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The Abyss

*** REWORKED ***

My first attempt at making a dungeon for Skyrim, "The Abyss" is a fairly sizable Dwemer-themed dungeon located in Markarth and is meant to be an experimental foray into the shadows.. It's marked by a giant tower to the right of the main entrance, you can't miss it.

As the name suggests, "The Abyss" is dark. REALLY dark. Even without mods to make dungeons darker nor ENB, you'll want to bring a torch; or at least have the candlelight spell. It's meant to be rather creepy, with the glowing eyes of the undead being all you can see. Aside from a the entry hall, the first big room is meant to give off the effect of the "Mines of Moria" from everyone's favourite fantasy trilogy.


The reworking of the dungeon relates entirely to the enemies within it, which have been completely redone. The difficulty of the final area was fairly high in earlier versions, but before then things were a bit on the easy side with the flimsy skeletons (even if there were a lot of them). Overall there's fewer foes to fight (in order to ensure there's no more passive foes, though the first few group you find still has a slight issue there), but the catch is that ALL of them are relatively high level. The difficulty of the dungeon has actually increased, and very high level characters should even attempt this place; this isn't a level-scaled dungeon either, so beware!

As for the malicious occupants in residence, there's been quite a few changes. The Dread Dragon, Lesser Dread Dragons, Corrupted Shades, and Skeletons have been completely removed. In their place are unique foes, the majority of which are high-level versions of the Shades (the eyes... the eyes!); they're bigger than normal too. There's also been an increase in the number of Draugr and Dragon Priests you'll encounter, and you'll also run into them much earlier in the dungeon. The final room is still packed with a small army, but it's no longer made of cannon-fodder skeletons; be prepared to fight for your life!

And now, there's been an extension to the Abyss -- "Tomb of the Forgotten"!

It's an additonal room (entrance located behind the Dread Dragon), which serves the purpose of being something of a special boss-type encounter. Your foe is "The Forgotten One" (named after a recurring bonus boss from the Castlevania series), who is a VERY tall humanoid foe clad in what could be described as "Fire-Ghost Daedric Armour". His main forms of attacks are shouts (including dragon breath attacks) and colossal mace; not a foe anyone should dare face alone.

But there's a twist, you have help! An elite group of dragon priests and draugr (unique to this room) will aid you in the fight against The Forgotten One. Good thing too, he's quite resilient (but not indestructible). Your reward is his armour, which game-breakingly powerful


Dost thou dare venture into the darkness?
Dost thou gaze into the abyss?
Dost the abyss.... gaze into you?

All told, this place is a living hell.
... Good luck, adventurers!


LATEST UPDATE INFO:
- Due to chronic glitches (namely the "stuck in the ceiling" one), the Dread Dragon has finally been removed from the dungeon. It still exists as an actor, but can only be accessed via the "placeatme" console command.
- The "Abyssal Warden" has replaced the Dread Dragon as the final foe of the dungeon, and is an extra-tall humanoid foe clad in ebony armour; and yes, he doesn't have any glitch issues. He also wields "The Cleansing Flame" against you, and also possess the key (called "Key of the Abyss") needed to gain entry both into the "Tomb of the Forgotten" and the doors on the way to main chamber of that area.
- Significantly reduced the number of foes in "The Abyss" area. This isn't to decrease the difficulty, it's to lower the number of NPCs in the area to prevent the passivity problem. The vast majority of the one removed are from what was previously the "Dread Dragon Room", with half the shades in there removed; that should make that particular area a bit less of a marathon. Other than that, it's mostly just spot removals and repositioning.
- "The Forgotten One" is no longer a brawler, and now wields a wicked two-handed mace; has a nifty aura-pulse effect (might be unusually loud), and should possess plenty of AoE damage (be careful using it anywhere there's friendly NPCs!). Brutally overpowered, be it in your hands.... or his!
- Fixed up the Dragon Lords and Draugr Champions in the "Tomb of the Forgotten". Made more distinct with a frost-ghost effect, actively join the fray against "The Forgotten One" (the fight will probably start before you even get all the way down to the room), and there's a LOT more of them! It's a battle worthy of an epic tale now! Nevertheless, "The Forgotten One" still takes a while to kill; all those extra NPCs should speed up the process a bit.

TO-DO LIST:
- Fix up the entrance to fit together properly, and update the NavMesh around the tower. I think followers won't go in with you due to the second issue.
- Add some loot to the unique enemies dungeon. Mostly gold & gems, probably randomized.