A Little Lollygagging (3)

It was a quaint little afternoon in the cafe. Satin was manning the counter as she waited for the time to pick up her two workers. With phone in hand, she watched over her customers while keeping up with the Grand Aegis' overseer forum. The site was lively this time around. They were discussing what to do with the Wild Rift that opened up near Sector 24. Speculations and possible culprits were thrown around, some blaming the Apostles while others opined that it was a natural phenomenon. The idea holds some merits, for like its namesake, Rift between realities often sprung up without rhyme or reason. The fabric of reality just got a bit unstable, that's all!

At some point, the door jingled.

Satin looked up and smiled at the person who just walked in. It was a slightly short man wearing tunics that looked extremely outdated. The man had a spot on his chiseled chin and his square face was framed by wild brown hair. he already stood out among her visitors but the triangular scar on his left cheek may as well be a beacon announcing his position. The man with the out-of-time attire strolled to Satin and took a seat.

"Karl," Satin greeted the man who returned her smile.

"Satin, Good morning." 

"It's already afternoon here," Satin put away her phone, grabbed a mug, and prepared a drink for her guest, "Let me guess, you've been in Outer Space again?"

The man grinned, thumping his chest, "Heh, you know me. Can't let those upstart Keepers have all the glory. Have to show them that these old bones are still up to challenges, you know!"

As if to prove a point, the man rolled his shoulders and popped his joints. Satin rolled her eyes as she poured mead into the mug and then sprinkled some chocolate on the foam.

"Heeeh~ old? Is that subtle jab to me I hear?"

"Pfft no, of course not!" Karl waved his hand, "already age-sensitive, Satin? You're barely twenty. Besides, it's not like you'll develop wrinkles, ever."

"It's a wonder of Quirk, my dear courier," Satin said with a playful tone as she pushed the drink to Karl, "Maybe you should get one. You're the most mundane of us Overseers, after all."

Karl grinned. He grabbed the mug and started chugging down the mead. He slammed the empty mug on the counter, making a very loud 'Thwack', "Aaaaah~ that's the stuff…"

Satin took the empty mug and began cleaning it. Karl wiped the foam with his sleeve, his eyes roamed the building.

"Soooooo where's your part-timers?" he asked her, "I heard you're hiring four people at once. Talk about overkill."

"Overprepared is better than underprepared," she put away the mug. Satin leaned on the counter, propping her chin on her palm, "Besides there's nothing wrong with giving the locals some taste from beyond their homeland, right?"

Karl's smile twitched, "...you're still angry about that, huh? Man, it's been what? A decade, and you're still pissed about what he said. Girls do love holding grudges, it seems…"

Satin just smiled, the expression holding a bit of edge than earlier. She passed a slice of cake to Karl and he ate it with a gusto.

"So, um, your workers?"

"Oh, they're in around. Penny and Issei are finishing some jobs while Yoga and Rio are in Skyrim gathering some stuff for me."

Karl suddenly stopped eating. He looked up at Satin.

"Which Skyrim?"

" Your  Skyrim."

The man was stunned by her answer, "...um, are you sure that's a good idea? You didn't forget about   that, right?"

"About wha—oh… yeah,  that  ." Satin looked worried for a second before shaking her head, "Hn, I'm sure they can handle it. Rio has a good head on her shoulder, and Yoga has some experience with it.  They'll be just fine."

Besides, they're brave kids. A little spook won't be a problem… 

~~~~~

"Yoga-kun, I want to go home!" Rio whimpered in my ear. Her eyes were glossy, tears threatening to spill. 

"I would if I could!"

You may be asking why she suddenly a step away from crying. Well, seeing the…phenomenon in front of us, it was quite understandable. It also freaked the crap out of me.

It was a jungle of stretched limbs and freaky physics that could only be called a 'glitch in real life.' The draugrs that we defeated suddenly became super stretchy and started ragdolling, roiling dust in their wake. Worse, it wasn't a visual effect, no. it was all physical. And as if that wasn't enough, the weapons started flying. 

This place had become the very definition of a safety hazard.

"Satin-san didn't warn us about this!" cried Rio. 

Yeah, it was like the boss purposefully left this  tiny  detail from the briefing. There was no way in hell you could forget about things like this!

"Why are you guys stopping?" asked Julia. 

My eyes suddenly focused at her rear, not at what she was packing but at the axe sticking between them. She then frowned at me. She huffed as she walked away. The axe handle swayed indignantly, almost like a tail.

"Tch, Men…" I heard her faint scoff. 

Excuse me, did you not notice that thing between your ass?! 

◇

The further we went, the more I realized that the game reflected reality well—a little too well in my opinion.

The more draugr got killed, the more bugs we encountered. It was a harrowing experience for Rio that she kissed the ground the moment we reached the Hall of Stories and cried. Julia, who has arrows sticking on her body, stared at Rio like she was losing her marbles.

Don't stare at her like she's a circus freak. Get a mirror you damn NPC! 

Other than the bugs, I also noticed things that the game didn't show due to its limitations.

The dungeon itself was very, very large (though, it mostly consisted of labyrinth-like halls). It took us around 3 hours to reach the Hall of Stories. Now I was curious how far we were from the end. There were also spears. You know, the thing that for whatever reason never appeared beyond  Morrowind?  I was almost baffled when I saw it. The gold coins were also different than the ones I got from outside. Rougher and less refined.

I stepped away from my group and took a closer look at the puzzle door at the end of the hall. Internally praying that the combination stays the same.

I wonder what's waiting for us inside… God, I hope nothing really bad! 

I would literally kill myself if we somehow had to fight a Skeleton Dragon…

  ~~~~

After fighting waves of draugrs, traversing the twists and turns, their journey was finally stopped by the tomb itself. Their blockade came in the form of a long hallway with a big puzzle wall at the end. When she approached it, Juliar could see a gap between it and the rest of the hall, a sign that this bit of wall was in fact a door.

Julia raised her hand (Which was full of arrows) and scratched her chin.

The puzzle door consisted of three half-rings with a circle in the middle. The rings had an image of an animal on them while the circle bore three holes above what looked like an indent in the shape of a three-fingered beast's foot. It was safe to assume that the Golden Claw had to be used here.

Julia watched as Yoga spun the rings with some effort. It was obvious that he didn't have much training. He was skinnier than even Mikael the Bard. Emiya was also the same but she was skilled in wielding her spear (or Naginata, as she called it.) though it didn't mean that Yoga didn't contribute to their skirmish against the undead. He didn't go to the frontline, yes, but he provided support with his strange conjuration magic that summoned a copy of himself.

He might also be the one who caused those strange things during battle… A scene came to mind, where a draugr suddenly found itself as a guillotine stopper.

"Whoa…" a gasp from Emiya caused Julia to turn.

The girl with vibrant hair was tracing her hand on the carving on the wall, her strange magic crawling on them. She went from one mural to another, caressing them like a merchant feeling a high-grade silk. In fact, Julia noticed that she was almost drooling. 

Finished feeling the wall, Emiya took out a book and started to write with her strange quill (a Pen they had called it). She had been doing the same thing ever since they first met. The girl would occasionally stop and write down her findings. Sometimes she would point her strange rectangular object (a Phone) and 'take a picture' of things. 

Julia was still amazed that life-like paintings could be created literally in a flash with that thing.

"Fascinating, so there's a religion like that…" the girl muttered. Julia would ask what she meant, but the glint in Emiya's eyes scared her. 

The girl snapped her book shut and called, "Yoga-kun!" She skipped towards the boy. He turned around just to see her invading his personal space, the surprise pushing him back into a wall. Her face was inches away from his.

"Bu-uh, what?"

"You know where Labyrinthian is right? Can we go there? Please, please, please!!!" the boy looked uncomfortable with Emiya's face an inch away from his. 

"A-oh, um, sure… why not?" Upon hearing his answer, Emiya hugged and took him to a spin.

"YAY! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!" She released Yoga and immediately returned to the murals on the walls. 

Julia approached him (the arrows made sounds as she walked), "Um, is she…?"

"She's either super into history or is currently possessed by the ghost of an archeologist, " he glanced at (the arrows on) her, "never seen her this… spirited."

Julia shot him an unimpressed look, he just shrugged with a smug smile. He then went back to the puzzle door. 

Left with nothing to do, Julia rummaged through her bag and pulled out a  journal of her own. She then began writing as she recalled the events leading to this moment. At times, she glanced at Emiya who was still writing, her hand was almost a blur.

Julia swore she saw smoke coming from her notebook…

◇

It had been an hour and Emiya's writing didn't look like it was about to finish anytime soon. Lost on what to do, Julia and Yoga decided to sit down and wait near the puzzle door.

While they were waiting, Julia asked questions about Yoga's homeland while eating some snacks that he brought with him. It was the most delicious thing she ever tasted. Her favorite was the 'Potato Chips.' According to Yoga, she could cook her own chips by frying thin slices of potato in oil. There was also chocolate and it might be the sweetest thing she had ever tasted, it also possessed a unique taste. A shame that it was too sweet for her taste.

He also showed some things from his homeland through that Phone of his. Upon seeing the things he showed, Julia immediately came to the conclusion that the two foreigners were from a very advanced civilization. He described how the cities in their homeland had tall buildings made of glass (and steel).

While listening to 'Loufay', Yoga asked her about Skyrim (while he was pulling out the arrows off her). She told him about the current news, about the conflict between Stromcloak and the Imperial. She also told him about organizations that made Skyrim their home like the Companion, Thieves Guild, and even the Dark Brotherhood. At some point, he asked her about the Thalmor. When she expressed her distaste for them, Yoga suddenly called her 'Based.' when she asked what he meant, Yoga just smiled. He also called her 'red pilled' when she voiced her distaste at the brewing war. 

  Rep-pilled? Based? Based on what?! You can't just put a word like that at the end of a statement! 

Emiya was right, talking with him would eventually give her an aneurysm…

◇◇◇◇

"Sooooo, how are we doing this?" Emiya asked Yoga.

The three were standing before the puzzle door now. Julia's eyes scanned the door, looking for any hidden mechanism other than the puzzle.

"What? The murals didn't tell you anything?"

"Nope. most of them were praises about the Dragons and their priests, while others were about ceremonies at Labyrinthian and the gods of old."

"You can tell that much just from a touch?" Julia was perplexed. Scholars would kill for an ability like that!

"Nope. not everything at least," Emiya denied, "My Structural Analysis is somewhat limited by the magical defense on the wall. It gives me bits and pieces. Oh, and also since this place is very, very old, I limit the information to what the sculptors are trying to tell. More than that, my head would burst from information overload."

"Even so that's still impressive!"

"How about the door?" Yoga asked.

Emiya shook her head, "like I said, limited by the defense. I can't read anything from the door. The defense there is more potent than on the wall."

Yoga shot her a raised brow. Getting on what he was trying to tell, Emiya scoffed, "No, I won't use that!  There's no need to desecrate something priceless just because I'm curious. Who knows, maybe all these defenses were set up for a good reason."

"Whatever. We need to solve this now," Yoga shrugged and pointed at the puzzle door. 

◇

It was obvious that the holes were where they needed to insert the Golden Claw, and yet…

"This thing doesn't work…" Emiya said as she repeatedly pushed the Claw. it was to the point that Julia worried it would break. "Do you think we got the symbols wrong?"

"No, we literally use the ones on the claw. There's no way it's wrong!" Yoga denied while looking at the door searchingly. Julia noticed his left eye glowed slightly. She heard him curse followed by a murmur, "Tch! At least I now know my eye's weakness. Freaking magical defense…"

"Maybe it's a misdirection?" Julia threw an idea. They looked at her, "I mean, with the puzzle on the door, a thief might think that the answer was the one on the claw, when in fact it was the wrong answer."

"Hmm, sensible…" said Emiya, cupping her chin. "With magical defense this robust, anything less than  that dagger  wouldn't cut it."

"Yosh, I think I get the answer!" Yoga suddenly said. He pointed at Emiya, "Emiya-san what's the most explosive Noble Phantasm you got?"

"What ar–No!" Emiya immediately caught on to his idea, "No. we're  NOT  blowing up the door!"

"Whaaaat? Whyyyyy!?"

"Don't you dare whine! You're trying to blow up something inside a dungeon with us in it. Do I have to spell it out to you Boney the dinosaur style?"

"Psh, I'm not that stupid. We still have one-ups,  aren't we? We'll be okay!"

"We'll  DIE, you moron! And what about Julia-san?" Emiya shook her head, "Besides, don't you aware how priceless everything here is? We're standing in a  millennia-old ruin, filled with stories of a forgotten past! I already letting you steal the treasures, Like hell I'll let you blow it up!"

"Tch… no Rule Breaker, no quick way in. Man, you're picky!" Yoga scratched his head in frustration. He then glanced at Julia and said, "Julia, why don't you try it? If we can't enter from here then we're going in from the back."

Julia stepped forward and pushed the claw into the puzzle. She wasn't sure what they expected. They had tried to use it more than several times and the door didn't budge. What change would she—

The stone door groaned as the tomb rumbled. The door slowly sunk into the ground, revealing a path forward.

"Huh, I see…" Emiya murmured on the side, "It seems we need someone local to open the way for us. Think of it as a 'host' opening the door for their 'guest'. I guess it makes sense in a way…" 

Yoga said nothing. He sent a glance at Julia and the claw before shrugging. 

The three then continued their journey, venturing deeper into the dungeon.

◇◇◇◇

Beyond the Hall of Stories laid a long, treacherous path. The deeper they went the more they realized that the Bleak Falls Barrow was built on the mouth of a cave. The smooth, carved walls were slowly being replaced by rough, mossy cave walls–torches replaced by glowing mushrooms as they went. They even passed a natural bridge, a slippery arc of stone shone by sunlight from a large opening up above. Julia could instantly tell that they were just past noon by the way the sun shone (confirmed by the two foreigners who checked their phones.)

After a while, they finally reached their destination, the Inner Sanctum.

"WHOAA!!!" Yoga cried as he and the rest ducked. The moment they entered the Sanctum they were greeted by a flock of bats. Julia heard the boy complaining about a 'scripted event' made her wonder if he knew about the bats. Not just that. The way Yoga went around and stole the treasures of the dead showed some sort of familiarity. Like he memorized which pots were empty and which weren't. 

If he was already familiar with the place, why bring her? Even if they were blocked by the puzzle door, Yoga said that he knew of a back door. She wasn't really needed here.

Still, though, it was quite an experience for her. She was glad they brought her along.

"And here we are." Yoga's announcement pulled her out of her musing. They had reached the end of the sanctum, a high ground where a single sarcophagus, a chest, and a curved wall stood. Beside the stone coffin was a small table with embalming tools, linen, and expired potions.

The foreigner boy needed no sign to start his pillaging. He conjured a bag and started to pick whatever caught his fancy. Oh, he also seems to know some hidden chests in the sanctum. 

"Julia-san, do you know what language is this?"

Julia immediately turned to Emiya who called. She was inspecting the tall wall which had carvings on it. Julia fell to her side, eyeing the strange carvings. The adventurer shook her head, "I don't recall ever seeing this language, sorry."

"Hmm, this must be an important thing. The magical defense is as robust as the puzzle door if not more," Emiya lowered her hand that was on the wall, "is there a library in Whiterun? Somewhere that might provide some lead?"

"There's Jarl's library, but I don't think you can just enter easily."

"Huh, is there any way the Jarl would let me?"

"Hmm, maybe if you have some kind of influence," Julian answered, "maybe help some people, or somehow become important enough to be a Thane–"

"YOGA, HOW DO I BECOME A THANE?!" Emiya suddenly shouted, their location made it loud and echoing. Julia flinched, her ears ringing.

"WHAT?!" Yoga's shouted back from behind the wall.

"HOW DO I BECOME A THANE?"

"DEPENDS. WHICH HOLD?"

"WHITERUN."

"GO KILL A DRAGON."

"Please stop shouting, my ears going deaf at this rate!" Julia pleaded, "Also, there's no need to go to such length–not that it is possible in the first place! You can help the people of Whiterun. I'm sure the news of you helping his people would be noticed by Jarl Balgruff, then you can request to peruse his library." 

Yoga stepped into view, his sack was filled to the brim when he dispelled it.

"I recommend being a Thane though. It allows you some special treatment, and also free stuff" he advised. He then paused, "...but that depends."

"Depends on what?" Emiya inquired. Yoga made a line motion on his lips and tapped his wrist. The girl seemed to pick up what he meant, "Oooooh, depends on  that, huh?"

"Depends on what?" now Julia was curious.

"Eh, I don't know either," the redhead unhelpfully shrugged, "Yoga got this crappy thing that made him can't say certain things. Usually, it's about oncoming important events and stuff."

"Really? That's… concerning."

"ugh, I can just imagine the many unnecessary problems coming our way that we can solve with a bit of talking," Emiya shook her head, "But he can't say anything about it unless it backfires. Badly."

"Hey, not all of my Meta-knowledge hinged on future events, you know?"

"What about acting on it?" Julia suggested. The girls turned to the boy who leveled them with a flat glare.

He shook his head, "...you literally can't win this one. We better stay out of it. that's the smartest thing to do."

"Can't you… I don't know, give a  smidgen  of detail?" 

"Nope, cannot. But I can say that something something sons of Skyrim spilled their own blood, something something Al–" his phone suddenly made a noise. He then made some gesture, "Eeeeeh, you get the idea."

No, she didn't. But it seems he won't  and  couldn't say more on that front if that noise means anything, "Can you tell us what to be prepared for?"

Yoga glanced at his phone as he slowly said, "Something big… big, long, black, girthy—"

"Can you not?!" cried Emiya

"What? You want details right? That's the most detail I can spare." he shot her an eyebrow, then seemed to know what was wrong. He shook his head disappointedly, "Honestly, get your brain out of the gutter, woman."

"My–?! How about–oh, I don't know–not using innuendos, pervert!" 

"Maybe you're just too terminally online to not notice!"

thus two foreigners started bickering. Julia blew out a sigh as she watched them back and forth like an old couple. It wasn't the first time she saw it, they were like this too in their journey. There were also details they mentioned like this other friend of theirs who's named 'Isey'. As she watched her free entertainment, she began to realize a voice in the background, slowly and surely became louder.

She looked around until she saw where the noises came from.

It was the wall.

The noises, the whispers, called for her and beckoned her closer. Judging from her company's reaction, they didn't hear a thing (or they were too focused on bickering.)

Julia approached the wall. she raised her hand, palm met the smooth and cold surface of the stone. She found her eyes tracing the strange language on the wall. She still couldn't tell what they said, but they suddenly felt…familiar. 

Her eyes suddenly stopped at a particular word.

Julia scrunched her eyebrows, eyes narrowed at the words. Somehow, slowly but surely, she understood what the word was. What it was trying to convey. She opened her mouth, tasting the word—

Suddenly there was a pull.

She flinched as something tugged her soul. A slight headache jolted her brain for a split second, but it was gone as suddenly as it appeared. She focused on that word again.

It became clear what it was. She knows how to pronounce it.

It was…

"Fhh–"

There was an explosion behind her. 

She spun around and saw that it came from the sarcophagus, its lid was expelled high in the air. Her company was visibly startled, they jumped to her side with their weapons drawn. 

Yoga glanced at Julia and the wall, a faint smirk on his face.

"Looks like my gut feeling was right. You'll go places, Dovah-gal."

Julia was confused by the sudden nickname, but they were not in time to ask questions for their enemy had risen from its slumber. 

~~~~

A draugr clawed itself out of its stone coffin, its baleful eyes immediately zeroed in on the adventurers. It was unlike the draugrs they had faced. For one, it wore a more complete armor and a helmet with a pair of long horns. It tried to rise from its rest, but the adventurers were quick to act. 

Yoga threw a stone toward the draugr, and when it reached the undead, suddenly Yoga was there with leg raised. He kicked the undead twice, one to its throat and another to the jaw. He pulled his leg and raised his silver dagger, but the undead was deceitfully quick. It caught his arm before he could strike.

The draugr growled, and Yoga offered a sheepish grin—

"RAAH!"

—the boy disappeared, revealing a charging redhead. Rio struck the undead dead on with her Naginata, shoving the undead off its resting place. The draugr was thrown away, rising dust as it rolled.

Rio frowned when she saw the undead rose, unblemished, "Not your usual draugr then…"

"Probably draugr Overlord or something," Yoga supplied. He pulled out his crossbow for a second before putting it away. Instead, he summoned his phantom.

"Whatever it is it got a heck of a magic defense," Rio twirled her weapon. The Yoga's phantom took it as a sign to engage the enemy. The clone was swift, but the undead was able to keep up with it, throwing magic at its way.

"Julia-san, what's your preferred weapon?" Rio suddenly asked.

Julia caught the underlying message; her ordinary weapon won't do much against this particular draugr. With its appearance and ominous title, it was better to play it safe. 

"Sword," as soon as the words left Julia's lips, a longsword flashed into existence, floating before her.

"D-Rank Noble Phantasm is a bust, time for an upgrade," in a flash of fire, her Naginata was gone, "can you guys handle it for a bit, I'm gonna finish it quickly."

""Sure/Yes."" she and Yoga answered at the same time. After Julia took the sword, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Yoga.

"FUS..." the draugr inhaled.

"Prepare for slashing," he warned. Julia firmed her grip on her new weapon and gave him a nod. He smirked. 

In a blink, they suddenly were just behind the draugr. It was disorienting, but Julia was quick to recover. 

She raised her sword and struck the draugr. The attack caught it off guard and disrupted whatever it tried to do. Her attack left a mark, a diagonal slash on the undead's back. It staggered forward. It was Yoga's turn to attack.

He shoved his foot at the undead's rear. A loud crack resounded from the impact, its back was angled in an arc. Yoga's phantom appeared for a follow-up, he struck the stumbling undead with punches and stabs to its unarmored parts. The two then went for a combo, a series of slashes with their silver dagger, carving through its dried skin and bones like they were paper.

Yoga and his clone then disappeared as Julia came charging, thrusting her weapon through the undead's torso. She tore the blade with a sickening squelch, spun forward until she faced the undead, and delivered a swift slash.

"Noble Phantasm. Release."

A faint red glow began to shine in the sanctum. Before she could wonder about it, Julia was Displaced by Yoga to a safe distance. They were now standing behind the sarcophagus. She now sees the source of the glow, Rio, who had lowered her stance, in her hands was a red spear. 

"Crimson Rose of Exorcism, purify the wicked—"

Rio became a red blur that rocketed toward the undead. Rio drove her red spear to the undead's heart, piercing through its ancient armor. A loud noise, a combination of bones and metal being crushed echoed in the sanctum. 

"—Gáe Dearg!"

A whirlwind suddenly picked up upon her words, sending up dust everywhere as dead silence engulfed the sanctum. Not even the river nearby dared to disturb the stillness. 

Gradually, sounds returned and the undead slumped forward upon Rio's spear, the blue light in its eyes grew dim before it died. The young magus blew out a breath and she dispelled her spear. She stepped aside as the draugr dropped dead. 

She eyed the draugr for any nasty surprises while turning off her magic circuits.

That was more taxing than what I expected… 

She had expected she could pull this out with less strain, but it seemed she overestimated herself. It took almost 60% of her reserve to use Gáe Dearg. Usually Tracing a Noble Phantasm only uses at most 20-25% for a B-Rank.

Turned out that Tracing a Noble Phantasm and actually using it was a different matter entirely. She had thought that she could handle the release of a Noble Phantasm. It was fortunate that she was proven wrong in a controlled environment (well, somewhat). 

She never actually used a named Noble Phantasm beyond Rule Breaker. This means that her actual limit was still unknown. She needed to know it before she found it the hard way.

How her father used these Noble Phantasms in his Enforcer work was beyond her… 

She spun around to her company, Julia was agape while Yoga was already rummaging through the stone coffin, "Enemy neutralized. Well done everyone!" she complimented with a smile.

"..." 

Julia was speechless. She had never seen anything like that before. A blow that produced a whirlwind, it was something that she had only read in legends. Just what kind of Daedric artifact was it, or was it even one to begin with? 

Noble… Phantasm, was it? Julia mused, lost in her thoughts.

"Eh, Emiya-san, can you search the draugr, please? I can't find what we're looking for here!" the boy pulled out an ancient Nordic sword that had an orange hue on it. He promptly tossed it away. The loud clang pulled Julia's awareness back.

Rio turned and looked down on the undead they had just defeated. She flipped the corpse over, noting that it was quite heavy. She frowned when she spotted a bulge on its stomach. She noted the signs of dissections and also the faint line of stitches.

She kneeled, produced an embalming knife, and cut open the stitches; revealing a stone tablet under the dried skin and muscle tissues. She promptly picked it up. It was as big as an adult's head with carving on both sides. One was what looked like a map, and something written in the same language as the one on the wall on the back of the tablet.

She scanned it with her Structural Analysis. For once, it fully worked.

Stone. Carved roughly 5000 years ago, with a… dragon claw? It told something in Dragon language. Eh… HET NOK UN, MAHLaaN DROGGE, ERei SULeyK SE, ALDUIN VOKRii…? 

Rio stopped scanning. She didn't delve too deeply, opting to just wait for Yoga who probably knew more about it. She'd rather ask than shove 5000 years' worth of knowledge into her head. She liked history, but not that much!

"You're looking for this?" Rio called Yoga while showing her find. 

Upon seeing it, he and Julia approached her. The stone was heavy, weighing around 25 kilos. 

Yoga inspected it before confirming, "Yup, this is it." he patted the stone, "This, ladies, is the Dragonstone. Basically a map of dragon burial mounds."

"Dragon burial mound..? Dragon's grave? That's a thing here?!" Yoga nodded.

  "Yep, I know where some of them are if you're interested," he offered, "one is somewhere near Fort… Sungard, I think? Just pass Sleeping Tree Camp. Not too far from here."

"...How do you know about this?" Julia asked. Now she was sure that he was a diviner of sorts, but she didn't know that a vision could be so… detailed.

"Eh, when you're playing the game for a good chunk of your middle school, you're bound to have stuff ingrained deep in your cortex. Skyrim is a buggy mess, but it's a lovely mess. To this day I still played that shit like Todd himself dictated my every action." he faced her with a serious expression, "even all of his re-releases."

…should've known that she wouldn't get a straight answer (or a coherent one).