As the green dragon flew off in the distance, the wounded were picked up and taken to local healers, Balmora slowly returned to normal.

Laurenna said she would meet me at the Mage's Guild offices, so that's where I went. I had just hoped she had stayed inside while the dragon attacked. Two guards had been killed defending the city, proving that dragons were serious business.

"What was all the noise outside?" she asked, as I arrived on the lower level. "Oh, just a huge green dragon, eating several of the local guards, that's all." I replied casually. "You mean there's more than one?" she asked. "Apparently so." I replied. "Illwing says there are also reports of dragon sightings in the south of Vvardenfell, along the bitter coast. I believe that'll be our next point of interest."

As we headed back to our Balmora home, I met two guards. They confirmed what Illwing had said - that there were rumors of attacks in Pelagiad as well as Hla Oad, a village along the Bitter Coast region.

We arrived back at our small home and rested a bit. I changed out of my dark robe for my regular bright colors, and Laurenna made an egg and bread sandwich for us both.

"Listen," I said, "I have to report back to Caius Cosades, and tell him about this dragon. I believe he also had another mission for me to complete, and I promised him I'd return quickly to complete it for him. Why don't you relax? I'll return after I'm done talking to him."

Laurenna agreed, and decided to take a quick nap.

As soon as he saw me enter his room, Caius dropped his skooma pipe and (tried) to stand. "So, Eldorf, what about this dragon? I thought you said it was a red dragon. It was a green dragon, if the lady outside my room had anything to say about it."

"Caius, there's more than one dragon. I'll have to go and get rid of that one as well, but I understand you had another job for me to do, and as promised, I have returned to complete it for you."

Caius smiled a week smile and said "Well, based on what Hasphat said, I need you to go to the Mage's Guild and speak with Sharn gra-Muzgob about the Nerevarine cult, since she is the supposed expert on the local faiths and superstitions around here. Find out what you can, and report back to me.

I decided that since this was a local trip, it wasn't necessary to bring Laurenna, so I headed back across the bridge to the Mage's Guild and spoke to Sharn gra-Muzgob.

"Yes, I will tell you this, but first I want you to retrieve something for me. It is the skull of Llevule Andrano." Oh, good, another task. "Who is this person supposed to be?" I asked, mainly out of curiosity. "Oh, no one special, just someone I, uh, once, um, knew."

I took the hint that she didn't really want to tell me what was so special about this artifact.

"So, where will I find this famous skull?" I asked.

"It will be found in the Andrano Ancestral Tomb, just past the settlement of Pelagiad on the road to Seyda Neen." she replied. "Oh, please make sure you don't use the standard weapons in there," she cautioned, "you know, the dead, they do not fear normal weapons."

"Oh, I believe I'm very familiar with tomb-raiding," I replied, "as I've been in a number of them myself already."

"So, let me get this straight." Laurenna exclaimed. "This powerful ork mage wants a simple skull in her possession before she'll give you any information.  So, why can't she get this thing herself?" "Well, if you're afraid to go into tombs...." I started. "Oh, well, I'm not afraid, I just don't like tombs. They're full of dead things, creepy." she said. "Well, don't worry," I reassured her, "I'll be there to protect you."

Laurenna smiled and got her armor out of the chest. I gave her one of my enchanted swords, since her ordinary Nordic broadsword would have no effect on dead things.

On our way out of town, we met a young girl, the same one that told us her parents had a bad dream earlier.     

"Did you know my neighbors had a bad dream last night?" she asked. "My friend had one, too." she added. "Really?" I said, sounding innocent. "I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

I tried to put her mind at ease, but it was not easy. Too many people in Balmora were starting to have the same disturbing dream.

It rained and rained all the way out of Balmora and down the road past Pelagiad.

Just after passing Pelagiad, it finally stopped drenching us, and the sun came out to finally warm things up a little bit.

It all became very serine and tranquil. There was a lone stiltstrider in the distance, and Bull and Betty netches calmly floated over the sky, doing whatever netches tend to do when looking for food.

As promised, just after passing Pelagiad, we finally arrived at the entrance of the Andrano Ancestral Tomb.

I turned to Laurenna and said "Now, you're sure you want to go in here?" "As long as you're here, I won't be afraid of anything." she replied.

Well, after all, I did just slay a dragon.

As expected, many dead things (that weren't quite dead yet) showed up to protect the valuables of the tomb from the usual raiders (such as ourselves).

It took some time, but finally, after reaching the lower levels of the tomb, we found the skull of Llevule Andrano near a gravesite full of bones.

We had finished our task here, but I thought about it for a moment, and suggested that we continue on the road past Seyda Neen, and head out to Hla Oad, where there had been reports of other dragons, mainly the green one that had just attacked Balmora.

Since we were on the road already, we may as well continue in the same area.

Laurenna agreed, so we continued south.

I didn't tell her, but I also wanted to go to this area and check a little further into this organization that the dark elf Senzani Na was trying to join. According to a letter I found on his desk, they were supposed to be located in the Heran Ancestral Tomb, which was south and west of Hla Oad.

As expected, it started to rain again as we continued south.

I still enjoyed the walk. There were not a lot of creatures on the roadway, but there were lots of beautiful trees, plants, and bushes. The aroma from the heather plants was wonderful. I had almost forgotten how pleasant it was.

As we continued on our way, we passed by the fishing village of Seyda Neen. I had to stop and look for a moment. This was the place it had all started for me, nearly a year ago.  I wondered what had happened to that inexperienced Breton that arrived here, so long ago.

As we continued on to Hla Oad, the weather finally cleared up, and the sky turned a beautiful cobalt-blue, with pretty wisps of clouds here and there. As we continued west, we saw a lone Bull netch, floating in the distance.

We continued into an area between Seyda Neen and Hla Oad devastated over a thousand years ago by lava flows from Red Mountain. Even though the lava flowed centuries ago, it never recovered from the damage done by that volcano. There were still bubbling mudpots scattered here and there among the hills and mountains.

After a short trip through the dusty dead area, we finally arrived at the southern edge of the Odai River that comes from Balmora, and the start of the Bitter Coast region. We were greeted, not by a dragon, but a one of the dozen or so cliffracers that inhabit this area.

I told Laurenna to keep an eye out for bugs, as this was a very swampy area.