No sooner have we left the inn, than two strangely dressed figures approach us. They are so shrouded in their orange robes that I cannot tell their gender, and their race is hidden by the rather scary masks they wear.
"You there!" One cries out to me in the accents of Morrowind. "You're the one they call Dragonborn?"
"Yes, I am Dragonborn." I answer guardedly.
"Your lies fall on deaf ears, Deceiver. The True Dragonborn comes. When Lord Miraak appears, all shall bear witness. None shall stand to oppose him!" With that, the pair ready their spells and attack us.
Luckily, the town guards assist in defending our lives, and soon the pair adorn the snowy ground, in small pools of their own quickly-cooling blood. On the body of one, I find a rather interesting note.
Board the vessel 'Northern Maiden' docked at Raven Rock. Take it to Windhelm, then begin your search. Kill the False Dragonborn known as Lethandhrel One-Eye before she reaches Solstheim. Return with word of your success, and Miraak shall be most pleased. Well, this will be worth investigating – after I've saved the world, of course.
I walk towards the great bridge leading across the chasm to the College of Winterhold, and am stopped by a fair Altmer.
"Cross the bridge at your own peril!" She warns us. "The way is dangerous, and the gate will not open. You shall not gain entry!"
"Why are you out here?" I ask – the cold climate cannot be comfortable!
"I am here to assist those seeking the wisdom of the College. And if, in the process, my presence helps deter those who might seek to do harm, so be it. The more important question is: why are you here?"
"May I enter the College?" I inquire, already anticipating a negative response.
"Perhaps. But what is it you expect to find within?" Better than an outright no.
I don't think she'd believe me if I asked for an Elder Scroll. "I want to unravel the mysteries of Aetherius."
"Ah, the immortal plane. It is said to be the source of all magic. This is a noble goal, indeed. It would seem that the College has what you seek. The question now is what you can offer the College." This sounds more like recruitment now – maybe I should have told the truth after all. Oh well.
"Not just anyone is allowed inside." The elf continues. "Those wishing to enter must show some degree of skill with magic. A small test, if you will."
"I'll take your test then."
The woman smiles. "Excellent. The 'Magelight' spell is useful to any mage, not just those specialising in Alteration. Can you cast one of the seal on the ground?"
"I don't know that spell."
"No? Well, if you think you're capable of it, then I'd be happy to provide it to you for a mere 30 gold. Or you can try your luck with one of the court wizards around Skyrim. They also sell spells."
"Ok, this is for the spell." I count 30 gold pieces into a spare coin-purse and give it to the mage.
"Here you are – now I'm anxious to see you cast it."
Preparing the spell, I take a couple of steps back and aim at the stylised eye set into the floor a couple of feet ahead of me. When I cast, a small globe of light springs forth, darts into the pupil of the eye, and sticks there as though glued.
"Well done indeed. I am Faralda. I think you'll be a superb addition to the College. Welcome, apprentice." It seems I've now enrolled at the College of Winterhold. Oops.
"I'll lead you across the bridge." Faralda continues. "Once you're inside, you'll want to speak with Mirabelle Ervine, our Master Wizard. Please, follow me." She heads off up the ramp onto the bridge, then pauses to cast a spell at what seems to be a well in the centre of a turn. When the magic hits the stonework, a spout of blue mist-like stuff spouts from inside. As we continue along the bridge, the Altmer does this at two other wells, with the same results. At one point along the bridge, there isn't much of the floor left, as most of it has fallen away – most likely in the same storm that sank the rest of the city.
At the other end, the great iron gates into the College courtyard open by themselves, and Faralda heads back towards the bridge entrance. As I cross the courtyard, round a well of a strange viscous blue fluid and a statue of a great robed magician, I encounter a Breton arguing with someone who can only be Thalmor.
"I believe I've made myself rather clear." She is saying as Lydia and I draw near.
"Yes, of course. I'm simply trying to understand the reasoning behind the decision." The High Elf responds. Definitely Thalmor – no-one else could possibly have such a stuck-up tone of voice.
"You may be used to the Empire bowing to your every whim, but I'm afraid you'll find the Thalmor receive no such treatment here." What the Breton, whom I assume to be Mirabelle Ervine, says merely confirms it. "You are a guest of the College; here at the pleasure of the Arch-Mage. I hope you appreciate the opportunity."
"Yes, of course. The Arch-Mage has my thanks."
"Very good. Then we're done here." The Master Wizard dismisses him.
The elf stalks off, and Mirabelle opens a book, reading where she stands in the icy wind. Skirting past, I push open the giant wooden doors and enter the relative warm of the interior of the College.
A door to my right points the way to the Arcaneum, where I guess I'll have to go if I want any information on the Scrolls, if not the actual thing.
Beyond the door and up the stairs, we enter a large circular room lined with shelves. At the far end behind a counter, sits an Orc. A very rare sight indeed, an Orsimer librarian.
"You are now in the Arcaneum, of which I, Urag gro-Shub, am in charge. It might as well be my own little plane of Oblivion. Disrupt my Arcaneum, and I will have you torn apart by angry Atronachs." Was that a joke? I hope it was… "Now, do you require assistance?"
"I'm looking for an Elder Scroll." I inform him.
"And what do you plan to do with it? Do you even know what you're asking about, or are you just someone's errand girl?"
"Of course I do. Do you have one here?" Too much to hope for.
"You think that even if I did have one here, I would let you see it?" Urag scoffs. "It would be kept under the highest security; the greatest thief on the world wouldn't be able to lay a finger on it."
Obviously the people of 4E 201 have forgotten about the thief who broke into the Imperial Palace in Cyrodiil and stole one way back in 3E 433.
"Do you at least have any information on them?" I ask.
"Of course. I'll bring you everything we have on them, but it's not much. So don't get your hopes up – it's mostly lies, leavened with rumour and conjecture." He rose, wandered over to a shelf and reached down two books, placing them on the countertop in front of me. "Here you go. Try not to spill anything on them." With that last gruff warning, he retires to a chair and begins munching on a hunk of bread.
I look at the titles in front of me – 'Effects of the Elder Scrolls' and 'Ruminations on the Elder Scrolls'. I flick through the first without finding out much more than the effects long study of the Scrolls can have on one's eyesight, but the second… it is impossible to understand!
I wander up to the librarian.
"This 'Ruminations' book is incomprehensible!"
"Aye, that's the work of Septimus Signus. He's the world's master on the nature of Elder Scrolls, but… well… he's been gone a long while. Too long." The way he phrased that doesn't suggest that he's dead.
"Where did he go?" I ask.
"Somewhere up north in the ice fields." Explains Urag. "Said he found some old Dwemer artefact but… well, that was years ago. Haven't heard from him since."
Leaving the Orc to his bread, we leave the College and head back across the bridge. The shop should be open by now, so I head over and try the door. The entrance to Birna's Oddments is open, so we head inside and I sell off all the excess items I'd picked up, giving the things I wanted to keep to Lydia to take care of for now.
Back outside, I find a trail heading north, down the slope of the cliff. By the looks of it, we're going to have to swim. Damn. At least there are several large ice sheets floating around that we can hop across, at least for part of the way. I'm not entirely sure where we're going, but it'll be big enough for at least a small camp.
By the gods this water is cold. I hope we don't have to go too far – this water will kill us if we stay in it for too long.
We soon reach an iceberg to which is tethered a small boat, and a couple of planks cover a tunnel dug into the ice. And not a moment too soon, either – I could feel the last of my strength draining from my arms as I pulled those last few strokes. I duck inside as quickly as possible and cast a healing spell to fix any damage that might have been done by the cold.
After a couple of twists in the tunnel, we enter a large cavern dominated by a great Dwemer box. Around the base wanders a blue-robed man. That must be Septimus Signus. I don't hold great hopes for his sanity; I'll just have to hope that I can comprehend whatever he tries to tell me.
"When the top level was built, no more could be placed. It was, and is, the maximal apex." The man burbles when we approach him. Yep – just as crazy as I thought.
"I heard you know about Elder Scrolls." I say, hoping he at least still understands what other people say to him.
"Elder Scrolls, indeed. The Empire absconded with them; or so they think. The ones they saw. The ones they thought they saw!" Glad that Septimus understands, I let him ramble on. "I know of one. Forgotten; sequestered. But I cannot go to it, for I… I have arisen beyond its grasp."
"So where is the Scroll?"
"Here! Well, here as in this plane. Mundus. Tamriel. Nearby, relatively speaking. On the cosmological scale, it's all nearby."
"Can you help me get the Elder Scroll or not?" I'm beginning to lose patience with this fellow.
"One block lifts the other! Septimus will give what you want, but you must bring him something in return."
"What do you want?" I ask, exasperatedly.
"You see this masterwork of the Dwemer?" Hard not to. "Deep inside their greatest knowings. Septimus is clever among men, but he is but an idiot child compared to the dullest of the Dwemer. Lucky then they left behind their own way of reading the Elder Scrolls. In the depths of Blackreach one yet lies. Have you heard of Blackreach? 'Cast upon where Dwemer cities slept, the yearning spire hidden learnings kept'."
"Where is this 'Blackreach'?" Lydia asks behind me.
"Under deep, below the dark; the hidden keep, Tower Mzark." Great, now he's speaking in rhyme. We're not even going in circles here – it's more of a zigzag. "Alftand – the point of puncture, of first entry, of the tapping. Delve to its limits, and Blackreach lies just beyond. But not all can enter there. Only Septimus knows the hidden hey to loose the lock to jump beneath the deathly rock."
"How do I get in?"
"Two things I have for you. Two shapes – one edged, one round. The round one, for tuning. Dwemer music is soft and subtle, and needed to open their cleverest gates. The edged lexicon, for inscribing. To us, a hunk of metal; to the Dwemer, a full library of knowings. But… empty. Find Mzark and its sky dome. The machinations there will read the Scroll and lay the lore upon the cube. Trust Septimus – he knows you can know." Having said that, the mad scholar wanders away.
Climbing up the ramp and out of the little outpost, I dread the freezing swim across the northern waters – I've only just thawed out from the first time. Still, we're going to have to if we want to get to Alftand. I swim as fast as I can, and we soon reach the mainland again, casting the healing spell again to warm myself up. We haven't got far from the shore, however, when we encounter a sabre cat that has recently killed an Imperial soldier. His squad mates must have legged it, as I don't see them or their bodies nearby. After dealing with the aggressive beast, I take the dead man's gold and head towards a promising looking crevasse. Inside, there is the lower opening of a Dwemer tower – maybe this'll lead me to Alftand.
Inside it is dark and snowy, the stonework chipped; but the defence system still works – as we pass a pipe sticking out of the wall a mechanical spider leaps out and whacks at us with its pincers. We encounter several others as we climb through the tower, along with a Dwemer Sphere; a robotic warrior that rolls around, hitting hard with a metal blade attached to one of its arms. On the remains of the creations, we find various soul gems and ores, which I add to the ones I take from the many shelves dotted throughout the ruin. Exiting at the top, we find that the tower doesn't connect to the larger ruins I can now see looming through the icy wind. Oh well, at least now we don't have to climb a glacier.
Rounding a mound if ice encrusted snow, we discover the remains of a wooden hut and a tent, inside which lies a desiccated corpse. Wondering what happened here, I venture into the hut and find, in front of a locked chest, a notebook labelled 'expedition manifest'.
We've managed to secure the site and hold off any others who may try to steal our discoveries so far, especially those from the College of Winterhold, who seem to think the glory of exploring every ruin should be theirs alone. I read. The crew for our expedition is as follows: Sulla Trebatius (myself) – Expedition leader, Umana – my constant companion and bodyguard, Valie – a mage not associated with Winterhold (took some time to find), Endrast – a fellow explorer of some local renown, Yag – a great brute of a woman, hired to keep the rest of the labour in check, J'darr and J'zhar – two Khajiit brothers, hired as labour. Need a couple more labourers; getting through the ice is proving difficult. We've set up shelter and scouted the area. The small ruins on the lower plateau of the glacier don't seem connected to the main structure and we haven't managed to find a way into the tower parapet we've found here. Yag mentioned spotting a fissure in the glacial wall that may lead into the ruins so we are going to try to find a way to get down there with the gear. Looks like a storm is coming. That might explain the body in the tent – though why someone would have stayed out here rather than go into the fissure like the rest of them must have done, I have no idea.
Following a wooden walkway, we soon find the fissure mentioned in the manifest. Drawing my bow, we sneak inside – who knows what we'll find in here. A little way in, we find a journal, the name 'Sulla' pressed into the leather cover, sitting atop a barrel. I'm curious as to what happened to these storm-caught explorers.
We tried to get through the glacier at the top, but we couldn't find any way into that tower parapet. Yag spotted a fissure in the glacial wall and construction of a catwalk was finished just in time for a storm to hit. At first we thought to wait it out, but it has only gotten worse. A shift in the glacier took out several of the new labourers. I ordered everyone to quickly move as much of the supplies as we could into the fissure and we managed to get most of it. One of the hands decided he wasn't going to listen and tried to make it out through the storm, but got blown off of the catwalk by the wind. Looks like we are well and truly stuck in here. But for all that I feel even more driven that I should be the one to uncover the mysteries of this ruin. I'm tired of all the credit for my work going to the Mages or the Legion. It will be my name that goes down in the history books for this discovery. A bitter but capable man, this Sulla seems, or seemed, to be.
Continuing down the ice tunnels, the growling voice of a Khajiit echoes towards us.
"Where is it? I know you were trying to keep it for yourself, J'zhar… you always try to keep it for yourself! No! There's got to be more skooma! Shut up; shut up! Don't lie to me, J'zhar – you hid it; you always try to steal it from me!" Poor cat has gone mad from withdrawal.
The icy walls soon give way to the elaborate stonework of Dwemer walls, and we enter a medium-sized chamber with a stone table in the middle, covered with the broken remains of Dwemer spiders. A notebook holds pride of place in the middle of the table, and a trail of blood leads through a metal grating into an inaccessible room. Picking up the book, I recognise the handwriting of Sulla Trebatius.
If only Umana would have left one of these Dwarven machine creatures intact for me to study. The fact that they almost killed those Khajiit brothers in the middle of the night doesn't mean we couldn't have found a way to disable one. We dragged some stuff in front of the pipes they came out of to stop them from coming back. Though personally, I don't think a couple of wicker baskets will help much. They are simply fascinating! It is just as Calcelmo described in Dwarves, v2. Their appearance does, in fact, resemble that of an arachnid. I had thought that to be an embellishment given by his source. The inclusion of the soul gem into the design of the apparatus in quite remarkable. It could explain the focus for the lightning that he describes. Oddly enough it doesn't appear to be the main power source for the apparatus. Perhaps some sort of harmonic resonance with the energies contained in the soul gem to bring heat to a small boiler? Too early to say conclusively. That does raise the question of where they get the liquid for the boiler however. Huh, that was strange. I thought I just saw something moving beyond the barred door. It looked vaguely humanoid. I wonder if it could be an undiscovered automaton? I'm going to move my bedroll down here to see if I can catch another glimpse of it. This is all so exciting! Judging by all the blood, that wasn't the best idea this fellow ever had.
As we turn to continue down the tunnels, I'm proven right by the Dwemer spider that bursts out of the pipe and through the baskets. The machine is relatively weak, however – it only takes a couple of whacks with our swords before it falls to pieces at our feet. We are attacked by two others as we go a little further along the next corridor. The ruins give way to another ice tunnel which opens up into a small chamber – where a Khajiit is hanging around the corpse of another.
"What? Who is this, brother?" It says when it sees us. "Another of the smooth-skins looking for food? But this one wasn't trapped with us… No, no! You must be the one who took my skooma!" With that, he picks up an axe meant for cutting wood an swings wildly at us. Poor cat doesn't last long.
Near the body of his brother, the unfortunate J'zhar, I find another journal.
This one is at his wit's end. I signed J'darr and myself up for this expedition to try to get him clean of the skooma. I brought a small supply to try to bring him down slowly, but the storm has had us trapped in the glacier for weeks. The others have not yet caught on that one with fur should not shake so much from the cold, but I've run out of the little skooma I brought and J'darr is getting pretty bad. He's started hallucinating creatures coming out of the ice and the ruins; the others are starting to think he may be behind Valie's disappearance, but I know he would never do something like that. Something horrible happened to these poor people after that storm. It reminds me of the stories I heard when I was younger, of goblins stealing away unwary travellers. But they also said goblins can't stand the cold, so if those tales were true, they're unlikely to be the cause of these poor people's demise.
After picking up the potions lying around the bloodied camp, we continue along the tunnels and passageways. Where the now-stonework passage joins onto another, I find a table, scattered with more spider parts and yet another journal, this one with 'UMANA' scrawled on the first page.
It's been about a week since Valie went missing and now Endrast is gone too. We found blood leading over to barred off doorway, but Sulla seems to think that they found a way through and that they are trying to cut him out of the discovery. He keeps saying that we need to press on. We've managed to break through into another section of the ruins, an 'Animonculory', where the dwarves would produce their automatons. We learned the hard way that the metal creatures are still alive in there and it hasn't improved Yag's mood at all. She holds that the Khajiit brothers aren't involved with the disappearances and has been keeping a hard eye on Sulla. The rations have all but run out and we are going to have to decide soon whether to brave the storm or try to push further into the ruins. I don't know if the echoes of screams I've heard in my sleep are those of our missing comrades, or my own nightmares.
I really feel sorry for those poor people. I hope, if they are dead, that they died quickly. Well, must press on.
We soon enter a large chamber, the floor half-covered in oil and pistons pumping into the air. I use my Fire Breath to set off the oil, causing a Dwemer sphere to come out of a pipe in the wall and attack us through the flames. These things are tougher than the spiders, but Lydia and my combined efforts soon reduce it to a pile of parts. Looking around as I catch my breath, I see a pair of chests on a high ledge, and after a closer inspection of the pistons, I realise I can use them as stepping stones to get there. Hopping from piston to piston, I reach the ledge easily. The chests turn out not to hold much of interest, but I do find a couple of handy potions and a couple of metal ingots on a shelf between them.
Jumping back down, we pause again at the entrance of the next corridor. The air inside is shimmering strangely, so as an experiment I Shout down it – and the air explodes into flame for a few seconds, and the shimmering is gone. It must have been gas leaked from a broken light or somewhere.
Passing through, we enter another oily-floored room. Upon our entry, three metal spiders leap out of the pipes lining the walls. I ignite the oil to give us an edge against them – the fire doesn't do much damage, but it does help a little. Lydia, of course, rushes straight into the flames to whack at the machines. I swear, sometimes she seems as smart as a mudcrab.
The things are soon dealt with, and so I cross the room and pick the lock on a gate leading into a side room with a pair of chests that thankfully hold better rewards than the ones on the ledge. Through a more solid door, we enter a corridor lined with the remains of several side rooms, only one of which is still intact. The only loot left though is a couple of potions for which I have no immediate need.
The passage leads to a ledge around the room with the pistons. The narrow walkway is lined with more pistons, lying horizontally so that if I were in the wrong place at the wrong time I would be pushed off and down into the main room below. I choose instead to jump over the metal machines, getting about halfway along before a pair of Dwemer spiders leap out of unseen pipes in the wall to attack us.
Lydia, in her eagerness to fight, gets pushed over the edge by the pistons, so I am left to deal with the annoying machines on my own while she runs back through the ruins to catch up. Good thing that these things are so weak.
After I've finished dealing with the spiders and dodging the last couple of pistons, I reach a solid door. I pause here to wait for Lydia to catch back up to me, and to have a short rest. If anyone had told me when I was younger that I would be trawling through a Dwemer ruin searching for an Elder Scroll so I could learn a Shout that would help me stop the end of the world, I would've laughed at them.
I hear the sound of footsteps, and looking up I spot Lydia dodging the pistons. As she passes the last one, I push open the door and pass through.
A short corridor leads into a rectangular room, the main area raised above what seems to be a short passageway. I take advantage of the fact that the nearby Dwemer spider's ignorance of us to dispose of it first, then walk along the under-passage, to find it's a dead end – with the corpse of a Bosmer lying next to a chest and a journal.
The eyeless creatures took us in our sleep. I don't know what happened to the Khajiit brothers; we never saw them in the cell. I managed to pick the lock and we made a break for it, but got split up. Sulla yelled something about not leaving without finding what he came here for and Umana chased after him. Yag and I tried for the top of the cave shaft, but one of the ramps was broken. Without a hesitation, she grabbed me by the scruff of my tunic, threw me atop the ledge and told me to run. And I did. I didn't even look back; I just ran like a coward. I could hear her fighting them and I just had to get away. I didn't even notice the arrow in my shoulder till I hid here. Those metal creatures are still all around me and I'm too terrified to even move. Eight Divines, please just take me now.
Poor man. I take the lockpicks that were lying on top of the journal and use them to unlock the chest he was near. Ironically, one of the items inside is a healing potion. Lydia and I back out of the passage and take the steps up to the main part of the room. No sooner have we reached the top of the stairs than a Dwemer sphere attacks us. Its metal blades still do quite a bit of damage, but it's not enough to stop us.
The sloped corridor we encounter next is bisected by a deep furrow. The pressure plates lining it just shout trap, so I walk along the furrow to avoid treading on them. After reaching the top of the slope safely, I turn and make sure Lydia doesn't set the trap off herself, but she simply follows my lead.
The way forward is blocked by sturdy metal bars, but after I pull a nearby lever, they descend into the floor allowing us access to the large deep cavern ahead. A nearby ramp leads down into the dusty gloom. Following the path and destroying a metal spider in its attempt on our lives, we come across the fallen ramp mentioned in the dead elf's diary. There is a door behind us, leading into a room with an ornate chest lying behind a solidly locked gate. It takes a little effort, but I soon get the gate open. Next to the chest is a skeleton clutching a book about locks, which I take before fiddling with the chest to get at the contents – which prove to be a small collection of potions, a reasonable amount of gold and a mace.
Leaving the treasure room, I jump down the ledge and almost land on top of the body of an Orc – this must be the remains of Yag. Around her are a couple of potions and several arrows, which are the same as the arrows I saw at the ambushed cart near Dragon Bridge. Following the unbroken ramp toward the bottom of the cavern, a strange, bent white figure appears around the corner, wearing armour that seems to be made from the same material used to construct the arrows. The thing gurgles a strangled cry and leaps towards us, even though the creature is blind – its eyelids are tight shut; they look like they've never even been opened. Another flashback hits me as we defeat the unfortunate creature – reading a book about the fate of the Falmer; how the Dwemer tricked them when they asked for protection against the ancient Nords and were poisoned and used as slaves, how they rebelled against the Dwemer and how they would forever be blind because of the effects of the diet the Dwemer had forced upon them. Poor creatures – I cannot help but pity them.
Descending the ramp, along with what must be Falmer, we encounter a couple of skeevers. A little way further on, the ramp straightens out to cross the cave towards a door. The only problem is a spout of flame coming from a pipe above the door almost blocking the way. Every so often, though, the fire stops, so taking the next opportunity, I dash through and push the door open. Lydia follows just before the spurting flame starts again.
The room we have just entered has an alchemy lab in one corner, and two Falmer roaming around the main area at the bottom of a short flight of stairs. I manage to shoot one of them before they notice us – I may feel sorry for them, but that won't stop me from defeating them before they kill us. The other one charges up the stairs towards us, raising its sword – and immediately takes two arrows to the face.
Once the creatures are devoid of valuables, I take the ingredients scattered around the lab and do a bit of experimenting. I succeed in making several potions that, while handy, I am unlikely to use, and a couple of poisons. After looting the shelves of the ores and ingots they hold, I sneak through into the next room, ignite an oil slick across the floor and shoot the trio of Falmer that come to investigate the noise. In this little room, there is a forge and a workbench snugged into the corner, so I try out my smithing skills and make a passable silver necklace. I haven't enough ingots for anything else, so I tuck the necklace into my satchel and continue on.
Oh gods – this next room is a torture chamber. After slaying the Falmer stalking the bloody floor, I investigate the remains of an Altmer lying on one of the stone tables. Poor thing. On a long table on the opposite wall is a large selection of ingredients, which I add to my satchel before using one of the tanning racks lined up just around the corner to turn the several hides I've picked up since Winterhold into leather strips, which are lighter than the original skins. The passageway behind me leads into the bottom of the cavern, where two Falmer and a Frostbite spider await our attention. After dealing with them, I descend one more ramp, dodging a painfully obvious trap, and push open yet another massive metal door.
I'm starting to get tired now – I wonder what the time is? Has the sun set already? Being so far underground is definitely not the most fun thing I've ever done.
The door opens into a short passage, the floor lined with pressure plates. I instinctively edge around them; but Lydia steps right onto one, and is thrown backwards into the wall by three poles swinging down from the ceiling. Catching her breath as she stumbles back onto her feet, she finally copies my example – almost running into a Falmer I hadn't noticed that was hovering around in front of the next door. I send an arrow into its chest before it can react to Lydia, the force of the almost point-blank shot sending it slithering across the floor.
Opening the door reveals a large cavernous area, half of it blocked off by a metal grate. Two Falmer are roaming the space, but not for long – Lydia and I deal with them easily, myself beginning to yawn. All this fighting is almost getting boring.
Up a set of stairs, we find a pair of Dwemer chests and a lever, which we discover opens the grating. The chests don't hold anything of much interest, so I lead my stalwart companion through the now-open archway and up a short flight of stairs.
On either side of the next space are giant metal statues; one has toppled over. Suddenly, steam gushes from gaps in the metal plating of the remaining upright one, and with a clank it steps forward. Not statues – giant robots! Gods grant me strength; this'll be a tough fight.
A couple of arrows jam into its joints, pausing it in its lengthy stride long enough for me to draw my sword and dive into the fray. I aim for the weaker points in its workings – the small cogs and springs holding the mechanical monster together, and soon with a groan it collapses in a heap; much like its former companion.
Its chest cavity is hollow; inside is a key which must go to the gate at the top of the next set of stairs, a small quiver of some fancy arrows, a couple of gems and a strange metal object, all nestled alongside what must be spare metalwork for the walls. The fallen one contains much the same.
Turns out the gate is already unlocked, and beyond it is a strange mechanism in the centre of the room, and at the other end is a Dwemer lift behind a gate. Also in this room are the two remaining members of the expedition team.
"Sulla, let's just get out of here. Hasn't there been enough death?" The woman says to the armoured man opposite her. They both have their weapons drawn.
"Oh, of course you want me to leave! Just waiting for me to turn my back, so you can have all the glory for yourself!" With that, Sulla attacks the woman, who must be his bodyguard Umana. I keep out of the way as much as possible, and soon Umana has slain Sulla – and upon seeing us, attacks! The poor woman is dead in only a couple more hits. She had a pretty good shield though, so I tuck it into my pack, then turn to the central mechanism.
The slot in the metalwork looks like it'll fit the sphere that Septimus Signus gave me, so I slot it in, and sure enough, the floor descends, becoming a set of stairs. At the bottom is another set of large metal doors, which, when pushed open, reveal the most amazing sight I've ever seen.
The cavern is huge, lit by giant glowing fungi. The ceiling is dotted with glowing blue specks – must be some sort of lichen or something. There are ore veins scattered throughout, and several ruined Dwemer buildings. I suddenly yawn so hard my eyes tear up.
The nearest Dwemer building is still intact, and sitting in front of it is a Dwemer sphere, but nearby is a ballista aimed at the machine, so I pull the lever and set it off. The great metal bolts launch as smoothly as they would have when they were first made, and explode into shrapnel, taking the sphere with them. The explosion, however, alerts a Falmer that was lurking nearby out of sight, and it rushes up the short flight of stairs towards us – and is swiftly slaughtered by Lydia.
I am exhausted now, so I head towards the building. Inside, there is a skeleton lying at the foot of the fireplace. The shelves on the right hand side of the room are full of alchemical ingredients, and the left side is dominated by a large stone bed, covered with hides. Stripping off the larger pieces of my armour, I lie down on the stone – I am not going to sleep all that well, I just know it – and eventually fall asleep.