My name is Akatosh,
I'm thinking about my latest plans.
——4E, 201, Hearthfire Moon, 9th, 18:31——
Snowflakes were flying, the north wind was howling, and there was a vast expanse between heaven and earth. Although it was not yet night, torches were already lit in the Frozen Furnace Hotel, shining on a group of travelers who had originally planned to or had already set off, but were driven back by the heavy snow.
Although adventurers who are strong enough can easily ignore the bad weather, basically no one wants to suffer the consequences of hearing the sound of large snowflakes thrown up by the hurricane and hitting the roof of the hotel.
Winterfort is located along the coast. Since there are no mountains to cover it, it is often hit by the cold winds of the Sea of the Dead. There are not many days of good weather. In addition, because the "Great Collapse" destroyed the mountains on the west side, it will cause problems from time to time. The scene of heavy snow closing the city - even though this "city" is relatively small.
Seeing the hotel owner shouting at the waiters to prepare the room for rent, Arthur sighed helplessly. According to his original plan, he would go directly to the door after finding out the location of Silver Hand's lair.
According to the currently known information, the person behind Operation Silver Hand is Hestra, a former member of the Comrades. She takes orders from an ancient vampire king. So, it is naturally impossible for this king to live with a group of mortals or servants. .
Some uncertain information speculated that the prince was a powerful noble in ancient times and lived in his remote castle when he did not need to go out, but there was no way to prove it further.
In this way, as long as the other party feels that they are hidden enough and safe enough, and suddenly launches an attack to destroy the Silver Hand headquarters, its subordinate branches will fall into a state of leaderlessness. As for Hestra, it doesn't matter whether she is an undercover or a traitor. Anyone who comes into contact with it The result is that the opponent will lose an important combat force, and whether this combat force will join our own side is not that important.
The reason for not joining up with the three Wilkas brothers is because the intensity of this battle cannot be predicted. Compared with Arthur who can turn into a dragon, Lydia with impeccable defense, and the flexible wolf girl Ella, even if it is nothing The Babas used can also support others when they are fighting alone, while the three "shield brothers" who must cooperate with each other to exert their full combat effectiveness can easily fall into passivity.
But now something unexpected happened - if you want to enter the Drifting Shadow Sanctuary, you must possess "Wusraad". In other words, you must first go to the Tomb of Sgramer to join them and transfer "Wuslas" Ladd" can only be restored.
According to Tovdir, the Master of Change at the Mage Academy, that shelter was built by elves and had its own ancient magic circle, which blocked the entry of all living creatures other than elves. However, it was still blocked by Wuslade, the "elf nemesis" wielding The Sgrammer attacked with overwhelming force.
The Silver Hand Vampire occupies that place by virtue of its status as "not a living creature." As long as it is ensured that Wuslade will not reappear, it will be impossible for anyone to break through that magic circle again.
Of course, just collecting the fragments is not enough. If you can completely eliminate the comrades and destroy Sgramer's inheritance, you can truly rest easy.
This was probably the reason why they decided to attack the comrades, but they just didn't expect to hit the iron plate this time. The corners of Arthur's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a smile.
"What did you think of that made you so happy?" Ella, who was sitting next to her, suddenly raised her hand and waved it in front of Arthur's eyes: "That beautiful baroness?"
"No - wait? It seems like it is indeed..." Arthur wanted to deny it, but recalled some details and pondered again.
"Ha~" Ella spread her hands and turned to continue dealing with the food on the table.
The so-called "baron's exclusive room" was probably just a cover-up. Before "Zera Pesh" opened the door and walked out, Arthur could confirm that there was no one in that room, so she only reserved the room for the convenience of teleportation.
Thinking about it now, even though the other party was the Baron of Winterhold, the chief mage of the college, my behavior of rashly announcing my identity was a bit inappropriate. Was he frightened by the countless "deaths" entangled with her at that time, or was he convinced that she would help? Cover yourself up from possible vampire spies? Or...
What happened next refreshed Arthur's understanding of his ability to "see death". When Zella took him and his companions to the Mage Academy, the feeling was so strong that Arthur planned to ask her if she had fallen into something. The dangerous "death" disappeared instantly without a trace.
Because we had to cross a dangerous suspended bridge next, we deliberately dispersed them? Arthur is very doubtful about this, after all, so far he has never seen anyone who can control its appearance and disappearance-except the Holy Spirit.
After entering the academy, when Zela introduced them to Master Tovdir, the dense "vortex of death" reappeared and entangled her. In less than a moment, after Zela sat down at the desk in the corner, they disappeared again. not see.
So why is that thing behaving like this strangely? Is it because mages often walk on the edge of life and death?
After thinking about it, Arthur finally made a judgment: In fact, the baron mage lady was studying spells silently all the time. When the spells enter the most dangerous stage and may cause backlash, those "deaths" will haunt them. come over.
At that time, he was a little distracted because of too much thinking. Arthur accidentally started to talk to Master Tovdir in written language. The result seemed to amuse Zella who had been reading a book. Those "deaths" appeared again, so he quickly turned to the topic. .
It didn't take long to inquire about the specific location of Silver Hand's headquarters, but it took a lot of time to understand the information about the [Elder Scroll] needed by the ancient dragon Paarthurnax. During this period, Zella Pesh remained thoughtful. , looking here with an expression of careful listening, and "Death" did not reappear after disappearing - until he said goodbye and left.
It seemed that there was no need to worry at all. When he left, he looked at Zeira waving goodbye and made a judgment. Those "deaths" obviously would not harm her, and they might even obey her orders to some extent.
...Why is this feeling so inexplicably familiar?
"Ledia, who do you think Margaret belongs to?" Arthur came back to his senses, just in time to hear Ella whispering to Lydia. After walking together for a period of time, although they were still not very familiar with each other, Granted, but at least we can have a peaceful and even slightly intimate conversation.
"Winterfort is nominally the territory of the Stormcloaks, so it may be someone from the Empire, but we cannot deny the possibility that the Stormcloaks sent people to monitor the academy, which is a factor that is not easy to control." Lydia answered.
"It's the same as not saying anything." Ella took a bite of bread.
Margaret? who? Arthur frowned slightly and began to remember.
Her name sounded like a lady, but because her group was too eye-catching, she attracted almost everyone's attention while walking in the academy. There was an old lady with a fierce face who stared straight at Arthur, as if he owed him something. Like giving her many gold coins, judging from the fact that Miss Zella called Master Tovdir "father", could that be her mother? Um……
In short, now that we have left the Mage Academy, there is no point in thinking about it anymore. After the snow stops, we will go to the Tomb of Sgramer to meet the three brothers, hoping that they will not be disturbed by the snowstorm and get lost.
——19:44——
To the southwest of Winterfort, there are large snow-capped mountains, canyons and ravines that isolate it. Due to the interference of the "Great Collapse" of Winterfort, the wind direction and wind force in the snow-capped mountains are changing all the time. In a world full of snow, it is difficult to judge whether The right direction can only be determined by intuition.
"What the hell, Farkas, is this the way you're leading?"
In a snowy valley with steep slopes on all sides, there was no shelter from the wind, and there was no way to find the way there. In front of an ice wall that seemed to be frozen by a waterfall, Wells irritably faced his own way. The brother lowered his voice and growled.
"This... I'm also very surprised. According to experience, you should be able to find a temporary shelter by following the traces left by animals." Farkas scratched his head, looking confused.
"Are you following it?" Wilkas, who was relatively calm, raised his hand and pointed to a cave on a high slope, where a snow goat poked its head out while chewing something.
The three members of the Shining Armor Comrades fell silent for a moment.
"How about we transform and jump on it?" Farkas suggested.
"It's best not to do that. Silverhand's headquarters may be nearby." Wilkas replied.
"Well..." Farkas looked up at the goat unwillingly.
"If that doesn't work, we'll make a hole in the ice wall, seal the entrance with snow, and rest inside for the night." Wells picked up his sword and shield, turned around and looked up and down the ice wall.
"It would be a good idea if it doesn't cause an avalanche." Wilkas nodded.
"I'll help too." Farkas raised his two-handed sword.
"One, two, three!" "Boom -"
The expected openings, bounces from the ice wall, and even the most unlucky avalanche did not happen. The brothers directly broke a large hole in the ice wall and passed through.
"I have to say, Farkas, your intuition is quite accurate," Wilkas followed and walked into the cave behind the ice wall: "...but sometimes it seems unsafe."
The huge brass pipes are rusty, the rough stone walls and floors are full of cracks, and discarded chunks of dwarven metal and abandoned metal spiders can be seen everywhere.
Not far from the entrance, Farkas and Wells, still holding weapons, were looking at the "creature" in front of them in a daze.
Those strange creatures with pale skin, huge heads, closed eyes, pointed ears, long and thin limbs, and wearing tattered armor were "looking" towards the entrance.
"These guys have no vision and rely entirely on hearing to capture enemies. If you are good at sneaking, you can slip past them without alerting them, but now we can only-" Wilkas sighed and pulled out the two-handed sword behind his back: "Kill Just them."
"Gah!" As if they understood this sentence, the monsters rushed toward the entrance crazily.
