The Saarthal Incident
Akatosh, what a day.
I returned to Saarthal this morning, eager to dive into research after yesterday's unexpected delay with Tolfdir. Fortunately, he seems to be fully recovered, showing no signs of confusion throughout today's unfortunate ordeal.
So, I was assigned to assist Arniel with his explorations and research of the ruins. He instructed me to examine a small set of chambers near his research station, looking for any magical artifacts. the chambers were mostly empty, but I did find three rings with light health enchantments on them. Then I came to an alcove with an unusual amulet hanging on the wall.
I then performed a sophisticated analysis to determine whether this amulet qualified as a magical artifact. Specifically, that analysis consisted of me observing that it was glowing and concluding that yes, it was a magical artifact.
I lifted it from its mount on the wall and turned to return to Arniel, only to see iron bars rise from the floor and pen me in. The damned thing was booby trapped.
Tolfdir, ever the curious and safety conscious, came over to help find a way to get me out. He suggested that I find a way to use the amulet, so I put it on. Since there was literally nothing in my pen to interact with aside from the tablet I'd taken the amulet off of, I tried heating it with a simple flame spell. It shattered, and the wall behind it crumbled to reveal a passage. Also, the bars receded back into the floor.
Whew! I was more than happy to escape the trap and call it a day. The bars were gone, I could return to the main chamber with the rest of the group, show Arniel what I'd found.
But Tolfdir, when it comes right down to it, is more curious than safety conscious. He was thrilled with the newly discovered passage, and wanted me to follow him through it right away. Love the enthusiasm, Tolf, but. . . this part of the tomb is unexplored, and unexplored tombs are always crawling with ravenous undead. It's a widely known fact.
He didn't listen to me though. He headed down the passageway, and what was I gonna do? Tolfdir obviously didn't feel it was risky, and as long as he remains lucid and sharp, he's one of the most capable wizards in Tamriel. No danger in going along with him. And if he didn't remain lucid. . . well, was I supposed to let a doddering old fool wander in there alone?
So I followed.
Down the short passage, we came to a small chamber, where an odd thing happened. A mage from the Psyjic order appeared to me as a vision. Now, the Psyjic order hasn't been seen in at least a century, so. . . that's weird. He blathered on at me about some vague danger ahead that only I could stop.
Why do mystical visions always have to be so vague? You take the time to cast your mind across time and space to warn me, but you can't be bothered to just tell me what it's about? And really, I'm a novice. If there is some threat here, Tolfdir is eminently more qualified to deal with it than I am.
The Psyjics must have all been morons.
Then there were draugr, of course. What a shock. I do not like being attacked by dragr, which is why I don't typically go stumbling around in tombs. But at least my studies at the College have been giving me some tools to cope with these less than desirable situations. I conjured up a flame atronach, and shot fire at them from my hands. Between that and Tolfdir, they fell very quickly.
In the next chamber was a doorway forward into the deeper parts of Saarthal. And once again, the way behind us was blocked. It seemed we were committed. I went on ahead through the tomb to clear out the draugr and disarm the traps. I didn't want to, mind you, but Tolfdir can be quite stubborn.
He caught up with me just as I entered a large chamber with a gigantic glowing orb. And also an invincible draugr, so, you know. . . that was a bummer. While I was running around the chamber trying not to die, Tolfdir figured out that he could disrupt the draugr's invincibility by blasting the orb. So I put to good use all the destruction magic Faralda had taught me, and eventually killed the foul thing. Just barely. A lengthy restoration spell was in order after.
What a nightmare. This is exactly why I don't typically go stumbling around in unexplored tombs. On the bright side, I did find a really cool magic staff in there.
Tolfdir thought it best not to leave the orb unattended, so he asked me to return to the college and inform the archmage, which I was more than happy to do. I have had enough of Saarthal.
The archmage, Savos, has asked me to hit to books and research anything that might have to do with this mysterious orb. Easy enough. I'll talk to Urag in the morning.
I returned to Saarthal this morning, eager to dive into research after yesterday's unexpected delay with Tolfdir. Fortunately, he seems to be fully recovered, showing no signs of confusion throughout today's unfortunate ordeal.
So, I was assigned to assist Arniel with his explorations and research of the ruins. He instructed me to examine a small set of chambers near his research station, looking for any magical artifacts. the chambers were mostly empty, but I did find three rings with light health enchantments on them. Then I came to an alcove with an unusual amulet hanging on the wall.
I then performed a sophisticated analysis to determine whether this amulet qualified as a magical artifact. Specifically, that analysis consisted of me observing that it was glowing and concluding that yes, it was a magical artifact.
I lifted it from its mount on the wall and turned to return to Arniel, only to see iron bars rise from the floor and pen me in. The damned thing was booby trapped.
Tolfdir, ever the curious and safety conscious, came over to help find a way to get me out. He suggested that I find a way to use the amulet, so I put it on. Since there was literally nothing in my pen to interact with aside from the tablet I'd taken the amulet off of, I tried heating it with a simple flame spell. It shattered, and the wall behind it crumbled to reveal a passage. Also, the bars receded back into the floor.
Whew! I was more than happy to escape the trap and call it a day. The bars were gone, I could return to the main chamber with the rest of the group, show Arniel what I'd found.
But Tolfdir, when it comes right down to it, is more curious than safety conscious. He was thrilled with the newly discovered passage, and wanted me to follow him through it right away. Love the enthusiasm, Tolf, but. . . this part of the tomb is unexplored, and unexplored tombs are always crawling with ravenous undead. It's a widely known fact.
He didn't listen to me though. He headed down the passageway, and what was I gonna do? Tolfdir obviously didn't feel it was risky, and as long as he remains lucid and sharp, he's one of the most capable wizards in Tamriel. No danger in going along with him. And if he didn't remain lucid. . . well, was I supposed to let a doddering old fool wander in there alone?
So I followed.
Down the short passage, we came to a small chamber, where an odd thing happened. A mage from the Psyjic order appeared to me as a vision. Now, the Psyjic order hasn't been seen in at least a century, so. . . that's weird. He blathered on at me about some vague danger ahead that only I could stop.
Why do mystical visions always have to be so vague? You take the time to cast your mind across time and space to warn me, but you can't be bothered to just tell me what it's about? And really, I'm a novice. If there is some threat here, Tolfdir is eminently more qualified to deal with it than I am.
The Psyjics must have all been morons.
Then there were draugr, of course. What a shock. I do not like being attacked by dragr, which is why I don't typically go stumbling around in tombs. But at least my studies at the College have been giving me some tools to cope with these less than desirable situations. I conjured up a flame atronach, and shot fire at them from my hands. Between that and Tolfdir, they fell very quickly.
In the next chamber was a doorway forward into the deeper parts of Saarthal. And once again, the way behind us was blocked. It seemed we were committed. I went on ahead through the tomb to clear out the draugr and disarm the traps. I didn't want to, mind you, but Tolfdir can be quite stubborn.
He caught up with me just as I entered a large chamber with a gigantic glowing orb. And also an invincible draugr, so, you know. . . that was a bummer. While I was running around the chamber trying not to die, Tolfdir figured out that he could disrupt the draugr's invincibility by blasting the orb. So I put to good use all the destruction magic Faralda had taught me, and eventually killed the foul thing. Just barely. A lengthy restoration spell was in order after.
What a nightmare. This is exactly why I don't typically go stumbling around in unexplored tombs. On the bright side, I did find a really cool magic staff in there.
Tolfdir thought it best not to leave the orb unattended, so he asked me to return to the college and inform the archmage, which I was more than happy to do. I have had enough of Saarthal.
The archmage, Savos, has asked me to hit to books and research anything that might have to do with this mysterious orb. Easy enough. I'll talk to Urag in the morning.
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