When
I said that yesterday was my longest, I was wrong. Today was worse. I
chose to head straight to Bleak Falls and save the Bandit bounty in
Amber Guard for another day, and I'm glad I did. On my way to Bleak
Falls Barrow, I encountered a group of three Bandits in a half-ruined
tower and dispatched with them easily. Feeling confident, I marched
right up to the Barrow further up the mountain and found myself
dodging arrows. If not for the help of my conjured wolf, I never
would have overcome them, and little did I know that they would be
the least of my worries. Inside were a few more Bandits, and then, in
a large, web-filled chamber, their leader was strung up by a spider
even larger than the ones in the cave in Helgen. I almost turned and
ran, and if not for my conjured bow I never could have fought it at
all, but I did fight, and I won, freed the Bandit, defeated him, and
retrieved the claw for Lucen in Riverwood.
Now,
of course, I had yet to find the stone for the wizard, and the Bandit
leader said something about a secret of the claw, so I decided to
explore the Barrow further. I assumed that, because the Spider had
been guarding this entry into the deeper burial chambers, that there
would be nothing further down, but I was sadly mistaken. On our walk
from the Helgen caves to Riverwood, Hadvar mentioned that he, as a
child, was afraid of the Barrow on the mountain, and the undead
Draugr that lurk within.
He's
right to be afraid.
The
Draugr appeared in various states of decay from alcoves in the walls,
and coffins lining the floors. They possessed various
rusty-yet-durable weapons, and varying degrees of magical powers. One
could even shout magic from his throat like Tiber Septim, or Ulfric
when he murdered the High King earlier this year! I fought waves of
them, ducking through traps and crossing ancient, crumbling ledges as
I moved deeper and deeper in, and yet I saw nothing of a stone or a
secret...
...Until
I found the door.
Three
embedded stone rings made a combination lock, which could be
deciphered via a pattern on the Golden Claw, and then the Claw was
used as a key to loose the door and cause it to drop into the floor.
Behind it was a massive natural chamber and a curved wall with
ancient glyphs on it, a block of them burning blue. I was drawn to
the wall, my ears filled with sounds of chanting in a language that I
barely couldn't understand, filling my head with the sound of a single word, "fus", which echoes there even now. I blacked out for a moment, and heard the
sound of a lid flung loose of another coffin in the same chamber. In
my stupor I'd failed to notice it just behind me.
From
the coffin arose another Draugr, wielding a sword that steamed with
an ice enchantment, the Dragon Stone strung to its back. I fought it
sword to sword and was quickly outmatched, so I summoned my wolf and
backed away, found a good vantage point, and attacked with my Bound
Bow until I'd managed to even the odds. Even so my rudimentary skill
in Restoration was instrumental in my survival. In only a few minutes
I had the Claw and the Stone, and I was on my way back out of the
Barrow through a side cavern. I was back in Riverwood by midnight.
I
sit here in the Sleeping Giant Inn, in the same seat in which I sat
when I wrote the first entry in this journal. I'm tired, my heart is
only now slowing back to its usual rhythm, and I'm eating a bowl of
fish soup prepared by the barkeep, because he says its a home remedy
for the Ataxia that I've contracted from a Skeever bite. I need to
take my mind off of this new, nightmarish life that has found me. The
pretty girl who works the shop with Lucen is here. Maybe I'll see if
she'd like to provide a distraction.
Tomorrow
I'll return the Claw, and then head early to Amber Guard to fulfill
the bounty for the Companions. After a spider the size of house and
killer undead, Bandits no longer worry me. It will also give me a
chance to try out my new Ice Sword.
P.S.
The inn isn't offering any beds. The inn-keeper is out. I wonder
where she went?
Mods Referenced in the Entry:
-The Elder Scrolls: Places (again)
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