Unlike my cell within the Wailing Prison, this iron gate is unbarred and upon opening I charge into a small group of skeletons and dremora torturing what appears to be a soul-shriven. Once I have banished its tormentors the soul-shriven pitifully begs me to end its existence. With the kind of mercy one feels only when its darkest, I thrust my sword deep into its heart and whisper not for the first time, ‘there but by the grace of the Eight go I.’

I was a little surprised when the spirit of this stricken soul-shriven immediately materialized before me. He tells me his name in life was Gasteau Chamrond, but he can remember little of what this place is beyond that these Vaults of Madness were constructed by one he calls the Mad Architect. Its an eternal prison from which he cannot escape until he is reunited with his soul which has been taken by a daedric Harvester.

I promise my help for this spirit may be my best hope for my own escape. But to reach the thieving Harvester I must first overcome the Cursed One. A dread Wraith whose frost magic freezes the bones of its victim whilst it drains lifes energy from the body.

S.K