After hunting down an escaped criminal for the companions, I stopped in Falkreath for the night. The next morning, I got ready to go to Riverwood, leaving only after I had my fill of mead. Taking the north road out of town, I admired the landscape as I continued down the path. When I looked up to swipe at a butterfly, I saw a wooden bridge stretched over the road, so I went into hunter-killer mode and scrambled up the right bank of the path.
Although I wasn't sneaky enough to jump them in broad daylight, my flanking maneuver gave me the edge by having the two bandits lined up in single file on the rickety bridge. The further bandit couldn't shoot me as I cut down her comrade. Ducking under an arrow, I sprinted up to the woman and spun around quickly, slashing her collarbone. As she crumpled and fell over the rope holding up the bridge, I noticed a trail leading from the far side. Following it up a hill, I found a shack.
Inside I found nothing of value but a staircase. Stepping down, I quickly squatted down behind a desk to avoid detection from the silhouetted figure tending a fire at the end of the basement. Sneaking up, I saw it was a clumsy orc bandit..I slit his throat. Searching the room, something drew me towards a strangely placed button. Upon pressing it, a bookcase slid open, so I stepped inside.
Sneaking and shooting my way through the cavern it the trapdoor led to, I wondered where this unexpected adventure would take me. Eventually I found three bandits sitting at a table, discussing their fellow bandit, who had been killed by their leader for trying to steal from her. Sidestepping behind the shelves in the room, I picked up on the word "trap" just before stepping into a rusty beartrap. Releived I had seen it, I shuffled out of the room, pleased that I hadn't killed everyone.
Here, stalactites and stalagmites met, forming columns I hid behind as a strong looking orc breathed down my neck. Sensing he had turned, I emerged and thrust my blade into him, but he barely survived. Although he managed to smack me with his war hammer, I jumped back on his follow through swing, then burst forward and gashed his right shoulder to the bone. He was unconscious, but would bleed out soon, so I continued on, not before searching him and taking a letter that he and a couple previous highwaymen had. Tucking it away, I decided to read it later.
Bones hang from the ceiling, a trick I had seen before, so I weaved through them, careful not to rattle them. Ducking into a hallway, I heard a sword behind me being drawn. Turning, I saw the clan leader in her strategically tucked away room. After a fiercome battle that came as a blur, I went into her treasure room and stole her fortune.