Chapter 64: The fossil miner

[21st of Sun's Height 4E 202]

On our way from Fort Dawnguard to Dimhollow Crypt we had spent a night in Shor's Stone, and from the local smith I had learned that Janina had been instrumental to clear the town's mine from a spider infection earlier in the year. Our next goal was Kynesgrove, where Agmaer wanted to visit his family briefly, but we had to spend another night between the two locations; progress with the cart was slow.

When we had finished our breakfast, we packed our belongings and got on the road again, heading north towards Kynesgrove. Fortunately, we had covered most of the steep road on the day before, so that we could achieve better speed today with the cart on mostly even ground again. Only for the first half hour we had to be a little bit careful with the cart, or at least the Khajiit in the caravan had, although we helped, of course. A side road, or rather not much more than a trail, branching off to the right marked the end of the decline; multiple section of stairs were visible, leading to a location I did not know. Ahead and to the left, we could the see the first section of the hot spring area.

"This path here goes up to Mzulft" Ahkari interrupted my thoughts, pointing to the right side.

"What?" I asked, not getting the context.

"This trail here to the right, the one with the stairs – further up there is a Dwemer ruin they call Mzulft."

That name sounded somewhat familiar. I vaguely recalled that I had already mused about the name and the place when I had been in the Stony Creek Cave area, earlier in the year, and that there was something with researchers in the game, but I failed to remember which quest line this was related to and what was actually inside. I asked the Khajiit anyway:

"Have you been in there?"

"Oh no, Khajiit does not go into those places. Too many people have been known to go in and never come out again."

That might be true, judged by the number of skeletons and dead adventurers to be found inside some of those places, in the game at least, but with a good group of people, like we had been in Raldbthar, such an adventure should be doable; this was not on the 'To Do list' for today or anytime soon, though, and we slowly made our way ahead on the main road. As soon as the area opened up to our left, we saw a dragon mound not far away and slightly below, and soon there were the first small ponds with hot water not very far from the road. Agmaer pointed out a small silver ore vein on the right side, but I had only eyes for the hot water and suggested:

"Does anybody feel like a bath would be good?"

"This one would not mind, but prefers not to arrive in Kynesgrove after dusk."

"I understand, Ahkari; of course."

Agmaer, though, replied:

"Hey, B'lushona, I think that this is a great idea, and I wouldn't mind to stay for a little bit. With the cart going slow, the two of us should be able to catch up easily, right?"

"True; Ahkari, is that all right with you?"

The caravan leader nodded, and so Agmaer and I turned left and headed towards one of the smaller ponds, while the caravan and Inigo stayed on the road. Jordis insisted to stay with me, of course, and while Agmaer and I removed our armor and outer clothes, Jordis stood guard, looking away from us. With Hanni and Nanni being here as well, that would not have been required, but she probably considered this part of her housecarl duties. My saber cats jumped into the water as well, and quite obviously they liked it. Being juveniles, they wanted to tussle, and naturally I got involved in that activity, but I did not mind it at all; frolicking with Hanni and Nanni was something I was doing frequently, and all three of us enjoyed it a lot.

Agmaer looked a little bit worried while he watched us brawling, and he kept to the other side of the pond. I could understand him; he had not been around me for long yet, and as far as I knew, I might be the only person in Skyrim with tamed saber cats. They had long outgrown the 'cute little puppy' stage and were quite intimidating, specifically as a pair. Their relation to me had not changed even a little bit, though, and for me and a few others they had grown to like, such as Mila, Carlotta's daughter, they were the best buddies one could imagine. Fortunately, they were usually well able to distinguish between friend and foe, likely based on my emotions and behavior towards others. Nevertheless, Agmaer uttered a comment:

"I have to admit that this is quite a sight, B'lushona. I have never before seen somebody playing with wild animals like that before."

"You have a point, but we are special, because I found my saber cats when they were cubs and barely weaned."

"Right, you mentioned that you killed their mother, correct?"

"Yes. We were on our way down from High Hrothgar and got attacked by an adult snowy saber cat; we had to defend ourselves and killed it. It turned out that it had been particularly aggressive, with the cubs nearby but protected in a thorn bush. I just couldn't leave them there to die and adopted them; I have never come to regret that decision."

"Most others would have killed the cubs; we don't exactly need two more large predators."

"That's what I got told by practically who were around me at that time, true. Sometimes it pays not to listen to others."

The Nord smiled and nodded:

"You are so right about that. If I had listened to my parents and my friends, I would have never dared to leave home and join the Dawnguard. But I had my own ideas, and here I am, already trusted with a mission. You know, when Isran first saw me and heard me saying that most of my previous combat experience had been limited to 'swinging my Pa's axe', I was close to turning around and running, but I'm so glad that I stayed. Training in the last few weeks and months was tough, but at least I am decent with a war axe and a crossbow now."

I chuckled when I heard that, and I noticed that he looked at my weapons, which I had deposited outside next to my clothes and armor. Agmaer added:

"I guess that I will never able to wield a huge battleaxe like yours with just one hand, though."

"No, not likely, but strength isn't everything."

"Sure, but against vampires, I bet that it helps a lot."

"Well, yes, but that does not make me immune to their special spell which drains health from me."

"Vampiric Drain? That's something Isran mentioned, yes. But wait, did you already fight against vampires?"

"Yes, I did; there were a few in the Solitude underground, posted as guards for Potema."

"Potema, the Wolf Queen? But she's long dead, isn't she?"

"It's a long story, but a group of conjurers tried to summon her and bind her to their will, and later on she haunted the catacombs under the city, aided by vampires and other evil creatures; we were just in time to stop her."

"That's something I would love to hear more about, but I have a feeling that we'd better get dry and catch up to the others."

"Yes, you are right, unfortunately."

If I just had to rely on my own speed, I could have relaxed in comfort for some more time, but I did not know much about Agmaer's endurance, and thus we reluctantly got up and started to get ourselves dry. For the Nord this was easy, and he used some kind of towel from his backpack. For me, it implied using my fire magic to get partially dry, and the remaining humidity in my fur would eventually go after an hour or two of walking or running. As soon as we were ready, my companion started a slow jog, which he said he might be able to keep up for some time; considering the backpack loaded with all kind of necessities, this was already quite decent. Jordis, trained as she was, did not have a problem matching that. With my huge body, though, I could match his speed, which I estimated to be around ten kilometers an hour, just by walking quickly. In my earlier life, I had done a lot of walking and hiking, and I knew that I had been able to maintain a speed of about six kilometers an hour for almost a full day if I wanted, with just a few breaks, but only with a very light backpack and in my younger years. In my current body, walking at about ten kilometers an hour for a long time, even with a heavy backpack, was easily doable for me, and a few times, like when jogging next a trotting horse, I had probably managed to maintain at least fifteen km/h, albeit only with lighter load.

I could see Agmaer looking at me from time to time, probably with some envy. On the other hand, he had lived here in this province for all of his life, and he had likely gained some knowledge and expertise I still lacked. Besides, being real big was not always an advantage, and I told him so:

"See, Agmaer, living in a body like mine does not only provide benefits, and there are a few tasks I cannot do easily."

"Such as?"

"I cannot hide in a crowd, even if I want to – I always stick out, literally."

"Oh, yes, I get that."

"And I sometimes scare people off just because of my size and my looks."

"Point taken, but once people get to know you better..."

"...which the original scaring off frequently prevents."

"True. But you can always send your housecarl ahead to pave the way, right?"

"Indeed, and this helps, specifically with my other housecarl, Antonius. Strangely, though, children are rarely getting scared by me."

"Maybe they see you as a big pet?"

"Well, yes, some do, I guess, and I do have quite some fun with some of them."

"You like kids?"

"I do, and I hope that, at some in the future, I might have some of my own."

"But for that, you'll have to find the right woman first."

"Don't I know that..."

I was unwilling at this time to elaborate further, as a growl from Hanni and Nanni brought me back to reality; when I looked to the side, I could see something which looked like a big troll approaching us, judged by the three eyes the creature had. Agmaer got his axe out right away, while I first collected my magicka and prepared a dual cast fireball. I wasn't quite sure if fire was the best approach, but it had worked nicely for the frost troll up the slope towards High Hrothgar, and I thought that a non-frost troll might also be sensitive to fire. I attacked with my spell right before Agmaer hit with his axe, and once he jumped back, my two saber cats got their turn. The troll was, though, apparently quite a tough creature, and thus I made my crossbow ready next. The Nord and my 'pets' kept the creature busy, and soon I delivered a few bolts as rapidly as I could. Unfortunately, it appeared that such a troll had some self-healing capability, and we had to work hard to deliver damage faster than the beast's healing worked. I remembered that my big battleaxe also had a fire enchantment, and once Hanni and Nanni had attacked once more, I used my axe and hit the troll as hard as I could. This at least staggered the creature, and I wished that there was a health bar above it. As soon as my magicka was partially restored, I stepped back and dual-casted another fire ball, following up with my axe right away, and this brought the troll down to the ground. Hanni and Nanni tried to finish it off, but one of my saber cats was not careful enough and caught a swipe of the troll's arm and claws, making it fly through the air and start to bleed. I wanted to help her right away, but the troll needed to be killed first. Fortunately, Agmaer was also here and reacted quickly, and his final hits killed the beast.

While the Nord made sure that the troll was really dead, I ran over to my injured companion. Her sister had already started to lick off some of the blood, and as I had used most of my magicka reserves in the fight, I swallowed a potion to restore it quicker. Working my hands over the cat's body, I invoked healing and moved it over the poor animal's fur. Careful touches suggested a few broken ribs and potential internal injuries, and without magic, that would have likely been her doom in this world. Alas, there was magic, and I had some considerable skills in healing by now. She wouldn't be up and running within minutes, but the healing magic was certainly going to restore her health fully; at least on the next day, there wouldn't be any remaining damage to her body.

As soon as she regained consciousness, I made her swallow a health potion, and then I wrapped her around my shoulders so that we could continue to move on; she was certainly not yet ready to walk on her own yet. However, I noticed right away that she was not a cub any longer, and I had to struggle with the combined weight of my backpack and the injured saber cat. I severely doubted that I was going to keep up the speed required to catch up with the caravan, but we got lucky; less than half an hour after we had left the location where we had fought the troll, we met the caravan; they had stopped for lunch and were just about to resume the trip, and now I could drop my companion on the cart at least.

At this time, I was quite exhausted. Although my backpack was almost empty, carrying one of my saber cats for like 30 minutes had been demanding on my body; I actually had had to use a stamina potion for support. I estimated her weight to be around 100 kg, and that was a lot to carry, even for me. With my previous body I would not have managed to even lift her fully from the ground, of course. My girls were growing, that was for sure, but our love for each other was not diminishing.

Agmaer and I did not want to have the other companions waiting for us, and thus we grabbed some dried meat and bread from the supplies and ate while we walked, slow this time to adapt to the speed of the cart. Inigo, of course, had some questions:

"Now, did you enjoy the bath?"

I just nodded, as I was chewing, but Agmaer replied:

"Yeah, that was actually quite nice!"

The blue Khajiit shook his head:

"Why do people get wet on purpose?"

"That's just you saying that, as getting your fur dry afterwards is a hassle, right?"

"True, my friend, this is one of the main reasons. In Elsweyr, the heat gets you dry quickly enough, but here..."

"You should ask your fellow Khajiit how to do that!"

Inigo now looked at me, and I gave him an answer before I got the next piece of meat into my mouth:

"Agmaer is right, Inigo. With a little bit of training, one can channel a flame spell into oneself, which helps a lot with getting dry and also keeping warm in cold temperatures."

"Is that right? Now, I have not practiced magic much and always relied on my bow, but maybe I should look into that. Is it dangerous?"

"No, not as far as I know, but it may take some time to learn. The basic flame spell, though, is, as I believe, one that almost anybody can learn."

"It does appear that sticking with you may be even better and more interesting than I thought, my friend."

I grinned while I continued to chew, but suddenly something caught my attention. Ahead and to our right, there was an artificial wooden structure overlooking the road on a small rock hill, and I was getting curious. According to the map and to my memory, there should not be any settlement there, but this looked more like an isolated shelter for one or two people, with some kind of platform attached. There was no movement seen up there, but a person approached from the left, a female Breton, as it appeared. She hesitated briefly when she saw us, but got closer and greeted us:

"Hello again, Ahkari; you've got some more company today?"

"This we do, Darnette, indeed. My friends, this is Darnette Lauven; Darnette, the two additional Khajiit are B'lushona and Inigo, and the others are Tolan, Agmaer, and Jordis."

"You need so many guards nowadays?"

"No, not in general, but we are traveling in the same direction, and they have agreed to help this one with a bandit threat further north."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, everybody!"

I could not help asking:

"What are you doing out here all alone, if I may ask?"

"Oh, I'm a Merethic paleontologist and I'm doing what I do; digging for fossils."

A what? A paleontologist? I knew what that was, but I had not expected somebody having that profession or at least hobby anywhere in Tamriel. But wait, in the 'Lost Spires' mod the archaeologists had also done some fossil digging; maybe that was related. Nevertheless, I asked:

"Digging?"

"Sure! It's pretty tedious work sometimes, especially with the bigger, more complete finds. You can get some fossils around ore or gem deposits, but the best place is at the fossil beds around this area. They're pretty damned productive, if one is careful!

"There are fossils here? Like, from ancient flora and fauna?"

"At least you get the point, and yes, indeed. The more common ones are small fossilized fragments from eggs, bones, teeth and such, but sometimes I also find remains from corals, shells, trilobites and more."

"Wow! But that implies that the area was at some time in the past covered by water, maybe a shallow ocean!"

"You are a fellow scholar, aren't you? Few would have reached that conclusion."

"Yes, I am a scholar, and I have heard about trilobites before."

"That is certainly rare among the population of Skyrim, and it is good to encounter somebody who appreciates my work."

"This I do, but I am curious about the implication of your digging; what are you doing with all of the fossils you find? Do you have regular buyers?"

The Breton's face dropped and she admitted:

"Sadly, I do not. Sometimes I can sell a few to the occasional traveler, but most I just keep for now. This province does not have a proper place to showcase them."

"Maybe it does now."

"What?"

"I have recently met a few members of the Archaeology Guild, and they are setting up their headquarter for this province in Whiterun Hold. I could imagine that they might be interested in your findings!"

"The Archaeology Guild? Aren't they in Cyrodiil only?"

"True, but they're expand into into Skyrim, despite the ongoing Civil War. They seem to be interested primarily in Dwemer ruins, but I could imagine that fossils might be also something they'd want to look into. If you want, I can tell them about you once I'm back in Whiterun."

"It would be certainly good to talk to them; yes, please!"

Ahkari interrupted us:

"This one asks for your understanding, but we really need to move on to get to Kynesgrove before dusk."

I nodded and shook hands with Darnette, and she told me as final words:

"My friends call me Darnie, but you can call me Dar - good bye!"

"Dar, it was a pleasure talking to you, and my friends call me Balu – I hope that we'll see each other again!"

That had certainly been interesting. I fondly remembered the mod on the Archaeology Guild for the 'Oblivion' game, and there had been one location, south of the Imperial City on some kind of small pensinula on the Niben river, where the local archaeologists had uncovered a large ancient skeleton. Now, I had met three archaeologists from Cyrodiil before and spent sometime with them, but I had not been aware of fossil digging activities. Besides, Dar seemed to be unaware of the guild's expansion into other provinces. So, how was that related? I would certainly love to learn more about it.

Inigo looked at me while we walked, and eventually he asked:

"What's so special about fossils?"

"My friend, this is likely something which mostly interests scholars like me. Most people don't care about flora and fauna from past times, I guess, but the ones like me consider this fascinating."

"Flora and fauna?"

"Apologies, Inigo; plants and animals."

"How does this affect our lives?"

"It doesn't, not really. Scholars are interested in things like those, though."

"You mentioned the Archaeology Guild" Agmaer chimed in. "What are they doing? Going into Dwemer ruins and such, as you said?"

"Yes, that's one of the main focus points. As a matter of fact, I went with them to explore a location in Whiterun hold, and we got into something which was part Ayleid and part Dwemer."

"But Ayleids lived in Cyrodiil only, didn't they?"

"That's what we thought, too, but obviously this is not fully true. However, the Dwemer ruins may have keys to unlock some of the Dwemer secrets. You know about Dwemer metal, right?"

"Sure; it is superior to steel, but quite heavy."

"True, but it has some qualities not easily found in others; however, the knowledge how to create Dwemer metal has been lost. In addition to that, the Dwemer seemed to have extensive knowledge on pipes for hot water and such, and this should be helpful in our climate, too."

"Pipes?"

"You have not been in a Dwemer ruin, right?"

"Can't say that I have, no. There aren't any such places near Kynesgrove, and even if there were, I doubt that I'd have dared to explore them."

"This is really impressive; they must have been masters of technology, and most of that was likely lost over time. People like me are very curious about all that and like to find out more."

Agmaer shook his head and responded:

"Not sure if I get this."

This was an understandable attitude, but Inigo asked:

"Pipes for hot water? Actually, this does not sound bad at all; can this be used for heating?"

"I believe that it can, my friend. I am about to find out about that in my new house, and friends from Markarth are setting up some experimental pipe system in there, similar to what we have observed in some Dwemer ruins. If this works as it should, the house should be warm and cozy in winter."

"That sounds tempting. Will you allow me to see that, friend?"

"Absolutely, Inigo! As soon as we get to Whiterun again, I will gladly show you around, although it will be some time until it's completed. Ideally, before the next winter hits us; let's see."

"Are you sure that work will go on while you are not around?"

"Fortunately, my other housecarl, Antonius, will make sure that it does; I can rely on him, and he's pretty good in making people do what he wants."

[Author's Notes: I am not sure if Darnette is introduced by the 'Fossil Mining' mod or by 'Legacy of the Dragonborn' or by the combination of both. With the latest version of LotD – v6 – it is all the same, as 'Fossil Mining has been merged'.]