Written Works

It will be of no surprise to you all (whether reading from the Arcane University, the Tamriel Botanical Society, or in the crowd right now at the Alchemical Symposium) that I believe the nirnroot to be one of the most mysterious plants in Mundus. Dare I say, perhaps even the most mysterious on all the known planes. From its otherworldly green glow, to it's ghostly chime that often gives it away, this rare ingredient has intrigued and captured the minds of alchemists likely for longer then man and mer have been on Tamriel. Indeed, it has captured mine as well. Indeed, when my mentor and master alchemist Sinderion planted the seed of wonder for this odd bit of green, I had no idea where it would lead me.

While rumors of a connection between nirnroot and The Hist have circulated since time immemorial, the first written record of the plant came from Imperial Herbalist Chivius Regelliam. Among a number of theories on their sudden dissappearance after the Sun's Death Event of the first era, he makes note of their "brilliant, yellowish glow" alongside the usual talking points of the root. This descriptor was notable to Sinderion, as when he began studying the nirnroot sometime in the third era, they glowed a soft blue. The strangeness becomes further evident as we look at the uncommon, wild nirnroot of today which glows a bright white-ish green. This, plus the noisiness of the plant going from a peaceful wind-chime to something of a chapel-bell in the last few decades, shows the growths impressive ability to change much faster then the average shrubbery. Sinderion had even found rare cases of the plant growing in caves as opposed to on shores, and a previous field researcher of his even reported finding some growing completely submerged in water. Indeed, the nirnroot has a remarkable history of change, who knows if it'll even be recognizable to its first era self in the next few hundred years.

While the rarity of the plant has been fluctuating since Sinderion learned how to cultivate them, they are still not particularly commonplace. However, despite their scarcity, they're rather easy to find if you know where to look. Despite their changes, nirnroot still prefer to live by water. Their long and thick straw like roots often grow close enough to the water the plant will often be partially submerged during the rainy season. However, as mentioned before, finding them in damp caves and even fully submerged isn't impossible. They don't seem to have a preference for salt or fresh water, further proving their resilience, and while they don't mind the cold they tend to become significantly less common (or perhaps dormant) when the local water is frozen. While Sinderion believed the secret to the nirnroot, both it's changes and its life, came from the soil, I haven't managed to find any correlation beyond it's usage to combat blight and the theory that Red-Mountains ash was what brought about the plants change in the first era.

And what of the nirnroots effects? While the Botanical Society may take interest in a plant simply for its existence, what makes a the nirnroot worthy of a student of alchemy's attention? The previously mentioned cure for blight is interesting, but likely surprising to most of you who've dabbled with the roots properties, as the average alchemist seems to only find severly poisonous effects. That is, unless you have read up on Sinderions notes on the subject. Hidden beneath it's rather negative effects, through careful extraction and synthesis, you will find the glowing ghost has a number of exceptionally beneficial properties. These include magical resistances, invisibility, powerful night vision, and, through means proven but never replicated by my former master, a potion that improves your entire being. This may sound like the pipe-dream of a deranged skooma addict, but even I, a far lesser alchemist to that of the legendary Sinderion, have accidentally stumbled across additional effects, such as water breathing and the magical production of light.

With all that said however, why am I wasting your time with a lesser version of a speach given by a genius nearly half a century ago? Because, like the plant he so loved, that genius is missing. Sinderion left Cyrodiil a couple years ago to study the nirnroot in Skyrim. He believed that working within one province and amongst his own cultivations was not enough to understand the immensity of a puzzle that was the nirnroot. Outside of a single terse letter from The College of Winterhold confirming my question on his arrival and subsequent departure, no one has heard from him since. So I request, not just from my peers at The Arcane University, but also from the small Tamriel Botanical Society and everyone here at the Alchemical Symposium, for support in an expedition into Skyrim. Not just to continue what I believe to be important work in the study of nirnroot, but to find the most important alchemist of our time.

"The only piece of advice I can give you: 'Leave no stone unturned!'" -Sinderion

Fathis moved, crouched and slow to the edge of a patch of tall flowers. Hoping his shuffle was quiet enough, he got as close to the edge of a cluster of gold kanets as he dared and, slowly, nocked an arrow so it's shaft wouldn't touch any of the surrounding flora. He pushed the spike of chitin at the end of of his bow into the ground and began slowly inching back the string. Two inches, Four, to his lips, and then to the edge of his growing grey smirk. After a generation of the Avel line being forced to live on the mainland, the Dunmer was ecstatic to return to Gorne and equip the mantle of the island's hunter. Never before had just another nix-hound looked like such a prize.

He breathed slow gentle breaths from his mouth as the green-shelled beast sniffed at some anther before turning it's heads to face the seas behind it. The bug-beast seemed in no hurry to get wherever it thought it was going as it stepped casually past the flower patches and sniffed at the air towards the distant calls of cliff-racers. Decades of being the top predator made them careless and fat. The fat part wasn't quite as obvious till they were over a fire, but that didn't stop Fathis' mouth from watering at the thought. Eventually the beast stopped just a few feet away, nose again sniffing the air, now with more intensity. Apparently, it was finally becoming weary of the the odd smell of the kanets.

Without a second thought the hunter let fly the arrow. With a hollow k-thunk it went into the side of the hounds abdomen.

Damn it.

Before the beast knew what had happened, Fathis nocked another arrow, took a deep breath, and aimed more carefully at the gap between the head and abdomen shell.

qua-ssch

Guars-eye

The hound let out a croak as it fell... dead before it even hit the ground.

The Dunmer stood from his golden blind and ran to his prize with a sharp laugh. He began his work tugging off the front and hind legs and tossed then off the ledge into the sea, then held the measured notches of his bow up to the creature's tusks. Easily over a foot long. Anywhere else in Morrowind and it would've been a once in an elven lifetime trophy, but Fathis had seen bigger in the last few days and tossed the head into the sea after plucking out the eyes. After the dressing was done, he slid his bow into a guar skin sheath on his back before hoisting the shell up with both arms. Nix-hounds tended to be rather light compared to most big game, but the size of such a juicy one meant the walk back to the village would require multiple breaks... and perhaps even a quick snack of raw hound eyes.

Fathis didn't mind the long journey. After a lifetime of hearing about Gorne, the last few weeks felt like a dream and, if it was, he intended to remember every moment of it. The flowers were more plentiful then even his childhood mind imagined, butterflies and bees fluttered about giving the air a quiet hum, and the sounds of the many small streams and waterfalls he passed gave him a peace he didn't think possible on the mortal plane. To his right, the salty sea glowed golden from the setting sun, and to his left grew full-leaved trees beside the freshest ribbon of water in Tamriel.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll see where these streams start... he thought as the village came into view.

The village of Gorne looked like a common Indoril settlement. Same elegant jade rooves that curved at the corners with polished stone brick walls below, same eye for beauty with a large gazebo and a garden that surrounded it. The only difference that could be spotted was the closeness of the structures and the the variety of flowers planted in front of every home and business. Purple and pink willows and anthers, blue stoneflowers, yellow and white kanets, and Timsa-Come-By's and heathers filling in the space lower to the ground. Every inch of town was idyllic and in bloom.

As with many Indoril, however, the people who lived there were a little less inviting. Despite their request for his return, and his ancestral right, the majority of locals did not view him as such. The treated him much like a stray cat... he may have his use catching the rats, but that doesn't mean they'd give him a pat for his efforts. Even when the rats are in fact hounds, and the cat leaves them at the village's doorstep. He didn't mind however. Most of everyone just gave him a wide berth and shifty eyes, outside of one family.

The hunter and his haul received a few glances and grimaces from the townsfolk as he worked his way to his small home on the edge of everything. He had a small butchery set up outside, just a table for a chopping block and a small fire for roasting and smoking, but was surprised to see someone already at the butcher block. Fathis tried to remain composed as he approached the familiar unfriendly face.

Ah, how are you Avel? I was wondering if you'd make it back with anything before sundown. Idav, working son of the Andary family, was in the middle of removing the scales off a particularly nasty looking slaughterfish with his fillet knife.

I knew I should've sealed that table... Well I have, and here I am. Now would you mind finishing your work at your own home or by the docks so I can begin mine?

Sure sure, I just was fishing on your side of the island and, well, another small haul as usual since the beasts moved in made me think I'd just clean em real quick here... Let me just finish up. With practiced grace, the bald dunmer dropped his hand, slicing the fish in two, and catching the fillet that fell while allowing the guts to land and burst on the table. Good luck with that hound hunter. He said snickering as he walked towards the docks.

Fathis held his glare till it was obvious Idav wasn't turning back to look again at his handiwork. The hunter shook his head and decided he'd work on the ground today.

When the first of the Avel's arrived during the Velothi exodus, they had wondered if Azura had taken them when they'd laid eyes on it. It was a rocky island with a mountain at it's center off Morrowind's Padomaic coast and, to the pilgrims, it was like a chunk of Moonshadow had been conjured for them right there on Nirn. It had everything those few who went beyond Necrom would've wanted. The mountain was adorned in waterfalls and lush trees, the land below was fertile both in soil and beasts, and the sea surrounding was plentiful with fish and kalpops. Gorne grew a small but rich culture closely tied to the three, but notably separate from the rest of Morrowind. Fathis' family had been the islands sole hunters for generations till late in the Third Era, when it seemed all that was left were the rats in the ruined Sixth House tomb. With all the other ancestral duties taken by others on the island, Fathis' father left, heartbroken, for the mainland.

Fathis' father spoke of his past home frequently, especially between jars of Sujamma. Even with the damn hounds gone I'd still go back... if only it wouldn't be such a disgrace... fetchers... is rat meat not good enough for you? Prefer Andary's week old slaughterfish I guess... His father's ramblings about Gorne was more familiar to Fathis then any hunting technique. So it was cruel irony that lead to him receiving a letter from that very island calling for a return a mere week after his fathers death.

Fathis was under the impression he'd never see the island. His father had moved from city to city for work, starting in Akamora (where relations with a certain Indoril noblewoman lead to Fathis' birth, and him and his father's quick and quiet removal from the city), then Andothren, before eventually settling in Aldruhn. The barren ashlands around the city were about as far from the warm and wet island as you could get, but the two locales now had one important similarity. It was quite handy that the majority of the hunting being done around Redoran territory was for the same flying devils that had invaded the Avel ancestral home.

The journey took a number of days by siltstrider and then by boat. Fathis had brought nothing from his old life but the chitin bow used by his father, apparently made by some great-grandfather, believing it to be his key to his fathers old home and whatever remained inside. After a rather cool welcoming committee from the village elders, he was disappointed to find that little remained in the old house but a number of sujamma jars and broken furniture. It seemed his father was was especially torn up about the exile before he left. After a few days of sleeping on cold stone and hunting from dawn til dusk, he had managed to gather enough hides and gold to construct and purchase some meager furnishing. His cheap construction lead to him looking like a squatter in his own house, and his treatment from the townsfolk didn't help that feeling, but he had grown used to roughing it most of his life and was as comfortable as he ever was.

The worst part of the island was the Andary family. Apparently Fathis' father and Idav's fathers, Delamus, were not on the best of terms when he departed, and with the head of household being that same father, Delamus had his kin make every day for Fathis one in the Deadlands. His grandchildren would spit at Fathis as he walked through town, his wife would leave 'gifts' of fish guts at his door, and Idav (being the most interested in following his fathers example) would find a new method of torture nearly every day. One of the guards in town, Drarana, was nice enough to Fathis since his arrival, but was discouraged by the other two guards in town from intervening. If the homecomer was anywhere else in the Empire, he would've left weeks ago.

The torture did not outway the islands peace and beauty however, and despite never knowing what thorn he'd find in his side by the end of the day, he woke up happy and thankful for his controversial return. Everyday seemed brighter in Gorne, and Fathis knew it would be just a matter of time before he sewed his way into the tight knit society.

As a new day dawned, and Fathis was awakening from a pleasant dream about a Dunmer girl (in nothing but daedric boots), the hunter heard the sound of hard tapping on the bricks to his right. He quickly sat up to grab some string and tie up his black hair, grabbed his bow and his gut knife, and jaunted out the door to the side of his house still in just his shorts. There, fluttering obnoxiously, was a cliff racer. It seemed to be attempting to assault the east wall of the hunters house with its tail stinger. It seemed as of the last few mornings that the cliff-devils managed to track their killer down, and were doing their best to assert dominance. It had become a nuisance, mostly because of the old and less pleasant folks in town trying to blame the beasts' early-morning ruckus on him.

The racer turned to begin dealing with its opponent when Fathis launched three shards of chitin through its leathery wings. It squawked in disapproval and swooped down, only to be slashed from neck to torso with the gut knife as the hunter ducked. The fight was over in only a few seconds, and officially concluded when the beasts swoop ended against the side of a building next door. The face of old lady Flannu flashed a glare out her window a moment later. Fathis gave an apologetic wave and, by the tail, dragged his prize to the gutting area.

Cliff-Racers don't have much for meat on them. That and their exceedingly aggressive behavior make them nothing but pests to those who get the pleasure of having to deal with them. Their plumes however were relatively valuable to alchemists, and Fathis had found a way to make their tail tips into heavy, but effective arrows. He hacked off the tip of the tail with a hatchet and gathered as many decent plumes as he could before lugging the beast a ways out of town and pushing its carcass into the sea below. After, he went back inside, laced up a tan shirt, wrapped his feet, and slung his bow in sheath over his shoulder. With that bit of unpleasantness out of the way, he began his day proper.

Fathis never really took days off, even before the move, but he liked to consider his scouting days as something of the like. They normally involved nothing more then walking in silence around the mountain, and if any groups or large animals were spotted, he'd take note and watch for a bit. Many nobles from around the empire would pay good money to do just that. But first, he needed to pick up fuel for the journey.

The biggest building in town was their one Inn, The Emerald Haven, and while he could just eat some of the hound he got the night before (or if he was REALLY desperate for variety, some cliff-racer tendons), Fathis prefered to start his day with kwama-egg fried mudcrab on scouting days. His financial situation didn't quite support the habit, but it helped that the girl who ran the front was the same one from his dreams.

The place was as quiet as always in the early morning: empty, besides the guard snoozing at a table in the corner. Even behind the counter seemed quiet, but that wasn't unusual at this hour. Fathis usually had to wake Delyna up. He sat on a stool at the bar and peered over to see Miss Belvayn asleep on her bedroll, still in her linen clothes and apron, ever ready for the rare traveller or early hunter to arrive. He kept himself from staring by giving the bar a few hard knocks.

Delyna's eyes fluttered open. She seemed still half chained by Vaermina even as she lifted herself up. Welcome to Gorne and The Emerald Haven traveller... what would you... Her voice slurring a bit as she leaned on the bar. Oh, she chuckled a tired laugh. Goodmorning again Fathis... uh, the usual?

That and some scrib jerky, if you have any. I've ran out since last week.

Mm, the girl yawned as she turned to the stove behind her. She pulled her maroon hair behind her ears with one hand while another tossed some mudcrab meat from a barrel to the pan in front of her. Too bad we don't have any egg mines huh? You could hunt your own scrib for jerky and sneak out an egg or two, then you wouldn't have to come in and wake me up so early. She said, glancing back at him with a smirk.

Well paradise can't be perfect, in this life at least. Fathis did his best to keep his eyes up as Delyna worked, bent at the low stove. Though I suppose the islands rather close.

Delyna put another log in the stove and gave the blaze a few pokes. After a moment, she took a kwama egg in both hands, gave it a shake, broke a hole in it's top, and poured a short stream of the beaten egg into the crab. After a few flips of the pan, the rich smell of of the sea took over the room. The guard in the corner gave a congested sniff, but remained peaceful at his post.

The cook picked out a blue and white plate from under the bar as a target, and with a flip of the pan, landed her creation on the guars-eye. ta-da!

Impressive! We'll have to ship you out to Andothren or Vivec and have you perform for some of the great houses.

I'm sure they have plenty of Khajiit chefs who can do things much more impressive then put mudcrab on a plate, but thank you. And here... She pulled out a jar of mazte and put it down beside his plate. On the house.

Did she just wink?

You sure? I don't need the mazte but I can pay for the rest.

No need. The ingredients aren't exactly Great House quality, and my parents set me for the easy life when they fixed this place up when I was little. She paused for moment, and let out a quiet sigh. Besides... I guess it's nice having someone wake me up in the morning. She said with a gentle smile. I wouldn't mind if you did it more often.

The hunter gulped.

Seems the Avel line might be busy with a hotel in the future.

Seems the two of them had disturbed the guards 'watch' after sneaking to the guest rooms. When Miss Belvayn sent her favorite hunter away, the snoring suit of bonemould was nowhere to be found. Fathis walked down the quiet street of the village with a bit of a bounce in his step. Between the warmth of both his breakfast and its surprise happy ending, the cool morning air felt perfect, and he was as energized as fire when the suns rays hit him from the padomaic horizon.

Paradise can't be perfect in this life, but it seems closer every day. Count your blessings Serjo.

Fathis Walked down the western path of the island. Though his mind struggled to stay on the days task, he only passed the waterfall he was heading for once before approaching it. The largest waterfall on the island started at the very top of the mountain, ended dramatically at the base, and formed a small and shallow river that lead out to the sea. It was picturesque and dramatic, yet fell gentle enough it was a favorite bathing spot for many of the villagers. Though the islanders had never given it a proper name, the hunter had started calling it Wedding Falls shortly after arriving. Cliff-racers liked rocks and mountains, and if that wasn't reason enough to check the spring above, he'd seen the beasts drinking from the bottom of Wedding Falls in the morning before flying right up it's length.

There was no easy way to the peak. The west trail of the island went halfway, but became to steep to go any higher past a certain point. While he was practically as far down as he could be, the cliffside by the falls had many jutting rock faces with decent handholds all the way to the top. Not an easy climb by any means, but quicker, cheaper, and much more exciting then heading to the mainland to purchase a levitation potion.

With just a quick rub of his callous hands, the hunter was off. First few handholds were like warped steps, too far apart for man or mer, but too small for any larger beasts. Left hand. Right hand. Left foot. Pull-up. Right foot. This continued up and back and forth across the rock face for a while, eventually leading his climb to under the water. His soaked clothes and hair made the ascent drag, and there were a few times where he stopped just to hand himself in the torrents. Draining, but cool and pleasant.

His first proper rest came a hundred feet off the ground, where the falls made a small shelf, just big enough to stretch out to lay in the water. Fathis pulled his soggy scrib meat from the bag and chewed, looking out at the top of the canopy of trees from his vantage.

Only way this could be better is if I had some hackle-lo... I'll have to ask Delyna to import some.

After swallowing his snack dryly, he only had to climb a few more short shelves before reaching the top. It was a touch underwhelming to the mer, it looked much the same as the rest of the island, tho perhaps a bit more sparse. It was a plataeu, only visible at the top. The few short trees that were there seemed thin, like the leaves had been shaken off, and every few feet was a large pile of dung turning the grass to dirt. At the center of the plataeu was the most noteworthy part of it all, the crystal clear spring that birthed the islands falls. A small pond, deep in the center with quickly sloping sides. It would've been beautiful, if not for the flock of over thirty Cliff-Racers now taking flight from their nests around the peak.

A cacophany of squaks and screeches, the likes Fathis hadn't heard even during their mating season in Ald'ruhn, erupted around him. Each one spread their wings and screamed as they took off, before beginning to circle the peak. In just a few moments, the mountain top had become a whirlwind of leather and feathers as each beast joined the flock in what almost felt like the springing of a trap.

The hunter pulled the bow from his sheath and began hurling arrows into the swarm. It seemed for every arrow that punched through one's wings were two sent careening towards the sea. He knew it would've been more effective to use his knife on the ones that swooped, but he wasn't sure if he could handle more then one at a time. He kept letting arrows fly while doing his best to dodge the swoopers. Nine. Eighteen. Twenty-four. Thirty-six. He counted only four fall. He ran out of chitin at forty-two and switched to the tail-tips. One... Two... dodge... four... five. He shot a bit slower, managing to knock four more out of the sky. Eight... ten... twelve-

A Racer tail clipped his bow, hurling it over the cliff and into the river below.

Damn it- by The Three!

He pulled out his knife as another one dived for him, dashing to the side and slashing a long cut through it's wing with the sound of torn flesh. The beast lost control and seemed to thrash through the air in the direction of the hunters lost bow. He noticed a branch on the ground and held it in his left hand. Two more came in, their attack staggered just enough he managed to smack one mid flight before slicing the other. Both tumbled, then seemed to deem the fight hopeless, and flew west.

It was at this point that Fathis noticed the flock finally beginning to thin out from death and retreat as he felt warm drops coming from the sky. Warm, red drops falling from the feather storm... it seemed his arrows flew truer then he had thought. The beasts had quit their assault, and the screeching storm dissappated slowly with a thick rouge rain. Many dipped and fell out of the sky, into the sea or onto the hard soil. Those that stayed in the air drifted away, fatigued, in the direction of the mainland, little by little, till the skies were finally quiet.

There was no prize to claim back in the village. His prize had been given to him when he had arrived on the island, though the sudden shift in how the townsfolk looked at him was reward enough. Everyone had seen the carnage of the fight, and with the mer returning from the mountain painted red, a small victory celebration was planned that night at The Emerald Haven. Everyone in town was there, even most of the Andry family with only subtle looks of displeasure forced upon their face.

The hunter had suddenly became a local hero. Folks who usually turned their nose up gave thank you's, and modest acquaintances were ordering him rounds of Mazte on the hour ever hour. The atmosphere was light, the room smelled of fresh hounds meat, and it was the first time in weeks Fathis heard laughter in his presence.

Sometime late in the night he had fallen asleep, and the next day woke up late in a barely familiar bed. The emerald stained window beside him revealed he was on the second floor, and strewn across the room like rose petals were both his and Delyna's clothes from the night before. The Mer smiled to himself.

Fathis tied back his black hair, laced up his tan shirt, wrapped his feet, and slung his bow in sheath over his shoulder. He padded down the jade stone steps of The Emerald Haven, and smiled at the beautiful girl behind the counter who smiled back. He took a seat at the bar, and gave it a knock.

"The usual, please."

South-east of The Imperial City is a tall, quiet bridge suspended over the Northern Niben of similar stone construction to that of other crossings in central Cyrodiil. If you've ever looked at a map of the area you've likely seen this bridge at the Red River's source; but, unless you enjoy long walks around Lake Rumare, you've probably never seen the bridge for yourself. Even if you are one of the few lucky (or unlucky) enough to travel throughout the province, there's no reason to take this bridge. Going to Cheydinhall, it's much faster to go north after passing through Weye, and again, there's a faster road to the southern cities that you will see before you reach the crossing. The only reason to take the bridge is to visit one of the small settlements in south-east Cyrodiil, mostly small farm towns or communities close enough to Leyawiin you may as well stop through there first. And while Bravil isn't viewed as the most pleasant town in Tamriel, it's much safer to rest a night there then continue your journey then to walk through the dank dark of the Blackwood. Nay, the bridge, so close to the largest city in Cyrodiil, is so desolate that even miscreants from the lowly bandit to skooma kingpins avoid placing any traps there except in the dryest of criminal seasons.

While all these reasons are enough to dissuade the majority of sentient creatures from ever crossing, the bridge continues doing it's job, and some souls from time to time find it does more then a bridges work usually entails.

Yes, while highway men are uncommon along this stretch of road, the guards are still set to patrol this lonely place. On a certain Tursdas sometime in the 3rd Era, Lorexus Venarus sat atop his Black Horse, clad in Imperial Guard's armor, making his thirtieth round about Lake Rumare that week. That morning, he had half a loaf of bread and a wedge of cheese, before leaving the barracks before the crack of dawn. He'd done this since he was sixteen, every day. It wasn't all horseback however, there were many days of standing on the left or the right side of one of the doors in The Imperial City. Sometimes he even patrolled the streets. But this week was his to ride the road around Rumare, and he wasn't feeling very enthusiastic about it.

He had passed Weye long ago, taking the road clockwise around the city. He passed by the same bushes and shrubs where bandits never hid, he passed by Aleswell and The Roxey Inn where he had his forty-first birthday a few weeks prior, and his horse and him were trotting through the mostly uninhabited east banks when his mood turned sour.

My parents never wanted me to be an adventurer. 'You'd never even TURN UP dead' they said.

They didn't even want me in the guard, but I took it anyways despite hating the idea of being told to do the same thing, day in and day out. I don't even know why I did it. Just to spite them?

And now they're dead, and I have nothing to show of my life for it.

His brooding continued, down cobbled streets sealed by the gravelly sand of the lake he'd circled more then guard-dogs circled their bed, down the path he'd worn himself with heavy horse hooves over twenty-five years. He'd passed an Ayleid ruin he'd passed a thousand times before, steadfast and strong in it's ability to stay the same, and believed the long crossing over the Upper Niben would be similar. That is, until he noticed a figure in the middle of The Bridge, his mild confusion turning to surprise as the figure remained in place. It stood standing still and straight, even as his steed started knocking across the stonework.

Suicides from this bridge weren't unheard of, but the figure wasn't on the edge, and if it was some sort of highway man they likely would've jumped or drawn a blade at first sight of a guard. Lorexus approached with caution, expecting the figure to make a move every step his horse took closer. He put his hand on his hilt at a hundred feet, and spotted before the man when he still had not moved once he reached him.

The figure was a Khajiit with a heavy build in rough light armor that appeared a patchwork of hides, hardened leather, and chain. His face, though slightly obscured by a brown hood, appeared like a lion with intimidating black stripes like warpaint on a sandy face, and a long greying mane of a subtley darker hue that obscured his ears. His feet, or perhaps paws, were bare but for a sparse rapping of cloth over gnarled fur and claws. At his side was an odd and ancient looking long sword, without a sheath, strapped to him with a rope belt.

His voice came out a low and gravelly growl, "Hail lawman. Perhaps, before you turn this poor cat in, you'd be willing to hear his words."

Lorexus licked his lips under his helmet, then with a slow blink began, "As a member of The Imperial Legion I am sworn to uphold the law of the Emperor. If you are about to admit to a crime you can let a judge or a dungeon master hear your words."

The furred rogue nodded slow. "This one is Do'Kathre, though he has gone by many names because he has lived many lives. Once, Do'Kathre could call himself the greatest warrior in Elsweyr. Then, at an early age, he was honored with the title 'Dro', and Dro'Skar became a wise-warrior. In time that life grew tiresome, and the name Dar'Danjhi struck fear in the coinpurses of nobles from Senchal to Solitude. All while..." he let out a breathy snicker, "Influencing their daughters with a taste of the wild side."

The lion paced back and forth a moment, the silence between them oddly comfortable. Lorexus didn't even realize he had leaned in for the story. "Again," the Khajiit started, "I grow tired. I am old. My whiskers now grow longer then my mane, and the daughters of nobles no longer see me as an experienced courtier, but a wise elder... perhaps even a grandfather. I ran from that life long ago, when I felt it unnatural for me." He paused and stared towards The White-Gold Tower across the blue of Lake Rumare. "Now? I say away with the 'Do's' and the 'Dro's' and the 'Dar's'. I wish to just be Kathre." He turned and looked the stunned guard in the eye. "I will admit to only the crime of stalking. I was following you on your path. In fact, I've been following you for a while. I believe we both wish for something the other has."

Kathre drew his blade, cutting it from the rope in the process. "And if you don't accept this trade, you'll have to prove you wish to keep what you have."

Lorexus had his hand back on the hilt of his sword, but did not draw. His brow, locked in a furrow, gave away the machinations of his mind. The square off lasted just long enough to for Kathre's hand to shake under the weight of his weapon, and for the veins of Lorexus' temple to show. Then in a flash, Lorexus' sword was flung out of sheath and onto the ground. Kathre's hard face smiled.

That year, an old Khajiit watch-captain was appointed in the Imperial city, and an old Imperial rogue was granted the title 'Do'.

There, also, was once a couple that lived apart in the early 4th Era. Rena Bincal, a farmers daughter from the small town of Cropsford, would go on long walks along the road where she would eventually meet her lover. Verana Athram, a Dunmer from a well-off though troubled family, began travelling to The Bridge at sunset to think over the sparkles of Rumare and the marble towers of The Imperial City.

Their chemistry was instant. Rena was enraptured by the Dark Elf's mysterious melancholy, and Verana the light spirited nature of her attentive Breton listener. They spoke of their lives, from their struggles to their successes, and every one of their dreams no matter their loftiness. Rena wished to do as her parents did, and strike out for land of her own. She wanted to build a farm to rival any of her ancestors, and above all, she wanted change. That all had to wait however, as long as her parents had a farm of their own. Verana wished to return to Morrowind. After the death of her father, she wanted to return to the one place he always said he was happy to leave... maybe then she would forget him. Nothing would stop her from going, her mother was wealthy and wouldn't need her help, she just needed an excuse.

Between the sentimentality, under the orange sky, passions flared rather quickly. Nearly every day at the same golden hour, after a long talk on life, or simply being, hand in hand, they'd make love as the sun set into the glowing Niben. Below The Bridge and by the water these seeds grew. They took the form of an elegant tangle of legs, like curving dark grey vines clinging to the smooth roots of a pale young oak, shaking in a monsoonal display. Like two breeds of soft flowering moss in black and brown they fought and begged, for more ground, up and down and up and down, upon each others heavenly tree. Branches, leaves, and roots wrapped around each other, voluminous and curling within one another, desperate to pull the two spriggans of different forests together so their flowers may meet. Pistil to pistil, in nectar, sweat, and love... it came to them like nature. When they would finish it would be in the dark, but the couple glowed as nirnroots, and would laugh and swim beneath the bridge late into the night.

Neither spoke of any of this to their kin. Rena knew what her family would think of Nerana, and Nerana felt no need to put another thought into her mothers dying, empty head. Yet as their love grew, so did their distant dreams that had brought them together. No matter what they wanted to believe, they were each others escape, and an in-between of what was to come.

The day things changed was a windy one. Their long hair both blew like tattered flags in the wind, one black and one brown, and neither new if they were in advance or retreat. Nerana did not meet her lovers gaze as she usually did. This disturbed Rena, who had taken the elf's bright red eyes as a sign things were alright. When her head did not turn to meet her, pale girl turned to face the Imperial City with her. For a time, the only thing that spoke was the wind.

"I think I'll be moving to Morrowind. I sent letters years ago to Mournhold, asking if an Athren would be welcome back into the flin trade..." Nerana trailed off.

The wind seemed to quiet it's ramblings.

"When?" Rena started. "When will you go, I mean."

The Dunmer sighed. "I'll be sailing out the day after tomorrow." Her voice broke more then she liked. Rena's heart broke a little bit more. "I have enough time to pack and put things in order... That's all."

The golden sun dipped into the lake, as it always did, and made the couple's eyes sparkle. Two rubies and two saphires, affixed to two statues above the sea. The statues were silent but for sniffles.

A few moments later Nerana started again. "I won't ask you to join me, I know you would if I did, but I also know it wouldn't be right."

Their flags continued to fly, but the wind was silent.

Rena turned and took Nerana's hands, both of their eye's as wet as the river that their love was built over. "Our bridge may be gone, but I will always love you."

They promised they'd write letters, but never send them, then held each other till the new moon rose. They parted, returning to their sides of the river, and life went on as it does.

The final soul wished to send hers to Aetherius, The Bridge her portal.

Mirisa had grown up in a decent home. Her family were small time merchants, but well enough off to afford a ship for trade, and she came along. They never purchased a home, her Father intended to when he retired, but the ship was more then enough for this Redguard girl. It had two tall sails, a cabin for the married couple, and a very pleasant room fashioned in the galley for Mirisa behind the cargo. Her Father had never been great at book keeping; and over the years she snuck a rug every voyage to hang on the walls, candles of all different colors and scents, and of course a small collection of books that she placed under her bedroll.

Here she began reading stories of blood-thirsty pirates and rough-and-tumble adventurers by candlelight, vicariously living through her stories with the supplemental sway and groans of the ship where she always had comfort and at least two square meal a day. She was fascinated by the hard life and the unknown, both from the idea of one day doing what no one else has done before, and the danger of never knowing what would come next. Her eyes brown eyes sparkled and her small lips pricked at the violence and the dialogue of the marauder. She dreamed grandly of suffering she foolishly wished to endure when she came of age... she simply hadn't expected it to come so quickly.

Her day came on the calmest sea. The horizon was invisible as the crystal clear sky seemed to be one with the ocean. The ship moved slow and distant from shore towards the Topal Bay. It was if they were in the middle of the ocean. Her Father had just made a deal with The East Empire Company in Argonia and was told the mysterious packages should not be opened, lest they dramatically drop in value, but would fetch a very high price to the right person in the Imperial City. Despite the strangeness of the deal, and the angery looks received from the local population of Argonians, her Father took the deal in the hopes of an early retirement.

Mirisa had been on deck enjoying the sun and, still dreaming of the day she'd be let loose to have her own adventures, was attempting to figure how she'd navigate her own vessel this far from shore. She'd snuck her Fathers spyglass and was trying to see any notable landmarks, when she noticed a dip in the sea. It was like a massive lense had been dropped in the middle of the water, parting the blue a good few feet down, and it seemed to be getting closer. As she attempted to focus the glass' vision, a massive galleon appeared where the dip had been. She was blown away at the sight as she'd never seen invisibility magic before, and have never heard of it being done to the scale of a whole ship, but her stomach flipped as she noticed menacing tattered flags flying over the vessel. Then it picked up speed.

"Dad!" She screamed paniced.

Her Father hadn't even noticed it had appeared from his perch by the wheel. A curse escaped from under his black beard and he spun the wheel as far as it would go to the starboard side, but it was an overcompensation, and too late anyways.

Mirisa fell to the rough deck as the pirate-galleon splintered into the side of their ship. Her whole left side was speckeled with blood and already bruising, when she looked up to see the offending ship had been affixed with a massive axe-head on its bow. She attempted to stand, but felt the ship begin to turn to it's side. After attempting to find a handhold on the sinking ship, she decided she'd be better off in the sea, and launched herself as far as she could.

She sunk below the surface a bit, every cut from the crash stinging in the brine. When she surfaced, her families home was already dissappearing below the waves. She didn't even have time to mourn her old life or wonder about the state of her parents before she was suddenly ensnared in a net. The surprise caused her sink for a moment, choking in a lungful of water, before being raised by the rough rope and hung like fresh catch. She heard snakelike laughter between her coughs.

Suddenly she was dropped on a rough wooden deck again, now with the added rope weight, as the laughter came to a close. She blinked away her salty eyes and opened them to see a dark green scaled Argonian inches away.

"This one seems of age. It's always good when we get reparations." He said with a sinister smirk.

Mirisa struggled for a moment under the net before finding her voice. "L-let me go you brigands!" Everyone on deck laughed. Mirisa noticed they were all Argonians.

The lizard let out a dry chuckle. "Hmm, Mouthy one. I don't think you understand quite the situation you're in." He gave her a swift kick in the side causing her an equally short cry. "Black Marsh is tired of smooth-skins thinking they can walk all over us. You're sick for what you do, and we think it's time you get a taste of your own cooking."

The pain had her stunned, but she managed a few words. "What do you mean... Who are you?"

The green one looked back with disdain, then found an answer he found amusing. "Call me Red Bramman."

The pirate gave her another kick, this one in the center of the stomach, and she began to lose consciousness as she saw other members of the crew diving off the deck towards the ship.

"Check all the crates, no matter what they say, but just worry about bringing the eggs home to The Hist."

They didn't believe her when she told them she didn't know what her Father was transporting, and they didn't believe that her Father didn't know either. They beat her for a while after she woke up, asking if she knew of any other ships with eggs on them, and she said she didn't even know they had eggs on board. Then they beat her some more. They told her both her parents were dead, her father harpooned by a splinter the size of a tree and her mother drowned below deck, and that no one would be coming for her. They said she'd be sold to a Telvanni under the counter alongside kresh fiber, and that the crew was going to prepare her for what came ahead. The men with a little more zeal then the women.

After a week in what felt like a ritual to Molag Bal, she was stuffed into crate with just enough room with her knees to her chest, and a few hours after that was released into a dark and dank room with two Dark Elves and an Orc staring back at her.

"I don't care where you're from," the Dunmer in shining robes began. "I don't care who your parents are, and I don't care what The Empire or The Nine have to say. You're here to keep my less civilized servants civil while they're working with me. If you cause any problem, or if THEY cause any problems, you'll take part in one of my experiments. The only way you'll avoid that is if you do as you're told. Am I clear?

For a moment she considered a response. For just a flash, words of contest came to mind, but instead she just lowered her head.

"Good."

Life wasn't good, but it was better then the ship. She was given a cursed bracer that limited her fertility, and servants of The Wizard (whom she never learned the name of and never saw again) of all ranks used her as stress relief. She learned fast it was best to keep quiet, even when spoken too, and the easier she made the process the faster it would be done.

With no view of the sky the weeks turned to months and the months coud've been years. Her dark hair grew longer then she was tall, and no one seemed interested in cutting it. Her body shrunk, and mind grew distant from herself, and this new un-life continued for a long time.

The only person she spoke to, from time to time, was an Argonian. A slave himself, old and de-spined and de-clawed, he originally asked to see her more out of confusion at the cruelty then for personal use. After introducing himself as Meer he asked about her past, how she'd been treated that day, and the two became decent friends. He'd repeat this every other day, bringing with some small scrap of food he'd stolen from the unenslaved. The only pleasant part of the girls day was breaking bread with the very race that had put her there.

"What if I told you I was going to escape?" The old red lizard asked one day.

"I wouldn't believe you. I haven't seen anything but candle light in... it feels like years."

"You're approaching your second year, yes. That's a good year though. They think they've broken you at that point."

Mirisa remained silent.

"I don't promise anything to anyone but masters anymore but," He held out his nubbed fingers, "I promise you'll be out of Morrowind by next month."

Days went by without him visiting. She worried that he'd been caught, or that he'd left without her, when one night she heard a muffled commotion from beyond the spongey walls of her cell. Then, the smell of rot, as a large hole withered and blackened away in the wall. Meer stepped through the hole and gave her a sharp toothy grin.

"A promise is a promise eh?"

Meer unlocked her slave bracer and lead and Mirisa down the winding corridors of the Telvanni fortress. From time to time a group would run by and, master or slave, the Argonian would grab his friends wrist and the two would turn invisible till they passed. When they reached a vertical tunnel, he casted another spell, before the two floated to the top floor. Then they reached a door that none of Meers smuggled keys would open, and he casted another spell on the lock that made it open. It seemed he had spell for everything.

Mirisa was blinded as the door opened, revealing a cloudy but bright day. She was practically dragged by Meer across the squishy mushroom balcony toward the edge. He casted another spell on both of their feet and legs, when a harsh voice was heard behind them.

"Both of you s'wits have really made a damned mess of things."

The Wizard's hands lit up, in his left some kind of energy that surrounded his body, and in his right a fireball bigger then it's caster.

Meer casted a ward between them then turned to Mirisa, "Well, a promise is a promise."

Just as the fireball was hurled at the escapees, Mirisa felt Meer's palm shove her forehead. For a moment she was worried of falling right off the balcony to the hard ground below, instead she found herself in what looked like a castle with a green robed Argonian looking back at her.

"Where's Meer?"

The Twin Lamps were saddened and dissappointed they lost such a skilled member, but did their best to help Mirisa as Meer would've wanted. She was told they could get her to the Imperial City, but after that it was up to her to find her way home. She never felt the need to tell them her story, and they never pressed for it.

She was put into a box once again, this time with more room and plenty of food and drink, and after many days of travel in a cramped space she was now unpleasantly familiar with, her box opened in the home of a Khajiit family. They gave her a place to stay for the night and a meal, but told her she would have to go after that. The family wanted to keep discreet in fear of the Cammona Tong. They gave her some gold, recommended a decent inn, and sent her on her way.

Mirisa lived for a time on the money, but struggled to leave the inn. Despite the friendly faces, she didn't want to end up right back where this nightmare of a life started. Eventually, when the money ran out, she began begging, and slept in a different district every night. Anything to keep herself unfamiliar and out of sight.

Again, life wasn't good, and now that the worst was over she wasn't even sure what to do.

She began taking walks, long ones, all around the city and Rumare. She didn't even realize she'd started at first. Her mind went blank and when she came to she was on a tall bride, far from most settlements. She didn't really mind, she hoped she'd wander into the wood some day, maybe get killed by a bear. Worst that could happen is becoming chosen by Sheogorath continuing down this path, but at that point she didn't care.

She came to once again on The Bridge. It was late. The full moon sat low on the horizon where the water touched the sky. She stood on The Bridge's rampart. Without thinking, she she closed her eyes, and gently leaned forward. But she didn't fall.

Her eyes were still sensitive to light years later, and her eyes shot open as a new day dawned. The sun rose from where the sky met the sea, and for the first time in years realized she wasn't trapped. She was older, much older then her young self thought she'd be when she'd finally have the freedom she wanted, and perhaps not as happy about it as she thought she'd be, but she was free.

Mirisa took a deep breath, and stepped off the rampart.

Morrowind's tutorial is considered by many to be the gold standard for introducing a player to a game. While you do get some pop-ups as you get off the boat (WASD to move, 'space to interact', 'here's how you lockpick', etc), Seyda Neen and the area surrounding it is an outlanders intro to Vvardenfel. It's an area easy enough to get new players acquainted, but balanced in such a way that it'll show returning players if their build is going to hold up in which departments.

Fargoth teaches you how quests work, both with his ring and stalking him for his stache, the dead tax collector shows you that quests have multiple routes to completion, and Addamasartus right on the town's doorstep will show you how you'll fair in combat. Then there's the lone shop, Arrielles Tradehouse, where you can trade and train, and even a decent spot in the census office to practice thievery on CIA levels of Moon-Sugar.

Everything about the area is a microcosm for the rest of the game, so I shouldn't have been surprised that their's more to the frequently memed 'Assemanu' cave then I initially thought.

I've explored the area around Seyda Neen pretty extensively. I like the swampy nature of it, and the clusters of small islands that dot this area of the Inner Sea. South-east of the starter town, and about halfway to Vivec, are a few islands. One with an odd dock with a gondola and a wrecked ship, and one with an oddly placed Sixth-House Lair. I remember the first time I wandered in, it was likely even before I even clicked with the game.

I'd just finished the Fargoth quests, barely managed to clear out Addamasartus of it's bandits, and was wandering around the area for more dungeons to explore. As I hopped from island to island, I eventually found Assemanu tucked away in a rock. I think I was only in there for a minute before being taken by the macabre atmosphere and slaughtered by a corprus beast.

My next exploration of the cave is likely when most people would encounter it... sometime during the temple or Hlaalu questline I think. At this point, I'd played through Morrowind before and I was playing a character at a more appropriate level for the dungeon. I cleared the place out without much struggle, and I claimed the robe of St. Roris, but when I tried to leave the doors out of the shrine room just wouldn't open. Even though it looked like an unlocked door, everytime you interacted it gave you the sound of a locked container. The unlock spell didn't seem to do anything either. This is a known bug apparently, and while there are a few way to escape, I ended up needing to teleport back to the Vivec temple anyways. Yet, something still nagged at me about the place.

Why was there such a high level dungeon next to "tutorial-land" Seyda Neen? Why was a House Dagoth shrine so close to the biggest city on Vvardenfel, let alone the home of a demi-god? Why did they have to name such a mysterious and strange place Assemanu?

These thoughts came to a head this playthrough when I decided I wanted to spend a whole night investigating the place. I'd look up whatever information I could find on the dungeon on the Elder Scrolls wiki's, read old forum posts, and of course clear the place out of Dagoth Ur's minions and investigate 'in person'. I thought it was kind of silly but, between the lack of a job and not much else going on in my life at the moment, I also thought it might be a fun and spooky way to spend an evening. So, I mixed myself a strong cocktail, broke out a pen and paper, and began my investigation.

I'll try and keep the preliminary studies brief. The biggest takeaways from the wiki and forum posts is there's a surprising ammount of bugs surrounding this location and it's related quests. Killing Dagoth Hlevul is supposed to free the minds of a huge number of sleepers in Vivec (a notable seven people in fact), but one has a small bug that will essentially give you infinite reputation points for speaking with him after the fact. There also is a spot in the cave wall next to a chest that has no collision. And of course, the 'bug' that's haunted many an explorer who came to the cave unprepared without a teleport, the two doors out of the shrine that just won't open. This was the biggest sign to me that their was more to this then meets the eye.

I ended up coming across an interesting forum post from '04 on a site called Through The Looking Glass that helped give some direction to my investigation. The first interesting thing someone mentioned was using the Morrowind Construction Set to take a closer look at the doors to double check they are indeed tied to the other section of the dungeon, but the reason they didn't work was a 'level 0 lock' placed on them. As far as I know, this is the only place there's a level 0 lock in the whole game. Funny enough, their is a key to this invisible lock on a dead Ordinator OUTSIDE the shrine room.

I would have likely just jumped into the game at this point, a little blind but at least having a little bit of meta-knowledge of the location, when I saw another post a little later in the thread that grabbed my attention (and my imagination).

When I got stuck in there it was with my first character, a Khajit. Level 16... Got him stuck in there. Managed to levitate out... ... Got stuck again. I thought you had to 'play' the bells in a specific pattern to open the doors.

"Levitate out"? Then "got stuck again"?

This wasn't a structure in the overworld, you couldn't just fly out like it was some deep hole you fell into. There isn't even a hatch or something on the ceiling to escape from as far as I or the wiki is aware. The post did have awkward syntax, maybe it was just odd word choice... but maybe it wasn't. Maybe my gut was right and there was more to this place, or maybe the shot or two of Everclear I used in my cocktail was hitting a bit harder then I expected. Eitherway, I couldn't get into the game fast enough.

I started up the game on my current character, a level 32 Khajiit Arch-Mage, and left the Mages Guild and the Foreign Quarter in Vivec. I cast my custom spell that buffed my jump by 100 for 2 seconds, Icarus' Danse, and launched myself in the direction of Seyda Neen. I landed like a shot duck near the island, and entered.

Inside was everything I came to expect from Sixth-House hideaways; the usual corprus beasts and ash creatures, the blood red candles, lava, the whole nine yards. The one notable difference of course are the three dead Ordinators scattered about, pieces of armor missing. I decided that if I was going to find something relating to this mystery I'd take everything I found, didn't matter if it was as worthless as ash salts or as valuable as Indoril boots, if there was an easter egg here or some hidden alternate escape I'd have to try everything. Fighting through the dungeon, I noticed the Ordinators were a bit off. Like, I've never seen an Ordinator without a helmet besides named ones, and each of them seemed to only have boots, one pauldron, an Indoril belt, and blue clothing... no helmets or chestplates in the entire cave. When I got to the one with the key, I decided to leave it, but I took the rest of everything they had.

If all this preamble is boring, I'm sorry, but this is where it gets weird.

I eventually cleared out the first room, then entered the shrine room. As always, the invisible lock was in play and I could not leave. I killed all the enemies in the shrine room, and after looking around for any obvious hints of oddities, I decided to check that wall without collision. I could only get my head out, but indeed, the wiki was right. I ended up levitating around the main room and down the winding halls of the cave for a while, attempting to find more. After searching a little bit to long, grinding my face against digital walls for half a hour (yes, I AM fun at parties), I decided to try doing what user RyushiBlade did all those years ago: mucking around with the bells.

From the first time I encountered them, I wondered why I never seemed to find a puzzle anywhere in the game that involved them. Tonal magic is such an important piece to the lore of Morrowind, and Todd Howard seems to love puzzels like this, I'm amazed I've never encountered one related to the Sixth-House bells... until now at least.

At this point I was somewhere between buzzed and drunk, and sadly I quit taking notes as I realized there was no way I was going to guess what kind of pattern of notes I was expected to hit if it had been hidden for nearly 25 years. I think something in my intoxicated brain believed it would have something to do with wearing the Indoril apparel and holding the bell hammer, and I definitely played the notes in the slow piano part of The Smashing Pumpkins song 'Glass and the Ghost Children' whenever I was frustrated. Then, as I played slow and sloppy melodies, I heard an explosion.

After nearly an hour of the whimsical Morrowind soundtrack paired with the unsettling tones of the bells, this just about knocked me out of my chair, but when I realized what happened I was beyond hyped. I couldn't believe I actually DID something! My Dad had accidentally figured out the potion glitch in Skyrim but this was on a whole other level to me.

Immediately I assumed some path had opened up. There's this spot with candles by one of the doors into the shrine room that I thought might reveal something, but it didn't seem any different. In fact, the whole interior seemed completely unchanged. After running back and forth down the twists of the cave I began the wall crawl again.

Maybe I missed something...

I levitated around for a bit in a few spots I hadn't thought to check before, including more focus of hitting the candle wall from more angles, with no luck. I was about to give up, pour myself another drink and just play the game like a normal person, when I decided I'd try that first wall without collision one last time, and sure enough, something HAD changed. It was no longer just my head that could could peek through the gap in reality, but I could easily float right out with my levitation amulet.

I made a new save then started looking around at the exterior of the cell, trying to find anything of note. The creepiness began here, as from the moment my character entered the void, those ghostly sounds you hear in Dagoth lairs and burial chambers was in both my ears through my headphones. Usually the effect kind of sits in a corner or something, but this was almost like another soundtrack put over the top of the usual lighthearted music. I was pretty messed up at this point, one Everclear cocktail down the hatch and at least a couple more shots between music making... I probably could've been a better detective in this time, but I didn't really see anything. It was annoying getting pulled back into the cell everytime I got to close to the walls and I didn't really expect to SEE anything else since people have likely no-clipped out of this dungeon many times in the past. Only weird thing was the game seemed to really not want me to go down into this hole below the lava. It just kept putting me back in the room, no-clip or not, but that's probably just how Morrowind dungeons function.

I wish there was a more dramatic end to the story, but I kind of just ended up getting frustrated and calling it a night... I think I was on the verge of passing out anyways. I plan on going back and double checking some things in the different saves if anyone has any ideas for me, but even if there's anything the bugs and generally incomplete feeling of it all leads me to believe it's probably just more of the games legendary cut-content. This isn't quite closure for me, but if it is the end, at least it wasn't just childhood paranoia.

Assemanu Cave Easter Egg Part 2

Sorry to anyone I kept waiting to get more of this investigation out. I was kind of winding down this playthrough anyways and wanted to start up an Oblivion character, so I've mostly been playing that. I'm also kind of a lazy butt, and paired with the fact my original post didn't get much traction, I knew discovering this secret could wait for me lol.

Anyways...

Going back into this investigation I wasn't really sure where to go from where I left off. Sure, I could get through the wall without TCL, but there wasn't much I could do after this little bit of world-egg hatching. Going too low sent me back to the interior and that low divet was the only thing I could think to check. My next lead however came from someone from the last posts comments.

So thank you Elvy for the tip! I'm not sure I've ever used detect key so I definitely wouldn't have thought to try it. On the first day, I was going to try and stay inside the cave for the entire duration of figuring out the easter-egg. However, it's becoming increasingly obvious that whatever was intended for this secret was not quite brought to fruition, so I'm not against marking the cell and Almsiving out to get new spells and supplies. Doubt it's going to break any of the seemingly non-existent scripting.

So, I teleported to Vivec, then Balmora to gather ingredients for boost intelligence and detect key potions. Fifteen minutes of potion exploiting later and I had a decently strong detect key effect on me, I think it was only a bit over twelve-thousand feet (small potatoes to Elvy's), but as you'll see this wouldn't be much of an issue. I also decided to see if the game ALWAYS teleported you back into the cell if you TCL'd to low, and floating only a few feet below Nalcarya's shop lead me right back to the foot of her door. I recalled back to the spot in front of the cave, and lo and behold, there was a blip on my minimap between the chest and the cave wall... right below where the wall no-clipped (sorry I didn't get it in this picture, forgot Morrowind doesn't get your UI unless you're in a menu).

I skipped checking below the map after learning what I did in Balmora, and so I used my levitation amulet, floated through the rocks, and began my ascent...

Up...

Up...

Up...

And up...

This continued for quite some time, the ghostly shimmering sounds from last time wearing on my nerves as all semblence of tangible reality faded into Morrowinds fog. Long enough the idea it was a bug definitely popped up in my mind; and, again, I wondered why I decided to spend my freetime holding down the 'W' key as my computer displayed a dark blue screen, when I could've been doing much more with my life. I could be practicing my bass, or writing songs, or improving my HTML, or going to said-parties I mentioned in the last part, or-

BY AZURA BY AZURA BY AZURA.

I'd never been one to be concerned about Morrowind having a sprint button, but I wouldn't have minded having a hotkey for a 'fortify speed' spell right then. When I finally made it to the dark rectangle, I found it was a copy of Azura and The Box. Placed atop was a candle, a copy of the "Old Key" out of the the shrine room, and an oddly placed piece of paper. At first I assumed it was missplaced, I thought it was supposed to be under the key or the candle like how sometimes paper is put under ingredients in game, but when I tried to pick it up...

I think I was stunned for a moment. I don't think I've ever picked up a piece of paper that actually had anything on it. Usually the notes you find in game all have their own model right? I was more shocked by the colors though. All the illustrations I've seen in game are done in black ink, the ones that come to mind for me are the sketchy Dwemer figures in The Egg of Time and Divine Metaphysics, but I don't think I've ever seen one in color. It just looked wrong and, as if to verify, as I pressed the 'take' button the ghostly whispering that had been so overwhelming in both my ears cut to just the usual soundtrack of Morrowind... and I could've sworn the text and the sigil stayed on my screen for just a moment too long after the paper texture dissappeared.

My mind immediately went to this all being a clue, but I wasn't really sure where to start. I was given a key, so do I have to leave at some point? Or will that break the egg? I was given two pieces of text, the note's probably the "question" of the puzzle, but what does Azura and the Box have to do with it? And am I supposed to do something with the candle or was that just to give light or shadow to the items in the void? It was nice to have something tangible beyond just 'the vibes' I was working off when I started this whole thing, but frankly I've never been good at puzzles in games. You don't even want to know how many times I thought I had to guess the combination to the Bleak Falls Barrow claw "puzzle" as a kid... going through every single combination, slowly watching as the stone dial rotates, over, and over, and over, before remembering the golden claw is literally the key.

I recalled back into the shrine room cell to assess my situation and supplies. Realistically, the pieces I had to work with were:

High Priority Pieces

1. An Old Key
2. "Azura and the Box"
3. Poem note
4. A candle

Low Priority Pieces

5. 6th House Bells
6. Bell Hammer
7. Corprus Meat
8. Dreamer Corpses
9. A chest

With even lower priority pieces being things found further away from the shrine and in the previous cell, like the ordinator junk.

I think I initially started by reading Azura and the Box again. For those who aren't familiar, it seems to be a story that proves the Daedra as not being all knowing, even if they are exceptionally powerful. It tells the story of a Dwemer trying to prove this to a Dunmer, they summon Azura, ask her whats in a box that he has, Azura is wrong, and curses both of them, but the Dwemer is content because he's a cool scientific-athiest and was right.

Then I re-read the poem and tried to break it apart. It talks about a dreamer, makes sense for 6th House junk, but talks pretty heavily about a flame and light. This made me think it HAS to have something to do with the candle. "Lost to light, blind till it shrinks" felt like the real kicker, like it was more or less the answer.

First thing I tried was taking the Azura and the Box and the note story seriously and put the candle into the chest, but nothing happened. Then I thought about how in the book Azura guesses a red flower is in the box, so I almsivied out, got a fire petal and even some red lichen, and tried placing them each individually into the box. Again, no luck.

I then pulled the idea out of my ass to place the candle at important places in the room, by the 6th House Shrine, in the basin nearby, on the chest, in front of the rock pileup with the candles... and yet again, nothing. I picked it up and equipped it like a torch, but it seemed like pretty much any other candle in the game.

I had already begun to get bothered again by my lack of progress, and was just going to quit here for the night. I had a couple other ideas, but they were about as good as the "put the candle down" game, so I went to pour myself a glass of wine and mix a cocktail to at least make my upcoming failures tolerable. However, when I came back I found the candle had gone out. I went through a whirl of emotions as my heart sunk, realizing it had been a long time since I saved, relieved when I realized it wouldn't take too long to get back to where I was, then chilled as I saw a text box appear at the bottom of my screen.

I don't have subtitles on.

The text dissappeared, and I sat back down at my desk. I just waited, mouth agape, eyes focused on the screen as I put my headphones back on... then a few minutes later.

I noticed the ghost sounds were back, thought much less consistent. As I sat staring at the red glow of the molten cave I would just barely hear the shimmer in one of my ears, like a spectre brushed past me just out of my periphery before dissappearing. It was more consistent by the 6th House Shrine, and as I tried to interact with one of the bells as I passed by them on the way out of the shrine area, they didn't make a sound.

Found the candles like this by the cave in. I ended up just snapping the screenshot, making a save, and using the key to exit the cave. Once I was out the text box quit appearing and the ghost sounds stopped. I'm not really sure what else I could've done. Maybe picked up the candle? It's silly, but with how this all turned out I had chills. Morrowind hadn't made me feel like this since I was a little girl, and while I feel like their might be more to the Easter Egg (with how Morrowind in particular treats its quests), I want a little space for a bit... definitely not because I'll have a hard time sleeping after this... nope!

Like I said, I don't know if there's anything else I can do, but if anyone has any ideas I'll give them a shot at some point. But between how much of a scaredy cat I can be combined with the fact that I'm onto an Oblivion character now, it might be a little bit before there's another update. If you never receive one, assume the Assemenu Easter Egg has been solved... or that the spooky 6th House ghosts got me IN THE REEEEEAL WORRRRLD OOOOOOH!

If you read this far though, I really appreciate it. It's been a long time since I've really written anything so I hope my prose got across the feelings I was experiencing. Let me know what you think of all this and if you have any ideas on how to continue. Thanks!

"Pristine beaches... colorful history... and world famous fishing. There's something for everyone. Visit The Florida Keys!"

That commercial, that damned setence, had repeated on the CRT hanging in the waiting room of Bob's Repair and Oil all winter. Then continued into spring. Now as summer approaches, and the heat and mosquitos wear even the strongest man down to his threads, the repetition was all the reason to avoid that swampy mess of islands the series of images was intending to commercialize.