The Dwemer

The Dwemer were a people of great knowledge and wisdom. They were said to be far
more advanced than any other civilization ever known. Their knowledge was said to be so much
more advanced to the point that people doubted that the Dwemer ever really existed. The
Dwemer were a people that believed that knowledge was the ultimate power in the world. They
believed that with knowledge they could trump any other form of power in existance. The
Dwemer used their knowledge to fight for them. They created devices that were powered by
steam hundreds of years before the invention of the steam train, but these devices moved on
their own and knew to attack anything that wasnt a Dwemer. The Dwemer even found a way to
create a metal of their own making. It appeared to be gold, but it felt stronger and harder than
the hardest steel.
Though much as is known about the Dwemer, there is as much more that is a mystery.
The Dwemers ultimate goal was to surpass the power of the gods. No one knows exactly why
they wanted to do it. The best estimation is that the Dwemer wanted to be referred to as gods,
not the same lowly mortals that they were forced to coexist with. Though they were extremely
close to achieving this goal, they all simply vanished into what seemed to be thin air. Every last
Dwemer seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth, but their presence stayed on the earth
in all of their inventions, technology, cities, books, machines that are still running to this day,
their armor, and all their precious metal, all still intact. Again, no one knows what exactly
happened to them, but there are several theories. One theory expresses that the gods began to
fear the Dwemer and wiped them out before they got too powerful. Others believe they reached
their goal of surpassing the gods, and they are now living where the divines live. Another states
that the Dwemer went into seclusion to continue their work without the distraction of the rest of
the world. No theories have been proven right nor wrong for the simple reason that we just dont
know.
There was no one more interested in the Dwemer than a man named Septimus Signus.
Though very few people believed in the Dwemer, Septimus had strong beliefs, so strong that he
devoted his life to studying them. Septimus was tall and a medium build; he shaved his head but
had a long flowing beard. He wore a long black robe with a steel chest plate over it. He also wore
a black hood hiding most of his face. Septimus lived in a small village near what was said to be a
Dwemer ruin. Although no one believed it was really a Dwemer ruin; they believed that it was
just an ordinary ruin even though it was lined with what seemed to be an unusual gold-like
material. Septimus had lived in this village for four years for the sole reason that the ruins were a
few miles out of town. Sometimes Septimus would stay at the ruins for days at a time trying to
figure out any more clues and discover why they didnt put an entrance to their ruins, but he
never prevailed. The ruins that Septimus spent so much time researching were just three tall
towers. The left and right towers were thirty to thirty-five foot tall and the middle tower was
about fifty foot tall because of an extra space at the top that looked like a snipers nest. There
appeared to be no way up there unless you climbed up the side of the wall, so Septimus did. He
found there was no way into the tower from the top. The towers looked very different from
ordinary structures. The brick was packed together very tight with no seal in between the bricks.
They were carved to fit together perfectly. They were three vertical towers with no entrance
anywhere, and the corners were lined with a strange metal, which Septimus was convinced was
Dwemer metal. The setting of the towers was also confusing to Septimus. The towers were built
in a cavity in the side of a mountain. Septimus was deep in thought about an entrance way into
the towers when something came to him. What if they put it somewhere else? he said to
himself.
One day Septimus came back into the village and went to the local inn where everybody
came at the end of a long day of work. The inns great room was a long rectangular shape with a
long fire place in the middle, and there were tables around the fireplace where everybody sat and
had their drinks. Septimus strolled into the inn. As Septimus entered the inn, out of the blue a
cold comment was shouted across the room to him, Youre finally back from chasing your fairy
tale, said a deep, gruff voice. The mans name was Farkus. He was the local lumber mill owners
apprentice. He wore a full iron armor except a helmet. Farkus was big and stocky with long,
greasy hair and a shaved face and liked to play the tuff guy. Septimus pulled off his hood exposing
his face. He turned toward Farkus and gave him nothing but a cold stare, and in that moment,
Farkus turned away and sat quietly.
Septimus, after the little ordeal he had just had with Farkus, then glided through the inn
to a table in the back corner in which he always sat. He pulled out the little journal in which he
had taken all of his notes. Upon inspection of his journal, he happened to notice how little he had
accomplished in the last four years of inspecting these ruins. He pretty much just had the location
and symbols that were on the towers. He began to think about what Farkus had just said to him
and what all of the other the other villagers had told him over the years about how he was
chasing a fairy tale, how he was wasting his life looking for the Dwemer. He started to wonder if
all of his research was really worth it. He put his journal away and slowly and discreetly made his
way out of the inn and back to his small home. Septimuss home was very small and scattered
with his research everywhere. He got home and sat in his chair next to his bookshelf. As Septimus
sat considering his work in a state of depression, a book fell from his bookshelf almost as if it
were a message from the gods. He picked up the book and looked at it. He noticed something
familiar about it, but he was so distracted by his depression he couldnt remember. The book was
in an ancient text, but Septimus was a master of ancient dialects. He began to read and noticed a
riddle that read, The entrance to the underworld is to the north of the giant, ancient tree that
has no roots. Septimuss eyes opened wide; he sprung up from where he had been seated,
grabbed the book and his sword that he rarely carried anymore, and rushed out the door. He
headed to the ruins and looked at it one last time. Now the REAL journey begins, he told
himself. He started his journey up the mountain. Once he reached the peak of the mountain, he
looked around and began to think about how oblivious the mystery of the entrance had been all
along. It was right in front of his eyes, and he hadnt been able to see it. He continued his way
down the mountain face. Finally, he made it down the mountain, but the door wasnt there. He
began to get panicky; he pulled the book out of his knapsack and read the riddle again and
whispered to himself, to the north of the giant, ancient tree with no roots. Then it came to him,
the ruin is facing the west, so he was on the wrong end of the mountain. So he began his hike
again to the north of the mountain, the giant, ancient tree with no roots.
As he was walking, he saw he was coming to edge of the mountain. Suddenly, he noticed
a cave; his eyes opened wide, and he sprinted to the cave as fast as he could. Could this be it?
he thought with excitement. He entered the cave and continued walking. He began to think to
himself, Ive been walking for a long time now; it has to be close. He looked at the dark ground
and noticed something glowing. He picked it up and studied it. It looked like gold but was hard
and light. His heart pounded hard in his chest. He put it in his knapsack and continued. He finally
came upon a golden door, but it seemed to have a lock on it, not just any lock, a puzzle lock. It
had images on stone pieces, one of a bear, another a snake, and the last an owl; there were holes
where they seemed to fit perfectly. He thought, But in what order? He pulled out the book and
began to read further on and noticed three paragraphs that were off set from the others. The
first paragraph started with the word bear, the second with the word owl, and the third with
the word serpent. He placed the pieces in the correct order. The cave began to tremble, and
the door opened. Septimuss quest was no longer a fairy tale.