Chapter 77: Kvatch underground

[10th – 12th of Evening Star 4E 202]

The next day was dedicated to family again. My parents decided to walk around and visit some other families, so that my wife and children could be properly introduced. Most of the city inhabitants were Imperials, with some seasoning of the other fully human races – Nords and Redguards. Other races were few, but there were practically no Khajiit. This was actually a little bit strange, as the border to Elsweyr was not so far from here, and I did not really know why Khajiit seemed to avoid the city. But anyway, T'mara caused quite some a stir among those she was introduced to; some people just raised their eyebrows, some openly expressed their disagreement and dislike, but others welcomed her and were real nice to her right away. By some children she was called 'cute', in a nice way, and while she was not really sure if she liked that attribute, I ensured her:

"Oh yes, I fully agree, you are so cute!" I looked her directly in the eyes when I said that, with a very low voice, to make sure that she understood exactly what kind of 'cute' I had in mind. She started to purr and suggested: "You really think I am? Maybe you should have gotten yourself a kitten rather than a grown up Khajiit with sharp teeth?" She opened her mouth wide and snapped at me, and soon we both laughed.

When we were at one of our neighbors, the lady of the house, an Imperial, admitted that their oldest son was traveling abroad, and he had written that he now had a Khajiit girlfriend. He had, as she told us, actually met her when she had tried to rob him, being a highwaywoman. The robbery had failed as he had been much stronger, and he had been able to subdue her.

"When she had begged for her life and he had looked into her eyes, as he wrote to us," the neighbor told us, "he just could not harm her, and he used just that same term - 'cute'. He just bound her, and eventually she admitted that she was not really a highwaywoman, but forced to do that for others. If she did not oblige, she would be hit and would not get anything to eat. She could not run away, as they'd find her for sure, and as she had robbed a few people already, she did not dare to seek protection from guards either."

"Wow, that sounds like a wonderful 'damsel in distress' story" T'mara commented.

"But maybe she was only acting to get his confidence?" I objected.

"Not in this case, no" the neighbor told us. "I have received more letters since, and all of them speak of a growing friendship between the two. He actually helped her to get away from the gang, and he convinced her to spill her story to the guards as well. As he told us, the guards were able to apprehend most of the gang, and she was acquitted from her own bad deeds. Actually, according to the letters, my son and the young Khajiit are now both in love with each other. I used to be wary to hear about that, but seeing you, now, T'mara Dovahkiin, I may change my mind about that. I will need to write to him to get back home and introduce his girlfriend to us as soon as he can arrange it."

The next family we visited was not happy at all, although this was not related to our visit. The lady, a pretty Bosmer, was called Athreloria, and she was married to an Imperial, who was out on business when we came over. Athreloria was a good friend of my mother, and she told us:

"I am worried about my daughter, Aloria. She left the city five days ago, in the morning, and she wanted to meet two friends of her who were coming over to visit us from Skingrad. They wanted to take their time and maybe stay at an inn for a night or two, but they should have arrived here yesterday at the very latest. I wonder if something bad has happened to her and her friends."

"How old is your daughter?"

"She is fifteen, and her two friends are sixteen. They are not little babies any longer, I know, and all three of them are at least somewhat experienced in the wild, but still – I am a worried mother."

She talked on about her daughter and also mentioned that she liked to craft:

"Aloria is really skilled in creating wonderful and colorful bows and ribbons; she managed to get some of them sold at the market, and maybe she can even live from that."

When the bows and ribbons were mentioned, T'mara dug into her pockets and got a very nice ribbon out. When Athreloria saw that, she gasped and asked:

"Where did you get that from?"

"Oh, I found that recently."

"This looks exactly like one of the ribbons my daughter had in her hair when she left home! She had crafted it herself, and she was proud of it. She would have never dropped it somewhere, I am sure."

T'mara looked at me, and she explained:

"I found this in the wilderness a couple of days ago. Are you sure that this your daughter's?"

"Absolutely sure, yes. I know her ribbons, and this is one of her favorites. As far as I know, nobody in the city can craft ribbons just like that."

I had to admit that is was really nicely done, and I wondered if there was a way to attach some ribbons to T'mara՚s fur. We promised to talk to the city guard and tell them where we had found the ribbon, so that the area could be searched, and we took our leave. Once outside, my wife and I excused ourselves and walked towards the castle, and while we walked, T'mara explained further:

"I had almost forgotten about the ribbon, but I had also found it in that hole Yumi had fallen into. Either the missing girl fell down there and needs help or she was kidnapped and is kept in it or close to it. I should have investigated this passage when I was down there."

"No, you should not have done that. We had an injured daughter, and we could not have known that the hole and the passage might be important, my dear."

When we arrived at the castle, we met Selina Matius in the courtyard, and she seemed to be a little bit excited:

"I am glad to see you. I now that you are not here for work and visit your family, but there is something we should talk about, if you can spare a few minutes."

"It just so happens that we have to talk about something as well" I replied.

She lead us into the side room we have been before, and M'lissa, guildmaster of the Thieves Guild in Skyrim, Quintus Inian, captain of the Kvatch city guard, and Captain Hadvar, deputy to Legate Brutus, commander of the legion in city and county Kvatch, were there as well, and they all seemed to be happy to see us.

"Now as we were all here," Selina started, "let me summarize recent events. Last night the guards heard strange noises from the dungeon with the prison cells, and when they investigated, they noticed that some barrels and chest in a cell which had been unused for a long time and used as storage room had been rearranged. They arrived and noticed a previously hidden door in the back wall, which apparently leads to an underground section. We all know that there are remnants of an earlier Ayleid ruin way below the city, but we thought that they were accessible via one of the city fountains only. Of course we had looked into that, but the small cavern below the fountain only lead to locked doors, and no path forward had been found."

The Ayleid ruin under the city had been a known fact indeed. When I had been a boy, we kids had sometimes looked for hidden places below the city, but except for the aforementioned fountain, leading down to a room with a locked gate to the ruin, we had not found any.

"The door the guards saw last night is directly in the back wall of that special prison cell, and it is practically invisible when closed. As a matter of fact, the guards only noticed because it was just about to be closed behind some shadows, and we suspect that thieves were around and left through it. It took us hours to find the opening mechanism, but we finally found it, and we believe that we'd better send a search party there."

"Excuse me, Selina, but haven't those ruins under the city already been explored during the city's reconstruction time, like two centuries ago? I seem to recall that some records should be available from those times." Hadvar asked.

I took that one: "Captain Hadvar, this is certainly true. According to what we know from city records and also from notes written by the Hero of Kvatch, parts of the ruins were explored at that time. Alas, during later periods of the city's reconstruction, most of those records got lost again, and only recently more investigations have started. It certainly appears that another group has been more successful in finding something."

"Indeed, Timotheus" Selina confirmed. "So, we are about to form a search party to go down there."

"Before we plan further," T'mara now said, "let's also mention the lost children."

"Lost children? Here in Kvatch? What are you talking about? I should have heard about that!" Captain Inian objected.

"Well, they are not officially lost yet, but their parents are concerned" T'mara explained. "One of the girls, Aloria, went to meet two of her friends from Skingrad a few days ago, according to what her parents told us, and while they had intended to take their time, they should have been back here already. In addition, Aloria՚s mother confirmed that a ribbon I found in that hole northwest of the city is her daughter's. I guess that we'd better search there as well."

"Hm," Hadvar mused, "I think that we should not waste any time and search both places at the same time. Let's have two teams, one for the ruins and one for the hole. Who's best suited to be in those teams?"

Hadvar՚s soldiers and Inian՚s guards could be ordered, of course, but both soldiers and guards were probably not at their best in strange ruins and underground passages on their own. I whispered a few words to my wife and she nodded, so that I suggested:

"Ladies and gentlemen, my wife and I offer our support. I volunteer to go with the team exploring the city catacombs, and my wife will join those looking into the hole, if you accept our company, that is."

Selina and Hadvar beamed when they heard that, and now M'lissa also chimed in:

"I will go with my cousin into the hole as well, if I may."

Selina decided to also join them and head that team, whereas Hadvar opted to go with me. For the other team, three people would be good enough, and they'd be a girls only team – Selina, M'lissa and T'mara; one Imperial and two Khajiit. The catacomb team would have Hadvar and myself plus a battlemage and two archers from the legion and three city guards, eight in total.

We decided to start the explorations and investigations early tomorrow morning, after hopefully a good night's rest. We had of course expected to spend more time with our family, but on the other hand Lucia and Yumi might enjoy to be with their newly found grandparents for a couple of days, too. When we were home again and mentioned our plans, my parents were indeed very much willing to have the kids entirely for themselves for a few days, but Iona and Valdimar insisted that they simply could not stay at home and be idle while their Thanes risked their lives once again. We tentatively planned for Iona to stay with T'mara, fitting right into the girls team, while Valdimar would go with me. I was reasonably sure that the others would not mind the adding of fighting power.

On the night before was had already said 'Good Bye' to Lucia and Yumi, and we left long before sunrise to join the rest of the team for breakfast in the castle; Bran was left behind with the girls. As expected, nobody objected to have Valdimar and Iona join the teams, and half an hour later we separated.

One of the guards lead our team into the prison cell where the door had been found, and indeed, there was no sign of a door in the walls. Two guards, though, were posted close to the cell, and one of them operated a lever hidden in a corner behind an old barrel – they told us that the barrel had been filled with junk to cover and hide it – and the door opened. We lit a few torches and stepped through, soon to find ourselves in a cave. Four passages lead forward, and as we did not know which one to follow we formed four teams of two people each to investigate each one of them for a few minutes.

I went with one of the guards, but we encountered a dead end soon; except for a few rats and a ghost, there were no surprises in our section. When we met the others ten minutes later, one team had not seen the end of their passage before they decided to return, whereas all of the others had also met a dead end. Thus, we followed the promising route, which soon lead to the remnants of an old house. There were strange noises ahead, and I identified them as trolls. I waved the archers forward and provided some poison to apply fire damage to some arrows, and when the first troll was visible I fired my crossbow. The second troll appeared as well, and all of the archers fired now. Before the trolls' healing capability had a chance to kick in, I jumped forward, with Pammy at my side, and we finished them off.

"They must have somebody with them to tame or at least control trolls, I guess" I suggested. "We have found trolls around bandit places before in Cyrodiil, first in Bruma. I wonder if this is a pure coincidence."

"And the bandits must have a way to get past them without being attacked, too" Hadvar added.

I nodded, and we searched what remained from the house. A back door lead to a graveyard, and not surprisingly some ghosts arose from the graves. They were not strong, though, and we dispatched them easily. At the other end of the graveyard we found another house, and this one was larger and better maintained. Just before entering we heard voices from inside, and when we listened, they sounded like singing. Singing? Down here?

Hadvar recognized something, though, and he told us: "Whoever sings in there is drunk. I recognize the song, and this is one preferred by drunk people, unfortunately also by drunk soldiers. Listen again!"

Indeed, when listening for some time we heard that the singing was poorly performed, and a few times a voice shouted something like "my glass is empty again", "cheers", and "where is this bottle?". Suddenly the main door right next to us opened and a man came out, mumbling something like:

"Why do I have to stand guard outside – hicks? Nobody comes down here – hicks – and if they do, the trolls and ghosts – hicks – will sure get them. But wait – who are you – hicks?"

The guy was obviously very drunk, and before he got a chance to call for help, Hadvar paralyzed him with a hit to the head, and he was bound and gagged. Once this was done we cautiously stepped inside and found ourselves in a hall with stairs. Two of us briefly went upstairs and found that some kind of loft allowed a nice view on the main room on the ground floor. The large main room had a few more doors, and we suspected more bandits behind them, some of them probably asleep.

Hadvar had a plan:

"What about that: One of us just walks into the main room and pretends to be harmless. I guess that they all come together to look at the poor gut who apparently got lost, and then all others can aim down there with their bows from the loft and the door. What do you think?"

"I like it" I responded. "But, as soon as the others show up, wouldn't they to get to this one person and use him as shield or threaten to kill him?"

"True; do you have a better plan?"

"Yes, I do. Let me be this one man, please. My dragonscale armor is almost impenetrable, and as soon as they look up to see you, I can summon Pammy to be at my side."

"You are sure that you can handle that, my friend?"

"Oh, I think that I can look quite harmless; this might even be fun. And Pammy can be a real good bodyguard if she has to, believe me."

Hadvar agreed, and while the archers found position on the loft, carefully hidden for now, I stepped into the room, with my helmet in my left hand. At once the conversation and singing stopped, and a big male Khajiit looked at me and asked:

"Who are you?"

"Oh, I am an adventurer, and the guy at the front door suggested to get in and share some of bottles with you."

"Which bottles?"

"I found some bottles out there at the graveyard, and I wonder what's inside."

"How did you get past the ghosts?"

"I have a big sword, you see, and I can handle it if must be!"

He was getting suspicious now, but asked further:

"How did you get to this area?"

"I forgot. You see, I woke up with a real bad hangover, and I found myself in a cave I did not recognize. I do not recall much about before, just about some adventures to find more bottles."

"Who about you adventure with us from now on? You can have your first adventure by sharing everything you have."

I got my backpack to the ground and opened it, showing a few bottles. I had prepared some wine bottles with sleeping poison and swallowed an antidote before, but that was not enough for them:

"Nice start, but your armor looks nice, too, and your sword. Why don't you hand over everything and we might just let you live?"

Some of the bandits were chuckling, apparently enjoying the conversation.

"But this is my only armor! I do not have anything else to wear!"

"That's all right – you can take the rags over there."

I pretended to be offended:

"But, good sir, I do not dress in rags; this is not my style!"

Now he laughed, and a door opened to admit more bandits who wanted to see what the commotion was about. Some of them did not hesitate and grabbed the bottle I had offered, but the presumed boss was not done with me yet:

"It is probably not your style either to exchange your big sword for a kitchen knife, right?"

"Of course not – I need that sword to fight beasts and bandits!"

He chuckled again and asked:

"So, have you found many bandits yet?"

"No, not really, but there have been a few good companions drinking with me from time to time, and they usually offer to help me carry all of the loot I got from dungeon delving."

More of the bandits had refilled their glasses with my 'spiced' wine, and I got the question:

"You do not look capable enough to do dungeon delving on your own, I believe."

"Maybe, but I usually have help with me."

"Such as?"

I made a sign with my hands, and the archers on the loft stood up. I pointed upwards and said:

"Such as those up there."

While every set of eyes in the room looked up, I quickly donned my helmet, cast iron skin on myself and conjured Pammy. The bandit boss was quick to reach and shouted:

"To arms! Enemies are here!"

Another door opened and a few more bandits came up, but I told them:

"Stay put and drop your weapons, or else the archers will have to kill you!"

As expected the bandit boss ran towards me and apparently planned to put a sword to my neck or so, but Pammy paid attention and stopped him; he found himself seeing Pammy՚s teeth close to his own neck. I added:

"Unless everybody have their weapons dropped within a few seconds, I will allow my familiar to kill your boss."

Pammy growled a few times and I raised my own greatsword in a threatening way to support my statement. More than half of the bandits in the room were already drowsy and half asleep from my spiced and poisoned wine, and the rest soon understood that they did not have a chance. All of them dropped their weapons quickly, and Hadvar had his men bind them.

Once we had made sure that we had not missed further bandits anywhere in the house, Hadvar decided to send two of the city guards back to the castle to get some support to take the captured bandits back to the prison cells. We had cleared the way, so that the two guards should be able to get back safely. Meanwhile, while some searching was still in progress, we opted for a break and enjoyed some of the food the bandits had available.

About three hours later the guards returned with a larger detachment, and the bandits were all walked back towards the castle and the prison cells waiting for them there. Hadvar and our team were now ready to proceed, and we followed the path leading on from the underground mansion's back door. The path lead into a narrow and winding passage through rough cave walls, and after a few turns we encountered a dead end. Pammy was still with us, and she sniffed around a specific section of the wall; when I looked at that part I thought that I could see faint hairlines indicating a hidden door. All of us started to search for a way to open it, and ten minutes later the battlemage pointed at a smaller lever which was nicely hidden behind a rock pillar. Once Hadvar nodded, the battlemage pushed, and the secret door opened. We looked into a larger room with several sections, and one of the city guards shouted:

"I know this room! This is the cavern below the fountain, and this is where the locked door to the Ayleid ruin is!"

We all stepped though the door, and indeed, we saw the bottom part of the fountain in one corner and the off-white gate to the Ayleid ruin in another one. There were a few stone beds and shelves and even some food remains, and it was clear that people had used that area from time to time. I had climbed down through the fountain a few times as a young teenager with friends, and I recognized the room as well.

Hadvar mused: "I somehow suspect that the bandits have access to the Ayleid ruin, but the gate is still locked, or is it?"

I went over and tried, and I just nodded.

"So," Hadvar continued, "this was a nice exploration, but unless we can get some more information from the bandits we captured, we have not made a lot of progress yet. I wonder how the other team is doing."

We examined the room for some time, without finding any hints, and eventually we called it a day, climbed up the fountain and went back to our respective quarters, ready to meet and get down again early in the next morning. The other team would take longer anyway, as they'd have to get to the hole first.

Back at my parents' home I realized that this was the first time for months I was going to be without my wife for a night. We had been together almost constantly since we got married and even before, and it felt very odd to sleep alone. I was a little bit worried about her, but she was quite capable and had three other warriors with her, so that she should be fine.

After breakfast on the next day Valdimar and I met the team once more, and soon we found ourselves down in the big room, under the fountain again, when we suddenly heard some scraping noise. In a corner of the room a section of the wall started to move, and another hidden door we had not noticed so far started to open. We prepared for combat when we saw two human figures approaching, but sheathed our weapons again when we recognized Selina and Iona. They were also surprised to find us here, and my first question of course was about my wife and her cousin. Iona looked desperate and told us:

"When we got down the hole Yumi had been in, we indeed found a narrow passage leading down, and we followed it for some time. Except for a few more broken pieces of jewelry, we did not find much. After some time M'lissa and T'mara got behind us to look at something, and when I turned around I just saw them vanishing through what looked like a secret door in the wall. I ran back and could see structures like inside an Ayleid ruin, but the door closed again before Selina and I could get there. We tried to find and open the door again, but failed. Eventually, we made camp for the night, and this morning we found our way here."

This was not good news at all, and I was getting worried about the two Khajiit girls. What had they been getting into? Would they be safe?

[Author's Notes: I played through the Oblivion mod 'Kvatch Rebuilt' a long time ago, and some locations here are loosely connect to and inspired by that one.]