I had found the cup I was looking for, so now it was a shield and corprus weepings I needed. I walked over to the second dome, figuring if one was up on the upper level, maybe one of the other two items would be here as well. 

As expected, another Sixth House minion waiting for my arrival.  

"So, you have ....."

"Yes, yes, I know." I replied, already tired of this. "Come here to die, right?  Sorry, not today, as I already explained to your now very dead friend."  

Dagoth Tenticle-nose (they have so many names, it's hard to keep them all straight in my head, sorry) shot off a spell of some kind at me. I felt it's effects, but didn't have time to find out what it had done.

I fired off a Medusa's Gaze spell, freezing the creature in place.... 

...followed by a very hot God's Fire spell.

Fixed his little red wagon as well.   

Finding only a 6th House Amulet on the corpse of the dead monster, I had a chance to check myself out. The thing had issued a spell that robbed me of my willpower, making me more susceptible to incoming spells.

Using my restoration skills, I put everything the way it should be, then headed to the third structure.

This was the part of a Dunmer stronghold that would normally house the propylon chamber.  

As expected, no propylons to be found.

Instead, yet another altar with some creepy statue in it, and another tenticle-face to the side.

"Before you start," I shouted, "no, I haven't come here to die, so don't even ask, ok?"

I guess that was my equivalent of shouting back at the darkness.    

The creature moved slowly towards me, it's huge bulk making it difficult to move more than a few inches per second.

I decided not to wait.   

I guess this Dagoth hadn't been paying attention, and hit me with a poison air spell.

The effect only lasted a few seconds, but left a very bad taste in my mouth.

Thank goodness I had the presence of mind to bring a few cure poison potions I had made.   

The creature had a taste of my Medusa's Gaze spell, but somehow managed to resist it. My guess is that he had some type of very strong willpower.

I hit him again, and this time the spell took hold.

Another God's Fire spell, and another 6th House Amulet was mine for the keeping.  

Near the back of this strange temple, I found several bells and a hammer used to strike them.

I tried making a tune out of them, but couldn't get them to sound happy at all.

I checked the trough to the side, and instead of finding it filled with corprus flesh and other stuff, it was completely empty.

Obviously, I would have to go deeper into this strange place for my second token.  

I made a closer inspection of this strange statue on the altar.

No flashing lighted eyes, no secret compartments, no power flowing from it, just a creepy look to add to a creepy place.

Just plain creepy.

I decided to press on and headed to the main chambers, and the expected long run down many hallways.  

I had been in several of these main sections prior to this, as each of these strongholds was full of loot to obtain, if one were strong enough to take it from the current occupants. One of these had held one of the propylon indexes needed for the master index, and that had also been taken over by the Sixth House, so I was half expecting to be attacked as soon as I entered the hallway.

I was almost disappointed to find no one guarding the door. Still, I knew there would be something just around the corner. I could tell by the smell.

Heading down yet another corridor, I encountered yet another Dagoth guy, this one having the audacity to send a fireball at me.

It did a slow burn on me, but I fired off a shock spell, and while that one did it's work, used a potion to restore my health back to full potential.  

One room with a snake-nose Dagoth guy in it almost left me laughing out-loud. Seems these guys have a thing about stacking furniture in odd ways.

How they manage to do with without the stuff falling all over the place is a piece of magick I don't think I'll ever figure out.  

Just past the interesting furniture, and past a door, I found a set of stairs heading down to a lower level.

At the bottom of the stairs, I found a locked door, easily picked open by spell, and a small hallway with 3 more locked doors.

Behind each one, I found the bodies of three dead heros, probably those who came before me attempting just such a test, or possibly just treasure-hunting in the wrong place.

My guess was the latter.

Still, no corprus weepings to be found.

I headed back up the stairs, and into the next chamber, expecting to go deeper and deeper into this place.