SAARTHAL
From the Journal of Lutherus Sotasius. Date of Entry: Heartfire, 5th, 4E, 201.
The journey to Saarthal wasn't at all lengthy. Lutherus and Alinstein in tow made it there from the College in no time. Situated at the base of an extensive digging operation, Saarthal's entrance was where Tolfdir had requested voluntary students to gather at. "Hello there! Down here!" He called, to Lutherus and Alinstein.
The pair made their way down to Tolfdir, where he and one other student, much to Lutherus' surprise awaited.
"Is this all?" Asked Lutherus, concerningly.
"No, there are more inside, keeping warm." Chuckled Tolfdir in response. "Thank you for coming Apprentice's. The more on this adventure, the better! Alright, as I've already said previously to the others, stick with me whilst we're inside. This place hasn't been explored in...well who knows how many years. So let's be safe in there, stick together okay?"
Lutherus and Alinstein nodded, as they made their way into Saarthal behind Tolfdir and Brelnya. Saarthal was a dark, mysterious place. Tolfdir's earlier recommendation regarding safety was true, as the ancient, moss filled ruins of the historical find provided plenty of readily available dangers for the unexpecting Apprentice. "This is so much better than sitting around, talking about magic. Don't you think?" Said Brelnya to Lutherus.
"Yeah. If only we had a couple of torches then maybe we could see where we were going." He replied, noting the dimly lit interior. Only a few candles provided any lighting and even so, the flame of them were incredibly weak. Having dabbled in the arts of Alteration, Alinstein took this moment to show his expertise. He reached down to a lantern, it's candle barely aflame and held his open palms around it. Concentrating hard, Alinstein was able to harvest the flame's energy and upon rising, released a harnessed and much brighter source of light that floated majestically in the air.
"Good job Apprentice!" Said Tolfdir as he noticed the successful casting of the Magelight.
"Who knows what we may find in here..." Said one of the students as the party continued into Saarthal. Onmund was also present on the excavation, but was generally unsupportive of their presence. Being a Nord, it wouldn't of taken a genius to understand why.
"I just don't see how anyone with the right authority would approve this." He said, to Lutherus. "This site is sacred to us Nords, and our presence here is disturbing their eternal slumber."
"So why are you here then?" Remarked Lutherus.
"Well, personal opinion aside I'm hoping we can learn something here. How my ancestors utilised Magicka. Doesn't mean I don't disagree with the method employed on finding this place though." The winding dark caverns of Saarthal made it easy for students to get lost, so Tolfdir made sure that in order to prevent any missing students, asked each one to lay out breadcrumbs from the entrance.
"Follow the breadcrumbs back if you get lost, Apprentices. It'll be very easy to get lost in here." He warned, as the students in pairs started to split up and navigate the ruin. Lutherus and Alinstein stuck together, and found themselves at an iron gate which they found would not budge. With no sign of a lever or mechanism to raise the gate they decided to return back to the others, until Lutherus saw something.
"What is it?" Asked Alinstein with interest.
"I don't know. But it's probably something worth mentioning to Tolfdir!" Said Lutherus in excitement. He pulled the mysterious amulet from it's resting place, which inadvertently caused a set of spikes to raise from the ground in a doorway behind them, trapping them.
"Help! Help!" Cried Alinstein. Lutherus who had experience with being trapped before, attempted to calm him down.
"My, what happened here?" Asked Tolfdir, as he moved to the commotion.
"I took this amulet off of the wall." Said Lutherus, as he held the necklace out from between the poles. Tolfdir took it and, being delicately careful with what he could only imagine was a priceless artefact, examined it with great care. He then noticed the wall in which the amulet rested on, glowed a shade of red, as it were reaching for the amulet.
"Take the Amulet to the wall and see what happens." He instructed to Lutherus, handing it back through the trap poles. Moving to the wall ever so slowly, with the amulet in one hand Lutherus could notice the shade grow. He put his hand in the shade, which majestically glided across his fingertips and palm, down to the Amulet. The shade then disappeared back into the wall and Lutherus, relying on instinct decided to place the amulet back. The result shocked him, as the wall broke down revealing a passageway behind. Tolfdir, in following Lutherus and Alinstein entered the passageway. "My my, what a discovery! Be careful now, who knows what is to be expected in here." He said, as they all entered a small room. In the centre of the room was a desk with many ruined books and apothecary ingredients, nothing at all special. They were just about to head back when Lutherus, still wearing the amulet stood frozen.
"Apprentice? Are you alright?" Said Tolfdir, as he noticed Lutherus standing totally still. His gaze was concentrated, as if he was seeing something in front of him that the others could not. Seconds later, motion returned to him, as he fluttered his eyelids to moisten his dried eyeballs. Looking confused as ever, he frantically looked around for help before seeing Tolfdir. "Are you alright?" He asked again.
"I...I saw something..." Said Lutherus, still trying to get his bearings. "There...there was something here. Right here!" He continued, pointing drastically in front of him.
"I didn't see anything." Replied Tolfdir.
"Me neither." Put in Alinstein.
"It must of been an apparition then. What did it say, Apprentice?"
"It...spoke of disaster...something to do with the...Psijic Order..."
"The Psijic Order? What possible reason do they have for interest in Saarthal? It just doesn't make any sense." As Tolfdir considered the rarity of a Psijic Order contacting Lutherus, two of the tombs inside the room burst open, revealing two Draugr behind them. Lutherus, who was only armed with a Dagger along with Alinstein, stood back whilst Tolfdir defended against the undead warriors with burst of Ice Missiles, bringing them down with relative ease. Another passage was revealed behind one of the tomb's, which Tolfdir led the two through.
The passage led to a massive Mausoleum, where many Draugr lay disposed of, thanks to Tolfdir. With Alinstein followed, Lutherus crossed the bridge that seperated them from Tolfdir and joined him on his side. Alinstein tugged a lever on the wall, allowing for a set of raised spikes to collapse back into the ground that guarded the door on Tolfdir's side. By appearance alone, the door looked ominous, and was clearly the entrance to the deepest part of Saarthal the College Expedition had yet to traverse. Lutherus and Alinstein entered, but only realised after proceeding further into the crypt that Tolfdir, leader of the Expedition, was nowhere to be seen. "Damnit, we're lost!" Said Alinstein in frustration.
"Calm down. Everything is going to be fine." Replied Lutherus, seconds before another attack by the Draugr happened.
"Aaagh!" Screamed Alinstein as he turned and ran. Having only a Dagger to contend with the Draugr, he did what he could to parry the attack whilst also trying to call back Alinstein. Making a quick choice, he reached into his archive of past events. Pulling the Battle of Dustman's Cairn with the bravery Vilkas in mind, he manifested it into raw energy in his spare palm. He threw this charge at Alinstein, who instantly forgot his cowardice and returned back, full of resolve and with both hands outstretched incinerated the Draugr with an inferno. Lutherus was awestruck. "I thought you were into Restoration?" He asked, curiously.
"I am. I'm just not that good at it. I use Destruction magic just incase."
"Well, just try not to run away next time." Replied Lutherus, as he lead the way forward. "We've got to find Tolfdir." They eventually found themselves to another door, similar to the one they entered before being split off from Tolfdir. Having already dealt with the Draugr here, Lutherus pulled his Dagger from it's sheathe, as he opened it. Through the door led the pair to another burial chamber, thankfully the ones resting here remained at rest.
The room following however, didn't afford the same comfort. Instead, Lutherus and Alinstein were forced to do battle with an extremely powerful Draugr Scourge, with Lutherus doing most of the fighting whilst Alinstein cowered. Fortunately for Lutherus, a few well placed blows with his Dagger brought the powerful being down, for good. He turned his attention to Alinstein. "Get up! Get up for Stendarr's sake."
"I'm...I'm so sorry..." Whimpered Alinstein.
"I almost got killed because of you! On my first day! Get it together man!" He retorted furiously before carrying on. Lutherus wouldn't of noticed it now, but his choice of words deeply offended Alinstein. Given that they were still alone, Alinstein decided to remain quiet.
"Hold up! Hold up!" Came a distant but familiar voice. Looking behind him, Lutherus could see that it was Tolfdir, much to his relief.
"Thank the Eight!" He said, with a sigh of relief. "We must of taken a wrong trail."
"Yes well, it's a good thing you're both okay! Come on, lets keep moving." Replied Tolfdir, as he led the way down into Saarthal's deeper interior. "Careful, there's a pressure plate-" But before Tolfdir could finish, Alinstein inadvertently stepped on it, sending an arrow into Lutherus.
"You idiot!" He exclaimed.
"Now now, Apprentice. Be nice. I'm sure he didn't mean it intentionally."
"Beg pardon Sir, but he's been dragging on my heels ever since we got seperated. I almost died just now because of his blunderance!"
"It's just a dart." Said Tolfdir, as he removed the arrow from Lutherus' back. "Not poisonous at all. Work together you two. Divided you fall, united you stand." Lutherus rolled his eyes and wordlessly followed. The three entered another room - not expecting to encounter what waited there.
"My word..." Said Tolfdir, blown away by the massive, floating orb. Moving in for a closer look disturbed one of the resting Draugr, much more powerful than the one experienced by Lutherus and Alinstein previously. To Lutherus' scorn, Alinstein out of pure fear, turned tail and ran.
"Cowardly bastard!!" Furiously shouted Lutherus as he drew his Dagger, whilst Tolfdir fired a barrage of Ice Missiles.
"Keep him busy! I think I can expose it's weakness!" Commanded Tolfdir as he spared no time in charging his remaining magicka energies to defeat the Draugr. He soon realised that the blue magical seal that surrounded the Orb had something to do with the Draugr's incredible strength and power. Firing a concentrated arc of lightning from both palms into the seal weakened the Draugr, giving Lutherus time to recouperate. "Get back!" Instructed Tolfdir, as he charged another bolt from his hand, and threw it into the Draugr. But even at this point, it was still very much capable of fighting. Tolfdir took in a huge breath, crossed his hands in front of his face as sparks of lightning darted from each of them. With a mighty shout he fired a massive bolt at the Draugr, sending it crashing into the tomb's wall.
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Thank you for your comment. I really appreciate you taking the time to reflect on my work. I can totally appreciate how you'd feel about the storyline being predictable (Lutherus goes here, kills this, returns to colleg... more
Thank you for your comment. I really appreciate you taking the time to reflect on my work. I can totally appreciate how you'd feel about the storyline being predictable (Lutherus goes here, kills this, returns to college, rinse wash repe... more
I think the problem is for me, that I cannot become as engrossed in an independent plot without the vanilla plot serving as a backbone (as in the case of the Bandit Conspiracy). I think skipping some of the vanilla even... more