WITH KARLIAH ON MY SIDE (An Adventure In Skyrim)

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I heard that one quite a few times so far. Well, don't know about that. It can make you wiser, that's my experience.

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I published a post a couple of days ago. The following link can lead you right into that old story. https://peakd.com/hive-185676/@borjan/troubles-with-karliah-an-adventure
It was about Skyrim, just like this one. I wrote a chronicle of some Thieves Guild's shenanigans I got involved in. The end of that post was a cliffhanger of sorts. So, if you are a faithful follower of my work and character here on Hive, there is a chance you'll be eager to know what happened next.

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In these two screenshots, you can see it from my point of view. I was emerging from what seemed like a vast dark ocean that holds the dead far from the living.

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As my blurry vision fought to reach the focus, I started wondering where I am and what the hell is Karliah doing there.
It wasn't easy to believe, but it was getting clear that she saved me. In a weird, painful, and convoluted way, but she did.
It seems that my judgment skill still has some room for improvement, especially when it comes to people and other more or less intelligent humanoids that inhabit Tamriel.

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I was still alive and ready to continue the adventure that has taken a surprising turn.
According to Karliah, a smart way to reveal Mercer's betrayal to the other members of the Guild is to find a proof hidden in the words Gallus wrote in his diary, a diary she managed to recover from the Snow Veil Sanctum.
There is only one problem with that plan, she said - the former leader of Thieves used some sort of code that needs to be deciphered.

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It seems that our only hope is a dude called Enthir, one of Karliah and Gallus' old friends. Since Enthir is a wizard, our next destination must be the College of Winterhold.

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In this tryptich made of screenshots you can see us talking with Enthir.

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We were chatting near the gate of the bridge that leads to the College situated on an isolated cliff.

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We learned a lot from Enthir.

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The Gallus' diary was written in ancient Felmer language using a forgotten script which looks like a mysterious code to contemporary folks.
Our only chance was a man called Calcelmo, a renowned scholar and a great expert on everything related to the lost Dwemer civilization, which means ...

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... that our next target was Markarth, a beautiful city established inside a well-preserved Dwemer ruin. In the above photograph, you can take a look at Markarth's impressive outer wall. However ...

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... I decided to spend a bit of gold on training in the College before departing. You can see my Alteration magic skill raising from 23 to 24 in this animated GIF.

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Less than an hour later, in the middle of the cold blue night ...

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... I was on the road.

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Markath is very far from Winterhold. It took me days to get there but I took only three screenshots along the way. Here you can admire the beauty of the North-Eastern Skyrim's landscape in the early morning light.

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This nightshot shows the area near the city of Whiterun, moonlit by two moons.

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I reached Markath in this picture, you can see me posing like a tourist here.

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This screenshot shows the watchtowers in front of the city and a bit of the surrounding landscape, I took it a minute before passing through the great gate of Markath.

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This square, situated just behind the gate, is one of the largest in the city.

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The administrative center of Markath, its Governor Palace, and the noble men's residences are hidden in a large cave. The museum dedicated to the Dwemer culture is also there.

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We were entering the Calcelmo's workplace when this screenshot was taken.

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That scholar can talk about Dwemers, and Felmers, and all that stuff for hours without taking a breath.
The key to decode the Felmer language, we learned, is a thing Calcelmo modestly called The Calcelmo Stone. He described it as an ancient, mysterious stone tablet with Falmer and Dwemer engravings.
The stone's origin, Calcelmo said, is one of my professional secrets you'll never find out.

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To get to the stone, we had to infiltrate the Calcelmo tower through the Dwemer museum.
Don't think of the Dwemer museum as one of those ordinary museums in our world, places like The Natural History Museum, The Archeological Museum, or The Museum of Contemporary art. The Dwemer Museum is a Calcelmo's collection closed to the general public.
Only he or she who was given the key personally by Calcelmo, may enter and see the ancient artifacts displayed there.
There is more than one way to obtain the key, one can bribe, intimidate, steal it, or do Calcelmo a favor to get it.
I decided to fully embrace my profession and steal the key.

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This weird creature that looks like some sort of crab-like robot is a Dwemer creation.
It is an ordinary mudcrab armored with mysterious Dwemer metal and probably partially a machine - I don't know how else to explain the creature's exceptional longevity.
The crab obeys simple orders and can be purchased as a pet if you have some gold to spare.
I'll buy the armored crab one day becouse I wanna collect all the pets of Skyrim, but now it's time to visit the museum.

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Being an illegal visitor there wasn't much time to explore the exibits, I had to sneak passed the guards and lockpick the door that leads to the Cancelmo's laboratory.

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I saw many rare and weird things there in the laboratory. This spider-like machine was probably the strangest of them all.
I mean, these Dwarven Spiders are quite common in the abandoned ruins where they serve as guardians of a lost civilization and are prone to attack the intruders, but never before have I seen a tamed spider-machine of Dwemer origin.

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Moreover, the spider can be controlled through a thing called the Spider Control Rod. It looks like a mage's staff made of metal, a staff that shoots a beam of energy which directs the Spider. Weird stuff. Can't tell you if it's magic or engineering. Maybe both.

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At some point, on the way to the Calcelmo tower, I had to pass through a tunnel filled with gas that could instantly kill me.
There was a pressure plate on the floor near the entrance, a plate that makes the gas go away if one is standing on it.
The trouble is, I can't stand still on the plate and walk through the tunnel at the same time.
Well, the spider helped me solve that puzzle.

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In this screenshot, I'm standing on the terrace with a beautiful view, very close to the door that leads into the tower's interior. It was time to pick yet another lock ...

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... and enter.

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Here you can take a good look at the tower's interior. Scrolls, writings, pieces of charcoal, and empty papers were scattered all around the circular room.

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In the room downstairs, I finally found the Calcelmo's stone.

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It was a big, heavy piece of stone, nothing that I could carry in my pocket or my backpack, so I had to find the way to quickly transcribe the writing.
It took me a bit of time and thinking to come up with an efficient solution.
Do you remember the paper and charcoal I mentioned earlier while exploring the upstairs room?
Well, I used them to copy the text engraved on the stone like I copied the pictures, the numbers, and the letters on various coins when I was a kid.
You certainly know the procedure: Take a piece of paper, put it on the surface you wanna copy and then apply pressure while frenetically scraping with charcoal.

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Back in Winterhold ...

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... I reunited with Karliah and Enthir. We met in the cellar of a local inn.

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As much as a scholar and a mage, Enthir is an experienced smuggler and thief, so he offered me a special trading servis, available to other members of the college.
As much as a scholar and a mage, Enthir is an experienced smuggler and thief, so he offered me a special trading service, unavailable to other members of the college.
From now on, I'll be able to trade my stolen goods right there in Winterhold, far from the safety of the Thieves Guild. Isn't that cool?

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With the information extracted from the Gallus' diary, it was time to expose Mercer and to make the Thieves Guild Great again. But that's another story, this one ends here.

AND THAT'S IT. AS ALWAYS ON HIVE, EVERYTHING HERE IS MY WORK. I MEAN, I PLAYED THE GAME, I TOOK THE SCREENSHOTS AND CREATED THE GIFs IN THE ADOBE PREMIERE PRO 2020, AND THE MOST IMPORTANT THING - I WROTE THE STORY THAT COMPLEMENTS THE PICTURES. NO ARTIFICIAL INTELIGENCE WAS INVOLVED IN THE CREATING OF THE POST.