Breton and Bosmer

Dare you venture further?

Just here for gold	14.3%	[ 1 ]
Is this about Skyrim?	14.3%	[ 1 ]
Cool RP - the characters look interesting	0.0%	[ 0 ]
I like the story!	28.6%	[ 2 ]
What happens next?	42.9%	[ 3 ]
Total Votes:			[ 7 ]

[Purplish Space Rock]

Arwen looked up and swung her bow high, drawing back. She ignored the lumbering dead and fired, and only on the second arrow did the first skeleton fall- it practically burst apart and bones went flying, dropping down onto the ground below with loud clatters. The second aimed its arrow down on Thessaly and let go, something Arwen regrettably could do nothing about but fire again. The skeleton dropped its bow as well and fell apart in the same way, the clatters reverberating and echoing in the cavern.

With the aerial threat dealt with, Arwen turned her attention back to the ground and looked for Thessaly, to help if she could- she likely could do little to help, as she was perfectly capable of taking down multiple foes on her own, but Arwen wanted to be as useful as possible when their lives were on the line.

[E is for Enigma]

With so few druagr left on the ground, Thessaly cut through them in no time. First she finished off one with one of Arwen's arrows in its side, then knocked another over, lopped off the head of a third, and then returned to plunge her blades into the dry, husk-like body of the second. It had only barely re-expired before she felt a fresh bloom of pain in her shoulder.

"Graah!" she cried in surprise, twisting around to find the ancient-looking arrow sticking out of her back.

"Of all the gods-cursed--!" she growled, but let it trail off. The wound wasn't terrible, though it burned like a hot poker. At least the immediate danger was over. "Get this thing outta me, would ya?"

[Purplish Space Rock]

With the threats dealt with, Arwen sheathed her remaining arrows and clipped her bow back in its place, shaking out her drawing hand. She looked over and raised her eyebrows at Thessaly before she understood, a silent "oh" crossing her lips.

"I see," she said, turning her so her back faced a torch to gain from the light. "This is going to hurt. Quite a bit, actually." She removed her gloves and held them in her teeth as she put one hand on Thessaly's back, held the arrow by its shaft, close to the head, and and twisted it sideways before she yanked it out with rather a lot of force, shaking it off.

"Look." Arwen held it up to the light, turning it in her fingers. There were small barbs on the head of the arrow, making it look quite vicious. "These are nice. They hurt a lot coming out, and they're pretty hard to remove unless you don't care what it does to your victim. I'm going to see if there aren't more on the ground over there. Speaking of arrows, we should probably heal that wound, yes? Are you ready?"

[E is for Enigma]

Thessaly had been wounded before. Living on the streets, running with the kind of crowd that she did, it was an occupational hazard. Once, she'd got a jeweler's pin stuck straight through her arm. She'd been trying her hand at stealing one of his more prized pieces, and he hadn't taken well to that. It had hurt more than anything she'd ever felt in her young life up to that point. She could barely move her arm or hand for the pain. She'd gone to the temple to get herself fixed up, and left an uncut jewel she'd pinched as contribution later. Despite the loss of her prize, she'd still managed to swipe a handful of gemstones--and the pin itself was worth more than all of them put together. In all, it wasn't an awful run, especially since she'd had to lay up for a week afterwards until it healed. The memory of that pain had taught her to be quicker. She'd taken a few more hits after that, but nothing like that pin.

Until now.

Thessaly's roar of pain filled the room, echoing down through the catacombs and rattling dust from the ceiling. If the druagr hadn't already known of their presence in their tomb, they did now.

Thessaly grit her teeth and dug her fingernails into her gloved palms, but nothing could have braced her for the pain of having a chunk of flesh ripped right out of her back. Tears filled her eyes but she wouldn't let them fall. Instead, she turned her burning, bloodshot gaze on the eccentric archer who was taking her sweet time with that healing spell. Her locked jaw wouldn't open to tell Arwen that, yes, she was good and gods-damned ready for that spell, but she was sure that her bared teeth and furiously pained expression would be enough.

[Purplish Space Rock]

Arwen could hardly contain herself. She refrained from snickering, though her lower lip quivered with a potential smile. It wasn't so much that her reaction was funny, or that her pain gave her glee, but it was more the look she received that warranted a pained, almost happy expression.

"Sorry," she said, tenderly patting the wound. She placed both hands on either side of it and pressed down, and they started to glow a faint white. This one seemed different, for instead of a continuous shine, there was a sudden flash of bright light. It felt hot and warm, and as it faded away, so did the heat, leaving the faintest scar behind. "There. That's much better. How do you feel now?" Arwen stroked the arrow across her leg to wipe it off and held it up to look at it again, smiling now. "These are fancy," she marveled. "I hope those skeletons carry lots of them. I desire."

[E is for Enigma]

"Just so long as no more of 'em end up in me," Thessaly growled, having regained the power of speech. She reached around to finger the hole in her armor where the arrow had been. It had punched right through. "Damn. Gonna have to fix that once we get outta here."

Or perhaps she'd make herself a new set. If a skeleton's arrow could break through it, perhaps it was a little more worn than she needed. She made a mental search of her possessions, waiting back in her room at the inn. She didn't have enough leather right now, but she had enough money to buy some. Though it would be cheaper to go out hunting and tan hides herself. It would take time, but after climbing a bloody mountain and weeding the undead out of a tomb, she felt she'd earned a rest.

Best considered later, though. If she let Arwen take the lead through the barrow, she was sure to end up a pincushion.

They were still locked in the room, but at least that had meant no more foes were like to ambush them. And a quick scan revealed a lever in a small side room that triggered the devices on the portcullis.

The new door lead them to a tall stairwell with a grate at the bottom. There was water beneath the grate, but it was too dark to tell how deep. Thessaly wanted nothing to do with water that had been sitting in a tomb for gods knew how long, and skirted it on her way up the stairs.

[Purplish Space Rock]

"I can't make promises. If there's one, there's more. These things seem like mice. Maybe they breed down here in the damp." Arwen pulled her gloves back on and followed along behind Thessaly, patting her pockets and pack, feeling like she'd dropped something. Everything seemed to be in order. As they came upon the grate, she did not follow Thessaly's lead. The grate gave way beneath her as she stepped on it, and terror filled her heart- she thought she was going to die, to be impaled on spikes at the bottom of a pit, as she'd seen so many times. Instead of spikes, she was met with freezing water, which immediately filled her boots and armor.

She was under for a good thirty seconds before she finally surfaced, front braids gone, hair clinging to her face. She looked up and searched for Thessaly, having trouble keeping herself afloat with all her gear.

"There's a chest down here!" she called, sounding excited. "I thought I was going to die, but I found a chest instead!"

[E is for Enigma]

Thessaly heard the sound of rusty hinges swinging open and the startled sound Arwen made just before the splash. She whirled around to see that the grate was open and the water beneath was churned and choppy.

"Arwen!?" Thessaly cried, darting over to the water. As before it was hard to see beneath the surface in the darkness, but Thessaly called her spell light over to search. All she could see were bubbles. She was just beginning to consider jumping in after her when the breton girl popped up out of the water. Thessaly tumbled backwards, startled.

"Get out of there, you ninny!" she cried. "That water's probably full of dead bodies!"

[Purplish Space Rock]

From below, Arwen grinned, her face practically glowing under the conjured light.

"You say that as if we hadn't just gotten our hands dirty with dried zombie blood," she said, wiggling around. She pulled her pack off and opened the top, prepared to gather loot. "There's a chest down here, it's locked. I'm going to make an effort and see if there's anything good inside!"

She took a deep breath and disappeared below the water again, pack going with her. There was silence and only bubbles for a full minute before Arwen popped back up, gasping for air. She held up a pair of golden necklaces, and a handful of uncut gems, beaming.

"I thought there was something good in it! Look!" She snickered and tucked them away, before looking around the tunnel again. Noticing a lever, she glanced up at Thessaly. "What do you think this does?" she said, pulling it at the same time. The grate above her abruptly slid shut, which made her scrabble at the wall. "Oh, damn, no, wait, I didn't want that!" she cried, panicking again. With another pull, the tiny gate slid open again, and relief came over her face. "Pull me up, would you?" She bobbed a little before reaching out and grabbing the edge of the hole, making pained noises as she attempted to hoist herself up.

[E is for Enigma]

"Doesn't mean I'm gonna go out of my way to drink dead water," Thessa retorted as Arwen dove back down. She was beginning to wonder why she bothered.

It didn't take long for Arwen to resurface and get herself into trouble again. This time, Thessa didn't bother offering commentary, but waited until Arwen requested her help.

"Alright, come on," she grumbled, reaching down and grabbing the shoulders of Arwen's armor to hoist her out. Though the mage was taller than Thessaly and soaking wet, lifting her from the water didn't present too much difficulty for the sword-swinger. Soon Arwen was out and dripping all over the damp, dirty cave floor.

"So," said Thessaly. "What did we learn today about grates?"

[Purplish Space Rock]

Arwen sat up and shook her feet, water dripping out. She gave Thessaly a coy look.

"Don't step on them," she said, sheepishly tracing a circle in the dust. "It's okay, though. I'll deal with being wet, it's not the first time I've been dunked while cave-diving." She took the time to remove each boot and dump a cup's worth of water out of each one. Once she was done, she got back to her feet, looking annoyed. "Actually, now that I think of it, being soaking wet in a cold cave is a lot more uncomfortable than I remember. Rather, I think it's the way wet leather and fur feels on the skin." She stuck her tongue out, lifting her dripping pack and shaking out like a dog. "Shall we?"

[E is for Enigma]

"Wait," Thessaly said, cocking her head upwards. The rickety spiral path above them lead somewhere new--and she could hear what they might be facing beyond.

"You hear that?" she asked, voice lowered. It was the telltale wheeze of lungs long gone, of creaking bones missing flesh. "Skeletons."

Thessaly lead the way carefully upwards to a door just above them. She checked it for traps, then pressed an ear against the door--the wheeze was coming from just beyond. But the ramp wound farther upwards.

"You stay here," she said. "And don't move. I'll be right back."

She continued on up the ramp--she didn't have far to go. It simply lead to another door. But there was no wheeze beyond, and no traps set up--but it was locked up tight. She gave it a sniff and headed back down.

"We've got another door upstairs," she explained to Arwen in hushed tones. "It's locked, but I don't hear anything on the other side. You wanna try this one first, take care of the baddn's? Or head upstairs?"

[Purplish Space Rock]

The wheezing was loud enough to permeate the door, which was dulled and rickety by insects and moisture. Arwen let her go up the ramp, but didn't quite listen; she pressed her ear against the door and listened as well. When Thessaly came back down, she glanced at her and abruptly returned her attention to the door.

"Let's see how many are on the other side," she muttered, placing her palms flat and her cheek against the wood. Arwen stared straight ahead as a soft blue light came from her eyes and fingers; the light was short-lived, and it faded quickly as she pulled back from the door. "I was expecting more- there's only one. It's just inside the door. Dibs on the lock. And the skeleton."

She smiled as she bent and pulled picks from the small pouch on her hip, shaking droplets of water off them. Her things were still rather soaked. There was angry, quiet cursing before the lock clicked, and she stood straight, taking a step back. She briefly entertained thoughts of violently kicking the door in, but thought better of it. Arwen pushed it in gently, and it slowly swung open, the skeleton appearing with its bony back turned to them, unaware of their presence.

Hands lit orange, Arwen held them out as she stepped forward. The skeleton erupted in a large ball of fire with the sound of quickly grown flames, coming from its center just below rib cage. It had enough time to flail, turn, and take a step toward them before the aged sinew holding its ancient bones together was eaten away, and it crumbled, bits and pieces of it scattering across the stone floor. The ends of each bone were the last to go out.

Shaking her hands out, she moved toward it and brushed bones aside, picking up a fallen quiver to look inside.

"Ooooh," said Arwen with glee. "Ten of them. I hope we find more skeletons, if they all carry these arrows. It sounds like they hurt."

[E is for Enigma]

"Fine," Thessaly replied. "But I get the one upstairs."

The door before them clicked open after Arwen's rigorous persuasion, and she stepped inside. Thessaly very nearly cried out a warning too late--but the mage somehow miraculously managed not to step on the pressure plate just beyond the door. Thessa sighed in relief as the lone skeleton burst into flame. It was only afterwards, when Arwen stepped over to collect its arrows, that Thessaly noticed the second pressure plate.

"Arwen!" she cried, just as the Breton girl stepped on the plate. Having no idea what was to come, Thessaly made a split second decision. She reached into the back of her throat to pluck out the word she knew was there, and forced it out.

"FUS!"

A wall of force blasted down the hallway, barreling Arwen over, but pushing her out of the path of the battering ram that swung down to pass harmlessly over where she'd just been standing.

[Purplish Space Rock]

"Wha-?" was the only thing Arwen managed to get out before being pushed out of the way by the force of the shout, rolling across the floor in a position resembling a somersault. She rolled a couple times before she came to a stop, thanks to the wall, which she was practically hugging. The battering ram swung back and forth before it also stopped, the old ropes that held it up creaking. Arwen was still for a moment, reeling, but she finally sat up straight and rubbed her face, which was scraped and red.

"Ow," she said, squinting out of one eye. She looked up at the battering ram and then at Thessaly, offering a lopsided smile. "Thank you. I'm glad- I don't like breaking ribs, nor head injuries." She got to her feet, a little wobbly. The shout had really thrown her for a loop. "The last time I was hit by a ram, I broke a few ribs and got a good gash on my head, see?" Pulling her hair off her temple, Arwen showed off a thin pink scar under where her braids used to be, smiling rather proudly.

Her hands shone white, and the scrapes on her face healed right up, though the redness remained, and would for a while. She looked down and noticed jewels had fallen out of her pack, which she quickly bent to gather up. Losing freshly gathered loot was like blasphemy.

"Onward? I feel better now."