SKAAL VILLAGE
Tharsten Heart-Fang
“You have done well, Faern Sargtlin. You have shown your loyalty and wisdom, but there is one thing further I will require of you. Now you must prove your strength as a warrior.”
:prove your strength:
“I wish for you to travel to Lake Fjalding. I will mark it on your map. Seek out Korst Wind-Eye, who has traveled there already. He will give you further instructions. Look for him on the northern shore of the lake.”
Faern Sargtlin
(go out and manage the way to Lake Fjalding)
LAKE FJALDING
Faern Sargtlin
(find Korst Wind-Eye near the lake and witness a disturbance on the lake. From the center of the lake there is gout of fire, rising through the ice high into the sky)
Korst Wind-Eye
“Ah…you’ve arrived. These are strange times, my friend. I am unsure what magic is being worked to cause such a disturbance on the lake, but you were sent here to prove your strength.”
:prove your strength:
“Heart-Fang has sent you here to show your strength, your ability to survive in the harshest of conditions. Beneath that lake there are a series of ice caves. In one of those caves, you will find Aesliip, a Draugr Lord. Heart-Fang believes he is the one responsible for the disturbance on the lake.”
:disturbance on the lake:
“Fire from water, flame through ice. Strange indeed. Heart-Fang believes that a Draugr Lord who lives beneath the lake is the source of this, but I am not certain. I fear that this could be a sign of the Bloodmoon Prophecy, though I pray to the All-Maker that this is not so.”
:Aesliip:
“From what I have read in the histories, Aesliip was once a powerful mage who delved in necromancy. As a result of these dark magics, he was made a draugr, but he retains much of his immense power. You are to kill this creature, and perhaps end this madness. Take care with this task, Faern Sargtlin. This situation seems odd to me.”
:draugr:
“Once, they were warriors much like the Skaal. Trapped and hungry on this island, they feasted on the flesh of their fallen comrades, which is a crime against nature. The All-Maker cursed them with undeath, forever doomed to walk the land in search of more of the flesh of man to consume.”
:Bloodmoon Prophecy:
“It is an ancient prophecy, one that I hope is but a myth. It tells of a time when the moon above will turn blood red, and the wolves that walk like men will walk the land. The prophecy tells of other signs that precede the Bloodmoon, but they are not all easily interpreted. Let us speak about this at another time. For now, you are to prove your strength.”
Faern Sargtlin
(go dive in the chill water to find the caves)
(find a cave door, and enter the caves of Fjalding)
(manage the way to Aesliip’s Lair)
AESLIIP’S LAIR
Faern Sargtlin
(encounter the Draugr Lord Aesliip)
Draugr Lord Aesliip
“You are brave or foolish to enter this place, Dunmer. But I sense a bit of wisdom in you…perhaps. I might kill you where you stand, were you to try and keep me from my task, but there are more dangerous things in these caves then this poor soul.”
:keep me from my task:
“I have been in this cave for many centuries. The draugr you met in this place are not my kin. Mindless creatures, driven only by desire for living flesh. My story is quite different.”
:my story:
“I was once a mage, of the people who call themselves the Skaal. I was powerful, mortal. Powerful beyond their reckoning. But I strayed. I delved into the black arts, became learned in the ways of necromancy. When this was discovered, I was cast out by my people. Alone, I wandered to this place.”
:was cast out:
“I continued to learn what I could of the ways of the living flesh and the energies that animate. I became a summoner, I communicated with the Daedra. It was then I learned of their machinations, their plans to destroy my people.”
:destroy my people:
“A group of Frost Daedra had taken up residence deep in the bowels of this island. I thought at first that it was my doing, that I had somehow summoned these fiends. But they were beyond my abilities. I learned that they would wipe this island clean of life, slaughter my people and all we held dear. I knew I must act.”
:must act:
“I tried to warn my people, but I was an empty voice to them, as though I were dead. So I used my magic to erect a barrier deep in this ice, strong enough to contain these Daedra and keep them from overrunning the island. The barrier held; for years I maintained it. But I grew old, and I knew that my death would mean the death of all life on Solstheim.”
:grew old:
“My life had to be extended, so I used my knowledge of the black arts, and I turned myself into the creature you see before you. A Draugr. Eater of Flesh. But my life was infinite. I could keep the barrier intact so that my people might survive. And now you appear. To kill me, perhaps? You may have the power, but perhaps you have a greater purpose here.”
:greater purpose:
“Fight with me, Dunmer. Together we might vanquish these creatures, send them back to their unholy plane. I will lower the barrier, and we will cleanse the land of this scourge.”
Faern Sargtlin
“Let us destroy these creatures together.”
Draugr Lord Aesliip
:greater purpose:
“This is wise. I will lower the barrier that keeps the demons at bay. You and I will be victorious, as the lives of all those above are forfeit if we are not.”
Faern Sargtlin
(together with Draugr Lord Aesliip, slay all the Frost Daedra)
(and eventually…)
Draugr Lord Aesliip
“It is done. My time is over. You have done a service here today. Both to me, and to the people of this island. Now I may rest. Before I go, take this. May you have the strength of will to continue your own journey.”
Faern Sargtlin
(retrieve Aesliip’s Ring)
(witness Aesliip dies after he gave the ring)
(go back up to meet Korst Wind-Eye)
LAKE FJALDING
Korst Wind-Eye
“What of Aesliip, my friend? You were sent to kill the powerful draugr and prove your strength to the Skaal.”
:Aesliip:
“So he is defeated. It seems there was more to that creature than any of us had imagined. You have done well, Faern Sargtlin. I, for one, would be proud to call you Skaal. Return now to the Skaal village. I will meet you there in a while. There are matters I must attend to.”
Faern Sargtlin
(decide to take a rest first in the nearby mead hall of Thirsk)
