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Chapter 11 - Geirmund's Hall

Andreius and his party were approaching Ivarstead to show Imiril and Arenim the start of the Seven Thousand Steps, then they planned to stop at the Vilemyr Inn for lunch. Andreius had to admit that the base of the Steps wasn't terribly impressive, but he'd explained their significance, and they ground-reined their horses long enough to climb to and read the first plaque, which Imiril did.

"Before the birth of men, the dragons ruled all Mundus. Their word was the Voice, and they spoke only for True Needs. For the Voice could blot out the sky and flood the land."

He frowned. "That doesn't say very much."

"It's the first of ten," Andreius said, "but even so, they give only the barest of outlines - about all that's possible on ten fairly small stones. You can get a more complete history from one of the older dragons, if you want. We're not dressed or equipped to take you much further, so let's get back to the Inn and grab a meal."

"You don't have to say that twice." Imiril grinned. "I sometimes think I could eat a steer, all by myself. I'm hungry most of the time."

As they headed back downhill, Sorcalin laughed. "I went through the same thing at your age - my mother complained that my stomach must be a bottomless pit. Don't worry, I'll get Wilhelm to make you some of his special meat-and-bread hand meals for the rest of the trip. Once we get to Riften, Keerava at the Bee and Barb is an excellent cook."

"I'll look forward to that." Imiril grinned. "I plan to try as many Nord dishes and drinks as I can, but I already know the Palace cook is going to have to learn at least venison stew, and the brewery to make mead."

Andreius chuckled. "Then you might want to start collecting recipes of dishes you like. There are plenty of variations just in Skyrim, and a good cook - like a Palace cook has to be - tends to fiddle with recipes. You might have to pay, but that shouldn't be a problem. On the other hand, you could try the dishes your own people, outside the aristocracy, eat."

"I know we had various stews and ale or beer instead of wine," Sorcalin said. "Quite good, too. Though I didn't taste mead until I got to Skyrim. And Morrowind has sujamma and matze; you can try those when we visit Solstheim."

"Oh, I will!" Imiril said enthusiastically. They mounted and headed back over the stone bridge, then dismounted at the inn, hitched their horses, and went inside. "What was that odd structure just outside town?" Imiril asked as they found seats.

"Hmm? Oh. Shroud Hearth Barrow," Andreius replied. "Yssha and Grams cleared it out last year. Nothing to see there, unless you like looking at ancient architecture."

"Not particularly, but I'd like to see a real Nord or Dwemer ruin that hasn't been gutted."

An older woman came by then. "Take your orders, gentlemen?"

"Ale and whatever's hot for me," Andreius said.

"Same here," Sorcalin agreed. "Hmm. Do you have Black-Briar mead?"

The woman nodded. "It's costly, though. Want that instead of the ale?"

"No, but I think our young friends might like to try it. Imiril, Arenim - your food?"

He turned to the woman. "What's your hot, then?"

"Slaughterfish stew."

"I'd like to try that, I think."

"What do you have for cold meats?" Arenim asked. "Any kind of bird, perhaps?"

The woman smiled. "Odmer always ask that, so we make it a point to keep some on hand. Chicken's the least expensive, but pheasant is better ... snow goose, if you don't mind a bit of a greasy taste."

"Fat is good for Odmer," Arenim said with a smile. "We need the insulation. So cold snow goose on bread, please."

The woman grinned. "With butter?"

"Please!"

Imiril liked the Black-Briar mead even more than the regular version, but was disappointed when Andreius told him it was only brewed at two meaderies in Skyrim. And the slaughterfish stew was excellent as well - tasty, and - like the venison stew he'd had earlier - more substantial than what he was used to.

When they were done, Andreius studied Imiril. "You want to investigate a Nord or Dwemer ruin, hmm? Sor and I have observed your training, which is pretty impressive and definitely oriented toward combat, not display. But have you ever been in real combat, rather than what we saw?"

Imiril snorted. "As if I'd be allowed anything like that! No. My instructors are tough on me because they were ordered to be, and I know that tough training is good doctrine and may save your life when things get real. But that's it."

"And he's better than I am, for all I'm a bodyguard," Arenim said ruefully. "I've had this body for less than a year, so I'm still training both combat and magic skills. My instructors say I'm doing well at both, but I fear I'm the weak link in this group. Except for Odkiinbrii when we're outside, and that's him, not me."

Andreius smiled, then caught Wilhelm's eye and waved him over. "Are there any Nord or Dwemer ruins that haven't been cleared out between here and Riften?"

"Uncleared ones? Hmm." Wilhelm paused. "The only one I can think of that meets both conditions is Geirmund's Hall, on the island in the middle of Lake Geir. It looks like a cave, but stories say it's a barrow, resting place of one of Gauldur's sons." He shrugged. "I'm not too much on history, and Divines know I was wrong warning the Dragonborn about a ghost in Shroud Hearth Barrow. But no one here's seen anything around the Hall."

"Thanks. Does anyone rent boats so we can get out there? And is there some place we can leave our horses while we check it out?"

Wilhelm smiled. "You can leave the horses here. I don't have a real stable, but I have a shed out back they'll fit in, and I'll make sure they're fed and cared for for two gold a day each."

"That sounds reasonable, but what about a boat?"

Wilhelm laughed. "Have you actually looked at 'Lake' Geir? At its deepest, it's chest-high on a Khajiit. Maybe wade out in your smalls or a light robe for the lady, with your armor on a towed float. You'll be fine."

Andreius chuckled. "That would simplify things, yes. All right, it's a deal, if you can get us floats by morning."

"Two gold extra, and you'll have them."

X

Shortly after breakfast the next morning, the four were wading toward Geirmund's Hall, towing their armor. Once they reached the island, they took the time to dry off, then armored up, and moved toward the cave entrance.

Imiril followed his instructors, with Arenim behind him. A short passage led to a cave, where they found the body of an adventurer. While Sorcalin was searching him, a couple of skeevers attacked. Andreius got one, and Imiril grinned as he killed the other.

"Nothing but a book and a few gold," Sorcalin reported when he straightened.

"And it looks like the only way forward is through that pool," Andreius said. He led the way, with Imiril following closely, the other two behind him. They found a bit of loot in the form of some gold, a common soul gem, a potion of waterbreathing, and a rusty iron sword they didn't bother with.

Wooden steps led out of the water and up to an iron door. That opened onto a corridor festooned with spiderwebs, the largest Imiril had seen. They had to be from the giant frostbite spiders Andreius had briefed him about the previous evening, so he was ready when one attacked him. Sorcalin's lightning took it down before he got his ice spears ready to cast, and the mage grinned at him. "Better keep that spell ready to go," he advised. "We may run into more spiders, and since Wilhelm said this was supposed to be a barrow, draugr as well. They aren't terribly fast, but there are usually quite a few of them."

"Just hope we don't run into any that can Shout," Andreius said, taking down a second huge spider. Then he pointed to a chest on a nearby shelf. "Do you know how to pick locks?" he asked Imiril.

"I'm afraid not," the young King admitted. "None of that sort of thing at all. And I'm not very good at stealth, either."

"That's too bad. But let me disarm this trap, and we'll see if there's anything worth grabbing in here." Andreius suited action to words as he continued. "Those are all useful skills for an adventurer, but since that's not what you're going to be doing with your life, I suppose you won't need them."

The chest held a couple of hundred in gold, two amethysts, and a flawless ruby. He handed Imiril the ruby. "Keep this as a souvenir - we might find something better, but if not, you can have this made into a ring or something."

"Thank you."

They went on, dodging a pressure plate and going down some stairs into a flooded area where Andreius pointed out some markings on the wall. "See those? Hawk, whale, snake, and whale?"

Imiril nodded. "One of those puzzles you mentioned? The kind that have pillars you have to set to those marks?"

Andreius nodded. "And this is a catacomb, so there will be draugr. Stay alert."

"Yes, sir." Imiril looked around, seeing a triangular pillar to his left. He was approaching it when a gray, dead-looking thing rose from the water and attacked. He cast his ice spears, then had to ward himself from a flame spell. The draugr got closer, and Imiril stepped forward, his sword going for its neck. The draugr tried to parry with its axe, but Imiril dodged that by changing the path of his attack. It slowed him enough that the sword went only partway through the draugr's neck, but that proved to be enough, and it went down.

Since this was the first pillar they'd come to, Imiril turned it so the hawk image faced the triangle on the pillar's base, then turned to see Andreius battling another while Sorcalin and Arenim fought a third. He waded toward Andreius, but by the time he got his spell recharged, Andreius had his foe down and was turning the second pillar to the whale symbol.

The two of them left Sorcalin and Arenim to finish off the third draugr, and went on to the fourth pillar - which, naturally, was defended by a fourth draugr. With two against one from the beginning, it didn't last long, and Andreius asked Sorcalin, who was approaching with Arenim, "You got the pillar?"

"Snake, yes. This one's whale again, then there's a lever off to the right."

"Okay." When Andreius grinned at him, Imiril moved the final pillar to the proper position, then pulled the lever. That opened a door to a corridor-like tunnel. Imiril saw a soul gem on a table, and started to reach for it, but Sorcalin stopped him. "It's on a pressure plate - that means it's a trigger for some sort of trap."

"That mammoth skull, probably." Arenim pointed to it, high in the shadows. "It looks like it's aimed right at the table."

Sorcalin nodded. "That looks like it, all right. Let's get out of range, and I'll retrieve the gem with telekinesis." When he did that, sure enough, the mammoth skull swung down, with enough force to seriously injure, if not kill, whoever had picked the soul gem up by hand.

Imiril let out a sigh. "Thanks for stopping me!"

"You're quite welcome." Sorcalin grinned. "If you'd had as much experience as I have, you'd have spotted it easily. But you're a couple of centuries too young for that."

"And if not for you, I might not have gotten any older," Imiril said soberly. "Alinor owes you a debt, and so do I, personally."

"Don't worry about it. Come on, let's keep going."

This time Sorcalin took the lead, into another open area where they saw a draugr at the bottom of a ramp. Four spells hit it at once, and it went down. Arenim chuckled. "This is fun, but the way you two cast spells, I can see I have a lot to learn."

"You're doing fine, for someone who's less than a year old in your current form," Andreius assured her. "Ah, do you remember anything from before your Restoration?"

She shuddered. "No, thank Auri-El! It's a strange sensation, being essentially born into an adult body knowing you were something else and not wanting to remember your previous existence. It was an act of mercy on His part, we believe. And being fahliille, we - and I - will have the time to learn."

"Um - there are more draugr up that ramp," Imiril said, pointing. "Shouldn't we take care of those first?"

"Uh-huh." Andreius led the way up the ramp, and since all four had spells ready, the two draugr at the top had no more chance than the one at the bottom had had. What they found was a well-preserved skeleton on a bier, a key in one hand, and an epitaph.

Imiril read that. "Lord Geirmund, Archmage of Windhelm, Lord Battlemage to King Harald.

"Magus, keep thy vigil eternal.

"Serve now in death as you did in life.

"By these seals our realm preserve.

"From traitors three and their charm of strife."

Imiril paid his respects to one who'd earned such a barrow and epitaph, even though he had no real idea who Geirmund was, taking only the key so they could continue.

They kept going, with occasional encounters with draugr, until they came to a room with the floor submerged. It had several raised platforms in the main area, and a raised larger area to one side, with a sarcophagus at its center. As they were climbing to what looked like the main area, the sarcophagus burst open and a ... well, it almost had to be a draugr, but it looked human - burst out. Almost instantly. he 'ported elsewhere, and two near-duplicates appeared.

Near-duplicates, but not exact ones, and Arenim spotted the difference immediately. "The one in the horned helmet is the original!" she shouted, and all of them concentrated on that one. It was a long battle, but with four against one and the true opponent known, not as bad as it could have been.

When the battle was over and they'd retrieved an amulet fragment from the body, Imiril sighed. "This was ... kind of fun, but I don't think I'd care to do it very often. I suppose I'm not the born adventurer the rest of you seem to be."

"Nothing wrong with that," Andreius told him. "I wasn't, either. I was quite a peaceable type, actually, when I was arrested on false charges and sent to Morrowind to test the Nerevarine prophecy. I never expected to prove it, and there were a number of times I wished I'd refused. These days, I'm glad I didn't, but back then ... well, it was sometimes a struggle with myself to keep going. Adventuring for a living isn't what the tales make it out to be."

Imiril shook his head in near-disbelief. "I'm - you're him? The Nerevarine, legendary hero of the Dunmer? Killer of Dagoth Ur?"

"And indirectly of Vivec, Almalexia, and Sotha Sil, when they lost their divinity with the vanishing of the Heart of Lorkhan," Andreius confirmed. "I learned to be an adventurer in the process, and I still sometimes wonder that I managed to survive the learning."

Imiril shook his head again. "The Dominion never had a chance, did it? Not with the Nerevarine, Faal Mungrohiik, the Champion of Cyrodiil, and Dovahkiin teamed up against it."

"No, not once we got together," Andreius said. "But we were talking about adventuring."

"And I think it was my turn," Arenim said. "I'm not an adventurer at all. Nor, after this, do I think I'd want to be. Unlike many, if not most, Odmer, I'm a lot happier above ground, preferably in the air."

"Let's check for loot and get back outside, then," Andreius said with a smile. "Places like this usually have a shortcut out."

"There's a tunnel behind the sarcophagus," Sorcalin said, "but I don't see much in the way of loot."

Andreius shrugged. It wasn't like he, Sorcalin, or Imiril needed the money, though he was sure Arenim could make use of some spare coin. On the way out, though, they found an unlocked chest with gems, an enchanted Daedric dagger, and almost five hundred gold. Arenim wouldn't take more than a quarter of the gold, but did accept three of the gems and the dagger, when the others insisted.

Oblivion

Once Molag Bal reported that he'd recruited a champion, although not one he had a very high opinion of, and successfully created a new version of his Mace, the other four who were plotting against the Dragonborn made that a priority as well. Molag had succeeded first, so he would have the honor of making the first move against her. That, he decided, would be done on the anniversary of her greatest triumph.