Genjo and the Embershard Mine Liberation

Where do I start? Saying that I woke up, ate breakfast, chopped wood, and worked at the smithy just doesn’t sound like the beginning of what turned out to be such an exciting day. When I went to bed last night, I was struggling to decide if I was going to head to Whiterun or go up to that occupied mine and liberate its minerals. I woke up with a clear purpose. Villains would no longer profit on the hard work of Riverwood and its local traders. I needed what was in that mine and this town needed the peace of mind that it would not be terrorized by highwaymen. It was a good deal for everyone and so I set the wheels in motion.

Let’s get one thing straight, though. I’m not a hero. I wanted to turn this situation into a profit, and not only will the law look the other way, but people around here may come to respect me as a peacekeeper. Everyone involved gets what they want. Well, except the bandits. They should have thought of that before they turned to a life of crime, though. Justice has come to the town of Riverwood, and in exchange money will come to my pockets.

All that said, I don’t like killing people. I prefer to avoid it unless I’m threatened, or in this case my livelihood. I’m not a warrior or a mercenary. I haven’t been trained in fighting or magic. I consider myself an average guy. When I’m properly motivated, however, I can muster the courage to face death. This is one of those times. It’s just not my style to grab a weapon and rush into battle, though. This required preparation, which is why I spent my morning in Riverwood preparing. I did work at the mill for some money. I also tossed away my foot-wrappings for some real moccasins that I made out of a wolf I killed in the woods yesterday. How rustic and manly is that? The merchants I know back in Cyrodiil wouldn’t believe it if I told them.

So... about this Sven guy... No, never mind.
Hey, nice wood! Great lessons today, huh?

I trained with Faendal again, and managed to steer the conversation away from Sven and Camilla long enough to get his assessment of the mine. I forgot to write about what happened between Sven and I last night. I’ll get to it later, but it made the topic awkward with Faendal and I urged him to talk about the mine at every attempt to change the subject. He told me it’s called Embershard Mine. Faendal was probably the most familiar person in town with the surrounding woods and he knew to stay clear of Embershard. He suspected there weren’t more than half a dozen bandits holed up in there, which didn’t sound too bad. He seemed impressed that I was going to face the bandits alone. I thought he was going to offer to come with me for a moment, but instead he offered to show me how to make my own arrows at Alvar’s forge.¹ I filled my quiver with 25 freshly made arrows and felt ready finally to face the bandits.  I only hoped his estimation about their numbers was right.

I admit walking up to the mine, I was getting second thoughts. I’ve never done anything like this before. I wasn’t even properly dressed (though my feet were already thanking me for the boots). I believe the knowledge of that unguarded, 2^nd entrance is the only thing that pushed me onward. I planned to sneak in and get the drop on these bandits before they knew what hit them. It’s difficult to think I’d attempt this without some kind of advantage. One untrained man against six or more armed highwaymen didn’t seem like a good idea without having that secret entrance.

The Perfect Shot

As soon as I entered the tunnel I was drowned in darkness. I couldn’t see much of anything beyond a single torchlight up ahead in the shaft. The fact that it was lit indicated the bandits were aware of this exit and almost immediately I heard the shuffling of feet on planks as a lone patrol made his way up some scaffolding. I slowly inched my way forward in the darkness with my bow in hand. I remember whispering a short prayer to Talos that he wouldn’t leave the scaffolding and come up the tunnel. A thought crossed my mind in a moment of panic. Had they set traps? Alarms? Why weren’t they guarding this entrance? I quickly discovered a few bones strung up to the support beams as makeshift alarms. Whew! That could have ruined everything. I had a perfect shot lining up, I wouldn’t want to draw unnecessary attention to myself. Two arrows fell silently into the chest of the patrol and as easily as that one bandit was finished.

Genjo the Sniper

I could still hear talking within the cavern, so I edged close to the fallen man slumped over the rail and pulled him back as quietly as I could. It upsets me quite a bit to strip a dead man down and dress up in his clothes, but he was the right size and his hide armor was too tempting. if I was going to get in any close combat in here, I would want some better protection. After I slipped into his clothes, it seemed questionable if this armor was any more or less effective than loose rags at protecting me, but what I'd done was done and I turned my thoughts to pressing onward. I checked all his pockets and pouches for coins and lock picks and also found a rather elegant copper circlet set with an onyx that was maybe worth something. I put it back in his pouch, which was now my pouch, and readied myself to face the upcoming challenges within the mine's central cavern.

The Almost Perfect Shot

What happened next was a bit confusing. I carefully sneaked along the catwalk that the patrol had used to get up to where I had been hiding. I was just past a small waterfall when I saw another bandit sitting down at a table in some kind of larder or kitchen area. Her back was to me so I lined up my shot carefully, but the arrow lodged in her right shoulder. It knocked her forward and out of her chair, but with surprising speed she was on her feet in an instant and rushing across the bridge toward me. I fumbled with an arrow and barely managed to release it before she was on top of me, weapon ready to crush my skull. It lodged into her chest and she slumped to the scaffolding before me. I was still reeling from the surprise of her burst of agility when I realized the person I had heard her speaking to earlier was rushing over her fallen body and ready to remove my head from my body. I dropped my bow and pulled out my dagger to engage him in close combat. He swung at me with his axe, but I deflected most of the blow with the blade of my dagger. The edge of his ax grazed my skin and I'm still troubled at how close it had come to severing my neck. I was dazed by the blow, but he was off balance and in that opening I managed to lunge and my dagger found its target. It all happened so fast. The sounds of our battle were replaced with the rushing of water falling down on the rocks below from somewhere overhead. No one else was coming to greet me, but as I'd soon find out I was not yet alone.

Nice setup, for a thieving bandit troop.

I took this moment of safety to look around. I wasn't about to start loading my bags with treasure and iron when I was still sure there were bandits lurking around the mine, but it didn't hurt to get a feel for the surroundings, and I took a moment to bandage the minor wound I'd received in that last scuffle. I was definitely in the main cavern of the mine and I found it to be surprisingly well stocked with a full kitchen and everything one would need to forge iron except a smelter.I continue to be vexed by a lack of a smelter with which I could refine this ore I mine into useable ingots. Still, there were a lot of good supplies here and technically a forge I could call my own. I don't see myself using it in the future, though. After a short respite and a quick survey of the facilities, I ventured on to root out the remainder of these bandits.


I carefully, slowly made my way along the tunnels away from that main chamber, but I was in for a big surprise. The next bandit I faced got the drop on me. Although I was sneaking through the shadows, he apparently knew I was coming and was lying in wait just out of the torchlight. He caught me completely off guard and sliced at my chest with his axe. Though not quite as scary as the nick along my neck, this was another close call. My dagger was ready and I made sure he was sorry he didn't finish me off in his initial ambush. This bandit had a shield and was very good at deflecting my dagger, but he was clumsy and with enough pressure I was soon able to make him lose his footing and the fight was mine. Thankfully after that initial shock of his surprise attack, I was able to maintain a level head and patiently wait for the opening I needed to end the fight. I remember my heart was racing at that point. This darkness was great for hiding from the bandits, but apparently it went both ways. I hoped there were no more little surprises lurking ahead of me.

Within an inch of his life,
he tried to confuse me with the old
"Look out! There's a pirate behind you!" routine.

Further down the tunnel I found a raised drawbridge, which I dropped as quietly as I could. Beyond I could hear two men talking and one of them scraping the rock with a pickax or similar tool. I felt relief that these two hadn't heard my previous fights and appeared to be oblivious they were in danger. I slowly crossed the bridge over an oddly luminescent pool of water below, and saw the two men below the scaffolding I had stepped on to. I readied my bow and aimed for the man mining what was soon to be my iron ore. My previous attempts to kill these bandits with arrows told me that I'd need to be fast and accurate, so this time I made sure to prepare a second and third arrow in front of me so I wouldn't be fumbling in the dark if my first arrow didn't kill him. This proved to be wise as it took two arrows which quickly found their mark. While I was dealing with the mining bandit, his friend rushed up the scaffolding with a mace raised above his head.This time I was prepared. My dagger found his heart faster than his mace could land any blows.

Genjo strikes again.

As the last bandit fell from my dagger, the mines returned to the tranquil sounds of water falling on rock. I could see just up the tunnel the barred doors to the outside world where the final bandit presumably stood guard to deter wanderers like myself from interfering with their operation. There was no way to tell if there were more bandits outside, or if I had missed any hiding in the dark corners of the mines, but I assumed this guard was all that stood between me and the total liberation of the Embershard Mines. I made my way silently to the door leading to the outside world. I carefully took down the bar keeping the doors locked shut and slipped outside into the cold mountain air and blindingly bright light. Although it was hard to see, I could hear the guard just sitting nearby. She made no attempt to attack me so I was safe and unnoticed for the moment. I allowed myself to regain my senses and then I began my final attack.

The Approach

When I could see clearly again, I saw her leaned up against a support not too far from the entrance where I was crouched. Her back was too me as she scanned the mountainsides. She kicked at the rocks absently and sent them scattering away. I felt a moment of remorse that I'd have to kill this woman, who could have been living a simpler life somewhere. I knew I had to do it, though. I'd killed her comrades. She wasn't about to be talked to rationally. Still, it felt too cruel at the time to just stab this bored woman in the back. Yes, I realize now that I had shot plenty of unaware bandits in the back with arrows, but at this particular moment it just felt unfair. I can't really explain why, but I can explain what happened next.

Sounds very contemporary, but I don't see any snow!

I slowly made my way up behind her with the dagger drawn. I knew I could slide it into her back and be done with her, but instead I put the point to the small of her back and asked her to lower her weapons. She didn't. She was fast. She rolled away from me and was on her feet instantly. She remembered my face from yesterday and was furious. I could tell that she knew what had happened in the mines and that all her friends, perhaps her family, were dead. She screamed in rage and threatened me before she came at me wildly swinging her mace. I felt no indecision then. I feel no remorse now. She met her end at my hands. The Embershard Mines were liberated.

Fatality

Well, that covers the exciting part of the day, and it was just past lunchtime! I had the whole afternoon to scour the mine for all its treasures. I felt there was a slight problem, though. It was so dark in there that I'd have to carry a torch with me everywhere I went and that sounded slightly unsatisfying. I headed back to Riverwood to check the old spell tomes I'd seen at the Trader. I'd never taken much interest in magic, but if Lucan had one that could light up a dark mine, I'd be inclined to dabble. Also, I was famished and had missed lunch.

As it turns out, the Riverwood Trader didn't have any spell books in stock that would help me with the dark mine shaft. Lucan did recall I'd been looking for some clothes and showed me some robes that had come in just this morning while I was out. He had a black robe and a blue robe. I bought the blue robe and tossed on the circlet I'd found earlier in the day. Camilla came down the stairs and laughed at the sight, but admitted finally that I looked very scholarly.

Oh, yes! This reminds me. Last night at the inn as I was getting to know Sven, he pushed a forged letter on me that he wanted me to give to Camilla. I was to say it was from Faendal and cause damage to their relationship. I found this pretty distasteful so I decided it would be better if I just showed Camilla what that scheming skald was up to. She could definitely do better than Sven. I handed her the letter and explained the whole situation to her. She was appalled and very grateful I'd shown this to her. She flirted with me a bit and then asked me to tell Faendal what had happened, too. I didn't want to cause more problems between Faendal and Sven than already existed, but she convinced me with her girlish charms that it was the right thing to do.

How do I look? Scholarly?

I ate lunch and spoke to Faendal who was extremely grateful as Camilla had predicted. He didn't seem too upset or surprised that Sven would sink to this level and he was glad Camilla finally saw what kind of jerk Sven is. Faendal was the only one who knew I'd been up to the mine that morning and we chatted a moment about how it had gone. He was truly impressed and felt some regret that he had not come with me. He said if I ever needed his bow in the future, he'd be at my side. I'd say Faendal and Camilla are probably my two closest friends in Skyrim.

Hello, loot!

I spent the remainder of the day, torch in hand, combing every inch of that mine for all it was worth. I left the bandits where they lay mostly untouched. I only emptied their pockets of coins and trinkets, but left them with their weapons and clothes, and hopefully some dignity. I did however find several ore deposits and the key to the bandit's treasure trove. I raided their larder of all it had to offer and found a secret chest nearby that forced me to pick the lock with some of the bandit's own tools. Aside from ore that I mined, I found a magical greatsword and hide shield. I'm not too knowledgeable about magic so I'll have to get them appraised. I also found some old spell books and a novel entitled "Light Armor Forging" which I plan to read  before going to bed tonight.

Treasure hunting took up the remainder of the day, though, I did stop for a quick bath and laundry in the White River on the way back into town. I had to get some of the dirt, grime and blood off of me before I could sleep for the night. Now I just plan to eat dinner, compliments of the bandits, and take a quick inventory before settling in with my new book about the finer points of light armor.

Tomorrow, I think I must go to Whiterun. There is still the mystery of the Riverwood Trader break-in and that tower I found out near Anise's Cabin, but if Gerdur catches me in town one more day I think she may be more dangerous than a dragon. I have clothes, supplies, a source of income and some savings. The longer I delay the more I put Riverwood in danger of dragon attacks.

- Genjo, the Breton

20th of Last Seed, 4E 201 

Notable Inventory

• 580 Septims
• Amethyst (2)
• Garnet (3)
• Iron Ore (38)
• Iron Ingot (2)
• Corundum (3)
• Leather Strips (3)
• Iron Greatsword (Magical)
• Hide Shield (Magical)

Post-Script
While I was exploring the mine, I found the journal and remains of an old miner killed in a collapse and I wanted to share some of his final thoughts for reflection in my own journal. This miner does not have a name, but I hope he shall be remembered.

Farewell.

"They've had me working down here for days now. It's not the time that's getting to me though, it's these tunnels. I've told them countless times now to add extra supports to the weak sections of tunnel. If only we had more of those wooden beams that we reinforced with bronze bottoms. Honestly, if I hear the earth shift one more time above my head I'll be so stressed I may stop drinking for good. I mean, what's a nord without his mead?"

---

The OOC Corner - Reader's Poll & Author's Notes

Genjo's first dangerous adventure comes to a close. Caution and proper planning won the day.


I want to list some of the mods I have installed and running. The ones I've added are to add a bit more realism. Some are making it harder, such as forced eating and sleeping and realistic lighting. Others I expect will make it slightly easier, like crafting my own arrows and camping in the wilderness. I don't find them game breaking, though, and they are something you could do.

• Craftable Arrows
• Dynamic Merchants
• Im's More Complex Needs
• Camping
• Realistic Lighting

Dynamic merchants means that the more I buy and sell at a store, the more goods (and more rare/exotic goods over time) they will start to stock. I'm not sure this even applies to the Riverwood Trader, but if so it may explain the robes showing up after a few days of buying and selling there.

I'm thinking of eventually swapping this out for a more realistic economy simulator which will keep goods common in one town at low prices, but higher prices elsewhere in the world. Part of me wants Genjo's "profession" to be a traveling trader, but with all items at a flat rate everywhere in the world this really puts a kink in that. Since I refuse to use Fast Traveling, there would be lots of adventures on the road, peddling wares all around Skyrim, I think. This mod (if working correctly) will help make a more realistic economy, but since I'm not there yet I'm not going to add it to the game. It will (hopefully) give the modder time to work out the bugs, plus I don't believe it currently works with the Complex Needs which I am really enjoying.

Onward to the poll!

Genjo has 2 decisions to make today as he finally reached Level 2. 
I decided to leave leveling up to the voters, but I've limited the choices of skill improvements to the skills he's actually, currently utilizing. It will narrow down the options considerably. 

What skill does Genjo improve?

What should Genjo do tomorrow?

---

¹ This requires a mod called "Craftable Arrows" which I felt was missing from the original game. The mod does not require Faendal or any training (other than smithing). I just add that for the narrative's sake.