Our party of 4 had arrived at the Tomb of King Olaf. Dead man's respite was the place. Honestly odd name in my opinion. It confused me entirely. Viree sighed, "God I am so tired."
I patted her back, "You are gonna be okay."
Lurbuk smirked, "So this is the place."
I nodded, "Yup, we will go through the dungeon until we find the verse from their we clear the rest of the draugr. After that we will escape the tomb and split up."
Viarmo nodded, "You said you are going to Dawnstar?"
I would be meeting Canary at Dawnstar within 9 days. It actually worked out well for my plans. I could sneak off to High Gate ruins along the way. A beneficial win for me. The catch to this plan was the quest Sheogorath gave me. I had no doubt the quest maker for the razor would point to me. I was a fool if I wasn't wary about an ambush.
I lead everyone into the tomb as a I responded to Viarmo. "Yes I agreed to help in an investigation of missing imperial soldiers."
Viarmo nodded, "I heard about those from an army musician."
That made sense, bard were good for moral in large battles. It also helps dissuade heavy bloodshed. Viree sighed, "Of course that means I have to come with."
Lurbuk laughed at her comment. However paused, "What is that?"
I looked ahead and saw the ruby puzzle claw. I walked over and picked it up, "A key for a part of the dungeon. Very common for Nordic Tombs."
Viarmo pointed, "Look ahead."
Sure enough as soon as I picked up the claw the ghost appeared. I knew he would appear, "That's Svaknir, we will need to follow him for the Verse probably."
Lurbuk called out, "Draugr!" The ghost left with a wave, but Draugr rose from their resting places.
4 draugr, 4 of us. It was an easy enough fight and it wasn't long until we followed Svaknir. Viarmo spoke again as we followed along. "Svaknir was credited with writing and performing the particularly damning piece of work challenging King Olaf's character and the events surrounding his capture of the dragon Numinex, as chronicled in Olaf and the Dragon. Olaf's Verse, as it was entitled, so enraged the High King that he ordered the destruction of all copies of the verse and had Svaknir imprisoned."
Viarmo continued to talk even as we cut down draugr that got up. "The last copy of the verse was buried here with Svaknir. The interesting thing about this was despite dying in prison before King Olaf. They dug up Svaknir and moved him to be buried here inside a cell similar to one he died in."
Lurbuk sliced through a draugr as he asked, "Sounds like King Olaf had an incredibly fragile ego."
I nodded, "Some say Olaf beat Numinex with the dragon tongue. However the truth was likely closer to Olaf tricking Numinex and imprisoning him inside dragonsreach. The equipment to capture a dragon is still there."
Viree interrupted, "I'm all for the history lesson, but I have to ask. Dragon Tongue?"
Lurbuk to my shock explained. "It's called the Thu'um. A story that inspired me to be a bard was how most fights between dragons were debates, songs or conversations."
I nodded, "One can also summon a dragon if they are able to shout their name using Thu'um. This was how Numinnex was tricked. Calling a dragon's name like that is a call for a battle of words or a deal of some kind. Dragons are much like us in many ways, but history with them has greatly shifted our interactions with them."
Viree looked at me, "You seem to have respect for dragons."
Lurbuk and Viarmo nodded, "You have a very respectful tone despite your words."
I rubbed my chin thinking about it. I suppose I did. Paarthunax was likely where it originated from. I gave a shrug, "Power, Knowledge, Immortality. What's there not to love... or want from them. I am sure Olaf had similar thoughts."
They all seemed to accept the answer even though an awkward silence lingered. The silence stayed until we were met with the puzzle door. I began shifting the combination into place. Viree asked, "How do you know the combination?"
I raised up the claw and she frowned. Lurbuk commented, "That doesn't seem very secure."
I shrugged, "Not for keeping people out. For sealing certain powers in. Let me ask you this, what makes a draugr? How are they made?"
Lurbuk paused thinking, but I already knew none of them knew. Viarmo shook his head, "No one knows. It is why so many have tried to research it."
I laughed, "Draugr are made just like any other ghost or goul. The difference is instead of remaining in the world due to vengeance or so on. Draugr remain through hatred, guardianship and loyalty. They were embalmed and so on, but those attachments linger. Most Nordic ruins have draconic word walls inside them or seal away some dragon cult or nordic hero."
I gave a laugh, "That's the thing about Sovengarde. Olaf is buried here, but his soul is within Sovengarde. So what is a draugr, eh?"
They didn't understand what I meant. However truth was Olaf was buried here and will rise as a draugr. However if one enters Sovengarde you can meet Olaf at the table. Whether you kill the draugr or not. It was all too interesting from my perspective.
We arrived at a magically sealed door. Lurbuk asked, "Now what? Vek do you know how to open it?"
I pointed at the ghost of Svaknir. "How about we ask him."
He began walking away down a separate path and the party looked at me. "Lurbuk and Viree stay here. Svaknir is likely leading us to his resting place. We will come back, that's guaranteed."
They nodded and me and Viarmo followed after the ghost. He asked, "How do you know so much Vek? Were you a researcher of some kind? Why come to Skyrim?"
I smirked, "No, nothing like that." I decided to give a relatively bullshit answer, "War, Adventure, Profit. Why not come? At the end of the day, I am mostly driven by the desire for learning and knowledge."
Viarmo nodded and we came to a small room with a pull chain and a path going down. I pulled the chain and the gate opened. "Down we go."
Viarmo led the way and gasped when he reached the bottom. He ran forward, but I grabbed his shoulder just before he did. "Pay respect to the dead."
Svaknir was sitting right next to a skeleton and a book clutched in its arms. Viarmo nodded, "I'm sorry." He bowed to the ghost and it smiled.
{Achievement! Respect for the Dead.}
A common achievement, It changed nothing, I moved forward and carefully removed the book. Passing it to Viarmo his eyes practically glowed. Svaknir vanished and we heard a scream. We looked at each other and ran back up the stairs and to Lurbuk and Viree.
However we found Lurbuk gasping for air and Viree shaking her head. "What happened, we heard a scream."
Lurbuk recovered himself and coughed, "The ghost appeared in front of us and the door opened. I, uh was spooked."
Me and Viarmo let out a small chuckle. I addressed everyone, "This is the big fight. All I will say, try not to die and avoid being blown to bits by Olaf's Thu'um."
They nodded at first, but paused at the second part. Lurbuk asked, "Can that happen?"
I looked at him, "Just ask King Torygg or his wife. I am sure they will have the answer to that."
Viarmo choked, "Cugh! L-Let's move on." Lurbuk just had a pale face and moved silently on with us.
Viree whispered "Explain."
I leaned over, "King Torygg was the Jarl of Solitude. Ulfric, the leader of the stormcloaks. Challenged Torygg, but instead of fair combat. Ulfric used his Thu'um to literally blow Torygg away. Turning him into a paste."
She gasped, "That's messed up."
I nodded and she clicked her tongue, "I mean about what you said."
I nodded again, but Svaknir drew our attention. "Arise, Olaf! My vengeance is at hand!" Despite being a ghost is voice was booming.
Draugr began to awaken from around us. Olaf however kicked the lid off his coffin and rose from it. My eyes focused in on his ebony axe. A free, new, spare weapon. I wanted to kill him myself, but the ghostly Svaknir could distract the powerful Draugr for now.
I slammed the Oathblade into the skull of a draugr that charged at me. It was about 20 Draugr in total. I dodged an arrow barely and slashed at another draugr. Eventually only 3 draugr remained. A Draugr Scourge, A Draugr Deathlord, and Olaf himself.
I threw my hand forward and burned all the mana I had acquired. I literally barely had enough to use the spell Lich's Bane. A small orb of radiant light formed in my hand. The Draugr all seemed to react to it. However it didn't matter much as I threw the ball of light forward. It exploded in a ball of light.
When the effect was done, I felt sluggish from using all my mana. The spell used 178 mana. I barely had 180 mana in total. I looked up and my party were both staring at me and the downed Olaf. Svaknir marched up to the Draugr and drove a sword through his skull. His figure turned to us as he pulled out his lute. With a strum of his instrument a ray of light engulfed him and he faded away. "Thank you..."
Once he disappeared the party looked at me, Viarmo shouted, "What the fuck was that?"
I shrugged, "Magic."
He shook his head, "I mean, what spell. I have never seen or heard of a restoration spell that powerful."
I shrugged, "Its an expert level spell that requires all my mana. It is called Lich's Bane. I'd say its pretty effective."
He laughed, "Effective! If you used that at the start!"
I shook my head, "It spreads the damage it does across targets. More targets in the explosion less overall damage it does."
Viarmo sighed, "Fair enough. Best to use it on the strongest foes then."
I picked up the ebony axe Olaf had and stepped toward the Word Wall. Viree followed me over, "So what does it say?"
I laughed and translated, "Noble Nord, remember these words of the Hoar Father, Oblivion hath no fury like a shield maiden scorned."
She looked at me, "Is that really what it translates?"
I nodded, "If you were a being like the dragonborn you would be able to receive the understanding of the word, Nah or Fury. Combine the words Wuld Nah Kest, which translates to Whirlwind Fury Tempest. You could dash 100 meters in a single second."
She had a light smile, "That's actually neat."
I shrugged just as Lurbuk walked over. "So this is one of the legendary word walls."
Viarmo nodded, "They say the dragons themselves carved them."
I responded, "They did, using their claws to carve into the stone. Many dragons actually record poetry or tales of nord heroes. Despite being enslavers of men a long time ago. They did respect those who deserved it."
Viarmo nodded, "I could use that actually. Parts of the Verse are inked out. We will need to fill in the blanks."
I turned to the party, "Let's leave now. I'll be back in Solitude after 15ish days."
Viarmo smiled, "We will prepare the Festival for your arrival then."
I nodded and we began leaving the Tomb.