I left Dragon Bridge and began my trek to Solitude and the Bards College. I should be excited but all I feel is lose, I want my father to see me when I graduate.
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Took most of the day to reach Solitude. I arrived just as an execution was under way. Not a start worthy of song or prose. Once the execution was over I went to the college to see about enrolling.
I was met at the door by the Viarmo himself. He expressed his sorry at the death of my father and we spoke for a few moments before we started talking about admission. For my admission I was not to audition, but rather under take a task for Viarmo.
I was tasked with trying to recover that last copy of King Olaf's Verse. Viarmo had been able to piece together some information that pointed to the piece being in an old crypt known to the locals as Dead Mans Respite. The location was about a days walk south west of Solitude. With this information in hand I left the college, realizing the lateness of the day I went immediately to the Winking Skeever, the local inn. After acquiring a room I settle in at the common room and enjoyed some of the music presented by some of the local bards. As they took their break I asked for and was granted permission to play my drum in the common room. My efforts where well received and I made enough coin in tips to cover the cost of my room and inner.
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Awaking early I began my journey to this crypt and the first adventure that was truly my own. As I walked I was lost in the excitement of it all, for years I have heard my Father and others sing of adventures, but today I was not singing of someone else's deeds, these would be mine. The romance wore of quickly however as I passed through Dragon Bridge, the sorry of my fathers death hit me anew. That and shame, shame that I had within only a couple of days allowed anything other than him to occupy my thoughts.
As I walked up the road I noticed a barricade near where I had intended to break from the path. At first I thought it was a military check point but as I got closer it became clear, highwaymen. I walked back around the bend to insure they no longer saw me and broke from the path there. Climbing over rocks and up some small inclines I was able to work around their encampment without incident. That was until one of their patrols happened by. Seems they where patrolling the area behind their encampment after all.
I have been taught some sword craft and I am a fair fighter with a blade. However 3 vs 1 are odds I did not want to tangle, and one of them was a mage. I have studied a bit of magic, though I am far from a mage, however one spell father insisted I learn was one of summoning. It would call to my aid a ghost wolf that would try to defend me. Father always explained that you never knew when you might need a friend in a fight. Summoning my ghostly companion I drew my sword and waded in. The wolf charged the two swordmen and kept them occupied while I ran straight for the mage. He backed away from me shooting ice at my face, however my strong Nord blood shrugged it off and kept going. Once I reached him the battle ended quickly. I turned to find one of the swordmen down and the other just finishing off my conjuration. One on one I was more comfortable and made quick work of the brigand.
I searched the bodies for anything of value, finding nothing I hid them in some brush and continued on my way.
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