Wrothgar pulled the furs closer around him. Lately, the winds have grown hungry for the heat of a warm-blooded creature, be it man or beast.
He stood on the frozen hillside and was gazing southward across the valley that opened up before him. Some trees could be seen, so they might even find some food. Frozen, most likely. It's more likely that we find meat. If it breathes, it's not frozen.
A pang of despair gripped him. They were few, the mountains many. They stretched upward to the heavens while they were like ants against them. They needed to cross them and the mountains were mocking him.
The moment of weakness was over. He turned and looked behind. The others were not far behind.
Five years, he contemplated. Five years we've tried to live in the frozen hell that has become of Skyrim, hoping that the Great Winter would end. No more. Finally I told them we must flee or we would not survive. They came because I told them to. They trust me. Now it is my obligation to make sure they make it.
They caught up to him by now. The first was young Rolf. Only fourteen, yet the youngster proved to be quite the hunter with his uncle's great hunting bow.
"How are they holding up?" Wrothgar asked him.
"Grumbling, stumbling, yet they come."
It was strange how Rolf was short of speech yet most of what he said sounded somewhat like poetry.
Once again Wrothgar turned towards the mountains. This time the defiance was strong on his face.
We must cross the mountains if we wish to enter Cyrodiil. There is no other way. If we do not cross, we will most likely die. If we climb those mountains, we will certainly die. Still, we must try.

Flame-scale lied in the cave after his meal for a few minutes trying to stay warm. He had begun work on a larger storage sack to keep his food in so he did not have to cary the burden of staying in one cave to long. He went out and was hit with stinging cold. He looked directly in front of him to the north. Those must be the mountains that border Skyrim and Cyrodiil. They would be to the east if I was by Morrowind. He looked to the north west and saw - vaugely the ruins of Burma or maybe he was in the middle of two mountain ranges and it was the ruins of an old Skyrim town or city. Unlikely. Possible. But unlikely.

It was 4:30 maybe 5:00 o'clock now. The sun had not began to set but was in the bottom-middle part of the sky. He had the feeling someone, or something was near. He stepped back into the cave slowly, checking behind him. He had devoleped a sort of sixth-sense while doing covert work for the mages guild. He could tell certain things about people wheather they were suspicous of him or whatnot. Also in some cases while in the wilderness he could tell people were in the area. At first he passed it as a tick or maybe a slight case of paranoia. However when he began to notice that he was right 85 or so percent of the time. He attempted to develop this and slowly - he did.

The back of the cave was maybe a few feet in. It was a good shelter while not possibly being home to a bear or other dangerous creatures. He resumed work lightly on the sack sewing slowly from the bear furs. Maybe bear fur will not be as durable or keep my food very fresh. But what the hell. He began to think slowly to himself. If there was one thing he hadnt seen in the Ever-Winter - and there had been every other kind of creature - but a daedric beast. He began ponder this to himself as the sun hung for what seemed like a century in the air.

Matthew trudged as fast as he could trough the snow, looking for a good spot to dig out as shelter. With a sigh of relief he saw a big hill that had a steep slope, a perfect place to take refuge. "Come this way!" he yelled to the remaining six Crimson Legionnairs who came up behind him. They were all weary and needed a place to rest. Most of the others that came with them were all dead, leaving the survivors on their own. "We shall dig here and build a fire." he said as he walked towards the slope and scoped out the area, "Quickly! Come put Edward here!" . They came up and placed Edward on the side of the slope as they dug into the snow.

When they all were done, they had dug a spot to put the injured Edward, and a spot next to it for a fire. "Drink a potion boys." Isaac said as he dug a spot next to Matthew and sat in it," We might be here for a while." The man each took out one resist frost potion and downed it, throwing the bottle into the blowing winds.

"How long do I have?" asked Edward as they put him into his spot, protected from the wind. He had the "chill", but noone wanted to tell him he was going to die.

"You'll be alright. Just hang in there." Isaac said as he put his spare cloak over him. The others were busy trying to build a fire with the last of the wood they brought with them.

"We need more wood." Matthew said "Who wants to volunteer?". One of the men, Samuel, said that he would go and began his walk into the nearby woods.

"Will he be ok?" one of the men asked each other as they brought out some meat to cook on the now going fire.

"For our sakes, he better be." Matthew said to them as he sat down next to them, trying to stay under the slope and out of the wind.

Five hours later, Samuel still hadn't returned, so Matthew said he would go look for him. "I'll be right back, so save some of that meat for me. Isaac and two of the other men said they would accompany him, to make sure noone got lost in the blizzard. "Alright, Michael will stay with Edwards to keep the fire going, we will be back soon anyway."

Matthew already knew that Samuel was probabely already dead, probabely by the cold, but he didn't want his cloak and his supplies wasted. When they reached the forest, they expected there to be a body with their familiar armour on it, frozen to the ground. What they found was different. "Hold!" Isaac said as he saw the body of Samuel lying in the snow with a bunch of branches in his arms, "We found him, but this isn't what I expected." He turned the body over and was stricken with fear.

"He didn't freeze, he was murdered!" Matthew cried as he saw the long claw marks in Samuel's head and the frozen blood pool under him.

"What?! There are barbarians here?!" One of the men yelled as he turned towards the way they came.

"We have to get back to Edward and Michael!" Isaac yelled as they all began to run back towards their campsite.

Malkai stood at the entrance to the cave, scanning the horizon. There wasn't much to see, but this was his daily routine, something to keep his sanity, if only somewhat. After looking out, and seeing the same old, he trudged back and began packing his things. He placed the little bit of meat he had in a wolf skin and tied it up, then looking around the cave scanned for a place to put it. He searched every nook and cranny for a good five minutes until he found a suitable place. It was towards the back of the small cave in an indent in the wall. The sack fit perfectly and he would be able to come back for it later. He made sure his daggers were secured at his side and that his cloak would be easily taken off if he found food or if he was attacked. He ventured out of his cave and began walking.

After a good twenty minutes of nothing but snow and more snow he stopped, for the third time now. He had been seeing what he had hoped was another cave. It was close enought that he could make out the vague hole where the entrance was. He began moving in the direction of the cave until he was maybe 50 yards out. Thats when he saw that the snow had been disturbed recently. He couldn't make out the tracks, as the wind had blown over them, but something had definetly come through here, thought there was not telling how long ago it had. Crouching low to the ground on all fours, he pulled his cloak tightly around his face. Slowly inching his way towards the cave entrance, he pulled his daggers from their sheates. Holding one in each hand, he continued creeping his way towards the cave. He didn't move to directly in front of the cave, but altered his path slightly to end up on the side of the cave. He could the remains of a fire, but couldn't tell if there was a current occupant of the room. If there was fire inside this cave that could mean one of two things... Either there currently is or there was some one residing inside the cave, or the least likely, bears learned how to start fires...

In what he deemed his most agressive and authoritative voice "Is anyone in there? I am looking for anyone that has survived the cold as I have." He waited for a reply...

OCC: Ganrithdor, if you want to join up, you know what to do...

Orver woke up to a growling stomach.

How many day's has it been?

Too many, he decided. He would begin his hunt today. He stood up and brushed snow off of his back.

That was useless, it will be replaced soon enough

And it was, as Orver trudged along., being pelted by snow. He spotted it, his glorious relief from hunger, meat. He coudn't tell what kind it was, he'd have to get closer for that. He decided to get closer before he shot, a lost arrow is not something he could afford. Roughly twenty paces away, he saw it.

By, the nine, why a lion?

For some reason the lion did not detect his presence, Orver was confused, until the answer became clear. The Lion was snacking on a deer's carcas.

Two for one, this must be my lucky day!

As quickly as possible Orver loaded an arrow into his bow and pulled back. Aiming as careful as possible, he let go. A direct hit, but unfortunatly to the leg.

The Lion uncrippled by the hit sprinted over to Orver. Orver grabbed his axe from his sash and got in a ready stance.

No use. The lion pounced on him knocking him over. Orver, with absolutly no time to react he attempted to kick the lion off. He could not get any momentem and did a rather uneffective hit. The Lion slashed Orvers face with one of his claws, right along the jaw. With the Lions arm removed from his shoulders, he was able to lift his axe hand and hit the lion in the side of the head, right before it took a bite. A succesful hit!

The Lion layed there, motionless. Orver wasted no time, first he skinned the lion, he knew the pelt would come in handy. Then he took as much meat as he could, ate a chunk, and stuffed the rest in his pouch for meat. Next, he repeated the process as well as he could on the deer, less pelt, less meat, but useful none the less.

Orver felt the gash on his jaw.

That's gonna scar.

He returned to his wandering, looking out for anything to give him the edge.


OOC: That was the scar mentioned in the character sheet, not a second scar on his chin

OOC: Sorry I haven't been active for so long. I have a busy work week so weekends is my active time.

IC:
Flame-Scale became bored after the long hours in the cave. He began carve things in the walls with his dagger. Simple, primitive drawings with no real meaning. It was a rare occasion, nothing had bugged him for a while no one tried to kill him or eat him. He began to play with his spells seeing how far his fireballs would go. He began to think these things childish. Anything to keep the spirits high. He smiled as he charged his next fireball. He let it loose but this time, the fire hit the top of the cave and the entrance to the cave colapsed. Flame-Scale stood there in angst. His jaw hung down he still had his food and his bear furs however. This is going to be okay I still have 5 or 6 days of food left with me. He began to think how his childish actions may cost him. A tear rolled down his scaly face.

He began to search for a way out, but in the darkness he couldn't see anything thing. He charged some fire in his hand to illuminate the darkness. He noticed something that he would have overlooked other wise. There was a passageway heading down into a cave system. Maybe then he could escape. He slung the sack of food and suplies and began to head down. A fear in his eye as it wasnt the brightest looking oppurtunity ever. But it was the only one...

I apologize for not replying earlier. I had things to do.


An hour before dusk they found a stone ledge on higher ground, sheltered from three directions. A steep incline sepparated it from the valley floor. Wrothgar reckoned they would be safe from the beasts that might be lurking in the freezing darkness. All the precaution has been made so that they could get a fire going without worrying of inviting someone or something undesired to them. The wood was scarce so they could afford only a small one.

"It's cold down here," said Igna who took a seat next to Wrothgar as they positioned themselves tightly around the fire. "I don't want to think what it is like up there."
The woman was taking care of two children. None of them were her own; their parents had died in the frost, but she acted as if they were hers nonetheless.
"That's why we're not climbing them," Wrothgar assured her. Others pressed together to listen as well.
"Then how do you plan to get us across?"
"I plan to take us below the mountains."
"Are we worms now?"
She talks like an old hag. It's hard to imagine she is half my age. The Great Winter made us all older than we truly are.

"No," said Wrothgar. "About fifteen years ago I got an assignment from the Guild. It was a joined mission; we worked with the Cyrodiil branch. We were to take out a group of bandits who had a way of getting from Cyrodiil to Skyrim without crossing the mountains. There was talk of a passageway beneath the mountains."
"What happened?" they wanted to know.
"We cornered the bandits in a valley with no exit. There was no passageway leading from it. But the sentinels up in the mountain passes swore no one came through on that day. The bandits had to get to Skyrim somehow. It's my belief they used that passageway and I intend to find it."

After a time, Wrothgar excused himself and went to find Hulgarth. Besides young Rolf and Wrothgar himself he was the only man in the group. Only that Hulgarth already lost all fingers on his sword hand so he could not do much in case there was fighting need done. Hulgarth was still strong as an ox though so he was assigned to carry their food supply.
"What have we left?" enquired Wrothgar of the crippled man.
"What stores we had back home are long gone. We can hunt but hunt what? Game is scarce. It wouldn't be bad if we could live on snow."
Wrothgar laughed his hoarse laugh, which suddenly got interrupted by a nasty caugh. Before he knew it young Rolf was there staring at him.
"Aren't you suppose to be on watch?" Wrothgar scorned him but not with an unkind voice.
"Are you all right?" the youth asked him. There was fear on his face.
"It's nothing," said Wrothgar and wiped the hand he used to block his mouth across the fur of his cloak. "Go back to watch."

Thank the gods he's so young. If he weren't, he might see through my lie. I've never been good at lying. Too much to think about.
"How long do you intend to keep up with this charade?" Hulgarth asked him.
"As long as it takes," Wrothgar responded. "You tell someone, you'll regret it."
"I'll just wait until you drop. I'll wager them finding out this way will go much better on them."
Wrothgar would not think about that.

I wont post twice in a row. So someone go first, if this RP is still alive.

OOC: I thinks it's slowly dying, now it can only be saved by character participation

IC: Orver was feeling both proud and full, not even caring about his new wounds. He climbed up a hill and looked over the horizon, Nothing but snow... That thought still hurt him, he had already begun to forget what grass looks like, what a flower look like, what life looks like... But that didn't kill him like the lonliness did, he used to generally stray away from settlements, now he would gikve anything to talk to someone.

He felt a tears begin to form in his eyes. He never wanted to see anyone see him cry. Though nobody was around, he wiped his eyes. Because he didn't want to see himself cry. He slide down the hill and continued walking, now searching for anybody else.

At the campsite

When they arrived to the campsite, the fire was still going, so they felt relieved that they weren't seen. But as they approached they saw only Michael, and his lifeless body was leaning on the slope with one arm and no head. "By the Nine Divines!" Issac yelled as they all ran up towards the camp, "Where's Edward!"

One of the men yelled, "Edward! Edward where are you?!", but go no reply.

"Stop that this instant!" Issac said in a hoarse whisper, "We need to stay hidden from this enemy until we come up with a plan. We don't want to end up like Michael!"

"Then Edward is already dead." Matthew muttered as he sat down next to the dying fire and put some of the wood he grabbed from Samuel's cropse in it. Now there were only Issac, Matthew, Julian and John left to freeze in this harsh weather.

"We can't just sit here and freeze!" Julian exclaimed to Issac, "We need to find an abandoned house, or a cave, or something to shield us! The weather will kill us unless we do something now!".

Issac reached out and grabbed Julian by the cloak amd brought his face close to Julian's. "Calm yourelf, you're a Crimson Legionnaire!" Isaac said harshly as he threw his comrade into the snow, "Hysterics won't get us anywhere."

"And neither will you!" Julian screamed, "You led us out here and now look at us! There are four of us when we set out with almost thirty! All we have seen out here is death! Our mission was to save lives, but all we have done is bury the dead!" Julian walked over to his things and picked them up while he wrapped his cloak tighter to his armour.

"What are you doing?" Issac asked him as he watched Julian carefully, wondering if his former friend would try to take lead of the men.

"I'm leaving!" Julian yelled as he whirled around to face Issac. "I am sick of your lies! You said that you would get us to the Imperial city, but look at us now! We're doomed to freeze to death or get mauled like Michael and Edward!".

"Let's think about this." John said as he tried to keep the fire going, "We can't give up now, not when were so close to our goal!". Julian then turned to him and glared at him with all the hatred in his heart, "You're supposed to be my friend and this is how you treat me? Siding with him! Fine then, I'll go home to my family by myself!". "While your leaving,take a look at Michael and still say you want to go alone?" Issac said as he pointed to the mauled body that used to be Michael. Julian didn't listen, instead he spat on the ground and walked away, trudging through the fierce winds. "He's going west." Matthew said to Issac, "You're going to let him go that way, when we know there is a cave to the east?". Issac put his hand on Matthew's shoulder, "Yes, if he really is beginning to lose his mind, then maybe we're better off without him.". So now there were three left as they packed their food and supplies and headed east, and they never saw Julian again.

At the campsite

When they arrived to the campsite, the fire was still going, so they felt relieved that they weren't seen. But as they approached they saw only Michael, and his lifeless body was leaning on the slope with one arm and no head. "By the Nine Divines!" Isaac yelled as they all ran up towards the camp, "Where's Edward!"

One of the men yelled, "Edward! Edward where are you?!", but go no reply.

"Stop that this instant!" Isaac said in a hoarse whisper, "We need to stay hidden from this enemy until we come up with a plan. We don't want to end up like Michael!"

"Then Edward is already dead." Matthew muttered as he sat down next to the dying fire and put some of the wood he grabbed from Samuel's cropse in it. Now there were only Isaac, Matthew, Julian and John left to freeze in this harsh weather.

"We can't just sit here and freeze!" Julian exclaimed to Isaac, "We need to find an abandoned house, or a cave, or something to shield us! The weather will kill us unless we do something now!".

Iasac reached out and grabbed Julian by the cloak and brought his face close to Julian's. "Calm yourelf, you're a Crimson Legionnaire!" he said harshly as he threw his comrade into the snow, "Hysterics won't get us anywhere."

"And neither will you!" Julian screamed, "You led us out here and now look at us! There are four of us when we set out with almost thirty! All we have seen out here is death! Our mission was to save lives, but all we have done is bury the corpses of our comrades!" Julian walked over to his things and picked them up while he wrapped his cloak tighter to his armour.

"What are you doing?" Issac asked him as he watched Julian carefully, wondering if his former friend would try to take him out.

"I'm leaving!" Julian yelled as he whirled around to face Isaac. "I am sick of your lies! You said that you would get us to the Imperial city, but look at us now! We're doomed to freeze to death or get mauled like Michael and Edward!".

"Let's think about this." John said as he tried to keep the fire going, "We can't give up now, not when were so close to our goal! I am sure that Isaac can get us out of this if we stick together."

Julian then turned to him and glared at him with all the hatred in his weary heart, "You're supposed to be my friend and this is how you treat me? Siding with him! Fine then, I'll go home to my wife and children by myself! I don't need any of you!"

"While your leaving,take a look at Michael and still say you want to go alone?" Isaac said as he pointed to the mauled body that used to be Michael, "If you leave now you will never see your family again."

Julian didn't listen, instead he spat on the ground and walked away, trudging through the fierce winds. John got up and ran after his brother for a few seconds, trying to get him to rejoin them. After a minute he gave up on Julian and walked back towards Isaac and Matthew.

"He's going west." Matthew said to Iasac with a sad look on his face, "You're going to let him go that way even though we know that there is a cave to the east?"

"Yes, if he really is beginning to lose his mind, then maybe we're better off without him." he said with a hint of regret, "He wants to see his family again, enough to risk his life. He was a good man, but he just lost his sense of mind. There is nothing we can do now except honor the lives of Julian and our fallen comrades by surviving."

After they watched Julian vanish from sight, they packed up their belongings and trudged forward, hoping to find the cave that would become their shelter. The last three Crimson legionnaires, forced to travel through the blinding snow, never saw Julian again.

OOC: sry for the long wait, lots of school stuff.