My character Andrah Arcane was fighting a vampire, his thrall, and his mutt in Whiterun last night. Since my character has no real fighting skills, and uses no destruction spells generally, she was on top of the guard barracks that is right beside the gate out of town. Anyway, it was late, and very dark, and when the thrall and dog were both dead, I could see the vampire on the street between War Maiden's and Breezehome.

He was fighting two guards, and as Andrah cast bound Bow and nocked the arrow, one guard fell. I released the arrow with a clean view, but the damned guard of course stepped between the arrow and the vampire... a definitely bad move. Anyway, the guard fell, I saw a notification that I had a thousand gold bounty on me, just as my second arrow killed the vampire.

So there I am up on the roof, thinking I'm going to have to run for my life, or fight my way out of own, but... There wasn't anybody but Andrah left alive on the street. After looting the bodies I decided to get her out of town before more guards showed up. Out the gate we went, jumped on her horse and rode away, but for some reason the outside gate guards never reacted at all.

A little later on, I looked in my stats, and it showed no bounty for whiterun, but that lifetime Bounty was at 1000 gold, andlargest bouty was also 1000 gold.

I know that if all the witnesses are killed, the bounty is removed, but I didn't know that you could get a thousand gold bounty between one arrow and have it gone the next, and still have it recorded on your "record". So, how does that work out? I mean, the only one still alive when I killed the guard was the vampire... Can marauding vampires put a bounty on you?

It's just a record, a reminder.

Sure, but if i hadn't killed the vampire, would the bounty have stuck?

The bounty was probably added because someone from Whiterun, not the vampire, saw you killing the guard. Then that person died and you know the rest. Vampires do not belong to any crime faction.

Yeah, but that's what puzzles me... I use "When Vampires Attack" the only npc's not safely tucked inside their houses or the Bannered Mare were the guards who both died (if there was another one, who killed him?), the vampire, and my character. I wandered all over town after the battle,, and saw nobody. Of course, if they were still alive, then the bounty wouldn't have been removed, right?

Right. Somebody has seen you killing that guard.

All right, but then that makes even more questions... Like WHO? Where did they go? Who killed him or her, and where did the killer go when that job was done? If they (the witness) was not dead,why did the bounty go away? The vampire and my character were the only two living people on the street after the guard died, everybody else was either dead or in hiding and the vampire only lived about three or four seconds and didn't kill anyone during that time because he was in full view as he ran toward the barracks to come and get me.

There's a catch 22 here.

Just reload an older save and don't kill the guard this time.

Was there a chicken nearby that got killed right before you killed the vampire? Skyrim's bounty system is a bit messed up to begin with.

I, uh... I don't THINK so, eh? I mean I don't believe I've ever even SEEN a chicken in Whiterun...

Unless one was going to the Drunken Huntsman to get an order of sabrecat livers and a pint...

I think what happened- and yes this is stupid- is that the guard saw you killing him, and then he was dead.

Yup.

Well that CAN happen depening on how fast you die