The isolation of Cidhna Mine is its own world, and Madanach reigns as king.
And as befit his influence, the only way to meet him is through his bodyguard - an Orc called Borkul the Beast. Getting past isn't so hard - I managed to convince him to give him access after a bout of boxing.
Madanach himself sits away from the backbreaking mining work, and is still busily writing his little death notes. Not knowing my background, he tried to convince me that his cause is right - that his people had been imprisoned unfairly and had their futures taken away. He even wanted me to kill someone in the Mine as a show of allegiance to his cause.
The man is clearly deranged. I pity Nepos for forcing himself to do as this man bidded. This is a has-been who's desperately clinging to his past titles by sacrificing the lives of his followers and perpetuating a conflict that should have been.
There is only one way out of this. Madanach is well prepared for an attack, and I am without my weapons. Fortunately there’s a little trick from the conjugation school I can rely on to summon a weapon of pure magic. A summoned sword is as sharp as a physical one, and kills just as easily.
On Madanach's body I find key to one of the locked gates in the mine... it proved to be an exit back into Markarth. No doubt the king had planned to escape the Mines after the Silver-Bloods are dealt with.
I encounter Thonar Silver-Blood at the exit. Thonar had planned for me to enter Cidhna so that I could kill Madanach. The king had outlived his usefulness, after all. Now that my task is completed, Thonar restored my equipment and possessions to me.
That proved to be his big mistake. In the corner of the streets, unseen by any guards, Thonar Silver-Blood breathed his last - a choice Forsworn arrow in his head. It is the best I can do for Eltrys.
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