Skyrim Sidelines- Mzinchaleft, Mjoll, and Grimsever: A Step Too Falmer

You can observe part of the pipe-lined room at the bottom of the stairs, where a Dwarven Sphere Guardian is patrolling.  The pipes emerge from the stairs, which can provide you with a safe vantage point from which to face the construct, as it has difficulty with the stairs and pipe and will take some time to get to you- and once on the pipe will not consider jumping off.  Be wary, though, as one of the wall pipes will generate a second Sphere Guardian to attack you if you are visible on the floor.  The scattered pieces of a third Sphere Guardian rest on the floor here as well, providing you with additional rewards for overcoming the mechanical garrison.

Once the room is secured, open the gate near the Sphere Guardian pipe to enter a room composed of six smaller rooms, separated from one another by ‘gates’ made of spears that rise from the floor.  Pull the first lever you come to in order to gain access to the chamber to your left and the second lever.  Pulling the second lever lowers the spears to your right and raises the ones behind you, allowing you to reach the third lever.  Pull this third lever to no apparent effect, then return to the second lever and pull it again.

This will grant you access to the first lever, and to the fourth, which is the other chamber next to the area with the first lever.  Pull the first lever again to open the gate between the third and fourth levers and close off the second lever once more, then go to the fourth lever.  Pulling this lever will grant you access to the area past the third lever which holds a control shaped like a red wheel and a stone chest.  Turn the red wheel to lower all of the spear gates, and then rummage in the small stone chest beside it for anything you feel is worthwhile.  Make sure you check behind the small stone chest for the Large Dwemer Strut which can be melted down for yet more Dwemer Metal Ingots.  Before leaving the area, take a closer look at what appears to be a Dwemer bench beside the valve control.  This is actually a locked chest.  If you can get through the lock, you will be well-rewarded, so take the time (and lockpicks) to get into its contents.

With that done, the spear-gate room is empty of valuables, so continue past it into the small area beyond.  Nothing of value lies here unless you’re particularly fascinated by fallen stone rubble, so open the gate to gain admission to a lift.  This is your way into the Mzinchaleft Depths, the true dungeon of the abandoned Dwemer city.