Elder Scrolls: The Anomaly

Forlorn Hope

Jone and Jode hung brightly in the sky above lake Rumare that night. The still water acted as a mirror, perfectly reflecting the twin moons' light. A group of birch trees cast soft shadows over me as I walked the red ring. Each step brought an awkward crunch of dead leaves and gravel, breaking the night's silence. I walked that road for a while, scanning my surroundings for an inn or some other form of shelter. Regretfully, there was no refuge in sight. The White-Gold tower stood tauntingly far, too distant to reach before sunrise, but just close enough to constantly remind me of my immediate need - shelter. 

It was well into the night, and a small drizzle of rain had started. It was hardly noticeable, but could turn into a storm just as easily as it could go away. It had been an hour by the time I saw the ruin from my first trip. Fanacasecul, as the Aylieds called it. I toggled on my night eye, and was able to see it clearly. The twin moons shone almost as bright as the sun with my new vision. The ruin sat right on the shore of the lake, and was half-buried in an eon's worth of mud and sand. It was hard to make out much, but the surviving stonework suggests that this was once a port of some sort. My initial survey of the place did not detect any danger, but just to be safe, I cast my detect life spell with a soft whistle. I detected nothing in or around it. Not even an animal or rodent. It was utterly devoid of life. I was uncertain whether this was an omen of good or of ill.

I despondently made my way to the ruin. I walked throughout the moonlit docks until I spied a few collapsed pillars. Nearby, there was a small, circular structure of some kind. It didn't seem to serve a purpose, but I walked in anyway.  I found a spot beneath it's half-collapsed ceiling, and decided that this was as good a place as any to make camp. It wasn't the best spot on Nirn, maybe not even the best spot in the ruin, but I was far past caring. I was worn out from dodging icicles all day, and needed sleep. 

It took me longer than I would like to admit to realize that sleeping on cold, hard, probably cursed stone is not a good idea. I needed to make a bed. 

I cleared out a spot amidst the dirt and rubble of the structure. Fortunately, my father had tried to teach me how to survive in the wilderness back when I was younger. It was mostly in a vain attempt to distract me from trying to learn about magic, back before they stopped trying to be nice about it. Of course, I didn't really pay attention. I was either busy daydreaming or simply uninterested. I guess that was going to come back to bite me. 

I went out of my little shelter and gathered some long branches that looked sturdy. I clumsily cut them for the frame, trying my hardest to remember what my father taught me. I tied them together with some vines that seemed to defy my every attempt at a knot. In the end the rectangular frame I envisioned ended up resembling a lopsided parallelogram. 

I continued by gathering soft leaves and long grasses. I gathered them in armfuls, tossing them into the frame before padding them down. The nature poked out awkwardly through the wood, which didn't look comfortable.

Too tired and upset to care, I convinced myself that nature's irregularities were simply a part of the avant-garde charm of my creation. I had also finished off my remaining travel rations, which didn't do much to alleviate my growing hunger. I was practically empty. 

I left the safety of my shelter, and peered out. Something felt off. The drizzling rain grew slightly thicker, and I could have sworn I heard something.

Probably just the rain.

I whistled to cast detect life, but abruptly stopped myself. I didn't want to waste all my magicka by casting it over and over. Besides, I had already checked the ruin, there was nothing alive here but me. 

Moving outward, I peerlessly surveyed my surroundings. There was an oddly placed well in the middle of the ruin - not a magicka well, just a regular well. I approached, and noticed that the strange noises grew louder as I got closer. It almost sounded like... footsteps? Was something alive down there?