My second is Andraste, a 35 year old Imperial woman who served as an officer in the Imperial Legion for 12 years. She left the Legion when her friend, fellow officer, and lover, Hrogar, was killed during an Imperial raid on a bandit camp in Cyrodiil. She has a scar on her right cheek from the same day, which she is both extremely self-conscious about and tries to hide with her hair, and is also upset by as it reminds her of that fateful battle. Although she is extremely jaded and wishes to avoid most types of people, she still possesses a strong sense of duty and honour, and finds herself helping others reluctantly because she can't ignore people who need help - though not without complaining about it in the process. She originally came to Skyrim to visit Hrogar's grave in Falkreath, where he was buried with his parents, but she ended up being captured by the Imperial Legion, of all people, when she bumped into some Stormcloaks near the border and was mistaken for one of them. After Alduin attacked Helgen, her sense of duty impelled her to deal with the crisis, albeit unwillingly, and she has gradually found herself being dragged into the battle against Alduin. She's an expert at two-handed and one-handed swordsmanship, is well-skilled at wearing heavy armour, and is a competant marksman to boot. She's about level 40 now, I think? During her time in the Legion she also picked up some blacksmithing abilities, and has forged her own set of steel plate armour. She still hasn't managed to get to Falkreath, but she has decided to retire in Skyrim once all this is over, and has bought a house in Solitude (after, again, reluctantly getting involved in that nasty 'Wolf Queen' business). She hates magic with a passion, too, finding it frustrating to deal with and dangerously wide-spread. If she had her way, mages would be banned and locked up in a tower somewhere...
Andraste's Diary
"It's been a long time since I wrote anything in here, so I thought I should do so now. Given the circumstances.
I've been in Skyrim for three months now. I got swept away in the dragon crisis for the first of those months; I didn't
want to get involved, but I couldn't in good conscience ignore it and leave Skyrim to its fate. I am a capable combatant and a disciplined soldier even if I am no longer in the Legion, so it was my natural duty to help if I could - and besides, if I had left the whole mess to run its course and Alduin reigned supreme, perhaps even destroying all of Nirn in the process, I was hardly going to be left unaffected myself.
Alduin was a tough opponent, as one might expect, and it wasn't easy to pin him down. Even after learning that 'Dragonrend' shout - and I continue to be amazed at the ease with which I can summon that power, just by speaking the words - he fled to Sovngarde. Who would have guessed that I, a grizzled old Legion veteran, would end up visiting the Nord afterlife itself, in the flesh, to engage a prophetic dragon-god in mortal combat? I only came here to visit the grave of my dearly departed. Which I have now, finally, managed to do. I didn't see Hrogar in Sovngarde, but visiting his grave gave me some much-needed comfort and peace. I hope he can understand.
For me, though, the highlight of the experience was Blackreach. Not just because it was simply astonishing - like a dark slice of Aetherius, hidden beneath Skyrim for all that time, full of wonders I've never even dreamed of before - but also because of Stenvar. I found him while I was on the way to retrieve an Elder Scroll, of all things, from the depths of that marvel, and I hired him as a mercenary. He seemed a capable enough warrior and I needed a second pair of hands, and his fee was quite low. Funny to think of, now. We have travelled together almost without end since my first month here, and we are so alike - he takes no nonsense, and neither of us can stand sitting idle for too long. First he became a friend, and now he is so much more. He simply understands me, and I understand him. To highlight this, once I had defeated Alduin, and we were reunited atop the Throat of the World, I told him of my plans to retire in Solitude. He told me that I wouldn't last a day.
Sure enough, there I was in Windhelm a day later, asking him if he wished to travel with me again. He waived his usual fee.
And together, we fight like a Legion - an inseperable, unstoppable force that none can withstand. He has become bizarrely protective of me, and I of him, despite neither of us being pushovers. I remember asking him to wait as I went to deal with some mercenaries in a mine near Karthwasten - as I fought the malignant extorters, it wasn't long before I heard him come tumbling in after me and engage the mercenaries. I scolded him, but appreciated the sentiment. Likewise, I have been known to unleash a blast of Unrelenting Force instinctively at any foes who might make a move against him once in a while, often even putting my own safety at risk in the process. For which I am scolded.
It is hard to believe that I came here to mourn a dead partner, only to find someone like Stenvar. He can never replace Hrogar, nor would I wish him to, but certainly we are as good a match as any other. His loyalty, strength, skill, devotion, and surprisingly dry sense of humour have made me fall as hard as an injured dragon.
Which is what makes the present situation so terrible. I miss him dearly. We have not been separated for this long since we met.
We had our first argument recently. I should probably explain. We were faced with two problems. On the one hand, vampires have been attacking settlements across Skyrim. At first I thought it superstition or rumour, but then we witnessed it first-hand in Rorikstead, as we travelled back home to Solitude. Then we witnessed it in Solitude, of all places. Someone I knew there was killed in the attack. I was originally content to let it be; I had just defeated Alduin the World-Eater! Surely I owed Tamriel nothing more at this point. But then they killed Octieve. He may have been a drunken old fool, but he was an innocent drunken old fool, and a friend. I became convinced that we must do something about this menace, and I proposed as much to Stenvar.
But we had another problem. Strange, masked cultists have been attacking me, personally, with increasing frequency since I learned that I was Dragonborn. At first it was an occasional nuisance, and between us Stenvar and I could easily fend them off. But the attacks have been growing increasingly frequent, and the attackers increasingly dangerous. I found a note on one of them that indicates they were coming from Solstheim, but that's quite a distance from Skyrim. As we have not heard of these cultists attacking anybody else but me, I felt it was a problem that could wait until we had dealt with the vampires. But Stenvar, ever-protective, disagreed; as he rightly pointed out, "you can't help anybody if those cultists kill you first."
Eventually I persuaded him that the vampires were the greater threat, and that if we left for Solstheim, then by the time we got back there may not be anybody left alive, or at least 'living', in Skyrim. And so we joined the Dawnguard. We quickly learned that the vampires pursued an Elder Scroll, which just happened to be on the back of the vampire leader's daughter, who had been sealed away for her own protection. We had clearly tackled the correct threat first.
But because of her, I am seperated from my Stenvar. We returned to Fort Dawnguard and were surprised to find that same vampire, Serana, waiting to speak to me. She told us of the apocalyptic prophesy her father seeks to unleash, and wished to help us to stop it. I needed her to travel with me to do so, but she will trust only me. Not Isran, the leader of the Dawnguard, and not Stenvar. He was reluctant to leave me alone with her too, but he knew it was the only way we could stop the plot (though not before promising to avenge me if anything happened), and he left.
And now we have been apart for nearly two weeks. I write here in this makeshift camp that Serana and I have made in a place known as the Forgotten Vale, in search of a legendary artefact called 'Auriel's Bow'. It is a truly wonderous place, but I can't help but wish Stenvar were here with me to see it.
Besides, the vampire doesn't fight very well either. Stenvar and I have a synergy between us, while she relies on magic, and I have had to scold her on more than one occasion for using necromancy. As if that's the worst thing she's done. I have grown to trust her and her motives, and I'm hoping that when this is all over, I can convince her to seek a cure for her condition and we can become friends. But she's not Stenvar.
Once this vampire business is over and done with, assuming I survive, I think Stenvar and I will go dragon hunting before we look into those cultists. It may not be romantic, but it's our thing. And at least I understand dragons. Vampires are just... ugh.
For now, though, I have a bow to find.
- Andraste
Turdas, 20th Sun's Dusk,
4E 201"