The smell of the tomb was stale, to say the least. The place probably didn't get a lot of air for thousands of years at this point and it showed, although it surprisingly smelled more of long-evaporated oils and smoke than it did of rotten corpses.
[Quest issued: Attain the complete white phial][Reward: Drinking from the phial will have a stronger effect]
Free buffs? Sign me the hell up!
As we descended the stairway leading below I turn to Davos and ask "You know how to activate scrolls?"
He nods and I toss him a couple of scrolls of invisibility from my storage "In case of emergency hide and ambush whatever I am fighting." He accepts the scrolls and we move on.
The ancient crypt is built in the usual style one might see in the game, but while it looked simple it gave a far more foreboding feeling the deeper it went. A warning to leave, or just the usual aura of death?
The first few halls are empty of any draugr, but the still burning fires hint at their continued maintenance of the crypt.
The moment I took one step into one of the larger halls a feeling of supernatural dread tried to worm its way into my mind, I quickly shook off what was obviously an illusion ward but Davos just stood there shivering, and before I could free him from it I heard many very familiar growls coming from the catacombs.
In mere moments two dozen draugr started piling from the sides, making a rudimentary formation. Thankfully, most of the desiccated Nordic zombies wore almost no armor and had the aura barely above a skeleton, their leader on the other hand was fully armored in their ancient style and wielded a greatsword covered in glowing blue runes.
Deciding to leave no advantage to the enemy I quickly started casting protection spells and before they could start charging at me shouted "YOL!" instantly turning half of the formation into fine ashes.
Their leader seemed to growl something and the meat shields started rushing me, as they approached I started firing sunbeams at them and cutting them down like grass, their grunts of pain music to my ears.
One managed to reach me only to quickly get bisected by my staff, and just as I was about to turn and start bombarding the leader I noticed him almost standing in my face and swinging his blade at my neck.
Thinking quickly I launch myself to the ground by using telekinesis on my robes and narrowly avoid a swift death, although hitting the floor did leave me winded I quickly roll to the side and dodge another blow aiming for me.
Thank Dagoth for my third eye because without it I would have been bisected twice already.
The draugr leader raised his blade again, but I was already up and swinging at his own neck while making a victorious smirk. Said smirk was quickly wiped from my face as he whirled with supernatural speed and deflected my blow while giving me a mocking look with his glowing dead eyes.
'Oh is this how you want to play then you little shit?' I launch a disintegrating lightning bolt at his chest, but he jerks to the side and only looses an arm, his eyes light up with fury and I get a bad feeling.
He moves almost as if taking in air, and I shout "FUS!" on instinct just in time for him to respond with his own "FUS RO DAH!"
Our shouts clash with a thunderous sound and mostly cancel each other out, his full shout still manages to throw me against the wall but thankfully it isn't enough to turn me into paste. No matter this man's skill in life he was only a husk of a soul bound to a body, meaning he had no true power behind his thu'um.
My foolish impromptu pondering is quickly stopped with the sound of rushing steps and once again I barely manage to escape the greatsword aiming for my head by rolling away in the nick of time.
Deciding that enough is enough I channel more power into my wind cloak and it starts noticeably chipping at his skin, while the draugr grunts from the damage I point the tip of my staff at him and shout "WULD!" using my speed and weight to impale him while also setting him on fire in the process.
The draugr wight or overlord, I am not sure about the classification glares at me and tries to bite my face off in a last-ditch effort to kill me, but before he can realize the pointlessness of biting into an ebony mask I summon my jagged dagger and stab it into his chin and through his head.
The zombie slumps onto the ground and I quickly incinerate the corpse just in case. Taking some deep breaths and calming myself down I look to Davos who seems to have finally calmed himself down and ask in an annoyed tone "You done pissing yourself there?"
He blinks awake from whatever fearful haze he was in and gives me an embarrassed look "Uhh, yeah boss sorry about that... dunno what came over me"
I roll my eyes "It was a fear ward, basic stuff meant to paralyze you in place while the good zombies give you their most generous hospitality"
He shivers a bit and then to my great surprise gives me a small bow "Please forgive my incompetence Serjo, it won't happen again"
I blink, a bit dumbfounded by the sudden formality before drawling out "Riiight, see that it doesn't." and then clap "Now I am tired from going one mer army against these assholes so please at least search the place while I try and rest a bit."
He nods and gets to work while I slump against a pillar and overview the fight in my mind.
The lower tier draugr are absolute jokes, this was to be expected as even novice adventurers have little problem culling them. The leader on the other hand was a scary opponent and I will have to be ready to focus fire on those in the future, fighting the others in melee at the same time is a far more attractive prospect than what I just went through.
After a couple of minutes, Davos returns with some enchanted ancient Nord swords and old silver coinage. I sigh and get up while dusting off my robes "Any traps or ambushes waiting for us?"
He shakes his head "No, just some more passages leading into another large room with only a couple of coffins in it."
"Hmmm, might be Curalmil's resting place, and if our previous encounter is anything to go by he will probably be in there and waiting to punish us for disturbing his rest."
Davos scoffs "These Nords really should learn to burn their dead at this point."
"Quite. For a people that claim to respect their ancestors, they sure do practice a lot of necromancy." We both share a chuckle while I store the enchanted items we found, including the greatsword of ice I got from the leader.
The final chamber, or what is supposed to be the final chamber in any case looks very close to what I remember, a large word wall surrounded by Nordic coffins.
I signal Davos to use a scroll and hide while I summon Scorch and prepare to cast my strongest spells while my familiar flies near the ceiling and gets ready for an ambush.
Taking a deep breath I step into the chamber and once again just as the previous one a wave of dread hits me, but with me being prepared this time it is like a slight wind against my mind not even making me flinch.
The lid of the central coffin is blown away and what I think is an ancient Nordic lich levitates out of it, while another four armored draugr exit the side coffins.
Taking the initiative once more I target the two closest to me with red beams of lightning and erase them in moments. Before I can target the two remaining warriors I sense a large amount of Magicka heading toward me and instinctively overcharge a ward, which proves to be a very good decision as I see a massive ice spear almost break through it.
I immediately retaliate with red lightning which gets blocked in turn by a ward cast by what I presume is Curalmil. We start exchanging spells and while his destruction seems weaker than my own, his wards are enough to stalemate me.
While we are busy fighting our magical duel the two other draugr don't sit idle and charge at me with their axes, just when I am about to levitate out of the way one of them gets shot with a bolt to the eye while the other's face is covered in a very large burning hawk clawing at him.
I redouble my efforts against the lich and start switching from lightning to fire and sun spells to keep him guessing. I hear a whistle to my side and smirk, casting a blinding flash I hear the sound of a crossbow releasing.
Curalmil flinches as a bolt penetrates his side and this gives me the perfect opportunity to push my attack, he is returned to his rest within moments.
I observe the battlefield for any new threats and finding none release the tension with a long breath, hearing Scorch chirping to the side I turn to see him standing proudly on top of a very mangled draugr corpse, with a chuckle I toss him a nut from my storage and he grabs it with a happy chirp.
Davos appears from one of the corners of the room looking very uncomfortable "I might have shaken the fear this time, but it is still fucking awful" he says and spits on the ground.
I make a hollow chuckle "Just be happy you weren't bombarded with fear spells during battle mage training." I shiver "My teacher is fucking insane."
He gives me a pitying look and says awkwardly "Well at least it helped you survive this?"
I am struck with flashbacks and I believe my eyes look dead even through the mask "Was it worth it though?"
"Uhm we could talk about your trauma after we leave this shithole, let's focus for now yeah?"
I exit my torture flashbacks and return to the present "Yeah, we should be just about done with this place"
We search the chamber for any loot and find some more enchanted trinkets in Curalmil's ashes, there is a chest in front of the word wall containing some coins and mundane jewelry again.
Speaking of the word wall, I approach it and try and feel something from it but all I hear or feel is the sound of my own breath. I shrug my shoulders, having already expected this, and scribble down the small story engraved in dovahzul on the wall in case someone at the college is interested in them.
Following the path leading below, we find a bowl meant for the 'key'. I pour the mixture Nurelion gave me and the stone slab slides downwards opening a path forward.
And inside on a pedestal lies the damn bottle, cracked and without any power.
I pick it up and look it over, its aura is unique but weak "Welp, it's fucked"
Davos snorts "I can see that boss, what are you going to do with it?"
I shrug and play dumb "We might as well return it to Nurelion, he might be able to fix it or maybe just place it on a display as an advertisement or something"
My companion asks with a very doubtful voice "You don't want it for yourself?"
I reward his question with my most mocking laugh "Oh of course I want it, if he manages to fix it I am taking it willingly or not"
"Now you are speaking my language." he chuckles and we get to looting anything left in the place. An hour later we leave the cave and head towards Windhelm once more.
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