Skyrim- From Calcelmo to Nchuand-Zel: The Secret of Nimhe

Directly through the doors of the Nchuand-Zel excavation, you will find yourself at a small front hall that opens into a very large room unlike those found in most Dwemer ruins- this one is virtually cubical, excepting the two stairways leading up to the left and right.  Both stairways have been cut off by falling rubble, though, and are unpassable.  In the middle of the room is a cart, holding and surrounded by pieces of Dwemer scrap that you can collect to use for Dwemer metal ingots.  There is a food barrel here as well, and a mining pick in case you somehow have made it this far without locating one.  The first chamber holds nothing else of interest, so advance to the second, which is nearly identical.

The primary difference between the first chamber and the second is that rather than having collapsed passages to the left and right, it is the passage on the far side and the one on the right that have been filled with rubble.  Before following the stairway to the left, clamber up the rubble in the far passage from the one you entered by- there is a small stone chest concealed in the midst of the rock and dirt there, which contains a few gem-laden tidbits for your moneypouch.  This leaves the second room equally stripped of items of interest, so proceed up the left-side stairs to the new passageway.

This high-ceilinged hall is straight for the most part, and while there is a side-hallway off it to the right, that way has also been buried under literal tons of rock and dirt.  You can pick up a piece of Bent Dwemer Scrap Metal from the ground there, though, which is worth a couple of ingots for crafting, so go ahead and snag that before proceeding down the hall.  You will notice that the once-even hallway becomes very much more a dirt-and-rock tunnel than a dwarven ruin after that, a sign that you are entering the area where the excavators have been working to find an access to the ancient city.

After a short ways of rough tunnel, you’ll find that you emerge onto a high ledge in a vertical cave.  Running ahead quickly can easily result in a falling death if you try to go too quickly here, as the drop is surprisingly abrupt.  Just over the drop is a table with some tankards and a high-value healing potion on it, so you should probably stop for that anyways.  The drop overlooks a roughly round chamber, which contains two veins of iron ore that you can mine, as well as some remnants of the excavation- a curiously untouched rabbit haunch in a bowl on a crude table, a cart with some random Dwemer miscellany on it, and a pillow set on a rock.  Two stone pillars interrupt the middle of the cave, and the closer of the two is not only low enough to leap to from the entrance ledge and high enough not to hurt when you hit it, it also holds a potion, a chunk of Bent Dwemer Scrap Metal, and a Dwarven dagger on its top- so take that leap carefully and grab some goodies!