» Mon Apr 06, 2015 10:15 am Note: This is another true story, it (like the "different tale of Lydia) is based on events happening to my character "Goldie" Brasstaff, a female Breton mage/thief.
It had been a long, lonely ride since losing Lydia earlier in the day, but I was nearly home. It was quite dark, being perhaps 3:30am or thereabouts, and for a moment I wondered why I couldn't see the torches of the Jarl's guards who had been sent from Whiterun. Then I remembered that all three had been killed during a vampire attack not too long ago. Apparently reinforcements had not arrived to replace them yet.
My mount snorted at the sight of the town, and I thought that we were both looking forward to a nice rest, and a bit of sleep in the few hours of night that were left. I had nearly reached the area where the guardas had set up their camp and bedrolls, and the fire was looking more than inviting. Happily, I leaned forward to pat the trusty steed's shoulder just as an arrow flew out of the darkness on my right, piercing the skin of my right shoulder slightly. Damn. that hurt, but it would have been much worse if I hadn't leaned forward!
I wheeled my mount to the left, leaping over a part of a downed log, and passing between two sections of stone fence. It took only a second to plunge into the river, and in a moment we had again swung right and come up on the tiny island that held Riverwood's mill. I quickly swung down off the horse, and moved behind a pile of the mill's logs to a point where I could watch the river bank in the direction from which the arrow had come.
It seemed long, but I'm sure it was only moments before I saw a dark figure slip down from the stone fence at the top of the bank, and I could barely make out his bow as he nocked an arrow and drew the bow taut. I could sense him straining in the darkness to find his target. I had no idea who this was, why he or they were targeting me, or even how many there might be, so I decided to take no chances.
I summoned an atronach a few feet to my right to take the archer's attention from me, and then I stepped out, sent two ice spikes winging his way, and followed them up with a shouted two-word frost breath. At almost the same instant, the atronach lit him up with a firebolt, and I saw the black figure, silhouetted in fire and ice stagger and drop. I moved forward, recasting the atronach summon so that the atronach would be right next to the archer's body as I crossed the small arm of the river to where he lay.
In the darkness, I could not see much, so as I arrived I cast a magelight on the body. Reassured by the calm demeanor of the atronach, I knelt and examined the body closer by the silvery light.
A shocked exclamation was torn from me when I saw who it was. "Faendal! What the hell?!? What were you thinking, you stupid fetcher? Why attack me?" He didn't respond, of course, he just continued staring into the darkness of the night sky with his dead eyes open and a stupid look on his face. A soft rain began to fall, and I felt a sudden chill in the air.
Seeking clues more than anything, I searched his body, but found little until I came across a scrap of paper neatly tucked away in a vest pocket*. I could read it by the magelight, and I was completely astounded. It was a bounty notice, posting a reward on me in the amount of forty gold...
I couldn't believe it. I had no idea what I might have done to get this bounty posted, though it could have been any of a number of things if I'd been caught doing them... which I hadn't.
I thought of the many hours I had spent chopping wood and working with Faendal at the mill, holding his hand as he complained about Sven, and his issues with his love Camilla. I had thought we were more than simple acquaintances, if not fast friends.
"Faendal, you idiot! You tried to kill me for FORTY gold? I'd have given you that much if you'd only asked..." As I stood there, looking down at this dead fool, a burning anger began to take hold in me. What kind of human garbage tries to kill a friend for 40 stinking gold? I spend more than that for a meal and a night of drinking at the Inn! "Gods damn you to hell Faendal!" and with that I picked up his body and threw it in the river.
The light of false dawn illuminated the rustic setting, as I watched Faendal's body ripped under the surface by the mill wheel, and though I watched closely, I didn't see it reappear. I was pleased for the fish that they would at least have a good meal. A forty gold meal for a salmon seemed a fitting end to this little debacle.
It occurred to me that I might want to wait a day or two before going on into town, so I mounted my horse and rode up to my cabin. It used to be Anise's cabin, but now I share it with her... eh, sort of. As long as I keep hitting her with calm spells anyway. She reminds me of an elderly schizophrenic aunt I once had... Sweet, until she starts screaming and casting flames all over the place...
*What I actually did was search his body and check my crime stats seeking a reason for the attack... 
