lol I know I spent hours searching that damn forgotten vale looking for it lol.

in all honesty the most the pc players will find if anything is that it's the remnants of an unfinished quest, which will probably make me cry because I feel like it could have been awesome if it was a quest

Judging from the extremely close proximity of heartstone deposits along with ash fall . I would say the the guy was starting to suffer from delusions similar to what Neloth's former apprentice chronicles in her journals. Perhaps to a lesser degree over much time. Couple that with a form of obsession most people here share for dwemer mysteries, because they are fascinating, and you have a nice crazy soup.

I also enjoyed the chtulian undertone of this mystery.

You know, now that you mention it there are a lot of heart stones around that house. I never even thought about that. That's a very good theory you have there. To everyone else, sometimes a mystery left unsolved is more interesting than any confirmation of your suspicions.