I think Costades was doing his best John Wayne impression.

We should go and hit those egg poachers. Smash them good. Dungeon crawling is also good.

Part 12: Poached Eggs





While the ruins got some interest, it was the egg poachers most wanted to take care of. That's where we shall go today, but first...



"Hey baby, I saw that your pillows tend to be all over your bedroom floor. How about we introduce that habit to your clothes?"



Oh.





To get to the egg mine, we have to follow the river.



Seeing this bridge is a good sign. The entrance to the mind is on this side of the river, we just have to turn right to see it.





There are also some workers outside.







The workers believe that the poachers are in the mine itself, so that is where we will look.



Someone wondered why it would be an egg mine. The eggs are actually bug eggs and these insects have giant caves they live in. One could think of them as ants of some kind. These eggs can be harvested, each sack has one large egg and there are many of these around. We're going to be leaving this place with quite many eggs in our inventory.



One form of Kwama is the forager, which we have seen on the surface as well. There's many of them in the mines and they will attack you, as usual.



Scribs are also a form of Kwama, so they can be found in the mines.



The path splits here. To the left, there is a long corridor and to the right, there is a door that leads to a mining camp. I decided to go there first.





The workers can usually be found in the camps. There are a couple of types of hostile Kwama, but they don't attack the workers as they are used to their smell. But we will be getting attacked by anything that tries to protect the tunnels.



I'll assume they use these tracks to transport eggs.



Here is a Kwama type we won't see on the surface. The workers are harmless and don't mind us.



The camp leads to this door, but the queen's lair sounds quite important. I decided to go back and check out the other path we ignored.




There wasn't much of interest, but it was full of workers.



And that tunnel ends up leading to a door that leads to the lair of the queen. Only one way to go, then.





As soon as I step inside, someone attacks me.



She's not much of a fight and has nothing valuable. She is one of the poachers, however.



Another person was nearby, attacking me once he saw me.



He was much the same. He did have some eggs and shared the name of one of the poachers. I believe we just killed our pair.


Even though it was called the queen's lair, there was no queen. No Kwama warriors, either. I believe they wanted to make sure that low level characters wouldn't die doing this early quest.



95 large Kwama eggs. That isn't bad. Carrying them all almost made us encumbered, too: the blue bar above our character icon is how much we are carrying and how much we can carry.



Back to Balmora, then. I need to store the eggs somewhere and turn in the job.





She has another job for us right away. Some Telvanni agents stealing ebony, a rare and valuable material. It's not wood.







He doesn't know Eydis, as she is new. But someone called Percius Mercius he does know and trust. He's in Ald'ruhn, though, and only gives jobs to those of higher rank than us. Maybe we should work on getting a higher rank.

While I was back in Balmora, I felt like I could contact some of those Blades trainers I was told about, as they do give you items.





There is a third one living in Balmora as well, but I didn't go looking for them.



I also went to the Temple to buy some spells that we are going to start needing. Morrowind doesn't have fast travel like Oblivion, you can't just click a place on your map and travel there in an instant. The only fast travel you have are in towns and they only transport you to certain other towns, not all of them. Some places are going to have to be walked to. But luckily there are some very handy spells, such as Mark. Mark places a, well, mark where you stand, allowing you to teleport to that spot by using its sister spell, Recall.



Which I buy here, along with Almsivi Intervention. That spells teleports you to the closest Temple. The spells are a bit expensive, as we do not belong to the Temple.



Having some time, I told Larrius Varro about our encounter and got the reward. He didn't offer us new jobs.

I also got the chance to use our new spells.



Using Almsivi Intervention, I was instantly teleported from the fort to the Temple entrance in Balmora. It is a rather useful spell. There's also a counterpart that teleports you to the closest Imperial cult altar, but I didn't find the spell anywhere.



Hm. I think I'll keep my gold for now...



Last time we got some votes to explore the Dwemer ruins, but I felt like we could hold another vote here as we have some new options again. Please choose one option, unless you suggest us to join a new faction. It doesn't take much time.


Should we explore the Dwemer ruins to get the puzzle box?

Should we kill the Telvanni agents that also belong to the Thieves Guild for Fighters Guild?

We ran out of space to store our items in Fighters Guild chests. We desperately need more room, should we join a new faction to get some more storage space in Balmora?

There was some interest in House Redoran. We would have to go to Ald'ruhn to learn more about them. Shall we go to Ald'ruhn to learn more about House Redoran and get a great item on our way there?

I asked around about Morag Tong, but no one gave us information we don't know, such as how to join it. Morag Tong seems to feel neutral about Camonna Tong as far as we know. This far the factions somehow connected to Camonna Tong is the Thieves Guild that we have heard is against them, and House Hlaalu that apparently is under their control somehow. If we wish to learn more about Camonna Tong, those factions might be our best bet.

At least you can pick up men... Time to explore some ruins!

Can't start a mine before we have a queen, you know. Only they lay eggs.

We can make all the potions with eggs. Useless potions, but all the potions. All these delicious skill points and then we sell them for gold, yes. All the gold. All the potions = all the gold.

Our torch is going to run out eventually, so we're going to have to find a permanent source of light. Much exploration to be had wow.

Part 13: To Arkngthand



We decided to go explore the Dwemer ruins. We were starting to get close to a level, so I did some training to make sure we would be able to get intelligence on our next level. As intelligence is directly linked to Magicka, we are going to need more of it to be able to cast more spells. It's about time we start to train it. The best way to do that is to get some random spell that belongs to a school that is governed by intelligence and creating a custom spell that only costs 1 Magicka to cast, so you can spam it.





Arkngthand, the Dwemer ruin we were supposed to go to for the Dwemer puzzle box is close to Moonmoth Legion Fort.



Instead of going right where the fort is, we head left.



The vegetation starts growing sparse here.



Finding this bridge means you are close. Those strange shapes erupting from the mountain are a part of the ruins. You will also get attacked by this person.



He's not an issue.



There is some scrap metal in these containers. What you will learn as you play is that it only comes from Dwemer ruins, so clearly the person protecting these is connected to the ruins somehow.





This is the entrance, but it can't be opened.





But the solution is near.












The entrance has been destroyed and we are going to have to go down those rocks to get down without falling to our deaths. There are some torches around the ruins, so unfortunately our torch won't be providing much more light in many situations. We might need a brighter source of light later.





More people want to challenge us.



They fall before Yook.



While the people that attacked us were close to some doors that looked rather inviting, the hole behind us had a rather inviting lantern, so I went there first.



We'll be taking this.



Many of these dark tunnels are collapsed. The creaking of metal can be heard around you.





These ruins are also full of hostile people.









Another person to kill and a piece of machinery that is actually running. Did these people fix them or have they been running for ages?



The Dwemer coins are something that is worth it to take. They're not too heavy and they are valuable enough. Many other Dwemer items could also be sold for some money, but they tend to either be too cheap or heavy to be worth it.



Sujamma is one of the better alcoholic beverages in the game. Getting 50 extra strength will help you in many situations.







There are plenty of dead ends.



The ruins also tend to have many trapped things, so it's a good idea to bring probes with you. Often, the doors might not be locked but it's still not a good idea to open a trapped door.



And these doors actually count as two. The one on the right isn't locked or trapped, only the left one. We could go through easily without opening the other door, but let's get some training with our tools when we can.





These seem to be some kind of living quarters.



Hall of Centrifuge was the entrance. This door should take us to one of the three doors we didn't go to, then.



Indeed. That hole in the wall where the bridge (?) is was where we went last time. The leftmost door, the door we came through, is the one path that is blocked from the rest of Weepingbell hall by some rocks. The other two doors lead to the same place, which is just a tiny hall that leads to this door.







The cogs have some value, but they are so heavy that we couldn't really take many of them with us.



There's not much else in the room, so we have to drop down.



Another person tried to attack us.



There is actual lava down there.



The bridge is destroyed. I wonder if we are good enough jumpers to be able to get over this gap?



We're not. We are going to need to be able to levitate to get over that.



Heading in another direction, then.



Hello.



Goodbye.



Yes.





Ah, we found some pieces of the Dwemer armor set.



It's big, bulky, rusty and heavy. Our armor set isn't looking too good, but the Dwemer pieces are rather good at keeping us alive.



This is where the path leads us to. The lock is something many of the starting characters wouldn't be able to open and I believed that we couldn't open it yet, either. I tried it a couple of times just to see.

Then I unlocked it. This isn't where the puzzle box is, this isn't where we really should be going. But clearly we are meant to go to the deeper parts of the ruins.








We meet a new enemy right away, the Centurion Spider.



Not much of a threat.



But as I took out another, something else saw me too.







Dwarven Spectres roam these hallways. They seem to be the biggest threat and they are able to curse you and lower some of your attributes. Luckily, not strength. Lowering our strength would mean lowering how much we can carry with us and that is an easy way of getting over-encumbered.

Ghosts can't be harmed by normal weapons. Luckily we have an enchanted axe, so we can actually hurt them. Weapons that are made of silver or something better can also harm the ghosts.



We also meet another new enemy type.



The Centurion Spheres rarely live long enough to become a problem for Yook. Like their name might imply, they can turn into a ball by retreating into their lower half and capping it off with their shield when they aren't fighting. They can move, but I'm not entirely sure how that would work if the sphere isn't a complete sphere when the top part is outside...



A key to the doors won't be of much use to us, as we can lockpick those easily.



The boots look rather silly, however.







Don't fall in.



This chest seemed to prove to be too much for us. I didn't waste all of our lockpicks on it, but I couldn't open it. We are going to have to come back later if we wish to open it.



Sands would like to point out that this is the 69th picture and it leads to the Deep Ore Passage. I hope you will enjoy it as much as him.



These tunnels are rather dark without a torch. But if you look very closely, Yook is running up to a Centurion Sphere that is still in its ball form. It looks like it is about to come up.





These tunnels don't really have much else other than Dwarven Spectres and Centurion Spiders.



It all leads here. Other than looking interesting, nothing could be found on the lower levels and we can't get up as we can't levitate. I don't think there was anything special in here, in any case.



I can always take pictures of more Dwemer machines that still seem to be running.

We have taken all the paths we have seen but we haven't found the puzzle box yet. You could easily go through these same paths many times and never find it, because there is still one more door to be found.



Back in the entrance room, that area above the three doors is actually another floor you can do to.



And in there, this is the door that leads to where you want to go. You don't actually have to explore the ruins at all, you can just go here right away.

I rested up and stored some of my items before going forth.



There was just one person waiting for me, and he wasn't much of a fight. Even if he was called a boss.



But this is the most important thing in the room.



Not much else here, so it is time to return to Balmora and give our newly found puzzle box away.









Now we start getting that information we were promised.





Asking him about Nerevarine gives us a similar answer to what we have heard before, but Hasphat does direct us to a person who might know more. He also seems to know a lot about the Dwemer and as our list of topics might imply, they have disappeared without leaving a trace. No one knows how it happened or where they went.





The people we ran into in the ruins were smugglers. It's illegal to sell Dwemer artifacts, but you do get good money for doing so and the merchants in Vvardenfell by them happily. You should expect to see many smugglers in the ruins if you go exploring them, unless they are full of Dwemer constructs.

We had gotten a level during our exploration, so now it's just a matter of sleeping to claim it.



But first, ducks. These are something mods have added to add some life to the world, but Sands didn't even know these existed. They were cute.



And with that, our long update is finally over.



It's time to vote for our next action again. Please choose one.


Should we deliver the information we got to Caius Cosades?

Will we kill the Telvanni agents for Fighters Guild?

Shall we join a new faction as our chests are full in Balmora?

Should we go to Ald'ruhn to learn about House Redoran and get an item on our way there?

Or maybe something else?

Let's do the Fighters Guild quest, they'll help us get stronger and better at what we do. And wasn't the proper method for dungeoneering to just pick up anything with a decent gold/weight ratio?

Part 14: Hunting Telvanni Agents



Before leaving Balmora, I decided to do some intelligence training. As I was resting, another assassin decided to show up. The other people in the guild freaked out outside the door as they didn't seem to be able to open it, but knew there was a fight going on.



The assassin still wasn't an issue. It was back to bed with us to heal.



Except another thing woke us up. This time, it was a disturbing dream.





We could finally rest after that and our next destination is Caldera to take care of the Telvanni agents for Fighters guild. It's north of Balmora and taking the guild guide would be the fastest way, but I felt like we should walk there.





If you see a Cliffracer nearby, it will most likely attack you soon. Their range is quite amazing.



Case in point.



A Nix-hound also decided to show up for the party.



West Gash tends to have these strange rock formations where the stone seems to form an arc of some sort. They're not all that common in these parts, but there's more of them in the northern areas.





And finally, we see something.





Caldera is clearly an Imperial town with Imperial buildings. It's not too big. We were here for the mine, though.



But before we go there, there are a few interesting things in town.



Not the town itself, but Caldera mostly is just one wide road with buildings around it.



This is the governor's hall, but we're not interested in it, either.



Ah, but this we are. One of the larger buildings in town is the Ghorak manor and there is something interesting inside.





Orcs party hard.



Upstairs, you can find this little fellow. He's not hostile, so you shouldn't attack him even if he looks like a monster. He's quite useful, you see.



Creeper is actually a merchant.



And the richest one we have met. There is another merchant with more money than him, but that one is difficult to get to, so Creeper is your easiest way of selling expensive things. As he's a creature, he also doesn't have disposition or skills, so he buys everything at their actual value, which is more than what other merchants tend to give you. I sell him the valuable assassin's armor.



Next, I head to the Mages guild.





This door isn't locked, so we can just go in and close it behind us.



Before I go upstairs, I of course loot these containers. There's not much in there, but some new ingredients are always nice.



Climbing to the top, there is a little room for the alchemist.
















Now, we just had to make our way to the mine to find the Telvanni agents.



Wait.



Oh my.



He has been robbed by a witch and asks us to help him retrieve his items, especially his axe, Cloudcleaver. Should we help him?







That should be the place. But it wasn't the actual mine we wanted to enter, as the agents were supposed to be nearby...



Ah, There we go. Alveleg was a name we got from our boss.





He doesn't admit anything, at least. But asking him about the agents makes him do his pre-battle taunt and force us out of the conversation.



He's not much, but he does have a bow, so he will try to keep his distance.



Nothing of interest here.







Three people. Are they perhaps the remaining Telvanni agents?



They try to attack us as soon as we get close.



Even three on one doesn't scare Yook. Perhaps we should up the difficulty.



We did our job, but we might as well look around.



There were some crates and sacks, but they didn't have anything interesting. This locked and trapped chest was the most interesting thing to find.



And... Nothing. I don't know what these people were supposedly doing here, clearly they couldn't be smugglers. There's no ebony or money here.



I headed deeper into the cave to see if there was something else hidden in there.





This pool can actually be a bit of a nasty surprise to low level characters. It has a couple of Slaughterfish in it and they can be really dangerous, especially if you went in deep and started to get attacked underwater. But they're not much of a threat for Yook.



It was difficult to see anything in the murky water, but there was thing chest in the bottom. It was just trapped so I could have opened it, but I had my probe left so I tried to disarm it. Almost drowned, but I got it.



Unfortunately it just has a little money, a common amulet and a fancy skirt...





There was nothing else I could find, so it was time to head back. On my way, I saw something we haven't seen before.







The fastest way to Balmora is the guild guide, so instead of walking back, I go to the Mages guild to use their services.



And right away, I am teleported to Balmora's Mages guild. Guild guides are really useful.



We got out reward.



As we have done some jobs, I asked her for advancements and we actually got some ranks. I also asked for a new job, but I didn't ask for the details as that means we accept the job. There is a reason why, as this is one of those quests with conflicts.


It's time to vote.


Shall we look for the code book? There is a conflict. If we finish this mission, we can never join Thieves guild in this playthrough. There are a few options if we do wish to join Thieves guild. Either we don't do this quest, though Eydis does have some quests after this, but there are no further conflicts with those. Or we could join the Thieves guild before or during this quest. If we are planning to join the Thieves guild, we also would have to decide if we are going to join it before or after getting the code book. One way is easier than the other, but I won't say which way is which.

Should we help the naked Nord with his witch problem and retrieve his axe?

Will we give Caius Cosades the information we got after our Dwemer exploration?

The assassins seem to keep coming, are we going to try to stop them?