Dagoth-Ur and the Chrysamere

Ebonheart, Morrowind

The time has come to complete the Staff of Chaos. At the Ebonheart palace in the province of Morrowind, King Casik implores Talin to find the Hammer of Gahren in Black Gate. The hammer, when struck upon the Anvil of Mithas (which is in the possession of the king), will produce a sound that will guide the one who hears it to the entrance of Dagoth-Ur.

Black Gate

In my opinion, Black Gate is easily the worst dungeon in the game and the point where Arena begins to overstay its welcome. It has nothing new to offer us, and functions primarily as filler and a roadblock to the more exciting penultimate dungeon. The first level isn’t too egregious, but the second level is massive in scale, and we need to find a key to progress. There are three different locked doors to the room with our objective, and three corresponding keys, of which we only need to find one. But given the size of the dungeon, the countless generic rooms, and the many waterways hampering progress, this amounts to finding a needle in a haystack. But alas, keys need finding and usurpers need slaying. Vigorous right-walling ensues.

After an exhaustive search, I locate the emerald key, use it to open the eastern door of the final room, and retrieve the hammer.

With that, we return to the palace and are rewarded with the location of the dungeon of Dagoth-Ur.

Journey to the Mountain

Deep in the palace of Ebonheart, Talin stands in a room lit by torches, the flickering light dancing across the metallic surface of the Anvil of Mithas. Before the anvil, King Casik takes the Hammer of Gahren in both hands, the carved runes on the handle providing grip for his sweat-slick fingers. Summoning every fiber of his strength, he lifts the hammer above his head and brings it crashing down onto the magic anvil. After a titanic clang, a subtle keening ring greets Talin's ears, and he knows where he must go. With a nod of wordless thanks to the king, he departs.

He sets off from the city, crossing the Inner Sea to the north to the island of Vvardenfell, the omnipresent ringing and the distant peak of the great Red Mountain serving as his guides. The closer he draws to the mountain, the more the ringing rises in pitch and intensity. He travels for days on end without rest, the ceaseless sound drawing his footsteps ever north.

 At the fortress of Ghostgate, he leaves Godric behind and begins to scale the mountain on foot, the ringing nearly deafening now. In time, an ominous fortress takes shape through the clouds of ash. Strange spires and desolate towers, as alien as the long-lost dwarves who built them, stand tall above. At last, at the end of a rusted metal pathway, an inscrutable gateway rests before him. A metal dome protrudes outward from the bare rock of the mountain, a strange circular crank protruding the machinery several feet to his left. He rotates the mechanism, and the dome splits down the middle as it grinds open, revealing a door. The ringing stops as the hero enters the depths of Dagoth-Ur.

Dagoth-Ur

The upper level of dungeon is modest in scope and difficulty. A short distance west of the entrance lies a large tomb and its vampire resident, the steps leading down to the second level tucked shortly beyond. This is where things get interesting. This floor entails a great deal of swimming through lava, so the Resist Fire spell is essential. The way down is blocked by several magically locked doors in the northwest corner, the keys scattered throughout several notable rooms and guarded by powerful foes. Guarding several keys are an iron golem, a medusa, a vampire, and a fire daemon. At the center of a maze of tunnels, the diamond key is guarded by a mighty lich, the most powerful foes in the game after Jagar Tharn himself.

After unlocking the series of doors, we reach the bottom level.

The final staff piece lies within a structure at the center of a lake of lava. Levitating across the lake and entering the structure, Talin attains the final piece of the staff, but is prevented from grabbing it and exiting the structure by the final riddle Arena challenges us with.

This is by far my favorite riddle in the game. The answer is the letter “E.” At long last, Talin completes the Staff of Chaos.

He had expected a great surge of power from the completed staff, yet it feels empty, powerless. Perhaps Ria would know more. Concerned, Talin makes his way back to the entrance of the tunnels. Gripping the handle of the great metal door leading outside, something stops him, some unknown force compelling him to turn back. As he looks to the dark tunnels leading back down to the depths of the mountain, he senses a presence, alien, aloof, overwhelmingly powerful, and most perturbing of all, amused. He feels seen, he feels known, stripped bare. An aura of malevolence beckons him to return to the depths, some ancient force residing even deeper than he had dared to go. Steeling his resolve, he thinks “this is not my battle to fight.” He turns and leaves the mountain behind him forever. As he returns to the foot of the Ghostfence, he hears what sounds like distant laughter on the ash-ridden wind…

A Complication

After putting some distance between himself and the mountain, he makes camp and decides to reach out to Ria. She had always visited him before in his dreams, guiding every step of his long quest. Yet now he needed her more than ever. Reposing in a meditative posture, he projects his thoughts outward, calling her name in his mind. The face that greets him is not Ria’s, but Tharn’s.

It has come down to this. The final obstacle to saving the emperor is Tharn himself, who guards the power that fuels that staff along with an unknown number of what would surely be his most powerful servants. Talin would need every bit of strength at his disposal to attempt this quest, and he needed an even greater weapon. Looking back to the knowledge granted him by the Oghma Infinium, he knew the weapon he would seek. He hadn’t much time, but for the moment at least, Tharn seems to content to wait for his arrival. He could wait a little bit longer.

The Sword of Heroes

With all haste, the hero ventures south, back to the province of Black Marsh, to the lost Dungeon of Groluhot. The history of this place he knew but one thing. A great warrior, whose name is lost time, had ventured here long ago, and had left something behind. With righteous fury, he dispatches the foul creatures that call this place come and comes to a grand hall.

At the top of a short set of crumbling marble step sits a raised dais, a beam of moonlight shining down upon it from somewhere above. Approaching the dais, he sees it, the Sword of Heroes, the Chrysamere.

The magnificent claymore lies atop, untouched by dust, unravaged by time. Picking up the sword, he hears the tell-tale rattle of bones behind him, undead guardians surely left behind to guard the blade. He smile as he turns to his attackers, destiny awaits.