Chapter III: March and investigation

The morning the company of guards and mages set out was thankfully a relatively warm one, the snow was as always annoying to walk on but at least they weren't getting face fulls of it.

Early into the march, some of the guards removed their helmets and Reyvin was surprised to see that Thorfinn was among them. He noticed that the young man is nervous so he decided to fuck with him for a bit to help him ease his nerves.

"Didn't know you would be joining us, since when do the holds send little boys into battle?" He teased his friend.

Thorfinn grew red in the face "I am old enough to fight!"

"Sure you are" Reyvin gave him a mocking smile "Can you even hold that shield for more than a minute? I remember you using that tiny toothpick in your offhand when we sparred"

The nearby guards snorted or chuckled.

"I swear to Shor Reyvin I will kick your shit in"

The young man really did look like he was about to start kicking, but they were interrupted by Thorgrim's gruff voice "Alright kiddies keep it in your pants" Who then turned to Reyvin "You, elf boy." Said elf raising an eyebrow "The captain said there was some reason or another for us to lug so much damn antidote with us, said you would explain"

"So nice of him to volunteer me." Reyvin said in a sarcastic voice before starting his explanation "There is a good chance we will be fighting Falmer, they are known to use poison and are usually accompanied by massive poison bugs"

The senior guard seemed unsurprised, likely asking for the benefit of his subordinates, one of whom couldn't help but ask "Falmer? Is that some kind of weird elf?"

Reyvin lightly facepalmed "Really?" Some of the guards were laughing at their confused friend but a larger number shared the confusion.

The young elf sighed "Before your people came to Skyrim, the dominant race was the Falmer or snow elves, a bunch of Auri-el worshippers or Akatosh as humans know him." Before he could be interrupted by an outraged guard he continued "No I do not care that you think they are not the same, and neither do the Aedra, let me continue before I sic my bird on you" Seeing the rather large smoldering hawk appear on the elf's shoulder the guard wisely shut up, much to the amusement of his comrades. *Cough* "Where was I, ah yes! It is not known who started the conflict, but long story short, the Nords under Ysgramor brought the Falmer to near extinction. The defeated elves sought refuge with their underground cousins, the Dwemer, who being completely ruthless bastards enslaved and blinded them. Fast forward a couple of eras and the Falmer are now degenerated to the point of being blind, slightly magical goblins."

The curious guard seemed to regret his question, appearing queasy, even those who already knew the story were uncomfortable.

One of the other guards soon asked "And what about the prisoners, if as you say they are basically goblins, does that mean they ate them all or something?"

Reyvin shakes his head "No, it is far worse. They are known to brainwash and enslave their prisoners, I don't know how they do it but somehow they make them fanatical servants after some time."

Everyone present suddenly turns serious, with the senior guard saying in a steely tone "Well then boys we better get moving, closest homestead is half a day away, hop to it!"

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They make good time and are quickly greeted by the sight of an empty cluster of Nordic longhouses.

Thorgrim speaks up "Alright lads, I want all of you to look for clues. The attack happened two days ago so there might still be tracks."

Everyone spreads out but Reyvin stops his two colleagues "You think you wolves could sniff out the attackers and catch their tracks?"

Bor thinks for a moment and answers "Well they could, but we would need something with a strong smell for them to follow"

The elf nods "Ill inform the captain"

It took them most of the afternoon, visiting four different empty homesteads. Every group of homes they visited made the guards either disheartened or vengeful, no one made any jokes anymore, and the march felt more like a funeral, whose funeral was yet to be seen.

Thankfully on the ground near the fourth site they found the remnants of a skirmish with some small humanoid tracks and a severed ear.

Reyvin sighed as his suspicions were confirmed "Yup, that is definitely a Falmer ear"

Everyone turned serious at this and started preparing, spreading potions and antidotes around and securing their armor.

Bor and Brienne got to work having their wolves remember the ear's scent.

Reyvin was left alone with his thoughts for a moment. 'It is very odd for Falmer to raid in such large numbers, they usually only grab a couple of people and are rarely so overt, are they just growing more bold or is there a greater reasoning behind the attack?'

Shaking his head and accepting that there is only one way to find out he sent Scorch to scout around incase of predators or other annoyances, it wouldn't do for them to never reach the Falmer after all.

Following the wolves for a couple of hours they found an icy ravine going into the side of the mountain, both of the familiars showing absolute certainty that this is where the prey went.

Thorgrim had them sit down for a short rest and a very light meal, it would be pointless to die because they were all too tired and hungry from the search.

Scorch soon returned and 'said' that there were no other threats around.

While the young mages, joined by Thorfinn were huddled together and preparing mentally for what was to come. Reyvin snuck an extra ring of poison resistance he made to the young Nord guard and told him to put it on under his gauntlets, the young man was about to protest but thankfully Thorgrim ordered everyone to get ready, so he shut up and put the ring on.

After following the ravine for a bit they were met with a cave, small Falmer effigies were erected on the sides of the entrance, the atmosphere turned ominous and everyone steeled themselves. Soon they plunged into the darkness, the mages casting light spells and guards readying their shields.

Everyone knew this was not going to be easy.

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