Posted by
Paul M May 25, 2014 -
497 views
I awaken just before 7am on Loredas. In the light of day Lydia and I inspect the camp we captured last night. There's lots of human skulls, Hargraven of course, something or someone called a Spraggan, which seems to be a magical being made from wood, and a twice dead witch. Hargraven had a nettlebane, which will come in handy for the tree quest in Whiterun. Turns out it's a type of dagger, not some illicit contraband. I see the scorched tree stump on the other side of a fallen tree that bridges the gap between here and where I was last night. It's odd to think that, but for that stump, Hargraven had an almost perfect strategic set up here.
I take a breakfast of cheese, carrots and bread, then Lydia and I continue northwest to the foot of the mountain we are going to climb. We find the North Skybound Watch; an abandoned looking bunker that I don't much fancy poking around. I decide to just stick my head in the front door and move on. There's a trio of bandits, but Lydia does most of the heavy lifting on this one, and then we explore the rest of the place. There is a pedestal that seems to do nothing, but does provide a calming view to the north. There is a snow storm today, but not a heavy one, and it makes everything feel a bit magical. The Throat of the World is to our right, so we don't take the steps down from here, but instead leave and head over to the mountain. I am conscious that we are on the southwest side, and I remember when I viewed the south of the mountain from afar previously I could not see a way to climb it.
I discover that it is possible to walk along a sheer rock face when I get to a point where I can no longer climb. By about 10am I have made good use of this ability, and we have come to a snowy ledge a fair throw higher than the previous ruins. There are brick buildings, but before anything is identifiable, some sort of snow troll appears. Lydia starts peppering it with arrows while I ready a flame spell. We can't back peddle too far with this fight, as we could end up stepping off the mountain entirely. He goes down while I still have half my health, which I consider to be a good result.
Looking around we find emblem 5, which appears to be a stone tablet teaching about the history of the dragon voice powers. Continuing on there are some steps leading west and down, but which ultimately come to tablet 6. This feels like progress, so Lydia and I follow the path in this direction. The sun comes out at tablet 8, and the white snow becomes dazzling. A stone tower comes into view shortly after and we almost skip the remaining distance. We made it to High Hrothgar!
Inside a suitably bearded chap called Arngier comes to speak to us, and asks me to demonstrate my voice power. He then goes through some of the finer details of my ability to speak the words of power, and says that they will train me to use them appropriately. I feel a bit sorry for Lydia, who has come all this way and is now effectively a third wheel while I speak to these dusty old magicians. She seems alright with it though, so I get stuck in to the training.
I learn how to make best use of the unrelenting force shout, and learn a new whirlwind sprint ability which might come in handy for getting away from giants and the like. But then Arnie starts wanting me to go fetch something to prove my skills I smile and nod, but I'm already thinking about ways to get distracted from the task at hand. Part of me wants to head back to the dragon Lydia and I met previously, while another part wants to give the old lady in Whiterun the unlooked for nettlebane blade. And while training I noticed I'd picked up a case of brain rot, which sounds like something I should get checked out pretty sharpish.
There seems to be some hex stopping me from climbing the rest of the mountain, so I head back inside and start to think about somewhere to spend the night. Lydia and I take a stroll around the keep, and I thumb through a few of the books. I have a read of one about Uriel Septim (who I think was Talos the Nord), and his later years after being rescued from the treachery of Jäger Tharn, who I think I have read somewhere was not human, but rather something other, pretending to be so.
I find three beds in total, all of them owned, so I take Lydia out of High Hrothgar and back down the mountain. It's 6:10pm though, so the chances of us finding somewhere to rest before nightfall are almost zero. We follow the path down and sure enough the stars have come out by the time we get to some angry ice wolves and emblem 3. I'll say this for ice wolves: they know when to cut their losses, and it's only Lydia's quick bowmanship that dispatches the fleeing animals after my fire and sword combo has driven them off.
We eventually hit flat ground on a road heading west, and come full circle, arriving in what remains of Helgan by 9:30pm. It's grim, but I'm optimistic that we'll find a bed at least, so Lydia and I take a look around. We enter Helgan Keep which rings a slight bell, and I wonder if maybe this is the place where we encountered the bandits just before the witches a day or so ago.
Inside the keep we find a dead body amongst some ritualistic looking decor. Further in we disrupt two bandits having dinner, before descending to a dungeon area. Killing a very weak mage here bumps me up to level 10, and while poking around and reading some books dotted around the place I hear Lydia do away with a couple of miscreants I don't even see. We descend, and eventually I recognise a large open area where Halvor and I escaped from the dragon way back when. We do away with the bandits who have moved in since then, and carry on down with my vague plan being to get back to Riverwood for daybreak, and have a short nap before taking tomorrow afternoon to gather my thoughts and decide on my next steps.
We sneak past some spiders and eventually get outside again. Just before 2am we find the guardian stones, and I pick up a skill that lets me learn magic skills 20 percent faster than usual. We eventually come to Riverwood, only to find Alvor is no longer offering free bed and board, and has taken to locking his house at night. The tavern it is, and although I have to shove her out of bed, Delphine lets us have a room for the night.
