As if that weren't bad enough, there's 4 of those trapdoors in the floor of the underwater room that I'm assuming I have to find switches for.
I'm only level 3. I don't have the spells necessary yet, nor the capability to cast them. Even if I did have water breathing to explore, and levitate to get out (assuming there's no teleporter down there), there's nearly a dozen monsters waiting for me when I jump in. Last time I tried I couldn't even float down because they were all below me, and they killed me so fast, and hit me so quickly nonstop, that the death sequence couldn't even finish.
I actually have to go back to a previous save or else fail this quest, because it's impossible for me to do. I did not prepare properly (I'm only level, what sort of preparation do I need right?)
Even in Morrowind, which I love, I didn't have to worry so much about preparing ahead of time. These Daggerfall dungeons are brutal! It's been at least 10 years since I last played it but it's a breath of fresh air. It's challenging, massive in scale, and strangely immersive for such dated graphics.
(I tried some of the cheats to further explore underwater, but the ctrl-f4 invulnerability cheat does not work. Oh well)