INTO THE BARROW
From the Journal of Lutherus Sotasius. Date of Entry: Last Seed, 30th, 4E, 201.
"We need to get to Bleak Falls Barrow as soon as we can." Said Lutherus, as he put on his armour after staying at the Bandit's Camp overnight.
"Yes, who knows what they're up to in there." Replied Faendal, pouring water onto the roaring fire at the camp to douse it. The pair were soon ready, and made speed to Bleak Falls Barrow, the ancient Nord tomb buried in the mountains that overlooked Riverwood. Even as far as they were, the huge arches leading into the tomb dominated the skyline, even more than that of Dragonsreach. Lutherus and Faendal ran back down the road towards Riverwood, where the White River flowed closest to them, beyond it lay the entrance to the Barrow.
"If we cross the river here, we can save looping round Riverwood." Said Lutherus, as he observed the shallow water.
"After you." Replied Faendal, apprehensive of the river's current. Lutherus dipped a foot into the shallow, and then the other, before confidently walking across.
"Your turn!" He called, from the other side. Faendal, more nervous than Lutherus at the prospect of the water, took his time. "Try not to look at it, friend." Encouraged Lutherus from dry land. Eventually, Faendal made it. "Good man!" Said Lutherus, as they carried on. They soon came to a Tower on the perimeter of the Barrow overlooking the river. "I'm willing to bet there's Bandits in there." Said Lutherus.
"Most likely. Shall we?" Remarked Faendal, as he prepped his sword. They followed a road upwards, towards the tower which alerted the Bandit inhabitants to their presence. Making quick work of the sentries, Lutherus and Faendal pushed into the tower unopposed.
"Stay here and make sure nobody comes in." Instructed Lutherus to Faendal, as he charged upstairs. A few moments later, Faendal watched as Lutherus sent a Bandit, falling to their death after pushing her off the tip of the tower with his shield in battle. The crack of the Bandit hitting the rocky mountainside made Faendal shudder. Lutherus joined back up with him again. "Right! That's dealt with. To Bleak Falls Barrow!" Said Lutherus, moving towards the nearby entrance to the tomb. As they climbed the mountainside, the harsher the weather became, with snow battering down on the harsh terrain.
"There it is!" Said Lutherus. "We can't afford the Bandits anymore precious time. We better get moving." Said Lutherus, hurrying up to the entrance. Three Bandits stood in front of the entrance, guarding the passage with their arrows but were utterly useless against Lutherus, who charged at them with his sword. The pair made short work of the entrance guards, and made to the gigantic doorway into the tomb. "Ready?" Said Lutherus.
"Ready." Came the reply. Lutherus opened the door. Inside they found the main hallway, partially collapsed under the weight of the snow and the mountain. It didn't stop the Bandits from setting up camp however.
"Let's do this quietly." Suggested Lutherus, as he observed two Bandits keeping warm around a fire. Creeping up quietly behind their flank, Faendal made his appearance known, and the Bandits moved in to investigate. Lutherus came up behind one, and taking his hand over his mouth, sliced his belly open. The second Bandit noticed Faendal, and started to do battle with him, but Faendal was able to get the upper hand, by gaining the high ground on some fallen rubble, and taking the Bandits head off. "Search this area for stuff we can use." Said Lutherus, as he examined the cooking bowl for food. He traded his lighter, smaller Silver Sword for a one handed Iron Axe, and dumped his weaker Hide Shield for a much more protective Iron Shield.
"Got nothing here." Said Faendal, completing his search.
"No Golden Claw?"
"Nope. Nothing."
"Damn, alright then. Let's carry on."
The Barrow eerily whistled as the cold wind from outside and through collapsed parts of the structure rushed through the tomb. It wasn't the first time the pair had been in this sort of situation, but the fear was still there. Large, massive amounts of vines and undergrowth had covered the stone walls, after what must be decades of neglect. "Stay close." Said Lutherus.
"Wouldn't plan on doing anything else." Retorted Faendal, as he kept an eye on his surroundings. They had just rounded a corner, to see a Bandit inside a room, just below a set of stairs in the corridor.
"Stop!" Whispered Lutherus, and froze still. He then moved ever so quietly forward to try and get a better look. He watched the Bandit pull a lever in the room before him, springing a mass of arrows to dart across the room and the Bandit. One arrow pierced the unfortunate soul, killing him instantly with a deadly poison. Moving carefully into the room, Lutherus looked around for anymore Bandits. When he confirmed there weren't any, he got to checking on the recently deceased Bandit. Faendal approached the lever. "DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Shouted Lutherus, forcing Faendal away from the switch. "Look up there."
"Icons?" Questioned Faendal, looking up to where Lutherus referred to.
"Yes, and look over there, there's more." Replied Lutherus, walking over to another set of the same three icons. he touched one, ever so slightly, to see it move. "I'd wager these tablets have something to do with those up there." Mused Lutherus. "If I position them according to what they transcribe over there, then I think it will suppress the poison arrows. Let's see...Snake...Snake...Fish? Snake...Snake...Fish. I'll try that." And, with some degree of uncertainty, he rotated the icons to correspond Snake, Snake, Fish. "Step back, Faendal." Warned Lutherus, as he triggered the switch. But the switch didn't trigger the darts and instead, opened the portcullis.
"Wow, good guess!" Said Faendal, amazed that the combination worked, and joined his Companion on the other side. They entered the next part, navigating a spiral down into the deepest recesses of the Barrow.
"Skeevers!" Shouted Lutherus, as one of the feral, rat like beasts charged him. The Skeevers were dispatched with ease, and the two Companions carried on. They entered another part of the Barrow, with still no sign of this 'Arvel' fellow, or his comrades. In fact, up until this point, they hadn't seen much Bandit activity inside.
"Is...someone coming?! Bjorn?! Soleen?!" Came a voice.
"Do you hear that?" Said Faendal, drawing his sword in caution.
"Aye, keep your weapon ready." Replied Lutherus, drawing his axe in kind, as they followed the voice. They came to a room caked in a thick spider webbing, and did battle with a gigantic, Frostbite Spider Queen. The Queen was wounded - one of her legs missing, but she was as a tough adversary regardless. Finally putting the spider down, Lutherus found the source of the noise - there by amazing coincidence, was Arvel, bound to a thick spiders web.
"So, your Arvel eh?" Said Lutherus, after getting the name out of the trapped Dunmer Bandit.
"Yes, Arvel the Swift they call me! Listen, can you let me down please?" Pleaded Arvel.
"Why, so you can use The Golden Claw you stole and place Riverwood in irreversible danger?" Questioned Faendal.
"Ah...so you know about that, eh? Well I'm not here to support those Bandits."
"This letter to the Bandits, with YOUR name on it, detailing the attack plans on Riverwood says otherwise." Interrogated Lutherus.
"Yes, but that was BEFORE the Bandits up and abandoned me up here to Old Queenie. Bastards didn't have the spines to deal with her, so they ran. That's why they never got further into the Barrow, and haven't been able to attack Riverwood since!"
Faendal pondered momentarily. "So...the cusp of a Bandit attack on Riverwood is essentially hanging on getting at whatever the Barrow holds?"
"Yes, precisely." Explained Arvel. "See, for whatever reason, the Bandits had some sort of idea that if they could enslave the will of the Draugr in the Barrow by use of the Golden Claw, they could overrun the Riverwood defences. Things got complicated however when progress stalled here, or in other words, yours truly. If the Bandits hadn't run off to leave me to the Queen, they would of most likely attacked Riverwood by now, reinforced by the Draugr."
Lutherus considered for a moment. "If we let you down, you will hand over the Golden Claw to us, and you will escort us through the rest of the Barrow. If you do not, we will kill you."
"Well, to be honest mate I don't think you have a choice in the matter. This passage happens to be the only way you can continue through the Barrow, all the rest have caved in."
"We could just kill you." Threatened Faendal. "I'm sure Jarl Balgruuf has a bounty on such a light handed thief, and even if he doesn't, I'm sure he won't lose rest over one less thief to worry about."
Arvel considered again. "Fine. Cut me down, and i'll lead you through the rest of the Temple. Just make sure you cut the webbing, not me!" Lutherus pulled his Dagger from his boot, and got cutting. He could hear the webbing tear as it's weaving was sliced through by his Dagger. With a thud, Arvel came down from his entrapment, shaking off the remaining residue as he rose to his feet. "Alright. Now give me the Golden Claw."
"Ha! Stupid fools!" Said Arvel, turning around and running deeper into the Temple. "Whatever this claw provides, i'll be the one who claims it!"
"Bastard!" Shouted Faendal angrily, as he cocked an arrow. His shot missed and lodged into part of the wall, so the two made pursuit of Arvel. Lutherus and Faendal tried to keep up, but the Dunmer Elf was just too fast.
"No wonder he's called Arvel the Swift!" Said Lutherus, panting through his armour. They soon came to the deepest part of the Barrow they had been at so far, untouched by the harsh weather, or the spiders. This part of the Temple had very clearly not been disturbed. They entered a room, where they saw Arvel, catapulted off of a spiked wall. He crashed into a side wall, which would of killed him if he had not been killed already by the spikes. Lutherus moved to inspect the body. "Here it is!" Said Lutherus, fishing the Golden Claw out of Arvel's satchel.
"Not very 'swift' now, are we?" Joked Faendal, as he helped himself to some of the dead Dunmer's coin. He also helped himself to Arvel's journal, but didn't have a chance to read it. Instead, the two were soon beset by Draugr, deeper in the Barrow. "Guess this is as far as they got, eh?" Said Faendal.
"Aye. I've no idea how were supposed to use this thing." Replied Lutherus, as he fumbled about with the claw.
"Just leave it for now will you! Deal with the Draugr first and then we can suss it out." Replied Faendal. Unsatisfied with the projected uselessness of the Claw, Lutherus put it back in his satchel, and carried on with Faendal. They continued to navigate, deeper and deeper into the Temple, engaging the Draugr where they encountered them, until they came to a long, narrow hall.
"This must be it." Said Lutherus, referring to the big, brazen doors in front of them. They moved toward it, noticing the centre of it had a fitting, the Golden Claw fitting like a glove. "So...it's a key." Said Lutherus, disappointedly.
"Looks to be it. So why isn't it opening?" Questioned Faendal, as they fitted the Claw in several times over, whilst the door didn't budge.
"Wait, didn't you pick up a journal from Arvel earlier? Tell me you did, please."
"Don't worry, I have it." Said Faendal, as he removed it from his bag. He studied Arvel's notes carefully. "It says there are markings on the Claw, that need to be matched on the door here." He said, closing the book. "Give me the Claw. I'll try it out." Lutherus handed the claw to Faendal, as he observed the door. He moved the figures - a representative of an animal to it's corresponding figure on the Claw - a Bear, Moth and Owl respectively, and then attached the Claw to the door once more. The door slid down, Faendal being successful in his hunch, and the two walked through. They came to a gigantic Sanctum, buried beyond the Barrow's winding cave. However, much to the disappointment of Lutherus and Faendal, they found nothing to suggest Draugr submission to the Claw.
"Well that's just great." Sighed Lutherus. "How do we get out of here then?" Just as he said that, a Draugr Overlord burst free from it's crypt. It took both Faendal and Lutherus by total surprise.
"Fus...ro dah!" Shouted the Draugr, knocking Lutherus to his feet.
"What in Oblivion is that?!" Called Faendal, as he cocked an arrow in his bow. Lutherus got to his feet once more, to do battle with the Overlord.
"I don't know! But I hope he doesn't do it again!" Said Lutherus, as he swung at the Draugr. It was about to shout again, but Lutherus shoved his shield into him, canceling his attack. "Keep shooting at it! If I can push my shield into it, it won't shout!" He yelled to Faendal, as he continued his attack. Fortunately for Faendal and Lutherus, the battle didn't take that long with this strategy. Block, Arrow, Strike, rinse and repeat. The Overlord came down with ease, Lutherus happily helping himself to it's axe, enchanted with a unique frost buff. He also found something quite peculiar, a Dragonstone. "Farengar was talking about this." Said Lutherus. "I should get to Whiterun as soon as possible. Would you mind taking the Dragon Claw back to Lucan? I'm sure he'd be appreciative of the effort."
"Certainly!" Replied Faendal. "I'll meet you back at Jorrvaskr when I'm done."
"Splendid, see you later, then!" Replied Lutherus, as Faendal, with Claw in his possession, meandered back through the Barrow, back to Riverwood. Lutherus found an exit much more closer to him, and which would put him in reach of Whiterun. He came out of the Barrow, only to find there were people waiting for him in the clearing.
"Lutherus Sotasius." Said the Imperial Magistrate, on top of his horse, flanked by six Imperial Legionnaires. "You are called to Solitude by immediate demand of General Tullius. We are to ensure you get there."
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