Awakening after a chilly night under the stars, Reliquia, the Swamp Night, and Doge shook the hoar frost off their sleeping bags. Outfitting Anum-La had taken the last of Reliquia’s savings, but it was worth it. Better to have to sleep a night under the stars instead of a warm in and have a companion who can take a hit or two!

Eating the roasted leaks and potatoes Reliquia had brought from the city, they made their way up the mountain path. They came across a wold who had just taken down a deer, and after the wolf had run from them, she decided to try out the skills her survivalist training had taught her. Leaning down, she flexed her claws, as she started cutting into the beast. Although it was rough going, she picked up some useful tips for her future self as she field dressed the dear, salvaging as much leather and venison as she could, which making sure to gather the alchemical ingredients an animal like this would allow. Even a bone or two might be useful to make some scrimshaw to sell. The GORE however… Well, she might be a cat, but that didn’t mean she liked to lick something like that out of her fur. She was quite glad when Anum-La discreetly handed her a rag to wipe up; she’d have to remember to make a field knife when next she was in town.

Having stashed her newly found gains into her pack, they continued up the mountain, until the came across what appeared to be a ruined tower. Coming along side it, they were waylaid by a group of bandits! Arrows rained down on them, as two large burly warriors charged at them. The Swamp Knight went shield to shield with the large viking of a Nord, while Reliquia and Doge teamed up on the brute of a man wielding a wicked and dangerous looking five and a half feet of iron! While she could hear Anum-La trade blows on each other’s shields, she ducked and dodged as well as she could from the bear of a man swinging his great sword around. She got in one or two good swipes from her claws, before Dodge leapt up and tore into the man, bringing him down. You wouldn’t think a Shiba Inu would be able to help take down a more than full grown man, but Reliquia was learning to let go of some of her former presumptions about what and what was not possible in life. Just as she was finishing bringing down the man with her dog, she looked up, and saw Anum-La drive her iron sword up under her opponent’s shield, stabbing right into her chest, where her heart had been a few moments before it was obliterated by the thrust.

Standing up panting, Reliquia looked down at the first huminoid life she had ever taken. True, it had been self-defense, but the shock of it still rattled her. She knew this was a dangerous land. She knew this was a dangerous world: She had lived through the aftermath of an Empire that had almost been erased from the face of Nirn, after all. Hell, that was why she was an orphan in the first place. She’d done some basic hand to claw after all, but had never had the choice to make it her life or theirs. She wasn’t sure which was worse: The fact that she was at peace with what she did, or that her first impulse was to make sure that any needed goods on them were to be gathered. All this had to wait, though, as the arrows continued to pelt down on them from the top of the three story tower. Just as she was turning to yell to Anum-La, to coordinate a charge up the tower, Doge sprinted past the two of them, right up the steps inside the tower. Before they had even made the door, the body of the archer came tumbling down to clatter in it’s cheaply made iron armor on the stone before them. Looking up, they saw the blood stained maw of a happy looking pup smiling down at them, sending them a “happy to see you” bark. Again, Doge was another one of those things she wasn’t sure which disturbed her more.

Gathering the arrows and loose swords (and a bit of armor) off the bandits yielded a small amount of gold from what must have been their ill-gotten gains. Odd that they were set upon this mountain path, as it didn’t really lead anywhere. This must have been their base of operations, a place to retreat back to after a successful attack, she assumed. Musing on this, she was only broken out of her revery by the clattering of an iron arrow on the ground next to her. Looking up in surprise, she saw a bandit encampment before the very barrow they were headed to! Pulling out the bow she had taken off the freshly fruit dropped bandit archer, she notched her bow and took aim at the archer who had just fired at her. Scoring a good hit, she fired off another round into a ragged looking man in even more ragged looking fur armor that was charging down the fifty or so wide stone steps toward them. The ancient looking battle as he was carrying looked like it would be put to good use if they didn’t deal with him. An arrow or two only served to slow him down, but this was enough for Dodge’s return charge to meet him half way down the ancient man made escarpment. As they met, the Swamp Knight’s charge was not far behind the dog’s, and her shield quickly stunned the rush of the outlaw who had been running down behind the berserker. With both her companions now joined in combat, it was time to run in herself, Reliquia decided. Running up the stairs herself, she found the archer, who had been continuing to reign arrows down on them, regardless of the chances of hitting her own fellow bandits. Coming out from around a corner, her claws made a much quicker work of her opponent than Reliquia was expecting. Turning to help her companions, she was struck by the mace head of another marauder. During their fight, she caught quick glances of Dodge and the Swamp Knight fighting some of the other remaining bandits. Finally gaining the upper hand, she struck down her opponent with just enough time to run over and JUST miss the chance to help pummel the last of the outlaws, as Anum-La’s blade cut him down. Taking a moment to catch their breath, and tell Dodge what a good boy he was (yes he was), they then turned to face the imposing edifice of the ruin before them.

The stonework was ancient, from the times of the Dragon Cults; Ancient orders of men who worshiped the now extinct dragons as gods. The dragons gave them power, with which they ruled over their fellow men. The war of rebellion against them was over four thousand seven hundred years ago, and here she was, looking at a temple to one of it’s leaders. The fact that it was in such good condition, considering it’s age, was astonishing! Fearing more bandits inside, they snuck in as quietly as they could.

Inside, they came across a pile of dead skeevers, their giant rat-like bodies covering the floor from what appeared to be a fight only a few hours ago. Ahead, around a large round pillar in the middle of the chamber, came both firelight, and the sound of two people arguing. Sneaking closer, Reliquia heard what turned out to be two bandits arguing whether or not letting their boss, Arvel the Swift, go on ahead was a good idea or not. Taking the opportunity, Reliquia and the Swamp Knight quickly took out the two unknowing outlaws.

After gathering some healing potions and arrows, they laid down for a bit by the campfire to regain their strength with a nap, and a small meal. Heading into the dark depths of this ancient tomb, they came across a site the raised the hackles of her neck, and made her slitted eyes go wide: The walking undead. These “Drauger” as the local Nords called them, were something that she had always assumed had been a euphemism, or an exaggeration, but no. Here, before here were the stumbling and moaning of ancient, long dead, warriors, left to guard this ancient tomb. An instinctive hatred rose up in her, and she rushed unguarded at her target. Had Dodge not been there to trip the Drauger that came from behind the corner, she would likely had been as dead as they were, but less lively. Calming herself after, Anum-La cautioned Reliquia against further rashness. Nodding in assent, Reliquia knew that she had to find more ways to wipe this madness from the face of Nirn. As they continued down, they defeated a few more of these undead, with Anum-La upgrading her weaponry to an ancient war ax. Coming to the top of a flight of stairs, they saw a bandit before them pulling a lever, leading to a rain of poisoned arrows flying from crocks and crannies all around the room. Once his body had stopped twitching, they came forward, and saw that he had failed to enter a simple puzzle’s answer. Once this was done, it was a simple matter of pulling the gate that bared the way’s lever to allow them to go forward.

After dispatching more skeevers (and learning more about how to properly skin and harvest beasts), they came to a chamber full of a dozen of these Drauger, milling about, with a frightened dark elf entombed in webbing on the far end of the space. Being cautious about so many undead in such a small space, Reliquia and Anum-La picked at them with arrows, while Dodge barked in frustration at not being able to get to his desired targets. After felling half their numbers (and almost running out of arrows), Reliquia was glad that a pile of debris had fallen across the opening that the dark elf must have sprinted through. Enough had been dispatched or weakened, that they made their way forward to engage in melee combat, when a spider larger than a carriage dropped down from the ceiling! Here was the sources of the webbing, and a target large enough to distract the undead. Using this distraction, they picked away at the remaining Drauger, until turning to take down a very weakened giant spider. Turning now to the still helplessly crying man, they came forward to help him, discovering that he was the Arvel the Swift that the bandits had claimed to be their leader. In desperation to be let loose, he claimed that an ancient golden claw in his possession would allow access to a chamber full of treasure, if only they’d help him down. Seeing as it was the only way past him ANYWAYS, they started to do so, when he foolishly declared that he would not share what was his, he attempted to make a run for it. However, he had not counted on a cat’s reflexes, or what a cat’s pair of claws could do to one’s unprotected back.

Picking up this ancient golden claw (Oh, how his mentor would be glad to see this in the museum!) they carried forward, past a number of incredibly deadly traps, and a few more undead. Along the way, they gather a few more potions, and some ancient jewelry, before coming across a scroll of summon fire elemental. Finally, the passageway ended before a looming wall, within which was placed a large circular door, marked with images of animals and insects. In the center of this circle of dials and animals was a curious impression of inset ridged and holes. Then, like a flint going to tinder, it struck her: The claw! Taking it out, it fit perfectly into the impression in the center of the door, but the dial (for it was clearly that, now) would not budge. Sitting to ponder, she realized she had not read over the bandit leader’s journal. Hoping to discover a clue, the only notes of value indicated that: A) This claw used to belong to the traders in the village of Riverwood, and B) That “the answer was in the palm of his hand”. Hissing in frustration, she tossed both the frustration and the claw down, when she saw some markings on the bottom of the claw she hadn’t examined closely before, but now her eyes caught something. Bring the claw up, the palm had some of the same symbols upon it that the circular door did. Stepping forward hopefully, she slid portions of the door’s circular sections around until they matched with the pattern on the claw itself. Placing the claw within the imprints this time, the dial smoothly slide, and the whole of the door started to slide away into the floor. Marveling at the quality of the nearly five thousand year old mechanisms, they went beyond.

This lead into a musty old chamber, filled with the sound of bats and the smell of moss. On the opposite side of them was clearly a burial site, a tomb placed before a large curved wall, marked with what could only be runes in the ancient dragon language. Her natural curiosity, which had led her to both this field of study and profession, had her quickly scamper toward this word wall, when the strangest thing that had ever happened in her short life occurred. The wall started to glow, and an aethereal chanting started to well up around her. Carried forward by a force at least as equal to her wonder, she stood before this wall, as a word within it started to glow brightly, the rest of the world fading out as it consumed her vision. There was only this word, and there was nothing else. Just as it passed, she heard behind her the movement of stone, and the creaking of bones she had come to signify as a Drauger moving. Looking over her shoulder in fear, she saw that the stone lid to the sarcophagus she had passed to get to the wall had been pushed off, from within. Climbing out was the most powerful undead she had seen yet in her life.

Diving quickly off the platform, she reached into her pocket to pull out the scroll of summon fire elemental she had found on her way here. Opening it and chanting the words to the spell, before her sprang into existence a woman shaped of fire itself, who fluidly turned to face Reliquia’s opponent. The blast of fire that sprung from this creatures hands hit the undead just as his elementally enchanted great-sword struck down on Reliquia. Staggering back from his hit, the cold of another plane of existence shivering through her from it’s strike, her companions rushed in to defend her. The four of them then let loose on this ancient overlord, leader of the dragon worshipers before they entombed him here. The fire, sword, claws, and teeth of their attack was met with equal ferocity by this undead horror, before finally succumbing to it. Just as they finished this fight, the fire elemental faded back to the realm from which it had been summoned. Using some healing magic upon them, Reliquia took some time to examine their surroundings. The burial chest next to the sarcophagus yielded some impressive finds and enchanted items, along with a strange tablet marked in the dragon language with what appeared to be a rough map of Skyrim itself upon it? Thinking it very strange, Reliquia set it aside to show her mentor when she next arrived.

Finding a passage through a secret exit in the back, she and her companions found themselves on the side of the mountain, overlooking a picturesque landscape of forest, field, and lake. Smack dab in the middle, was a pretty little village. Nodding to Anum-La, they agreed that after they scampered down, they’d go to that pretty village and sell off some of this loot, gather supplies, and get a lay of the land. She may have risked life, limb, and sanity already today, but she found herself loving it.