The tip of the blaster mountain was freezing! Almost every inch of the Divines-forsaken province was freezing. Who's blasted idea was it for her to go to the ruin in the first place?

Honestly, it was mostly hers, but that court mage had stoked her interest when he'd mentioned the Dragonstone. There were only a few books back in Sommerset that mentioned it, and even these were scarce on details, so she was quite looking forward to the discovery.

The way up the steep mountain was surprisingly clear, with the exception of a few wolves, but there were bandits waiting for her at the top. Because of course there were bandits everywhere in this land

Lovely.

"Oi, girl, get lost!" One of them yelled, readying his bow. And, really, girl? She was probably older than the fool's grandmother. Was it the clothes? She was bundled up in a heavy fur cloak with the hood pulled up, over a copy of the Imperial Legion uniform, which was just ridiculous. The Imperial budget apparently couldn't cover sleeves and a decent pair of pants. Who wore skirts in this weather, honestly?

"Didn't you hear what he said?" Oh, they were still talking. Lightning arced around her fingers for a moment before she sent it off towards the man, hitting him directly in the chest and sending him crumbling to the ground.

"You really should mind your manners, boy." She glared coldly at the other bandits, two more of them, one male and the other female, both human, clutching battleaxes. Her fingers sparked again as they charged.


There were more bandits inside, which was something Alanwyn expected, and then the dead rose to fight, which she definitely did not. They were a bit unsettling, but hardly her first time dealing with the undead, so she'd managed to cope with it. The giant spiders were manageable, if terrifying, but she had so many questions.

Did this new form of undeath have a name? They weren't zombies, surely, no matter how much they resembled them, so what were they? Why did they move? And how? What magic propelled them? How were they still keeping together? When she electrocuted them, did they die, or just shut down? Did they have wills of their own, or were they directed by the same magic that animated them? Did they have special powers because they were dead? Was this just normal here?

Maybe the court wizard will be able to answer some of them. She thought to herself as she drank down a blue potion, feeling her magicka regenerate. Standing in front of a large stone door with four concentric rings, she fished out a tattered journal a man she met earlier had with him. Tch. A fool and a thief.

Arvel was his name, a local Dunmer who had gotten stuck in some webbing by a spider that was even larger than the other, already large spiders. Alanwyn had managed to free him, which he'd responded to by running away and mocking her, only to get himself killed by an easily-avoidable trap a few corridors away. He'd stolen a golden claw from some Imperials n the nearby village, apparently.

Alanwyn looked up to the door, then back at the claw, before letting out a somewhat disappointed sigh. Such a simple puzzle. The three outer circles could be moved to show different animal carvings, while the innermost one had a space designed to fit the claw, which had carvings on the underside of it, matching some of the animals on the door. When nothing happened as she set up the rings, she gave the claw a little twist. With a low rumble, the door started moving downward. Then again, I don't know what I was expecting. She gave another sight and pulled the claw back out.


There was another one of those strange living dead at the end of the burrow. This one looked to be better armored than the others, and tougher. He yelled something at her and an invisible force struck her, making her stagger. But he had the Dragonstone in his possession (presumably), so he had to be dealt with.

Stone in hand, Alanwyn's attention was drawn by a part of the wall that was glowing.

There were many carvings there, looking like a forgotten script someone had left, on a curved part of the wall with a dragon statue on the top of it. Or maybe it wasn't even a part of the wall, Alanwyn couldn't tell.

She could hear voices chanting at the back of her head as she traced the glow with her long fingers. "… Fus?" She muttered as strands of light traveled from the wall and into her, before everything stilled completely. The glow stopped, and she could no longer hear the chanting. "Interesting."

She spotted a way out in the back, next to a chest possibly holding something that could help her navigate the land. Time to bring the stone to the wizard and figure out what to do with herself in this dismal province.


It took a second for her to gather her bearings as the alternate exit to the barrow spat her out on the opposite end of the mountain, but she was technically closer to Whiterun, which she was ultimately fine with, even if she had to now descend the mountain without the aid of any roads.

The lands around Whiterun were slightly less frozen than most of the rest of Skyrim, which had agreed with the formerly-island-dwelling elf. Summerset had a much more temperate climate, after all.

The unfrozen land had given the settlers the opportunity to establish a few farms that seemed to be doing well enough for themselves. Alanwyn was walking through a few of those fields towards the city in the distance, enjoying the sun on her face. She'd even taken the hood down for the occasion.

There was a commotion in the distance. It seemed a giant had wandered close, and was faced with a few Nords dressed in steel armors wielding various weapons. The elf was debating with herself whether to help or just leave them be when they'd finally managed to drop the thing. She shrugged and went on her way, only to be stopped by a woman.

She was tall for a Nord, only slightly shorter than Alanwyn herself, with long, auburn-red hair and three green swipes of paint across her face, styled to look like claw marks. She was dressed in what looked like a complete version of the armor some of those dead had worn, and was holding a bow in her hands. The elf had to mentally shake herself to keep from staring.

"Well, that's taken care of, no thanks to you."

"Excuse me?" Alanwyn raised a dark eyebrow. "You hardly seemed like you needed my help."

"Clearly not. But a true warrior would have relished the opportunity to take on a giant."

"Yes, that sounds like a lovely way to step on some toes. And besides, what if I had missed? I hardly think your companions would appreciate being struck by my magic." The red-head looked at her with surprise for a moment before her expression settled down.

"Perhaps." She conceded after a moment. "Still, glory only awaits those that triumph, and as Companions, ours must be hard-fought." At the back of her mind, Alanwyn could almost recall something about a group with that name, but she couldn't be sure. Perhaps it was worth checking out? "You are not from around here, are you?"

"Was it the ears that gave it away?"

"There are still elves born in Skyrim, no matter what Ulfric Stormcloak and his ilk think."

"Yes, I've had the pleasure." Alanwyn muttered.

"I can't imagine they were very pleasant. Regardless, the Companions stay out of the war, so you'll find a warmer reception with us, if anything. We look for the strength of your valor, not the shape of your ears." She turned around and stared walking away. "Stop by Jorrvaskr if you want to join, and speak to our leader, Kodlak Whitemane." Alanwyn's dark eyes followed the woman as she left.

"You've got your eyes set on quite the challenge. I don't think she'll spare you the time of day." A Nord man had walked up to her, long brown hair and a beard, dressed in an etched armor. "I'm Farkas, a member of the Companions. I'm sure Aela already introduced us."

"Aela?"

"Aye, Aela the Huntress."

"You're jumping to conclusions, boy." She rolled her eyes.

"Maybe." He shrugged. "Or maybe not. We'll have to see. You should come over to Jorrvaskr and join up. Good day, elf."

Must this land be full of madmen?


This story will become a Chronicle soon enough, as soon as I write one more ES story.