Evelyn lets out a deep sigh as she walks into Breezehome. It's one of her smaller homes but it's still a place to return to at the end of the day. Artemis looks around as she hands over his armor. "We'll get some rest and head out in the morning." She was dead tired by now. She already knows she's not going to get much sleep but it really doesn't hurt to go lay down for a few hours. He takes his armor, running his fingers over it as he thinks. "So this Skooma stuff you were talking about, it makes people hallucinate?" "Oh it's own, no." Her mouth turns to the side as she gives it some thought. "Actually I'm not even sure what it does to you. I'm not about to try.." She waves her hands at the idea. "It's mostly the sap, it makes you see things that aren't there. Or you see people as monsters. That effect seems to take over more often. It drove this one fellow to kill the people he was working for. He gutted them and covered the fort with their entrails. Which again is common and I really don't know why..." He just stands there, eyes wide. He's very familiar with the shady underground of drugs. Not that he used, but he's never heard of something this dangerous. "They ended up calling themselves the Crimson River bandits, cleaver right?" He frowns as he shakes his head, hardly amused. "Well anyways, I'll be upstairs, if you get tired there's a spare room downstairs." She waves as she makes her way to her bedroom. The place is quiet, all he hears is the cracking of the near by firepit.
He's far from tired, so he turns to the large bookshelf behind him. A few catch his eye and he sits himself down by the fire. He might as well read for a awhile and see what he can learn. He even helps himself to something to drink as he reads on the Divines. He reads as much as he can, it doesn't seem she's short on history books. He's not sure when, but he ends up dozing off at some point. The only thing that wakes him is a rush set of knocking at her door. He shakes his head a bit as he tries to wake up. It was far to early in the morning. He opens the door to see a small boy standing there, holding what looks to be a crab. The boy blinks as he looks up at him. "Oh hi, you must know my ma, is she up?" He rises his brow, she didn't tell him she had kids. She slowly comes downstairs, wondering what all the noise is. "What's going on?" She yawns and the boy runs up to her. "Look what I found!" She blinks a few times as she lets out a low sigh. "Alesan, that's a Mudcrab.." He just gives her this big smile. "I promise to take real good care of it, please?" He's bouncing at this point, hoping she'll say yes. She rubs the side of her head. "Fine, just keep him away from the fireplace.." "Awesome, your the best!" He turns and runs off to take his new pet to Jorrvaskr. Artemis is just staring at her at this point and she finally seems to take notice. Her whole face goes bright pink. "Oh Gods it's not what you think."
His brow is still raised slightly. "I adopted him, I found the poor kid in Dawnstar running in between the mines and the inn. His dad was a sailor, he got sick so he and the boy were kicked off. Dad didn't make it and kiddo had no where else to go. So I leave him and a few other kids I...found in Jorrvaskr. This way they have food, a place to sleep and they can learn to take care of themselves..." He's not one to judge, at least she's trying to do good for them. "Think it's a good idea to let the kid have a pet?" She shrugs a she makes herself some breakfast. "It's no worse then half the things I tried to take home.." His eyes narrow a bit as she innocently makes some tea. "Tiny me had no fear of snakes, lizards, frogs...bugs, several bugs..." She tilts her head to the side. "I guess I still don't, don't judge." She hands him some stew to eat and he slowly joins her. After they eat they get ready and head out of Whiterun. She waste no time getting herself onto Shadowmere as Artemis summons his own horse. It causes a few passerby's to jump when he does. But they don't stay long for them to ask questions. The best way to Riften was to go south through Riverwood, to Helgen, then follow the mountain path east. This way she can see the progress that had been made in repairing Helgen. It took a bit of time for her to talk the Jarls into it. Most were fine with letting the bandits have control.
As they ride, Artemis gets to see more of the land. Riverwood is a small village with a mill. They pass by rather quick without to much notice. He sees ruins up high on the near hill just past the village. They make it to Helgen in no time at all and she slows down a touch. They had been working hard on the town for the last few months now. Seems they managed to clear out most of the burnt wood and were now rebuilding. "This is Helgen, I had just crossed the border, in time to see Alduin flying off." She turns her gaze to the town before heading down the path. "I think he was looking for me, but I had been slowed down by some bandits. I missed one hell of a party by the sounds of it.." She laughs a bit as they trot down the path. Artemis has a lift of things he wants to ask, but he has no idea as to where to start. "What made you take in orphans?" He's not sure why he ask. Maybe there's still a part of him that wishes he ended up with someone that took care of him. Rather then abuse him. She rolls her shoulders back. "I guess it's just because I know what it's like to lose your parents. I mean I got lucky, if my mother hadn't been a part of the fighters guild I don't think anyone would have noticed I was even missing..." She turns her head forward, watching the weather in case it got worse. If she had to, she can clear the weather with ease.
Her brows nit as she remembers that part of her life. "Hell I don't even remember where that old homestead was anymore. I think the Thalmor took over the place but I have no idea.." As they start to head more downhill, the snow picks up more, making it hard to see. She turns her gaze up as she takes a deep breath. "LokVahKoor!" Her Shout thunders across the mountain range. His horse rears up from the sudden sound. He holds on tight as the snow starts to fade and the sky clears. It's the same Shout she had showed him in Dawnstar. It still surprises him just how quickly it works. It's like there's no sign at all that it had been snowing. "Does your Shout work for all weather?" He can't help but ask. She turns her head to him and nods. "Rain, snow, you name it. I only really learned it to make my way up higher on the throat of the World. But since then it's been one of my more useful Shouts." It's a bit past noon by the time they make it. The guards don't even blink when she jumps off Shadowmere. Artemis follows her throw the main gates. Riften was built over the water, a few boats flouted bellow. She heads for the market and turns to a set of doors. He follows her to some docks to what looks to be a fishery. She finds the person she's looking for. He didn't know what an Argonian was, but he wasn't expecting a strange lizard like woman. Evelyn acts like it's no big deal so he tries to act like this is normal. He keeps watch over the two women, as he listens to their conversation.
Wujeeta smiles as she sees Evelyn and takes a moment to stop her work. "It's so good to see you my friend, what brings you out here?" Evelyn crosses her arms as they head for a more quiet place to talk. "Someone is passing out Kordir's Skooma, do you know what that is?" Her eyes go wide. "Yes, they banned that stuff ages ago for what it did...you don't think?" Evelyn holds out her hands. "I'm not accusing you, but I need to know if you might have an idea of where they might be hiding.." Wujeeta tilts her head, her tail moving slowly behind her. "If someone really did bring in a Hist Tree, I don't know about it. However I heard a new group of dealers are camping in the old fort Faldar's Tooth. I've been staying away, I don't want to get hooked on that stuff ever again.." Evelyn nods and smiles. "Thank you my friend, we'll check it out. In the mean time I would still keep your eyes open. If you know anyone that buys the stuff, I would try and talk them out of it." Wujeeta agrees and heads off quickly to get the word out. She turns to Artemis who wasn't to far away. "Faldar's Tooth isn't far from here. We should start there and see what we find.." She leads the way as she rubs the back of her neck. "I've cleared out the place before, bandits were using it for pit fights, wolves mostly so.." She shutters at the thought of what they might find when they get there. "Gods this sucks on so many levels..."
He doesn't say anything as they leave Riften behind some minutes later. She follows the road to where the old fort was not to far off. They don't even get close before the smell of decay catches up to them. She covers her mouth with her hood, but it hardly helps. She tries not to gag as they slowly get closer. She pulls out her bow, keeping her body low as they near the gates. The entire front walls of the fort are covered in fresh pelts, blood and something else holds the pelts to the old stone. She's doing her best to not lose her breakfast as she turns away. "By the Gods..." there's not much that can unnerve Artemis, but there's a first time for everything. Wolf heads are placed in different spots, their dead eyes watching their every move. She makes her way into the fort, not really wanting to look at the gore any longer then necessary. It's worse inside however. Like most places she's seen where people take the laced Skooma. They went all out of the place. Entrails cover the walls as well as blood and, something else she doesn't want to think about. She takes the lead, Artemis staying close behind her. The smell only gets worse the lower they go. They reach the pit, or what used to be the pit. Seems they cleared the area for a large tree. They dug the area so it could get enough water and start to collect it's sap. Of course the bandits that started this whole thing are very much dead now and is just food for the tree.
She glances around, surprised to see no one was around. Artemis tabs her shoulder and she turns to see someone hanging. Seems the last one completely lost his mind and killed himself. "Bloody hell..." She shakes her head, placing her bow back over her shoulder. She holds out her hand, creating a small flame. "Nothing left to do by burn it down.." Something sharp hits her and she yelps. An arrow now coming out of her shoulder. "Mother...I'm going to kill you!" She places her hand on the arrow as Artemis runs off to find the attacker. She grits her teeth as the pulls the arrow out. She uses her healing magic to close the wound as someone steps out. A naked Redguard steps out, only wearing an old wolf pelt over his back. He's covered in blood as he welds a hand axe. "Tree, no burn!" He screams as he runs at her. She quickly pulls out her blade and blocks the attack. For a man out of his mind, he hits hard. She swings out, then under to try and gut the madman. But he's quick, rolling to the side to try and get at her leg. She jumps back just as he misses the swing. "Fus!" It's enough to knock him back as she grips the sword with both hands. She swings hard, removing the madman's head. It rolls to the floor as his body hits the ground. She finishes healing herself as she looks around. "Artemis?" He steps out of a hallway, caring a dead body. He throws the person to the ground, a scowl on his face. "Think this is all of them?"
She takes a moment to catch her breath. "Laas." Unlike most Shouts, this on is a bit more quiet. It still shakes the area slightly as she looks around. "I don't see anything, should have used this before trying to burn the tree down..." She looks at her shoulder, aside from having to repair the armor, she'll live. "I didn't know you could use magic..." He saw her heal herself, as well as the small flame she was about to use. She takes a moment to answer. "I never told you I was a mage?" He shakes his head slightly. "My mistake, I'm actually the Arch-Mage. Not that it means much but it does come with a few perks." She takes another look around as her Shout starts to fade. "Let's get out of here." She tires again, this time she's able to burn the tree down, as well as the area around it. She steps back and they head out of the fort. She take a moment to burn everything they pass, with any luck it would help with the smell. And better yet keep bandits from wanting to ever step into this place again. Once outside she removes her hood, taking a deep breath. Artemis does the same, enjoying the clean air after all of that. "We should make sure we got them all. There's no telling if they might have hidden some of the stuff for later.." She coughs a bit, trying not to breath in the smoke. She turns and heads up wind. Artemis follows, holding his trade mark weapons. His dagger in one hand, and Caron's Claw in the other. He can feel it pulse in his hand, but he does his best to ignore it. Ever since he had used his dagger against the shade. Charon's Claw was becoming more vocal.
He still had the gauntlet just in case. But he would only use it as a last resort. He knows he can overcome the sword. If he wasn't strong enough the blade would have turned him to ash ages ago. Once she's sure they've cleared out the rest of the bandits she turns to leave. "Should be fine now." She lets out a low sigh. "Still we have no idea how many bottles are flouting around out there for people to use.." She rubs the back of he neck. This could take months to take care of. Maybe longer, there's still no lead as to who might have brought the tree in the first place. There's always someone else willing to take the risk. "I just hope this is enough to send a message to not try this again. We'll still have to keep our eyes open." She takes one more stroll around the area before making her way back to Riften. Shadowmere was waiting for her, quietly nibbling on some grass. She pets the horse as she leans her had into the beast. She turns her gaze to him before she smiles. "Thank you for the help, sorry I dragged you into this mess." His boots were now covered in blood, but he shrugs slightly. He doesn't normally go out of his way to do these sorts of things. But even he can see letting something like this slide is a bad idea. "It's fine.." He finally says after a moment. She says nothing more and they soon head off again.
