Morrowind Day 79 - A Relaxing Walk Around Ghostfence

2 Sun's Dusk

~~~

Yesterday I had attempted a walk around Ghostfence starting towards Ghostgate and following the barrier around Red Mountain. I did not get far due to my lack of knowledge about the terrain coupled with a Blight storm, courtesy no doubt, of Dagoth Ur.

This morning I started in the opposite direction: away from Ghostgate and towards the outpost of Maar Gan, where I had hoped that the land would be more navigable in that direction. The journey started as they usually do lately, with me fighting off blighted creatures as I struggle forwards. This morning was particularly cruel, for the creatures I faced looked to have been simple men once, but the Blight had twisted them into mindless, savage monsters. They lacked the cunning aggression of the servants of the Sixth House, so I assume these three men were unfortunate victims of an infected animal, maybe a blighted rat or Nix Hound. 

I found two of them before reaching Kogoruhn and the third afterwards. I hope their deaths released them from the torture their lives had been transformed into.

I made good time and passed Kogoruhn fortress by early afternoon. Exploring it today was tempting, but I promised myself I would return tomorrow and walked past, eventually coming to a path I had not noticed before leading closer to Ghostfence.

The path curved upwards and crossed several small chasms by way of old and seemingly unreliable rope bridges. It was after the second rope bridge that I released the third Blighted man from his terrible fate.

Even a Kagouti would have noticed that the Blighted men were outside Ghostfence. I am willing to allow for diseased rats and cliff racers outside of the Fence without raising much alarm, but these men plus the Daedra I have been encountering while on the plains is a sure sign that there is a breach somewhere in the Temple's holy barricade.

Thankfully, the last rope bridge

The sky began to darken and storm as I crossed the day's final rope bridge and within minutes I was once again engulfed in a Blight storm. Fortunately the path was much easier to follow than the day before and I continued walking along the Fence, surprisingly meeting nothing along the way. I finished my patrol at Ghostgate late in the evening, having walked the entire perimeter of Ghostfence and finding nothing at all.

I believe Kogoruhn still has secrets I have yet to discover, so the finding of these is the task for tomorrow. After that, I will start visiting the coastal villages, a task I have absolutely no enthusiasm for, but one that I believe is necessary. Such is life.

Morrowind Day 78 - The Planning Stage

1 Sun's Dusk

~~~

The documents provided by Vivec have shed a lot of light on the infestation of Red Mountain and what I need to do in order to 'save' Morrowind from Dagoth Ur's blight. I spent this morning reading everything that was provided to me and came up with a plan of my own.

The first document detailed what the Temple believed to be Dagoth Ur's ultimate plan for Morrowind. They helpfully broke down the plan into categories and I have noted on a separate document and in this journal what I believe my response to each of Dagoth Ur's goals should be. Below is my transcription of the Temple document.

Dagoth Ur's Basic Objectives

1. Establish a theocratic government based on the worship of Akulakhan/Second Numidium (note to self: what is this?) to be created by Dagoth Ur. The resulting unification of the Dunmer would then be used to drive the foreigners out of Morrowind. The Temple document points out that this belief mirrors that of the long-dead Dwemer priest Kagrenac, whose enchanted tools are in posession of Dagoth Ur. I would speculate that Kagrenac may be acting through Dagoth Ur by influence of the tools, but who knows?
2. Expose the false worship of the Tribunal and destroy the Temple as a religious and political organization.
3. Eliminate all foreigners from Morrowind.
4. Recover the ancient Dunmer territories in Skyrim and Argonia.
5. Extend the religion of Akulakhan/Second Numidium to Tamriel.

Unfortunately I have no clue what form this Akulakhan/Second Numidium thing is supposed to take. Is it a device? A creature? A piece of armor or a weapon? I do not know yet. I remember hearing about something called 'Numidium', but I have forgotten what little I had heard. Whatever it is, the Temple seems to think Dagoth Ur is close to finishing the crafting of such a thing, so time is certainly not on my side here.

Dagoth Ur's Plans for the Sixth House

1. Secure Red Mountain against intruders
2. Expand the Sixth House's influence through dream manipulation, targeting coastal villages and the waterfront districts of Vivec. Willing followers from the poorer groups of society are being consciously approached by Sixth House agents. The Temple's document singles out the Dunmer fortress Kogoruhn as Dagoth Ur's largest base outside of Red Mountain.
3. Expand from coastal villages to inland towns and send cultists to occupy abandoned places.
4. Utilize assassination to eliminate high-ranking officials in the Imperial and Hlaalu organizations.

Having been within Ghostfence, I can attest to the security of Red Mountain against adventurers, but I have been able to make a respectable amount of progress with mapping its interior. The second item does a lot to clear up the mystery of the babbling people I have encountered and I need to make their release a priority. The fishing villages (unfortunately) require my attention as well.

Vivec's own document, optimistically titled 'Plan to Defeat Dagoth Ur' is really just series of broad steps to recover Kagrenac's tools, Sunder and Keening. I would call it more a series of instructions than an actual plan, for it makes the recovery of the tools sound as simple as walking into the Red Mountain ruins, picking up the tools, and walking out. I have yet to be able to complete a single patrol around the inside of the Ghostfence, so I do not think I would survive an attempt to recover these tools just yet.

The tool 'Wraithguard' that Vivec gave me appears to be a normal Dwemer armored gauntlet and is a very awkward fit. I will not be wearing it until it is absolutely required.

These are the objectives I have set for myself:

1. Complete a patrol of the area outside of the Ghostfence to probe for weak points and possible routes of entry/exit that may be unknown to the Temple.
2. Visit each of the coastal towns and search for smugglers' dens/mines that may be harboring Sixth House agents. This will take a lot of time without paying for boats, but Folm's ability to send me to the Dunmer fortresses might make up for it.
3. Visit each of the inland towns and interview people in an effort to identify those experiencing disturbing dreams. Their presence may indicate a nearby Sixth House base, but I do not know how far Dagoth Ur's control reaches, so my assumption may not be true.
4. Assault fortress Kogoruhn once again. If Dagoth Ur is using it as his main operational base outside of Red Mountain, then it stands to reason that there is some way to pass between the fortress and the inside of Red Mountain that has escaped the Temple's notice. I need to find this way and either close it or exploit it for my own use.
5. Raid the ruins of Red Mountain to acquire the tools of Kagrenac, Sunder and Keening.

Objective number one is the easiest. There is nothing I have yet encountered outside Red Mountain that has caused me any great alarm, even immediately bordering Ghostfence. I was resolved to walk entirely around the outside of the Fence and explore any tombs or mines I came across.

The land around Ald'ruhn does not lend well to walking and I wound up having to use my levitation amulet more times than I anticipated, just to get over a particularly steep hill or across a small gorge. It was obvious that the Ghostfence was something of a rushed thing, for it cut right through several paths that used to be roads leading into Red Mountain.

I did find a tomb built just outside the Ghostfence and I admit to being pretty excited at finding an underground entrance to Red Mountain so quickly. But it was just a regular ancestral tomb with a few undead guardians, the skeletal remains of a would-be looter, and no treasure to write of.

My walk around Ghostfence brought me to Ghostgate by early afternoon and I decided to stop in for supplies and information about the interior of Red Mountain. I entered the Temple's tower, the Tower of Dusk, first and received a much warmer welcome from them than I have been in quite some time. They admitted to the situation being very confusing to them, but Lord Vivec's confirmation of me as Nerevarine was all the Temple needed to lend me their support. Some of the Temple's acolytes were selling scrolls and potions, including several each of healing and restoration, which I purchased.

I was not able to get detailed information from anyone within the tower, other than that there were five ancient Dwemer strongholds within Red Mountain, each ruled by Dagoth Ur or one of his kinsmen, the Ash Vampires. Each of the strongholds are named for the Sixth House lord occupying it: Endusal, Odrosal, Vemynal, Tureynulal, and Dagoth.

A Buoyant Armiger standing in the Tower of Dawn eating area provided me a map of Red Mountain listing the compass points were each ruin could be found with Dagoth Ur's citadel at the center. Useful, but the accompanying illustration was a bit of a mystery, for it was really a map of the entire island and I do not know what point it served.

Surprisingly, there was an old Imperial Legion veteran named Wulf visiting Ghostgate. He looked exhausted, but when I caught his eye he motioned me over with a slight smile. He greeted me more amicably than I have been in a long time, describing Ghostgate as a "hell of a place" and asked why a Khajiit would be visiting. Thinking the man was friendly and drunk, I told him the complete truth: That I was recognized as the reincarnation of the Dunmer warlord, Lord Nerevar, and I was at Ghostgate to gather what information I could about confronting and defeating Dagoth Ur. He laughed uproariously and slapped me on the back (a first for me) and exclaimed what terrible luck I had to draw that lot. He explained that he had served in the Legion all his life and had always wanted to see the cursed Red Mountain of Morrowind, but after finally making it to Ghostgate, he found his health and age prevented him from going any further beyond. He asked that I carry his lucky coin with me when I defeat Dagoth Ur as a sort of memento to the warrior he used to be. I agreed and he handed me a very worn coin, wishing me luck with a grin. I did likewise and walked upstairs to talk with some of the Buoyant Armigers.

When I came back downstairs after fruitlessly quizzing the warriors about the Red Mountain, Wulf was gone...and no one could remember ever seeing him at all, even the woman tending the bar where he had been resting. Very strange! Holding the coin makes me feel optimistic for my own journey and I hope the aged warrior is relaxing at somewhere safer than Ghostgate by now.

My journey around the exterior of the Ghostfence continued after lunch and the weather was unusually clear. From a small hillside outside Ghostfence I could just barely see the Red Mountain citadels of the Sixth House.

The weather did not last long. A Blight storm whipped up without warning minutes after leaving Ghostgate and I became disorientated. I stumbled around the unfamiliar ground as best I could, but I had to conclude that Dagoth Ur had won one over on me today. It was simply too dangerous to proceed forwards without being able to see.

I recalled back to Ald'ruhn and spent the rest of the evening repairing my equipment and going over my plans again. Tomorrow I will try to walk around Ghostfence starting from the west side rather than the east as today and hopefully complete the patrol so I can start visiting the coastal villages soon.

Morrowind Day 68 - The Failed Assault on Red Mountain

21 Frost Fall
~~~

The sky was unusually purple this morning, a nice change from the typical red or orange one sees in Ald'ruhn when the sky is not blocked by clouds. The weather was not only purple, but clear, making a nice change from the dust storms increasingly plaguing the town.

I stopped at the general store in Caldera to restore my stock of silvered arrows before entering Red Mountain. The trader, an Imperial named Verick Gemain, was the same man from whom I bought my very useful (especially today!) amulet of Recall. No one could fault Verick for a lack of variety in his shop: he carries everything from enchanted Dwemer war hammers to simple cups, plates, and everything in-between. This includes silvered and glass arrows, though the latter are too expensive to justify my wildly random skill at the bow. I have had days where every arrow strikes with fatal intent and others when it seems I could not hit the broad side of a Kagouti. It is very frustrating.

The walk from Caldera to Ghostgate is far simpler than it sounds, but I have noticed that the normally docile rats and cliff racers are increasingly becoming hostile, probably suffering the growing effects of living near Red Mountain. While I have only seen simple beasts affected by the Blight disease in this way, it is only a matter of time before the citizens of towns built near the Ghostfence start succumbing to Dagoth Ur's curse.

The view of the Ghostfence just outside of Caldera

The weather miraculously remained clear (and purple) all the way to Ghostgate, where the purple color faded away to clear sky. I activated whatever system it was that raised the first portcullis of Ghostgate and stepped through. The 'switch' arrangement still strikes me as incredibly insecure. Apparently to make the point more obvious, I was attacked by one of the faceless minions of the Sixth House as soon as I crossed the second gate. There was not even enough time to close the gate behind me before the creature started clawing at me, but the faceless creatures are not terribly difficult to overcome. I thought about leaving the body inside of the gate to prove my point, but that meant actually touching it, so I left it where it fell.

The expected Blight storm kicked up as I was trudging up the path, on top of which was another Sixth House creature, this time one of the tentacle-faced men. Dodging spells while walking uphill in a Blight storm is certainly an exhausting activity, but the creatures have a poor ability to track sideways movement and walking up the path at an angle made it much easier to predict and dodge its spells. Once in melee range it fell quickly to my simple iron spear.

I encountered far more enemies today than yesterday and I suspect, however remote the fear may be, that Dagoth Ur knows I was here and has bolstered his garrison, so to speak. Finding out where all these creatures truly originate from would be a massive blow against Dagoth Ur, but I fear that is a little beyond my capability right now to find out.

As planned, I walked along the same path that led me to Dwemer ruin yesterday, only this time I carefully went by it, hoping to explore as far as north as the northern stretch of the Ghostfence. Like most of my plans, this was not a realized goal today.

The terrain inside Red Mountain at the entrance of Ghostgate is not particularly dangerous or even noteworthy, but this changed soon after I passed the ruins as the path I was following became narrower and the landscape more broken. I very nearly tumbled down a sudden drop which loomed ahead of me, but whether the fall was five feet or fifty, I could not tell due to the storm. I carefully inched my way along the edge, finding (much to my surprise) a rope bridge.

Keeping to what seemed to be an old road past the bridge, I came upon a Daedric shrine nested above the path on a ledge. I am still not clear what the connection is between the Sixth House and the Daedra, if any, but I decided to peek inside a bit. The Daedric shrines do tend to be small on the inside, so I did not anticipate having to spend a lot of time there.

The shrine did seem to be fairly small: The path I was following branched up the small hill to a stairway leading to an observation platform of some kind. A Flame Atronach and one of the spidery Daedra was wandering around the platform, for some reason tolerant of each other's existence. Neither assisted the other against me and they attacked me separately, neither providing much of a challenge, though the spidery Daedra's spells did a fair amount of damage to my equipment. I really should find out what all these creatures I am fighting are named.

To my great surprise, the Blight storm completely stopped for about a minute as soon as the dispatched the last of the two Daedra. The timing makes me think even further that Dagoth Ur does know my location, at least when I am within Red Mountain. The storm did resume, but not before I met Llavelea Nelvani.

I was too busy admiring the rare view of Vvardenfell from the clear sky of Red Mountain to notice her inching closer to me, but when I did I cursed myself for being so stupid. She was fully armored in steel plate and armed with a well-used, but cared for steel long sword. I was not so surprised as to not be ready to fight, but her sword was sheathed and she immediately stepped backwards, assuring me that she meant no harm.

If anyone ever reads this, I am sure they could forgive my suspicion, given the circumstances. The tiny Daedric shrines in the sewers of Vivec were all typically guarded by a 'strong-arm' posted outside and I assumed she was similarly employed. She claimed to be a Temple crusader and had been preparing to descend into the shrine to eliminate its inhabitants when the Atronach and other Daedra suddenly popped into existence behind her. She managed to hide behind a broken column and was just about to attack them when I arrived. The story sounded pretty thin, but she said the episode had made her re-think her luck today and that she would be leaving for Ghostgate in a few minutes.

She sat down to catch her breath and told me I was welcome to the shrine if I had come to loot it. I only shrugged and said I was trying to make a map of Red Mountain, to which she shook her head, declaring it a folly and certain death. The irony of her statement would end up being a cruel one.

The shrine was about as small as I expected it to be and staffed by several Storm Atronachs, which was not expected, but easily dealt with. The cultists were a small bunch, only three and all of which I killed suddenly and silently. Perhaps I have an assassin somewhere in my bloodline, else they were simply overconfident in their Atronach guards. One of the cultists had a strongly enchanted pair of gloves, but I could not tell what they were enchanted with. I took them on the chance that they might be valuable.

I left the shrine expecting that Llavelea would have already started to make her way back to Ghostgate, but the Dunmer woman had not been given the chance. When I stepped outside (Blight storm still raging), I was greeted by the Dunmer's corpse, her steel armor torn and peeled away as if it had been paper. One of the winged half-woman Daedra had just begun to tear into the body when I exited the shrine. It's preoccupation gave me a slight advantage, but I was foolish for the second time today and charged the creature without checking my surroundings. I had just begun to attack with my spear when another one of the spidery Daedra emerged behind the winged woman, flinging spells at me.

Fortunately the spells 'only' damaged my equipment further. Were they designed to damage me I would have been hard pressed to win the melee against the female Daedra, but I was able to activate the enchantment on my spear to summon a Daedric copy and quickly overcame the creature. The spidery Daedra lasted only moments after that, for they do not seem to be particularly good fighters compared to most of their brethren.

Not sure what else to do, I dragged Llavelea's remains behind a column on the platform and covered it with debris from the shrine. Another adventurer claimed by Vvardenfell.

I continued down the road past the shrine and started to encounter Sixth House creatures in groups for the first time, making combat a much more unpleasant ordeal. I fought two battles against two creatures at the same time, but either by coincidence or plan my third encounter was with four Sixth House minions: one of the hulking brutes, a faceless Sixth House servant, and two of the tentacle-faced men. The faceless one and the brute quickly came within range of my spear as the two spell-casters flung lightning at me.

I could have likely been the victor of this combat as well, but I had already been feeling tired and worn from the day's stress and decided that my time at Red Mountain today was at a close. I retreated from combat and activated my Recall amulet.

I repaired my equipment as best I could and I may return to Red Mountain again tomorrow, though as it seems my arrival is now expected and planned for I might try to find something else to do for awhile. It is too soon to check on the construction of the Redoran stronghold, but perhaps I could spend a few days working on my magecraft.

Morrowind Day 67 - To Red Mountain

20 Frost Fall

~~~

I spent an unusually restless night at the Balmora Mages Guild. It feels as if the question of how to increase my standing within Morrowind has brought the responsibility of being the Nerevarine fully on my shoulders, all at once. I rejected the possibility of increasing my rank in the Mages Guild or House Redoran, neither would be impressive to a Telvanni.

Before falling asleep I had decided on traveling to Ghostgate and making a foray into Dagoth Ur's realm. It seemed like a fair trade for all the harassment I have been dealt on his behalf, at least while I was safely in the Mages Guild bunk. It felt like a much less wise decision when it came time to actually go there, but I reminded myself of my successes against the Sixth House, reasoning that I was at least up to the task of a brief walk inside the Ghostfence.

As expected, there are no maps and few individuals with any knowledge of what lies within Dagoth Ur's realm. My previous 'visit' to the Shrine of Pride with the Imperial had scared me a lot more than I would like to admit, but that was...a month ago now, maybe more? I cannot remember when it was, but I am now far more experienced and have several victories against the Sixth House, so I was quite confident that at the very least I would not be fleeing Red Mountain with my tail between my legs, as the Imperials say.

The quickest way to Ghostgate was via Caldera and I hoped to stock up on healing supplies at the Guild there, but no one had much of use for sale. I wound up visiting the local merchants to complete my shopping, for the Caldera branch of the Mages Guild has always been embarrassingly low on goods every time I visit. One of the tradesmen, Verick, had a very useful amulet enchanted to cast the Recall spell upon activation. He was only asking two hundred Septims for such a useful item and I was able to bargain him down to one hundred and seventy-five. Saving me from the trouble of tracking down and carrying hard-to-find Recall potions is worth any amount of Septims to me.

The walk from Caldera to Ghostgate was foggy, but uneventful. I skipped entering Ghostgate before I found a reason to put off my raid for another day. Unfortunately, the fog persisted in following me and visibility inside the Ghostfence was poor, even before Red Mountain delivered up the most powerful Blight storm I have suffered so far.

I got my first sense of what to expect as soon as I passed through the second gate of the Ghostgate. Immediately inside the fence was a deranged man infected with Corpus. The Blight had turned the man's mind to madness and he could only scream and try to claw out my eyes. Given that he was unarmed and I had a spear, his sad fate should come as no surprise. It was during the very short combat that the Blight storm came upon me.

As before, the storm coated everything in a garish red, making it very difficult to distinguish much of anything more than five feet ahead of me. On a hunch I stumbled up the path to the Shrine of Pride, only to find that the pushy Imperial I had escorted never made it back out.

I backtracked away from the shrine and proceeded past it into land I thought un-explored and un-mapped, though I soon found that is not actually the case, surprisingly. The raging storm did help to silhouette creatures along the path and I killed two of the hulking Sixth House beasts with arrows in this way.

After walking a short distance down the main path I found what I thought would be an abandoned mine. The entryway was empty of life and only had a bucket, a piece of raw glass, and a pile of bones, leading me to believe the mine had been abandoned. To my surprise I met an Imperial guard in the next corridor and he assured me the mine was in full operation under the Empire's protection. He warned me not to try stealing any of the glass and that the penalty for such an act was instant death. I assured him I was not there to pilfer the mine and expressed my surprise that there were people working inside the Ghostfence. He simply shrugged and pointed out that Ghostgate was a few minutes walk from the mine and that the whole mine traveled as one group when they needed to visit Ghostgate for supplies. The mine was garrisoned by a dozen Imperial soldiers, archers, and mages, but none of the Red Mountain creatures ever attacked the mine and everyone seemed confident that would remain the case.

I left the mine and the main path, taking a branching path to the west. The poor visibility meant that even did not know what was in front of me until spells started zapping me from within the gloom. The storm was worse than any other I have experienced, but I found its effects on me to be greatly diminished since my first visit to Red Mountain and if it were not for the constant dust, I do not think my combat ability would have been hampered. As it was, I could only do my best in dodging the spells until the creature, be is the tentacle-faced men or the stone-faced women, ran out of magicka energy and charged me. Inevitably the melee combat was very short, though I was struck quite often by the spells and quickly depleted my stock of health restoration potions.

The path split and I followed it south towards the Ghostfence. The path ended at an egg mine right against the Fence. The mine was more what I expected: abandoned and blighted. The only signs of former life was the body of a miner, its skin stretched and dry from the heat of Red Mountain, and the more recent body of some sort of explorer, well equipped but evidently no match for the blighted Kwama that swarmed the mine. I do wonder how the adventurer made it through Red Mountain and yet succumbed to simple Kwama. Very strange.

Doubling back the way I came, I elected to continue north past the 'main' path I entered Red Mountain by. This led me to a Dwemer fortress whose ruined fortifications bore the marks of a violent struggle rather than the neglect the ruins outside the Ghostfence exhibit.

Contrary to all the other Dwemer ruins I have visited, this one was quite small and only contained two rooms. Within the rooms however were a collection of Sixth House elite: the floating tentacle-faced monstrosities and an Ash Vampire whose appearance was very similar to the one I decapitated in the underground lava cavern so many days ago. The battles were quicker though and as I knew what to expect, a lot less hazardous to my health this time around.

The Ash Vampire had been wearing an amulet letting off a lot of magicka energy, so I took it with me but as of right now have no idea what it does. For all I know it could transform the wearer into an Ash Vampire, so it safely is stored in the bottom of my pack.

There was another dead adventurer inside the Dwemer ruins, the raw Ebony and strange Daedric blade on the body suggesting a measure of success was met before the person died. I did not feel like carrying the considerable weight of the Ebony with me, but I did take the blade. I have never seen a design like it: shorter than an Imperial stabbing sword, longer than a dagger, with a single-edge blade and a sharp point. It is a very light (for a Daedric blade) and nimble weapon, but I do not know how to employ it properly. Another item for my growing collection I suppose.

The Ash Vampire met a quick demise owning to the Daedric spear I conjured and to the fact that the creature's attention was not on me at all. Oddly, the hulking beast was studying a parchment, a drawing of some sort of Dwemer armor that I have never seen. Next to it was a small booklet written in Dwemer though the title was understandable as 'Kagnerac's Journal', whomever that was. I took the journal and the drawing, though both items are useless to me, I being unable to read ancient Dwemer.

And that was it for the Dwemer ruin. There was a good deal of valuable equipment in the ruins: an Ebony broadsword, Glass armored boots, several high-quality alchemy tools, but I need neither the equipment or the money I would earn selling them. It felt late in the evening by the time I had cleared out the monsters and examined the area. Not looking forward to stumbling around Red Mountain in the dark, I used my new Recall amulet and zapped myself back to my home in Ald'ruhn.

The total inventory of my raid into Red Mountain is the unreadable journal, the abandoned plans for the Dwemer armor, the Daedric blade, some loose Dwemer coins, and a healthy respect for the difficulties journeying into Red Mountain presents. Despite today being the most difficult day I have had in a long time, I am eager to return to Red Mountain and put my skills to the test again. Tomorrow I will return to Ghostgate via Caldera and walk the same path at Red Mountain that I walked today, aiming to explore the west side past the ruin.

Morrowind Day 4 - Visions of Hell

19 Last Seed

~~~~

It has not even been a week since I first set foot on Vvardenfell, but I feel like I've been here for months. Events have moved far quicker than I anticipated and while I did write that I was excited about the possibilities that my assignment held, I can now honestly write that, only a few days later, I feel only dread.

The morning started simple enough. I woke early, well before the sunrise, but still was enveloped in another ash storm as soon as I left The Rat in the Pot. I was determined to find Falanu's husband, dead or alive and wound up wrapping strips of cloth on my face, mimicking the guards' full helms. The cloth, naturally, fell off quite quickly. 

I did find her husband, one Drerel Indaren, wedged in the middle of a rock formation, sound asleep. My failure to locate him last night was due to the large blanket he had secured around himself to keep the ash off. When I first spied the blanket, I thought to pick it up for a few septims, thinking it had blown there. As I approached to get a better look, I was surprised to see arms and legs sticking out from underneath it. Fearing the worst, I gave the blanket a gentle jab with my spear and was rewarded with a yelp and ineffectual flailing of limbs against the rocks. 

When he regained his composure, I asked if he was Falanu's husband and he became very excited, saying that he had crammed himself into the rocks to escape the nix-hounds and spent the night fearing his wife had been torn to shreds by the nix-hounds. I tactfully neglected to mention I was the one almost torn to shreds, but he implored me to lead him back to his wife, which I proudly did. Their reunion was emotional, for Dunmer, and Falanu gave me a copy of their favorite book, which they had been planning on reading before their ashland picnic had been brought to a sudden end. I didn't comment on their odd vacationing decision and left the two happily together. The book is the second chapter of "Dance in the Fire" and it seems interesting, but I'd like to find Chapter One first.

I was planning on resuming my small quest to find my last remaining Imperial contact, but then I met Viatrix.

Even thinking back on it now makes my hands shake and my fur stand on end, but I'll record what happened next to the best of my understanding...which isn't much.

Viatrix asked me, in the sort of tone that implies the question has a foregone conclusion, to escort her to an Imperial shrine by a place she called Ghostgate. I thought it harmless enough and still retain my pride as an Imperial Auxiliary to see escorting an Imperial citizen to her place of worship as a worthy task. So I agreed. She was very annoying, complaining every time she tripped or stumbled and whining that we were going too slow. I put up with it well enough I suppose and the trip was initially worth it when our path brought us past one of Morrowind's Daedric shrines, now all ruins. I have heard from several people here that the Daedric ruins are home to demonic creatures and crazed worshipers, but often hold treasure well worth the risk. This ruin seemed abandoned though, I couldn't see any creatures prowling about, save for Viatrix, whom I wanted to throw down the side of the hill we were plodding upwards on.

The cobblestone path wound into the side of the mountain and we walked into a still, dirty fog that tasted of copper. After a foggy, foul-tasting walk that only sounded like an eternity, we stood before the strangely majestic Ghostgate Fortress.

Holding back the horror

Viatrix didn't spare time to admire the view, insisting that we continue through the fortress and into the Red Mountain beyond. I remember thinking only of the joy I'd experience once I left her at the shrine. Too true.

The procedure for passing through the fortress is ridiculously simple. In front sits a button, which opens the first portcullis and allows access to a second button between the two gates, which opens the second portcullis, allowing access into the Red Mountain. Some mechanism automatically closes each gate after a few moments. It doesn't seem very secure and there is no way for the  garrison to engage enemies trapped between the two gates, should they have some way to disengage the buttons from within. I was later to learn that the gates only existed to allow pilgrims to the shrine, the true gate was the Ghostfence, a magical barrier that ran through the fortress and around the entire Red Mountain, jailing the abominations that resided within.

I remember standing just outside the interior gate, looking up the incline that branched off, one direction towards the shrine and the other, I assume now, to a horrible and certain death.

Immediately inside the Ghostfence

What happened next, I'm not even sure of, let alone how to explain by simple writing. Viatrix was behind me, impatient as always and insisted that we continue up the incline and to the right, where the shrine of Pride was. Eager to be rid of her, I started to walk upwards.

I remember walking past a cluster of rock spires when the air seemed to vibrate and thicken. My immediate thought was some sort of earthquake, but then the red haze descended and the sky...changed.

A howling scream rose up and it took me a few panicked seconds to realize it was the wind, whipping the black clouds around at incredible speed, sheets of red lightning coursing between them. The scariest part was that the air was completely still on the ground...a dead stillness. 

The haze, the screaming, probably the storm got even worse as we continued to walk up the slope. Viatrix seemed unaffected and unaware of the unnatural weather and responded to my glance with a haughty comment that she could be going faster, if it wasn't for me. Of the two of us, only I was experiencing a land turned to nightmare.

Aptly named

We did make it to the shrine, but by this time I had a terrible headache and could barely hear her for the tortured howling between my ears. She said something to me and I stared back at her, unsure as to what she said. An annoyed, or more annoyed than usual, expression crossed her face and she handed me a purse. She pushed past me and knelt at the shrine in prayer and I didn't wait to see if she wanted an escort back down. I took a few steps away and when she didn't turn around, I did and ran as fast as I could back down the slope towards Ghostgate, nearly tumbling down in my haste. By the time I exited through the exterior gate my headache had gone and the weather was the placid overcast haze I've been growing depressingly used to already.

It would have been better if she had shown some sign of noticing what had happened, but either she was used to what had happened or it was something else other than the weather...something that happened to me. 

I calmed myself down enough to visit the Ghostgate Fortress. The garrison consists half of the Temple's religious police, the Ordinators, whom reside in one tower, and the other half is of the Buoyant Armigers, a similar force, but answerable only to Vivec, one of the three God-Kings of the Tribunal Temple. The Armigers are much friendlier than the Ordinators and I bought several restorative potions from the apothecary in their tower.

There is an actual Tribunal Temple spanning the two organizations' towers and the priestess was rather chatty, selling me an Illusion spell that would help mask my movement in combat, disorientating my enemies. She spoke of a Dunmer who lived underneath the Red Mountain, calling himself Dagoth Ur. According to her, he tried to betray the Tribunal, but they fought against him until he was constricted from leaving Red Mountain. In a bid to conquer Morrowind, he conjured up the Blight through some unknown means and the Tribunal erected the Ghostfence to hold it back. She assured me that the Ghostfence was strong enough to withstand Dagoth Ur for thousands of years to come and after experiencing what I assume is Dagoth Ur's hospitality I am very glad to hear that and hope he eventually rots there.

I left Ghostgate later in the evening than I wanted, but I definitely am not staying at Ghostgate knowing one side of the fortress lies bare to the Blight and Red Mountain. The trip was nerve-wracking, I constantly had the sensation of something creeping up at me whenever my back was turned toward the Red Mountain. The sun had long set by the time I glimpsed the comforting Imperial walls of Caldera. It's my luck then, that a women should jump out of the darkness, nearly scaring me out of my wits. I almost skewered her, but she must have seen my expression and backed away quickly, hands in front of her. Her name was Aeta Wave-Breaker and she asked my help in tracking down a bandit who had stolen her family heirlooms. Dro'Zhirr was his name, obviously a Khajiit, though that doesn't matter. I told her I'd look into it tomorrow morning and walked through the naked gate of Caldera, seeking nothing but the bed I am sitting in now. 

The unguarded gate of Caldera

I should have taken the time to see my contact in Caldera to explain what I had experienced, but that can wait until the morning. Right now the candle is burning low and hopefully I'm tired enough that whatever dreams I suffer tonight will pass by with nary a trace. Tomorrow I should make an effort at recovering Aeta's heirlooms as I promised, but I really should be practicing my magicka skills. Whatever I do, I'm keeping my distance from the Red Mountain.