Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-29461586-20150301192956/@comment-5583506-20150301221144

"Are you sure about this, lass?" asked Torsdolk.

"I am quite sure", replied Valkyrie and steered the reins of her horse to the mountain pass.

The Wolf Pit was a grisly sight. Only the gods knew how many innocent lycanthropes had lost their lives within the walls. It was a prison owned and governed by Clan Cave-Bear. Political prisoners were brought here from time to time, but the main purpose of the prison was to eradicate as many people afflicted with the "Blood of the Beast" as possible.

It had taken her years to pull the right strings in order to gain an audience with the administrator of the prison. She had no intention of messing this meeting up. She needed to find information about her siblings. If they were still alive, she would have the support of a majority of clans in her back and together they could overthrow the tyranny which had claimed Skyrim.

"You shouldn't worry so much, dear niece", said Torsdolk. "They are alive. The Cave-Bears may be vicious fuckers, but they surely can't be that stupid that they would risk an open war?"

"I don't know", sighed Valkyrie. "Nothing hardly surprises me anymore. I don't want to think in those ways, but my heart is telling me that Hemming and Lilja are both lost causes."

"The fuck does your heart know about anything?" shrugged her uncle. "If that's what your heart is telling you, you better not believe it. I think there is a chance that they are alive, and if they aren't... well... we will get to that once we know for sure, alright?"

"Sure", she muttered.

It felt as if these were the last days of Clan Ghost-Wolf, the last great Nordic clan which had persisted since the Late Merethic Era and the Founding of the Clans. The last descendants of Ysgramor. Torsdolk had refused to take himself a wife and have children due to his profession as a Berserker of the clan. Valkyrie was 26 and childless, and almost past the age suited for marriage among the clans. And Hemming and Lilja were missing, both presumed to be dead. If Valkyrie couldn't find herself a husband and have children before she turned 30, or if Hemming and Lilja hadn't been found alive and well before then, then the clan would perish.

Of course she had long-distant relatives, but they were inexperienced and would surely run the clan into imminent destruction. It had to be a trueborn Ghost-Wolf to manage the clan...

She shrugged. And look how well I am doing...

They approached the gates of the Wolf Pit, the underground prison. She wouldn't make the same mistake as her father had done. She came together with warriors of the rank Ghost-Wolf, the very elite of her clan. If the Cave-Bears had staged yet another ambush, they would be in for a nasty surprise.

"Hold it!" shouted a guard on the wall. "Who goes there?!"

"Her ladyship Matriarch Valkyrie Ghost-Wolf of Clan Ghost-Wolf!" roared Torsdolk. "She had an appointment with the administrator of this prison!"

The guard disappeared from the parapet and the gates opened, revealing a courtyard on the other side...