Shouting Wolf, Hidden Vampire

[Greenie]

Nisha nodded at Bjorn's words. "Well, I'm not just a pretty face," she replied with a smirk, which widened enough for her to show a fang. "Come along and stay close if you wish to stay alive, unlike your companions." She put her dagger back in its sheath with one hand, the other one lifted and letting out a smaller stream of fire to burn away the rest of the webs​

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"Let's get going," she muttered once the fire was out. Armed now with her bow, she strode through the archway and into a rather narrow passage that seemed to lead, yet again, downhill. It only made sense that they would be heading even further underground. Not that the mixed race vampire minded- the darker the better for her. Despite the webs still lingering here and there, her hood was off her head, hair free and no longer impeded.​

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As she continued forward, she could she the path opening up into what seemed a room of sort, with large alcoves in the walls, some with skeletons laying in them, untouched and forgotten. They weren't all however, and it seemed Arvel realized this very well. Surrounded by three draugrs, he was trying to attack them and failing. "Help!"​

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Nisha's eyes narrowed and she pulled an arrow from the quiver, nocking it. A scream escaped Arvel- once of the draugr had a bony hand clasped around his throat and was now piercing through the flesh. The little mercy she carried within her flared up and she shot her arrow, aiming straight for Arvel. He was a lost cause now- better he died without pain. The arrow hit him straight in the back of his head and he slumped against the draugr who was still holding on to him.​

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[Spekkun]

"Well, that makes it easier." Tucker commented on the death of the bandit leader. His tone betrayed his words, however. "Now we just gotta kill the draugrs and we're good to go." Admittedly, killing them would be less taxing on the body than chasing that decently-quick man. "It's only three." He told himself. "Easy! Now we just gotta get the claw." The golden dragon claw lay on the floor at the feet of the draugrs.

He leaped towards the closest of the three draugrs, who had turned their attention towards the last living things in the room. With a cry, he swung his sword in a horizontal arc. The blade cut through the rotted flesh and bone of the draugr's neck, separating the creature's head from its body. The head hit the ground with a thud, rolling some distance away as the now deceased draugr's compatriots approached Tucker.

One of them swung at the Nord, but he managed to block the attack with his shield as he prepared to strike once more. Fortunately, he wouldn't have to. Bjorn stepped in, throwing his shoulder into the chest of the draugr and sending it stumbling backwards, into the other remaining creature. "Seen enough death today, I think. The faster I get out of this damn place, the better." He told Tucker, picking up the vanquished Draugr's axe. He raised it quickly and brought the blade down upon the recovering draugr's head, splitting the skull in half.

"Not bad." Tucker grunted in response. "As if I was going to be killed by a draugr though." He snorted, as if the idea was ridiculous. He used his shield to block an attack from the last draugr, its sword bouncing off the iron. The moment he was able to attack, Tucker thrust his sword forward, driving it through the undead's chest and pinning it against a wall. Despite this, the draugr chose to strike again, swinging its sword for Tucker's neck.

Bjorn stepped in before it could connect, blocking the attack with the bottom-half of his axe's handle before thrusting the butt end into the eye of the draugr and through its skull, taking its life, if you could call it that. "Yeah...whatever...I hope you'll both let me go now. You got what you wanted." He stepped away from Tucker and Nisha, dropping his axe. His tone was almost pleading. It was close enough that Tucker almost chuckled at him. "I ain't gonna fight ya. It's two on one, so you don't have to worry about me trying to stab you in the back or anything."​

 

[Greenie]

For a moment Nisha's look toward the Nord bandit was dispassionate. However, that was mostly a mask. There was a part of her that felt sorry for the man, suspecting hard times had probably forced him into this line of work. Letting out a small sigh, she headed towards the now dead draugrs first, searching through their tattered and disgusting clothes. She did the same with Arvel before returning to Bjorn.​

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"Here," she said, shoving a good amount of coins in his hand. "Keep this. It isn't much but you should be able to get a day in Riverwood's inn. Who knows, maybe you'll find some work there as well." She shrugged a little. "Don't worry, we aren't going to kill you. You can leave safely enough now, I suspect the only draugrs we're going to find now are on the path Tucker and I have to take."​

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She had said her bit and turned away, ready to get a move on. The golden claw was in Tucker's possession, so she headed onward, leaving Tucker behind with Bjorn for the time being. Her dagger had returned to its sheath as she once more armed herself with her bow, not wishing to have much contact. Heading further into the crypt, she came to a passed where she could see more alcoves with draugr. Some seemed rather lifeless, but others had some armour and weapons even though they were still.​

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Heh. She nocked her arrow and took a step in, letting her arrow fly, hitting a draugr square in the throat. However, she hadn't noticed what she had stepped on... a pressure plate. By the time she noticed, it was too late. A grated, spiked wall swung at her, piercing through her as she was sent flying back with a cry, bleeding from several piercing wounds.​

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It was no surprise when the sound of both Nisha's pain as well as the clanging wall woke the rest of the restless draugr in the chamber.​

 

[Spekkun]

Bjorn was surprised that the vampiress had not only agreed to let him go but had given him gold as well. For a moment he thought she might be toying with him, but that didn't seem to be their motive, no. But it didn't matter why they were letting him go, only that they were. "Good luck." He called after Nisha before looking to Tucker. "More draugrs where that came from."

"Yeah but we handled these three. What's a few more?" The nord shrugged his shoulders. "Hope you do something with yourself besides pillaging and thieving. We haven't thought twice about killing bandits before, so you're lucky this time." His words were one part advice, one part warning. "Thank the divines or whatever." With that said, Tucker turned and followed after Nisha.

Bjorn scoffed at his words, mostly because he had been thinking something along those lines. Banditing was not for him, not anymore. "Probably start a farm..." The man muttered to himself as he started back the way they had came. He'd seen enough undead and frostbite spiders to last him a lifetime. With all his bandit friends dead it wasn't like he had a group to make thieving any easier. "Honest work...here I come..."

By the time Tucker had caught up to Nisha she had already shot the draugr in its throat. He arrived in time to see the spiked wall swing open and slam into Nisha, a sight that brought him screeching to a sudden halt. "Damn!" He cursed. His first instinct was to step to her side, but he realized taking it slow was the better idea. The place was rigged with traps, and the one that she had set off had awoken the draugr, who were now on the search for the two of them.

Carefully, he made his way over to Nisha, kneeling beside her. "You okay?" He asked her, checking over her wounds. For a moment, he wasn't sure what to do. A terrible idea considering he could hear the draugr shambling around nearby. "Now would probably be a good time to heal yourself, eh?" He wondered if that were even possible for her to do. The spiked wall had done quite a bit of damage, despite her leather armor. Thankfully, the Nord remembered something.

"Good thing we brought the potions, eh? Drink this to get you on your feet." As the Nord uncorked the bottle to one of the health potions they'd liberated from the bandit camp earlier, one of the draugrs let out a war cry as it spotted the two, alerting its fellow undead before rushing straight for them. As much as Tucker would have liked to help her drink it, he'd rather neither of them end up on the wrong side of the great sword the draugr carried.

Tucker whirled around to face the draugr, raising his shield instinctively. His instincts proved to be true as the draugr had begun swinging its greatsword right away. The blow was deflected by his shield but it blew apart his guard, leaving him open for a second attack. Thinking on his feet, Tucker kicked the draugr's kneecap as hard as he could. With a sickening snap, the draugr's leg was broken and the creature lost its balance, falling to the ground.

"That buys us a few more seconds." He turned back to Nisha, though this time he was more alert than before. "Maybe we should move back and hide for a bit." There were a lot of them, there were likely more traps and Nisha was injured. Maybe stealth was the best way to go? She was certainly good at it. And he could at least try. He was more worried about her than anything, though, and it showed on his face.​

 

[Greenie]

Breathing heavily, Nisha took the health potion Tucker offered her and pressed the bottle to her lips, guzzling down all the liquid in one go. She could feel the numbness settle in quickly enough, taking away most of the pain, and so shakily she pulled herself up to her feet, gritting her teeth as she used the support of the wall she had been flung against.​

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"Sh*t," she hissed under her breath, feeling blood still trickling out of her deeper wounds. The potion would take its time to work, but at least she couldn't feel most of the pain. Her magicka had thankfully restored- her hand glowed a soft golden white as she placed it on herself, attempting to heal some of her wounds. She had been too cocky, and she'd suffered for it. It was embarrassing enough by herself, but even worse that someone else had witness this as well.​

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Grunting as she felt her magicka deplete once again, Nisha reached back for her bow and grabbed a couple of arrow with her other hand. "Yes, probably for the best," she replied, her dark eyes darting about as she tried to look for more draugr. She could hear them, but for the time being it seemed they were standing their ground. Without another word she started backwards, though her eyes were still looking about.​

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"I should have been more careful," she muttered, berating herself in her mind. "Waste of potion and magicka both." She didn't want to waste their magicka increasing potion so waiting was the best option. As long as they kept vigilant, they would be find. As she finally entered the tunnel she had come through, she looked to the side before settling down in an alcove with a burnt out candle stump.​

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"I really hope the Jarl will be paying us." It was hard to keep the grumble out of her voice. "If not..." She left her threat empty for now.​

 

[Spekkun]

"Don't sweat it. It happens." Tucker reassured her, in part because he knew he could be pretty reckless as well. For all he knew he'd end up doing something similar and it might be worse. "I'm just glad it didn't kill you, and that we brought those potions." He let out a sigh of relief as they backed away from the draugrs.

When they settled down in the alcove he took a moment to relieve his bag of a piece of bread, breaking off a piece to stuff into his mouth before offering a piece to her. It was small and hard but it was fine. When travelling, one does not expect gourmet or even home cooked quality meals. You make do with what you have.

"I'm sure he'll be paying us, especially after we regal him and his wimpy advisor with tales of our harrowing adventures." He assured her with a small smirk. "The bandiits, the undead, the traps!" He stuffed the piece of bread in his mouth all the way in before chewing, caring little about the chunks and crumbs that fell onto his lap. "And if he still doesn't...well...we can always plead our case." The Jarl looked like a good guy but you could never be too sure. Even good people had a tendency to tighten their coin purses when money became involved.

"There's quite a bit of them in there, we'll probably need a strategy." Tucker told her with a sigh. "Maybe we can use that trap against them?" It would thin out the heard substantially, or at least weaken them. "I could play decoy, and you could kill whichever of those sorry bastards that avoided the trap, eh?" It seemed solid, depending on if the darned thing had reset. But any good trap would reset.​

 

[Greenie]

Nisha was a little hesitant at first, but then she reached out and took the piece of bread. It didn't feel normal, truth be told. Perhaps it was her brush of death, but she was feeling all sorts of emotional at the moment and once more couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with this lumbering Nord who didn't seem to care the slightest bit that she was a blood sucking, life stealing vampire.

Taking a bite of the bread, she savoured the taste, enjoying the hardness of it, once more appreciating being alive to be able to. Even as she did, she nodded and listened to Tucker. It was fair... and this jarl wasn't the same as the one her father had met when she was a small child. She knew very well it wasn't fair to paint everyone with the same brush, but it was so difficult not to.

"You're right," she finally agreed, sounding less angst filled and bitter than she had a few moments earlier. Bread now finished, she slowly stood up. The bleeding had stopped, and she could feel her wounds slowly mending themselves. Eyes filling with determination, she leaned a little forward and looked back the path they had escaped from, still hearing the grunts of the draugr. "They seem like grunts... I don't think they know how to shout, so that should be in our advantage as well." Reaching back, she felt the arrows in her quiver. "I should have enough to shoot them... and there's plenty enough rubble to lure them over to the trap."

She nodded and gave the tall Nord a hint of a smile. "Alright. Let's do this."​

 

[Spekkun]

"Divines forbid they know how to shout." Tucker laughed shortly, shaking his head. His should couldn't stop him from being thrown off his feet or worse. His size would only help him so much. "Heh, that smile is back." He smirked. It was small, but not small enough for him not to notice it. "That's good. Now I know this will be a cake walk. The smile of a pretty lady before a battle is a good omen." He elbowed her playfully.

He stood up and unsheathed his sword once more. "Alright, so we lure em' into the traps, and you pick off whoever you can or whoever is left. Seems easy enough." He remembered where the trap Nisha had triggered from before was. Hopefully, that would be enough. "Time to be loud!" From the way he said it, it was almost as if he was looking forward to being the bait for their little ambush. He took a deep breath before running into the room, letting out a war cry as he did.

The Draugr's heard him immediately, and many came to investigate, spotting the nord rather quickly. He stood just before the pressure plate that triggered the trap, shield raised and sword poised to strike, just in case their plan went awry. Fortunately, that didn't seem to happen. The moment the draugrs were close enough, Tucker stepped on the plate, staying just enough to activate the swinging spike wall before throwing himself backward.

The wall swung open, slamming into most of the draugr. A couple of the undead were sent flying backward, rolling across the floor or slamming into another wall. But a few found themselves impaled by the spikes and unable to get free, and were pulled along with the wall as it returned to its resting position, waiting to be triggered once more.

Tucker would likely have started celebrating had the few draugrs that weren't close enough to be hit by the trap not began to swarm him. He managed to get onto his feet just in time to block the blow of an ancient Nordic Warhammer, the force of which took two hands to resist without injuring his arms. Before he could lash out in retaliation another blow came, a metal blade deflected by his shield once more. "Heh...alright...!" It wasn't quite a celebratory dance or cheer, but a victory cheer would suffice. Despite the three or four draugrs left, this was very much a victory for him. Better a handful than however many were walking around before. This amount as manageable for him and Nisha.​

 

[Greenie]

Nisha couldn't help but smirk when she heard the large Nord let out a cry that was just as large as he was. Though she was wrought to admit it, she was indeed finding it pleasant having a companion who was friendly. Balances out how bitter and rotten I am, she thought to herself as she pulled an arrow from her quiver and started forward, though she kept a fair few steps away from Tucker, not wishing to get hurt yet again due to stupidity.​

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"I got your back," she muttered under her breath, and with that she let an arrow loose, aiming for the draugr that wielding the warhammer. The arrow struck, yet it wasn't enough to kill the undead being. "Stupid thing..." She grabbed a couple of more arrows and took a few steps forward, unleashing the two one after another, striking true each time, one hitting the draugr in his gut, the other hitting his eye. It fell back, the warhammer making a loud clang as it hit the ground as well.​

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"And for the others." Once again she knocked an arrow, aiming for yet another draugr, this one seeming a female, though it was hard to tell unless one was close. She pulled back and let the arrow fly, hitting it in the shoulder- the draugr stumbled and fell back, hitting its head against a stone table in the room. It fell limp, skull breaking off its body and rolling away.​

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"The rest are your, Tucker!" As much as she hated it, her stamina was still quite low, and even this much was causing her to breathe heavily.​

 

[Spekkun]

Thanks to Nisha, the heard of Draughrs had thinned out, giving Tucker both room to breathe and to fight back. Before one of the remaining draugr could attack him again, the Nord swung his arm outward, slamming his shield into the creature's face. The draugr fell over, allowing Tucker to swing the shield towards the other draugr's neck. The metal edge of the shield tore through the rotted flesh and bone of the draugr with relative ease, killing the creature immediately. The head fell back as the wound on its neck opened further until the body went limp, crumpling to the floor.

As the first Draugr stumbled back to its feet, Tucker quickly picked up his sword. Just as the undead creature recovered from the earlier shield bash, he lept forward, thrusting his blade deep into the creature's chest. The draugr's hand released the tight grip on its weapon, allowing the nordic axe to fall and clatter as hit the ground before going limp. With a grunt, Tucker pulled his sword from the creature's chest, letting out a brief sigh as he sheathed the weapon. "That's the good thing about killing draugrs. They don't have any blood to clean up." He turned to Nisha, a smirk on his face.

"First bandits, then frostbite spiders and now draugrs? We're pretty much unbeatable." He mused out loud, unable to keep the confidence he was feeling from permeating his voice. "Well, I always knew I was unbeatable, but with you it's just...it's not even fair. If we were armed we probably could have taken that dragon." It was an interesting thought to have, and how the nord in him wished he could have tested that hypothesis, but that wasn't their fight. "How much further do you think we have to go?"​