#Cidna Mine

[themegachessatron]

The Forsworn Conspiracy: A Skyrim Prison Review Prologue

This is a long time coming, but I've finally gotten around to reviewing the last of Skyrim's jails. This time however, getting into the jail is just as much of an experience as the jail itself.

This prologue tells the story of how we ended up in Cidna Mine, because it was necessary to tell and including it into the review itself would make it long enough to make mobile Tumblr users weep (more so than they already do with my reviews at least).

Arriving in Markarth, I had been reminded by local chatter of a terrorist attack that had occurred in the city some weeks ago. One of the local miners had made an attempt on the life of an innocent woman out in the market in broad daylight but my team and I had defeated the assailant before he could enact murder. His motives were revealed in his dying breaths, an agent of the Forsworn intending to cause unrest in the Nord population of the city. An onlooker had given me a note requesting a rendezvous in the local shrine of Talos. I had paid it no mind at the time but in this case, I had a suspicion that agreeing to meet would allow me a quick pass into the local jail. How did I know this? Inigo smelled a rat, and that Khajiit's nose is beyond compare.

The man whose name was very forgettable (unlike his zebra-esque face paint) was understandably very angry at the lateness of our arrival, but changed his tune at the size and strength of Team Prison Inspection (TPI for short). He tasked us with investigating the attack, those involved in it and discovering what information we could about any deeper conspiracy. This was perfect! Meddling where we weren't meant to was a brilliant way of getting into prison. We had to get involved!

We started by visiting the local inn, where Inigo and recent recruit Serana had some instruction in their "walking in place" technique, a local man temporarily levitated next to his chair (unfortunately not photographed, but perhaps some advanced form of magic from Morrowind in use) and where the target of the attack, Margaret, was staying. We inquired as to what she new but it was unfortunately little, she was just an innocent victim after all. Following this, a combination of Inigo's excellent nose and the bizarre arrow thing that occasionally plagues my field of view pointed us towards the warrens, where we sought insight into the attacker.

Entering his room... yeah, I've got time for a quick one.

The room was decorated with a chair, a distant table, a chest and animal sheets to sleep on. These amendments combined with a surprisingly large amount of space gives the room some compensation for the lackluster hallway and terrible smell.

Final score: Five Dead Forsworn Conspirators out of Ten Dead Forsworn Conspirators.

Makeshift Prison Review aside, the chest in the assailant's room contained a note from an individual going by "N" inciting the assailant to act. This was our first proper lead and led to the objective of identifying N, which ended up being a lot easier than anticipated.

To thank for revealing the identity of N we have this man, a hired thug sent by N to brawl me into dropping the case. Note that I said "me" and not "the team" because for whatever reason he was completely disinterested with the half dozen highly armed and very dangerous adventurers I was with and even more bafflingly they were completely disinterested in him right back. I was forced to fistfight this guy and at no point did any of my friends come and help, I could've sworn I even heard Lydia placing bets AGAINST me! Then again, perhaps that was her way of revenge for all the burdens she's sworn to carry. Either way, the thug divulged his employer's name despite having zero obligation to, Nepos the Nose. Mr. The Nose himself had a house in the city, so after waiting away the night we went to investigate his house.

The abode of the Nose was exquisitely decorated with the finest silver and the choicest cuts on the plates, all of which made Jordan *very* excited for what I can only assume are Reikling Reasons beyond the understanding of people.

We were granted an audience with a dose of nose by the man himself. For those interested the nose was exactly as exciting as one would expect. He divulged to us the nature of his favourite past time, luring youths to be murdered by a corrupt system in the name of an old man. The average right wing voter before us then explained in calm tones that he was sharing this information because he and his staff had no intention of letting us out alive. No points for guessing how that went for them.

With Nepos the Ash Pile dealt with in the appropriate manner, we decided it was worth reporting what we had discovered at this stage to Zebra-Man, though there was a problem with that plan.

The guards had had enough of my meddling. Under the orders of Thonar "My-Blood-Isn't-Actually-Silver" Silver-Blood and his brother who just so happens to be the acting Jarl of Markarth (What a coincidence) we had been saddled with a life sentence in Cidna Mine. That is admittedly a bit more than I bargained for but still a brilliant result. Part of me felt as though I should've felt sorry for our co-conspirator who had been murdered but considering I've been calling him Zebra-Man and didn't give enough of a toss to check his actual name I wasn't all that bothered about the whole thing. In the end we came quietly to commence one last operation.

I'm writing the final review tomorrow, and for once I intend to keep my word on timings.

[daedrabait]

she gaggin' on my lolly till I'm forsworn in cidna mine

[sasquach-scratches]

I think Skyrim's gravest sin was making some of the most killable characters ever while making them essential because ~we want everyone to be able to do every bit of content in the game~ and it's unfortunately never going to stop because Morrowind was the exception not the norm

[neverendingford]

.

[beepiesheepie]

It actually pisses me off how if you side with the forsworn in the cidna mine quest, after you escape with them they just stand around in a cave and the quest goes cold.

Its so bullshit, i wanted to join the forsworn, i wanted to do missions for them, i wanted to rampage across skyrim with my brothers slaughtering every stormcloak and imperial we come across, i wanted to overthrow the jarls and give the forsworn their fucking land back

Fuck the stormcloaks

Fuck the empire

Skyrim belongs to the Forsworn

a fucking men

it pisses me off so much how it could've been great, like Madanach is THEIR FUCKING KING. THEIR K I N G. and yet after you free him you never fucking see him again, and all the forsworn in the reach are STILL hostile to you. Like. fucking why. i freed your fucking king. Like I want to do sidequests for them and slaughter the people that took over their land and help them get their land back. It could've been so fucking cool. but no. instead the game HEAVILY IMPLIES that the forsworn are """savages""" that need to be fucking eradicated. like what??? what the fuck??? i dont care that they associate with hagravens and do weird shit with their hearts, the fucking dark elves refuse to worship aedra, ie things that are not daedra, the khajiit have different forms depending on the moons's phases when they were born. IT COULDVE BEEN GREAT

but no. bethesda was lazy at best and racist at worst with their writing for the forsworn. the forsworn did NOT age well.

[kookaburra1701]

From this asks to spread the love here,

1, 3, 11, 13 & 15 if you're so inclined: any that inspire or all. XD

A fanon characterisation that you love I really like fics that show Madanach as an actually decent ruler of the Reach during the Forsworn uprising, and then once escaping Cidna Mine basically taking over and securing the areas of the Reach that's not Markarth.

3. One of the best takes you’ve ever seen The White Arts on Trial by @greyborn2 it's an incharacter defense of necromancy by pointing out just how horrific the other schools of magic are. It's fantastic and made me fall in love with Kesh gra-Bruma. 11. Recommend a fic with an unusual/original headcanon or characterisation that you loved The Tragedy of Moira, Maiden of the Reach by @dumpsterhipster

When I first did "A Night to Remember" I REALLY felt bad about the Hagraven. As someone who has never been conventionally attractive (even as a child my grandmother would tell me it was a good thing I was smart bc I wouldn't be able to rely on my looks at all, thanks grams!) that bit of the quest brought back A LOT of cruel jokes and "pranks" from Middle and High School. This fic does her justice with an excellent backstory.

13. Recommend a fic (can be your own!) that features something you wish was written about more

Tides to Carry Us Home by @gilgamish because I want more MLM Kaidan fics.

15. A topic you never get tired of discussing What sort of farming and agricultural technology would actually be feasible in a society with magic and old Dwemer machines left around. The answer is never a hay baler.

[spookomooko]

I know I'm so late to this but have my amazing version of the barbie mugshot meme starring my skyrim ocs

Set during the no one escapes cidna mine quest, where my somehow morally correct dragonborn breaks out of jail with her morally questionable vampire friend

[zinogirl]

Deepwood Vale is one of the most interesting locations in Skyrim to me.

It's essentially a Forsworn city, the single largest encampment they have. There's something like 10-15 Forsworn in the Vale itself, not to mention the 6 or so in Deepwood Redoubt, and the 4 or 5 witches, and the Hagraven in Hags' End.

I wish more was done with it, or that the Forsworn were a joinable faction (They kind of are if you complete No One Escapes Cidna Mine in favor of Madenach, but only the ones in Druidac Redoubt)

[bellane-rosewood]

Same, I am currently in a moral dilemma in the quest Escape from Cidna Mine. I just wanted to be a silly strong fantasy woman now I got to shank an innocent guy in a prison😔

I was told Skyrim was fun.

[belmontswhip]

Cidna Mine

[themegachessatron]

A Review of my time in Skyrim's Prisons (Featuring Some Followers): Cidna Mine

This is it.

This is the last in my series reviewing the prisons of Skyrim's hold capitals. Our topic this time is Cidna Mine, easily Skyrim's most infamous jailing facility. My experience in this prison is a large story filled with the good and the bad. So, how does the big daddy of Skyrim jails compare to its peers?

For the first time entering a cell, I was greeted by a staff member and told what was expected of me explicitly. She made it clear that this prison prioritises punishing prisoners with manual labour for the benefit of those in power than any form of rehabilitation. This idea is present throughout the prison itself. My greeting room (which doesn't function as a room for individuals) was only decorated with the essentials for its function. A table and sac containing items unknown. It was here that I was temporarily separated from my associates. The key word there being "temporarily"...

Sofia, who hadn't had her equipment removed (my associates' abilities to not have their things taken continues to baffle me) quickly found my location and then proceeded to show off a new skill of hers.

This woman, in all of her drunkenness, has somehow managed to master the incredible magical art of phasing through cell doors. She didn't pick the lock, she didn't teleport, she phased THROUGH. THE. DOORS. HOW?! I was shocked, and somewhat still am. She still refuses to share the secret of this ability to me to this day.

…Which made it all the more annoying when she almost immediately proceeded to do it again, all without explanation. Sometimes this woman confuses and frightens me.

Putting aside Sofia's ability to defy the very existence of metal cage doors, we were shuffled down into the main open space of the mine. A small fireplace illuminated the dark cavern, littered with pickaxes all throughout for prisoners to use to earn their very survival as the man pictured sitting at the fire told us is the case. What is plainly visible in this prison is function over fashion. The open space is able to account many prisoners at once and the lack of any proper seating/ bedding reinforces the core message of the jail. These prisoners are meant to suffer.

Moving more directly to the left we observe a more dimly lit path filled with ore veins, teeming with silver. A wheelbarrow is handily provided for prisoners to kart any silver they dig up, displaying a degree of efficiency not always seen in Nord mines.

It was while returning to the central cavern that the rest of our team reached our location. Inigo's superior sniffing service allowed him to pinpoint where in the prison I was and rally our friends to regroup. This made navigating the mine and escaping it simultaneously easier thanks to greater collective strength and harder as my friends would often block vital narrow hallways.

The opposing side of the mine was far more cramped than the first, with plenty of loose pickaxes scattered about. Under normal circumstances I'd say the liberal scattering of pointed cold metal tools would be unsafe for prisoners to be around, but seeing as the powers that be clearly do not care for the safety of prisoners at all and very rarely check on them it's not that much of an issue. After fully exploring this side of the mine, I was presented with the question of how to leave the mine.

Uraccen, a prisoner in these mines for many years that was as skinny as a pickaxe's handle and as pale as the snow was very helpful in providing insight as to the culture of prisoners in Cidna Mine, while also pointing me to someone who could aid in my departure from the mine. Madanach, a Forsworn leader who had been orchestrating the terrorist attacks on Markarth from inside Cidna Mine. However, reaching the "King in Rags" required getting past his guard dog.

The brute in question, aptly named Borkul the Beast, was built with a greater toughness than the rocks he leaned upon and a face that not even a mother could love. He guarded the door to Madanach's private room and looked to be a tough nut to crack. In all actuality that couldn't have been further from the truth. All I had to do was lie very slightly to convince him to let me through for an audience with the King in Rags.

Madanach's private space was, in stark contrast to the rest of the mine, was lavishly decorated with a full single bed, a storage chest (or potentially a prisoner belonging chest that may or may not contain Boots of the Old Gods), a desk with chair, multiple barrels, a rug to comfort the feet and plenty of food and drink. This abode is highly luxurious and clearly highlights the special treatment Madanach receives from his arrangement with the Silver Bloods. It highlights how willing the staff operating Cidna Mine are to go the extra mile for their prisoners (assuming said prisoners are high ranking members of the Forsworn with great influence over a native culture that is).

Madanach indulged us with his history, as well as that of many of the prisoners in the Mine. His story is one of oppression, corruption and injustice; three traits that the stories of many of his cellmates share also. In this our group understood the gravity of the Markarth conflict and made a mutual decision to aid in the escape of the prisoners of Cidna Mine so as to deal a blow to the corrupt sphere of Markarth. Before fully accepting our co-operation though, Madanach had us prove our loyalty to helping his cause by... eliminating one of the prisoners.

I took no pride in his assassination. As the smell of cooking flesh entered my nostrils and the emerald embers spewed from his cadaver I fought internally as to why Madanach had felt this a necessity. While yes, the man was beyond a point of benefiting his cause, killing the poor man felt like a betrayal of what Madanach himself had preached only minutes ago. Either way, the deed was done. The poor sap had ascended to Aetherius and I finally had a chance to show off the cool looking green fire magic I had learned, so I suppose it wasn't all bad.

It was after this that Madanach had stated his need to address what prisoners weren't currently burning to a chartreuse crisp in a riveting pre-escape speech. A great idea... were it not for the brief instance of mental rot he experienced on his way there that saw him compelled to forcefully walk into a wall of the narrow hallway between his room and the main cavern. I am unsure as to the explanation behind such brain rot, but the nature of the walls of the hallway were found to be very intriguing by Teldryn, who proceeded to stare blankly at the opposite wall for multiple minutes (perhaps some latant, ancient Dwemer magic at play?). Both did eventually regain their senses, but not before some gentle...ish prodding from myself.

The King in Rags addressed his subjects against the light of the central fire, its flames pitiful versus the fires of ambition in the hearts of these men. Were they not about to commit multiple counts of murder as they escaped the city I would've felt inspired. Now I just feel somewhat dirty.

An outcove of the narrow hallway connecting the central cavern to Madanach's quarters contained the site of a Dwemer ruin, one running in connection with the city above us. Knowing what dangers lie within such ruins from experience, our team steeled themselves for the dangers that may have laid ahead.

The first hurdles we encountered were some particularly large Frostbite Spiders who had nested inside the ruins (not pictured above because my girlfriend reads these posts and is afraid of Frostbite Spiders). They proved surprisingly resistant to being burned to death by my green fire spells, but were no match for my teammates' steel.

Traversing deeper into the ruins presented us with greater volumes of Dwemer steam technology, from heavy piping to active Dwemer Sphere units that posed a danger to me, for the rags I wore aren't exactly Ebony quality. Once again, my allies proved invaluable in defeating the threats before us. I only wish I could have helped more.

It was soon after that the prisoner convoy reached a halt before the exit out into the city proper. Madanach took this time to take me aside, thank the team for assisting in his cause, returning my items to me (where he got them from I'm not certain considering the evident lack of a prisoner belonging chest in my case) and presenting me with the Armour of the Old Gods (See? I knew it was in that chest from earlier!) before leading his forces outside, where my friends and I quickly followed.

Awaiting us outside was the lord of the Silver-Bloods, Thonar, with multiple city guardsmen at his side. He challenged Madanach and his allies in broad daylight and tried to put an end to the Forsworn uprising in the city.

A massive fight ensued. Spells and swords clashed in this tiny corner of the city as Nords and Bretons fought valiantly in battle for their beliefs. We decided to refrain from getting involved in the fighting in this case (much to Sofia and Jordan's disappointment). Not that the Forsworn particularly needed our help. They mopped the floor with Thonar and his men.

No, as in they quite literally mopped the floor with Thonar. an interrupted necromancy spell saw the Silver-Blood's corpse reduced to an ash pule which was brushed all over the steps of the city. This combined with all the Nord blood staining the floors proved the Forsworn did LITERALLY mop the floor with the Nords.

Soon enough the battle was over, and as what was left of the guard saw to the dead and injured I was left to reflect on my time in Cidna Mine.

Overall, Cidna Mine is an exceptional jail that has effective staff, a strong and open layout, knows what it wants to be, generates a passive income through silver mining and great luxury (provided you are a Forsworn leader). Escape is also effectively deterred by the natural denizens of the dwemer ruins that connect the city streets to the mine. Although, I do take issue with the strong lack of prisoner observation and the multiple exit points the mine has out into the city. Those limitations place it short of The Chill in my personal rankings (which may end up being a post on here later), but still very much in the top echelon of Skyrim's jails.

Final Score: Nine Boots of the Old Gods out of Ten Boots of the Old Gods.

Aaaaaaand that's it! Thank you for reading my prison review series and (hopefully) enjoying my perspectives on these locations. I'm sorry some of them took a while to make (mental health's a bitch, am I right?), but I intend to post more often now on Tumblr. Mostly shitposts and memes and whatever comes to mind (most of which will be Skyrim stuff)

THANK YOU!

[queenii-llama]

playing open world video games with adhd is just like. "I'm gonna do this small side quest real quick and then turn it off" *plays for hours and forgets to do the quest*

[toomuchdickfort]

I'm like 'I'm not gonna be a criminal this time through skyrim' and then steal things the first chance I get

[kagrenacs]

Sheogorath's quest should be in markath instead of solitude. The amount of pure chaos in that city is incredible. You have an assassination attempt, a conspiracy, a cult of cannibals, some weird shit going on with dibella's temple and someone called the dark brotherhood

That city is the Skyrim equivalent of New York city, catch a skeever downtown stealing a whole sweetroll

[bigfudge03]

The Forsworn Conspiracy

Kaidan: Finally we found you! By the gods man, I was so stressed out. It felt like I was having a panic attack.

Deamon: You wanna talk about stress? You wanna talk about stress?! Okay? I have stumbled onto a major city wide conspiracy. How about that for stress Kaidan? 

Kaidan: What in Oblivion are you talking about? 

Deamon: The city of Markarth is being bled like a stuck pig and I’ve got a paper trail to proof it. 

*Deamon suddenly reveals a giant mystery board* 

Deamon: Take a look at this!

Kaidan: By Talos Deamon…

Deamon: Those right there are my notes on the Forsworn, now let’s talk about the Forsworn. Can we talk about the Forsworn Kaidan? I’ve been dying to talk about the Forsworn all week. okay?  

Deamon: Nepos the Nose, this name keeps coming up over and over again. Every day I find out more about this Nepos guy.

Deamon: Nepos the Nose, Nepos the Nose. I look at my notes, this whole box is Nepos the Nose!!

Deamon: So I say to myself: “I’ve got to find this guy, I’ve got to go up to his house en see what he has to say”. So I go the Nepos’ house and what do I find out? Nepos works for this guy named Madanach the king of the Forsworn. 

Deamon: So I think: “oh shit buddy, I gotta dig a little deeper”. Nepos the Nose is an upstanding citizen? You gotta be kidding me! I’ve got boxes full of Nepos!!!

Deamon: Allright, so I get thrown into Cidna Mine, and start marching my way to Madanach. And I knock on his cell door and say: ”Madanaaaach!! Madanaaaach!! I gotta talk to you about Nepos.”. What do you think I found out? Almost all of the prisoners in Cidna Mine are innocent, the whole of Markarth is corrupt.

Kaidan: Okay Deamon I am going to stop you right there. Not only those all this sound ridiculous, but you have been on an accidental trip this whole time from eating all those ingrediënts. You basically created skooma 2.0. 

Deamon: Well allright, Eltrys give this guy some moon sugar he’s freaking out. 

Kaidan: What huh, who? 

Deamon: *points to his left nonchalantly* Eltrys he’s the guy who tipped me off to Nepos the Nose. 

Kaidan: Eltrys?! Who is Eltrys?!

Deamon: You don’t see.... Oh shit. Where the fuck did he go?

<oh, oh oh>

<chick, chicka-chicka>