On the steps of Jorrvaskr lay the bodies of men and women that the Companions had just defeated. Closer inspection showed that these are all members of the Silver Hand - they had dared attack the Companions at their home ground in broad daylight.
Worse news was to follow, as the Companions found that the raiders had gotten to Kodlak. The Harbinger was dead before anyone could have gotten to his aid. To our chagrin, some of the White Hand had also escaped with the collected pieces of the Wuuthrad, undoing generations of effort of by the Companions.
Vilkas drew me from the crowd and told me he was aware of Kodlak’s wish - to break the werewolf curse. The curse would have to wait for now - the Harbinger’s death must be avenged, and pieces of Wuuthrad returned. The Companions has caught a surviving raider and forced the location of the hiding place of his compatriots from him.
Remnants of the Silver Hand had rallied in a mountain retreat called Driftshade Refuge, far to north - near Dawnstar. Vilkas and myself are chosen to retrieve our pieces of Wuuthrad, and to avenge Kodlak.
On the trek north we encountered a queer man named Cicero, dressed like a jester. He was escorting his dead mother (in a coffin) when one of the wheels of the cart broke. The suspicious owner of the farm nearby had refused to offer the strange man help, and the diminutive Cicero seemed powerless to fix the wheel by himself. Pressed by our own errand, we decided to persuade Vantus Loreius to show some bit of neighbourliness and help the poor fellow before going on our way.
We also passed the Hall of the Vigilant on the way north. This is the base of the Vigilants of Stendarr - a group of militants dedicated to Stendarr the God of Righteousness Might and Merciful Forebearance. The group actively roots out Daedric influence. It goes to say that they have no real love for werewolves - the latter being associated with Daedric Prince Hircine after all - though they have no real means of detecting that taint on Vilkas or myself... But that will not be a problem here, since the entire building was burnt down (!). We investigated the ruin and found bodies of vampires and vigilants alike - obviously the vigilants had been attacked by the vampires and lost. This is a troubling bold move, even by the standards of the blood suckers.
The retreat called Driftshade Refuge looked like an unassuming hovel in the snowy mountains, but in fact hides a cunning underground complex where the Silver Hand had made a defensible base. The Companions' vengeance would not be denied, however, and we cleared out the order and recovered the pieces of Wuuthrad. Hopefully this will be the last we hear of them.
With Kodlak avenged, it is finally time for his final rites. The Harbinger's funeral at the Skyforge is attended by everyone in Whiterun - the Jarl, the priests, nobles, and the common folk alike. The retrieved fragments of Wuuthrad we gave to Eorlund Gray-Mane, smith of the Companions, to be re-mounted on the display in the great hall... except the smith remarked that the Silver Hand seem to have more pieces of the axe in their possession - so much so that we are now left with only one piece of the weapon when all the pieces were accounted for.
There was still much to be resolved after the funeral - chief of which the new leadership of the Companions...
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