Q'discraan was sad to see the fun end, but conceded that some rest may be needed. He maintained his reservations about the mercenary camp however, and elected to spring for a room in the tavern; it may cost more, but with luck it's closer proximity to Dragonsreach would help him beat the crowds. He was also unsure he could make it that far in his current state, so instead he handed his last few septims to Hulda, staggered upstairs, and collapsed on the bed.
-The next morning- It had taken several hours, but almost all of the adventurers had been given their tasks and been sent on their way. As Fox had suspected, most of the work involved hunting down bandits, but there had been a few more interesting jobs thrown in. One old Orc had been sent to take out a vampire, and a pair of Bosmer sisters had been sent after a giant. Fox looked at the small group that remained, certain that it would be her turn soon. The jarl's housecarl, Irileth, looked down at the paper in her hand and sighed. "There is one job left, and it's the hardest one of all. I wouldn't blame any of you for refusing it." She looked at the group, the harshness in her eyes making it clear that she would, in fact, judge anyone who turned the job down. "A group of bandits has taken over Bleak Falls Barrow, and have somehow driven most of the draugr away from the crypts. Draugr are bad enough when they stick to the barrows, but now they're wandering around out in the wilderness, attacking travelers. One was even seen just outside of Riverwood! Your job will be to hunt down these rogue draugr before they kill anyone else, and then clear the bandits out of the barrow before they send more of the freaks out. Any questions?"
Mir was sitting in the floor near them, close enough to hear everything she said about their job. It looked that at the end, he had to work with someone, in this case quite a group. He shook his head after her last statement. The job was clear for him.
Niza was the group, still somewhat sore from sleeping in a bush last night. The job itself sounded pretty fun, since it was luckily not deathly boring caravan duty. She shook her too. "Nope, everything's crystal here."
Fox grinned. "This is going to be fun." She took one last look at her soon-to-be companions, and headed for the door. "Let's all meet at the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood. Unless you wanted to travel together?"
"I'm not familiar with Skyrim's Bestiary. Draugr are the Undead Nords, correct?" Jovur then turned to fox. "I believe I would be safer to travel together. If one of those 'Draugr' wander in to Riverwood, they can certainly reach us here, can they not?"
"It would take a dragon to breach the walls of this city... and dragons don't exist." Fox shrugged. "Still, traveling together couldn't hurt. The roads are dangerous, and even the dumbest of bandits wouldn't attack an armed group."
Q'discraan had entered the Dragonsreach quietly and, as it seemed, a little late; there was only a small group of mercenaries left, talking to a Dunmer who he assumed was in charge of handing out the work. Q'discraan recognised some of the group from the tavern, but it looked like they were just finishing up, so instead of going over to join them, he decided to lean against the wall next to the door, hood drawn low over his face, and nurse his killer headache some while he waited for them to head his way.
"I wouldn't mind heading out in a group." Niza interjected. "Safety in numbers and at all that stuff. Plus we we wouldn't get lost along way somehow."
Mir stood up, checked his bag to see if he had enough potions and stuff for the journey and then followed fox without saying anything.
Niza simply hurried after, keeping her shield on her back and scimitar close to her hand as she followed.
Q'discraan grimaced at the sound of the door, and then followed the group. "Where are we going?" He asked Fox softly.
"Riverwood. It's a few hours walk south of here, and not far from the Bleak Falls Barrow. If we're lucky, someone in town may be able to tell us where the rogue draugr have been holing up." Fox's stomach growled, protesting her decision to skip breakfast. "At the very least, we can get a hot meal at the inn. It'll be about lunchtime when we get there."
"Um... thank you." Generosity, even on such a small scale, was almost unheard of among sellswords. It would be rude to refuse the gift, so Fox quietly ate the fruit as she walked. The group had just passed Honningbrew Meadery when they heard an anguished scream coming from the southwest.
Fox didn't answer. Drawing her sword, she sprinted towards the sound. Near the river, she found one of the Bosmer sisters she had seen in Dragonsreach sobbing uncontrollably. The elf cradled the shattered body of her sister in her arms. The woman's neck was very obviously broken. The ground began to shake, and Fox looked up to see a furious giant approaching from the other side of the water. The shafts of several arrows were protruding from its chest, and it held its club high as it rushed towards the remaining sister.
Watching Fox sprint off, Q'discraan sighed and shook his head. Seeing the charging Giant, he dropped into the long grass to mask his approach, with a mind to flanking it. "This day just keeps getting better," He muttered to himself.
