"You're a fool Dandel, although it seems the place isn't trapped in some manner, we still have no idea what could happen." said Varar, even though he too was tempted to take some of the fine booze, "But this place is amazing. I wonder who set all of this up?" Varar proceeded to pick out a lovely flask of Sujamma from the wall, and made sure nobody was looking, and took a fine sip. Oh, by Azura that's sweet, sweet Sujamma! thought the Dunmer.

Varar began walking around the room, admiring the treasures. He noticed a fine Daedric bust of what looked like Boethia, with Daedric carvings all along the base. Some weapons were to be found on a rack at the very back of the chamber as well, fine ebony and silver, as well as a magnificent Dunmeri glaive. Vara picked up the weapon and admired it, he swung the glaive around and whipped it over each arm in a display of master technique.

But he put the spear back and continued looking around the large room, sipping his booze. "So what are we supposed to do now?"

OOC: Slow down people! At least give everyone a chance to post before we solve this puzzle, as easy as it is After tommorrow is over I should be able to check more reguarly.


IC: "Interesting riddle if I do say so, I think even our own comedy duo could decipher this" Aryon sarcastically spoke just before the two he mentioned decided to stumble around the chamber like drunken fools "or perhaps not. Don't even think of touching anything of value in here, or more specifically don't touch anything at all or you will regret it" he warned them. He didn't intend to kill them himself of course but it was clear that this was a test and whether or not the price of failure would be death, was a possibility.

Slowly moving around the chamber he closely inspected each item in the room. It was a splendid sight with the wide variety of Dwemer artifacts on show but he had seen it all before in the Dwemer ruins that dotted his homeland. "Indeed there are some brilliant artifacts here" he mumbled to himself as he picked up a cup in his hands and held it to his eyes and studied the markings before putting it back to where it stood "Though nothing I haven't seen before".

"You're from Vvardenfell, Aryon?" asked Varar. He walked over to a Dwemer tube and picked it up, looked through it, and set it back down. "If I had a septim for every piece of Dwemer junk I've collected, by Azura I'd challenge the Empire's wealth. So has anyone solved the riddle yet, and by the way, all I had was a bit of a drink, nothing important." Varar said, with a slight slur in his voice.

Admiring all these things was getting to the pirate side of Varar, he had to fight his greed for the beautiful things, as Aryon and himself had said, nobody knew what could happen. If worse come to worse, bloodshed, thought Varar, but the group seemed... stable enough.

"Sadrith Mora, Telvanni lands so yes I'm from Vvardenfell. Suppose being around so many mages had an effect on me in my youth" replied Aryon "Though I'm no Telvanni, not anymore at least. Politics and isolation never did interest me" Aryon realised that he had never told anyone of his past for a long time and decided to change the subject from him "Where do you hail from, are you a native or outlander?"

What he said was no lie, he did hail from the Telvanni city of Sadrith Mora and he was indeed a Telvanni long ago. However it was not for the house politics but for the knowledge that they held. The Telvanni were the dominant mages in the whole of Morrowind and many youthful Dunmer would join to seek the knowledge they held and Aryon was one fo them. Had he joined the Hlaalu, Redoran or any other house then things may have been different for him.

The riddle wasn't difficult to interpret but the wizard wanted to see the intellect of the group and so would leave it for someone else to solve. If no one could then it would be quite clear that the overall strength of the group didn't rest within the brain.

Tucharon, seeing no trap had sprung, approached the two Dunmer, one of which had a Dwemer tube. To most, these Dwemer artifacts were little more than ancient trinkets, but to Tucharon, they were marvelously crafted devices which could be used to create incredible works. He was certain it was a trap before, but now, he wasn't sure. Not only were the treasures real, but nothing had happened when they were touched. He looked over the artifacts. He wasn't interested in the tableware, but he was interested in the machine components that were there.

"That is no junk you're holding, Varar. I could work wonders with these old parts," he said as he looked at a dusty cylinder. He still refused to touch anything just yet, but it didn't hurt to look around.

"I wonder if there are any schematics among these Dwemer relics, I would love to have an original." The Altmer had copies of several recovered schematics of Dwemer devices, but the originals either belonged to the Mages Guild or House Telvanni. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that this was all here to tempt them for some reason...

Meanwhile, outside the ancient fort, a sleeping Firenze began to stir...

The soft tweet of birds filled the Akaviri's ears, then suddely he awoke.
Oh damn! They've already gone in!
He thought, scrabbling at his belongings that lay around him on the top floor of the Fort, as he packed his map back into the frayed satchel, a telescope rolled silently off the edge of the fragmented floor.
"No!" He yelled in dispair, grabbing his satchel up and leaping off the edge. Seemingly in slow-motion he plucked the visionary device from the air and landed with cat-like grace.

With his gathered posessions, he walked towards the open, glowing door. Torches lit the way as Firenze sprinted down the dank, dripping coridoors. Suddenly he stumbled upon the group, a cluster of about 16 people, man, mer and woman. Then there was the Khajiit, the supposed savior of Cyrodiil, he looked rather odd but Firenze knew never to judge a book by its cover.

"Hello, I'm sorry I'm late everybody, my name's Firenze."

Getting somewhat lost in her thoughts meant she jumped as an unknown voice advised to pick on only a few items. Looking over she noticed it was a newcomer ? a short figure wearing a dark red robe. A figure who immediately rang very alarm bell she had picked up during her time amongst the less reputable parts of society. This guy is wearing a robe, but he's certainly not a mage. Dark red isn't as blatant as black by day, but almost as good to blend in the shadows and blood don't show on it. And this stance... he's a furtive killer of one sort or another, and he's got some trick ready if things turn sour...

As her position sideways from the entrance kept her out of his sight, Elissandre didn't move, but instead reviewed a few spells in her mind, getting ready to release them at the drop of hat if the need arose. A quick and dirty paralysis spell, then a better one. And soul vision to make sure he won't use magic to get away...

But keeping focused on the newcomer turned out harder than expect as he attention was drawn to the room. Elissandre watched with disgust as Dandrel dove straight for the booze, gulping it like he was dying of thirst while clamoring for some skooma. I was right thinking he was an addict. Unless he can shake the habit, that makes him a liability. His sort would do just anything to get their dose, no matter how well-meaning they might be otherwise....

she forced herself to focus back on the room and it's inscriptions. "as I've said earlier, this looks more like the sort of moral test common in stories and legends than truly a riddle." She shrugged "But I might be wrong, I've never been very good with riddles and the like."

After he had introduced himself, he noticed no-one had payed any attention, they were all helping themselves to what looked like a life collection of treasure, then he noticed the Khajiit, at least, he looked relatively like one, pondering on what to pick as if he was a kid in a candy store. Then Firenze saw the writing on the walls, they seemed to be a warning. He strolled over to them, his black travelling cloak swishing behind him. He raised his fingerless gauntletted hand to the wall and swiped his fingers down the letters, then licked his fingers.
Hmm, he thought. Tastes like, blood, but then again it could be a metallicly based paint.
Then he raised his arm, twirling his hand and speaking in his home language, of course no-one understood or even noticed his armour appearing on his muscular body.
There could be trouble ahead.
Firenze then went straight for the books, not taking them, but scanning his finger along the titles of volumes. After a few minutes of looking he noticed that the entire history of Cyrodiil could be stored in this treasure trove of information. The languages dated back to the ages of the Ayleids.

OOC: Korrupted-Korpse, is it okay if Fir finds a secret passage by pulling a book from the shelf.

The bottle of wine was now empty, Dandel had finished his drink and enjoyed every moment of it. ''You'll never find this kinda sh*t anywhere else.'' He spoke to himself, smiling at the bottle. He was right though, with the state of Cyrodill and the Empire only the very very richest could get alcohol like what was in the decorated room.

Just as Dandel was about to grab another bottle for himself he heard the sound of fast paced footsteps coming towards the room. As the Dunmer was pouring his drink he turned his head to see who it was. The figure seemed rather humanoid, but had slightly distinctive features, such as glowing eyes and some parts of his face almost seemed cat like. Dandel didn't really mind, just another person to help the group. He thought he may as well try to make friends with him.

"Hello, I'm sorry I'm late everybody, my name's Firenze."
''Naah you're not late, come over here, have some of this fine booze. Best f***ing stuff you'll ever 'ave.'' Dandel walked over to the new comer and handed out a bottle. ''Sorry whats your name again, I didn't catch it?''

EDIT: Post edited, I made a mistake as to what Firenze's character was like, but I changed it.

OOC: Damn, just ignore this post

"Well Aryon, that makes two of us. I was an Urshilaku Ashlander, captured and traded into slavery by the Telvanni in Sadrith Mora. I eventually was bought by an Archmage, he taught me much and I became a personal guard to him, but I killed him for what he had done to my life. So I rallied some other guards of similar origin, stole a ship, and the rest is history." said Varar in answer to Aryon.

"Dwemer Schematics would be nice, but how would you know what to build Tucharon? Or do with them?" Varar continued looking over the artifacts, "Well, it appears my teachings fail me in my rather inebriated state, Aryon, I think you're holding out on us. Have you figured out the riddle?"

Just then, Varar heard a voice, a new one. Varar turned his head to see what seemed to be another Khajiit. "Firenze, eh?" Varar put his left hand on the red hilt of his scimitar, "Have you come to join us? Welcome."

OOC EDIT: same reason as Chriso

OOC: sorry for my "long paws" haha im funny, am back and good job people, dont be scared.

IC: "Sparkles!" Screamed Korro as he spotted a an ornate glass dagger. "I've died and gone to heaven!"

With everyone making their own assumptions about the room and whether it had any meaning behind it, Korro was gleefully picking out the spoils he had chosen. He was very careful to pick out extremely unique items, all distinctly different from each other as he knew that whoever he would sell them to would find a one of a kind much more valuable than a hand full of identicals. As he pranced round he plucked out the ornatley decorated glass knife, a large topaz cut into a pentagonal shape, a pair of fine red silk gloves with silver trims, an unfamiliar flask from the beverage section with strange markings on it. "Hmm... could it be Dagoth Brandy?" he whispered to himself before adding it to his satchel.

As he shopped about he heard Dandel ask him about skooma, this brought a very familiar grin to Korro's face as he knew he had a fair few bottles in his bag that he was waiting for the perfect mark to unload it onto. Not only that but people talking about Dwemer schematics being valuable to them was something Korro wished to hear for a long time, many were too scared to purchase the ones he had in his rucksack for they feared they might be stolen property and if they were caught with them by the mages guild or the Telvanni they would be in serious trouble.

He was quickly snapped from both his free pickings and Dandel when he realised some of the others were talking, all warnings that were called out about not touching anything had gone unheard to him.

When the breton woman said about it being a test of morality Korro laughed, "Well i've nowt to fear then, my morals are those that earn me money and pleasure" he stated with a thumb pointed at his chest.

Then all of a sudden a Khajiit like man walked in, though distinctly different from any khajiit Korro had ever seen, and even he was unique for a khajiit. He felt a little less unique in the group with another feline but it mattered little.


--------------------------------------------


The orange light that revealed the treasure a short while ago had been slowly dimming since it lit up, almost as though it was a timer and that this rooms test would be over soon, albeit not immenantly.







OOC: my initial thoughts were that each room would take one real day, though if that is too fast for some people i shall slow it to 2 days. What with me being at home all day every day i tend to update with a new post every couple hours (cept when something comes up) if some of you can only post once or twice a day then please inform me on how you would like me to slow down the progression (though bare in mind RP's always develop faster when they first start up then slow to a reasonable pace further in.

Tucharon replied to Varar, "Let's see, with what I can see and with a few filled soul gems, I could probably assemble a few Dwemer light fixtures. They're much more reliable than torches or candles, and they aren't nearly as hot to touch. If I could find more scrap metal and a decent forge, however, I could build a Centurion." Acquiring such knowledge wasn't easy. Tucharon had even gone against guild policy and worked for the Telvanni in order to learn the secrets of creating animunculi. This may, he thought, have been the reason that the guild was so quick to expel him, they may have thought he was working for them.

Tucharon turned towards the newcomer. It looked like some sort of Khajiit, although Tucharon had never seen such a breed. Still, Khajiit breeds were numerous and very few had seen more than one or two varieties. He thought that this may be the one who summoned them, but seeing it came from the same way that they did, it must have come from the outside.

"And the party grows and grows, whoever our benefactor was certainly has a wide sphere of influence."

OOC: Fixed.

Larth had spent a long time pondering the meanings of the notes, but had come to a simple conclusion.

I don't give a damn.

This was, admittedly, because he found everything the notes had said to not only be confusing but stupid. In fact, he wasn't sure he had gotten tied up with some of those buggers from Elsweyr who talked in riddles that you couldn't puzzle out, because they made no sense. True, had it been a logical puzzle he probably wouldn't have done all to well, but he would have tired.

He, instead, took to observing his compatriots and their attempts. Much could be said for natural leadership, and seeing who had it and who didn't could be quite beneficial. Quite beneficial, indeed. So patience was what he practiced, and patience was his weapon. For the time. He grew weary of this idiocy, though. He hopped it would be over with haste. This Cat certainly had extravagant taste in recruitment.

OOC: This will have to be a short, undetailed post I'm afraid. I will try and add more in tommorrow sometime and beef it up.

IC: "The best solution to this riddle is to just leave everything where it is, unlike those two bumbling idiots" Aryon replied to Varar and pointed at the Khajiit and drunken Dunmer "And don't try and make any Dwemer machines Tucharon, they would serve us no purpose". Aryon just then noticed the newcomer who walked in and it grasped his attention right away "Is that what I think it is, an Akaviri amongst us..." he whispered to himself as he examined the creature.

OOC: Actually it was me who asked you what you could build Crimson Paladin

"It looks like such a test. That don't means the 'right' action would be the prim-and-proper, law-abiding, shiny armor and broomhandle up the bacskide sort. As a guess, I'd say that as long as you keep a sensible balance between greed and common sense odds are you'll come out fine."

As the light started dimming,, she decided to get at least some of the displayed items. A quick survey around the potion cabinet let her found something to her liking ? what seemed to be the equipment of a field surgeon - a set of medical supplies and surgery tools, including some alchemical equipment, almost complete with mortar and pestle, retort and alembic. All neatly packed into a sturdy leather case which both protected them from breakage and arranged them in a compact package suitable for travel. Oh yes that's just the sort of thing I can make good use of. Even if this whole reforming the empire deal fizzles out.

With some effort she picked up the kit, using it's leather strap to carry it like a beggar's bag.Her gaze drifted longingly on hte jewelry, before snapping back to the others "Well, I don't know if I'm doing right or wrong as far as this test go. But with this" - slightly patting the leather case at her side "I can do way better where healing is concerned."

[OOC : out for sleep, 0.30 am here]

Alkhil's little surprise had only been noticed by one person, and while the overall attempt had been a failure, the Imperial assassin smirked as he began to gather the opinion that little to no attention had been paid to him, and therefore, they would not be as nosey as most were. However, if that bumbling Khajit and the highly unstable Dunmer began to turn unnecessary attention to him, something would have to be done. As for now, with the light starting to dim slightly, Alkhil pulled back his cowl with his left hand, and as he did so, the sleeve slipped down his arm a little, exposing the twisting, thorny vine that had been carefully and painfully tattooed from his shoulder to his wrist. The slip came to his attention and he pulled the sleeve down to cover it quickly. With the soft orange light fading quicker, he decided he needed to quickly pick his few items and advance. A number of things caught his attention, but the two things he finally decided upon were a Daedric dagger, which was remarkable in it's own right, but also happened to be enchanted. With what, he did not know, but he would have it examined later, along with the arm torque he had picked up, which was also enchanted. Slipping these objects into a small pouch attached near his hip, he returned to the shadows and pulled forth his cowl once more, as the light continued to fade.

Tucharon brushed the comment about the lack of utility of Dwemer machinery; he had been bombarded with it his whole life. While others were interested in their language, their disappearance, or their Centurions, Tucharon needed to know more; he needed to know their lights, their architecture, their generators, their telescopes, and their enchanting. It certainly wasn't very useful, but usefulness was never a necessity with him; he more than anything wanted to rediscover and resurrect dead knowledge.

Suddenly Tucharon noticed the lights dimming. Curses, it looks like those two did activate something. He scrambled to the table, opened his satchel, and shoved in several Dwemer tubes, a cylinder, and a coherer. He then turned towards a Welkynd stone and rushed towards it, taking it in his bag as well. If he had to fight and he used all his magicka, he could recharge it. Otherwise, he could save it for later research. There was no need for restraint now, something had been sprung already. His satchel was full now and much heavier, he hoped that he wouldn't have to get into a fight now.

"I don't like the look of this."

Heinrich

Aw, hell. If everyone's doing it, must be good to grab some of 'em things. Where to start, that's the damn question... Most seem to pick things they need or want; guess I should do somethin' like 't too. Seeing as the light began to fade and his companions started grabbing things they wanted, Heinrich made his move, swiftly finding himself next to the two things he wanted.

First, he swiped a pack of tools into his bag. They weren't farming tools, but ones that could be used for rebuilding, and very fine ones at that, as far as the yeoman knew. With the shape of this fort, if they were going to stay there it'd come in handy to have some things that'd help whip it into a functional shape. Most likely it'd be down to Heinrich to do that, since the rest of them didn't seem to express much concern with the state of their possible hideout. That they would need a hideout was quite obvious, considering the things he came here to do would be considered far from legal.

To each his own, tho'. Shrugging, he moved on to the next item he had eyed - a quiver, far better than his current one, filled with silver arrows. Being completely satisfied with his bow and weapon, Heinrich had wanted to get some better arrows for a long time now. From the look of things, there were around 30 of them. Should go nice with my oldies. Smiling to himself, the Breton slung his new quiver over his shoulder as well. When there was more time, he'd have to get all the arrows into his new quiver; for now, though, he decided to wait for something to happen and hope they wouldn't have to fight.

OOC: BTW, Korroded-Korpse, I just noticed that the link to Heinrich's clothes is missing from the sheet, so if it could be edited in I'd be very thankful.

"Why is the light fading?" asked Varar, clearly something was going on in the chamber, and he noticed that everybody was taking things, "Well alright then, my turn." And Varar rushed to the back of the room where he saw his prize, the beautiful Ebony glaive. In the dimming of the light you could see the runes on its shaft and blade glowing with a brilliant luminescence.

One more thing, thought Varar. He looked around and saw a jewelery cabinet, he walked over, barely able to see now, and there was a beautiful amulet of what looked like ebony, silver, and gold. Centered in it were two jewels, Moon and Star. Varar hooked the amulet around his neck and felt a surge of power and clarity from the amulet bearing the symbol of Nerevar. "Who built this place, and for that matter, who put these things here?" whispered Varar to himself.

Greed was slowly consuming the Ashlander, I have to have another, no I can't be too greedy, what am I thinking! Varar was conflicted, thus far he had taken two things that would benefit him, and not the group. He looked around desperately, and suddenly he saw it, a map. An old Dwemer map, no it was a book, a thin one at that. Varar picked it up and stuffed it in his pack, his last item. Tucharon may want to see this.

OOC: I read and found no list so I assume we make up what we get out?

IC: Peering at the objects, two things cuaght his eye. Tankards of mead. He had since sheathed his axe, and proceeded to grab the handle of each. To be sure it was Mead, he took a swig of both.

Ah, yes, glorious Mead. The taste hit his tounge in a surge of sweat sugar that took him back in the short years he'd lived. In an instant every filling and warm meal and every other inferior meal he'd had were put to shame. As it was every time he drank Mead. Ah, wonderous, wonderous Mead.

Quite satisfied, he hooked the two tankards to his belt next to his cask. He marked himself lucky he'd found Mead in Cyrodiil, it was seldom to be found this far south. Here, they perferred gentile wines the likes of which Skingrad produced. He had had some of that brew, and it was might fine. But it, too, was shamed beneath the overbaring shadow of Mead.

He noticed the light fade.

"Hmm, looks like the offers soon to be gone. Get what's to be gotten, I s'ppose." With that, he took a step back to allow others to grab a token.

OOC: Okay I'm out, for now at least, I can't keep up with you guys, I'm busy all day so when I come home I end up having two pages ahead of me, it's just too much, maybe I'll come back later.

OOC: I'm having a bit of a problem with this, too.

OOC: Same here. Waaaay too fast for me. Sorry.