Elder Vindar’s Journal

This is a transcription of a journal found in Skyrim if you’re running the Immersive College of Winterhold mod, and if you’re running the Fall of Winterhold quest that that mod provides. The transcription is provided here for ease of reading, if you have trouble reading the journal itself during your playthrough.

Property of the Temple of the Gods

Rain’s Hand – 4E122

Morndas 1st: Feykirson has missed his third sermon in a row! I doubt he’ll return to the temple before his father returns or before this storm abates. This congregation has been shrinking for too long! Elder Rohdi had advised incorporating select Daedra into our pantheon to attract the Dunmer, but I fear this would alienate the indigenous Nords.

Tirdas 2nd: The Sea of Ghosts has practically come alive these past days. Aneka was hanged at dawn for allowing crates of skooma through the harbour gates last month, but the execution had to take place in the market to protect against the biting wind and rain.

Subaru was keen to send a strong message to other distributors. The council has advised offering clemency to anyone who confesses for fear of driving the trade underground, although I suspect it has more to do with avoiding capital punishment for the Jarl’s son, whose propensity for such substances is an open secret. In the meantime, the skooma crates have been entrusted to the temple for safe-keeping as the barracks are being used to run invasion drills.

Middas 3rd: Large swathes of the lower city were flooded-out through the night. The temple has offered sanctuary until the water can be dredged. Despite this charity most venture to the College to seek cures for brainrot and rockjoint, which are reaching epidemic levels, rather than seek healing through prayer. As if some potion is any substitute!

But perhaps some concoctions can be put to good use. I emptied half a vial of skooma into the thurible at today’s sermon along with a few sprigs of elves ear to mask the odour. A few sips on a cure-poison draught have protected me from the substance but the effects on today’s congregation were incredible! Margritte and several others leapt to their feet in joy as the sermon ended, exclaiming that they’d never felt so close to the gods. Perhaps I can save this temple and decimate the skooma supply simultaneously…

Turdas 4th: Word has spread fast of the renewed power of my sermons. Several familiar faces and a few new have joined the congregation – even Feykirson has returned! Flood-refugees have taken up an active role in the upkeep of the temple and grounds. This place feels more alive than ever. Word has it Arnold of the guard has become interested in the shifting skooma trade, but the true cause is easily obfuscated. Ships have not docked since Morndas and Aneka’s execution has made dealers far more cautious, I tell him. Nevertheless, there have been no skooma related incidents since Aneka’s shipment was seized. Brainrot and rockjoint still plague the streets but there is renewed interest in the power of prayer to cure such ills…

Fredas 5th: An Altmer shipment of wheat and exotic fauna was wrecked today just off the coast. Of 32 crew only 4 survived, each taken to the College for healing. It appears the animals also perished. Members of the congregation are willing to brave the elements to attend sermons so I have equipped them with supplies for delivery to the elderly, people the College seems unconcerned about.

Loredas 6th: The gods have forsaken us on this day. Come midday the storm seemed to have all but passed; the rain ceased, thunder quieted and the Sea of Ghosts receded. Only it continued to recede until the Elven wreck was left high and dry. Seagulls flocked south and several hounds burst from their kennels and fled. Over the horizon, a wall of water twice the height of the gates swept towards the city and crashed against the coast. The very heavens shuddered and the entire city slid down towards the sea! Great mountains of stone like the jaws of Nirn came up over the walls and crashed shut above the Temple. Everything went dark. Everything is still dark. Where is Stendarr’s guiding light?

Tirdas 9th: Those of us that were in the Temple managed to collect and prepare a few bodies from the market but the Palace district is gone. Feykirson disappeared in the night. Screams – barely human – echo through the ruins. The gravity of our situation is not lost on me. Are we to die here of starvation, thirst or suffocation? Worse, fall victim to savagery? Our final moments will not be so desperate. I’ve emptied three vials of skooma into the thurible before I make my final address. Gods have mercy on us, and let it be known that Elder Vindar worshipped no pride!

Screenshots

Here are the screenshots of what the journal’s pages looked like in the actual game.

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Editing to add

• 10/3/2024: Converted screenshot gallery from FooGallery to FileBird.