After dealing with Haron in his own home, and realising that he was indeed a Fzeg, a vampiric werewolf hybrid, the party decided to try and figure out a way into the Blue Palace, the home of the Jarl of Solitude. The reason for this decision was because they had figured out that Haron was to reappear back in the crypt of that palace. Using their Flying Broom, they scoped out the place, and due to an active Invisibility spell, they were not detected. While doing the rounds, they noticed what looks like an emergency exit, beneath the palace. And so, they traveled out of the city, through thick fog and heavy snowfall, and borrowed a couple of boats (trading some whiskey for them) to row to the small island supporting the outcropping that houses the noble district; where the emergency exit was located.
Through some deft lockpicking work, the group managed to make their way inside. As soon as they were within the confines of the Jarl’s property, however, the group noticed that all of their magic items were not functioning as usual; except for that one item they each had, that they had been carrying since before they joined up together. The one item each that had been tainted by Sheogorath’s Daedric magic, and that had been cleared of that taint Hermaeus Mora.
After a while, they found a small dungeon, which looked unused, as well as a small crypt hidden behind a secret door in the wall. This is where they found Haron’s sarcofagus, along with 3 others bearing the same family name. Interestingly, one of the sarcofagi bore the name of the Jarl himself, Maximian Castus. While the group was opening the sarcofagus, Maximian Castus entered the crypt, questioning them about their motives. He was surprising calm, and did not attack them, not even when they stabbed his brother in the sarcofagus, and not even when they attacked him. Instead, he burst into a swarm of bats, and recovered his humanoid form, sitting atop a beam high up close to the ceiling.
It turned out that Maximian Castus, the Jarl of Solitude, is a vampire, and he was using the city’s populace as a feeding ground for his family. He did not, however, know about the fact that his brother was a werewolf hybrid, a fact that he was very keen on hearing more about, although the party did not want to explain much about. He also, seemingly, did not know about the entrance into Blackreach through Haron’s own home.
By the end of this interaction, Maximian left the group to their own devices, clearly frustrated; and the group, after destroying Haron’s tomb so that he can no longer regenerate, quickly escaped through the way they arrived, planning on checking up on progress made by the Riente clan of vampires in Blackreach to assassinate the king of Markarth.
