The Cure For Curie (Complete!)

The Restlessness of Peace

"Hey, what about this one?" He asked waving a dark shape at her. She waved an arm at a wooden cart without even fully looking up from the lock she was working on. "Are you sure you don't want to look at it? It's the first book we've found down here. Looks old."

"They're all old, dear." She said as she wiggled the lock pick once more. "Besides, I bet this chest has something worth selling in here."

"Alright then." He answered tossing the book on the cart. He checked over the inventory once more.

What this woman's obsession with baskets and linen wraps was, he'd never know. The cart was stacked high with them. She always seemed to take anything that wasn't nailed down. Whenever he'd ask her about it, she would smile and simply say: Every Septim counts.

She was right, he knew. Rebuilding kingdoms was expensive. After defeating Alduin the Dragonborn, as she was known, seized power of Windhelm. With Ulfric gone and her heroic deeds preceeding her, there wasn't really anything anyone could or wanted to do about it. Some of the Nords tried to rebel because she was a Dunmer, but none dared to actually confront her position.

She had done a lot for Skyrim and the people of Eastmarch were happy with her in the Jarl's throne. With no more monsters to vanquish, she had set her focus on building up the city, starting with the Gray Quarter. That took coin, a lot of coin.

Cosnach, her husband and faithful traveling companion, could sense her restlessness in her new station. Lilelle had been an adventurer capable of grand deeds, to see her wrought with the boredom of petty squabbles and constant supplication weighed on his heart. When a traveling merchant had told him of a cave that had been uncovered while they were drinking in Candlehearth, he jumped at the chance.

It hadn't taken much to convince Lilelle to head to cave. Stories of necromancers holed up in the newly opened pit and terrorizing caravans was all that he had to say. The next morning they had strapped her horse, Goolagh, with a cart and supplies and headed out, her bow in hand. The ride there reminded Cosnach of the fire in her spirit that had made him fall for her in the first place.

Arrow nocked, she picked off a large frostbite spider at a distance in the road. He hadn't even spotted it yet and she had already taken it down, smiling with the thrill of adventure back in her lungs. They paused the cart to harvest the spider's venom. Lilelle loved to use the poison on the tips of her arrows to help in defeating deadlier prey.

Disappointment struck when they had finally reached the cave's entrance. The trader had been right, the cave did appear to be newly dug out. The rocks that had once covered the passage lay strewn about all over the woods in front. The inhabitants seemed to be long gone, however. The small cavern was completely devoid of life.

They had snuck quietly through the two rooms down in its depths. Lilelle had wanted to take the necromancers by surpise, except they had seemingly up and vanished. The normal tools of their grisly craft were still strewn about, dirty with the blood of their last experiment. Clothes and black robes touched by magic lay still folded in the drawers of wardobes, food on plates untouched, rolls of paper strewn about blank.

It had been odd sure, but not unheard of. The pair figured that the necromancers must have been run off by nearby villagers or even mercenaries. Lilelle accepted that theory but she questioned why they would go to all this trouble in the first place to open this cave. She hoped their belongings could provide some answers.

"Aha!" She squealed as the lock sprung open. She lifted the lid and began rummaging through its contents. "Damn, there is nothing in here besides a few soul gems and three measly Septims"

"Are we lucky enough that they are black soul gems?"

"No. Two petty and a greater." She sighed. "Did you find anything that could tell us what the hell they were doing here?"

"No, sorry. I found many empty wine bottles and that old book."

She headed over to the cart and plucked the red book out of a wicker basket. She flipped through it a bit before closing it in a huff and stuffing it in her belt.

"We need to go to Winterhold. This book is in a language I haven't yet seen. Maybe Urag can help translating it."

"Sounds like a plan. What do you want to do with the cart?"

"We will drop it it at the stables in Windhelm on the way. The steward can get the gold for the items. You'll need a horse as well."

With that they were back on the road with more questions than answers. The ride back seemed to take longer than the way there had. Lilelle spoke little, her nose stuck in the pages of the book she had found.

She had no idea what was in the words of the book but she noticed that the margins contained notes scribbled quickly. She was certain this book was left in that hole by accident, one of the mages leaving it in their rush to leave. It seemed important to them. The notes made very little sense without the translation. References to things in the book that she had never heard of before.

What concerned Lilelle the most was the note written on the inside back cover:

Resurrection fulfills the prophecy. The Undead King demands the words be made true. Finding her is of utmost importance. Use this book. Use it well and take care of it as if the fate of the world rests in its pages. We will be given no more chances than one. The king will not tolerate failure. Complete the map and find the holy mother, the Draugr Matron.