As the sun reached its high point at the High Noon the sound of three sets of footsteps Were Heard climbing up the steps revealing the remaining three members "Okay guys they're here." Gila said to the group who were doing their own thing as they waited for the trio to return most notably Gentu who was tinkering with a dwarven spider and Gila was tanning the hide of the sabercats as the two sets of sabercat eyes and teeth were set aside for Sabrina to put in her Alchemy ingredient pouch and also just finished making her famous meat rations. Shadow-step smiles as he walks up and gives a filled grand soul gem to Gentu who takes it with a grateful nod and puts the soul gem in the dwarven spider it activates and operates as a sentry as the group goes inside and to the door that is needed to be picked to open it, Shadow-step kneels in front of the locked dwarven metal gate taking out his lockpicks and within a few moments, the telltale click sounded as the door opens. Leading up to a platform overlooking the three bandits below. "What the?, how in oblivion is that fucker still alive after I drove my blade through his throat?" Severin growls in irritation seeing an old target he got before. And seeing him still breathing was pissing him off. " psst Severin, you see those over there?" Gentu asked the Argonian as he pointed at the heavily mounted crossbows in front of them. " those are Ballistas they shoot a spear projectile at about thirty feet per second and the lever next to them is the firing mechanism" Gentu whispered to Severin who immediately had a sharp grin on his face as he silently snuck over and ever so quietly turning the Ballistas to face Alain Dufont and his two Goons. " let's see you get up from your sorry ass speared into the ground." flicking the lever with his hand and flicking the other one with his tail both Ballistas went off spearing Alain to the ground and the other spear going straight through both of the Goons pinning them on top of each other to the ground while Severin stood up and gave them both twin middle fingers " have fun in the void at Sithis's feet you slippery skeever" Severin said to himself as he walked back over to them chuckling evilly to himself. The group spread out looting the bodies for valuables picking up unique Hammer Aegisbane and tossing it to Yamma who had the most strength of the group as the group continued going through the corridor of what appeared to be once a collection Depot of some sort. they opened up the Dwarven chests finding Jewels even some rings and necklaces and the occasional Circlet they proceeded through the narrow corridors exploring, looting, and crushing Dwarven Automatons until they found the elevator Which led them down to the ruins of Ralbthar deep market. The Ralbthar deep Market was an underground Dwemer ruin that was beautifully lit by glowing mushrooms and other fungi growing around underneath upon looking around they could see Skeevers in what appeared to be a makeshift pen made from Chorus Hide as well as about sixteen to twenty Falmer the deranged blinded snow elves seem to be unusually organized compared to their normal manic behavior, Almost like they were searching for something. " hey boss something's up, the Falmer are never this calculating and organized, it's a small chance but it could be that they're regaining their intelligence," Gentu said as Ebon-shi nodded considering the possibility. " let's try to sneak around them, nobody engage unless you have been spotted and the possibility of Escape is exhausted" Asadelf smiled gently even though the Falmer were practically considered mindless monsters now the reason she enjoyed being with this group over the Thalmar is at least they had respect for all life and would never condone unnecessary bloodshed without a reason. If they attacked then there would be no holding back but if they didn't pose a threat then there was no need to attack which was how this group operated. " Shadow-step, Severin, Gila. Can one of you see if you can shoot an arrow over into that corner and hit that Bell from the looks of it, it might draw their attention and make them go over there so we can get by them without being spotted" Gila was quick to respond by pulling her glass bow of the Stag Prince off of her back placing a single Falmer Arrow on the bowstring and shooting it at an arc upon colliding with what appears to be a type of bell tower as the bell went off the Falmer immediately started flocking over there to investigate leaving the pathway clear With Shadow-step, Gila, and Severin staying back providing a distraction and to keep an eye on them until the group was on the other side due to the three of them being the most stealthy of the group. Noticing the Falmer coming back their way Severin pulled out his Daedric crossbow and shot at the Bell this time hitting another Bell which immediately Drew the blinded snow elves back to investigate as the trio sneaked over to the rest of the group. After entering a room with a bunch of Gears that were stuck that were grinding against each other obnoxiously Shadow-step sneaks in under Gentu's instructions to unlodge the gears Severin climbed up the nearby bench that was next to the open gate and sniped the farmer taking them out quick and quiet as Shadow-step removed the bones and the scrap metal that was clogging the gear. Nodding once he pressed the button to lower the bridge. as the bridge came down to reveal a Dwarven Centurion just as the Centurion powered on four precisely aimed Dwarven bolts hit it right in the dynamo core dropping the Centurion before it even took its first step. Severin holstered his Daedric crossbow on his back and jumped off of the Shelf catching up to the group "Well done let's keep moving, Gentu how far until we're at Blackreach?" Ebon-shi asked Gentu who was behind Shadow-step taking point to see if the coast was clear. " A few more rooms before we're at the pedestal and then I have to put the Attunement Sphere in its place to activate the stairwell which will lead us to Blackreach" Gentu replied as Shadow-step spoke " We got two Falmer on the floor on the other side of this wall one Archer and another one in the tent dual wielding Falmer swords. And they're heading this way." Shadow-step said as Gila was about to point a way to go around her shoulder and was hit with an arrow from the Falmer. Gila let out a vicious feral snarl as her usual chestnut eyes turned into a piercing gold she transformed into her werewolf form her bones elongated and cracked as they rearranged to accommodate her beast form from her usual five foot seven normal height she was now a towering nine and a half feet tall from head to toe. Unlike most werewolves who are typically black and gray Gila was dark brown with piercing golden eyes

Letting out a loud spine-chilling howl

https://youtu.be/NaRmyQFp4Og

Gila pounced on the Falmer sinking her teeth into its neck and snapping its neck before tearing out its throat in her Jaws and feeding on the fleshy blob then focusing her attention on the dual-wielding Falmer who was charging letting out another Roar she brutally backhanded the farmer with her beastial strength making the Falmer go flying head first into the stone walls with enough force to crack the wall putting her hind leg upon its chest she started tearing its chest open and ripped its heart out and ate it letting out a vicious howl as the group came around the corner to watch Massacre running from one Falmer to the next she proceeded to tear apart any Falmer who was unlucky enough to cross her path. The group followed quickly behind to keep up with her the only sounds to be heard being the incoherent chatter of the panicking falmer along with vicious growling

https://youtu.be/YPF_8PvaAVU

Upon reaching the final room which hosted the elevator that would lead them out of the ruin there was another platform in the middle of the room with a circular indent on the far side. As the group entered the room Gila stared at her teammate blood still dripping from her canines and her claws standing there for a few moments before she shifted back to her human form taking a deep breath and leaning against the table platform to stabilize herself only to be met by the reassuring arm of Myra who had put Gila's arm over the back of her own neck and her left arm around her back to help stabilize her as she offered her a napkin to wipe the blood off which Gila gratefully accepted. " holy crap, I Guess That's Why They Call werewolf wives heart eaters HAHAHAHA!" Suvvan yelled in his usual manic manner. the group looked around as Sabrina found two bodies in the corner one in imperial armor and the other in steel plate armor an Ebony Mace clutched in the hand of the warrior in the imperial armor. and a spiked shield in the lap of the one in steel plate armor.

as Gentu reached into his bag and pulled out a small Dwarven-looking sphere that fit in the palm of his hand and put it into the slot as a spiral Stairway opened up underneath. Leading the doorway that opened into a long hallway with another door at the end. Along with a large table and a bench. where a few scattered pieces of dwarven items such as dwarven plates, cups, and cutlery. The group decided to stop and rest for a little bit as gentu collected the items for the group's personal use. it was a few minutes of catching their breath before they proceed through the door and met with a gorgeous sight

The underground cave seemed to be an entirely different world with a central ruin seemingly at blackreaches Center glowing Blue Rocks littered the ground along with large standing glowing mushrooms at least twice the size of a house, regular glowing mushrooms, and other fungi littering the walls and the ground. " my goodness, it's as if we stepped into A Whole New World." Myra said in awe taking in the beautiful sight before them. As the group walked down the stairs down onto the checkered Stone path they could make out the distinct sound of those foul chorus nearby. " I will Scout up ahead and see if I can find those pesky overgrown bugs and then I'll take them out before they become a big problem." Said Severin as he pulled out his Daedric crossbow and started sneaking over to one of the tall mushrooms before climbing it using his Argonian tail to wrap around one of the stalks to look around spotting the oversized bugs about two to three meters to the right on the other side of the wall of the group in what appears to be one of those Falmer chrus chitin cages. He climbed back down the giant mushroom and returned to the group, informing them that the chorus was no threat and contained in one of those cages. Nodding the group continued on the path with Gentu taking point due to him having been there before. " so dwarf man where do we start searching first?" Asadelf asked as she equipped her Ebony spellknight helmet upon her head. " let's start with the Dwemer City over there with the big light hanging from the ceiling, then once we've investigated that we can check out the ruins that are around here." Gentu replied looking around. " hey, what are these giant blue rocks that are sticking up out of the ground? They remind me of that staff you have" Sabrina inquired looking toward Gentu. " that's because Sabrina, those blue rocks are solid aethereum." Gentu said turning his head back to look at the Red Guard pirate. " is there any way to mine it? I think your friend would really be honored if you found a way to make more aethereum items." Yamma said to his Smith brother. " only the Dwemer knew how to mine aethereum, and the only reason I only made one piece is that we used the key to the aethereum forge to make it. but wait, if the Dwemer did indeed find a way to mine it they should have kept a record of it somewhere." Gentu exclaimed in thought. " perhaps one would need a specific tool to mine it. much like how stalhrim can only be Mined with an ancient Nordic pickaxe because of the material it's made with." Yamma says as he catches up to Gentu. " or perhaps a unique enchantment of sorts that increases a pickaxes efficiency a hundred-fold " Asadelf added. " both of those theories are very likely the Dwemer were extremely advanced, to quote my old friend Septimus Signus, I may be a genius among men and mer but I'm an idiot child compared to the dullest of the Dwemer" Asadelf giggled softly " yeah I met Septimus Signus myself once at his Outpost about four years ago I was doing some business for the College of Winterhold and I met him." Asadelf said with a smile under her helmet. " whatever the case since this is the site of where aetherium was Mined by the Dwemer, it stands to reason that if this was indeed their main mining operation there must have been an outpost or a Depot where they processed it and thus would have notes or any clues regarding the mining and processing of Aetherium. "Gentu mused aloud as he looked at the group. " well then let us not stay this Expedition longer, let us be off, lead the way my friend," Ebon-shi said with a nod and an Ebony-clad hand on his shoulder. " thank you very much boss, let us head to the main dwemer city first and then once we search that if we come up empty we'll Branch out to the ruins nearby see if we can find anything. All right gang let's move."