Go to the tomb now

As much as it turns your stomach to admit; the septims offered by the drunk for a night with you would enough to purchase a good number of items that in your heart you know you should bring with you, important things like healing potions, torches & armor. From the bar behind you the Nord lets out a resounding belch, a grimace crosses your face at the sight and you decide the money and gear are just not worth the damage your own self-respect would suffer; decision made you look at Lucan and smile coolly, after assuring the human that you would return soon with the stolen claw you turn away and hurry out of the inn and into the night.

Drawing your sword in one hand, you enter the barrow; your eyes are moving about the tomb as you walk and ceaselessly taking in everything you can learn. After a few moments of your slow exploration you hear voices coming from somewhere ahead of you. Dropping into a crouch behind a broken pillar you peer around its edge at the speakers, there are two of them, both human and both male neither are looking in your direction, they bore battered looking armour and wore weapons at their hips, the two were speaking of the earlier disappearance of someone they called Ravel deeper in the tomb.

Spinning around the edge of the pillar you move forward at a sprint, the loud voices of the men covering the soft sound of your rapidly approaching footsteps, the laughter of one man turns mid sound into a chocking gurgle as a sword blade erupts outward from his throat in a spray of crimson blood. The second human sucks in a shocked breath, he is white faced and one of his hands is fumbling vaguely for the sword at his hip, wrenching your sword loose from the neck of the man you had stabbed you launch a furious blizzard of swings at the other, taking him twice across the belly and once in the shoulder before he collapses to the ground, blood spilling out to stain the floor around him.

Continuing onward down the passage you find a large ragged hole in the wall of the passage, peering through you see a large cavern, its stone walls and ceiling are draped with long thin white threads, the substance resembles spider webs though they are much bigger than any spider webs you have ever seen before. To your left a Dunmer male hangs suspended in mid air by a thick bundle of the webbing, both of his arms are stuck to the webbing and a stream of muttered curses comes from his lips as he thrashes ineffectually against his bonds.

As you move deeper into the room the imprisoned dark elf spots you “Help me! Please help me before it comes back!!”, with your left hand you take a tight hold on his wrist wand pull hard, the strands of webbing holding him in place stretch and grow taut but he does not budge. Sheathing your sword you grab his wrist again, this time with both of your hands and give a vicious yank, once again the strands stretch but don’t break. Stepping back from the web you re-draw your sword “Lets try cutting some of these first” you murmur taking aim at a cluster of strands, Arvels eyes grow wide in fear as he looks past you “Look Out!” he shouts, spinning around you see an immense gray white spider dropping out of a tunnel in the ceiling.

The spider gives a chilling hiss as it approaches its scuttling stride and glittering eyes making your skin crawl with loathing, the spider lunges at you its mandibles snapping wildly. Ducking aside you swing hard and a long gash opens up on one of its legs and the beast lets out a shrill scream of pain, a second swing and another gash opens up on the beast. Sensing victory you move forwards, however in your haste you have moved directly into a strand of webbing, your feet are imprisoned and you fall forward onto your palms, the sword skittering away from you.

The pumpkin sized head of the massive spider fills your view, its eight eyes glittering coldly, its mandibles open wide as it moves even closer to you, the immense beast lets out a high pitched hiss, then there is nothing...nothing but darkness.

                                              THE END