We're back at the manor, and what a day!

  And here I was expecting something slow.

  This morning Lydia looked surprisingly fine, but Valdimar looked a little worse for wear. Poor man. Between Erandur's sleep-talking and Lydia's snoring, I don't think he got much sleep!

  Anyway, while we were leaving the city, Erandur was fussing with his hair. He was trying to pull half of it up to get it out of his face, but he was having trouble getting it even. Of course, Valdimar jumped to help him, his "logic" being that he was tall enough to reach.

  It only took a minute, but that was fine by me. I looked at the mountains separating us from the Manor and realized that there was an obvious cut through it I could see from Whiterun! Lydia said that we'd been there before. It was the way to Labyrinthian.

  I'd almost forgotten that place. Ugh. I can't remember where I put that creepy mask, but it's probably somewhere in a drawer at Breezehome.

  We decided that the direct route would be best, so we went as the hawk flies and headed overland towards the break in the mountains.

  On the way, we realized that the strange blessing we'd gotten on Mount Hrothgar was still working. We walked by a small pack of wolves, who sniffed at Septim and let us scratch their ears before they ran off to follow a noise in the bushes.

  We then came upon a small, shallow spring, and sticking out from the middle was a skeleton arm holding a glass sword! I looked around, and didn't see anything suspicious. Lydia cautioned me against taking it, but I didn't sense anything magical or evil, so I grabbed it.

  The skeleton arm collapsed, and I looked over the sword. It's just a normal glass sword, if a bit dirty from being out here for who knows how long. Huh.

  We could see a clearing through the trees, so we headed that way. Just as Lydia was wondering how that sword managed to stay unclaimed for so long with the bandits in the area, we got our answer.

  A pair of mammoths came slowly tramping out of the woods and into the clearing the same time we did. They ignored us, but woke a bear that had been sleeping nearby. The bear started to pad away, and we couldn't help but reach out to pet it as it went by.

  A rabbit scurried between our feet, more to avoid the bear than us, and I couldn't help but laugh. It felt like a dream!

  Whatever that blessing is, I think it's my favorite.

  Of course, just as we were all enjoying that peaceful moment surrounded by nature, with beautiful weather and singing birds, it was RUINED.

  Arrows, lightning and fire came roaring out of the trees to the north, and a handful of screaming bandits burst out of the forest!

  I don't know if they were after us or the mammoths, but I decided to let Kyne give us some help! I called the others to follow me as I ran behind the animals and let them do some of the work for us!

  I saw two bandits go flying from mammoth kicks, and heard the bear snarling as we went into the woods to circle around our attackers. There were more in the trees, but we were able to take care of those, and soon we came out in front of some sort of ruin!

  It's a big place, with a set of very tall steps leading up to a domed temple-like structure up top, flanked by high walls on both sides. To the left are some platforms with a canopy, cook fires and tables that they clearly used as a sort of little dining hall, and to the right is a tower with an iron gate at the base. There's also another platform to the right with a door leading into the ruin. Lydia later told me it's known to the Whiterun Guard as Silent Moons Camp, and was generally considered too dangerous to try and clear.

  I can see why! At least half of the people we fought were mages, and they were strong enough that I had to down a half dozen potions to survive.

  Three bandits, two mages and a guy with a big axe were on the ground in front of the tall steps, and came to fight. Three more bandits, two mages and an archer, were at the very top of the steps, and doing a number on us when I heard a bandits near me scream.

  One of the mammoths had come barreling out of the treeline, and it was furious!

  We all bolted for the steps, leaving the bandits on the ground to fend for themselves, and headed for the summit to fight the last of them.

  Lydia, Valdimar, and Septim got to the top and started fighting, and I was trying to Heal them. We'd all been badly hurt, despite not doing most of the fighting. While I was Healing, I heard Erandur, who was behind me, let out a string of curses. I turned to see the mammoth, in an absolute frenzy, charging up the steps towards us!

  Erandur was trying to keep it at bay, and it got halfway up before it finally died and fell down the steps. By that time, the others had taken care of the three bandits up top.

  Once we were certain there wasn't anyone else lurking in the ruin, we all sat down on the steps and took a moment to breathe.

  Once we'd rested for a bit, Erandur and I made sure everyone was healthy, and we started hunting for loot!

  We started with the top, and found a forge inside the domed temple-like building. I also found some interesting enchanted weapons, and a notebook talking about the "Lunar Forge". Apparently, these weapons burn their targets when the moons are out, but the smith writing the book couldn't figure out how to get the enchantment to take on things they made here.

  We examined the tools and such, and as far as we can tell, it's just a normal forge.

  I'll have to see if I can disenchant one of these weapons later and learn the enchantment myself.

  Anyway, we wandered through the camp, taking what we could from the bandits and the supplies. There were at least ten people out there, maybe more, and the amount of supplies reflected that! They were eating well, and we all walked away with more than enough food for the trip home and into Ustengrav!

  There was a door into the Camp itself on a platform to the right, and through the iron gate in the tower on the far right, I saw a trapdoor and a chest. I couldn't open the gate, but I saw that there was hole in the ceiling. I told the others I'd be right back, and managed to climb on top of the wall that led to the tower and jump down into the second floor.

  There was a bookcase with a few things in it, mostly potions, and another Lunar mace. I dropped down through the hole in the floor, and got some gold from the chest before opening the iron gate with a pull chain that was right there.

  We decided to go through the trapdoor because they would clearly expect someone to come through the regular, unlocked door that was right there. They could have a guard or two posted.

  We were right!

  The trapdoor led to a storeroom. There were potions, weapons, armor, food - All sorts of useful goodies in there! We could hear some bandits talking through the door, so we were quiet while we looted the place. The door was locked, but there was a lever right there to open it. We crept to the door, and I got ready to pounce when I pulled the lever.

  There was a bandit right there, singing to himself, with his back to me. He hadn't noticed!

  Luckily he went down quietly, and didn't alert the other I could hear talking to himself in the next hallway.

  There were only two more bandits, and a passage separating the room we were in, and an open area set up for sleeping with a table and some supplies. We grabbed a few of them and such as we went through, and the door in the sleeping area led back outside.

  Before we left the Silent Moon Camp, I took a minute to cook up what I could at their dining setup outside, and we had a quick lunch under the canopy. Valdimar wondered at the fancy silver plates they had sitting out to use, and I commented that they'll probably sell them if they need to, but why not enjoy them, first?

  We set on our way, and ran into another pack of wolves as we started into the mountain pass. They ignored us, instead focusing on a goat.

  The snow started, and I was glad for my new Alteration robes. Keeping Wolfskin going was no problem!

  We entered Labyrinthian, and I let the boys have a minute to just take it all in. Unlike last time Lydia and I came through here, the weather was just a little snowy as opposed to blizzard conditions, and we could see just how massive the place is!

  Valdimar said he'd heard of this place during his time at Winterhold, and everyone said it was too dangerous to mount an expedition. He said it had once been a great city, and a major center of the Dragon Cult.

  As we went through, I took some time to poke around for any treasures I could find. I did find two chests and some urns with a bit of gold and jewelry in them, so that was good. I did have to promise that we wouldn't go inside the ruins themselves, though.

  We ran into three frost trolls, but they weren't hard to handle at all, and we continued on our way.

  While I was digging around, Lydia told the other two about the strange wooden mask we found, along with the note from the mercenary. They figured it must be some sort of teleportation magic, and were glad that I hadn't decided to try to find out where it went on my own!

  I was shoulders-deep in a tall urn, but heard Erandur say that despite evidence to the contrary, I'm not stupid.

  We left Labyrinthian, and got back down to the road. We decided to leave the road and keep going straight ahead. We could barely see Morthal from Labyrinthian, so we knew it wouldn't be much of a trek through the snowy woods.

  We came out on the mill side at the far edge of the lake, and went into town so I could see what Falion had to offer. Not much, really, but I did manage to sell off a spare spellbook I'd picked up. Agni told us that she heard from "someone" that Falion killed deer so he could eat their hearts!

  Falion just rolled his eyes and reassured her that wasn't the case. I pointed out that couldn't be true, because if it were, he'd get really sick, wouldn't he?

  That seemed to do the trick, and she said the people in town said a lot of things that didn't make sense, now that she thought about it. Falion reminded her that a skilled mage needs to sharpen their mind like a warrior's blade, and this was an excellent example to practice!

  Valdimar told Falion not to worry about what people said. He was doing well by Agni, and didn't cause any trouble. The people here would get used to him, like they did Idgrod and himself.

  Falion just sighed, and said he felt like the town rat-catcher. Everyone thinks they're lazy if they see a single rodent, and pointless if they don't! He just wants a quiet place to do his Conjuration research, and Morthal's in desperate need of someone to keep the kind of threats he's good at fighting away.

  We wished him luck with everything, and went on our way. Valdimar was stopped in the streets a few times by guards who were amazed that he was wearing different armor!

  Amid the typical jokes of not being able to recognize him, one asked who he was dressing up for, and another one of them laughed and elbowed Erandur playfully before they said, "Took you long enough to get him out of that old set of his!"

  Erandur got flustered and asked what they were talking about, but by that time they'd left.

  Valdimar was trying very hard to laugh it all off, but he was clearly nervous. He said we should hurry to the Manor before it got dark, so we started on our way back.

  Nothing exciting happened in the swamp, unless you count the chaurus that skittered out of the underbrush and clicked its jaws at me before disappearing into the water. Damned thing nearly scared me to death!

  I am so glad for this blessing. I'll be sad when it wears off, but maybe by then, we'll be headed back up and I can get it again!

  We did manage to get back just before nightfall, and the evening passed quietly. Erandur's doing his prayers, and Valdimar and Lydia are out on a quick patrol around the perimeter. We've not seen any assassins for a while, so they're getting a bit nervous.

  Anyway, I'm going to finish my wine and get some sleep. Tomorrow we head for Ustengrav!

  SOMEONE STOLE THE HORN!

  And they did it just to lure me to Riverwood for… Something, I don't know but it makes me want to forge a thousand nails but I'm too damn tired.

  Still gotta write, though. I need to do something, and this is what I have the energy for. This and drinking wine. The others are just as mad about it as I am.

  So, obviously, we went to Ustengrav as soon as we were ready this morning. The dead bandits were still there outside, at least what was left of them. Inside we found that the necromancers had been back and managed to clear out a side passage!

  We were thrilled we wouldn't have to dig, but as we started down the tunnel, we heard the sounds of battle. There were mages in there, and they were fighting draugr!

  We followed the sound, and ended up fighting both the mages and draugr. We were in a wide corridor, and there was some sort of trap, probably a fireball one, powered by soul gems. They'd been deactivated, luckily, probably by the mages.

  There we found two rooms with lots of urns, half of them empty, but with good loot. I found chests, too. There were lots of potions, enough that we were surprised. It was potions and gold, mostly. Little strange, but I'm not complaining. We also found what was obviously a "secret" door. It rang hollow when I tapped it with my pommel.

  Yes, that's where we came out later.

  I wonder why the builders always do that. I mean, unless you put the draugr in as you go and they're… "active" when you leave, like setting a trap. Oh, and there were so many traps!

  Ya know, that's probably why. It would leave the traps all set and ready to go, and the draugr patrolling, if they awakened.

  We kept going, and found what looked for all the world like a dining area? There were tables set with dishes, and a head table on a dais in front of them. It was strange. Why would you put a dining room in a tomb?

  There was food, though, and some of it was fresh. We figured the mages probably ate there. I mean, it's all ready to go. Why not?

  There were draugr everywhere, but not so many it was overwhelming at all, and they weren't that strong. We didn't find any mages after that first section. Strangely, we also found dead draugr. As in, they were ready to fight, and had been struck down. Recently, too.

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  We all thought it strange, and kept going. We also found open doors, but no sign of more mages.

  We eventually came out near the top of a massive cavern! There's a hole in the top, big enough to let in light for trees to grow. I could hear a waterfall somewhere down below. It was misty and I could barely make out the very bottom, but there's a middle level at the far end that we could easily see. That area was built upon, with a throne and benches at one end, and a tall platform with a flight of steps going up to it. In the middle of the cavern were tall pillars going from floor to ceiling, with platforms and arched walkways between them. Most were crumbled away, but there were some ramps going down that were still good.

  There was only one draugr by the entrance, and the rest of our enemies were skeletons. We managed to take care of them with fireballs and arrows. It was easy, actually. We just stayed up top on one of the platforms and cleared the place out.

  Once it was clear, I decided to try to Sprint across an open space between the platforms with my new Shout. The others weren't sure it would work, but there was only one way to find out!

  And it did work! I managed to get to a side platform on the far rock wall of the cave. In it I followed a short tunnel to a small room with a chest and more treasure! More gold and potions, along with a Scroll of Blizzard. Nice.

  One wall of the room was probably once an open archway, but now it's mostly blocked by rubble and thick vines. My friends were shouting for me to be careful, and I waved at them through one of the holes, and said I'd be right back.

  I was able to safely jump down from the little platform up above, and we went around to see what we could find on this level. There wasn't much aside from some weak healing potions and what the skeletons had on them, so we went up the steps. The top level was nothing but a blanket of fire panel traps!

  I told the others to wait, and I used my Sprint to run across. I did drink a fire resistance potion beforehand, though. I was NOT going to risk getting burned to a crisp if I set them off!

  I was safe though, and looked around. A few more potions and a few coins, but that was it.

  We went down a dirt ramp to the lower level, where there were trees and the waterfall. Through the mist I could see a Dragon Wall.

  Soon enough, I could hear chanting in my head, but as I jogged up to the Wall, an arrow flew out of nowhere and just missed me!

  Past the Wall, to the right of the falls, is a built area with a wooden ramp going up to a narrow platform on the side wall. There was a skeleton patrolling up there, but before it could take another shot an Elven arrow flew back and shattered it.

  I thanked Lydia as she put her bow away, then went to the glowing runes chanting at me from the Wall.

  The light was a soft blue this time, with ghostly whispers in my ears. While I didn't feel any sort of force pushing me, I felt strangely weak, and could feel myself sinking to the ground.

  I could feel Valdimar grab me to keep me upright, but it felt like he was far away, like I wasn't entirely in my body. I felt his grip tighten, and I was vaguely aware that he was struggling to get his hands under my arms to keep me up.

  When I came to, I was flat on my back and they were all looking at me like they'd seen a ghost. Septim was whining and snuffling at my hands. He was wagging his tail and he looked so relieved! When they told me what they saw, I understood why.

  My eyes turned a misty blue color, and wisps of blue-white smoke surrounded me. They said I started to look a little "fuzzy" around the edge, and Valdimar said that when he went to keep me standing, his hands felt like they weren't touching anything for a moment.

  He shivered and said that it was like his hands went through me a little, and he had trouble keeping a grip. That's why he switched to holding me up with his hands under my armpits, but he described it like trying to hold water pouring from a bucket!

  We couldn't really understand it at the time, but soon enough we figured out what the Shout could do.

  The little built section by the waterfall has three short stone pillars in it, about hip-high. They're arranged in a triangle, with a flat side facing away from the far wall. The flat sides also have dragons carved on them. On the far side was a series of iron gates, and we couldn't see any way to open them.

  When Septim went up to sniff at one of the stones, a red glow appeared and we could hear a strange, bell-like tone emit from it.

  The first gate opened, then closed after a few seconds.

  We found that each stone, when you went in front of the dragon carving, would glow red, make a noise, and then open a gate. The gates would close no matter how fast we ran at them, and having everyone stand in front of a stone didn't keep them open for any longer. The stones seemed to "know" if the person going towards the gate was the same one who triggered it. I'd have to run through, then use my Shout to rush past them. I could see pull chains between the gates to open them, so I wouldn't be stuck on the other side when they closed.

  I was starting to yawn, and looked up at the opening in the ceiling of the cavern. It was late, and we considered just camping out there by the trees, but we all had a feeling that the tomb itself couldn't be far.

  We decided to have a quick dinner, and we refilled our waterskins from the pool at the base of the falls.

  I noticed a light coming through the water, and went to investigate.

  There was a little secret tomb just past the falls, with a sarcophagus, a chest and a sword. As soon as my feet touched dirt, a draugr came out of the sarcophagus. He was a little tough, but no match for all of us.

  We then went back to the stone pillars, and I got ready to run through the gates.

  I don't think I'll ever get tired of the feel of that Shout. I wish I could explain the rush. It's amazing!

  I was on the other side in an instant, and opened the gates for everyone else. Just past that was a room and corridor absolutely carpeted with flame tile traps!

  Luckily, there was plenty of rubble along the sides, and everyone could easily stay up on them to get part the traps.

  Unfortunately, Septim wanted to stick by me, and the safe spots were too small for the two of us to be on them at once!

  I had an idea. I would go ahead on the tiles and lead Septim over the stones, BUT I would use my new Shout, first. If Valdimar had trouble touching me, maybe the fire would, too?

  Of course I drank a Resistance potion, first! Being wrong would hurt.

  So, I tried out my new Shout, and realized that I'd become like a ghost! I couldn't touch anything, but nothing could touch me, either!

  I didn't know how long it would last, so I quickly hopped on the tiles and got Septim to follow me on the safe path, while the others were right behind him.

  Just around the corner was a raised safe section that was unfortunately full of Frostbite Spiders, including one of those HUGE ones! They weren't too much trouble, but getting poisoned always makes me feel sick to my stomach for a little while afterwards.

  There was a hallway just off that, covered in a thick wall of webs that we had to burn through. Once we were past, there was a short bit of hall, and at the end, a large gate with a pull chain to open it. We could see a large chamber just past it, with a raised walkway flanked by water on both sides. At the far end of the room we could see a large, ornate sarcophagus.

  I pulled the chain, the gate opened, and we stepped inside the tomb itself.

  Immediately the water started to churn, and we all got ready for a fight. Four huge dragon-headed statues rose from the water, two on each side, then stopped.

  Here it is. It was amazing!

  We were at the top of some steps, so we went cautiously down to the walkway, then went across to the sarcophagus. I kept expecting the statues to start spitting fire or something, but they seemed to be just normal stone.

  We went up to the sarcophagus, and it's the fanciest one I've seen here in Skyrim so far! There are dragons carved on the sides, and dragon-headed statures with bits like wings at the corners. The top is like a roof with spikes along the edges like teeth, and there's an open hand sticking up from the peak.

  Erandur says the Daedric script carved on the sides says "Windcaller".

  In the open hand was a note.

  Addressed to me!

  Well, not me personally, but "Dragonborn". I read it aloud to the others. I have to rent the attic room (WHAT ATTIC?!) at the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood to meet whoever sent it. It was signed "A Friend", but last I knew, friends don't go thwarting your plans and leaving mysterious notes!

  There was no sign of the horn. My "Friend" had gotten to it, first.

  I honestly didn't know whether to scream or to cry. I still don't, really!

  I chose to scream, and set the note on fire.

  Valdimar spat, crossed his arms, and scowled at the tomb, like it was somehow its fault. Erandur growled out curses in languages I thought I knew all the swear words for, and kicked a skull into the water.

  Lydia just stood there, impassive as ever in that faceless Ebony helm. She tilted her head only slightly, and I know she was looking around the room, trying to figure out how the thief or thieves got in.

  I saw the way out behind the tomb, so we left the chamber. I think Septim knew we were angry. He didn't bark or anything as we went out. There was another chest with some loot in it, along with more urns. There was also a pile of gold on a table, which honestly helped my mood a bit.

  We don't have the horn, but we do have some gold, and that's good.

  Soon enough, we were on the other side of the "secret" door, and got back here.

  I grabbed some wine and sat down to start writing. Erandur sat and drank with me in silence for a bit, but soon got up to mix some potions, then hammer out a pile of nails. Lydia got three steps in the door and said that she needed to think, and asked Valdimar if he would come patrol with her. He readily agreed, and followed her out.

  I'm still trying to figure out how and when all this happened. I mean, we've not been around much lately, so there was plenty of time for not only the mages to finish their tunnel, but for the thieves to sneak in and steal the horn. They had to have gone in the back way - There's no other explanation.

  Unless someone in their group knew the Shout.

  Or I'm not the only Dragonborn.

  Erandur's finally stopped hammering nails and is down in the basement now, praying, I'm sure. Lydia and Valdimar are back from their patrol. They're cleaning some assassin blood off their armor, and seem to be doing much better. They also said that the assassin didn't have a contract for me on them or anything. In hindsight, the assassin seemed to be just passing through and maybe headed towards Solitude.

  Oh, well. One less of them to come after me later.

  I should sleep, or try to. It's well past midnight.

  I'll figure out what to do in the morning.

  It's been a mostly quiet day, if you don't count the strange man we ran into in Solitude and the bit of excitement earlier this evening!

  The others know about Erandur's past with the Bard's College, now, which is honestly a huge relief to me. Dodging Viarmo today was hard enough without having to look casual in front of Valdimar and Lydia!

  But as I said, it was a fairly quiet day beforehand. We all woke up a bit late, and decided to go to Solitude to sell off what we got in Ustengrav and resupply.

  The weather was awful! I considered staying home and just working on things around the manor, but we really did need to get some more supplies, like salt. We did run into a trio of Frostbite Spiders on the way, but they were no trouble.

  Once in Solitude, we made our usual rounds to buy and sell. We avoided running into Viarmo by ducking into Radiant Raiment, so I just looked at clothes and such for a little bit to make it look like I wanted to browse on purpose.

  With the miserable weather and disappointing day yesterday, we decided to treat ourselves to a late lunch and drinks at the Winking Skeever.

  We mostly talked about what we wanted to do next, and ended up deciding on going to Riverwood to see what my new "friend" wanted to tell me. It must be important, considering they went to all that trouble. All they had to do was go to Ivarstead or Whiterun and, oh, I don't know - ASK WHO THE DRAGONBORN WAS.

  Considering that there's some weird cult on Solstheim who knows who I am and the Dark Brotherhood knows how to find me, too, I must not be that hard to get a hold of, right?!

  I own two houses! They could've just slipped a note under the door!

  I mean… You can see the Manor FROM Ustengrav! If they can break into THAT place, why not just break into the house and leave the note on the table?

  Anyway, as soon as we get the horn to the Greybeards, we're headed to Sarthaal.

  At least, that WAS the plan.

  We finished our dinner and went to leave Solitude, but I wanted to just… Give Proudspire Manor another look. You know, just for a bit of extra motivation.

  Yeah, I'm excited to get it. We could even hear singing from the college!

  On our way out, I was stopped by a ragged-looking Bosmer man I've seen before, wandering around and muttering to himself. He grabbed my Bound Cloak (I'm trying to get in the habit of Conjuring things more often) and said that he heard I help people, and begged me to help him.

  His name is Dervenin, and he said that he needed help getting his master to… Listen to him? Come back to him? I'm not entirely sure, but he said he won't leave his master. He said that his master went to the Blue Palace to visit an old friend for tea, but not the Jarl. Someone more important than that.

  I was convinced he was rambling nonsense and went to hand him a coin to maybe quiet him down and get him out of my hair, but he handed me a hip bone from his satchel.

  Yes, a hip bone. As in, an entire human hip bone. He said I would need Pelagius' hip bone to enter the abandoned Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace.

  I was too shocked to speak, but Dervenin kept going. He said that the forbidden wing can only be entered with permission from Falk Firebeard, or by talking to the maids, Una and Erdi. They might be able to smuggle me in.

  He wouldn't take the hip bone back, saying that his homeland was in ruin, and that I had to move quickly before he scurried off, muttering to himself again about his master.

  I stuffed the bone in my pack before any guards noticed, and we got our asses out of Solitude before anything else strange happened.

  We swam back across the water, and I took a moment to hurl the bone as far out into the bay as I could before we headed for the house.

  Guess what reappeared in my pack?

  Yeah, the hip bone. I take it out, throw it away, and it just.. blinks back in there, like Meridia's beacon!

  Erandur groaned. More Daedra nonsense, most likely. Given how that poor Bosmer's half-insane, it's probably Sheogorath, the Prince of Madness. Lydia said that it makes sense he'd be in the Pelagius Wing, and I agreed.

  So, now there's the hip bone of an infamously insane Emperor living in my pack, until I do whatever it is I need to do in the Blue Palace to get it out of there.

  Anyway, I worked out my frustration over that by making some more nails, and building some planters in the greenhouse.

  We had a later dinner than usual and afterwards, while the others were cleaning up, I got an idea. I wanted something to take my mind off of having to deal with another Daedra, so I grabbed that lute I'd found from the chest I stashed it in and started strumming it.

  Valdimar asked where I'd found it, and I mentioned that it came from Broken Tower Redoubt. I admitted that I had no idea what I was doing, and offered it to him to try. He laughed and said he had no talent for instruments, but he took it and picked at it, anyway. Lydia was pouring us all something to drink, and asked to try it, next.

  Erandur was on dish duty, so he was in the back room washing up. I saw him lean over, dish in hand, and peer through the doorway a few times as the instrument got passed between us. He looked pained.

  My plan worked!

  As soon as he was finished he came out, drying his hands, and demanded that we hand it over.

  He sat down with a huff and gave the lute a once-over. He rubbed at a few spots with the washcloth and muttered to himself while he tuned it.

  The others looked surprised. They knew he had "The Lusty Argonian Maid" memorized, but I know they didn't remember he could sing (aside from that one time I'm sure Valdimar was eavesdropping).

  "You can play?" asked Valdimar.

  Erandur confessed that it had been a while, and picked out the tune we'd heard someone singing at the College earlier. He apologized for his mistakes, and I saw Lydia giving him A Look.

  I know that look. It's her Thinking Face.

  She asked him what song he liked playing the most.

  Erandur thought for a second, then leaned over the lute and started to play.

  He's amazing! The song was driving and rhythmic, clearly an Ashlander song, but with a lot of Elswyer flair. I think he struggled at a few of the tricky parts, but his hands remembered well enough.

  Valdimar burst out laughing when he was finished, and said something about how he'd never heard of a Priest playing anything like that before!

  Erandur quickly but carefully set the lute down, and said that we knew he wasn't always a priest of Mara.

  Seeing him set down something he'd been so clearly enjoying stung, but before I could encourage him to keep going, Lydia spoke up. "You went to the Bard's College, didn't you?"

  Erandur looked shocked at Lydia's words but said she was right. He'd spent two and a half years studying there.

  Valdimar asked why he stopped and Erandur sheepishly admitted that he'd been expelled.

  Divines, I wish I could have captured their faces. Lydia looked scandalized, which I never thought I'd see on her, so good job, Erandur!

  Admittedly, it's hard to get expelled from someplace whose unofficial motto is, "Practice All Day, Revel All Night."

  Valdimar wanted to know how he'd accomplished that, and Erandur said he didn't know how, but Viarmo, the headmaster, found out that he used to be in the Cult of Vaermina. Not only was he expelled from the college, he was run out of the city!

  He sighed and said after that, he followed the road to Dragon Bridge, but kept going because it's crawling with soldiers and guards, and finally stopped when he got to the tavern in Morthal.

  He said, and I quote, "I crawled into a bottle and fully intended to stay there until Brother Rallis found me and dragged me out."

  I noticed that his fingers were moving without his scarf to worry at, and he absentmindedly picked up the lute again as he continued his story. He said he agreed to join the priests for a prayer service, and that's when he discovered Mara. Or rather, realized she'd been there all along. He received a blessing, joined the Order, and got his name.

  He looked at Valdimar and said, "You know what happened after that."

  Valdimar just laughed, and handed Erandur a cup of wine. He took it, a bit confused, but joined in the laughter when the Nord clinked his mead bottle against it in a little toast.

  Lydia and I toasted on our side of the table, and gave each other knowing looks over our cups.

  There's no WAY that's not flirting!

  Anyway, Erandur's still strumming at the lute; I think he's trying to see what he remembers. He tried to set it down, said it was "fun" but he should do "something else", but we reminded him that he was allowed to do things that made him happy.

  He smiled that warm one of his when he picked the lute up again!

  I swear to Talos that Valdimar's just pretending to read that book. I don't think he's turned a page since I started writing. He's just staring at Erandur over the edge of it.

  I can't wait to tell Lydia later! She's sharpening her greatsword in the basement. We're going to wash up once she's done, then go to bed.

  Tomorrow we go to the Blue Palace, and see if I can get that damn bone out of my bag. I'm not hauling that thing all the way from here to Riverwood, up High Hrothgar, then back again!