Not long after, the company of guards enters the cave followed by Brienne.
We all gather up at the center of the Falr settlent and Thorgrim takes his ti explaining the situation to Hjolmir, when he gets to the part about the final fight the guards turn to with astonishnt, they interrupt the conversation and start asking questions but I point at my throat and shake my head, and now they are looking even funnier, yup I am becoming an honorary n'wah whether I like it or not...
I drift off as they start organizing the transportation of the rescued prisoners, but Brienne interrupts and hands a potion bottle "Master Tolfdir told to give you this when he learned of your state, he said it would help speed up your recovery"
Ah, bless that old man! I smile and nod at her before downing the potion in one swig, imdiately feeling better, the potion feels like a constant but light restoration spell spreading through my entire body.
She also hands a couple of Magicka potions, making do a fake swoon which made her giggle.
Not long after, the guards are done with their planning and Hjolmir walks to the side of the 'square' where I am standing and pats my shoulder with a proud look on his face "You did good Reyvin, when I heard you shouted the Falr to death I thought the three that told drunk"
I sigh and write down "It isn't my fault your people forgot your ancient arts to the point that anyone using them is considered a myth"
He shakes his head "If it were only that simple." Before he rights himself and starts talking seriously "So of the guards will be returning alongside the prisoners to Winterhold, we don't want to leave them back at their hosteads until we are sure that they are all right and the threat has been dealt with. You could choose to go back with them and no one would say a word"
I imdiately shake my head and write "I would feel defeated if I left this halfway, and besides soone needs to save your boy's asses if they get in over their heads again."
He laughs happily "Aye, it's a sha you aren't a Nord, you sure would fit in with us" I look at him mock offended and he laughs again. I sigh.
(General pov)
It takes the company so ti to reorganize themselves, the wounded guards alongside so of the new arrivals leave with the liberated Nords.
A group of fourteen guards, Hjolmir, Thorfinn, and Thorgrim among them, alongside the three mages start their descent into the Dwer ruin.
The gates themselves are made of the signature Dwer tal, leading into an orderly tunnel covered by random traces of Falr living there. They move slowly through the initial rooms, Reyvin warning everyone to watch for traps as the Dwer remnants are known to be full of them, this saves a couple of guards from an untily and very gory demise.
Most of the initial rooms are empty, well empty of Falr, there re a lot of Dwer items that should sell for a pretty penny once they were done with their expedition, naturally no one loots anything as it would only weigh them down going forward.
It takes an entire hour of slowly inching through the abandoned halls before they et their first adversaries, a group of dwarven spiders, thankfully of the worker variant that are dispatched with ease. Reyvin makes a note to loot them for all they are worth on their way back.
Not long after the group enters a wide chamber reminiscent of a debate hall, coming face to face with a group of a couple of dozen very surprised and very large armored Falr.
The Nords do not give their enemy a second to collect themselves, the Captain of the guard casting augntation spells on himself and charging like an enraged bull almost turning the first Falr he ets to paste with his mace, the rest quickly join him in the battle, spells flying from the backline showering the creatures in a mixture of fire and ice.
After taking heavy losses to the surprise attack, the Falr reorganize into a surprisingly robust formation and start a shield wall battle with the Nords, holding their own with surprising efficiency.
Deciding not to let an enemy have even the slightest chance of victory, Reyvin once again levitates into the air and positions himself above the enemy formation, throwing fireballs into the target rich environnt.
Before he can continue decimating the enemy ranks, a couple of the enemy warriors break of from the backline and point dwarven crossbows at him, the bolts break through his wind- ward but are weakened enough for his armor and stoneflesh to stop them.
Getting frightened by the sudden ranged attack Reyvin channels his inner Palpatine and casts greater sparks from both of his hands, frying the crossbown inside their armor.
So of the guardsn get wounded during the combat but the now severely weakened Falr aren't enough to inflict any casualties. The fighting continues for a very short while with the flying Dunr continuing his bombardnt.
After killing the last goblinated elf, and finishing off any that may have survived, the Nords spread out and set up a periter while the mages get to neutralizing the poison from the wounded guards and then to healing them.
Confirming that there are no other enemies nearby, doing so once more using the mage's familiars, Hjolmir decides that they should take a break.
An hour of rest and a quick al later they were on the prowl once again, following more winding tunnels and dispatching a couple more smaller groups of automata or the oddly large
Falr warriors.
(Reyvin's pov)
Tunnel after tunnel, seriously most of them are just empty and I can't for the life of ascertain the purpose, are they a siege defense system? Is this why they are like this? Or did the Dwer dig them out just to fuck with ?
Deciding to stop whining like a 17 year old, I refocus on my magic eyesight, noticing no traces of anyone or anything, I return to a thought that has been plaguing since we entered the caves: Why are the Falr wearing proper armor and fighting in formations, were they misrepresented in the ga or is this an isolated incident?
I have doubts that the elves who degenerated to the point of their souls turning into white ones are capable of returning to any kind of forr glory on their own, which has a lot of uncomfortable implications.
My thoughts are interrupted by a large gate now blocking our way, there was no locking chanism but opening them is sure to alert whatever is on the other side.
Hjolmir signals for us to stop and casts a spell on the gate after touching it with his palm, after a couple of silent monts he turns to us "There is a very large space beyond this gate, at least the size of a small town" He turns to "You think it could be so kind of entrance
to Blackreach?"
I shake my head and point my finger below us.
He nods "So a mine or so kind of village or camp then" Before shaking his head and letting out a breath "Well, no ti like the present!" He pushes the gate inwards and we are greeted
with a beautiful sight.
Large tree sized glowing blue mushrooms surrounding many small Dwer houses, two tiny rivers flowing from a waterfall at the edge of the cave, and a tower of stone and dwarven tal in the center of it all.
As soon as I see the large building and feel the baleful and bloody aura around it mixed in with
a gentle light, I know with absolute certainty that it holds the answers to all my questions about this place.
[Quest issued: Unearth the secret of the Falr][Reward: Mag: 10, random Dwer
schematics]
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