Boots on the Ground Entry Four

Entry Four: Hozzin’s Folly and beyond.

Just past the small arch that marked the north end of the village a Nord woman ran up and started squeaking at me and waving her arms. Nords in my experience could be odd people, perhaps a consequence of their frequent drinking binges, but this was a bit more than that I thought.

“Are you, um, okay?” I asked tentatively.

“No I am NOT okay! I have been turned into a skeever!” A skeever, if you did not know, was a large rat-like rodent. She was not the prettiest of Nord women but hardly a skeever in my opinion. She seemed to have a revelation. “Wait, you can understand me, then I am not a skeever?”

“Um, no, I don’t think so.” There was a look of relief that was quickly replaced by worry.

“Quick, follow me!” She said and ran off. There had to be a story there so I followed. Off the trail about 200 yards to the west, she ran to a place where there was a staff jabbed upright into a snowbank. “Pick it up if you can.” She said. Not really certain I should I did anyway and it came away easily. “Good, good! I tried but I could not. Maybe you can help then.”

“I am Molla. I and my three friends, Faltha, Brend, and Runs-in-Wild were out hunting. A frenzied mage came running up to us waving that staff around and casting spells. It turned the other three into skeevers and they ran off. I struggled with the mage and the spell must have only struck me with a glancing blow. He dropped the staff and ran off. You must take the staff, find my friends, and change them back.” That seemed simple enough. We discussed likely places they may have run to and I marked them on my map. I sent Molla back to the village and continued on my original plan.

I found only merchants near the wayshrine but west of there I saw people in armor so I headed that way. Sergeant Seyne was the one I was to speak to about Hozzin’s Folly and I found her standing next to the body of a bandit. She was a wealth of information but none of it clear. The only thing that was certain was that the bandits were looting the ‘mine’ of artifacts. That sounded odd to me, ore, gems, or even precious metals were something that people mined. Apparently the ‘mine’ was some sort of tomb or buried temple, and Seyne said that she had heard of a pocket of Oblivion whatever that was. Seyne was unwilling or unable to investigate further, so of course, she left that to me. She also suggested a disguise, so that I might go in ‘under cover’ to avoid alerting them to my nosiness. The uniform was leather and chain mail taken from the body behind her. It was dirty. It stank. There was no way I was going to let it touch my skin so I put it on over my clothes.

Most of the bandits ignored me, more interested in drinking and bitching than someone walking through their camp, but those that held torches seemed to be more alert, peering into faces and looking for uniform infractions. I avoided those. Most of the village outside of the mine had been put to the torch at one time or another and wide open. I poked around looking for anything that might be of use or value to me as well as any clue to what was going on. The first thing I found of interest was a rune ward. Next to it was a note of warning to keep it away from the mine and the Unspeakable Sigil there, as it would destroy it and the rune. I slipped it into my bag. In another burnt out building I found a scrap of a message to a General Sarien about Cultists and traps that they may have left in the tomb. I had yet to see a cultist but made note of it. Another note mentioned a portal deep in the mine. The portal was something I had to look into, as it likely had something to do with the ‘pocket of Oblivion’, so I needed to get into that mine.

The entrance was locked and guarded, so I pounded on it with authority, and lied to the guard telling him I needed to check on the rune collections. My lie was immediately revealed when I entered, but instead of attack, the guard ran away in panic and fear, right into a fire trap that consumed him. Idiot. My ruse unrevealed, I simply walked through the mine. There was a Skyshard in there and after looking around to find no one looking, I absorbed it and used the increased power to change Destructive Touch to Destructive Reach, adding some range to it. Anything that kept things out melee range to me was a good thing. Deeper in a series of fire traps were there which with a little patience and common sense I managed to get by. Near the end I found the portal guarded by imps that toasted and popped satisfactorily with application of my flame staff. I had no memory portals like these and I must admit that I was hesitant, but the Unspeakable Sigil there on the other side had to be destroyed. Reaching out my hand I touched the portal and got sucked in like a slimy booger snuffled into a cold loosened nose. It took me to a different place, from roughhewn caverns to smoother walls and corridors, torch lit and inhabited by more imps, and dark hooded humanoids that I took to be the cultists I had been warned about. I didn’t like this place so I hurried through it blasting anything that moved with heavy fireballs from my staff. Downing two cultists, I saw between them was an altar with a round object hovering over it. The rune in my pocket hummed with power. Taking it out and holding it out to the Sigil, the rune shot out of my hand like a lodestone to an anvil, smashing into it. A burst of bright light and I found myself back in the mine, the portal gone. A short hall to a door and I found myself near the original entrance and as I exited the mine, Seyne emerged from the shadows.

“The Unspeakable Sigil is destroyed, and the portal sealed.” I reported. “There’ll be no more runes or creatures from Oblivion gathered here.”

“Good. I’m out of here then. Take this with my thanks.” She handed me some gold and her boot knife and in a puff of smoke, disappeared. I guess I was left to my own devises to get away. I kept to the back of the buildings and away from everything. As luck would have it, I found a Thieves’ Trove on the way out. Finders’ keepers, loser’s weepers, but I would have to find someplace to sell or launder it as regular merchants would have none of it. Once I cleared the camp I destroyed my disguise and I was quite happy to be rid of it.

Hozzin’s Folly dealt with, I headed north once more as I had planned. One of the spots Molla had suggested was near, a bit to the west, so I followed the path that way. Spiders. Lots of spiders scuttled over the snow amidst some ruins. Fire loves spiders and spider webs and my fireballs ate them up easily. Sure enough there was a skeever wandering about there, seeming lost and having no interest in attacking me. With a shrug I tried the wand I had picked up. Where once was a rodent, there was a Nord woman, Faltha. I sent her back to the village. Looking around for a good way to cross the freezing water between me and the island where Orkey’s Hollow was to be found, I spied a camp and campfire, I decided to go see if maybe they had an idea.

At the Hunter’s Camp, I found an Argonian who called herself Bura-Naty, who claimed to be a member of the Fighter’s Guild. If this was the best that the Fighter’s Guild had to offer, they would be in trouble and definitely in need of my help. It seems her three compatriots had managed to get themselves caught by the spiders and hauled away to their cave nests. How would they ever deal with Daedra as the Guild Master wanted if mere spiders proved to be beyond their abilities? The caves were easy to find though I had to be careful throwing fire around lest they inflame the copious amounts of spider webs about and those trapped within. Tethis, Naer, and Hunts-in-Shadow were released and pointed back towards the camp where I soon joined them. They paid me for the trouble and said that as soon as they warmed up they would return to Daven’s Watch rather than the village. I took a brief rest to check my abilities and found I could add another. Dark Talons, a spell that would hold those near me in the grip of dark talons and damage them as well, was my choice. Again, anything that would keep things away from melee range was a good thing. Also I had found a treasure map amongst the things I had looted from the webs and such, and it just happened to be to the north in the direction I wanted to go.

I stood on the bank looking across the stretch of water between me and the island. Swimming was not an option, judging by the ice floes in the water. Ice floes. That gave me an idea. I backed up, took a deep breath, and made a running long jump for the ice floe. I made it, barely, but as it began to rock and tip I did not dawdle, but ran across it and leapt for the bank on the other side. I was a bit sort, but wet feet were better than totally soaked. There was a fishing camp there that seem to be abandoned complete with a nice warm fire. After drying my feet I poked about and found the buried treasure chest. Nothing I could use, but gold and things I could sell or deconstruct. East was the main island where Orkey’s Hollow was, so it required a short jump across the water, into a snowbank. A nice, soft landing … on top of a bear. The bear was not happy. I was not happy that the bear was not happy. I popped my shield spell, then hit it with the Destructive Reach to give me some space. Hopefully I sent the bear to a happier place as it fell in a pile of burning fur. Burning fur stinks. A lot. Other bears do not like the stink of burning fur. I avoided the other angry bears.

I found a camp and yet another Nord woman, Rolanda, and talked to her. It seems like her rather dim-witted brother decided to prove his bravery by entering a haunted cave. She rambled on about a Frozen Man, Old Rory, and the story didn’t make a lot of sense to me. But I agreed to look for her brother after I made use of the Skyshard near the camp, and a quick look around for another of those skeevers Molla wanted me to find. I de-skeevered Runs-in-Wild and sent the Argonian back to her friends in the village, then headed into the cave known as Orkey’s Hollow.

Eimen was frozen in a wall of ice and I considered ways that I might get him out, though none seemed to be a good idea. I could possibly chip him out, and well as chip off smaller parts of him. I could melt the ice with flame, and probably boil, fry, or roast Eimen at the same time. A strange echoing voice came from somewhere in the caves, making me almost lose control of my bladder, which was already being taunted by the sound of dripping water and the cold in the icy caves.

“Figure out who I am, and I might let him go!” I would have been very happy if I never heard that voice again. Apparently this ghost I assumed to be the Frozen Man was lonely, talkative, and quite mad, as he kept calling me a squirrel as I poked around the cave system looking for clues about who he was. He annoyed the resident bears too, and as they couldn’t hurt him, they took their annoyance out on me. I won’t annoy and bore you with the details, but I figured out that he was an Altmer Spy and a mage. I confronted the mage with this and instead of releasing Eimen, he insisted I play another game which was to find him among four nearly identical images. I say nearly as three of them were dancing, while the fourth was just looking smug. I picked the smug one. I was right, but he was still going to be difficult, and wanted to play word games. Word games with a bard? Seriously? I tied up the looney spirit with his own words and he grudgingly released Eimen from his frozen prison. Rolanda gifted me with the weapon Bonesplitter and some gold for releasing her idiot brother.

It had already been a long day, but I still had a couple of people to find. I headed back south as that is where I had been told where I might find them. I skirted the village and took the road to the southwest of it and found Halmaera looking worried in front of her home. Halmaera was missing both her husband and her dog. Well, husbands could be replaced, but a good dog was hard to find, so off I went. The dog Rexxus came with a whistle like the good dog he was, but insisted that I follow him. Along the way, while dealing with random wolves, I found the last skeever who turned out to be Brend. Rexxus led me to the wayward husband who had had a boat accident but was otherwise alright. He paid me some gold and I sent them both home. I returned to Molla in the village and collected my reward for finding her friends and releasing them.

It had been a long eventful day and I was tired, a little bit frozen, and a bit foot-sore from all the running around I had done. Rana would be a conversation I would put off for the next day. Some dinner and some ale seemed like the way to go. Then Molla and the de-skeevered hunters showed up and bought me some more ale, and there was more drinking, bawdy songs, and dancing. The last thing I remembered was a very cute and cuddly guard suggesting it was time that I retired to my bedroll. The ale had done quite a bit to warm me up, but she looked like she might have some ideas to warm me further.

“Am I under arrest?” I asked.

“Yes.” She said with a nod. “I will have to keep you close,” she said drawing me close, “for your own protection,” she said softly into my ear, “of course.”

ForestLyle