After about 20 minutes of frustration with the temple shrines, I had about all the blessings I could get.

Laurenna and I headed to the Tower of Dawn.

My gaze centered on a tapestry I had seen many times in the past, but now, with all that was happening, it held more meaning for me.

"What is that a picture of?" asked Laurenna.

"Saint Velothi." I replied. "Thousands of years ago, the Dunmer people were supposed to have lived on Summerset Isle, a province in the eastern part of the empire, where the Altmer, or High Elves, come from. The Dunmer were looked down upon by the Altmer, treated as a second-class peoples. According to the legends, Velothi lead his people across the empire, which was even more dangerous in those times, across what we now call the Velothi mountains, to live here in Morrowind."

"But why come all this way?" she asked.

"Just because they wanted a place of their own." I replied. "What is now called Morrowind was unhabited at the time. All they wanted was a place to live and practice their beliefs in peace. It's all they ever wanted, I guess. Now look at the mess they're in."

"You mean this issue with Dagoth Ur?" she asked.

"Yes." I replied. "Had the Tribunal done the right thing the first time, this mission wouldn't have been necessary."

Laurenna looked at the tapestry, understanding the history and meaning behind it, the hopes that the Dunmer people had dreamed of, and of the danger of it all being smashed out of existence because of a desire for power.

"Then we are wasting time." she said. "We should be on our way."

I agreed. We had everything we needed, and the time for talk was over.

We headed out of the Tower of Dawn, and down to the gate leading to the interior of the Red Mountain region.

We made our way through the ashstorm to a pedestal near the outer gate entrance.

On the pedestal was a switch.

A gentle touch of my finger depressed the switch, and suddenly we heard the gate open, the gears squealing in protest.

Once opened, Laurenna and I headed straight into the tunnel. We were now directly under the temple.

The wind pushed its way through, howling like an angry monster, protesting our intrusion into it's realm.

As soon as Laurenna came through the gate, it closed behind us.

Halfway through the tunnel, we came upon another pedestal. This one had two switches on it; one for each gate.

The ash was thicker here, making it almost impossible to see the gate at the other end of the tunnel.

I looked back at Laurenna. "Are you ready?" I asked, making sure she was ready for what lay on the other side.

"Bring it on." she said. "I'm ready for anything."

With that, I turned, gave the switch a gentle nudge, and watched the gate slowly open, giving us an open doorway to Hell.