I arose feeling fresh, and left the Guild to see Caius. When I got to his house he was ready for me, and told me he needed information about the Nerevarine and Sixth House cults. He told me to see Hasphat in the Fighters Guild about it, and also gave me a book on Morrowind's history. I had met Hasphat before, although he still wanted me to do something for him in return for the information I needed. Coincidentally, he wanted me to enter the strange door I found yesterday and find a Dwemer Puzzle Box inside. I had never heard of them before, but they seemed to be an ancient race of considerable power. These are apparently the "Dwarves" of The Elder Scrolls series. Their gear usually seems pretty good. I guess they have the same role here that the Ayleids have in Oblivion. I accepted his request and walked back to the ruin.
The insides of the place, called Arkngthand, were very interesting, both ancient feeling and filled with incredible technologies. There was also a band of smugglers here, and I fought them many times as I searched for the box.
As I descended farther into the ruin, I found a lot of nice artifacts and more enemies, but not what I was looking for. I came upon a locked door and used one of my scrolls to open it. On the other side, I was attacked by some of the most amazing creatures I'd ever seen, Centurion Spheres and Spiders, built long ago by the Dwemer.
I was also assaulted by Spectres of the place's former inhabitants, and had no way to effectively fight them, my axe passing through them without a scratch. I looked around a bit but had to leave before I was killed. I went back over the rooms I had already covered, and found a path on some rocks that I hadn't followed before, I went through a door, and fought a Battlemage who ambushed me. After defeating him, I found what I was looking for, the Puzzle Box. I snatched it and left the place in a hurry. I went back to Balmora and found Hasphat, who thanked me for the box and gave me what I came for. As I left the guild to report to Caius, I was accosted by a Dunmer named Rararyn who seemed to be a Sixth House cultist. He didn't bother me too much though, so I left him and gave Caius the notes. He thanked me but still needed more information about the Nerevarine, and told me to see an orc named Sharn, this time in the Mages Guild. I agreed and went to sleep.29 Last Seed
I had a strange dream last night. I don't remember it too clearly, but there was a man in a golden mask and lots of dead people. It was distressing, but I didn't have time to worry about it. I went and saw Sharn, who agreed to give me what I needed in exchange for getting a skull out of a tomb near Pelagiad. She also warned that the undead inside were not vulnerable to normal weapons, and gave me a magic dagger. Unfortunate, since I am still useless with a normal blade. I bartered with the various people inside the hall, and sold off a lot of trinkets and ingredients I wasn't using, enough to buy a special axe at about a third of the price. Even without the flame effect it was the most powerful one I had seen.
Confident with my new weapon, I decided to go on a detour before visiting the tomb, and rode a Silt Strider to Seyda Neen. Once there, I headed west towards Hla Oad. Along the way, I was attacked by several creatures, and the new axe worked out great. Eventually I reached Oad and just beyond found my target, Fjol. I thought I was finally ready for him, and I was. Midway through the fight my axe lost its flame ability, but I destroyed him all the same. I was all ready to complain about the use of echanted weapons being too strict, with only ten good whacks in the fully charged version before it runs out, and with soul gems being so expensive. But then on the way back to Seyda Neen I attacked a Cliff Racer and was surprised to see it get hit with a ball of fire. It turns out Morrowind's magic weapons recharge over time. That's definitely a change Oblivion made that completely does not improve the user experience. I retraced my steps and then followed the path to Pelagiad. I found the tomb, but by the time I got there it was dark, so I bought a room in the inn again and decided to pursue my quest tomorrow.
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