UESP Forums

After using her Thieves Guild membership to get out of trouble for assaulting Rolf, Delia-Jessamine Maric, good-hearted but shady Breton stealth-mage, wanted to ensure she stays in the Guild's good graces. She decided to donate another artifact, Chillrend to the Cistern's collection.

Jess told Torvar she was going to market to sell the sword, which was about half true.

After slipping into the Ratway, Jess changed into her wedding dress, the revealing little number that Jess had worn to her wedding, not knowing it was inappropriate for a bride. Jess always wears the wedding dress to the Ragged Flagon to torment Brynjolf. As always, Brynjolf brushed her off, but she still felt she had made him uncomfortable, which was satisfying. After donating Chillrend to the Guild, she went to the statue of Nocturnal. She did not pray, but merely wanted the thieves to see her near it to remind them of her sacrifice.

Jess wondered about her status in the Guild, so she spoke with Vekel. Who would know better than the bartender? Vekel's words assured Jess that she was esteemed. "Let me know if you need anything," she said appreciatively, a statement she immediately regretted as, in fact, Vekel did need something. He had a buyer for some rare journals of a necromancer, he explained. Could Jess retrieve the journals?

Jess's initial reservations about doing another job for the Guild went away after she learned more. It might help with another problem for Jess: How to get Brelyna to accept that Jess's membership in the Guild isn't all bad. It turned out that this necromancer has been doing horrible things at the Nordic ruin Yngvild. As Thane of Winterhold, Jess felt an obligation to act on the tip, and hoped Brelyna would be willing to help. If Jess revealed where she got the tip, maybe Brelyna's opinion of the Guild would change.

Jess returned to the marketplace, did a bit of trading, and returned home.

"That isn't the dress you were wearing when you left," Torvar observed. Jess realized she had forgotten to change back into her more modest dress after leaving the Ragged Flagon.

"No... it isn't... I wanted to... surprise you... by wearing it to temple for our blessings... just like I wore it during our wedding... and then I could wear it back here afterward, and... it'd be like we just got married!" Jess said with increasing excitement.

The alibi didn't make complete sense, but Jess is not above pretending to be dumber than she really is. So they went to the temple of Mara for blessings and returned to Honeyside. With Iona patrolling dutifully, Jess and Torvar shared a bottle of wine. Jess woke up with the blessing of Lover's Comfort a couple hours later.

Feeling relaxed, she and Torvar shared a sweetroll. Jess decided it was a good time to explain why she had gone missing for 5 days and why she needed to go back to Winterhold.

About the former, Jess told Torvar the truth: That she woke up in Winterhold and didn't know how she had gotten there.

"I was afraid to tell you because you might hate me," Jess said looking at Torvar doe-eyed. Torvar said she needed to stop using sleeping tree sap to help her sleep. "Oh no, I hadn't taken any," Jess said, her need for the drug trumping her need to make the excuse more believable.

"But I need to go back," Jess said and explained (lied) that Brelyna is investigating an evil necromancer, and that, as Thane of Winterhold, she is obligated to help. "I need to leave in the morning," Jess said. "What do I have to do to convince you it's all right?"

Jess left for Winterhold a few hours later, tired, but freshly blessed with Lover's Comfort. She stayed in Kynesgrove for the night and arrived at the College the next afternoon.

Brelyna was in her room. Jess explained her unusual request.

"One of the thieves told me about this, so I know what you're thinking, but hear me out." Jess explained about the necromancer Arondil and that she had a duty to investigate.

"I'll help you... as a thane, not as a thief," Brelyna said.
"We're not stealing anything. We're going to investigate a necromancer."

They left before dawn. Jess calmed various wildlife along the way. The swim to the barrow was... invigorating.

Yngvild contained draugr and ghosts. The two mages fought their way through the caves, collecting and reading Arondil's journals along the way.

So Arondil liked the Dawnstar girls, too, Jess thought, remembering Torvar's infatuation with Karita. But the journal entries became increasingly disturbing.

"See? It's a good thing I got this tip," Jess said to Brelyna.

Sneaking into the last room, they saw Arondil himself, guarded by the ghost of one of his victims.

"Want to see some poetic justice?" Jess said to Brelyna, just before she frenzied the ghost against Arondil. Jess had never frenzied a ghost before and was a little surprised herself that it worked. There was also a draugr, but the women had little difficulty with their foes, especially with Arondil being attacked by his own slave.

There was one more ghost in Arondil's bedroom. She saw the two mages, but Jess calmed her. They decided to leave her be, though they weren't sure that was the right thing to do.

Jess sneaked behind the ghost and tried to pickpocket her, but was unable to. "What are you doing?" Brelyna asked. "Nothing," Jess replied. "You were trying to pickpocket a ghost, weren't you?" said Brelyna disapprovingly. "Yeah," Jess replied, embarrassed.

It was already morning and the two tired mages returned to Winterhold. Jess napped at the inn before meeting Brelyna at the College. She convinced Brelyna to go with her to take the journals to Vekel. "You were part of this and you should meet the source of the tip that probably saved women's lives," Jess said. "But... when you see Torvar, pretend that you were the source."

The next day, they traveled to Kynesgrove for the night, then on to Riften. After hanging out at Honeyside, Jess and Brelyna went shopping. Actually, they went to the Ragged Flagon. Brelyna had never been in such a disreputable establishment, but seemed fascinated instead of afraid.

Vekel thanked them but gave no reward, and allowed them to keep the journals.

"See?" Jess said to Brelyna, "The Guild did some good, and it wasn't even for money."

After hanging out at Vekel's bar for a little while, Delia-Jessamine Maric, Breton stealth-mage, abduction-stopper, and bad influence, took Brelyna to the market and stopped by Brand-Shei's stall. It had occurred to Jess that Brelyna and Brand-Shei are both descended from the House Telvanni. However, Brand-Shei was too humble to talk about it.

Jess also took Brelyna to the temple to meet Dinya Balu and to try converting her friend. Brelyna complied and prayed at the shrine, but it was unclear if she received a blessing. Maybe she was just being nice by pretending to pray.

They returned to Honeyside, which was a little crowded with the three women and Torvar. Jess enchanted some new jewelry for Brelyna, a gold emerald ring fortifying Magicka Regen and Health and a silver emerald necklace fortifying Magic Resistance and Health. Jess gave Brelyna Iona's room for the night, as Iona has no trouble sleeping in a chair.

They discussed the journey back to the College. Brelyna was not pressed to return, so they decided to detour through Darkwater Crossing and Dawnstar. Jess wanted to see her friends in Darkwater and check on the ladies in Dawnstar, since the women Arondil abducted may have been from there. Jess told Torvar that it might be several days before she returned, so she made it up to Torvar in advance. She and Brelyna left the next morning.

On the way to Darkwater, Jess wanted to recon Fort Greenwald. She had found bandits there once and hadn't checked it lately. Sure enough... bandits. Jess poisoned her bow and sniped a bandit, killing her with one shot. She sniped another, but merely wounded him and he alerted two others. They killed two of the bandits, but the third had an advantageous position on top of the tower. As killing bandits was not their primary objective, Jess decided to move on and return another time to clear the fort.

They noticed a cave that Jess had not seen before. Boulderfall Cave. Jess used her Detect Life spell to determine that an evil-hearted being was guarding the entrance. They fought and killed the necromancer, whose body fell into the rocks below.

Jess asked Brelyna to wait while she climbed down the rocks. Felling insecure, Brelyna told Jess "Just don't forget about me." Jess replied that she could never forget about her, then climbed down and looted the body. Then she returned to the entrance and sneaked into the cave.

Turning, Jess wondered "Where's Brelyna?... Oh no, I forgot about her!"

Brelyna was outside, looking sad and confused. "Come on, love," Jess said to reassure her friend. They entered the cave and killed another necromancer. There was little of interest, but Jess took a few slaughterfish scales, as she thought her stock was low and it is useful in one of her custom poisons.

They arrived at Darkwater Crossing that evening. Jess was relieved to find that things were normal - there had been no more Imperial attacks. Brelyna had never been to Darkwater before, so Jess introduced her to everyone. They hung out by the fire for a while before sharing a tent for the night.

They continued the next morning and passed Morvunskar. Brelyna knew the significance of the fort to Jess and wanted to go inside. Jess liked this new Brelyna - the visit to the Ragged Flagon made her friend a little less stuffy.

Evil mages had returned to the fort. The mages were not very strong and the two friends made quick work of them. Inside, they heard a fight in progress. What could be going on? They ran downstairs to investigate.

It was... Sanguine?!? He was fighting some mages below and had killed several already. Jess and Brelyna killed the others.

Jess spoke to Sanguine but he was disinterested and had little to say to her. Had he satisfied his urges regarding Jess when he used her to befoul the temple of Dibella? Or was he upset with Jess for getting married? Oddly, Jess found that her feelings toward Sanguine were like her feelings toward Brynjolf. She resented Sanguine because he was brushing her aside, not because of what he had tricked her into doing.

Brelyna was unimpressed.

They made it to Nightgate by evening. They went to bed early and left for Dawnstar in the wee hours.

In Dawnstar, Jess traded with Seren, who she hadn't spoken with in quite a while. Jess was relieved that Seren was alive and congratulated her for being "with child." Then Jess and Brelyna went to the Windpeak for breakfast and to check on the ladies there.

Fortunately, the ladies of Windpeak were not among Arondil's victims. Jess asked Karita to sing "Ragnar the Red" - her rendition is Jess's favorite. Though Jess had once been a tavern wench herself, she had no musical talent. How lucky Karita is to sing so well! Jess wondered if she would have married Torvar if she hadn't felt jealous of the attention he gave Karita when they had visited Dawnstar together. She couldn't blame Torvar for that, though, as Jess found herself having naughty thoughts about Karita.

After breakfast, Jess and Brelyna looked around Dawnstar and accounted for all of the other ladies Jess knew there. She was glad to have stopped Arondil before he abducted anyone else.

Jess was in high spirits and had a song in her heart, "Ragnar the Red" specifically, until she saw Horik Halfhand walking around in his Imperial armor. Then she felt offended. The nerve of him wearing that armor in a Stormcloak hold! Strange. She hadn't felt that way the first time she came to Dawnstar over a year ago. But it didn't seem right to her now.

It was still morning, so Jess and Brelyna left Dawnstar and arrived in Winterhold around nightfall.

After arriving back in Winterhold, Delia Jessamine-Maric, Breton stealth-mage and music lover, said goodbye for now to Brelyna and went to the Windpeak for the night. She left before dawn, intent on getting back to Riften that day.

Near the border to The Rift, Jess encountered the old Orc that had been waiting patiently for an honorable death. He had been waiting a long time for this - probably least a year and a half since Jess first turned down his request - but Jess decided to oblige this time. Jess wasn't sure what an honorable death meant to him and suspected that if she used her most powerful magic, he wouldn't last long. So she conjured a Familiar merely to symbolize her prowess at summoning, drew her dagger, and the fight began.

Apparently, living off of the same two sabrecat corpses for so long had severely weakened the Orc, as the fight was very short. Jess hoped that she had provided an honorable death.

Jess arrived in Riften that evening ,and devoted the next day to domestic life and to Mara.

There was still the unfinished business of clearing bandits at Fort Greenwall, so Jess and Torvar went there the next morning. Entering the interior, a bandit was coming up the stairs, but he hadn't seen them yet. Fortunately, Jess was able to kill him with one shot from her poisoned bow, so he didn't alert the other bandits. After that, she told Torvar to stand guard, then sneaked about killing bandits with her dagger. Soon the fort was cleared without having to engage in a fight.

The next day, Jess went to market and traded a Dragonscale shield to Brand-Shei. She had found the unusual shield a while back and had no use for it. She still feels guilty about trying to set up Brand-Shei for Brynjolf's scheme (though she got caught and failed), so she provides him with unusual items.

That evening Jess began to prepare for an upcoming trip. Her work in Riften largely done for now, it was time to travel to Solitude. As thane of Haafingar, Jess wanted to do for that hold what she had done for Winterhold and The Rift - explore it and make it safer. She intended to begin the trip in two days and expected to be away from Riften for at least a month.

She still needed to craft some gifts for the Companions, so that evening Jess enchanted some more jewelry. She had already crafted rings a few weeks earlier. Now it was time to create necklaces, each one dual enchanted with Fortify Health and Magic Resistance.
Aela: Gold Ruby. She can’t wear silver, obviously.
Athis and Farkas: Silver Sapphire. In appreciation for attending her wedding. Farkas should be over his aversion to silver, now.
Njada, Ria, and Vilkas: Gold Amethyst.
As before, Jess enchanted a piece for Skjor identical to the one for Aela, but didn't know if he would accept the gift.

The next morning, Jess went to see Anuriel about any last minute work. Bandits at Nilheim. Interesting. Jess was there recently and didn’t see any bandits, just "guards". Hmmm. She and Torvar left immediately for Nilheim.

Along the way, they passed through Sarethi farm and alerted a nearby troll. However, the Sarethi girl Aduri beat Jess and Torvar to the troll and began attacking it with her knife. "Is she out of her mind?" Jess thought. Jess got between the girl and the troll, attacking it with her dagger. Not Jess's normal tactic against a troll, but she had to save the foolish girl. She was able to draw the troll's attention from the unarmored girl, and soon the troll was dead. Aduri was unimpressed. "This place is boring," she said. "Nothing but the same thing every day."

Jess and Torvar continued to Nilheim.

Near Nilheim, Jess saw a man sitting beside the road. Telrav. He wanted Jess and Torvar to help reclaim his camp from bandits. He ran toward Nilheim before Jess could explain that she and Torvar were there to kill the bandits at Nilheim, anyway. Jess ran after Telrav... bad decision.

Surprise! This was not the kind of fight Jess likes, but Jess can only blame herself for getting into this mess. But with Torvar’s help, it wasn’t too bad. Soon Nilheim was cleared.

As it was late afternoon, Jess and Torvar decided to stay at Nilheim for the night. Inside, Jess found a Daedric armor of Peerless Conjuring. Wow. She tried it on and was surprised to find that it fit her perfectly . It seemed designed for small Breton women. Too bad she doesn’t like wearing weird spiky armor.

Nilheim is such a beautiful location and one of the moons was out. Jess thought it was Secunda, but wasn't sure. She and Torvar sat by the fire, ate dinner, and had a bottle of wine. With some fixing up, Nilheim might be a place she could retire to someday.

They returned to Riften the next morning. Jess sold the enchanted Daedric armor to Brand-Shei for far below market value, but whatever. After trading in the market, she collected the bounty from Anuriel.

That evening, Jess got ready to leave for Whiterun the next day. She made sure to pack her stock of Sleeping Tree sap, gifts for the Companions*, and the book "Lost Legends" so she can continue to investigate the Gauldur legend while in Haafinger.

After changing into her nightgown, Jess went outside and said goodbye for now to her chickens. It made her sad to leave for such a long time, but she looked forward to seeing her friends again.

*Due to a minor glitch that isn't worth explaining, half of the Companions will get rings on this trip and the other half will get necklaces. Jess will give them the remaining jewelry pieces on a future trip.