Feanaro’s Journal – Hunting the Hunter

Not long after my arrival in Falkreath I ran into a man who had recently lost his daughter, a very young daughter.  He appeared more gloomy than the already gloomy city.

After hearing his story it turns out that his.daughter was shredded by the suspect, a man by the name of Sinding who is now held up in a cell in the Falkreath barracks.  I must investigate; a man that violent, capable of ripping a child to shreds must be a specimen indeed!

I tracked Sinding down in the jail and had a polite discussion with him.  He seemed a bit off at first and talked about himself going through transformations that he did not desire.  He stole a ring from a Daedric prince – Hircine – the prince of the hunt.  The ring was supposed to help Sinding stop his transformations from happening but Hircine wasn’t happy about the theft and reversed the effect of the ring, causing him to randomly transform.  At the end of the conversation, he gave me the ring and I witnessed his transformation into a werewolf first hand.  After transforming, he climbed up out of the jail to escape.

Sinding told me, during our conversation that I needed to partake in a hunt for a White Stag.  He showed me on my map where I could find it.  After killing my mark, Hircine would address me.  I look forward to the hunt.

I set out immediately to find this White Stag.  I’m not sure what it might be but I suspect a large elk or perhaps a moose.  I love hunting!

Sinding couldn’t have been more accurate when he marked the location of the white stag on my map.  As I slowly crept up on the location, stalking my prey, the White Stag,  a massive white elk, was standing near a small pond fed by a small stream.

I fired my first arrow, completely unseen, into the White Stag, which did not cause him to fall, instead he gave chase.  I tracked him a short distance and he was atop a small ridge partially obscured by a tree.  I fired two more arrows into him, both striking good hits to drop an elk.  And that was the end of the White Stag.

When I moved up onto the body of the White Stag, an ethereal form in the shape of a large Elk was standing above the body.  Upon approaching this ethereal form, it spoke to me.  I was surprised at first but quickly realized that it was Hircine projecting himself in form to me.

He told me that he wanted me to hunt down and kill Sinding.  Just like Sinding, Hircine pointed out on my map where Sinding could be found – a place called Bloated Man’s Grotto, on the north face of a chain of mountains north of my position.

I set out immediately, not even stopping for refit at Falkreath.  The thrill of the hunt running through my mind the entire time I was in the wild on my path to my next kill.

I arrived at Bloated Man’s Grotto and immediately the scene had become clear to me.  Hircine had sent other hunters to do the same that I had, although they appeared to be working together and accepting me as working with them.  However, their camp just inside the grotto was a wreck and I found the corpse of one hunter and another hunter was respiring his last few breaths.  Neither were in good shape and something violent had put these injuries upon them.

I pushed forward and spotted a werewolf, more assuredly Sinding, perched upon a rocky jut looking down on me.  He seemed upset that I had come.  Nonetheless, I had a job to do.  I pulled an arrow from my quiver and drew the arrow back on my bow and loosed my arrow, watching it fly through the air and sink itself into Sinding’s furry chest.

He quickly left his perch and ran further into the grotto.  I pursued.

When I caught up with him, he was locked in a melee scuffle with another hunter with a second hunter firing arrows into the brawl when most opportune.  I had an altitude advantage, being positioned high on some rocks and was able to fire a single clear shot from my bow into Sinding’s upper shoulder, killing him instantly.

As per Hircine’s request, I skinned the expired werewolf and in return Hircine gave me a set of armor called Savior’s Hide, which is very useful to me.

I think I’ll head to Whiterun now.  I’ve heard it is very neutral in this conflict between the Imperials and Stormcloaks.

Tags: Skyrim