Shrug. "He reminds me some of the librarian back home. Defensive of his domain, which makes sense. Some of these books are fragile. I can talk to him, if you don't want to."

"Probably better if the same person doesn't ask all the attention-grabbing questions anyway."

"We should try to find if there are other books by him, to at least have plausible deniability when asking around."

"Possibly easier said than done. We can, nonetheless."

So looking they go. The books are sorted by subject, then by author, then by title, so it isn't too hard to find a few other history books by Septimus. Three are in with books on the Daedric Princes: a treatise on the Daedric Princes in general, apparently written while Septimus was a student; one on Jyggalag, with a footnote that he might be connected to the Elder Scrolls; and another discussing the theory that the Black Books were Hermaeus Mora's attempt to recreate the Elder Scrolls. There's also one book sorted in with Dwemeri history, about their more esoteric experiments - it actually mentions the Scrolls briefly, theorizing that a Dwemeri device might've been used for reading dangerous material like the Black Books or the Scrolls. There's also some musings on Lorkhan in the ancient history section.

"The books about Jyggalag, Lorkhan, or the Dwemer would probably be the safest to feign interest in..." Ena muses. "They have the most tenuous connection to the Scrolls. For the Dwemer, I could pretend to be hunting down a lead for the museum in Solitude. Artifact hunters are common enough."

"And it has the advantage of being nearly true. That is probably safe enough."

"Alright."

She mentally composes her questions, then takes them to the librarian - does he happen to know what became of Septimus Signus, she was reading his treatise on Dwemeri experiments in esoteric energies. She's working for the new museum in Solitude, you see, and believes there may be exciting opportunities for scholarship there, but research is thin on the ground...

"I only know somewhat. He's been gone for a while. Too long."

"Gone?" Ena asks. "Where did he go?"

"Up north somewhere. Claimed he found some Dwemeri artifact, years ago. Vanished afterwards. No one'll admit to having seen or heard from him since."

"Thank you; I'll have to talk to my superiors about whether it's worth trying to find him. You've been a great help."

He waves her off, and returns to his work, while Ena heads back to Elana. 

"There's not much north of here but ice and ocean."

"If someone's living out there, there should be some signs, at least. Though the question becomes, do we want to bother going after him?"

She considers. "It seems to me that if another Scroll exists in Skyrim, this man is likeliest to know how to find it, if he yet lives. In the absence of any other immediate trail to follow, we ought to chase this one to its end."

"Alright. It's currently not snowing too badly, and the clouds look liable to not get worse anytime soon. I'd rather start while we have the light and while the weather's not too bad."

"Agreed." Then they can return the books and leave.

The books are easily returned.

Scouring the ice fields for one man is not so easy. There's nothing out here that can threaten the two of them, but the ice is large and uneven.

Eventually, though, they spot a rickety little boat in the distance, pulled up against a rare spit of land.

First interesting thing so far. Maybe it'll even be what they're looking for.

There's a massive rock on the island, and, when they reach it, a tiny door is barely visible in one of the cracks.

"Hopefully this's him, and not some other nutjob," Ena mutters.

"I fear for the future of this world if there is more than one person insane enough to live out here."

Snort.

Onwards into the cave of dubiousness?

Onwards.

There's an icy ramp down through the rock, that then opens into a small cavern carved from the stone and ice. A large Dwemeri cube with a strange lock sits against one wall. A man in dark robes paces below, muttering to himself - "When the top level was built, no more could be placed... It was and is the maximal apex..."

"Septimus Signus?" she calls.

He reacts only somewhat. "What voices are these that come to me?"

"The kind with people attached." She walks down into his field of view.

"And what has brought this wind across the sea to me?" he asks, not really looking at them.

"Questions."

"Oh? What will the wind sing? My feet were set upon the rock, but it turned to mud and drew me down."