Right after the truce meeting I headed up to Paarthumax with Ogol and we put and end to the traitorous worm, and while that upset the Greybeards a fair bit (well at least one of them, the others don't really talk much), my two blades friends were overjoyed. They also asked that I help rebuild their order so they can begin to hunt down the flying lizards once more. However I had other things to take care of when I returned to the Dark Brotherhood HQ to find that Cicero has gone beserk. I was tasked to find the fool and given the nightmare Shadowmere (very awesome horse) to catch him with. We tracked him back to another sanctuary inhabited by murderous spirits, and a named troll. Ogol met his end there and with a sorrowful heart also killed the happy jester. I was starting to like that guy.
Next orc from the village to join me was Ugor, and she quickly proved her skill by surviving an elder dragon and blood dragon simultaneous attack. That was a fun battle! After killing off another imperial fool I was tasked with eliminating a reknowned chef who would be cooking for the emperor. Up near where he was hiding we also helped Salma and Beemja with a cairn they wanted to clear before a quick trip back to Whiterun to trap the dragon Odahviing. After a relatively easy fight he was caught and spills the beans on his master's hideout. He also holds the bargaining chip of me needing him to fly there as it is inaccessible by foot. That's a shame, I remember wandering up the red mountain past all those cliff racers and tossing Dagoth Ur into the lava before even doing the main quest in Morrowind (didn't kill him, but I think that was a technical victory :P) however I guess Alduin has more smarts.
While I contemplated this offer it was back up to Solitude again to cook for the emperor. How the heck does anyone NOT suspect me of being an assassin while wearing complete nightingale armor, bristling with weapons, travelling with an orc body guard escapes me. Instead they accept I am a chef. Just more proof that the empire is filled with morons. The poison dish is served, the emperor is killed and I make my escape - or so I thought! Looks like I've been sold out, and the guy that just died was a body double (you think the emperor would have lots of that with there being magic in this world). After fighting my way to freedom I quickly returned to the Brotherhood sanctuary which was being successfully assaulted by imperial forces. Most of them were already horribly dead by the time I arrived which was awesome. I would have liked to do that myself but apparently missed my opportunity to do so (as Juris informed me later on). Anyway I "save" two of them and the corpse who tells me to continue to hunt the real emperor down.
First I deal with the guard commander at Solitude docks, a short and sharp skirmish that resulted in their deaths and Ugor's. Afterwards I quickly snuck into Solitude (I'm a wanted man) to get Jordis from my house before we swam out to board the real Emperor's boat. There we hack, stab and shoot our way through all of it, leaving the ship devoid of life and the empire devoid of a leader. I also decide to take out the turncoat who ordered the hit, since he sits on the imperial council. The payment of 20,000 gold is nice, and the remaining Dark Brotherhood people request I use it to rebuild their guild and recognize me as leader. What idiots. How about I turn them in instead? Again not an option, so I leave them to rot with the corpse of their Night Mother and ignore her whispers in my head. They and the thieves guild can and should fade into oblivion for all I care.
One a side note, one guild that I felt was very under utilised was the Bard's College so it's good to see that the true bards like Malufenix didn't let that get in the way of them sharing their talents with the rest of us plebs. :D
Skyrim covers by Malufenix:
Dragonborn Comes
Age of Aggression
