The First Artifact

Tales from Cyrodiil episode 8; shortly following the events of Hivemind.

### Synopsis

Kajidoh arrives at Cheydinhal with his minions and orders his Mythic Dawn guards to remain outside. Tyrin and Benji both express concern that his necromancer robes would draw attention to himself; to allay these worries, Kajidoh dresses in the Emperor's robes as a disguise. They are greeted at the gate by the guard, and the High Chancellor states that he has business at the castle.

Within Castle Cheydinhal, Kajidoh meets with his contact. They discuss terms for retrieving the artifact, with the mysterious contact stating that there is no need to worry about the cost, as the chance to uncover such a legendary item is payment enough. They agree to leave immediately.

Zelos and Magaion arrive at Cheydinhal; the latter mentions that he has not been by in a while and wonders about his old friend Ulrich. Zelos is surprised by this until Magaion nervously laughs it off, claiming it was a joke. Zelos accepts this explanation and continues his way through the city. Across the river, he catches sight of a few familiar figures and begins to follow them, not waiting for Magaion to catch up.

Kajidoh's party arrives at the Ayleid ruin where the contact claims to have located Sunder. Tyrin is suspicious that such a legendary artifact would be found in such a well-known dungeon, but the contact assures them that this was the right place. As they enter, Benji wonders aloud if there is ice cream inside, but Kajidoh once again crushes his hopes and dreams.

Hidden behind the ruins, Zelos and Magaion eavesdropped on the entire conversation. Zelos wonders what they are up to, explaining to Magaion that he know Tyrin and Benji, and suspects Kajidoh is in disguise. They prepare to go inside, but spot a hooded girl in white standing outside the entrance.

Inside the ruins, Kajidoh beats on the corpse of a rat before the contact continues to lead the way through the dungeon, warning everyone to keep an eye out for vampires and traps. Benji expresses discomfort at the thought of vampires, but Kajidoh is unconcerned.

Outside, Zelos and Magaion rethink their plans on how to follow the others inside without drawing the girl's attention. However, as they reach a decision, she disappears and Zelos hears footsteps around the other side of the ruins.

Kajidoh and the others continue through the dungeon to discover that the vampires his contact had warned him about are all dead. Sunder is found resting on a pedestal at the end of a hallway. Kajidoh is eagerly ready to claim it, but Tyrin questions how it remained untouched if all its guardians were killed. A shadowy figure attacks Benji, and the contact reveals his true colors as Nikolai while his friends surround Kajidoh, Tyrin, and Benji, claiming that Sunder belonged to the Merc Genesis. Kajidoh then reveals that he never completely trusted Nikolai, and the Nefarious Thugs arrive to back him up.

### Trivia

Tyrin's comment on being familiar with the dungeon is a reference to the fact that it is a vanilla location, rather than a modded one.

When TeamUDF held auditions for character voices, no one tried out for the part of Maya. Because of this, he decided to leave her as a silent character, having Nora introduce her instead.