After a short nap instead of a night’s sleep, both Lena and Hauk felt tired and groggy.

“Just how much ale did we drink last night?” Lena was trying to freshen up her face with snow.

“I dunno, but Olav was happy with the bill!” Hauk replied. “Shall we leave the Ayleids to themselves and just take a stroll in the mountains? Fresh air might do us some good.”

They took the road North from Bruma, then turned East just before the Dragonclaw Rock. There was a lovely scenic path following the border with Skyrim.

“I think this road goes all the way to Cheydinhal” – Hauk was saying. “It’s much faster than going over the Ring Road. The Legion uses it quite a lot.”

“There is a mage’s tower somewhere here – The Frostcraig Spire. Some distant relative left it to me in his will, but I haven’t been there yet. Shall we go see?”

“Of course! You are full of surprises.” Hauk was grinning. He knew about the Frostcraig Spire, he’s seen it often enough returning from Skyrim through the mountains. He knew that an old mage had lived there, a rather extravagant hermit of sorts, if you can call a hermit someone who built himself a castle with teleports to every Mages Guild hall. When the mage died, everyone wondered what would happen to his tower. The Arch Mage tried to claim it for the Guild, but was informed that the old owner had left a will and named a beneficiary, and even though she was no where to be found, the Imperial Archives had no record of her death, and therefore the executors of the will were obliged to decline any other claims to the tower, etcetera, etcetera. In a word: no.

This was over a century ago, while Lena was residing in the Shivering Isles. Upon her return, she reclaimed her rights, and the executors of the will presented her with the key to the tower. The furnishings had been removed for safekeeping, but Lena could restore it all for a modest fee to the keeper… naturally.

The walk was lovely and the Spire was impressive, if rather bare. The garden still flourished – it did not seem to need any care. But there wasn’t a chair to sit on, so Lena and Hauk didn’t stay very long.

“Shall we use the teleport or walk back to Bruma?” Lena was not fond of teleports and hoped Hauk would choose to walk.

“Walk!” After Antaloor, Hauk despised teleports as well.

Instead of going back the way they came, they followed the path West and came to the Gnoll Mountain camp. The view of Bruma was breathtaking, and they sat down for a late lunch.

“I am sorry if I have been too prying yesterday” – Hauk was uneasy that it was him asking questions rather than Lena offering the story herself. “I just…”

“…had to know” – Lena concluded. “Yeah, I understand. It’s all connected, and I could not leave any of it out really without giving you the impression that I was hiding something. Because I’m not. It’s just a bit overwhelming at times.”

“That I can believe!” Hauk nodded. He had a few stories of his own that he could tell, and a fair few that he couldn’t, having scouted for the Legion during the Great War.

“You seem to know an awful lot about things and people in this Realm and elsewhere” – Lena observed. “Some day I’d like to know about that. But there is no rush.” And she got up to pull another boar chop off the spit.