"Shit! There's even more of these necromancers?!" I say out loud, asking no one.
Delphine take the letter and quickly reads through it herself, muttering.
"Halskar... The pale skull..."
Here eyes narrow.
"Seems like there's trouble brewing across the entire country! We have to bring this to Jarl Balgruuf in Whiterun!"
I glance over at the necromancer's body and point at him.
"If that's Haldric, then Halskar was his father... Do you know who he was?"
Delphine shrugs her shoulders.
"No idea, I've only been in Riverwood for a couple of years, you'd be better off asking someone who was born and raised there."
"I'll ask Alvor when we get back to Riverwood, perhaps he knows what happened to him." I say while I put my new items down into the backpack.
Delphine shrugs her shoulders.
"Don't see what difference it makes, he's dead, and now his son is dead too." She said nonchalantly.
I stop what I'm doing and stare at her, surprised by her cold tone.
She sighs at me. "Oh come on, don't give me that look. It gains you nothing to learn about matters you can't do anything about."
I tried to debate her.
"Still, it just sounds wr-"
But she interrupted me quickly.
"You need to toughen up Ragnar, or else Skyrim will chew you up and spit you out.
This land has many tragic fates, if you want to help- do it, but focus on those still alive. Now come on, let's go back."
Without any further ado, we start heading back, I felt like debating her, even though I thought she was right.
All of this is so different from the world I'm used to.
We finally came out from the pine forest, without running into anymore trouble, the necromancer had probably not been here for a long time, and didn't have time to raise any other zombies or skeletons.
We walk down by the riverside towards Riverwood, it felt vastly different than our walk upwards.
No fear of impending danger, the sun is high in the sky, actually making it warm enough to enjoy the weather.
Majestic tall mountains stands proud in the horizon, crowned with a crown of snow. Distant, faint howling of wolves can be heard, deer are peacefully grazing on the plains on the opposite side of the river.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Delphine asks, noticing that I pay attention to the nature.
"Yeah, very much so." I reply.
Delphine smiles, seeming to be lost in thought.
"That's why I settled in Riverwood, this was good for the soul after a life filled with battle, blood and lost comrades." She says softly, her voice laced with regret.
Of course, she has lost people, no wonder she so easily can put away the death of strangers, enemies.
"Were you ever married?" I ask carefully.
She smiles gently, her eyes looks mournful and falls to the ground.
"No, only engaged, but another tragic fate put an end to that..."
"I'm sorry Delphine..." I say, not knowing what else I could say.
"Thanks."
Delphine replies shortly, clearly not fond of opening up.
"The river is wide at this point, and it's current calm, go down and wash off." She suggest, changing the topic.
The slope down to the river is shallow, the cold water flowing by us gently. In the mid-day sun the water actually looks refreshing, contrary to how it felt last night.
I pull off my boots and walk into the water until it reach my knees. I bend down and dip my head in, the cold streams cool my head off, washing away my sweat.
Delphine picks up my Iron sword from the riverbank, unsheats it and walks up to me.
She lowers the blade into the river.
"You shouldn't let blood linger on your weapons, the stink of death quickly become hard to remove."
"Thanks Delphine, I'll remember that." I answer without turning to look at her.
"Speaking of stink..." She says with a smirk, kicking me in the rear, sending me head first into the river.
I rise from beneath the water and struggle toward the shore. "What the hell Delphine?!"
She laughs heartily.
"Don't you dare go to shore just yet, not if you're sleeping at my inn tonight! I want you to scrub yourself clean!"
Unwilling, I do what she says. Despite the cold, it felt good to feel clean and fresh again.
"So, you said you usually charge 10 gold a night, right?" I ask.
"It's 10 septims, yes. But the first night is on me, you need to spend your money on a healing potion, without it- you'd be dead if the zombie's bite had cut an artery." She replied.
I finish scrubbing and return to shore, my clothes soaked. "How many potions can I get for 20 gold then?"
Delphine chuckles.
"Stop saying gold like that, a cold coin differs in value, remember? A gold coin could be 100 septims as well, depending on the coin, it's imprinted on each coin."
I grab my backpack and pick up a coin, and surely, it was imprinted 1 septim underneath the head of the emperor.
Delphine continues.
"And potions are valuable, I bet you could only get one for 20 septims from Lucan. But don't let him try to get more out of you, mention my name if he does."
My eyes go wide.
"20 septims?!... for one potion?... I'll be dead broke again!"
"Yes, and that's a cheap safety for your life. Always carry potions, unless you're able to heal yourself, even mages carry them, both for healing and magicka." Delphine says, ending my complaints.
I sigh. "Alright, so be it. I seriously need to find a way to make some money!"
Delphine smiles. "Don't worry, I'll give you some directions, but first we need to deliver the letter to the Jarl! Come on, let's get back to the city."
We pick up our gear and head back to Riverwood, the sun had even almost dried my clothes before we came back to town!
Delphine points at the local trader.
"That's Lucan's shop, the Riverwood trader. Go there and buy a potion, and if you want, go say goodbye to Alvor, we head out for Whiterun early tomorrow morning."
I'm a bit surprised, thinking that we would have to travel quickly after coming back to town.
"Really?... I'm not complaining, I just thought you wanted to leave right away."
Delphine replies.
"I was was cut lightly, you were bit, we shouldn't travel when not fully rested, and the sun will set before we could reach Whiterun- we travel tomorrow."
Having had enough action for one day, I'm relieved.
"Alright, I'll be at the inn later!"
Delphine nod and heads back to her inn.
I however want to be done with what today's chores, so I went to the trader first.
Delphine was right, Lucan the shop keeper did indeed want more than 20 septims for his potion, but when I told him that Delphine had given me her word that it was enough, his tone changed quickly.
"So, Delphine told you that I'd give it to you for that price huh?" Lucan sighs.
"Maybe a few years ago, before this civil war... It's a higher demand for potions these days!"
He scratches his head, weighing Delphine's words. "Bah, just take it for 20 septims, don't want her raising her price of mead against me."
Thus I received a potion of minor healing for 20 septims, leaving me broke yet again.
Like in the game he had a golden claw on his desk, which I knew was a key to the deeper depths of Bleak falls barrow.
I don't even know if the ancient Nord magic of shouts were even possible for me to learn, so facing hordes of undead for a maybe- was not tempting at all, atleast not at my current strength.
I leave the shop and head towards Alvor's house. As I get near to his house I can hear hammering against an anvil, echoing throughout the town. Which reminds me to get my dagger sharpened!
I walk up onto his porch, Alvor notices me right away.
"By the Eight! Did you do it?!" Alvor asks with wide eyes and a hopeful smile.
I raise my fist as a sign of victory.
"Was there ever any doubt?" I ask, my voice laced with fake confidence.
Alvor laughs. "Of course not!"
"Good!" I smile.
I take the iron sword in it's sheathe and hold it out to him. "Thank you for the loan Alvor, here's your sword."
He raises his eyebrows, clearly not expecting to get it in return.
"You don't need it anymore?"
I draw my new steel dagger and hold it out for him to inspect. "I found this, I'm thinking it would be easier to wield than a sword, I'm not used to combat yet."
Alvor takes hold of the dagger and inspect it.
"Hmmm... Steel, it looks sturdy too... I'll make it sharper for you, the quality of steel will make the blade stay sharp for a long time."
He takes it to the grinding stone at once and starts his work.
"So, Ragnar... What will you do now that this necromancer business is over?"
I wonder how much I should tell, but I just end up sighing. "It's not really over, Alvor... Not for other towns atleast."
I tell him about the letter, and how the battle against the necromancer went down, and that me and Delphine would head out to Whiterun the next morning.
"Well, shit..." Alvor responds.
"Halskar... So we didn't get rid of him that time after all..."
I knew it, he did know about Halskar.
"Alvor, can you tell me about that? What went down, and when?..."
Alvor sighs deeply, his gaze falls to the ground and he shakes his head.
"He was our town's priest... Or atleast pretended to be."
Alvor takes a deep breath before continuing.
"We found out that he was practicing necromancy using our fallen beloved ones. We burried their coffins, but their bodies were appearantly not inside, we found out later that the coffins were filled with rocks. Halskar had taken their bodies deep into the forest and practiced on them."
"So, his son ended up walking in his footsteps..." I comment.
"Aye, but I'm not sure he ever knew about his father's work- not back then. Haldric was a sweet boy, wide eyed and a bit too emotional... It's hard to believe how he turned out." Alvor says with a distant gaze.
"Then, the town killed his father?" I ask.
Alvor sighs again, scratching his beard.
"Not quite like that, it was Hod the lumberjack. He was roaming the woods looking for good lumber, then he stumbled upon Halskar's necromantic training grounds. Bodies cut and dissected, occult symbols carved into ground and trees..."
There's anger in Alvor's face, shaking his head.
"Hod, lost his temper when he saw that Halskar had raised his recently diseased father as undead- Split his skull with his axe without any hesitation. No one in the town blamed him.
Halskar's wife took her son, Haldric and ran before we could ever speak with them.
We never knew if she knew about her husband's abhorrent actions... But by how his son turned out... it seems like she did."
There is silence, until Alvor reach me my dagger.
"Here, careful- it's quite sharp."
I take the dagger and study it, it looks very good! I slide it into it's sheath.
"Thank you, Alvor!"
Alvor nods.
"Don't mention it! Oh, and wait!.."
He turns around and starts rummaging through a crate behind his forge, he pulls out an old bow, along with a quiver of arrows, and holds it out to me.
"Take this, it may be old but it's durable, and it's aim true."
"I don't know what to say, Alvor." I reply.
"You've done Riverwood a great service, let this be my aid to you on the road ahead." Alvor says with a big smile.
"Will you be staying with us tonight?"
I shake my head. "No, Delphine has offered me a room for free for the night at the inn, but thanks!"
Alvor chuckles. "For free, huh?... Then Delphine must have taken a liking to you, I've never heard about her giving out anything for free. But come Ragnar, atleast join us for supper!"
I smile. "I'd like that!"
I join Alvor and his family for a last meal together, he told his family that the danger was taken care of, but not about the possibility that several other places in Skyrim could be in danger.
His daughter, Dorthe kept asking how the fight had gone down. I tried to spare her the the worst parts, but she kept on pestering me to give her the gory details, and she wasn't satisfied until she got it.
With a stomach filled with stew and freshly baked bread, I decided it was time to leave for the inn. "Alvor, Sigrid, thank you for all the help you've given me."
Alvor smile. "Don't mention it, drop by if you're back in Riverwood again."
I leave his house and start making towards the inn.
It's already getting late, the snowy mountain tops are painted gold by the warm sunset.
A surprisingly mild breeze blows, carrying the smell of flowers and trees.
I can't help but appreciate the moment, I close my eyes and take it in.
It's nice to finally have a quiet moment to myself.
*Bzzt!*
I hear a familiar humming sound, I open my eyes, expecting what awaited me, and as I thought, the holographic sceen was howering in front of me again.
"Quest completed: The necromancer"
- Do you accept the reward?
Not knowing how to accept, I only answer with a "yes", even though it came out sounding more like a question.
After a short moment I feel something like oil being poured over my head, the sensation flows downward and onto my shoulders, though I can't actually see any oil.
An energy starts to stirr within my chest, something that feels like electricity or fire, but it's gentle.
The holographic screen shifts, now listing my rewards.
Reward Unlocked:
- Blessing of Growth:
The world has had a head start, but you can catch up to it.
- Magicka:
Your body is now able to contain and restore magicka.
My eyes go wide, and my mouth turns into a big grin.
Magicka? I have Magicka now?!
Realizing that the energy now flowing inside of my chest must indeed be magicka.
"Oh man, now I'm really psyched to get to Whiterun! I want to learn spells!!" I say out loud, too excited to shut up.
I head to the inn, eager to get tomorrow started. The room Delphine lent to me was small, but cozy.
A small table and a chair, a single sized bed.
I laid down on the bed and tried to fall asleep.
I laid awake for hours, excited to see if I could somehow learn som spells in Whiterun.
Imagine healing, fire, thunderbolt at my fingertips! That would definitely make my life in Skyrim easier! I don't think I'll ever make it home, maybe I'll just have accept it and make this world my home.
Eventually, I fall asleep.