"Which belies the idea that these ruins were completely hidden forever. Maybe they were hidden even harder by whoever sealed this guy here. And maybe that sphere is part of the seal?"

"I doubt that," Tolfdir calls from where he's still examining it downstairs. "This design is unlike any that I've encountered before; 'tis most certainly not ancient Nord. Not Ayleid¹, not Dwemer², not of any Daedric make I have seen... It may have served as a power source for the seal but it almost certainly predates it."

(¹ Also known as heartland high elves or wild elves, they were the first race to establish an empire in Tamriel, back from before the start of recorded history. Most of them have died out; perhaps all, as the most recent sighting of one was over a thousand years past.)
(² Also known as deep elves or dwarves, they were a very technologically advanced society that vanished without a trace during the First Era.)

"...no one knows why the Falmer sacked Saarthal. Maybe it has something to do with that?"

"Indeed, that is a hypothesis worth considering. There are legends concerning their objectives, but they are often mutually contradictory and it is hard to say which if any of them bears any resemblance to the truth. Perhaps this will help narrow it down..." He turns around. "Erudites, I have a task for you. I would ask that you return to the College posthaste and inform Archmage Savos Aren of what we found here. He will be most interested."

"What should I do with this?" Ruby asks, gesturing at the amulet.

"Let me see it," Tolfdir says, for the first time since he started examining the sphere actually turning around to look at what Ruby wants to show him.

He climbs downstairs and starts walking towards Tolfdir then—

—stops.

"What's that?"

"You will need to be more specific, young man."

"That... sound. It's like voices...?" He points in the direction of the wall behind the sphere. "Coming from that way? Can't you hear it?"

"Sound? No, I'm afraid I cannot." Tolfdir turns around to look in the direction Ruby pointed at and starts walking there. "Perhaps an old man's hearing has suffered over the years."

Ruby follows him, and the noise becomes so loud it would be impossible to miss. "Dragonborn stuff, do you reckon?"

"Seems as likely as anything else, if you continue to hear it." He turns back around then walks over to Ruby to examine the amulet. "Hmm, this seems like it could've been a powerful amulet in the past but right now it is little more than a magicka storage unit, and not a very powerful one. Show it to the Archmage to get a second opinion, but it does not look particularly noteworthy."

"Alright." He looks over at Erandur and the other Erudites, who have also climbed down the stairs though they are staying back somewhat. "You guys wanna come explore?"

"J'zargo is curious also, yes."

Onmund is still not meeting Ruby's eyes but he follows along with the others anyway.

...is it because Ruby is Dragonborn. Is this going to be something awkward they'll need to deal with in their relationship.

Well, they'll deal with it later. For now Ruby wants to explore where that noise is coming from.

There's a door on that wall and it leads into a single hallway that doesn't branch anywhere. The walls are lined with braziers decorated with the heads of dragons and other carvings, and the sound becomes louder and louder until it's almost deafeningly loud by the time they finally reach another chamber.

It's not as large as the chamber that housed that big sphere but it's still pretty big, and three massive dragon heads carved of stone jut out of the wall across the room from them. Underneath them are carvings in an unfamiliar script, and it seems to be from that wall that the sound is coming.

It's almost hypnotising. It feels as if he's being spoken to, as if he's being told some secret he can almost understand. He walks over to it...

...and a single word on the wall starts glowing. When he gets close enough, the glow starts going into him, the rest of the world darkening until only the word remains. It echoes in his head, and he suddenly understands its meaning.

ICE, it echoes in his head, alongside its equivalent in (what is probably) dragon tongue: iiZ.

When the glow vanishes and vision returns to him, though, he's no longer in that chamber, and his companions are no longer around. Instead, he's in a town somewhere, though the details are blurry. The time of day is unclear, and the people present are only distinguishable by their clothing, their faces reduced to only the mental impressions of their existence.

"Ulfric Stormcloak," says someone, a Cyrodiils woman wearing imperial armour (Ruby's brain helpfully informs him even though he cannot make out any of her features). She is standing in front of a man that is bound and kneeling before a chopping block. There is a headsman next to him holding a massive axe dirty with the blood of someone who has already been executed. "You stand accused of inciting a rebellion, murdering your High King, and high treason against the Empire. For these crimes, you will be put to death."

(There is a distant roar, but the woman says it's nothing and tells everyone to ignore it.)

"I would normally ask you if you had anything to say for yourself, but we all know your tongue and your voice are your greatest weapons. You have used the sacred Way of the Voice to greatly damage your country and realm, and for this you cannot be forgiven."

The headsman pushes him forward so his head is resting on the chopping block.

"I pray that you find wisdom in your next life."

And then a dragon appears, and everything fades to black.

"—up!"

"It is probably just a Dragonborn ailment."

"Doesn't change the fact that being unconscious for ten minutes with no noticeable magical effect is concerning."

"Ten minutes?" asks Ruby groggily from where he's finding himself lying on the ground.