I thought it was all over, I was going to be swept to the den of some underwater entity with a hungering for blood. I was almost right. I managed to grab the edge of the wall at a turn in the current and pull myself to solid ground but my tribulations were far from over. Even as I was still struggling to retain my breath I heard the distinctive skittering and hissing of giant spiders. I had no idea were I was, all I knew was that if I backed up, I was probably dead. Barbas the dog was no where in earshot, I was alone, for all I knew surrounded by frostbite spiders.
I could hear them approaching, I fired a frost bolt wildly into their midst, but they didn't seem to scatter, leading me to believe that I was on a narrow ledge. I used that to my advantage, taking a step further away from the edge I blasted them again, this time at an angle. My wild guess worked, the force of the impact was enough that spiders were thrown into the current. There was silence in the cave...for a moment. Then I heard scittering above me. The sound of a larger spider. I fired up, hit it, and it dropped down. I barely dodged it's poison attack, firing crackling electricity from my fingers the whole time. The second mass of poisonous slime hit me, coating my arm and abdomen. I stumbled back, but the spider too seemed to be injured, it did not advance, in fact I heard it slowly retreating. I quaffed a poison resistance potion and followed the arachnid. It led me to a shallow cave where I finished it off with one more accurate shock blast.
Inside the cave was a chest with a human skeleton draped over the top. I took the gold, and an ornate dagger, all the time distracted with fear that another giant spider was going to attack me from behind.
There were no more spiders, but as I continued further down the watery path I could feel the room beginning to open up again. And I sensed multiple hostile forces dotting the protruding land. Trolls. I had never faced a troll in combat before, and I guess to be accurate I still haven't really. I managed to sneak past most of them, as I did I slowly became aware of a fresh draft. I followed it to a smaller room off of the main one. Two trolls patrolled in an unorganized pattern, effectively blocking the small exit. In the middle of the room was some sort of a raised dais or platform. It almost seemed to be like the roof of a holy building, buries far underground. In front of it was an altar, I inspected it cautiously, out of eyesight of the trolls, but I was unable to recognize it's shape. It blessed my however as I continued to inspect it, and the blessing spoke in the name of Auriel, fortifying my aim. I intend to look into this deity if I ever have the chance.
Unfortunately as I continued to inspect this altar, one of the trolls saw me and howled a warning to its companion which echoes off the walls of the small cave, out into the larger, water filled room. Effectively alerting every beast in the place. I had no choice, there was no way I could fight an army of trolls, I probably wouldn't have even killed one. So I ran. I ran towards the small door in the cave that I had no idea were it went. I stumbled up, climbing over rough terrain my only though to stay two steps ahead of the lumbering trolls. Which, as a note move a lot faster than I thought they did. They bounded off the walls and leapt over the obstacles with surprising ease, making my blind stumbling look like I was crawling slowly with a heavy load.
I managed to stay ahead of them though...until I reached a dead end. I frantically clawed at the wall, my hand found a chain and I pulled it. The wall gave way, I rolled under the door, pulling the chain again at the last moment to slam it down in front of the trolls. The beasts seemed too stupid to understand to pull the chain. I was safe. At least partially. The room I was in was small, with a dying fire in it's middle. The draft was now very close, and carried the frigid skyrim winds in it. Before I left the room though I could not help but notice the dead Breton lying very close to the similar fire. He had large gashes all across his body, no doubt from the trolls claws. he must have made it all that way only to succumb to death alone. I set his body ablaze. I had no desire for it, and in some way it seemed right, as he had traveled my path before me.
I met up with Barbas outside the cave, the dumb dog must have avoided the rickety bridge altogether and been waiting the whole time. He was glad to see me though which was nice in a way. We are now back on course to the burrow, a day behind schedule.
One other item of note, upon crossing a rive via on old Dwarven bridge I found, recessed in a small crevice of Dwarven manufacturing a strange shard, which seems to hold some sort of power. I don't recognize it however, I'm not even sure if the manufacturing is Dwemer or not. I will have to get it looked at at some point.
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