Wolf Skull Cave

Viree was rubbing her head from a headache, she had recovered from her alcohol. However clearly she was regretting her decisions. She asked, "So what are we doing here?"

This was a serious danger, the quest the man who cried wolf was a part one of the two part quest. What made this so much more dangerous was what I planned to do. "A bunch of necromancers have taken up residence within the cave. They are currently in the process of resurrecting the Wolf Queen."

Viree's eyes bugged and she interrupted me. "Like Potema? Potema the wolf queen?"

Oh so Viree had that knowledge that made this easier. "Indeed, and as you can imagine. Potema is still very powerful. The Necromancers are likely still trying to bind Potema's Soul to them." I paused thinking, I was pretty sure the quest didn't have a time limit. This was because they were in a constant struggle trying to bind Potema's soul.

I continued, "I believe if we interrupted them Potema will be freed and escape. I plan to prevent that with this."

I took out the Black Star and Viree stared at me like I was nuts. "Are you fucking insane?"

I responded, "I might be, but that is a minor thing. The plan is simple actual, we clear the cave quickly and quietly. We kill the necromancers and sneak past the draugr. When we get to the ritual site, I will begin the actions to soul trap Potema. You will then have to kill the necromancers alone. Do you think you can handle them alone or do you need Hircine's ring to transform freely into a werewolf?"

She paused, "I should be able to handle this without transforming."

I asked again, "Are you sure? There will likely be a master necromancer. The moment you kill one they are likely to resurrect one of their disciples."

She nodded, "I just got to kill them first right?"

With that I nodded, "Then let's get this done."

Viree took out her great sword. She had bought a dwemer great sword with the an enchantment for fire. That was actually pretty good since I hadn't made us any weapons only armor. I pulled out the Oathblade. I also had the Lucky dagger ready.

Entering the cave we instantly saw a draugr. I pointed to a path and Viree followed me. The path went above the draugr. It also brought us to two necromancers sitting by a campfire. I raised my hand to signal Viree should get the right one. We snuck up behind them and we killed them.

I noticed the two necromancers were holding hands. It made me feel slightly bad, but that didn't last long. I opened the door that led to the rest of the dungeon. Another necromancer, a skeleton and a draugr sat just up ahead. It seemed a novice necromancer practicing with some remains.

We didn't really need to fight them so I motioned to Viree to just jump down into the pit. She looked at me like I was crazy. I whispered, "It's the only path down right now. Just go."

She sighed and slipped past the necromancer and jumped down. She landed with a small clang which made the necromancer turn around. "What was that." They got close to the pit and I tackled them and fell into the pit. I landed on the necromancer at the bottom. The necromancer was dead and the two undead up top were looking around not really looking down here.

I motioned for Viree to continue and she moved ahead. The passage left to a path covered in flammable oil and a broken pot. A necromancer was cleaning the mess up with a mop. I stabbed him in the stomach and moved forward. A draugr and and a novice necromancer we snuck by both of them by jumping off the stair case. We slipped into the old fort that was buried inside the cave.

Slipping past more Draugr we kept moving. A purple mist was swirling around and Viree whispered. "This stuff isn't dangerous right?"

I shook my head, "It is just etheric energies from conjuration magic. The necromancers need to gather a lot of mana to bind Potema. The problem is they lack a vessel to bind her."

We came up to another set of necromancers. They were in a prayer position releasing their mana into the air for the ritual. Viree cleaved the two of them together as I stabbed a unarmored draugr. The oathblade got stuck a little, I kicked the draugr off.

The dryness of draugr was the reason the sword got stuck. The enchantment on the Oathblade also seemed to dim a little. I needed to be a little more careful with it. I didn't want it to chip or break. I motioned to Viree to follow along the walls. I grabbed one last necromancer just before the ritual site.

I cut their throat and equipped their robes over my armor. "I am gonna pretend to be a necromancer warning them of an intruder. You run up soon after and run them down."

She nodded and I ran up the stairs shouting, "An intruder! Someone wants to stop the ritual!"

{Speechcraft level up! New skill tree unlocked.}

A almost froze when I saw the notification. However I kept up my charade ad the Ritual master shouted at me, "You fool, you bring them here! Are you trying to ruin the ritual?"

I stuttered, "I brought a daedric artifact! The black star! Surely it can help in binding her soul."

The voice of Potema echoed and boomed across the cave. I had to cover my ears. "What fools! You still believe you can bind me to your will! I have long waited fro this day, I will not be controlled!"

The ritual master nose started bleeding and she yelled, "Hand me the the Artifact you brought. We might as well... Behind you!"

I threw the Black Star to the Ritual Master as Viree ran a sword through a necromancer. I dove to the ground and pulled out the soul trap scrolls. I wasn't exactly sure on how to do this, but... I activated the soul trap scroll and the purple energy flowed forward into the mist. Potema's form in the center of the ritual glowed with a purple light.

I didn't understand what just happened so I used another scroll to analyze it more carefully. Sure enough he soul trap did work. It just flowed instantly into Potema attaching to her soul. Potema's voice shouted, "You dare try to soul trap me! I will destroy you before you lock me away in some minor artifact!"

The ritual master shouted back, "As our voices summon you the blood of the innocent binds you Wolf Queen!"

Viree cut through another necromancer. It seems they couldn't leave the circle unless they wanted to lose all their mana. Only the Ritual Master could move an she was trying to speed through the ritual.

The Ritual Master continued to yell, "Let the sacrifices of my brothers and sisters drain you of your will! Let the passage of time bind you to this artifact! Let it contain your soul and bind yo-Coghk!"

Blood spilled out of the Ritual Masters mouth. Potema laughed, "You dare bind me! As I said I will kill you before I let you bind my soul."

I pulled out more and more scrolls using them the purple glow wrapped around Potema more. It contained her and her dead eyes matched mine. "It is you who is trying to entrap me! You! How dare you!"

The ritual master collapsed to the ground blood spilling out of their face. Potema shouted, "No, No! This cannot be happening! You tricked me into believing! You! I will OBILERATE YOUR SOUL!"

Viree and the other necromancer were both on the ground. Even my own nose was bleeding. However all I felt was cold. I smirked knowing the Hearth was protecting me. I dove for the Black Star and raised it up high. "I bind you Potema! Be confined to the Black Star weakened and unable to return to Nirn."

Potema's glowing form was flowing no longer around the cave, but was slowly being sucked into the Black Star. Her face was contorted into anger and hatred for me. However at this point all she did was shout and curse and try to resist. "I will remember this! I do not know how you resist my power! However I will find away to free myself and crush you!"

Her soul warped and disappeared into the black star. A skeleton dropped from the air and it hit the ground breaking apart. It was Potema's skeleton, that was certainly different than my memory.

{Unique Achievement! You have done something beyond the expected.}

{Lich Slayer added.}

{Potema's Master added}

{Summon Wolf Queen added.}

{The Black Star is now unusable, changed to The Star Prison.}

The notifications continued as I leveled up and gained several skill points in Conjuration which spread to my other skill trees due to Harmony and Division. I pulled out my lucky dagger and slammed it into the throat of the Ritual Master and dying Necromancer.

I walked over to Viree and help out a hand, "You okay?"

She choked slightly and wiped her nose. "Yeah, my headache is much worse now. C-Can we go back to Solitude now?"

I wiped my own nose and nodded, "The path is just that way."

On a small pedestal a spell tome sat. I picked it up and inspected it. The book on this pedestal should normally be a a skill book. However this was some kind of conjuration spell. I sighed putting it into my inventory and pulled he lever to a drawbridge. 

I pointed, "This way."

Viree used her great sword as a cane and stumbled forward. I grabbed her side and helped her walked. She turned her face away from me as I put her sword in my inventory as well. I was cutting it close to the carry weight limit. I'd need to rank my stamina up.

There was a boss chest across the way. Before we left I checked it and pulled out an unexpected, but much wanted item. Viree asked, "What's that?"

I held up Meridia's Beacon. "Something important. Though useless right now, let's go."

Viree sighed, "I want another drink."

I laughed, "I want to go to bed."