Twilight Sparkle the Adventurer

Chapter 6 – Lending a Helping Hand

Inside the walls of Whiterun was no warmer than outside on the plains of Skyrim but the walls did block some of the breeze. Looking to her right, she saw the ‘Warmaidens’ Blacksmith Shop and it did have a forge right beside the building. Looking around, she noticed that there were several large torch sconces near the gate that did wonders for warming her up. She stood there and just took in the absolute wonder of the night sky while warming her hands by the fire.

Oh my gosh… there are two moons. How beautiful… I wish my friends could see this… they would never believe it.

A guard paused in his patrol to look at her. “Wow… don’t see your kind much around here. What business brings you to Whiterun?”

Twilight put on her best winning smile despite how cold she was. “Riverwood calls for the Jarl’s aide. I’m just warming up a little by the fire before I make the long and cold trip up the hill to the castle.”

The guard looked back towards the castle at the top of the hill and then turned to face her once more. “The Jarl will have retired to his personal chambers by now. You’ll be able to speak to him during regular court hours tomorrow morning. In the meantime… you can sell all that junk that you’re carrying at either The Drunken Huntsmen, Belethor’s General Store, Warmaidens or at the Skyforge by the Companion’s warrior guild mead hall. And while I respect members of the legion… that armor is garbage. You definitely will want to upgrade to something better as soon as possible.”

Twilight nodded to the guard. “Thank you for all of your help. If I can’t see the Jarl until tomorrow, then what should I do?”

The guard pointed up the road. “The Bannered Mare usually has an available room for rent. It’s fairly clean by the standards of most Inns. At the very least you’ll get a good night sleep out of the cold.”

Left with nothing better to do, Twilight went ahead and went to the Inn. She walked straight to the bar and sat down in front of the older woman behind the bar. The Innkeeper smiled at her.

“Always nice to see a new customer. My name is Hulda. What can I do for you?”

Twilight smiled and fished out a clean mug that she had taken from the bandit camp. “I’d like one glass of ale and a room for the night.”

Hulda took the mug and filled it to the rim. “Ale is 3 gold per mug or 5 gold for 2 mugs and the room will be 10 gold.”

Twilight dropped 13 gold on the counter and thanked her. Hulda came from around the counter and walked Twilight up to the room. It was a nicely appointed room for an Inn, with a double bed, and all the comforts of a small house.

“Here’s the room, it’s yours for a day. I haven’t seen you around before so you must be new in town. Once you settle in, come back downstairs, and socialize. Making some friends probably wouldn’t hurt.”

Twilight sat down and drank her ale. After the hard battle at the Halted Stream Camp and the long run back to the city with all the loot while nearly freezing to death… she had earned that drink. She considered the ale in her hand.

With the way the ale is warming me up, I now know why the Nords drink so much of it. I may have to carry extra with me… though I’d rather not have to pay overpriced Inn prices. I should remember to grab what I can from the next bandit camp I clear. Halted Stream Camp had a lot of food but not a lot of drink…

She thought more about the bandit camp itself from both before and after she cleared it. In hindsight, it might have been smarter for her to have waited at the camp until morning… the mine shaft was pretty warm, and the bandit chief had a nice bed… but she didn’t want to be mistaken as a bandit by some other adventurer that took the same job she did. Unless each Inn had a different job posted, which from what Delphine had said isn’t likely… or unless it was a smaller Hold with only one Inn within the entire Hold and she took the only copy of the job posting… which also doesn’t seem likely. Those facts made the risk too great for her to consider staying in a ‘cleared’ camp. Of course, a smart adventurer might be able to put two and two together and figure out from all the corpses that she wasn’t a bandit… unless they thought she was something worse… like a monster. At least it worked out in the end… this time. She would have to be more cautious in the future, especially travelling after dark. Finishing off the drink, she went back downstairs to enjoy the roaring fire in the middle of the room.

She couldn’t help but pay attention to the bard playing a lute while the conversation around her flowed. A young woman sat down beside her, also admiring the bard’s playing, Twilight turned to her.

“He’s pretty good… but not better than the bard in Riverwood.”

The young lady smiled. “That’s a bold statement but not unexpected from a person who travels a lot. My name is Ysolda, and I plan to buy this Inn someday. As such, I have an invested interest in making sure it runs smoothly even before I buy it.”

Twilight couldn’t fault her logic. “Buying an Inn would surely be expensive. How do you plan to raise the funds?”

Ysolda smiled and leaned in to whisper in a conspirational tone. “I’ve made a deal with Ma’dran, one of the leaders of the Khajiit Caravans. He’s going to help me get started with trading with the Caravans if I can get him a mammoth tusk. The caravans have very exotic items that would fetch a nice price in the city, but the normal townsfolks won’t even give the caravans a second glance. Meanwhile… since the caravans aren’t allowed in the cities, I can get them basic supplies that they actually have a hard time buying for themselves, like basic food and camping supplies. The end result would make them more comfortable and provide both parties with decent profits. My biggest problem is getting the mammoth tusk in the first place. They are expensive to buy, and mammoths are nearly impossible to kill. I can’t afford to spend too much, or I won’t have enough left to actually start trading.”

Twilight nodded slowly, understanding her problem. “So… if you can’t afford to buy a mammoth tusk with gold… what would be willing to trade for one?”

Ysolda looked at her askew. “You ask that question like you have one to trade…”

Twilight smiled and winked. “I just might… for the right price.”

Ysolda chuckled. “Spoken like a true novice trader. I’ll tell you what… I’ll teach you a few basic haggling techniques so you can barter and trade better. Should raise your speech skill a couple of points… I wouldn’t want a shifty merchant to give you a raw trade.”

Twilight reached into her backpack and pulled out a mammoth tusk. “I believe this would be good enough…”

Ysolda nodded. “Yes… this should turn that old cat’s gaze. As promised… here’s a few techniques for getting a better deal at shops.”

Ysolda explained the basic haggling process and had Twilight practice the phrasing with her. At the end of 20 minutes, Twilight’s speech skill had gone up by two points and Ysolda moved on to the next person to talk to. Twilight checked her stats.

Huh. Those two points of skill didn’t count as ‘paid’ training. I guess receiving skill points as a reward for a ‘quest’ isn’t the same as paying a trainer for the knowledge. Odd…

An older Imperial woman sat down beside her next. “I wish I had gotten to speak to you first. I have a mighty need for some mammoth tusks myself.”

Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “Oh? Are they more valuable than Ysolda led me to believe? It would figure that a future merchant like her would give me a raw deal on a trade before teaching me how to avoid getting a raw deal on a trade.”

She giggled a little. “The tusks are only valuable to people who know how to use them. My name is Arcadia and I’m Whiterun’s only official alchemist. An Alchemist, like myself, could grind a mammoth tusk like this into units of ‘Powdered Mammoth Tusk.’ The reagent isn’t very valuable on its own but is used in several potions that fetches a high price. With the ongoing Civil War between the Empire and the Stormcloaks… stamina potions for the front-line soldiers are in high demand, and they sell for quite a bit of gold. I’m completely out of powdered mammoth tusk and bandits keep raiding shipments heading to our city so I’m falling behind on my orders with no way to catch them up. I could make the powder myself… if I had a tusk to grind.”

Twilight nodded. “How much Powered Mammoth Tusk can a single Mammoth Tusk make and how much do you actually need?”

Arcadia considered the question, as if wondering how much to actually say, but then seemed to answer honestly. “A true master alchemist, working in a controlled room with no outside interference, could get a full 50 units of Powdered Mammoth Tusk from a single tusk. An Expert Alchemist, like myself… even with a shop or a controlled room, would be lucky to get 40 units. I need 100 units right now just for my current orders…and more later. Under the best of conditions… I really need 3 mammoth tusks right now and probably more later when I get more orders. Unless the trade routes can be secured better, I’ll be relying on adventurers like you.”

Twilight pursed her lips. “That’s a tall order… what can you trade for them?”

Arcadia shrugged. “Gold has been tight with the war raging on. I could teach you some alchemy, so you’d be better at making your own potions. While the tusks themselves aren’t super valuable, I could justify 5 points of alchemy training per tusk for the first 3 tusks due to the value of the potions they’ll make. Depending on your current level and your alchemy skill, it may take a few days to fully train you but I’m willing to make the trade if you are.”

Twilight nodded as she pulled out three more tusks from her bags. “That’s fair. I’ll come by tomorrow morning for the training. And here you go.”

Arcadia was stunned but nodded as she accepted 3 mammoth tusks. “Of course. My shop opens at 8 am. I’ll be happy to teach you something useful. What is your skill at?”

Twilight closed her eyes to access her inner skill set and stated pointedly. “15.”

Arcadia furrowed her brows. “So you’re a true novice then. What level are you?”

Twilight was wondering where this was going. “I’m level 4 but I’m already able to ascend to level 5. I just haven’t yet because I haven’t done any ‘paid’ skill training for level 4 yet. As a ‘new’ adventurer… I can’t afford to pass up these types of opportunities. Training is more valuable to me than gold.”

Arcadia nodded. “You’re a low enough level that 15 points of skill training should get you to level 7, especially if you can already hit level 5. In that case, I can probably do all 15 points of training in one day, but it’ll take nearly all day.”

Twilight nodded. “That’s fine. It took nearly all day to go from 15 to 30 archery while I was still in Riverwood. I’ll probably need to handle some business at Dragon’s Reach before I come by, but you can be sure that I’ll be there tomorrow.”

Arcadia nodded as a silent reply and Twilight smiled as Arcadia left the Inn, probably to store the tusks in her shop. Twilight was barely able to enjoy the fire before a Redguard male sat beside her and started to speak to her.

“You look like you have a large number of mammoth tusks… would you care to explain why or how you have so many?”

Twilight was a little annoyed at the directness of his question. “While I have been willing to help those in need… your question is more accusing than asking for a favor. Therefore… if you want this conversation to continue… you will pay to refill my empty mug.”

Twilight shocked herself with the assertiveness of what she just told him to do but was equally wondering if it simply had to do with the fact that she had just recently finished practicing haggling with Ysolda. She sat her empty ale mug in front of the Redguard and he took it to Hulda, who happily refilled it for another 2 gold, owing that even though someone else was paying for it, it was Twilight’s second cup of ale.

The Redguard scowled. “Here’s your ale. Are you happy?”

Twilight took a long swig of the ale. “Ahh. Yes. Happy enough. So what do you want?”

The Redguard introduced himself. “My name is Amren. My family’s Ancestral sword was stolen recently by bandits, and I’d like it back. Rumor has it that it was the bandits of the Halted Stream Camp. Those bandits were renowned for killing mammoths… and you seem to have a lot of mammoth tusks. Tell me… did you clear the Halted Stream Camp?”

Twilight took another sip of ale. “As it happens… the Halted Stream Camp was this week’s bounty offer from the Jarl. And I did manage to clear it… alone. There was this one older iron sword that seemed to stand out… is this it?”

Twilight presented the Armen’ Family Sword to Armen. He exclaimed. “You found it! My father fed his entire family with this weapon… and while I do use a better steel sword, I’d rather honor my father by keeping the sword in a place of honor. Here. My father had a favorite sword and shield technique. I’ll teach it to you… in honor of his memory.”

Twilight and Armen headed outside into the freezing night long enough for him to teach her the moves without hitting any of the Inn patrons or risking damaging any of the furniture. After only a few moments, her one-handed and blocking skills went up one point each. They quickly returned inside, and Twilight continued nursing her drink. She turned to him.

“So why didn’t you try to get it yourself? You seem like you have some good moves.”

Armen nodded with a twinge of regret. “I was a soldier for a while. I would have made a decent mercenary, but I gave up the soldier’s life when my wife got pregnant. I was determined not to leave them without a provider should the worse had come to pass. Recently, my Saffir has grown more concerned that the civil war will pull me back into military service and she really hasn’t liked how obsessed I was with recovering my stolen property, not caring about the legacy it represented. I know I could have recovered it myself if I hired one or two men to go with me, but she threatened to leave me if I left town in search of the sword. I don’t think I would have been in much danger against common bandits, but I couldn’t risk her making good on her threat. I don’t know how she’ll feel if the Jarl orders me to join the town guard. So, here I am, simply grateful that you recovered it and was willing to accept a couple of simple lessons as payment.”

Twilight shrugged. “I couldn’t righty charge you to go get the sword when I already had it. And I appreciate the training more than I would have appreciated gold. At least both you and your wife can be happy now. You have your sword, and she doesn’t lose her husband. Though… as dangerous as Skyrim can be, her threat doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Could she really afford to just leave?”

Armen shrugged in response. “I’m not sure. She’d have to make her way to Solitude and take the boat to Hammerfell if she wanted to return to her family. The journey would be difficult but not impossible for a woman and a small child but between bandits and the wildlife, I don’t think she would have made it without weapons and armor of her own. Not without hiring the carriage at least, and then that’s not full proof. I don’t think she thought this completely through. She is stubborn but she isn’t stupid. Still… it’s not wise to stand between a man and his honor.”

Twilight shook her head and finished her drink. “Given how things seem to work here, it’s a wonder that everyone doesn’t wear armor at all times…”

That got a chuckle from Armen. “That’s why I still wear mine. You never know when you’re going to run into trouble. Even a city can be dangerous in times of war.”

Twilight nodded to him as he took his leave. She got up and stretched. When she finished… she noticed a child sitting in the far corner of the room, alone. Curious, Twilight went to investigate. Before Twilight could say anything, the child looked directly at her.

“Miss? Can you spare a coin?”

Twilight nodded and gave the child a coin. “Why are you begging?”

The child sniffled. “That’s what Brenuin said I should do. He’s been the only one that has nice to me since my momma died. My Aunt and Uncle threw me out after they took over my parents’ farm and stole my inheritance. I barely had the strength to make to the city and I guess I’m lucky that bandits didn’t find me first. Most days I can afford a meal here at the Inn… or I afford a room… but usually not both. Given the choice, I usually choose to eat and then I sleep outside behind the Inn where the city wall and the building shields me from the wind.”

Twilight was horrified at the thought. “Well, today you’ll in luck. I have extra food and a room with a double bed. So… I’ll feed you and then you can sleep with me in the room I rented. Save your gold for another day. What’s your name?”

The child smiled warmly. “My name is Lucia.”

Twilight took her hand. “My name is Twilight. Come with me and sit down at this table. I’ll be right back with food.”

Lucia took a seat and Twilight went to the cooking pot in a side room that was in-between the main room of the Inn and where the rented guest rooms were located. Twilight pulled out an uncooked cut of mammoth meat that was slightly larger than a cut of venison. Using common sense, Twilight realized that neither she nor the child could eat a ‘Mammoth Steak’ that was that big, so she improvised and used the mammoth meat to make a ‘Mammoth Stew’ that was nearly identical to ‘Venison Stew’ except that she used mammoth meat instead of venison. Adding the salt and the other vegetables, she got 7 servings of the Mammoth Stew, which was two more servings than she managed with the Venison Stew… owing in large part to the larger cut of meat.

Twilight returned to Lucia and presented the stew along with a piece of bread and cheese. For the drink… Twilight had no choice but to pour a cup of Alto Wine, running a little low on drink options. Lucia’s mouth seemed to water as she dug into her provided meal.

Twilight cleared her throat. “I’m sorry that I don’t have a drink that’s more child friendly.”

Lucia swallowed. “The laws are a little looser in Skyrim than they are in other parts of the Empire. Most kids stop drinking milk at age 8. We drink wine and ale like our parents, least we want to be taunted as a ‘milk drinker.’ And we are adults at age 16 here. I’m 12 already… so I can handle a little wine. I’m surprised your giving me the good stuff… most kids drink the cheaper unnamed wines. I’ve never had Alto Wine… it’s really good.”

That barely eased Twilight’s conscience as she was distracted by another overheard another conversation coming from the bar counter. An older woman was having to try to placate her young daughter.

“I’m sorry, my little fairy, but I don’t have the gold for such an expensive meal. You’re going to have to pick something cheaper or we’re going to have to go home for another batch of cooked cabbage.”

The child seemed so sad, and Twilight was drawn to the conversation. “Pardon me for overhearing… but you’re both welcome to join us. I have a few extra servings of stew if you want some. It’s fresh… I just made it.”

Hulda seemed upset at the prospect of losing a sale, but the child seemed pleased, and the woman was a little ashamed of her circumstances but accepted the offer. Twilight led them both to the table and gave them both a bowl of the stew while also pouring some wine.

The woman cleared her throat. “My name is Carlotta Valentia, and this is my daughter, Mila. I have to thank you for your kindness.”

Twilight snorted as she sat down to her own bowl of stew. “Nonsense. My teacher would scold me if I didn’t share my bounty. I can’t eat all this food myself and I don’t want to carry all of it with me to eat later. So enjoy. Life is hard and we’re in it together, regardless of if anyone else wants to acknowledge it. This is an improvised recipe, so I hope it tastes okay.”

Carlotta took a bite and sighed. “It tastes wonderful. What meat is this?”

Twilight took a bite and actually appreciated the favor. “Mammoth.”

Mila gushed at the prospect. “I can’t believe that I’m eating mammoth! That’s like the rarest meat in all of Skyrim. It’s not like a normal hunter can kill a mammoth.”

Twilight chuckled. “I’m glad you like it. So… what’s your story Carlotta?”

Carlotta frowned slightly. “I sell fruit and vegetables in the market, harvested fresh from local farms. Sometimes, I throw in home-baked breads or pies when I can get the flour. There are days that the sales are an absolute bounty and others where it feels like I wasted 12 hours standing at the booth. All I care about is my daughter. She’s at the age where she’s always hungry and I don’t care if I eat as long as she does. I didn’t really earn any gold today, so your offer was well timed for us, and I’m very grateful.”

Twilight nodded while eating her own stew. “I got lucky with this bounty of food, and it would be wrong not to share. I’m grateful to have this opportunity.”

Carlotta smiled while swallowing her last bite of stew. “If you ever need ingredients for another batch of stew, I have all the vegetables you could need… and I’m willing to give you a discount if you’re able to help us with some of this stew every once in a while.”

Twilight smiled at her. “It would be my pleasure to help. In fact… I came across some flour at a bandit camp that I cleared today. The Inn doesn’t seem to have an actual oven, so I don’t really have any use for the flour. You’re more than welcome to take all of it. No charge.”

Twilight produced 10 sacks of flour from her bags and Carlotta just stared at it. Twilight got a little uncomfortable with just how transfixed Carlotta was on the amount of flour she had just been given.

Twilight cleared her throat. “Are you okay? You look like you can’t believe your eyes.”

Carlotta swallowed a lump in her throat. “I can’t believe it… 10 sacks of flour will let me make between 20 to 30 items, depending on what I make. The amount of gold I can earn from my home-baked goods usually exceeds selling normal fruits and vegetables. I had everything I needed for baking except the flour. You have no idea what this means to me…”

Twilight took a sip of wine. “It’s only 10 gold worth of flour… it’s not like I saved the world.”

Carlotta sighed. “10 gold worth of flour if you sold it to a greedy merchant. 30 gold worth of flour if you bought it from the same merchant. 150 gold worth of finished products if I can bake everything that I had planned on making. At least I won’t have to worry about not being able to feed my daughter for a while. I get that your new in town… maybe even new to the province but I don’t understand how you don’t understand just how hard life is here…”

Twilight swallowed nervously. “I’ve had good friends teaching me and helping me from the first day that I got here. Maybe that’s made it easier than being alone and trying to teach myself. I am accustomed to helping my friends and my generosity is genuine. At least I can feel a little better about accepting a discount from your fruit and vegetable stand now that I’ve helped you with more than just a single meal.”

Carlotta swallowed hard. “I wasn’t trying to talk down to you. I do have a few friends in town but none that really ‘help’ me. Then… there’s that bard, Mikael. He’s always boosting that he’s going to conquer me as a true Nord conquers any harsh beast. I’m not trying to get remarried… I just want to take care of my daughter and live in peace. I’m sorry if I took my frustration out on you.”

Twilight pursed her lips… “What if I talk to Mikael?”

Carlotta snorted and took a sip of wine. “If you want to try, go right ahead. I don’t think anything will get through that thick skull of his, though.”

Mikael had stopped playing to take a break and Twilight took her chance. She walked right up to him and smiled. “Can I buy you a drink?”

Mikael smiled widely… “Sure.”

Twilight and Mikael both walked to the bar counter and Twilight dropped 5 gold on the counter.

“Two ales please.”

Hulda nodded and poured the ales into clean mugs from the tab in the giant beer barrel behind the bar. Twilight was given a minute to consider how she wanted to handle this one. This was the second time in a day that she had to step in with relationship help but convincing someone to break it off sounded harder than trying to set them up.

Mikael took a swing and sighed in appreciation of the free drink. “So… which song was your favorite?”

Twilight thought about it for a moment while taking a sip of the ale to buy herself some time. She had been spending so much time talking to the other patrons that she really hadn’t been paying that close of attention to the music.

“The Age of Aggression was an interesting song. It definitely paints the Stormcloaks in a negative light. Ragnar the Red was… colorful… but honestly not my cup of tea.”

Mikael shrugged and took another swig of ale. “Ragnar the Red is a local favorite because the events are a true story that happened in this very Inn. I’m fonder of the slower love ballads that I learned at the Bard’s College, but Hulda wants to keep the Inn ‘lively.’ I personally think a little variety would do the place some good. Maybe have a more romantic ‘date night’ atmosphere for the couples of Whiterun… at least once a week.”

Twilight hummed at the idea. “Maybe once Ysolda buys the Inn from Hulda such a thing might be possible. Tell me… I’ve heard that you’ve been pursing Carlotta… what’s the story behind that? You do know that she doesn’t care much for your advances?”

Mikael gave Twilight a grin that nearly chilled her. “Carlotta put you up to this, didn’t she? I saw you talking to her earlier. That fiery widow will be mine… she just doesn’t know it yet.”

Twilight put her ale down and turned to face him directly. “And what have you done to deserve her affection? Have you done a noteworthy favor for her? Have you purchased items from her stall? Have you offered to buy her and her daughter dinner here at the Inn? You heard the same conversation that she was having with her daughter as I did and yet it was me, a stranger, that provided for her family. Publicly claiming that you will conquer her like a Nord tames a harsh beast isn’t something a man would say if he was interested in being a husband and a father. Face it, Bard. Your fancy speech skills aside from all your talking and singing… you don’t deserve her and at the rate your going… you never will. Do everyone a favor and just give it up.”

Twilight picked up her ale, and continued to drink, as if what she had said was the most natural observation in the world. Meanwhile, Mikael was chewing his lips and nursing his ale. After a moment of silence, he sighed.

“You’re right… on my honor… I will leave her alone. Maybe someday I’ll be worthy enough of her that she’ll come to me.”

Twilight smiled at him. “That’s the spirit. And good luck in the future.”

Mikael licked his lips and pushed his luck. “What about you? Are you single?”

Twilight paused with her cup halfway to her lips. “I’m not officially in a relationship but the closest person I have to a current love interest is in the Legion. I’m hoping to join him in Solitude soon when I officially join the Legion myself.”

Mikael, having learned his lesson, decided not to push his luck further. “Well. Good luck with that. Also… thank you for the advice. I’ll keep it in mind.”

Twilight shrugged. “You may yet make a decent husband someday… but not to me and not to Carlotta. Plenty of ladies out there… just be patient.”

Mikael finished off his drink and went back to playing while Twilight finished hers and returned to Carlotta at the table.

“It’s done. He promised to stop chasing you though he expressed hope that someday you’ll take a fancy to him on your own.”

Carlotta snorted. “Fat chance of that. I’d thank the Gods, but I’d rather thank you. Here, take this gold as a reward.”

She handed Twilight a coin purse with 200 gold and Twilight bulked at it. “What’s all this? I thought you didn’t even have enough Gold to feed you daughter… I can’t take this…”

Carlotta smiled. “It was something of an emergency fund and I will have to build it back up now, but you earned that gold. With the meal tonight and the free flour you gave me plus the load off my mind from the bard finally leaving me alone… it’s worth every coin.”

Twilight shrugged. “If you say so… I’ll make sure I put it to good use.”

Carlotta and Mila got up to leave the Inn and an older man in Priestly robes sat down in Carlotta’s vacated space. Twilight raised an eyebrow at him.

“Let me guess… you need help too?”

He nodded. “Please forgive my intrusion. My name is Andurs and I’m the Priest of Arkay for Whiterun. I lost my Amulet of Arkay deep in the catacombs and now the dead appear to have gotten restless. Without my Amulet… I’m powerless to stop them. Armen came by the Temple to pray and told me about how you took down a whole bandit camp. A few skeletons would be easy compared to that.”

Twilight pursed her lips. “And how do I stop them?”

Andurs nodded sagely. “Basic skeletons are weaker than wolves. A single hit from any offensive magic or weapon strike should do it. However… they could still be dangerous in large numbers or if you had weaker than standard armor, like a bandit would. There is also the issue of reanimation. One of the reasons why every city has a Priest or Priestess of Arkay is to prevent the dead from overtaking the living. The only way to permanently stop an undead from reanimating is to kill it with a weapon enchanted with soul trap or casting the conjuration spell ‘Soul Trap’ upon the target before killing it. However, you also have to have a soul gem of the appropriate size or the effort of using Soul trap will fail. Skeletons have the smallest soul type… so you will only need ‘Petty Soul Gems’ for them.”

Twilight was happy to receive the information and was determined to buy some parchment or a journal along with some ink and a quill so she could take notes. It wouldn’t do for her to forget anything important. Lucia tugged on Twilight’s robe to bring her back into the conversation from her thoughts…

“Miss Twilight? May I have another bowl of stew… I’m still a little hungry.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide as she considered her own failure as a host. “Where are my manners? Of course you can, Lucia. And you too, of course Andurs. I didn’t even ask if you’ve eaten yet.”

Without delay Twilight placed two more bowls of the stew out and was happy to continue to learn from Andurs. He had a surprising amount of insight on the different types of undead and Twilight paid close attention, hoping to transcribe the information later.

He cleared his throat. “The main three types of undead are Skeletons, Draugr and Vampires.

Skeletons are the weakest type of undead and normally wear no armor and wield Ancient Nord weapons, however, in some deeper or older caves… you might encounter an ‘Armored Skeleton’. These wear leather, Iron or Steel armor and wield weapons of a similar grade to the armor. These are harder to kill but still only give a petty soul.

Draugr come in a variety of types. I will note early on that all draugr, regardless of level, are 100% immune to poison and 50% resistant to frost. They are also completely immune to illusion spells unless you have the Master of the Mind Illusion perk, which only a master illusionist can have. So while muffle might work as an enchantment on boots… muffle and invisibility as Illusion spells won’t work on them at all. Fire spells do 50% extra damage to all types of undead and Lightning based spells do normal damage but can be beneficial in draining the magicka of the target, if the target is known to have magicka.

The weakest two types of draugr are known as Draugr or Draugr Thrall. They are roughly level 1, and they both have a petty soul. They are more dangerous than a skeleton, but only because they have more health.

The next step up is the Restless Draugr. Restless Draugrs are roughly level 6 and can use the spell Frostbite in addition to normal draugr weapons. They typically give ‘lesser’ souls to fill lesser soul gems.

Draugr Overlord’s are the next step up but don’t let the name fool you… they are only level 7. They typically guard the most important areas of the lesser important Ancient Nord ruins. They are the first draugr type to use dragon based ‘shout’ magic. The spell is rumored to be called ‘Unreletening Force’ and while the shout itself doesn’t do damage, it will stagger you and make it momentary impossible to attack or block. Stronger versions of that shout might knock you completely off your feet. They also give lesser souls.

Draugr Wight’s are where they start to get dangerous… The Draugr Wight is roughly level 13, and they have both the Frostbite and Ice Spike spells. Once you’re exploring ruins dangerous enough to have this type of draugr present… I would hope that you process at least one type of enchanted jewelry or armor to resist frost damage. Despite the extra danger they represent… they still only have lesser souls.

Just above the Draugr Wights are the Draugr Wight Lords. Draugr Wight Lords are roughly level 15 and don’t seem to have normal magic but are the first draugr class to have more than one Ancient Nord Dragon Shout. In addition to Unrelenting Force, they also can use ‘Disarm.’ Unless you are stronger than them, they can make you drop whatever weapon you are carrying. Despite there overall weakness, they carry a ‘Greater’ soul for Greater soul gems.

Draugr Scourge is just about the hardest Draugr that an adventurer of ‘normal talent’ can handle. Roughly level 21, they cast the same destruction Frostbite and Ice Spike spells of their weaker brethren, but they can also conjure a Frost Atronach with Conjuration magic and can use the Ancient Nord ‘Unrelenting Force’ dragon magic shout similar to the Overlords. They carry a ‘Common’ sized soul for common soul gems.

Just above the Draugr Scourge is the Draugr Scourge Lord. Roughly level 24… I would advise having a travelling companion with you to help you take down a monster of this power level. Unless you are well equipped or exceedingly talented, this level of draugr and above will kill you. This draugr type uses three different dragon shouts, being the first to use Frost Breath. Despite the difficultly of this foe, it only gives a Common Soul.

The next type of Draugr can be a little tricky to tell apart. There are two types of Draugr Deathlord, an archer type and a two-handed weapon type. The two-handed weapon type is typically level 30 whereas the archer type is level 40. Both types tend to use Ebony Weapons, which is among the best weapons in the world, and a variety of high-level ice-based spells and dragon shouts that are sure to give you a hard time defeating them. The level 30 gives a Greater soul whereas the level 40 version gives a ‘Grand’ soul.

The final type of draugr is the Draugr Death Overlord. The lowest level they tend to be is 34 and I’ve heard some adventurers rate them as high as level 45. They typically use Ebony weapons exclusively and give greater to grand souls depending on their actual level. Unless you have above average equipment, are a decent level or have a travelling companion, I would recommend just turning around and not even trying to fight one of these things. They are just too dangerous…

Vampires are the last type of undead and I just don’t know a lot about them. I bet that the Vigilants of Stendarr or the newly re-formed Dawnguard could tell you more about them.”

It was admittedly a long explanation, but Twilight felt invigorated by it… Lucia… not so much. By the time the explanation was finished… the stew was finished as well. Lucia was almost asleep in her chair. Twilight turned to Andurs.

“I don’t have any soul gems on me at the moment, but I’ll be sure to buy some tomorrow before I come to the Temple of Arkay. I have some business at Dragon’s Reach and then a little more business at Arcadia’s Cauldron, but… I promise that I’ll help you sometime tomorrow. In the meantime… I need to get this little one to bed.”

Andurs nodded his head. “I don’t mind if you can’t come by for a while. It’s sad but also true that most folks don’t seem to visit their honored dead much. I just need the problem fixed before I have to turn someone away from the catacombs citing it to be too dangerous for them to visit for the time being.”

Twilight smiled at him as he got up to return to the Temple. “Of course… I’m always happy to lend a helping hand.”

Andurs smiled at her as he left the Inn. Twilight picked up Lucia and carried her to her room. She gently placed Lucia in bed and covered her up, deciding to lay beside her on the other side of the bed and covering her up.

Cuddling close, Twilight smiled at the situation, doubly happy to lend a helping hand.