Gorhak stepped out of the dungeons of Helgen with Stormcloak blood on his hammer and a brand new scar beneath his left eye. The black dragon had destroyed everything within the small village. He eyed the village. Appearing to be satisfied with his work, he flew from Helgen toward a series of ancient stone archways. The hammer was a blessing, but the used Imperial armor that Gorhak was outfitted with was far too small for the immense orc he was. He decided that before moving further with his journey, he needed to search the surrounding areas for equipment that would help him in his fight against Forsworn and other abominations. He had trouble keeping his hammer sheathed on his back. Constantly he drew the weapon and looked at its shiny iron head that was still stained by the death of his foes.
Hadvar led him down the hill toward a cluster of three obelisks known as the Guardian Stones. Gorhak took only a half a glance at the stones before passing them by. He had been weary of magic since he was a boy, and to the orc, this looked like magic. The continued down the slope until the duo reached a series of rotting wooden steps leading up the hill toward an abandoned iron mine. As they climbed the steps they spied a lone guard patrolling the area. It was Hadvar's advice to sneak around the the left of the entrance and take the guard by surprise, but Gorhak wouldn't hear a word of it. It was the orc who strolled up to the entrance of Embershard mine and killed its protecter with one swing of his iron hammer. His skull crushed and caved before his tongue had the time to barter for his life. Gorhak was not a fan of merchants either. Without a sound, the rotting wooden doors of the mine swung open.
The Imperial soldier and the orc fighter crept their way deeper into the mine. Hadvar's experienced eyes picked out a tripwire in the dark and guided Gorhak around it. Hadvar had seen rock traps similar to this one all over Skyrim. The two entered the first big room of the mine. Directly ahead of them was a ramshackle old bridge that crossed from the entrance side to a balcony that led to a second tunnel. Below the bridge to the left was a small, underground lake. To the right stood two more bandits that were squeezing the last bit of iron ore from the walls of the cave. Making no attempt at an ambush Gorhak presented himself to the bandits. Shocked that the door guard had been remiss in his protection of the door, the seized arms and moved toward their adversaries. The first bandit to attack was armed with nothing more than a steel sword. He took his first swing at Hadvar who dodged it and fluidly brought his own sword down onto the crown of the bandit's unprotected head. The second looked horrified at what had become of his friend. The Breton bandit laid down his iron mace and put his hands in the air. The yield was ignored by Gorhak who brought his hammer into the retreating man's ribcage. The bandit went limp and stumbled down into the clear lake.
After releasing the bridge into the next section of the tunnel, two more bandits sprung from the other side. They were quick work for the two experienced warriors and Hadvar only suffered a minor cut to his calf. Past the piled bodies of Gorhak's two newest victims, there was an unguarded, unlocked prison cell that was filled with treasures sitting around for the taking. Hadvar took only a purse of gold to give to his uncle Alvor, the smith in Riverwood. Gorhak was not concerned with money. He took a cursory glance around the perimeter of the stone room. There was a large, wooden chest that sat in the corner. He smashed the lock with his war hammer and the chest was forced ajar. He pushed the lid of the chest all the way open and inside lay a full set of freshly forged iron armor. With haste, Gorhak put the new armor on and swung his hammer a few times to check for fit. They weren't perfect but with a little bit of help from the smith, Alvor, it would be an easy fix. He dumped his old Imperial armor back into the chest and forced it shut.
It was a short walk to the next, and clearly most grand room of the cavern system. It held three bandits. One was working the forge on the level below where Gorhak stood. On a bridge across the chamber an archer patrolled, ready to fire a fatal arrow in the direction of any intruder, and on the leel slightly above where Gorhak and Hadvar stood there was a large Nord bandit, the leader of the bunch, feasting on rabbit and fine Alto Wine. The two spit up. Hadvar went down toward the Khajiit working the forge and Gorhak strolled, far to obviously for Hadvar's taste, up the ramp in the direction of the large Nord. The Nord was quite observant and noticed the oncoming orc when he was only half way up the ramp. With one yell, the entire cavern broke into chaos. The archer was the first to attack with an arrow aimed at Gorhak that only narrowly missed his head and skittered to a stop at the orc's feet. Gorhak charged the Nord very aggressively but was bashed aside by the brute's shield which knocked the wind out of him. Recovering quicky, Gorhak stood and ducked under the Nord's steel battleaxe. In his rush to dodge the blow, he dropped his war hammer off the ledge and into the misty lake below. With a knife that he had snatched from the table where the bandit leader was eating, Gorhak dove into the man, tackling him and planting the knife very deep just right of his belly button. The Nord coughed twice and fell leaving his axe for the taking. With the new weapon of choice Gorhak rushed toward the archer. The Khajiit and Hadvar continued to have a heated battle made only hotter by the cat's white-hot sword. Before the archer could draw an arrow from his quiver, the orc broke his bow in half with the axe. Now armed with only a dagger, the bandit tried to flee, but had his back slashed open by the raging Gorhak. He fell at the exact same time that Hadvar kicked the cat bandit back into the fire of the forge. The Khajiit hissed and screamed and, with an act of mercy, Hadvar finished the job with his sharpened Imperial sword. The exit was near and after grabbing several pouhes of gold and some quite valuable gems which Gorhak kept for himself, they departed the bloodstained cave. It was a great adventure and the orc returned into the sunlight angrier than ever, his heart pounding with the exciting notion of killing and vengeance.
