Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Skyrim: Revealing the Unseen / Mzelft Oculory Puzzle Solution

This is not a full walkthrough of the quest because most of it is very straightforward, but at the towards the end of the Revealing the Unseen mission, there is a puzzle. This puzzle occurs when you are in the Mzelft Oculory and you need to adjust the focus crystal.

All you need to do is use a frost spell (or maybe fire if you've already messed with it) on the crystal a few times until the beams of light each shoot into the center of a different ring around the ceiling. If you go use the buttons up on the platform, each of them rotates a different ring and each ring has a green crystal in it. You need to rotate each ring until the crystals are each hit by a beam of light from the crystal in the middle. It is quite a simple process once you figure out what you're supposed to be doing. Just use a frost spell a few times and then rotate the rings.

See the picture if you are confused about what this is supposed to look like.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Skyrim Walkthrough: Joining Thieves Guild / Taking Care of Business

After you have either completed or messed up the A Chance Arrangement quest with Brynjolf, he tells you that you can help his "organization" if you're up to it.

He tells you that there is a pub called the Ragged Flagon down in the Ratways of Riften that is run by his "organization" and that if you can make it there in one piece, he'll give you more work.

This is a very straight-forward quest and takes very little effort if you are above level 10 ish. All you need to do is follow the quest marker to the door into the Ratway. You will find it on the lower level off the walkway that follows the water very near the little marketplace area. Once you've gotten in, simply follow the path ways until you get to the Ragged Flagon. Unlike sewers in some other games, this initial part of the Ratway not a maze at all. There are some little rooms here and there as well as about 4 people to kill on your way, but you should have no difficulty finding the Ragged Flagon.

Once inside, go around the little lake thing and go talk to Brynjolf who will be standing near the bar (with a quest marker on him). When you talk to him, he will be surprised that you made it and will tell you that now he has more work for you. He will tell you about 3 people who owe the Thieves Guild money. He tells you that what is more important than the money is getting them to understand that the Thieves Guild is not an organization to mess around with. If you keep talking to Brynjolf, he gives you valuable information about how you can manipulate each of these people into doing what you want.

Again, just follow the quest markers to the locations of each of the three people. I started out talking to each of them without doing the extra manipulation technique mentioned by Brynjolf. This only worked on one of them for me and I was forced to use his advice.

Each of these three people is found right in Riften and none of them are found far from the door to the Rateway so you don't even need to walk much. Tell each of them that Brynjolf has a message for them - if they don't respond by giving you the money then go to the manipulation technique (the dwemer vase, the statue, or Talen-Jei).

Once you have gotten the money from each of them, go back to the Ragged Flagon and talk to Brynjolf. He will tell you that with the way you handled these three, he thinks his "organization" could use you some more. He will give you a few potions for the work you did and you will be able to ask him fo more work now.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Skyrim Walkthrough: Discerning the Transmundane / Elder Knowledge

This quest combination most often begins with Paarthurnax telling you that you need to go find out about the Elder Scroll from the people at the College of Winterhold. Go talk to Urag and he will show you two books to read, one of which is nonsense.

The first thing you need to do after reading the book Ruminations is tell Urag that the "Ruminations" book is incomprehensible. He will tell you that probably the only person who can help you figure out what it means is Septimus Signus, who wrote the book. Keep talking to him and Urag will tell you that Septimus was obsessed with Dwemer artifacts and is now somewhere in the ice fields north of the college. Your objective will now be changed to find Septimus Signus and a quest marker will be placed at his location (in the ice fields north of the College of Winterhold). Go find him.

Once you find him, just talk to him. He will sound completely crazy and he it turns out that he knows he's crazy. He apparently has read and Elder Scroll and it messed up his mind. Just talk to him about everything you can and you will learn a lot from him. He will end up telling you that he also needs the Elder Scroll (or information from it rather) to get the Dwemer Lockbox open. He will give you a Lexicon that will need to be transcribed and an Attunement Sphere that will get you inside the the place where the Elder Scroll is kept. He will mention that he wants you to go deep within somewhere and when you talk to him more about it he will mention the Tower Mzark. The place deep within is Blackreach.


Your quest log will be updated during your conversation so that your goal is now to transcribe the Lexicon. For the Elder Knowledge quest, you should aslo have goal relating to recovering the Elder Scroll. You should now leave the outpost, head to Winterhold, then go SW to Alftand using the path behind the Jarl's Longhouse. As you leave the outpost, you will meet the Daedric Prince, Hermaeus Mora. You have no choice but to have a conversation and if you want a really cool reward, you should agree to help.

If you have already been to Saarthal, you can fast travel there first to save some travel time, but either way, just keep heading SW until you get to Alftand. Once you get there, go down the little wooden bridge thing until you get to the entrance of Alftand Glacial Ruins and head inside.

Once you are inside here, there is really only one path you can possibly take that doesn't dead-end very quickly - just keep going. Watch out for dwarven machines and Falmer throughout this whole quest. Throughout the whole quest, keep an eye out for rooms with locked doors - there are a number of them and many have some good loot in them.

Once you kill the Khajiit named J'darr, read his journal and then continue past the room where the spheres attack you to a room with a novice level locked gate. You'll want the treasure behind this gate. From here, go through the door to the NW and again keep an eye out for treasure behind locked doors (like the golden door not too far away).

Head into the Alftand Animonculory when you get to the door for it. Be careful of the pistons as you come in and then be careful of the trap a little later on. When you get to the gate that you don't have the option to open, you need to pull the lever to open it. Head down the big spiraling ramp and then when it ends, you just need to jump down to the platform, but be careful not to hur yourself by jumping too far. Then keep working your way down more spiraling ramp. There are a lot of Falmer through this part of the quest so just be careful not to get ganged up on by too many of them.

Soon, you should reach a door to the Alftand Cathedral - go through it. Head West into a grotto area, climb the stairs to the platform with the chests and lever, and activate the lever. Through the door that just opened you will meet a Dwarven Centurion - kill him and take the key from him.

Go up the stairs and open the gate behind which are two thieves named Sulla and Umana - kill them and open the master locked gate to the SW (your key will open it). Activate the Dwarven Mechanism which will use the Attunement Sphere from Septimus and unlock a stairway to Blackreach - go there.

As soon as you enter the area, look for the big crossbow in front of you on the platform - use the lever next to it to shoot it and kill the Centurion Sphere down below. Feel free to explore the area as much as you want, but watch out for Falmer and Chaurus. Eventually, head to the lake area with the stairs up to the little fort place. There are a bunch of Falmer so be careful as you cross the little bridge to get there. Then leave that area out the other side and ahead to the tomb thing marked with the quest marker. When you go in, there will be a lever that will take you to the Tower of Mzark - use it. Go through the door to the SW and enter the Oculory wehre you will find the puzzle.

Tower of Mzark Puzzle Solution:


There are 5 pedestals in front of you, 4 of which have buttons. from left to right, we'll call the buttons A, B, C, and D. To begin with, you should only have the C and D buttons active to use.

Before messing with the buttons, put the Blank Lexicon into the little stand thing to the right of the buttons. All you need to do is hit the C button 4 times in a row (this will make the B button active and make the Lexicon start to glow and rotate), then hit the B button twice (which will make the A button active), then the A button once.

This will cause the crystals to come down in the middle of the room. Pick up the Runed Lexicon from the stand, and head to the lowered crystals in the middle of the room. Grab the Elder Scroll from it's location in the crystal thing, leave via the door to the East, and use the lever  to leave to Skyrim. This will end the Elder Knowledge quest and will begin the Alduin's Bane quest. For these quests, you now need to head back to Paarthurnax at the Throat of the World.

To continue the Discerning the Transmundane quest, head back to Septimus Signus at his outpost North of The College of Winterhold. Go inside and talk to Septimus - follow the general conversation line and he will give you another task. This further work is to collect blood from every race of character alive in the world. Basically, you just need to go kill or find bodies of people of each race. Then when you click on them to search their bodies, you can choose to harvest their blood instead of searching them. Once you've done this head back and talk to Septimus.

When you get back there, tell him you've got the blood he wanted. He will take it from you and use it to open the Dwemer Lockbox. Follow him inside and he will die at the bottom of the stairs and Hermaeus Mora will appear again and your quest log is updated to tell you to take the book that is on the pedestal. Once you take it, you can read it and you will be given a choice between warrior, magic, and shadow (or something along those lines). Depending on which one you choose, you will be given a level increase in each skill from that skill type. For instance, if you choose, shadow, your light armor, sneak, lockpicking, pickpocket, and speech skills will all gain a level. Once you have chosen what skill set to increase, the book will be removed from your inventory and disappears. This concludes the quests.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Skyrim Walkthrough: The Forsworn Conspiracy / No One Escapes Cidhna Mine

The Forsworn Conspiracy

The first time you enter Markarth's market, you witness a murder where a man named Weylin draws a knife and stabs a stall owner named Margret. When I witnessed this, I immediately killed the man and then there is a whole scene of guards coming and talking and saying that the problem is dealt with, etc. but at some point the Forsworn are mentioned (if this name is unfamiliar with you, don't feel bad about it).  As the scene ends and you walk away, a man comes up to you and hands you a note telling you to meet him at the Shrine of Talos.

When you go there and meet with him, Eltrys tells you that his father was killed by the Forsworn and that he has been trying his whole life to find out why. He tells you that the Forsworn are the remnants of an ancient ruling class of Markarth who hold strictly to old and mostly ignored Nord traditions, customs and laws. He tells you that you are the perfect tool for investigating this murder and the Forsworn connections to it. He tells you that Margret stayed at the Silver-Blood Inn and that Weylin lived in the Warrens. From here you need to go investigate both people.

When you go to the Silver-Blood Inn, talk to the man behind the bar and ask him about Margret. He will tell you that she rented the nicest room for a month and that you shouldn't talk about her because it is bad luck. Your quest log will now be updated with "Obtain the key to Margret's room." You need to ask him to rent a room (for 10 gold) and you will get the key to her room. Go into the room and look in the dresser next to the bed. You will find Margret's journal which you are then told (by your quest update) to read. It talks about a person named Thonar Silver-Blood and that she thinks he is a Stormcloak sympathizer and that she thinks she is being watched after confronting Thonar about something. Your quest log is now updated telling you to "Find evidence about Thonar."

You should go to the Warrens now. When you leave the Silver-Blood Inn, you will be approached by a guard who tells you that you need to keep your nose out of things that aren't your business. He will not give you any information about who sent him, but just tells you that the guards keep the peace and you wouldn't want to be seen as a threat to that peace.

Once you get in the Warrens, talk to the guy named Garvey lounging up against the pillar just inside the door to the right. He can tell you that Weylin lived there and that someone else will probably get his room now. If you ask him for the key, he will say that he can't do that, but you can intimidate/persuade/bribe him into giving it to you anyway. Once you have the key, head all the way down the hall to the last door on the right - this is Weylin's room. Turn left when you go in the door and you will see a chest. Inside that chest is a note called Weylin's note. Your quest log will be updated to tell you to read the note. When you read the note, you will see that it was a note telling Weylin to go to the market and he would "know what to do." The note is signed simply "N." Your quest log will be updated telling you to find out who N is. You can go ahead and leave the Warrens now as there is not much else for you to see here.

When you exit the Warrens, you are approached by a guard who tells you that you need to quit nosing around in things that aren't your business. No matter what you say, he will fist fight you. When you beat him, you can get information out of him about who sent him to take care of you. He tells you that he was sent by Nepos the Nose and your quest log is updated for you to find evidence about Nepos.

At this point, you should have two active quest duties - to find evidence about both Thonar and Nepos. Go talk to Thonar first and then Nepos.

Go to the Treasury House at talk to the Rhiada, lady right inside the door. She will tell you that Thonar asked not to be disturbed and then you can try a number of techniques for getting her to let you see him anyway. Once she has agreed to let you in to see him, head down the hall to the left of her desk to the door at the end which should have a quest marker on it. When you go in the room, you should see him sittin at his table and will say something about telling them no visitors. No matter what you choose to say to him, he will tell you that you shouldn't be snooping into things that aren't your business and to get out. As soon as the conversation is finished, you hear a commotion and Thonar gets up and runs down the hall where there is fighting going on.

When you head back down the hall, you can join in with the fighting, but be careful not to hit Thonar at all or the city guards will come after you. There are three people that you should (and safely can) kill - Nana Idene, Donnel, and a conjured person. Once they are dead, you can talk to Thonar who tells you that his wife is dead and its Madanach's fault - the King of the Forsworn. Madanach is living in the Cidhna Mine from where he controls all the Forsworn agents. You can offer to take care of Madanach if you want, but Thonar will simply order you to get out of his house and will not talk to you anymore.

Now head to Nepos's house which is up the stairs a long way - there should be a quest marker on the door. When you go inside you will be greeted by a woman named Uolie who tells you to go away, but Nepos calls from the background and overrules her. She then tells you to go ahead and go in to talk to him. He tells you that he has been receiving messages from Madanach for 20 years and has been following the orders. If you continue talking to him he will reveal that he does not plan to let you leave the house alive, but will tell you more about Madanach which will update your quest log to tell you to find evidence about Madanach. When you are done talking to him, he and everyone else in the house will start attacking you - kill them all.

Once everyone is dead, be sure to look around in the house for valuable objects. There is a descent amount of gold scattered around as well as a book in the bedroom called Mystery of Talara, Part 4 that gives one point to Illusion skill. There is also a Steal Dagger of Dismay in a display case in the room with the fireplace in it. The case opens if you have the key that you are able to loot from any of the corpses. Once you are done looting, you can leave the house.

At this point you should be able to go back to the Shrine of Talos to report back to Eltrys. When you get into the shrine, a guard will be there who will tell you that you have caused a lot of trouble and a lot of work for the guards who will now be pinning all the murders on you. He tells they had a nice little deal going and now you screwed it up, but you wanted to find out who was in charge and now you'll have plenty of time to talk to "The King in Rags" (Madanach) while you're in Cidhna Mine. At this point you can choose to go quietly or to fight with them. Just go quietly.

This is the end of The Forsworn Conspiracy quest.

Nobody Escapes from Cidhna Mine

You'll get put into the mine where you need to first talk to Uraccen about all the topics he has available. He'll tell you how to get to Madenach. You need to first talk to Grisvar about a shiv, then get skooma from Duach to pay Grisvar for the shiv. Bring Grisvar the skooma and he'll give you the shiv. Next you need to get past Borkul the Beast to be able to see Madanach. Talk to Borkul and tell him that your first murder was exciting - he likes that. Then tell him you want to see Madanach and he'll tell him he wants you to get him a shiv. Respond by giving him the shiv you just got. This will allow you to get through the gate next to Borkul. Go through it and go find Madanach. You'll find him sitting at a desk writing something. He will tell you to go find a man named Braig. You find him down the mine past Grisvar - ask him to tell you his story, then head back to Madanach.

Madanach now tells you that he'll help you break out, but you have to prove your loyalty to him first by killing Grisvar. Go to Grisvar and talk to him - tell him Madanach says hello. This will provoke him to start fighting you which will cause everyone else to start fighting him. He will die quite quickly with everyone else attacking him. Be careful not to hit anyone but him while attacking. Go back and tell Madanach that Grisvar is dead and he will tell you that it's time to announce the plan to everyone. He tells everyone that there is a tunnel that leads out into some Dwarven ruins.

Follow them through the cell next to Madanach's room. Don't worry about your old possessions, you'll get them back shortly. You will go through a door into some Dwarven ruins and will have to fight a bit, but not too much - just a few spiders and a couple Spheres. When you get to the end, Madanach will give you all your possessions back plus a few gifts from him. He also tells you that you don't need to worry about your name because once they get out, everyone will know that he was behind everything. You can now leave the ruins by the door at which point the Forsworn will start attacking the Markarth guards and you can just walk free having completed the quest.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Skyrim Walkthrough: A Chance Arrangement / Unusual Gem / Join Thieves Guild

There are a few places in Skyrim that you can pick up what is called an Unusual Gem. It is a red gem that rotates inside a golden box. The first time you find one you unlock a Miscellaneous Quest with the objective, "Bring the Unusual Gem to an appraiser." If you activate this quest, you can follow the quest marker to a guy down at the Riften docks named Maul. If you are not already part of the Thieves Guild, all he will say is "Get in good with Brynjolf, then we'll talk."

This is mostly useless unless you've already done a lot of exploring around Riften without joining the Thieves Guild. Brynjolf is a guy who can be found in the Riften market selling a red elixer. If you talk to him he will offer you the opportunity to meet him during the daytime for some undisclosed (but shady sounding) activity. What he wants you to do is to steal a ring from a person named Madesi's stall at the market. Apparently these two people have some kind of feud going because of the elixer that Brynjolf sells.
As it turns out this quest is what is needed to get in Brynjolf's good graces as well as what is needed to join the Thieves Guild. When you talk to Brynjolf again in the day-time, he tells you that he is going to make a distraction and then you can steal the ring. It is relatively easy to do, but if you mess it up there is another chance to join the guild and to get on his good side. Skip to the bottom to see that if you mess it up.

Once Brynjolf starts distracting people, you just need to get behind Madesi's stall, pick the lock to get into the stall and then pick the lock to get into the box within the stall. If you just leave your lockpick straight upright on both, you will open them right away. Take Madesi's Silver Ring from the box (and everything else while you're at it) and exit the screen. Then head over in front of Brynjolf and go into sneak mode. You need to put the ring into Brand-Shei's pocket without him knowing it so you need to get into sneak and pickpocket him in order to add the ring to his pocket. Once you've done that, Brynjolf will disperse everyone and your quest log will be updated to tell you to return to speak with Brynjolf.

When you go back and talk to him, he will pay you for your help and will suggest that if you want to do more of this sneaky type of work, you could probably make good money at it. This finishes the A Chance Arrangement quest. If you investigate further he tells you that his "organization" is having some difficulties and could do with some help. If you think you're up to it, you should go for it. If you say that you can handle it, he'll tell you about the Ragged Flagon which begins a new quest called Taking Care of Business.

If you messed up something with the original plan with the ring, you can still go back and talk to Brynjolf and it will jump straight to giving you the Taking Care of Business quest.

Once you are into the Ragged Flagon, you can go ahead and talk to Vex about the Unusual Gem you found. She will tell you all about them. This conversation will begin the No Stone Unturned quest - SPOILER ALERT: my No Stone Unturned quest walkthrough has locations of the stones you need to find.

How to Make Outlook for Mac Download Pictures Automatically


As many of my readers already know, I recently got a new Macbook Pro when I started my new job. This was great because I really needed a new computer anyway and this is a really nice one. The problem I realized as soon as I opened the box is that I haven't used a mac since sometime around 6th grade in the school library. Generally, I am quite good with computers and when using my PC, there were not many things that I could not figure out how to do. This is not true on my new mac. So, as I discover how to do things on this wonderful little machine, I will be posting the instructions so that other people might not have to figure it out the hard way.

The first topic is how to get Outlook for Mac to download pictures within messages:
1. Open Outlook 2011.
2. Go to the Menu at the top of the screen, click Outlook and select Preferences.
3. In the E-mail section, select Reading.
4. Go to the Security section and select either the In all messages radio button, or if you want a little more security, select the In messages from my contacts radio button.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Skyrim Walkthrough: Dark Brotherhood - Innocence Lost

This is a very brief tutorial for how to go about joining the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim.

If you go to Windhelm and talk to NPC's, many of them will mention a very troubled boy named Aventus Aretino whose mother died recently. At some point, you have the opportunity to talk to a mother near his house who tells you that Aventus has been trying to contact the Dark Brotherhood.

Once you have found out where he lives and that he is trying to contact the Dark Brotherhood, then you should break into his house. This is quite easy to do since there is normally nobody outside and it is a novice lock level.

Go upstairs and talk to Aventus. He will tell you that his mother died and he was sent to an orphanage called the Honorhall Orphanage in Riften. He will tell you about how he escaped and then performed the ritual to call an assassin from the Dark Brotherhood. He will tell you about Grelod the Kind who runs the orphanage and is terrible to all the kids there. He believes that you are a Dark Brotherhood assassin who has come to answer his call, so he asks you to kill Grelod the Kind for him.

At this point, your quest log gets a quest called Innocence Lost added to it and updated with the objective to kill Grelod the Kind.

Travel to Riften and find the orphanage. Once you get there, you will witness a scene of Grelod threatening the kids. If you talk to any of the kids or the other woman at the orphanage, they all say that Grelod is aweful and that the "kind" title is a sarcastic slight against her. You can talk to Grelod, but it is quite a short conversation which ends with her simply ignoring you. You can then kill her which updates your quest log with the objective to go back and talk to Aventus.

When you talk to Aventus, he is incredibly pleased and rewards you with a family heirloom. This successfully concludes this quest.

At some time later, a stranger will approach you with a letter that has a hand print and a line saying "We know." He does not know where it came from or anything else about it. Once you receive this letter, the next time you sleep, you will wake up in an unfamiliar location and will be greeted by a masked woman from the Dark Brotherhood.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Skyrim Walkthrough: Good Intentions

This quest begins when Urag asks you to mention the book called "Night of Tears" to Tolfdir.

Objectives
  • Speak with Tolfdir

Find Tolfdir, most likely in the Hall of Elements. Speak to him and tell him Urag suggested you come see him. Tell him about "Night of Tears". Tolfdir will be distracted by the orb from Saarthal, and has some additional thoughts about it. Listen to what he has to say.

Ancano will come and interrupt. He has some important information. He needs you to come with him immediately. He will tell you someone from the Psijic order is here in the college and is asking to see you specifically. Follow Ancano. Enter the Arch-Mage's quarters. Speak with Quaranir. Ask him what's going on. He will tell you about the Eye of Magnus. The longer it remains in the college, the more dangerous the situation becomes. He will tell you to seek out the Augur of Dunlain within the college.

If you look at your quest journal, it now says "I've been led to the Arch-Mage's quarters by Ancano, who was insistent that I speak to someone claiming to be from the Psijic Order. The monk, named Quaranir, has informed me that the "Eye of Magnus" is dangerous and that to learn how to deal with it, I need to speak with the Augur of Dunlain within the college. I should ask my fellow members where to find him"

Your objective is to find the Augur of Dunlain. You can talk to a number of different people around the college about the Augur and all of them tell you to go talk to Tolfdir. When you talk to Tolfdir he tells you that the Augur is in the Midden which is below the college. He also mentions that the Augur was once an incredibly talented student of the college, but that there was an accident and he has been in the Midden ever since. He tells you that if you are going to see the the Augur, to say hello from him.

Open your map and use it to find the entrance to the Midden (or just follow the marker on your compass). Find the grate on the floor and enter the Midden. Descend down the tunnels, fighting some draugr and spiders on the way. Go through a wooden door and enter the Midden Dark. Cross an icy bridge and enter through a door. Activate the Augur of Dunlain. He will tell you your efforts are in vain, it has already begun. He will tell you that you blindly follow the path to your own destruction. He will tell you that Ancano is also looking for information about the eye of Magnus (the orb thing) and that the only way to see through the eye is using the Staff of Magnus. So he tells you that you will need to find the Staff of Magnus and to go tell the Arch-Mage this information.

Now your objective changes to reporting to Savos Aren. Retrace your path back to where you came in. You will see a ladder here which will lead you back up to the courtyard in the college where the trap door was. Go back into the Hall of Elements to find Savos Aren near the Eye of Magnus. Talk to him and tell him you have important information for him. Tell him you need to find the Staff of the Magnus. No matter what conversation line you follow you will end up telling him that you talked to the Auger. He will be impressed with your initiative and wants you to follow up on this. He recalls Mirabelle mentioning something about the staff and recommends you check with her.

He rewards you with a Mage's Circlet which increases Magicka by 30 points. This completes the quest "Good Intentions" and unlocks the next College of Winterhold quest, "Revealing the Unseen."

Skyrim Walkthrough: Hitting the Books

You obtain the quest "Hitting the Books" from the Arch-Mage, after completing the Under Saarthal quest.

Since Tolfdir is not available, you get asked by Mirabelle Ervine to look into information on the object we found in Saarthal by talking to Urag gro-Shub in the Acanaeum

You can enter the Arcanaeum through the Hall of the Elements. Talk to Urag behind the desk and tell him you want to learn about something you found in Saarthal. He will tell you he can't help since his books got stolen by Orthorn when he went to Fellglow Keep with the others who left the college. Apparently, one of the volumes Orthorn stole has the information you need.

If you look at the quest journal, it has been updated: "I've been asked to find more information on the object found in Saarthal. Urag suggested that useful books may have been stolen from the Arcanaeum by Othorn, a former apprentice at the college. His last known location was Fellglow Keep." You will also have something that shows how many of the three stolen books you have recovered.

NOTE: I would advise bringing Lydia with you if you are not above level 10 when starting this quest as there are a number of difficult opponents. It would also benefit you to have a ward spell since you will be fighting mostly mages during this quest.

Ancano will ask you some questions as you leave. Answer his questions and leave the college. Head to Whiterun, leave via the main gate, and travel East to Fellglow Keep (it's past the Honningbrew Meadery and White River Watch).

NOTE: It would be a good idea to pay attention to the books that are scattered throughout Fellglow Keep (not just the ones you need) because there are many spelltomes as well as books that increase skills.

Apparently there is a main door which is locked and requires a key, but you can find a door in a ruined tower which you can get in by. I believe this door is the one that is marked with a quest marker when you have this quest active.

Work your way through the flooded caverns. Go east, then south, kill a mage and 2 spiders, then head NE and arrive at a room with some cells. Activate the levers to release the imprisoned vampires, then keep going NE to another chamber with jail cells where a mage will release wolves at you. Once you have killed the mage and wolves, talk to Orthon through the bars and tell him you are here for the books.

He will tell you that if you free him, he will help you find the books. Free Orthorn by activating the middle lever. Open the wooden door and go down the stairs. Orthon will help you fight a group of mages after which you need to climb up the stairs, go to the end of the corridor and turn left. Open the door to Fellglow Keep and head NE towards the Fellglow Keep Ritual Chamber. There is basically only one path you can take which will bring you through multiple rooms with a number or opponents. Make sure that before you get to the Ritual Chamber, you kill the mage who has the Fellglow Keep Key (should be the last person you kill before getting to the door to the Ritual Chamber). Go through the wooden door to the north and climb up the stairs to the Ritual Chamber. Be ready to fight when you enter because the Caller inside is quite a powerful mage for this stage of the game.

You will find the Caller inside this room. At some point in the conversation you have no choice but to tell her you are not leaving without the books. Fight her, kill her and take the three stolen books (these all should have quest markers to show you where they are). Loot the caller for the Ritual chamber key and enter a small room nearby with lots of treasures. Then exit down through the grate on the floor. Raise the bar and open the wooden door. Use another door to exit to Skyrim. Fast travel to the College of Winterhold and go the the Arcanaeum to return the books to Urag.

This complete the quest "Hitting the Books" and unlocks the next quest in the College of Winterhold series, "Good Intentions"

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Skyrim Walkthrough: Under Saarthal

Tolfdir has asked the apprentices to meet him at Saarthal

Objectives
  • Meet Tolfdir outside Saarthal
There does not appear to be a time limit on when you need to be there, so feel free to go to Saarthal to meet Tolfdir whenever you are ready. You may explore the College or go do other quests in the meantime and he will be waiting whenever you get there.

The Saarthal excavation site is Southwest of the city of Winterhold. You can fast travel from the college to the city to save some time. There are lots of things to pick up while in Saarthal that you can sell later, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to sell any extra stuff you are carrying to make room (and bring Lydia with you). Then, from the center of the city, head Southwest between the two mountains.

Once you get to the excavation site, talk to Tolfdir and tell him you are ready to go. He will tell you to stay close to him while you are inside. Follow Tolfdir through the door and down the ramp.

Ask Tolfdir what he wants you to do. He will ask you to assist one of his scholars, Ariel Gane, with his work cataloging and uncovering the ruins. Find Arniel Gane. Follow the tunnel with the lanterns, then down a ramp, and go through a bridge and another tunnel, to finally find Ariel Gane in a small room. Talk to him. Tell him Tolfdir sent you to help him. He tells you he has only looked in a portion of this section and asks you to explore the chamber north of here. He wants you to round up the rest of the magical artifacts so that he can catalog them.

Your quest journal will now be updated with the following: "I've been asked to assist Arniel Gane in his work at the excavation in Saarthal by collecting enchanted objects scattered around the ruins."

Objectives
  • Search for magical artifacts (0/4)
Head north in search of the artifacts. Locate the artifacts throughout the corridors. There should be arrows pointing to them. Pick them up. You have to find 3 enchanted rings and a Saarthal Amulet. The three rings will be on the ground. The Ancient Amulet will be on some sort of door. Activating the amulet triggers some sort of trap! All the exits shut down. Tolfdir appears to check up on you. Tell him you are trapped. He will tell you to use the Saarthal Amulet to escape the trap. The quest log is updated again: "While helping in the excavation in Saarthal by gathering enchanted items, I somehow triggered some sort of trap. It has revealed an unexplored section of the ruins, and Tolfdir would like me to follow him further in."

Bring up your inventory and equip the amulet. This will cause the section of the wall from which the amulet was taken to resonate. Fire a spell at the wall. This will blast open the section of the wall. Follow Tolfdir.through the opening

When you reach a chamber, suddenly the ghost of Nerien appears. He will tell you that you have set up a chain of events that cannot be stopped. Judgment will be passed based on your actions to come and how you deal with the dangers ahead of you. This warning is passed because the Psijic order believes in you. You alone have the potential to prevent disaster.

The ghost vanishes. Talk to Tolfdir about the apparition. He did not see it. Tell him it spoke to you, about some danger ahead and the Psijic order. He will tell you that's odd, since the Psijics have no connection to these ruins and noone has seen them in ages. He suggests looking for answers inside these coffins.

Your quest panel is updated: "While in an unexplored area of Saarthal, I received a vision from someone in the Psijic Order saying that there's something dangerous in Saarthal. Despite this, Tolfdir wishes to forge ahead and has asked that I follow him"

Follow Tolfdir. Suddenly some Draugr appear! Defeat them, then keep following him. Activatet the lever downstairs to lift the gate. You will reach a big room. More Draugr will attack. Help Tolfdir kill them. After you kill the skeletons, your objective is to find the danger within Saarthal. Activate the two chains on both sides of the door, and enter Saarthal. Be sure to save the game before doing so as many dangers lay ahead!

From the entrance, head east, and then south. Climb up some stairs and open an iron door to the east. Keep heading east, then turn north. Beware of traps and draugr.

You will reach a section with six pillars that need to be arranged correctly.

Each pillar has 3 possible symbols: Bird, Snake, and Fish/Whale

The key to this puzzle is to look closely behind and above each pillar. The correct symbol for each pillar is shown there on the wall.

Facing the lever and the gate, in the room that is farthest back from the lever, set the left pillar to bird and the right pillar to whale. In the middle room, still facing the same direction, set the left pillar to snake and the right pillar to bird. In the lever room, again facing the lever and gate, set the left pillar to whale and the right pillar to bird.

The pillars should look like this:

     ---Door----
     ---Lever---
WHALE - BIRD
SNAKE - BIRD
BIRD - WHALE
     ---You---

Pull the lever. If the pillars are in the incorrect position, you will set a trap. If they are in the correct position, the gate will open.

Go through and reach another iron door. Go through the door, but be ready for a difficult fight with a Draugr Wight. After you beat the Draugr Wright, climb up the stairs and go through another iron door. Here you will find another room with 4 pillars. This is another puzzle.

Four Pillars Puzzle solution:
At first glance, the puzzle seems very easy. Your goal is simply to set each pillar to match the symbol on the wall behind and above it. However, it is not that simple due to the fact that moving some pillars causes others to move as well.

Stand at the back of the room facing the lever and door (look at the compass, you will be facing SOUTH)

Below is a diagram of how the room should look based on the your position. The number of each pillar is important to the solution of the puzzle.

    -----Gate-----
    -----Lever----
Pillar #4 - Pillar #2
Pillar #3 - Pillar #1
     -----You------

The number of the pillar denotes how many total pillars it rotates when you turn it.

Start by turning Pillar #4 to WHALE.
Pillars , 2, and 3 will also rotate.

Next, move pillar 3 to SNAKE
Pillars 1 and 2 will also rotate

next, rotate pillar 2 to BIRD
Pillar 1 will also turn

Last, turn pillar 1 to WHALE
no other pillars will rotate

It should now look like this:
     -----Gate-----
     -----Lever----
WHALE - BIRD
SNAKE - WHALE
     -----You------

Pull the lever. The gate will open and you should go through it down the hallway. At this point, Tolfdir will show back up.

Open the iron door to the WEST. You will reach a big chamber with some sort of magical green glowing sphere in the center. Be careful because you are about to get attacked by a very powerful draugr creature.

Suddenly Jyrik Gauldurson rises from his throne! You can begin attacking him, but he will be invincible to your attacks. Tolfdir begins attacking the green glowing orb which appears to be Jyrik's source of power. Your job is basically to keep Jyrik busy and try to hurt him as much as you can.

Once Jyrik is dead, search his body immediately to find a Gauldur Amulet Fragment and a writ of sealing. The Fragment increases your Magicka by 30 points so feel free to equip it. Reading the Writ of Sealing unlocks a new quest.

Tolfdir will tell you that the Arch-Mage, Savos Aren, must be informed of the news immediately. He asks you to go deliver the message to the archmage. Your objective now is to talk to the Archmage in the college of Winterhold.

Before leaving the chamber, search the rest of the area for loot. There will be some gold in the urns on the wall. On the tomb, there will be the Staff of Jyrik Gauldurson which is pretty powerful and valuable. A burial urn will have a valuable item in it (ring, garnet, etc.).

When you are done looting, exit through the iron door to the WEST. Enter a grotto with blue glowing glyphs on the wall. Read the glyphs. You will learn the Word of power Ice, Ice Form. Loot the chest and leave.through the door to the Southwest. Activate the handle and exit through the gate. Work your way up the excavation and exit to Skyrim. Bring up the map and Fast Travel to the college of Winterhold. Find the Archmage, most likely in the Arch-Mage's quarters in the Hall of the Elements. Tell him you need to speak to him about Saarthal. Report your findings to him. Tell him about the orb you found. He will thank you for bringing it to his attention and will reward you with a Staff of Magelight.

This completes the College of Winterhold quest "Under Saarthal" and unlocks the third quest in the mage series, "Hitting the Books"