The Disastrous Dwemer Delve Dive

It was a lovely afternoon in Alinor. Wanders the khajiit was perched comfortably on the balustrade of an upper level promenade, swinging her legs. From her high perch, she could see the glittering harbour far below, and beyond that, the northern point that the Winsome Dreugh would round on her friends' return voyage from Lillandril. She often came here alone to keep vigil, and trill lonesome lays on her shepherds flute.

She was just starting in on a sailor's hornpipe when Eats-Spiders' diminutive form came speeding around a corner and waved to her. "Quick, come to the bridge!" and before she could respond he whisked around and scampered back the way he came. Wanders had known there was a nice gathering today, but she'd given that over in favor of watching for her friends' return. Her curiosity now piqued, she tucked the flute into her jacket and plodded down the cobblestone way after her friend.

The bridge was a veritable cacophony, with men and mer from all over Tamriel, and their colorful exotic pets threading their way around the mass of legs. Wanders noticed a group of her friends in a circle, and went over to see what was afoot. Kyu was in the center of the group, with a splinted arm gingerly held out. Mysterry's hands hovered over it, weaving a healing spell. Kyu visibly relaxed as the throbbing pain of his broken paw eased. "What happened?" Wanders whispered to Eats-Spiders. He inclined his head towards her with an embarrassed look and whispered, "We, uhhh....were having a snack and Kyu slipped on some that we dropped.". "That snack better not have been the banana cake this one made for Do'karth," Wanders glared.

"There," Mysterry said as she stepped back. "I'm afraid that's the best I can do. You'll still need to wear a splint for a bit, but at least it should hurt a lot less now." "Yes," Kyu breathed with relief, "Many thanks!". He wandered over near the lute players and sat on the stone curb rather despondently.

"Poor Kyu," Zaji sighed sympathetically, "He's not gonna be able to have any fun or adventures for awhile." "Staying on the bridge -grmph chomp- is fun enough," a deep muffled voice said. Behind them, sitting against the railing, was Rhok. His face was buried in a massive bowl of custard. He had taken his helm off for once, but no one could make out his face under all that custard. Wanders had felt bad about blaming him for the culinary theft, and by way of apology had used the replacement ingredients he bought to make him a custard of his very own. Well, he seems satisfied with his apology, Wanders smiled to herself. "We must think of something to do for Kyu," Rebs said. "Yeah!" Tori exclaimed, "but what?" The friends racked their brains.

Just then, the crowds parted as a loudly red being regally made his way through their midst. It was the magnanimous Pie King himself! His larger than life ebullience electrified the crowd, and he left a trail of pie covered citizens in his wake. Wanders spied something new on his eye-catching outfit, a shiny dwemer sphere arm extending from a contraption tied on his back. It was slinging pies. "You should get him one of these handy hands," he said as he passed Wanders. And with a theatrical wink he was gone.

The circle of friends looked at each other, the same thought on all their minds. Why not? "You do remember there are no dwemer ruins on Summerset?" Mysterry said, arching her brow. "That is no object," said a cultured voice. They all turned to behold Hession. He had been leaning against the bridge lamp, arms folded, quietly watching and listening. He went on, "I have been studying portal magic, and I can get you to one" "But which ruin?" Zaji asked, her brow knit.

"I think I can answer that," offered Chases-Giant-Clouds, as he touched a hand to the large brim of his signature hat, "Nchuleftingth is the place you want. I've explored it thoroughly myself, and you will have no trouble finding a dwemer sphere there. I only wish I could accompany you, but I've signed up to teach an ancient language class at the Illumination academy. They wanted someone familiar with dovahzul for the job." "Yes, that is too bad," Wanders said. They could have really used someone familiar with that particular ruin. But at least she had Tori's mechanical expertise added to the group. Hession spoke up again, "When did you want to go?" "We must gather supplies," Wanders replied. "Let's meet back here this evening." And they all went their separate ways to pack.