-Preamble-

The denizens of Winterhold were suddenly and firmly grasped by the claws of fear and despair as their already demolished townscape began to groan and crumble once more. A torrent of debris, rocks and rubble crashed down the cliff side and into the sea. In terror at what they thought the mages had unleashed, most of the townsfolk fled out into the snowy wilderness for fear of being engulfed in frozen earth. The tremors sounded throughout the night with only minor cessations allowing for a brief moment of peace.

By morning, the upheaval had seemingly discontinued. A small group began to head back into Winterhold to see what damage had been done. It appeared that their fears were overblown and that their home had survived the night largely unscathed. Mages from the college had also emerged from their frozen fortress, they seemed to be as clueless as the townsfolk. As accusations began to fly, a deep groan resonated throughout the earth, vibrating the snow from roofs and shaking the elderly to the ground. A thunderous cracking of rock could be heard from the West through the mountain pass, the mages rushed towards the upheaval just in time to see a cloud of powdered snow erupt from the mountains. The superstitious townsfolk fled back to their homes but the curious academics from the college could not resist an investigation. After hours of climbing the frozen mountainside they found themselves at the lip of a gargantuan pit, reaching far below them and eventually into darkness. The mages noted Dwemer architecture was visibly protruding from the torn rock face and ever so faintly you could make out the sound of cogs, gears and other contraptions clacking away deep beneath.

As the mages began to weave their ideas into theories, one sprung into action. Ellayna Brunham, studious, diligent, and wiser than most twice her age. She alone knew the best course of action, she contacted the perfect specialist, an arcane poet, a master of mysterious arts, a true champion of knowledge who is held in high regard for his fathomless knowledge of all things archaeological, me, Hanzel Brunham.

-

Upon hearing of this wonder beneath the snow, I quickly prepared my things and left my apprentice in charge (for the time being) of the dig in Black Marsh, where we had been unearthing many amazing artifacts but nothing compared to the allure of Dwemer architecture and mechanations. Along the way I stopped in with a prominent and wealthy miner by the name of Konnard Brunham, in Morrowind. I knew he would be more than useful in a large scale excavation. He agreed to join me, even if his fee was nothing short of extortion.

Shortly thereafter we'd set foot in the winter paradise of Skyrim and with that, three siblings were reunited, heralding the coming of The Great Northern Discovery.

No time was wasted. My brother Konnard hired the excavators, my sister, Ellayna kept the dithering college bureaucrats at bay as I researched, deciphered and divinated.

Attempts to reach the bottom of the colossal cavern were met with catastrophe as three of Konnard's men fell from ropes and slid into darkness in a moment. In a strange way this helped our mission as the other excavators hurried to find another entrance in the hopes that they would be able to save the lives of their companions. I was not about to air my opinion that they most likely had not survived the fall.

The men found some sort of vent protruding from the earth a way away, bellowing sporadic bursts of steam. With pickaxes and shovels they followed it deep beneath the ice and stone until they discovered a wall, they then followed that, prying ice from it's form, foot by foot until the discovery of a long buried door. Ellayna set to work heating it's frozen frame with wondrous flame until it burst open. The men still with thoughts of their comrades in their hearts rushed in to attempt to save them. Just as quickly as they ran in, they burst back into the ice trench screaming of automatons. I had theorised that whatever we were to discover would most likely entail dealing with these ancient and deadly mechanical beasts. Thinking it strange that all that went in made it out without so much as a Dwemer bolt stuck between their vertebrae, I summoned the workforce and headed in.

My assumptions were correct. The automatons seemed to be docile, or at least, non aggressive. Invoking the excavators contempt, I ordered everyone in deeper, what was waiting for us not even I could have guessed.

This cavern stretched out into darkness in all directions but up, where snow and light fell through great holes in the ceiling structure. All sorts of Dwemer creations roamed the area, still dutifully carrying out their tasks as if the Dwarves still walked these halls. The men quickly found their fallen colleagues, which to my amazement were safely unconscious and half buried in a large hillock of snow.

The marvels of everything Dwarven in nature I had seen thus far was to be trivialised by what we found next. Far at the back of the cavern we found, entrenched in the ground, three monumental contraptions. Each made from enough metal to construct an entire city. On each side were large circular hatches leading into the curious interiors. It was like nothing I had seen before, seats lined the walls and tables were dotted along the centre line. Towards what I assumed to be the back of the contraption lay a series of things that resembled forges, or perhaps smelters. A few Dwemer Automatons sat and stood around in the dark, staring at us blankly, as if waiting for something. If I had not known better I could have sworn they looked bored.

On the top deck lay what I took to calling to operations hall where levers and buttons littered the walls. Another automaton blankly stared at us as we entered and perused his domain. One button called out to me, set in stone and metal at the back of the room. As a scholar it was my duty to push it. I did. Then it happened. Nothing. Nothing at all. I would be dishonest if I were to say I was not saddened that the whole thing didn't burst to life right there and then. Whilst looking over all the devices in the area, my mind flashed back to the unlit forge-like devices below. I sent one of the men off to purchase some coal.

Within a day he was back with a large bag of the black gold which I hastily dragged to the devices within the contraption. As I got close the automatons perked up and sprang to action, quickly snatching the bag from my hands and pouring it into the holes in the wall and then lighting it. The whole thing gave me quite a fright, but the fear of my arms being torn from my body by Dwemer creations was short lived as the screeching of cold metal began to sound in glorious unison with the pumping of steam. This great mechanical beast was coming to life and I was in it's very belly!

As I was running back and forth marveling at the inner workings in motion my esteemed sister called to me.
"The button, try it again now!"

We rushed up into the operations room once more where now steam rushed forth from grates in the walls and ceiling, making our way to the back I stopped for a minute at the button and wondered what was about to happen. The anticipation was too much, I quickly yet gently pushed the button down with my index and forefinger. The mechanical beast began spewing even more steam and the rumblings of inner workings sounded from deep below, we were moving. The Dwemer operator was now pulling and pushing levers as if controlling the muscles and appendages of this great creation. Shortly thereafter the motion slowed and we screeched to a stand still. We quickly rushed out from the hatch into another large facility. This one looked identical to the last but with one key feature. It was pristine. The ceiling was intact, there were no mountains of rubble or burst piping to be seen anywhere. This area was also well lit, allowing us to see many automatons bustling around in every-which-way. Had they been fully operational ever since the vanishing of the Dwarves?

On a higher tier we discovered strange pedestals with open pipes firmly in place above, it was me and my sister's presumption that these were some sort of transportation devices, for people or cargo. They lay dormant, for now at least. We now began to head further into the structure, towards a doorway with a living Dwemer colossus on each side as if guarding the area. We passed into a long hallway that kept heading higher and higher until eventually leading to a door that could, by design, only be locked or unlocked from inside, as we pushed the heavy metal doors open sunlight flooded the dark hallway behind us.

A warm and gentle breeze greeted us as we walked out into the light. The sound of birdsong and wind through the grass sounded strange in comparison to the mathematical clacking of cogs in the far reaches below. Ellayna, being more familiar with Skyrim than I instantly recognised the region to be betwixt Whiterun and the Rift. It seemed the transportation machine had taken us a long way South in a surprisingly short amount of time.

Despite enjoying the fresh air we headed back into the cold stone halls of the Dwarves and back to our brother who we'd only just thought, might actually be worried about us since we abruptly sped off in a strange steam powered carriage into a dark and ancient tunnel system.

Once arriving back at the Northern facility we were greeted by Konnard who was happy to see us alive. There had been some occurrences since we left, the tunnel and hallway we originally came into the network from had collapsed but Konnard and his men had managed to get the transportation tubes functioning. The men had been exploring them for the last hour. I simply had to try this mode of transport out for myself. Konnard ushered me to the one he had personally used. The overhead opening was sucking air into it at an outstanding rate, upon reaching the platform I almost felt weightless, all I had to do was push off with my toes and up I went, faster than a speeding arrow. I couldn't help but curl up into a ball to protect myself from hitting the sides as it twisted and turned and then suddenly I was released, spinning into the air, if my form had been better and my eyes had been open perhaps I would have even landed on my feet, but instead I was thrown down the stone steps and into the snow, still in a ball. Upon getting up and brushing the snow from my face I saw a large city in the distance with titanic stone walls and a rather large bridge. This was most obviously Windhelm, as it fit the descriptions I had read about before. I hurried back onto the platform and was promptly swallowed up by the earth and within a moment I was expelled just as gracefully as before and was hurled down the stairs.

I had the men put up signs at the transportation pipe's entrances so we'd know where we were going, eventually I'd also get around to making maps to illustrate where the machines we had taken to calling 'trains' headed to and from. The next few weeks were spent exploring every inch of this train network. We discovered a total of four stations. Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western, all with their own transportation tubes to various locations in the surrounding countryside. I concluded that the structural integrity of the Northern station was compromised by the destruction of Winterhold all those years ago, which in a way was lucky as we would not have known this place even existed without the ceiling caving in as it had. The Northern area still had one last bulwark of mystery, on the lower central tier there was a door that lead out into another smaller station, but alas we were limited to only using our eyes to investigate the area from small windows as large metal gates barred any access. Two lever could be seen through said gates, hinting at there being some way to come around from the other side. The Western station was beautiful, with waterfalls bursting out from the walls and the exit hall leading up into the scenic Reach. This station was also presumably used to repair the trains that were docked here, based on the high platforms that give access to the roofs of the trains. The Eastern station was just as beautiful with it's amazing view from the mountainside that divided the Rift and Eastmarch.

I'd just began to think that we were drawing near the end of major discoveries when I was sent word from Konnard. His excavators had discovered another passageway in the ice in the initial Northern station, this lead to another marvel. It was much like the previously discovered stations but instead of a rail mounted train, this facility housed some sort of metal ship that sat half submerged in the water. With the activation of the ship�s heart with the addition of coal and fire, the automaton serving as the ship master began piloting the strange vessel but from the windows I discerned that we were in fact sailing beneath the surface of the sea. Shadows of large aquatic creatures passed across the dim glass windows as the ship creaked and groaned through the ocean. Eventually it made port at what turned out to be Raven Rock, a Dark Elven town on the island of Solstheim within the Morrowind border. I'm not entirely sure what the locals thought as I burst forth from the locked tower at the edge of town roaring about a vast Dwemer network deep below the earth and sea, but some followed me back to Skyrim to see for themselves.

Word got out shortly after about the train system, travelers began to use the facilities to get from place to place, some came just to satisfy their curiosity and others to set up workshops or makeshift taverns and inns. Even some of the mages from the college came to visit us and express their congratulations on our amazing discoveries. This place became quite the tourist destination, in fact, by now it almost resembles a bustling city. I almost feel bad for the carriage drivers and sailors that made a living ferrying travelers around. They will surely be out of business.

I, Ellayna and Konnard have decided to spend most of our time in the Northern station. There is still plenty of excavating to be done here. What mysteries lay under the ice, yet to be discovered?