Just a Skyrim fanfic: Extended cut

Joining the dawnguard

(Leonidas and Maximus are helping the guards clean up the mess of a battle)

Leonidas: What happened here?

Maximus: Vampire attack. That's the third one this month

Leonidas: Do you want me to stand guard for a while in case they come back?

Maximus: No. I just need to send a call to the dawnguard

Leonidas: Who are the dawnguard?

Maximus: The dawnguard are a group of vampire hunters in an old fort near Riften. I might consider joining up myself

Leonidas: Me too. Want to join as partners?

Maximus: Of course

(Leonidas and Maximus shake hands before they walk to Fort Dawnguard together)

Agmaer: Hey there! Are you guys coming to join the dawnguard too? Truth is, I'm a little nervous. I've never done anything like this before. I hope you don't mind if I walk up with you

Maximus: Be my guest

Agmaer: Just don't tell Isran I was afraid to meet him by myself. Not the best first impression for a new vampire hunter

Leonidas: I'm guessing Isran is the one in charge of the dawnguard

Durak: You would be correct

(A heavily armored orc named Durak walks up to the group)

Durak: The dawnguard is looking for anyone willing to fight against the growing vampire menace. What do you say?

Agmaer: Wouldn't the vigilants of Stendarr have handled them by now?

Durak: The hall of vigilants got destroyed by the vampires. Along with a massacre of most of their ranks. They won't be able to keep the vampires contained any longer. It's time for us to step up. They mostly hunt down daedra worshippers, which is why they got torn to pieces when they went up against the vampires

Leonidas: Where do we sign up?

Durak: Head on up to the fort for the evaluation. Isran will determine if you're dawnguard material

(Leonidas, Maximus, and Agmaer head into Fort Dawnguard and find some men in armor that looks similar to Durak's)

Celann: I'll tell you, the only thing more surprising than hearing from Isran after all these years was hearing him ask for my help. I immediately realized things must have been bad. Turns out, I was right

Isran: Why are you here, Tolan?

Tolan: You know why I'm here. The vigilants are under attack everywhere. The vampires are much more dangerous then we believed

Isran: And now you want to come running to the safety of the dawnguard, is that it? I remember Carcette telling me repeatedly that Fort Dawnguard is a crumbling ruin, and not worth the expense or manpower to repair. And now that you, and you alone, have stirred up the vampires, you want to come begging for my protection?

Tolan: Isran. Carcette is dead. The hall of the vigilants... Everyone... They're all dead. You were right. We were wrong. Isn't that enough for you?

Isran: I tried to warn all of you. But of course, you wouldn't listen. At least Calenn was smart enough to heed me

(Tolan walks away frustrated)

Isran: So who are you three? And what do you want?

Maximus: I hear you're looking for vampire hunters

Isran: You heard right. I'm glad word's finally starting to get around. But that also means it won't be long before vampires start to notice me as well

Leonidas: What can we do to help?

Isran: I need someone out in the field, taking the fight to the vampires while we're getting the fort back into shape. Tolan was telling me about some cave the vigilants were poking around in. He seemed to think it was related to these recent vampire attacks. Tolan, tell them about, what was it, dimhollow?

Tolan: Aye. That's it. Dimhollow crypt. Adalvald was sure it held some kind of long lost vampire artifact. But we didn't listen to him anymore than we did Isran. He was killed during the attack on the hall

Isran: That's good enough for me. Go see what the vampires were looking for in this dimhollow crypt. With any luck, they'll still be there. And here. You should take a crossbow. Good for taking out those fiends before they get too close

(Maximus takes a crossbow and some bolts)

Isran: Feel free to poke around the fort and take what you want. There isn't much yet, but you're welcome to anything you can put to good use

Tolan: I'll meet you at dimhollow so I can avenge my fallen comrades

Isran: Tolan, I don't think that's such a good idea. Vigilants were never trained for-

Tolan: I know what you think of us. You think we're soft. That we're cowards. You think our deaths proved our weakness. Stendarr grant that you do not have to force the same test and be found wanting. I'm going to dimhollow crypt. Perhaps I can be of some small assistance to you

Leonidas: It's ok. I can handle this

Tolan: But what about backup?

Maximus: Why do you think I'm here?

Isran: You there, boy. Stop skulking in the shadows and step forward. What's your name?

Agmaer: My name is Agmaer, sir

Isran: Do I look like a sir to you? I'm not a soldier. And you're not joining the army. Farm boy, eh? What's your weapon?

Agmaer: I mostly just use my pa's axe. When the wolves are attacking the goats or something

(Isran facepalms)

Isran: "My pa's axe". These are the kind of people joining up? Stendarr preserve us

(Agmaer looks down in disappointment)

Isran: Don't worry. I think we can make a dawnguard out of you yet. Here, take this crossbow and lets see how you all shoot

Agmaer: A crossbow? I've never...

Isran: A crossbow is the best thing for killing vampires at a distance. Just take a few shots at those targets over there

(Leonidas hits the target in the center in the time it take to blink)

(Maximus takes a second to aim and hits the target in the center)

Isran: Excellent. Your turn

(Agmaer takes a few shots, but they either miss or hit the edges of the target)

Isran: Concentrate and try again

(Agmaer fails at the crossbow test)

Isran: Ok, maybe range isn't your thing. Lets try melee. Tolan, if you please

(Tolan summons three spectral clones. One for each recruit to fight)

Isran: FIGHT!

(Leonidas and Maximus defeat their targets, but Agmaer gets knocked on his butt)

(Isran sighs)

Isran: It's gonna be a long day... You two pass. Head to dimhollow as soon as you're able. Agmaer. I have a special test for you