Valhalla's struggle

I've had Skyrim for a week and a day, but due to ridiculous amounts of work and my part time job there has been little time to actually sit down and play. So, in the time that I had this evening I figured I deserved a little bit of Dragon action and sat down, milk and biscuits in hand, and my helmet firmly on my head ready to resume my epic adventure.

Even the mightiest warriors need calcium

Once logged onto my game I remembered the difficulty I was having with the gate in Bleak Falls Temple. As I took a moment to think, I realized that my plan had been to visit the path some way back through the cave. Eager to pass the gate, I set on my way. It was easy enough to get there, everything was dead after all. Once I found the path I started to travel down it, only to realize that it led to a dead end. Already frustrated, I was feeling pretty lost in this place. However, I'm a determined Wood Elf and there was no way I was going to give up quickly. So, I made my way back to the gate that cannot be shifted and decided to take a considerably long moment to try and figure it out. That moment went on for longer than it should have, and in the end I had no choice but to reach for my phone to find out what I should do. The answer was right there, so simple and yet ever so confusing. I could have slapped my forehead at that moment. Turns out that I had to shift some scared stones into a certain combination in order to be able to lift the gate. To do this, I needed to look up at the other symbols. Really not that hard.

Snake...Snake...NOOOO, not fish! Not fish!

I was finally through. I looted some nice little chests, slaughtered a few dog-sized rats (they're really quite terrifying) and made my way down a twisty-turney spiral staircase...which I fell down. Once I had landed safely at the bottom of the stairs I kept going forward, looking for the next passage, which I found. I tried to run through the doorway, but some invisible force blocked me from going any further. I tried running into it a few times, but to no avail. Eventually, I got fed up with this forcefield and ended up hacking at it with my mace. Yes, something happened. Turned out it was cobwebs. Webs can only mean one thing, and as I entered my fears were answered.

Sweet mother of...

She was massive. I felt like Frodo trapped in Shelobs lair, except I had no magic elf light to save me. Look at me, an elf who can't use magic. Well, I can but I get confused. Despite being overcome with fear at the sight of this monster I ran straight into her and began hacking and slicing my way through her flesh. Turned out the fight wasn't hard at all. She was dead within seconds. I felt a little pleased with myself there. Once she was dead and checked for decent loot, I came across a man tangled in a web. I can't remember his name, and to be honest he was a real jerk so it doesn't matter that much. Turns out he had the Golden Claw that I was looking for and needed me to cut him down. Foolishly, I agreed to free him and the bastard made off with the loot I needed.

Luckily for me, the idiot was killed my some Skeleton Warriors...but so was I. Actually, I was killed by them about three or four times before I remembered that there was an ultra powerful spell in my bag which I used to burn and destroy them all at once. I felt incredibly powerful (evil laugh). After I killed those guys I had to continue on my journey to find that which I sought (being the dragonstone) and so I made my way through the crypt. Gave me the creeps, really did. It was like the undead would never end. They just kept after me, dragging their bony, rag covered corpses towards me with iron shields and weapons in their hands. Thankfully those weapons weren't blunt seeing as Skeleton Warriors do more damage with blunt swords. I eventually managed to cut my way through the jungle of living corpses, and I was thoroughly creeped out by the whole experience.

Take that!

My corpse. I look noble, even in death

Totally owning this guy

Once I had left the land of the undead and reached the world of glowing mushrooms I happened upon a manky looking chest and decided to check it out. My heart leapt with joy at what I saw before me. My very own horned helmet! Now me and my character match, and that's a pretty awesome thing. I continued on, making my way through the narrow tunnels until I reached a door that required a picture combination similar to the one before, except this door contained pictures of bears, butterflies and birds. It didn't look too hard to figure out, and once I had arranged the symbols it told me that I needed to have the Golden Claw. I thought I had this, turns out I didn't. Much to my irritation I had to go all the way back through the crypt where the now dead undead were scattered and loot the corpse of the guy who tried to run away earlier. I was not impressed. It seemed to take ages for me to get to the corpse I had to loot, especially as I was whimpering and moaning to myself about how creepy the place was. My eyes were practically closed. I'm a little cowardly when it comes to Skeleton Warriors.

I like this place. I thought I'd just insert it here to detract from Skeleton Warrior fear

I got there, I looted the Golden Claw, and after glaring at the body of the man who had initially refused to give it to me, I made my way back to the door with the bears, birds and butterflies. Once there, I rearranged the pictures to the correct combination and watched as the door opened before me, revealing yet another passage. As I ran through a great hall, I thought the quest was finished and so proceeded to jump down from a ledge and return to Skyrim. Yeah, bad idea. Really big mistake there. I wasn't finished, I really needed to go back. Of course, I only realized this when I was lost half way around the mountain. Luckily, I came across some hostile humans and stood there whilst they hacked at my face and torso with their swords and maces. Once dead, I was returned to the exit point and simply walked back inside the mountain.

Wrong combination. Hmmm

Aha!

Now, It's thought to be impossible to get back up and into that great and magnificent hall from the exit point as it's surrounded by high ledges. In fact, it clearly states that you have no choice but to return to the start. I was not going to accept this. It took skill, but I managed to jump up the rocks on the left side and return to the hall from there. This time I took a lot more time to look around until I found the inscriptions on the wall which gave me the power of the dragon shout. As this occurred, an undead dragon-woman-warrior thing jumped out of the coffin behind me. I killed her pretty quickly and looted her, thus receiving the dragonstone and finishing my quest. Now I could use the exit.

I was back on the mountain, the cold and snow filled wind obscuring my vision. I hurriedly made my way back to Whiterun where I handed my quest in to that mysterious yet slightly creepy wizard. As I forgot to plug my headset in, I had no volume, so whatever the wizard was talking about, I missed. Something big happened though as everyone began to race up the stairs. Intrigued, I followed until we reached an older man who began to talk. I missed most of what he said, but when I finally figured out the subtitles I saw that I was to slay my first Dragon along with the evil chick who had blocked my path to the King not so long ago. You have no idea how excited I was about actually slaying my first Dragon. I was like a child who had been told the wonders of sweets for the first time.

Looking at my watch to see that it was past 23:00, I realized that I would not be able to slay a dragon tonight. Disappointment filled me. More than I have ever felt in my life. Dragon slaying will have to wait until next update, so do keep watch for it. After all, slaying your first Dragon is something to share with everyone.

Valhalla