The Scoundrel Archer and the Honey Bees

It had been roughly a week since our encounter with the dragon. There had been no urgent messages penned in haste by distraught merchants or people of power sent to my door. Even Lucan had only waved and greeted me with a warming smile whenever passing me in Riverwood. I'd began to wonder if my slaughter of the dragon had set Alduin aback, and shown him that I was not going to stand for his reneging of our bargain, for things around Skyrim had been relatively quiet. I still had neither seen nor heard from Danariel, but I knew her to be a highly capable adventurer. If the worst were to occur, there would be word sent to inform me of either her demise or her status of having gone missing...

Cue the peaceful morning at Riverwood Keep: birds singing in chorus with the rippling water of the river, palm leaves swaying in the gentle breeze as if dancing to the natural music while the sunlight nuzzled the surface with its warm embrace.

After having awakened with Selene nuzzled peacefully on my chest, I had eased myself out of bed and left her to her slumber. I made my way into what I had dubbed The Scallywag's Galley, a small bar that was fashioned after a tavern inside the Keep. It was there that I could retrieve the very nectar of angels which would ensure for a continued peaceful morning: hot coffee.

I sat on the padded bench, reveling in the quiet and soaking in the beautiful sunshine that poured through the Galley's windows. Oft mornings, Selene and I would take our steaming mugs to one of the balconies and watch the river flow past, but as she was still wrapped in the sweet embrace of dormancy, I had decided to enjoy my coffee in the relaxed environment of the empty Galley.

"Still enjoying the fruits of your dishonest labor, I see?" a familiar voice said, entering the Galley with his arms crossed over his chest and sporting a sly grin.
I chuckled at the sight of my intruder. "Still slipping in beneath the noses of armed patrol, I see," I countered, and stood to greet Brynjolf.

"Nay," Brynjolf answered, clasping arms with me in greeting. "Your guards allowed me inside, told me where to find you. I must say, this is quite the set up you have going for yourself. Much more extravagant than Dragonhome."
"Procurer of rare artifacts and scarce goods does have its perks," I sidestepped. "So, what brings you to Riverwood Keep this morning?" I asked, almost certain this was not merely a social visit.

Before Brynjolf could answer, a second interruption came from the door to the Galley.

"Oh," Bella gasped, halting her steps as she saw there was a visitor in the Keep. She was naked to the waist, and nervously covered her bare breasts with her arms. "I didn't mean to interrupt, Lord Cruce," she apologized.
I smirked at her shyness. "No worries, Bella," I pardoned, and gestured for her to enter.
She quickly collected her own mug of coffee, blushing at Brynjolf as she exited the Galley and made her way down the hall.

"I must say," Brynjolf began, "I do like your style, 'Lord Cruce'."
I toasted him with my coffee mug with a grin, and then took a swig. "Spoils of ill gotten gains," I said.
Brynjolf nodded his head, and then sighed. "I fear the guild has need of you once again," he started. "There's a certain estate that needs our attention. A highly influential client has requested our services, and so far we've lost two members trying to infiltrate the place. Our little Vex was almost caught, but by the grace of Nocturnal, she was able to escape before receiving a mortal wound. Mercer Frey requested that I come speak to you about it, since you were able to obtain the valuable documents from the Thalmor Embassy without a scratch on you. That, lad, has never been done," he finished.

"Mercer?" I spat. "That bastard sent me on a suicide mission the first time he met me. Why in oblivion would I want to help him?"
Brynjolf sighed. "Mercer is quite the salty one, I agree. But like him or not, he IS the guildmaster. If you won't do it for him, do it for the rest of us, because this is very important to our future. We can't have such a powerful client dropping their support of the guild and turning against us. Also keep in mind, Mercer will keep sending members to accomplish the job, no matter the risk involved. You're the best one suited to get it done; just don't tell Vex that I said that," he added.
I finished my coffee and sat the empty mug on the bar, and furrowed my brow while looking into Brynjolf's eyes. "Fine," I agreed. "But I'm agreeing to this for the good of the guild, not for that clod of a guildmaster. I promise, Brynjolf...he says one condescending word to me again, I will literally slap the taste from his mouth, guildmaster or not."
Brynjolf grinned. "I'll speak to him and diplomatically relay your concerns. And, thank you, Cruce," he said, clapping my forearm once again.

After relaying the information of my requested infiltration to Selene (and about an hour's worth of convincing her that I had to do this particular job solo), I made my way to Riften.

I awaited nightfall before making my way to the shoreline, eyeing my target of Goldenglow Estate from across the water. Hmm, good thing I am tropical and know how to swim...

This wasn't saltwater, either, so I was able to open my eyes while swimming beneath the surface without discomfort. I hadn't seen any sentries posted in the wooden watchtowers, but that didn't mean they weren't lurking about. Ever the cautious one, I swam like a ghost in the darkness to the estate's shoreline, emerging like a shadow from the water.

I could hear the patrolling mercenaries above me as I crept along the shore. Casual conversation betrayed their positions, and the lack of alarm in their voice informed me that I had yet to be spotted. With what I was instructed to do, however, I knew my presence would be known, and I would have to loose arrows into them.

I made my way without incident to the back of the estate, where the hives of bees were kept and the production of their precious honey was gathered. So, the guild wanted to send a message; I can do that...

If it had been left up to me, I'd have burned the whole place down, and sent a BIG message. But, orders were orders, and I was restricted to putting only three of the hives to the torch.

Regardless, this sudden combustion of the hives did as I had planned: it drew the full attention of the patrolling mercenaries. Sure, I could have slipped back into the water and floated there like an alligator with just my nose above the surface and watched them freaking out and attempting to douse the high flames that produced thick clouds of smoke and roiled into the night sky. But where was the fun in that? I'd been given permission to engage these mercenaries and terminate them by any means necessary. I wasn't going to let this opportunity pass me by.

Needless to say, the mercenaries weren't happy with my presence on the estate...

You'd have thought at least one of them would have focused on putting the fires out, while the rest attended to the intruder. Either there was a lack of communication, or they were all bloodthirsty and aching to draw their weapons. Regardless, they converged on me like a swarm of the bees in which I had destroyed.

This was fine with me; even though I was on their familiar territory, I had the advantage of mobility and ranged attack, as well as honed speed of retrieving, nocking, and loosing arrows quicker than they could swing their weapon once. So, not only had I murdered honey bees in the trio of hives, but with speed and superior combat prowess, I was able to make short work of the assailants.

A quick scan of the grounds from a guard post showed me that the way was clear, for the time being. I didn't waste this window, wanting to enter the house as easily as possible.

I made my way to the massive house further inland, not encountering any further mercenaries along the way. Perhaps they were all inside, and during night, they had fewer patrolling the grounds. That wasn't an intelligent decision by the proprietor Aringoth, owner of Goldenglow Estate. But, lack of intelligence was rampant in the land of Skyrim. Oh well, made my job easier.

Inside, it was relatively quiet. I had chosen the proper time to launch my infiltration, it appeared, for there were no patrolling mercenaries in the hallways. I still stepped lightly; not for fear of traps, but uncertain as to any who might hear my progress along the wooden floor.

As I crept through the hallway, I happened upon a mercenary who had stupidly taken a seat with his back exposed. How our late guild members had been captured or killed by this group was still a mystery to me. Unless they had grown lax by the time I was set to task, but one would think with multiple attempts having been foiled previously, they would have been more alert.

Normally, I don't shoot individuals in the back. But, his back was to me, so...

A single arrow dropped him from his chair, and he was dead before he crumpled to the floor. No need in alerting others inside...

I made my way through the door and found the stairway leading to the second floor, passing the locked dungeon-esque door that I was certain led to the location of Aringoth's safe in which I was instructed to clear out. I knew the wood elf would be holed up in his master bedroom at this hour, either asleep in his bed, or busying himself with estate business at his desk. We needed to have a chat...

I ascended to the second floor, expecting to ease the door open to a handful of mercenaries milling about. Yet to my surprise, it was empty. But, OH...look at what they carelessly left lying on the table. For me? How thoughtful...

Whether it was for me or not, it was mine now. Most likely, there had been a card game in progress and for whatever reason they had abandoned their table. Maybe it was the flames that had erupted out on the estate's grounds...

Well, I won this card game...and I wasn't even dealt in. That's a scoundrel for you.

After collecting my winnings from the game table, I ventured further along the hallway to find the master bedroom. And lo and behold, what do I see at the corner of the hallway? An exposed shoulder of a posted mercenary. Well, I just had to...

My shot whispered just high of his shoulder, and while silently cursing myself for the miss, I nocked another arrow to draw as the alerted guard turned around and saw me crouched. I loosed my shot and caught him in the shoulder, then sent another arrow down the hall to strike just inches below the first, either slicing through the bottom of his heart or further exposing the wound and causing him to drop from the amount of blood loss. Either way, he fell to the floor with a loud thud.

The commotion drew the attention of the nearby mercenary, and he came at me with his mace drawn and prepared to bash my face in. Quick reflexes, honed speed shooting skill, and short distance kept me from becoming a bloody mess on the estate house's floor, as I ripped off a few arrows that buried themselves in vital areas of the mercenary's body and ended his life.

I sat crouched with arrow nocked and prepared to draw if any further individuals had decided to refute my presence in the estate house, however no further commotion was heard. I waited for only a few minutes, until I felt that I could continue my perusing of the second floor.

I came to the master bedroom's door, and as I'd thought, it was locked. There isn't a lock in Skyrim that I can't open, and this one was no challenge to my skill with a lockpick. I opened the door to find Aringoth cowering behind his bookshelf, a bow in his hand and foolishly exposing a shoulder.

"Aringoth," I said, holding my nocked arrow with a split-finger grip on my bowstring. "You and I need to have a discussion," I finished.
"I have nothing to discuss with the likes of you," he spat. "Leave now, and maybe you'll live. Continue to press me, and I'll shoot you down myself," he threatened.

Ohhh....Aringoth; you chose the wrong person to threaten.

So, I drew and loosed, striking him in his exposed shoulder.

By the time Aringoth emerged from his cowering position, I had sent another arrow to greet him.

The third and final arrow was soaring across the bedroom before he could draw his bowstring, killing the obstinate wood elf before he could get a shot off.

A quick pat down of his corpse proved fruitful; the key to his safe, and to the cellar in which it was housed.

As I stood from Aringoth's body, an odd buzzing drew my attention to the other side of the room. I turned to see that the wood elf apparently had his own personal favorite bee, kept in a jar. Who in oblivion keeps a bee in a jar, in their room? Weird elf...

I shook my head and stepped away from the pet bee, and a glint from the other side of the bed caught my eye. Well, well...what do we have here? A rare artifact or possession for me to procure? How interesting; I don't even TRY to do the job in which my guild-approved cover requires, and it STILL happens for me. Yes, this would be coming with me...

I strode down the hallway of the second floor, appeased at the ease of my procurement of both the rare item and the keys to the estate, and commotion echoed from the stairway's door. Apparently the missing mercenaries had left the house to deal with the flaming bee hives, and had returned to find their companions lying dead on the floor.

Well, no more sneaking about...

I threw open the door, taking the trio by surprise at the bottom of the staircase. Without a word, I started loosing arrows. Yeah, it was in my favor and relatively easy; a narrow approach with my having the elevated position, and a quiver full of arrows to rain down upon them. Who said I have to fight fair? Fair fights are for suckers...

I gingerly stepped over the recently deceased mercenaries, ensuring they were in fact dead. The last thing I needed was one of them snagging my ankle and sending me tumbling down the stairs and breaking my neck. I wasn't THAT careless...

Without further incident, I opened the cell-like door with Aringoth's key, and descended into the cellar. Another closed and locked door greeted me, and I began to wonder how many trees were murdered in order to build Goldenglow Estate's house, merely for the doors erected...

I crept into the musty cellar, hearing casual conversation from the pair of mercenaries situated in the far corner beyond the fog that rolled across the damp room.

So I took the advantage of natural cover and the element of surprise to finish them off. Again, not much of a contest, since the only weapons they were armed with were melee based. By the time they tried closing the distance, they were human pincushions.

They deserved to die...who puts a chamber bucket on the table? That's just nasty...

After disposing of the unhygienic mercenaries, I made my way down the open staircase to the bottom level of the cellar. I followed the hallway thinking that if Selene or Danariel, or any of the servants at Riverwood Keep for that matter, had seen the neglected condition of the cellar, they'd have had a fit. Apparently Aringoth wasn't the type to keep his place tidy, unlike myself and the level of cleanliness I preferred to maintain at my abode.

I happened upon the mercenary charged with guarding the safe, and saw that he was thoroughly bored with his post. In fact, he was engaged in a battle with sleep, and I saw him nodding off as he sat in the chair provided for him.

So I sent him a terminal lullaby...

He probably didn't even register the pain of the arrow piercing his brain before he fell to the filthy cellar floor on his face. I didn't care if he did or not, as long as he wasn't trying to draw his sword and hack me to bits for intruding on his post.

A small set of stairs led me to the safe, in which I promptly opened with Aringoth's key.

I gathered the gold pouches, gems, and a piece of folded parchment housed inside. With my tasks complete, it was time to vacate the premises. But wait a minute.... more gifts?

I would have had to have sent Aringoth an anonymous letter of gratitude for his generosity. That was, if he hadn't threatened me, and was presently lying in a pool of his own blood in his bedroom...

I exited the estate by way of the sewer, emerging near the estate's docks. Oh wow...my very own ship? I would have acquired it as well, but I neither had the necessary manpower nor the skill to navigate such a large craft. Had I not had to embark on this quest alone, perhaps my companions and I could have brought it to the Keep...

Nevertheless, I swam to the opposite shore and made my way to Riften, the thoughts of adding 'piracy' to my ventures going through my head the entire time.

I entered the secret passage into the thieves' guild, and Brynjolf was waiting for me in the cistern.

"I knew you were the right man for the job," he congratulated me as I relayed the contents of Aringoth's safe to him. His brow furrowed as he opened the folded parchment and read over it. "That damnable fool sold Goldenglow? What was he thinking?" he growled.
"He wasn't thinking clearly," I replied. "I found him cowering behind a bookshelf, and the idiot refused to parley with me. Instead he tried to poke me full of holes with his bow," I finished, embellishing a bit at the end. "So I had no choice, I had to kill him."

"If you hadn't have done it, Maven Blackbriar would have," Brynjolf said. "The thing that puzzles me is, why would he make such a reckless move against the most powerful woman in Riften? And who is the buyer? No name here, just this odd symbol. Any idea what it means?" he asked, showing me the parchment.
I pretended to look it over. "I don't have a raking clue," I swore with a shrug. "You just told me to burn some hives, infiltrate the house and acquire the contents of the safe. That's what I did."
"Blast," Brynjolf exclaimed. "I'll show this to Mercer, maybe he can make heads or tails of it. But regardless, you did us all a huge favor by pulling this off. Thank you, my friend," he said with a clasp on my shoulder. "Delvin is in the Flagon, he'll give you your cut for the job."

I nodded to Brynjolf with a grin, and made my way across the stone bridge and through the door that led into The Ragged Flagon. As stated, Delvin Mallory was seated at a table near the bar.

"So, you pulled it off, eh?" Delvin said as I took a seat in front of him. "Brynjolf said you'd be the one capable of it. I suppose you'll be wanting your pay now."
"Ah, yeah," I said, lifting an eyebrow. "I don't work for free, no matter how much loyalty I have to the guild."
Delvin chuckled as he pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket and slid it across the table to me. "This'll hold up in any bank in Skyrim, so wherever you want to withdraw your coin, they'll honor it."

I took the parchment and looked it over, pleased with the thousand gold amount written at the bottom. "Oh, before I depart your pleasurable company," I teased Delvin, reaching into my pack and retrieving the golden bee statue. I sat it on the table in front of me. "What would you be willing to purchase this unique item for?"

Delvin's eyes glistened as he saw the statue. "I've been looking for this little beauty," he said. He reached to his side and then sat a pouch of coins on the table. "That should cover it. One hundred gold," he finished.
"A hundred gold my aching ass," I countered. "I couldn't possibly part with this for less than six hundred."
Delvin grunted. "You're killing me here, Cruce," he whined. "I've got two hundred on me."
"And you've got access to one of these lovely pieces of parchment which says you can pay more. What say you?" I haggled.

He released a slow sigh, and pulled another piece of parchment from his pocket. "I can do four, but THAT'S it," he answered. "This was meant as payment for another job in the works, but I can rewrite it, after I replenish the guild's resources from my own pocket that is," he added.
"Four hundred works," I said as I took the parchment from the table and slipped it into my pack. "Always a pleasure, Delvin," I finished, standing from my chair.

He shook his head slowly and looked up to me. "Definitely one of us," he finished with a smirk.

Thus ends the latest installment of the Scoundrel Archer. Thank you for taking the time to read my post and I hope you enjoyed the screen shots provided. I appreciate your patience in the length between installments, and all of your comments are welcomed and responded to, and up votes are more than appreciated. More to come with the Scoundrel Archer, so stay tuned!

Screen shots taken from Skyrim: Legendary Edition (modded, PC)
Story setting: The Elder Scrolls universe, by Bethesda