In my last Skyrim post, Iselia had taken on wolves, bandits and even some cultists! And yet, despite her successes, there was something she failed at... keeping warm and eating food.
She'd passed out in the snow and vaguely recalled being dragged somewhere by some random person.
And when she came to, she was nice and warm. A bard played music in the corner of an unknown tavern, and three drunk men were brawling near the counter.
The counter...
Iselia stumbled to her feet and made her way to the counter, where the lady stood happy to take her gold for food. Delicious hot food! By some miracle, whoever had dragged her to the tavern hadn't emptied her pockets and she quickly purchased all the hot food she could.
After a decent feed and a warm bed, Iselia left the tavern and tried to establish where she was... and discovered she was in Dragon's Bridge. Fairly close to the cave and bandit camp she had taken care of. Evidently whoever had dragged her here didn't have to go very far.
If she had known she was this close to a small village with a tavern, she would've made her way there instead of wasting time hunting for food in the snow!
Oh well. At least she was still close to Solitude. She needed to go back and get her gold!
As she left the village however, there was a khajiit calling for help. Curious, Iselia walked over to her and asked what the problem was... and walked right into a trap.
The khajiit and two others drew weapons and demanded all of Iselia's belongings!
Annoyed at this start to her morning, Iselia simply said, "No." and dispatched the three of them from existence.
With that settled, she returned to Solitude and informed the executioner that the bandit leader he had 'lost' was now officially dead. He thanked her and paid her 500 gold, a nice sum!
Then she went back to the Blue Palace and informed the nobleman that cultists had been behind the village disappearances, and they had been taken care of. There was nothing more to worry about. In thanks he gave her a mere 400 gold... a pathetic sum for all the trouble she had gone through to make it through that encounter alive.
Returning to the tavern to stock up on some hot food, Iselia noticed a board nearby with some various requests. More bandit leaders. Someone was missing a glass boot. A local hunter wanted help acquiring THIRTY!!!! cave bear pelts.
She grabbed a few of the notices and stuffed them in her pocket, then found a quiet place to investigate her map.
One of the notices purported that there were bandits in a cave all the way to the west... it would be quite a journey, but she could discover so much on her passage. It might be worth going in that direction.
After filling her bag with as much hot pre-cooked food she could find and all the health potions from every vendor, she set forth from Solitude and headed back for Dragon's Bridge.
It was nearby, there was a tavern there, and it would be a good spot to get her bearings after her unfortunate collapse the night before.
When she arrived, she found a woman muttering angrily to herself. Sensing the possibility of gold and rewards to ease this woman's annoyance, Iselia hurried over and introduced herself.
Apparently the woman's husband was a drunkard who kept promising to stop the drink, but always found himself back at the tavern. He had a stash of booze nearby, she just knew it - if Iselia could find it and bring her back the booze, she would be rewarded.
Although Iselia was sure the woman just wanted the alcohol for herself, she agreed -- money was money!
It didn't take long to find the stash. Alcoholics apparently weren't very clever when it came to hiding their stashes outside in the wilds.
As Iselia made her way back to Dragon's Bridge though, something caught her eye across the river. A door. It looked remarkably similar to the old tombs in the region... if ever there was going to be treasure and riches, it would be in a tomb!!
Adjusting the stash of booze in her pack, she decided that there was ample room in there for more stuff, and thus decided that she would investigate this tomb before heading back to the annoyed wife.
Until next time! 😊⚔️❄️