The Tale of Bloodstone Shrine

Many pilgrims drowned in the treacherous waters of the mighty river Thirr, and many more surely will. I believe each one worried about crossing it, and no one knew how are we going to pull it off. So we mostly kept silent as we approached this seemingly insurmountable obstacle. The six of us needed to cross it if we were to continue on our journey east, and this was probably the best spot to do it. There were stories of a dunmer who used to ferry the pilgrims for a hefty fee, but also stories, newer ones, of how he met his doom in the merciless waters, along with over a dozen pilgrims he was ferrying at that time.

There were other stories too. Rumors were that brigands and other outlaws were roaming the area, so were pretty sure there wouldn't be any ferrymer in the near future. We also worried about the them, but we all hoped we would somehow avoid them. The river, we could not avoid. We were pilgrims, not warriors. We'd make poor slaves, and we almost had no gold, so there wasn't much left to rob either.

The sound of the river splashing against the rocks grew ever louder as we approached the river banks. We didn't even get to see the river when an arrow flew right past Anasou, and hit the ground right in front of my feet. Moments later, a couple of outlaws jumped in front of us with their weapons drawn. There were more, hiding. At least one, as none of those carried a bow. Bradas drew his dagger, but the outlaw that looked like he was their leader shouted 
"Put that back, or I'll make you put it back!" and pointed his sword at him. Reluctantly, Bradas dropped it. 
"That's more like it",the leader said, "No more funny business now! Hand over all your gold if you want to live." 
We gathered all we had, but even that was only a handful of coins. It was obvious outlaws were far from pleased. 
"Filthy pilgrims! We know you're hiding more. You think we're stupid? Give us more gold or we'll start killing you one by one and take the gold from your corpses!", they shouted while slowly walking towards us.

We knew they'd kill us all, and we really didn't have a coin more than we already gave. I looked at Anasou and he looked at me, and then slowly  . 
"RUN!", I shouted, and we all started   towards the river, hoping to lose them there. An arrow scratched my arm as it flew dangerously close to my hearth, but I had no time to feel pain. They were not as surprised as we hoped they'd be, and were quickly gaining on us. In a few  , I reached the river. It looked as perilous as ever. We would never make it across like this. That archer was good, he would've picked us off like nix-hounds. I looked   and spotted a cave.

"Quickly, over here!", I shouted. I hoped we'll be able to hide in the dark. My companions followed me, and the four of us that made it were soon crouching behind some rocks, trying not to give a sound. We could see the black silhouettes of the outlaws against the daylight. They were laughing, and one of them lit a torch. I   cold sweat on my forehead. They had light. There was no hiding now, they're coming to slaughter us. I prayed to Almsivi for a quick death, but that was the mercy I knew we weren't going to get. We could see their   faces as they walked slowly towards us.

Then, out of nowhere, a bright light appeared, so bright that I had to avert eyes. There were sounds of combat, and screams, but it was not my fellow pilgrims screaming, it was the outlaws. After a while, when my eyes adapted to the dark again, all but two of the outlaws were gone. The two of them who remained, however, could obviously do us no more harm, judging by the nasty looking wounds with waning flames at the edges, and the horrified look on their faces. We slowly came out from the hiding and started walking towards the exit.

It was our merciful Lady, the Holiest of the Holy, Lady Almalexia. She have come to our aid. The rest of the outlaws were trying to escape across the river, but the river has taken them into its embrace. Soon, there were no sign of them, they disappeared beneath the waters.

We could not speak, nor express our gratitude and  . The Lady then turned to us and said in a calming voice:
"Those outlaws have paid for your passage with their blood. The river will do you no harm. Go back to the cave, take it with you, and you shall cross the river safely. Farewell, good pilgrims.", and then she turned and left.

We could still not believe what happened as we approached the bodies of the two outlaws in the cave. Their blood had miraculously turned to dark red jewels. We gathered as much as we could and then headed back out. Although the river raged, it felt like solid ground to our feet. Slowly, we walked across and reach the other bank.

Had it not been for the mercy of Our Lady Almalexia, we surely wouldn't live to tell this glorious tale. We shall spread the word of this miracle, and build a shrine in this cave where the foul blood turned to stone. And even the sons of our sons shall come here, to the Bloodstone shrine, to worship Her Grace and pray for safe crossing. Blessed be Her holy name, and blessed be The Tribunal.