Hour 27: Darkness Rising

The goblins turn out to be Sharp Tooth tribe, and they are Skirmishers. What this means, as far as I can tell, is that they are huge. No longer the little runts I used to terrorise with impunity, these goblins are actually much larger than me. In fact, they can't be that much smaller than a troll, and they attack with almost as much ferocity. A passing Imperial Soldier helps me slay the two guarding the entrance, and I head in alone with some trepidation.

The cave (well, it's the Derelict Mine, actually - I think I've been here before, but it must have been repopulated since then) is crawling with the blighters, and what's worse is that they seem keen to hang around in pairs. It's a hard slog but I manage to kill them all and escape without using too many potions.

I then head into Skingrad under the veil of darkness and check into the Two Sisters Lodge to get some rest and level up. Little did I know that the darkness not only veiled the land but also dwelt within me... As I settled down in my bed to rest, expecting to see the familiar 'level up' screen, I was instead greeted by this:

I read it with increasing alarm. This cannot be! What have I done? I have to check myself, and sure enough I see my eyes are now red and my face twisted.

I am a vampire, a foul foul vampire! It's then I remember that whilst battling Seridur's cursed cronies a while back, I was scratched by one of them and infected with the disease. I forgot to cure myself, and now it's too late! I consider reloading, but the nearest save will set me back quite a while, so I decide to press on. Whether I will regret this decision remains to be seen...

I continue with the quest at hand - I must speak to Count Skingrad. However, his advisor makes me wait a day before I can see him. Waiting causes me to progress to the next stage of vampirism - where I take damage from being out in the sunlight! It damages me slow enough that I can keep my health topped up by healing, but it's clearly no good! I take shelter in a guard tower until nightfall, then creep out and sneak into the Mages Guild, whereupon I slake my unholy thirst upon an unsuspecting Argonian Mage.

I then meet with the Count's advisor again, but he had tricked me and didn't want the Mages Guild interfering in Skingrad, as he was in league with the necromancers. He and two Necromancer goons attempt to slay me, but the Count comes to my rescue.

I speak with the Count, then return to the Arcane University to report my findings. I've already resolved that I must cure my vampirism, as taking rapid damage in daylight is too much of a hindrance for me - fortunately, Raminus Polinus has dialogue about curing vampirism, so I start that quest - which entails me heading all the way back to Skingrad to speak with the Count again!