09-16-2006, 11:49 PM
Cog's second side quest post.
2. Divine Yaegaki
Roaming the countryside of the Tsaecsi, you find yourself standing in front of a lonely shrine, isolated from civilization and hidden in the forests of the Tsaesci. You can see the top, but a large hedge blocks your way to the entrance. Entering, you find yourself walking through circles of concentric octagons, each one smaller than the last, and the entrance to the next placed opposite to the octagon you just entered. You find yourself spending much time traversing this barrier, and finally make your way to the shrine after walking through the octagons eight deep. The shrine, dilapidated and uncared for, seems to have an aura of dignity about it: a silence hangs in the air about it. Climbing the stairs, you enter, to find the mere interior of the shrine. Walking up to the brazier in the center of the room, you poke at the ashes of incense long since burned. Somewhat frustrated with the time you just wasted, you flip the brazier over, a long-clanging gong echoing throughout the chamber, and revealing a trapdoor beneath it. You try the latch, and are surprised to find it locked. You fish out a lock pick, but despite your best efforts, the lock remains closed. Disappointed, you turn to leave. But before you can completely turn around, you glint of light catches your eye. Among the scattered ashes of the brazier, a small, bronze key glints at you in the sunlight. Ecstatic, you grab it and shove it into the lock on the trapdoor.
It doesn?t turn. Frustrated, you throw the key down, and sit on the floor. The key obviously goes to something, you muse. Perhaps if I can find where this key goes, I can find wherever the key to this trapdoor is located. You search the room for some sort of box or crate, but you come up empty. There is nothing that the key could possibly fit into. You exit the shrine, defeated, and begin the slow trek back towards the entrance to the first row of concentric octagons. You stand in front of the gate, resigned you defeat, before you turn back for one last look at this confusing shrine. You see a small, lacquered box sitting on the sill of a shuttered window. You rush towards it, finally understanding the nature of this place, and try the key in this one. The box opens with a satisfying click, and you find another key inside of this one. You take it, and rush to try the trapdoor again. It doesn?t budge. It still won?t open. You take the key and look for another box somewhere. You?ll probably have to find eight keys, like you had to travel from the eight gates to get here. You check behind the shrine, and find another box sitting on the window opposite the other one. You grin, and unlock the box, and claim another key. Instead of checking the trapdoor again, you keep looking around the grounds for another box to unlock. You find it, hidden among the thorns and brambles of the overgrown garden, half buried in the dirt. You almost worry that the rust that covered the lock might have broken it, but the lock opens, and you claim yet another key. The next was hidden in the base of the fountain in the front, and the next was hidden in one of the stones in the adjacent well. You find one more in the stone archway that marked the exit. However, the last key eludes you. You search for hours, but it is nowhere to be found. Sitting down, you count the keys that you have so far. Seven. One more, and the trapdoor should unlock. Staring at the trapdoor in front of you, you think about the theme of opposites that also seems to be in place, you run outside and look at the roof of the shrine. Sure enough, there it is, a lacquered box next to the weathervane. Drinking the levitation potion that you always carry with you, you fly to the top and claim the last key. Once again ecstatic, you descend and float to the trapdoor.
Trembling with excitement, you turn the final key in the lock, and hear the most wonderful sound, the clicking of an opened lock. Flipping open the lid, you stare down into the dark depths of the basement of the Shrine. You climb the old, rotting ladder down and are surprised to see a glow at the far end of the cavern. This place has obviously been locked for a long time-who could possibly be making this light. You walk towards it, no other path presenting itself, and find that it is no torch that is making this light. A skeleton, bent over some sort of ceremonial pit, had clasped its hands in supplication. One of its hands had a gauntlet on, and this was the object creating the glow. Muttering about respect for the dead, you grab the gauntlet and pull it off of the skeleton, which collapses to one side. You look at the glove, the light of greed lighting your face, and read the Daedric runes carved into the metal:
?The Divine Yaegaki?
2. Divine Yaegaki
Roaming the countryside of the Tsaecsi, you find yourself standing in front of a lonely shrine, isolated from civilization and hidden in the forests of the Tsaesci. You can see the top, but a large hedge blocks your way to the entrance. Entering, you find yourself walking through circles of concentric octagons, each one smaller than the last, and the entrance to the next placed opposite to the octagon you just entered. You find yourself spending much time traversing this barrier, and finally make your way to the shrine after walking through the octagons eight deep. The shrine, dilapidated and uncared for, seems to have an aura of dignity about it: a silence hangs in the air about it. Climbing the stairs, you enter, to find the mere interior of the shrine. Walking up to the brazier in the center of the room, you poke at the ashes of incense long since burned. Somewhat frustrated with the time you just wasted, you flip the brazier over, a long-clanging gong echoing throughout the chamber, and revealing a trapdoor beneath it. You try the latch, and are surprised to find it locked. You fish out a lock pick, but despite your best efforts, the lock remains closed. Disappointed, you turn to leave. But before you can completely turn around, you glint of light catches your eye. Among the scattered ashes of the brazier, a small, bronze key glints at you in the sunlight. Ecstatic, you grab it and shove it into the lock on the trapdoor.
It doesn?t turn. Frustrated, you throw the key down, and sit on the floor. The key obviously goes to something, you muse. Perhaps if I can find where this key goes, I can find wherever the key to this trapdoor is located. You search the room for some sort of box or crate, but you come up empty. There is nothing that the key could possibly fit into. You exit the shrine, defeated, and begin the slow trek back towards the entrance to the first row of concentric octagons. You stand in front of the gate, resigned you defeat, before you turn back for one last look at this confusing shrine. You see a small, lacquered box sitting on the sill of a shuttered window. You rush towards it, finally understanding the nature of this place, and try the key in this one. The box opens with a satisfying click, and you find another key inside of this one. You take it, and rush to try the trapdoor again. It doesn?t budge. It still won?t open. You take the key and look for another box somewhere. You?ll probably have to find eight keys, like you had to travel from the eight gates to get here. You check behind the shrine, and find another box sitting on the window opposite the other one. You grin, and unlock the box, and claim another key. Instead of checking the trapdoor again, you keep looking around the grounds for another box to unlock. You find it, hidden among the thorns and brambles of the overgrown garden, half buried in the dirt. You almost worry that the rust that covered the lock might have broken it, but the lock opens, and you claim yet another key. The next was hidden in the base of the fountain in the front, and the next was hidden in one of the stones in the adjacent well. You find one more in the stone archway that marked the exit. However, the last key eludes you. You search for hours, but it is nowhere to be found. Sitting down, you count the keys that you have so far. Seven. One more, and the trapdoor should unlock. Staring at the trapdoor in front of you, you think about the theme of opposites that also seems to be in place, you run outside and look at the roof of the shrine. Sure enough, there it is, a lacquered box next to the weathervane. Drinking the levitation potion that you always carry with you, you fly to the top and claim the last key. Once again ecstatic, you descend and float to the trapdoor.
Trembling with excitement, you turn the final key in the lock, and hear the most wonderful sound, the clicking of an opened lock. Flipping open the lid, you stare down into the dark depths of the basement of the Shrine. You climb the old, rotting ladder down and are surprised to see a glow at the far end of the cavern. This place has obviously been locked for a long time-who could possibly be making this light. You walk towards it, no other path presenting itself, and find that it is no torch that is making this light. A skeleton, bent over some sort of ceremonial pit, had clasped its hands in supplication. One of its hands had a gauntlet on, and this was the object creating the glow. Muttering about respect for the dead, you grab the gauntlet and pull it off of the skeleton, which collapses to one side. You look at the glove, the light of greed lighting your face, and read the Daedric runes carved into the metal:
?The Divine Yaegaki?
