Chapter 17: Knowledge Long Forgotten

Blake's Perspective

Pyrrha proudly walked through the gates of Markarth and began to speak with a guard.

"We need to find the Jarl. Where would he be located?"

While the two talked about the Jarl's office, I took in our surroundings. Straight above us was a building on top of a rock that rested on a house in front of us. All of the buildings were in the same style as the ruins we went through to get here. I could hear the sounds of miners off to my left, but it was faint. I sniffed the air and it smelled strongly of smoke and melted silver. That could be what they are mining. Off to the left where the mining was taking place, a large waterfall fell serenely into the basin of water that was under the ore smelters. The small drainage channel that some water was flowing down also fed into the same basin as the waterfall. To my right was two stories of houses with a section closest to the door collapsed. This must be the norm in these cities; old architecture and even older ruins. Pyrrha thanked the guard and began to lead us straight down the path to wherever the Jarl is.

Not too far along the path, right about where the path begins to get steep, a man dressed quite oddly stopped us. He had a brown hood over his head and also a dark gray toga-esque fabric about his waist and left shoulder. Around his waist was a thick belt which matched the colors of the rest of the fabric on him. He had leather boots with a small sabaton on the middle of both feet.

"Excuse me, but do you know anything about this house? Seen anyone enter or leave?" He asked us, walking out from the shadows of the door.

"We just got here, so no." Pyrrha replied.

"Seems no one in this city has." He mumbled.

"Why?" Yang asked.

"I'm with the Vigil of Stendarr. We believe this house might have been used for Daedra worship. Evil rites and so forth." The Vigilant of Stendarr said.

"O-kay. Let's go, everyone." Weiss said, pushing Pyrrha and Ruby along the path.

"Thank you for your time." He said and stepped back into the shade of the doorway.

The house after the one with the Vigilant dude in front of it had a Shadow Mark on it. I stopped walking and pondered whether it would be worthwhile to loot the house. But while I stood still, Nora walked right into me.

"Why'd you stop, Blake?" Nora asked, rubbing her head where it hit me.

"No reason. Just looking at the architecture." I lied. Nora seemed unconvinced, but didn't press the topic.

Right next to the marked house were two sets of stairs. One went over the run-off channel and the other went to the right of it. Pyrrha and Ruby shrugged and split up. Naturally, we broke up into our teams. Once we reached the top of the stairs and the path following, we reached a wall. So we turned left and ended up back with Team JNPR at the door to Understone Keep.

It was very much like both of the Dwarven ruins but to the left was a large amount of rubble. Pyrrha left us and walked over to the guard, and when she said "Calcelmo" the guard pointed to the rubble without hesitating. And so, we journeyed through the tunnel. When we reached the other side, it was unlike anything that I had seen. It was a literal underground city. So that's why they call it "Understone Keep". On the right were two men dressed like the mage in Whiterun.

"Calcelmo?" Pyrrha called out apprehensively.

"What are you doing here? The excavation site is closed. I don't need any more workers or guards." Calcelmo said, still facing away from us.

"Uh…" Pyrrha said, looking around.

"The Dragonborn told us to talk to you." Ruby stated.

"I told him I'm not hiring any more guards. Why do you people always bother me when I'm trying to finish my research?" Calcelmo said, slightly more aggravated.

"But we-" Ruby started to explain, but he cut her off.

"You idiots! Do you even know who I am? The most recognized scholar on the Dwemer in all of Tamriel, and you people keep bothering me!" Calcelmo yelled, turning to face us.

"Good. We need you to tell us the location of a Dwemer ruin." I said to him, pandering to his pride in the statement.

"Ah...I...I'm sorry for yelling, my work can be stressful at times, what can I help you with?" Calcelmo asked, slightly flabbergasted at my aversion to his yelling.

"We need to find a ruin in eastern Skyrim." Weiss told him, adding in her usual flair of snottiness. Kill me.

"Well, you're going to have to be much more specific than that." Calcelmo said, a slight hint of offense in his tone.

"It's near the Velothi Mountains." Weiss replied, adding more snottiness. You can't want to not be near her more.

"So, which one are you looking for? Mzulft? Kagrenzel? Rkund? Come on, spit it out!" Calcelmo said, whilst hastily flipping pages in his book.

"Uhh… The one with an Elder Scroll in it." Yang said, confused as to how to explain what we need.

"...I beg your pardon?" Calcelmo asked, dumbfounded.

"Some old dragon told us that it was there, but he couldn't find the exact location." Nora replied.

This merely caused his expression to grow even more shocked and confused, now paired with a total lack of a response.

"Why is your face all white and your mouth wide open? Did I say something wrong?" Nora asked, concerned.

"Y-You're looking for a set of r-ruins...with an E-Elder Scroll?" Calcelmo asked, barely getting the words out.

"Told to us by an old dragon. Keep up." Yang told him.

"I'm not sure how to tell you this… but there is no set of Dwarven Ruins located in, or near, the Velothi Mountains that is known to contain an Elder Scroll…" Calcelmo said.

"Do dragon's senses lie?" Nora asked, actually considering the question.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I have no notes on any explored or unexplored Dwarven ruin that could possibly contain an Elder Scroll." Calcelmo said, flipping through his book.

"If they're unexplored, how would you know what's in them?" Nora asked, yet again actually perplexed.

"Initial examinations can more or less predetermine what a ruin contains. When you've done this for as long as I have, you notice trends in Dwarven architecture. For example, mining cities tend to have a different style than library cities, and so on." Calcelmo said, still flipping through his book.

"Makes sense." Yang said "But you're certain that there aren't any other ruins in that area."

"Well...there's one that might have the slightest possibility...but there's no guarantee." Calcelmo said.

"Trust us, we're willing to take that chance." Jaune commented.

"Alright then…" Calcelmo said, flipping to the last few pages of his book before continuing. "From what we can tell, the city was once named 'Vzaldam', and was known to be a prime location for Dwemer scholars to flock to. Why they went there, we're still unsure, as no one has explored the ruins yet."

"Maybe that's because it had an Elder Scroll." Weiss said sarcastically, hiding herself so he wouldn't notice her.

"I doubt it, probably some form of Daedric artifact, they loved to tinker with those. Now then, Vzaldam was also supposedly a library city, though due to its current condition, it's hard to tell from the outside." Calcelmo said.

"Why wouldn't they put a scroll in a library city?" Nora asked.

"Well, the Dwarves tended to store their vast knowledge in Lexicons, as a means to better access it later. Another great library city, Avanchnzel, still once held vast quantities of unfathomable knowledge, and they didn't have an Elder Scroll." Calcelmo said.

"Nora did make a good point earlier. 'Do dragon's senses lie?'" Yang told him.

"I have no idea why some kids like yourselves would be talking to a dragon of all things, but if it mentioned ruins in the Velothi Mountains, then I'm not necessarily in a position to argue." Calcelmo said, his face practically pressed up against his notes now.

"Ah yes." Ruby said with a phony accent that none of us could place "reading is improved tenfold when your nose can smell the spine."

"Well, I guess there is no stopping you all from going to Vzaldam, however…" Calcelmo said, trailing off at the end.

"However…" I probed.

"My notes seem to neglect the location of the entrance…" Calcelmo said.

"They what?" Yang asked, quite angrily.

"Well, these notes were taken quite a long time ago. Not to mention the last team we sent out there didn't come back, and there hasn't been another expedition since." Calcelmo said, closing his notes.

"Well then, I guess we will be trailblazers." Pyrrha commented. Yang gave her a thumbs-up.

"Ah yes, trailblazers that will be setting foot in an expansive, unexplored Dwemer ruin that they may end up rewarding or killing all of you." Calcelmo said, delivering a mock smile.

Yang shrugged. "We've done more dangerous things."

"I sure hope so, because you'll be diving straight into the unknown. I envy you, you know? I remember the days when I could blindly traverse ruins, plenty of adventures to be had in those." Calcelmo said, stopping himself before he could rant.

"Why not relive those times and join us?" Nora asked.

"Oh, no. I'm far too old now, I'm sure that you'll be just fine by yourselves." Calcelmo said.

"Alright." Nora replied. "You'll be missing out, though."

"Now where did I leave...Aicantar!" Calcelmo yelled.

A moment later, a man, dressed the exact same as Calcelmo, ran up from the way we came, panting heavily.

"Y-Yes uncle?" Aicantar asked, panting.

"Go and retrieve Attelian's expedition notes from my quarters, and make it quick!" Calcelmo said.

"What do you think he's getting?" Ruby asked Pyrrha. Pyrrha shrugged.

Aicantar quickly ran back out of the room, and, within a few minutes, he came sprinting back to the room. Except this time, he was drenched in sweat.

"H-Here you are, U-Uncle." Aicantar said.

"Thank you my nephew, you're dismissed." Calcelmo said.

Aicantar practically dragged himself out of the room.

"Don't mind him, he can be a bit lazy at times." Calcelmo said.

"We're not in any rush." I told him.

"This is for you, you'll need this if you want any chance of finding the entrance. " Calcelmo said, handing the book to Pyrrha.

Pyrrha quickly flipped through it. "This is great, thank you so much."

"It's the least I can do, now then, you'll want to get going, Vzaldam is on the other side of Skyrim, you know." Calcelmo said, chuckling a bit at the end.

I groaned. "We just walked from the top of the Throat of the World. I don't want to keep walking everywhere." A few others nodded in agreement.

"You could always take a carriage." Calcelmo said, turning to face his alchemy lab.

"What carriage leaves from Ivarstead?" Yang asked, getting agitated that she walked all this extra distance.

"I'm saying you could the take the carriage from here to Riften, at least it would give you a head start." Calcelmo said.

"We're doing that." Yang said to Pyrrha.

"Sure, Yang. But you're paying for it." Pyrrha replied, smirking.

Most of us waved at Calcelmo and thanked him for his help. We walked back through the tunnel and out into Understone Keep. The guards nodded to us as we passed and went through the front door. The journey out of Markarth was the same as the one going in, except that in the back of my mind I was thinking, hoping, that this would be the last time I walk through the streets of Markarth.

We got on a carriage and Yang happily paid the carriage driver his 20 Septims. And so, all 8 of us piled onto the back of the carriage. The road to Riften was the same as the one we took from Ivarstead to Markarth. Probably because Ivarstead is within Riften's borders. Of all the carriage rides we took while we were stuck in this place, this one felt like the longest. It wouldn't have shocked me if the sun rose and set before we reached Ivarstead. At least, that's how the trip felt up until now. It was just idle conversation and some scenery gazing to pass the time between the idle conversations.

The carriage soon passed the turn to Falkreath, which clued me into the fact that we were a very long way from Riften, and even further from Vzaldam. I leaned back against the wooden backrest and tried to catch even a small amount of sleep, but through the bumping of the carriage and the half-hearted talking, sleep seemed many miles away.

I was jolted awake by a large bump in the road. I looked around and noticed that we were at the foot of the Throat of the World. As my surroundings panned out, I noticed that the sun was beneath the horizon and the moon had just started rising. I also noticed a man silhouetted against the rising moon, which Weiss called "Masser", walking along the same path. As we neared him, Ruby began talking to him.

"Hey, Dragonborn." Ruby said, leaning over the cart railings to talk to him.

The Dragonborn, caught slightly off guard by Ruby, moved to match the pace of the carriage to talk to her.

"Greetings, Ruby." He replied.

"Do you want to get on the carriage with us?" She asked.

"It would be my pleasure."

He then jogged over to the back and jumped on.

"Hello, everyone." He said, taking the open spot on the very back.

We all replied with various greetings. Ruby impersonated Penny by saying "Sal-u-tations!"

"I take it you met Calcelmo." The Dragonborn said.

"Yep. He gave us the general area of Vzaldam." Nora replied.

"General area? That's it?" The Dragonborn asked, incredulously.

"Sadly, he was unsure of the exact location of Vzaldam." Pyrrha commented.

"Really? But he's the most knowledgeable scholar on Dwemer ruins in all of Tamriel." The Dragonborn grew evermore confused.

"Yeah. He said that numerous research parties attempted to find it, but disappeared." Ruby explained.

"Sounds about right, I've learned first hand what those ruins are capable of. But he actually had nothing on this ruin you're looking for?" The Dragonborn asked.

"Nope." Yang commented.

"Where's this 'general area' he mentioned?" The Dragonborn asked.

"Where we told him it was located." Yang said angrily.

"So... the Velothi Mountains." The Dragonborn said.

"Yes." Jaune replied.

The Dragonborn heaved a heavy sigh.

"My apologies, I thought he would have more information than that." The Dragonborn said.

"It's ok. You didn't know. Thank you so much for helping us, regardless!" Ruby said happily.

The Dragonborn smiled at what Ruby said, but his face returned to its confused state shortly after.

"I'm still surprised that he gave you nothing. He keeps notes on every Dwarven ruin in existence, and he had nothing at all for you?" The Dragonborn asked.

"He gave us a book." I told him.

"A book? What's in it?" The Dragonborn asked.

"No clue, I never-" I was cut off.

"It's some of his expedition notes." Pyrrha said, looking over the book.

"Well, what do they say?" The Dragonborn asked, focusing more on the book than Pyrrha.

"It describes what they can seen from the entrance." Pyrrha summarized.

"Well that's some somewhat useful information. I suspected he'd at least give you something, does it give you any idea on where to start?" The Dragonborn said and asked.

"A little. I'm triangulating the area where you can see all of the landmarks they mention." Pyrrha said, writing on her map and reading the book in a back-and-forth motion.

"What landmarks are mentioned?" The Dragonborn asked.

"Riften, the Throat of the World and Fort Greenwall." Pyrrha replied, not looking up from the pages.

"That does narrow the searching area by quite a large amount, anything else?" The Dragonborn asked.

"Hmmm… They scaled a recently made trail near Fort Greenwall." Pyrrha said, squinting at the book.

"There we go, we have a starting area." The Dragonborn said, leaning back on the little railing he had to himself.

"That's good." Yang commented.

"I just hope we won't fall under Murphy's Law." I mumble.

"Well, I suppose my beloved can wait a little longer." The Dragonborn mumbled to himself.

Everyone turned to him.

"Your beloved what?" Ruby asked edgily.

"Did I say that out loud?" He asked.

"Yes…" Yang began.

"You did." Ruby finished.

"My wife, that's who I was referring to." The Dragonborn said.

"You have a wife?" Ruby asked, shocked.

"Indeed I do, not many know about her, seeing as how I moved her and my children to my house in Falkreath." The Dragonborn said.

"You have children?!" Ruby asked, even more shocked.

"More importantly, is your house the one by Lake Ilinalta?" Pyrrha asked.

"Aye, built it myself." The Dragonborn said, a sense of pride in his voice.

"Impressi-" Pyrrha was cut off by Ruby.

"Don't dodge the question!"

"Yes, I have children. A son and a daughter to be specific." The Dragonborn said.

"But you don't have a wedding ring. Nor do you have anything showing that you're married." Yang said, raising her head from where she hung it in thought.

The Dragonborn reached into a pouch on his side, and after some fiddling around, he pulled out a gold ring that faintly glowed blue.

"This is 'The Bond of Matrimony', a ring given to each partner in the marriage once the wedding ceremony is complete." The Dragonborn said.

"There it is." Yang commented.

The Dragonborn then put the ring back in his pouch, seemingly sticking it near the bottom.

"What's she like?" Ruby asked, now curious.

"She's a young aspiring merchant who I met in Whiterun, thanks to my enrollment in the Companions. She's smart, funny, and a very caring lover." The Dragonborn said, winking.

Ruby visibly grimaced at the last part. I blushed a little. No one else was listening to the conversation. Thank Talos. Yang would've made that awkward…

"Oh…" Ruby said quietly.

"I don't seem to understand what the issue is, but, regardless, she fell for me as soon as she laid eyes upon the Amulet of Mara I had been adorning that morning." The Dragonborn said.

"Moving on." I prompt. "What are your children like?"

"My son is a no good milk drinker, who cowers from every little thing. My daughter however, is showing the early signs of a strong adulthood, she'll grow to be a fine Nord woman." The Dragonborn said.

I felt slightly insulted that "milk drinker" is a negative thing, but I kept my mouth shut.

"But I love milk…" Ruby said, hurt overpowering her voice.

"I remember how one day I came home, and my daughter had brought a rabbit into the house. She begged me to let her keep it, and seeing as how my son managed to let his pet Mudcrab die, I let her. It's better to teach them responsibility when they're young, otherwise they'll still be asking you for help when all you want to do is let the tides of time take you away." The Dragonborn said, looking up towards the sky.

"You have quite the interesting family…" I comment. Ruby nods in agreement.

"Thank you. If this journey wasn't your last one here in Skyrim, I would've hoped to have introduced them to you." The Dragonborn said.

Ruby looked a little embarrassed, but nodded.

"I'm sure you understand why we want to get home." She said.

"I understand perfectly, you have lives to live back in your world. And I will see to it that you get there safely." The Dragonborn said.

"Thanks." Ruby smiled very widely at the Dragonborn. I nodded to show my appreciation.

"The pleasure is mine." The Dragonborn said, smiling back.

I leaned back against the railing and just enjoyed the cool air and the very starry sky. It only felt like a short moment before I drifted off to sleep.

Hey Guys! You doing good? So, things have been actually going pretty smoothly on our end, which is a surprise seeing how we normally do things. But, this means you should be getting the next chapter (hopefully) within the next month or so. This has been an incredible journey, and I hope you guys stick around through the end. So, as always, see you in the next chapter!