For few weeks now an idea has been haunting me: a Direnni orichalcum mine, hollowed around a giant shaft, used by Altmers to levitate ore out of this complex. Some days ago I had tons of studying upon my head, so I obviously started fiddling with this idea in CS
and I'm glad of the way it is turning out. I thought this claim would make a perfect spot for it - it doesn't resemble a Direnni fortress (no dome etc) from the outside, while it clearly used to be quite well fortified - I figured this could had been something like a
Fort Strand, with fortifications protecting the mine. Plus it's in a central point of Direnni dominion, close to the capital and other fortresses, and this area is rich in minerals.
As for the gameplay reasons for this solution, I thought this interior could serve as a connector to Worsas' canyon (and maybe
the goblin cavern, too - please see the overview schemes below), because there is currently no way of reaching it within finished areas, other than simply jumping down there. So the shaft's bottom ends with water, and then, after a short swim, there's a natural cavern. I put the doors there that could lead to one of the caves located within the canyon. Another doors, located in the middle of the shaft, supposedly leads to the goblins. That one could be easily replaced with a collapsed corridor or whatever else, though.
Here are some plans showing how I see it, followed by few in-game screenshots of the shaft and the mining corridors:
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How do you feel about it, pals? I think I could try to get this finished this weekend, if this idea gains your approval.
By the way - let my praise Worsas, Spineinside and Berandas once again for creating this spectacular tileset, the most complete and original one TES modding have ever seen. I just love working with it.
Here's the current wip file, too. It would be fantastic if you found a time to give it a try.
The cell name is "The Reach, Sunblaze mine"; I found it fitting, with this giant, sun-like lamp.
Cheers!