Michael Wilson

Rigmor and the guardian drove deeper into the depths of the barrow and all along their path the lost had risen to guard the way. They were both getting worn from this continuous effort of trying to put the Draugr back to their final rest. Rigmor called out while battling with the guardian one particularly nasty one, “Well guardian you certainly have found the trail of the lost. I mean how many have we put back to sleep now hopefully sending them on to their final rewards?”

The guardian replied as he slide his curved blade through the parts of the Draugr, “Thanks Rigmor, but how about less talk and more hacking right now. We can discuss my bad decisions later.” Rigmor smiled briefly at his banter, “Okay guardian, let’s get this done and on to the Hall of Stories.

They completed the work of putting the Draugr back to rest here and moved on through a large set of double doors in the next chamber. After that they made their way through an area with a small chamber, a burial crypt and a small gate on one side. Once they resolved the single Draugr left to guard the way, they made their way down to a narrow passage with a bridge over a waterfall that tumbled down to pool at the bottom. Here they did battle with a single Draugr left to guard the way across the bridge.

Rigmor had taken the lead on this one as she sensed the guardian was wearing down a bit. After she used her blade to remove the remaining life the Draugr had in it, they both stood there in silence, listening to the waterfalls tumble to splash up on the bottom floor of the chamber they were currently in.

They continued forward and fought several more battles but at last arrived at the Hall of Stories. Rigmor was amazed and comment to the guardian, “Guardian do you see these, these are motifs of the Dragon Priest and their followers from the Mythic Era. How cool is that guardian?”

The guardian had walked forward towards a door with a rounded top, three rings each with different symbols on them, and a spot in the middle of the door where it looked like the golden dragon claw would be used to open the release the mechanism on the door once the sequence was correct of the three rings preceding it.

Rigmor moved over to the door after looking at each of the motifs on the walls. She studied them briefly and then said, “Guardian, check the claw itself, didn’t I see symbols on it?” The guardian lifted the claw out of the sack they had put it in for safe keeping. Sure enough there were three symbols on it. He said to Rigmor, “Look three symbols on the claw, three rings with symbols too. I say we match the rings to what the claw has on it. What do you think Rigmor?”

Rigmor responded, “It makes sense, it would have been likely that only the dragon priest would have had the claw with the correct sequence on it. The priest would have been the most powerful of those that were there outside of an actual dragon of course.”

The guardian nodded his agreement then turned each ring until it matched those on found on the claw. He then took the claw and aligned it with its claws inserted into the holes, turned it and the releases gave way as the door began a decent into the floor.

They could both see an open stairway leading up beyond the door. Rigmor looked at the guardian and said, “Well guardian, you lead, I’ll follow!” They both moved forward until they entered a vast chamber that opened up into a natural cave. Beyond it was a stone bridge over a creek and up to the left-side was a wall with a dragon’s head carved into it.

The guardian and Rigmor continue the journey down into the path of the spiritless where they would certain find out what was driving the guardian to want to retrieve this stolen item for the Riverwood Trader. Rigmor thought to herself, “Maybe we’ll discover something about why this is so important to the guardian and what is affecting him to have these special abilities. She realized then she was generally concerned for him and then thought, why?”

They arrived in a large chamber with a metal gate, three stones with symbols of various creatures on them; A Whale, A Snake, and A Hawk / Eagle. These appeared to be some type of puzzle as there was another bandit laying dead by a switch set in the floor that he must have guessed incorrectly. Rigmor spoke to the guardian, “Look guardian, there are three pillars with symbols and three stones, two above up on that ledge, and one that appears to have fallen long ago. Maybe we should study that sequence and try it as a way of entering into the next chamber of the barrow.”

The guardian looked at the symbols in the stones that Rigmor had pointed out to him, then looked at the pillars and the switch with the dead bandit laying next to it. He decide something then and turned to speak to Rigmor, “I think you might be right on that Rigmor. Let’s give these pillars a turn and match them to the same sequence as the stones.”

Rigor replied, “But what if I am wrong, guardian?” The guardian said, “I want you to stand back towards the stairs we came down when I try it. I am going to use my shield in case there is a trap and we are wrong about the sequence.” Rigmor thought and then replied, “Okay guardian, but please be careful. Let’s get these stone pillars turned first.”

They turned each stone to match the pattern of Snake, Snake, Whale and then Rigmor walked and stood at the bottom of the stairs they had come down to enter this chamber. The guardian, walked to the switch, readied his shield, then with his free hand, pulled the switch. There was a gasp that came from Rigmor behind him but the gate lifted to an open position.

The guardian turned and said, “You were apparently correct in your assessment concerning the right sequence of symbols. Let’s continue on. I feel like we’re getting closer to solving something. ” They both walked into the next chamber where there was a table with a lore book on it, a chest and several burial urns nearby. The center of the chamber had a staircase that went down and he thought he could hear something skittering around down there.

As a precaution he pulled the other switch and locked them into the chamber. Rigmor looked at him and asked, “What if we need to run? We don’t know what that noise is coming from below. Don’t forget guardian, we are in a burial chamber known to be one of the strongholds of the dragon priest from the first age.”

The guardian pulled out his blade and readied his shield in front of them. He said to Rigmor, “follow me!” They both began to descend the old wooden stairs and a scurrying of feet could be hear rushing ahead toward them. It wasn’t long before they both saw it was a group of skeevers, a small rat like creature that would often attack onsite. It didn’t take long at all for them to dispatch and they arrived at the bottom and next chamber that opened up and then continued forward.

They both continued on until they came to an area where someone was calling out for help. The guardian held out his hand to signal for Rigmor to stand back while he assessed what was occurring. He saw a room full of spiderwebs, spider eggs, with a doorway blocked by webs as well. He summoned a flame and burned away the webs. The both slowly entered the room. A large spider fell from the ceiling to engage this intruder who might think to interrupt her meal in waiting.

The battle began immediately as before the guardian never hesitated and his blade was pulled loose with his shield in hand while Rigmor took up a position behind him with bow in hand already letting loose her first shot.

The fight was wearing as this was larger than normal spider and must have been feeding on whatever came through the barrow for years. When it was over the man who was to be its next meal called out to both of them, “Okay, you killed it. Can you please untangle me before another of its kind show up here?” Rigmor quietly responded, “Be careful guardian, I don’t trust this guy, he’s a bit shady if you catch my meaning.”

The guardian responded to Rigmor, “let’s cut him down and see what he knows about the stolen goods.” The man tangled in the web heard them and said, “Cut me down, I’ll show you what I know. I have the golden claw and know how it works in the halls of stories.”

The guardian responded by using his flame magic to burn the web. The man, a dark elf from Morrowind, got up, turned and ran deeper into the barrow and what lied beyond. Rigmor and the guardian both heard him mumbling to himself, “Why should I share the treasure with anyone. “

Rigmor spoke to the guardian, “See, I told you he was not trust worthy. Come on, let’s go find him, I see it in your eyes already. You lead on guardian. I’ll cover your back.” They both turned and entered into the next chamber, a room with multiple burial urns and a gem stone sitting on a pedestal. This must had been a preparation or ceremony room of some type back when the dragon priest ruled these halls.

Once they entered the barrow they could both see a vast open expanse of a dome that formed the first chamber. They saw figures ahead, Rigmor thought, “A man and a women arguing with each other about someone else.”

Rigmor quietly approached the guardian then whispered, “Do you think their friendly? Do you think we can reason with them?” The guardian turned, looked her deeply in the eyes without saying a word and she knew her instinct for wanting to believe they didn’t have to be reduced to the way of the sword was fool hardy and unlikely.

The guardian walked forward, quietly but not trying to hide his presence either. Rigmor came up behind him and slide her bow off her shoulders just in case. The conversation between the two grew louder as they approached through the shadowed chamber. The women spoke, “What do you think he’s doing, running off while we were sleeping? He was suppose to be watching while we both rested.” The man replied to her, “I don’t know but I am not going to run off into this old burial vault looking for him, especially with all the old stories of this once being the home of one of the dragon priests and his followers.”

They heard the guardian approach, the man pulled his two-handed long sword off his back and the women slide her bow off and notched it with an arrow trying to pierce the dark. The man then saw them and said, “That’s close enough you two. If you want to stay alive, you better turn around now. This is your one and only warning.”

Rigmor watched to to see what the guardian would do but she had her bow notched and ready with an arrow pointed directly at the women’s heart. The guardian kept approaching but had not drawn his sword. Then the man said, “Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He ran at the guardian with his two-handed sword raised to strike. The women behind him had pulled back on her draw, getting ready to let lose an arrow but Rigmor was already in motion and let loose the arrow that flew across the chamber striking the women in the heart. She crumbled to the ground before she was able to suck in the next breath.

The guardian had waited until the man was almost upon him then with the speed of a doe running through the woods stepped aside knocked the man off balance and a flash of the guardian’s blade could be seen flashing across the man’s exposed neck. The man’s forward momentum kept him moving forward briefly, then he fell to the ground dead as his companion.

The sudden appearance of a bright light floating near the guardian and a spirit wolf that popped in as if out of thin air had not gone unnoticed by Rigmor and she asked, “Guardian, are these lights and that spirit wolf you’re doing? Are you some kind of mage or something?”

He turned while sliding his sword back in its scabbard, “I don’t know, there’s something about this place. Something is coming alive within me. I feel like my blood is boiling, like its on fire or something.” Rigmor thought a moment then said, “I’ve read about these Nordic barrows. Some of them, quite possibly this one were said to have been the homes of the great dragon priest and their followers of the first era. You think that might possibly be connected to what your sensing?” The guardian was silent a moment then said, “come on, we’ll never learn by standing here. Let’s put these two in rest on their sleeping furs then continue.”

Rigmor thought to herself, “Even through death, he shows respect for those he did battle with. This one is different, I need to learn more about who he is.”

Rigmor and the guardian crossed the river taking their time walking across the bridge, stopping once near the middle to simply listen in silence to the flow of the water, the sounds of the forest around them alive with the sounds of the life that thrived within its boundaries. Rigmor appreciated this as she liked the feeling that listening to the water flowing along its path to unknown places gave her. They began the journey up towards the watchtower. It would become their first stop along the way.

As they approached the first bend in the path as it began to ascend upward they could hear the woods go silent and the sound of some wolves on the hunt were carried as their songs danced with the winds warning, we’re coming, and we’re hungry. From out of nowhere a flash of black fur launched itself at the guardian. His speed was unnatural though, he pulled his long blade out of its scabbard with ease and had it flashing with blinding speed towards the attacker.

Rigmor had the two-handed sword pulled out of its scabbard on her back and readied it for an attack too. The two of them danced together in their dual of swords against black death. It wasn’t long though before the wolves laid dead around them.

They both took a few minutes to clean their swords by swiping them slowly through the soft bristled fur of the dead wolves. Afterwards, they looked at each other with a slight grin Rigmor said, “Well done, guardian. You earned your title today.” The guardian replied, “You might want to reserve those words for later once we return with the stolen goods. This journey has just begun and I sense….then his words fell silent. ” Rigmor looked at him quizzically but he would say no more and continued up the trail towards the watchtower.

The watchtower was another battle with some common bandits that had decided to take up residence in the tower to harass travelers that were unfortunate enough to decide to travel past them. The battle was harder, these were human predators and one was an Orc, a tough warrior to go against at any time. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t know he was fighting against someone with the Dragon blood flowing through his veins.

As they neared the barrow, the snows were blowing and the sky grew darker as snowflakes began to swirl around them. Rigmor turned to speak with him with her bow drawn and ready, “You sure about this? This looks like a perfect place for an ambush.” The guardian never hesitated with his response, “Yes, there’s something about what were doing that just seems like it needs to be done, that its important not just for Lucan and his sister Camillia, but for some future something or other.”

Rigmor stood there defiant for a moment but then said, “Okay guardian, you take the lead on this and I’ll have my bow ready just in case.” Once they began the ascent on the stone stairs carved from the mountain long ago when this barrow as made a battle with bandits broke out.

There had been three of them, two archers and a two-handed swordsman. The guardian went after the swordsman first. Rigmor had an archery contest with the other two. You could hear the sound of arrows flying across the air along with the sound of swords colliding and ringing out with the quality of their blades. However, in the end between the guardian unmatched speed, his instinct for knowing where to strike with the best results and Rigmor’s accuracy with a bow all three laid dead before long.

Rigmor watched the guardian deliver a final blow against one of the archers. He then turned and called out, “Are you okay, are you injured?” She was take off guard by this sincere show of feelings for her welfare, “Yes, I think so, no harm done. What about you, are you..” He responded immediately, “Come on, its cold out here. Let’s get inside where maybe we can find a fire to warm up to.” Rigmor looked at him dumbly for a moment, then said, “Or more bandits, what then, have you considered that?”

When they stepped outside, Camillia pointed up towards what looked like a watchtower with a large ancient structure rising up out of the mountain further up and behind the tower. She said to them, “There it is, we’ll walk down to the bridge that crosses over the White River. Once there, it is a long and winding road up towards the barrow. “

Camillia then turned walking towards the bridge and speaking about the robbery to both of them, “I don’t know why they only took the dragon claw! I mean, we have plenty of other items in the store worth as much as it might be.”

Both Rigmor and the guardian listed to her. As they neared the gateway that marked the edge of the town she continued and said, “Lucan would never tell me where he got the claw. He’s a bit sneaky at times. Especially, as it concerns that claw.”

They arrived at the bridge and she turned and said, “May Mara bless you both for helping us get that claw back. It’s really important to Lucan. We’ll be waiting for you back at the store when you return. Good luck to both of you. “

Rigmor thought quietly, “Hmm, I am surprised she included me as well. She appears like the type of women looking for a husband, have home and raise a family.”

The guardian and Rigmor stepped inside the Riverwood Trader. There was a women sitting at a table by the fireplace, cozy bright and warm air filled the room from it. A man was standing behind the counter. He welcomed them in, “Welcome to the Riverwood Trader. We have just about anything you need. Let me know how I can help you.”

Rigmor stood behind observing, listening to the conversation while the guardian responded, “I heard that something was stolen. That you might need some help. I would like to offer my assistance to retrieve your stolen goods.” Lucan, the proprietor of the trader responded, “Really! They only stole one thing oddly enough. A claw in the form of a dragon claw with stranger symbols on it. ”

The guardian replied, “Where do you think they went from here, do you have any information that might be helpful to me?” Lucan replied, “If I were you I would start at Bleak Falls Barrow. It’s told that there are bandits using it as a staging area for activities in the Riverwood and surrounding areas. I have some money coming in that will be yours if you retrieve that golden dragon claw. “

At this point Rigmor moved closer to face the guardian, Camillia, the sister of Lucan who had been silent up to this point said, “So this is your plan, to have this adventurer retrieve it for you?” Lucan responded, “Yes, it is! So now you don’t have to run off getting yourself in trouble.” Camillia who had been watching Rigmor’s silent response to what was taking place here said to her brother, “Really, well I think your new friend here will need a guide. So what do you think about that?”

Lucan replied, “Okay but only to the edge of town. No further than the bridge on this side of the river.” Rigmor came up to the guardian and quietly asked, “Are you sure about this? Why is this so important that we run off to some remote burial barrow where who knows what is running around? They already told you it’s likely full of bandits. Need I remind you we are only two people.”

Camillia had been watching this interplay between Rigmor and the adventurer but quietly stood up and walked to the door to step outside. The guardian watched her leave then turned back to respond to Rigmor, “I just fill like this is important, that it is something I really need to do. Look, the faster we do this and return the quicker we can return to getting you to Angie’s place. By then hopefully we’ll have some ideas on how to rescue Rose and get your sword back.

Rigmor quietly pondered what he had said, then replied, “Okay, but this needs to be the end of this, at least until we rescue Rose and retrieve my sword. Are we in agreement on that?” The guardian replied, “Sure, seems reasonable and I want the same thing you know. ” Rigmor turned to go outside but quietly thought to herself while opening the door to the outside, “I am not so sure of that, but we’ll see, we’ll see!”

Rigmor and the guardian arrived in Riverwood by late morning. They walked into the town and to the blacksmith’s forge where they found Alvor, the smithy working at the grindstone sharpening a sword. They walked up to him and he looked up and said, “You new to Riverwood, we don’t get many strangers in these parts of the hold?” The guardian responded as Rigmor watched and listened, “We’re here because a dragon destroyed the town of Helgen just north of here and was last seen heading this way. I thought you should be warned since no one has seen any dragons in this age we currently live.”

Alvor stopped his work and said to the guardian, “That must have been what I saw earlier flying south. I thought I was just seeing things. A dragon, are you sure?” Rigmor was listening more now, she had not heard this from him, “Yes, I was actually in Helgen at the time of the attack. I barely got out alive as this black dragon destroyed the whole town. I don’t know if anyone else got out alive or not.”

Alvor then asked, “I need your help friend, we need your help. If there’s a dragon around there are no guards to protect us here. If I could trouble you to go to Whiterun and let the Jarl know and maybe suggest that they might want to consider sending someone here to help protect us I would be in your dept.”

The guardian replied, “Tell me how to get to Whiterun from here and what can you tell me about the Jarl?” Alvor replied, “You just need to follow the road over the river and to the right down into the parries and farms that surround the city. Once there just follow the road inside to its highest point. You’ll be at Dragon’s Reach the Jarl’s palace. In terms of the Jarl, he’s a good man, a bit cautious but these are dangerous times now with the war between the Stormcloaks and the Empire. Now, we have a darn dragon to contend with as well.”

The guardian replied, “I’ll do that for you and let the Jarl know they need to get some guards over here to help protect his hold.” The guardian turned to Rigmor and said let’s go visit the Riverwood Trader before heading out to Whiterun since we don’t know when we’ll be returning here. You okay with that?”

Rigmor was surprised that he even bothered to ask her but liked it. Then as they approached the door for the Riverwood Trader a young boy and his dog came walked up to them and said, “Hello, you’re new in town, aren’t you? You know, I heard from Lucan the owner of the Riverwood Trader that someone broke in and stole something from him. Something about a golden dragon claw. It wasn’t me, honest. “

The journey back was thankfully uneventful. There had been enough surprises and revelations over the last twenty-four hours. He was not looking to invite anything as altering as having to defend against three bullies just to get back property that didn’t belong to them anyway.

When he got back to the campsite, he found it empty. He thought he spotted Rigmor up the hill crouched over as if looking for something. He went to her, and she turned her head towards him. He then asked, “What are you doing Rigmor?”. She responded quizzically, “Picking flowers. I’m sorry, did you find Rose?

The adventurer responded, “You’d better come back to the campsite and take a seat. “She stood up without saying anything and walked back down the hill to the campsite and sat on the stump that Rose normally sat on.

He mused to himself, “Funny, there are two stumps and yet she picked the same one Rose sat on. I wonder why, am I missing something?” He sat down on the other stump.

Both sat there with the song of the morning woodlands rising around them. You could hear the small footsteps of animals gathering food or moving through the debris that laid heavy on the forest floor.

He took a moment more then began to tell her of his journey back to Riverwood to get Rose. He started by telling her, “Rose has been captured by the Thalmor!” Rigmor immediately replied, “What! How did that happen, and do you know where they took her?”

He responded, “Hedren, Rose’s friend who works with Alvor the smithy said they had taken her to some fort located near the border of the southern city of Falkreath.”

Falkreath, a city deep within the boreal forest near the border with both Cyrodiil and Hammerfell. In the past, it was considered a part of Cyrodiil, but now sites firmly within the borders of Skyrim. The city was known as the “Heroes’ graveyard”, as many great battles took place here for centuries. Countless warriors were buried in its hallowed grounds.

Rigmor replied, “I know where that place is, it is called Fort Black. I was planning on traveling there from Angie’s place. The adventure asked, “Angie’s place, who’s that and why were you there?”

Rigmor stood up then and said, “I was injured after a different fight with Thalmor. She found me and nursed me back to health.  She lives in a cabin high above in the mountains around Falkreath.”

Rigmor paused then said, “I figure maybe we could use that boat and make our way south to the lumber mill across the lake. From there we can make our way to Falkreath and then up to Angie’s place. That is of course if you want to. I don’t think I can make that trip right now on my own.”

Rigmor thought a moment then said, “Of course I’ll need my armor back and a weapon if you have one to spare. Thalmor took my two-handed sword. That’s why I want to go to Fort Black, to get back that sword.”

The adventurer gave her what she needed and Rigmor went to the woods and changed into the armor and strapped on the shield, bow, quiver, and two-handed sword he gave her. 

The adventurer then said, “I have some things I need to do first. Can we travel to Riverwood? There is something I need to do for the trader there, Lucan. There’s a golden dragon claw that was stolen, I promised I would get it back for him and his sister.

Rigmor responded, “What about Rose, shouldn’t we go after her first?” The adventurer surprised her when he said, “Rose is a tough girl, my sense is she’ll be fine until we get there. Anyway, I need you to follow me now, is that okay?”

Rigmor replied, “What are you my guardian angel or something?” The guardian replied, “let’s go with that, are you ready to go. We can still take the boat and then make our way to a place north of where Riverwood is nestled along the White River.”

Rigmor chuckled then said, “Okay guardian, let’s get going then, we need to finish with your commitments so we can go and rescue Rose and get my sword back.”