Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

Brick making is much more troublesome than expected. It took us ten days to make a small kiln that could burn two to three thousand bricks. Because we had no experience, the miners had to discuss from time to time. We also encountered a sudden rainstorm in the middle, which forced us to stop work urgently and build a canopy. But I was not idle. I went back and forth to Falkreath several times, organized people to transport coal slag, firewood and straw, and took people to Lake Irinata to search for clay. At night, I had to make molds in a hurry.

The most interesting and tiring step is probably making the bricks. We mixed clay and coal slag in a ratio of four to one, piled them into the shape of a crater, and poured enough water in the middle. In order to fully blend the water and clay, several people took turns taking off their shoes and stepped on them barefoot until the brick mud became like dough. Put a wooden board under the mold, sprinkle a handful of plant ash, then grab the brick mud and throw it hard on the mold. After making sure that all the corners are filled, use a bowstring to scrape off the excess.

Everyone's backs ached every day, but looking at the neatly stacked bricks, they still felt a sense of accomplishment. This stuff needs to be dried for many days. With the humid climate in Falkreath, I think it will take a month before it can be fired in the kiln. I don't plan to fire too many bricks for the first batch. I will try it out first, and if it succeeds, I will expand the scale.

Nanya stood aside and watched us busy with interest. It was not until the last brick was completed that she put on a gentle smile and came over to talk to us.

"Good day, Lord Locke. What are you doing?"

"Good day, Nanya, butler. I'm going to bake some bricks."

I don't really like chatting with Nanya face to face. Locker is nearly 1.8 meters tall, which is considered tall among Nords. And the high elves are really worthy of the word "tall". The woman in front of me must be 1.9 meters tall. If I don't want to keep tilting my neck, I can only stare at her chest. I pretended to be afraid of dirtying her clothes, walked to the side, dusted off the dirt on my body, picked up the cold pine needle tea and took a big sip, and naturally stood shoulder to shoulder with her, pointing at the fruits of our labor these days.

"After the bricks are dried, they are placed in the kiln and baked with fire. In about a week, the finished products are ready."

"Can the bricks you want to burn be used to build a house?"

I smiled and nodded. This elf is quite smart. If she could stop thinking about taking advantage of me, she would definitely be a good person to get along with.

"Why, is Nanya Chief Steward interested?"

She must be interested, otherwise she wouldn't come running over with a smile.

"Since it has been baked with fire, can it be as fireproof and strong as stone? If you have such a good thing, why didn't you take it out earlier?"

Nonsense, if you had taken it out earlier, aren’t they all yours now?

I waved my hands repeatedly.

"Not really, not really. It may be fireproof, but it's definitely not as good as stone. It's just cheaper. I learned this when I was bored at home these days and flipping through books. I don't know if I can do it now."

Nanya's orange-red eyes brightened noticeably.

"Your Excellency is very knowledgeable and talented. If you need anything, please let me know."

"I'll try to bake one or two batches first. If it's successful, I'll definitely expand the scale and then ask Nanya's manager for help."

I finally realized that I had been targeted by this female elf. No matter what I was doing, she would get involved.

I arranged for the miners to stay and open a new kiln while the bricks were drying. In the future, we could rotate the two kilns. I think it would take at least 20,000 to 30,000 bricks to build a house of a certain size. If there was only one small kiln, I'm afraid it would take more than a year to build two houses.

It was already late in the morning, and Rigel should have given birth, but I went into the city several times and heard no news. This wait was too painful. I planned to go back to the Bloody Throne and find something to do.

As soon as I entered the room, things came to me. Stein didn't even give me a sip of water before he said he had something to report.

"My lord, I was just about to send someone to ask you to come back. A dark elf is visiting, and I have arranged for him and his entourage to stay in the two guest rooms at the end of the second floor."

I thought this person would be Willers, but the man in the guest room was thinner than the circus leader and did not have his elegant demeanor. His triangular eyes made him look a bit wretched, but his robe was made of good material and he was accompanied by three followers, so I initially judged that he was a young man who traveled abroad like Lachlan.

"You must be Baron Locke. I am Talon Dresser, and I have been asked by my colleague Kasem to deliver a personal letter to you."

The dark elf turned to look through his luggage, but I began to search for his name in my memory.

"Taron Dresser, sounds familiar."

"Oh? So, you must have read my work "The Aserim War"? No wonder you have such a unique insight into the technology of the Dwemer. Both Kasimer and I admire your wonderful ideas, but unfortunately, to turn them into reality, it is far from enough to just think about it. More detailed and solid experiments are needed."

When the dark elf handed me the letter, he casually mentioned his "humble work", but he did not hide the smug look on his face. This reminded me of this person's identity.

This guy was originally a student of a scholar named Kateria, who had been studying a confusing legend in the history of the Dwemer, or dwarves: the Eserim War. It is said that the dwarves were once able to mine and smelt a material called Eserim, and use it to make equipment with magical effects. However, the nature of Eserim itself is stable, and a special furnace must be used. Over the control of the furnace, a war broke out among the four dwarven city-states, but in the end the Nords took advantage of it and defeated them one by one. The legend of Eserim was thus sealed in history.

Catria pursued the vague clues and came to the ruins of the Dwemer city in the south of the Reach: Arkantham. During her exploration, she failed to correctly unlock the mechanism left by the dwarves, which caused a catastrophic earthquake and ultimately killed her. As her apprentice, Talon stole Catria's research results for himself and shamelessly compiled and published them.

This dark elf thus became an "expert in studying Dwemer culture."

How can I not kill this deceitful and treacherous person? Now that he has fallen into my trap, it is not my fault. It is a pity that I have no weapon in my hand, otherwise, at this distance between us, I am confident that I can poke three or four transparent holes in him before his followers can react.

"Mr. Laudlesser is here. Please take a rest. I will ask the servants to prepare some wine and food as a token of my gratitude."

I decided to calm this guy down first, and then put some special ingredients in his food, such as the tiger people's favorite mushrooms...

"You may wish to read it first. If you need a reply, you can give it to me to take back."

"Sir, are you going back to Markarth?"

Talon pretended to be profound, smiled slightly, and pointed to the letter in my hand. From what he said, it seemed that Lot and his daughter had arrived in Markarth, and the suggestion to give Madeline a prosthesis was also approved by Kasemmer. I opened the envelope, and sure enough, it was from Sebastian.

According to the letter from old Lot, after Helgi and I left Whiterun, Madeline rested for another ten days and her health gradually improved. In the middle of the year, father and daughter were escorted by the Companions to Markarth. The Reach Territory is mountainous and the roads are rugged and difficult to travel. The group also had to take care of the disabled, so they walked very slowly and it took nearly a month to reach their destination.

Sebastian once said that he and the court wizard of Markarth, Kasimer, were old friends, but old Lot never made it clear what their relationship was like, and this letter also omitted all of that, only saying that Kasimer believed that the idea of ​​using dwarven machines as prosthetic limbs, although theoretically feasible, would still face many difficulties that could not be overcome for the time being when it came to implementation.

Most of the dwarven equipment was heavy, such as the arm on the dwarven mechanical ball. Even a skilled practitioner like Madeline could hardly wield it freely in her prime, let alone use it as if it were her arm. On the other hand, these machines generally had a soul stone built in as a power source, which caused two problems.

The first question is the source of soul stones. This thing can almost be regarded as a low-value consumable item in the game, but it is not common in the other world. In my current experience, I have only heard Falion mention that he accidentally obtained a black soul stone during his travels in Oblivion. This magical gem is said to be created by the famous demon lord Molag Bal, but there are also legends that it can be mined in the huge underground world of Skyrim - Blackfall.

In any case, it is not an easy task to obtain soul stones. Kasemmer has studied Dwemer technology for many years and has accumulated a lot of them by dismantling old dwarven machinery, but he is not rich enough to use them as batteries. God knows whether Madeline needs to replace soul stones regularly after installing the mechanical arm. If so, the cost is too high.

In addition, it is generally believed that the soul and consciousness are entangled and inseparable. If this is credible, then in addition to the soul, the soul stone should also contain consciousness, at least part of it, which makes the use of the soul stone an evil thing. Although the mages engaged in such research have tried their best to downplay this view, most ordinary people in Skyrim still hold a negative view.

If Madeline's mechanical arm must be driven by a soul stone, it would be equivalent to using someone else's soul and consciousness in exchange for her quality of life. Even if outsiders don't know, I'm afraid the proud Jade Axe Wolf Girl can't get over the hurdle in her heart.

The second problem is that the specific principle of mechanical drive is still unclear. The dwarfs' creations have their own methods and procedures for receiving information and responding, but even experts like Kasem have not fully understood the mystery. Based on this reality, he is very worried about an unfortunate situation in which Madeline cannot control the mechanical arm installed on her, resulting in an unimaginable tragedy.

To make matters worse, Kasimer's access to dwarven machinery was cut off. His nephew Azenta had been in charge of excavating the dwarven ruins under Markarth. Not long ago, workers discovered a giant frost spider occupying the site, and the excavation work was forced to be interrupted. This also forced Kasimer to temporarily change the direction of his research. He was trying to decipher the snow elves' writing and had achieved some results.

Perhaps because he felt that he had expressed too much negative emotion in the letter, Sebastian suddenly changed his tone and thanked me for my help and advice. He also mentioned that another Dwemer expert, Draeser, was also willing to participate in this project. Therefore, both he and Madeline were optimistic about the prospects of treatment. In addition to delivering the letter, Talon also tried to visit some dwarven ruins in order to obtain enough materials for Kasemmer to restart Dwemer research.

Killing him would make Madeline's recovery even more difficult...

"Sir, please take a seat and let me write my reply."

Talon smiled and nodded.

An hour later, I stood in front of the gate of the Bloodthrone Fortress, watching the dark elf and his followers disappear at the end of the road. I felt an inconsolable boredom in my heart, but I could only sigh helplessly.

"But he brings bad news, sir?"

"Hmm? Oh, no. I just thought of Madeline from the Companions. She was a woman with a promising future, but she suddenly became disabled. Life is unpredictable..."

Stein asked from behind me. I couldn't tell the truth, so I just kept it vague.

"If you are not in a good mood, why don't you go out for a walk? Miss Lydia once asked me to keep an eye on the situation of the Pale Secret Passage. If you are willing, I will accompany you to conduct a field investigation. It won't take a few days."

I agreed. There was no news from Rigel, which gave me a strange feeling: as long as I was still waiting for her news, there would be no news, just like in my previous life, the bus I wanted to take never came. So I decided to go to the mountains in the south with Stein to have a look, just for five days. Five days later was the twenty-eighth day of the Sun's High Moon, and the twenty-ninth day was Rocker's twenty-second birthday. I planned to use this as an excuse to visit Donna in Falkreath City and get some information.

Walking eastward from the Bloodthrone Fortress, you will reach a narrow and winding canyon with cliffs that seem to be cut by an axe and rise into the clouds. The mountains on both sides are rolling and undulating like a dragon. The valley floor is covered with lush forests, and a path runs through it, appearing and disappearing from time to time. Stein led the way while introducing me.

"I have walked this road once with Miss Lydia, and twice by myself. It is relatively safe. If we only talk about the scenery, this place is indeed magnificent."

I looked up at the top of the mountain. Overall, we had walked more uphill, and the altitude here was definitely much higher than the Bloody Throne.

"This place is so dangerous, why not station the troops here?"

"Watch your step, my Lord. We will set up camp after we pass this canyon, and then I will report back to you in detail."

We moved forward along the mountain until the sun set and the view suddenly opened up. Stein found a cave away from the wind and from the remnants of the campfire inside, it should be the place where they had camped before. We built a fire and tore the venison jerky in our backpacks.

"Look, sir, this is where we are now."

Stein unfolds a map.

"The valley where the Bloody Throne is located has three exits. The northwest road leads to the city of Falkreath, and the northeast road leads directly to the town of Helgen. Today we are heading due east. After walking forward for another half a day, you will be able to see the official road between Nugra Fortress and the Pale Passage. If we only garrison the canyon behind us, we will not be able to take care of the flanks of Nugra Fortress. Moreover, Mr. Lund and Miss Lydia have searched the area around the Bloody Throne, and it is certain that no tunnels that can be used by humans have been found. So..."

He stood up and faced the east which was disappearing into the night.

"If the smuggling passage your Excellency is talking about really exists, it is very likely to be not far ahead."