"Farie? Ah, yes, I know this man." said the boatman. "He is based out of Tel Branora.  Strange man, that one."

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"Oh, something out dragons, like the one that attacked us here." came the reply. "He had been hired to take several people to the place the dragon comes out of the water, or something like that. Don't people know how dangerous such a trip might be?"

I paid the boatman his gold and we set sail for Tel Branora, at the south end of Vvardenfell.    

Upon my arrival at Tel Branora, the boatman dropped me off and headed back to Sadrith Mora. It was just a few moments later that the Tel Branora boatman (sorry, boatgirl), came out and stated that she also knew Farie, and that he had left some time ago with several tourists. She said he mentioned something about going towards Tel Aruhn, just east of Sadrith Mora.

It was getting late, but I decided to head that way anyway. I paid her the gold to get me to Tel Aruhn and we started on our way.....again.    

I finally caught up with the illusive Farie Minoran in Tel Aruhn. He was busy tending to a sail that had a very large tear in it.

"You are the one that knows the location of the Blue Dragon's lair, correct?"

"Yes," he replied, "most people didn't believe me when I first told them about the dragon coming up from the sea, but since the attacks here locally, people are finally starting to take me seriously."

"I am here to do what I can to destroy this creature." I told him. "Can you take me to where the dragon comes from?"

"For a price, of course!" he said.   

"I want you to understand something." I said. "I am not a 'tourist'. I am head of the Mage's Guild, head of the Fighter's Guild, and Head of House Telvani. I am not coming to gawk at this creature. I am here to kill it."

I was trying to impress him. I guess it didn't work.

"You can be assured then," he said, "that I will not overcharge you for the trip. I am an honest businessman, and must charge for the danger to myself and my boat. Surely you understand."

I sighed and handed him the gold he requested. I was too tired to argue the point.   

It was just a short ride to one of the small islands that dot the coastline north of Sadrith Mora.

I was taking a short nap when I heard Farie drop the anchor into the water.

"We are here." he announced.

"Where does the dragon come from?" I asked.

"It's around here somewhere, usually under the water."    

I thought he might be mistaken. There was a small steam vent, and decided to check it out first.

I used a levitation spell to go up to the mouth for an inspection. It turned out there was definitely a steam vent there, but no way into any chamber there.

I re-did the levitation spell and floated over the water. I was about to head back to the boat when I saw part of a sunken shrine below. Since the dragon was reported to be coming out of the water by this witness, that was probably the best place to start looking.    

I allowed the levitation spell to wear off, and dropped into the shallow water below.

The door opened easily, and I found myself inside one of the most unusual shrines I had ever seen.   

I found myself inside a shrine, but designed unlike any other I had ever visited before. Separated into 4 sections, with a water canal separating each section.

I check the canals, and found a grating at both ends, rusted shut, probably for longer than anyone could remember.  

In the center section were several pillars reaching to a second section many feet above me.

"Well," I thought, "a simple levitation spell will work here."

Well, it didn't work! I tried casting it again, and still no effect.

I tried my enchanted "Belt of Levitation", but that didn't work, either. Something or someone didn't want levitation spells to work in this room.

I would have to find another way to that second level.

I started looking around for some Dwarven crank, secret panel, trap door, or anything I might have missed, when I noticed that there were several switches on the wall. In fact, there were 2 for each section, 8 in all.

I tried one, and nothing happened. I tried another, and still nothing. Perhaps only one switch works the "something" that I need to use?

Finally, one of the switches worked! It lit up brightly. I was happy for a moment, but nothing happened - it just stayed lit up.

I tried another switch, and it was still dead. That's when I noticed that the one that was lit up had gone dark. I tried it again, and it lit up again. I tried the switch next to it, and the lit one died out right away.

I turned the working one on again, and one after another, tired the other switches, each time, having to re-activate the only working one in the temple. After a number of tries, I managed to get two of them on at the same time.

It was a puzzle.

It took a number of tries to get the switches activated in the right combination. When I finally got the last one activated, one of the pillars in the center of the water dropped to the floor.   

I ran as fast as I could to where the pillar fell below the water line. I saw the top of it at floor level and positioned myself over it.

A few moments later it raised itself back to the second level, carrying me with it.   

Up on the second level the only thing I found of interest was a large door, which was not locked, and opened easily.

Just a few feet inside the door, it turned into a cave, and just a short distance later, I came upon a large door with a dragon insignia on it.

This had to be the place.

I readied Aryon's Helper, took a few restore health potions, took a deep breath, and went into the lair of Snidzog, the Blue Dragon for a little discussion about bad behavior.