Chance ' s Folly Content . By the time she was sixteen , Minevah Iolos had been an unwelcome guest in every shop and manor in Balmora . Sometimes , she would take everything of value within ; other times , it was enough to experience the pure pleasure of finding a way past the locks and traps . In either situation , she would leave a pair of dice in a prominent location as her calling card to let the owners know who had burgled them . The mysterious ghost became known to the locals as Chance . A typical conversation in Balmora at this time : The only time when Chance disliked her hobby was when she miscalculated , and she came upon an owner or a guard . So far , she had never been caught , or even seen , but dozens of times she had uncomfortably close encounters . There came a day when she felt it was time to expand her reach . She considered going to Vivec or Gnisis . But one night at the Eight Plates , she heard a tale of the Heran Ancestral Tomb , an ancient tomb filled with traps and possessing hundreds of years of the Heran family treasures . The idea of breaking the spell of the Heran Tomb and gaining the fortune within appealed to Chance , but facing the guardians was outside of her experience . While she was considering her options , she saw Ulstyr Moresby sitting at a table nearby , by himself as usual . He was huge brute of a Breton who had a reputation as a gentle eccentric , a great warrior who had gone mad and paid more attention to the voices in his head than to the world around him . If she must have a partner in this enterprise , Chance decided , this man would be perfect . He would not demand or understand the concept of getting an equal share of the booty . If worse came to worse , he would not be missed if the inhabitants of the Heran Tomb were too much for him . Or if Chance found his company tiresome and elected to leave him behind . " Ulstyr , I don ' t think we ' ve ever met , but my name is Minevah , " she said , approaching the table . " I ' m fancying a trip to the Heran Ancestral Tomb . If you think you could handle the monsters , I could take care of unlocking doors and popping traps . What do you think ? " The Breton took a moment to reply , as if considering the counsel of the voices in his head . Finally he nodded his head in the affirmative , mumbling , " Yes , yes , yes , prop a rock , hot steel . Chitin . Walls beyond doors . Fifty - three . Two months and back . " " Splendid , " said Chance , not the least put off by his rambling . " We ' ll leave early tomorrow . " When Chance met Ulstyr the next morning , he was wearing chitin armor and had armed himself with an unusual blade that glowed faintly of enchantment . As they began their trek , she tried to engage him in conversation , but his responses were so nonsensical that she quickly abandoned the attempts . A sudden rainstorm swelled over the plain , dousing them , but as she was wearing no armor and Ulstyr was wearing slick chitin , their progress was not impeded . Into the dark recesses of the Heran Tomb , they delved . Her instincts had been correct — they made very good partners . She recognized the ancient snap - wire traps , deadfalls , and brittle backs before they were triggered , and cracked all manners of lock : simple tumbler , combination , twisted hasp , double catch , varieties from antiquity with no modern names , rusted heaps that would have been dangerous to open even if one possessed the actual key . Ulstyr for his part slew scores of bizarre fiends , the likes of which Chance , a city girl , had never seen before . His enchanted blade ' s spell of fire was particularly effective against the Frost Atronach s . He even saved her when she lost her footing and nearly plummeted into a shadowy crack in the floor . " Not to hurt thyself , " he said , his face showing genuine concern . " There are walls beyond doors and fifty - three . Drain ring . Two months and back . Prop a rock . Come , Mother Chance . " Chance had not been listening to much of Ulstyr ' s babbling , but when he said " Chance , " she was startled . She had introduced herself to him as Minevah . Could it be that the peasants were right , and that when mad men spoke , they were talking to the Daedra prince Sheogorath who gave them advice and information beyond their ken ? Or was it rather , more sensibly , that Ulstyr was merely repeating what he heard tell of in Balmora where in recent years " Chance " had become synonymous with lockpicking ? As the two continued on , Chance thought of Ulstyr ' s mumblings . He had said " chitin " when they met as if it had just occurred to him , and the chitin armor that he wore had proven useful . Likewise , " hot steel . " What could " walls beyond doors " mean ? Or " two months and back " ? What numbered " fifty - three " ? The notion that Ulstyr possessed secret knowledge about her and the tomb they were in began to unnerve Chance . She made up her mind then to abandon her companion once the treasure had been found . He had cut through the living and undead guardians of the dungeon : if she merely left by the path they had entered , she would be safe without a defender . One phrase he said made perfect sense to her : " drain ring . " At one of the manors in Balmora , she had picked up a ring purely because she thought it was pretty . It was not until later that she discovered that it could be used to sap other people ' s vitality . Could Ulstyr be aware of this ? Would he be taken by surprise if she used it on him ? She formulated her plan on how best to desert the Breton as they continued down the hall . Abruptly the passage ended with a large metal door , secured by a golden lock . Using her pick , Chance snapped away the two tumblers and bolt , and swung the door open . The treasure of the Heran Tomb was within . Chance quietly slipped her glove off her hand , exposing the ring as she stepped into the room . There were fifty - three bags of gold within . As she turned , the door closed between her and the Breton . On her side , it did not resemble a door anymore , but a wall . Walls beyond doors . For many days , Chance screamed and screamed , as she tried to find a way out of the room . For some days after that , she listened dully to the laughter of Sheogorath within her own head . Two months later , when Ulstyr returned , she was dead . He used a rock to prop open the door and remove the gold .