An old smugglers tunnels hidden in a small cove beneath the Northpoint lighthouse appears to offer our only way into the captured city.  First however we need to retrieve the gate key from the shipwrecked Lagra’s Pearl, stranded further down the beach.

S.K

Whilst I spent a cold night scouting behind enemy lines, fighting soldiers both live and undead, crouched in filthy ditch and muddy field, searching in vain for a way into the walled city, Darien Gautier was busy in the Officer’s cabin, carrying out his own reconnaissance… in his own way.

What irks me most is not that I got the Guar’s end of the deal, nor that the Breton proved far more successful in learning of a smugglers tunnel into the heart of the city, what really, really irks me the most… is that smug smile.

S.K

In the depths of the ancient subterranean settlement known only as ‘Orc’s Finger ruins’, an Ayleid Well still radiates magical energy just as it has done for the many hundreds of years since the Ayleid’s were forced to abandon their great cities.

As a young man exploring my homeland of Cyrodiil, we would occasionally discover such Ayleid monuments in the wilds.  I remember vividly the sensations as we approached the Wells light, how my skin would tingle, and I would quickly begin to feel invigorated, full of energy, both physically and mentally.  However, once we knew where such Wells were located, we would be sure to steer clear for they would attract all sorts of strange and unsavoury characters.  Nomadic Elven sorcerers, Hagravens, gangs of Breton cultists, and even at one we watched dumbfounded as a band of Bandaari Peddlers were attempting to bottle the light.

History scholars often teach that these Ayleid Wells inhale their magic from the stars at night and then slowly breathe the energies back into the skies when fully charged.  One wonders the plausibility of such an explanation given how far underground this Well is built.

Some have proposed the Well’s location is the key; suggesting that they were built upon points where ancient lines of mystical energies crossed or met.  I have even heard a tavern theory that they were built to mirror upon Nirn the constellations in the sky.  Whilst both highly unlikely, no-one has as yet been able to map their locations to fully disprove either theory.

It is all just conjecture of course, the Ayleids like the Dwemer, have now passed from Nirn and took much of their knowledge with them, leaving even our brightest scholars with only suppositions, theories, and empty bottles of light.

S.K

Whilst searching south of Northpoint I discover the entrance to an Ayleid delve known locally as ‘Orc’s Finger ruins’.  Perhaps it gained its contemporary nickname from the shape of the rocky crags that shadow its entrance, for the original name for the Ayleid settlement appears now lost to history.

Inside the ancient hallways and chambers remain remarkably well preserved, with the crystals still lighting much of the subterranean city long after the light of their architects have faded from Tamriel.

It is no surprise to find that Bitterhand Bandits have found their way into the ruins, squatting in the dank, mucid corridors, waiting upon the night when they surface like skeevers to pick at the corpses of those who would brave the day.

The defeat of their rather inordinately named leader, Fingaenion Forestsmasher, may serve to keep the rodents in their hole for a while at least.

S.K

Whilst searching for a way into the captured city of Northpoint, I find a camp from where Commander Pyline commands House Montclair’s forces beyond the city walls.  Her orders are to find and dispatch any escaped Northpoint guard, whilst preventing reinforcements reaching the city from Shornhelm.

We can expect no help from the sea as Montclair’s navy seems to hold the entire Eastern coastline.  Our only hope is that the Breton Darien Gautier has found more success with his scouting… if we can only find him.

S.K