INCONVENIENT BEGINNINGS
Amadeus Ros was gazing down Skyrim's landscape, measuring his location, the environmental parameters, the land itself. according to his elementary knowledge of Skyrim's map, he should be somewhere in the region of Falkreath. He had just escaped a dragon attack in Helgen, and his condition wasn't the most promising for the difficult tasks before him. All his equipment was stripped from him during his capture, with him now only carrying a steel sword taken from a dead Imperial soldier, and he was only wearing some rugged clothing, unworthy of a beggar, to protect him against the unforgiving northern winds. Furthermore, he was hungry, almost completely lost, and although the sun was at its highest, he was getting colder by the minute. Not to mention the exhaustion that was overwhelming him after Helgen.Perhaps he should have followed that Haggard or whatever his name was. But then again, his wretched condition of appearance wouldn't serve in the best way to blend with the crowd. Discretion was his best asset for this mission to succeed, and a homeless beggar-looking man is not the most discreet person one could come across with.
He should be in Riften by now,taking tactical advise from High Agent Maven and attending to the Thieves Guild as instructed by the Breton,but Riften was a few days east, while Riverwood was so much closer...After some thought, he came across with a plan. He would move to Riverwood, and from there he would continue to Whiterun, after asking for directions from the village's residents. Perhaps he would visit that soldiers uncle , the local blacksmith. He would surely be most eager to help him, after having saved his nephew's skin once or twice. And once in Whiterun, he would find the contact, Lydia, the Breton mentioned in his letter. She could probably help him get to Riften, since he could never find the way in time by himself. But first and foremost, he should find a more appropriate attire, get some food and a warm rest, and a somewhat more decent equipment than the dead man's sword he was carrying around in his hand, due to the lack of a sheath belt. He gazed the landscape once more. Haggard or Hagvard guy could still be seen in the distance, rushing down the path to Riverwood. "See you soon buddy", he thought to himself. After turning his scouting sight to the west, he spotted a cabin in the woods nearby. A most promising cabin. He leaped down the hill.
As Amadeus was making his way through the woods to the cabin, he came across an elevated ground which was serving as a camp for three armed men, bandits no doubt. As he was passing around their camp, their yelling and bragging about past adventures greatly helped him in covering the minor sounds his crawling caused. He was clearly in no shape to fight. He was already exhausted by the fights he had to give back in Helgen in order to survive. He practiced his art, the art of being unseen and unheard as best as the circumstances, and the nasty bruise in the back of his left shoulder allowed him. Thankfully the bandits where so loud in their pointless yelling, thus turning the table to his favor. Soon, after having crawled enough, another hill broke the line of sight between him and the group, and so he stood to continue on foot. His path lead him up a smaller hill to a statue.
The scenery was gruesome. Several dead bodies, one of which was totally burned, and another of an old man had it's guts spilled to the ground, with flies already having a feast on them. The statue itself was depicting an armored man with a sword in hand, a Nord man clearly. On that mans feet some coins and bread were laid along with various flowers. Offerings.. Amadeus realized that this was not just a statue, but a shrine. A shrine to Talos. further investigation of the site confirmed that, as the body of a dead high elf wearing the typical Thalmor outfit was discovered. Amadeus searched that elf's corpse, and eventually found a letter in its inner pocket. The letter turned out to actually be a response. A denial in a request for back up concerning the routing out of Talos worshipers, due to lack of evidence. Signed by "Elenwen". The Thalmor ambassador. Looks like the Thalmor agent was right after all. And judging by the scattered weapons, the worshipers came prepared for anything. He managed to slay them, by ultimately met his fate, maybe by a worshiper that managed to escape. Amadeus then turned to the shrine. He had not forgotten about the bread. It still looked fresh, just as the corpses. He raised it to the depicted figure, thanking him, and slowly consumed it. He also collected the coins, placed them in his foot wraps and left.
As he continued his path, he finally reached the cabin. A tanning rack in the side, and an amateur made garden in front of the entrance. Probably a humble hunter's cabin. It would do. Given his current condition, it was his best bet.
After taking a look around, and making sure he was alone in a satisfying radius, he eavesdropped at the door. His experienced ears caught a male voice singing a tune about a beautifull lass from Stros M'kai along with some more gibberish. But the voice wasn't coming from behind the door, rather than below it. Since he was only heard one voice, he decided that the target was doable, and he would pick the doors lock.
The lack of lock picks would discourage the average thief from trying to bypass the lock, but that was not the case for an Operative of the Order, from the Underworld division no less. After removing a loose nail from the tanning rack, he started to work his way through the ,thankfully quite simple, lock. After several clicks and clucks, yet another door succumbed to a man who lived his life by the dexterity of his fingers and the lethality of his blades.
The scenery was quite cozy. The heat that filled the room was most welcomed from Amadeus' freezing bones. Furthermore, luck finally smiled on him. Since the very beginning of the mission everything had gone wrong. But now, he was standing before a table upon which a bow rested, along with several arrows, a couple of steel daggers, another steel sword, and a war axe. And the man below was now mumbling a song about a lost love.
Amadeus grabbed one of the daggers, and slowly, steadily made his way to the staircase leading below.
The man turned out to be an orc after all. An enormous, full of muscles orc, having an ominous battle axe resting on the sheathe of his back. He was staring on the cooking pot while constantly mumbling.
Amadeus slowly sneaked behind him. He was never going to ask for his hospitality. That orc was not a hunter. Not with all these weapons lying around. Not with that message stabbed to the table behind him. That orc was a full time bandit.
Amadeus stood up his feet behind him, raising his dagger above the orcs head. He aimed for the base of the skull, and viciously landed the dagger. Death came instantly, as the orcs last note was drowned in steel. Although not another soul was in the cabin, out of habit, Amadeus slowly let the corpse down, instead of letting it fall. No unnecessary sounds of a heavy body falling to the ground should be heard.
Now Amadeus was free to accommodate himself to the full length of the cabins capabilities. After he took the liberty of taking some think fur clothes and a cape off the nearby wardrobe, he took the sheaths from the shelves above. Now he would be somewhat shielded against Skyrim's cold, and he wouldn't have to hold his blades and bow on his hands all the time.
Next target, the cooking pot the orc was preparing. Potato soup by the looks of it. Amadeus' belly stopped complaining after several scoops down the throat, leaving his innards with a welcomed warm sensation. The taste was the awful of course, but the meal did the job.
Looking at the bed besides the cooking pot, he gave it some thought as well, deciding that a moments rest for his weary bones wouldn't be so bad after all... Given what he had been through since he woke up in that cart on its way to Helgen, he was feeling like an old man after a days work in a mine.
He laid down on the bed, hoping to rest his body for a few minutes, before continuing to Riverwood. But as comfort started to take the place of fatigue, he closed his eyes, and before he knew it, he succumbed to the sweet embrace of a so much desired sleep.
