Chapter 170 - A Small Challenge (2)
Before I go into the dungeon, I asked the Grandmaster Alfe about the place and its layout. I wasn't told much but it seems the place wasn't being maintained anyway.
When I asked about the Corprus victims that were quarantined in the Corprusarium, I learned that those who were impossible to be cured were all put to a merciful death.
Still, the one thing I was interested in the most was a certain man called Yagrum Bagarn, one of the inmates in the Corprusarium that appeared in the 'Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind'.
Why did I ask about that person in particular?
Well, here where things get interesting… Yagrum Bagarn is the last known living Dwemer. He was a good friend of Divayth Fyr and a very powerful and ancient mage who oversees the Corprusarium. He was sick and his body got bloated from the effects of Corprus disease so he could only move around with the help of a modified Centurion Spider's lower half.
He wasn't only the last known dwarf, he is also the author of a famous book called 'Tamrielic Lore' and before the disappearance of the dwarves, Bagarn was a Master Crafter in the service of the chief Tonal Architect, Lord Kagrenac, the one that is most likely to be the main responsible for the disappearance of his own race.
[A/N: Yagrum Bagarn https://ibb.co/H7p0M7C ]
The reason why Yagrum Bagarn survived the fate of the dwarves was that he was on a trip to an outer realm from Nirn when the accident happened and when he returned, he was all alone.
This is one of the most heartbreaking stories as for when he returned and started looking for his people, he only got the Corprus instead and lived in a prison-like body as he stated.
When I asked the Fyr sisters about him, I was received with surprised faces as it seemed that the matter about him was kept a bit of a private matter in this household but I learned later on that Lord Divayth Fyr had taken Yagrum Bagarn to an outer realm for the sake of healing and researching the disappearance of the dwarves. Lord Fyr didn't say anything about Yagrum to his daughters as he seemed to be a person who values the privacy of his friends.
[A/N: Or rather, as an author of a fanfiction, I don't want to delve into some parts of the lore that I can't really research or explain. I hope the running and coming game series give us some proper answers in the future.]
As I took my safety measures, I readied myself to enter the Corprusarium. The entrance was just like how it was before in 'Morrowind' the game, just in deepest part of the Onyx Hall.
Beyte unsealed the door for me and Uupse went to inform Lord Fyr that the dungeon was being challenged by a fourth generation disciple, she was sure he would be pleased and watch from his place. It was his hobby to watch people challenge his dungeon after all.
I, on the other hand, got a bit nervous after learning that he would be watching. I had to do my bestest under his watchful eyes. But as 'Catatuskr', I had a lot of pride in my skills as a thief. I know some people in Riften who will haunt me if I showed a mediocre performance.
With all that in mind, I took a strong breath and passed through the door.
***
The Corprusarium. A massive series of caverns under Tel Fyr. The place was dark and was very damp. It seems some parts of the caves have been heavily damaged due to the events of the Red Year around two hundred years ago but it was all still in a good shape. Jon can go all out if he met any enemy without worrying about the structure above.
The first thing that came to view was the large cave tunnel that had a crazy number of roots coming from above, Jon just took a few steps in and one of these roots suddenly attacked him.
Calmly, Jon shaped his hand as a blade and used a weaker version of 'Thunder Cookie' to retaliate at the rude root.
Turned out it was not a root, but some sort of snake that liked to blend in with the roots to catch skeevers and rats. Jon examined the rude snake and judged it is some sort of a creature that is native to Morrowind which he didn't know much about as its scales felt like it was made of bone.
"The world is big!"
Jon threw the dead snake with no interest and spread his detection magic through every dangling root or anything that may be of threat. Sure enough, that wasn't the only snake and it seemed to be that there is quite a lot of company here.
Jon only needed to point his hand forward and shoot a series of Lightning Strikes which were being cast as fast as some machine gun shots. Soon after, some of the small pests around were burst into a nasty goo by the lightning and the others realized Jon as a threat that can't be dealt with and escaped right away.
Jon was acting as cool and dignified as possible in case he was being watched by some magical mean or anything.
After he advanced forward while being wary of every step and every shadow, Jon felt some weird movements from the ground around him and halted his steps. He was still standing on his place on his toes when a strange hand came from the ground and tried to catch him.
Jon nimbly jumped back and unleashed green Madness Aura to force the creature out.
Strange enough, the creature wasn't affected by Jon's aura and moved in its own pace until it stood on the ground ahead of Jon.
"An Ash Spawn? What is one of those doing here?"
Jon recognized the creature right away as it was not from 'Morrowind' (the game) but it was rather from 'Skyrim' (the game) which he was rather more familiar with. It was introduced in the DLC expansion 'Dragonborn' as humanoid creatures that looked like as if been made from earth or rather ash, it also had red eyes and veins all over its body. This was rather a unique ash creature as it appeared after the eruption of the red mountain Vvardenfell and was only seen in Solstheim.
Jon got confused for a second because there was no news about it being in Morrowind but he decided to go with the 'kill now ask later' strategy.
The Ash Spawn was a flame-based creature so it used it to attack and had immunity to it so Jon was still mainly using Lightning attacks. The creature was tough and resilient as it may contain minerals in its body so taking in down was a headache with normal means. Jon used lightning attacks to disintegrate the joints of its body and ban it from moving or attacking with magic.
Soon after, he finished clearing the place after killing a few of the Ash Spawns.
He kept looking around the area and realized that there were strange stones hidden in the walls and the floor. He carefully dug out one and was immediately understood what is going on.
"Heart Stones? So that is the reason!"
The Heart Stones are a mineral only found in Solstheim too. It carried some similar features to the Ash Spawns like having the same origin which was the Red Mountain and the same looks as it was a stone with a hint of red glow all over it.
"So this is another one of Lord Fyr's trap. I see! He brought Heart Stones from Solstheim and planted them here and provided ash from the surroundings to create Ash Spawns… How cunning! If someone other than me who stupidly charged at the Ash Spawns with their resilient bodies or used Flame Magic at them, it wouldn't have ended well for them."
There were indeed a lot of traps in the area but it was easy to go past them if the person was on high alert, knowledgeable and resourceful.
I cleared another Ash Spawn trap, then decided to use the spell that I later learned, the 'Levitation' spell.
The reason why I didn't want to learn that spell was that how slow it is and it was actually very banned around the Empire. The Imperial Legion considered it a very dangerous spell as it was not that hard to master. A nation like Morrowind gained its independence from the Empire by creating a legion of flying soldiers and obliterated the Imperial Legion, for that reason a low like the 'Levitation Act' was made as humans themselves weren't that great at using Levitation magic.
I also didn't want anyone to learn that I use that spell even though I can use the 'Flame Atronach Hawk' spell. I know some people who might try to make problems for me if they know I can use it so I kept it for later.
Anyway, I have decided to learn it recently and this is my first time to use it in action. It consumed a lot of Magicka for sure but I wasn't disadvantaged at all.
I rose up in the air to avoid all the traps on the ground and eliminate traps without effort.
I found a some annoying Ash Hoppers and Suicidal Spiders that exploded at death making toxic gases.
The place was rather more annoying than dangerous but I soon found a real monster to fight. In an area filled with moss and water, a scary reptilian creature jumped out of nowhere and opened wide its massive mouse to swallow me. I instantly teleported away while keeping myself in the air.
After talking a better look at the thing that attacked me, I felt a sudden headache a soon as I confirmed its identity.
It is a Kagouti.
What is a Kagouti?
Well… it's an ugly bipedal reptilian with no forelimbs. It is just two strong legs, a torso, and one scary head with two long tusks coming from it.
[A/N: a Kagouti https://ibb.co/GRT9XLd ]
It is a fierce creature with high hostility and unending hunger.
I can just teleport away but I found a wooden box stuck to the wall on the other side of the area. It seemed I at least found something but I have to defeat its guardian.
"Sigh! Very well… come at me, bro!"