No this was not my first and won't be my last one I poke into in Skyrim but to me really showed what the elder scrolls are all about.

At first appearance it apeared as just another virutal treasure trove to be plundered then moved on from. Some ice drakes, a few spiders, the odd low level Falmer. Then an apparition that flickered into view then retreated while facing me down a corner to disapear out of my site. That was odd most such appearances result in an attack usually by one or more apparition. This one appeared to be leading me along. Finally she stops and gazes at me when I approach she dissapears but I find a journal where she stood. She was a refuge from Morrowind who took a salt strider that her brother sacrificed himself to put her on. Soon after reaching Skyrim the Salt Strider expired so with its salted meat they set off on foot. How they came to be in this passage it does not say the last entry written by her dying hand tells how she used the skills learned as a battlemage to stand off some attack, unfortunately she caused a collapse that saved her party but she was crushed by the rock. I take the staff gently from her hand promising to take it to the Srhine of Azura I have heard talk off.

Following the direction that her fingers point I find that the cave continues in another section. Oddly there is Dwemer machinery but it gives no appearance of the ruins I have explored in other places. There are several bears and wolves here and I wonder how they are getting in but see no discernable entrance so I push on. Soon another apparition visits me a small weeping child leads me to her journal. It speaks of the sightless white elves seen gazing from the shadows. Next to it is a book about the fued between the Dwemer and Chimer, how in the time of Vivec the Tribunal came to be and how the Chimer fell to become as they are today. Right before the child disapears she turns and points at something in the distance.

I look and there is a path leading up. I will have to keep my eyes open for Falmar as that is no doubt what the child saw at her end. Soon I see the telltale signs of the insects they keep, soon enough the first hut comes into view. I back up a little lay a rune of fire on my probable retreat path then going stealthly up the path I position myself and raise my bow. Soon enough the Falmar pauses in his guard route and out of the darkness my arrow flies. The shot is true and good but unseen one drops from the roof of the cavern to pursue. Caught of guard I retreate back to prepare myself for hand to hand battle. Dodging around a corner I ready my sword and shield, the explosion of my rune tells me the location of my target and I charge in to battle.

Continuing on yet another apparition appears aggresively motioning me on towards him. HIs journal speaks of a deal for a map traded for a glass dagger to be a false path, the road collapsed under them trapping them in this cavern. One of the party spoke of the ancient Dwemer highway, the only chance they had! Now a trod the same path determined that my fate will not be the same. Falmar, I can hear them sneaking, the chittering of the company they keep. Vengeance will be served.

Entertaining.

Nice read.

And when you left the cave, after fully exploring it, Lydia says to you, "Oh, a cave! I wonder what's inside."

Awesome. Has anyone ever found a dungeon that didn't have a backstory? I can't remember for sure, but in at least the last 75 hours of my playthrough, every single one has had its own story.

Ha...... I remenber this cave as it is part of a quest.


Really like how those logs tell you what happened in there.

I read this thread last night and thought it was fanfic. As I was reading I was thinking how cool it would be if it were real.

Now that you say it's real, I'm on a mission to find it.

Yes, it's real. I've been there myself. About remember it's location too...

Ah yes. Tolvald's Cave. I remember it well.

Sadly, I don't remember it well because of the backstory going on there - it was used by refugees from Morrowind to cross into Skyrim - but because Skjor sent me there for a [censored] Steel Greatsword as part of a Family Heirloom quest. Not only it couldn't possibly be more far away from Whiterun, but it was absolutely gigantic, it had THREE separate levels to it. And because in Falmer caves the devs go absolutely bat[censored] crazy with Glowing Mushrooms and Chorus Eggs, despite Extra Pockets I eventually got overburdened and had to crawl to the entrance and leave part of my loot, high-tail it to Rift to sell enough to be able to move, then go back for it.

[censored] I hate Skjor.

Serves you right for joining a bunch of mangy Hircine worshippers.

I couldn't care less about them, but I do like 100% Disease resistance.

I think I found that cave. It was one of those, "Oh look, a cave. I'll explore it later." caves I discovered on my travels while doing another quest.

Please do not post Spoilers in General.

People come to General to learn about the game without learning about what happens in the game. If they want to know about what happens, that is what the Cheats, Hints and Spoilers section is for. The OP's post was fine, it was the posts that came along later with Spoilers that caused the problem.

Do not use quest details or location specific details related to quests/puzzles/NPCs in your posts in this section. General is for discussing gameplay and mechanics and general topics about the the game including but not limited to races, items and their use, magic, enchanting, skills, character builds, criticism, praise, funny random things that happen, places from an esthetic/design standpoint and and other general topics.

Use the Spoilers Section if you have to post quest details or other spoilers or a thread about the same. I will move this now.

Thanks for the tip... going into Tolvald's Cave now... later

it's funny how people don't understand how impossible is to program an open world's AI and they keep on pointing out the same issues in NPCs statements, if you are waiting for NPCs to say intelligent things, following your in-game progress in an open world game, you probably have to way till year 2050 or so. LOL

Yes, I will definitely be crawling through here after work tonight. I can't wait to explore this. My Dunmer Assassin is going to have so much fun!!

Nope. I'm a programmer; that's an easy one to fix. It's not difficult to have an NPC remember which dungeons they've entered before. Memory and time constraints are what prevent games from being very intelligent about NPC dialogue. This gets worse if it's voiced, but the problem persists either way. This specific oddity is something modders can fix, but it might not be worth caring about and it's kind of funny.

thanks for the great read.

thanks for the location.

I'll soon be thanking the falmer for donating their bodies and souls.

I once entered a tiny cave with one skeleton and two bears in it.

Does someone have to be a member of the Thieves Guild to do this quest? Or, does it mean you will join the Thieves Guild or have to join the DB to do this quest because I don't want to join either one? Has anyone taken it that far? Thanks!

The Stones of Barenziah Quest? Nope. Don't have to join any faction to complete it.

Clashing with the above poster, I actually beleive you have to join the TG in order for Vex to tell you what the "unusual gem" actually is. No point doing it untill you have 24 of them anyway, because each stone is labeled sepratly instead of having it as Stone of beneziah (5)

You are absolutely right. I mis-worded my post, and meant to only represent the Dark Brotherhood. You do have to enter the Thieves Guild because if you don't, Vex will never appraise the Strange Gems for you.

However, you do not have to enter the Dark Brotherhood. You can get that gem by simply destroying them instead of joining them.

Too much text... Is this true or have you come up with it?

The cave is really there is the write up is my perception of what was going on from the perspective of my character. I am glad you guys liked it. Sorry if you thought it was to wordy Stee_vo but I really did try to limit myself.
I guess I should of posted in the spoiler section instead of general.

Don't sweat it Omma - it was NOT too much text (except for those whose only use for text is on a stupid phone perhaps....) That was a GREAT write up, and I will be looking for the cave on the toon I'm currently playing (the one who's NOT doing the MQ, and having just as much fun!)