On the Road to Ruin VIII

I briefly explain it to be a colloquialism I remember and that a fan is like the windmills dotted around Skyrim.

After that awkward detour in conversation, we refocus and head into Jonestead. Silently slipping through the door and waiting at the entrance.

Kasia speaks up in a whisper, "Okay, this is entirely up to you: either save my father first or the rest of the citizens. One way or another, we are not letting them hurt anyone else, understand? Let's go!"

"We'll free the citizens first. That way they will have fewer hostages to negotiate with. Now, get into position." I say, ordering Kasia down the stairs, drawing the attention of the two Heroes of Nirn leading them back up the stairs.

I send a flash of lighting to their armor causing them to seize in shock before I jab my blad into the openings of their armor swiftly and silently ending their lives.

'I'm going to be so rich in ebony ingots after this!' I think to myself before we repeat the process with the next set of guards keeping Kristy, an Altmer in imperial armor, bound.

I cut her bindings and remove her gag, "Thank you! We must free the rest of the town!" Kristy exclaims quietly, careful not to alert any mercenaries.

"Don't worry, I have a plan. Take this. And follow me." I say tossing her an ebony blade I took from one of the mercenary's bodies.

We sneak over to the Dandas' House which has a lone heavily armored warrior standing guard outside the door, 'Perfect, just the right size.' I think to myself before sneaking up behind him and driving my dagger into the base of his neck through the opening in his helmet.

Before catching his limp body and dragging him to the bushes where I proceed to change into his armor, before going into the Dandas' house along with Kristy.

There are four heroes of Nirn guarding the house's interior. I say, "The boss asked to start consolidating the prisoners." While dragging a 'bound' Kristy inside.

"No problem, set her ove-" One of them starts to say before we quickly strike two of them down before getting locked into a melee with the other two.

It's a bit harder without the element of surprise but we manage to dispatch them and then free Vilan and Elone.

"Okay, you two stay in here. We're in the middle of freeing the town and we don't want anyone getting caught in the crossfire. Kristy, see if any of that ebony armor fits you." I say as Kristy finds a suit of armor that is only slightly too big on her while the Dandas huddle together in their bedroom.

Once Kristy is changed we walk up a small hill to Gidave's house which has a lone guard on the outside.

Since Kristy hasn't had time to adjust to the new armor she agrees to distract the guard while I dispatch him with a dagger to the neck before catching his body and dragging him into the bushes nearby.

Once inside we see Gidave, an old dark elf in tattered peasant's clothes, bound and gagged as the two guards inside turn to us, "What are you two doing here?" A slightly taller one asks.

"Shift change." I reply as we get closer.

"What shift change, that's not unti-" The shorter one says, though we leap into action before they have a chance to continue. And then freeing Gidave.

We continue this process house by house until the orc brothers are freed and I decide we have enough numbers to take the fight to those guarding the people tied up out in the open.

I focus on suppressing the mercenaries with my magic, shockwave ability, and shout while the rest slash down the mercenaries. We fight like this throughout the rest of the town until we come across the town hall.

We quickly dispatch the mercenaries inside before freeing Walsh who says, "Gods, couldn't you have come any sooner? We sure got ourselves into one hell of a mess. Please tell me it's over."

"We dealt with most of the mercenaries and freed everyone. But we still have to free Marcus." I say.

"That's a relief. Thankfully these monsters didn't kill everyone when they had the chance. And they should let you stroll right in. I overheard the guards talking. Apparently, Bosska is waiting either for you and Kasia or a Siren? Whatever that is." Walsh says.

"Huh, should have figured he was the one behind this when that fake courier said he died a hero." I reply.

"We should have seen it coming. If only we hadn't been so lenient after he tried smuggling in weapons. We were completely caught by surprise. We gave Kristy and the Orcs weapons to defend the town…" Walsh laments before continuing.

"But Bosska took them out silently before any of us realized what had happened. By then, his men had already stormed through the entrance. We were subdued in a matter of minutes. I can't speak for anyone else, but the men that captured me weren't as rough as you might imagine. I'm getting the impression that they're only here for Marcus." Walsh says rubbing his formerly bound wrists.

"You may be right." I say heading to leave.

"Well, let's allow Marcus to explain himself once he's free. If you're going to save him, then you might want to leave Kasia here." Walsh suggests.

I turn to leave and Kasia says defiantly, "Don't even think about telling me to stay here! I'm going with you whether you like it or not!"

"Calm down, I was just going to ask our friends here to go and guard the entrance while they wait for my reinforcements as Kristy comes with us." I say holding my hands up in innocence.

"Oh… Sorry for jumping to conclusions." Kasia apologizes as her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

"No worries." I say, leading everyone out of the town hall before, Kasia, Kristy, and I head into Marcus' house.