by Amalien, Antiquarian of the Circle, University of Gwylim Solitude Annex

We've had a wave of new entrants into the Antiquarian Circle of late. If you are among this number, I bid you a warm welcome! My name is Amalien, and I'd wager a guess I was the one to roll you through our introductory materials. If there's one thing you should take away from these early days as an Antiquarian, it is that you are not alone. Your love of history, of knowledge, of things long thought lost and buried, connects you to the entire Circle. You'll always find someone ready to debate an obscure aspect of Ayleid culture, or perhaps carefully deconstruct a Dwemer curio.

Please find here a short primer with simple, practical advice for those new to our group. Choose the strategy that works for you, seek the glories of the past, and if nothing else—try to have fun!

It All Starts With a Lead

It all begins with an Antiquity lead. Think of these as clues that provide hints to the treasures of the past. Each lead represents an object hidden somewhere in the dirt across the continent. While many of these leads represent specific treasures, some leads represent pieces of a larger puzzle. Sub-items that, with careful skill, can be re-assembled into objects far greater than the sum of their parts.

Leads can be found almost anywhere. I've heard members of the circle brag about finding them in treasure chests, off defeated foes, tucked away in the saddlebags of clever merchants, and in the depths of dangerous dungeons.

Scry Out the Past

Once you have a lead, then you must follow it! Luckily, your Antiquarian's Eye will be of great use to you in this regard. By practicing with its runeshapes and claiming the scrying foci, you'll be able to determine where in the nearby region your artifact can be found. Don't lose heart if a few scrying attempts fail. Once you have a lead in hand, the only true challenge you'll face is time and patience. And take it from me, the farsight technique developed by a few of our more experienced practitioners is well worth exploring when you think you're ready.

With the foci for your lead claimed, the Eye should show a rough estimate of where in the region you need to dig. The more foci you can claim in your scrying attempt, the more specific the Eye will be!

Now Open Your Eye

Once you find the specific excavation area, you're going to want to set up a dig site. But where in the area do you dig? The Eye can help you once again. By focusing your magicka, the Eye will offer you a general direction to follow, like a compass. If the artifact you seek is particularly well hidden, you may need to use this technique a few times to triangulate the precise location. As with so many things in Antiquity research, keep your head about you. Stay patient and you will prevail.

Enter the Excavation

Once you have a dig site established, you'll want to get right in with a brush and trowel. Resist that urge! The Antiquarian's Eye has one more role to play. By using the lightest touch of its magic, you can augur at various points above your dig site. These augury points will indicate how close to the target you are. Once you have an idea of where to dig, remember to use the right tool for the right job. The hand brush will more than suffice for most of your early work, gently sifting away dirt to reach your prize.

As you gain confidence, the trowel and shovel will become your best friends. They'll make quick work of most dig sites, but don't completely pack away your hand brush. Clearing a small amount of dirt can even up your dig site and make your use of these more advanced tools more effective.

Reginus begged me to include a short note about an advanced technique he prefers.

"Digging into a fissure on a dig site is normally pretty messy, but you can actually take advantage of the ensuing explosions to unearth any nearby additional treasures! Once you safely unearth your Antiquity, find two fissures that are roughly on the same level, in dirt no deeper than your trowel can reach. Even out the terrain to create a perfectly level path between them.

Then strike one fissure with your trowel. Watch as it explodes a path straight to the other fissure and unearths everything along the way! You can even do this with three or four fissures at once! Just keep in mind that this type of aggressive excavation is a little too violent for some of the fragile Antiquities we usually seek out."

Whatever the outcome of your dig site, stay patient. If you lose the Antiquity at one site, odds are the Eye will be able to point you at another opportunity nearby.

And that's it! There's so much more we could discuss here, but I think this will at least set you on the path to Antiquarian exploration. Good luck, dig carefully, and I hope to see you at the Annex soon.