We came out into a heavily overcast sky, and a distance hazed by clouds, fog, and mists. We were just above a small valley floor, with a steep winding path leading down to the bottom. The earth here was clear of snow, but frosted. Tall birch trees stood like slender, leafless sentinels in the near distance. The floor was strewn with jagged white stones and the path was overgrown with plants. This place didn't seem like a major spot of ancient snow elf culture. It was too… small. Even through the mists, I could tell that we could cross this vale in little more than ten minutes of walking.
A bioluminescent deer startled away from us as we made our way to the vale floor. A sabrecat lashed at it, missed, and then turned on us. I drove the beast off with a few painful jabs of Dawnbreaker.
It wasn't until we reached the valley floor that I felt my jaw drop; the jagged white rocks were actually destroyed arches. Each arch had been once carved out of pillars of a white mineral that would have taken two people to reach around its circumference.
"Look at this place," Serana murmured. "Those Falmer had to have come with some major spells flying to smash these columns. No wonder they overran the valley."
We poked around the small vale before finding the half-buried remains of what had once been a paved stone path. Following it showed that it led through the overgrown vale floor until it rose out the other side. A narrow pass cut through a pair of towering cliffs.
As the dirt-choked road rose higher, the ground rapidly became icy and snow-covered. Through the pass, we put down several frost spiders before coming out the other side.
This, apparently, was the true vale.
"This is incredible!" Serana exclaimed, "It's like a whole other world. The bow has to be in this valley somewhere."
I gazed out over the valley and stifled a groan. This valley was huge, and little more than wilderness. This was an icy, snowy wonderland; a large glacial valley hidden deep within the mountains, and surrounded by vast, unscalable mountains. Ice-encrusted waterfalls spilled down from rocky heights into streams. Most of the ground here was covered in at least an inch or more of snow, and the branches of the evergreen trees sagged beneath the weight of their burdens. In short? If it wasn't bare stone, it was icy, snowy, and miserably cold. The place did have a sort of frozen beauty to it, I had to agree... but it was the kind of beauty that a Redguard would admire through the window of a warm cottage, where the glass and a fire kept the cold at bay.
Checking my map, I had to hazard a guess that we were in a valley that was completely isolated from Skyrim and even High Rock; the neighboring country. From where we stood, we could see that the land was dotted with the remains of snow elf architecture.
We proceeded with caution, ever on the lookout for sheltered places where we could make camp. These were few and far between; the few sheltered places were occupied, and didn't offer us much shelter from the winds.
The first real shelter we found had a snow giant in it; it looked like someone had crossed a frost troll with the giants of Skyrim. It was towering, and wielding primitive clubs made out of massive bone. Above all, it was covered all over in a thick coat of blue-white hair.
It was most definitely hostile, and Serana and I had quite the fight on our hands before we could bring it down. Its sheltered lair offered us the first night's respite, and for several nights after. We began the painstaking task of mapping the surrounding area on a roll of paper.
It turned out that we were on a lower level of this massive valley. There were a couple of paths that led to a higher level, complete with a massive frozen lake dominating the majority of it. The edge of the lake broke free and cascaded down to the level we were sheltering in.
The days were spent exploring while being bundled up completely. We had to use thin linen to protect our eyes from the sun that reflected off of the ice and snow. The nights were spent huddled as deep in the frost giant's den as possible, keeping the fire between ourselves and the nighttime air. It got so cold it made my skin first tingle, then burn within seconds.
Serana and I made use of the frost giant's fur; a task I was initially a little squeamish about. The giants of Skyrim were at least intelligent enough to have a primitive, if guttural language. Skinning a being that was humanoid and spoke a language was much less appealing than the task of, say, using a bear for the same purpose. But I was forced to get over my discomfort, as the first night had me buried deep in my sleep roll, and downing positions of Resist Cold far too quickly for my liking. At least with the frost giant's coat of fur, I could get warm enough to make it through the night in reasonable comfort.
Serana was far more content with the cold than I was, and took the majority of night shift watches out of mutual understanding.
We found three wayshrines in as many days, and dipped the ewer in each of them. The wayshrines soon proved to be useful; as we found and activated each one, they gained a portal. Using these, we were able to pop back and forth between them, and thus cover considerable distances.
A week after getting to the Forgotten Vale, we finally made our way up to the upper level. With the lower level mapped, it was time to search for the final two wayshrines we knew were still missing.
Climbing a steep path and topping a rise, we looked down at the huge lake that dominated the floor of this half of the vale.
"Looks like wading through icy streams isn't the only water we're going to have to traverse," Serana said, shooting me a look of apology.
I grimaced. It had been miserable enough hopping across chunks of ice, or wading through shin-deep streams of water that were icy cold. I was grateful that slaughterfish hadn't made it into this isolated vale.
Still, it was pretty clear that we didn't have much choice in the matter of crossing the frozen surface of the lake. The way was even more rugged here, and it simply wasn't going to be possible to avoid the trek.
"Let's try to focus on finding a new place to camp," I said after dwelling in a moment of mental misery. "We can do our ice walking in the morning, when the ice should be thickest."
As we made our way down, Serana in the lead, I tried to check both shores for a sign of shelter. I was so lost in sweeping the distance with my eyes that I nearly missed Serana's head snapping in the direction of the lake and freezing in mid-step.
I jerked to a stop before bumping into my friend from behind, then reached back for my bow as I tried to see what had caught her attention so sharply.
The icy surface of the lake, covered with patchy snow, remained still and tranquil. I squinted, but the ice was mostly opaque, with the snow doing a wonderful job of making it impossible to tell how deep the lake even was.
I eased closer to her and murmured, "What is it?"
"I don't know," she murmured back, "but I swear I saw something move."
We were silent and still for several more minutes, as the winds whistled softly around us and stung our skin with blown ice crystals.
I raked the surface with my eyes, and even the far shores for something. Anything. Everything was still. No animal noises could be heard here.
"Can you describe it?" I half breathed.
"Not very well. My best words are 'big' and 'under the ice.' It was really obscure though."
"Under the ice?" I knew my voice was incredulous.
At her mildly annoyed glance, I held my hands up in supplication. "I'm not calling you a liar, or implying that you're imagining things, but we've been standing here for a quarter of an hour by now. The ice is frozen solid all across here; whatever it is, doesn't seem to need to breathe much."
I felt a small blip of pleasure that she felt safe enough to be annoyed with me for that moment. Then something struck me and I swallowed, feeling that happiness pop like a bubble in the bath.
"Uhhh, Serana?" I said meekly. "I just had a scary thought."
When she turned to meet my gaze, I said, "The lower vale was chock full of prey and predators. We just spent a whole week teaching the damn sabrecats to fear humans. But I don't see either them, or the deer, anywhere up here. And it's not like the paths to get up here were difficult; even I barely slipped, and I'm a Redguard."
Serana froze, her amber eyes widening behind the protective linen. Slowly she turned, surveying the area before admitting, "You're right! What in Oblivion is keeping both creatures at bay? They had no problems with the snow giant in the lower area."
"That's the question that's giving me a case of the fidgets too," I admitted. "Let's just… do our best to find someplace to set up camp, well away from the lake. We can explore at our leisure later."