Waking up, I felt strong, quicker on my feet, and tougher.
In the morning, I left town and headed East to meet Alof. I found his cabin fairly easily along the road towards Suran. He told me about some Orcs in a nearby Daedric ruin to the north, and said killing their leader would probably make them leave. I went off the road to find the ruin, and came upon it fairly quickly. Inside, I found Burub gra-Bamog, my toughest single opponent yet. I killed her, and told Alof that I had gotten rid of them. I found a path heading south so I could return to Vivec. On the way I passed through a large plantation that was practically a small town.
I then tried crossing a low spot in the river, but was attacked by some Slaughterfish. Next time I'll be more careful about moving in open water. Soon I made it back to Lorbumol, who paid me for dealing with Tongue-Toad then told me of another bounty, on a Khajiit named Dro-Sakhar in one of the poor districts. After a little snooping, I tracked him down and dispatched him with ease. Lorbumol rewarded me and promoted me to Defender, and then told me about a debt that had to be paid by a woman in Ald'ruhn. I could keep half if I collected, so I agreed. I took a Silt Strider back to Balmora and told Eydis about Alof. She paid me and gave me a new job to kill Dovres Verethi, leader of a gang that hangs near Pelagiad. That was the end of my long day with lots of traveling, and tomorrow I return to Ald'ruhn.23 Last Seed
I woke up feeling refreshed and headed north. When I reached Caldera, I remembered my promise to return Aeta's jewels, and went searching for the cave where the thieves had hid. It took some time and I was attacked by many beasts, including an Alit, but I found it and went inside. There were many dastardly characters inside, but I slogged through, bashing them all to pieces with my axe. I found a few magic scrolls useful for opening locks, and took them happily. Eventually I found the head thief with the jewels, and killed him the same as the rest. There's no soft spot in my heart for people as greedy as him. You have the option to let him live and give him half of Aeta's reward in return for the jewels, but that ain't me, yo. I recovered the heirlooms and returned them to Aeta, who rewarded me nicely.
I then continued to Ald'ruhn to find Lirielle, who owed the debt. I found her in the inn where I met Tongue-Toad earlier, but she informed me that the debt was actually her brothers, and she couldn't pay. He had been killed in Mallapi, a cave near Gnaar Mok. I decided to track down his body so I could hopefully recover some of the debt I now knew I would end up paying. Some people just aren't lucky. I found Mallapi, and inside was attacked by a Scamp, who seemed immune to the effects of my axe. I decided to try to maneuver past him, and also ran across a Clannfear which I avoided. I lost them, but was attacked by a Sorcerer, who I was forced to defeat. She had several scrolls nearby on a table with an interesting book (which improved my never-to-be-used Conjuration skill), which I took to use or sell. Following another path in the cave, I found the body of the brother, who had some money and other valuables on him, including an amulet that could magically open locks, although not as effectively as my scrolls. Just what he had on him might be enough to pay his debt.
I left the cave and walked back to Balmora. I decided to use one of the scrolls to unlock the door to Ralen Hlaalo's manor. Inside, I examined his body, and then found Uryne, the maid. She had witnessed the murder, and described the killer. Asking around town, it seemed the description matched Thanelen Velas, who happened to be one of the Carmonna Tong that Larrius wanted dead. Fairly sure I still wasn't ready to take on five thieves at once, I decided to return here to the Fighters Guild for the night.
