Oblivion. It wasn't the first time I'd met Seed-Neeus, proprietor of the "Northern Goods and Trade" General Store in Chorral. Her daughter Dar-ma had invited me to browse her mother's wares only a few days earlier, and while I couldn't afford to purchase anything then, I certainly didn't have time to purchase anything now. Seed-Neeus was in a state of panic. Dar-ma had apparently gone to the nearby settlement of Hackdirt on an errand for her mother and never returned. I quickly reassured Seed-Neeus that I would help; I was in need of some form of redemption.

I set out for Hackdirt the same morning. The settlement is due south of Chorral and after passing through a number of interesting, yet decrepit ruins, I arrive in Hackdirt to find that it isn't in much better condition. A number of the houses have been torched and by the looks of the overgrowth, it had happened years earlier. Upon closer inspection I find that there are a few residents lingering. I approach one and he tells me to leave immediately; they do not take well to outsiders. If outsiders had burned down his home, I could hardly argue against those sentiments. When I asked him about Dar-ma, he merely looked annoyed as if I were fishing for a reason to justify my presence.

My purpose was to find out what had happened to Dar-ma, so I looked for someone else to question that hopefully had a happier disposition. The next man I met wondering around town was a man by the name of Jiv Hiriel, and when I questioned him he was quite forthcoming. He said that he couldn't be seen talking to me, so I should come find him at his home around midnight tonight. With that, I let him be. It was still mid-morning so I had quite a bit of time to look around. I decided I'd check out the local General Store, since they had to get their goods from Chorral, I figured they might actually know Dar-ma. Upon entering the store, I received the same warm welcome that the first man I had met in Hackdirt had given me. I was immediately told to buy something or leave, from a woman of whom the age of her skin did not match the age of her hair.

I inquired to the woman about Dar-ma and she said she'd never seen anyone like that. Strange, Seed-Neeus mentioned that Dar-ma had been to Hackdirt many times before. It became clear that the conversation was going nowhere, so I thought I'd head over to the chapel to see if any of the congregation could explain what had happened here. Upon entering the chapel I was surprised to find it deserted, but even more surprised to find it in pristine condition. I thought that was curious as I continued to walk around town, soliciting angry glares from all whom I passed. I then noticed something strange when I passed by an old burnt out house; a trapdoor, which looks to lead underground. Though no one was watching, I give up on picking the locks after breaking three lock picks. I decided to head out of town and take a closer look at those ruins, since I had a lot of time until midnight.

While heading north to inspect the ruins I had passed through previously, I noticed the shape of what looked to be a stone fort not far to the west. I decided to explore this discovery and arrived at its entry only to discover something quite shocking. Looking through the overgrown courtyard, I could see two mutilated corpses deliberately placed on either side of the fort's inner entrance about a meter from the ground. As I approached this gruesome scene, I unwittingly stepped over the remains of some sort of zombie. A quick search of these remains yielded objects I didn't have the stomach to carry, namely mort flesh. Against my better judgment yet in line with my curiosity, I proceeded through the corpse-draped inner entrance door. An eerily quiet, dank yet extravagant catacomb was revealed to me.

It wasn't long before I found the lifeless body of a previous adventurer slumped against the wall, bloody and defeated. It looked as though he had set up a bedroll here, and was attacked in his sleep. I know that Hackdirt isn't exactly hospitable, but setting up camp here takes a special kind of stupidity. If the meat ornaments on either side of the courtyard side of the inner entrance weren't indication enough, what I could see peering through the open doorway should accentuate that notion tenfold. Coffins, elevated on either side of the next room. Perhaps he just didn't want to spring for the price of the Hackdirt Inn. A quick search of his body revealed that he died not from being robbed; he had a decent amount of gold on him. My thoughts again turned to that of gold, for a treasure chest at the foot of one of the coffins in the next room caught my eye.

While I had acquired better weapons during my time in Chorral, the prospect of more wealth was too good to pass up. It should have been for as I was picking the lock of the treasure chest, I was attacked. Vampires! I don't know where both of them came from, but I drew my sword and returned the attacked carefully keeping as much distance as I could. I was fearful of becoming a vampire myself, according to I8bitz it isn't a pleasant experience. I was able to dispose of the first vampire rather easily, but the second vampire was draining me of all my magicka somehow. I had to escape, without the ability to heal magically and no potions; it was only a matter of time before this vampire took me down. I had to put some distance between us. I made for the door, which lead into a long corridor. As I tried to put some distance between the remaining vampire and myself, he continued to drain my magicka. I equipped my bow, Elvin in design with arrows to match, and managed to keep the vampire at a distance with a constant volley of shots. The magical lightning which was sending my way was easy to sidestep, and it wasn't long before I dropped the vampire with a well placed arrow to the forehead. As my magicka returned, I healed myself as quickly as possible, I had to get out of here and I didn't want to cross paths with anything else undead. Soon I was outside, running back through the forest towards Hackdirt.

It was now almost midnight. It was time to find Jiv Hiriel, but something caught my eye in the corner of one of the burnt out houses. Darma's horse Blossom stood there alone, unharmed and unattended.