Dragonborn Saga

Chapter 598 - Immersion Backfired

Yes, WE’RE BACK!

Read Early Content on Patre0n. Also consider Commenting and Joining Discord all on this URL: https://linktr.ee/do

[Patre0n latest chapter: 606]

——————————

"Why is that thing here?" Jon shouted as his face, along with everybody else’s, went pale right away.

"It’s... the Numidium!" Wulfur spoke in complete horror.

"Oblivion, take me!" Alina cursed with her body shaking from the sheer thought of running into the Brass God.

"What?" Jon looked at them in bafflement, "No! That’s not the bloody Numidium, thank the seven heavens."

He looked back at the gargantuan Dwarven Animunculi again and felt like his head was getting lighter.

To explain what he was seeing, we need to go back in time two days before the exploration teams enter Blackreach.

Two days ago, Jon ran into and annihilated hundreds of Falmer and Dwarven Animunculi around the tower of Alftand as everyone kept going down.

The plan wasn’t just to go down but to completely and fully invade the ruins and secure them for further operation. This meant completely disabling the Dwarven steam pipes and shutting down the Animunculi which come out from the maintenance hatches regularly.

This also involved completely exterminating the Falmer camps around the tower and that meant doing the job Ysgramor and his 500 companions didn’t finish ages ago. It meant killing every Falmer they come across from their old to their young and burning everything, leaving no chance for the Falmer to appear from Alftand ever again.

Those are just fiendish monsters so it was all fair the way Jon saw it.

Finally and after a long time of fighting and securing Alftand, the group arrived at the deepest point of the tower where it was only a large hall with an altar in its center. A few Dwarven Animunculi appeared to defend the place including a couple of Dwarven Centurions but at this time, all the available Dare Troopers were very experienced in handling and defeating the Dwarven machines.

But there at the deepest of Alftand where Jon finally stood and waited for the rest of the teams to gather. Everything from that point up was secured and all that is left is to do the magic.

And by the Magic, it means locating the secret door in the room.

With over a hundred Dare Troopers present as well as some of Winterhold’s elite such as Wulfur and Mjoll, Jon stood between this force and gave a short speech.

"Whatever lies beyond is something I’m sure that most of you won’t believe exists but now that we have reached this point, it is time you know the true treasure which lies beyond." He said, "Just promise me to keep your heads low if there’s something more than what you can handle. Also, there will be an important point which we need to secure once we go past this point. Mjoll and Wulfur will pass the details."

The important point Jon was talking about is the Great Lift of Alftand, the ancient elevator which connects Blackreach directly to the surface where the rest of the Dare Troopers wait.

Still, to open the doors to Alftand, Jon needed to activate the ancient mechanism which unlocks the door. For that, he used the Attunement Sphere by inserting it in. The circular mechanism rotated in circles and the land beneath Jon shook and gave off dust as the old things were finally moving.

He jumped back after he retrieved the Attunement Sphere and watched as the stone floor opened up and revealed a stairway hidden beneath it. At the end of it was a great gate.

"Here it is." Jon spoke and took the lead walking slowly to the gate which he gently pushed.

His gentle push was akin to ten growing men moving away the heavy gates while gritting their teeth but he walked through the gates confidently into something completely unexpected.

The Dare Troopers were stunned by the bright light they saw.

They thought that they were finally out of Tower Alftand but once they really took a good look outside, they were out of words.

There was a sky filled with stars, a road surrounded by houses, mushrooms as tall as trees, and a city as big as Winterhold and Saarthal combined.

The stars were actually the cave’s ceiling dotted with luminous flora, the houses were an old Dwarven ruin, the mushroom trees were a variant of the Glowing Mushrooms, and the city was Blackreach.

"Let the historians record that after a thousand years from the Three Banners war, Jon Dare and his 100 Troopers were the first to rediscover the Great Lost City of Blackreach."

His words echoed and the hearts of men started to heaten up for the glory that is to come.

Blackreach is the talk of legends, the myth everyone heard about when they grew up. The secret city of the great Dwarves who built machines and weapons unrivaled by any race.

Think of the lost city of Atlantis, then think of Blackreach. That’s how it meant to many.

But the party didn’t even get started and Jon was having more plans within his plans. He walked ahead to the base of Tower Alftand and walked around to calculate the next step.

"Jon, the men are in good spirits." Wulfur spoke, "Your orders."

"Our numbers are too few to explore this place alone." Jon spoke and turned around, "Many untold dangers are lying in these deep grounds. Ancient Evils that remained await for eons. There are also Falmer of untold numbers and what we saw before was merely a scouting party. It will be ten times more dangerous from now onward."

The men heard Jon and hardened their nerves. They were the most disciplined and best troopers, each of them being able to wield their power Aura well. Jon wasn’t worried about them.

"The last thing you need to know is to never pick anything up from now on. Everything here, including those mushroom trees, is rotten poison." Jon said, "Our next objective is to push towards the east as fast and as soon as possible. We will encounter heavy resistance from the Falmer but remember, once we set out, there is no going back."

The formation was set, the plan was rechecked, the target was located. It was time to move towards the east where the Great Lift lies. Once that is secured, Jon and the majority of the party will wait for it to be reactivated and reach the surface with it.

Once that is secured, Winterhold will have a direct way in and out of Blackreach and the reinforcements will be unlimited.

Jon expected to meet resistance the moment he got close to the buildings nearby but the moment the formation was made and the group moved as one, Dwarven Spheres started flowing towards the team. A small fight broke out in which the machines were swiftly dismantled but the busting skirmish caused many to come whether they were Dwarven Animunculi or Falmer.

The city seemed to be broken into territories. The ones that the machines hold and the ones that the Falmer conquered. Each place had its advantages in offense and defense which made the newly arriving Human force to be struggling between the raids and the attacks that came from everywhere.

Jon displayed his power time and time again as he took the lead. He was unstoppable in his pace and was very focused on both his enemies and his destination. His lightning spells would hit the Falmer and turn them into ash on contact while it would completely disturb the machines and cause them to malfunction.

Once he reached the area near the great lift, the Falmer seemed to have established a settlement around it thus he started burning everything in his way. What was left in his wake was ash and broken Falmer corpses which he completely disintegrated right away.

Jon seemed invincible to his men but today was the day Jon’s invincibility would be put to the test.

Once Jon destroyed the Falmer camp, those who survived ran towards the inner part of the city where a large fortress stood. Suddenly, a great wall of fire consumed them all without even leaving a single of both Falmer and Dwarven architecture.

From behind the fortress stood out a Dwarven machine... the greatest Dwarven Animunculi anyone has ever seen.

It was so large it almost Dwarfed the fortress it stood by. And that machine was patrolling the ancient city.

"Shit!" Jon remembered something, "Why is that thing here?"

"It’s... the Numidium!" Wulfur spoke in complete horror.

"Oblivion, take me!" Alina cursed with her body shaking from the sheer thought of running into the Brass God.

"What?" Jon looked at them in bafflement, "No! That’s not the bloody Numidium, thank the seven heavens."

Everyone looked at Jon.

"Throughout the Dwarven Ruins in Skyrim, only three of this menace exist and they were set to protect the most important locations in the Dwarven Empire." Jon spoke.

Three of them? A machine of that scale and nobody knows about it.

Of course nobody would, they haven’t been seen since the Three Banners war over a thousand years ago.

It is the largest known Dwarven Animunculi ever built aside from the Numidium. It is also the superweapon of the Dwarven Empire

It is called the Dwarven Colossus.

A King Kong amongst the other animunculi.

It didn’t exist in Skyrim as a game but someone thought it would be immersive to download it as a mod.

——————————

Read Early Content on Patre0n. Also consider Commenting and Joining Discord all on this URL: https://linktr.ee/do

[Patre0n latest chapter: 606]