not thinking of intimidating the guard into telling me where the jailer was, I said back, "You're making a mistake." "There is no mistake. you are a wanted man and it's time for you to pay for your crimes." "I'm a woman! And I don't have time for this, do you?" "You have committed crimes against Skyrim and her people. What say you in your defense?" The Guard asked. I stroked my chin for a second, then said, "I'm the Jarl's Thane. I demand you let me go at once?" "Oh, forgive me.... wait a minute!" The guard drew his sword, "You're no thane!" "Damn. Deception failed," I said, "Ah! I'm with the Guild. Is this enough to clear my bounty?" "I can make all your problems with the guards go away. But it'll cost you. 100 gold. What do you say?" "Fine," I handed him some of my ill-gotten gold. He turned back to what he was doing at the long table, going through evidence. Immediately, my face lit up with glee. This was Saturalia in Sun's Height. He turned to the table. I crouched. I brought up Dragon's Oath and stabbed the man in the back three times and he crumpled. I took back my gold and his as well. I stood and spat on him. It was hard to tell with these guys, but I was 99% sure that was the guy that brought me in and gave me to the Jailer. Even if it wasn't this system was broken and I was enraged by the guards' indifference. I went back and down the stairs to the lower level, where I'd been held. Rather than how packed by guards this prison had been when I was being held here, it seemed nearly empty now. Maybe because it was 4 in the morning? One imperial soldier sat on a chair at the middle of the circle, watching the one prisoner still here from my sentence. The one they'd forced to watch me getting raped. "I stand with Ulfric Stormcloak! You Imperial dogs will never get a word out of me!" She shouted. Fiery. I liked this one. I crept over to her bars. I reached out for the door, but there didn't seem to be any knob? Was it broken off? I blinked. I could not open it. After pondering for a moment, I had another idea. "Hey, I have a gift for you," I said to her through the bars. She looked up at me. I slipped one of my steel daggers silently into the hay on her side, and a lockpick. "Make your own decision. I like your passion," I smiled. I decided I had it with the sneaking and walked over behind the sleeping guard and stabbed him in the throat. My ledger is dripping with blood now. I figured I might as well peer into some of the other cells. All empty of people, but one of them had a curious note, reading: "Fifteen men, a sunken treasure, and a lost ship. That's what I left behind. It took less than a day to sail to Blackbone Isle..." I pocketed it. I sat down for a minute. That Jailer, he hadn't been in the jail. I hadn't seen him in the town. I hadn't seen him in the castle. I wanted to scream. Did he travel around and 'rehabilitate' prisoners in all the holds? I sighed, ready to be out of here. I gathered up my things to make an exit. Stealth stealth stealth... I stepped out into the courtyard. 'Wait what time is it?' I thought. I noticed the sun was rising over Nirn. "You've committed..." Dammit. I drew my weapons. Two imperial soldiers flanked me. And drew their swords. And it wasn't going to be long before they noticed I was wearing EXPENSIVE imperial armor that I'd stole. This was going to be less of a 'thinking fast' than 'running fast' exercise. "I'd rather die than go to prison!" I shouted, rolling out of the way of their attacks. I dropped all pretense at stealth and sprinted to my right, which I knew led toward the gate. Arrows flew as I dodged left and right. Two hold guards were coming up the ramp to my left so I jumped over the low wall and sprinted to the side gate, more soldiers piling on by the moment. I flew past the gate guards, past the wall. I figured I could add another crime here and help my getaway, so I hopped on a light brown horse and spurred it on until I was out of the country. When I was finally far enough away that noone would touch me, I dismounted and fell on my back. "I can't believe I fucking pulled that off!" I screamed. Some Aedra or Daedra out there must be watching over me. I'd been up all night so I decided I would get off the road and make camp. Late that evening I awoke to find the horse had wandered off, but I was rested and ready to face the day. What to do now? Go back to Riften and fence? Or double down? A mixed answer. I didn't care about Morthal. I decided that the Shill and Numbers jobs in Morthal would have to wait. Like a gambler deciding to push her winning streak, I was going to Windhelm to hear about this Ulfric Stormcloak everyone was talking about (and to commit more crimes, of course). As a side note, the last picture in the collage is me now, just chilling in Windstad Manor. Waiting. It's the waiting that drives me nuts. I want to be out there, doing things. But for now I'm stuck. Not going to make the same mistake as my first preg.... Nevermind. Forget I said anything. So you know my bounty in Solutide doesn't last forever. But for the longest time I avoid Solitude like the plague. Yes, I do have a lot of tattoos now. I will get to that.

It's me, Destana. It's been a few months since Runa had her baby. Sun's Dawn (Second Month), 4E 217. Not seen much of her in that time. But that's to be expected. After our victory with the Thalmor, we all deserve a bit of an adventuring break. I'm going to fill you in on what's been going on. Over the past year or so I've been concentrating on bounding the bandits, rogue vampires, pirates (in the sea of ghosts) and the friggin Dawnguard, who've taken to just killing everyone, not just vampires. Thankfully, my master of shadows, Nazir, has been using his contacts within the now large Dark Brotherhood network to help out. I heard Runa took a sort of 'soft' retirement from being the Listener. Actual contracts have really gone down except in Alik'r and so the Night Mother doesn't speak often. A lot of the new members went back to their old jobs and now just function as sleeper agents. I also took some of this time to do more dungeons, learn more shouts and get just a little bit stronger. Oh, and get some more random stuff for the Dragonborn Museum. With the Tear of Auriel, we have a limited capacity to give humans and beastfolk extended youth and life (and sometimes, enhanced beauty) up to 150 years. Elves can benefit from it up to 250 years. So if it seems like some people are just frozen in time and youth 11.5 years after I came to Skyrim (factor in the 5 years we lost with the Dragon Break), this is why. The other countries have been getting fair shares of the life waters, but the mages at Winterhold can only produce so much. Damien oversees the operation. He got a promotion to the official Master Wizard (not just a measure of capability) after Tolfdir passed in the fall. The New Archmage: Mirabelle Ervine. We give everyone the same line when they get the water - there is a small chance of unforeseen consequences because of the corrupted end. So far we haven't seen anything strange. The people it worked on worked well - Uthgerd, for example, looks like she's about 25 again and beautiful. A large number of older people refused it, or it just didn't work on them. Chalk it up to unforeseen consequences. Ulfric, as always, does most of the day-to-day ruling. I sense even though he's firmly against drinking the life waters, he sees his own mortality rearing its head. I heard him talking to Fenrir a while back. "It's time you took a more active rule in governing Skyrim. Scale back on the adventuring. At the next moot, I'll be passing on the title of Jarl of Eastmarch to you officially. You'll be acting in the role until then," Ulfric said. We'd never really talked about succession, but I guess Fenrir is Ulfric's only natural-born child. I could tell Fenrir was equal parts excited and dreading having to give up adventuring. Whereas Valiana and Fenrir'd been helping out with patrolling the north sea for pirates with the airship, when Ulfric handed Fenrir more responsibility, he took less of an active role in the exercise. Valiana started to patrol on her own. One day, she left the airship in Windhelm and told Fen she needed to travel a little while. We've had no word from her since then. From my travels to distribute the life waters, I gather there's a peace in Cyrodiil. Jura seems to be using all the best facets of Emperors past to be the 'best damn emperor ever.' Runa, Calleius and Rigmor settled into a throuple, like Serana, Ulfric and I. Calleius had been made a full general. Brutus Brutalis went back to the Legion for a short while to train up a new general, but he wanted to retire after all the torture and war. I actually saw Tusselle in Skyrim, In one of her leave periods she came as far north as Whiterun. She'd heard there were a lot of unconquered dungeons in Skyrim (unlike Cyrodiil). I visited Summerset briefly, and from the look of it, everything seems to be alright. Sialius and his men find a pocket of Thalmor holdovers from time to time (as do we, and Cyrodiil, and Elswyer, honestly) but they put it down. Sialius seems true to his word - not oppressing the High Elves. I visited Galahad, Roheisa and Queen Mynisera in High Rock. Though the kingdoms of High Rock are always looking to find a foothold against each other, Mynisera's renewed youth and Galahad's eternal vigil seemed to keep a lasting peace in Illiac Bay. Roheisa'd been traveling a lot. She'd found a taste for adventure to far-off lands. I told her she could visit Skyrim anytime, but she said it'd be a while before she could get away from her duties again. She'd also taken leave in Frostfall, meeting up with Tusselle for dungeon runs in Skyrim. The lights slowly snuffed themselves out that night as I stayed up chronicling the last year's events. Let me clarify - vampires don't need to sleep. But we do get tired. And we have enough of our human nature to instinctually start dozing off when dead tired. I'd been using my Night Eye to finish up in bed when I fell into a deep sleep. "Ah! Gods! What the fuck!" I jerked awake, the journal flying off my bare chest. "Another one of those dreams?" Serana asked, "Did you fall asleep writing in your journal again?" I sighed, smiling, "Yes to both." I've been having these recurring dreams. I mean, they're not so bad really. They're unbelievably mundane. Serana and I are living in a world that has almost no danger, with lots of gadgets to do our bidding. Everything is white and gray. The paved roads are pristine. Crime is existent, but still, managed. People have jobs and go to school. The wilderness is pretty much completely conquered and docile. ... Life there is utterly boring and I hate it. I crave danger! Action! I CRAVE CHALLENGES! Then the dreams often end abruptly. Usually I get this prickly feeling, with something scaring me, or jumping at me. I think I'd call it... a scare-jump. And the next time I dream, the events of the scarejump haven't actually happened and life continues as normal. Perhaps it is my confused brain creating drama. "Hey, I'm not complaining. I only get to sleep next to you once every three nights. But I get to spend most nights in the dream world with you," Serana smirked. "It's not really a dream world," I said. "How do you mean?" I started to slide my boots on, "Damien monitored me a couple nights ago. He said he thought it might be 'more than meets the eye." "Ugh," Serana rolled her eyes, "He's really leaning into his new job, eh?" "Administrator of Life Well? Interdimensional Investigator? Official Master Wizard of the College? "All of the above?" Serana asked. Yeah, I guess. I'm headed to the college to see him. Wanna come with?" I asked, finishing putting on my clothes. "Sure," Serana replied. While she put hers on, I looked at my hair in the mirror. Getting kinda long. Not sure what to do with it, I crammed it into a ponytail. I teleported us to Winterhold and we walked up to the Archmage's quarters. "Morning mom," Damien turned from his work, "...step mom." Serana smirked, "I guess I am." As I approached the workshop area, I found Mirabelle and Carahil, "Archmage Mirabelle. Master Wizard Carahil, Damien. What'd you figure out?" "I have a theory," another voice said. I turned. "Solaire! It's been ages!" I shouted. He gave me a hug. "You know this strange trash-can knight?" Carahil asked. "He's a warrior of Sunlight, knight of Gwyn from Lordran," I replied, "Is that the...world's name?" "Oh, you're still keen on speaking to me, eh?" Solaire asked, "I believe the world is called 'The Lands Between,' though it's fractured, broken, time-displaced... and there are at least seven kingdoms I've been to, one of which is called Lordran. Dranglaic, Boletaria, Yharnam, Lothric, which is the same kingdom as Lordran, but thousands of years in the future but also existing side by side. And the even more future version of the Ringed City." "Well, that's confusing. I can see why you're traveling to other worlds, when yours seems to be collapsing in on itself," I said. Then I turned to the group, "What you guys got for me?" "My theory is that it's another world," Solaire said. "From everything you gave me," Damien stroked his chin, "I agree. Seems like when you dream, you're visiting another world. But it's our world." "Huh?" "What I mean is, it's like Solaire's world(s), where there are multiple versions of the same world, slightly different. Like a parallel universe. It just so happens that thing that makes the other world different is that it's about 600 years in the future." I blinked, "That... makes a lot of sense. When I'm this separate 'me,' I seem to know a lot about their world, like I've lived in it. When I wake up, I forget almost all the nuances. It's more... big picture stuff. Like, I know there's a lot of technology. I lived through an industrial revolution. I know computers... are a thing... but I couldn't tell you what they are right now. I learned to drive a car at some point. But if you asked me to do it here, I barely even know what the thing is." Serana smiled, "It's good to know that alt-Destana chose to live out her immortal life with alt-Serana." I smiled. Then I folded my arms, "So is this a cause for concern? Seems like The Worlds Between is imploding. Should we be worried?" Carahil shrugged, "This is uncharted territory. Traveling to parallel worlds is as difficult and dangerous as chronomancy, though we can repurpose a lot of the same knowledge, without the danger of time paradoxes. Infact!" She paused when everybody jumped at her Eureka moment. "This might actually be good. The drawback to chronomancy is it's prevented by Akatosh because of the inherent danger. Dimensional travel has no such prevention. Even our trashcan knight here can travel to different worlds where the boundaries are weak, using the magic soapstones from his world. But his world has little to no infrastructure. Here on Nirn we benefit from having a large body of mages who can study it. We may be able to develop a way to control where we go and... see what's out there," Carahil was beaming. "So do you need anything from me?" I asked. "I think I need to monitor you while you sleep," Carahil replied. She looked at the others. Mirabelle broke in, playing the Archmage role, "Just make sure you guys play it safe. Like you said, uncharted territory." Before he left for the night, Solaire told me to seek him out for a little side adventure. "I brought a friend back with me from Lordran," he said. I'll let you know right now, this part isn't interesting. Serana went home. Carahil monitored me while I slept (in one of the Archnages's beds). I had another dream. She took her data and told me she'd get back to me. I woke up to a conversation. "I figured I'd find you here," a woman said. I rolled over to find Brisienna and Damien, him pouring over Carahil's data. She smiled pleasantly, okay with being ignored. "Hey, how've you and Sinidar been doing?" Damien asked. "Oh, fine, I guess. You?" "The Life Waters keep me busy," he shrugged, "And this job is mostly paperwork." Brisienna smiled softly again, "I wanted to ask a favor." Damien smiled back, amicably. There didn't seem to be any bad blood between them. They were just both wrapped up in their own passions. "What can I do for you?" He asked. "Durak and I, and a few others, are going to raid the Dawnguard's fortress. Finally put an end to them wantonly killing anything that moves," she explained, "Could you watch Sinidar for a while?" Damien smiled weakly, maybe unsure about her safety, "Of course." "I have a suggestion," I said, sitting up. "Oh, didn't know you were here," Bris bowed to me, "Nice to see you." I walked over, "The Dawnguard are strong. You and your boys should take Serana, maybe a couple of her guys too." Bris thought for a second and said, "Okay." Looking between them, I spied uncertainty on Damien still. "And take Damien. He's powerful. And stir crazy," I smiled at him, "He's been cooped up here for weeks." They looked at each other, then back at me. "I'll take care of Sinidar," I added and sat down in the Archmage's chair. They smiled. After Bris went on and on about when he takes naps, what he likes to eat, how he loves his little toy lute, she pulled him in front of her from where he'd been hiding, behind her flowing kimono. Little two-and-a-half-year-old, hair as red as the Alik'r Desert. Redder. A cardinal. I smiled. He could walk, and could basic conversation. This was a fun age for Damien and Fenrir. "Who is this?" I said playfully. I realized I hadn't seen him in many months and he'd grown - fast! "Sinidar," the tiny voice said sheepishly. "Well hello, Sini. I'm your grandma. I'm your dad's mom," I said, smiling. Courageous little guy, he rounded the desk and nearly tripped down the stairs. Damien flicked his wrist and the boy floated through the air. He peered over to me as if to say, 'Can we trust you with him?' Then he noticed I also had my hand raised. "I got him," I said. Damien let him go and Sini floated over to me, sitting in my lap. He giggled, "That's fun! I can fly!" "We can fly more later if you want," I smirked. Then I looked over to the pair, "I can summon Serana." I did so and she appeared, in a bath towel. "Shor's bones!" She yelled, and Sini startled in my lap. Then he started to cry. "Oh gods," Serana shook her head, rushing over, "I'm sorry." I gently cradled his shoulder as Serana smiled and made friends. "Who is this handsome little guy?" She asked. "This is Sinidar. First time meeting, yeah?" I asked. Then I turned to the kid and said, "This is my wife, Serana." Sini tilted his head and looked at his mom, "Can two girls get married?" Brisienna chuckled, "Well, not in my day. But yes." "A little warning would be nice," Serana murmured as she was introducing herself. "Hey, you gave me the option. Also, here's what I got - Bris and her friends want to topple the Dawnguard and I figured you'd want to go with. I'm going to get to know my grandson." Serana's face softened a little, "Definitely. But didn't you have a meeting with Jura this afternoon?" I pursed my lips, opened my journal, then said, "I should really consider a secretary, y'know?" Serana laughed. "It's alright. I'll just teleport to the Imperial City. Sini here can meet his new baby cousins!" I smiled, "Wanna fly, little man?" Sinidar clapped, "Yeah!" Serana looked at the pair, "Let's meet up in Riften in a few hours." I picked up Sinidar and charged my spell, than we were in the Imperial City plaza in a few seconds. We turned to look up at the big Akatosh statue. "Wow," he said. "Wow's right. Never been here before?" I asked. He shook his head as I let him down. He looked around, marveling at the tall towers, the old architecture, and that big dragon statue. "Wanna hear something cool?" I asked. "Yeah!" "I've fought dragons bigger than that," I smiled. "Wow!" "And giants, and everything else," somebody said. I turned to find Runa and Jura, casually walking across the plaza. "What, you guys are so tough you don't even need bodyguards?" I smirked. "Pretty much," Jura said, "Same to you though. Skyrim's a bit more dangerous than Cyrodiil." "Not for me, of course," I hugged my dad, then turned to Sinidar, "This is your great grandpa, Jura, Emperor of Cyrodiil. This is your aunt, Runa. And this is... (which kid is it?)" "This is Kintyra, actually. Rigmor and I both have milk, so we just rotate. Not much different than a wet nurse," Runa replied. "Is this Sini?" Jura knelt down to get eye-to-eye with the kid. "Nice to meet you, sir," Sini said. "You call me grandpap," Jura smiled. Probably the biggest smile I'd ever seen on the man. "Look at that red hair! I love it!" Runa smiled, "And look at his little lute." "He's like, a quarter daedra, that's probably where it's from," I said. "How's your lute skills, little man?" Jura smiled. Sini, as if trained for this, took out his lute and started to strum it melodically. It wasn't anything like a complex song. More like a single chord over and over in rhythm. Still, impressive. "Sorry to butt in on your meeting," Runa said, "I was really just out for a walk with the girl and saw you both. What's going on anyway?" "Strategy meeting. Updates on Summerset. You know, standard stuff," Jura said, "But first..." I rolled my eyes, "I got your life waters for the Generals and Counts. Please, make sure none of those jackasses on the Council in Exile get their hands on this. And please distribute some to the people." "C'mon, let's go inside," Runa said, "No reason to stand out here." We all filed in the Imperial Palace to find Rigmor breastfeeding the boy and Calleius sitting in the audience chamber, reading over maps and things. "Hey, you never told me his name," I replied, "I remember you were having trouble picking one." "Oddvar," Runa replied. I nodded, "I like it. Is he an oddball or something?" Rigmor chuckled, "Dragonborn, you're always so coarse. But yeah, he's a little odd boy. It's an old family name." "They look a lot alike," I commented. Pale, blond, and beautiful just like their mother. I set down Sinidar to run around and play, like kids do, while I talked with Jura about updates. "Hey, Runa," Rigmor smiled deviously, beckoning her over. When the Emperor and I were done, Rigmor and Runa approached us, eyeing me. "What can I do for you girls?" I asked. "Go on, ask her," Rigmor said to Runa. "It's too much trouble. She's already got Sinidar," Runa replied. Rigmor sighed and turned to me, "It's been ages since the two of us had a date night." "Doesn't Calleius ever take the babies?" I asked. "Well, yeah. But he's not very good at it. And he's got an entire Legion to command now. Actually pretty busy," Runa replied. "Servants?" I asked. "We were thinking you could take them. Be the good grandma," Rigmor said, "I mean, who would they be safer with? Then neither of us have to worry the slightest bit." "I know you're gaslighting me Riggs," I smirked at her, "But, I'll do it." I pointed at Kintyra in Runa's arms, and Oddvar in Rigmor's, then Sinidar, who'd taken to playing a running game with Jura, and they all floated into the air, hovering around me. Multi-telekinesis, gotta love it. "Aww... is it time to go?" Sinidar asked. "Yeah. I have one more person to visit today. Sun's getting low," I replied, "We can come back and visit tomorrow." Sini sighed, "Okay." "Grab onto my leg," I said, and then I cast Teleport: Riften. I appeared in the busy market square. Dozens of people barely batted an eye at me appearing out of nowhere or with two floating babies. I threw Kintyra's sling over my body and kept Oddvar in my TK grasp. "Come along Sini," I said. A man bumped into me as I crossed the square. "Watch it!" I said. "Never done an honest day's work in your life for all that coin you're carrying, eh lass?" I turned and a big smile covered my face. "Talos bones," I laughed out loud, "Brynjolf! You recruiting again?" He laughed out loud, "Didn't recognize you. Been an era since I seen ya. Somebody's been getting busy I see?" He looked at the babies. I laughed, "Believe it or not, these are my grandchildren." "I simply do not believe it," Brynjolf said, "In reference to your earlier question, no, I don't need to recruit anymore. People from all across Tamriel come to us. I was just making a comment." "I seem to remember you using a similar line on me when I walked into Riften the first time, green as this tree here," I said, "But it was more like, 'you don't have any money, lass, wanna make some?" Brynjolf chuckled, "True lass. I'm out here just scoping out all the new blood. So many people've moved to Riften lately. Thinking we might get some newcomers." "Somebody help! Do something!" A voice shouted. "Care to investigate?" I asked, offering my hand. "Oh, I know who it is. Damned unguilded thieves trying to muscle in on our territory. That or the dang teenagers," Brynjolf said, then he raised an eyebrow, "On second thought, you stay here. Got your hands full." Sinidar was sneaking food from Marise's stall. "Boy's a natural," Brynjolf chuckled, then ran off. I TK'ed Sinidar again and he floated up next to me. "What did he mean by teens? Is he that old now? Is he going to start saying 'get off my lawn?" "Aww man," he said. I put down a few septims for Marise Aravel and poured Sini some milk with honey in it. About this time, several things were going on in the square at the same time. Constance Michel was taking her orphans out for a nice little walk through the town. The new kids looked happy, as far as orphans can be, and healthy. She even had a little baby in her arms. Brynjolf had given up the chase of the thief, but the guards were taking up the search. And, indeed, there were several teenagers clogging up the walkways. A couple of the boys were yelling at the guards for using excessive force. But really, I saw no reason to step in. I walked on. And finally... a voice called out to me amongst the crowd. I saw him, but continued on. But he approached me in front of the orphanage. "The time has come," he said, his voice echoing out of his ebony helm. "Who are you?" I asked, making sure the three kids were behind me and safe. He stepped up, and I found he was about a foot taller than me. Like, Tsun height. Of course, I started getting bad ideas. He continued as if he'd rehearsed this, "I have done all that can be done. There is nothing left. No quests to be undertaken. No villains to be slain. No challenges to face. Except for you. You are my last challenge. Only you can send me to Sovngarde with honor. Make your preparations. When you are ready, come find me at my last vigil." He handed me a page, a well-drawn map with a big red X on it. And as suddenly as he'd appeared, he vanished into the crowds. About that time I felt a hand in my backpack. Letting my reflexes take hold of me, I whipped around and decked the guy, sending him on his back. One of the teens who'd been arguing with the guards yelled out, "Down with the power!" The crowd started to panic, and I caught the glint of something. Fire! I threw my hand forward, reflecting it with Shalidor's Mirror. I looked back at the babies. Safe. But an overall panic erupted. The fireball I sent back rebounded into the crowd, singing quite a few clothes and hairs. A full-on riot broke out. Taking stock of the babies again, I figured this was a good time to get to safety. I ran, making sure to keep my TK active while I scrambled up toward the temple. Two unknown figures appeared on both sides of me as if they'd been waiting and I instinctively took a deep breath. But one of the men appeared with an orphan, knife to her throat. I swallowed my shout. "Don't do anything rash," I said. "FUS - RO - DAH!" A voice shouted, not my own. It was a man's voice. The men were blown off their feet at the Ebony Warrior's wake and I used the opportunity. "TIID - KLO - UL!" I shouted, slowing time. I snaked between the cultists and grabbed the child, appearing back where I was. "Get to safety!" I told the kid. The Ebony Warrior casually appeared at my side again, holding the collar of the man who'd thrown the first fireball. He was wearing some kind of bone mask - not unlike a dragon priest, but different. "Can't have my greatest challenge being taken down by scum who'd use the children to get to you," his voice droned, then he stepped forward and slashed the one on the left in two. In the intervening time I'd drawn my bow and sank an arrow between the other's eyes. "Look out!" A voice called from behind me. It was Constance who'd been shielding her orphans. I turned, but far too slowly, an arrow lodged itself in my back. No, my pack. The contents of a pack with MUCH too much gear swimming in the bottomless space in here began spilling out like a fountain. Atleast a dozen potion bottles shattered and got all over myself, Constance, and the kids (still floating around me). Thank you, Back-Shield. I stood there, coated from head to toe in various magical liquids. I surveyed the scene. The riot was under control, people now realizing it was these strange cultists making an attempt on my life that started this mess. I then surveyed myself for poisons. But I remembered I don't carry poison. So my kids, myself and Constance would have amazing Health Regeneration, Blacksmith Skills, Sneaking, Magicka Fortification, One-handed skills, and about a dozen others for the next few minutes. It does work even if you don't drink it. Then I looked in my pile of stuff again for my most important carry-on. The thing I was heading to Mistveil Keep to hand to Maven Black-Brier. A bottle of life waters. It was also shattered. I imagine the most terrified look washed over my face. Infact, I could feel the spots where the stuff hit me. It burned like acid. I'm a vampire. This stuff does not work on me. But I'd be okay. Just a little burn. I regenerate fast. Constance was looking pretty good. Obviously, it takes a little bit of time to work, but she was young looking already, so it probably wouldn't do a lot at the moment. Just make it so she stayed like this about 20-50 more years before aging. Happy accident for her. Then I looked at the kids. All three of my grandkids had been soaked with the stuff, and the baby in the sling Constance was carrying. I pursed my lips. We had intentionally never tested it on children. Nobody knew the side effects. "Is everybody okay?" Constance said, but I was already grabbing the baby from her. "What are you doing?" "Washing them off," I said, floating down to the canal. I hopped into the water and floated back up to her, handing her her soggy baby. "Sorry about the kid," I said, "Just so you know, your kid might have some weird side effects from all this stuff. Please, let me know if something bad happens." She blinked, "Don't you recognize this little lady?" I shrugged, "Should I?" "I mean, she's only about a year old. A newborn when you brought her to me," Constance replied. "Oh, that's chest baby?!" I asked. "Her name is Fortuna. You know, because you got her from a chest," Constance smiled. The Ebony Warrior turned to leave, then said, "I've seen these goons before. From Solstheim. They were after you." "Wait," I said. He stopped, but didn't turn to look. "We don't have to fight. There's a whole world out there for you to fight. Besides, I'm not the strongest fish in the pond. What about the boss of these guys? What about the Nerevarine? Emperor Jura's even stronger than me," I explained. He chuckled, "Not by much. And no, he refuses to fight me." "Well I don't blame him. I don't know you. You could be a powerful ally," I folded my arms. "Enough talk. If you want to talk, talk to Jura," he said, and then he disappeared again. I walked up to Mistveil Keep, finding Maven standing off to the side, keeping court. "Ah the good Queen. So glad you could join me today," Maven smirked. I waved, "Hey Maven. Nice to see you. I do have bad news though. Only one of the containers will be yours today. Also, I'm going to be needing a new backpack." "How, unfortunate," Maven said shrewdly. "Who were you going to give doses to anyway?" I asked. "Oh, to be honest, I was most likely going to use them to get leverage," she replied. "Yeah, I know you. I seriously doubted you were going to use it on yourself. If you suddenly started looking youthful it'd be really jarring," I said. She raised an eyebrow, "What, you don't think I look good?" "I mean, for your age..." Maven narrowed her eyes, "Well maybe I will have a little taste then. With the mind of a matron with the body of a vixen, people will be falling all over themselves just to be close to me." I smirked, "No arguments from me. Do what you want with it." With that I checked all the kids were around and queued up Teleport: Imperial City. I'd have to take a peek at the expanded orphanage next time. We got back to the palace and I put the kids in their cribs. Rigmor and Runa wouldn't be back for a few hours, but I figured I'd talk to Jura. He was there, sitting on the throne, signing decrees. He stood as I entered, "Hey. Back so soon?" "Well, I was attacked by cultists. Need to figure out what's going on in Solstheim. Splashed with life waters, including the children. Time will only tell what effects it has. By the way, have you ever heard of the Ebony Warrior?" I asked. He turned to me in recognition, "Why do you ask?" I smirked, "Well, he found me in Riften and challenged me to a fight, saying I was the strongest gal around." "Well, you probably are," Jura replied. "No, what about the Nerevarine? What about the Champion of Cyrodiil? Viranir was also stronger than me, I'm just wily and good at winning fights. And there's you." "It's all relative. You're very versatile. So much so that no matter the situation you usually have something you can pull out of your ass and win," he responded, "Except for sheer numbers." After a pause, he said, "Besides, he challenged me years ago. I refused to fight him." "Why's that?" I asked. "It's pointless," he said, "Just a man seeking challenges. There are mythical beasts in Akavir. If he wants a challenge, he could go there. Or Oblivion." "You're not usually one to turn down a challenge," I folded my arms, "What aren't you telling me?" "Well, you know how I traveled around most my life and planted my seed everywhere?" "It's how I was born," I smirked, "Probably why I am the way I am." "Well, he's one of your - many - half-siblings." I stared at him for a few seconds, then I smirked, "Well, probably good you told me now. You know how I am." "Yeah, that's why I told you," Jura cracked a smile, then he laughed loudly.

Are there any visual replacer mods/visual generator for trained children? I have a million mods making all the inhabitants of Skyrim look gorgeous, but then my kids grow up and look fucking Vanilla Skyrim uggo, despite their mother being (subjectively) gorgeous.

SexLab Fertility Mode Arousal View File What: A simple plugin to run a simple script that raises arousal during the Fertile period of Fertility Mode just prior to ovulation. The increase to arousal is quite significant over the course of a day. A roughly 120 point increase over 24 hours at the default exposure rate of 2. Alongside a high time-rate, this will demand sexual release at a time that could be risky for a wandering maiden. Or, maintain a state of arousal that might be dangerous traveling the lands of Skyrim, Why: After finishing a playthrough as a werewolf with Creatures in Heat installed (arousal based on moon phase) I found that I didn't have a mod which dynamically raised arousal like CIH. With little difficulty I could pretty much avoid any consequences from high arousal in the mods I use. I could stay cold forever so long as my time-rate was managed. This goes against my desire to have all those fun LL mods engage with gameplay, not just be a side distraction. A second thought on my mind, even during the WW playthrough, was the disconnect of having a mod (FM3) that simulated the reproductive cycle, but didn't engage with arousal. I play with the Fertility Mode widget off so there's a bit of surprise to finding out, oops, you're fertile. Maybe pressing "Whatever you desire is fine" every time in SLEN wasn't a good idea. Generally, the body wants to make a baby and it will do whatever it can to make that happen when the time is right. Hence, raise arousal during the particularly vulnerable days of the cycle. How: With some, probably, really terrible code. I tried to keep it as simple as possible, but this is the very first time I've ever made code from "scratch". I tinker quite a bit within the framework of other author's code. I'd like to imagine I'm a smart. It seems to work for me. I can't guarantee it won't brick your cousin's Switch when you install it. Specifically, the code attaches itself to the Fertile buff in Fertility Mode Fixes and Tweaks. It will start when you get the buff, end when it goes away. You might need to have the Fertility Buff/Debuffs active in the Fertility Mode MCM for the buff to be active (and my mod will work) This, as far as I am aware, is ONLY PRESENT in FM3 F&T. This will not work, afaik, with the basic Fertility Mode. I might find a way to do that if enough people don't use FM3FT. In my opinion Fixes and Tweaks was the best thing to happen to Fertility Mode. It really changes the game with how well it runs. This alongside the extra features helps me overlook the fact that Futa's don't inseminate in this version. Though, I'm pretty sure subhuman0100 is aware and wants to fix that. Script source is bundled in the mod. Have a look. If you think it's garbage please let me know. Gently, I'm sensitive. 1.1.0 - 1.1.1 Added an MCM to the mod. Very simple. Turn the effect on or off, and adjust the amount of exposure per hour. Please remember that this is raw exposure being sent to SLA. It will be multiplied by your SLA set exposure rate. 3 exposure per hour is the original rate of the first release. Please let me know if there are any issues. I've never created an MCM before. I wanted to get some experience in as a test run before working on a bigger project. I've been inspired to create a much larger arousal mod to replace a couple other clunky files I've had in my load order. So hopefully that all will work out soon. It sort of has! SL Philia is available. Requires: SexLab Aroused Redux SSE (should work with the Babo/Baka Edit) Fertility Mode 3 SSE Fertility Mode 3 Fixes and Tweaks (read the mod page extensively if not already installed) 1.1.2 Is the normal version of FM 1.1.3 Has the Fertile and First Semester Magic effects hidden in the magic menu A tweak for a more natural discovery of ovulation and pregnancy Choose one, then download the patch file in addition Submitter Papersword Submitted 08/24/2021 Category Framework & Resources Requirements SexLab Aroused Redux, Fertility Mode, Fertility Mode V3 Fixes and Tweaks Regular Edition Compatible No