[X] Stay on the tower.
- [X] Parley when they come ashore.
- [X] Politely.
You sigh and finish up the eastern tower. Not perfect, but an accurate rendition nonetheless; except for the island itself, you're finished, and you don't really plan on doing landscapes, except for special cases. You put away your paper and pens, leaving the sketching table where it is, and look at the Dawnguard again. There aren't enough of them to attack even a lightly-held human castle of this size – five aware defenders could kill most if not all of them before they crossed the bridge, and they have to know that – so this can't be an attack force. Are they here looking for Harkon? Do they even know that this is where he lived? They should, you only found this place with information from them, so they should know … so maybe they're just looking around? You consider the possibility that they're trying to negotiate and nearly laugh; the idea is just too implausible for you take it seriously. Draping yourself over the ruined battlements, you wait for them to get closer. They land their ships, running them aground instead of using the perfectly good dock, and a few jump out, bringing crossbows up as they sweep for threats while the others haul the boats farther aground and lashing them to some of the larger rocks. You nod approvingly – they're competent and well-drilled, if nothing else. As they near the foot of the tower you stretch and lean over the wall.
"Hello, down there!" They all look up as you poke your head over the wall and wave. A dozen crossbows snap up to point at you threateningly. "Are you lost? Looking for something?" There's some concern over your appearance, it seems, with a bit of discussion, and then the soldiers pull back a little, trying to keep away from any potential ambushes using the tower's entrance. They don't reply, not even a brief acknowledgement, although most of the archers lower their crossbows, so you elect to overlook their rudeness, at least for now. If they don't respond soon, though ….
"You know, I –" You whirl about, Laevateinn leaping to your hand, in search of the voice's owner. You just start to recognize the voice, to see the barest haze in the air, when Vita fades into view, eyebrow raised questioningly, warhammer held loosely at her side. "Excitable, aren't you?" You stare at her blankly for a moment, then dismiss your gift and give yourself a shake, relaxing tightened muscles as you try to figure out your reaction. Maybe you were just expecting it to be one of the vampires, finally making a try for you, or that the Dawnguard's approach had been so obvious that you couldn't help but think it was a trap of some kind. Vita frowns slightly and you shake your head vigorously – this is no time to go chasing possibilities around your head! You smile and curtsy.
"I take it, then, that you are the Dawnguard's ambassador?" She snorts and shakes her head.
"I guess, although if you come down no one'll attack you; Torkild's got a good head, and I've made sure to explain how dangerous you can be." You giggle politely.
"Oh, no, if I went down there and mingled I'd need to take official action and go get Garan and do all that formal stuff. If it's just you, though, I can just talk, at least until someone looks out a window and sees them waiting there." You drift back and sit on the crumbling wall. "So, what are you here for? Want to leave this world and try to go someplace civilized?" You take a sip of your tea and make a face at it.
"Forget already? There's a vampire here who wants to conquer the world, and he's using a Lost Logia to do it. That means my job as a member of the Bureau is to stop him and make sure the Elder Scroll is properly taken care of. And that means the Dawnguard and I are working together. And I didn't come alone because I'm not sure just how powerful this particular vampire is, and because you're a wild card." You preen, seemingly oblivious to her glower. "Who's in charge over there?" You pout at her, then spring forward, quick enough that she can't duck away but slow enough to make it obvious it's not a trap, and wrap your arms around her, inhaling deeply. She gives you a wary look as you pull away, and you smile and clap your hands – the scent of blood, of destruction is stronger than before, when she was holding back. She can, and will, kill.
"In charge? That would be me, actually. Castle Volkihar is mine, until I decide to do otherwise with it. The vampires within have all sworn their loyalty to me, Harkon is dead, and that idiot prophecy won't be attempted." Vita sighs in relief.
"Haa~ I guess that's the result I was pretty much hoping for – Isran was certain you'd have joined up with them." You snort in disgust.
"The plan was insane and doomed to failure in any real sense."
"So what was it?" You raise an eyebrow and she shrugs. "We never got a clear picture of what was going on. What I know is that a pack of vampires destroyed the Dawnguard's parent organization, and the team that was sent after them to learn what they were after saw them … resurrect another vampire, or something, and that vampire had an Elder Scroll. The team was nearly wiped out, but after the survivors got back, Isran stepped up the patrols. The vampires we did catch gloated about how much we didn't know, and how we couldn't fight an Elder Scroll. Florentius got the idea to ask for help at the College, and after a bit of redirection we went through Blackreach and found the other Elder Scroll. But we haven't been able to read it, and we didn't know what the vampire's plan was." You relax a little – if they couldn't read the Elder Scroll either, then that's more proof that what you saw – didn't see – was normal. Obviously there's some sort of method that lets you see the interpretation of Fate that a Scroll holds, and since you didn't do that, you couldn't see it and it didn't do anything to you.
Of course … you sigh. Now you're starting to run out of time. Crisis over, Vita knows it and Hermaeus Mora probably does as well, and that means he'll probably start moving against her, so you need to do something about her soon. But what to do about the castle? You don't feel particularly comfortable leaving Garan in charge, especially over Serana, and you don't particularly trust either of them to stay loyal, especially since you don't know when you'll have a chance to return. Maybe you should just turn it over to Serana and get a retreat somewhere else? And there's the Elder Scroll itself. Try to hide it away in the castle somewhere? It'll probably be found. Give it to the Dawnguard? You don't have any reason to trust them with it, although Vita would probably suggest that, and if you give it to her she probably will just hand it over to them. Maybe you could take it with you when you leave? Headless nudges you gently out of your reverie and you see Vita staring at you concernedly, and you quickly think back to her last question.
"Oh, it was … something about reducing or destroying the sun, so it would be permanent night and vampires would never tire. Like I said, doomed to failure." You glance down at the Dawnguard; they seem to have relaxed a little, and you suspect Vita is talking to them. Maybe you should visit them and … dissuade them from causing any trouble while you're gone? Perhaps dissuade them permanently? Vita might disapprove, though, and that might make things more troublesome at Mid-Childa ….
What do you do?
[ ] Write-in
DM NOTE: Right, so that's a write-in. I'm honestly not sure where to take it from here; several of you have made noises about keeping Castle Volkihar. Doing so will require more time spent working with whichever Castellan Flan chooses (Serana or Garan Marethi) – probably a couple weeks – to make sure that that person is loyal enough and capable enough to leave in charge for months at a time without any immediate supervision. Keep in mind that Vita won't be with Flan during that time; Flan will be busy making sure that her castle is in good hands and the other power blocs aren't capable of threatening her dominance despite her absence. So that needs to be decided.
There's also the Dawnguard to consider. For those who don't know, in the game Isran, the leader of the Dawnguard, gradually shifts from "Murder every single vampire on the planet until they're exterminated" to "Maybe some vampires aren't all bad," largely on account of Serana aiding the Dawnguard against her father. Which, obviously, hasn't happened here, and he's still basically genocidal, so while the Dawnguard doesn't have an immediate threat to keep some of its members, there are some people who will keep working on eradicating the vampires. Whether Flan wants to do anything with them – try to negotiate, wipe them out, whatever – or just ignore them needs to be worked out.
The Elder Scroll. If you want to hide it, where? Give it to someone, or trade it for something? Just leave it where it is?
Just want to leave with Vita? Want to stay and talk with her for another update? Something I haven't brought up? It's a write-in because I don't want to try writing out all the permutations of votes. I am willing to extend voting time if it seems necessary, and I'll try to answer questions, but … I don't know where to go from here.
And also, I've been having trouble writing this update for some reason. :|
