The Old Recruitment Tunnels
I am a big fan of The Elder Scrolls series, and often play Oblivion on my PC. The day of this event was like any other; traveling around Cyrodiil doing menial quests for some spare gold. My character was a very powerful assassin (level 27 to be exact). The quest I was progressing through involved finding evidence against the Commander of the Cheydinhal Guard to convict him of abuse of power. Nearing the end of the quest, I was told to head the Cheydinhal Castle to speak to the Co-Commander of the Guard.
Though at first I didn't pay any mind to it, my quest indicator sent me to the Abandoned House, not the Castle. Anyone who has played Oblivion knows that the Abandoned House is creepy to say the least, especially the basement. And, as you might expect, I was directed to the basement.
At this point, I knew something was wrong. The only location in the basement is the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, which has no connection to the Castle. I was wrong, of course. A new location was shown in the basement: The Old Recruitment Tunnels. This location is not in the vanilla game of Oblivion, as we all know, yet the quest arrow was directing me straight into it. Apprehensively, I entered the pit.
The tunnel was as you might expect in typical Elder Scrolls fashion, only it was long and narrow. It was strangely illuminated, or at least it seemed that way. After a few steps, however, the lighting was completely eliminated and pitch-black darkness took over. I took a few steps forward and, in fear of encountering any enemies, lit a torch. After the flame was lit, to my horror I saw a skeleton standing directly in front of me, back turned and facing forward. Miraculously, I didn't startle it. Doing what any skilled Assassin might have done, I drew my blades and struck it, expecting it to fall immediately. I was wrong.
Now folks, keep in mind here that my character is incredibly powerful. He was at level 27, with a 90 in blade and 80 in Sneak. One might expect such a character to deliver a critical blow capable of destroying a skeleton almost effortlessly, but this skeleton was special.
He took no damage at all.
The skeleton turned around and drew a blade. Terrified, I retreated without giving it another try and sought an exit. Once I reached the point where I came in, though, I discovered that no exit was to be found.
It disappeared.
I was in shock at this point, unable to think or do anything. I turned around, watching the monster charge at me mercilessly, knowing that my death was inevitable. With a single blow, it took me down. My life ended in a flash.
I didn't know what to do at this point, and struggled to believe that what I just saw actually happened. I turned off my game and got a drink from my kitchen, not giving the encounter a second thought.
Over the next couple of days, I installed a Zombie Apocalypse mod which, as you might have guessed, provides a full scale realistic simulation of the rise of the undead. The zombies have the ability to overrun cities and infect entire populations, and Cheydinhal was the first to fall. Thought I and the survivors fought valiantly, the city didn't stand a chance. After nearly an hour of fighting, well over 700 zombies infested the city. I departed as the only survivor.
As I continued to fight the horde and save as many citizens as I could from the onslaught, I couldn't help but become more curious of the Old Recruitment Tunnels. I wanted to return to Cheydinhal and confirm that what I had seen only a few nights before was real, and perhaps even make my way through the cavern using console commands to kill the seemingly immortal skeletons. I knew returning to the zombie-ridden city was a bad idea, but I went against my better judgement and did it anyway.
The city was as I had left it: no survivors and plagued with the undead. I killed those who stepped in my path, though my primary objective was returning to the Abandoned House. Once I finally arrived, I entered the ill-spirited building and barricaded the door, making sure that the zombies wouldn't follow me inside. I then cautiously made my way to the basement and barricaded it as well. The only thing left were the rotted wooden planks that sealed the path to the Old Recruitment Tunnels. I was stunned, unable to move. I could hardly believe that they were actually real, and I didn't want to go in. I considered just turning the game off and deleting my save, but decided to grow a pair and step right in.
All I remember at that point was turning around.
Behind me were dozens of zombies, crammed into the small basement, preparing to prey upon me. Overloaded by the masses of NPCs on my screen at once, the game crashed.
The Explanation
I am a player who uses many mods to enhance my gaming experiences. I have at least two dozen, perhaps even more. Being as the Recruitment Tunnels were not in the Vanilla game, it is obvious that it was installed alongside one of my mods (regardless of the fact that they were not advertised). Which mod that is remains to be seen, though I don't plan on ever entering the Tunnels (or the Abandoned House for that matter) ever again.
Several things remain to be explained, however. Just what are The Old Recruitment Tunnels? Why do they exist? Who is being "recruited"? And, perhaps most importantly, how the hell did those damn zombies break through two sets of door barricades?
Credited to DrFromanSK
Originally uploaded on June 5, 2012
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