[LessThan3]

Remember this place from the Dark Brotherhood beginning quest?

The Abandoned Shack is located in a frosty, swamp-like area of Hjaalmarch along the northern coastline. It is southeast of Solitude and North East of Morthal.

Just a weird shack right?

Wrong.

The following details the legend of: The Lady in the Woods

From the book: The Woodcutters Wife

Legend tells of a woodcutter who built a shack within the pine forest. There, he hoped to live in peace with his family.
The woodcutter's family lived well for a time, but without warning, the weather turned bitterly cold and spoiled the harvest. Before long, with their meager supply of food all but gone, the family was starving.

Late one snowy night, a traveler knocked on the cabin door seeking shelter from the biting cold. Always generous of heart, the woodcutter welcomed the stranger into his home, apologising that he had no food to offer.

With a smile, the traveler cast off his cloak to reveal the garments of a mage. As the woodcutter and his family looked on, the mysterious visitor reached into his satchel and withdrew a scroll tied with a silver ribbon. No sooner had the wizard unfurled the scroll and read the words aloud, when a great feast appeared from out of thin air. That night, nobody in the woodcutter's cabin went hungry. Day by day, the snow piled up. Every night, the mage produced another scroll from his bag and read the words, each time summoning a new feast. On the fifth night, the woodcutter's wife awoke her husband to confess her mistrust of their magical guest. Surely, she argued, there was some price to pay for the magical feasts that everyone enjoyed night after night.

The woodcutter would have none of it. After nearly dying from the lack of food, his family was eating well. The Divines had sent them a gift, he explained, and it was foolish to question their wisdom.

But the woodcutter's wife would not be persuaded. Every night, she grew more fearful and more desperate. She was certain that the family had entered into a Devil's bargin, and the time would soon come when the mage would ask for something unspeakable in return for his gifts.

While everyone in the cabin slept, the woodcutter's wife snuck out of bed and took her husband's axe in hand. She crept into the traveler's room and with one swing, lopped off his head.

Suddenly, the wizard's disembodied head awoke. His eyes opened wide and when he beheld his maimed body, he let forth a terrible cry.

Awakened by the horrified scream, the woodcutter and his children rushed into room and gasped at the terrible sight of the decapitated mage.

With his last gasp of breath, the traveler laid a fearful curse on the woodcutter's wife. After her mortal death, she was damned to rise once again and walk alone only to burn at the rising sun.

To this day, those who walk the pine forest late at night tell tales of a weeping woman glimpsed between the trees. She carries a bloody axe, the stories say, and is terrifying to behold.

Taken from the book: The Cabin in the Woods

Late one night, a few seasons ago, a soldier was returning home after several bloody battles. He decided he would save some gold and decided to cross the pine forest on foot.
The first day of his journey was rather uneventful, the soldier stuck to the main path and kept a brisk pace. When it started getting dark he set up his bed roll, built a small fire, and cooked up some rabbit he had caught. "A fine day indeed", he thought to himself as he fell asleep.

Partway through the evening, the soldier was woken up by soft sobbing in the distance. He grabbed his sword, assuming it to be a bandit trick, but pretended to sleep so he could get the jump on them. After a few minutes, the sobbing started moving away from his camp until he could no longer bare it. For the rest of the night he slept with one eye open.

Day two, the soldier awoken with what rotten sleep he could catch and started off through the forest at a quicker pace, intending to put distance between himself and what ever he had heard last night. As the day went on, it began to rain heavy, so the soldier built himself a shelter for the evening, so he could remain dry as he slept.

It took him a little longer to fall asleep with thoughts of the previous night in mind, but eventually slept.

This time he awoke to sobbing that sounded like it was right outside his shelter. The soldier grabbed his sword, and crawled out of the shelter. In front of the fire, he saw the back of a ghostly woman sobbing into her hands.

The soldier mustered his courage, and asked her what was wrong.

No answer.

He began to slowly approach, but before he could reach her, she turned and screamed at him. The ghostly woman raised an ax and ran at the soldier, disappearing before she made contact. The soldier took off into the night with just his sword in his hand. He ran until the first light of dawn where he started down the road again, as fast as he could move.

The third day was bright and sunny, but the soldier, rattled and sleepless, didn't even notice. He moved as fast as he could, trying to get through the forest before night fall. As darkness began to fall, he saw a cabin just off the road and thought to himself it would be a good place to bunker down for the night. After arriving at the cabin, he spent some time blocking the doors and the windows, nothing would get in. Despite his preparations, he could not sleep. he sat in what use to be the cabins bed room, staring at the bombarded door, shaking. Eventually he could keep his eyes open no longer, and fell asleep.

This time he awoke to laughing on the other side of the bombarded door. It sounded like the woman before, but he refused to believe it was her. The soldier burst through the door to find the ghostly woman from the night before, staring at the ground, laughing hysterically, with axe in hand.

He began to recklessly attack the ghostly woman but he felt his strikes were less effective. he used a scroll of Firebolt which drew a scream from her and she exploded, disappearing. The ordeal was over, the ghost was gone.

The soldier slept well that night, and the next day made excellent distance through the woods. As the sun began to set he came out the other side of the forest and looked back, remembering the days before.

As he turned and started walking away from the woods, he could swear he could hear the sobbing again.

The Abandoned Shack is the same one as the shack from the Woodcutters Wife.

Legend has it that those who stand near the shack between 2:00am and 3:00am can hear the faint screams of a woman in the dark...

So next time you are out alone at night, bring a torch and a sword for you never know...

The Lady in the Woods may be waiting for you...

[Androcentric]

O_o imma check this out in an hour

[Dylan Bryl]

Nice find! :O

[StevenWongo]

Out of curiosity, who killed who?
I killed all three.

[TheWolf]

Is this one of those creepy stories just for someones amusement or does it actually work? Like does someone actually come out and like try to maul you with an axe?

[Hybrinity]

Sounds sick. nice little story to tell the younger children Or show them XD

[LessThan3]

Originally Posted by StevenWongo

Out of curiosity, who killed who?
I killed all three.

It doesnt matter who you kill that isnt relative to this story. You can kill Astrid if you want.

Originally Posted by TheWolf

Is this one of those creepy stories just for someones amusement or does it actually work? Like does someone actually come out and like try to maul you with an axe?

Why dont you turn off the lights and find out?

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Atmosphere

Legend has it that those who stand near the shack between 2:00am and 3:00am can hear the faint screams of a woman in the dark...

Does that **** actually happen?

[LessThan3]

Originally Posted by Jason

Does that **** actually happen?

Only you can answer that.