Nate left to collect his stuff for the trip and strapped Dawnbreaker to his belt. No bard he knew carried weapons, but he wasn't any normal Bard. Grabbing his Mandolin as he left his room, people wished him luck. It had been quite awhile since he had left Solitude. It almost felt weird to leave it behind. Heading through the busy town, Nate tried not to lock eyes with the Thalmor that were seen almost always wandering in and out of the Imperial barracks. Everyone was on edge. No one could believe the High King was gone, except for Nate. It was no surprise to him that the King was killed. All kings died. The only surprising thing was how these people seemed to believe General Tullius's story so easily. He'd grown up with tales of the Dragonborn, but he didn't believe that horseshit. The Dragons were all dead. What purpose would a man with a dragon's soul even have in this time? It was nonsense. The Nords were just so desperate for some divine sign to unite them as a people again. The Nords felt like they were losing their culture and traditions to the Thalmor... and they were. A Thalmor clipped Nate's shoulder in the market, whirling on him to snap out. "Watch where you are going knave!" Nate raised his hands in mock surrender, stating back with a little bow. "My apologies." Turning to walk on, Nate grumbled out to himself. "I didn't realize your ego was so fat it needed the whole fucking road."

A guard at the gate handed out papers to those traveling in and out, announcing with pride. "Come and join the Imperial Army! Help protect the realm and the Empire! For honor and glory!" The guard tried to hand Nate one, but Nate refused to take it as he told him with a smile. "No thanks. There is no honor and glory in one's own death. You are just dead. And I like living." The guard narrowed cold eyes on Nate, retorting with disgust. "Coward." Nate winked at him, walking on as he called out over his shoulder happily. "Cowards live longer!" Heading down to the stable, Nate saddled up Walter and rode out. Morthal was South East of Solitude and the fastest road took him through the washed-out road of the swamp marshes. He didn't want to take that road, but he didn't feel like taking all day to go around it. The ground of the marsh was so waterlogged that it squished under Walter's hooves. The early morning left a thick fog over the marsh that made the place far creepier than it normally was. The dead gnarly trees looked more like twisted figures within the shroud of fog cover. There wasn't a single bird that lived here. Which left the place almost completely silent. However, things did live in the Marshland. The Marshland was known for being the home of large spiders the size of horses and Chaurus bugs that were like dog sized earwigs. Although, he had heard stories of them getting much bigger.

Trudging through the dirty brown water, Walter suddenly stopped and turned his head to the side with his ears perked up. Nate stilled, listening to the soft chittering in the distance. He couldn't see it in the fog, but he could hear it well enough. It sounded big. Nate reached down to pet Walter's neck to keep him calm and still. From another spot, Nate heard a bit of splashing like something was trying to quickly rush through the water. Walter shifted a little like he was tempted to run, but Nate used a spell to calm him down. Suddenly, the chittering grew loud and moved fast through the fog. Then came the soft cry of a deer and heavy splashing. Nate waited a minute, then coaxed Walter on again. He wasn't as afraid of spiders. His magic could easily kill them, but Chaurus bugs were another matter. Their hard armored bodies made them a pain in the ass. Especially, since they had poisonous spit that they shot out and a durable resistance to magic. Making his way through the Marshlands, Nate road up to the little stone bridge that practically connected the Marshlands to Morthal. At the lumber mill just offset from the bridge, two men were in the middle of a slightly heated conversation. Both were Nords of lower standing.

One was muscular with short red hair and loose-fitting tunic clothes. The other was a leaner Nord with long blonde hair down to his shoulders that was well groomed, and his clothes were more tailored to him. Pulling Walter to a stop, Nate listened as the red haired Nord stated out sternly. "Hroggar, I'm not being unreasonable! Alva was last to see her! I think I have a right to ask her what happened!" Hroggar dropped the freshly stacked blocks of wood in his arms into a pile by the mill, answering curtly. "Thonnir, stop harassing me. Alva never saw her that night. She told me herself. They were supposed to met and she never showed. That's the end to it. Just drop it. You scare her." Thonnir scoffed, slamming his axe blade into a tree stump, before snapping out. "Why would I scare her? I'm trying to find my wife and she is the only one with any information!" Hroggar dusted off his hands, telling Thonnir in a grim voice. "Please, Thonnir. I'm dealing with enough as it is. I just want to do my job and not think about what happened. I need to move on and find happiness again. And so should you." Thonnir puffed up his chest with a stony expression, upon saying firmly. "Some of us don't move on so easily. I love my wife. And I will find her. You can finish this your fucking self!"

Thonnir removed his leather work gloves, tossing them at Hroggar's chest before storming off across the bridge. Hroggar caught the gloves and set them neatly down on the pile of stacked wood with a sigh. Riding up a bit closer, Nate asked him cautiously. "What was that about?" Hroggar turned to look at him, his expression guarded as he answered almost lazily. "It's a personal matter, Stranger. Look. If you are passing through. Just ignore the talk of spirits and creatures and such. It's just superstition. There's enough real troubles in the world without making up new ones." Nate nodded, nudging Walter to walk across the bridge. Morthal was tiny compared to other holds that he'd seen. It had gorgeous views of the mountains though. Just over the bridge, Nate pulled Walter to a stop beside the Inn. He knew he should report to the Jarl first, but he wanted to make arrangements for a room first. He didn't want to get caught up in a Jarl's long speech and then hunt for a room when he was tired. Tying Walter to the horse post, Nate made his way up the steps of the Inn, only to stop short. Nestled back behind the Inn was a nice little house... or what remained of one. The place looked like it had burned down and quite recently. Couldn't have been more than a few days old. He could still smell the char in the air.

Carefully making his way into the Moorside Inn, Nate took a look around. The place had a nice roaring fire in the center, but the mood was gloomy. Without a Bard to liven the place up, the place felt haunted. Every creak of the floorboards was an assault on the ears. It was worse than trying to sneak around a Mage library. The towns people looked troubled about something as they stared down into tankards of mead. Yet, there was one person here that didn't look as gloomy as the rest. In fact, he didn't appear to even be from here at all. The man was a large burly Orc in armor that had a silver sun on just about everything that he wore. The Orc took notice of him, lifting his tankard as he stated out in a deep gruff voice. "Finally! A bard! Praise the Nine! I feared death was creeping up on me in this place." The Orc laughed then threw back his tankard to gulp the contents down fast. Slamming the empty tankard down, he belched and called out. "Barmaid! Another!" The young Redguard Barmaid wiped her hands on her apron, setting her broom aside to fetch a pitcher. Walking over to refill the Orc's tankard, she asked Nate with a warm smile. "What can I do for you, Stranger? Looking for work? You should talk to the Jarl. She's been looking for a Bard." Nate smirked back, telling her sweetly. "Ya. I know. She summoned me. I'm looking to get a room."

The Redguard woman blushed a little, upon telling him sweetly in return. "Well, if that is the case. Then the Jarl has already made arrangements for your room. You just have to get a confirmation note from her in order for me to give it to you. Anything else?" Nate narrowed his eyes on her, asking perplexed. "A confirmation note? Did she have problems with people in the past impersonating a Bard?" The Barmaid chuckled, heading back to the bar as she said. "No. The note is for my sake. I'm not very trusting of strangers. Not after..." The Barmaid stopped herself, then tried to change the subject by asking. "Anything else? Food? Drink?" Nate leaned on the bar, asking in a softer voice. "Does it have anything to do with the story behind that burned down house?" The Barmaid's eyes lowered to the counter when she said in a saddened voice. "Hroggar's house. Yes. It burned down not too long ago." She brushed a strand of hair that came loose from the braided dark hair behind her ear, then said almost completely shaken up. "It was awful what happened to his wife and daughter... Their screams woke half the town. Most folk won't go near it now for fear it's cursed. Lately people claim they hear voices coming from the place at night."

Nate lifted his chin a little, asking with mild curiosity. "How did the fire start?" The Barmaid gave him a small shrug, admitting honestly. "No one knows for sure. Hroggar claims it was a hearth fire. Some around here believe that he started it himself..." Nate tensed as that sank in. Staring at her with concern, he blurted out. "Well, shit... With his own wife and kid inside? Why would they think that?" The Barmaid glanced around the Inn, then leaned on the counter with him. Her hand reached out to touch the strings on his tunic shirt, telling him in a low tone of voice that was a bit distracted now. "That's what they say... because he started living with Alva right after the fire. His wife and kid weren't even six feet under before he was slipping it to her. It ain't right. He claims to be mourning them... but watching his family die like that... He's not as shaken up as the rest of us are." Nate watched her fingers play with the loose strings of his tunic, asking in a low voice of his own. "And of course, no one can prove that he murdered them?" She removed her hand like she had only just realized that she'd been touching him, straightening up as she rushed out embarrassed. "Aye. The Jarl has tried to pay people to investigate the matter, but no one will go near the place. And those that she has hired from outside Morthal... They go missing or run away."

The Orc nearby chuckled, cutting in boldly. "Ah, Jonna. I have yet to go missing." Jonna leaned away from Nate to look at the Orc, retorting back bluntly. "You're not investigating Hroggar's case either. You're looking for someone completely different. What was the words you said... Too boring?" The Orc snorted, grumbling back. "There is nothing to look into. The guy killed his old family to start a new one. It's cut and dry. I'm not wasting my time looking into something so trivial. I'm a vampire hunter. I've got REAL problems that effect people." Jonna gestured to the Orc, telling Nate flatly. "What's the point of saving humans, if the humans are killing each other and getting away with it? Dumb fuck doesn't see how he's not helping. Typical Orc." The Orc bowed his head, lightly retorting back. "My name is Dumbuk. And it's not honorable for an Orc to get into petty human fights. I need a challenge. Something to get my muscles involved." Jonna tipped her head to him, apologizing to him before stomping off to refill more tankards. Leaning on the counter more as Nate turned to see Dumbuk better, he asked him with a shrug. "If you're not here to investigate. Then who are you after?"

Dumbuk tore a piece of meat off a cooked goat leg, answering around a mouthful. "A vampire. I've been tailing him the last few weeks. Never stays long in one place, but he leaves trails of victims. He stopped here in Morthal and I lost his trail. I'm thinking he is still here. Hiding. But bloodsuckers like him never stay in the shadows for long. So, I'm waiting." Nate shrugged, saying nicely across the Inn to Jonna. "Is that why you don't trust strangers? This vampire?" Jonna rolled her eyes, saying back. "Vampires are about as real as Dragons. So, no. Times are just getting bad... a lot of drifters are coming through. I just don't want to give rooms to people the Jarl doesn't feel are safe. That way SHE can take the fall for when they... burn houses down?" Nate blinked, saying promptly. "I thought Hroggar was a local?" One of the Nord men at the tables, interjected in before her without looking up. "He is. But Alva isn't. She came to this town a few months ago. Stayed at the Inn... then after Hroggar's family died. They bought a house together." Jonna moved back to the bar to set own the empty pitcher, adding to him swiftly. "My theory is that SHE did it. I don't want people blaming me for letting her stay here as long as she did..." Nate nodded, but internally he was starting to see why small towns were a nightmare to live in.

Tapping the bar, Nate told everyone curtly. "Well... I'll see if I can turn those frowns upside down tonight. I'll go check in with the Jarl. Thank you." Slipping out of the Inn, Nate jogged down the steps, then stopped to look at the burned house again. It didn't look haunted to him. He didn't even sense anything coming from it. Strolling down the road at a casual pace, he overheard a young girl in a flowing pink dress tell an older man wearing worn dark blue mage robes with the hood up. "I had another dream last night." The mage folded his arms over his chest, asking her nicely. "Oh? And what was this one about?" The little girl skipped a little beside the mage, saying lightheartedly. "I dreamt that you slipped away and summoned monsters." The Mage scoffed, answering swiftly in a cool tone. "It was just a dream, Agni." Agni slowed a bit, asking the Mage nervously. "Falion? Is it true that you kill deer and eat their hearts?" The Mage stopped so shortly that Nate almost ran into him. Moving off to the side, Nate heard Falion ask with deep concern. "What?! Where did you hear such a thing?" Agni bowed her head, her foot tracing the dirt as she mumbled out. "A man in town said it..." Falion bent over to hold her shoulders, telling her seriously. "Well, it's not true. I assure you. People in this town just have no respect for the magical arts. They make things up to hurt others."

Touching her cheek, he told her in a fatherly voice. "Don't believe everything you hear, my dear. Now go home and finish your studies on the importance of concentration, my little apprentice." The girl curtsied to him, happily replying. "Yes, Sir. Have a good day at work!" Spinning on her heel, she skipped off toward a house. Falion turned to see Nate was still lingering and told him calmly. "My adopted daughter. She's got quite a talent for magic and an active imagination." Nate could only give a nice smile. He didn't know kids that well. Walking beside him, Nate asked him casually. "You're the Court Mage?" Falion nodded, telling him a bit grimly. "I am. But I hold no alliance with the College of Winterhold. So, don't bother asking." Nate smirked, telling him honestly. "Wasn't going to. I got kicked out for being... untraditional." Falion came to a stop to look at him from under his large hood. Putting a hand on Nate's arm, he smiled and told him with pride. "That's good. Discoveries don't happen when people follow the rules. I've learned that to truly understand magic. One must follow their heart. Only then will you truly get to know yourself and what gifts you really have to share with the world. Don't let them tell you differently. Traditions are fine... but should be no excuse to limit one's potential."

Nate smiled, telling Falion nicely. "Couldn't have said it better myself." Falion gestured him to the Jarl's door and Nate nodded, then walked up the steps to go inside. Falion headed farther into the building, while Nate lingered to close the wooden door. Upon starting to close it though, Nate locked eyes with a figure that was standing in the shadows of the house across the way. The figure wore a grey cloak with a large hood that was up over his head, but his face was visible enough for Nate to see. Those piercing blue eyes and unmistakable beauty stood out to him like a distant dream. Escher. Behind Nate, a guard moved forward to tell him respectfully. "Sir? I've got the door. The Jarl is calling for you." Nate jerked to look at the guard as his hand moved in to take ahold of the door front of him. Stepping back, Nate looked back at the house across the street as the door closed, but Escher was gone. To Be Continued...