16: Hunter/Gatherer

I struck out along the road for a while, and was met with no confrontations, but there was two corpses of bandits. Apparently they were taken out by imperial legion patrols. The had nothing useful on them, so I moved on. The road grew monotonous as I walked on, I refused to stop anywhere, but I did get a little sidetracked.

The road was familiar enough for a while, I had traveled on it to get to Cheydinhal after all, but I noticed more things this time around. For one, I noticed all the beautiful flora. I recognized many of them, and harvested the useful reagents that I could. I wandered off the road in this way, picking flowers and drawing out root pulp as I made my way deeper into the woods. Birds flitted from tree to tree above me, and I encountered the occasional wolf, but otherwise my detour was quiet and uneventful. I encountered a herd of deer at some point, and I dispatched them quickly with fireballs. The meat on them was well cooked by the spell, and I pulled it off quite easily. I enjoyed a small snack of venison, but packed most of it away for later use.

I continued on, pulling out mushrooms and monkshood flowers. I passed an old imperial fort ruin, and checked my map to see where I was. Thankfully, I found that I was actually taking a shortcut through the woods, instead of being wildly off course. Soon I was back on the Red Ring Road, and right back on course.

I came upon a small inn, and decided to rest for a little while. I walked into the inn, and was greeted by roasting venison and foaming flagons of beer. Happy hour was apparently here! The inn was packed with people in armor, mostly shoddy bits of fur, and the cacophony was glorious.

I squeezed up to the bar and ordered an ale, which was promptly served to me by the bartender. I paid her and asked what was going on. She was forced to yell over the din, but I found out why these adventurers were here. Apparently a Necromancer had moved into the nearby cave, causing all sorts of undead havoc. I remembered the Mages Guild’s stance against necromancy, and offered to help her. She thanked me and told me where the cave was; just north of the inn itself. I thought I could handle a necromancer den, so I finished my ale and exited the inn.

The cave was a very short distance from the inn, and I pushed my way into the darkness. It was filled with rats and skeletons, which wasn’t at all surprising, and I made short work of them. I found a necromancer deep in the cave, but he didn’t fit the description of the one I was looking for so I assumed that there must be more. I found a key on the Necromancer’s charred corpse, and had to backtrack to find a door that it fit into. I burst in, ready for anything, and received a fireball in the chest for my efforts.

I was thrown back through the doorway, and I rolled myself over to extinguish the flames. I quickly healed myself and got up. I summoned a skeleton, and sent it to deal with the Necromancer’s own minions. It was quickly blown apart by several spells, and I discovered that I was up against two Necromancers! I launched a fireball at the closest one, and it connected with her chest. I was shocked to see the Necromancer simply keep coming at me. She had a very hefty mace, and appeared to have the intention of making my head it’s best friend. I launched another fireball at her, but in my haste I missed, and was forced jump behind a rock pillar as another fireball was launched at me. I fired off another fireball at her from behind my cover, and this one hit its mark as well. Nevertheless, she kept coming, although admittedly slower and more painfully. I jumped out to meet her, and as I brought my axe down to meet her, I was blasted with a strong bolt of electricity from the other Necromancer. I was once again sent flying, this time twitching as I hit the floor. The woman came to finish me off, which gave me the perfect opportunity to freeze her kneecaps solid. She screamed and fell to the floor, her legs completely frozen stiff. I finished her with my axe and ducked behind some roots as the second Necromancer charged. My magicka reserves were drained, and I was in a great deal of suffering, so I quaffed a few potions very quickly, and felt my strength return. I lobbed a fireball at the oncoming Necromancer, who also ducked down behind some roots. I smiled and sent a few fireballs his way, knowing that his roots would catch fire, while mine would absorb the lighting he sent. I heard a satisfying scream, and charged towards his cover, sending Flare spells at him to keep him down. His robe had caught fire, and he was desperately trying to put it out, which gave me a great opportunity to finish him off. A few fireballs silenced him for good, and the world was slightly safer.

I picked through the belongings of the necromancers, and found a few jewels, scrolls, and potions, but not much else. The Cave was empty now, so I decided to return to the inn and collect the reward.

It was night by the time I was back at the inn, and when I went inside I saw that all the adventurers had left. Word travels faster than I do apparently. I approached the bartender and she rewarded me with a small amount of gold, which I took gladly. I asked if there were any rooms available for the night, and received one free of charge. I hefted myself up to the small room and laid myself down.

Looking back at the past few days, I have accomplished quite a lot. My magical skills are returning to me slowly, and I have not forgotten how to use an axe. Things are looking up, as I have already made quite a good bit of gold, and am well stocked for whatever lies in my path, but I cannot help the feeling of dread that I have. I am worried about what will become of the empire without an Emperor. Perhaps Jauffre will find the heir and restore him to the throne, but who knows. Dark times are ahead, I can feel it. I hope that this enigmatic Dark One that I search for is able to give me some answers.