Chapter Twenty-Eight - Ivarstead - 1st of Hearthfire 4E 201 - Umbra
I woke up to the noise of the patrons of the inn, and to the rustling of clothes being worn in the room. I slowly got up and rubbed my eyes, yawning quite loudly as my back creaked from the night spent on the floor. "We should get your wounds checked," Berry's voice reached me as a soft whisper as I winced while wobbling to my feet. She looked as fresh as ever, while I probably was knocking heavily at death's door.
"I'll go look for an alchemist," Berry said, "You should wait here."
I shook my head, "If I can walk, then it means I have to," I acquiesced. "Also," I smiled, "I think Ivarstead doesn't have an alchemist. At most it has a Draugr-infested tomb atop the hill," I coughed out, "Which is probably our best bet in finding potions."
"You sure about that?" Berry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Pretty sure," I replied, "But you can ask the innkeeper. Perhaps I'm wrong, after all."
I wasn't wrong. I wasn't wrong, but I did sincerely wish I would be proven wrong in some form or the other. The innkeeper did direct us to Wilhelm first though, and as we stepped inside the Vilemyr inn, I realized just how packed a room could be. There were a lot of people hollering and yelling at a nearby table, "We need to do something!" one of them barked, but the innkeeper didn't seem bothered by it as we neared his counter.
"Don't mind the ruckus," the bald man spoke roughly, his expression tightly controlled. "There's been a murder last night and the townsfolk are on edge."
"My friend here got hurt pretty badly fighting bandits," Berry said while pointing at me, "You don't happen to have any potions for sale, do you?"
Wilhelm did, surprisingly, have some potions to sell. The price was steep, and by the time I gulped down the single one we could afford and still have money left to buy provisions for the trip up the seven thousand steps. I gasped in relief, cracking my neck right and left as my insides stopped hurting. Whoever had crafted potions was truly to be kissed, and loved, and hugged, and told he or she was the best possible person in the world.
"Thank the Divines for potions," I muttered. I glanced at the hollering crowd mainly composed of Nords, though a couple of Bretons and Imperials seemed to be a part of it too. "Who died?" I asked.
"The town's madman," Wilhelm replied. "It's how he died that has people on edge," he shook his head. "I saw the war, but the way Narfi died...it wasn't anything I had seen before. It was as if a feral beast clawed him in pieces."
"Couldn't it have been a bear then?" I asked next, "You've got a bear problem around these parts, don't you?"
"We do, and if you heard Temba Wide-Arms, you'd believe bears were the reason for everything wrong in the world," Wilhelm said dryly, "But no beast would make knots out of an intestine and write in blood on the floor its length, nor nail Narfi's face to the door."
I grimaced and shuddered, "That's...horrifying," I brought a hand to my mouth and swallowed, trying to keep last night's dinner inside.
"Must be the Barrow's ghosts," Wilhelm said. "It doesn't bode well, not with Tales and Tallows coming up in just two days," he grimaced. "Whole town's on edge," he continued. "Visitors and pilgrims are ready to run away, and it wouldn't be good for what little business Ivarstead has." He sighed, and then looked at us two. I knew that look. I knew that look, and it came coupled with a bright yellow exclamation mark on his head, or it would have had this been a massive multiplayer online game. "You two look like the adventurer sort."
"We do, but we have to climb the seven thousand steps quite urgently," I said quickly, "Matters of life and death, truly," I turned to look at Berry, only for her to look back at me. "What?"
"We do need money for the provisions, and thicker clothes, and armor," she replied. "Isn't this one of those times where you usually push me into this head-first?"
I sucked air in sharply, and then nodded, though my heart sank to the bottom of my stomach. "Course it is," I said, "Course it's something like this," I chuckled grimly, passing a hand through my hair. "Very well then," I turned towards WIlhelm. "You said you saw the war so...you still got your armor from when you served?"
"Aye," Wilhelm said. "I'll add in to that a few hundred septims pitched in from the townsfolk. They'll all be glad someone's taking a look at it. The last adventurer who went inside never came back, but maybe if two step in one might come out and explain what's happening in there."
I chuckled, "Joy," I had vague memories of Shroud Hearth Barrow, but I did remember one thing about it. I remembered one very important thing about it.
The traps.
I filched out the small circular bauble and huffed as I glanced at the cerulean gemstone within the center of its frame. Under the light of the morning, I now did recognize the amulet in question, or at least, the piece of it that remained since it was without chain. "Very well," I said. "We'll get to it while the sun's high in the sky." I took a small breath, and then blinked. "By the by, before we get to it, is there a certain Klimmek around these parts right now? Got something to tell him from Mara."
"Klimmek the fisherman? He's the bald one with the blond beard tied in a tail," Wilhelm's head gestured towards one of the men in the group. The man in question was wearing a light brown tunic and a white shirt beneath, green trousers completing the ensemble. Tied to his belt was a small ax, more properly used to gut fishes rather than men, but then again he was a fisherman and not a soldier of sorts.
I nodded and turned my back from the counter, "Also, some breakfast. Can't go face ghosts on an empty stomach," I said as I began to walk towards the man in question, stopping only once I came at arm's length. "Apologies for interrupting," I said, "I must speak with a certain Klimmek," as I said that, the fisherman in question turned to look at me, furrowing his brows.
"Do I know you?" he asked curtly.
"No, but it doesn't matter since I know you," I replied quite calmly. "Name's Umbra, and if possible I would like to speak with you in private. Won't take long, I guarantee it." I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
"We're busy right now, Imperial," another Nord spoke gruffly, "Can't you see that?"
"I can see it," I replied, "Which is why, since my fellow and I most kindly decided to go look into your ghosts troubles for you folk, I have come here because before departure there was something else I needed to do. It won't take more than a couple of minutes, but since it's quite the sensible matter, I can't pretty much wave it around you fine folks."
Klimmek's eyes narrowed, but then he shrugged. "Ah, whatever. Let's go outside and I'll hear you out. Hope for your own sake it's not a waste of time."
"If it is, I'll make you forgive me with a round on my shoulders," I replied, receiving a scoff, but a small twitch of the lips from the fisherman. In the ancient realm of Nordic traditions, offering beer always worked in easing the souls weary and angry.
The chill morning air met my face as Klimmek crossed his arms and propped his shoulders against the wall just outside the Vilemyr inn. I pushed a hand through my hair, and then quite firmly spoke, "So, Klimmek, Mara's kind of wondering how long you're going to wait on it," I looked at him straight-on, "Fastred's been praying and so I've been sent to tell you to be honest with your feelings and just get a move on it and go confess. She'll need nothing else to return your love for her."
Klimmek's eyes widened briefly, "What? That's..."
"You're a fisherman, Klimmek. Do fishes hop out of the water and into your lap, or do you actually have to put the hook in the water and go out there to grab them with your nets? Come on, time's not stopping for anyone, go now, confess, and get on with it," I quipped with a grin. "You'll thank me later."
"Ysmir's beard...you're sure Fastred still...she still loves me?" Klimmek mouthed in disbelief, "Is this a joke at my expenses? Did Bassianus set it up?"
"Klimmek, Mara knows how much you are torn within, and so here I have been sent, to solve your problems. Now go, and go with Mara's blessing," I huffed as I pushed into his hands the amulet of Mara. "Get on with it man, fish's gonna swim off into the ocean if you don't hurry."
Klimmek swallowed as he looked down at the amulet, and then back up at me, "If it's true..." he murmured, and then smiled, "If it's true, I'll always have a spot at my table for you," and then he rushed off across the street with a speed unlike any others. I watched him go, and then sighed as I glanced up in the sky.
"You happy?" I mouthed to the sky, "Because I swear the Barrows are the last place I actually want to go right now," I continued mouthing towards the sky, "So if you'd cause an earthquake and destroy them, it would be nice."
I stepped back inside the inn with a sigh, and as I sat down at the table where Berry was, she gave me a look that could only be translated with a Come on, now explain. "I have done a service to one of the Divines," I replied dryly.
"That so?" Berry said, "Do they come to you in your dreams or do they actually speak to your ears alone?" she asked next.
"I wish they'd do that," I said with a drawn-out sigh, "They simply put things in my path that I must gather and then relinquish. If I find a key, then I must keep it and use it to open a lock further down the road, and so on."
"Right," Berry said, "So what's keeping you from palming a fork?" she asked next, gesturing at the wooden fork set in front of me, which could be used to pierce the tough-looking bread and dip it into the large bowl of milk that was probably our breakfast.
"You shouldn't underestimate the power of a fork," I replied with a smirk. "Who knows when a fork thrust in the right place and time can make the difference between life and death?" I quite gingerly picked the fork up, "everyone's weak in the eyes after all," I continued, "You don't need a sword to stab someone in the eye, a fork will suffice."
"Did you remember something from your past?" Berry asked warily, "Because this chat about forks and eyes is eerily similar to the one your eldest sister gave me before departure."
I blinked, "Willow said something?"
"Yes, and that is why I'm not going to repeat it, because I feel like she'd keep her word on what she'd do if I broke mine," Berry said, and then gingerly pushed her bread in the bowl of hot milk, taking a nice munch out of it a few seconds later.
"You horrible tease," I replied with a defeated sigh as I dipped my own bread into the milk bowl.
Also, once we were done, I actually did steal the wooden fork.
One could never know, and as long as it wasn't bolted on the floor...
Clearly, the developers intended for it to be taken like this!
