The Dragonborn pushed open the heavy wooden door and stumbled into the Bannered Mare inn. The inn was dim and full of the noise of laughter and clinking bottles and tankards. Most of the patrons were men from the city and surrounding farms, although there were a few women other than Hulda and the Redguard girl both of which were carrying flagons of ale and mead to some of the rowdier men. The Dragonborn walked up to the bar where Hulda was now drying a tankard. "What can I get you?" she asked politely although there was slight annoyance behind the question. "Just a bottle of mead if you have any left" the Dragonborn slid a few gold septims towards her and she handed him the bottle. The Dragonborn scanned the dimly light room looking for somewhere to sit and plan his next adventure on behalf of the Jarl. In the corner of the room was a table, a woman sat in one of the chairs facing the wall looking down at something on the table so he couldn't see her face. Briefly examining the rest of the room he saw that this was the only free seat left in the inn so reluctantly the Dragonborn meandered his to the table.
"Excuse me, sorry to bother you but do you mind if I sit here?" she did not look up. The Dragonborn could now see that it was an old map of Skyrim she was examining. "I don't mind, do sit where you want" she didn't seem annoyed in the least so the Dragonborn sat himself down in the chair across from her. Finally the woman looked up at him. Her face was framed by long flowing brown hair and her face was marked by at least 5 different scars across her cheeks and jaw line. But the most captivating part of her beauty was her eyes. They were deep blue and seemed to see father than just the outside of a person. It was as if she could see you soul just by glancing at you. "So you're the famous 'Dragonborn'?" she smirked and he assumed she wasn't a believer of the legends. "I prefer the name Eirik" the mysterious woman reached for the bottle of wine on the table and took a large gulp of the liquid before replying to Eirik. "Well it's nice to meet you Eirik, the name's Crow" Eirik knew that wasn't her name from the smirk on her face and her slight pause before giving her name. "I know that's not your real name" his reply didn't seem to have any effect on her what so ever. She merely smiled at him "You're smarter than you look then, I'm Crow to everyone other than the few people I trust with my life." Crow reached for her wine only to find that the bottle was empty. Instead she leant back in her chair and examined Eirik. He had light sandy brown coloured curly hair that nearly covered his eyes. There was a long scar leading down from the corner of his left eye down to the corner of his mouth. He had kind chocolate eyes that light up when he smiled. The steel armour he wore was flecked with the scars of battle and the edges of the pelts that lined his armour where stained a dark blood red.
"So what heroic quest has the Jarl ordered you to go on now?" she lazily asked while leaning further back in her chair and nearly falling off. Eirik laughed at her as she tried to right herself but only succeeding in making the situation worse, but eventually she managed to get upright again. "Well apparently the Graybeards have summoned me and the Jarl thinks I should go see them and learn the way of the voice". This seemed to amuse Crow even though Eirik knew she'd probably heard the Graybeards summon hi earlier that day. "I keep meaning to make the pilgrimage up to the throat of the world, they say if you leave an offering at all the shrines along the stairs animals will leave you alone for several hours after" this answer made Eirik realise that he knew nothing about the journey up to the throat of the world, or even how to get to the beginning of the stairs. He would have to find a guide up the mountain, and maybe, just maybe this beautiful woman would oblige. "Maybe you would care to join me, especially since I have no idea how or where to get up the mountain?" she bit her lip in thought, considering his offer. After a few seconds she stuffed her map into a pouch on her belt and looked up at Eirik "Sure, why not? I have nothing better to do and I'd like to get to know you better mighty Dragonborn." At this she stood up and wrapped her black fur lined cloak around her shoulders. "How about we set out tomorrow then?" she asked while fumbling with her cloak pin. Eirik nodded unsure of what he'd gotten himself into. "Good, I'll meet you by the stables tomorrow morning. Let say about sevenish" She smiled at him before starting to make her way out of the inn. She opened the door she shouted "Farwell Dragonborn, until tomorrow" across the room before running out into the pouring rain and disappearing into the distance.