Skyrim
To Shroud Hearth Barrow

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Ivaarsted... To Richard's eyes it made Riverwood seem a bustling place. It had been a long days ride from Whiterun and the horses were tired. They'd passed through the ruins of Helgen.  Lydia had time to study the devestation after they fought their way through the bandits who had taken up residence in the wreckage. A few encounters with unfriendly wildlife, otherwise a fairly uneventful trip.

The Villymyr Inn... rather typical of rural inns it would seem. He could have wished for a door to the room he rented. And it had two narrow beds, one of which belonged to the resident musician, a not unattractive woman named Linley. Also not hugely talented. But enough for this lonely town at the foot of the tallest mountain of Tamriel.

Richard learned of a haunted barrow, or so they said it was.  It was another place where his amulet was acting strangely. A slight jittering that bespoke another hole full of Draugr, and that odd sort of tugging it had begun doing at Bleak Falls.

He had Lydia stay at the inn for a time pleading a desire to stretch his legs a while.  He really wanted a chance to scout that barrow at the crest of the hill.

It certainly wasn't as large as the one at Bleak Falls, little more than a stone dome some hundred feet across at most. But he suspected a much larger area underneath. Aelid ruins were often much the same, a small bit of stone above ground, labyrinthine passages beneath.

A few rifled coffins were in the passageway around the perimeter. Opposite the entrance in the stone core he found one of those metal Nord doors that always seemed to defy the elements. Part of him wondered what sort of alloy it was to be so free of rust and corrosion for so many eons. Must be a second cousin to the Dwemer metal he'd seen so few examples of till he was handed that axe.

He pushed the door open to reveal treacherous looking stairs descending into darkness. From his belt he took a phial of Cat and stepping in, downed it.

The familiar wrenching and involuntary tensing of his muscles, the pains as the elixir coursed through his veins... He probably should have used one of those night-eye potions he picked up from Ri-saad's stocks... It didn't last as long, but was much easier on the stomach.

It took a few moments for his eyes to dilate properly... anyone looking into his eyes now would see unnerving black pools. But these precautions proved unnecessary... this area was surprisingly well lit, almost suspiciously so... His amulet had begun to warn him from the moment he'd entered Bleak Falls... It was doing so here too, but with nowhere near the urgency. It was as if the danger was farther away, or perhaps quiescent.

The passage down showed signs of having been cleared a bit. It might have something to do with that treasure hunter who had disappeared down this hole according to the innkeeper. Still, it struck Richard as odd somehow.

He came to a chamber... A Draugr stood in a niche like some sort of decorative statuary. He went closer, this one was dead... in fact, two spikes pinned it to the wall. They had been covered by tattered drapery to disguise them. Curious...

"Leave this place," came a voice from somewhere. "Leeeavvve this place," it repeated. Again, no reaction from his amulet. This was not something eldritch.

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