Chapter 5
Collapsing Tunnel
Kellen
The hero tumbled through the darkness. When they awoke, they were alone in the depths of the city — in a chamber that was fast collapsing.
Player
As they run through the city avoiding boulders, they encounter and must defeat a Verminous Fabricant.
Kellen
The hero had reached stable ground — for now. But from all around they could hear the rumbling of the city being reshaped by Mecinar. And they feared for their friends…
Player
To save their companions, the player has a choice of going to the Piston Cavum or the Submerged Aqueduct.
Submerged Aqueduct
Swims-at-Night
Hmm. Trapped in a cavern filling with water. Only one tunnel out. Time to live up to my name.
Player
Taking on the role of Swims-at-Night, the player defeats a Slaughterfish and frees himself.
If you have not completed the Piston Cavum
Swims-at-Night
Fancy meeting you here. No I'm fine. Only a tiny bit drowned. Come on, let's find Laaneth.
If you have completed the Piston Cavum
Swims-at-Night
Fancy meeting you two here. Tell me you've found a way out.
Laaneth
Not yet. But I think I saw the pulse of a memory star this way.
Piston Cavum
Laaneth
I'm trapped. Only way out is through that hall full of pistons — but they're not moving. Maybe I can pry them open with bursts of magical energy.
Player
In the shoes of Laaneth, the player fights and kills a Nix-Hound Fabricant.
If you have not completed the Submerged Aquaduct
Laaneth
You're a sight for sore eyes. We should find Swims-at-Night — hopefully he's having an easier time than we did.
If you have completed the Submerged Aquaduct
Laaneth
You two are a sight for sore eyes. Have you found a way out of here?
Swims-at-Night
No. But I did spot a memory star over that way.
The Tools
Sotha Sil
The Heart has become unstable — left unchecked, it threatens to destroy the entire city. No matter the danger, I must venture into the chamber, and devise a way to contain its power.
Player
As Sotha Sil, the player battles and defeats the Heart.
Sotha Sil
Success! With these tools, modeled after Kagrenac's own, I can control, shape, and even dismantle the Heart if necessary.
Laaneth
That's it! If we can find those three tools, we can destroy the Heart and stop Mecinar!
The Caminus Pit
Galyn
AAAAAAAGH! Mercy!
Fabricant
...
Laaneth
It's the people of the city. The machines are… remaking them. We have to stop this.
Player
They fight and defeat a series of machines, lead by a Kagouti Fabricant.
Galyn
Thank you. Mecinar is rebuilding the city in his image. More of our people were taken as well. We must stop him.
Mecinar
You outlanders cannot be allowed to interfere with my experiments. Fabricants, deactivate the intruders.
Shaft of Sohleh
Swims-at-Night
We can't outrun that army of fabricants forever.
Galyn
Up these stairs you'll find Sotha Sil's most sacred library.
Laaneth
You go. I'll hold off the fabricants.
Swims-at-Night
No, we need you at the library. I'll fight them.
Laaneth
You'll be killed!
Swims-at-Night
And you won't?
Galyn
We have no time to argue. Who stays?
Player
The player must take on the role of either Swims or Laaneth and hold off the fabricants so that the rest of the party can escape. Whoever they choose to play as, dies.
Swims-at-Night stays
Swims-at-Night
Never expected to die a hero. You lot better make this count!
Kellen
Swims-at-Night had come to the Clockwork City seeking its riches. But in the end he gave his life in the hopes of saving it - or at least, of protecting his friends.
To avenge him, the Hero would have to find Sotha Sil's tools, and use them to defeat Mecinar.
Laaneth stays
Laaneth
As deaths go, this is a good one. Good luck, my friends.
Kellen
A lifetime of study had made Laaneth one of the wisest people in Tamriel - wise enough to know that this would be her final battle.
Still she fought with bravery to the last, giver her life so that her friends could find Sotha Sil's lost tools - and use them to defeat Mecinar.
Chapter 6
The Throne Aligned
Galyn
Sotha Sil stored much of his thoughts and notes in this machine. But it is deadly for a mortal to access it.
If Laaneth is alive
Laaneth
We owe it to Swims-at-Night to try.
If Swims-at-Night is alive
Swims-at-Night
We've got to try. Or Laaneth sacrificed herself for nothing.
Player
To progress, the player must defeat the Helctic Ipsograph.
Galyn
Excellent work! It seems that when he foresaw his coming death, Sotha Sil hid his tools around the world. But using the Doors of Egress, we can transport you to each of them.
Three new locations are unlocked, and each must be completed before returning to the Clockwork City. They are Dragonclaw Rock, Eastmarch Camp, and Sanguine Barrows.
Eastmarch Camp
Kellen
As the hero crossed through the portal, they found they had walked into the middle of a deadly clash between the Imperial Legion and the Stormcloak rebellion.
Player
The player must defeat the Imperials at Stony Creek.
Kellen
Once the hero had escaped the melee, they found a cleverly hidden cavern. Deep within lay Sotha Sil's rendition of the mighty hammer Sunder.
Dragonclaw Rock
Kellen
The hero's next step took them high into the Jerall mountains. But they found the tool had an unwitting guardian: A dragon who had in ages past learned to master the Thu'um from Paarthurnax himself.
Player
The player fights and kills the Stoneclaw Dragon.
Kellen
With the dragon slain, the hero found the hiding place of Sotha Sil's replica of Keening, the sword so sharp it could slice through and shape the Heart's power.
Sanguine Barrows
Kellen
One of the tools had been hidden deep in a forgotten crypt, where few living creatures dared to walk.
Player
Here, the player fought and killed a Barrows Lord vampire and their minions.
Kellen
Deep in the crypt, the hero found Sotha Sil's version of Wraithguard, a mighty gauntlet designed to wield the other two tools.
Divine Implements Found
If Laaneth is alive
Laaneth
That's the last of the tools. Now let's go find Mecinar and destroy the Heart.
If Swims-at-Night is alive
Swims-at-Night
That's the last of the tools. Now let's go find Mecinar and destroy the Heart.
Galyn
What? You can't destroy it. I believe its power is what has allowed our crops to grow, our machinery to run. There must be another way. Perhaps you can use the Heart instead.
If Laaneth is alive
Laaneth
I doubt it. But come, Mecinar must be in the Chamber of Lorkhan.
If Swims-at-Night is alive
Swims-at-Night
I don't like it. Laaneth believed the heart was dangerous, and I trusted her more than most.
Return to The Inner Curiosity
Mecinar
I thought you might come. I've prepared a surprise for you. For years I have modified the living. But with my newfound power, I've found the dead just as malleable.
Your fallen ally from the Shaft of Sohleh appears as an undead abomination, revived using "Mecinar's foul magickal technology."
Swims-at-Night/Laaneth
Mecinar's will must be obeyed. Prepare to be destroyed.
Player
Reluctantly, the player battles and defeats their former friend.
If Laaneth is alive
Laaneth
Mecinar must answer for this… this abomination! It's time to finish this!
If Swims-at-Night is alive
Swims-at-Night
MECINAR! You'll pay for what you've done to her!
Mecinar
Come then, and meet your doom.
Chamber of Lorkhan
Galyn
Now, use the tools to harness the Heart's power! Fight Mecinar as a fellow god!
If Laaneth is alive
Laaneth
No — I can feel the Heart's energy. It's too unstable. There's every chance you'll be overwhelmed. And if you fall, Mecinar will still have his power.
If Swims-at-Night is alive
Swims-at-Night
Look around you! That thing is unstable! If you use it, it might just kill you.
Galyn
Those are the risks we have to take. Without the Heart, my people will die!
If Laaneth is alive
Laaneth
Swims-at-Night would have left it up to you. So what's it to be?
If Swims-at-Night is alive
Swims-at-Night
Laaneth wouldn't have wanted this. But it's your call.
Player
The player must make their choice: Use the Heart or Destroy it.
Use
Mecinar
You think yourself my equal now? Pathetic. You cannot hope to match my genius!
Galyn
You can barely contain the Heart's energy. Be careful, or it will destroy you — and this entire chamber!
Kellen
Mecinar was defeated. But the hero paid a heavy price. The energy of the heart proved too much to hold within their physical form.
The hero's body disintegrated.
But the Clockwork City lived on, powered by the heart, and Galyn believed that the hero's consciousness lived on there, a whisper in the still-churning machinery.
Nagh
So... you are saying you're lost and we're going to die?
Kellen
I'm saying sometimes our greatest deeds come when we least expect them.
Nagh
Nagh thinks you are lost and we're going to die.
Kellen
(Sigh)
Destroy
Mecinar
No! Do you know what you've done?! Centuries of patience and planning — all lost! You will burn for this!
Kellen
Mecinar was defeated, and the mechanical Heart shattered beyond repair. Neither would again threaten Tamriel.
But Galyn was right. The Heart had been what kept the city's vegetation alive, and its gears turning.
Sotha Sil's last worshipers were forced to leave the city behind, and start a new life elsewhere.
Nagh
This is not the sort of unexpected journey Nagh wishes to go on.
Kellen
Sometimes, our journeys choose us, my friend.
And we must only hope we are wise and brave enough to meet them.
Nagh
Nagh thinks Kellen is just lost.
Kellen
Oh, you weren't listening at all...
