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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
4-201-10-13 02:58
Alva's House, Morthal, Hjaalmarch, Skyrim
Across the marshland lighted only by poisonous plants, we head north-northeast towards Ustengrav. It's still night and we can't see much, not even the bandits outside Ustengrav. Fortunately, they give themselves away with their arrogant shouting, which leaves us plenty of time to grab our weapons and spread out, killing them easily.
There's a strange round structure of maybe ten meters of diameter, with steps going down. At the bottom of the stairs, there's a bandit corpse and a door. It opens to a cavern with platforms and a thick column and candles and fires burning here and there, as well as an occasional draugr coming to life and charging at us.
Fortunately, they're not too many at a time. They're also courteous enough to make their presence known to us from a decent distance. That's why the draugr-killing is pretty much routine work here. What is truly exciting is a furious death match between a draugr and a mage. We wait it out, sitting safely behind a corner where they can't see us. The draugr wins. He hasn't noticed us. As he walks away, I sneak up behind him and kill him.
Eventually we arrive in a dining hall of sorts. There are stone tables with actual food on some of them. Don't ask me who's been eating it. There's no living soul (or even undead) here now.
I recall this hall from dreams I've had in the distant past. It's a place impossible to find one's way out of. There are passages going in various directions, but no matter which one you take, you end up back in this very hall. I remember running around and around for what seemed an eternity. But this is not a dream. This is real. So we'll try to find a way forward anyway.
An hour later, I give up. As Bardslayer doesn't know how to get out of this cursed hall either, he teleports us through the walls in the direction of our goal. Unfortunately, he drops us in a weirdly-shaped room where the floor is entirely covered with rune traps. Each step I take sets off bursts of flames. I see no other way but to run forward as fast as I can. When I'm finally across with more than half of my health gone, I'm attacked by spiders, a little bigger than usual. I'm happy to notice that my Restoration skill has become so good that when I'm permanently casting the Healing spell, I can restore my health just about as quickly as one of those spiders can injure me. Content that my life in not in immediate danger, I begin to strike at the spider with my powerful dagger (I only need one hand for keeping up the spell) and eventually kill it. Then I run further away from the fire traps into open space, only to have two or three more spiders drop down on me. All that time, my followers have been busy with the remaining spiders nearby. We finally kill them all. Giant spiders don't really stand a chance against the combination of weapons, magic and potions. It was scary, but I'm satisfied with my ability to keep a cool head in the midst of this monstrous firestorm and make right decisions quickly. (Didn't have any presence of mind left for taking pictures, sorry.)
Another hour of dungeons and draugrs, and we arrive in a large hall with a pond, a stone bridge across it and a platform at the other end:
I know there is something very terrible hiding in here. Most likely, it'll be in that water. I mean, it's pretty obvious that a place like this can't be harmless. I take a potion to fortify my Archery skill and a potion to temporarily increase my health. Then I cautiously take a step forward...
We hear a loud rumble. Something begins to rise from the water. Four large things. I shoot an arrow at one of them. It just bounces off. The thing is made of metal. So are the others. They're but four big statues, completely... well... harmless.
Not quite believing it's true, I walk across the bridge with utmost caution. Nothing happens. I approach the platform. Still nothing. There's a piece of paper. I pick it up. I look around me. Nothing. Absolutely nothing is happening.
The note is addressed to me. Really? Well, I mean, not to Laura. To "the Dragonborn". But it has to mean me. It's uncanny – someone wrote a letter and left it here, at the deepest end of this horrible dungeon, on the off chance I happen to drop by? If so, he must have known the Gaybores had sent me here.
Or guessed they must have, says Lydia.
Whatever. The anonymous author says he wants to talk to me. I'm supposed to go to the Riverwood inn and say I want to rent the attic room. That's the passphrase.
It's not too hard to figure out he took the ritual horn we came here to find.
Fine. I take the last look around in this not-so-awfully-horrible hall. No one wants to attack us. Let's get out of here, then.
We return to Morthal, loaded to capacity. Again, nothing interesting in our loot. Just trash to sell for money. Our Vampire Armors and Vampire Boots (which I keep enhancing as my Smithing skill improves) are still way better than anything else. To be honest, I didn't expect draugrs to carry anything spectacular to begin with.
I find a moment to tell Lydia about Athragar. She agrees with me – no man would talk like that to a woman he loves. He is clearly a seducer playing the game of numbers, that is chatting up women whenever he gets a chance and trying out one approach after another.
The Morthal shopkeepers have much too little money. There's still time to get to Dunstad Grove today. The plan is simple – we'll sell what we can, get acquainted with the village and generally have a pleasant evening, then head further south tomorrow.
Dunstad Grove lies to the southwest from Morthal, on the western bank of a wide river. We have to take the Dånstar–Dragonbridge highway back to the west.
After we've crossed the bridge, at the eastern end of which is one of The Naked Dragon brothels, we have to leave the road and proceed southwards over the hills, as there's no road leading from here to Dunstad Grove.
And there it is:
Dunstad Grove has a few modest shops and they're still open. In a nutshell, it's a cozy village, a close-knit community away from big roads and major events. It's nice to be here and I just love the river with the mountains on the other side. They have a bit of a problem with occasional bear attacks, but the guards are competent fighters.
We pay a visit to the nearby Crabber's Shanty to say hello to Pinarus and Ma'isha. We find the latter alone keeping house while the fisher is out on some errands. So we sit down for a while to keep the child company. She ends up telling us that there's a wonderful elven-style wooden house up a huge tree southwest of here up the hills. She has only seen it once from afar, but she can't go to explore it because of all the dangerous animals who abound in this region.
I decide we'll go and try to find that extraordinary place. Ma'isha shows us where a comfortable path leads uphill in the general direction of that fairytale house.
Indeed, before it's quite dark, we see a lovely little house built on a wooden platform up a big tree, surrounded by marvelous green lanterns:
That house is truly like a dream. It's the kind of place you never want to leave. There's a large kitchen-livingroom space and a staircase that leads to a bedroom on the second storey.
I know what's exactly the right thing to do at a time like this. I tell the girls to remain downstairs and be quiet, and motion Valdimar to follow me into the bedroom. He doesn't need to be told twice. The materials the bedroom has been built of and the living plants growing here and there make it feel like you're in the midst of grass and trees, except that it's warm and dry.
The room may be dry, but I'm not. Valdimar and I get undressed as quickly as we can and then we're on the bed. Since I'm the boss, I don't need to play shy, so we do it with me on top. I'll leave the rest to your imagination. Suffice to say it's monumental. The unreal beauty of this place, the fulfilled sensation in me, the admiration in Valdimar's eyes... I couldn't be happier.
next awakening
