Back inside Folgunthur, events had taken a turn for the worse. Emma and Vilkas stood in front of a large ornate door.
"I believe I've read about these." Vilkas mused ""The anchient nords created them as a means of securing their dead. They were always superstitious, and constantly built doors that at first seem impossible to open. The old texts say they required a key to open them, but you would also have to solve a puzzle. The answer saw said to be held on the key itself."
Emma quickly searched every corner of the large chamber, but found nothind but an oddly shaped piece of ivory.
"According to my brothers at the guild, the keys to these doors are like the claws of a dragon. Seems fitting for a people enslaved by the ferocious beasts." Vilkas continued " I doubt we would find one anywhere in here, mind you."
Emma Held up the ivory carving. "something like this, then?" she called.
Vilkas gestured toward the door, which had a strange plate in the centre. The plate had three holes and appeared to have a claw-shaped indent. Emma looked at the underside of the claw, and saw three images in a top-to-bottom order that matched with three rings on the door. Vilkas observed this and rotated the uppermost ring. Emma rotated the middle and lower rings to the correct position and inserted the claw into the slot. The door opened with a noisy grinding, and Draugr began to spill into the chamber. The undead beings fell easily to Vilkas, who ploughed through one after the other with crushing dexterity. Emma was pleasantly surprised with Vilkas, and gave a curt nod of approval. There was a single Draugr left in the corridor ahead of them. It wore a black horned helmet and wielded a dark blade
"A deathlord" Vilkas murmured. To Emma, it seemed as if Vilkas had fought these before, and was a little uneasy about the prospect of battling another. The Deathlord lurched towards them; sword held high. Emma cut in between Vilkas and unleashed a flurry of sword strikes, eventually climbing atop the creature and decapitating it.
"Well, I'm glad you never did that to me" Vilkas chuckled. The two edged through the corridor, mindful of the dead that could awaken from their otherworldly slumber. The passage opened up into a huge dining hall, with Draugr of every sort slumped upon a table. Emma nodded to a stairwell on the right hand side of the room. They crawled slowly and in silence. There was a drawbridge and another plate in which to place the ivory claw. Vil kas cursed and whispered to Emma that lowering the drawbridge would alert those below them. Emma announced that should the inevitable occur, they should be able to destroy the bridge from the other side, blocking any advancing Draugr. Vilkas agreed and Emma placed the claw in the slot. The drawbridge lowered, creaking in the process. A single Deathlord rose and turned to face them. It failed to notice any intruders so Emma signalled to wait until it returned to its rest. The deathlord soon did and they both attempted to sneak away. No other draugr awoke so Emma carried on through the corridor, hoping that Vilkas was following. There were more undead in the long corridor they had just entered. Emma crept behind one and plunged her dagger deep into its neck. The draugr fell to the floor with a wet thump, and Emma neatly stepped over the corpse. At the end of this corridor was a stairwell. Emma glanced behind her and let out a sigh; Vilkas was still there. Vilkas informed her that they were now in the Crypt itself, and there was likely to be many powerful draugr ahead. The pair climbed up the stairs into a waterlogged chamber lined with short pillars. Emma observed Vilkas as he grabbed one and twisted until a whale was visible. He turned and walked towards a further pillar and turned it so a hawk faced him. Emma walked toward the nearest pillar, which was a dragon. Vilkas pulled a lever but quickly darted to one side as arrows shot from holes in the wall.
"Crap!" Vilkas exclaimed "I knew I should have turned those gods forsaken things to hawk-hawk-Dragon!"
Emma looked at the pillar beside her, and pushed it to the hawk position.
"Right." Emma said, her hands still shaking from shock. "The second has also got to be a hawk, didn't you say?" But Vilkas just knelt there. Emma suddenly wondered why Vilkas was here in the first place. Was there treasure? A powerful entity that threatened Tamriel? Emma shuddered; "hopefully it's not the latter." She thought as she pushed the third pillar until the dragon could be seen.