The Scrolls: My Nightmare Come True

Alright, this is going to be a long post so bear with me...

NOOOOOO! I was wrong! I was *so* wrong!....

It all started like this..

Continuing from yesterday, I had sold all of my loot to the weapons merchant and then turned to tell Val we were leaving only to find him gasping on the floor. It looks like the adventure was harder on him than I thought, but i'm not surprised, I'm just wondering why I'm not also on the floor like him with the way I feel. Poor Val. I patiently waited for him to recover, watching over his body while he did. It took some time.
As soon as he got up he checked himself out to make sure he was alright, and I helped him, looking over his armor to make sure nothing was broken.. when he turned to me suddenly and said:

(remember when I picked up that human heart in the vampire caves?) "Nu! It's MY heart!" I replied with a sassy attitude while we exited the shop. Guess Val doesn't like my human heart.

I hurried over to the AU to give the arch mage the grave news that I was supposed to give him all along. Upon entering the grounds I got distracted (Don't I always? :D ) by a room filled with books.
So I picked a couple out to read:

Next I continued to the arch mage, and who do I see inside! The one and only.. my favorite mages guild kahjiit! *I keep forgetting his name...*

I'm so happy to see that he made it after all.

I spoke with the Raminus there, my mentor, and he promoted me to the rank of wizard, which is excelent news! Then I told him about the bad news I had and he looked extremely troubled. My next task was to go retrieve a couple of items that some mages from the AU had run off with, oh what fun. So, deciding to spend the rest of today resting in stead of heading out right away I exited the main building and walked around.
"hmm.... there are more doors here than I remember.." Then I suddenly realized as I was walking around the grounds that the university had expanded! More buildings had been added! Excitedly I set out exploring all the new places!

There was one building that was used for the study of magic (more or less) and had some very interesting things and people in it. Everyone seemed very busy working at what ever their job was. On the way down a long hall I passed a mage studying... and I couldn't help but laugh!

Uh.. Why are you half naked? I guess she decided she studies best half naked.. or maybe she is a man trapped in a woman's body.

Leaving that building I entered the next and found it was what appeared to me to look like an exotic alchemy shop with ingredients i've never seen before! The man running the exotic alchemy building was tough and rough looking, almost creepy (picture Severous Snape) sitting behind his desk. He was completely anti-social and wouldn't talk to me so I ignored him. I was thrilled to have so many new ingredients to explore! Until I came to the big table in the middle of the room...

Immediately upon approaching and leaning in to see what it was I recoiled backward! "UGH!" Making a loud noise of detest caused Val to step forward and also look, wondering what had got me so riled up, just as he did I quickly ran backwards a few feet to get further away from the table.. Here is what was on it! "GROSS! " Then turning to the unresponsive man behind the desk "What are you doing in here?!" The sight on the table was utterly disgusting. I got out of there quickly.

I decided, as the sun had set, that it was time to turn in for the night and we'd start out to fetch the requested items tomorrow first thing in the morning.. bright and early! Merrily I strolled in to the dirty old mages quarters with Val at my side and made our way to the basement (upstairs rooms are still taken). Just as I had picked out the bed I was going to sleep in Val turned to me and said:

He must have been referring to the alchemy ingredients I was looking over seconds earlier, wondering if I needed to go back to that exotic shop and snitch a few things.. but nah.

I awoke first off to a mage standing in my way as he too was getting up, but then to a message..

At first I stood there for maybe a split second with at "huh" look on my face "o.o" But then my eyes widened suddenly as I realized what my dream had been meaning.."O.O" "no... no!.. NOOOOO!" I was wrong!*remembering when I thought the cure disease potions cured me of this in the caves.. I was SO wrong.* I quickly panicked, putting my hands on my head and grabbing my hair while I gasped and looked around, like a panicked rat in a lions den, then found a mirrior (my inventory, but why couldn't there be a mirrior in the mages living quarters? It seems logical) and looked at myself:

My eyes were glossed over and had a tint to them red as blood. I let out another horrified scream! "NOOOOOOOOOO!" I was panicking and whooshing around so fast Val barely had time to show a reaction. All this typing, I did it all to describe actions that took maybe five seconds in game to act out! (not that its all acting, I did have this reaction irl, I really don't want to play Oblivion as a vampire!). Then, whooshing around again to make a break for the door I didn't even get past turning around to take a step when I saw something horrible in the bed adjacent to mine.

A dead mage.. The dream I had... It wasn't a dream! I stood there staring horrified as if hoping the longer I stared the more of a chance it wouldn't be true! After a long time of this, I finally gathered my wits and began making my way out the door.

My mind was reeling with every fact about vampires I'd ever learned.. how if they don't feed they become weak, susceptible to dieing by sunlight.. I have to feed if I want to survive. On my way out, people were still sleeping because it was still early in the morning, I passed by a couple of sleeping people.. I realized I could smell their blood. I wasn't particularly "hungry" at this moment, but knowing I would probly need some later or suffer the concequences, and I don't know where I would be.. Would I be able to get to a sleeping victim at that time? I decided to play it safe and give in to the smell of blood and just take a little from the sleeping victim.

This aught to tide me over until I can find a cure. I realized I did feel a little different. I felt like I was buzzing with energy! I took the time to look at the changes the vampirism made to my stats:

Holey cow! I'm practically invincible! I have super human strength, endurance, willpower, agility.. well you can see it all here! This is insane!

Well this changes everything for me... I can't fight like this.. Deciding to tell the most important change that I have unwillingly made to the arch mage I hastily made my way back to the main building, walking quickly. The sunlight didn't hurt because I was well fed and full of energy.. and people still spoke to me like normal.. except I kept getting strange looks as I walked past. On my way walking past a guard I heard him comment "Are you feeling alright...?". The more looks I got the more I just wanted to put my hands on my head to hide my face and run away whimpering.

Finally I got to the mage and I told him what had happened, he seemed more amused than worried and when I asked for a cure he told me there was one:

Of course! The count of Skingrad is a vampire! I should ask him! Why didn't I think of that?!

On my way out of the Imperial City I stopped to wave my hand at a guard in an attempt to not appear suspicious when I was getting strange looks, old habit from when I used to steal things, to try and not look suspicious when I got weird looks. (*Val's voice* "used to...?") When I suddenly noticed I had a new ability.. I inspected closer and found, not only do I have a new ability, I have two new abilities. I can not only see life forces from far away but now I can also turn others into vampires. Cool! But I still would trade it for being normal again.

I hopped on my tricorn and rode like a frikken hurricane to Skingrad! There I burst in to the castle in the dead of night startling the few people who were in the main entrance and sprinted up the stone steps where I wasn't supposed to go far before anyone could even vocally protest! I burst in to the count's assistants room and rousted her from her sleep! She was furious when she awoke and bluntly stated in a strong voice "Get out!" I hastily jumped into telling her about my problem and her attitude instantly changed to that of tired amusement. She replied she would fetch the count if I waited down stairs. So, after watching her walk off, I sprinted back down the stairs and to the main entrance to wait.

I chuckled at the game glitch, he had approached me from behind Val and Val had no idea he was in the way. The count had something very interesting and serious to tell me. Apparently he had been searching for a cure for a long time now, to cure his wife. She was somewhere in the castle (maybe in that locked room I can never get in to.) and needed the cure. I agreed to get him the cure and in return he could cure me.

On the way out of the castle I realized it was in the middle of the night, everyone was sleeping! It's an ideal time to get me some more blood before I head out! I believe one bite a night will keep me well fed. I snuck around silently, most of the heavily armored guards were still up, and patrolling the castle. I found a man on his way to bed and silently followed him in the shadows. When he disappeared in to his room I slowly, carefully opened the door without a sound, snuck in and fed on him. I was about to turn to leave when I realized I wanted to try out my "turn vampire" spell too! I decided why not try it out right now. I leaned down and turned the man in to a vampire while he slept. He began to have fitful dreams and flail about while he slept.

I tried to capture his flailing on the picture, didn't do it so well. His arms are swinging and twitching here.
I learned that those whom I turn in to vampires are suddenly loyal to me and will do what ever I say, as if hypnotized. This would definately come in handy if I wanted to keep myself vampire! But I could do that with the staff of worms I want to confiscate.. so I still want to be normal.

Val and I headed out in to the dead of night with me on my tricorn and him behind. I rode like the wind again, though this time the night was oddly peaceful than any previous nights. Even though I had always had my tricorn to light the way, now the night was not so dark.. even beyond the reaches of my tricorn's light. I couldn't shake the extremely creepy feeling I had ever since I became vampire though. It felt like a darkness latched on to me and envelops me as a part of me.
As I rode I saw something skitter accross the road. Not ever having seen anything "skitter" accross the road before I slowed down my tricorn to a stop and looked in the shadows for the culprit. My tricorn's hoof steps were the only sound I could hear other than the faint chirp of crickets.. I saw it again!

Eagerly (because my curiosity is that of a cat! And yes, sometimes it does get me killed) I ran forward to see what it was!

I held my staff out to emit enough light to see details and then recoiled with a gasp! It was one of those spiders! "It's one of those spiders! " I yelled to val as I stumbled backwards. He rushed forward and hastily bashed it to death! My hero! Then I turned around to thank him when I saw with a gasp another one was rushing towards Val's feet! I rushed backwards away from it while watching Val standing right in the way without telling him, just curious what he would do .. when Val finally realized it he turned and killed it quite easily. I ran forward to take a look and heard this strange sound .. I turned to realize the strange sound was the sound of dozens of tiny little spider legs skittering on the road.. toward us!

They were beginning to come from everywhere! They were disgusting! I left Val there, there was nothing I could do.. he alone had the strength to kill them, and rode off knowing he'd catch up if I got far enough away.
When We were finally riding down the road, safe again, I began to wonder why the nights suddenly were so creepy.

Half an hour or so down the road I came to another odd sight.

A lone horse stood by the road. I've seen this a couple times before during the day while riding from town to town. This usually means the rider got off to fight something and died in the process. I didn't see any bodies laying around though... strange. That is a little creepy in itself. That poor horse had no rider. With nothing else to do about it, I got back on my tricorn and continued on my way.

Not but several minutes down the road I came to a dead stop with my eyes wide and mouth hanging open when I saw this crossing in front of me.... I just stared, unable to do anything more then that.

A skeleton horse... What is this, Halloween?! When it disappeared into the vegitation on the other side I couldn't help but turn my horse around to look around myself in disbelief, a few times! I began to wonder if in that vampire cave I had actually entered Hell through a portal and not yet returned from it.. (what realy makes me wonder in disbelief is that I never downloaded any mods that I'm aware of that puts spiders or skeleton horses in to the game and i've never encountered them before!)

A few more hours down the road and we were almost there to our destination, the witch we were told by the count to seek out who could make the cure for us. The closer I got to her the more eager I became and the harder I drove my tricorn. On my way over one of the many bridges on the way there my well known khajiit bandit friend had the gall to stop me at such a serious time and demand money. Not wanting to play games with the "i'm a blades member" stuff right now I just glared at him and replied "I smell blood.."
His reply was "what?" looking confused.

Then I bared my fangs with a faint growl and mischievious grin, clearly beginning to take delight in striking fear in him!

Of course I never intended to hurt him, he's my friend! He'll always be my favorite khajiit. He just doens't know that, especially at such a serious time as this. After he expressed his desire to leave I told him to get out of here, which he did at a brisk run! Then Val and I took off again like lightening!

Finally, Finally! We arrived at the little tiny cottage that was in the middle of nowhere. It was about five in the morning now and the sky was just beginning to grow lighter from a rising sun. I opened the ragged cottage door and quietly stepped in.

There she was! My savior! I rushed forward and woke her. she awoke intrigued that someone would be here and I quickly got down to business.
Basically she asked for five grand soul gems, hard to find! But thankfully I am a wizard and in the many buildings and houses in the Arcane University there aught to be plenty of soul gems! Immediately Val and I set out back to the AU to fetch them!

The ride there went quickly and upon entering I began running everywhere gathering up what I could find, from building to building! People were nearly knocked over as I whooshed past them to the next building! During sneaking through one of the mages rooms I heard Val comment behind me:

I love Val for making me chuckle at the times I need it most! Heehee.. it looks like Val is getting to like this thieving thing too!

After gathering all five (which took all day) Val and I returned at lightening speed to the small cottage where the witch is. She greatfully accepted them, then told us she needs even more ingredients. I made a list of all the ones she said. Luckily, one of the ingredients is several nightshade flowers, of which I had plenty! Because they are the main ingredient in making skooma I had always hoarded nightshade flowers, among all the other skooma ingredients, and so had a ton! When I expressed I already had them Val suddenly jumped in:

Then added:

Aww... so sweet Val! I smiled at him and handed the nightshade over to the witch.
My next stop is to get the rest of the ingredients! Blood of an argonian, garlic and some bloodgrass!

Now... Lets play "What is Val saying!"