[Skyrim, Winterhold wilderness] Lost and Confused (Pseudo-open)

((If your character has a chance of running into Alicia, then PM me or look me up on the IRC channel (going by the name 'MoDem') - we'll work something out.))

Alicia had been having a bad couple days, to say the least. It had started with her ship burning down, then getting thrown in the brig of another ship on suspicion of arson (though at least the captain believed her account of it being an accident), then finding herself on the shores of somewhere cold.

It wasn't all bad. She'd found a decent hide-away, a few weapons, a warm set of clothes, a small satchel of coins, and enough rations to last for a while. Still, that barely took the sting off of it. She needed someplace to go.

The weather had cleared up, and it was daylight. That made things easier. She gathered up the equipment she had and set out, heading south - if nothing else, she'd end up someplace warmer.

Little did she know that things were going to get worse before they'd get better.

The more Alicia thought about it, the more she figured that she was in Skyrim; after all, it wasn't so terribly frozen. Still, things could have been a whole lot better. The grey coat she'd acquired took the edge off the cold well enough, but it was still cold. Not to mention that she was starting to wonder if she was being followed... so she slipped into the shadows a bit. She was no thief, but knowing how to remain hidden was an occupational skill one sometimes picked up as an adventurer.

The person following her became rather obvious when he stepped onto a branch, which broke with a very audible snap. She took the moment to jump out from behind the tree, deck him, and put her sword to his throat. "Why. Are. You. Following. Me."

The man simply smirked and knocked her sword to the side, giving her a hard punch to the face - which she dodged, returning with a knee to the stomach - she'd long ago learned not to aim for the groin, most armor had a codpiece. The man winced a bit and threw her off, a psychotic smirk on his face and an axe in his hand. Alicia picked up her sword again - short-range magic was not her specialty, but she was good with a blade.

They circled each other, waiting for one to strike the first blow...

The crazed man struck first, lashing out with a series of axe blows that could have taken Alicia's head off. She responded with a pommel strike to the shoulder, ducking to the side. She couldn't take a hit from that axe, not without armor. She tossed her coat aside for the moment, it was far too restrictive to fight in.

"Come on, you s'wit!" she taunted, swinging her blade in a broad arc - only to change her angle suddenly, the blade biting into her assailant's side. He let out an almost-subhuman howl, lashing out wildly - exactly the situation Alicia could exploit. A quick duck behind him and a slice across the back of his legs sent him tumbling to the ground, unable to stand. "I'm not going to put up with carrying some crazed bandit to a guard post. Just stay still..." she mentions, grabbing his axe and putting her boot on his back.

CHOP

The result was a rather... bloody mess. "Gah, didn't think that through," she muttered, trying to get the blood off of her. She sighed and grabbed her coat, quickly throwing it on before she froze, then gathering the rest of her gear and continuing to trek towards the water-source she'd dowsed.

Now that she had a larger store of water, Alicia felt a good bit more confident about surviving this mess. She grabbed some edible herbs - she knew enough about alchemy to spot those when she found them - and started walking, this time along the shore. She'd have to run into a fishing village eventually, after all.

Of course, it had to be one that was razed nearly to the ground. "... why do I always have such bad luck." She let out a sigh and started looking through the ruins, managing to find a few satchels of gold stashed in places, along with a couple potions. She did, at least, note that it'd been burnt down a while ago. Hopefully that meant she wouldn't be accused of arson again.

There was also, lodged in a wall, a saber - and a very nice one at that, made out of dwarvish metal. She checked the area around it for traps before gently tugging it out of the wall, testing the blade's balance and edge. "Well that's one thing in my favor!" She manages to find its scabbard and attaches it to her sword belt, placing her larger steel sword on her back. She managed to find what was left of the path that lead to the village and started walking down it, hoping to find a signpost that could tell her where she was.

Finally, she had something resembling luck. A signpost, one that even said how far away each place was in relative terms. "Finally! Winterhold... not too far, at least." She smiled a bit, starting to walk down the road.

While it was a long walk, she was finally someplace where she could get a warm bed, some decent food, and perhaps something resembling her old adventuring gear. Much better than the frozen wilderness. She found herself sitting in the local tavern, drinking some warm mead and enjoying the ambiance...

"Hey, girl, what'cha doing?" Alicia blinked; standing behind her was a nord in a dark green shirt, looking a slight bit sloshed. A nord, hitting on her... considering the local attitude towards dark elves, she was a bit surprised. "How about I order you a drink?"

Alicia rolled her eyes. "Sod off." She was expecting that he'd leave it there, or just act like an idiot and try to woo her. What she really didn't expect was the nord grabbing her ass - she nearly choked on her mead. She then did what she considered the only logical response.

WHAM

She grabbed his shirt and slammed his head into the table. Everyone stopped, looked at her, looked at the nord she'd just knocked out... and just continued with what they were doing, as if they'd seen it a hundred times. The local bard barely even skipped a note. A quiet talk with a guardsman and the man was hauled off, apparently to spend yet another night in the tank.