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As always, your service to the realm does you proud. I know my father asked a lot of you when he sent you to Western Skyrim, but you can be certain that additional help is on the way. We're sending the very best of us to take charge of the situation there. The threat posed by the Icereach Coven is just too great to risk anything less. So, know that Lyris Titanborn will meet you in Solitude in short order.
I assume you have heard the name, Lyris Titanborn. It seems to me that everyone has. She may even be more famous than my father, the Skald-King of Windhelm! In case you don't know the fair and powerful half-giant, let me tell you the tale. My father has been working on surprising her with a hero's ballad, and I've listened to him recite it a thousand times. Truth be told, it isn't half bad.
There was a Nord name Gjalder, in whose veins the blood of Giants flowed. When he met and fell in love with Alyr Golden-Hair, he never thought their love would result in her death. She died giving birth to their considerably large daughter, Lyris. Gjalder raised his daughter in Eastern Skyrim. Heartbroken, he nonetheless loved Lyris and taught her honor, compassion, and courage. As Lyris grew tall and strong—taller and stronger than anyone in her village—her father imagined a place for her as a warrior of Skyrim, maybe even as a swordthane to a jarl! Lyris, however, had other ideas.
At the age of fifteen, already taller than even the largest Nord adult, she packed her few belongings and grabbed the axe her father had given her. She decided that Cyrodiil would put her strength to the test and that the Empire would give her the training she craved. When she arrived, she enlisted in the Imperial Legion. Imagine the ridicule and harassment she had to endure. The stares. In many cases, outright fear. But endure it she did, rising through the ranks and honing herself into the fearsome warrior we know today.
At some point along the way, she met Varen Aquilarios and got caught up in his revolution. His bodyguard and a trusted adviser, she helped him take the Ruby Throne and become emperor. Then, as one of Varen's Five Companions, she participated in many famous and infamous adventures—including the fiasco that began the Planemeld. Note that the blame for that falls squarely on the shoulders of mages. And Lyris returned to help put a stop to the chaos, as I'm sure you've heard.
Some say she's in love with the Redguard Dragonguard, Sai Sahan. Perhaps. I do know that she helped rebuild the Abbey of Blades for a time. Something drew her back to her homeland, though, and eventually Lyris made her way home to Skyrim. When she arrived in Windhelm, she marched right into the Palace of Kings and offered her axe to my father, Jorunn the Skald-King. My father can be downright annoying, as you well know. He gave Lyris a hard time, asking if he could trust her. If she really was the legendary Lyris Titanborn and not some Daedric imposter. I could see her grow more furious with every accusation Jorunn threw at her. Just when I thought the two were going to come to blows right there in the newly renovated throne room, they both burst out laughing. I'm still not sure what happened, but she's been a loyal agent of the Skald-King ever since.
What else do you need to know about Lyris Titanborn? She's been to Coldharbour and back, so never count her out. When the danger reaches levels so terrible as to block out the sky, know that Lyris and her axe will still be standing strong, ready to face it head on. There's no one I'd rather march into battle with than the half-giant of Skyrim. She's the one who first determined the extent of the threat posed by the Icereach Coven. And she'll help you finish the investigation and convince Svargrim, the pretender high king of Solitude, to take the threat seriously and take action. Even he wouldn't be so foolish as to ignore our warning and turn away our help.
Lyris Titanborn is on her way, Brondold. Gather what intelligence you can and be ready to assist her when she arrives. Kyne's breath at your back, my friend.
Irnskar, Prince of Windhelm