Kvatch part 3

I quickly scavenged whatever looked useful from the dead and scrambled to find somewhere to hide and think things through.

At least the Oblivion Gate that had brought me here was still behind me. The sheer stupidity of what I had done was only now just sinking in with greater clarity. I really had no guarantee that the gate would still be there or accessible when I stepped through. This place could have been swarming with daedra ready to tear me limb from limb or torture me. I could be lost forever in Oblivion. I might still not make it out alive.

Honestly, I really wanted to turn back. This was work for heroes, not mere mortals like myself. I had come to Tamriel for a new beginning. To see sights, make new friends, form new relationships, and have mind-blowing sex with hot women. So far I'd done all of these, but impressive and intriguing though the sights of Oblivion were, I really could have done without.

But I was here now, and people were counting on me.

And fortunately, it actually wasn't crawling with daedra hordes. Maybe the invasion force had done their work and this gate was left open for whatever reason to keep the connection between Oblivion and Tamriel. From the looks of it, and the type of daedra I'd encounted so far, I would guess this world to be in the realm of Mehrunes Dagon. His title is commonly Prince of Destruction, but he is known for more than that and some admirable traits as well: Change, Revolution, Energy, and Ambition. Probably the reason that so much was burnt, shattered, and in ruins had to do with the nature of Dagon himself. Else, I coudln't fathom why so much would be in disrepair, especially as a staging area for an invasion force.

For the moment, all was quiet. No monsters except one or two in the very far distance. I scrambled up some rocks to get a better view of the blasted world. It was probably just a very large island as it appeared to be surrounded by glowing orange lava as far as the eye could see. A massive gate was before me, and farther ahead were three interconnected towers. If there were any answers to be gotten, it would be there. I cautiously peeked between the gates and found Savlian's task force behind, riddled with the barbed arrows of the dremora.

Clearly the straightforward approach would be detected and countered with an organized response. A smaller force -- say, one person, like myself -- might stand a chance reaching the tower without the same troubles. I had a small supply of ground-up Tinder Polypore Caps and Wormwood Leaves, which were essential ingredients in making a useful dust that gave the incredible power of invisibility. It, and my modest skill in Illusion magic, would have to see me to the tower. I promised myself that if no solution immediately presented itself as to how to close the gate, I'd turn around and hand the problem back to Savlian.

*

I made it to the tower. I saw lots of monsters. There are no babes in Oblivion.

I mean, honestly: The Dremora are clearly human-like, so shouldn't there be women? How do they make little dremora?

Anyway, inside, there was a massive pillar of fire shooting up to the roof. Some sort of magic well, maybe. I got all the way up to the top and sitting atop the pillar of flame was some sort of black orb. Whatever it was, it looked valuable. I didn't think it's disappearance would go unnoticed so I sniped the Dremora guards with poisoned arrows. Double-checked my supply of invisibility potions (which I had been using very sparingly, relying on terrain and distance to keep me undetected whenever possible), then grabbed the orb.

Oops.