The adventurer trip back to Riverwood to check on Rose was not without incident. Along the way, some local bandits had seen him and thought he might be an easy mark to make some money.
One of them threw a rock across the White River that whizzed past his head. He returned the response by placing an arrow deep within the bandits should area. The bandit was knocked back from the blow. His two friends or partners backed away quickly not wanting to get that treatment.
The adventurer turned and continued the journey into town, the bandits never pursued him, likely looking for an easier mark. As he came to the entry to Riverwood, he stopped by the poster of Rigmor and saw three strangers standing close to where the blacksmith Alvor and home were.
He pushed forward knowing that this did not bode well for the chances of Rose not being in trouble somehow. As he neared them the hardest of the men stepped forward and said, “Well, you know we’ve been hearing everything about you and your adventures with Rigmor from Hedren.”
The adventurer replied, “Have you now.” The man said, “Yeah, and if you don’t want to wind up in some remote Thalmor prison you’ll pay us one hundred dollars right now.”
The adventuer stood there defiant, not backing away even one step then said, “You see, that’s going to be a bit hard to do since you’re wearing a cuirass that belongs to Rigmor.
The leader who he suspected was this Morion character that Hedren had told him about replied, “Really now, well you see it will cost one thousand dollars to get it and there’s no option for refusing.”
His partners spoke up then and said, “I don’t think he hears you boss, maybe his brain is addled from drinking too much. The other one said, or maybe he’s too stupid to understand what that means.”
The adventurer prepared himself, knowing what he would have to do to get the cuirass back. He gave Morion a cold stare and said, “Well you know, you need to ask yourselves this question, is it worth losing your lives over that piece of armor?”
With that both sides broke into action after Morion told his partners, “Get him boys!” They reacted when the man behind Morion rushed forward, and he bashed him with his shield before sliding his blade between his ribs. He dropped him dead to the ground while the others were in motion for their initial attacks.
The other two were positioned to come at him from two separate angles to gain an advantage. He prepared to make a broad sweep with his shield and blade.
The shield to knock them off balance the blade to either injure them or take them out for good. After he executed his maneuver, both remaining men laid quiet on the ground. He saw Hedren running out from the forge to his left at that time saying, “You killed them, you killed them all.”
The adventurer stood there over the dead and responded, “What happened here Hedren and where’s Rose?” Hedren replied, “I didn’t know it at the time, but Morion had been spying on me and had somehow gotten a message to the Thalmor. When she showed up, they were waiting for her.”
The adventurer asked, “Where did they take Rose? Do you know?” Hedren replied, “All I know is some fort close to the border down near Falkreath somewhere. The Jarl of Whiterun has heard about this and Irileth is meant to be on her way. He’s none too happy about this at all.”
The adventurer told Hedren, “Get back to your work for Alvor, he appears to be waiting to hear what this is all about.” Hedren asked, “What about Rose?” The adventurer replied, “Don’t worry about her, I’ll get her back, you better help get this mess cleaned up. I am going to retrieve the cuirass of Rigmor and head back to camp.”
With that Hedren turned and walked up the wooden stairs to the forge where Alvor could be seen working at the grindstone. He thought, “What a mess. I ‘am hoping that Rigmor is up to moving because I don’t think it will be wise to stay out there anymore after this.” He knelt and unclasped the cuirass from Morion. He was happy he didn’t have to damage it again while he was fighting with Morion. He was also surprised that his tactics worked so well, and the battle was over without harm to property or injury to any innocents that might have been nearby.
He swung the cuirass over his back and headed out of town heading back quickly as he could to the camp where Rigmor recovered. How was he ever going to tell her about all of this?