PeterNem said:
I don't think they have a use... a shame as in Morrowind rubys/ebony etc had an alchemical effect like other ingrediants.
Ah ok, fair enough, I haven't really done much with my alchemy and whatnot so no loss at the moment.
(I hope this sort of tip is ok! Spoilers/Guide) A good tip for anyone who is level 10 (not sure wether the following applies only to those who are level 10 or levels closely above or below), but head to Bravil and find a woman called Ursanne Loche. I found her wondering around, although she may be in her/a house somewhere. After speaking to her randomly, and clicking the various topics (I think, she may have just started telling me) she told me about her husband who had become addicted to betting on Imperial City Arena matches, and had lost lots of gold. To combat this he borrowed some money, and when he was un-able to pay it back, the urserer (sp?
) came looking for him. In this case it is a big orc by the name of Kurdan Gro-Dragon. Ursanne tells you to go looking for him. After you raise your disposition with him he tells you about that to find this information, you must find an axe of his that a family member lost on an island. When you accept he tells you there is a boat ready to take you to the island, that is a fort ruin called Fort Grief Island. The axe story is all a big lie to make you go to the island. When you get inside the keep (use the lever by the gate - took me a while to find!
) you find Ursanne's husband Aleron. He tells you the axe story is a lie, and the orc Kurdan runs games where hunters can pay to come to the island and kill/hunt people that Kurdan supplies, and Kurdan will take care of the bodies. The gate is locked, and to get out you must enter the hunter run and kill the three hunters in there. They are relatively easy, even for a fairly badly equiped ranger like me. There are many booby traps throughout the hunter run to look for, but apart from the hunters (which show up on your compass and in the detailed map as greens arrows) there are no other mobs, except the occasional rat.
However, BEFORE you leave, make sure you have lots of space to carry loot! There are quite a few chests with gold and other bits and pieces, but the good bit is the hunters! Each hunter is equiped with mithril armour (for me anyway - even if it isn't mithril I'm pretty sure it will be something as good - maybe heavy if the game works out that is what you wear) along with dwarven weapons. The third hunter also has some other better gear, including some nice enchanted light armour gloves and more weapons (elven longswords, helmet, shield, shortsword, mace etc.) All this weighs a fair amount, so be prepared to possibly sacrifice unless you have lots of room or can carry a lot. Each hunter has gold too, the and the third hunter dropped just over 200g for me. Try using weapons that you can repair yourself, or bring spares because your weapons may break easy.
The aim of the hunter run is that each hunter carries a key. When you kill each one you get a key, and you use them all (somehow
) to get out at the end. However, when you get out, you will see Kurdan murder Ursanne's husband Aleron, and when you talk to Kurdan he claims that Aleron is no longer needed because you are there now. When you protest that you won the game he tells you he would never let a contestant out, and the keys are all fakes, this results into him changing the game because they are HIS rules. This results in a fight, you against him, but with a catch! There is another Kajit (maybe) on the floor above shooting arrows at you, which hurt a bit. He wont come down unless you go up to the floor above. It is a tough fight to kill Kurdan, I used a potion, and found the trick was to use a shield and the one handed elven longsword to block a lot, and get in the odd strike. There is a spot where you can't be shot by the archer above just under the level above. This lets you kill Kurdan in piece. The goodies are not over yet! When you kill Kurdan, he is wearing more mithril armour, and wields a Elven claymore (I think
), and some other enchanted item, (possibly the gloves I mentioned earlier). He has the real key you can use to go back into the hunter run and through a gate you couldnt go through before and open the keep gate to escape. Also, there is the archer! He is quite easy to kill too, simply go up, and goes down relatively quickly. He uses an elven longbow, with mithril armour as well. I doubt you will be able to carry all armour and weapons etc. from all hunters and enemies, and I am yet to know if you can go back and get the loot you couldn't carry. All this gear is both worth a lot, and very good!
I know it's long, but I had to share my findings! It may/may not be easy for you, just be prepared, and have lots of carrying space!
Edit: Wow, that is big/long! Didn't realise until I posted it!
The loot may be better/worse depending on your level, or may stay the same! Worth a try anyway.
At night tho they increase your sneak by quite a bit.
