RoleplayNovel Chapter 4 Timeline
Chapter 4 Timeline
The bearded man turned his head and looked at Chen Mo with a "what nonsense are you talking about" look.
"Dragons?" he scoffed. "Those went extinct during the Dragon Wars. That was hundreds of years ago. Where are there any dragons left now?"
Another man laughed: "Young man, where did you come from? You don't even know this?"
Chen Mo gave a slightly embarrassed smile: "I come from... a very far rural area. We don't talk about these things much where I'm from."
"Then you'd better catch up on your studies." The bearded man took a swig of his drink. "Skyrim is in chaos right now, but it's the people who are in chaos, not the dragons. Dragons? They're all dead by now."
Chen Mo nodded and didn't say anything more.
He lowered his head and continued eating his stewed potatoes and meat, his eyes slightly downcast.
There are no dragons.
Ulfric has just killed the High King.
Alduin has not yet been resurrected. The Dragonborn have not yet appeared.
This means that he traveled to a point in time earlier than the start of the main game storyline. It could be a few months earlier, half a year earlier, or even a year earlier.
This means he has a period of "advance planning".
As Chen Mo ate and pondered, the topics at the table kept changing. Chen Mo's ears twitched, and he heard another piece of news that interested him.
"...Not back again?" It was another man's voice, deeper than the bearded man's.
"That's it. That's the fourth one." The bearded man lowered his voice, but Chen Mo could still hear him. "The wolf skull area is really eerie."
"I knew something was off about that place. It was fine when I went there as a kid, but what happened now?"
"Some say it's the work of the dead," a thin man leaned closer and said mysteriously. "My cousin was passing by there a couple of nights ago and saw blue light coming from the cave. Blue! Not a torch, not a lantern, just that kind of... ghostly blue light."
"Will-o'-the-wisp?"
"Yes. And it's not flickering, it's steadily lit, like there's a light on inside. But who would dare to light a light there?"
The table fell silent for a few seconds.
The bearded man said in a low voice, "I heard... he's a necromancer."
"A necromancer?"
"Hmm. Those who play with human bones love to conduct experiments in secluded places like this." He paused. "The wolf skull cave is well-located, not too far from the city, with a water source, and it's quite hidden. It wouldn't be surprising if a necromancer actually stayed there."
"Then the legion won't do anything about it?"
"What's the big deal? Chief Steward Foke said, without evidence or a body, what right do we have to mobilize? The legion's manpower is all spent patrolling the city walls and docks, who has time to sneak into caves?"
Someone sighed, "Those missing people..."
"Gone," the bearded man said bluntly. "Definitely gone. What good can come of running into this weird situation?"
Chen Mo gripped the wooden spoon tightly in his hand.
Wolf skull?
Is this a "boy who cried wolf" mission?
At this time?
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim offers too much freedom. Players can roam freely all over the world, so he simply couldn't remember the exact trigger time of the "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" side quest.
Indeed, the Dragonborn did not actually participate in many things in the game.
Skyrim is such a vast province that all sorts of things happen every day. There are bandits robbing caravans, vampires attacking villages, necromancers secretly causing trouble, and cultists sacrificing living people.
Currently, the only confirmed Dragonborn involvements are in the Eye of Magnus, the Dawnguard, and the main storyline.
He tried to recall: "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" was a minor side quest near Dugu City, involving investigating the anomalies in the wolf skull cave, which ultimately revealed a group of necromancers causing trouble. But there was something deeper...
The "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" quest is actually a prerequisite for a later quest.
The Wolf Queen has returned.
Chen Mo paused for a moment.
Queen Portma.
That legendary woman who deeply loved her child, yet went completely mad after her son's tragic death. She transformed Dugu City into the "Land of the Dead," summoning undead and demonic creatures. Her soul, after death, was so powerful that it is rumored she even became a demon god in charge of hatred and betrayal.
After the "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" side quest, some follow-up events will occur in Solitude, eventually involving the resurrection of Queen Potema's spirit.
However, the task itself is not actually that difficult.
As a seasoned player in Skyrim, Chen Mo has chosen Dugu City as his starting location many times, sometimes even accepting the quest at level one.
The enemies in the cave were nothing more than some apprentice-level necromancers, a few skeleton guards, and occasionally a few controlled wolves.
He could even pass without getting hurt.
but……
That's a game.
In the game, players can use all sorts of clever tactics to whittle down high-level monsters. These include stealthy backstabs, kiting, using terrain advantages, and reloading saves. Dying is no big deal; just reload and you're back to life.
But now?
Chen Mo looked at the wooden spoon in his hand. He looked at the bowl of potato stew that was almost empty, at the flickering flames in the fireplace, and at the living, breathing NPCs drinking and chatting.
If he died in that cave—
Will he reload the save file?
Can he be resurrected?
he does not know.
Chen Mo stuffed the last piece of bread into his mouth and chewed it slowly.
A group of apprentice-level necromancers and a few fragile skeletons.
Can he really handle...?
……
After emerging from the giant rat in the blink of an eye, Chen Mo did not go straight home.
He wandered aimlessly through the streets of Dugu City, the cold wind lashing his face like a knife, but it did clear his chaotic thoughts slightly.
The warmth of the tavern still lingered on my skin, the satisfying feeling of the stewed potatoes and meat still lingered in my stomach, and the echoes of their conversation still resonated in my ears—
Necromancer.
The missing person.
Blue light.
Chen Mo stopped at a corner of the city wall, leaning against the cold stone wall and gazing at the dark sea in the distance.
He could feel the heavy sword at his waist, a reminder that this was a world where people could die.
He could also feel the subtle "difference" in his body—after the upgrade, his vitality had indeed increased, his breathing was smoother, his steps were more steady, and even his senses seemed to have become more acute.
He could hear the sound of waves crashing against the rocks in the distance, and he could distinguish several different smells carried on the wind—the smell of the sea, the smell of smoke, and the smell of roasted meat wafting from a house.
But is that enough?
An apprentice-level necromancer, with only a few fragile skeletons, is a noob who feeds experience points to nobodies in the game.
What about in reality?
Chen Mo had no idea how painful it was to be hit by a necromancer's spells. He didn't know what it felt like to have a skeleton's bone sword cut into his flesh. He didn't know if he could crawl out of that cave alive if he was seriously injured and bleeding profusely.
He remained silent for a long time, so long that the cold wind made his face numb.
Then he slowly straightened up and looked in the direction of Gloomy Castle. The spire stood silently in the night, like a needle pointing to the unknown.
Chen Mo took a deep breath, pulled his cloak tighter, and turned to walk towards home.
Let me take a nap first.