Two in one day? No wai! Yes wai! Thanks to my wonderful girlfriend who helped me crank this out :)

23rd of Last Seed 4E 201

I approached a peculiar door at the end of the chamber with circular patterns on it. I saw the last mural and recognized it instantly - Talos. I keep thinking back to how old this temple was, and this only increased that wonder.

I inspected the door, and found another puzzle. The golden claw had three prods on it and the door had three holes, but on the claw were also markings. I had to turn some of the rings on the door to properly get the claw to fit.

Turning the rings on the door was incredibly taxing, as if the machinery behind the door would break at the slightest movement.

As I arranged them in the right order I put the claw in and turned it like a key, then pulled it out. The door shook and slowly fell down, and I moved on, entering a large chamber. What struck me was a giant stone...A semi-circle wall that seemed to compel me to move closer with the sound of chanting. There was strange writing carved into the stone, and it seemed to burn brightly with a blue fire. It darkened my vision until nothing came into my sight aside from the carvings.

As I came to touch it, a word flooded into my mind - an alien word. I didn't have time to think about it for very long, as my brain re-asserted dominance over my body.

"Fus Ro Dah!" is what I heard as I was forced against the wall. I turned myself around just in time to avoid getting hit by the sword of a large Draugr. I fought back, despite his large strength and strange ability to push me back with mere words.

I saw an opening after parrying a blow - taking it, I broke his knee cap and then his skull.

My crime had been trespassing to retrieve the dragonstone, and the Draugr had only wanted to be left alone in peace. I put the king back in his casket – it was the most I could do for them.

I left the chamber by a secret exit way, but before leaving the mountain I came across a pedestal with skull on it. This must have been someone close to the king, as it was decorated with several flowers retrieved from the mountain...I left with a smile as I learned that the flowers were still alive.

My eyes were blinded from the bright light, and I had to cover them and allow them adjust for a bit. It had turned day, and I realized that I had been in that place for a whole night. The cold snow that greeted me was much more pleasant than the damp air had been in that labyrinth of caves and traps. I thought about immediately travelling to Whiterun, but despite my occasional stops to rest, I was still exhausted.

Whiterun could wait, I wanted to get to know the populace of Riverwood now that I had the free time to. I decided to check out the trader, see what stocks he had that I could use, however I seemed to have arrived at an inopportune time. I overheard an argument between the owner and his sister - apparently they were the original owners of the golden claw. Lucan, the owner, immediately traded his sour look for one of relief as I pulled it out of my pack. I told him about the bandits in Bleak Falls Barrow and he thanked me with a nice sum of gold, as well as a nice discount on his store.

I saw he had spellbooks on sale and I thought – in a rare moment of childish glee, I will admit – it would be cool if I could shoot a little bit of fire from my hand, and reasoned that it would help make setting up camp fires a lot easier.

I went out of the store to see that a few raiding bandits were attacking the town. I assisted the guards in defeating them, and began travelling to Whiterun.

I met the Wood Elf from before when I arrived in the city - apparently on his own adventures he had seen me go into Bleak Falls Barrow. He thought I would end up dead in there, and seeing me alive surprised him. He then taught me something very very handy - apparently Moonstone ingots can be made by smelting Iron and Steel ingots together.

I thanked him for this knowledge and with his help crafted some Elven armor for future adventures. I sadly didn't have any Quicksilver ingots to make any Elven weapons, however he promised he'd show me how to make them if I ran into him again with Quicksilver on hand - but for now, I'm sitting in the Bannered Mare wearing beautiful and strong Elven armor. You won’t hear any complaints from me in regards to protection for a long while.

I love you, and I hope I haven’t concerned you with what has happened so far. You have no reason to worry – your prayers and replies have assisted me in having the will to continue. If you someday decide to brave the cold, I will show you around Skyrim.

-Wuulfräd