Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

According to the map provided by Danger, the building of Howling Bastion is divided into five floors. Cindy was attacked in the long corridor inside the north gate, which leads to the hall of the first floor of the fortress. The hall faces the cave entrance on the top of the mountain, exposed to the firepower range of other floors and without shelter. The rooms of other floors are concentrated on the north side of the mountain. There is a narrow corridor facing the hall on the second to fourth floors. The third floor is connected to the south gate of Howling Bastion. The platform outside the south gate faces the lumberyard of Falkreath City and overlooks the northern half of the town. In the hall of the fourth floor, there is a stone tablet and a sarcophagus built by the ancient Nords. The text on it is said to be the language of the dragon, which is difficult for mortals to recognize. But Danger said that according to the legend within the Stoon family, the coffin is buried with an ancient Nord hero who died in battle in ancient times. The fifth floor leads to Howling Overlook, which is close to the top of the mountain and the entire Falkreath City can be seen.

The ten of us discussed tactics along the way. This time we were going to attack a fortress with such a complex terrain. Cindy's previous actions may have alarmed the enemy, but we failed to obtain any valuable intelligence. We don't know how many vampires the enemy has, but Rigel has been operating the Pinewood Watchtower not far from here for many years, but he has never heard of any news related to the Howling Wind Bastion. It can be seen that the enemy is low-key and cautious. It is estimated that they are old goblins who have survived for hundreds of years or even the last era. Their strength may be much stronger than the recently resurrected Vighar.

What was particularly difficult was how to get through the hall on the first floor. If the enemy had arranged archers and fired arrows from above, I was afraid that few of us would be able to reach the second floor alive. The final arrangement was that the team was divided into three groups, covering each other as they advanced. The first group was Baran, Joey and Bauer. Their task was to seize control of the hall after passing through the corridor. Two shieldmen were arranged because they were likely to face the first wave of enemy fire. The second group was Eric, me and Ilandur. Their task was to quickly seize the rooms on the second floor after assisting the first group in controlling the hall, and to open up a safe path for teammates. The four ladies were the third group. Claire's task was to protect Rigel closely, and the other three provided fire cover with bows and arrows. I handed the flame staff to Isley and ordered her and Claire to ensure Rigel's safety, which caused the little saber-toothed tiger to roll his eyes.

Baran kicked open the door of Howling Wind Bastion, raised his shield, and rushed in first. The rest of the people followed in one after another, standing in a triangular formation according to the predetermined groups. The corridor was an uphill road, and we couldn't see the situation at the top, but we heard a burst of giggles.

"Little girl, are you back again? Why are you so rude this time? Have you become my daughter?"

A middle-aged woman in black came to the end of the slope leisurely. When she saw our lineup, her expression changed drastically. Before she could react, five sharp arrows flew through the air. Three of the five hit the target, and Angie's arrow even pierced through her chest! The woman fell on her back. The others rushed forward when the bowstring sounded, but she just waved her left hand and disappeared out of thin air. Yilan Dur chanted softly, and a tongue of fire shot out from his left hand, sweeping towards the place where the vampire fell. With a scream, a vague human figure wrapped in flames emerged from the air.

"Leave it to me!"

Rigel roared, threw down his longbow, swung the sledgehammer with both hands, and smashed at the enemy curled up on the ground. This devastating blow almost slammed the vampire into the floor. The few limbs exposed outside twitched slightly, accusing the murderer of cruelty. The warriors present looked at each other, glad that they didn't have to face such a terrible enemy. Rigel panted for a while while leaning on the hammer, and confirmed that the half-formed thing in front of him would not get up and hurt people again. He spat upwards and then looked around at everyone.

"Why are you looking at me? Come on!"

The crowd split into two teams and stood against the wall. Bauer and Eric pushed open the door at the end of the corridor. Seven or eight arrows shot out from inside and fell on the floor of the corridor. Baran and Joey rushed into the hall with shields raised. Bauer followed closely behind them and fought with two ghouls and a dozen skeletons inside. A heat wave rose out of nowhere in the air, and a fire elemental twisted its graceful waist and appeared among the skeletons.

This little girl showed her power as soon as she appeared. She set all the undead creatures around her on fire. With a crackling sound, most of the skeletons disintegrated, and the bone fragments scattered all over the ground. When we stepped on them, they made a creaking sound. Baran and Joey each faced a ghoul, and kept hitting each other's faces with their round shields. Bauer swung his axe and chopped everywhere like a lumberjack. Eric and Ilandur ran along the stone wall on the north side towards the stairs deep in the hall.

Three skeleton archers appeared from each corridor upstairs and began to rain arrows into the hall.

"Claire, go up and help! I'm fine! You damn girl, you don't want to listen to me, right?"

When I heard Rigel urging Claire to go into battle, I turned my head to look at the girl. She obediently raised her shield to protect Rigel, which made the little saber-tooth tiger curse in anger.

I caught up with Eric and Ilandur and began to suppress the firepower on the second floor. Angie and Isley entered the hall to counter the archers on the higher floor. In order to block the arrows for Bauer, Joey was scratched on the left leg by the ghoul, but we still eliminated the undead creatures in the hall relatively smoothly. The fire element successfully attracted the attention of the archers, and everyone entered the safe area on the second floor.

There were no strong enemies guarding this floor. After killing a few skeletons, Ilandur was able to cast a healing spell. Joey's wounds stopped bleeding quickly, but he just walked with a limp. The room was overgrown with weeds, and two iron doors blocked the way to the side room and the hall. There was a metal disc in the middle of the ground, and three mechanical handles were embedded in the disc. Rigel rubbed her hands excitedly and studied these gadgets carefully. She was originally very interested in mechanical traps and other objects. She set up many of them herself when she was in the pinewood watchtower. Those mechanical traps also successfully killed Rawls who wanted to steal things.

She carefully twisted a mechanism, and the stone wall next to it slowly rose with a creaking sound, revealing a stone cave. Eric and Bauer had been guarding both sides of the stone cave, but they did not find anything unusual. There was only a rotten coffin and a piece of leather armor in the cave. Rigel activated other mechanisms and finally found a mechanism in the side room that opened the iron door leading to the second-floor hall. Although we were fully alert, no enemies came to harass us during the whole process. I don't know what these guys inside are doing.

The third floor was the same as the second floor, with only a few skeleton archers. The enemy seemed to have concentrated all their strength in the hall, and was eventually taken away by my fire elemental wave. The hall on this floor was wider, extending more than ten meters inward, and the exit was also locked by an iron door. The unlocking mechanism was right in front of him, and Rigel still went up to study it, but he was hesitant to turn it.

"This is a bit weird. I think it's a trap. Let's look for other mechanisms, or we can break down the door and get in."

The little saber-toothed tiger waved the sledgehammer in his hand, obviously preferring the last option.

There was a clapping sound at the end of the hall, and a man in black was applauding us through the iron gate.

"You are very smart and cautious. There is no need to be violent. Let's talk, shall we?"

That must be a vampire. In the game, vampires will have obvious changes in appearance, such as glowing red eyes and rough skin, but the vampires in the other world look not much different from normal people, except that their skin is a sickly pale color.

"As you can see, I am a vampire. You can call me Atreus. My family is from Cyrodiil. As for the name of my family, I don't think you will be interested. So, may I ask your names? What can I do for you?"

The ten people looked at each other, all at a loss. This was the first time they had seen such a polite undead creature. I told the others to stay alert and walked to the iron gate.

"My name is Locker, a knight from Falkreath. I am here under the order of Lord Sidgeir of the Storn family to recapture Howling Bastion for his family."

"The Stuhn family... May I ask, do you know Vighar?"

"Wei Gehar has been killed by the warriors sent by the Lord."

"Oh... Lord Sidger seems to be a bit unreasonable. Well, you all said that Howling Wind Bastion belongs to the Stuhn family, but I have to disagree. Weigehar of the Stuhn family has already given this fortress to my master in exchange for eternal life."

"Think of your ancestors who braved the frost and dew and cut through thorns to gain an inch of land. Your descendants do not value it very much and give it to others like discarded grass." I didn't feel anything when I read this passage at school, but now I can really empathize with it. The vampire opposite me can feel my heartache through the iron gate.

"My Lord Knight of Falkreath, you and your men are all brave men. If you want to attack us by force, we are no match for you. But you should also know that my family is one of the oldest vampire families in Tamriel, so we still have some means. If we really want to fight to the death, you will inevitably suffer casualties. Why don't we make a deal?"

After crossing over, I first lived with the bandit leader, then escaped with the Forsworn to catch rabbits, and now I have to negotiate business with the vampire. What should I do next? Chat and laugh with the crow hag? Seeing that I didn't answer, the vampire assumed that I agreed to his suggestion. He approached the iron gate mysteriously and asked, "Have you ever heard of an ancient Nord named Songyor Drake?"