20, Last Seed 201
I got up early again and after a nice breakfast started towards Bleak Falls Barrow. I came across the tower with the dead bandits again and decided to throw the unsavory types off the cliff edge. They deserve no more than that.
I then decided it was time to go for Bleak Falls Barrow. I came upon a mighty ruin and started to head up the stairs. I wasn't all the way up yet when suddenly I saw a bandit drawing his sword. I summoned my familiar and backed away a bit.
Then out of nowhere came a big Orc with an even bigger sword. I had my dagger at the ready and started flailing around wildly. The orc had obviously had more training though as he swung with a lot more precision. I managed to dodge his first strike but his next two hit me. I was bleeding hard but fighting even harder. I kept slashing at him and managed to get the better of him somehow.
I looked up just in time to see an arrow go through my wolf and ripping its form apart.
I knew I needed to run, so I ran. All the while healing myself up as best I could with a healing spell my mother taught me a few years ago. An arrow struck my shoulder and I yelled in pain.
At the tower I healed up again, but there was no time for resting. They would not expect me to return so fast so I might get the element of surprise.
As I neared the ruins I started sneaking from stone to stone, always keeping cover in case someone saw me.
Then I saw one of the brigands standing through a crack in the stones. I pulled out the bow Ralof gave me and readied a shot.
The bandit chose that moment to walk over to another spot. It was probably for the best though as I don't actually have any training in archery and probably would have mucked up my element of surprise.
Instead I sprinted up the stairs and summoned my wolf. It ran to the bandit and killed it in a single bite.
As I started to inspect the body I heard a voice behind me. There was someone else. I carefully made my way in the direction of the sound and suddenly a third bandit drew her bow against me.
I had my dagger at the ready and tried to circle around her. I wasn't fast enough though as an arrow pierced my side. Luckily my armor held back most of the blow and it just hurt a little bit.
My strategy worked though. I launched myself at the woman from one side as my wolf attacked her from the other. She didn't even have time to draw another weapon as we killed her in seconds.
As gruesome as this whole business is, I must say that it's a real thrill.
Now I went into the barrow. The temple was beautiful and old but I didn't really have time to enjoy it yet. I saw two bandits talking at the other end of the hall.
I snuck in and overheard them talking about others going on ahead. I didn't wait too long though and I summoned another wolf to take on these brigands.
The wolf fought valiantly and also gave me the chance to get in a few hits with my dagger, but one of the bandits managed to kill my wolf before it could do too much.
I ran back across the hall to try and gain some space. Luckily only one of them followed me. My wolf had already made some deep gashes in his sides and it wasn't too hard for me to best him in his weakened state.
The woman had readied her bow in the meantime and was shooting at me from cover. One of the arrows struck my helmet and pierced my ear. Just a little inch to the right and it might have hit me in the eye.
Again I took advantage of my speed and I dived onto her with my dagger. She couldn't defend herself, cornered as she was, and my dagger found her throat easily.
The bandits had made a little camp for themselves here. I saw bedrolls a small fire and there was a also locked chest. I had my first taste of picking locks just two days earlier so I decided to try it again. It was just as easy as before and the chest had some gold, lockpicks and an iron ingot in it.
I hope I'll find some more Iron. Maybe I'll be able to make some more armor for myself. This leather doesn't feel quite right.
I worked down a piece of bread and a tomato before going on.
I went deeper into the barrow. Everything seemed really old. There were burial urns everywhere and I even found a dead skeever. I cut off its tail as I've heard it makes a good ingredient for alchemy.
(I actually can't believe I'm doing stuff like that now. It's kind of disgusting I guess, but if I really want to be an adventurer like my dad I can't behave like a child anymore)
A little bit further I saw another bandit. I readied my dagger and a spell and started to sneak up on him.
Then suddenly he flicked a switch and poisoned darts came flying from the wall and killed him on the spot.
I'm really glad I saw that, I could've died in that trap otherwise.
Turns out there was some kind of puzzle attached. There were pillars that could rotate and they had symbols on them.
There were three of them and they corresponded to three symbols above the door. Well, one of them seems to have come down in the last century or so, but it was obvious it used to be up there.
I solved the puzzle easily and when I hit the switch a gate opened deeper into the dungeon.
Right after that gate there was a chest next to a table. On the table were a healing potion and a book called 'Thief'.
I took some time to read it and it's a really interesting story. It describes quite graphically some of the skills involved in thievery, in story form of course.
While sitting there I just realized a more efficient way to cast my wolf spell. I think it might help me to conserve some magical energy while casting it, although I have to try it out of course.
The chest contained a small gem, some gold and boots. I don't really need the boots but I might be able to sell them in town.
There was a way down, but just as I started going down I was attacked by three skeevers. Between my wolf and dagger I made short work of them of course.
I came to a room which contained a table. On the table there was a scroll which was titled 'Fireball'. I decided to take it with me.
Going further down the hall I suddenly heard a voice calling out to me. The voice sounded very scared so I proceeded with caution.
I came upon a doorway that was covered with spiderwebs. I hacked my way through and I entered the room behind it.
Suddenly a gigantic spider came from the ceiling and started making its way to me.
I summoned my wolf and the wolf and spider started fighting each other. I did not dare come too close but readied the fireball scroll instead. I took in its content and felt the spell wash through me.
When I saw my wolf being dispelled and the spider coming for me I released the spell. A great explosion stunned the great beast for a second but it kept coming for me.
I raced up through the doorway and thanks to my new insights into summoning I managed to fire off another wolf spell.
The wolf drove the spider back just enough for me to charge into the room and get back up behind the spider.
The combined efforts of the fireball, the wolves and my dagger eventually was enough to slay the abomination.
I tapped some of the spider's poison in the hopes it will be useful some day.
All the while the scared man kept screaming at me. Apparently this was the thief that stole the golden claw that Camilla and her brother want back.
I decided to keep the thief hanging a while longer while I searched the nearby egg sacks for some of the spider's eggs. The egg sacks were disgusting but I did it more to irritate the thief than to actually obtain the eggs.
I talked to the thief and he promised to show me how the claw worked if I would just cut him down first.
My father always said I'm too trusting of people. I cut the guy down and he immediately ran for it.
I cautiously followed him into a chamber that contained some sort of altar. There I saw one of the soul gems my teachers always talked about. It is said that one of these gems can actually hold a creature's soul if you know the right spell. I picked it up and slipped it in my pocked as I continued chasing the thief.
I went down the hall and couldn't believe the next thing I saw. The thief was fighting a walking dead body.
I didn't really have time to think it through as I saw another one getting up across the room.
I quickly summoned my wolf but instead of attacking the walking corpse that was now coming for me, it charged all the way to another one that was also there.
Carefully I tried a swipe at the corpse, but it mostly just ignored it as it raised it's sword to attack me.
I ran for it of course. The thing kept following me though, so I decided to try my fire spell on it instead.
The fire burned straight through the thing and it seemed to be really hurt. I didn't get time to recover though as another joined the first and now both were going after me.
As I ran further back into the ruin I drank one of the magic potions I picked up earlier and I found the strength again to summon a new wolf.
It was just in time too as the dead guy stormed in after me and it and the wolf started fighting. Luckily my wolf was stronger and it killed the corpse. Or killed it again... I'm not sure which wording makes any sense when you're talking about the living dead.
There was no time to recover though as the other corpse stormed in right after the first one. I seem to be getting better at fighting though as I took it down with just a few swings with my weapon.
Cautiously I walked back to the room to find the dead body of the thief. I got myself to actually searching his body and came up with the golden claw and some kind of journal.
Now if it was just the claw I was after I might have turned back right then but there was still the matter of the Dragonstone and Farengar had made it clear that it needed to be found quite swiftly.
The thief had died right next to an ingenious trap consisting of a pressure plate with a swinging door attached.
I walked past and saw a flicker of movement coming from an alcove. There was a corpse lying there that didn't look all that dead to me.
I slashed at it with my dagger and sure enough it came alive. I slashed at it again but it didn't even seem to affect the creature.
While the dead guy used some kind of ice spell on me I ran back through the hall and passed the trap. I was hoping the dead guy would trigger it but sadly it didn't. I summoned another wolf and for a few seconds I thought there would be a fair fight.
Sadly my wolf got dispatched very quickly and I ran back inside the dungeon, past the trap. Luckily the dead guy wasn't paying attention to the floor as he triggered the pressure plate.
The spiked fence came right up to it and flung it so far away that I couldn't even find the body when I went looking for it.
I pressed on and sure enough there were three other corpses standing around. I summoned my wolf again and it did some damage to one of them before being killed violently.
Two of the corpses pursued me as I ran up the stairs back through the spiked trap but sadly they did not trigger it.
I summoned another wolf and together we got both the corpses out of the way.
I went back to find the third had taken up a bow. When I summoned my wolf again though he took out a blade and engaged my wolf in battle.
When my dagger found his neck I got a really good idea on how to use my blade to deal more damage to the enemy.
I just wished I had a bigger one, like a sword. That would make it a lot easier overall.
I continued to fight some more corpses, each as fearsome as the next. In one room there was oil all over the floor, which I set on fire to kill it in a second, in a next I had to slash violently at one with an axe that almost cut me in half.
I found some chests, two of them locked, that contained some gold, potions (one that could actually turn me invisible) and a heavy axe that looked to heavy for me. I want to stay quick and mobile and an axe like that would only drag me down.
I went through a door and after a while came upon a corridor with swinging axes. I ran through, only getting slightly hurt by one of the axes.
I was greeted by a whole bunch of the walking corpses. I quickly summoned another wolf and ran back trough the corridor of swinging axes.
This time one of the axes hit me hard from the side. Luckily my wolf kept me safe while I downed two potions and healed myself with a spell some more.
When I looked through the corridor I saw my wolf getting killed and one of the corpses came at me through the corridor of axes. By some twist of fate he blindly missed all of the axes and continued at me.
Luckily he was hurt by my wolf already and when I savagely sliced at him he went down without too much trouble.
I wasn't out of the woods yet though. One more archer was on the other side of the corridor.
I timed it right and sprinted through the hallway, all the axes narrowly missing me this time.
As the archer backed up and managed to land a single arrow into my gut I cut the corpse into little pieces.
Catching my breath I figured I had been using my blade all wrong all this time. I tried a few new poses and figured a whole new way to handle it.
I pushed on and came upon a new puzzle. There was a large door that contained three rings with symbols on it. In the center were a few holes that fit perfectly with the golden claw I had with me.
I had studied the journal of the thief and it said "the solution is in the palm of your hand". I studied the claw and indeed, the palm contained three symbols that corresponded with some of the symbols on the door.
The circles could be rotated to find new symbols and I aligned them in the order: bear, moth, owl. As soon as I inserted the claw into the holes the circles started turning on their own and the door sank into the ground letting me through.
The next room was a great cavern that was somehow mesmerizing. I carefully walked in and was startled by a swarm of bats flying into me.
I pushed on however and felt myself drawn to a wall that had text on it. It was in a writing I had not seen before yet seemed familiar somehow.
One word in particular stood out to me. I knew it meant "Fus", although I know I have not learned that word before.
The suddenly I was snapped out of my trance as behind me I heard a loud bang. The coffin behind me was thrust open and a corpse stood up out of it.
I immediately summoned a wolf and readied my blade. This corpse was not going to go down easily though. I slashed at it with my blade, but when it sliced its sword straight through my wolf I was forced to back up a bit.
I summoned another wolf and got back up to the abomination again, continually driving my blade into its dead flesh.
When it also killed my second wolf I ran back a bit and readied my flame spell. I shot at it until I could no longer keep it up.
It seemed reasonably effective so I downed two more magicka potions while retreating ever further and then I felt my power returning I fired a second volley at it.
It didn't kill the creature but I saw that it was very much weakened now. I jumped on it and after a few slices with my dagger it fell to the ground lifelessly.
I took a moment to catch my breath and then made for the chest that was standing next to the coffin.
I rummaged through it and found a few nice treasures. A nice looking shield, a hunting bow that has an enchantment on it, some gold and a magic ring.
There was no sign of a dragonstone though. It was then I realized that I had to actually feel into the dead guys robes to try and find it there.
Disgusted I felt its cold hard flesh. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever felt. The Dragonstone was there though, on the dead guy.
I took it and left the room as fast as I could.
After that I walked up the stairs and exited through a secret passage in the side of the mountain. It came unto the river and I just followed it downstream.
I came across a shack where I met a nice old lady living there by herself. I didn't really have time to char though as it was getting pretty late.
Pretty soon I saw the first houses of Riverwood. I ran into the village and intro Hod and Gerdur's house. Then I just flung myself onto the bed and fell asleep instantly.
