Open (PG) Embers: WinterFall

[Kimrisvik]

Fenrir gazed out at the crowd inside of Candlehearth Hall as he took a bite from an apple. Most of the people there seemed to be chatting about Ulfric Stormcloak, and that didn’t really surprise him at all. On the table in the middle of the room, the guards who were off patrol, about 5 or 6 of them, had met up for a drink, and was now talking loudly about how and why Ulfric would succeed with his plans. Morons… Fenrir thought to himself taking a sip from a meadbottle he had bought.

After a while, one of the guardsmen rose up from his chair and lifted his arm to get everyone’s attention. “Tonight we drink to celebrate Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak. The true High King!” He shouted and the men and women around the room cheered and lifted their drinks in a toast. “Why celebrate a brainless idiot that’s so greedy for power he drags the whole country into war?” Fenrir said and looked at the guard with a smirk. The guard started to walk towards him slowly. “You rather want that damn Imperials in charge, and not the true sons and daughters of Skyrim?” He asked and stopped in front of Fenrir’s chair. The other guards had gotten up from their chairs too.
“Frankly, I don’t give a fl*ff about who is in charge of this damn lands. I do what I want anyways. A fl*ffing skeever could do that job for all i care. Hell, even you could.” The guard seemed angered with Fenrir’s comment and moved his hand towards the hilt of his sword. “Not so fast” Fenrir said in a calm tone and smashed the rest of his apple in his eyes before getting up and smashing one of his twin axes into his chest. The rest of the guards drew their swords and came rushing towards him. Fenrir reached for his chair, and threw it at one of them, making him fall before he placed an axe in the back of his head. Another guard came running towards him trying to tackle him to the ground, but Fenrir just moved to the side as he cut the guards stomach open as he passed.

Three more to go. Fenrir mumbled to himself as he looked at the rest of the men. “Come at me!” he shouted as he pointed one of his axes at the guard closest to him. The man hesitated a bit before charging towards him with his sword arm above his head. Just as he was about to swing his sword, Fenrir hacked both of his axes into the guards chest, lifting him up and smashing him to the stone floor with a cracking sound. He then proceeded to throw them at one of the two remaining guards, hitting him in the heart and head.

“Looks like it’s just you and me now.” Fenrir said to the last guard. “Well, I’m unarmed.” He continued as he lifted his hands. “Let’s go!” The guard ran towards him and slashed his sword at Fenrir, just hitting him on the left side of his torso. Fenrir then quickly gave the guard a kick in the stomach, making him stagger backwards. He then grabbed his head and drove his knee right into the man’s face, knocking out a few of his teeth. As the guard, who was now sitting on his knees was spitting out blood from his mouth, Fenrir walked behind him and grabbed his chin and the back of his head, proceeding to snap his neck in one quick move.


“Show’s over!” He yelled to the crowd who was standing around him in silence. He then walked over to the guard with his axes in and removed them. “Have a great evening everyone!” He said and walked over to the barmaid handing her a small pouch of gold. “My apologies.” He gave her a smile before leaving the inn, heading for the city gates.

 

[The Phantom]

The man span the shaft of his spear with incredible speed and ease, making sure to keep an active defence that his assailant could not penetrate. His opponent, a tall bandit chief donning a set of nordic carved armour and wielding a sword and shield was proving amusing for the spear-fighter. Though the thug would have been more than a match for most: this was not most. He began to toy with the chief, staying out of blade's reach and purposefully glancing his blows off of the bandit's armour. Soon, the bandit grew furious and more unfocused with his attacks, gradually tiring himself out as his skilful opponent artfully dodged and parried his blows, beginning to laugh. Then, the spear-fighter feinted his weapon high and followed with a sweep, taking the bandit chief's legs out from under him and proceeded to ram the spear-point through his shoulder. The ruffian released a pained scream and then repeated as the victor removed his spear sharply from his clavicle and began to walk away "Won't you... Won't you finish me?!" Protested the bandit. The man merely smiled and said "My friend, you were dead the moment my spear pierced your skin. It's poisoned you see, and quite a funny one, this. You won't be able to move for a while but it'll take you a good long while to die. As we speak the poison's being pumped through you, even more so due to your adrenaline rush. I'd give you about twenty minutes. Oh, and I forgot to mention..." The bandit's eyes widened in horror as he began to writhe in pain "It's very painful. But that is what you get for robbing the Jarl's carriage." The bandit screamed.

This man was Ontus Marsil, the Black Spear of Erinhir. His face was lined and with thick, large eyebrows, black eyes that are piercingly intimidating yet show a certain warmth and a wide but sharp nose. His hair was short and pitch black and, though should be receding slightly, he wore it forward, similar to a Caesar cut. Marsil's features were also rugged and attractive somewhat; despite this, his face was contorted in a vicious snarl as he relished the fight in which he had just partook. Though not being built well, he trained since he was a child with many weapons and reached a top physical condition so that he could carry out his adventurous life-style. Though he may look a small man of average strength, he's far from an average man in power. He was wearing his quintessential regalia of a light armour so as not to not restrict his mobility. He wore light greaves, gauntlets, shoulder guards and a raiment with his emblem, a thin vial of poison, emblazoned in black in the middle. The armour itself was made of boiled leather and made more for movement and aesthetics over actual protection. Atop the armour is scaled and underneath he was donning a precautionary layer of mail. Finally, he wore his visor-less elven helmet, specially crafted for him as a token of goodwill by the Thalmor in order to smoothen their unsavoury relationship. The helm was, like much of his apparel, decorated with the vial on either side, and atop is the shape of a rising sun gilded in with ebony, enchanted to improve his alchemical prowess.

As he left the ruined fortress he had been tasked by his friend, Jarl Balgruuf the Greater, to wipe clean of bandits, he began to wonder why he even bothered leaving his sunny home of Erinhir to come to this freezing, crime-riddled wasteland. After all, in Erinhir he was a Prince! But here he was merely a Thane of Solitude. Though he did of course love to spend time with his cousin, Jarl Elisif the Fair, court-life never much suited Ontus and he often found himself growing bored. Thankfully his paramour, a beautiful Breton named Sosia, had travelled to Skyrim with him, so he rejoiced in the fact that he at least had her to keep him company. They were currently staying in Dragonsreach with the Jarl as their host, however he asked Ontus if he could track down some bandits who robbed his carriage and dispose of them in return for his hospitality.

Upon exiting the fortress and seeing the long, rolling expanse of Skyrim's landscape, Marsil couldn't help but feel underwhelmed after hearing such tales of its great beauty. He saw his horse, Shadow, a white stallion with a black tail and mane, and proceeded to climb into the saddle, beginning the short journey back to Whiterun. Around halfway there he heard a battle cry and immediately dismounted, readying his spear for whatever was approaching. He turned around and saw an Argonian duel-wielding steel swords and wearing the skin-tight, leather outfit of the Dark Brotherhood charging towards him. He further surveyed the area and noticed two more assassins: a Khajiit and Imperial wielding similar weapons also approaching him. He adjusted his grip on the shaft, grasping it in thirds in order to better allow for movement 360 degrees around him. As the first assassin drew near, Ontus lunged and withdrew before slashing across the side, quick as a viper, disembowelling him. Now, grasping the end of the shaft for greater reach, he span and slashed in an arc around him, scraping the Imperial with the spear-head and knocking the Khajiit flat off her feet with the shaft. In Ontus' mind the Imperial no longer mattered as in a matter of seconds the poison from the scratch would render him incapable of fighting; therefore he could now focus on the Khajiit who had mostly closed the distance. She slashed at Ontus with her blades as he easily parried the blows and smacked her in the head with the back of the shaft before spinning in a helicopter form and slashing the torso of the Khajiit, incapacitating it. He then strolled to the Khajiit and buried his spear threw her heart before searching the corpse for the contract. Upon it's discovery, he raised it and began reading aloud
"As instructed, you are to eliminate Ontus Marsil by any means necessary. The Black Sacrament has been performed - somebody wants this poor fool dead.
We've already received payment for the contract. Failure is not an option. I have information he will be at, or returning from Fort Greymoor thanks to our contact in Whiterun's court.

Signed, Astrid."

He paused for a moment, and began to think about the situation. He knew that the Dark Brotherhood would be on his tail for a while now, thanks to whomever sold him out in Whiterun. Ontus then vowed to find the Brotherhood's contact and have him put on trial before the Jarl. He wondered who this Astrid woman was, "She sounds feisty..." he mused in his head, "it would be interesting to bring her to justice one day." and with that he re-mounted his horse and began to finish his way back. By the time he reached Whiterun's stable, night had fallen and he was exhausted from the day's events. The Prince then made his way to Dragonsreach and called for the guards to inform the Jarl that Fort Greymoor was cleared and that he needed to discuss a matter of personal importance with him in the morning.

Dragonsreach always struck Ontus as rather bland as far as palaces go. To him it just seemed like a rather extravagant waste of space. Where trophies or displays of wealth could be shown there were bleak, plain walls; where there were large tables, ripe for demonstrating your wealth with expensive wine and aliminium cutlery were a tablecloth, a steel plate and a loaf of bread. Though the only thing that really appealed to Marsil was the large dragon-skull that hung over Balgruuf's throne. The story of Numinex really inspired Ontus Marsil in his youth and he had always since wondered what it would be like to face a dragon in single combat. Of course, now that dragons had returned, Ontus had planned a strategy to take one down. He would poison a crossbow-bolt so that it would drain the dragon's magicka, rendering it unable to fly or cast the thu'um. Then, as it is grounded, he would quickly stab it repeatedly with his spear, making use of his reach to stay out of the dragon's bite while simultaneously poisoning it. Finally, once the dragon is incapable of fighting any further he would close the distance and stab straight through its brain. Of course, such an occasion was yet to occur, however he dreamt that he would slay a mighty dragon atop a mountain in a duel to boast of for years to come.

Once he had reached his room, he saw Sosia awaiting him in bed "Come, my prince." She whispered seductively, gesturing enticingly for him to enter. He grinned and thought, "And now my reward for my efforts today..."

 

[jarif]

As Ingin dashed out. "Hey your comeback!" with Kiro sprinting in her direction to his demise of explosions from the ruins. "Ouch..." he squeaked helplessly paralyzed. His tears of despair came running down as he mourned for his companion "Don't worry Ezio. We will get our revenge."
The footsteps of another came down... It was Delphine as she glanced at Kiro and sighed. "Don't worry about Ingin. She may be a brat but she means well. She doesn't take rejection well. Let's just say she's rash but don't worry about it."
Kiro laughed with a jolly smile. "What a child" he thought. "Don't worry about it! I don't take grudges and I don't really look at things in a blank sort of way."

As Kiro stand still, he noticed something. Her posture was broad, shoulders tucked, hands closer to her waist like a soldier getting ready to draw their weapon at a moment noticed. Her cheeks riddled with feint scars that could be mistaken for wrinkles whilst covered with makeup (she was about in her late 30's to very early 40's he could tell). She was slightly bigger than the average woman. It makes sense. She's a scorn; wearing a mask. She has experience in espionage and military work. How long? Her act is practically synced with her herself. She has must have done this for a long time to become one with this mask and to become no longer a mask but a shadow. Afterall, Kiro was a actor.

"Could you hold this sword for me? I need to clean my robes from the mud."
He chucked the sword to Delphine.
"It's quite heavy" she said "but so light" she thought.
(Yes your quite strong. Yes, you must have been some sort of combatant)
"Ok thanks" he smiled. "I'm off."
Kiro headed towards Allin while he followed Ezio's lead.
"I like him. He has somesort of affinity to him. However, He wears strange robes and his sword is so unique. I wounder if I have seen it before? A manga? He must be somesort of traveler. I'll have the Jarl notified of this man and Fandel notfied of this man aswell for going to bleak falls barrow for the tablet. He could be of extreme use."

Later...

Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeey buddie! It's your friend Kiro" xD (Kiro drank way too much caffeine) (It seem's he's not suspecting anyone hostile because of his trap down)
[Knock] [Knock] [Knock] Allin.
[Knock] [Knock] [Knock] Allin.
[Knock] [Knock] [Knock] Allin.

 

[jarif]

Blizzard of snow. Storm and storm. Snow and through. As they went through. Kiro and Allin advance forward as they progressively step by step entered a more bleak area. The crows fly up elegantly as the snow changes their feathers from pure black to heavenly white but dropped down shortly north of Kiro and Allin. Kiro observed whilst Allin pointed it out “Footprints.”

A tower up north and a fire inside. Someone was there or a group was there. Footprint's and crows. A Complex yet simple nexus was surfacing in Kiro's brain. They saw a group of deadmen with the crows showering them and eventually they reached the tower with Allin checking the pulse of a man.
“The blood seems to be fresh”
“I asked Ezio to advance ahead of us, it seems there the a same pattern in here. A pile of dead and footprint's ahead of us” (Ezio is intelligent enough to carry out tasks given to him and communicating with a nod)
“We should stay here for a while and warm up while the air is so frigid.”
“The chest is empty. The loot may be empty but atleast this person this didn't take anything from these bandits. Let's see... pretty warm equipment these guys have”
“Everything aside, are you going to throw away those food your carrying? It's genius but so unconventional yet unnecessary.”
“I know we may not have to use them but Incase we need to use the element of surprise of me blinding them with sweet rolls and you shooting them should be a piece of cake”
“If you say so”

As they make it their way through. The steeper the temperature becomes, the denser the wind becomes as it increasingly becomes ever more so violent as the altitude increases across the hill. Kiro and Allin step back as the vast Barrow appeared from them. The Nords sure did love their stonework. Kiro makes it his way through the stairs and suddenly goes to the edge and sees something strange in the North-east. Black snow and black soot. Allin notices this. “Blacksnow...?”
They ignore this and straight into the barrow with the barrow reeking of death. Fire ahead.

“Let's Warm-up”

Later.

Puzzles. “Judging by theis dead body and poison darts everywhere and the way his corpse is positioned than I would say he activated a trap especially the most densest wound is his left shoulder thrusted him in his proportional area 90 degrees. Snake. Snake. Dolphin. Seemed to opened the gate.”

(Although it is quite obvious since the gate was opened and although that level of detail was unnecessary probably because he wanted to sound smart in front of me and despite my basic knowledge of Nordic ruins, his analytic skills is quite amazing)

(If the gate was unopened than it would have been cool to do my first detective Role-play. I can imagine it now

“Fire an invisible crossbow at me”
“Why?”
“Just do it Santiago”
“....”
And than I become the corpse of this scene than deducting the conclusion if how he died. I think I watch too much Brooklyn-nine-nine)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The table has dust missing. Most likely in the shape of a bottle most likely.

“Alin... spider. Giant, big hairy spider.”

“...”

“Sheldon cooper friendship agreement No.28. You have to move any spiders away from me”

“First of all, I didn't agree to anything. Second of all, It's dead and most of the nests seemed burnt – wait. Most of these corpses were burnt which they had a slight magical present surrounding them. There is a mage here, be weary.”

“Allin, can these things be killed, physically? Can they not just jump on you?”
“Yes, as long as your willing to get close and if you are not wearing heavy armor than you got to use agility and cut its legs down. Fortunately, they can't support much of their weight so they can't jump very far but if they do, you get plenty of time of dodge.”

As they get deeper into the barrow, stenches of the dead undead lurk every corner and the darkness seems to shine more; illuminating even more.
“Who ever fought in here must have a really good eyes. It takes two people with torches to even see clearly and we all know clearly especially with Ezio that there is only one person here”

“The possibilities of this person:

• He is a mage
• Uses a potion but those have a limited affects and fighting through this dungeon would atleast take a couple of hours
• They are a vampire or werewolf (those are real?)
• They are Khajiit but this is unlikely
  However, I only see possibility one being the correct one. There is no point in walking through this barrow because of the possibility of this person already being far apart but stay cautious in case.”

“To find out if this person has any morals if he or she is here than pretend to be my hostage.”
“Why do I have to be the hostage? Though if it comes to it than snap your fingers behind you.”
“You actually agreed.”
“Best not to argue though it might be better as I watch from the shadows if we meet this person”


They eventually went through the depths of the dungeon with two figures ahead of Kiro and Allin.
“She” was sitting down and it was seeming that she was expecting them though Allin was hiding for the first few moments in case if the situated become hostile and if anyone acted haphazardly.
However, the mage sensed Allin's presence whom eventually came out after calling him out.
Allin raised his bow
“Give us the claw back.”

 

[TheCaptain]

'Truly this was a glorious and redeeming day' John thought to himself as for the last week he had absolutely nothing to do all, the jobs had been taken by his companion brothers and sisters faster than he could put out a knife and throw it at something and John was pretty fast but it was all worth it while John was having his lunch with a cup of mead to help the bread everyone else was out when a kid of about 10 suddenly bursts in and walks over to john "what is it boy? something wrong?" he said as he ate "please sir there's trouble in Riverwood" the boy said John's interest a peaked little "oh yes? what happening over there then?" he asked before chucking down his mead "a wolf as big as a bear has attacked and is hold up in a house, please sir they need your help!" he said as John's head turned round to face the boy "really? well then I'd best get over then, oh here's 15 gold for bringing me this news spend that wisely child or just save it" he said handing the boy a small bag of gold finishing his lunch he stood up and picked his sword, it was a sword the boy had never seen before it was slightly curved like those redguard warriors that passed by not long ago but it was thinner in width than those ones.

about 1 hour and a half later John had saddled up, rode for Riverwood and arrived in probably record time, as he got down from his horse he saw a crowd of villagers armed with tools and some guardsmen near what he guessed was the house with The Bear-Wolf after finding the homeowner John laid down his weapons at the doorstep he was going to fight this creature with his own hands for the sake of Honor, the crowd even the children thought that he was foolish, brave but foolish but despite their protests that he should keep a weapon he entered without one.

for a few minutes everything went quiet and then suddenly there were mighty battle cries, one that sounded the most human was a nord battle cry and it was the most deafening, it was so loud that the wind carried it all the way to Bleak Falls Barrow it echoed though it's old dungeons, anyway the fight seemed to go on for 2 hours before everything went quiet again when suddenly the door flung open and John stepped outside with The Bear-Wolf on his back it was twice his size at least "show's over folks, now Go Home!" he said ordering the villagers away, John then turned to the homeowner "that'll be 200 Septims and an extra 100 for removal" he said the homeowner looked shocked "300 gold!? I'm not paying for that!" he said"fine then I'll just go put this very large dead wolf who was very hard to kill back in your house"he said turning back to the house the homeowner's eyes widen before he quickly stepped in front of John's way "WAIT! wait! no you don't have to do that, fine I'll pay you!" he said begging John as he pulled out a bag of 300 gold before handing it to him "you drive a hard bargain" the homeowner said "no I just getting paid what I'm owned and not getting cheated!"John said staring the homeowner intensely before walking outside Riverwood.

Sitting down beside the river John pulled out a dagger and began skinning The Bear-Wolf he was going to attach the skin to his armor so that it's spirit will be with him when he goes into battle or at least this is what the companions believed including John, after he was done he set the fur aside for the minute so he could bury the body he had left the head, the legs and the tail unsathed for two reasons, one he want to leave some dignity for his worthy opponent and two was he wouldn't feel right if he did, he brought a coffin, carried it back to the body and dug a 4'5 ft deep rectangle and after placing the wolf in the coffin he carefully placed it in the grave but before he picked up a handful of dirt and prayed to hircine that one day when John dies he and this great wolf will hunt together on hircine's hunting grounds as he scattered the handful of dirt on the coffin before burying it and placing a wooden grave marker it read "here lies Bear-Wolf, he was a worthy, fear opponent who fought to the bitter end".

later on he began to attach the fur to bits of his armor like the edge of his hood, parts of his armor on his chest, the edge of the gloves, his boots and a long strip of fur on the edges of his cloak/coat which includes shoulders, under his arms, the edge near his heels and down the sides of the cloak/coat.