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vanquishesmain quests. ACT I If only. Captured by the Empire, Estelle has been sentenced to death alongside Stormcloak rebels in a classic case of being in the fucking wrong place and the WORST of times. Taken to Helgen, she is literally pressing her face into the chopping block when Alduin appears and things go from bad to very bad as the dragon starts to fuck shit up for everyone. Escaping, she high tails it through Helgen before escaping with Hadvar because fuck the Stormcloaks for getting her into this mess in the first place. With Hadvar, they continue down through the Keep until it opens into a natural cave inhabited by mostly falling rubble but there are also frostbite spiders and a sleeping bear. Hadvar advises of them to sneak by it, Estelle pops it in the mouth with an arrow. • before the storm Hadvar suggests heading to the nearby town of Riverwood where his uncle Alvor is the blacksmith. Along the way, Estelle spends some time picking (and eating) local fauna and punching wolves in the face with fireball. Once the pair arrive, Alvor asks Estelle to take word to the Jarl of Whiterun of the dragon attack on Helgen, and to ask the Jarl for help in case of a dragon attack on Riverwood. Because, you know, it's not like she just almost had her head chopped off or anything. After taking someone's bed for the night, she sets off into the wilds of Whiterun Hold! She arrives on the outskirts of Whiterun just in time to watch some folks kill a Giant and be accosted for not helping. Skyrim, everyone. Jarl Balgruuf is kind of grateful for the heads up though and figures that Estelle might just be useful in another task. • bleak falls barrow Estelle is asked by Whiterun's court wizard to retrieve a Dragonstone from Bleak Falls Barrow. He believes it contains a map of ancient dragon burial sites and she figures "Why the hell not?" because that sort of thinking never got her in trouble. Besides, old ruins mean there might be a likely chance for treasure and since she couldn't even pay and enter Skyrim legally- it's worth a shot. Unfortunately, the only thing Bleak Falls Barrow offers is (in order of appearances!) bandits, skeevers, more bandits, giant frostbite spiders and draugr. within the last chamber of the barrow Sanctum, there is a curious sight know as a word wall which allows her to learn the first word of the Unrelenting Force shout. Of course, as it stands, she has not clue whatsoever about her power as the Dragonborn and thinks nothing of the strange experience. It doesn't help that a moment later another draugr wakes up from the nearby coffin. Thankfully it carries the Dragonstone she has been searching for and once she stuffs it away in her Mary Poppins bag of random shit, she is back off to Whiterun. Farengar is pretty thankful, as is his mysterious friend but before Estelle has a chance to relax there is word that shit is about to get crazy. • dragon rising Remember how I said shit was about to get crazy? Apparently a dragon (shocking, I know) was spotted near the western watchtower, a short distance from the city itself. The Jarl sends his horsecal, Irileth along with a detachment to help the guards already stationed at the tower. He also decides to send Estelle along because why not, right??? After all, yeah- she definitely saw a dragon but fighting one is extremely different from fighting one. Still, Whiterun has been nice to her so far and she decides to follow along the the watchtower. Not long after arriving, the dragon attacks and the group manages to kill it. Approaching the dragon's corpse, another odd thing happens and Estelle absorb something from it not completely unlike what happened with the word wall. But unlike before, the guards seem to be sure she is something that they call the "Dragonborn" and what has happened is that she has absorbed the dragon's soul allowing her to unlock the power of the word she learned earlier. As it turns out, they are not wrong and Estelle almost knocks a bunch of guards off their feet when she Shouts at them. To make everyone all the more real, as she returns to Whiterun a bunch of thundering voices suddenly boom across the sky with a single word- Dovahkiin. Come to find out, they are the voices of the Greybeards, masters of the Voice and basically a bunch of old dudes that live in seclusion half way to the summit of the Throat of the World- the highest mountain in Tamriel. The Jarl says she should visit because that can teach her about her gift and Estelle silently wonders just what the hell she has gotten herself into. Nevertheless, for her assistance in slaying the dragon and being errand girl, the Jarl appoints her as Thane (an honorary title given to those held in high esteem) of Whiterun. • the way of the voice Arriving in Ivarstead, the village that rests at the foot of the Throat of the World, Estelle begins her trip up the seven thousand steps to High Hrothgar. The trip is tough but the view is worth it (when there isn't a fucking blizzard) and she is greeted by Arngeir, who speaks on behalf of the Greybeards. After proving her powers as the Dragonborn and help to instruct her on how to use her new powers properly. To make a long story short, the thu'um (or the Voice) is a form of magic inherited by individuals that uses the language of the Dragons to form Shouts or spells. Usually, a lifetime of work is needed to learn even one word of one Shout (each Shout is made up of three words) but for Estelle it is different. As the Dragonborn, she is able to absorb the souls of slain dragon and thus their knowledge, learning these words of power in a much shorter time. The Greybeards decide to test her, teaching her the second word to Unrelenting Force and the first word of Whirlwind Sprint and then after her beat up ethereal targets and running through gates. It's super exciting to be the Dragonborn. Her final test is retrieve a item that belonged to the founder of the Greybeards- the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. Goddamn fetch quests, man. • the horn of jurgen windcaller So retrieve a horn, prove for real that she's Dragonborn. Easy, right? Well, it happens to be located in Ustengrav- an ancient Nordic ruin full of bandits and drauger, which much like dragons now, Skyrim is full of. Making her way into the final room, she breathes a sigh of relief only to curse as she realizes the horn is not there. Nope, it's been taken by ~A Friend who says that her organization has been looking for someone like her, and that she took the Horn in order to get Estelle's attention. Well, message received! Needless to say, the walk to Riverwood is full of cursing and fireballs. In the end though, she does get the Horn back (which will be further explained below) and our heroine returns to High Hrothgar where she learns the final word of Unrelenting Force. Then the Greybeards speak to her in the Dragon language and it is an incredibly odd experience, but with this she has been formerly recognized as the Dragonborn. ACT II According to the Dragonstone found earlier, the next dragon to revive will be in Kynesgrove and she wants the two of them to go there and kill it- only then will believe this whole Dragonborn business. Arriving in Kynesgrove, it's hard to miss the asshole hanging out over the burial mound. Oh yes, remember that dragon from the beginning of the game? Aluin? Yeah, he's back and getting his groove thing on. His Thu'um has the power to resurrect the dead dragons and after a brief conversation, he orders the newly revived Sahloknir to kill Estelle and her companion. Needless to say, it would be a pretty shitty game if the lead was taken up by some sub-par dragon and the two kill Sahloknir and Estelle gets another fancy dragon soul. True to her word, Delphine not only believes but reveals she is one of the last members of the Blades. Throughout history, the Blades have served the Dragonborn emperors and empresses of Tamriel as bodyguards. When the Septim Dynasty died with Martin Septim at the end of the Oblivion Criss and Titus Mede was eventually declared Emperor, the Blades did not serve him since he was not Dragonborn. In the time since the beginning of the fourth era, the Blades worked to instead combat the Thalmor of the Aldmeri Dominion which they believed to be a threat. When an Aldmeri ambassador delivered the heads of every Blades agent in the Summerset Isles and Valenwood the result was the Great War which ended only a year before Estelle's birth. When the war finally did end with the White-Gold Concordat, the Blades were formally disbanded and the Thalmor were given free reign to hunt down any Blades agent and by the time of the dragons return- the Blades have almost been completely wiped out. With this, Delphine makes her suspicions clear about the Thalmor about the possible role they play in the return of the dragons and the plan she has drawn up to infiltrate the Thalmor Embassy. • diplomatic immunity As the pair return to Riverwood, she reasons that the return of the dragons goes back to the Great War. The Aldmeri Dominion nearly destroyed the Empire and in her mind, it makes sense they would try and save Ulfric from the headsman axe simply to keep the civil war raging on through Skyrim. To be honest, in Estelle mind the entire idea seems far too personal but she follows along in hopes of discovering something. Her plan to infiltrate the embassy is simple at best; the Thalmor Ambassador Elenwen often throws parties and they will use this cover to sneak Estelle in with the help of a friend on the inside, a Wood Elf named Malborn who holds a fierce hate for the Thalmor. After obtaining fancy party clothes (they're absolutely terrible, by the way) and an invitation from Delphine, Estelle makes her way to the Thalmor Embassy by carriage. Inside, there is a number of familiar and unfamiliar faces around the party guests along with Malborn. With one needed distraction underway by a drunken guest, the pair sneak through the kitchens into a back hall where Estelle goes on alone. As it turns out, the Thalmor knows just as much if not less than everyone else concerning the dragons but they seem very intent on finding some old man in the Ratway of Riften. Rescuing a fellow Thieves guild members nets the information about who the Thalmor seek- a Blades loremaster named Esbern who remains the only person known to remember lore about the dragons lost when their archives were destroyed. Escaping through the trap door, the news is delivered to Delphine in Riverwood who is shocked to find out Esbern is still alive. Guess what the new mission is kids? If you said fetching this old dude, you'd be right. • a cornered rat The sewers and tunnels below Riften is hardly a place to live but when you're a paranoid old man like Esbern, it's sort of needed. Because of everything that has happened to Blades, he is extremely worry about Thalmor spies and agents. Thankfully, Delphine gave us a password "Where were you on the 30th of Frostfall?" to convince Esbern that Estelle is someone to be trusted. After spending a good two minutes listening to him unlock the locks on his door (and there is A LOT) he allows her in and explains that the return on Alduin is bad on a apocalyptic scale. You see, there is a reason why they call him Alduin the World-Eater since he periodically destroys the world. No big, apparently because no has listened to Esbern at all and he has been pretty convinced the world was going to end. And just think, all she wanted was to get into Skyrim. What a turn of events, huh? So after gathering some needed supplies, the two head off back to Riverwood. • alduin's wall Once again we find ourselves back in Riverwood as the trio meets up in Delphine's sweet secret room. As they discuss the issues at hand and the fact the world could very well be destroyed if Alduin is not stopped, and Estelle can't help quietly wondering just where her life took this drastic turn from simple thief with fancy spells to possible savior of the entire world. Esbern tells of a former headquarters for the Blades known as Sky Haven Temple where something called Alduin's wall is located and what he believes might be the key to telling them how to defeat Alduin. Unfortunately, the location matches an area of the Reach teeming with a race of people known as the Forsworn- an offset of the Breton people native to Skyrim who called Markarth and the Reach home until the Nords kicked them out. Fighting their way into the Karthspire, they are faced with several traps designed to keep intruders out since the first Era. At the end, they are met with what Esbern calls a “blood seal” and declares that only the blood of a Dragonborn will allow it to function. Given everything else that has happened so far, cutting her hand and dripping blood on the seal is about the least weird thing she has had to do. The entire temple is in quite the state given the years it has been abandoned but most importantly, just as Esbern mentioned, across the far wall is carved the history of Alduin, the Dragon Cult and the prophecy regarding their defeat. He discovers that the ancient Nords actually used a Shout to defeat Alduin but neither Esbern nor Delphine can tell just what Shout it was. With little knowledge herself, Estelle figures the only people who might know are the Greybeards. As Estelle tries to go over all of this, Esbern also decides to explain the last panel that speaks of Alduin's return and his battle with the last Dragonborn at the end of time. Smashing. With only one option left, it's time to return to High Hrothgar. • the throat of the world So Arngeir isn't too excited to find out that Estelle has learned about the Shout used to defeat Alduin. In fact, he basically refuses to speak with her until another Greybeard speaks in and makes it clear that she needs to speak to Paarthurnax, the leader of the Greybeards who lives at the very top of the Throat of the World. As it turns out, Paarthurnax is a big motherfucking dragon and dragons apparently greet by blasting one another with their Voice. So when Paarthurnax asks her to hit him with her Fire Breath, well... she can't really refuse him, now can she? Unfortunately, no matter how fun it is to breathe fire with a dragon there is a certain business at hand and when asked about the shout, he explains that the shout did not defeat Alduin but simply crippled him. The ancient Nords instead were forced to use and Elder Scroll that sent the World-Eater forward in time, postponing the entire world-eating deal but not actually defeating it but the use of the Elder Scroll did create something that Paarthurnax says could be of use. In using the Elder Scroll, a rift in time was created atop the mountain called the Time-Wound and in order to learn the Dragonrend shout, she will have to locate and Elder Scroll and open the Time-Wound to witness the First Era battle and learn the shout from the ancient Nords themselves as they used it. To make matters worse, dragon grandpa also has absolutely no fucking idea where to find an Elder Scroll. • elder knowledge Directed to the College of Winterhold, the librarian offers much on the Elder Scrolls (after belittling everyone in the family line almost) and their nature. Elder Scrolls are instruments of immense knowledge and power, they are not something that any plain Jane can read without possibly losing their marbles. Worse still, even those that train their entire lives usually risk losing their sight to read just one. To put it simply, there is nothing simple about an Elder Scroll. And to the surprise of no one in the room, Urag does not have an Elder Scroll just lying around but he does offer two books written by a curious person named Septimus Signus and they absolutely make no goddamn sense. This guy, as it turns out, is a specialist in Elder Scrolls lore and since it's unlikely a Moth Priest would show up any time in Skyrim, Estelle sets her sights on the north past Winterhold and its college. The books aren't the only things that don't make any sense, their author is just as incomprehensible and Estelle really wonders if she made a mistake by entering some really remote looking ice cavern in the middle of nowhere. The two do to manage to get somewhere before our heroine loses her own mind, turns out he does know where a Elder Scroll is and he knows how she can get it. Although Septimus doesn't give two damns about the Scroll itself, he needs the information it possess and agrees to help by giving Estelle two items; a blank lexicon and an attunement sphere. Heading south, she finds herself at the Dwemer ruin of Alfand which contains an entrance to Blackreach where the Elder Scroll is located. A deserted camp proves she might not be alone in the ruins but the blood splatters all over tell her that might not be the case. It becomes clear as she finds herself further within the ruins that the groups that have entered before were killed by the Falmer, a race formerly known as the Snow Elves. Fighting her way through, she reaches a mechanism that opens a staircase to Blackreach when used with the attunement sphere. Huh, guess it was a good thing she sought that crazy old man out. Blackreach itself is an immense underground cavern that contains the remains of a Dwarven city from eras past. Much like the ruins, Blackreach is filled with Falmer and ancient Dwemer constructs but Estelle finally makes her way into the Tower of Mzark where the Elder Scroll rests and finally gets her hand on the legendary scroll. • alduin's bane Back atop the Throat of the World, Paarthurnax seems quite impressed by the recovery of the Elder Scroll (and frankly so is Estelle) and directs Estelle to the Time-Wound. Blinded by the Scroll at first, the temporary blindness soon clears and she finds herself witnessing a scene from the Dragon War- a war between man and dragons that predates the First Era. As the battle continues, Alduin appears and is brought to the ground with the Dragonrend shout. Despite their combined attacks, the three anicent Nords are unable to defeat him and are forced to use the Elder Scroll- banishing the World-Eater into the flow of time to an unknown era. As she regains her senses and returns to the present, Alduin appears at the Throat of the World in an attempt to kill her and the one chance to end his reign of terror. As Paarthurnax battles him in the air, Estelle uses the Dragonrend shout to ground him and unleash an attack with Paarthurnax. After a long fight, Alduin once again takes flight and leaves with the proclamation that he cannot be slain not by the Dragonborn or anyone else. ACT III • the fallen • paarthurnax • the world-eater's eyrie • sovngarde • dragonslayer • epilogue faction quests. BARDS COLLEGE COLLEGE OF WINTERHOLD • first lessons • under saarthal • hitting the books • good intentions • revealing the unseen SIDE QUESTS • brelyna's practice • j'zargo's experiment • onmund's request • out of balance MASTER SKILL QUESTS • alteration ritual spell • conjuration ritual spell • destruction ritual spell DAWNGUARD • dawnguard • awakening • bloodline • a new order hey • prophet hey • scroll scouting hey • chasing echoes hey • beyond death hey • seeking disclosure hey • unseen visions hey • touching the sky hey • kindred judgment hey SIDE QUESTS • ancient technology derp • bolstering the ranks derp • lost relic derp THIEVES GUILD • taking care of business derp • loud and clear derp • dampened spirits derp • scoundrel's folly derp • speaking with silence derp • hard answers derp • the pursuit derp dragonborn. MAIN QUESTS • the temple of miraak • the fate of the skaal • cleansing the stones • the path of knowledge • the gardener of men • at the summit of apocrypha BLACK BOOKS • the hidden twilight • the sallow regent • untold legends • the winds of change daedric & divine quests. AZURA CLAVICUS VILE HERMAEUS MORA SANGUINE DIBELLA KYNARETH MARA miscellaneous quests. EASTMARCH • repairing the phial • the white phial • argonian dock works FALKREATH • dark ancestor • deliverly HAAFINGAR • the man who cried wolf • the wolf queen awakened HJAALMARCH • forbidden legend THE PALE • visit the museum in dawnstar THE REACH • the heart of dibella • the forsworn conspiracy • no one escapes the cidhna mine THE RIFT • fight or flight • the straw that broke • the book of love WHITERUN • missing in action • the golden claw WINTERHOLD RAVEN ROCK • clean sweep • fetch the netch • first edition • the final descent • it's all in the taste • march of the dead • paid in full • served cold SKAAL VILLAGE • lost legacy • a new source of stalhrim TEL MITHRYN • briarheart necropsy • experimental subject • from the ashes • healing a house • heart stones • hunting and gathering • lost knowledge • a new debt • old friends • reluctant steward • telvanni research • wind and sand |
