Dear reader, I write to you with a dire feeling in my heart - I fear I may be going mad. This morning I traveled back to Solitude, feeling detached from my journey. Brenor's frost-enchanted hammer felt increasingly heavy on my back. I realized I could not bring myself to sell or consume it. I dropped the hammer into the marsh.
As I entered Solitude, I was approached by a man, or at least I thought I was approached by a man, who asked me to find his master inside the Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace. The wing is named of course for the infamous Emperor Pelagius III, known as Pelagius the Mad, who’s death is celebrated every year as a holiday of foolishness and wild activity. As I already had to speak with the Jarl's mage, I agreed in passing.
Or was it someone inside the keep who first asked me? You see, dear reader, I cannot remember what happened in what order. What I can say is that somehow, using a hip (Yes, I believe it was the pelvis of the mad Pelagius himself, given to me by the mysterious servant near the gates), I found my way into a deserted wing of the palace, .
While exploring this wing. I must have suffered a nervous attack - it is the only explanation I can think of. I felt as though I was ripped downward, my eyes filled with sound, and my eyes rolled into my head. When the sensation stopped, I found myself dressed in plain but odd attire, standing in the midst of a forest I had never seen before. The air seemed thick, waving hazily, the sounds of insects I did not know filling my ears.
I walked forward into a clearing, where I saw Pelagius himself - an emperor dead for centuries, who I recognized only from statues and paintings - sitting at a table laid high with food. He was conversing with a man he addressed as Shay-oe-gor-ath, but reminded me of Sheggorat, the Skooma Cat God of Insanity. Shayoegorath was dressed neatly if oddly in bright red, though my gaze stuck on the deep wildness in his eyes.
Pelagius was pleading with Shayoegorath to release him from the forest, which apparently was the manifestation of his madness. Shayoegorath acknowledged me as soon as I entered the clearing. He spoke in rhymes and riddles, declaring he would take himself and his entourage home and free Pelagius if and only if I found a way to escape from this prison of madness.
Pelagius’s voice then guided me through a series of surreal tasks which have become blurred in my mind. What I do remember seems incomprehensible - being handed a gnarled staff called Wabbajack, who’s effect was never explained; innumerable monsters materializing out of thin air, an innocent child lying terrified in bed, and the laughing, mocking tone of Shayoegorath echoing in my head.
In the end, I collapsed exhausted, and awoke back in the forgotten wing of the Blue Palace. My head rung, and though I was breathing heavily, I actually felt... at peace. I felt confident, dear reader, as illogical as it sounds, that Pelagius was now at peace at well. Though unnerved by my journey, I felt solace, concluding the whole episode was my own minds way of accepting Brenors death. I hoped the at I could now continue on my adventures whole again.
Dear reader, this reassurance remained with me until I reached the gates of Solitude. As I was almost in the natural world again, I realized I was not wearing the armor I entered the city with, but the foreign clothing I remembered from the dream. As I searched through my belongings for my armor, feeling confusion and paranoia rising within me, my hand grasped around a gnarled but strangely vibrant staff. I pulled out the Wabbajack, unmistakable in the late evening light. I fired a bolt from the staff at a deer outside the city. I swear to you, dear reader - it turned into a chicken. Curiouser.... and curiouser.
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