Harold Burned-Mane

Harold Burned-Mane
Race	Nord
Gender	Male
Age	43
Status	Alive
Titles	Jarl of Hjaalmarch, Ysmir, Stormblade, Thane of Skyrim
Factions	Skyrim, Stormcloaks, Hjaalmarch Hold, Dragonguard, Dawnguard
Birthplace	Whiterun, Skyrim
Family	Aenar of the Burned Mane (Ancestor - Deceased) Rigmor Burned-Mane (Father - Deceased) Liesl Burned-Mane (Mother - Deceased) Serana Burned-Mane (Wife) Valerica (Mother-in-Law) Rigmor Burned-Mane (Son) Liesl Burned-Mane (Daughter).

Harold Burned-Mane, also know as Ysmir, Stormblade, Dovahkiin and Last Dragonborn, is a Nordic Dragonborn. He was the hero of the Dragon Crisis, the Tyranny of the Sun Prophecy and Miraak's Return in the 4th Era. He is the current Jarl of Hjaalmarch, ruling from the city of Winstad which he founded. He is also a Thane is every hold in Skyrim, holding political influence in all holds, not just his own.

Early Life

Harold was born to Rigmor and Liesl Burned-Mane, in Whiterun on the 20th of Evening Star in 4E 174. Their clan, the Burned-Mane clan, is as old as the city itself. Their founding member was Aenar of the Burned-Mane, one of the 500 Companions of Ysgramor. The clan had a house in Whiterun but because of the apparent extinction of the clan it was sold to a Redguard family.

Rigmor and Liesl both died in the Battle of the Red Ring during the final year of the 1st Great War. Rigmor was a Nord warrior and part of the Legion. Liesl was a Battle-Maiden and former priest of the Temple of Kynareth. Her father was an Imperial and she inherited his skill in restoration. Their son was only 1 year old when they answered the call of duty and departed along with General Jonna and his Nordic Legionnaires to take back the Imperial City. Their bodies were buried along with countless other dead Legionnaires in the Imperial City's cemetery, with their names carved into the Red Ring Memorial located in the Palace District of the city.

Because of his parent's death Harold was sent to the Riften Orphanage, he grew up there. Like many of the other orphans there he hated Grelod the Kind, who was always mean to him. Since his youth he showed signs of magical affinity, but Grelod would hit him every time she caught him practicing magic. When he was 9 he got fed up with the Orphanage and planed his escape. During the night he managed to escape from the retched place and left Riften. At first living in the wilds was hard for a small child, but slowly he managed to grow accustomed to it. There was however one incident in the first month when he couldn't hunt that he was so hungry that he killed a traveler and ate him. The traveler had seen the boy, who was very skinny at the time because of the lack of food, and tried to help him. Thinking that the traveler wouldtake him back to the Orphanage Harold panicked and killed the traveler by mistake. His hunger was so great that he though about eating the man, he built a small fire and used the traveler's knife to cut a bit of meat. After the first bite he threw up, however he knew that he if he didn't eat he would die soon, so he fed off the traveler until he was full. But he swore never to eat another human being again. Though that memory was repressed.

Harold eventually made his way to Cyrodiil, hoping to find traces of his parents. He found their names on the Red Ring Memorial which ended his search. After that he worked as a Mercenary in Cyrodiil for a while. During this time he went on a job with a Khajiit, a very strange blue khajiit that seemed to be addicted to skooma at the time. During that job with the khajiit he tried to kill Harold in order to take the money all to himself. He got hit on the head, passing out, but didn't die. He lost the memory of that job because of the head injury. By 4E 201 Harold had heard of the Skyrim Civil War and wanted to return home to fight for it's freedom.

Dragon Crisis

Harold as the legendary Ysmir, Dragon of the North

Harold was travelling into Skyrim. When he passed the border he thought it weird that it wasn't guarded. After walking into Falkreath Hold he was passed by a man on a horse and then a group of nords. Harold ignored them but after that he saw a group of legionnaires coming right at him. They caught him thinking he was with the nords and the man who stole the horse. The Legion put them on carriages and took them to Helgen. Harold found out that the group of nords were Stormcloaks and that their leader, Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak, was with them. They were being sent to Helgen to be executed, Harold tried to tell them he had nothing to do with it but the imperial would not listen and an officer put him in line for execution. When his turn came up he prayed to Talos for some miracle to save him. Just then a Black Dragon attacked the city, the legion was unprepared since no one even knew that dragons still existed. In the confusion Harold followed a stormcloak named Ralof out of the city through a passage under Helgen Keep.

Ralof and Harold when to Riverwood, where they told Ralof's sister of the attack. Harold decided to go to Whiterun to ask the Jarl for guards to protect Riverwood. When he arrived in Whiterun he went to Dragonsreach to speak to Jarl Balgruff the Great. The Jarl thanked him and sent a group of guards to Riverwood to guard it. Balgruff lead Harold to his Court Wizard who was investigating the dragons, they asked Harold to find a so called Dragonstone in the Nordic Ruins of Bleak Falls Barrow. The young Nord departed for the ruin in search of the stone. At the Ruin he fought bandits and had his first encounter with draugrs inside. He traversed the ruin and made it to the final chamber, where he found the stone and encountered a strange wall. The wall seemed to call to him and in it he saw the word FUS. Retrieving the Dragonstone caused a powerful draugr to awaken and that draugr was the first time Harold observed the use of the voice. It didn't take long for Harold to defeat the draugr and return to Whiterun.

In Whiterun he returned the Dragonstone to Farengar, after getting the stone and having a conversation with a mysterious woman he told Harold that the Jarl wanted to speak to him. He met the Jarl and his housecarl, Irileth, they informed him that a dragon was attacking the Western Watchtower. Harold, along with Irileth and the guards, rushed to the location to fight the beast. After a tough fight Harold managed to slay the dragon and he absorbed its soul. It was then that Harold understood the meaning of the word FUS, it was Force. The guards said that Harold was a Dragonborn and when he first shouted FUS a call was heard echoing in the sky, DOVAHKIIN. Harold returned to Balgruff and learned that the call was from the Greybeards and that they were summoning him. Balgruff rewarded Harold by making him a Thane of Whiterun Hold, he also was given a Housecarl to serve him, and he purchased Breezehome in the Plains District. Harold quickly made his way to High Hrothgar, he climbed the 7000 steps and reached the monastery. There they taught him how the words RO and WULD. RO, meaning Balance, was the second word of the Unrelenting Force shout and WULD, meaning Whirlwind, was the first word of the Whirlwind Sprint shout. They then entrusted him the task of retrieving the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller as a final test.

The Horn was said to be in Ustengrav, a Nordic Ruin in Hjaalmarch Hold. Harold went there and entered the ruin. After traversing the ruin and defeating the draugrs inside he found the word FEIM, meaning Fade, on a word wall and in the chamber where Jurgen was buried he found a note. The note was where the horn was supposed to be and it told Harold to go to Riverwood and to rent the attic room there. He decided to follow up on the note and went to Riverwood, going to its inn and asking for the attic room. He met with Delphine, who told him that she was one of the surviving members of the former organization called the Blades. She had been investigating the dragon attack and heard about the Dragonborn. She wanted evidence that Harold was in fact that Dragonborn and so she said to meet her in Kynesgrove, where a dragon was buried. She gave him the horn and he left for High Hrothgar to return it to the Greybeards. When he gave it to them they taught him the last word to the Unrelenting Force shout, DAH, meaning Push. They then formally acknowledged his as a dragonborn and bestowed on him the title of Ysmir. He then headed to Kynesgrove to meet with Delphine. When they arrived the Black Dragon was there and he revived the dragon that was buried in Kynesgrove. Harold fought the resurrected dragon and after defeating him he absorbed his soul. Seeing Harold absorb the soul of a dragon was proof enough for Delphine.

When they returned to Riverwood Delphine shared with Harold her plan of infiltrating the Thalmor Embassy, for she believed that they must know something about the dragons. The plan involved Harold infiltrating a party and then slipping away to search for clues about the dragons. They headed to Solitude to meet with a bosmer that worked in the Embassy and would help Harold in his task. Harold changed into clothes more appropriate for the party and gave his equipment to the bosmer, Delphine gave him an invitation to the party and then he departed. When he arrived he gave the invitation and then entered the Embassy. He mingled with the guests, which included nobles from all over Skyrim, and then found Malborn, the bosmer. Harold asked a guest to help by creating a distraction and when he did he slipped into the kitchen with Malborn. He retrieved his equipment from the bosmer and then started searching the Embassy, encountering a few guards along the way. In a building in the back of the Embassy he found a torture chamber in the basement. He found a thief that had been imprisoned and dossiers on various persons of interest to the Thalmor. He found one on Delphine, Ulfric and a nord named Esbern. When he was going to escape he saw the guards had discovered that Malborn was a spy. They were going to kill him but Harold intervened, saving the bosmer.

He returned to Delphine and gave her the dossier on Esbern. She was shocked that the old man, who was a former Blade like her, was still alive somewhere in Riften. Delphine entrusted the task of finding Esbern to Harold and so he departed for Riften. When he arrived a Thalmor assassin tried to kill him, after dispatching the assassin Harold searched around the city for signs of the old man. He eventually was pointed to the Ratways and so he went searching for Esbern. In the deep Ratways he encountered Thalmor soldiers and had to defeat them before finding Esbern. He told the old man that Delphine was still alive and that he is a dragonborn. Harold escorted Esbern back to Riverwood, there they met with Delphine. After the two Blades talked they decided to head to an old Akaviri ruin called Sky Haven Temple, located in the Reach. Together the three set out for the Reach to located the Temple, for it is said that the Temple holds a prophecy that could explain the return of the dragons.

The only way to get to the Temple ruins was to go through a Forsworn camp called Karthspire. They fought their way through the Forsworn and made it to the Akaviri ruins. They solved the Temple's puzzles and made it inside. There they found a wall that held the prophecy of the destruction of the world. Esbern called it Alduin's Wall, which foretold the return of the World Eater, Alduin. Esbern deciphered the wall and then told Harold that he must defeat Alduin. To do so Esbern said that he needed to learn a shout that the ancient Nordic heroes, called the Tongues, used to defeat the World Eater. Harold then returned to High Hrothgar to see if the Greybeards knew about this mysterious shout. He talked to Arngeir and said that Alduin had returned and that he was the Black Dragon that Harold had seen those two times before. Arngeir was a little shocked with the new but accepted it, Harold however changed his mind and the Greybeards agreed to let Harold meet their leader that lives atop the mountain, in the Throat of the World.

They taught him the three words to the Clear Skies shout, so he could make it up to the top which had constant storms blocking the path. He made his way up and found the master of the Greybeards, who was a dragon. He met with the dragon, Paarthurnax, and they talked. Doing their conversation Paarthurnax taught Harold the word YOL, from the shout Fire Breath, it meant Fire. Afterwards Harold asked the dragon elder about the shout that the Tongues used against Alduin. Paarthurnax said he didn't know the shout as it was something that the heroes had created. He told Harold that the only way to learn the shout was from the Tongues themselves, and to do that he needed an Elder Scroll. He told Harold that the Throat of the World contained a time wound, he said that the Tongues never defeated Alduin. They had used the same Elder Scroll to send Alduin into the future. Though Paarthurnax said he had no idea where the Scroll could be found.

Harold returned to High Hrothgar and asked Arngeir where he could find an Elder Scroll. The Greybeard pointed Harold to the College of Winterhold since he said that a librarian should know about the Scroll. He went to the College in Winterhold and spoke to the orc librarian. He read a few books that the College had on the subject and then discovered that an expert on the Elder Scrolls was researching nearby. Harold went looking for the scholar, named Septimus. He found his laboratory north of the College, there he spoke to the scholar and learned that the he wanted some information that the Scroll possessed. Septimus agreed to help Harold if he would bring the information from the Scroll back to him, he handed a Black Lexicon and an Attunement Sphere, and pointed him to the Dwemer ruins of Alftand. Harold had learned that under Skyrim was a secret Dwemer city called Blackreach, which connected all the Dwemer ruins in the province. The dragonborn then departed for the ruin, which was located in Wintehold, to reach the underground city where the Scroll was said to be. He fought his way trough the Dwemer automatons and the falmer present in the ruins and eventually made it to Blackreach.

In the underground city Harold searched for a place called Tower of Mzark, there he found the Scroll after fixing a dwemer contraption. After retrieving the Elder Scroll he returned Septimus and gave him the Blank Lexicon, which he had place in a Dwemer machine and it transformed into the Runed Lexicon. After that he went back to the Throat of the World to meet with Paarthurnax. He read the Scroll inside the time wound and was able to see what happened atop the mountain back in the First Era, during the end of the Dragon War. He learned the shout from seeing the Tongues use it on Alduin. When he returned back to present times Alduin was there waiting for him. He used the newly learned Dragonrend shout to make Alduin land so he could hit him. The battle raged on but eventually Harold won and Alduin retreated. Paarthurnax said that Alduin had retreated, to recuperate. The elder dragon said that the only way to find the World Eater's location is to get it from one of his subordinates. By talking to the dragon and Arngeir he devised a plan to trap a dragon in the keep, Dragonsreach, in Whiterun.

Harold returned to Whiterun and talked to Jarl Balgruff, he didn't want to help as long as he needed to worry about the Stormcloaks and the Legion. Harold agreed to help form a temporary truce so Whiterun wouldn't be in danger. He called Ulfric and Tullius to High Hrothgar and there, with the help of the Greybeards, he managed to create temporary truce. With that problem out of the way he returned to Whiterun and Balgruff agreed to let him capture the dragon in his keep, which had been designed by Jarl Olaf One-Eye to hold a dragon. Esbern had told Harold of a dragon that followed Alduin, his name was Odahviing, and he called his name. The dragon saw this as a challenge and attacked Whiterun, Harold and the guards were able to enact their plan and captured Odahviing in Dragonsreach. He questioned the dragon and found out that Alduin had a secret base called Skuldafn in the mountains, and it could only be reached by a dragon as it required flight. Alduin had a portal in the base that let him travel to and from Sovngarde, where he went to devour the souls of the Nords. Harold spoke to the dragon and they made a deal, if Odahviing was set free he would carry Harold to Alduin's location. Odahviing also said that if Harold defeated Alduin he would follow his thu'um. Harold agreed and set the dragon free, then he climbed on Odahviing's back and the two flew to Skuldafn.

Harold fough his way through Alduin's draugr minions and eventually made it to the top of the base, where a Dragon Priest named Nahkriin awaited. He battled the priest and won, he used the priest's staff to open the portal to Sovngarde and then traveled there to stop Alduin. In Sovngarde a mist had been created by Alduin to trap the souls of the Nords that weren't inside Shor's Hall. Harold managed to pass through the mist and make it to the Hall, he encountered Tsun guarding the Whale Bone Bridge and they fought so Harold could prove worthy of entering the Hall. Once inside he met with the Nord Heroes, including the ancient Tongues. They agreed to help him take down Alduin for good and so they left the Hall to fight Alduin outside. The four of them used Clear Skies to dissipate the fog. Alduin tried to recreate it but the Tongues and the Harold kept dissipating it with their thu'um. Finally Alduin decided to face them, and after an intense battle he was defeated. However Harold did not absorb his soul. The Tongues granted him a shout that could call them to Nirn, to aid him in battle. Tsun then returned Harold to the mortal world, he was transported to the Throat of the World.

Harold was welcomed by Paarthurnax and other dragons and was acknowledged by them as having the strongest thu'um. Odahviing pledged his allegiance to Harold like he had promised. Paarthurnax said that he would try to convince some of his kin to join him and because peaceful dragons studying the Way of the Voice. After that Harold became the Savior of Nirn by stopping Alduin, who would have brought the end of the world. He had told the Blades that he would not kill Paarthurnax, which was something they had asked he do, and said that they as Blades need to follow him no matter what since he was Dragonborn. They reluctantly agreed and Harold helped them rebuild their organization and hunt rogue dragons. He also studied with the Greybeards and with their help found other words of power scattered around Skyrim. When he was in Sovngarde he didn't have time to look for his parents but he pledged to find them once he died and went there himself.

Civil War

Harold Stormblade, in his Stormcloak armor

After stopping the Dragon Crisis Harold turned his attention to the Civil War that engulfed Skyrim. Harold decided to join the Stormcloaks as their ideals were similar to his, and above all else he wanted to kill the Thalmor. Because both his parents were killed in the Great war he grew to hate the Dominion, and the Empire letting the Thalmor do whatever they wanted in Skyrim angered him so much. He also believed that the Empire was crumbling and that the Nords had the right to free themselves from the dying Empire before they were brought down along with them. He also believe that Ulfric was a better choice for High King than Elisif was, so he went to Windhelm to join Ulfric's militia. He met with the Jarl and requested to join, having learned that Harold was Dragonborn and a hero of Skyrim he was glad to have him on his side. Harold took the oath and joined the Stormcloaks. He gained the rank of Unblooded.

His first mission was to find the Jagged Crown, which was the crown worn by the High Kings of Ysgramor's Dynasty back in the 1st Era. He, under the command of Galmar and with Ralof (the Stormcloak with which he had escaped Helgen), went to the Nordic ruin where the former bearer of the crown was said to be buried. The ruin was Korvanjund, and the High King buried there was Borgas, the last of the Ysgramor Dynasty. Galmar and the Stormcloaks went to the ruin to retrieve the crown but the Legion beat them to the ruin. Harold and the others had to fight the Legion at the ruin in order to gain access to the inner part of it. They solved the claw puzzle and entered the tomb of High King Borgas. They had to fight the High King and other draugrs, then took the crown from Borgas' body. At the ruin was also the word TIID, meaning Time. After completing their mission they returned to Windhelm and presented the crown to Ulfric, as it would strengthen his claim to the throne.

Harold was sent by Ulfric to Whiterun to give a message to Balgruff. The Jarl of Whiterun had been stalling in making a decision in which side to join in the Civil War. The Stormcloaks had become tired of waiting for Balgruff to chose and so they gave Harold Ulfric's axe so give to Balgruff. According to Nordic tradition when present the axe Balgruff would be forced to make one of two choices, give the axe back and declare war or keep the axe and join in an alliance. When presented with Ulfric's axe by Harold Balgruff chose to return it and side with the Empire. The choice saddened Harold for he had like Balgruff and though of him as a friend, however he had a mission and he would do what is best for Skyrim. He went back to Windhelm and gave Ulfric his axe back, telling him of Balgruff's decision.

The Stormcloaks marched to Whiterun and prepared for to besiege the city. The Legion had come to Whiterun and now defended the city. Galmar ordered the attack and the Stormcloaks' catapults fired on the city's wall. Harold lead the charge and used his voice to break the Legion's lines of defense. The siege waged on and eventually the Stormcloaks, with Harold and Galmar at the head, managed to break the gates and entered the city. They fought the Legionnaires and the city guard while making their way to Dragonsreach. When they reached the Winds District Vignar Gray-Mane joined the fight and helped the Stormcloaks storm the Jarl's Keep. Vignar and Balgruff had a conversation about what is best of Whiterun and Skyrim, then the Stormcloaks asked for Balgruff's surrender. Balgruff wouldn't surrender, making the Stormcloaks have to fight him and his men in the Keep. It was only when he was near death that he gave up and surrendered the city to Vignar and the Stormcloaks. Balgruff was exiled from Whiterun Hold along with the members of his court and his family. Vignar took over as Jarl of Whiterun and the Stormcloaks garrisoned the hold. Harold returned to Windhelm to report the success of the siege to Ulfric and received the title of Ice-Veins.

Harold was then given the mission to rescue some captured Stormcloak from Fort Neugrad. Harold lead the mission, Ralof and other Stormcloaks were with him. They assaulted the fort and killed the Imperial outside. Afterwards they entered the fort and made their way to its dungeon. After freeing the prisoners the Stormcloaks fought against the remaining Legionnaires and then secured the fort. Ralof stayed behind his the others to garrison he fort while Harold returned to Windhelm to report the mission's success. Ulfric promoted Harold to the title of Bone-Breaker. With Fort Neugrad captured by the Stormcloaks Falkreath Hold soon fell to them as they had no back up from the Legion.

After returning Harold was sent to report to Galmar in the Stormcloak Camp in Hjaalmarch. He was tasked, by Galmar, to capture an Imperial Courier and take the document he was carrying. Harold started his search in Dragon Bridge and eventually found the courier along the road. He killed him and took the letter he was carrying, then brought the intel back to Galmar at the camp. The letter relayed Stormcloak activity in Hjaalmarch Hold, Galmar forged a fake document to trick the Legion. Harold then disguised himself as the courier and went to Morthal to give the fake documents to Legate Taurinus Duilis, that way the Fort in the hold would be undermanned which would allow the Stormcloaks to take it from the Legion. After reporting back to the camp Galmar ordered the attack on the fort in Hjaalmarch, Fort Snowhawk. Harold lead the attack and with the power of his voice helped the Stormcloaks defeat the Imperial forces that garrisoned the fort. With the fort now in the possession on the Stormcloaks the city of Morthal had to surrender to the Stormcloaks, the Jarl Idgrod and her court members were exiled from the hold as the Stormcloaks appointed one of their supporters as the new Jarl. After capturing Hjaalmarch for the Stormcloaks Harold was promoted to the title Snow-Hammer.

Ulfric then ordered that Harold oversee the recapture of the Rift, since he was the one that gave it away to the Empire during the peace negotiations. He rendezvoused with Galmar with the Stormcloaks' camp in the Rift and they lead an assault on Fort Greenwall. It didn't take long for the Stormcloaks to overwhelm the Legion that were completely surrounded by the Stormcloaks. With Fort Greenwall back in Stormcloak hands Laila Law-Giver was reinstated as Jarl of the city of Riften. After completing his mission Harold returned to Ulfric. Having helped the Stormcloaks capture all the Holds, with the exception of Haafingar, Harold was acknowledged by the Ulfric and his men as their most prized comrade. Ulfric then gave Harold the title of Stormblade and made him one of his high ranking officers.

Now only Haafingar remained in Imperial control. The Stormcloaks, lead by Harold, gathered their forces and marched on Fort Hraggstad. They attacked it and, after defeating the Legionnaires there, garrisoned the fort. Which no forces to provide reinforcements to Solitude the Stormcloaks prepared to besiege the city. Ulfric himself lead the assault on the capital. He gave a speech to the soldiers then ordered the start of the siege. He and Harold used their thu'um to destroy the barricades blocking the gate and then lead the charge into the city. They fought against the Legionnaires alongside Galmar and their other comrades. The metal gate that lead from the market to Castle Dour was closed so they had to take a detour into the housing district of the city, they fought their way through. The bulk of the Legionnaires was in Castle Dour protecting their general, but they were no match for the power of the voice. Ulfric, Galmar and Harold broke through their defenses and entered the castle after Tullius. The imperia general tried to surrender but Ulfric declined. Legate Rikke didn't want to give up, like Tullius, and fought to the death with Ulfric. After she died Tullius was next, Ulfric said that Harold killing him would make for a better song but Harold was tired of killing. So in the end Ulfric killed Tullius and the trio left Castle Dour. Outside the Stormcloaks had finished off the last Legionnaires and had rounded up Jarl Elisif and her court. She pledged allegiance to Ulfric and he spared her life. After that Ulfric gave another speech and said that he would wait for the Moot to name him High King. With the 4th Legion defeated and Skyrim now in free from the Empire the Civil War ended. Harold became a hero to the Stormcloaks. Ulfric made Harold a Thane of Eastmarch, he gained a new Housecarl, and bought Hjerim, a house in Windhelm.

Guilds

The Companions

Harold had met a group of warriors outside Whiterun that had taken down a giant. He had helped them and they found out that they were Companions. He had heard of the Companions before but never seen one. He decided that he wanted to join them and so he made his way to Jorrvaskr. There he was told to speak to their Harbinger, Kodlak Whitemane. The old man accepted Harold into the guild, but first he wanted to access his abilities. So Harold sparred with another Companion, a Circle member named Vilkas. He ultimately one the fight and gained some respect for his fighting abilities, however at first he was only given menial tasks to carry out. They included bringing a sword to be sharpened, delivering a shield and other chores. Harold overheard a conversation from Aela and Skjor and started to think that something was off about the Circle members. Farkas, another Circle member, then showed Harold to the quarters of the newer members. Soon Harold was able to start doing jobs all over Skyrim for the Companions, he was no longer their errand boy.

After doing a handful of jobs for the Companions it was time that Harold prove his honor, in order to become an official member of the Companions. Skjor told him that the location of a piece of Wuuthrad, Ysgramor's legendary battleaxe, had been discovered. Farkas was chosen as Harold's Shield-Brother and the two departed for Duskman's Cairn. They traversed through the ruin. They fought the draugr and came up to a chamber with a locked gate. Harold found a lever and pulled it, but it locked him inside the lever room. Farkas was annoyed by it and said he would find a way to free Harold, but before he could a group if bandits surrounded Farkas. They said that he was one of them as he wore the Wolf Armor, one only worn by members of the Circle. They attacked and Farkas was forced to turn into his beast form. Harold was shocked to learn that Farkas was a werewolf and watched curiously as Farkas took on the bandits. After killing all of them Farkas transformed back into a human and found the lever that opened the gate that locked Harold in. When he was free Harold asked Farkas some questions, he learned that all the Circle members were werewolves and that the bandits were werewolf hunters named the Silver Hand. The duo then continued on their way and encountered more Silver Hand members, Farkas stated that they might also be looking for pieces of Wuuthrad. Later they encountered a room filled with spiders, Farkas didn't enjoy the encounter. They continued fighting draugr and Silver Hand members until they entered a large chamber, with lots of coffins lining the walls. At the far end they found the piece, next to a word wall in which Harold learned the word TOOR, which meant Inferno. When they picked up the piece the coffins opened and a large group of draugr attacked them. After a long and hard fight they killed all the draugr and left the Cairn, they headed back to Whiterun with the piece.

When they returned to Jorrvaskr, they saw Vilkas waiting for them just outside. He lead them around the building where the entire group of Companions was gathered. Kodlak gave a short speech and welcomed Harold officially to the Companions, while Farkas swore eternal loyalty to him. He then went to Eorlund and was given a choice to one Skyforge weapon. After that he went back to doing jobs. After Harold completed a couple more jobs he got the attention of Skjor, apparently he had something special planned. He requested a meeting after dark near the Underforge, a secret crypt underneath the Skyforge. At night, Skjor was waiting for him near the secret entrance, determined to make him a stronger member of the Companions, making him a Circle member. They went inside. There they encountered Aela the Huntress in her beast form, standing next to an empty fountain. Skjor introduced her as Harold's forebear, and told him to be keep this a secret from Kodlak. Skjor cut Aela's wrist, filling the fountain with her blood. Harold hesitated but drank the blood, he felt a searing pain and then blacked out.

He woke up in the middle of nowhere, Aela was looking over him, concerned. He was naked but his pack was next to him. Aela congratulated Harold on surviving the initiation. She informed him that the Silver Hand have inhabited Gallows Rock and said that they should be slaughtered right away. Aela informed him that Skjor already entered the fort. They headed west towards the fort. A number of Silver Hand members were guarding the exterior area, the duo disposed of them and enter the fort. They traversed through the fort, it was buzzing with enemies and werewolves in cages, both living and dead, all seemingly exposed to torture by their captors. When they were nearing the main chamber Aela warned him about the Silver Hand leader, Krev the Skinner. They entered the chamber and fought he Silver Hand inside, after the fight Aela ran up onto the podium and discovered the dead body of Skjor. Alea was greatly sadden and angered by the discovery, Harold tried to calm her down but to no avail. Aela remained to take care of Skjor's body while Harold returned to Jorrvaskr. The next day Aela went to see Harold and asked for his help in avenging Skjor, together they started going after and destroying Silver Hand hideouts.

Kodlak eventually caught onto what Harold and Aela were doing. He ask for Harold to meet him and chastised him for his and Aela's actions against the Silver Hand. Kodlak told him the true story about how the Companions contracted Lycanthropy. One of his predecessors had made a pact with the Glenmoril Witches to gain more power. Lycanthropy makes the person spend the afterlife in Hircine's realm, making it impossible to go to Sovngarde. It is this fate which compels Kodlak to seek a cure. He asked Harold's help in finding a cure, it required the heads of the Glenmoril Witches. Harold went to the Witches' coven in Falkreath. He entered their hideout an killed all of them, then collected their heads. When he returned to Whiterun, he noticed several citizens gathered around near the stairs leading to Jorrvaskr. Halfway up the stairs, he found both Torvar and Aela next to dead Silver Hand members. He quickly headed inside the hall, Vilkas walked up to him and asked you where he was. He told Harold that while he was gone the Silver Hand attacked Jorrvaskr, they had managed to kill Kodlak and took off with all the fragments of Wuuthrad. Kodlak’s dead body was near the central fireplace, Farkas and Njada were kneeling next to him. Vilkas said that his death would be avenged.

After Kodlak's death, Vilkas was looking for revenge. He and Harold made their way to the Silver Hand hide-out at Driftshade Refuge, a small fort southeast of Dawnstar. They arrived and disposed of the Silver Hand members outside, they then went inside. Driftshade Refuge was crawling with hostile Silver Hand members, however difficult the fight they continued and fought their way through. They then entered Driftshade Cellar. Through the cellar they took a path, leading back to an initially inaccessible part of Driftshade Refuge. The chamber contained the three of the remaining members of the Silver Hand and all the stolen Fragments of Wuuthrad. After killing the rest of the Silver Hand and gathering the pieces they returned to Jorrvaskr. By the time they got back the preparations for Kodlak's funeral were already done, it was held in the Skyforge and so Harold and Vilkas went there to attend the funeral and pay their respects. All of the Companions were present, along with a few citizens and even the Jarl of Whiterun. Kodlak was placed on a pyre above the forge, and the ceremony ended with Aela lighting the pyre, symbolizing a final goodbye.

After the ritual, Eorlund asked for the fragments of Wuuthrad and Kodlak's secret fragment from his chambers. Harold to the Kodlak's chamber and took the fragment from the end table there, Kodlak's Journal was also at the end table. It offered some insight on him and his visions. He then return to Eorlund with the fragment, the smith then told him that the other Circle Members were gathered at the Underforge. Farkas, Vilkas and Aela, were talking. They agreed that Kodlak's death was avenged but his soul now belonged to Hircine, and was destined to hunt in Hircine's Hunting Grounds forever, instead of his desired afterlife in Sovngarde. They could see no solution, as the cure involved going into Ysgramor's Tomb, and the only way in was with Wuuthrad. Eorlund then entered with the repaired Wuuthrad on his back. He said that it was far from impossible to grant Kodlak his final wish and handed Wuuthrad to Harold. Now with new determination the Circle set off for Ysgramor's Tomb to grant Kodlak his final wish.

When they entered the tomb Vilkas warned them about the dangers ahead. He said that he would take no part in the task, as he had too much grief in his heart and regret for his vengeful acts at Driftshade Refuge. Harold placed Wuuthrad on the statue of Ysgramor and the wall to the north opened, he then took Wuuthrad and the Circle proceed forward through the tomb. Before long, they encountered several Companion ghosts who tested your courage. When they reached a chamber with spider webs Farkas told them that after the events in Dustman's Cairn he’s been deathly afraid of spiders, he then decides to head back to the entrance and wait with Vilkas. Aela and Harold continued through the tomb, fighting their way through spiders and ghosts alike. They eventually made it to the burial chamber. The ghost of Kodlak was warming his hands near the Flame of the Harbinger. After talking with Harold and Aela for a bit he asked if they had the heads of the Glenmoril Witches. Harold nodded and then Kodlak told him to toss one into the flame, in an attempt to cure him of his lycanthropy. After doing so, Kodlak's wolf spirit was released and immediately attack Harold and Aela. After the battle, Kodlak thanked them and name Harold the new Harbinger of the Companions. He then left for Sovngarde to finally find his peace.

Aela recognized Harold's new position and told him that she was going to stay in the tomb for a while longer, for further studies. Vilkas and Farkas arrived at the burial chamber and also say they wanted to stay. In the tomb they found the Shield of Ysgramor and brought it back to Jorrvaskr along with Wuuthrad. Harold left the tomb and outside he discovered a word wall which contained the word RAAN, meaning Animal. Harold had promised to Kodlak to bring honor and glory to the Companions as their Harbinger and so he did, continuing to do jobs all over Skyrim. He also eventually helped cure the Lycanthropy of both Vilkas and Farkas. He and Aela located the three Totems of Hircine and moved them into the Underforge. Athis soon joined the Circle to fill the empty spot left by Kodlak, he chose to become a werewolf like Aela.

The College of Winterhold

To learn more about magic and to further develop his natural skills in magic Harold decided to head to the College of Winterhold. Once in Winterhold, he follow the main road west through town and approached the bridge connecting the town to the College. Standing at the start of the bridge was a High Elven woman named Faralda. She said that to enter he must pass a test, Harold cast a spell to show his aptitude. Faralda allowed him across the bridge and direct him to Mirabelle Ervine, the Master Wizard. After speaking to Mirabelle, Harold was given a tour of the facilities and Novice robes that all new students wore. Upon completing the tour, she asked him to join the lecture hall and listen to Tolfdir, the Master Alteration Teacher. Tolfdir was talking to the new students, the other students wanted the professor to teach them practical knowledge of magic instead of lecturing them about the importance of controlling its dangers. Harold disagreed, however Tolfdir caved in and asked him to perform a protection Ward spell. Harold cast the spell and fend off an attack from Tolfdir, who cast fire balls at him.

After the others trained as well Tolfdir sugested that the class take a trip to Saarthal further their understanding of the various applications of magic throughout history. They travelled to the Noridc Ruin. Tolfdir lead the students into the excavation, playing the roles of teacher and tour guide. He handed out assignments to all of his students. Harold was tasked with helping Arniel Gane find some artifacts. Harold searched the ruin looking for any magical artifacts, he found three rings and a strange ancient amulet. As soon as he picked up the amulet a spear trap activated locking him in the chamber where he found the amulet. Tolfdir saw this and tried to help but saw no escape, he told Harold that maybe the amulet would help. He put on the amulet and it triggered a visible resonance effect with the wall where it was previously located. Tolfdir then suggested that he try casting a spell, he did so and the wall broke apart along with the trap being disabled. Tolfdir and Harold ventured into the tunnel that was revealed after the wall crumbled. At the end of the passageway Harold and Tolfdir entered a small burial room, there a ghostly apparition of a Psijic Order mage appeared to Harold and gave him a warning. After the ghost was gone Harold asked Tolfdir what the ghost's warning meant, but Tolfdir didn't see the ghost. Tolfdir did have a strange feeling and they continued, draugr started appearing and Tolfdir and Harold had to fight their way to the end of the ruin. In a large chamber they found a massive spinning floating orb which was surrounded by a swirling energy barrier. Tolfdir was immediately fascinated by the orb, when they tried to approach the orb a powerful draugr named Jyrik Galdurson attacked them. Their attacks did nothing to Jyrik, as he was absorbing the energy from the orb. Tolfdir noticed this and started trying to sever the connection between the draugr and the orb. With Jyrik vulnerable Harold managed to kill him. Harold found a Gauldr Amulet Fragment, a Writ of Sealing and the Staff of Jyrik. With the draugr's death the barrier disappeared, Tolfdir starts examining the orb and thinks it is a greatly powerful magical artifact. He told Harold to returned to the College and to report to the Arch-Mage. As he was leaving he found a word wall containing the word IIZ, meaning Ice.

When he returned to the College he found Savos Aren and reported to him. He told Savos that they found a magical orb in Saarthal. He told him to check with Urag gro-Shub, the College librarian, for any possible leads regarding the nature of the artifact. Harold found Urag in the Arcanaeum behind his desk, he said that the three books that might of had the information were stolen by a former apprentice named Orthorn. Orthorn had joined a group of renegade mages in Fellglow Keep. Urag told him to go to the Keep and retrieved the books. As he was leaving Faralda approached him and told him that Ancano, the Thalmor advisor, wanted a word with him. Ancano questioned Harold, who , because of his hatred of the Thalmor, didn't reveal anything important. He traveled to Fellglow Keep, it was a large fort located between Whiterun and Windhelm. He fought he renegade mages there and progressed through the keep. In the keep's dungeon he found Orthorn, whom had been imprisoned by the mages he through were his friends. Harold freed him in exchange for help on his task. Orthorn said that the books were with a mage called the Caller, who was the leader of the renegade mages, at the top of the keep. They made their way there and confronted the Caller. Harold defeated her and took the books back to the College. Orthorn followed him back to Winterhold, but remained at the Inn. When he arrive back at the College, Tolfdir had returned from Saarthal and placed the Orb in the Hall of the Elements. Harold went to the Arcanaeum to give the books back to Urag. The book that had information on the Orb was Night of Tears which told about the massacre of Saarthal by the Snow Elves.

As he was looking for Tolfdir Harold encountered his classmates. He helped them all on tasks that they wanted to accomplish. Brelyna and J'zargo need help testing spells and scrolls, respectively. Onmund wanted to get back a family heirloom that he had sold to Ethir. He helped the Master Illusion teacher, Drevis, rebalance the focus points at the College. He helped Arniel start on an experiment that he was working on by collecting some supplies that he needed. Sergus, the Enchanting Teacher, also required Harold help to resupply on soul gems. He also gathered some books that Urag requested. After doing tasks for many of the members of the College Harold went to look for Tolfdir and found him in the Hall of the Elements, where the Orb was relocated. He explained how the markings seemed to be unique, as they do not appear to be Elven, Daedric, or Ayleid. Ancano interrupted Tolfdir and demand that Harold follow him to meet a mysterious visitor who has asked to speak with him. He followed Ancano to the Arch-Mage's quarters where Quaranir, another representative from the Psijic Order, was waiting for him. Quaranir froze time and explained that Harold must prevent anyone from using the Orb, as he fears the consequences its misuse would bring. He then suggested that Harold seeke out the Augur of Dunlain within the College, who might be able to give better guidance. Quaranir then unfroze time and left, confusing Savos and angering Ancano.

Harold then went to Tolfdir to ask him what the Augur was, he said that the Augur was something found in the Midden, a catacombs located under the College. Harold found the trap door that lead to the Midden, and traversed it while killing any enemies he found along the way. He encountered the Augur in the Midden Dark, it was a sentient entity. The Augur informed Harold that others have sought the Eye of Magnus, which is what he called the Orb, before without realizing the dangers it poses. He then informed that he would need the Staff of Magnus to avert the disaster the Psijics warned about, and told him to inform Savos. Harold then left the Midden and went to see Savos in his quarters. He told Savos of the Augur's message, the Arch-Mage directed him to Mirabelle and rewarded him with a powerful circlet. Harold went to ask Mirabelle what she knew about the Staff of Magnus and its whereabouts. She directed you to the Dwemer ruin Mzulft because members of the Synod, a guild of mages from Cyrodiil, recently questioned her about it. Mzulft was a sprawling Dwemer ruin southeast of Windhelm.

As Harold entered Mzulft he found a Synod researcher, Gavros Plinius, uttering his final words. He took the Mzulft Key from Gavros's corpse to unlock the adjacent door and a research log which indicated he was sent here with a "focusing crystal" needed to pursue some mysterious effort. Harold then travel through the extensive ruin to find a curious device called the Oculory. After a lengthy and adventurous journey he found in Mzluft Aedrome a large room containing four Falmer. He killed them and found the focusing crystal on one of them. After finding a key on a Dwarven Centurian he was able to proceed to the Observatory. There he found a door that had been locked by a Synod member on the other side, after talking to Paratus Decimius he opened the door and let Harold pass. Paratus, however, was suspicious of him, but he need the focusing crystal so he agreed to work with Harold. He followed Paratus into the Oculory, there he used the focusing crystal to fix a dwemer machine that the Synod found by using frost and fire spells to focus the crystal that was placed inside the machine. When the crystal was focused the machine became fixed and projected a beam of light on a wall nearby. Paratus was initially excited but then became distressed as he said that something was wrong. The beam had created a map but instead of showing all of Tamriel it only showed Skyrim, to which Paratus said interference was coming from Winterhold. He accused Harold and the College of trying to sabotage the Synod's efforts and demand that he explain himself. After talking with Harold he asked if there was something powerful at the College to which Harold lied, Paratus then pointed out that something else was causing interference and it was coming from Labyrinthian. Harold and Paratus then left the dwarven ruin.

As Harold was leaving the ruin Nerien, the Psijic Order member who appeared to him in Saarthal, appeared again. He warned him that difficulties were ahead, but assure Harold that he was on the right path and that he would prevail. He then urged him to return to the College immediately. He rushed back to the College like Nerien had suggested. When he entered the College he heard a commotion coming from the Hall of the Elements, Savos and Mirabelle were panicing. The gate to the room containing the Eye of Magnus was blocked by a barrier that Mirabelle speculated was some kind of ward, and they implicated Ancano in possibly creating it. They then began casting Destruction spells at the barrier in an attempt to destroy it, Harold helped them and together they broke the barrier. Savos approached Ancano, who is casting a spell at the Eye, and commanded him to stop. Mirabelle warned Savos not to go near Ancano, but Savos began casting a spell at him. All went white, Harold then awakened in the Hall of the Elements when Mirabelle asked him if he was all right and saying that she needed his help. She asked Harold to search for Savos who had gone missing. Harold headed to the College’s central courtyard, There he found the Arch-Mage’s body and the other mages standing over him. Tolfdir approached him and inform him that whatever killed the Savos had also affected the town of Winterhold. Harold, along with Faralda and Arniel, went to Winterhold to see if it was safe. The city was under attack by ten Magic Anomalies, Harold and the others fought to defeat them. Once they secured the town, Harold returned to the College and talked to Mirabelle. She gave him Savos Aren's Amulet and the Torc of Labyrinthian and told him to find the Staff of Magnus in Labyrinthian.

Harold then set off for the ruins of Labyrinthian. There he approached a Ceremonial Door and a ghostly after-image of a younger Savos and five other mages appeared, it seemed that Savos had come to the ruin before with other mages. As Harold traversed through the ruin he saw the tale of Savos and his friends play out until only Savos was left. During certain times Harold heard a voice and a portion of his magicka was drained. The ruin was guarded by numerous undead, including an undead skeletal dragon. Labyrinthian was quite extensive and it took Harold a while to get through it by himself. In the last chamber Harold encountered two of Savos' friends that had been forced to keep the dragon priest, Morokei, trapped while Savos escaped. Harold dispatched the two mages, who were now ghosts, in order to free Morokei, who possessed the Staff of Magnus. After their souls got the rest their deserved Harold turned his attention to Morokei and an intense battle commenced, because of the staff's power Morokei was able to drain Harold magicka, which dragged the fight on. However, in the end ,Harold defeated Morokei. He took the priest's mask, of the same name, and the Staff of Magnus. In the ruin Harold found a word wall which contained the word TIID which meant Time. When he was leaving he encountered a Thalmor who had been sent by Ancano to retrieve the staff. They fought and after Harold defeated him he returned to the College.

Once in Winterhold Harold saw that the College was surrounded by a magical barrier, like the one that was in the Hall of the Elements. Tolfdir, Arniel and Nirya were standing near it. Harold approached them and Tolfdir explained that Mirabelle died helping them escape. Harold then used the Staff of Magnus to absorb the barrier, he then led the group of mages into the Hall of the Elements to stop Ancano. When they entered, Ancano proclaimed that he had the power to destroy the world at his fingertips, and that he could not be stopped. Due to his long exposure to the Eye he was now connected to it and used its power to make his spells stronger. Tolfdir cast a fire spell at Ancano, but it did not faze him. The Eye then began to crack open and emitted a blinding flash and the other mages became paralyzed. It was up to Harold to defeat Ancano, he used the Staff to control the Eye and severed Ancano's connection to it. Then he fought Ancano, who still tried to absorb the Eye's power. Harold had to continuously use the Staff on the Eye while he fought Ancano and magical anomalies, since Ancano had caused the Eye to go out of control. In the end Harold prevailed and killed Ancano, then he shut the Eye of Magnus using the staff, which un-paralyzed the other mages. Harold then asked Tolfdir what they should do now. He explained that he did not know how to contain the Eye, just then Quaranir and two more members of the Psijic Order will appeared.

Quaranir congratulated Harold, saying that he met their expectations. He assured him that the Psijic Order would safeguard the Eye, saying that the world was not ready for the Eye. Quaranir then declared Harold the new Arch-Mage of the College and vanished in a glow of light, along with the Eye and the two other Psijic members. Tolfdir and the other mages agreed that Harold should be the new Arch-Mage for everything he had done for the College, they gave him the key to the Arch-Mage's Quarters and the Archmage's Robes. Harold chose Tolfdir as the new Master Wizard, to replace the deceased Mirabelle. This left a spot open for the Alteration teach, after much convincing Harold was able to get Falion to come back to the College as the new Alteration teacher. Angi, whom Falion had adopted, became a student there. Harold also forgave Orthorn and let him rejoin the College. Harold helped Arniel finish his experiment, sadly it ended with Arniel's death as he was turned into a shade.

The Thieves Guild

Harold came across a merchant named Brynjolf at the Riften market, he proposed that he frame a vendor by planting a stolen ring on his person. The intended victim, Brand-Shei, had apparently become aware that someone was doing something wrong, and that someone wanted him in jail, from where he couldn't interfere. Harold was reluctant at first but his greed got the better of him and he accepted. Brynjolf told him that he would create a distraction. While he drew people's attention, Harold stole a ring from Madesi. After stealing the ring, he sneaked up to Brand-Shei and carefully placed the ring into his pocket. He gave the all clear signal to Brynjolf who stopped the distraction and then the guards arrested Brand-Shei. Brynjolf then rewarded Harold 100 septims and invited him to follow him into the Ratways. Brynjolf then left. The next day Harold went into the Ratways.

Harold traversed the Ratways, he had to fight a few crazy people along the way. He eventually made it to the Ragged Flagon. Brynjolf was there at the bar, Harold talked to him. He instructed him to collect debts from three business owners in town: Keerava, Bersi Honey-Hand and Haelga. After he collected the debts, he returned to Brynjolf. Brynjolf was pleased and lead him to talk to Guildmaster Mercer Frey, welcomed Harold to the Thieves Guild. He was given a set of Thieves Guild armor by Tonilia. He started doing jobs for Vex and Delvin, after a couple Mercer decided to give him a special job. It involved infiltrating Goldenglow Estate. Aringoth, the owner of the estate, had stopped sending shipments to Black-Briar meadery and when Vex was sent to investigate she found an army of mercenaries. Maven wasn't pleased and ordered the guild to teach Aringoth a lesson by burning down three bee hives and clearing out his safe. Before leaving Harold paid Vex a visit and she told him about a secret sewer entrance on the northwest side which would make it significantly easier to enter unseen.

He headed to the estate, he waited until dusk, swam to the rocky outcrop to the west of the beehives and then clambered ashore. He lit three of the beehives on fire with a flame spell, as he was instructed to. Then he went to the secret sewer entrance and used it to gain access to the estate's main building. Once inside the carefully made his way past the many guards and to the owner's room, where he stole a golden bee statuette and took the key to his safe. After that he sneaked his way to the basement and found the safe hidden there. He completely cleared it out and he found a Bill of Sale there. He took everything and then left the estate to return to the Cistern. There he talked to Brynjolf, who was very pleased and rewarded Harold for the job. He then point him to Maven Black-Briar, who had requested Harold for a special job. Before he met Maven Harold did more jobs for Vex and Delvin. He also sold the bee statuette to Delvin who paid a dearly for it.

Harold met her on the second floor of The Bee and Barb. After a condescending greeting, Maven solicited him cooperation in putting her competitor, the Honningbrew Meadery, out of business. She asked him to perform some industrial espionage to understand how Honningbrew could have started up their operation and achieved success so quickly. She then directed him to meet Mallus Maccius, her contact inside the meadery, at The Bannered Mare in Whiterun for further instructions. Harold then left for Whiterun, where he met Mallus in the inn. Mallus told him that Sabjorn, Honningbrew's owner, was planning to hold a special tasting for the city's guard captain, and that Harold must poison the mead for the occasion. He suggested that he approach Sabjorn and offered to help him with a pest infestation, then use the poison Sabjorn would give him to accomplish the deed. He instructed him to access the mead vats through a tunnel leading there from the meadery's basement. Harold went to the meadery and met with Sabjorn, who quickly accepted his offer to help and provided him with the required poison as well as the key to the Meadery. Harold went to the basement and found that there was a cave system under the building, and that there was a crazy hermit living there with pet spiders and skeevers. Harold killed him and his pets then made it to the brewery. He put the poison in the vat that was going to be used in the tasting then returned to Sabjorn to say tell him the vermin were killed. That evening the captain came to the meadery for the tasting and when he tasted the poison he arrested Sabjorn for attempted murder. Mallus then took control of the meadery and gave Harold a key to Sabjorn's office. There he took a golden decanter and note from whomever the meadery's main backer was.

Harold then returned to the guild with the note and there he sold the decanter to Delvin. Maven was frustrated by her inability to identify the note's author. Harold then noticed that the author's symbol was the same as that on the bill of sale previously found in the Goldenglow Estate safe. Maven told him to speak to Brynjolf about it then rewarded him for the job. Back in the Cistern, Brynjolf mused that the identical symbol points to someone attempting to drive a wedge between Maven and the guild, and sent Harold off to Mercer to continue the search for the author. Before meeting with Mercer Harold did more jobs for Vex and Delvin.

When he when to speak to Mercer the guildmaster remarked that the symbol found on the Bill of Sale is the same as the one on the Note, he too believe that some unknown competitor was acting against the guild. Mercer also revealed that a name mentioned on the Bill is the alias of an old corroborator of the Guild; an Argonian dockworker for the East Empire Company named Gulum-Ei. Mercer then sent Harold to the Winking Skeever in Solitude to shake down Gulum-Ei for information regarding the sale of Goldenglow Estate. Harold travelled to Solitude and in its inn met the Argonian, who didn't spill any information. Harold was forced to bribe the Argonian by doing a job for him, stealing an expensive case of wine from the Blue Palace. When he got the wine Gulum-Ei compensated him for the trouble, then he explained that he was approached by a mysterious woman, who gave him a large sack of gold with which to buy Goldenglow Estate. No name was given, but Gulum-Ei mentioned that she was extremely angry, and that this anger was directed at Mercer in particular. The Argonian then declared their business done and left the inn, Harold knew the Argonian was hiding something and decided to follow him.

Eventually the Argonain led Harold to the East Empire Company Warehouse, where he worked and used to steal goods for the Thieves Guild from. The warehouse was patrolled by mercenaries paid for by the company. Harold broke in and proceeded cautiously, he sneaked past the mercenaries and was careful not to get to close to Gulum-Ei. In the warehouse he stole a map of the East Empire Company Shipping Map, in the office. Gulum-Ei took a set of steps down into the water, and around behind a shelving unit to a hidden pathway, leading to a door into the Brinewater Grotto. Harold followed him into the Grotto. He fought the bandits and evaded the traps in the grotto. When he reached the end of the cave he confronted Gulum-Ei and he revealed the name of the mysterious antagonist to the Guild, Karliah. She was the thief who murdered the previous Guildmaster, Gallus. Because Harold chose to spare him the Argonian was very grateful and said he would now work as a fence for Harold. Harold then left the grotto and returned to the Guild, he told Mercer what he learned. The news upset Mercer, however he deduced where Karliah will be next. The frase that Gulum-Ei had told Harold, "to where the end began", lead Mercer to the conclusion. It was a ruin far to the north of Riften known as Snow Veil Sanctum. Mercer insisted that he and Harold went after her and so they departed, after Harold did a few jobs for Vex and Delvin. Mercer went on ahead while Harold did the jobs. Harold also sold the map to Delvin.

Harold journeyed to Snow Veil Sanctum, which is northeast of Windhelm. There they found an abandoned camp near the entrance along with a dead horse. Mercer was waiting outside the ruin's entrance. Mercer said that it was definitely Karliah's camp and said he had killed her horse so she wouldn't be able to escape. They then headed to the door, it was locked and Harold didn't know how to open it. Mercer then picked the lock, despite Harold having failed at doing so, and easily opened it. They then proceeded inside the ruin, there were plenty of draugr as well as several traps along the way. In the ruin Harold found an ancient model ship, which he took. In the Sanctum Harold found a word wall that contained the word ZUN, meaning Weapon. The duo eventually made it to a claw door, Mercer said that the room ahead was the perfect place for and ambush. Despite not having the claw Mercer was able to pick the door, then they went inside. Harold almost immediately shot with an arrow and fell to the ground, it seemed that the arrow was poisoned. Karliah then showed herself and she bantered with Mercer. Harold listened to the conversation and learned that it was Mercer that had killed Gallus, he had framed Karliah, and that they were both Nightingales. Karliah then disappeared when she drank an invisibility potion and Mercer walked over the Harold, who laid on the ground paralyzed. Mercer then stabbed Harold, who then passed out. He regained consciousness outside the Sanctum, when he got up he noticed Karliah was nearby. She approached him and asked how he was feeling. She explained that she had saved his life by shooting him with a special poison that that slowed the heart and stopped him from bleeding out. Harold was still a little confused but he soon understood the situation. She said that she had hoped to capture Mercer alive and to bring him to justice for what he had done. Karliah then said that she managed to acquire Gallus' encoded journal and asked that Harold travel to Winterhold and speak to Enthir about getting its contents translated.

Harold went to speak with Enthir at The Frozen Hearth in Winterhold, Enthir directed him to the wizard, Calcelmo, at Understone Keep in Markarth. Harold then departed for Markarth to speak with Calcelmo, who was an expert in the Falmer language, which the journal was said to be written in. Calcelmo wouldn't let Harold see his work, so he was forced to steal it. He took the key to the dwemer museum, where Calcelmo worked, and sneaked inside. He avoided the guards and made it to Calcelmo's laboratory. There it was heavily guarded by mercenaries and he was forced to take action against some of the guards. In Calcelmo's quarters he found a dwemer puzzle cube and a spider control rod, which he stole. After making it to the Calcelmo's Tower he found a large stone tablet that was written in the falmer language. He got some paper and charcoal and made an imprint of the table. He avoided Calcelmo's nephew and his personal guard and ran back to Winterhold to meet with Karliah and Enthir. Enthir used the copy of Calcelmo's tablet to translate Gallus' journal, confirming that Mercer used the Guild's funds and violated the Twilight Sepulcher, which Karliah said was the secret shrine to Nocturnal that the Nightingales are sworn to protect. Karliah gave Harold the Nightingale Blade as a token of appreciation, and invite him to meet her in the Ragged Flagon.

They headed to the Ragged Flagon through The Ratway. They then went to the Cistern, as they passed through the Flagon Karliah got a lot of dirty looks from the patrons there. In the Cistern Brynjolf and the other veteran thieves were waiting to confront they, Karliah told them the truth and showed Brynjolf Gallus' journal. They quickly made their way to the vault, Brynjolf and Delvin opened it and saw that it was empty, Mercer had stolen everything. Harold then talked to Brynjolf and confirmed Karliah's story, Brynjolf instructed him to break into Mercer's home and look for clues of where he had gone. The problem was Vald, the mercenary guard that worked for Mercer and protected his home. Harold hadto pay his debt to Maven so Vald let his pass. Harold found a secret passage behind a cabinet in the cellar of the house. He went through it, which led to an underground system of tunnels. There were many traps in the tunnels which he was forced to avoid. He eventually found the room which contained Mercer's plans, a glass sword named Chillrend and the Bust of the Gray Fox. He took everything valuable and then continued along the path, which led to the Ratway Vaults. Through the Ratways he headed back to the Cistern. He sold the model ship, the dwemer puzzle cube and the bust of the Gray Fox to Delvin. Afterwards he did a few jobs for Vex and Delvin, then finally went to talk to Brynjolf. He gave Brynjolf Mercer's plans.

Mercer’s plans were about stealing the Eyes of the Falmer, Brynjolf explained the significance of those findings. Mercer planed one more heist before disappearing for good. The only hope of catching him was to intercept him at the location. Karliah requested to speak with both of them. She revealed to them that Mercer Frey was a Nightingale, an agent of Nocturnal. Because of this she was concerned about being at full strength and on equal footing before pursuing Mercer. She asks them to meet her at The Shadow Stone outside of Riften. They met up and headed to the entrance of Nightingale Hall. They proceed inside, while they went deeper into the hall she told them more about the Nightingales and their role. They entered a room which had three stones with a symbol on it, which she said was the Nightingale symbol. They touched the stones and were given Nightingale Armor. Karliah discussed the next step, they must swear an oath to Nocturnal. They follow she further into the cave, she pulled a chain for the gate leading into the oath taking chamber. She told them where to stand then she summoned Nocturnal and asked to resume her role as a Nightingale as well as induct Harold and Brynjolf into their ranks. Nocturnal agreed, but first showed her anger at Karliah for letting Mercer take the Skeleton Key, which allowed him to open anything. Karliah explained Mercer stole the Key from the Twilight Sepulcher, which caused the guild to lose its luck. The key needed to be returned to the Sepulcher to set things to right. Brynjolf said that with Mercer disgraced the issue of the leadership of the Thieves Guild is at hand. He stated that he and Karliah thought Harold would be the right person for the job, once he proved himself by dealing with Mercer and spreading the guild's influence. The trio then left for Irkngthand to go after Mercer.

They made it to the dwemer ruin. There are some bandits camped outside but they were no match for the three Nightingales. The entrance was at the very top of the ruins. Once inside they had to fight numerous dwemer automatons. Like all Dwarven ruins Irkngthand had plenty of loot to gather, and plenty of traps as well. They eventually descended to the Irkngthand Grand Cavern. Karliah believed that Mercer knows that they were following him and planed to ambush them down there. As they continued through the ruin they came up to a open chamber, down bellow in an inaccessible part of the chamber they saw Mercer sneak attacking a Falmer. They proceeded faster than before to catch up to Mercer. Behind an open gate they found some empty chests and a mirrored message from Mercer. The message read "One step ahead - Mercer", which was clearly placed to demoralize them. They then found a door leading to the Irkngthand Slave Pens. The pens were used as a hive to the Falmer. As they proceeded through a corridor Karliah told them that they had a choice between sneaking or fighting the Falmer, they chose to sneak past them. After making it through the pens they found the path that led to the Irkngthand Sanctuary. In the sanctuary they saw Mercer prying out the eyes of the Falmer statue. Mercer then collapsed the ledge they standing on, and after a short conversation, attacked them. During the fight Mercer used his Agent of Subterfuge power on Brynjolf, causing him to attack Karliah, so it was up to Harold to Mercer. Mercer turned invisible occasionally during the fight, but that was not enough to defeat Harold. Once Mercer was killed a pipe at the top of the room burst, flooding the room. Harold quickly took the Skeleton key and the Eyes of the Falmer from Mercer's body and escaped the room through a hole above the statue's head, which led to a short passage. That passage took them to Bronze Water Cave. They then headed back to Riften. Karliah rewarded Harold with a Nightingale Bow. In the Cistern he sold the Left Eye of the Falmer to Delvin while he kept the Right Eye. Then he did a few jobs for Vex and Delvin.

Karliah told Harold to return the Skeleton Key to the Twilight Sepulcher, and so he set off for the temple. Inside it he saw a Nightingale specter. When talking to it he discovered that that spectral sentinel was in fact Gallus the previous Guildmaster. Gallus said that most of the Nightingale Sentinels had gone mad and attacked anyone on sight, even other Nightingales like Harold. Harold went through the pilgrimage to the temple to get to the inner sanctum where the Key was supposed to be held, fighting the sentinels along the way and passing the tests as he did so. There were five tests in total and Harold managed to pass them all and making it to the inner sanctum. There he placed the Skeleton Key in the lock, which opened a portal to Nocturnal's realm and let the Prince manifest herself in the mortal plane. She congratulated Harold on doing his duty as a Nightingale. Now that the portal was open the guild's luck would come back, and unlock the full potential of the Nightingales. Harold became the Agent of Shadow, Karliah the Agent of Strife and Brynjolf the Agent of Subterfuge. Karliah met with Gallus's ghost and said the final goodbye that she wasn't able to before. Gallus then went through the portal and into Ebonmere, becoming one with the shadows. Afterwards Harold and Karliah returned to the Cistern.

Harold did the special jobs that Delvin had acquired in each of the main cities in Skyrim and spread the guild's influence throughout the province. The Ragged Flagon attracted attention and soon became an underground market in Riften. Having succeeded in returning the guild to its former glory in Gallus' days Harold was named the new Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild. He served with Brunjolf and Karliah in the Nightingale Trinity, which was maintained a secret from the rest of the guild as it should be. Harold searched all throughout Skyrim for the 24 stones of Barenziah and remade Barenziah's Crown. Karliah took a special liking to the crown and so the guild didn't sell it.

The Dark Brotherhood

One time when Harold was travelling from Whiterun to Dawnstar he encountered a jester with a carriage in the middle of the road, next to a farm. The carriage's wheel was broken and the farm's owner refused to help the jester. The odd man claimed that he was transporting his mother's corpse. Harold helped the jester and convinced the farmer to fix the wheel. He received some gold from the jester as a reward.

In Windhelm Harold heard a conversation between Idesa Sadri and Grimvar Cruel-Sea. Idesa said that the rumors are true and a kid named Aventus Arentino is performing the Black Sacrament. Harold was curious and enter the residence by picking the lock to discover Aventus was indeed performing the Black Sacrament, and chanting over and over again. He is so engrossed in the ritual that he didn't notice Harold. Harold slowly approached the kid to speak to him, Aventus was overjoyed and mistake him for the assassin he was trying to summon. He told Harold about his mother's death and that afterward he was sent to Honorhall Orphanage in Riften, where he was subjected to the cruelties of its headmistress Grelod the Kind. Harold, having lived as an orphan in that same orphanage with that same mistress knew the kid's pain. Aventus said he concocted a plan to get revenge and so he escaped and returned to his home where he set about performing the Sacrament. He expected Harold to kill Grelod, to ensure that neither he or his friends would have to suffer any more. Harold knew from personal experience how cruel Grelod could be, he felt the overwhelming urge to help the kid and so agreed to kill her. He travelled to Riften and broke into the Orphanage. There he sneaked into Grelod's room and killed her in her sleep. Harold knew she deserved far worse but he didn't want to get caught. After the deed was done he went back to Windhelm to tell Aventus. He greeted the news with happiness and showed his gratitude by giving Harold a family heirloom. Harold kept the heirloom in his house for safe keeping since he planed to give it back to Aventus some day.

Some time after killing Grelod a courier approached Harold and delivered a mysterious note bearing ominous words. That night he could barely sleep thinking about the note but eventually did fall asleep. He awakened in an abandoned shack, a mysterious masked woman sitting atop a bookcase. She calmly informed him that his killing of Grelod had pleased the Dark Brotherhood, but that he stole a contract belonging to them. Thus she said he must repay his debt, by killing one of three people that were tied up nearby. She told him that he cannot leave the room until someone dies. She informed him that one of the bound victims had a contract out on their life. Harold quickly talked to them to see if he could figure out who had the contract. One of them was Fultheim the Fearless, a mercenary. He claimed to be unaware of anyone in particular who would want him dead, but reasons that any number of people could hold a grudge against him. Another captive was Alea Quintus, a crass and abrasive mother of six who constantly and irritatingly demanded to be released. She indicated that the tough attitude she has adopted to manage so many children might motivate someone to wish her dead. The final captive was a Khajiit named Vasha, who casually incriminated himself as an "obtainer of goods, taker of lives, and defiler of daughters." He was the only one of the three who remained calm in the face of imminent death, and mentioned that that wasn't the first time he'd been "bagged and dragged." Harold chose the khajiit and killed him, the woman was pleased and said her name was Astrid. She gave him the password to the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary's Black Door the key to the shack.

Harold headed to the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, it was located west of Falkreath. Harold walked up to the Black Door and it asked him a question, he answered with the phrase given to him by Astrid. The door unlocked and he entered the sanctuary. He found Astrid inside, she welcomed him to the family by giving him a set of Shrouded Armor. Harold was now a full member of the Dark Brotherhood. Astrid revealed that she was currently arranging an important job to give him, and that he should take care of some routine assassination contracts handled by Nazir. She encouraged him to introduce himself to the other members: Arnbjorn, Babette, Gabriella, Festus Krex, Nazir and Veezara. She gave a brief history on the Brotherhood and also informed him that they have done away with all rules and policies except for one simple principle, "Respect the Family". He also learned that the corpse of the Night Mother was en route to the Sanctuary, though she did not know when it might arrive. Harold introduced himself to the other members and checked around the sanctuary. He found a word wall which contained the word KRII, meaning Kill. He then talked to Nazir and got three contracts to complete.

After killing: Narfi, Beitild and Ennodius Papius; Harold returned to the sanctuary. By the time he got back the Night Mother and her keeper had already arrived. The keeper was none other than the jester that Harold had helped a few days before. Astrid seemed annoyed by the jester, who was named Cicero. Harold then turned in the contracts to Nazir, who told him to go see Astrid as she finished preparing the special job: a Markarth resident named Muiri wanted an ex-lover killed. Harold then travelled to Markarth. There he met with Muiri in The Hag's Cure. He approach her, she was her surprised that the Dark Brotherhood actually still existed and that the Sacrament worked. She then explained the story of how she was once a very close friend of the Shatter-Shield family in Windhelm until she met Alain Dufont. Alain managed to seduce her and used her to get close to the Shatter-Shield family and rob them blind. As a result Muiri was cast out by the Shatter-Shields, who were her surrogate family. She now wants him dead, he is part of a bandit group located in Raldbthar. She also requested the death of Nilsine, the Shatter-Shield's daughter, but Harold refused as they had already recently lost a daughter and he still had a heart. He then travelled to the dwemer ruin. There he killed the bandits outside and inside as he searched for Alain, he found Alain in a central chamber with a few other bandits and killed them all. With Alain he found the Shatter-Shield's family hammer, Aegisbane, which he took and later returned to the Shatter-Shields. This got them to forgive Muiri a little bit, though they still didn't trust her enough to let her back into their lives. When he returned to Markarth Harold received the reward from Muiri, but she was upset that he didn't kill Nilsine. Harold then returned to the Sanctuary to report to Astrid.

Astrid congratulated him on a job well done and proceeded to show greater paranoia concerning Cicero and his insanity. She then asked him a favor, she wanted him to spy on Cicero. Cicero had been locking himself in the room with the Night Mother's coffin and speaking to someone, and won't tell anyone who. She asked Harold to hide in the coffin with the Night Mother's corpse to spy on Cicero to see whom he was talking to. Harold went upstairs into the room and picked the lock on the Night Mother's coffin, then step inside and listened. You heard that Cicero was actually attempting to communicate with the Night Mother and that he was not plotting. But the Night Mother refused to talk to him because he is not the Listener. The Night Mother did, however, talk to Harold. She will task him with traveling to Volunruud and speaking with Amaund Motierre. Cicero then noticed that Harold was inside the coffin and opened it, he angrily yelled at Harold for "defiling" the coffin. Astrid then rushed in the room since she though Cicero was going to attack Harold. Harold explain that there was no traitor and that he are the new Listener. Cicero was angry at first but soon became overjoied that there was a new Listener. Astrid was understanding at first, but her attitude quickly changed. She demanded him not to follow the Night Mother's directions because she was still the leader of that family. She then send him to take a contract from Nazir while she thought about it. Nazir gave him two new contracts. One to kill Hern and the other to kill Lurbuk.

After killing both targets he returned to the sanctuary. He received the reward for them and Nazir then pointed Harold to Astrid. Astrid told him that she had finished thinking. She agreed that it would be madness to just ignore the Night Mother's demands and told him to travel to Volunruud to meet with Amaund. He traveled to Volunruud and entered the ruin, there he found a word wall containing the word LAAS, meaning Life. He found the client waiting with his bodyguard. Amaund informed him that he wanted the Emperor himself assassinated, and the bodyguard gave you two items: a valuable Jeweled Amulet and Amaund Motierre's Sealed Letter to deliver to Astrid. He then returned to the sanctuary and delivered the items to Astrid. Astrid asked him to take the amulet to Delvin, so he travelled to Riften. Delvin informed him that the amulet was one-of-a-kind and was only given to members of the Elder Council. He agreed to purchase it and hands Harold a letter of credit, which he later delivered to Astrid. Back at the sanctuary they figured out that Amaund was probably a member of the Elder Council. She informed that the first step to complete the new contract was to assassinate Vittoria Vici, the Emperor's cousin, at her own wedding. He also got some contracts from Nazir, to kill: Deekus, Ma'randru-jo and Anoriath.

After completing the contracts he traveled to Solitude to attend the wedding. When he got there the reception had already started and Vittoria was going to address the guests. Harold remembered the tips that the other Dark Brotherhood Members gave him. he quickly made his way to the walkway above the balcony that Vittoria and her new husband, Asgeir Snow-Shod, where. He pushed the loose gargoyle that Babette mentioned. It fell on top of the bride and killed her. Once Vittoria was killed pandemonium broke loose. Veezara then appeared, he was sent by Astrid to offer a distraction while Harold escaped. He ran from Solitude as Veezara ran interference, returning to the sanctuary. When he arrived Astrid congratulated him for putting the Dark Brotherhood down a path it hadn't travelled in centuries, the assassination of an Emperor. Harold was rewarded by given command over the ghost of a long dead Dark Brotherhood member, Lucien Lachance. Nazir gave him a contract to kill Agnis. Which he completed then returned to the sanctuary.

Astrid instructed him speak to Gabriella inside the Sanctuary. She gave him the mission: kill Gaius Maro, the son of Commander Maro, and plant a letter implicating him in a plot against the Emperor. Harold traveled to the town of Dragon Bridge and stole Gaius' travel schedule. He followed Gaius until he entered one of the cities and there he killed him, looted his corpse and planted the Incriminating Letter on his body. He then return to the Sanctuary. He was rewarded and received a token to get a reading of the future. He went to Whiterun and gave the note to an old woman named Olava. She told him where to find an "assassin of old", which led him to a dead Dark Brotherhood member in a cave dressed with Ancient Shrouded Armor. When he returned to the Sanctuary Gabriella told him that there had been an incident with Cicero. Nazir gave him two contracts, to kill: Maluril and Helvard. After completing them he went to see Astrid.

Astrid revealed that Cicero attempted to murder her and the other members of the Dark Brotherhood, grievously wounding Veezara in the process. Arnbjorn, Astrid's husband, pursued him as he fled from the sanctuary. She asked Harold to search Cicero's room for clues as to his whereabouts. Inside the room he found five journals, with the final journal indicated that Cicero might have headed for the long-abandoned sanctuary outside Dawnstar. Astrid granted him use of her horse, Shadowmere. Immediately outside the sanctuary he rose from the black, bubbling liquid. He mounted him and head to Dawnstar's abandoned Brotherhood sanctuary. He found an injured Arnbjorn outside the sanctuary. He revealed that he and Cicero seriously wounded each other before Cicero escaped into the safety of the sanctuary. Harold told Arnbjorn to return to the Falkreath Sanctuary. He used the pass phrase found inside Cicero's journal to open the Black Door. Once inside Cicero began to speaking to him. Harold summoned the spectral assassin as ghosts started attacking him. Lucien Lachance strongly suggested that the Dread Father would not want him to kill Cicero. As they continued through the sanctuary killing the ghosts they entered the cave of the Udefrykte, a Frost Troll. At the end of the sanctuary he found Cicero curled up, injured. Cicero cautioned him that the Night Mother would not be happy if he kill him. Since both the Night Mother and the Dread Father, Sithis, did not want Cicero to die Harold chose to let him live. He left the Dawnstar Sanctuary and returned to the Falkreath Sanctuary. Nazir gave him the final contract, to kill the captain of the Red Wave, Safia. It was tougher than the others but he completed it all the same.

After returning from the contract he spoke to Astrid. She told Harold to speak with Festus as he was in charge of next phase of the Emperor's assassination. He explained that the new objective was to kill the Gourmet and use his identity to poison the food at a meal being prepared for the Emperor. What complicated the matter was that the Gourmet's identity was known by only a select few. Luckily, Festus had obtained an autographed copy of the Gourmet's cookbook owned by Anton Virane. That suggested that Anton might know the true identity of the Gourmet. He tracked down Anton in Markarth in the Understone Keep kitchen. He was not willing to give any information at first, but after some intimidation he quickly revealed a name: an Orc named Balagog gro-Nolob. Harold told Anton that he would not be harmed. At that night Harold sneaked into the cook's room and assassinated him, the Brotherhood didn't want loose ends. He travelled to the Nightgate Inn to look for Balagog. During the afternoon he saw the orc standing at the dock right outside the inn and gazing out over the pond. Harold sneaked up behind him and sliced his neck. After taking the Writ from his corpse then threw the body in the lake. Then he returned to the sanctuary to report to Festus.

Festus rewarded him then sent him to Astrid. She told him to disguise himself as a chef then to travel to Solitude and report to Commander Maro. Astrid also gave him Jarrin Root, a poisoned root from Stros M'Kai, to use in the assassination. He did as she said and when he got there showed Maro the writ he stole from Balagog to gain entrance to the castle. Maro told him to report to the castle's chef, Gianna. He met with her and together they cooked the Potage that would be served to the Emperor, Harold put the root in the food. He followed Gianna as she served the food to the Emperor. The Emperor was speaking with some guests about his cousin's murder when they entered. Gianna served the Emperor the meal they cooked and he complimented its amazing taste before dying. After the Emperor's death the guards drew their swords and tried to attack Harold. He ran from the dinning room, and headed outside the castle. He crossed the bridge out of Castle Dour and was ambushed by Commander Maro and several of his agents. Maro revealed that the man he had killed was a decoy. He explained that someone from the Dark Brotherhood betrayed Harold and revealed to him his plans to assassinate the Emperor. The deal was to allow the Brotherhood to continue its business in exchange for Harold's life, but because the Dark Brotherhood killed his son he intended to go back on his word and wipe them out. He had sent his agents to attack the sanctuary already. Maro left Harold in the care of his agents. Harold killed them and escaped the city by following the tower's stairs to the very bottom and head outside Solitude.

There were several guards outside the sanctuary when Harold approached it, along with the horses and carriages that they arrived in. He dealt with them. Festus was dead outside, pinned up against a tree by arrows. There are also several stacks of barrels holding oil. When he entered the Sanctuary the entire place was on fire and structurally unsound. Close to the entrance he overheard two members of Penitus Oculatus discussing who among the Dark Brotherhood turned traitor. Next to them was the body of Veezara. Harold killed them. Astrid's and Arnbjorn's rooms were empty, so he headed down the stairs into the central room of the sanctuary. He found Arnbjorn in his werewolf form fighting Penitus agents. Arnbjorn was killed by the agents despite Harold's intervention. The corpse of Gabriella lied in the next room as does Lis, Babette's pet spider. As he continued through the sanctuary, avoiding the flames, he found Nazir. He was locked in a duel with one of the agents, Arcturus. Harold assisted him then talked to him. Nazir was concerned that Harold might be the traitor but stopped thinking that when he saved him. The two of them searched for an escape. They passed by the Night Mother's room. She called out to Harold, telling him the only safe place was in her coffin. Harold went into her coffin and closed it. In the darkness of the coffin he heard explosions and sounds of the sanctuary coming down around him. After a while, he heard the voices of Nazir and Babette talking as Nazir tried to unearth the coffin. When Nazir opened the coffin they were in the main room of the sanctuary. Because of the explosions the coffin was thrown through the stained glass window. After Harold step out of the coffin and talk to the two survivors, the Night Mother talked to him once again and informed him that Astrid was still alive. She asked him to find her. Nazir and Babette followed him after he told them the news.

They took the stairs up to Astrid's old chambers and saw a horrifically burned Astrid stretched out on the floor in her hidden chamber with candles surrounding her. She had performed the Black Sacrament, prayed to the Night Mother and placed herself in the center of the ritual with the Blade of Woe beside her. Astrid revealed that she was the traitor. She betrayed Harold because she wanted things to go back to normal with the Dark Brotherhood. She was skeptical of Cicero and the Night Mother and envious of Harold for being named the Listener. With her last moments she performed the Black Sacrament on herself and asked for a contract. When he arrived, her skepticism of the Night Mother disappeared, since she knows that her prayers were heard. She revealed that what she prayed for was a mercy killing. She wants to be put out of her misery. Harold took the Blade of Woe and killed Astrid. Nazir and Babette were angry and felt pity for their former leader. When they returned to the Night Mother, she instructed Harold to fulfill the Brotherhood's contract to kill the Emperor. She said to talk to Amaund in Whiterun, but to let Nazir and Babetter know of the plan first.

Harold traveled to Whiterun and found Amaund at The Bannered Mare. Amaund revealed that the true Emperor was on board his ship, The Katariah, near Solitude's docks. Amaund also informed him that Maro was outside the East Empire Company Warehouse at the docks. Harold first went to the EEC Warehouse. Commander Maro was standing on the dock, when Harold approached him, he was startled attacked. Harold killed him and threw his body in the water. Then he jumped in the water and swam to the Katariah, which was moored out to the north of the city in a channel called the Solitude Inlet. He climbed in through the anchor chain's hole. Security was more relaxed as the Penitus Oculatus believed that the Dark Brotherhood had been completely eradicated. Nonetheless, many bodyguards were still present on the ship. When Harold got on board he encountered sailors and Penitus Agents. He sneaked past most of them but was forced to kill others. On the deck he found a scimitar, Windshear. He killed Captain Avidius and took his Master Key, which let him open all doors on the ship, including the Emperor's Quarters. he then entered the Emperor's Quarters. Titus Mede II greeted him straight away, as he was expecting him. He acknowledged that it was his destiny to die by Harold's hand, and would not fight it. He asked for one final wish though, to kill the person who masterminded his assassination, as he felt that his intentions could've been malevolent. After slicing Titus' neck he left the ship, by jumping into the water from the Emperor's balcony and escaping.

He returned to Whiterun to speak to Amaund. Harold told him that the Emperor was dead, he was overjoyed. Amaund then revealed that the money was in a dead drop inside the cavern where they first met, in Volunruud. Harold decided to fulfill Titus' last wish, he stabbed Amaund. Amaund was shocked at this and tried to call his bodyguard for help, but Harold quickly finished the killed the Breton. He then went to Volunruud and to the chamber where he first met Amaund. Inside he found an urn containing 20,000 gold, he took and then left the ruin. When he return to the Dawnstar Sanctuary he spoke to Nazir about the gold. Nazir pointed out that Delvin of the Thieves Guild could assist in using the gold to restore the sanctuary. Harold then went to Riften where he used a large portion of the gold to remodel the Dawnstar Sanctuary. Nazir started recruiting new members and Cicero had returned to take care of the Night Mother. Harold had restored the 5 tenants of the Dark Brotherhood, as the Night Mother commanded. With the assassination of the Emperor the Dark Brotherhood was once again feared as the greatest assassins on Tamriel.

Tyranny of the Sun Prophecy

Harold in his Dawnguard Armor

Vampires had started attacking the cities of Skyrim, every time Harold saw an attack he ran over to help. But this was not enough, stopping one attack would not stop the vampires as a whole. He heard a rumor that a group of vampire hunters, called the Dawnguard, were being reformed and needed new members. He traveled to Riften and encountered an Orc from the Dawnguard there, the orc pointed out where their base was. He took to the road east from Riften. From there he headed close to the boarder to Morrowind, where he found the entrance to Dayspring Canyon. In the Canyon was located Fort Dawnguard. Along the way he caught up to Agmaer, another new recruit to the Dawnguard. The young Nord expressed his anxiety concerning entering the fort on his own, and accompanied Harold the remainder of the way. Along the way he also met an Orc that was using an unusual weapon. Durak, the orc, said it was a crossbow and gave Harold one, along with 45 bolts for ammunition. When they reached the steps to the fort, they found Celann guarding the entrance. Celann was a former Vigilant of Stendarr and told Harold a bit about the Dawnguard's leader, who was also a former Vigilant.

When they went inside Isran, the Dawnguard's leader, was talking to a former college of his, a Vigilant named Tolan. Tolan explained that the vampires that burned down the Hall of the Vigilant and killed many of their members, including Keeper Carcette, their leader. Isran was a little saddened by the news but said that he did try to warn them about the vampires. Isran then noticed Harold and Agmaer, he asked them what they wanted and they replied by saying that they wanted to join the Dawnguard. Isran agreed since the Dawnguard didn't that many members, he told Agmaer to start training since the young Nord barely knew how to hold a weapon. However, he gave Harold the task of assisting Tolan, who said that the Vigilants had uncovered a vampire artifact at Dimhollow Crypt.

Tolan left for the Crypt and Harold looked around the Fort for supplies. Afterwards he headed there himself. In the first room he overheard two vampires conversing, he killed them and their Death Hound. There he found the body of Tolan near the bodies of two dead vampires. He continued through the ruin after opening a closed gate. He eventually made it to a small wooden door at the other end of a room that led to Dimhollow Cavern. When he entered the cavern he overheard a vampire ,Lokil , interrogating a Vigilant named Adalvald, who died before revealing anything to his captor. Harold attacked the vampire and his thralls, killing them. After killing them he made his way to the circular stone structure that dominated the chamber. He pressed a button atop the pedestal in the center, which caused a spike to emerge impaling his hand as a purple light shines up from troughs in the floor. He solved the puzzle with the purple braziers and the purple lights. The center of the structure then descended to reveal a stone monolith beneath the pedestal, which contained a mysterious woman carrying an Elder Scroll. Harold approached the woman and talked to her, she said name was Serana and that she was a vampire. She asked him to take her to her family home, Castle Volkihar, northwest of Solitude. Along the way he asked her a few questions, but she was not very trusting of him. However, she did reveal that she had been imprisoned for a very long time, since before the rise of the Empire of Cyrodiil. As they were leaving the ruin they encountered a word wall containing the word GAAN, meaning Stamina.

They travelled to where Serana said the Castle was. When they got there Harold saw that the Castle was on an island away from the shore. They took a rowboat to the island and walked up to the Castle's gates. About halfway across the bridge to the gates Serana told Harold to keep quiet and let her do the talking. The Watchman opened the gate when he saw Serana. They entered the Castle. A vampire confront Harold, but backed off when he saw Serana and told her the group was gathered in the main hall. They descended into the hall and Harold watch the reunion between Serana and Lord Harkon, her father. After that Harkon approached Harold, he told him there is only one thing he could give him as thanks: his blood. Harold refused his offer, Harkon then cast a spell that teleported him outside the Castle gate. He advised Harold never to return. He returned to Fort Dawnguard to report back to the Dawnguard. When he arrive the fort was under attack by a band of vampires. After defeating the vampire attackers he spoke to Isran and told him what he discovered.

Isran realized that it was time to bring in reinforcements to Fort Dawnguard. He told Harold about the two people, Sorine Jurard and Gunmar, they were former colleges of his that were invaluable to the Dawnguard. He sent him on his way, to convince Sorine and Gunmar to join the Dawnguard, and use their special skills to help out against the vampire menace. Gunmar was hunting in the wilderness of Skyrim. He explained that he had been chasing a bear for two weeks, and that he finally managed to corner it. Harold told him that Isran needed his help, Gunmar said he had moved on and didn't want to be a part if it anymore. When Harold told him about the vampire threat and the Elder Scroll he reconsidered, though he still wanted to kill the bear. After they killed the bear in the cave Gunmar headed to Fort Dawnguard while Harold went searching for Sorine. Sorine was just south of Mor Khazgur, a dwarven ruin. She asked Harold if he had seen a sack full of Dwemer gyros. Harold ignored the question and said that Isran needed her help. She, like Gunmar, initially decline, but when told about the vampire threat and the Elder Scroll, she changed her mind. Though she still wanted a dwemer gyro. Harold looked around for her satchel, and found it on the shore a few feet away. After getting her sack back she headed with Harold to Fort Dawnguard. When they return to the Fort, Harold saw that Isran had tightened security and made several changes to the exterior. They met up wit Gunmar and the three entered the fort. Isran was above the main hall looking down at them from the balcony. Isran sealed off the chamber, trapping the two new recruits and shower them both with concentrated sunlight as a test. Since non of them were vampires he gave a short speech and filled them in on the situation. Gunmar and Sorine immediately went to work in their respective stations that Isran had set up.

Isran told Harold to follow him for a little interrogation session with a newly arrived vampire, it was Serana. When Harold asked what she was doing in the enemy fort, she explained that her father once was a better person but stumbled upon a prophecy that foretold vampires could control the sun, thus not be afraid of daylight. Serana and her mother tried to stop him from taking over the world, so Serana was sealed away with the scroll, to keep it from her father. She realizes she was in a fort filled with vampire hunters, but agrees to try and persuade Isran to let her help. Isran agreed to let Serana help out, but still didn't trust her. She reminded then that she carried an elder scroll on her back and that it was necessary to read it to understand the prophecy. The only people who can read the scrolls are the blind Moth Priests who lives in the Imperial City in Cyrodiil, a long way from Skyrim. Luckily, Isran noticed an imperial scholar passing by on the road just a few days ago. Serana suggested that the College of Winterhold as a place where a scholar would go. Harold and Serana then departed for the College, but first Harold stopped by Gunmar and got a full set of Dawnguard armor and weapons. At the college they talked to Urag, who said a Moth Priest was heading for Dragon Bridge. The duo then left for the town. They asked the locals if they had seen a Moth Priest. Some claimed they knew nothing about a traveling priest. Through the local guards did see a caravan with a priest travelling with an imperial escort heading south. Harold and Serana headed southeast out of town and crossed the old bridge. Before long they saw signs of a roadside attack. They examined a corpse of a vampire and read the vampire's note. The note pointed towards a place named Forebears' Holdout, apparently where the attackers dragged the Moth Priest.

They followed the trail to four standing stones, and the entrance to Forebears' Holdout. They entered the holdout and traversed it, killing the vampires that stood in their way. Despite the vampires being Serana's kin she showed no signs of mercy towards them. They eventually headed up a set of stairs where Malkus, the author of the note, was be busy trying to enthrall the imprisoned priest. They disposed of Malkus and claimed the Weystone Focus from his corpse. They went up the stairs and activated the Weystone Source with the Focus they took from Malkus. The magical barrier disappeared and revealed the Moth Priest, however he was under Malkus' enthrallment. The enthralled priest attacked them, they were forced to defeat him. After being defeated the spell wore off and the priest was freed, he introduced himself to his saviors. The preist was called Dexion Evicus and he was a Moth priest from the White-Gold Tower. Harold introduced himself as a member of the Dawnguard and told him that they need him to read an Elder Scroll. The three of them then returned to the Fort. When they gathered with Isran in the main chamber Dexion started reading Serana's Elder Scroll. After describing what he saw from reading the Elder Scroll Daxion concluded that to know the full prophecy he would need two more Elder Scrolls.

Harold and Serana then left for the College of Winterhold, where they once again met with Urag. Harold bought back the Elder Scroll he had sold to the orc. They now had two scrolls, Serana had an idea where the last one was. She thought her mother, Valerica, might have information on it, and possibly even possess it. She believed Valerica may have left a clue at Castle Volkihar, in the courtyard. They travelled to the Castle's island and entered through a secret entrance used by the previous owner to obtain shipments. When they reached the castle's old docks they took care of the skeletons then headed inside. They fought their way through death hounds, skeletons, and feral vampires as they made their way through the castle's catacombs. When they reached the courtyard Serana told him there was something strange about the moon dial, there were three missing pieces. They searched around the courtyard for the pieces and then put them in place, which caused a secret entrance to be revealed. They went inside and continued fighting gargoyles and skeletons until you reach a room with gargoyles and a fireplace. Serana told him there must be a secret entrance somewhere and they turned the candlestick near the fireplace, which revealed a door. Inside Valerica's laboratory search for her journal. It was located on the central bookcase. After Serana read it she told him to find certain ingredients which could be found in the laboratory. After Harold collected them he gave them to Serana. She placed them in the vessel in front of the portal. Serana then added her blood to the mixture and the Soul Cairn portal started to open. Serana told Harold to enter the Soul Cairn he must be "dead". She knew of two choices, either become a vampire or have his soul partially trapped in a soul gem. Harold chose to have his soul partially trapped.

They entered the Soul Cairn. They travelled to the Boneyard and found Valerica standing near the entrance. While they were able to speak with her, she couldn't be reached due to an invisible barrier. Valerica didn't trust Harold because he was a vampire hunter and asked his intentions with Serana. Harold said he would never hurt Serana, whom he had befriended and grown fond of since first meeting her. During the course of their conversation, she revealed that the barrier could only be removed by defeating the three Boneyard Keepers. The Keepers were each in separate towers. Each of the Keepers had a group of minions that attack Harold and Serana. Once the final Keeper was defeated, they returned to Valerica. She then led them into the Boneyard. Once inside they had to defeat Durnehviir, the undead dragon that guarded the Boneyard. There were numerous skeletons aiding the dragon. While Valerica and Serana handled the minions Harold focused on Durnehviir. Once he was defeated they took the Elder Scroll, and spoke to Valerica. Valerica instructed Harold on how to retrieve his soul from a Soul Essence Gem located at an offering altar. Once they left the Boneyard, Durnehviir rematerialized and spoke to Harold, hailing him as his Qahnaarin (meaning Vanquisher). He expressed his surprise and admiration of Harold's fighting ability, stating that he had never been felled on the fields of the Soul Cairn before. He then recount the tale of how he came to be bound into the service of the Ideal Masters, explaining that he was deceived after he sought their power to help establish his dominance amongst his fellow dovah on Nirn. He taught Harold how to summon him back into Tamriel, promising to reward him each time you set him free. Afterwards, they proceeded to the offering altar to retrieve Harold's soul, then travel back to the portal and left the Soul Cairn.

Once they had the two Elder Scrolls, they returned to Dexion to find that, because he had not prepared himself earlier, he had gone blind and would not be able to aid them further. He did, however, give Harold the means to read an Elder Scroll himself. The first objective was to find a Moth Priest's draw knife. The location to do the ritual was Ancestor Glade, so Harold and Serana headed there. It was one of the only paces in Tamriel which held Ancient Moths, from which Moth priests were named. The Glade was located in Falkreath Hold. There they found the draw knife, now they needed bark to attract the moths. Harold cut some Canticle tree and obtained some bark, then used it to attract Ancestor Moth swarms. He walked around the glade with the bark and the moth swarms started to follow him and fly around him. After collecting a large enough group of moths he went to the middle of the glade and entered a column of light. After reading all three Elder Scrolls he saw a map-like object glowing in front of him. On the map he saw two red symbols, the one at the lower left represented the ram of Markarth, and the one at the upper right represented the wolf of Solitude. The lines on the map represented rivers. The location of Auriel's Bow was shown by the small white symbol, near the head of the river in the top-left quarter of the map. He looked at it for a while and his vision whited out. It didn't take long for his vision to return. He then talked to Serana and she asked him if he are okay, as she was worried that he may have gone blind. Harold assured her that he was fine. He told her that the bow was in a place called Darkfall Cave. She asked where it was and he said the scrolls gave him its exact location. As they were leaving the glade vampires ambushed them, but they were no match for the two of them.

They travelled to Darkfall Cave, the cave was very dark so they had a difficult time to traverse it. At the end of the large cave they met Knight-Paladin Gelebor, a Snow Elves. He told them that in exchange for his help obtaining Auriel's Bow, they had to slay his brother, Vyrthur, who was corrupted by the Falmer, whom he called "The Betrayed". Vyrthur was hiding in the Inner Sanctum of the Forgotten Vale, a gigantic outdoor snow elven ruin. In order to make their way there they must fill a jug, the Initiate's Ewer, with water from five wayshrines: the Wayshrines of Illumination, Learning, Radiance, Resolution, and Sight. The first wayshrine, the Wayshrine of Illumination, was through the portal Gelebor opened that led to Darkfall Passage. They found it at the end of a long, dark trek through Darkfall Passage, they encountered several Falmer and chaurus. The second wayshrine, the Wayshrine of Sight, was found soon after emerging from Darkfall Passage into the Forgotten Vale. It was to the north of the path that climbs up out of the entry vale through the arches. The third, the Wayshrine of Learning, was found after continuing up the path, passing through a narrow pass inhabited by frostbite spiders, then dropping down to a narrow river valley. After crossing the river below the third wayshrine, they went up the steep path to a large, frozen lake. Two dragons, Naaslaarum and Voslaarum, attacked them as they crossed the frozen lake. After defeating the dragons they found a word wall that contained the word LAH, meaning Magicka. The fourth wayshrine, the Wayshrine of Resolution, was above the northwest bank of the lake. The fifth and final wayshrine, the Wayshrine of Radiance, was reached after a long, arduous trek through Forgotten Vale and Glacial Crevice. Along the way ,in small Falmer hut ,they found the "Unknown Book, Vol. III" before they entered the Glacial Crevice. This final part of the Vale consisted of a confusing maze of Falmer tents and platforms crowded within a series of narrow, twisting canyons. They picked up the "Unknown Book Vol. IV" from a hut in the second village, before the wayshrine.

Down the path from the Wayshrine of Radiance was the Inner Sanctum. Upon entering, they found many frozen Falmer and chaurus in the entry chamber. When Harold tried to take some of the items that the frozen Falmer were holding some of them broke out of their icy state and attacked him. After defeating the Falmer they placed the Initiate's Ewer on the pedestals to open gates as they made their way to Vyrthur's chamber. When they got there Vyrthur attacked them. During battle, he caused the ceiling to periodically collapse as he awakened several waves of Falmer and chaurus to attack. When all frozen enemies were gone, he collapseed the rest of the roof on Harold. He woke up with Serana telling him to get up and get on the balcony. Serana confronted Vyrthur and discovered that he was a vampire and the one responsible for making the Tyranny of the Sun Prophecy. Harold and Serana finished him off. When Vyrthur is dead, a wayshrine appeared and Gelebor came through. He was surprised at the real reason for Vyrthur's actions, and thank them, telling Harold that he deserved to carry Auriel's Bow. He also blessed some Sunhallowed arrows for him. Gelebor said he would try to restore the Sanctum and maybe look for other pockets of surviving Snow Elves. Harold and Serana said farewell to Gelebor and left the Forgotten Vale.

Serana said they should get back to Isran. Once at Fort Dawnguard, they talked to Isran, who then gathered the rest of the Dawnguard. After a short speech from Isran everyone headed out to Castle Volkihar. Once they arrive there, the Dawnguard, including one armored troll, charged at the castle. Five vampires, a few Gargoyles and one Death hound defended the outdoor approach to the castle. When they were defeated, Harold led the charge into Castle Volkihar, fighting the remaining vampires and Death hounds. After all the vampires had been killed, they followed Isran to a gated off doorway with a pull chain to the right of it. Serana pulled it to raise the portcullis, then Harold and Serana head up the steps and through the doors, where they found Harkon. Harkon admited that it was only a matter of time before Serana would one day return with hatred in her heart. He then questioned the player's allegiance to Serana by asking if she and Valerica are next after dealing with him, to which Harold said no. He said that Serana and Valerica were nothing like Harkon and that they didn't deserve to die like he does, so Harold would not hunt them. Harkon then demanded Auriel's Bow, which Harold refused.

Legacy

Jarl Harold siting on his throne in his Keep in Winstad

Guilds

Harold stayed as Harbinger for a few years but when he became the Jarl of Hjaalmarch he had no choice but to resign from the position, as he didn't have time to lead the Companions anymore. He chose Aela as his successor and with him gone a spot opened up in the Circle. Njada joined in his place, she became a werewolf. Aela didn't wield Wuuthrad but she wielded the Shield of Ysgramor, the Battleaxe was kept in Jorrvaskr for safety.

Harold didn't stay long as the College's Arch-Mage since the job required him to remain at the College to oversee it, and he constantly went travelling on adventures. He resigned from the post and made Tolfdir the new Arch-Mage, who made Faralda the new Master Wizard as she was the most qualified for the job. Tolfdir was able to get Nelacar to rejoin the College as the new Destruction teacher to replace Faralda.

Harold also didn't stay long as the Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild. A little after he became the guildmaster he got the sense that what he was doing was wrong, and so he stopped stealing. The only think that kept him in the Thieves Guild was his pact with Nocturnal, but he soon found a way to break it. He offered the Daedric Prince a dragon's soul in exchange for the termination of his pact, she agreed. Since he was no longer a Nightingale Harold quit the guild and stopped helping them. Karliah and Brynjolf became co-guildmasters for the time being, Brynjolf was more of an administrator while Karliah was more of a hands-on leader. Karliah soon found a replacement to add to the Trinity, a dunmer girl that Karliah had taken under her wing.

About the same time he quit the Thieves Guild Harold also quit the Dark Brotherhood. He didn't want to be a part of a guild of murderers anymore. This angered the Night Mother. She chose a new Listerner, a new Dunmer assassin that wielded two Daedric daggers that had joined the Brotherhood. The Dark Brotherhood tried many times to kill Harold, since he did break one of the 5 tenants. However, Harold killed every assassin that was sent after him. After a while they stopped trying to kill him.

RPs

Character Form

• Skills: Master of all Skills
• Spells: All Spells(From the game)
• Powers: Thu'um Mastery, Battle Cry and others
• Equipment: Full Dragonplate Armor, Dragonplate Shield and Dragonbone Waraxe (All enchanted). Amulet of Talos

Trivia

• Since Harold spent about 16 years in Cyrodiil he lost his heavy Nordic accent. He now sounds more like an Imperial but kept the mannerisms typical of Nords, like for example saying things like: "Shor's Bones" and "Ysmir's Beard".
• Harold shared similarities with Kodlak, they were both mercenaries in other provinces(Harold in Cyrodiil and Kodlak in Hammerfell) and returned to Skyrim where they joined the Companions. This is likely why Kodlak chose Harold as his successor, he felt Harold was like a younger version of himself.