Part 33 Here
Chapter List Here
WARNING: ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM SPOILERS!
Minding the Mine
On my return to Skyrim, the ship captain Kjar asked me again to hunt down a mutinous crewman for him. He said he was hiding out in Stony Creek Cave.
I said I would if I had time.
I stepped off the boat and to my surprise found that my missing thralls were waiting for me.
I had little to do in Skyrim besides deliver the Dwarven schematic. I first went to Windstad to make some improvements.
One of which was a fish hatchery.
At Fort Dawnguard I interrupted mealtime again to deliver Sorine’s schematic for the enhanced Dwarven crossbow.
The trip to Skyrim had been quite uneventful, but I passed on running Kjar’s errand and returned directly to Solstheim.
Just off the shore of Raven Rock I noticed a little island that looked like it could be a ruin of some kind. Perhaps it held some treasure.
It wasn’t and it didn’t. But it provided a good view.
In Raven Rock I noticed one of the abandoned houses and decided to have a look for the Emberbrand.
I found a lot of the urns in here, which suggested to me that perhaps they weren’t urns, but nothing else.
In town, someone was selling them. I wished to find out what it really was.
The storekeep Fethis Alor told me about his connections to the East Empire Trading Company and how he was keen to get hold of some of the rare pendants they used to give out.
I sold him the ones I had gathered for 500 gold each.
Having just returned from the long trek to Skyrim and what with the abandoned houses in Raven Rock, I wondered if any were up for sale.
Instinctively I wandered up to the largest building in the town assuming it was the leader’s hall.
I was mistaken. This grumpy man told me that I could not enter the temple.
So I didn’t.
The Councillor, Lleril Morvayn, was actually at in the building at the foot of the temple stairs.
He had nothing to say about selling me a house.
I next visited the local inn, The Retching Netch.
Inside I spoke to Cindiri Arano.
It turned out that the rare copy of the Lusty Argonian Maid belonged to her. I gave it to her and in thanks she gave me a Circlet of Peerless Illusion. Worthless to me as I could easily make my own.
The inn was like none I had seen in Skyrim.
The barkeep, Geldis Sadri was a friendly sort.
He told me about his new brand of Sujamma and wanted me to spread the word by handing out free samples.
So! That stuff was alcohol, not the remains of dead mer.
I got to it straight away, imagining it wouldn’t take long. The first takers were:
Dreyla Alor
Mirri Severin
Fethis Alor
Garyn Ienth
and Milore Ienth who asked that I locate some netch jelly for her.
On meeting many of the locals, many had mentioned that the closing of the mine had been a huge blow to the town. I decided to have a look at it for myself and see what the problem was.
Inside the mine a couple were arguing. The old man seemed to want to explore the mine himself but the womer was trying to talk him out of it.
Crescius Caerellius great grandfather had died in the mines many years before and he believed that the East Empire Company had lied about what happened in an attempt to hide some secrets. They told him it was a rockfall, but he believed otherwise and wanted to find out.
He gave me a letter he had asking his relative to look into some ruins that had been discovered in the mine.
If he could not go in, he wanted me to look for him. He gave me the key which would unlock the way into the deepest parts of the mine. I gave him and his wife some Sujamma.
The mine was incredibly deep.
It seemed that Crescius’ great grandfather was not the only fatality here either.
Unsurprisingly, the place was infested with spiders.
I did find another pendant anyway.
I unlocked the mine gate.
Beyond it, draugr began to emerge. No wonder the place was closed for business.
There were also numerous traps.
And a little more of the strange ore.
I also found a little of the netch jelly I was after.
It wasn’t too long before I found what looked like it could be the secret.
The remains of Gratian Caerellius were here among dead draugr and his own assistant.
He was carrying with him an unusual blade.
His diary had a little to say about its power and what had happened to him.
Using the advice from the diary, I wield the blade and attempted to open the door.
Swinging the sword hard enough caused a burst of energy to spring forth.
Having the energy match the markings on the door was the secret. The doorway opened for us.
With an ethereal shout I passed through the swinging blades unharmed.
On the other side of the pendulums was a large watery room with a word wall.
We entered and were greeted by a Dragon Priest, who immediately attacked.
The mask of Zahkriisos was different to those I had seen before.
The word wall held the word ‘armour’ for Dragon Aspect.
I was surprised to also find a Black Book down here.
I opened it.
The books name was ‘The Wind of Change’ and as before I made my way through to learn its secrets.
A powerful Lurker Vindicator was the main challenge here, guarding the book here.
The book granted me the ability to cause no harm to my allies. Which seemed like a good thing.
Back in Solstheim, the passage led me to the secret entry I had found and been unable to open in Bloodskal Barrow before.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the way I had lost one of my Cultist followers.
Part 35 ‘Assassins, Hunters, Usurpers and Kidnappers’ Here
Chapter List Here
