 |
Name |
Ancestral Orc: Gloves |
 |
13 |
- Ugron gro-Thumog
- There's an old folktale about a warrior named Urzatash the Bloody who picked a bar fight with the wrong Orc and got his face punched in. In the story, he has to live with a concave face for the rest of his life. Maybe it was based on some truth.
|
| Type |
Motif Chapter (Ancestral Orc Style) |
| Difficulty |
Simple |
| Lead |
|
 |
Name |
Antique Map of Alik'r Desert |
|
N/A |
- Verita Numida
- An Alik'r nomad tribe's map with a sparse frame of reference and no borders to speak of. Sentinel appears to be the only significant settlement of note. Instead, there is a focus on landmarks and hazards. A giant serpent's body is woven throughout.
- Reginus Buca
- Not unlike the sea serpents scrawled in naval charts, eh? This must be Satakal, the Yokudan serpent god. They believed we all dwell upon the serpent, so it's safe to assume that this is a symbolic representation.
- Ugron gro-Thumog
- I've spoken at length with nomad tribal chieftains. Most claim that the dunerippers we see now are a fraction of the size of those the first Ra Gada encountered. Could be a correlation, but any evidence has long been weathered away by shifting sands.
|
| Type |
Furniture |
| Difficulty |
Simple |
| Lead |
|
 |
Name |
Satakal Skinrazer |
|
250 |
- Reginus Buca
- The tip of this spade-shaped tool forks like the tongue of a serpent, but the only sharpened edge sits along a slot at the base, facing the handle. I can't help but liken it to the cheese servers of Wayrest, but religious engravings suggest otherwise.
- Reginus Buca
- It's safe to say that the serpent imagery throughout this piece represents the First Serpent, Satakal, in Redguard mythology, best known for devouring itself. Modern devotees are said to shed their skin in gruesome rituals with winding daggers.
- Reginus Buca
- Testing on a moist—but firm—cheddar, showed that even this long-dull edge can slice a layer thin enough for light to pass through, suggesting that the flensing rituals of Satakal were more restrained in earlier eras. Self-consumption remains unconfirmed.
|
| Type |
Treasure |
| Difficulty |
Simple |
| Lead |
|
 |
Name |
Dwarven Spine-Coupling |
|
N/A |
- Gabrielle Benele
- Amazing! The craftsmanship of this metal spine allows it to move almost as well as an animal's spine. But, which animal? Pretty remarkable that a race that constantly recoiled from messy mortality used natural structures in their designs!
|
| Type |
Mount Fragment (Ebon Dwarven Wolf) |
| Difficulty |
Intermediate |
| Lead |
- "Curious Dwemer Rubble" in a corner of Rkulftzel
|
 |
Name |
Na-Totambu Two-Finger Gauntlet |
|
1,000 |
- Reginus Buca
- What exquisite steel. Dark whorls of gray flow through a sea of silver like the Ra Gada themselves. I've seen the stylistic elements etched in this metal worn by members of the Crowns in Sentinel, but this nominal gauntlet is clearly ceremonial.
- Ugron gro-Thumog
- Not necessarily. Stories of the Firehide clan's battles with the Yokudans in Alik'r persist in the oral tradition. They describe warriors for whom war was a dance and could turn aside a blade with two fingers.
- Ugron gro-Thumog
- This steel is nearly as strong as orichalcum, but it still wouldn't survive the full force of a blow. If there's truth to the stories of Yokudan's catching swords with their fingers, it wasn't due to the strength of their armor.
|
| Type |
Treasure |
| Difficulty |
Intermediate |
| Lead |
|
 |
Name |
Weathered Dwarven Cogs |
|
N/A |
- Gabrielle Benele
- Interesting. Traces of ebony make me think this cog was set within that type of metal. So, black and bronze? Someone was building for drama! You don't often see that kind of alloying in Dwarven work.
|
| Type |
Mount Fragment (Ebon Dwarven Wolf) |
| Difficulty |
Intermediate |
| Lead |
|
|
Name |
Ancestral Orc: Swords |
|
13 |
- Ugron gro-Thumog
- A good read. The author posits some theories that I've not heard debated, but perhaps they were at the time it was written. I don't think it matters nearly as much as the design itself. Note that Turog is featured once again here.
|
| Type |
Motif Chapter (Ancestral Orc Style) |
| Difficulty |
Advanced |
| Lead |
|
 |
Name |
Stone Relief, Yokudan |
|
15,000 |
- Ugron gro-Thumog
- An archetypal carving of sorts, representing some mytho-historical concept in Yokudan storytelling. Most likely something you would find in a dungeon or tomb, if my last visit to Hammerfell gives me any insight.
- Verita Numida
- I've done some reading and can't find a specific legend or folktale that would seem to relate to this symbol. I wonder if this was meant to evoke a specific concept or was this more esoterica?
- Reginus Buca
- "A first for knowledge usually leads to a thirst for more," as the saying goes. We should investigate further, without a doubt. Our understanding of this fascinating people is under-developed.
|
| Type |
Furniture |
| Difficulty |
Advanced |
| Lead |
- Random mob, World Event (Jackal, etc.)
|
 |
Name |
The Heartland |
|
N/A |
- Reginus Buca
- What a stirring landscape! It resembles the work of Reman II's court painter, Emilia Polus. She revolutionized the art of landscape painting--serving as a bridge between dreamy Alessian scenery-painting and the stark realism of early Potentate works.
- Gabrielle Benele
- It might be an early Laenius. I'm no artist, but as far as I'm concerned, Gavros Laenius doesn't get anywhere near the credit he deserves. No one renders water like him. The Niben seems to wash across the canvas! Gorgeous!
- Verita Numida
- I find this work puzzling. The Alessians placed severe restrictions on artists prior to their decline which grew into cultural taboos. Imperial painters didn't resume painting the Imperial City in its entirety until the final years of the First Era. Odd.
|
| Type |
Furniture (view furnishing) |
| Difficulty |
Advanced |
| Lead |
|
 |
Name |
Hegathe Divining Rod |
|
5,000 |
- Gabrielle Benele
- I'm amazed this glass rod has survived intact for thousands of years. It's light as a feather and remarkably hard, thanks to the magicka still clinging to it. It vibrates when stuck into sand. After some experimenting, I determined the intensity would rise and fall in proximity to water. Ancient Elves must have used these to travel safely across the Alik'r Desert. Well, as safely as would be possible, there would still need to be water within a half-day's travel for this to detect it.
|
| Type |
Treasure |
| Difficulty |
Advanced |
| Lead |
|
 |
Name |
Dwarven Leather Saddle Seat |
|
N/A |
- Gabrielle Benele
- Aha! This clearly belongs to a vamidium. I would say a quadruped. Perhaps a horse? The Dwemeris inscription appears much fiercer than the ones I've seen on other mechanical mounts. Could this object be a weapon of war?
|
| Type |
Mount Fragment (Ebon Dwarven Wolf) |
| Difficulty |
Master |
| Lead |
|
 |
Name |
Coil of Satakal |
|
N/A |
- Amalien
- A Na-Totambu ceremonial gong! I've only ever seen the disc--never the frame. Looks like they fashioned it to resemble their everything-deity: Satakal. According to myth, the snake devours itself in a never-ending cycle of rebirth. Brilliant, eh?
- Ugron gro-Thumog
- Yeah, a handful of Crowns in Bergama tried to bring me into the fold. Just trust me on this: nothing good ever comes from snake worship. People bound to this idea of death and rebirth always wind up as wild-eyed cultists. Just the way of the world.
- Verita Numida
- Honestly, Ugron. Satakal is not a sinister deity. It's the personification of a timeless theme. What I find most astounding is the scale. Many Tamrielic religions profess belief in reincarnation. But reincarnation of Mundus itself? That's truly something.
|
| Type |
Furniture (view furnishing) |
| Difficulty |
Ultimate |
| Lead |
|
 |
Name |
Direnni Elegy Loop |
|
N/A |
- Ugron gro-Thumog
- This metal band is too thin to be a ring on its own. I'd say it's the inner loop of a larger ring--a signet maybe. There's an engraving here. Looks like an Elven name to me, but the styling's too angular for merish work.
- Amalien
- The engraving on this band is Cyrodilic. And did you notice the post-script? It reads, "killed at my hand!" Ghastly! Knights of the Pale Order supposedly kept lists of all the Direnni warriors and magisters they slayed. This must be an enemy of note.
- Gabrielle Benele
- Quite right, Amalien. But the Knights of the Pale Order didn't just count their victories against Direnni foes. They notched their shields and scabbards for any unassisted triumph. Elves, trolls, Orcs, Goblins … anything they killed in single combat.
|
| Type |
Mythic Item Fragment (Ring of the Pale Order) |
| Difficulty |
Master |
| Lead |
|
 |
Name |
Torc Strand of Lore |
|
N/A |
- Reginus Buca
- Unusual--this metal band is about the size of a neck-ring, but I have a sense that it's incomplete. Dwarven work, for sure; the geometric design is quite common in Dwemer artifice. If it's a torc, where's the rest of it?
- Gabrielle Benele
- The torc seems incomplete because it is incomplete. Dwarves probably forged jewelry like this from several different strands braided together. Makes sense. Metallurgists tell me the Dwemer combined different metals to make their eponymous alloy.
- Amalien
- But what magic does is possess? These tiny notches in the strand are undoubtedly aligned with Dwemeris script. I believe they stand for knowledge; this strand shapes and binds the magic of the torc with Dwemer lore. Knowledge is the foundation, you see.
|
| Type |
Mythic Item Fragment (Torc of Tonal Constancy) |
| Difficulty |
Master |
| Lead |
|
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