Simon & Garfunkel. That was easy this time (for me).

Claire's got him "all to herself". Oh how silly.

Yikes, looks like they've traipsed into some alien planet! - That Teleport spell seems like it comes in handy.

Cake for everyone for putting up with this

20230329 SNUS, Cursed Mine Lower Galleries – Ayleid Steps, Retracing the Steps #10 Berevacht

Claire is more than kind. She didn’t say a word about finding the Ayleid Step or my ignoring her when she tried to tell me. Not one word of I told you so until the next morning at breakfast.

“You know,” Claire said between bites of her buttered biscuit. “I thought I saw a stepstone off to the side as we entered Cursed Mine.”

“Really?” I exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me? We could have gone straight away instead of wasting a whole day in that cursed mine.”

What man, mer, or aelf knows what thoughts hide behind Claire’s sweet smile but I had this odd feeling that all was not as it seemed.

After breakfast we returned to Cursed Mine. Asking Claire to show me where she saw the stepstone Claire replied,
“There’s trap door in the mine, aren’t you the least bit interested in seeing what’s hidden there?”

The Archeology Guild Headmaster in me took over. Trying not to appear to be overly eager I replied, “Yes, yes of course I am interested.”

Opening the door to Cursed Mine Breakdown Chambers, into the silent dark mine we went. Since we had just cleared this portion of the mine yesterday I really expected it to be very quiet. It was shocking when we were attacked by two Amazons. Where’s there two there could be more hiding in the dark corners. We made a thorough search of the Breakdown Chamber and of the Cursed Mine proper.

Other than a bunch of zombies there was nothing else to be concerned about. Yet there’s this nagging feeling about Cursed Mine. Shouldn’t the main entrance lead first to Cursed Mine and through Cursed Mine to Cursed Mine Breakdown Chambers? Claire and I decide that it really doesn’t matter and we continued on to the trap door.
Taking the ladder down to the Lower Galleries answered the question of where the two Amazons came from.

Claire and I had barely taken a step off the ladder when Amazons intercepted us. Two of the Amazons attacked Claire while their leader Morlia Grayaire (MOO) stepped back to pepper us with arrows.

With her staff of lightning in hand, Claire summoned a Daedroth to aid her in fending off her attackers while I chased down Morlia Grayaire.

The bell must have sounded down below for we had just finished off the first three Amazons when two more came running up the corridor. Seeing a weakened Claire go down early, I summoned a Markynaz. Like a machine, never tiring, Markie cuts down Amazons is like a thresher working a wheat field. Big Markie is simply a dream to behold, um, when she’s on your side that is.

The Amazons fell. Claire and I entered the tunnel leading to the second chamber. Feeling like a pin cushion hoping that Ither were enough potions to relieve the itch, I managed to help Claire cut down another Amazon.

Backed up by the Angel, Claire and her Daedroth cornered a Khajiit Amazon. There was no question as to the outcome. I just wish Claire wouldn’t keep forgetting her weapon.

Advancing further we entered the third chamber where things really began to look grim. In the far left hand corner two areas were fenced off into cattle pens. The light was dim but we could see movement inside each pen. Two Amazon Wise Mothers accompanied by four Amazon attendants were conducting some sort of ritual sacrifice on whatever was held in the pens.

A fifth Amazon warrior acting as a guard sentry spotted us and alerted the others. Turning to face us the two Wise Mothers fixed their sinister gaze eyes upon us. Shouting blood curdling orders the Wise Mothers sicced their underlings on us.

The fight was fierce. Claire and I called forth all the reinforcements we could safely control. And let me tell you they were all needed. The Amazons eventually fell and all was quiet. It was at this time when we were looting the place that we found out that the holding pens held males; humen, Mer, Khajiit, and Argonian. None were left alive.

Leaving Cursed Mine, Claire took me around to the side. There in a spot protected by large boulders Claire pointed out an Ayleid stepstone.

“So there it is. How did I miss that the first time we were here?” I asked myself.

Claire just raised her eyes to the sky and sighed.

Hearing her sigh I assumed that she was as tired as I am.

“Let’s wait and activate it after we rest up a bit.” I suggested

Another sigh confirmed my assumption. Sitting down on the grass we gathered our healing supplies and put them to good use.

This post has been edited by macole: Mar 29 2023, 07:59 AM

Nice, thanks for the cake!



I love this line. Poor Jandaga, such a life he leads. Anyway, the part when they were attacked by two amazons--this happens in my modded game, as well. Seems we've cleared some place, and them *bam* there's some figure rushing towards us from the gloom.

Blecch, Maskars. MOO can add some really wicked enemies.

Really great axion pictures. Who is Markie?

I really like Maskars for exactly that reason. Combined with Oscuros I have plenty of enemies to keep my little band of hippies busy.

One of the summoning spells I use calls forth a Dremora Lord, a powerful Markynaz. The Markynaz alternates between male and female with either full closed helm or open faced helm. I’ve named the female Markynaz, Markie and the male is Marcus.
They're a freindly bunch and like to laugh at a good joke but being daedra they do have their days. Best not to tease them when they're wearing the closed face helm. It's a good sign that they are not in a playfull mood.

In the “Like a Machine” picture, Markie is the wasp-waisted figure in daedric armor.

Well, Cursed Mine is aptly named! Thank Kynareth for the Jandaga's summoned help - including the photographic Twinkle. Markie seems quite potent and handy to have.

20230407 Ayleid Steps, Retracing the Steps #10 Lost Berevacht
(Graduated to Level 41)

Come the dawn, fully recovered and rested we prepared to continue our journey. Activating the stepstone next to Cursed Mine took us to a stepstone in the West Weald just west of Ra’sava Camp.

From there the stepstone northern face of the Kvatch plateau. With barely a toe hold on the Ayleid step I quickly used a welkynd stone to activate the step. Fearing falling off the tiny platform, my nerves must have gotten the better of me. The stone failed to activate the step. Taking a controlled deep breath to calm down I used a second welkynd.

The second attempt to activate the step worked and we were transported to the Colovian Highlands somewhere east of Last Chance Camp.

Finally we arrived in Lost Berevacht or should I say I arrived. Claire was late, leaving me to deal with several gargoyles and wolves by myself. Acting as if nothing was wrong, Claire nonchalantly showed up just in time to help loot the bodies.

There’s a tunnel leading down deep into the darkness of Lost Berevacht daring us to walk down its path. Ha, I laugh and down the rabbit hole, Claire and I go. After a few steps in a familiar sound reverberated though the cavern tunnel.

“Blood, I vant your blood!”

Vampires! Good goddess, this could be bad. Where’s Kaleah? She could sniff out the place and tell us just how bad the situation is. I was about to send a distress call to Kaleah, she’d be here in an instant, when I glanced at Claire standing at my side. Her wild wide-eyed stare told me that she was teetering on the edge of panic. Yet, the set of her mouth and the tight white-knuckled grip she had on her Epic Staff of Ice Storm showed a fierce determination to face whatever lay ahead.

It was then that I realized that calling Kaleah would send an unwanted message, telling Claire that I lacked confidence in her abilities. That kind of message would do nothing but push her off the edge straight into panic. That wouldn’t be good at all. Sure she’s prone to wander off and maybe she forgets to equip her weapon at times but what she does do, she does with fierce determination. I need to take care with my words so as not to beak her spirit.

“Stay close and we’ll get through this together,” I told Claire. The effect was immediate. Her eyes, still set in a wide-eyed stare, had lost the wild panic look to become steeled with self confidence.

I sent a fire ball of Hellish Fate down the tunnel. A cacophony of screams erupted when the Hellish Fate spell exploded.

“Get ready, here they come,” Claire whispered. A blast of sub-zero air from her staff flowed down into the dark tunnel. The tsunami of frigid air froze everything in its path, as we advanced in its wake.

Lost Berevacht is not a large Ayleid structure by any stretch of the imagination. From where we stood in the entrance cavern, a long tunnel zigzags its way downward to a narrow bi-level Ayleid ruin.

Deep in Lost Berevacht, a fierce battle raged. Fighting a horde of vampires in the confines of narrow walkways is always difficult but the number of vampires attacking all at once wasn’t the worst part.

What could worse than being attacked by 6 or 8 vampires simultaneously? Being attacked by 6 or 8 adept chameleon using vampires, that’s what. Thankfully Daedra eyes aren’t so easily fooled. My summoned warriors had no trouble locating their targets.

Fourteen deadly, ancient, and fearsome vampires later, Lost Berevacht is now quiet except for Light of Dawn’s contented humming. I can almost hear the sword whispering, “It’s been so long between feasts.”

In the final Ayleid room when all was settled we discovered an Ayleid stepstone. Could this mean that the exploration of Lost Berevacht continues on in another ruin? Only one way to find out.

We activated the stepstone and found ourselves standing on the Lost Berevacht entrance stepstone. Oh well. It may have turned out to be a good thing because we had forgotten to loot Lost Berevacht before activating the step. Not wasting a second chance, Claire and I set about looting the place.
Methodically we swept Lost Berevacht clean.

While sweeping the final Ayleid room, the room where we had the big vampire battle, I spotted something that peaked my curiosity. I was crossing the rampart and while dodging the spiked gate trap I spotted a Gaudrapellania Receptacle sitting in a dark corner of a column support. There must be something of immense value in that pot for someone to go to all the trouble of placing it there. Now how do I get to it?

Midas Magic Wings of an Angel spell of course. Oh I could have used the Fae Console magic tp levitate but flying like an angel seemed to be more fun. Sadly the excitement of flying coupled with the anticipation of opening an exotic vessel was dampened when all it contained was a Gaudrapellania goblet. Pretty as it is, the green glass goblet is worth maybe ten gold septims at most.

Returning to the entrance chamber of Lost Berevacht, before activating the stepstone to leave we took inventory of the plunder we collected. The booty totaled over 1600 pounds of saleable swag which included 14 bags of vampire dust, 2121 gold pieces, seven welkynd stones, and a Bottle of Pyrrhic Acid (COBL). Not bad for a day’s work.

There were a few rather interesting items among all the usual magical items we collected. A staff, Latar Andavar (COBOL) that casts an Unlock Very Hard Locks spell. Just think, no longer will I have to endure all the snickers and whispered comments as I undress down to my skivvies in order to get the Unlock All Locks spell to work on very hard locks.

Pyrrhic Acid, now that seems to be a strange ingredient. I don’t remember ever finding Pyrrhic Acid and I have no idea what it could be used. Claire seemed to take an interest in it, so we kept it.

Ready to leave, we activated the stone with the hopes of leaving this dungeon.

A clear night sky ablaze with the light of a thousand stars greeted us. The short keep to our left, the house across the way all seemed very familiar. Consulting her map Claire told me that we were just outside the town of Sutch.

Silver Star Vineyard is on the other side of the town. I envisioned spending a couple days sipping Sliver Star wine and sampling the local cuisine while recuperating in the comfort of my expansive manor. What could be better than this?

As we passed through Sutch on the way to the Silver Star Manor, we could hear music coming from the Silver Star Inn. The bass beat caught us, reeling us in toward the inn, then I heard the singer’s disjointed voice. Amazing how everyone has an opinion on the idea of better.

I got a girlfriend that's better than that
She has the smoke in her eyes
She's coming up, going right through my heart
She's gonna give me surprise
I think it's right, Better than this
I think you can if you like
I got a girlfriend with bows in her hair
And nothing is better than that (is it?)

“It’s the Chattering Skulls!“ a suddenly giddy Claire shouted. Grabbing me by the hand she dragged me into the inn.

Wow, so there's a chance of failure when trying to activate Ayleid Steps? I love the part when the vampire says "I Vant your blood!"



This is really diplomatic. Jandaga must consider notions such as this. I wonder what would happen if he traveled with a gang of dudes instead of feisty femmes? 👯‍♀️ Bet he'd never have to wonder about subtle stuff like this! But then, his story wouldn't be as interesting, in a way.

That Lost Berevacht picture really is a mess. It does take a lot of discipline to get involved in fights in which we aren't hitting our friends, ya know? I've gotten pretty good at it over the years (avoiding friendly fighting) and I bet you are too.

Silver Star Manor! Sutch is awesome. I have no idea who today's song is so I cheated. Talking Heads? Dang. I should know that song.

That narrow tunnel made a great conduit for the Jandaga's fireball and Claire's wave of frost.

A beautiful night as they finally step back outside.

Uh oh, looks like a night of dancing to the Chattering Skulls.

The chance of Ayleid Step failure is 10%, I think. So make sure you have a couple Welkynd stones in reserve or you may be trapped in one of the lost ruins permanently.


Would he be a charismatic leader or a talented support player? I’m not sure how the Jandaga would react in an all dude group. You’re right about not needing to worry about such subtleties. It’s much more out in the open that everyone ranking below you is looking for that one false step so they can take your place on the ladder.

One thing that the Jandaga has learned is that the best leaders always pay attention to the subtleties of group dynamics. Treat everyone fairly and with dignity, otherwise when you needed them the most the group may desert you.


Most of the time with the big grand melees I just stand out of the way a support role casting spells like HEALING CLOUD. You know now that I think about it sometimes it feels like the Ladies target me on purpose.


Girlfriend Is Better by the Talking Heads. And here I thought Chattering Skulls (Talking Heads, get it) would give it away.


I just can't decide if it is better to flash freeze them first and then melt them down to little puddles with the fireball or super heat them and then flash freeze them so that they shatter into thousands of little pebbles. I just don't know.

Right me too (about playing support roles). My characters who travel with groups (Claire Voyance, Sir Vyvoor, Renee Gade III..) will also try to single out enemies who are standing off to the side. In other words, usually when it's a group versus another group, most of the brawl takes place in a big mess, as seen in that picture. But there's also usually some opponent standing off to the side, firing arrows or casting spells. THAT is the one my gal or gal will try to single out.



For him to stand out in a group of all men he'd have to do just that: stand out, somehow. Be stronger than the others, or if that fails, be smarter. But as things are with him, it seems his grrl group are often competing. Which gets stressful for him sometimes, but it's pretty funny from our perspective.

Ha ha Chattering Skulls. I do get it now! 💀 Gonna have to watch for little hints like this...

20230422 Sutch Village, Oyster Bay - UL-Beaches of Cyrodill, Treestump Cave
It’s been an enjoyable few days, a pleasant vacation in Sutch at the Silver Star Manor with Claire the golden haired sorceress.

Not having been to Sutch before, Claire wanted to go sightseeing. To start with I took her on a tour of the Silver Star Estate. Showing a genuine interested in every aspect of the winery operation we inspected the vineyard and the fermenting facilities.

My estate manager Gill and his wife Avena arranged an excellent luncheon of a sampler of the estate’s finer wines, cheeses, and sausages. Lunch was served down at the Country House on the Brena. Some of the best grapes come from the little vineyard next to the Country House and the view of Oyster Bay is simply breathtaking.

While Claire thought the Silver Star wine was excellent she made it clear that her cousin Fiona produced a more, um interesting vintage.

“You fought a witch HERE?” Claire asked. “Not my cousin Fiona, I hope?”

“No, not exactly,” I replied. “And it wasn’t Fiona. This house belonged to Clara Astatius and the witch was her student, Viola Tarensa.”

Over lunch, I told her the story of the Naked Nord who was jailed down in Leyawiin for wandering around the city naked after a witch stole his hammer and pants. The pleasant afternoon came to an end and we returned to Silver Star Manor for the evening.

As we climbed the trail back up to Silver Star Manor Claire asked if I had ever thought of turning the little Country House on the Brena into a B&B. I hadn’t until she mentioned it. It would take some work but maybe it could be done.

The next day I took Claire on a tour of the restored fort. Claire listened intently as I describe all that was involved in rebuilding the fort and the village of Sutch.

Next I told Claire of the altercation at the Drad Estate. She got such a kick out of hearing the story about Lord Drad that she had to go to the Drad Estate and see for herself. I don’t know who had the most fun; Claire laughing at the sight of Lord and Lady Drad working the fields under the Ogre supervision or me watching Claire bouncing around the Drad Estate like a giddy schoolgirl.

It wasn’t all fun and games. I did spend some time going over the Silver Star Winery accounts with Gill. With 25,000 Septims in the strong box it looks like the operation is doing well.

On the morning of the third day we bid adieu to Gill and Avena and left Silver Star Manor. Our first stop was Razor’s Edge to sell the arms and armor we had accumulated.

A fog had started to roll in by the time we walked down to Oyster Bay. We had hoped to catch a passage on a ship for a tranquil cruise to Anvil. Our hopes of passage were dashed when we found the raucous little pirate town to be unusually quiet. With all the captains out scouring the trade routes there were no ships to charter.

Not having been to Oyster Bay before, Claire was excited to see the town on the mouth of the Brena River. It made no difference to h
er that all the pirates (they like to call themselves Merchants of the Seas) were out to sea; Claire was just as excited to see the town’s other attraction. Her innate instincts led us down what the locals called a main street to the only pub in town, The Scurvy Raven.

Once I was properly primed we left the Scurvy Raven and Claire mead a bee line straight to the Corroded Cutlass to trade in a few items I had forgotten to redeem at Razor’s Edge. How did she know where it was?

Even with Claire’s excellent distractions I took a beating, selling everything at a steep discount. That didn’t seem to bother Claire one bit. Shaking my head as we left, I was beginning to think the Scurvy Raven waitress put something extra in the cheap wine.

Later, we sat on the dock listening to old Dread Pirate Dean tell his tall tales. Claire was moved to tears at hearing the tale of how Old Pirate Dean lost his Princess and turned to a life as a pirate sailing the Seven Seas.

The sun was getting low in the sky when we strolled hand in hand yet never touching, along the Lost Coast. Kicking sand at the crabs that scurried out of our path, we passed the Ayleid ruins of Yeleri (OOO) and a ruined lighthouse (UL Beaches of Cyrodiil).

A little further along the beach we came across what remained of the ship Marabella. Searching the shipwreck we a few items worth salvaging. Leaving the shipwreck, I had this uneasy feeling that we were of being followed. Quickly spinning around we tried to catch a glimpse of whomever it was spying on us. We saw no one.

Just past the shipwreck we noticed something very unusual. In hollowed out tree so large that a person could stand in its hollow was a… door!

The entrance to Treestump Cave was sealed with a very hard lock. How convenient, I just happened to have the newly acquired Latar Andavar to unlock such locks. Claire wasn’t too happy with using Latar Andavar.

“You know, you’ll never gain enough experience to lead a host of Sylphim if you insist on using cheaters,” Claire admonished.

“Ha,” I laughed. “You just want to see me take all my armor off so I can cast a spell.”

“I would never do such a thing,” she shot back with mock indignation.

Laughing to myself, I was about to unlock the entrance to Treestump Cave with the enchanted staff, Latar Andavar when Claire interrupted.

“Sire, look over there.” Claire pointed back in the direction of the Ayleid ruins.

At first I saw nothing unusual. Something moved. There, near the Ayleid ruins of Yeleri, I saw two grey robed figures that could only be True Descendant cultists. They took off running when they realized that they had been detected. Claire and I gave chase but lost them as they ran up into the tree line. Knowing that we would never catch them we turned our attention back to Treestump Cave.

A beautifully relaxing day up at the winery.

Then some fun down in Pirate Town.

Treestump Cave – that sounds like an enticing place for a wood elf to explore.

Uh oh, greyrobed spies?

Sutch is a really lovely mod, isn't it? In a way it's actually good Bethesda never added Sutch in. Chances are it would've been another walled town if they had.



Heh heh that cracks me up! Also: Jandaga's drinking Cheap Wine? 🍷With all the money that guy's got?

Sounds like a romantic evening on the docks, kicking sand at crabs.

Who is Latar Andavar? ... OHH it's a staff.

Uh oh, TWO gray-robed figures! What a cliffhanger, Macole, Vamprire Hunter!

Beautiful pictures of the Sutch Village! I even decide to have a closer look at that mod for my own game... Nice! Except that of course 1950s sofas will have to go.

The hidden dangers of beauty. Once again Unique Landscapes has shown itself to be more than just a landscape beauty mod. I had fun with this one.

20230424 UL-Beaches of Cyrodill, Lost Coast - Tree Stump Cave & the Forgotten Ayleid Ruin

After running off the True Descendant cultists Claire and I entered Tree Stump Cave. Without giving much thought to it we proceeded quickly along the main passage until it came to an abrupt end. I don’t know what I was expecting. After all, how big could a cave in a tree stump be? Still, it was rather disappointing to think that our cave spelunking had come to an end so soon.

Dejected we turned around to return to the entrance. With a thought that we may have missed something I called our friend Twinkle to shine a light on the situation. And miss something we did. Twinkle’s guiding light revealed that we had stumbled upon several nicely loaded treasure chests. That eased our disappointment somewhat.

With Twinkle shedding some light on the path we began our walk back to the entrance. We were about half way there when we noticed an opening to a side passage that led down to a dark water filled chamber. How did we miss this on the way in?

Claire gave me a look that said it all. I know, I know. If only I’d called Twinkle to begin with.

The passage opened up to a large partially flooded chamber. The steep-sided canyon walls were interspersed with easily recognizable Ayleid stonework. This caused me to wonder why would anyone build down here in a wet cavern.

Sloshing around in the, at times, waist deep water got the attention of a nether lich. It sent its ghostly knights upon us. To even the odds Claire summoned a Clannfear while I chose the Sisters of Insanity to assist in fending off the ethereal knights. While the apparitions were kept busy, Claire and I chased down the nether lich.

The nether lich took us on a merry chase. It ended in a small chamber where once the lich was defeated, we were left staring at a door of a long Forgotten Ayleid Ruin. Unlocking the door we entered the Forgotten Ayleid Ruin. This too was a rather short corridor to a seemingly dead end. Noticing an Ayleid switch on the wall I gave it a push. A hidden door opened in the wall revealing a small room holding five zombies.

Of course we had little problem putting down the zombies but Claire and the Sisters of Insanity just wouldn’t let it go. There was no switch to open another hidden door but the way they attacked the far wall told me that there was something on the other side. When I finally was finally able to get Claire out of the hidden room, I pushed the switch to reseal the room.

Thinking that this was a bolt-hole for a larger complex, Claire and I returned to the flooded cavern to search for the main entrance. Luckily it was just around the bend.

Entering the main door we found ourselves standing in what must have been a grand reception hall. Two very hard locked gates flanked the center mantel. The glowing stones in the mantel made me think of an Ayleid version of a wall clock.

Taking the gate on the left, I unlocked it and we entered the throne room of this forgotten ruin. An army of mummies, zombies, and other walking dead including a nether lich or two objected strenuously to our unannounced entrance. This appalling breach of protocol demanded our immediate expulsion, which they tried to exorcise. Showing them our invitations they became more complacent, err dead. We stayed long enough to pick up some valuable loot.

Behind one of the thrones we found the Cryptic Key locked in a small Ayleid cask. Not finding anything in this room that required the key we deduced that whatever this key opened must be beyond the other gate. We went back to the reception hall and unlocked the gate on the right hand side.

This section of the Forgotten Ayleid Ruin was a Daggerfallesque maze of corridors and staircases; up the stairs, down the stairs, corridors seemingly going around and around in circles. We got so twisted around we didn’t know where we were at. We must have spent hours trying to find our way around I began to wonder if we’re ever going to get out.

“I haven’t been in a dungeon like this since my days in Daggerfall,” I lamented to Claire.

“I can get a map,” Claire declared proudly as she conjured up paper map. “Oh pooh! Can’t seem to get bitchin’ 3D 360 degree maps anymore.”

The map did mark the spot for the Sealed Grave but other than that it wasn’t much help on how to get there.

At the end of one corridor we came across a column standing in the center of a tight rotunda. Walking around the column looking for something that would indicate its purpose we stepped on four pressure plate set in the floor. The sound of stone grinding echoed throughout the forgotten ruin.

Something had opened. We set off to find it.

Earlier, down one dead end corridor, we had found the location where we thought the bolt-hole should be. Hoping to find exposed hidden rooms, we carefully retraced our steps back to that dead end. There was no bolt-hole access but three walls had opened up to reveal treasure rooms. Only trouble was the rooms were guarded by a lich and skeleton warriors.

We searched for some time before we found ourselves standing at the entrance door. Tired of searching the Forgotten Ayleid Ruin I suggested we go back to town and get some sleep. Claire agreed.

Back in Tree Stump Cave Claire pointed to the arch above the entrance to the Forgotten Ayleid Ruin.

“Sire, there’s a light shinning up there,” she said.

Took some time but we found a spot where we could climb up to the top.

Reaching the spot Claire had pointed out, we discovered the light was emanating from an Ayleid push block. Pushing the switch, the sound of stone moving came from almost directly below us.

Back down to the flooded floor we went where we discovered an opening that hadn’t been there before. Could this be the entrance to the Sealed Grave?

An archeologist’ dream come true! With the ol’ ‘boldly go where no aelf has gone before’ exploring gene recharged, we entered the newly revealed section of the Ayleid ruin. The corridor led us to secluded spot in the cave where a memorial of sorts was laid out. It wasn’t the Sealed Grave we were looking for.

Still the renewed thrill of adventuring took us back to the Forgotten Ruin’s main hall with the intent of finding the Sealed Grave. This time when we again entered the ruin we were immediately confronted with gaping hole in the wall beneath the Ayleid clock. How did we not see that missing-tooth smile?

This time no one could point fingers at one another. We both missed it. Into the breach we plunged. Down a long
flight of stairs, deep below the other levels of the forgotten ruin we came upon a column holding an inscription tablet that read;

“Here rests Evil sealed until the end of time. May the Ayleid Empire find peace.”

Turning to Claire, I began the inspiration litany.

“I've got a little question I'd like to ask you.
Are you ready to face the unknown?
Are you ready to answer Fatum’s call?
Doom or riches we just don’t know
But if you're ready then we'll enter this door.”

“Yes, yes, I'm ready,” Claire sang out repeatedly after each line.

Using the Cryptic Key we entered the Sealed Grave. After a series of very hard locked gates and mantraps we came to the gated entrance of a room. It dawned on us then that this entire complex is must have been maximum security prison and whoever was held in this room must have been very dangerous.

We weren’t worried. After all who or whatever was locked up here must have died and turned to dust by now. Unless…

The sound of ebony plate armor jangled like silver dinnerware being hastily set on the table as Rung, a very hungry vampire, rose from his throne. Did he waste time screaming “BLOOD!” like oh so many other vampires we’ve encountered? No, Rung confidently summoned a spectral warrior and attacked.

Claire counters with an Argonian skeletal warrior and with Twinkle at her back, takes on the spectral warrior leaving Rung to me. Rung, who hadn’t seen the light of day in more than a millennia, was extremely vulnerable to the power of the Light of Dawn. Burning with the power of Mangus the sun, the Light of Dawn laid Rung low, of course I did help guide the blade. Now, Rung lay quietly at my feet his essence absorbed by the Light of Dawn.

After looting the throne room and leaving the Forgotten Ayleid Ruin, we explored Tree Stump Cave more thoroughly. The exterior of the ruin was impressive. This place must have been huge at one time.

In one corner of the cave we came across a Wondrous Ayleid Well. Dipping our hands in the well gave us a significant boost. Yeah, we could have used this a bit earlier!

With that we left Tree Stump Cave.

This post has been edited by macole: Apr 28 2023, 05:31 PM

That actually would be kind of funny if "Tree Stump Cave" was actually this massive conglomeration of passages and underground chambers. Still, Jandaga's final opinion cracked me up. "What did we expect? It's a cave made from a tree stump!"

Twinkle is a really good idea. You know, as a companion. Just because you get some protection, but also the added benefit of free light. 💡 One of my old characters (somewhere in this thread) Sarah Phimm had a will o' wisp companion. Are will o' wisps considered to be daedra?

Will-o-the-Wisps are luminous beings seemingly composed of gas. They are immune to normal damage and poison, and have a variety of extremely dangerous magic. They are also very fast and have the ability to become nearly invisible. Outdoors, standard Will-o-the-Wisps are only found in Swamp terrains.

Cool, doesn't sound like they are necessarily Evil beings. Joan of Arkay, whom I've been traveling with lately, could use a new companion. Like my elf, she often travels with guards. Guards and Legion soldiers are great for traveling the roads and countryside, but are not always so durable for dungeoneering. So yeah. I'll have to ask my gal....

Because it's really her decision! And honestly, I don't think she'll approve. :

That's a great picture of Jandaga with his magical sword. Looks like he's wearing an Indiana Jones hat in a later pic.

" An army of mummies, zombies, and other walking dead..." Oh my gosh, dude!

Good job searching the depths of Forgotten Ayleid Realm. As usual, today's song's ringing bells. Screw it, I'm cheating. Pacific Gas & Electric??? That's the name of the band???

Twinkle salvages what would have otherwise been a short excursion.

Yep, send those nether liches back to the nether regions. . . oh, wait.

I’d imagine that big Ayleid Ruin likely predates the flooding.

All this to seal up the vampire Rung? Rung must have been an Ayleid vampire mebbe.

What a complex dungeon!

Twinkle is a polite will-o’-the-wisp. Twinkle is a summon spell. Once summoned, Twinkle will stay with you until dismissed or until her light is extinguished. Do not take her swimming, she’ll drown.
Neither Aedra nor Daedra, I group Will-o’-Wisp along with spriggans, wispmothers, and possibly Gargoyles since they are living rock, somewhere in the faerie hierarchy of Whilloki, Nymphs, Dryads, Nereids, Nephrine, Sylphim, Illyadi, Chonus, Gheateus, and Sygria.
Just another race of intelligent or semi-intelligent beings hidden under the rug and left for the player to define a place for them.


It is an Indiana Jones hat!
MOO has three hats; IndianaJones1, 2, & 3. The 3 hats the Grave Digger, the Artifact Collector, and the Tomb Raider are all the same except for the hat band.
Hatband #2, the Artifact Collector, is my favorite but it takes an amulet slot and he has a couple of potent amulets so he doesn’t wear the hat often.


You got it right! Cheating Share a snifter of amaretto and I wont tell.


All Hail, Twinkle! The Guiding Light, the true Champion of Cyrodill.

This post has been edited by macole: May 3 2023, 08:51 AM

20230509 UL-Beaches of Cyrodill

It was a bright sunny day just before noon when Claire and I stepped out of Tree Stump Cave. Adrenalin still pumping through the veins thoughts of sleep was impossible. So we thought we’d walk along the Abeacean Sea beach to Anvil.

Garlas Malatar was nearby. We quickly passed it by not giving it a second thought. Neither Claire nor I wanted anything more to do with the Nights of the Nine. When the sandy beach came to an end we climbed up to the woodland above the cliffs and continued on. It was later in the afternoon around 4:30 when as we were passing the Silver Pine Forest Gateway.

Silver Pine Forest, now that brought back unwanted memories of the Demon Lord Karazan and Lord Gulltar. It must have been four years ago when Kaleah and I eliminated the giant demon and Gulltar. I shuddered at the thought.

It was now late in the afternoon and being tired from walking all afternoon I suggested we spend the night at Fisherman’s Shack. The shack is right below the portal to Silver Pine Forest.

Descending the stairs to Fisherman’s Shack Claire asked, “Do you think the threat from Silver Pine Forest will return?”

“No,” I replied. “With the elimination of Demon Lord Karazan and Lord Gulltar it will be a long, long time before Silver Pine forest will threaten Cyrodiil again.”

We had dinner on the dock and spent the rest of the evening watching sailing ships heading toward Anvil. It was then as the sun set that we noticed that the navigation beacon just east of the shack did not light up. It had fallen into such a state of disrepair that it no longer functioned.

“How long has it been like that?” Claire asked pointing to the ruined beacon tower.

“I don’t know exactly,” I replied. “There used to be a ship bound for the Cybiades docked there. Haven’t seen it since the beacon was destroyed. Why don’t we check it out tomorrow?”

It was a couple days later when we left Fisherman’s Shack. Before heading to Anvil and Benirus Manor we made a short stop to investigate the ruined navigation beacon. Crossing the rickety wooden rope bridge was dangerous and not just because it was so badly neglected and in need of repair. About half way across several large boulders came loose and fell into the sea. The bridge swung wildly nearly tossing us into the sea.

There wasn’t much to the ruined beacon. Just a couple of burned out empty towers was all that remained. We were about to leave when we noticed something on the rocky edge below us. Climbing down we discovered the remains of the former beacon caretaker.

A tatter journal lay near the body. It told the story of how this caretaker and a mage tried to keep the fires burning during days of intense storms. It relates how the mage used am unquenchable magical fire to maintain the beacon fire only to burn down the beacon in the process. The tattered journal also told of pirates raiding Oyster Bay, destroying the beacon there.

“We passed a ruined beacon when we left Oyster Bay,” I commented. “Want to go back and investigate?”
Claire held my hand, looked down into my eyes and said, “Sire, I will follow you anywhere… but my Jandaga needs to return to Benirus Manor.”

It was later that day when we arrived at Benirus Manor. Kaleah, Pym, Elenya, and Rosalind the teenaged housekeeper gave us a grand homecoming reception.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While the Jandaga was busy putting his new trophies away, Kaleah, Elenya, and Pym pulled Claire aside in the library.

“Well Claire, you took your sweet time getting him home,” Kaleah teasing but you could feel an irritation in her voice. “How did it go? Is he ready?”

“Ooh, he’s more than capable,” cooed Claire with a sidelong glance toward the Jandaga. “But, he’s tired. I’m afraid he may have Tolkin Malaise.”

“That World Weary mumbo jumbo, that’s not good,” Kaleah mumbled. “We must fix it, now!”

Elenya, who had just brewed a cup of tea, drew a symbol in the tea with her finger. Reading the tea leaves as they swirled in the cup she said, “Exhaustion from running hither and yon only to feel the frustration of knowing the evil cleared will return in as little as 3-days.”

Rosalind looked up from dusting the book shelves to make a suggestion, “Like, why not have the little unicorn take him to the Cute Elf Retreat for a nice relaxing vacation.”

The four Ladies spun around to glare at the teenaged housekeeper and demanded, “How do you know about that?”

“Ey gods,” stammered the teenager. Then as teenagers are wont to do she lashed out, “Like, I’m totally alone here. Bored to tears with nothing to do but dust grody shelves. That’s like gross, gag me with a spoon, barf out. Like, the unicorn let’s me ride him just for fun. So, like, one day while riding I like wished I could see the exotic lands he talks about. There we were in a land so beautiful. Like, total freak out. I can take him there. He’s so dreamy. Like, we can picnic with sweet tea and cake and...”

“NO!” Kaleah commanded in a thundering Daedric voice. She put her foot down and if you’ve ever seen Kaleah put her foot down you’d learn what the term “she means business” really means. (I think it’s the talons bursting through her boots that does it.) “Don’t even think about it, young lady! He’s way too old for you!”

Pouting, the teenager stormed out of the library and went upstairs slamming every door along the way.
Kaleah shook her head and with a slight laugh muttered, “We’re going to have to keep an eye on that one.”

“But, what else is there we can do? We’ve done everything or at least I have,” a heated Elenya glared at the others, getting back on the subject of the Jandaga.

Pym emphatically drew symbols in the air.

“Oh my! Claire exclaimed, “We’d need my sister Fiona for that kind of recharging adventure. Not only that, the Maran Knights would love to get their hooks on the Jandaga. Too risky.”

“Adventure…” Kaleah asked wistfully. “Yes, that’s it! Keep his inquisitive nature piqued by adventuring. I have an idea.”

“Hush,” Elenya cautioned. “He’s returning.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tired from sorting and filing the journey’s take I rejoined My Ladies in the library.

“My tired little Feache,” Kaleah warmly greeted me. “I have word from Bruma. Your spy kitten, err, housekeeper Kiyana reports she’s heard rumors concerning the location of a certain item. She has high confidence in the information and eagerly awaits your arrival.”

“Kiyana?” my ears piqued at the name and I replied a little too excitedly. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”
With a wink to the other Ladies gathered in the library Kaleah began organizing the trip.

"...only to feel the frustration of knowing the evil cleared will return in as little as 3-days.” --

Rosalind seems like a handful. . . .

So the ladies are planning an 'easy quest' or break from the challenges of adventuring so the Jandaga can recharge his mojo?