Krihrada was in her workshop, poring over schematics for an upgraded design of the delver amunculus. Word among the other Tonal Architects was that the Brass God, Numidium, was to be activated for the first time quite soon; within weeks, perhaps. The crowning achievement of her people - the ultimate weapon, the key to their retaking of Resdayn from the cursed Chimer and, if the words of Lord Kagrenac were to be believed, a source of the final goal that every creature seeks: eternal life, for each and every Dwemer. The honor of laying eyes upon it in the flesh was one far beyond her station, but Kagrenac's experiments had shown great promise since the beginning, and what news she heard of his progress from those who visited Red Mountain was uplifting indeed.
Faintly the beautiful singing of a master's Tonal Magic could be heard. It was a deep and resonating sound that felt as though it came from within Krihrada's very soul.
She made a note in the margins of the schematics, blinked, and then saw
nothing.
Nothing was in front of her.
Nothing was all around her. Churning, roiling
nothing, that her eyes refused to focus on for more than seconds at a time.
Nothing with no beginning, no end, and no horizon. She stood upon
nothing, but did not fall, instead floating there, suspended by
nothing.
She could not move. She could not speak. She could hardly think.
Nothing filled her mind and replaced everything else.
Nothing warped her sense of time until she could not discern the difference between minutes and hours.
How long
nothing claimed her, how long she was trapped within
nothing, she could not tell.
Perhaps it was mere hours. Perhaps it was countless aeons. Perhaps it was no time at all.
But eventually,
nothing faded away, until she was back in her workshop. As her feet touched the ground Krihrada felt faint - she put her arm out to steady herself upon her worktable and instead met nothing but air. A twisted mass of ancient, rusted metal was scattered upon the floor where the table should have been.
How odd, she thought. Then she collapsed. As her consciousness faded away, she heard people shouting.
---------------------------------
When she awoke a week later, Krihrada found herself in a strange camp full of people she did not recognize. They informed her that they were a group of explorers, members of the Scholars of the Deep Folk, and they'd found her in a nearby ruin on an investigation. She asked what sort of investigation. They told her they traveled the lands searching ancient Dwemer ruins for artifacts and knowledge of their culture and history.
She asked them why.
Because they're all gone.She asked them what year it was. They told her (201 of the "Fourth Era"). She asked them where she was. They told her (camped out in the western "Rift"). She asked them what happened to the Dwemer.
...Nobody knows what happened to them. They just disappeared. A very long time ago. Hundreds and hundreds of years.The Scholars seemed to find her questions strange. They assumed she must have hit her head when she collapsed, or perhaps had some sort of illness (her skin was so oddly pale). She did not correct them. They allowed her to stay with them for as long as she liked, as they would not be returning to their academy for quite some time. She accepted their offer.
[The secret of the Disappearance of the Dwemer is... (highlight the rest of the line to reveal) A mystery. Krihrada's situation is unique; the same fate may have befallen the rest of the Dwemer or it may not have, but either way, she is the only one to return (so far). Not knowing is more interesting, don't you think? ]