The light was bright as Lokran stepped out of the door, but his eyes quickly adjusted from the gloom of the cabin's interior. Seeing no one around he quickly made his way down the thin dirt trail that lead away from the cabin – his eyes constantly sweeping the hills either side of him for danger or any sign that the Bandit's friends were returning. As he cleared a ridge in the path Lokran got his first view of the surrounding landscape and he barely recognised it. The basic landscape had not changed, snowy mountains and lightly forested plains, that pleasant chill in the air that all of his kind appreciated and sight of Giants herding their mammoths around on the plains far below were all familiar sights – however it was the detail that made Lokran realise just how much had changed. There were buildings, ruins and in the distance a great city – rising up off of the plains topped with a palace of some kind. Despite his shock, Lokran had to admit it was breath-taking. It was then that he noticed the village, tucked down at the bottom of the trail he was following – it was a small settlement, just a collection of buildings on the edge of a river, but Lokran knew it was his destination. With a last look at the view he set off back down the trail.
It was dark by the time Lokran reached the bottom of the trail and slipped into the village. There were lights in the buildings and the sound of laughter and merry-making coming from what seemed like a meeting house. Lokran moved to the signpost outside and looked at it. It read;
"The Sleeping Giant Inn"
From the sounds Lokran guessed there would be around ten people inside, surely, he thought, one of them would know something about this "Alvin" he pursued. With a breath Lokran turned the handle and pushed open the door. He immediately felt the uneasy warmth of a fire burning brightly in the long stove that almost spanned the entire length of the building. The heat was unnerving; given his race's natural aversion to fire, but he persevered knowing that not all races shared his tolerance of the cold. The conversation, raucous laughter and hearty song seemed to die down in stages as one by one the patrons of the establishment realised the stranger that had entered their midst. One look at the startled and, frankly, fearful looks on the patrons of the Inn told Lokran that he was a rare sight – though not one of the onlookers seemed to grasp exactly what or who he was they certainly saw him as strange. Only the innkeeper had the wherewithal to react – she stepped out from behind the bar, muttering something to the surly looking man wiping down flagons, before heading over to Lokran with a thin smile on her face. By the way she moved, Lokran could tell that this woman had the bearing of a fighter, perhaps she had been, he thought just as she reached him.
"Well met stranger," she said the thin smile still holding on her hard features, "welcome the Sleeping Giant, can I offer you a drink?" Lokran smiled – the idea of a drink and a meal was appealing, there had been scarce enough to eat on the trail and he was beginning to feel the pangs of starvation creep into his thoughts. Coughing lightly into his hand to clear his dry throat Lokran replied.
"Thank you, perhaps a little food as well?" his mastery of the "common tongue" was not as developed as he would have liked, his practice had been interrupted by a certain assault, but still it was serviceable. Then again, as he listened to some of the grunting whispers that were passing for conversation around him, he thought perhaps his speech would seem almost eloquent. The hard faced innkeeper regarded him for a moment before nodding and leading Lokran to a small table situated in the corner of the room, Lokran was glad of this, despite his hunger and weariness he had no wish to sit in the middle of the room near the fire – it was already too close for his liking.
"Haven't seen the likes of you around these parts before, what brings you to Riverwood?" The Innkeeper inquired. It was phrased as a polite question, but Lokran could detect the innate mistrust in the woman's voice. Lokran hesitated, wondering whether he should concoct a story to explain his snow white appearance and red eyes, or just tell the truth and hope his candour was reciprocated with honest answers. The Innkeeper was still watching him as he sat and though she appeared a hard woman, Lokran felt that she could have answers.
"That is disappointing," Lokran said, "I was hoping you could tell me all you know of the Snow Elves." This earned Lokran a pair of raised eyebrows from the woman as she placed a flagon of amber liquid in front of him.
"Snow Elves? Are you joking?" The questions seemed genuine and Lokran frowned, he was beginning to fear the worst, but had to know for sure.
"No, you see I am a Snow Elf and I need some information." This set off a ripple of furious whispering from the others assembled in the tavern. The Innkeeper cast her eyes around at them and slowly they died away, but Lokran was now prepared for bad news.
"Snow Elf, eh? I think you should come with me." The Innkeeper lead Lokran to a back room, the light from small sconces on the walls made the room pleasant and the assorted food stuffs and alchemical ingredients told him that this was the kitchen. "My name is Delphine, what is yours?"
"Lokran. Lokran Prodinix. Am I to take it by your secrecy that you believe me?" He replied.
"I do Lokran, trust me I've seen enough elves and read enough books to know a Snow Elf when I see one, but I'm afraid I must be the bearer of bad news – the Snow Elves as you think you know them; are gone. But I'm getting ahead of myself - I think you should tell me your story and then I'll tell you what I know." So for the next few hours Lokran sat in the kitchen of the Sleeping Giant Inn telling his tale of war and conflict, of his injury and the healing sleep and then of waking in the cabin in the mountains. Delphine listened intently – asking questions for clarification where needed – before launching into her own tale, the tale of the Falmer and what they were today. Lokran went through a wide range of emotions during the tale; deep sadness to incandescent rage was the most frequent and by the time she was done he was utterly drained both physically and emotionally. He sat quietly in that kitchen – staring at the floor trying to understand exactly what had been explained to him. The Dwemer – that was the big take away – the Dwemer had destroyed his people – granted the Nords had defeated them, but it had been the Dwemer who had turned them from the proud race that he remembered and to foul, twisted, blinded creatures of the earth. When he had asked about the Dwemer, Delphine had told him that they too were gone, not changed or killed off, just gone. This only served to fuel Lokran's anger – they had gotten off lightly – if he could find just one he would make them suffer. What pained him the most was that he had no idea what had happened – there were no details, just tales and half remembered stories that had been passed down through the eras. He shuddered to think of his wife being forced into the dark; blinded and left in the dank tunnels beneath the Dwemer cities, being forced into slavery – he just had to hope she had been killed in the fighting and not forced to endure the suffering of his people as he was now being forced to.
It took several weeks for Lokran to recover from the shock of that night. He spent the first few days inconsolable, only leaving his room to relieve himself or eat a meagre supper – he quickly burned through the fifty septims he had liberated from the Bandit, but Delphine let him alone to grieve. After the first week Lokran was done feeling sorry for himself and began the process of moving on – he took strength from Auri-El whom he still worshipped despite the hardships that his god seemed to be forcing upon him. Delphine set him to work doing her more mundane chores – allowing him to earn his continued board at the Inn – he was grateful and began to socialise with the rest of the village. He did odd jobs - helping Gerdur out at the mill by chopping wood and he even took steps to regain some of his smithing ability by working with Alvor at the forge. It was during this time that he realised that he was not the elf he had once been. His skills had deteriorated to the point of non-existence while he had been sleeping – his strength and speed, he knew would come back with time and exercise, but his Magicka and other abilities seemed to be sluggish in reappearing. After a month of living in the community Lokran was feeling more like himself – he was still devastated emotionally, but he was moving on – he had to reclaim what he could and try to build some kind of legend for himself, something that would stand out from the stories of his people's mass genocide and subsequent devolution. His first step on that road though was doing what he had initially come to the village to do – find Alvin and reclaim his armour.
The sun was bright on the morning he stepped into the Riverwood Trader, Lokran had asked Delphine about the claw that Alvin had mentioned in his note and she had told him of the Golden Dragon Claw that Lucan Valerius, the proprietor, kept on his store counter as a totem. The Riverwood Trader was a cosy little store, Lokran had been into it once or twice since he had begun working in the village – trading the pelts of local wolves or buying the occasional provision for the Inn, but he had never noticed any claw. He entered the store and was shocked to hear yelling coming from the counter.
"Well what are you going to do about it Lucan?" Camilla, Lucan's younger sister was yelling at him, "You can't just sit here and hope they bring it back – you need to go after them!" Camilla, Lokran had come to realise in the short time he had been in the village, was a sweet girl, but fiery when riled – she was much sought after by two of the younger men in the village and it was moments like this when Lokran could see why.
"Go after them?" Lucan shot back – Lucan was an older man, more given to the merchant's trade than any kind of physical activity. Lokran thought the man a little too cowardly for his taste, but he was nice enough and would bend over backward if he thought he could get a sale. "Are you mad Camilla, they're not just going to hand it to me, if I go after them you'll be lose a brother and not just a claw!"
"Well then what do you suggest? Do we hire the companions, grab a mercenary, what?" Camilla was clearly set on getting the claw back, but it seemed that Lucan was reluctant to tempt the wrath of those who had taken it. Lokran had heard enough of their argument – he needed solid details if he was to track down Alvin and his armour.
"Pardon me," Lokran interjected, earning him startled looks from the two siblings followed by a glare from Camilla, "I didn't mean to listen in, but am I to understand you've had something stolen?" Lucan immediately looked shifty, but Camilla was having none of his acting. She crossed her arms across her chest and snorted.
"Go ahead Lucan, tell him. It was only a matter of time before someone came and asked about it – you might as well tell the truth – for once." Lucan sagged, defeated. He had clearly been arguing with his sister about this for a while and Lokran doubted this would be the end of the discussion when he left, but he was glad of Camilla's influence – it allowed him to get directly to the truth. Lucan cleared his throat and explained.
"A few days ago some men came in here, a pair of Dark Elves and few other rough types, said they wanted my claw and that if I gave it to them they'd leave me and my sister alone. At first I told them to leave – that I would not be threatened in my own home, but they were… persuasive." Lucan looked ashamed of his weakness, but Lokran understood the desire to protect family. Still Lokran had a man to find. He reached into his pocket and drew out the note he had taken from the cabin.
"Was one of the men called Alvin?" Lokran asked handing the note to Lucan. Lucan took the note and read it – he slowly shook his head as if not understanding what he held.
"I'm not sure," he said, one of the Dark Elves was called Avrel, he seemed to be in charge, but I don't know if Alvin was the other. They were headed to Bleak Falls Barrow, that huge ruin on the hill across the river – maybe you could catch them?" Lokran took the note, which Lucan handed back to him and placed it back into his pocket. He would indeed have to go after the thieves – not only for his armour, but because they had threatened Lucan and Camilla. Lokran had grown quite fond of Riverwood since his time there and would be lying if he thought the idea of bandits causing a rift in the community didn't bother him.
"Lucan, Camilla," He said regarding the siblings, "I will go after them and I will retrieve your claw – I have a little business to settle with them myself." Camilla smiled ruefully at Lokran's proclamation and Lucan looked physically relieved.
"You… you will?" He stammered, hardly able to believe his luck, "Great, that's great! I still have some money coming in from my last shipment; it's yours if you can get that claw back to me." Lokran was about to protest when he realised that the money may well be useful in establishing himself a little better in the world, if he had learned anything the last few weeks it was that coin drove the world – the lust for coin and riches, it was the driving force behind almost everything people did now.
"Thank you Lucan, it is much appreciated." Lokran said after a moment. Lokran turned to go, but felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned back to find himself face to face with Camilla.
"Thank you for helping me and my brother, it means a lot that you'd help us out like this." Lokran looked into her eyes and for the first time saw the woman behind the fire – she was scared, scared for herself, scared for her brother and scared of the world. Lokran sympathised, the world it seemed was a cruel place and he knew just how cruel it could be. He smiled weakly at her, uncomfortable with how close she was to him and very aware of the close scrutiny of her brother not an arm's length from him.
"You're welcome Camilla, now if you'll excuse me." Lokran walked back to the door and stepped out into the morning air. He looked across the river and up at the huge ruin of Bleak Falls Barrow towering over the village. If that was to be his destination then he was ready for any and all comers. He had a purpose now and nothing was going to stop him, not Alvin and not Avrel if that was who led these brigands.