After killing all the inhabitants of the tower, Vaenyr sits down on the stairwell, checking the loot he has acquired. While he was unable to examine the belongings of the bandit who turned to mud after falling down a cliffside, he was able to inspect the items of the other two. While the first man had practically nothing on him—only a handful of septims—the last of the trio wore actual armor: a somewhat iconic set of steel plate armor that existed in Skyrim. From what he remembered about the game, this armor should have offered around 24 points of protection more than the one he was currently wearing, but he highly doubted this world operated that way. Still, plate armor should be superior to the Roman-inspired armor he donned.
Vaenyr quickly undresses, changing into the armor, only to notice another major flaw in this not being a game world. Of course, the armor wouldn't change size for him, which now meant that half his skin remained uncovered by the metal plates. With a sigh, he quickly changes back into the imperial armor, instead grabbing the bag of septims the man had with him. He then ascends the rest of the tower, searching for any more valuables to loot. At the top of the tower, he discovers a large chest, just as he expected. Upon opening it, he finds a few potions, another handful of septims, and, much to his dismay, a large, perfectly smooth white rock, roughly shaped like an icosahedron.
He nearly stumbles down the small stairway behind him as he jumps back from the horrifying object. He had no problem helping Merida eventually, but certainly not in the next...20 years? Though he hadn't played Skyrim in a while, he still remembered the disdain he felt for that frustrating quest. So, with a smile on his lips and a happy glimmer in his eyes, he turns away from the chest, ignoring the beacon with glee.
After walking back down the tower, he steps outside again, glancing up at the last few meters of the path that lead to Bleak Falls Barrow. The sky above him is already growing darker, but worse for him, a few drops of water land on his helmet as it begins to rain. With a small curse, he quickens his pace, making his way up the remaining path toward the dark structure that marks the gravesite. Even before setting foot on the stairs leading to the entrance, he can already sense being spotted by the bandits scouting the area, one of them calling out to his companions before letting loose an arrow from his bow.
The arrow flies through the air, landing in the dirt in front of Vaenyr, who looks up at the man who shot it. After they stare at each other for a few seconds, he throws one of his swords at the man, striking him right in the head with the pommel, knocking him down. Simultaneously, the other two bandits rush down the stairway toward him, their weapons raised and screaming. Vaenyr dodges the first one by smoothly stepping out of the way, catching the handle of the second one's axe before the blade can hit him. As the wielder tries to push the axe down further in an attempt to cut him, he glances over at the other guy lying in the dirt, stomping on his head and splattering the man's brains across the snow, then turns back to the axe-wielder. The man has a fearful expression on his face, letting go of the weapon and stepping back in terror.
"Hey, hey, I surrender, I surrender."
Vaenyr nods and drops the axe in his hand.
"Great, go and get my sword from that guy, then give me all your Septims. Afterward, you can go to Riverwood and turn yourself in."
The man nods quickly, rushing back up the stairs to grab the sword from the ground, then rushing back down. At the same time, Vaenyr crouches down, inspecting the belongings of the now headless man and picking up the small bag of Septims. As he is about to stand back up, he feels his hair stand on end, time once again slowing slightly as he perceives danger. He quickly turns around, spotting the last guy trying to slash at him with his own sword. With a small chuckle, Vaenyr rolls out of the way of the blade, grabbing the guy's
hand and holding it down.
"So, I guess you changed your mind?"
The man grits his teeth, trying to pull the blade upward, but Vaenyr easily holds his hand down. After two attempts, the man gives up, letting go of the hilt and dropping the sword, turning to glare at Vaenyr.
"Fuck you, man. Just kill me, you handsome fucker."
Raising an eyebrow at the random compliment, Vaenyr complies with the man's wish, kicking up the sword and catching it before beheading the man with a single swing. The corpse falls over, his head rolling down the hill, surprisingly calm in expression. With a shrug, Vaenyr turns back around, walking up the stairway to Bleak Falls Barrow.
He arrives in front of the heavy doorway of the tomb. With a small grin, he pushes against the metal, the door cracking open with a loud screech. Stepping inside the burial mound, he walks to the small campfire he can see, watching as the two bandits inside scramble to their feet, drawing their weapons and pointing them at him. Vaenyr stops in front of them, looking at their faces with a smile.
"Hello. How about you drop your weapons and just surrender?"
The woman blushes slightly and coughs, but the man lets out a laugh.
"Wait, do you think you can beat us? Are you an idiot?"
Vaenyr chuckles and pulls out the second sword he has, wielding one in each hand.
"Yes, I do think I can beat you. Rather easily, actually. But I don't really care about either of
you; I am only here to get the claw back."
The man clicks his tongue, then drops his axe.
"Fine, we surrender. If you only want the claw, we can't do anything for you anyway."
The woman looks at her companion, slightly shocked, before quickly dropping her own
weapons and nodding.
"Yeah, sorry, but one of the guys with us, Arvel, betrayed us and took the claw for himself.
He is deeper in the grave, further than we managed to get without dying."
With a nod, Vaenyr puts his blades away again.
"How annoying. You two can fuck off, then."
The man quickly nods, grabbing the woman's arm and pulling her along as they flee the tomb. Vaenyr watches them rush out of the cave, then turns to the tunnel deeper into the burial structure. With a happy grin, he walks down the tunnel, into the first dungeon most players ever visit. Internally, he questions whether the tomb is built like the one in the actual game or the one seen in the E3 demo.
After walking through the first few tunnels and chambers, he finally hears movement coming from the bandit captain, who should still be in the tomb, trying to solve the quite easy puzzle that blocks his way forward. Sneaking up behind the man, Vaenyr watches him pull the large lever in the middle of the room he is in before he is shot with a few hundred small needles. As the man collapses to the ground, his torch rolls across the floor towards Vaenyr, who steps over it with a small laugh.
Looking around the room, Vaenyr quickly checks whether the solution to the puzzle is the same as in-game, before turning the three keystones on the left side of the room to the correct solution and stepping over to the lever to pull it. Nothing happens for a good three seconds before the room shakes lightly and the gate falls down into the floor. Vaenyr steps through the gateway, walking over to the table across from it and picking up the Soul Gem that was lying on it. After giving it a quick inspecting look, he shrugs and puts it into one of the bags he looted before moving to walk down the stairway to his left.
Despite expecting the skeevers that should be here, there are surprisingly none. Raising his eyebrow, Vaenyr looks around the room, searching for a hiding spot or something where they could be, but surprisingly, there is no sign of the creatures. He walks further down the tunnels, finally arriving at the chamber filled with spider webs. Gritting his teeth slightly, he pulls out one of the swords, starting to slash and pull the webs away.
After a minute or so, the hole he created is finally large enough to step through easily. Vaenyr leans forward, looking through the hole and spotting the Dunmer hanging in another web that blocks the next way, the man struggling and trying to free himself. With a small grin, Vaenyr calls out to the man.
"Hey, do you need help?"
The Dunmer lets out a small yelp in shock, then quickly nods. "Yes, quickly, before that thing comes back."
Vaenyr grins and walks toward the Mer.
"Well, I might. You see, I came here to get a golden Claw back from some bandits. You wouldn't know anything about that, right?"
The Dunmer fakes a shocked expression before quickly and quite poorly lying to him. "What, bandits? How terrible. I am a legitimate adventurer; my name is Arvel the Swift. I might not have a claw, but I can definitely help you get it if you just get me out of this."
With a small chuckle, Vaenyr lifts his blade to free the Dunmer. Before he can do so, however, a glob of acid hits the Mer right in the face, slowly melting it, Arvel screaming loudly as the acid burns away his skin and flesh until he eventually dies from shock. Vaenyr turns around, glaring at the giant spider that lowers itself from the ceiling. He hadn't planned on letting the man live, but having one face melted did sound a bit extreme, right?
Dodging the next ball of acid, Vaenyr looks over at the large spider, rushing at it and swinging his sword toward its left legs, planning to immobilize the arachnid. But when his blade hits the first leg, the metal does not cut through, only cutting a few centimeters into it.
Before Vaenyr can try to pull the blade free, the spider tries to bite at him, a maneuver he manages to dodge rather easily, rolling back out of the way. He glares at the spider's eyes, sidestepping yet another glob of acid. He is faster than it, but the creature is too tanky to take down like this.
He pulls the second sword from his other side, trying to think of a new plan as he ducks away from yet another ball of acid. After evading the creature's attacks for another minute or so, he finally finds an opening, rushing in and sliding under the spider, pushing his blade upwards into its abdomen.
The large arachnid hisses loudly before scuttling away again, rushing up the wall as its abdomen drips fluids. Vaenyr stands back up, trying to shake off the sticky blood twice before sighing and accepting that he will have to deal with the stuff on him. With a small growl, he glares at the spider, which stares back at him.
The two are locked in a staring contest for a while, with Spiders unable to blink and Vaenyr unwilling to lose. After nearly a minute, Vaenyr spits at the ground and then curses at it.
"Fuck you, you oversized vomit sac!"
To his surprise, the spider reacts. Not because of his words, but because it suddenly catches on fire, its body falling down from the wall as it burns away. Vaenyr watches the flames slowly die down with a mix of satisfaction and confusion.
"...what just happened?"