The Gloom Creek Barrow Expedition
As told by Jesse of Whiterun
It was a very cold night that night when we finally made camp in front of the old abandoned crypt, it took 8 hours just to reach the cave from our meeting place in Ivarstead. The leader of group was this wood elf by the name Felix Ferestus, he was rather small even compared to his kin, he was younger fellow with ambitions of being a famous explorer and treasure hunter, why he picked the cold mountains of Skyrim stills puzzles me. Me and good friend of mine by the name of Kili of Rorikstead were hired to be his escort threw the old ruin. Also in our company were some associates of his, two other wood elves by names of Boswin and Roswin who are good friends with our leader, a redguard by name of Zamia and a breton by the name of Martin. We never were told what he was after in this crypt but we did hear stories from the old innkeeper that there had been sightings of draugr in the area around the entrance which can only mean it must have something worth hiding inside. We made camp just outside of a small farm about half a mile from the cave and there we made our plans for the following day. Me and Kili were gonna be in charge of scouting ahead and getting an idea of anyone or anything that might be in our way, the breton and redguard would follow behind us and make sure nothing sneaks behind us and the wood elves would be our marksmen covering us. The morning came and we started our approach at first light catching three draugr off guard and dealing with them no problem. Me and Kili favored a good long sword and war axe as our weapons and it made quick work of our undead adversaries. Felix is first to go into the cave itself, as we walk in our Breton used a illumination spell to help light up the cave that led down a small cramped cavern into what looked to be a small burial room where our 3 door greeters most likely woke up from. As we looked around the small room Felix couldn't stop expressing his enthusiasm for what he was seeing, "look at all these markings, this must be the place we've been searching for. "Quiet, we may not be alone," Kili says with a look of worry and concern on his face. I've seen this face of his many a time, it only occurs when he's got a bad feeling about something or he is under the suspicion that we're not the ones hunting.
As we delve deeper into the cave we don't find much resistance, just a small nest of frostbite spiders that the Breton easily dispatched with his fire magic. After probably an hour or so we finally come up to a door imbedded into the stone of the cave as it opens up into a large room within the cave. Now me and Kili know of why this cave was so important to Felix, for the door were made of solid coridium and shined like polished brass, such doors were not of our ancient nord ancestors but they were of the mysterious dwemer who have long been extinct in tamriel for thousands of years, with only their large underground cities surviving them. Me and Kili have heard tales of the dwemer and they're massive cities and impressive technology, that craftsmanship and ingenuity was unmatched by anyone before or since. Now that his secret is out Felix tells us that there is a valuable jewel within the ruins that he has tracked down for over 5 seasons. It seems me and Kili are the only ones that hadn't heard this before which makes us wonder if we can trust the rest of our company. In the mean time we decided to press on through to the ruins, you never know what 2 nords could uncover.
After some effort from me Kili and the redguard we finally get the colossal doors open and what we see is a sight that not many of my kin have ever witnessed. The doors open to a valley within the mountain it was dotted with shining bronze structure with long metallic walkways connecting them over the deep valley. The city of stone and metal seemed abandoned, as it should, but we are soon to find out that that was a grave assumption. As we pressed on the wood elves began to question the expedition, except for Felix, he seemed more determined than ever to find this jewel...
