Chapter 31: Raldbthar - leaving
[15th – 17th of Second Seed 4E 202]
We – Fiona, Ferwen and me with our housecarls Iona, Lydia and Jordis and three Stormcloaks, plus our four 'pets' – had managed to get into Raldbthar, find Alain Dufont and his cronies and explore the lower areas of the dungeon as well. On the lowest level we had defeated a group of Falmer and chauruses and found a lot of loot, but the bandit boss had not survived; he had apparently been killed by Falmer or chauruses or both when he had tried to escape from us. Earlier, we had freed a number of people who had been held captive by the bandits, including three who had introduced themselves as members of the Archaeology Guild from Cyrodiil. Unfortunately, though, two of the three Stormcloaks with us had been killed during one of the earlier fights.
After we had found the dead bandit boss, we could have returned back, but the three archaeologists pleaded for a chance to see the rest of this level, and I was curious as well. There were twelve of us, after all, and we should be reasonably safe; we quickly agreed to go on. Daeril made sure that Alain՚s body was looted, and he found a few letters and a special ring, in addition to the warhammer we had already taken; hopefully that would be accepted as proof that the bandit boss was dead; we could not really take the corpse with us.
A short passage led to another large hall, and at least on first glance, no enemies appeared to be here, which was nice for a change; naturally, we didn't skip caution. At the far end of the hall there was a basin filled with water, maybe 20 by 20 meters large and three or four meters deep. A bridge was there, too, but the second part was raised, in a way that it covered the opposite wall, and there was a pillar with a button or so to lower it, as we suspected. The room also had a few Falmer tents, but all of them empty, and there was some rattling background noise, like from turning and blocked wheels. In at least two places cogs were turning, or rather trying to turn, and they were somehow stuck. The rattling cogs made something click in my brain, and I recalled this situation from playing the game – the cogs were blocked by various obstacles jammed into them, and only once all of those obstacles had been removed, the bridge could be lowered. Actually doing that, though, might be dangerous; if I recalled that place correctly, there was a Dwemer Centurion behind the raised section of the bridge, and it was likely to attack once we managed to lower that section. However, as this likely counted as end boss, we could expect to find nice loot there, too.
I told my companions about my view, phrasing my words carefully, both because I did not want to reveal any of my real background and because I could not be sure that the setup here fully matched the one in the game. We all worked together to find and clear the blocked cogs, and Lydia, not afraid to get into the cold water, took care of the one under water in the basin; soon the rattling stopped. Slowly Fiona stepped on the bridge, and before she pushed the button she looked around to make sure that we were all in position to attack the Centurion, if one of those automatons was actually hiding there. Once we all had nodded, she pushed the button, and the raised section of the bridge smoothly moved down, coming to rest on the foundation with an audible noise; behind it was indeed a Centurion, and it started to move right away. Fortunately, we were ready and prepared, and the automaton was hit by my first bolt plus various arrows and spells almost simultaneously; three waves of attack were good enough to defeat it; it had only managed to blow superheated steam at us once, but from the distance, so that we had not had an issue to evade the attack. Arriving in force helped, like I had frequently done in the game by taking several followers with me.
"This was quite a tough automaton!" Mila exclaimed.
"It was, my friend, it was indeed" Hulbert confirmed. "However, it appears that working together aided us to overcome it quickly."
"Quite so" Daeril added; "I had no wish at all to get close to the large automaton's close combat weapons."
"Same here" Fiona shuddered. "A single hit with the warhammer or the axe would cut a person in two."
"Or smash it into pulp."
"Right. Now, let's see if there are some valuables – first of all, what can we get from the Centurion?"
Indeed, I was kind of curious about that, too. This had not been my first fight against such a monster, as a similar automaton had been in Shimmermist Cave, but after defeating that one, we had not paid much attention to looting, as we had had to deal with Erik's reckless behavior. A few minutes later we had collected a Centurion Dynamo Core, some Dwarven Oil, and a few gems. This was what I would have expected from the game, but I either did not know or had forgotten what the first item was good for, and thus I asked the others about it. Helvius took that:
"Good question, young man, and this is something we'd like to find out as well. Based on rumors and some hints we found in a book, the dynamo cores might be useful in a very special forge, called the 'Atronach Forge'. According to the hints, at this forge one can, by offering some special items, conjure atronachs or create some very special weapons or pieces of armor. There seem to be different types of dynamo cores, but we do not know what this implies."
"And where is this forge you mentioned located?"
"Alas, we do not know that; it seems to be a highly guarded secret. We hope to find out more about it during our time in Skyrim."
"Fair enough; now, let's see what else we can find here."
I had heard the term 'Atronach Forge' before, but my memory refused to provide details, at least for now; I'd have to live with that. Behind the Centurion, there was not only a chest with some high quality loot, but also a number of shelves with more valuables, including several rare gems, and we shared most of those between us. The archaeologists only found a few interesting pieces like dishes and utensils, and nobody minded them taking those. Not for the first time I wondered who had collected the loot for us to find here; had the automatons collected it from unlucky adventurers they had defeated before? Had Alain ever tried to find that particular cache?
"I am not disappointed, by the way" Helvius explained. "We have been brought here against our will, and I am sure that there are better places for us to look into. Besides, taking our share of septims and gems will sure help to finance our next digs."
He had a point; after all, they had not selected this place for their first underground exploration, but the bandits had forcefully selected it for them. Slowly I followed the others, and at the end of the room a gate opened into a passage; once we we had defeated a few more spiders and spheres, we came upon another lift platform.
"Now, do we take this or better turn around the way we came?" Daeril asked.
"Why don't we split into two groups again?" Ferwen suggested. "If we do this, we can find out which way is shorter."
She had a point, and thus we all agreed. Fiona with her housecarls, two of the archaeologists, the three former captives and Daeril decided to head back inside, whereas Hulbert, Ferwen, Jordis and myself wanted to see where we got by using this lift. We agreed to wait for the other party in the main hall where all of the others waited, if we arrived first, and when we were ready, I pushed the lever on the platform.
This ride was longer than the previous one, which seemed to make sense, as we started from deeper below the surface according to my estimation. Ferwen used the opportunity to grab my hand with hers, hold tight and also lean her head into my chest, which I did not mind at all. Eventually I could see some daylight from above, and the transport ended in a small gazebo like structure with walls and closed iron fences all around; the only visible gate could only be opened from the inside. We did that and stepped out, and we found ourselves very close to and slightly above the main entrance. It only took us a few minutes to get there, and soon we joined those who had remained behind; Ferwen reported what we had learned, and we found seats to rest and eat something while we waited for the other party. We were almost ready to find beds for the night when the others arrived, and after a few quick words we settled down for the night, not without making sure that there was a guard awake at any time, just in case. Only a few of us volunteered to have a final look into the narrow secret passage to make sure we had not missed anything important there; Mila, Iona and Daeril handled that.
Once again, Ferwen got to sleep right next to me, and for some time she grabbed my hand. She did not make an attempt to do more than that, but this was confusing enough for me. As before, I was feeling some attraction to her and her body, but I was unwilling to do something about it before getting a chance to learn more about her; maybe we could, once we were safely back in Whiterun, go on something like a date?
After a nice and restful sleep, I joined the others for breakfast, and almost everybody voted to get out of Raldbthar today, which was really understandable; those who had been held captive were now mostly rested and wanted to get home, and with Alain Dufont dead and his cronies being our prisoners, it seemed that our work here was done. The three archaeologists would not have minded to stay a few more days, as they claimed, but on the other hand Helvius Schliemann admitted:
"We know now that at least some Dwemer ruins in Skyrim should be worth exploring and investigating, but it may be actually a better idea to find a place we can use as branch headquarter next. Let's get out with your group and talk to some people. Maybe we can get back here at some later time and see if there are more secrets to be found."
So this was decided, and we spent the next half hour to browse all of the loot we had collected. Mila provided a summary on what the small team had found in the evening before when looking into the secret passage:
"We were able to find keys for all of the locked doors except one, hidden in a niche we found more by good luck than by skill. The rooms had more lot, most likely stolen merchandise, and some kind of ledger listing where it had been stolen from; we took the ledger, and I believe that we should hand it to the guards when we get a chance. The wares are way too many to carry out."
"However," Daeril added, "we did take some special items which are likely valuable to people in a few sacks; we should be able to hand them over to the guards in the Stormcloak camp."
He got a point, and while none of us got greedy and tried to claim one of those special items, the more generic items, specifically septims and gems, were split between all of us, and we agreed that Alain Dufont and his gang apparently had had a successful 'business' going, as there was more than one thousand septims for everybody, not even yet including some loot like gems, potions, ingredients and more. Apparently, at least one of the bandits had had some alchemy skill and had brought various ingredients down into the ruin with him, properly stored in a couple of satchels. I had not found an alchemy table, but either we had just missed it or the bandit had planned to use the ingredients somewhere else. As nobody else was interested, except for Mila who took a few samples and one of the satchels, I claimed what was left to deliver to Arcadia and Mia; they were always happy to get their hands on more ingredients, and they usually rewarded me by handing over high quality potions for free. We also decided that each of those people who had been held captive by the bandits, even those who had not contributed to the exploration, was getting a 'stipend'of a few hundred septims.
Eventually we retrieved our prisoners from the holding area, made sure that they were properly bound, and started our trek outside. Hanni, Nanni and Nymeria ran around the captured bandits and made sure that they behaved and did not try any funny stuff, almost like sheepdogs. Even Ellie, Ferwen՚s elytra nymph, seemed to be ready to pinch anyone who made an attempt to step out of line.
A couple of hours later we approached the Stormcloak Pale camp, and we were in luck, as a detachment from Windhelm was visiting and inspecting the camp. When we arrived with our large group of prisoners, we had to tell our story, and fortunately the Stormcloaks were going to take the prisoners and herd them to Windhelm, where they were going to be moved into the dungeons to wait for their trial; most of the ex-captives would go with them, and they'd be important witnesses for that trial. They also took the ledger and most of the collected loot from us, at least those parts which were suspected to be stolen merchandise and valuables and might have a chance to be returned to the rightful owners again; naturally, this included Aegisbane, the enchanted warhammer; the Shatter-Shields were going to get it back. Of course, we also mentioned that there was more merchandise stored in the rooms there, much more than we had been able to take with us, and it would be up to them and the hold guards to take care of that.
Talking to the Stormcloaks, telling our story and handing over the stolen items had taken some time, and we only managed to leave the camp when noon was already past us; we had joined the soldiers for lunch.
"Are we going to make it back to Whiterun today?" Fiona asked.
"I doubt it, my Thane, unless you'd want to walk until about midnight." Lydia responded.
"So, where do we stay for the night?"
"Why don't we head for Nightgate Inn in Heljarchen; it's not very far from here, just a couple of hours or so."
This suggestion found general agreement, and Lydia led the way once more. Like before, we followed the lake shore, but later we turned north and uphill. Soon we came upon a small settlement, just a hamlet actually, with fewer than a dozen houses, and the housecarl guided us straight to the inn. After a few days of exploring a hostile environment, it was good to be in an inn again, and the proprietor looked happy to see us come in:
"Ah, hello there, travelers; I am Hadring. Come to the Nightgate for food or lodging?"
"Actually, both, I think. We'd all like to get a nice dinner later, and rooms for the night."
"Dinner is fine, but I'm afraid that I don't have enough rooms for all of you; most of them are already taken by other travelers. However, there's plenty of space in the cellar, and you can put down your bedrolls there."
I had already noticed that the number of side doors leading off the main room indicated more than the two or three rooms most of the in-game inns seemed to have, but of course it was entirely plausible that many of them were already occupied, considering the inn's location in a small hamlet almost in the middle of nowhere. What the propeietor suggested was fine for us, and we paid one room for Fiona, Lydia and Nymeria, while the rest of us agreed to bunk in the cellar. We were shown to the basement right now, and it was much larger than we had expected, with lots of space for various storage, mostly food as the proprietor explained:
"During winter time, we are sometimes cut off from supply routes for days or even weeks, and I keep food for the entire village here; that has saved us from starving a few times already in the past years."
"Do you get a lot of business here?"
"Nah, not so much. The odd traveler on the road. But mostly just old Fultheim, come to drink away a lifetime of bad memories, I'd wager. Course there's the Orc. Long-term tenant, that one. For what he pays, I could almost afford to shut this place down, but that would be a pity."
"The Orc?"
"His name is Balablob or Malaclob, one of them funny Orc names. Talks real good, though. Not a savage at all. Said he's a writer. Don't know what kind of job that is, but it must earn him some pretty coin. He's paid up for the next few months. He mostly just hangs about. Goes down to the lake, sometimes samples the stores of wine in the cellar. Man can do whatever he pleases, far as I care, and I ask that you respect his wish to keep for himself."
We nodded and went up to the taproom again, once we had dropped our packs and bedrolls down here. Later on dinner was served, and not much after that we decided to retire; the last few days had been quite exciting, and we were happy to go to sleep early.
I had an odd dream, something about a robbery, and suddenly I woke up from my saber cats growling. I was still sleepy and needed some time to understand what was going on, but I saw Ferwen racing upstairs, like she was pursuing somebody. Daeril told me quickly that there had been two or three odd people coming down to the basement, and they had quickly left when Hanni and Nanni had challenged them; Ferwen and he believed that they had taken something from us, and I thought that one or two of our packs, which we had dropped closer to the stairs, were missing. Jordis was awake now as well, and the two us rushed upstairs to help Ferwen. The Bosmer had already left the inn, though, and we stepped out as well. Outside I asked Jordis to be quiet for a moment, and in the stillness of the night I could hear distant foot steps from people running. I rushed off, with Jordis trying to catch up, and when I got to the crossroads northeast of the hamlet, I could see Ferwen heading north towards Wayward Pass. Assuming that she pursued the potential thieves, I followed, and with my superior speed, I got next to her within a couple of minutes. She noticed me and just pointed ahead while panting, and I saw two people with packs running ahead of us. I took off again and was next to them within a few more minutes, with Hanni and Nanni following. They were apparently quite surprised that somebody had managed to close in to them, but one of them told me:
"Where did you come from? Never mind; go to sleep."
A spell was prepared and cast in my direction, but I had seen the hand movements and was able to evade it. I heard a curse uttered by the person, but before he could do something else, my fist landed on his head and he dropped down to the ground. The other person suddenly held a dagger, and a female voice warned me:
"Don't come any closer! I am an expert with a dagger!"
I snorted and sent a shock spell at her, which made her drop the dagger, and Hanni and Nanni were here as well now and threatened her. When Ferwen had reached us, we searched both people for weapons, and we found packs; one had been taken from us and had lots of coins and gems in it, and the other one had been taken from somebody else. Guarded by my saber cats, we forced the two villains back to Nightgate Inn; the man I had hit had recovered and could walk again. At the inn, where everybody was awake now, it turned out that the second pack belonged to the Orc. He was very happy to get his belongings back and said:
"Thank you very much for that. I really don't mean to be rude, friends, but I'm not particularly sociable and value my privacy; so, please excuse me again."
That was actually a little bit rude, but he had at least explained, and that was good enough for me. I could even understand him; I valued my privacy as well. As a matter of fact, I had valued it even more in my previous life, but less so currently; I assumed that this was related to the great companions and friends around me. There was a tiny voice in my head telling me that there was something special about that Orc, but as usual details eluded me; probably, it wasn't important anyway.
None of us felt like getting back to bed, and Hadring offered to prepare an early breakfast if we wanted that. We agreed, but Fiona groaned a lot when she was prompted to get up at 'such an uncivilized time', as she called it. Once we had enjoyed our morning meal and paid, we left and walked into the night, heading towards Whiterun.
[Author's Notes: The hamlet of 'Heljarchen' has been restored/addedaround 'Nightgate Inn' by the mod 'Cutting Room Floor' by Arthmoor, I believe.]
