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SPOILER INFO
This fanfic novel is largely based on the events that occurred in an actual game of Skyrim I played. Therefore, it's inevitably a spoiler.
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previous day
4-201-08-25 04:00
Orphan Rock, Falkreath, Skyrim
Like I have planned earlier, we head west. I intend to check out Little Vivec in pursuit of Mr. Hlaalu's quest and then travel around the western end of Lake Ilinalta (yesterday we circumvented it from the east) returning to Hviterun.
It's still dark when I arrive in Helgen. I realize I have left my followers behind. They may be much better fighters than I am, but they can't keep up with me running. I see a couple of bandits ahead. Normally I would wait for the girls to catch up, but after our astonishing success with the Orphan Rock witches yesterday, I don't even bother to sneak. I draw Nettlebane, run straight into them and kill them without any difficulty. This weapon is really great. Then my girls finally deign to turn up and we kill another couple of bandits somewhat farther away. It was a piece of cake. The only tricky part is locating the exit at the other end of the village.
At this point, I change our plans slightly. The girls have mentioned that there is a town west of us. It's Falkert, the capital of Falkreath Hold. I figure that since we're so close to it, we'd better check it out. I'd really like to see what another hold capital looks like, and it seems to be only a slight detour on our way to Little Vivec.
Hi, foxie! You can run with us. I won't let anyone hurt you.
We encounter a rather arrogant Orc on the road. Normally I would let it slide and walk the other way, but this time I decide to tell him where to get off. I just feel like putting my fighting skills to the test.
He's extremely tough. Even with Nettlebane, I wouldn't stand a chance. Fortunately, my followers kindly shoot arrows into him, so with the help of the Healing spell and health potions, I finally succeed in surviving until he's dead. We feel a bit like a group of prehistoric hunters having brought down a mammoth or a bear. But it was also a reminder that it's not a good idea to invite trouble.
Under the rays of the rising sun, we arrive at a lonely house called Pinewatch.
It looks abandoned. Or maybe it's been chosen as a hideout by a couple of bandits engaged in some shady "business". Let's find out.
There is one man downstairs who attacks us in a blind rage as soon as he sees us. So we have to kill him. Why can't people realize that not every stranger is an enemy? We could have just sat and had a civilized conversation.
Now, since we're here and have been met with hostility, we steal everything from this house. While doing that, I notice a button on the wall. Pressing it opens an entrance behind a cupboard. It leads into a dungeon.
We pass through very big caves. They're full of crumbled stone blocks and a large number of barrels. And bandits every once in a while, just as hostile as the man in the house was.
In one fight I get knocked down. I'm scared out of my wits, but my followers succeed in defeating the bandits after a hard fight. I dread to think what those truculent unwashed barbarians might have done to us. They would have had the party of their lives – at our expense. Then again, it would have served us right. We were the ones who invaded their home just out of idle curiosity.
Did I say "unwashed"? Gods, I'm sorry. Those men are in fact remarkably clean. And there's something very ironical I have to tell you about. I've been desperately short of cash and therefore reluctant to buy soap. I've been hoping to find some in places that I loot, or at least come across ingredients from which I could brew some soap myself. Strangely enough, I've found neither. Hopelessly frustrated, I recently bought a bar of the cheapest soap. And now I've struck a real soapmine. I have found something like 30 bars of different kinds of soap here in this dungeon. And, as I said, the bandits are far from unwashed. In fact, they seem to be real cleanliness freaks. I wonder how does a rough brute living underground end up owning – and using! – such incredible quantities of soap.
We move on. Through a gantlope of terrible traps, we arrive in yet another big cave. There's a little platform with a screen. I sneak around the screen and there is a bed with a bandit, sleeping peacefully like a baby. I kill him. Then I discover it's a she. Rigel Strong-Arm she calls herself, as I gather from the letters lying about. Well, strong-arm maybe, but certainly not strong-brain, resting here in blissful tranquility while her men were fighting for their lives. Some leader!
And I'm not the only one with that opinion:
I find a few bars of soap. I look with surprise at Vera who has burst out laughing. A couple of seconds later I join her as it dawns to me. It was that Rigel woman who forced those bandits to pay so much attention to their personal hygiene. We howl with laughter, the four of us, tears running down our cheeks.
It'll get dark outside soon, but the town of Falkert can't be very far, so I decide against spending the night here. What I didn't expect is that we need more than two hours to get back to the house and onto the road. No sooner are we out that we hear loud roaring. Don't tell me it's a dragon. Yes, it is. He's attacking someone nearby. I can't understand what's going on. There can't be a settlement here. Whatever. We try to look unimportant and walk away, but the dragon won't let us. He attacks us from the air and eventually lands behind the house. I shoot arrows into him. My followers are fighting him and there are also some male voices. It's too dark to see who they are.
The hardest part in fighting a dragon is his unpredictable movement. It's practically impossible to shoot at someone who is flying directly above your head. Fortunately, this dragon is decent enough to sit on the ground much of the time, so we are finally able to kill him. I sigh with relief when I see my girls are alive and well. Those men, though, whoever they may have been, are nowhere to be found.
We return to the road to finally get going towards that damned town. And now we see what the dragon was attacking when we were coming out of the house. There's a bandit encampment nearby. They have a wooden bridge that goes across the road high above. Apparently they are sitting there, ambushing passersby. They were, I mean. They're all dead now.
Soon we arrive at the gate of the Falkert town. The guard asks me if we saw a dog on the road. What? I can tell you where you can find a dragon corpse, but I honestly can't be bothered with anyone smaller than a sabercat right now. I get rid of the guard as politely as I can and we hurry to find an inn. We all badly need a bath.
It's past 10 in the evening and the inn is full of noisy and jovial people. I approach the proprietress Valga who informs me that the jarl wants a dragon killed in a place called Ancient's Ascent and offers a reward. She doesn't quite understand why my incessant yawning is suddenly interrupted by a chuckle. I'm too tired to explain anything. Can we have a room for the night, please? Only 30 septims per person? I love this town. I love that bathroom. I love that bed. No, thank you, I don't need anything else. Good night.
next awakening
