Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-5583506-20151022194512/@comment-5583506-20151201000646

As the night slowly fell over the mountains the cold winds from below the vale came sweeping through the rift, sending Anhjari into a shudder. She woke up and wrapped her arms around herself. Astien was still heavily asleep, and she wouldn't want it any other way. He looked to be so much at peace while resting.

''Never change... ''she reflected.

She then heard something coming from beneath the window. It sounded like a groan, but she couldn't be sure she had heard it right. She carefully stuck her head up to catch a glimpse of whatever was lurking on the outside. Expecting to see Andrachel's hideous snout pop up before her she was met by a rather peculiar sight as she watched a group of bandits scout around the area outside the cottage.

She would have been terrified by this experience if she hadn't already met up with the members of the Crimson Order firsthand.

"Good spot for an ambush?" asked a Breton woman and adjusted the handaxe in her belt.

"Shut your trap, I am thinking", murmured an Orc who apparently was the leader. "Nah. Too open. And I don't know if I dare to risk setting up something more permanent in that house. It's too obvious. All it takes is for some surviving wayfarer to escape our clutches and go tell the Imperial Legion of our whereabouts."

"Pfft. I don't fear the Legion", she scoffed.

"Oh yeah?" shrugged the Orc. "What do you fear then? And don't tell me you don't have any fears, because that's a lie if I ever heard one. Everyone fears something. Fuck, even I have a hard time fighting those pale bastards hiding up in those frozen cliffs in Skyrim."

"You mean the Falmer?" said an Imperial archer.

"Yeah, those freaks. Fucking hate them. Scares the shit out of me. So I am asking you, Blenda, what do you fear if not the Legion?"

"Well... You know Ganredhel's group further south of here?"

"You mean down the passage past Boneshatter Cave, right?"

"Yeah, well... Last thing I heard from him was that his crew have begun to feel uneasy here in the mountains. They claim that they feel like they are being watched in the middle of the night. Some of them even said that they saw something huge lumbering amongst the cliffs, dressed in a robe and all. And a few days later..."

The Orc leader could tell that the Breton was getting uncomfortable talking about it.

"Well, one of their men disappeared during the night. Said he was going to take a leak amongst some rocks. He never came back. They found some blood trails leading up to Boneshatter Cave, but they never entered. A couple of nights later Vilenya disappeared without a trace. You know Ganredhel's flame? The one he fucked each chance he got?"

The Orc shrugged. "Don't you mean the one who fucked anyone every chance she got?"

The Breton didn't reply. "She disappeared as well. Ganredhel suspected that she had left him for some other man, but they were out in the middle of nowhere. Where was she supposed to go? Ganredhel claimed that whoever or whatever it was that was stalking him and his crew it must have lived in Boneshatter Cave. Every single activity that they found suspicious could be traced back there."

"So, what's your point?"

"My point is that... well..." The Breton looked around anxiously. Up at the cliffs and the moonlit rocks. "I don't... like... being out here... not at all... I feel... I feel like I am being... watched..."

The Orc started to look around as well, feeling slightly insecure when she told him her opinion. "Did... did they ever find out what it was?"

"No", she mumbled. "Ganredhel decided to change his territory to someplace further up to the North last month. Over eleven men including his mistress disappeared in the vicinity of Boneshatter Cave. And I'd rather not set up camp here at all, if I get to say my piece. That place is cursed or something. Some folks say that it's an underground tomb dating back since maybe the first or the second era."

"Alright, alright. Bad shit happens near that cave. I get it. No need to get all spooked up. We will just inspect that cottage up there for some supplies and then leave for some place that isn't haunted or whatever. Sounds alright?"

"Now you are talking."

Anhjari whimpered lowly as she saw the bandit group heading closer to the cottage, silently rushing to the room where Kay and Geralt were sleeping, shaking the woman.

"Kay!" she hissed. "Kay!"