The Tales of Nendir Olaffsen - Part IV

  • Nendir and Serana sludged wearily up towards Arkngthamz late after leaving Fort Dawnguard. "It's so cold, Nendir. Can't we get inside somewhere?" Serana pleaded. "We're nearly there, I think. Pretty sure it's just through these mountains." Nendir replied, shivering, pulling his Nightingale cloak closer around him.

    Eventually, they reached Arkngthamz at the start of Heartfire, under a dark, but starry, Tirdas sky.

    "I'll stay here, Nendir; You go on ahead." Serana told him. "Why? You gave the impression you favored the indoors...especially after being inside so long you didn't even know that Cyrodiil was the seat of the Empire."

    "I can't risk losing the scroll inside one of the biggest dwarven ruins in Skyrim. Besides, I'd like to know more about this....Empire, you talk of." Serana said.

    "I can't be bothered, a lot happened, I mean...you were gone three eras! Anyway, if you're sure, you stay here, I'll go on ahead." Nendir said.

    Nendir got inside, and was immediately greeted by a female apparition, Katria, who claimed to have died. She asked if Nendir needed any help locating the aetherium shards. "I'll need help navigating this place, sure...and then there's the Falmer of course..." Nendir replied.

    Nendir snuck past nearly all the Falmer, thanking their blindness. Katria got lost somewhere along the route, getting ambushed by the Dwarven Spiders and Falmer.

    Nendir managed to gain access to the last lower vaulted chamber in Arkngthamz, but owing to his curiosity, pressed a large blue button. Suddenly, a large golden gate crashed down behind him and he heard a large hiss of steam. He spun round, knowing only too well what he was going to see...

    After a long and gruesome battle, Nendir felled the Centurion with arrow that got jammed in it's steam emitting helmet. The Centurion clanged to the ground, a dwarven gyroscope rolling out from it's elbow joint once it had collapsed onto the vaulted stone steps behind it. Nendir wandered over to the gyroscope and picked it up, remembering what Isran told him about Sorine's crossbow project.

    Nendir met up with Katria from a chamber that lead off from the Centurion's one. Katria, meanwhile, had located all the aetherium shards.

    "Whoah..." Nendir expelled...the pure mystical atmosphere the aetherium shard gave off was breath-taking. He picked it up. It felt weightless, but freezing cold at the same time. "Have you found the other three?" Nendir asked questionably.

    "Yes, only just, though. the others were behind some tricky puzzles...luckily I still had my journal, really. I managed to figure out the puzzle from what I jotted down last time I was here...take a look." Katria handed Nendir the torn page from her journal containing the diagram.

    "Well...." said Nendir looking confused. "It's a good job you had it covered, that's looks bloody complicated!". "I better go anyway, thanks for the help, I guess." Nendir left Arkngthamz by a lever in the chamber across, and met Serana back outside.

    "Did you find the shards?" She asked.

    "Yes, also I collected some scrap metal for Sorine...she should be finished writing down the plans for her new crossbow design. The Dawnguard should be really pleased...not sure about Isran, though; If you come back to the fort I could persuade him to let you stay until we've cleared up this prophecy..."

    ***

Comments

3 Comments
  • Vazgen
    Vazgen   ·  November 5, 2013
    You barely hit 500 word count with this one. The images make it look larger but it's the reading that conveys the feeling of size. Try getting around 800 at least 
  • Nelaf
    Nelaf   ·  November 5, 2013
    Ah. I thought so too. I just been down to Blackreach to get the Lexicon figured out....I've got to break that dungeon down into about 4 chapters!.
  • Vazgen
    Vazgen   ·  November 5, 2013
    Again, you rush too much. This could've been broken in two chapters. Only the fight with the centurion deserves more than a small sentence. Then there is a whole dungeon explored...