Athias stared at his hands.

His magicka laid beneath the surface, slowly replacing the endless void below. And yet, he couldn’t use it. The puny energy reacted to his intentions like always, but fell apart before accomplishing anything meaningful, returning to its normally static state, so that it could replenish.

He was sure he could brute force the process, but an alert deterred him away from that.

[Alert: Magicka Use Detected]

[Advice: Refrain from any use of magicka. Further use will result in irreversible damage.]

A sinister warning.

What form would this irreversible damage take? Would it dampen his ability to use magicka? Maybe his body would pay the price? Or maybe even his soul? All three?

Hopefully he never had to find out.

The alert vanished, the status effects window replacing it.

[Mentally Exhausted]

[Description: Prolonged concentration and intense use of your magicka has left a heavy fog over your mind. Continued use could prove fatal.]

[Effects: Maximum magicka reduced by 50% and magicka regeneration reduced by 90%]

[Mild Fatigue]

[Description: Exhaustion is beginning to take root in your body.]

[Effects: Maximum stamina decreased by 35% and stamina regeneration reduced by 15%]

Both, worsened versions of status effects he’s suffered before, were a first for him. Compared to Shriekwind Bastion, caves, and general training, Nchuand-Zel took a massive toll on him both physically and mentally. No surprise considering they’d been in there from dawn to dusk despite it not feeling nearly so long.

Adrenaline and tension really skewed his sense of time.

Athias winced as a dull pain spread across his forehead, vanishing almost as soon it appeared. The window disappeared and he focused on Auri who sat to the side of the stone table, having reached over to flick his forehead.

“What were you saying?” Athias asked.

It wasn’t just his magical abilities that suffered. He’d been slipping in and out of conversation with Auri, unable to focus on much of anything for more than a few minutes.

“You should go and get some rest.” Auri urged him, gesturing towards the hall that led to their rooms. They had returned to Silver-Blood Inn. The place was quieter than usual, a drinker or two populating the bar, but most patrons turned in for the night. “My mother always had the same look as you after telling longer stories.”

“Stories?”

“She was a Spinner: a sort of priest for my people who recounted the tales of songs once sung by Y’ffre.” Auri said with a small smile. “The magic she weaved into her tales were so beautiful that time slipped away while you listened.”

Beautiful magic? Illusion spells by the sound of it. The power to affect the minds of those around you would be indispensable for a priest to spread the word of their god, though that could quickly become a slippery slope for more heinous acts in the wrong hands.

That held true for all magic. What’s to stop him from doing something like weakening the city’s structure using Corrode? The nords’ general distrust of magic and strangers who practiced it wasn’t completely unjustified. No one would be comfortable living next to a nuke and mages with enough skill were this world’s equivalent. The walking unpredictable equivalent.

“Sounds like she was an amazing storyteller.” Athias said after realizing that his thoughts were beginning to side track again.

“She was. It’d be nowhere as good but perhaps I’ll tell you one of the stories she shared with me.”

“Now’s a good a time as any.”

Auri tilted her head at him. “And how much of it do you think you’ll hear before you’re off in your own world again?”

“Half?” Athias joked.

“Half of the opening? I agree.”

As luck would have it, Auri wouldn’t get the chance to prove herself right, the doors of the inn opening. Remiel walked in and made a beeline straight for them, eagerly dropping a pair of tied pouches on the table as she collapsed in the seat across from him.

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“Great news; the old bastard Calcelmo isn’t as stingy with gold as he is about the ruins. He rewarded us with quite the sum for retrieving the journals of the expedition team.” Remiel explained. She pushed the noticeably bigger one towards them. “800 septims for the two of you and 200 for me. It’s only fair considering you two did all the heavy lifting.”

“That’s nowhere near twenty thousand.” Athias commented as he picked up the bag.

“Huh? You were serious about that?” Remiel gaped.

“He was. And if you don’t pay us…” Auri said, fixing Remiel with a sharp teethed grin. An audible gulp left her as she casted uncertain looks between them. Athias actually felt a little bad for her; it was like looking at a cat dropped into a pen of dogs.

“We’re joking.” Athias assured her and Remiel released a breath, thanking one of the gods. He slipped the bag of gold into his pack on the table. “How are you doing after the whole steam thing?”

“Steam? Oh you mean from the centurion. I’m fine. That reminds me, I should document my findings.” Remiel said while pulling out a journal from her bag. Unlike the Falmer attacked by the hulking automatons, she’d gotten off scot free and unscathed, nothing than some frayed clothes left behind after a healing spell.

He hadn’t been as lucky. The health potion had healed the wound but the bolt had dug deep enough to go beyond the minor wounds it was intended to treat. A small scar was left near his collarbone.

Likely the first of many.

“Now I know for a fact that the steam that powers the centurions is hot enough to leave blisters and minor burns on contact. Do you think that’s the case for all of the Dwemer animunculi? Scrap doesn’t release nearly enough heat for that to be true and I’ve never seen any of the others utilize steam as a weapon. A functional limitation? I’ll have to see if I can get one to shoot steam at me to be sure. And-“

“This woman has a death wish.” He muttered. “Don’t start.” He added, noticing Auri’s grin. The amused grin widened but she refrained from pointing out the obvious bit of hypocrisy. “What happened to Scrap anyways? Did Calcelmo pay you for recovering it?”

Remiel stopped her musings and dropped the bronze colored thing she’d been writing with. It was a bit bulkier compared to the ones in his previous life but he recognized a pen when he saw one. After a cautious scan of the room she leaned forward, waving for them to do the same.

“I may or may not have neglected to mention that Scrap was in my bag…or that we ever found him to begin with. I didn’t want him stealing my discovery.” Remiel whispered.

“He’s the Court Mage in charge of the ruins. You’re the one stealing.” Athias whispered back.

“Hey, I’m pretty sure I saw you take a ring off that researcher.” Remiel paused to grimace, recalling the half eaten man they’d come across, but she bounced back quickly. “From what I’ve heard, nords can take desecration as seriously as we do in High Rock, so you’re the bigger criminal here.” He couldn’t argue with that. What was he going to do with that thing anyways? “I propose an agreement of mutual silence.”

“Mutual silence.” Athias agreed with a nod.

Auri found the whole morally questionable exchange amusing though after hearing of Scrap, she kept a closer eye on Remiel’s bags. The automatons didn’t sit well with her in the slightest.

“So, you’ll be selling the stuff you pulled out of the ruins and paying us whatever you get, right?” Athias asked.

“Ah, you remembered that part of our deal, huh?” Remiel said, shoulders dropped and beginnings of a frown showing itself. She banished it before it fully formed and cleared her throat. “I mean, of course I always meant to uphold my word. Tomorrow I’ll have your gold.”

Athias nodded, satisfied with the outcome. He’d be leveling up after a night of rest, got his first piece of enchanted equipment, and plenty of gold for future acquisitions. Plus, a perk point to top it all off; returning from Nchuand-Zel's depths fulfilled the Dwemer Hobbyist achievement.

All in all, he’d be ending this day on a good note.

“Thank you by the way, both of you.” Remiel spoke up before he could head off to get some much needed rest. “I know most people wouldn’t have gone along with my plan or would’ve decided to run halfway through but you two stayed with me the whole time and allowed me to see Nchuand-Zel, so yeah, thanks.”

It was an awkward thanks, delivered nervously, but without a shadow of a doubt genuine coming from an open book like her.

“It was no problem. It was rather fun to sneak around like that and learn about these Dwemer.” Auri said, returning Remiel’s smile. “I never would’ve thought a place like that was under Skyrim. I wonder if there are more of them.”

“Oh there are, the problem is finding them. The Dwemer had a strong presence in Skyrim when they were around. Speaking of which, there’s still something else I wanted to ask the two of you.” The anxiety that she so often exuded returned as Remiel spoke. “You’re both adventurers which means there’s a chance you’ll stumble across one of their ruins and Calcelmo obviously has no intentions of letting me take anything significant out of Nchuand-Zel. Maybe I can join up with the two of you?”

[Alert: Willing party member found]

[Description: Despite the short time you’ve known each other, in Remiel’s eyes you’ve proven yourself a dependable and perhaps kindred soul, willing to brave places others wouldn’t. That shared sense of wonder about the world has made her willing to join your party, if only for the chance to see more Dwemer ruins. Would you like to add her to your party?]

[Y/N]

Athias ignored the window for now.

“I plan on seeing all of Skyrim which means we’ll be going into places full of things just as, if not, more dangerous than those Falmer and automatons sooner or later. There’s no guarantee you’ll see any of those ruins before something kills us if you come along.” Athias warned.

He never planned on gathering a party but he wasn’t against the idea. As long as they understood the risks he didn’t care who came along with him; in fact, the more the merrier. Through Auri he’d already learned more about the Bosmer than he recalled in his previous life. Remiel would have plenty to share about High Rock and her race as a whole.

The more he learned of the world the better. There’s no reason he had to be satisfied with just exploring Skyrim.

“Do you really think that’s enough to keep me from trying to see the ruins out there?” Remiel asked as though the implication she wouldn’t be up for the risk was an insult. In a way it was redundant; her reckless pursuit of the Dwemer had been on full display from start to finish during their delve.

Athias looked to Auri.

“I like her.” She said, welcoming the new addition to their group.

“Welcome aboard.” Athias said.

“Great!” Remiel cheered with a smile. It soured as her nose wrinkled. “My first suggestion as a member of this adventuring group is that we all get cleaned up. We smell horrible.”

Athias’s nose followed suit.

Why did this woman have to bring that up?