Gretkar and Gruickshak sat in the Winking Skeever, downing ale after ale. The bartender watched them carefully, and it started making Gretkar upset. No one trusted orcs in Skyrim, and he was starting to realize that coming here with his brother may not have been such a good idea. They had come at the height of the civil war, and after the Stormcloaks had taken over, life in Skyrim was just one racist bastard after another. But there was good money to be made in Skyrim, especially for treasure hunters like Gretkar and Gruickshak. They had heard about the Dwemer machines in the Markarth caves, and the other various artifacts that sold for very high prices. But so far, they had no luck.
"This Nord mead tastes like troll dung." Gruickshak complained. "And you would know what troll dung tastes like…" Gretkar retorted. Gruickshak growled and put his mug down. "Did you notice that axe?" Gretkar asked his little brother. "Looks expensive, don't it?" Gruickshak turned to look at what his brother was talking about. He saw a large blue bone-axe mounted on the wall above the bar. "Looks like an ancient Nord weapon. I wonder how much that would sell for, hmm?" Gretkar grinned through his enormous fangs. "You suggestin' we take it right from under his nose?" Gruickshak asked. "Naw…" Gretkar stroked his black, tangled beard. "How much coin you got?" he asked Gruickshak. "Ten septims." He answered. "Gimme four, and I'll go rent us a room. At night, we'll come down here, swipe the axe, and break for it." Gretkar explained, now twisting the hairs on his chin, ripping some out. "Now that's a plan I can follow!" Gruickshak smiled.
Gretkar made his way over to the bar, and leaned over the edge, motioning for the bartender to come over. "How much for a room?" Gretkar asked, reaching for his coinpurse. "Ten septims for one night." The bartender said, scowling at the orc. Gretkar laid the money on the counter, ignoring the fact that the bartender was charging him more just because he was an orc. As the bartender rooted through his drawer for a key, Gretkar pointed at the axe on the wall. "What's that beauty?" he asked. "It's called Brekyeir." The bartender said as he drew a small bronze key from under the counter. "I found it in an old Nordic ruin, the Bleak Falls Barrow. I pried it from the cold, dead hands of King Mystrikk myself." The bartender rolled up his sleeve to reveal a large scar moving along his forearm. "But not before he did this to me." Gretkar raised an eyebrow. "A dead king cut you?" The bartender shook his head. "I didn't expect an orc to know anything about Skyrims history…" Gretkar frowned, not happy with being called uneducated. Gretkar was actually fairly intelligent for his kind, and he did not take kindly to having his intelligence insulted, but he decided to let this one pass. He didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble. "In the belly of Skyrims tombs, some ancient dead get restless. They say that our ancestors once betrayed a Dragon, and the dragon cursed them so that even death was not absolute. We call the undead the Draugr…" The name sent a shiver down Gretkar's hairy back. Draugr. He looked up at the axe. It now no longer seemed majestic and powerful, but evil and cold, cold like the snow that blanketed this wretched land. First war, then dragons, then undead… Gretkar knew coming to Skyrim was a bad idea… "Here… first door on the right." The bartender said as he handed Gretkar the key. "We'll be kicking you out at nine. Don't make too much noise." Gretkar took the key, and motioned for Gruickshak to follow him. His brother stood up, picked up his battle axe, and followed Gretkar down the hall. Gretkar unlocked the door, let his brother in, looked around to ensure that no one was following them, and he shut the door.
That night, Gretkar tried to get some rest before robbing the inn, but he couldn't keep the image of the Draugr out of his head. He imagined delving deep into an ancient dungeon , and finding a corpse sitting on a throne of gold, with jewels and weapons made of ebony and silver, and reaching down to take a handful of treasures, when the corpse opens its eyes, reaches out a bony purple hand, and pulls Gretkar into the dark depths of death…
Gretkar shook his head, shaking the image out of his head. He looked over at his big, dumb brute of a brother lying in his bed of hay, sleeping like a baby. A really ugly baby. Gretkar gently woke his brother, whispering. "Get up… I think the innkeeper's asleep." Gruickshak rolled out of bed, and started packing his belongings. Gretkar made Gruickshak carry his bag, as he was much bigger than Gretkar, and the opened the door into the long, pitch black hallway. They crept down the hall silently, or at least, as silently as two orcs could. They entered the dining area, and saw the axe, Brekyeir, mounted on the wall. "I'll get it." Gretkar whispered to his brother. Gruickshak was about to respond when Gretkar clasped his hand over Gruickshak's mouth. "Ssssh…" he said. Gruickshak nodded and waited. Gretkar tiptoed around the counter, and stood underneath the axe. He reached up, and lifted the weapon from it's place. When his hand touched the axe, he began hearing voices. At first, he thought it was Gruickshak, and he spun around to face his brother, but then realized that the voices were coming from inside his head. He couldn't understand the language the voices were speaking, but he could make out some words, like Yol and Ro Dah. The stared at the axe and realized just how powerful and… evil this object was. He knew it would bring him and his brother nothing but trouble, but he also knew that this artifact was far too important to spend the rest of its days on the wall of an inn. He walked over to the door of the inn, unlocked it, and led himself and his Gruickshak out into the ice cold streets of Solitude…
As the two orc treasure hunters left the gates of Solitude, out into the harsh, savage world of Skyrim, Gruickshak looked at his brother. "Now that we've got the axe, where we gonna go an' sell it?" He asked. "We're not selling it…" Gretkar said. "We're taking it somewhere very important." Gretkar brushed the snow from his brothers' hair. "Where's that?" Gruickshak asked him. "We're taking it… to Bleak Falls Barrow…"
To be continued…
