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| Ubergard raised her eyes skyward and exclaimed, "Save me from wannabe adventurers! Follow me, I know the way."
"How far is it?" asked Udaran.
"We could reach it by midnight, but that would be foolish. A bandit encampment will have sentries, and we will not see them at night." offered the giantess.
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| Udaran nodded, "Then we must make camp tonight, not too far but not too near," decided Udaran
"The Guardian Stones. We will camp there," Ubergard suggested.
The band continued resolutely down the road when Ubergard pointed out, "We first pass through Riverwood if you'd like to stop."
"NO! We must continue on. We've all got food stored. We've got to go as far as we can before nightfall," Udaran protested. | |
| "Would you like to hear a story while we travel?" Muz-Ra suggested.
"Sure Red!" answered Kitty enthusiastically.
"Oh my god," muttered Udaran almost reflexively now.
Muz-Ra glared at the Khajiit and she relented, nodding. | |
| "Well, it may surprise you to know," started Muz-Ra, "that once upon a time I was young and adventurous myself."
"This must have been before the mountains were born," quipped Udaran
"Shut up." said the Argonian, then continued, "In those days I lived far away and took it upon myself to venture far from the Marshes into the great white North."
"Are you making this up?" asked Kitty.
"Shut up." said the Argonian. | |
| "One day, I was deep in an unknown northern forest, when I came upon an island out in a great bay. Being Argonian and able to breathe underwater, I decided to investigate. In the middle of the island was a castle, the waters surrounding it like a moat and cut off from the land. In those waters were many large, meat-eating reptiles. But I wasn't concerned. At the sight of me they leapt over one another to get away. Yet, unknown to me, a huge beast - the king of the reptiles - was laying in wait at the bottom." | |
| "Suddenly as I was approaching the far bank, it attacked! We struggled as the beast slashed and tore at me, trying to grasp me in it's gaping maw. Only with the most powerful thrust of my own tail was I able to leap from the moat on the far side and escape with my scales intact. Heaving with fear and exertion, I found the monster had ripped my clothes clean from my body yet my scales were unbroken. So I stood, not even in tatters and rags, but in front of the fortress, naked as the day I was hatched. But still determined to see what lay within."
"Yup, you're making this up," Kitty concluded.
"Shut up." said the Argonian. | |
| "I searched for a door or opening that would allow me access, but all were barred to me and the castle was dark and silent. It was getting dark and I had nearly given up when a voice called to me, 'Scaled beauty with muzzle of crimson, stand before the gate and you may pass within if you dare!' I didn't much like the thought of swimming through those waters again, the monster had sunk to the bottom and could be anywhere, so I went back to the main gate and, without warning, the portcullis began to rise." | |
| "Behind me I heard the heavy portcullis lower again as I walked to the main door of the tower. I walked towards this door in a trance, somehow not quite myself. In those days I would have been ashamed to be walking so brazenly naked, watched by unknown eyes from above. Yet somehow, I did not. All I felt was a powerful urge to enter and explore what lay beyond those doors." | |
| "When my eyes adjusted to the darkness within, I had a brief glimpse of a staircase climbing high into the tower, and arcane runes glowing on the walls and floor. Yet just as my eyes registered this, there was an bright electrical flash and I was knocked unconcious to the floor."
"Oh, it's one of THOSE stories," Kitty said knowingly.
"What did you expect?" smiled Udaran. | |
