FVN Chapter 67: Chapter VIII: Dustman's Cairn
Chapter 67: Chapter VIII: Dustman's Cairn
Chapter 67: Chapter VIII: Dustman's Cairn
While I wait for Davos to find a way to set Durrak free I recount the story of how I got here to my orcish friend.
When I arrive at the part where I guessed where he was going, he raises an eyebrow "You always seem to know more than you let on."
"Those of my house are said to see more than others are able to." I respond with a mysterious smile.
He grunts "That didn't really give me any answers."
"If I wanted to give you answers I would have Durrak, do keep up." I say in a jovially chiding
tone.
"Right, whatever you say oh mysterious magic man" He rolls his eyes.
Finally, the gate he was imprisoned behind raises up and Davos reenters the room.
"Someone reconfigured the whole gate system especially for an ambush if I am understanding the mechanism correctly." He informs us.
I scratch my chin and pretend to ponder the situation. After a bit, I say "My guess is they were very aware of who was coming and were possibly the ones to inform the companions of the fragment's location."
Durrak seems very confused "Why would they target the companions though?"
I look at him like he is an idiot.
He grunts "If you know something just say it, we aren't all as big-brained as you Reyvin."
I snort "Fine, fine... ruin my fun why don't you?" before I raise my finger and point it at my head "Think for a second Durrak, you just learned that there are werewolves in the companions."
"Ok, and?"
I roll my eyes "They called themselves the Silver Hand. Does that tell you anything?
He seems confused "What does silver have to do with werewolves?"
I facepalm "Silver is poison to werewolves and vampires, and probably other Daedra-blessed individuals as well. If someone calls themselves the silver hand and is a group of warriors they are obviously some kind of werewolf or vampire hunter. And seeing as they just lured a werewolf into an ambush you can guess what variety they are."
Durrak has a look of realization "Oh! So that is why you think they were the ones to give us the location then."
"Yup"
"Why the long explanation though?"
I shrug "Well we are still waiting for Farkas to get his lazy ass up and I might as well teach you to think a bit in the meantime."
Before we can continue our conversation we hear a strained voice behind us "All right, my lazy ass is up. Can I get that healing now?"
I turn around and see a very battered looking Farkas, I quickly get to work and start repairing the damage. As I am doing my work I mutter "Silver really does fuck you lot over, even healing you requires expelling the shards first."
He grunts "Yes, that always was annoying to deal with."
I snort "Oh yes, merely annoying. Literal lethal poison in your blood and you consider it an annoyance... what glorious bravado."
Farkas snorts "If you didn't save my ass I would kick you right now."
"You would try" My smile is all teeth.
Durrak cuts into our conversation "What is this whole werewolf business about?"
Before Farkas can give a curated explanation I speak up "A few generations of companions back, a Harbinger got cursed with lycanthropy. Instead of searching for a cure he slowly infected the entire circle of companions. It has been a tradition ever since for new circle members to become werewolves."
Farkas gives me an annoyed look but without giving a single care I continue "If you do get to join the circle I wouldn't recommend becoming one though. Your soul automatically goes to Hircine if you die."
Before I can continue discrediting his little furry convention Farkas cuts in "Being a werewolf is a blessing, not a curse as you call it. We have the power of beasts in us and none are our
equal."
I snort "Oh please, that statement is so arrogant my grandfather would probably stop posturing for a second to tell you off for it."
Davos laughs out loud at this but says nothing.
As I finish up healing Farkas I turn to a very conflicted looking Durrak "You can do whatever you want with your life, I won't try and force you down a path. But I will give you a piece of advice: Whatever you do, never, ever, give up your soul to anyone."
Durrak is silent for a bit, but then shakes his head and gives us a determined look "We can discuss and philosophize later, we are here for a purpose and we should focus on preparing to go deeper."
I shrug and take a seat to refill my Magicka reserve while the two companions bring out some drinks to celebrate being alive. I hear them discussing the whole werewolf situation at what Farkas thinks is out of my earshot but I don't care, I said my piece to Durrak and he is old enough to make his own decisions.
He can also just get his soul back later if he 'follows the questline' so to speak but it's the principle of the matter.
After everyone is nice and rested up we move on deeper into the dungeon.
On the way we find destroyed draugr corpses with some very obviously silver weapon inflicted wounds. I guess that if the silver hand got bored of their vendetta against the companions they could always just become cultists of Meridia.
We move through a couple of completely looted and empty chambers, as we approach yet another passage we hear noises from further in.
I turn to Farkas and ask "What do you hear happening there?"
He perks up a bit and after a moment answers "Battle."
I nod "Probably the remaining silver fighting some draugr" I mull the situation over for
Soon we are once more heading deeper into the cairn, this time we are faced with draugr but they mostly consist of the two weakest variants and we cut them down quickly. Finally, we arrive at the imposing main chamber. The axe fragment lies at a pedestal before a
dovahzul word wall.
Durrak excitedly goes forward to pick it up but I grab his shoulder, he looks at me with confusion and I say "Remember, the moment you remove that fragment you will awaken the
draugr buried here. Be prepared."
(general pov)
The group of grave rob- adventurers quickly take their places around the burial chamber.
The Dunmer keep their distance while the companions prepare their weapons. When they all confirm their readiness Durrak grabs the fragment of Wuuthrad and the coffin lids explode outwards, liberating five powerful draugr from within.
Four of them wear ancient plated armor and are armed with enchanted axes and shields, while
the fifth, buried beside the fragment wields a greataxe and wears an imposing horned helmet. The companions charge the draugr to the sides, while Reyvin starts launching lightning bolts
at the presumed lord of the undead. His spells hit their mark but barely even scratch the
creature.
'Either his armor is enchanted or he himself is just that resistant, I should-'
The horned draugr doesn't give him time to rethink his strategy as it charges him with an
unnatural speed. Reyvin dodges away and summons Scorch to distract the undead, while launching sun bolts at it.
This manages to actually hurt it, making its dead eyes glow in fury. The draugr lord starts chasing after Reyvin who engages in the time honored tradition of boss kiting. Things are going much better for the rest of his company as Farkas had already cut down two of the powerful creatures and Durrak impaled another. The last restless draugr tries to slash the orc's back with its axe but is in turn backstabbed by Davos, distracting it long enough for
the warriors to finish it.
They all converged onto the last undead who had caught up with Reyvin, making the elf once
again barely dodge the ridiculously rapid strikes of the undead by throwing himself around with telekinesis.
Before it could continue pressing him harder, Farkas struck it from the side and Durrak from
the back. The undead let out a furious snarl and turned to its new attackers, getting rewarded with more sun bolts for its carelessness.
Seeing that it was in a predicament the undead quickly turned and shouted "WULD NAH
KEST!" Launching itself to the other side of the chamber, and almost giving Reyvin a heart
attack.
The rest were also scared by its sudden retreat, they quickly regrouped and turned to the undead who was now standing just below the word wall. It once again inhaled and shouted "YOL TOOR SHUL!" sending a massive gout of flame at them. Reyvin reacted quickly and shouted a "FUS!" in return, dispersing some of the fire, and then
summoned up as many wards as he was capable off, just barely managing to hold off the massive inferno.
The draugr seemed exhausted by the shouting, so before it could recover the two companions
quickly charge at it and after an uncomfortable amount of hacking the twitching undead,
finally put it to rest.
(Reyvin's pov)
I slump onto the ground and let out a wheezing sigh "Fucking hell, that scared the absolute
shit out of me for a moment."
Davos slumps down next to me and says humorously "You know boss, if we keep getting into
these situations I think I might need a raise."
I roll my eyes "Oh please, even if we weren't already splitting the loot you could never get on
your own I am still paying you more than double of what you would usually earn." "Yes, but you cloud always pay me more" He snarks. Farkas and Durrak join us after confirming the kill, the werewolf looks like he is high on
adrenaline and says in a very satisfied voice "Now that was a battle! You really weren't kidding about the shouting... though it was weaker than I expected after all the tales."
I chuckle "Oh please, it is a literal undead what do you expect?"
He raises an eyebrow "How does that matter?"
"Shouting is directly powered by the soul, what we just fought was a mere husk. If that thing
was actually alive we would have been ashes." I say seriously, before I smirk "Well you would have been, I might have survived because I am Dunmer."
He makes an 'OH' shape with his mouth and we all take a breather. After the adrenaline finally leaves our bodies we get up and loot the place for all it's worth before leaving the dungeon. Unfortunately there weren't any convenient passages leading straight to the entrance so we had to slog back through all the chambers we already passed.
Yay for realism! I guess...
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