Manon the Bosmer

Her hands were still trembling as Manon took a sip from the mead she had ordered. The young Wood Elf figured she would need something stronger to recover from the shock she had endured.

After traveling all the way to Skyrim to enroll at the famous Bards College, her dreams were shattered just three days after her arrival in this frosty land. It should have been so easy. Manon had mastered several instruments, trained her voice singing countless songs, and studied dance moves from all over Tamriel. But did it matter to the Bards College? No! That headmaster, a friendly High Elf called Viarmo, hadn't even asked for a performance! Instead he wanted her to retrieve some old book before he would accept her application.

He never mentioned that the ancient crypt in which said book was lost was infested with undead. Draugr the locals called them.

Manon was a bard, not a fighter. She had just barely escaped from the ice cold claws in that crypt and had just kept running for... she didn't even know how long. Now she was sitting in some tavern she had stumbled into, shaken and freezing. Had all been in vain? Ever since hearing about the renowned Bards College she had dreamed of applying there and becoming a bard whose songs would be famous all over Tamriel.

No, she couldn't just give up now. With newfound determination she looked up from the table and gazed around the tavern. If only she could find a capable bodyguard she could still return and fetch that damned book for Viarmo!

"You, over there," she called out to one of the other patrons. "A word please."