A Question of Fate Options

[ThatSkyrimGuy]

Brief Intro By The Author

A Question of Fate would be the title of my piece.

I have been back and forth about trying to start and post a fan fic piece. The idea has always intrigued me, but I never considered myself to be a writer, let alone a good writer. I have read a sampling of some of the works that are posted on this site, and quite frankly, it is intimidating. The material is amazing. I must say say that despite the intimidation, it is also inspiring. So I am willing to throw caution to the wind and go for it. There are a few provisos. I work for a living. Often times, the hours I work are long. There may be periods of dormancy in this thread. I will apologize in advance for that. Life outside the internet does have it's restrictions. Also, I am sure that there is an unspoken etiquette that states, "You read mine and comment, and I shall do the same". This is also where I could run into trouble, for the same reasons that there may be dormant periods in this thread. There are stories on this site that I could never hope to read all the way through, with triple digit page counts, while I try to keep posting my own story and work through everyday life. So, with all that being said, I will wait to start posting chapters until I get a sense of what the audience demands. Please let me know if I should start posting a fan fic piece, based on what you have just read.

Thanks.

EDIT - This was originally posted in "General Discussion"

This post has been edited by ThatSkyrimGuy: May 4 2013, 04:41 AM

[ThatSkyrimGuy]

First things first...Thanks to everyone for commenting and following along. I appreciate it very much.

@ Acadian - Thank you so much for the lay vs. lie vs. laid vs. lay stuff! Very helpful indeed! And good catch as well on the font in the title...it was an oops. Both nits fixed.

I like that you seem to limit his quiver capacity...
This is one thing about the game mechanics that I have always disliked. The fact that arrows and coins have no weight makes no sense.

@ mALX - I am glad that you have regained that sparkly juice that we all take for granted (electricity) and that the tornadoes missed BFE TN. No apologies needed and I'll look forward to your PM. Just good to hear that you and yours made it through the weather safe and sound.

@ jack cloudy - Yes indeed, Val is quite the capable drinker...just needs to control his temper.

Ingame I end up hoarding the things (seriously, it's too much effort to remove them from my inventory)
I am just the opposite. I RP rather diligently, so I make it a point to limit myself to two dozen. I would gladly add mods that give weight to arrows and coins, but I haven't bothered to look for them yet. I am sure there are some out there.

@ SubRosa - I have not researched arrow types, and perhaps I should, since I did go to the trouble to research bows. I have merely been going by the damage value in-game to gauge quality.

Seriously, you gave us a nice discussion about the realities of brewing in Skyrim, something I never really thought about before.
This is a direct by-product of my Bro-In-Law brewing his own beer. I have learned a lot about different types of beers by helping him out. Being a taste tester has its perks too!

@ Grits - Nor am I a fan of IPA, and I'm pleased that you know what it is! I couldn't use the term IPA in the discussion because there is no India in Tamriel. So I just had to call it "hoppy".

Uh oh. I know what happens whenever I say something like that!
Same here!

**********
On to today's installment...

Previously - After overhearing Delphine tell Orgnar about a robbery at The Riverwood Trader, Val had decided to investigate. This in turn led to an agreement with Lucan Valerius to bring the stolen Golden Claw back to its owner…
**********

Chapter 11 – Embershard Mine

19th Last Seed, 4E201 - Continued

I paused for a moment on my way out of Riverwood. It had become a beautiful late summer day. There are those down in Cyrodiil that would consider this weather autumnal, but cooler weather has never bothered me that much. A light breeze was whispering through the spruce boughs. Seeds with white feathery sails rode the air currents. I inhaled deeply and relished the fresh air scented with pine. I continued south on the road until I reached the steps that Lucan had directed me toward. I was enjoying the day so much that I made the turn off the road as casually as anyone taking an afternoon stroll. The steps wound up the hill, bending to my right. When I topped the rise, I heard a deep voice yell, “Hey!”

I barely had time to unsling my bow and get an arrow nocked before a rather large orc had closed half the distance between us. I shot while back pedaling down the stairs, so my aim was not true. The arrow clanked off of an iron pauldron covering his left shoulder and did nothing to slow my attacker. Fortune was with me however, as the bandit lost his balance on the top step while preparing to swing his mace. I side-stepped and watched the orc tumble past while I nocked a second arrow. He came to rest with his back against a tree, and I let the arrow fly. The iron head found his center mass, penetrating a weak spot in his armor. The orc let out a brief cry before my next shot shattered the bridge of his nose, silencing any chance for further calls of alarm. He was effectively pinned to the tree like a notice on a bulletin board.

Val, you idiot! Were you going to knock on the door with your bow on your back as well?

Thankful for not losing my life to carelessness, I continued toward the mine entrance more slowly with an arrow nocked to my bowstring. Fortunately, there were no other guards standing watch outside. The entrance itself was a set of double doors with a small window in each one. I peeked through one, hoping to see what was on the other side, but all I could make out was the glow of a torch. Gingerly, I pushed one of the doors. It didn’t move, so I pushed harder. It was still frozen in place. Pushing on the other door ended with the same result. Neither would budge no matter how hard I pushed. I reached toward my breast pocket for a lock pick, and then stopped when I noticed there was no keyhole.

A locked door with no lock? It must latch on the inside…

I stared at the unyielding entrance, perplexed. I considered knocking, but dismissed that as foolish because more than one person might answer. After a moment of further thought on the matter, I decided to try and pry my way in with my dagger, hopefully by lifting the latch with the blade. I held one door handle with my left hand and used my right to apply pressure between doors with the point of the dagger. The blade wouldn’t penetrate the crack. I released the door handle so I could use both hands on the hilt of the dagger, but my bracer strap caught on the knob…and pulled the door open.

Are you kidding me?

I looked over my shoulder, unconsciously checking for witnesses to my stupidity, and then entered the mine. As soon as I did so, an all too familiar claustrophobia set in.

Gods, I hate being underground…

I pulled my wine bottle from my backpack and took a healthy pull to calm my nerves. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, so I had another swig and put it away. The only light was coming from a torch, set in a sconce near a cart, and some meager daylight from the doorway windows. The mineshaft sloped downward almost immediately. The cart was sitting at the top of a wooden track that paralleled the walkway. I listened carefully for sounds of activity. Not hearing any, I crept forward, doing my best to ignore the feeling that the walls were closing in on me.

If this was indeed a bandit lair, as the assailant tacked to the tree outside proposed, then there would be traps. Lighting was provided by torches set in sconces spaced far enough apart that seeing the ground between them was not easy. That would make spotting any traps just as difficult. Bandits tended to place trip lines or pressure plates near the entrance to their lairs. These particular thieves proved to be no different, but also showed ineptness at setting them, as a poorly placed trip line was plainly visible in the torchlight from a nearby sconce. It traversed the walkway, but not the cart track, so I merely walked around the end of the thing. The shaft turned left and appeared to lead into a larger chamber almost immediately. The echoes of trickling water danced off the walls. I froze when I heard voices.

“Aren’t you worried that someone will wander in here? This place isn’t exactly hidden, you know,” said a seemingly concerned denizen.

"Are we going over this again? I told you we have someone standing guard out there, and don’t forget about the rock trap. So don’t worry, and get some rest. Your shift is coming up and I don’t want you dozing off like last time!”

Little did the second voice realize that the guard was now decorating a tree trunk and his rock trap had been avoided with ease. I crept in a little closer. Directly in front of me, there was a wooden catwalk leading into the cavern. In the dim light, I could make out the silhouette of someone that had come up some stairs at the other end. He had turned away from me, heading into another passage on the other side of the chamber. Looking around, I could see the water below the catwalk. There was a fire down in the area that the bandit had come from. A couple bedrolls lay near it, and one appeared occupied. Suddenly, movement caught my eye. There was another silhouette, standing backlit in an opening that was higher and to the left of where the first had disappeared into the shadows.

Is this the same man? I wish I could see better!

The man turned around and walked away. A few seconds later, a bandit reappeared at the end of the catwalk. He was coming across! I drew my bowstring back and waited. But then he stopped, waited a few seconds, and returned the way he came. I let off on the bow, exhaling as quietly as I could.

It has to be the same guy. He is making his rounds…guard duty.

I acted quickly. I got the bottle of spider venom from my backpack and anointed the head of the arrow. I had it nocked and ready when the bandit guard reappeared in the other opening. I drew back and shot. I could not follow the flight in the dim lighting, but grinned as I heard the bandit grunt. A second later, he fell and did not move again.

One down…

Creeping out onto the catwalk, I kept an arrow nocked and tensed against my bowstring. Using every bit of my skill, I made it all the way to the stairs that led down to the camp area.

“What was that?” inquired a voice from below, and I saw a man rise from a bedroll. He reclined again, permanently, with some assistance from my bow. I looked and listened intently for any indication of other bandits in the area. Satisfied there were none, I continued deeper into the mine.

Discipline Val…keep going until you have them all…

I continued using this strategy, classic sneak and snipe, with perfect success. The drawback was that it was very time consuming and very tiring. By the time I had dispatched the remaining thieves and reached the opening at the other end of the mine, I was exhausted, hungry, and thirsty. Darkness had fallen outside the mine, and I still had to search corpses, cabinets, sacks, and barrels, to find that claw. If I had my tent, I would camp outside the rear entrance of the mine, but such was not the case. All I had was the bedroll and I was too tired to build a lean-to.

I went back into the mine, grabbed the first torch I came to, and retraced my steps back to what had been the obvious hub of activity in this lair. This was in the main cavern, where there was a well banked forge and other smith’s equipment. Up some stairs and across some catwalks were storage areas and a sleeping area. I went to a storeroom and found some bread and apples. I ate a quick meal, washed down by a couple of ales.

Gotta hand it to thieves, they always have some ale around…

I returned to the sleeping area and looked at the bedrolls. As a rule, bandits were a notoriously unhygienic lot. I decided to sleep on top of a bedroll rather than in it. This way I could leave my bedroll bundled for a quick escape if need be. I would search for the claw after a nap. With the aid of the ales that I had found and consumed, sleep came quickly.

**********
EDIT - Picked some self-discovered nits.

This post has been edited by ThatSkyrimGuy: Jun 17 2013, 02:03 PM