Skyrim Day 074 - Mystery's End

30 Frostfall, 4E201

Nightgate Inn

~~~

Katria's adventure is almost at an end and not a day too soon. Serana and I left Whiterun before the rest of the city woke (including Lydia) and continued yesterday's journey to Katria's third, unnamed, Dwemer ruin. She placed the ruin across the river north of Ivarstead, noting that it was the primary source of Aetherium.

We reached the river by mid-morning, but had some trouble finding a pass through the hillside. We stumbled upon a family of trolls in residence, the entrance of the cave splattered with blood, gore, and skeletal remains. Serana surprised me by suggesting that we venture inside to exterminate the trolls and waved aside my remark that it would require her to be underground again, though briefly.

Nestled at the far end of the trolls' home was a battered chest that probably belonged to whatever bandits inhabited the cave before the trolls chased them off or killed them. There was not much inside, but there was a pair of leather boots with an Illusion enchantment on it. Boots enchanted to make the wearer's footsteps quieter are popular among those who keep to the shadows, I am sure I will get a good price for them from the next Khajiit caravan I meet.

Leaving the cave we resumed our search for a path into the hills, presumably where the Dwemer ruin would most likely be. After half an hour we found the path nearly overrun with fallen rocks and opportunistic plants and had to spend more time clearing enough of it to climb up. A giant's camp was sitting right in front of us after we finally made our way on to the hill and we skirted around it hoping to avoid a battle.

The Giants must be able to sense vampirism somehow, for this one left his camp and lumbered after us as we passed, focusing specifically on Serana. They are not stealthy creatures, nor fast, and we easily outpaced it until the Giant lost patience and returned to his camp.

As if that was not trouble enough the Dwemer ruin was being guarded by zealots of the Silver Hand, a band of vigilantes supposedly dedicated against Werewolves, but my few experiences with them showed that they view a Khajiit as close enough to a Werewolf, but I have heard from others that they are no better than common bandits, so perhaps I should not feel their slight to be a personal one. I wonder if, in death, the ones at the ruin felt my slaying them to be personal as well.

Katria's unnamed Aetherium mine boasted an impressive exterior and inside, signs that the Silver Hand were not quite as stupid as they appeared.

The Silver Hand had been using one of the Dwemer's flame traps to cook their meals and I thought it clever, though it did bar the main hallway from being entered, as I could not find a way to disable it and had no desire to walk through a constant jet of fire. Serana and I had no choice but to proceed down a side passageway

We fought through a small encampment of bandits and came upon a second unnoticed.

They were camped beneath two Dwemer ballista, each loaded and glistening with oil dutifully applied thousands of years ago. Serana wanted to activate one to see if it would fire, so we crept up to the parapet and each manned a ballista. Mine fired, but the bolts broke with the force of the shot. Serana was slightly more lucky: hers fired, wildly missing the now-alarmed bandits. They sprang from their campsite and charged up the ramp towards us. It ended quickly.

The hallway beyond was trapped with two bladed rods that traveled back and forth, guaranteed to remove the feet of any invaders in too much of a hurry to be careful. Serana and I shuffled along the sides, barely avoiding the blades. I recall wondering if I would grow back my feet if I slipped. I am glad to have not found out.

The hallway ended at a functioning elevator which deposited us into another hallway guarded by the spinning blades. After carefully skirting the sides we founds ourselves in the middle of a Falmer "village", slowing our progress considerably as we stealthily eliminated the hideous creatures one by one.

Eventually we came to a large room with a pool of water on one side and gears all over the walls. The noise was tremendous, but we could not find a way out of the room other than back the way we came. I even suffered the near-freezing water thinking the door might have been hidden in the pool, but to no avail.

It was Serana who pointed out that many of the gears were jammed, greatly contributing to the clatter that bounced all around the room. She pulled a bone from one and it began spinning quickly and far more quietly. We split up and released the remaining gears, after which Serana happily pressed a button she found a pedestal set before the pool. She seems to be warming up to the concept of adventuring, though one would not judge this based on the quantity of her complaints.

With the gears spinning as they were supposed to, the button opened a hidden door at the end of the pool, releasing a massive Dwemer war-mechanical. My crossbow bolts did not seem to do much, but Serana's lightning magicka sent it tumbling, inert, into the water before it had made it even halfway across to us. Rather anticlimactic, but easy.

The metal warrior had been guarding a small staircase that led down to a small room with some sort of device in the middle of it.

Two gemstones were set into the center of the thing, one the size and shape of a large egg, the other a dish for something to be set on to. I had nothing to use with the thing and left it alone.

What I did find was the shimmering form of Katria staring longingly at the piece of Aetherium we were after.

She kept this speech short, exclaiming that it was the last piece we needed and that she would be waiting at the Forge. With that, she blinked out of existence. Serana commented on the possibility of passing on the Forge entirely, but I secretly want to see this thing for myself, so I told her I could not bear to keep Katria's spirit enthralled on this plane any longer than it needed to be.

An elevator adjoining the room led us back to the surface, by then well-enshrouded by the night. The Nightgate Inn was the closest accommodation and the walk was without incident.

Tomorrow the three of us shall see what this Dwemer Forge is capable of and of what use the Aetherium can be put to. I am mildly curious at best, but it looks to be at least somewhat on the way back to the Dawnguard, so it shall not be a wasted adventure.

Morrowind Day 74 - The Indifference of the Telvanni

27 Frost Fall

~~~

I was not going to make the same mistake I made yesterday. This morning I visited Balmora to stock up on supplies before re-visiting the Telvanni holdings along the east coast. The Mages Guild was well stocked in greetings and friendly faces, but not in potions or scrolls of levitation. I left the magical dagger, two rings, and the two gloves with Galbedir to see if she could figure out what they actually were.

For levitation I needed to see Nalcarya. It was still very early in the morning and the sky was absolutely clear. I cannot even remember the last time I was able to see the stars and moons from Vvardenfell. It was quite a beautiful sight.

Nalcarya had what I needed, but only in small amounts. She had a single magicka restorative available and only two vials of levitation, neither particularly potent. But that was the best I was able to get, so off to Tel Vos and Master Aryon I went, once again.

I used the same route I did yesterday: from Caldera to Indoranyon, then a walk along the coast. I had several hostile encounters, one merely annoying and two very alarming.

The first one was annoying. While walking along the beach I heard a man shout at me to stop moving and drop my weapons. Looking inland I saw an unarmored Dunmer armed with a chitin sword running at me. The man must not have been too bright, for I was visibly holding my bow and he was a good distance away. He did not make it much closer. He had a friend that must have been hiding beyond the hill, but why this second man decided to attack me after his friend had died is a mystery. His end was similarly filled with arrows. Neither had anything worth taking.

The next two encounters were far more dangerous and ominous. After fighting the two bandits I turned inland, figuring I was north enough to not miss Tel Vos regardless of how I proceeded. While walking on the idyllic green plain, I was greatly startled to see one of the female Daedra enjoying a walk of her own. Where did she come from?

She was a long way off, but the best arrows I had were only steel-tipped and the creature shrugged off six good hits as she charged across the grass with a screech. While my spear is also just steel, it managed to be more effective than the arrows. Where did she come from and where was she going? It would be interesting to talk with one I suppose, though conversing with Daedra is not something I see in my future.

What I took to be Tel Vos loomed ahead in the haze and became increasingly erratic in appearance as I drew closer. It looks as though a Telvanni wizard inherited a Redoran stronghold and decided to remodel it. Huge tree roots twisted and enveloped the sturdy rectangular buildings, joining together above the structure to support a bulb-like mushroom.

However, this was not the Telvanni tower of Tel Vos, but the fishing village of Vos. A helpful fisherman pointed me west to Tel Vos, which also embraced a mixed architectural style. The small keep was very Imperial looking, but the giant roots were unmistakably Telvanni.

I wandered around the seemingly abandoned castle trying to find the entrance and only succeeded in finding the jail. The bored jail guard pointed out that speaking to Aryon required levitating to the top of the structure where the door to his study was. 

Just inside the study was the captain of his mercenary guard, an Imperial named Turedus. He offered me some work and the task sounded simple: He needs someone to speak with the Zainab Ashlanders to evaluate the possibility of establishing trade relations with them. He offered me one hundred Septims  to speak with them and learn what goods they need. I agreed to the work, though I wound up not taking care of it today.

Aryon was surprisingly cordial and accommodating, definitely not the reaction I expected from a Telvanni speaking with a Khajiit stating that she wants him to name her the savior of his people. Aryon gave me a book listing all of the Telvanni councilors and agreed to vote that I be named Telvanni Hortator. He warned that the other councilors would not be so easy to convince, with the exception of Mistress Dratha who would support me simply because I am female. Strange.

I decided to speak with Dratha first, as she was the easiest to get to: Her tower is in Tel Mora, just across the water from Tel Vos. After that, Master Neloth in Sadrith Mora would be my next visit.

Tel Mora was so close that I felt I had time to wander a bit more and during this wandering I encountered the second female Daedra wandering amongst the trees. She proved just as resilient to the steel arrows and just as vulnerable to my spear. It is a very bad sign that Daedra are now wandering away from the Daedric ruins, though I am not sure if this would be connected to Dagoth Ur. Releasing Blight-infected monsters upon Morrowind seems more his style than releasing Daedra that would barely be under his control. It is a concern either way.

Trying to avoid any further combat with Daedra, I turned around and went straight to Tel Mora. The settlement lacks the variety of Vos and Tel Vos, but the windings and turns of the roots gives the settlement a certain sort of grace. The first person I spoke to was a Redguard woman who sarcastically asked me if I had seen any men walking around. That I found the question puzzling must have been obvious, for she apologized and told me that there were no men at Tel Mora at all. Mistress Dratha has, for whatever reason, an undying distaste for menfolk of any kind and has forbidden any to enter Tel Mora for any reason. Her retainers and mercenaries are all women. The Redguard (I never got her name) described Dratha as "...a little crazy, but a good patron", which was not at all reassuring. 

I had no cause to be worried though. Taking my cue from Tel Vos, I did not waste time on the ground searching for an entrance but instead drank another levitation vial and floated to the highest platform I could find. This proved to be Mistress Dratha's study and the Telvanni councilor immediately mistook me for a serving girl as soon as I entered.

She did prove receptive to my tale of the difficulties and trials I have gone through to become Nerevarine and Hortator and seemed greatly amused by the idea that the savior of the Dunmer might be a woman after all. That I am also Khajiit was pointedly not mentioned. She assured me of her support when the vote was called and handed me four scrolls she said would summon 'Golden Saints'. Perhaps they would be useful as a distraction next time I am exploring Red Mountain. 

It was late into the afternoon by then, but I made an effort towards getting Master Neloth's vote before the day ended. It was quickest to use my amulet to recall back to Ald'ruhn, then teleport to the Mages Guild in Wolverine Hall. Neloth's tower, Tel Naga, sat a short distance away from the Imperial fortress.

I used my last levitation potion to drift up to the highest door I could see and my luck held, for it led to Neloth's audience chamber or whatever the barren throne room was. He dismissed me as soon as I opened my mouth and I irritably (and foolishly, I am sure) asked him if I could buy enough time to finish a sentence. He seemed surprised at my rudeness and his guards tensed up, but he relaxed, laughed, and said three hundred Septims would be enough to buy his attention. 

My story failed to interest him and he suggested that an additional one hundred Septims would be enough to purchase his vote in my favor for Telvanni Hortator. I paid my money and he proclaimed me Hortator for House Telvanni, then bade me go away. He really cared not at all for anything to do with me and I wonder how he would fare with a Morrowind overrun by Dagoth Ur. I guess I could be less critical of him, his vote was an easy one to acquire.

By then it was late into the evening and there was no point in pressing my unusually good luck today any further. I recalled back home for the last time today and tidied things up a bit. Tomorrow I will tackle the remaining councilors and see if I cannot be named Hortator before Sun's Dusk.