Simon sometimes coveted those incredibly powerful artifacts.
The heart of lorkhan goes without saying; this thing was destroyed by the protagonist of the elder scrolls III: Morrowind, corresponding to the prophecy: "When the three fall, the Red Tower trembles." The Red Tower was destroyed, and if not for the Ninth Divine, Talos, ascending to godhood and maintaining spatial stability, the world might have already been ruined.
Besides this, there are many other artifacts and Daedric artifacts that appeared in the elder scrolls V, but what Simon remembers vividly is, of course, the artifact left in the world by the primordial engineer, Magnus—the eye of magnus. This tool, said to be used for creation, has a direct connection to Aetherius and can draw endless creative energy and magicka from Aetherius.
This artifact is similar to the Mythallar in the D&D world, a device that can delve into the Weave to extract energy. Mages at the time used this device as a driving force to build countless floating cities.
And speaking of floating cities, they also exist in the elder scrolls world.
The Morrowind Tribunal—Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and Vivec—after acquiring the three artifacts, became living gods, possessing incredible power. At the end of the First Era, the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon descended upon the world and was defeated by the Tribunal gods and banished back to Oblivion. When the Mad God Sheogorath hurled a giant meteor at Vivec City, Vivec, with his immense power, fixed the meteor in the sky, turning it into a suspended city.
To Simon, the eye of magnus is a tool whose significance rivals that of the three artifacts; with it, he might even be able to ascend to godhood directly.
And he does indeed know where this item is.
The Ancient Nord ruin, Saarthal, was the first large settlement of the Nord ancestors after they migrated from Atmora to Skyrim. At that time, the Snow Elves and Ancient Nords lived in peace; the barbarians didn't want to bother the Elves and lived their own lives, while the Snow Elves regarded the Nords as inferior beings to be avoided as much as possible, until one day, a delegation of Snow Elves came to Saarthal and discovered the powerful magical fluctuations beneath it.
They discovered the eye of magnus, and Magnus was their worshipped god of magic. The artifact should not be defiled by these filthy humans, so the Snow Elves massacred Saarthal, creating the Night of Tears incident.
The rest of the story has already been told: these pale-skinned Elves let Ysgramor escape, resulting in the extinction of their entire race.
Ysgramor, what a true man!
The source of this tragedy—the eye of magnus—is still beneath Saarthal. Simon could have gone to find it directly, but an opponent hidden in the shadows made him quite wary.
In the original story, the eye of magnus was discovered by a member of the College of Winterhold, which then sparked a series of disputes. During this time, a mysterious and ancient magical faction emerged—the Psijic Order—who eventually took the eye of magnus away, stating that the world was not ready for its arrival.
The origin of this Order can be traced back to the Dawn Era.
After judging Lorkhan, the Elven chief god Auriel decided to ascend to godhood and leave the mortal realm. He gathered the Ancient Elves of the time and, in front of them, restored his divinity, showing them a path to godhood, a path also known as the Ancestor Road.
These Ancient Elves were the result of the gradual degradation of the Aedra who were stranded on Nirn. In fact, all living beings in the world are the result of the continuous degradation of the Aedra; everyone is essentially a god, humans, Elves, animals, plants, all of them, tracing back to their origins.
It's just that some living beings retained more residual power, such as the Ancient Elves, who considered themselves superior to their weaker kin, which is also the root of Elven arrogance.
In short, the Ancient Elves considered themselves descendants of Auriel and followed the Ancestor Road in hopes of achieving godhood.
The Ancient Elves themselves had no end to their lifespan, but they could still die from illness and injury. In their average lifespan of thousands of years, they strived to achieve perfection in everything—art, magic, etiquette, etc. This perfectionism was also passed down to the High Elves—the legitimate successors of the Ancient Elves.
As time passed, the Ancient Elves died out, the Elven homeland sank into the sea, and various branches of Elves emerged. The Psijic Order, however, was a reclusive organization that consistently followed the Ancestor Road. They had a long heritage, powerful magical knowledge, and were transcendent above the mundane world.
When Simon played the game, he always had a misunderstanding about mages, thinking they were nothing special, but the appearance of the Psijic Order truly opened his eyes. In their limited appearances, they displayed powerful spellcasting abilities, such as time stop, telepathy, spatial teleportation, and prophetic perception.
Especially time stop; even the most outstanding mages of Winterhold could not glimpse such mysteries, only feeling some physical and mental discomfort afterward.
Simon feared that after finding the eye of magnus, he wouldn't even have time to put it into his Pure Land before the Psijic Order intercepted it, which would be too painful. Or, if he took the artifact and was then besieged by the Order, that would be even more painful.
So, he decided to slow down and first improve his own strength, lest he acquire the artifact but be powerless to use it. Since the eye of magnus had not yet appeared, he didn't need to rush and chose to wait for an opportunity to come to him.
...
Regarding the tuning fork, Simon designed several plans, all quite cumbersome due to his technical limitations. He even considered specially making a tuning tractor, putting the equipment on the trailer of a steam pickup, and releasing magic—and noise—like a loudspeaker as he drove along.
However, that style was too strange, so he vetoed it outright.
The final plan was an umbrella-shaped tuning fork. The main body of the tuning fork was a square brass crystal column with a base side length of one foot and a side length of nine feet. The internal system was responsible for simulating the resonance of the earthbones. An umbrella canopy was placed at one end of the square column, with eleven ribs, each suspending a brass bell the size of an adult man's fist as the sound-producing component.
The four sides of the square column were each divided into eight sections, with a rhomboid blue crystal embedded in each, totaling thirty-two crystals. The surface was enchanted with Ironflesh, Spell Ward, and Wards to ensure its strength. The internal structure was strictly designed according to Dwemer technology, and Simon also incorporated a necromantic system to improve the efficiency of energy flow.
The umbrella canopy was covered with crimson finely woven linen, and for waterproofing, it was also enchanted with a shield spell.
Additionally, the umbrella tip was willow-leaf shaped, made of ebony. Besides being aesthetically pleasing, it could also be used to 'open people's eyes.'
The umbrella ribs were made of gold, which has good magicka conductivity. Because gold is soft, it was also individually enchanted with Ironflesh.
The bells were enchanted with Ironflesh, Shield, and Amplify Sound. Inside was a set of mechanical sound-producing components that could play music like a music box or play recordings. These bells were actually not essential parts of the tuning fork but, like a staff, could cast spells.
After the tuning fork was completed, Simon named it the Eleven-Tone Brass Umbrella.
The Troll is now just over eight feet tall and probably won't grow any more. Carrying a brass umbrella over nine feet long, his aura looked several miles high.
Simon showed off his new weapon in front of Serana. Amidst the crisp ringing of bells, magicka roared like a tide.
"How is it? Cool, right?"
Serana shook her head, "Carrying an umbrella when it's not raining, you really are like a noble lady."
"..."
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 100+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Greyhounds
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"