The Nights of Solstheim

Chapter 3: Frostmoth Prison

"Come on you filth, let's move." Falco pushes Savar and Gaeldol forward through the mine passage. Savar tries to walk as slow as possible, as he continues to get pushed forward by Falco. "I hope you two rot in prison." Falco pushes them forward again, angry. "You know how many people rely on that mine to make a living? And you were going to go in wipe it clean. You make me sick." They arrive at the exit of the mine. Of couse, I'll have a few guards assist me with you. When they make it to the middle of Ravens Rock, two heavily armed guards walk up, their metal armor clanks as they move. Savar says jokingly, "Ah, some music for the trip!" Falco takes the end of his sword and slams it against Savar's head. "Ahhhh." He screams in pain. "Shut up you, I don't want to hear another word. Hopefully Captain Carius will hang you, or leave you to starve somewhere. Let's go." Falco nods to the guards and they walk toward the dock. A boat waits at the end of the dock, with a Dunmer sailor. "This boat only goes to Fort Frostmoth." The sailor says. "Good, good" Falco replies, and he shoves the two on board, followed by the two guards.

The cold waves slam against the side of the boat, as it makes its way from one part of the island, to the other. The boat-ride to Fort Frostmoth was not that long, an hour or two. Walking from Ravens Rock to Fort Frostmoth would take much longer, plus the dangers of the wilderness. All of the people on the boat are perfectly silent. Falco looks up into the dark sky, no stars or moon. Falco whispers to himself softly, "Quiet..." Savar notices there is no wind, and he begins to shiver from the cold, crisp air. Suddenly a fierce gust of wind blows across, knocking Gaeldol's square, fur hat into the water. Falco stands up, "What was that?" He looks toward the sailor, who is in the front of the ship looking outward. "Is there a storm coming, sailor?" The Dunmer narrows his eyes and grins, not looking toward Falco, "Yes, quite a nasty one coming I hear." "Oh, great" Falco sighs and then sits back down.

The boat approaches the dock for Fort Frostmoth, and it is steered into the harbor. Falco signals for Savar and Gaeldol to stand up. The two guards walk toward them, and grab them by the arm, walking them toward the Fort. "Here we are." Falco sighs in relief and follows the guards and prisoners. "I know it's late, but I shall inform Captain Carius of this...finding. Where is he anyways?" An imperial legion hears them coming and walks downhill toward them and responds, "He's in the general quarters. He should still be awake, I think." "Thank you soldier.", Falco replies. Falco, the guards, and the prisoners make their way into the General Quarters and walk up to an arched wooden door. A guard stands outside. Falco speaks to the guard, "We need to see Captain Carius about the capture of two criminals." The guard nods and walks into the room, and closes the door behind him. After a few moments the door opens again and the guard comes back out. "Carius will see you, and the two criminals."

Falco nudges Savar and Gaeldol forward and they walk into Carius' office. Falco then goes around them toward the front of the room. "Greetings, Carius." "Greetings, Falco. What do you have for me tonight?" "The two theives that have been aggrivating settlements on this island." Carius nods and smiles. "Good. Now what to do with them..." Savar looks up angered at the two talking, then he puts his head back down. "Kill them", Falco says assertively. Carius looks up suprised, "That's not like you..." "I know, but too many of these damn people are ruining things for us. My patience has grown weary." Carius stands up from his desk and walks toward the two prisoners. "I'll tell you what. Instead of killing them, I'll let them rot in prison here for a little while. Then ship them to Ebonheart, and they can deal with them." Falco nods, "Fine, fine. Anything to keep them out of sight."

Carius grins, "Okay, off with you then." Two guards come through the arched door and grab the prisoners. They walk slowly behind them as they make their way toward the prison section of the fort. One of the guards laughs at the two, "I hear you won't see the light of day, ever again. Hah.." Savar lunges forward and grabs the guard by the neck. "Hey!" The other guard runs over and pulls Savar back and restrains him. Three more guards arrive at the spot. "That's enough of that." Savar breathes heavily, his eyes full of anger. The guard coughs loudly and looks back up, "You bastard!" "Alright, enough. Let's just throw them in the cell and get this over with." The guard nods, then coughs again and holds his throat. The two guards push them forward, with the other three guards following behind them. They descend the circular stairway, heading to the basement of a tower in the fort.

They arrive to a slummy hallway, the floor is made of nothing but dirt. On each side there are cells, barred with iron, with a mere window, barely enough for light to get through. No torches hang from the wall, the guards barely see where they are going until they reach the end of the hall. "Here we are, your new home." The first guard throws Savar into the cell, and he lands on the dirty floor. The guard gets out of the way, then Gaeldol is thrown into another cell. "Don't make too much noise you theives."

Outside on the fort wall, three archers patrol, back and forth. None of them say anything, they all just watch the surrounding wilderness, watching for anything, or any noise. Howling of snow wolves can be heard in the distance. The archers all look exhausted as they walk slowly along the wall, barely keeping their eyes open. One of the guards shouts softly to the others two, "It's quiet tonight, nothings going on, let's go inside and get some sleep." One of the other archers nods and walks toward a tower and door and looks back to the last archer. "You coming?" The last archer shakes his head. "No...I...should stay....just to make....sure....nothing happens." The archer shrugs, "Alright, if that's what you want." The two archers go inside, leaving the last outside, and he continues to watch. He slowly whispers to himself, "Someone...must...keep....watch." His eyes slowly begin to close, despite his efforts. Then he slumps over and begins to sleep. In the distance, a flying object approaches...