AN: Now that peak season is coming to a close at work, I'm hoping to get back to a more regular updating cycle. I must say that I am sometimes surprised by how aggressively enthusiastic my reviewers can be. Thank you for all that took the time. There was a small but significant update made to an earlier chapter based on a review that I received after posting the previous chapter; you can go back and see for yourself otherwise I'm sure you'll figure it out over the next few chapters. Hopefully this chapter is a nice balance for those of you who were beginning to feel a little cabin fever with all of the reading that Jon has been doing over the last few chapters. Enjoy!
The next morning passed much in the way that Jon expected. After a quick breakfast, he spent the hours until lunch in the training ground with Ser Rodrik, Robb and the new recruits.
Jon had been made to practice his dual wielding ability while sparring against the others. While the matches were kept to Jon against one opponent, he was able to find victory relatively quickly as his increased intelligence made it easy for him to determine their attack patterns while evading and blocking until he could land what would be a fatal blow if they were using live steel rather than the wooden training swords.
After Jon had defeated each of the others individually, Ser Rodrik took to sending them against him in pairs which resulted in much longer matches. Though, once Jon had successfully removes one of his opponents he was able to dispatch the other very quickly.
At the end of the sparring sessions, Jon was pleased with the gains that he had made to the skills that had been used.
Blocking: +5,400
Evasion: +6,600
One-Handed: +12,400
Upon being dismissed after lunch, Jon's initial thought was to make his way to Maester Luwin's to start on Legend of Krately House. However, his plans were put on hold when he caught a glimpse of a girl with red hair walking towards the training grounds. Jon changed his course and walked over to his friend.
"Ygritte," Jon called. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"Aye, normally I would have stuck to the camp but I wanted to find you," Ygritte admitted while rubbing her right arm with her left hand. "What happened in the cave the other day…"
"That was something else," Jon agreed. "To think that something like that could happen here, at Winterfell…"
"Magic doesn't care who is ruling some fancy castle," she countered. "I thought you would have realized that when that skeleton managed to stand up."
"I don't know about magic but that was definitely something that shouldn't be trifled with," his thoughts flowing freely from his lips. "That could be dangerous if someone stumbled in by accident. Mayhaps I should tell Lord Stark."
"Aye, you could tell your lordly father but where is the fun in that?" the sun seemed to catch in Ygritte's hair as she quickly turned to face Jon. "When you could do something about it yourself?"
Quest Activated!
Clearing the Cave: Either take it upon yourself to clear the cave of any potential dangers or tell Lord Stark about the danger.
Reward for clearing the cave yourself: Gain ? as a companion, 20,000 Experience and increased Reputation with Ygritte.
Reward for reporting the cave to Lord Stark: Gain ? as a companion, 1,000 Experience and increased Reputation with Lord Stark, Ser Rodrik and the Winterfell Guard.
Quest is mandatory
That's a whole lot of bonus experience to miss out on if I tell father about the cave, Jon thought. There is also no telling how much experience and loot I may be able to get for clearing the cave by myself.
"Well, when you put it like that it sounds like an easy choice," Jon said with as much confidence as he could muster. "You should keep an eye out at the mouth of the cave. If I don't return by dinner, I'll need you to go get someone."
Ygritte laughed at Jon's instruction. "You really think that I'll be waiting while you go and get yourself killed? That's not the way the Free Folk do things."
"Alright, just stay behind me when we get there and keep your bow ready," Jon countered as he started to leave the training grounds and enter the Wolfswood. "I'll keep anything we find busy with my sword so you will be free to shoot anything that suddenly pops up."
"I can live with that, Jon Snow," she said with a smirk. "I may not know much about your ways here but won't you need a sword to make that plan work?"
Jon quickly opened the menu and took the Castle-Forged Steel Sword from his inventory, causing the sheathed weapon to appear on his hip before exiting the menu. "Good thing, I brought this with me."
"Wait, did you have that on you the whole time?" Ygritte's confusion was evident. "I don't remember seeing it when you approached me in the training grounds."
"Of course I had it on me the whole time," Jon lied while trying to keep his tone even. "It's not like a sword could just appear out of the air."
"Right," Ygritte agreed hesitantly while shaking her head to rid herself of the thought. "Your body must have been blocking it from view. I have an eye for details. That's why my shot is so deadly."
"Mighty confident in yourself, aren't you," Jon teased as an attempt to turn her attention from the way the sword had appeared on his hip. "It would seem you just missed on this one."
Ygritte frowned at the jibe. "Well keep it down. We are getting close to the cave and the last times that we've been here there was a big, hairy guard that did not appreciate intruders."
"Right, you are." Jon agreed while unsheathing his sword and holding it ready as Yrgitte nocked an arrow.
Jon gestured for Ygritte to wait as he tested the air before quietly making his way to the left of the mouth of the cave, downwind of any beast that may lay waiting within. When he was in position, he gestured to Ygritte to take a shot when she had the beast within her sights.
The girl crept forward one pace then another before stilling and drawing her bow. The bowstring twanged as she released the arrow and, a moment later, there was a challenging roar from within the cave.
Jon heard movement from within the cave and the largest bear yet padded out from the cave before standing on its hind legs and roaring again. Jon took the roar as his queue and jumped from his position to attack at the bear from behind. Clutching his sword with both hands, Jon stabbed his sword into the back of the bear's leg right at the joint.
The sudden attack caused the bear to fall heavily onto the ground which gave Jon the opportunity to stab the other rear leg in a similar manner with all of his might, his sword cutting through fur, bone and sinew as it pierced into the ground.
The bear screamed in pain and rage as it attempted to turn and confront the creature that would dare attack it in such a manner.
Jon wrenched his sword free and hopped back several steps to put some distance between himself and the wounded, though still very deadly animal. The beast was able to use its mighty front legs to drag its body closer to Jon who slashed it across the muzzle before again backpedaling out of its seriously limited attack range.
When the bear lunged next, Jon countered with a horizontal slash at the beast's mouth that cut through the muscles that gave it such a deadly bite and caused the mouth to hang open limply.
This seemed to be all that the bear could take as it crashed to the ground whining feebly. Jon was not taking any risks with the beast and stabbed his sword down through the crown of the bear's skull causing the bear to shudder before stilling.
+500 Sneak
+800 Two-Handed
+20 Bear Claws
+40 Bear Teeth
+1 Bearskin
"Not bad, Jon Snow," was the congratulation that he received. "Maybe you should stick to the sword. It seems to suit you much more than the bow."
"Aye, if I had my pick between the two I would take the sword but there are times when using a sword is not practical," Jon admitted. "It would be a shame not to put the Hawksflight Bow to use on occasion after all the time that Camen spent crafting the weapon."
Ygritte only nodded as she kept walking toward the cave with a thoughtful look on her face. "You know, if you are going to make a habit of killing bears then you should be sure to get their claws, teeth and pelt. The Free Folk live off the land and have experience making the most out of all that we kill."
"Oh," Jon was intrigued. "I can guess what you would use the pelt for but what use are the claws of teeth?"
"I'm not sure exactly about the teeth," Ygritte answered. "I think they are crushed up and used for medicines or something of that nature. The claws make great arrows after some fashioning since they are somewhat brittle and can explode if they hit something hard, like a bone, from the force of the shot, causing extra damage."
"I will keep that in mind," Jon's sincerity was evident. "First things first, though. Let's make sure that this cave is safe for anyone who may stumble upon it in the future."
Jon started to make his way into the cave but stopped when he realized that Ygritte was no longer walking with him. She smirked as he looked at her in confusion.
"Aren't you forgetting something, Jon Snow?"
"Um, I don't think so," Jon answered while looking from her to the cave then back to her before looking at the cave again and finally realizing the answer. "Oh yeah, it's dark in there."
Ygritte covered her face with the palm of her hand before taking a deep breath. "Aye, it's dark in there. Last time we had to turn around because we only had one torch and didn't want to be trapped in there with the rats, skeletons and whatever else may be in there."
"We should bring a few torches with us this time to make sure that we have time to do what we set out to do," Jon reasoned. "It would be a waste of time to have to turn around again."
"Right you are," Ygritte agreed. "So help me find wood that we can use as torches in there."
The two set out to find wood that they could use as torches with Jon stashing five extra pieces of wood that were of good size in his inventory when he was out of sight of Ygritte. With a large stick in hand, Jon returned to Ygritte who had a small bundle tied together and slung over her shoulder next to her quiver of arrows.
"I'll hold the torch," Jon proposed. "That way I'll be able to lead us and you will be able to keep your bow at the ready."
"That works for me," Ygritte quickly agreed. "The man holding the torch is usually the one that gets attacked. I am just fine staying on the outside and out of sight of anything that may attack us in there."
"Finally, something we can agree on," Jon nodded. "I would hate for you to get hurt in there because of me."
"Careful, Jon Snow," Ygritte warned. "Keep talking like that and you may find yourself exploring more than one cave today."
"Oh no, is there another?" Jon asked with serious concern. "If there is we should probably clear that one too to make sure that no one gets hurt."
"Aye, I know of another one," Ygritte admitted as her crooked smirk grew. "Trust me when I say it's well protected and definitely doesn't have anything in it that would hurt you."
"Oh. Alright then," Jon said with confusion. "We should probably get going."
"It's all duty with you, Jon Snow," Ygritte said as she took the piece of wood from Jon and wrapped a bit of fabric around the end before lighting it with a strike of her flint. "You sure you will be able to handle this?"
"Easy," Jon answered while taking the torch with his left hand and walking into the cave with his sword held at the ready in his right hand. "See, nothing to it."
"Careful where you're swinging that thing, Snow," Ygritte admonished. "A piece of wood like that could be dangerous."
"No worries, Ygritte," Jon attempted to console the girl as her eyes seemed to sparkle with mirth. "Compared to what I work with in the training yard, this is nothing."
Ygritte couldn't contain herself any longer and broke out laughing while Jon looked at her in confusion.
"As much as I would like to hear more, we should probably get going," Ygritte tried to catch her breath. "Front and center."
Jon shook his head at the girl's antics but followed her instruction, regardless. The pair followed the twisting and turning passage from the mouth of the cave and soon found themselves in the large chamber with vaulted ceilings where Jon had killed the skeevers during their last foray into the cave.
Apparently history was destined to repeat itself as a pack of five skeevers scurried into the room when Jon was halfway to the door. Just as planned, the skeevers didn't even notice Ygritte form the shadows. Jon hacked and slashed at the rodents and took them down very quickly.
One-Handed +1000
Skeever Tail +5
I'll have to see if the Free Folk can do anything with the skeever tails, Jon thought quickly before walking towards the corridor that the skeever had used to enter the chamber. No ring this time. I guess that was not guaranteed loot for defeating a skeever.
As he got to the end of the corridor, Jon took a deep breath to help him mentally prepare for the next room if, by some chance, the skeleton warrior was waiting there for him again. After his brief pause, Jon entered the chamber with the coffin and found, to his relief, the coffin was still open and nothing was lying in wait. Keeping his guard up, Jon circled the coffin and found that it blocked a lever from view. Setting his sword next to the coffin, Jon pulled the lever and caused a section of the wall to suddenly shift, revealing a secret passage.
Jon entered the passage and found a staircase that spiraled downward. The real surprise, however, was that the passage was lit by torches that were burning brightly. Jon was on high alert as burning torches seemed to indicate that there was someone down there to light them.
However, he chose to take advantage of the situation and put his torch into his inventory when the curve of the staircase took him out of Ygritte's line of sight. Holding his sword ahead of him in a two-handed grip, Jon continued down the staircase until he reached a landing with a large door.
Removing his left hand from the hilt of the sword, Jon opened the door causing a loud creak to echo through the chamber. The chamber was lit by a large chandelier hung from the ceiling with candles lit in the same way as the torches from the staircase. Jon quickly snapped his head from right to left to determine if there were any threats but he was unable to find anything.
He gestured for Ygritte to wait at the landing before he made his way into the chamber. As he approached the table there was a rumbling sound that seemed to reverberate through the chamber. Looking for the source of the disturbance, Jon noticed that there was dust and debris coming from the six large elliptical pieces of stone that had been set into the wall. With a cascade of cracks, the large pieces of stone burst away from the wall and thudded onto the chamber floor revealing six skeletal warriors.
Jon acted quickly; he knew that it would take the skeletons on the opposite side of the room time to make their way around the large table in the room's center. He saw that the three skeletons on the same side of the rom were advancing on his position and each was wielding a sword and a shield.
Cursing himself for only having one weapon, Jon threw himself into combat against the closest skeleton. His first three blows were blocked by the skeleton's shield but the last blow managed to take the skeleton's sword arm clean off, removing the threat of its weapon.
Jon took the brief moment of relative safety and glanced at the other two skeletons and saw that they had closed the distance and were less than ten feet apart from him in either direction. His moment of distraction cost him as he was bashed by the disarmed skeleton's shield and fell to the floor. Scrambling, Jon grabbed the sword that it had wielded and pushed himself to his feet holding both swords at the ready.
The other two skeletons had closed the distance and each launched a heavy swing at Jon. Fortunately, all of the sparring had paid off and Jon was able to avoid the blows with ease while repositioning himself so that the three skeletons were all in front of him, rather than surrounding him.
He launched a series of strikes against one of the skeletons with a sword and found that his one-handed blows lacked the power to cut through the skeleton's bones completely. However, the combination of attacks seemed to render the skeleton's sword arm useless. Jon hopped back several times to put some distance between himself and his attackers while gauging the time he had until the other three skeletons converged on his position. He was dismayed to find that two had reached either end of the chamber and the third was not far behind.
Blocking a blow from the last skeleton with the sword held by his left hand, Jon was able to strike its head multiple times with his other sword before he was bashed by of the other skeleton's swords almost causing him to lose his footing.
He noted that the skeleton that he had just attacked fell to one knee and didn't appear to be moving. He launched a quick attack toward each of the shielded skeletons causing them to guard rather than bash him again then quickly brought both swords together to decapitate the downed skeleton.
Relieved of its head, the skeleton fell upon the ground and moved no further. Rather than congratulate himself, Jon launched a series of attacks at one of the other skeletons and was able to dispatch his foe after successfully knocking its shield to the side.
The long hours, which he had been spending in the training yard, paid off as Jon noticed a shadow behind him and was able to mostly avoid the slash that would have removed his arm. However, he gasped in pain as he felt the blade break the skin on the shoulder leaving a shallow cut.
Though his sword skills were growing at an exceptional rate, Jon knew that in a fight with live steel and four opponents he would have to be much more cautious if he wished to escape with his life. Jon dodged the next slash and again repositioned himself so that the four skeletons were all in front of him before running to the head of the table across the room from the door that he had used to enter the chamber.
The skeletons did not seem to have any true strategy as they pursued him. One by one, they followed after Jon and one by one, they fell in single combat as Jon continued his tactical retreat. As the last one fell, Jon whistled sharply, causing Ygritte to poke her head into the room.
Two-Handed +400
Evasion +1400
One-handed +2300
Blocking +1100
Skill Level Up: Light Armor +300
Ancient Sword of the First Men +8 Attack +4
Ancient Shield of the First Men +11 Defense +4
Ygritte's eyes went wide as she stepped into the room and saw the chaos. On one side of the table, near the center of the wall was a pair of skeletons. On the far side of the room, there were four skeletons lying on the ground in a line leading to Jon.
Jon was standing above the last of the skeletons with blood flowing from a wound on her shoulder. Ygritte rushed over to him to make sure that he was alright.
"Jon, your shoulder," she whispered while running her finger along the skin showing on the side of the cut. "Are you ok?"
"My shoulder? Oh yeah," Jon remembered the cut. "I'll be fine."
"Were they like the one upstairs?"
"Just like him. They were big, slow and nasty. I got distracted and one was able to get me with his sword. Not a nice lesson but a lesson learned about staying focused on the current opponent rather than looking forward to the next opponent."
"I should have helped you with them."
"It's a good thing that you didn't. If you had, they may have turned their attention to you and you may not have been able to hit them since they all had shields."
Ygritte looked around the room with a look of confusion on her face. "I see the skeletons but I don't see any swords or shields."
"I didn't really notice it," Jon admitted while thinking quickly. "The weapons must have disappeared when they were defeated."
Ygritte looked skeptical but did not inquire further. "There must be magic in these caves. Between the torches that are somehow lit despite no one coming here for ages and for something like that to happen to their weapons, there is no other way to explain it all."
Jon was reluctant to admit that the answer to the mysteries had to be magic but he didn't want to explain how he had been able to make the weapons disappear. "Do you want to turn back?"
"No point now," Ygritte responded while pointing to the door at the far end of the chamber. "We've already come this far."
"Alright. Well, be sure to stick behind me. I don't want you getting hurt."
"It looks like you should worry about yourself, Jon Snow."
"I'll do that. Now let's see what's behind that door."
The two made their way to the door and tried their hardest to open it but it wouldn't budge. Taking a step back, Jon noticed a lock.
"It must be locked."
"Well, do you know how to pick locks?"
"I have read about it but haven't had the chance to try what I've read."
"Well here is your chance. Take these lock picks and give it a try. I'll keep my bow ready in case there is something on the other side of the door waiting to attack."
+10 Lock Picks
Jon took the lock pick from Ygritte and got down on one knee to put the lock on eye level. As he read in Proper Lock Design, Jon pushed a lock pick into the lock slowly knowing that he had to trigger the tumblers in order to unlock the door. He pushed until he felt resistance then began to rotate the lock pick clockwise. After 30 degrees he felt a slight click resonate through the lock pick. He took that to mean that the tumbler had been triggered and once again pushed the lock pick until he felt resistance. Knowing that meant he had hit the second tumbler, Jon began to rotate the lock pick again.
It took just over 45 degrees to trigger the second tumbler. Again, Jon pushed the lock pick until he hit the third tumbler. Smirking at his success, Jon turned the pick 70 degrees and felt the tell-tale click that indicated the third tumbler had been triggered. He attempted to push the lock pick further but was unable to do so, which made him think that he had reached the final tumbler. Thinking quick, Jon realized that he did not have a knife to rotate the lock itself so he used one of the other lock picks that Ygritte had given him.
The turn was slow and Jon worried that the pick would break but his luck held. With a loud clinking sound, the lock was released and Jon pushed the door open. Ahead of him, he saw that the corridor angled downward sharply and prevented him from seeing what waited at the bottom.
Lock Picking +500
Steeling himself with a deep breath, Jon followed the corridor and was surprised to see that at the end of the corridor was another door. He turned to Ygritte and gestured for her to wait out of sight until he could confirm that the coast was clear. Pushing the door open, Jon took in the layout of the next chamber.
The chamber was large and cavernous. On either side of the room, there were stairs that led up to a platform. From the entrance to the room, Jon could not see the top of the platform. He gestured for Ygritte to join him and spoke in a hushed voice.
"I'm going to take the stairs on the right and see what is on that platform. I need you to wait here and keep an eye out for me. If things get to heavy on the platform, I'll come back down the same set of stairs and may need you to fire a few shots at anything that comes down with me."
"Just don't do anything stupid and get yourself killed."
Jon nodded and moved in accordance with his plan. When he reached the top of the stairs, he stopped short. Sitting on a throne was a large and muscular man with a crown on his head with a large greatsword laid across his lap. His skin was grey, his eyes were closed and his long white beard sat proudly over his well-developed chest. The one redeeming quality was that his chest was still without the rise and fall that all living bodies shared.
Summoning the courage that had been present when Jon faced against the skeletons, Jon stepped onto the platform. To his dismay, the second that his foot touched down the closed eyes shot open and the corpse-like being stood from the throne and brandished the greatsword at Jon menacingly.
Jon readied his swords to face the towering figure. The crowned warrior slashed at Jon with a two-handed swing with the clear intention of taking Jon's head off. Rather than try to block the mighty blow, Jon ducked under the slash while thrusting the Ancient Sword of the First Men with his left hand and slashing the Castle-Forged Steel Sword toward his opponent's body with his right hand.
The stab landed first but was apparently more than the ancient sword could handle as the blade shattered just as the Castle-Forged Steel Sword landed a solid hit against the undead being's ribs. While Jon stared at the handle of the now useless sword, the undead being launched a front kick at connected with Jon's chest and made him go airborne for a second before a few very long seconds before crashing against an alter like table in the center of the platform.
With the wind knocked out of him, Jon was extremely disoriented but he knew that in combat being still usually resulted in becoming dead. With a mighty effort, Jon heaved himself up and off the table while narrowly avoided a heavy blow that crashed downward and broke the table in two.
Jon knew better than to try and trade blows when he was so completely outclassed in terms of strength. He put the remains of the table in between himself and his mighty opponent while slowly backing down the staircase that had led him to the platform. His opponent was not willing to let him escape and followed him down the staircase.
The first arrow struck the behemoth in the shoulder and caused it to stagger backwards which allowed Jon to get more distance as it attempted to follow only to be hit by more arrows. When one of the arrows lodged into the grey-skinned menace's shoulder its right hand fell limply to its side causing the sword to drop to a much less imposing position.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Jon launched himself at his opponent and took advantage of its sluggish defense. His sword blurred through the air as his strikes found their target. Again and again, Jon struck his enemy before he hopped back to avoid an off balanced swing.
Apparently Ygritte was waiting for such an opportunity as she took the opportunity to send an arrow right into the eye of the undead champion. It fell to its knees and Jon swung his sword with all the strength of his body to remove its head.
Evasion +600
One-Handed +200
Two-Handed + 2700
Light Armor +100
Ancient Greatsword of the First Men +15 Attack
Leather Gauntlets of Vigor +3 Strength+50 SP
Level Up!
Open SkillS Menu to Level Up!
Jon almost collapsed from sheer relief as Ygritte moved to join him in the chamber.
"Is that the only one in here," she asked while rubbing Jon's back. "That thing had no business walking, let alone swinging a sword."
"No arguments from me," Jon agreed while bracing himself and once again moving up the stairs. "That one was much tougher than the others. Hopefully it's the last one we'll be seeing here. Either way, I won't let my guard down until we are out of this cave."
"That may be the smartest thing you've said all day."
The two made their way up the stairs and Ygritte gasped as she saw the table that the brute had broken in half with its sheer strength. Jon looked around the area for anything worthwhile and was disappointed that he didn't find anything near the table. However, he did notice another lever to the left of the throne where the brute had been sitting.
Without a thought to the contrary, Jon pulled the lever which caused the throne to slide to the side and reveal another secret passage. Like the other passage that he had found, this passage was also alit with torches mounted to the wall. Unlike the other passage, this passage also had a large chest that practically begged to be opened.
Jon looked on both sides of the chest, wary of potential traps. Apparently, whoever had put the chest there thought that its guard and the secret nature of the passage were suitable defenses. He opened the chest as Ygritte entered the passageway causing the Stargaryan ring menu to pop. He saw all of the items in the chest above his inventory.
? Tome
? Tome
? Tome
Ancient Sword of the First Men (Honed) +13 Attack
Silver and Jade Circlet
He quickly moved the tomes and the sword to his inventory before exiting the menu and presenting the circlet to Ygritte.
"Jon Snow, I told you the last time that we were here. You won't be winning me by presenting me with shiny trinkets."
"All the same, you should have it. I have no use for it and it would look nice in your hair."
Ygritte blushed slightly before taking the circlet from Jon and stashing it in her pack. "Fine, I'll take it. Just don't think I'll be showing you any other caves any time soon."
"Ygritte, after all of this, if you know about any other cave like this you should tell me," Jon said trying to stress the importance. "This one almost did us in and we knew what we were getting into."
"I've told you already, the other cave is well protected. Believe me when I say that even if someone tried to get in they would find their efforts wasted."
"If you say so," Jon reluctantly let the subject drop. "Let's follow this path. It feels like it will take us to an exit."
The pair started moving again and, after a few minutes of walking, they reached a ledge that seemed to drop down into flowing water. Jon looked at Ygritte and nodded before sheathing his sword and jumping.
He broke the water with a splash and was immediately washed out into much lighter water by the current. Several strong kicks were enough to get his head above the water's surface and he treaded water as he waited to see Ygritte.
After a few moments, He saw her hand briefly above water but her head never broke the surface. Jon swam out to meet her and dived down to retrieve her. Fortunately, she had not drifted far. Jon wrapped an arm around her slender waist and pulled her to the surface. When they broke the surface, Ygritte coughed harshly to expel the water that had filled her lungs.
Jon was able to get them to shore and lie Ygritte down to allow her get any excess water from her lungs. After several heaving coughs, Ygritte pushed herself up, looked to Jon and proceeded to tackle him.
"Of all the stupid things to do, you have us jump from into a Children-forsaken pool with such a strong undercurrent? Don't ever think about having me do something so stupid again!" All the while she beat on Jon's chest with her clenched fists. After her anger was spent she was breathing heavily as she purposefully straddled Jon and stared into his eyes. She appeared to think for a moment before leaning down and stealing a kiss. "That was for saving me. Consider the debt paid."
She stood abruptly and walked briskly away from Jon in the direction where Winterfell was still clearly visible on the horizon. Jon pushed himself into a sitting position while bringing a hand to his lips.
I can't believe that just happened, Jon thought. One minute she was hitting me and the next minute…
Jon's musings were cut short when he heard a feeble howl. Whipping his head from side to side, Jon saw a sight that caused in to gasp. A large stag was on the side of the river, about 20 paces away with only one antler and its stomach ripped open and its entrails spilling onto the ground. Although the death of such a creature was sad, it was the extremely large wolf with the antler lodged in its neck and surrounded by six small pups that truly moved Jon's heart.
Having been raised by House Stark, Jon knew that the creature that had been felled by the mighty stag was none other than a Direwolf, the sigil of House Stark. Of the six, Jon noticed that the smallest of the litter had been pushed to the side by his brothers and sisters.
Jon picked up the small wolf and immediately felt a connection between himself and the small wolf with white fur and red eyes.
Quest Complete!
Clearing the Cave: Either take it upon yourself to clear the cave of any potential dangers or tell Lord Stark about the danger.
Reward for clearing the cave yourself: Gain Ghost as a companion, 20,000 Experience and increased Reputation with Ygritte.
Level Up!
Jon Snow Level 12: 226,000/310,000
S. 5 P. 4 E. 5 C. 3 I. 3 A. 4 L. 3
S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Perks
Strength: 5
Perception: 4
Endurance: 5
Charisma: 3
Situational Awareness – Basic understanding of how to compose yourself in a given situation to help obtain your desired results
Intelligence: 4
Deeper Understanding – Get the most out of the books that you read. You can now find more insights in the books that you read.
Read-Absorb –Absorb the content of a book to increase your knowledge of its subject. Time taken for successful absorption is equal to the amount of time it would take to naturally read the book.
Read-Experience – Experience the content of a book. Choosing this method will provide a much more comprehensive of the contents of a book.
Agility: 4
Luck: 3
Vitals
HP: 220/220
SP: 280/280
MP: 100/100
Skills
Archery 6 (5,400/6,400)
Overdraw 1: Bows do 20% more damage.
Tracking Shot: Anticipate the way your opponent will move and adjust your aim accordingly. Shots to the head do three times more damage than regular shots. Chance for instant kill based on level of opponent relative to level of Archery skill.
Blocking 8 (16,300/25,600)
Fundamental Defense: Blocks prevent 20% more damage
Evasion 10 (58,700/102,400
Evasive Tactics: 20% more likely to evade enemy attacks
Light Armor 4 (900/1,600)
Agile Defender: 20% less damage taken when wearing Light Armor
Heavy Armor
One-handed 9 (46,000/51,200)
Armsman: One-Handed weapons do 20% more damage.
Dual-wield: Use one handed weapons with equal proficiency with either or both hands.
Two-Handed 8 (30,400/51,200)
Barbarian: Two-Handed weapons do 20% more damage.
Lock Picking 5 (1,500/1,600)
Pickpocket
Sneak 7 (6,400/12,800)
Stealth: You are 20% harder to detect when sneaking.
Speech 6 (5,900/12,800)
Negotiation: 20% more likely to reach a compromise
Alchemy 6 (4,000/6,400)
Alchemist: Brewed potions and poisons are 20% more effective.
Potioneer's Instinct: Tasting ingredients will unlock their properties for use in poison and potion making.
Smithing 5 (2,000/3,200)
Apprentice Smithing: Craft beginner weapons and armor that are 10% more effective than standard weapons and armor.
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Open Skills Menu to Level Up
AN2: There we have it, Jon now has his most faithful companion. I hope you enjoyed Jon's oblivious interactions with Ygritte. Until next time! Please review! :-)