the ultimate start for this game is in the Ugguardians Den, follow these stages
STAGE 1 on the launch platform position your crew facing EAST
STAGE 2 you see two fiery opponents ahead, on the left fire etherals ob the right Ugguardians 
STAGE 3 do not venture close to the Fire Etherals, they will see you and attack
STAGE 4   drop down into the Ugguardians den, it is DARK but you will be able to see nevertheless, head EAST
STAGE 5   on finding the telporter room you see GRATINGS, look for a dagger just outside the Gratings, try and pick it up otherwise keep going EAST to the stairs
STAGE 6   descend the stairs to the pushblocks where it is even darker, but not for a long, a torch is 10 seconds away!
STAGE 7  move North along a passageway, past a closed trapdoor and through a fake wall at the end where you find a sack containing a torch
STAGE 8  now move South to stairs going DOWN
STAGE 9  you find two sleeping herders. the far gate is locked next to a floor pressure plate 
STAGE 10  awaken 1 herder to tread on the floor pressure plate , this unlocks the gate
STAGE 11  move into the next chamber which yiou see has four floor pressure plates , get the same herder to tread on each of these floor pressure plates, each time a gate at the far end unlocks 
STAGE 12   as soon as all four gates have unlocked move BACK to the ugguradians den where a Brucie Bonus cache has unlocked for you (optional)
STAGE 13   TIP! be wary of the trapdoor near to the four floor pressure plates, this swiftly moves your party down to the next level, entirely skipping the whole of Oblivion, ok if that is what you want then good result, otherwise keep closing that trapdoor with the adjacent wall button. 
STAGE 14   TIP! if your herder gets wiped out before setting floor pressure plates  then you do have 1 herder left in reserve but ensure he does not die yet
STAGE 15   once the four floor pressure plates have all been set take your crew down the "Crowern" passage where you find 1 more floor pressure plate in the centre of a large hallway , your last herder must tread on that OR you cannot proceed much further in Oblivion. if that happens use the trapdoor mentioned at

Stage 13, or return to the pushblocks and solve the puzzle there. STAGE 16  TIP!  once the four floor pressure plates have all been set, you could do some backtracking back to the Ugguardian base to see if there are any bonus caches? if you try that SAVE THE GAME first
STAGE 17  TIP!   once the fifth floor pressure plate as described in Stage 15 is also set - your crew could backtrack to the PushBlocks to see if any bonus caches have unlocked there? 
STAGE 18  TIP!   the first trapdoor that is seen in this Oblivion world doesnt seem like much but it is literally a trap. It will keep opening and your crew will sooner or later fall into it by side stepping or moving back. Either dont do side stepping or moving back OR keep the trapdoor closed by pressing the wall button next to it.
STAGE 19  TIP!  once you have slain most of the creatures, you should see three new chambers to explore. one has a light and a trapdoor and one has stairs down and one has green pointy shoes. each chamber has more going on than it seems. TIP! dont go down the stairs unless you have FINISHED with this level and just want to move on to somewhere else. TIP! the chamber with the light and a trapdoor: the light has a small button, press it and it unlocks the trapdoor adjacent BUT ALSO the dropdown in the green pointy shoes chamber is now OPEN! GO THERE!  
STAGE 20   explore the three new chambers to your satisfaction and either move on to adjacent areas or go back to the Uggardians den/ pushblocks (see TIP above for best strategy) 
STAGE 21   if your crew found the flashing magic bridge then GREAT, your crew can now score big time with bonus items aplently but if you fall, the bonus cache is over!
STAGE 22   either way you can move South to the Ratboss den. this den includes a trapdoor underneath the wooden bridgeway, this leads to the holy Meteor Armour that is prized across the fifedom, just defeat the ratbosses and the trapdoor opens (if your crew survive) however there are several other options from the ratboss den that are almost as good, so some good exploration here may repay dividends.  
STAGE 23  now move onto the Talisman Level



TALISMAN LEVEL  (take any pit from Oblivion)


STEP H : Fire essence Altar. this altar is next to one of several pits in the Talisman dungeon level, the crew can easily drop down these pits to Advanced Mine combat areas, success there at this early point of the game would be incredible, so perhaps leave the pits to when the crew return after finding the castle moat .....
STEP I :  to obtain a bonus cache, apply this technique : do not touch the fire essence yet, instead place an item onto the altar, now go north west to find a cache chamber 10 seconds away. the cache contains a small amount of bombs, a torch and some rotten food so is not critical 
STEP J :  either way the crew then find a strange outhouse including imprisoned mummies, turtle and dowgies, the big component here of course is the small herder, TIP repeatedly position your crew in line of sight of the small herder who then throws poison bolts your way, if the turtle of dowgie is killed the outhouse unlocks, allowing your crew to access the robust Rogue clothing and magic potions.
STEP K :  the crew come accross Forcefields holding a green slime and other common low level dungeon monsters, check round the back of those fields, go behind the wall that holds those force fields in place, your crew find Store Barrels, chop through them to get back to the Skeleton barracks now, if you didnt get the strongbox at step 9 then you can try again for it now , I succeeded in doing it that way once but as soon as I got the strongbox I saw the secret wall come down sealing the chamber closed  (viz I only just got it in time!)
STEP L :  now you have a third decision, do you continue on with the Talisman level?  Because here you have a clear exit back to the Main game , if you choose to continue in Talisman there are risks but also further bonus items too. if you wish to skip talisman the move down to Step 
STEP M :  return to the Forcefields, pull the lever down, it would do no harm to push it back up as well , which brings us onto a bonus mission later but for now defeat some of the descending low level monsters, take the crew to directly South of the Forcefields, find a passage mid-east in the level, a really good cache chamber containing lo grade light armour and other nic-nacs is found
STEP N :  return to the Forcefields, slay the green slime!  once the green slime is defeated (use your bombs?) go to a position midway between the two lots of Barrells mentioned at step  K, your crew find a further cache room containing Crystal shards
STEP O :  back at the Forcefields, push the lever up, do not be concerned if new high level monsters have by now replaced the old ones, they cannot be released yet, unless the crew pull the lever down a 2nd time (don't, your crew would be levelled) 
STEP P :   once the lever is pushed back up , leave it there and go WEST to a new cache chamber where the crew can benefit from Heavy Armour! see STEP H for guidance on pits in this level, that guidance holds until the crew find the Castle Moat! its not that the crew would be stranded down there, it is that the opposition are at an Advanced level, the crew at this stage are highly unlikely to survive.
STEP Q :   so by now the crew's time is ticking down, their torch or torches have either already gone out or there is not much strength in the torch left , because of this it might be wise to leave the level
STEP R :  if your crew choose to remian then find the outhouse Brracjs Office mid-west containing  Soldiers on a tea break. See the floor pressure plate, if the crew or the soldiers tread there a flurry of ice shards cascades along the front of the outhouse. wait until one of the soldiers is smashed to pieces by the ice shards, then fight the remaining soldiers gaining their prized potions, sack and food 
STEP S :  if your crew have time, search out the remaining level but then leave via the Barrels passageway back to the Barracks described at STEP 6
STEP T :  from the Barracks return to the push blocks described at Step 7
STEP U :  now use an iron key e.g. found at Step 8 to energise the push blocks, this would be a good time to massacre the remaining Skeleton Troops up in the Barracks, if your crew can do that now, would be a good time! 
STEP V :  anyway, push the