Ayleid Traps Throughout many , if not all of the Ayleid ruins in Cyrodiil , there are a variety of different traps for the Hero to negotiate . Many of these guard entrances to important tombs or a particular stash of treasure with valuable items in them . All are extremely dangerous and need to be tackled carefully if the Hero is to survive . Featured traps . Gas traps . These particular traps throughout the ruins are most commonly found around individual tombs , on each corner of the plinth the tomb rests on . They are characterized as a square grille that when stood on by the Hero , give off a toxic gas that causes their health to drain as long as they are still standing in the gas . This can be dangerous to lower level characters or those who do not have a lot of health through class or previous encounters with traps / enemies . However , they are easily avoided so should not pose much of a problem or cause unexpected character deaths . In some select ruins , a larger form of the gas trap may be found , where it is one large grille in the centre of the room that when stood on emits gas like the smaller versions . Additionally , walls come up to surround the Hero , trapping them and forming a kind of gas chamber so there is no escape from the fumes . This form of the trap has a wider effect radius and stronger potency , so must be avoided at all costs if their health is low . False floor traps . Featured in most ruins , a false floor trap is an entire section of the room ' s flooring , generally the centre , that falls down into a pit of spikes when the player stands on it . These traps are characterised by having many holes in the floor , giving the Hero an indication that it is actually a trap . Avoiding them can be difficult , as the trap takes up the entire pathway that leads to the next room or passage . Thankfully , there are always alcoves to either side of the trap , each one containing a tomb . These allow the Hero to jump horizontally across the corners of the false floor , avoiding touching the trap and allowing them to proceed without being harmed . However these traps can also come in handy for them . If there is an enemy on the other side of trap and they attack , they will seemingly not know that there is a trap there and walk across it , activating the false floor and falling onto the spikes . If they are a lower level enemy , such as a rat , they will probably be killed instantly . Crushing floor traps . These traps are a variant of the false floor ones , as they contain the same principle of a section of flooring in the centre of a room that cannot be avoided without jumping across the corners and into the alcoves . These ones however , upon contact with the Hero , quickly rise up and attempt to crush them on spikes that are built into the ceiling , drastically reducing health and even killing lower level characters and enemies . It is recommended that the Hero does not have reduced health when tackling these traps for this reason . Spotting them can be tricky as they do not have the characteristic holes of the false floor traps , but occasionally there will be a dead body or a splatter of blood in the center of the trap , indicating that someone has been crushed there . It is best to err on the side of caution just in case . Falling blades traps . These traps feature heavily along the walkways of most Ayleid ruins , rising and falling intermittently as the Hero activates them . Dangerous and hard to avoid , it is best that they tackle the blades one at a time , allowing it time to rise high enough for them to walk under it but not so high that it comes straight down again . When they are on the ground , they can be jumped over if one has a high enough Acrobatics skill , but if not completely cleared with a jump can still cause massive damage to the Hero ' s health . Lower level characters are recommended to be patient as being hit by one or more blades may result in the character ' s death , and certainly running blindly throughout the entire section of blades can result in the death or severe injury of higher level characters . Sweeping blades traps . Found most commonly in narrow passages , the sweeping blades are very dangerous traps that are moderately easy to avoid . They usually consist of two separate sets of blades that sweep independently from each other , offering the Hero an opportunity to avoid one set , wait for the other to sweep , then walk past that one . The reasonably long gap between each sweep means there is plenty of time to avoid getting hit , so negotiating these traps is not too difficult . However , if hit with one of these blades they can cause severe injury , if not death in lower level characters . Spiked Grille Traps . Not as common as the other traps , the spiked grilles are found on the walkways like the falling blade traps . It consists of a spiked , metal grille that is suspended from the ceiling , and that every so often slides across the walkway to knock off or impale whatever is in its way . The only way to avoid this trap is to jump up onto the ledge at the edge of the walkway , walking along that so that the grille misses the character completely . Modified Ayleid Ruins . In some occupied ruins , Bandits and Goblins have added their own traps , such as the spiked iron ball on a chain and the spiked logs that are activated by pressure plates . These traps are only in the first section of the ruin ( if another section is applicable ) and can be expected to be found around the entrance to the ruin or certain rooms . Compared to the Ayleid traps , these are generally unsophisticated and easy to spot ; just look for the metal plate on the ground . The damage done by these traps is also minimal .