~ 16th of Evening Star, 4E 227 ~
The walk up to the cavern, in the dark no less, was intimidating. The fellow was with me, Valdr was his name, but it wasn't easing my fears. He and his friends were bear hunters, and I knew that meant there would be a bear inside. I've managed to avoid bears so far in my life, so it felt quite unnerving and unusual to be willingly confronting one.
We stepped inside and I was immediately wishing I'd grabbed a torch. My father took me into a few caves over the years, and always stressed the importance of scouting for traps. Bandits and outlaws love to use caves to hide out in, and they love to defend their lairs with traps. I didn't expect to find bandits in this cave, given that I had never seen any coming or going from it, but you can't be too careful. A trap could sit for a hundred years and wait for you to come along so it can put a spear through your chest.
I let my eyes adjust to the darkness, and began see the scene in front of me. Nearby, on the ground, lay the corpse of one of Valdr's comrades. Just beyond him was a much larger body. A bear. As far as I could tell it was dead, but I could also hear another one farther up inside the cave. The sound of it's growling and snorting made my blood freeze.
But before I could put too much focus on that I noticed something else. Directly across from my, up on a ledge, I could see a figure of some sort with a faint glow about it. It took me a minute to realize I was looking at a spriggan. Spriggans are very formidable foes. In addition to their various magical abilities they can also call on animals to aid them in their fight. I knew this meant that the moment we attacked, we would also have a bear involved. It was not a good scenario.
But I we were committed at this point. I didn't know what else to do so I poisoned an arrow with a health poison and then drank down one of my archery mixtures. From the shadows I sent the first arrow flying, and to my utter dismay it missed. I was just slightly off. Now the spriggan was alerted and unhurt. This was a horrible start to the fight.
I notched another arrow as fast as I could and let it fly, adjusting my aim as the spriggan began to move. This one struck home, and it was about that time that a very large bear came rumbling angrily into view. I hit the spriggan again as the bear charged for us. My heart was dropping from my chest at the sight of it, and knowing we were in a tight passage it was not looking good. The spriggan was also running our way. I continued to send arrows after the spriggan, since it was already hurting. I hoped to kill it quickly and then focus on the bear next.
The problem with spriggans is that they have the ability to heal themselves. And as I dropped it to the ground and had it nearly dead, the giant bear got in between us and I couldn't finish the spriggan off. Valdr struck at the bear with his blade while I stuck it with arrows, watching as the spriggan healed itself and stood back to its feet. The fighting continued, with Valdr and I focusing our efforts on the bear now. But the spriggan found a way around the bear and began to attack me directly. The pain was intense, and my brand new hide armor was badly damaged.
A health potion kept me in the fight, and eventually I had the spriggan down on it's knees again, but once again I was unable to finish it off. It healed itself and the fighting continued. The tight passageway offer no room to maneuver and I realized I had made a critical mistake. I would have been better off charging into the room at the start of the fight to give myself space to move around. But it was too late now. We were stuck.
And so the fight went, until I finally was able to put the spriggan down for good, and focus on helping Valdr with the bear. I was lucky that the bear hadn't attacked me once. It likely would have killed me with a swipe or two of it's paw. For whatever reason, it was unleashing it's fury on Valdr, and that surely saved my life. When we finally killed it I was so engrossed in the fight that I managed to shoot another pair of arrows into it, not realizing it was dead.
Together Valdr and I moved through the cavern, dispatching another pair of spriggans. They were somewhat easier fights considering we didn't also have a bear to deal with. Valdr thanked me for helping him recover the bodies of his friends and gifted me a special dagger of his. It looks a lot like my own dagger, but this one carries an enchantment to assist one in dealing critical strikes. I only use my dagger for skinning game and gutting fish, but it was a very nice gesture. And it's possible it may come in handy some day.
With the cavern clear of dangers, I decided to have a look around. It wasn't likely I'd come back any time soon, as another bear will probably find this place at some point and call it home. So I took a look around and came across a large chest hidden up a small path. Inside I found some gold, some old dwarven arrows which were just beautiful, a set of scaled bracers, and a curiously-shaped orb.
Not knowing what to make of the object, I decided to lift it out of the chest. It wasn't very heavy, but the moment my hands were on it a voice spoke to me. It was as if the cavern itself was speaking to me. It was the voice of a daedric prince, Meridia, and she was instructing me that I would cleanse her temple of a foul darkness. Every fiber of me wanted to put the beacon, as she referred to it, back in the chest and leave the cave. But I couldn't. Some part of me simply couldn't let it go. It had a hold on me, as much as her voice did. How does one refuse the wishes of a daedric prince?
Valdr showed me on my old map where Mt. Kilkreath was located, which is where her temple is. It's near Solitude. I've never been that far north, and the thought of setting out on such an adventure has me scared to death. Why wouldn't she choose someone older? Why not a great warrior? Why me?
I have so many questions and concerns in my head right now. I can't really focus. I've been up all night fighting in a dank cavern as well. I'll need to get some rest and then come to terms with what to do about this beacon.