______ ( __ \ | ( \ ) | | ) | | | | | | | ) | _______ _______ _______ | (__/ ) ( ____ \( ___ )( ___ ) (______/ aedric | ( \/| ( ) || ( ) | | (__ | (___) || | | | _______ | __) | ___ || | | | ( ___ ) | ( | ( ) || | /\| | | ( ) | | ) | ) ( || (_\ \ | | (___) | |/ |/ \|(____\/_) | ___ | | ( ) | | ) ( | |/ \|rtifacts ............................. Author: aznricepuff .............................. ******************************************************************************** If you have any suggestions, contributions, or just want to point out my mistakes, feel free to PM me (aznricepuff) on www.gamefaqs.com. ******************************************************************************** Version: 1.04 Date: 04/02/12 ================================================================================ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ================================================================================ _________ _______ \__ __/ ( ____ \ ) ( | ( \/ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | (____/\ )_( able of (_______/ ontents *------------------------------------------------------------------------------* + Azura (Azura's Star OR The Black Star) ................................... #01 + Boethiah (Ebony Mail) .................................................... #02 + Clavicus Vile (Masque of Clavicus Vile OR Rueful Axe) .................... #03 + Hermaeus Mora (Oghma Infinium) ........................................... #04 + Hircine (Savior's Hide OR Ring of Hircine) ............................... #05 + Malacath (Volendrung) .................................................... #06 + Mehrunes Dagon (Mehrune's Razor) ......................................... #07 + Mephala (Ebony Blade) .................................................... #08 + Meridia (Dawnbreaker) .................................................... #09 + Molag Bal (Mace of Molag Bal) ............................................ #10 + Namira (Ring of Namira) .................................................. #11 + Peryite (Spellbreaker) ................................................... #12 + Sanguine (Sanguine Rose) ................................................. #13 + Sheogorath (Wabbajack) ................................................... #14 + Vaermina (Skull of Corruption) ........................................... #15 + Changelog ................................................................ #16 + Credits and Legal Stuff .................................................. #17 ================================================================================ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ================================================================================ _______ ( ___ ) | ( ) | | (___) | | ___ | | ( ) | | ) ( | |/ \|zura #01 *------------------------------------------------------------------------------* Azura is the Prince of Dusk and Dawn. She takes the form of a beautiful woman, and is one of the few Daedric princes that can be considered to be benevolent, if such a thing is even possible. She was responsible for cursing the ancient Chimer, turning them into what is now known as Dunmer. Despite this, she continued to be worshipped by the Dunmer as one of the three "good" Daedra. She also played a role in the return of Indoril Nerevar to Morrowind (as the Nerevarine) and the subsequent defeat of Dagoth Ur. She has the power to see into the Twilight, giving her the ability to see the future. Artifact: --------------------------------------------------------------- | Azura's Star >============================================================== | A re-usable grand soul gem that holds white souls. | | Comments: | | This is probably one of the most useful artifacts in the game. | With this artifact, you'll never find yourself wanting for a | soul gem, saving you tons of money and time spent buying/ | looking for soul gems. Because it is the equivalent of a grand | soul gem, you can store any soul in it (except that of | humanoids of course), and use it to recharge your enchanted | weapons or even forge enchanted equipment. --------------------------------------------------------------- OR --------------------------------------------------------------- | The Black Star >============================================================== | A re-usable grand soul gem that holds black souls. | | Comments: | | Identical to Azura's Star except that it only holds black | (humanoid) souls. | | NOTE: | Unknown if this is a bug, but as of v1.3.7, The Black | Star can hold both black and white souls (making it | essentially a reusable version of normal Black Soul Gems), | despite its description and what Nelacar says. --------------------------------------------------------------- Quest: "The Black Star" Azura's shrine can be found just southeast of Winterhold, up on the mountain found there. The easiest way to get there is simply to start from Winterhold, take the south exit, and down the southern path. You should see the Daedric shrine symbol on your compass almost immediately after leaving Winterhold. Unfortunately you can't get to the shrine with a straight shot. Instead, continue along the road heading south, then at the first opening, turn right (southwest) and head up the mountainside. Follow this sloping valley upward - eventually the path starts going back downhill and exits into a larger valley. At this point you'll end up at Saarthal (part of a College quest) if you continue straight. Instead, hug the cliffs to your left and make your way up the rocks - it will require some jumping but it's not a hard climb. Eventually you'll find yourself back on a road near the entrance to the Sightless Pit. Take the southeast branch of the path here and climb the mountain here to reach the shrine. Once you've arrived at the shrine, speak to Aranea, the Dunmer woman there. She will tell you how Azura has foreseen your arrival at the shrine and has chosen you tobe her champion. Convenient. After a talk with Azura herself, you are taskedwith finding and killing a mage named Malyn. Apparently Malyn has stolen Azura's Star and corrupted it by manipulating it to hold black souls (unlike other creatures, humanoids have black souls, which normal soul gems cannot hold) as part of some twisted plan to achieve immortality. You're told to start your search in Winterhold, so head there. Head to the inn there and talk to Nelacar about Malyn. It's clear he doesn't trust any Daedra, including Azura, but he'll give you the location of Malyn's hideout in Ilinalta's Deep nonetheless. The easiest way to get to Ilinalta's Deep is to start from Riverwood and head straight west, following the northern bank of the river there. Eventually you'll get to the half-sunken castle. Enter it. From here on out it will be a standard dungeon crawl. Simply follow the only path forward while fighting off various mages and the occasional skeleton. Most of them should be fairly easy to take out. The mages mainly use ice spells, so having some potions of frost resist will help greatly. There are also some necromancers that will resurrect their fallen brethern. When you near the end of the first part of the dungeon, you'll come across a room cut in half by water. On the other side will be some skeletons and a necromancer mage boss. The mage favors frost spells, including Ice Storm, and has a fair amount of health. This is a tough fight for low-level characters. With a warrior, it is sometimes possible to stunlock him with repeated power attacks if you can do enough damage. Using paralysis (poisons) is also a viable tactic if you simply can't stand up against his damage output. Potions of frost and magicka resist help a lot here. When you finally kill the necromancer, move on and enter Ilinalta's Deluge. This section of the dungeon is rather short. After fighting a couple weak mages and some skeletons, you will enter a large room with yet another powerful mage. He will raise the skeletons next to him to join him in the fight. Like the last boss, he favors frost spells, so use the same tactics here and you should be fine. Once he's dead, loot his body for a Black Soul Gem and then proceed up the spiral stairs. At the top, you'll see the body of Malyn Varen. Grab the Broken Azura's Star lying on the ground and exit the dungeon. You now have two options: take the star back to Aranea or back to Nelacar. No matter what you choose, your next task is the same. You must enter the star and kill Malyn. The upcoming fight is a tough one, so before you commit to it you may want to stock up on necessary potions, scrolls, etc. Once you're inside the star, you'll have a brief conversation with Malyn and then the fighting begins. You'll face three Dremora, and they are tough nuts to crack. They will spam fireballs at you (even at melee range), and one of them may also cast chain lightning, so fire or magicka resistance is very important here. If you're lucky, you can face them one at a time and recuperate between encounters. In practice, though, you'll almost always have to face the second and third Dremora together. NOTE: it's best to wait a while after Malyn runs away before engaging the Dremora. If you attack them too soon, you might have to face Malyn along with the second and third Dremora! If you rely on melee, the Dremora have a tendency to run away from you, which can be annoying because if you're running after them you're not damaging them. Trapping them up against a corner or on the edge of the walkway helps to keep them in one place. If you back them up to the edge of the walkway, they tend to fall over the edge and onto a little ledge. When they do, they will stop attacking for a second to climb back up - use this to your advantage. Once all three Dremora are dead (be sure to loot their corpses for rare and valuable Daedra Hearts), continue along the walkway to face Malyn himself. This fight is a joke compared to what you just went through. Malyn has less health and deals less damage than even one of the Dremora you just fought, so the fight should be relatively simple. He uses mostly ice spells so plan accordingly. Once he's dead, you end up back at either Azura's shrine or Nelacar's room. If you took the star to Azura, the star now can hold any white soul (i.e. non-humanoid), and Aranea will become available as a follower. If you took the star to Nelacar, it will turn into The Black Star, and Aranea will refuse to talk with you further. Happy soul trapping! ================================================================================ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ================================================================================ ______ ( ___ \ | ( ) ) | (__/ / | __ ( | ( \ \ | )___) ) |/ \___/ oethiah #02 *------------------------------------------------------------------------------* Boethiah, the Prince of Plots, rules over conspiracy, deceit, and assassination. Like all Daedric Princes, Boethiah has no gender, and thus is sometimes depicted as a man and sometimes as a woman (in TESIV, Boethiah was voiced as a man but in TESV clearly as a woman), but almost always as a warrior, ready for battle. The prince relishes combat and competition, and especially the combination of the two. Historically, Boethiah was responsible for convincing the Chimer - the ancestors of the Dunmer - to separate from their Aldmer cousins and settle in Morrowind. Although Boethiah loves violence and strife and has no qualms about causing mortals to suffer, he is worshipped by the Dunmer as one of the three "good" Daedra (the other two being Azura and Mephala). Artifact: --------------------------------------------------------------- | Ebony Mail >============================================================== | An enchanted heavy armor chest piece. | | Armor equivalent: None. Between Dragonplate and Daedric Armor. | Upgrades with: Ebony Ingot. | Upgrade perk: Ebony Smithing. | Effects: | ~ Quieter movement. | ~ Deals 5 Poison damage per second to all nearby enemies. | | Comments: | | This artifact is a bit of a mixed bag. The armor rating is | good, but isn't top-of-the-line. The quiet movement bonus | is nice, but how often do you sneak around in heavy armor? | The poison damage aura is fairly weak but still useful for | damaging weaker enemies' health when you're surrounded. It is | counterproductive to sneaking however, as the damage will | alert enemies if you come too close. --------------------------------------------------------------- Quest: "Boethiah's Calling" Prerequisite: Level 30 You can start this quest two different ways. One way is to find and read a book called Boethiah's Proving. A copy can be found in the Abandoned House in Markarth that contains Molag Bal's shrine (see the section on Molag Bal for more information on the house). Once you read the book, the location of the Sacellum of Boethiah (i.e. the shrine) will be revealed on your map. The easiest way of getting there is to start out from Windhelm, turn east and start walking up the mountain. The second way of starting the quest is to simply walk to the shrine without reading the book first. When you get to the shrine, one of the cultists there will tell you how to summon Boethiah - you must lead a follower to the shrine, order them to touch the sacrificial altar, and then kill them. If this doesn't sound too cold and heartless to you, do as the the cultist says. The easiest way to get a follower is to simply follow the main quest and do the favor the Jarl of Whiterun asks of you. Once that's done, he'll name you a thane and grant you a housecarl, Lydia, who is a follower. If you don't want to kill her, you can get other followers by getting named thane in other holds or progressing/ finishing the questlines of the major "guilds" in Skyrim (Companions, Thieves Guild, College of Winterhold, Dark Brotherhood). If you're unsure how to get the follower to touch the altar, simply initiate conversation, select the "I need you to do something" option, and target the altar and press 'E' (or whatever key you have bound to the interact action). Despite what the cultist says, you don't have to use the Sacrificial Blade to kill your victim; any weapon (or spell) will do. Once the murderous deed is done, Boethiah will possess the corpse of your former follower and demand that you and the rest of the cultists duke it out to see who will get a chance to become her new champion. The cultists here are actually fairly strong, and there are quite a few of them. Luckily, they'll generally rather kill one another than kill you, so you can either let them kill themselves off and pick off the survivors, or you can enter the fray to speed things up. Once you're the last person standing, Boethiah will appear again and order you to assassinate her former champion and his followers at Knifepoint Ridge. Make your way to Knifepoint Ridge, which is a ways northwest of Falkreath. If you're into mining/smithing, you may want to bring along a pickaxe. The place has TONS of Corundum Ore veins and some Iron Ore veins as well. The place is crawling with bandits, and espite what Boethiah and your journal say, you don't have to stealthily kill them to complete the quest. The ones outside shouldn't be any problem. Dispose of them and move inside. More bandits await you here. Most are just as easily dispatched as those outside. However, when you reach the large room (past some gates) there will be a fire mage in here that can be pretty nasty. Take the mage out quickly if you can. Kill all the targets tagged by quest markers. The one wearing jet-black armor is Boethiah's former champion, and other than the fire mage, is the most dangerous opponent here. Once he's dead, loot his corpse to obtain the Ebony Mail, and equip it. Boethiah will then speak to you, congratulating you and naming you her new champion. With this, the quest is over and you get to keep the prince's armor. ================================================================================ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ================================================================================ _______ ( ____ \ |\ /| | ( \/ | ) ( | | | | | | | | | ( ( ) ) | | \ \_/ / | (____/\ \ / (_______/ lavicus \_/ ile #03 *------------------------------------------------------------------------------* Clavicus Vile is the Prince of Wishes and Deals. He is fond of granting wishes to mortals, but his "gifts" often turn out poorly for the recipients in order to amuse the prince. As such, any deal that Clavicus offers you must be approached with the utmost caution. Clavicus is almost always accompanied by his faithful companion Barbas, who often takes the form of a dog. Barbas does not share Clavicus's mischievious personality, and often questions the prince's actions. This often results in friction between the two, but they always eventually find a way to reconcile - after all, they're simply stuck with each other. Artifact: --------------------------------------------------------------- | Masque of Clavicus Vile >============================================================== | An enchanted heavy armor helmet. | | Armor equivalent: Daedric Helmet. | Upgrades with: Ebony Ingot. | Upgrade perk: None. | Effects: | ~ Prices are 20% better. | ~ +10 to Speechcraft. | ~ +5% magicka regeneration. | | Comments: | | The stats on the mask should speak for themselves. Put this | baby on whenever you're bartering for goods to get a nice big | bonus to prices. It also has a very good armor rating, so it's | not completely useless in combat. --------------------------------------------------------------- OR --------------------------------------------------------------- | Rueful Axe >============================================================== | An enchanted two-handed axe. | | Damage equivalent: Glass Battleaxe. | Upgrades with: Ebony Ingot. | Upgrade perk: None. | On hit: | ~ +20 Stamina damage. | | Comments: | | Honestly not all that great of a weapon. The damage is decent | but nothing to write home about, and the effect on hit is also | pretty mediocre. In my opinion, there's really no reason why | you should give up the Masque for this (unless you just really | want to kill Barbas). --------------------------------------------------------------- Quest: "A Daedra's Best Friend" Prerequisite: Level 10 Walk to the entrance of Falkreath and the guard there will ask you if you've seen a dog. Question him about it and he'll direct you to Lod, the local blacksmith. Talk to the blacksmith and agree to help find his dog for him. Then follow the quest marker just outside Falkreath. When you arrive at the right location, a dog named Barbas will walk up to you and initiate conversation. That's right: a talking dog! It seems that this is none other than the companion of Clavicus Vile, only the two have had a falling out of sorts. As a result, Clavicus has lost much of his power and is basically stuck in his shrine. Barbas wants you to accompany him to the shrine so that prince and dog may be reunited. How touching! Follow Barbas for some distance until you reach Haemar's Shame. The place will be filled with vampires. Be careful, each attack by a vampire has a chance of infecting you with a disease that if untreated, progresses to vampirism. It may be wise to stock up on some cure disease potions. Barbas is a huge help here. He will often venture forward and draw the attention of pretty much every enemy. He doesn't do much damage but is invincible, so if you like, you can simply sit back and let Barbas kill everything for you. Or you can take advantage of the fact that the vampires are too busy hacking away at Barbas and get some flanking attacks in. When the mage vampires get low on health, they will cast invisibility and run away. If you're letting Barbas do most of the work, chase after the fleeing vampires because Barbas won't pursue them, and if left unchecked they will eventually rejoin the fight. After dealing with the vampires, you should arrive at Clavicus Vile's shrine. Speak to Clavicus to find out that the vampires had actually come to the shrine to ask the prince to cure them of their vampirism. Well, they got their wish, but probably not in the way they wanted. Anyway, Clavicus agrees to let Barbas rejoin him if you retrieve the Rueful Axe for him. At this point, Barbas will follow you around as an ally. You can tell him to stop following you at any time, and he will return to Clavicus's shrine. He is still invincible, though, so you can use him as a cheap way to kill some difficult bosses if you delay completing this quest. Once you're ready to retrieve the Rueful Axe, head out to Rimerock Burrow, all the way out in the northwest corner of Skyrim. The easiest way to get there is from Solitude. Head west from the city, essentially following the snowline of the mountains to the northwest all the way to your destination. Enter Rimerock Burrow and prepare for a fight with a mage and a flame atronach. The atronach should go down easily. The mage is also not that difficult to kill but isn't exactly a pushover either. He likes to cast ice spells - Frostbite and Ice Spike especially. When he's dead, take the axe from the table (there's more loot to be found in the area behind the room with the mage too) and head back to Clavicus's shrine. When you talk to Clavicus, he makes you an offer. If you kill Barbas, he'll let you keep the axe. You can either take the prince up on his offer or decline and return the axe per the original arrangement. If you decide to kill Barbas, you have to do it with the axe; he's immune to every other weapon. If you betray Barbas, you get to keep the Rueful Axe as Clavicus promised. If you return the axe, Clavicus gives you the Masque of Clavicus Vile instead. Either way, Barbas's soul returns to the prince's side and a statue of the hound appears beside that of Clavicus at the shrine. ================================================================================ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ================================================================================ _______ |\ /| ( ) | ) ( | | () () | | (___) | | || || | | ___ | | |(_)| | | ( ) | | | | | | ) ( | | ) ( | |/ \|ermaeus |/ \|ora #04 *------------------------------------------------------------------------------* Hermaeus Mora is the Daedric Prince of Knowledge. He does not take any form that resembles anything found in the mortal plane, preferring to appear as a twisted mass of tentacles and claws or other chaotic, formless shapes. Hermaeus Mora is most famously associated with the Oghma Infinium, a tome containing knowledge imparted by the prince himself - knowledge that was used by Mehrunes Dagon to write the Mysterium Xarxes, which played a pivotal role in the Oblivion Crisis at the end of the third era. Artifact: --------------------------------------------------------------- | Oghma Infinium >============================================================== | A book. | | Effects: | ~ Grants reader +5 levels to all skills in EITHER Might, | Magic, or Shadow categories. One time use only. | + Might Skills: Archery, Block, Heavy Armor, One-Handed, | Smithing, Two-Handed | + Magic Skills: Alteration, Enchanting, Conjuration, | Destruction, Illusion, Restoration | + Shadow Skills: Alchemy, Light Armor, Lockpicking, | Pickpocket, Sneak, Speech | | Comments: | | A very useful artifact. The level-up to your skills is | guaranteed to net you at least one character level (perhaps | even two, depending on the circumstances). Note that like | with all books, you can't level up a skill past 100 in this | manner. Once you use the book, it will disappear, so you won't | be able to use it and then sell it for its 2500 gold value. --------------------------------------------------------------- Quest: "Discerning the Transmundane" Prerequisite: Level 15 (Only for Section C) NOTE: If you don't wish to concurrently complete "Elder Knowledge", skip to Section B. If you've already completed "Elder Knowledge" skip to Section C. --------------------------------** SECTION A **--------------------------------- *WARNING* The following section contains spoilers for the main questline of Skyrim. "Discerning the Transmundane" closely parallels the main quest "Elder Knowledge", so if you haven't completed the latter you may wish to start it and get a two-for-one deal. It's not necessary to do both at once, however, so if you're itching to get your hands on the Oghma Infinium and haven't made it far enough in the main questline to start "Elder Knowledge", you're free to start "Discerning the Transmundane" by itself (in which case skip to Section B). "Elder Knowledge" immediately follows "The Throat of the World". After your conversation with Paarthurnax, you are tasked with finding an Elder Scroll. Head to Arngeir or Esbern and ask about the Elder Scroll. He will direct you to the College of Winterhold. Alternatively, if you've been inducted into the College of Winterhold you can suggest talking to the college librarian to Paarthurnax directly. If you've already gained access to the College, great. If not, you will have to deal with Faralda at the entrance. You can either persuade her to let you in (a difficult check), agree to her test (if you're high level and haven't invested in magic, she might ask you to cast a spell that costs more magicka than you have, so you'll have to reload and hope she assigns you a different spell next time), or tell her you're a Dragonborn and prove it with a shout (by far the easiest method). Once you're inside, head to the Hall of Elements, then take the door to The Arcanaeum. Talk with the orc Urag gro-Shub about the Elder Scroll. He will retrieve two books. You can read them both if you want, but all you have to do is open "Ruminations on the Elder Scrolls", then talk to Urag again and tell him the book makes no sense. He will tell you that it was written by Septimus Signus. This marks the beginning of "Discerning the Transmundane" proper. --------------------------------** SECTION B **--------------------------------- You will need to head to Septimus's outpost, which is north of the College of Winterhold in the ice fields. To get there, head to the entrance of the College in Winterhold, and take the path heading down to water level. Head due north. When you have to cross between islands, stay on the ice to avoid having to take a swim. Eventually you'll see the cave symbol on your compass. Enter the outpost and speak with Septimus. He'll tell you (using words that only somewhat make sense) how he's trying to open a Dwemer lockbox, inside which he believes lies the Heart of Lorkhan. To open it, he needs the knowledge contained within an Elder Scroll (if you're doing "Elder Knowledge": it seems your goals are aligned), and he knows just where to get that knowledge. He'll tell you that to get an Elder Scroll, you'll have to enter the Tower of Mzark, which is only accessible through Blackreach, a huge underground city connected to the surface through dwemer ruins. He points you to Alftand as a potential entrance. Head to Alftand. In the first level of the dungeon you'll find mostly dwemer contraptions: spiders and some spheres. Once you reach the second level, you will face Falmer - the exact type depends on your level. As you make your way through the Falmer huts, take notice of the various corpses you'll find here - a high elf, a dark elf, and an orc - you might be needing these later. Once you reach the third and final level - Alftand Cathedral, you'll soon come to a large cavern with a gate blocking your way forward. Once you open the gate, take care as you enter the next area. A Dwemer Centurion will power up to your left and attack. It uses a powerful ranged steam attack and a less powerful melee attack. Stay out of range if at all possible. Otherwise get up close and stay there to force it to use its weaker melee attack. Once the Centurion is dead, continue forward and you'll meet two adventurers having a bit of a quarrel - these are the employers of the two Khajiit you may remember running into earlier on the first level of Alftand. Get too close, though, and they're happy to forget about each other and focus on killing you. Take them out, and then activate the dwarven mechanism here. You may also want to take the lift up to the surface, unlock the gate up there, then descend back down; this will make it easier to travel back here in the future, which you may find yourself needing to do. Descend the stairs that opened up when you activated the dwarven mechanism and enter Blackreach. Blackreach is basically one huge cavern with entrances to a bunch of dwemer ruins. The place is crawling with Falmer and Chaurus. You may also want to pick some of the Crimson Nirnroot here - they don't grow anywhere else and there's a quest associated with the plant. Anyway, make your way towards the quest marker, which is more or less on the other side of the cavern from where you enter. Once you reach the marker, take the door into Mzark. Once in, there's no more enemies so you can let your guard down for now. Head forward into the room with the huge sphere. Climb the ramps up to the control panel. Place the cube on the pedestal to the right of the controls, and the controls will be activated. Now, going from right to left, press the left-most button that is activated until the button to the left of it becomes available. Repeat this until the mechanism in the center of the room opens up and reveals an Elder Scroll, which you should take. If you have started "Elder Knowledge", doing so ends the quest and starts "Alduin's Bane". Otherwise you just get to carry around a 20-pound Elder Scroll until you do finally get to "Elder Knowledge". But to finish "Discerning the Transmundane" there is more to be done, which is explained in the next section. --------------------------------** SECTION C **--------------------------------- Once you have taken the Elder Scroll, head back to the control panel and retrieve the now runed cube. (If you forgot to do this, you can always travel back to Mzark and retrieve the cube.) Exit the ruins via the elevator and head back to Septimus's outpost. Show him the cube, and he goes on about some more half-crazy stuff and asks you to collect the blood of each of the elven races: ~ High Elf ~ Wood Elf ~ Dark Elf ~ Orc ~ Falmer To collect blood, all you have to do is "activate" a corpse of the correct race. As you exit the outpost, Hermaeus Mora will appear to you and hint that Septimus's life might come to an abrupt end once you complete your task. If you are so inclined, you can simply go out, hunt down and assassinate one of each of the races you're looking for. If that's your plan, then the following places you should have access to already are good candidates for finding what you want: ~ High Elf: + Thalmor Embassy (during and after the main quest "Diplomatic Immunity") + College of Winterhold - Nirya ~ Wood Elf: + Riverwood - Faendal (beware, he is a questgiver) + Whiterun - Anoriath and Elrindir (in the Drunken Huntsman) ~ Dark Elf: + Whiterun - Athis (in or around Jorrvaskr, the Companions lodge) + College of Winterhold - Brelyna Maryon (associated with a College quest and a potential follower) + See the section on Vaermina - "Waking Nightmare", for two potential victims (Veren and Erandur) ~ Orc + See the section on Malacath - "The Cursed Tribe" for a good candidate + Alternatively, Mehrunes Dagon's quest - "Pieces of the Past" - also has an orc for you to kill ~ Falmer + Alftand, Blackreach If you'd rather not get your hands dirty, you can find corpses already laid out for you, ready for harvesting, at these locations: ~ High Elf: + Alftand Animonculory (among the Falmer huts) ~ Wood Elf: + Alftand Animonculory (near the very beginning of the area as you enter it from Alftand Glacial Ruins) + Entrance to Pine Peak Cavern (north of Ivarstead - walk across the bridge heading toward High Hrothgar, and immediately turn right) ~ Dark Elf: + Liar's Retreat (southwest of Dragon Bridge) - you may have to fight through some bandits/Falmer to get to the corpse ~ Orc + Alftand Animonculory (there is a point where you are forced to jump down from one platform to another; the corpse is on the platform you jump onto) ~ Falmer + Alftand Animonculory (near the end of the area) Once you've collected all the blood, head back to Septimus. He will use the blood to open up the dwemer door in his outpost. Once he walks in, he will be disintegrated. The Oghma Infinium sits on a pedestal in the room past the dwemer tunnel: take it. After one final chat with Hermaeus Mora, the quest is complete and you are free to use his tome as you see fit. ================================================================================ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ================================================================================ |\ /| | ) ( | | (___) | | ___ | | ( ) | | ) ( | |/ \|ircine #05 *------------------------------------------------------------------------------* Hircine is the Daedric Prince of the Hunt, appearing as a masked hunter. He is responsible for the creation of werewolves (lycanthropes), and claims their souls when they die to join him on an eternal hunt in his realm of Oblivion. Every thousand years, he appears on the island of Solstheim to host a hunt of the local inhabitants, called the "Bloodmoon Prophecy". Anyone who is strong enough to defeat Hircine's werewolves during the hunt is honored with a duel with the prince himself. Artifact: --------------------------------------------------------------- | Savior's Hide >============================================================== | An enchanted light armor chestpiece. | | Armor equivalent: Leather Armor. | Upgrades with: Leather. | Upgrade perk: None. | Effects: | ~ +15% Magicka resistance. | ~ +50% Poison resistance. | | Comments: | | The enchantments on this armor aren't bad. Unfortunately its | armor rating isn't good at all. It's completely outclassed by | elven and glass armor. Still, considering how early in the | game you can get this, it can have its uses. --------------------------------------------------------------- OR --------------------------------------------------------------- | Ring of Hircine >============================================================== | An enchanted ring. | | Effects: | ~ One extra werewolf transformation per day. | | Comments: | | Obviously this is only useful if you plan on using | lycanthropy. Note that this ring will not grant you to the | ability to transform if you don't have it already. The only | way to acquire lycanthropy is through the Companion's quest | line. --------------------------------------------------------------- Quest: "Ill Met By Moonlight" To begin the quest, head to the graveyard in Falkreath (in the northwest corner of town). You will see a funeral service being performed. Talk to Mathies afterward and ask about the deceased. He will tell you his daughter was brutally murdered by a man named Sinding. Head to the barracks to talk to the murderer. He will tell you that he is in fact a werewolf and that he has been cursed by Hircine. You can offer to take the source of the curse - the Cursed Ring of Hircine - from him and find a way to cleanse it. Once you accept, the ring will be automatically equipped and cannot be removed until you finish the quest. It will randomly transform you into a werewolf, so if you don't want any surprises it's best to finish this quest as quickly as possible. Note that Sinding transforms into a werewolf and escapes the jail as soon as you relieve him of the ring. You have to kill a Great White Elk just outside of Falkreath. Follow the quest marker to find it. It should go down easily. Once it's dead, Hircine will appear and speak with you. He commands you to hunt down Sinding. No matter what you say to him here, the quest still progresses and your next objective is to head to Bloated Man's Grotto. To get there, head directly north from Falkreath, crossing the lake. You should reach Ilinalta's Deep on the opposite shore (part of another Daedric quest). Once there, head west and then after a short walk turn north through the small pass. Once you enter the grotto, a dying hunter near the entrance confirms that Sinding is here. Follow the quest marker. You should see the werewolf on top of an overlook. He will speak with you and attempt to convince you to spare him. You can either side with him or honor your agreement with Hircine. If you side with Sinding, your task is to kill the remaining hunters here. Once that is done, leave the grotto and Hircine - impressed that you managed to kill the hunters even though you technically disobeyed him - will lift the curse from the Ring of Hircine, completing the quest. If you side with Hircine, you will have to kill Sinding. As a werewolf, he is fairly powerful. If you can't handle him alone, you can wait to attack Sinding until he's busy sinking his teeth into one of the remaining hunters. Once he's dead, take his skin. Hircine will appear and fashion the skin into the Savior's Hide. The quest is now complete. There is a way to get BOTH items, however. First, side with Sinding, kill the hunters, and speak with Hircine as described above. Then, go back inside the cave, kill Sinding, take his hide and speak to Hircine again. You should now have both the ring and the hide as rewards. An interesting side effect of going this route is that because both items are counted for the Oblivion Walker achievement, you can still get the achievement even if you miss out on one (but only one) of the other Daedric artifacts. ================================================================================ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ================================================================================ _______ ( ) | () () | | || || | | |(_)| | | | | | | ) ( | |/ \|alacath #06 *------------------------------------------------------------------------------* Malacath is the Prince of Oaths and Curses, also known in Skyrim as the Prince of Orcs. He appears as a bare-chested orcish warrior, and many orcs worship him as their god-king. It is no surprise, then, that Malacath often involves himself in the affairs of the orcish people. Artifact: --------------------------------------------------------------- | Volendrung >============================================================== | An enchanted warhammer. | | Damage equivalent: Ebony Warhammer. | Upgrades with: Ebony Ingot. | Upgrade perk: None | On hit: | ~ Absorb 50 Stamina. | | Comments: | | Good damage and a useful effect on hit. The stamina | absorption, as long as it works, means that you can much more | easily spam power attacks, which is always a good thing, | especially for two-handed weapons. Use it to keep squishier | enemies like mages perma-stunned and to break through | warriors' blocks. --------------------------------------------------------------- Quest: "The Cursed Tribe" Prerequisite: Level 9 This quest starts in Largashbur, an Orcish stronghold southwest of Riften. To get there from Riften, exit the city and head south, then west on the road along the lake's southern shore. Eventually you will see the stronghold icon on your compass. As you approach, you will see three orcs in a losing battle against a giant. Help them out. Once the giant is dead, a female orc named Atub will ask for your help. Apparently the chief of this tribe has fallen ill, and Atub wants to commune with Malacath to try to save their tribe. She asks you to fetch a Daedra Heart and Troll Fat so she can carry out her ritual. You can loot Troll Fat from the corpse of any troll. You can also sometimes find them sold by alchemists/apothecaries. As a final resort, there is one at the College of Winterhold, in the Hall of Countenance on the second floor in the room with the alchemy lab. Daedra Hearts are exceedingly rare in this game. They can be found as loot in certain dungeons. If you've finished "Pieces of the Past" and have thus obtained the key to Mehrunes Dagon's shrine, you can get some hearts from the Dremora that spawn within (there's also a chance some will spawn outside the shrine as well). If you haven't had the luck to have run into a heart by now, there are three surefire options available to you. You can find a heart in Jorrvaskr, the Companion's hall, in Kodlak Whitemane's room. If you've finished the Companion's questline, you can take the heart freely without it counting as a theft. There is also a heart in the Hall of the Vigilant, the base for some Daedra hunters. The hall is located south of Dawnstar. To get there, head south and slightly west from Dawnstar, past Red Road Pass. The heart is on a table. Unfortunately, there are always a bunch of people around, so the only way to steal it without having to subsequently deal with the Daedra hunters is to make yourself invisible - either by spell or potion. The third option is Enthir, an elven mage at the College of Winterhold. He sells Daedra hearts for a substantial price. Once you have the ingredients, meet with Atub again and witness her ritual. Malacath speaks to Yamarz, the chieftain, and is displeased with his conduct. The prince orders Yamarz to head to his shrine to slay the giant that has taken up residence there. Yamarz is rather annoyed at being assigned this task, and tells you to follow him and back him up. Follow him to Fallowstone Cave. It's a fairly long walk and Yamarz has a tendency to take random detours, so be patient. Once you reach Fallowstone, follow Yamarz in and kill anything you run into - usually a giant and some cave bears. You don't have to clear the cave (though you can if you want); just stick with Yamarz. You'll soon exit the cave to reach Giant's Grove. As you near Malacath's shrine, Yamarz asks you to kill the giant for him with the promise of more gold as a reward. You can either accept his offer or convince him to do it himself. If you convince Yamarz to fight the giant, the ensuing fight is...somewhat disappointing. Yamarz gets pulverized by the giant. Shameful display! Now you have to fight the giant yourself after all. It's identical to any other giant you encounter in Skyrim - it has a decent amount of health and packs quite a wallop. Lower-level characters beware. If you can't withstand its attacks, try to keep it at a distance and hit it with ranged. It doesn't hurt to pack some health potions just in case. When it's dead, loot it for the hammer. If you took Yamarz up on his offer, you fight the giant first. But then Yamarz ends up betraying you and attempts to kill you. Yamarz is actually quite a bit more durable than the giant, though his damage output is much less. Once you kill him, Malacath speaks to you and pretty much confirms what you already know at this point: Yamarz was weak and unfit for leadership. The prince then directs you back to Largashbur. Head back to Largashbur and speak with Atub. You can tell her whatever you want about Yamarz. In the end Malacath shows up, and after a few words to the orcs, tells you to put the giant's hammer on the shrine. Once you do so, it is transformed into Volendrung, Malacath's legendary warhammer, and the quest is complete. ================================================================================ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ================================================================================ _______ ______ ( ) ( __ \ | () () | | ( \ ) | || || | | | ) | | |(_)| | | | | | | | | | | | ) | | ) ( | | (__/ ) |/ \|ehrunes (______/ agon #07 *------------------------------------------------------------------------------* Mehrunes Dagon is the Prince of Destruction, Change, and Ambition. Appearing as a four-armed demon, he has repeatedly tried to conquer the mortal realm. His most recent attempt precipitated the Oblivion Crisis and the end of the Septim Dynasty. With Dagon's defeat at the hands of the Champion of Cyrodiil and Martin Septim (as the Avatar of Akatosh), the gates of Oblivion were sealed forever, ensuring that he would never again threaten the mortal realm. Artifact: --------------------------------------------------------------- | Mehrunes' Razor >============================================================== | An enchanted dagger. | | Damage equivalent: Daedric Dagger. | Upgrades with: Ebony Ingot. | Upgrade perk: None. | On hit: | ~ Chance to instantly kill target. | ~ UNLIMITED charges. | | Comments: | | This artifact is tough to judge. The damage is good, but the | special effect is probably too unreliable to justify using the | Razor as a primary weapon. Nonetheless, it can be useful for | dealing with extremely tough bosses that you just can't beat | with normal tactics. Just equip the dagger, slash away, and | hope that the instant kill effect triggers. --------------------------------------------------------------- Quest: "Pieces of the Past" Prerequisite: Level 20 You get this quest automatically when you receive a letter by courier asking you to attend the opening of a new museum in Dawnstar. Make your way there and talk with the curator, Silus. Apparently, the museum is dedicated to the Mythic Dawn, the cult that assassinated Emperor Uriel Septim VII and started the Oblivion Crisis. Naturally, the museum and Silus aren't very popular (you are the only visitor). Enter the museum with Silus. You can walk near the artifacts in the display cases and Silus will tell you a little about each one. You can also talk to him directly about the Mythic Dawn. In any case, he asks you to retrieve the pieces of Mehrunes' Razor so that he may reassemble the artifact and add it to his museum. Your map will be updated with the locations of the three pieces you need to collect. Two of them are in dungeons while one is being held in Morthal. The easiest piece to get is the one in Morthal. Travel there and find Jorgen. His house is on the northern edge of town. Use your incredible powers of speech to convince him to give up the dagger hilt. You can also bribe or kill him if your words fall on deaf ears. Another piece is in Cracked Tusk Keep. To get there, travel west from Falkreath. You're looking for an orc named Ghunzul. He's holed up in a ruined keep. Outside are some bandits. Once you enter the keep you'll face a couple of orc hunters before encountering Ghunzul himself, who's a fairly strong warrior. Kill him and loot his body for the key to Cracked Tusk Vaults. Enter the vaults and retrieve the dagger piece. The room with the artifact is heavily trapped, so be careful. The last piece is in Dead Crone Rock. Head southwest from Markarth to reach it. Unless you've recently cleared the area, you'll have to cut your way through some Forsworn camped out at the ruins here to get to the tower. By far the most dangerous enemy here is the Forsworn Briarheart near the top of the ruins, at the top of some stairs that are booby-trapped (if you activate the tripwire boulders will drop and roll down the stairs). He's usually accompanied by some sort of wild beast - sometimes it's a troll, other times a giant frostbite spider. Try to stay away from the Briarheart's melee attack - it is very powerful and can even kill high-level warriors in full Daedric Armor in a matter of seconds. 
Once the Forsworn are dead, it's time to turn your attention to Dead Crone 
Rock itself. Your target is a Hargraven named Drascua. She's camped out at the 
top, and you'll have to go through the tower and take care of a few Forsworn 
(no Briarhearts though) to get to her. Like all Hargraven, she shoots 
fireballs from range and uses a semi-powerful melee attack up close. Kill her 
and take the pommel.

Once you have all the pieces, return to Silus, and he'll tell you to meet him 
at the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon. The shrine is north of Whiterun up in the 
mountains near a dragon perch and some dwemer ruins. To get there head north 
from Whiterun and make your way up the mountain. Alternatively, head south 
from Dawnstar, passing Red Road Pass (careful not to antagonize the giant here 
unless you can handle it) and the Hall of the Vigilant. Once you're at the 
shrine, you'll speak to Dagon directly and he'll tell you to kill Silus. It 
seems pretty heartless, but hey, you're dealing with the prince of destruction 
here -what did you expect? You can kill Silus any way you like; he won't put 
up a fight and goes down easily. Once he's dead, Dagon will reassemble the 
Razor and gift it to you. As a parting gift, he also sends two Dremora 
warriors to attack you. They are fairly strong, and use weapons that set you 
on fire. After you defeat them, the Razor is yours to keep.


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 |/     \|ephala                                                            #08
*------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

Mephala is known to mortals as the Webspinner. This Daedric Prince is among 
those who frequently change their gender - in fact Mephala is depicted as 
being hermaphroditic. In TESV, Mephala never appears in physical form but the 
prince's voice suggests that for the time being she is a female. Although many 
see Mephala as evil, she isn't malevolent in the same sense as Mehrunes Dagon 
or Molag Bal. Instead, her domain can be described simply as the interference 
of the lives of mortals, whether the consequences are good or bad. In fact, 
she is considered one of the three "good" Daedra by the Dunmer since she 
taught their Chimer ancestors how to deal with their enemies.

Artifact:

	 ---------------------------------------------------------------
	| Ebony Blade
	 >==============================================================
	| An enchanted two-handed katana.
	| 
	| Damage equivalent: Glass Sword (NOTE: this refers to the 
	|   ONE-HANDED glass sword. Comparing the Ebony Blade's damage 
	|   to two-handed greatswords yields a value lower than even 
	|   iron greatswords.)
	| Upgrades with: Cannot be upgraded normally.
	| On hit:
	|  ~ Drain 10 Health. (30 when fully leveled)
	|  ~ UNLIMITED charges.
	| 
	| Comments:
	|
	| This is a very useful two-handed sword, especially for low-
	| level characters. Life drain is always useful, and what's 
	| more, the sword never runs out of charges. The sword isn't
	| without its quirks, however. You can't upgrade the sword 
	| normally, so a character with high smithing can potentially 
	| get weapons that deal far more damage. The sword compensates 
	| by growing stronger when you use it to backstab your allies - 
	| followers, your spouse, quest givers. Note: the improvements 
	| are to the life drain effect only; the base damage of the 
	| sword never changes. For every two kills that count toward
	| leveling the blade, Mephala will speak to you and tell you
	| the blade has gotten stronger. After 10 such level-ups, 
	| Mephala will inform you that the blade has returned to its
	| former glory.
	|
	| A way to level the blade without necessarily having to 
	| assassinate followers and friendly NPCs is to do the quest 
	| "Destroy the Dark Brotherhood!". Killing each DB member 
	| counts as one kill for the blade. There are six members to 
	| kill (Astrid + the five in the Sanctuary), so you will be 
	| able to level the blade three times.
	|
	| NOTE:
	| I don't know whether this is a bug or is intended, but this 
	| sword, despite being a two-handed weapon, is governed by
	| one-handed perks and enchantments, not their two-handed 
	| counterparts. So its damage will be increased by the Armsman 
	| perk instead of the Barbarian perk, and also by Fortify One-
	| Handed enchantments instead of Fortify Two-Handed. HOWEVER, 
	| its damage will still scale with the Two-Handed skill, not 
	| the One-Handed skill.
	 ---------------------------------------------------------------

Quest: "The Whispering Door"

This is one of the shortest and simplest Daedric quests. To start, ask Hulda 
at the Bannered Mare in Whiterun about rumors until she tells you about the 
Jarl's children acting strangely. Go to the Jarl in Dragonsreach and inquire 
about his children. If you've sided with the Stormcloaks and ousted Balgruuf 
already, he can be found in the Blue Palace in Solitude. He will tell you 
that his youngest son, Nelkir, has been acting suspiciously dark and 
malevolent. Follow the quest marker and talk to Nelkir. He will tell you that 
he's been fed secrets by a mysterious voice behind one of the doors in 
Dragonsreach. Follow the quest marker and investigate the door, which can be 
found in a storage room on the bottom level in the northwest corner of the keep.

Once you get to the door, a voice talks to you and reveals herself to be 
Mephala. She asks you to retrieve the key to the door so that you may open it 
and claim something of hers inside. Talk to Nelkir again to find out where to 
get the key to the door. There are two keys, one held by the Jarl and another 
held by Farengar, the court wizard. Nelkir not so subtly suggests killing 
Farengar to get the key, but there's no reason to resort to such extreme 
measures (unless you were looking for an excuse to see the wizard dead). You 
can simply pickpocket the wizard. Wait until the wizard is alone in his study 
so that you can pickpocket while undetected for a small bonus to your success 
chance. Wait until he's sleeping to do it for an even larger bonus. As long 
as you attempt the pickpocket while hidden/the wizard is asleep, you should 
have at least a 50% success rate even with a low pickpocket skill. Save and 
reload if necessary until you get the key.

Once you have the key, unlock the door and go inside. There will be a sword 
on the table along with a book. You can read the book, which warns against 
using the sword, as it tends to corrupt its wielder. Well, you didn't come 
all this way just to be turned back by some words in a book did you? Take the 
sword to complete the quest. Mephala will inform you that the sword will grow 
stronger as it claims more victims, especially those who fall prey to deceit 
and treachery. As a final note, Mephala hints that the sword is particularly 
fond of the blood of loved ones...


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 |/     \|eridia                                                            #09
*------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

Meridia is the Prince of Life. Like Azura, she takes the form of a beautiful 
woman, and is one of the Daedric Princes that might be considered good by 
mortal standards. She despises the undead and all forms of necromancy (her 
domain is life after all) and often rewards those who seek to purge the 
mortal realm of such evils.

Artifact:

	 ---------------------------------------------------------------
	| Dawnbreaker
	 >==============================================================
	| An enchanted one-handed sword.
	| 
	| Damage equivalent: Glass Sword.
	| Upgrades with: Ebony Ingot.
	| Upgrade perk: None.
	| On hit:
	|  ~ +10 Fire damage.
	|  ~ Chance to cause undead to explode on death, damaging all  
	|    nearby undead.
	| 
	| Comments:
	|
	| A good sword, especially against undead. The base damage of 
	| the weapon is lacking, but remember enemies on fire take extra
	| damage as they burn. When the undead explosion triggers, it 
	| will outright kill weaker undead and will cause others to 
	| catch on fire and flee. The explosion will also ignite nearby 
	| flammable pools. The amount of charges on this weapon is also
	| ridiculous; you can get in hundreds of strikes on a full 
	| charge. Last but not least, it also has a pretty neat-looking 
	| model - and the orb on the hilt will glow brighter when 
	| enemies are nearby.
	 ---------------------------------------------------------------

Quest: "The Break of Dawn"

Prerequisite: Level 12

The Statue to Meridia can be found west and slightly south of Solitude. To 
get there, exit Solitude and take the road heading southwest, then turn north 
once you see the shrine symbol on your compass. When you get to the statue, 
Meridia speaks to you and tasks you with cleansing her temple. Your first 
task is to retrieve her beacon. You will be directed to a random dungeon. Go 
there any way you can and just follow the quest marker to retrieve the 
beacon. Once you have it, return to the statue.

Once you are back at the statue, place the beacon on the statue, and Meridia 
will open up her shrine for you. Enter it. Inside, you will have to 
sequentially activate a series of crystal pedestals (basically more beacons) 
that reflect light through the shrine. As you activate each one, a door will 
open up and you can progress farther. The only enemies you'll encounter in 
the shrine are Corrupted Shades. They come in two varieties: those that use 
melee weapons and those that use bows. Neither type is particularly 
dangerous, and unless you like recklessly charging into areas, you should 
never have to face more than two of them simultaneously. Take them out as you 
would anything else and move through the shrine, following the quest markers.

Eventually you make your way back outside. There are no enemies here, so run 
ahead and activate the beacon here and enter the second door to the shrine. 
This area is more or less the same as the last. Again the only things here 
are Corrupted Shades, and you should only have to fight two at a time, max. 
The only exception is when you get to the final room. Here you will have to 
fight four shades and Malkoran, a fairly powerful mage who favors ice spells.

If you want you can charge into the room and take on all five at once. If you 
can't handle that however, you can back into the hallway you came through. 
The shades will quickly follow you while the mage tends to either stay in his 
room completely or hang back and not do much. Now you can focus on the shades 
without having to worry about some mage casting Blizzard at you. Once the 
shades are dead, you can then direct your full attention to Malkoran.

Once the mage is dead, Meridia will congratulate you and after a brief chat 
will teleport you back to her statue along with the sword Dawnbreaker. Enjoy 
exploding those undead!


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 | |(_)| |      |  __ ( 
 | |   | |      | (  \ \ 
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 |/     \|olag  |/ \___/ al                                                 #10
*------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

Molag Bal's sphere is domination and enslavement. Naturally he's not a very 
nice guy and is fixated on enslaving the souls of mortals within his realm of 
Oblivion. He takes the form of a humanoid lizard, with large horns and claws. 
He's not all bad, though; in TESIII: Morrowind, he will help cure the player 
character of vampirism - though in return the player has to kill Molag Bal's 
daughter. He is also the archenemy of Boethiah.

Artifact:

	 ---------------------------------------------------------------
	| Mace of Molag Bal
	 >==============================================================
	| An enchanted mace.
	| 
	| Damage equivalent: Daedric Mace.
	| Upgrades with: Ebony Ingot.
	| Upgrade perk: None.
	| On hit:
	|  ~ +25 Magicka damage.
	|  ~ +25 Stamina damage.
	|  ~ Soul traps creature if it dies within 3 seconds.
	| 
	| Comments:
	|
	| A very powerful mace, with very good damage and effects on 
	| hit. Great for one-handed combatants. Even those who don't 
	| normally use one-handed weapons can find use in this mace due 
	| to its ability to soul trap creatures. Simply use the mace to 
	| get the killing blow on enemies and you no longer have to 
	| bother with casting soul trap. One caveat is that the mace 
	| doesn't have a lot of charges. You can easily use up all the 
	| charges in a single battle or even against a single enemy if 
	| he's particularly strong, so you better have lots of soul gems
	| on hand. An alternative to lugging around dozens of soul gems 
	| is to use Azura's Star - this way you have: 1) a soul gem that 
	| never gets used up, and 2) a surefire method to fill it.
	 ---------------------------------------------------------------

Quest: "The House of Horrors"

You begin this quest in Markarth. Head to the northern side of town on ground 
level, and you should see someone questioning people about an abandoned 
house. Wait until the conversation is over, and he'll automatically question 
you. Offer to help him investigate the house. Enter the house with him. After 
briefly searching the house, you realize something is wrong and try to escape 
except you'll find the door is now locked (note: you must try to open the door 
for the quest to proceed). Whatever presence that's trapped you then 
convinces your buddy to turn on you. Dispatch him quickly, then go and 
retrieve your "reward".

As soon as you try to take your reward, you are trapped by a cage. The 
Daedric presence reveals himself to be Molag Bal, and he wants you to find a 
priest of Boethiah that has desecrated his shrine and release him from 
captivity so that Molag Bal can claim his soul. Whether or not you tell Molag 
Bal you will cooperate, he sets you free and tells you to do as he asked.

The captive priest in question, Logrolf, will be located in a random Forsworn 
camp. Just follow the quest marker, clear the area of Forsworn (as always 
watch out for any dual-wielding Briarhearts - they can be quite nasty), and 
then talk to the priest. You can either lie to him or tell him the truth 
about who sent you; it doesn't matter as he will return to Molag Bal's shrine 
either way.

Fast travel back to Markarth and head back to the shrine. Molag Bal traps 
Logrolf inside a cage. You are now tasked with beating the priest with the 
rusty mace until he submits. It's a simple task since he is completely 
defenseless. Just swing at him until he dies. Or if your one-handed skill is 
lacking and want to speed things up, you can just kill him with another 
weapon or with spells. Once he's dead Molag Bal brings him back to life and 
you get to do it all over again! The second time though Logrolf submits to 
Molag Bal. And then you're ordered to kill him anyway. Once Logrolf lies dead 
a second time, the quest is complete and you are given the Mace of Molag Bal 
- and to think: all you had to do was kill a defenseless old man...twice!


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 |/    )_) amira                                                            #11
*------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

Namira is the Daedric Prince who rules over the ancient darkness. Known also 
as the Lady of Decay, she is usually associated with dark spirits, spiders, 
slugs, disease, and generally anything of a repulsive nature.

Artifact:

	 ---------------------------------------------------------------
	| Ring of Namira
	 >==============================================================
	| An enchanted ring.
	| 
	| Effects:
	|  ~ +50 Stamina.
	|  ~ Gives the ability to feed on corpses. After feeding, grants
	|    the wearer Namira's Blessing: +50 Health and +50% Health
	|    regeneration for 5 minutes.
	| 
	| Comments:
	|
	| This ring gives you the ability to feed on corpses (to do so 
	| simply "activate" the corpse while the ring is equipped). The 
	| bonuses for feeding are short-lived, and quite frankly, not 
	| that great at higher levels. The extra stamina can be a nice 
	| bonus for warriors if you're constantly finding yourself 
	| short on stamina. Bottom line: corpse feeding is an 
	| interesting gimmick but not terribly helpful and you can 
	| probably find rings with better enchantment bonuses.
	 ---------------------------------------------------------------

Quest: "The Taste of Death"

Before you can begin the quest proper, you must complete a small pre-task 
first. Head to Markarth and enter Understone Keep. Head toward the Hall of 
the Dead and you'll run into Brother Verulus, who is arguing with one of the 
locals. When you talk to him, he'll inform you that the Hall of the Dead is 
closed. Ask him why and he'll tell you that something - or someone - has been 
feeding on the corpses there. Offer to help out.

Head into the Hall of the Dead. Once inside, a voice will speak to you. Go 
far enough in and a woman namd Eola will reveal herself. She tries to 
convince you to turn into a cannibal (actually she suggests you've already 
tried it and have forgotten). You can choose to help her or rebuff her. 
Either way, she'll tell you to meet her outside Reachcliff Cave, and "The 
Taste of Death" officially starts. At this point you can head back to Brother 
Verulus and tell him his problems have been solved. You will receive an 
Amulet of Arkay as a reward.

Now head to Reachcliff Cave, southeast of Markarth. Eola will be waiting at 
the entrance. She will tell you to clear the cave of draugrs. You can either 
accept her help or go in alone - it's your choice. Head inside for a 
straightfoward dungeon crawl with lots of draugrs. The type of draugrs you'll 
face will depend on your level. But no matter what you'll face a Draugr 
Scourge Lord in the final room. Once he's dead, the quest informs you to 
speak to Eola. You can either wait for her to walk to you, or head back the 
way you came to meet her. She tells you that to celebrate the clearing of the 
cave, there should be a feast, and that she knows just the right person to be 
the guest of honor...

Head back to Brother Verulus and convince him to follow you to Reachcliff 
Cave. The Persuade and Intimidate options are quite difficult, so you'll 
probably have to end up bribing him unless your Speech skill is very high. 
Once he agrees, fast travel back to the cave (use the secret entrance that 
you exited from for a shorter route) and meet up with Eola and her friends. 
You'll notice that quite a few citizens of Markarth are in attendance - makes 
you want to think twice before spending the night there doesn't it?

Eola gets Verulus to conveniently lie down on a sacrificial slab using some 
kind of mind trick. All you have to do is kill him, then feed on his corpse 
(to do so simply "activate" it). Once you do, Namira speaks to you, pleased 
with your actions, and grants you the Ring of Namira as a reward.


================================================================================
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================================================================================

 _______ 
(  ____ )
| (    )|
| (____)|
|  _____)
| (      
| )      
|/       eryite                                                             #12
*------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

Peryite is the lord of pestilence and order, and one of the least known 
Daedric Princes. He is responsible for disease in the mortal world and for 
keeping order amongst the lesser Daedric species. He takes the form of a dragon.

Artifact:

	 ---------------------------------------------------------------
	| Spellbreaker
	 >==============================================================
	| An enchanted heavy armor shield.
	|
	| Armor equivalent: None. Greater than Daedric Shield.
	| Upgrades with: Dwarven Metal Ingot.
	| Upgrade perk: None.
	| Effects:
	|  ~ Absorbs up to 50 points of Magicka damage when raised.
	| 
	| Comments:
	|
	| A powerful shield, especially when defending against mages. 
	| It can be used to mitigate the effects of particularly nasty 
	| spells like Chain Lightning or Fireball. Along with the perk 
	| that increases movement speed while blocking, this shield can 
	| allow melee combatants to close the distance with mages while 
	| taking very little damage. When the shield's magical barrier 
	| takes too much damage, you are momentarily staggered, leaving 
	| you vulnerable for about a second. After that, you can simply 
	| raise the shield again and the barrier will be instantly 
	| restored.
	 ---------------------------------------------------------------

Quest: "The Only Cure"

Peryite's shrine is located northeast of Markarth, on a mountain close to a 
dragon perch. To get there, travel northeast from Markarth to Kolskeggr Mine, 
then head almost directly north and you should see the shrine icon on your 
compass. When you get there, a Khajiit will ask you to get some ingredients 
for him to make an incense that will allow you to talk to Peryite directly. 
You will need: Vampire Dust, Deathbell Flower, Silver Ingot, Flawless Ruby. 
You can purchase all of these from various shops around Skyrim if you don't 
have them already.

Once you have all the ingredients, return to the shrine to talk with Peryite. 
He will ask you to kill an elf named Orchendor. The elf is holed up inside 
some dwemer ruins at Bthardamz. The ruins are quite close by - a few minutes' 
walk directly west of the shrine.

The ruins themselves are filled with the Afflicted - humans that have been 
infected with Peryite's plague. They're just like normal humans but with the 
ability to shoot a poisonous spray from their mouths. Pretty disgusting. 
Anyway, none of them are that difficult to handle, so kill all of them as you 
follow the quest marker through the ruins. It's a rather long trek, and you 
will often backtrack to earlier parts of the dungeon that were once 
inaccessible. As you go deeper into the ruins, you begin to face fewer 
Afflicted and more dwemer constructs, mainly spheres and spiders. Most 
spiders aren't a huge threat, but some of them will shoot electricity at you, 
which deals pretty decent damage. They will also explode and do shock damage 
when they die. You can tell them apart from normal spiders by the presence of 
a sparking crystal on top of their bodies.

Once you've almost reached the end in the Arcanex, you'll come to a part with 
a long, narrow corridor at the top of a ramp. On the other end of the 
corridor is a dwemer ballista. Once you enter the corridor, a Centurion will 
appear on the other side and attack you. This thing has two attacks. One is a 
nasty ranged steam attack. The other is a standard melee attack. The melee 
attack actually does much less damage than the ranged one, so I suggest 
either keep out of range of both attacks entirely, or if you must, close with 
the Centurion very quickly as it favors its melee attack at close range.

After the Centurion is dead, it's time to face Orchendor himself. After that 
Centurion fight, killing the elf should be pretty easy. He uses different 
spells (being a mage and all) and will occasionally teleport around. He can 
heal himself, so try to keep the pressure on him at all times. Once he is 
dead, return to Peryite to end the quest and receive the Spellbreaker as a 
reward.


================================================================================
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================================================================================

  _______ 
 (  ____ \
 | (    \/
 | (_____ 
 (_____  )
       ) |
 /\____) |
 \_______)anguine                                                           #13
*------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

Sanguine is the Prince of Debauchery and Hedonism. It could be said that he 
just wants everybody to have a good time, though his opinion of a "good time" 
is probably darker and more mischevious than what most people have in mind. 
He often tempts mortals into committing morally questionable acts, though he 
rarely engages in outright violent acts himself. He takes the form of a man 
with a horned, demon-like head.

Artifact:

	 ---------------------------------------------------------------
	| Sanguine Rose
	 >==============================================================
	| An enchanted staff.
	|
	| On use:
	|  ~ Summons a Dremora ally for 60 seconds.
	| 
	| Comments:
	|
	| A useful staff to have in a pinch. It summons a fairly 
	| powerful Dremora warrior to fight alongside you. It deals 
	| quite a bit of damage but tends to fall easily if it gets 
	| mobbed. It's really useful at lower levels (<25) but once you 
	| hit level 30 or so you will outclass the Dremora by so much 
	| there's little point in summoning it unless you really need 
	| the distraction it provides.
	 ---------------------------------------------------------------

Quest: "A Night to Remember"

Prerequisite: Level 14

Begin this quest by traveling to any tavern and talking to a fellow named Sam 
Guevenne. He invites you to a drinking contest, and the winner will get a 
staff of his. After three drinks, the screen blacks out and you awaken in the 
Temple of Dibella in Markarth (note: if you haven't been to Markarth yet, 
this is a great way to unlock the location without having to actually walk 
there or pay to ride a cart).

Apparently you had a pretty wild night with Sam, as the priestess in the 
temple tells you that you completely trashed the place. You can persuade, 
intimidate, or bribe her into telling you where you might find Sam. If your 
speechcraft skill isn't high enough and you aren't willing to spend the gold, 
you can get her to divulge the information by cleaning up the temple. In any 
case, you end up heading to Rorikstead.

If you can't fast travel there, the simplest way to get there is to head out 
from Markarth and just travel east. Once in Rorikstead, talk to the farmer 
there and again either persuade, intimidate, bribe, or appease him to get him 
to tell you where to look next. Travel to Whiterun and talk with Ysolda, and 
she mentions that you owe her for a wedding ring (that must've been some 
night!). You can either shell out 2000 gold for the ring or persuade her to 
tell you where you were going to get married - Morvunskar.

Morvunskar is a fort just outside of Windhelm. The easiest way to get there 
is from Windhelm: head south across the bridge, then follow the road heading 
southwest, then turn westward and cross the river and you come to the fort 
eventually. Morvunskar is overrun with hostile mages. Outside, there are some 
low-level mages and necromancers that mainly use ice spells. Be careful as 
you head through the tunnel entrance, however: traps that shoot fire line the 
tunnel. Of course you can use this to your advantage; lure some enemies into 
the tunnel and set off the traps.

Once you've cleared the outside, enter the fort itself. More mages await you 
inside. Again most are pretty easy to kill. As you near the quest marker, 
however, be careful. While the mages initially in the vicinity are still 
pushovers, there's a good chance you will attract the attention of a second 
group that includes an electromancer that is quite tough. She repeatedly 
casts Chain Lightning, which deals a good bit of damage. Shock and magicka 
resistance can help get you through this fight.

You can clear the entire dungeon of mages, but this isn't completely 
necessary. Just walk to where the quest marker is and a portal will appear. 
Enter it and follow the quest marker to meet up with Sam. At this point, he 
reveals himself to be none other than Sanguine. He compliments you for being 
such a good partner in mischief and returns you to the tavern where you first 
met Sam.


================================================================================
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================================================================================

  _______ 
 (  ____ \
 | (    \/
 | (_____ 
 (_____  )
       ) |
 /\____) |
 \_______)heogorath                                                         #14
*------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

Sheogorath is the Prince of Madness, which shows in both his eccentric 
personality and his penchant for driving mortals insane. Ironically, 
Sheogorath used to be the Jyggalag, the prince of order, but was cursed by 
the other Daedric Princes when they began to fear his growing power. He 
appears as a gray-haired man speaking in a ridiculous Scottish/Irish accent.

Artifact:

	 ---------------------------------------------------------------
	| Wabbajack
	 >==============================================================
	| An enchanted staff.
	|
	| On use:
	|  ~ Random effect.
	| 
	| Comments:
	| This staff is probably best used for entertainment purposes. 
	| While undeniably fun to use, its effect is simply too random 
	| to justify using it consistently in combat.
	 ---------------------------------------------------------------

Quest: "The Mind of Madness"

Sheogorath's quest begins in Solitude. You'll find a crazy old coot running 
around town by the name of Dervenin, shouting nonsense. Speak with him and 
he'll tell you how his master has abandoned him to go on vacation. He will 
ask you to convince his master to return, and will direct you to the Pelagius 
Wing of Blue Palace. He will also give you the Hip Bone of Pelagius. Head to 
the palace, and convince one of the people tagged with quest markers to give 
you the key to the Pelagius Wing. Once you've obtained the key, head into the 
wing. Go upstairs and down the only hallway. Eventually you'll be teleported 
to...somewhere.

Walk forward to the two men conversing at the table. One is Emperor Pelagius 
III, otherwise known as Pelagius the Mad, and the other is the Prince of 
Madness himself. Wait for their conversation to end, and speak with 
Sheogorath. He explains that you are in fact inside in the mind of Pelagius 
(who's been dead for centuries). Tell him why you're looking for him and he 
will agree to leave (and let you leave) if you can find a way out of 
Pelagius's mind using the Wabbajack.

Facing Sheogorath from across the table, you have three areas open to you: 
left, center, and right. Might as well take them in order. Head to the left 
area. You will see an arena, and Sheogorath will tell you to use the 
Wabbajack to defeat your opponent's atronach. You can use the Wabbajack to 
change your own atronach between the fire, storm, and frost varieties. 
However, it won't do any good. Instead, turn your attention to the men across 
from you on the other side of arena. Zap one of them with the Wabbajack and 
watch your opponents fall.

Now head to the center area, where you will see a sleeping Pelagius. Use the 
Wabbajack on him, and a wolf will appear. Use the staff on the wolf and it 
will turn into a goat. Repeat this process three more times (different 
creatures will spawn) to finish this area off.

Now go to the last area - the one on the right. You will see two Pelagiuses, 
one big and one small, fighting each other. Target them with the Wabbajack to 
make the big one small and the small one big. Once that's done, return to 
Sheogorath.

Speak with the prince, and after some conversation he will return you to the 
Pelagius Wing. He also lets you keep the Wabbajack as a souvenir. Use it 
well, but don't go too crazy!


================================================================================
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================================================================================

         
|\     /|
| )   ( |
| |   | |
( (   ) )
 \ \_/ / 
  \   /  
   \_/   aermina                                                            #15
*------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

Vaermina is the Daedric Prince of Nightmares. She often takes the form of a 
female mage. It is said that mortals, even those with little or no magical 
ability, can slip into Vaermina's realm of Oblivion, Quagmire, in their 
sleep. Upon awakening, these individuals retain no memory of their 
unfortunate rendevous with the Prince of Nightmares.

Artifact:

	 ---------------------------------------------------------------
	| Skull of Corruption
	 >==============================================================
	| An enchanted staff.
	|
	| On use:
	|  ~ 20 damage. 50 damage if charged with dreams.
	| 
	| Comments:
	| This is an interesting staff. Its base damage is decent but 
	| nothing exciting. However, you can charge it with people's 
	| dreams to more than double its damage. To charge it, simply 
	| use the staff on someone who's sleeping. Charging the staff 
	| won't make NPCs hostile, so you can do it on whomever you 
	| wish. In addition to the dream charging, you have to keep it 
	| charged with soul gems as well - it has a decent amount of 
	| uses per full charge.
	 ---------------------------------------------------------------

Quest: "Waking Nightmare"

This quest starts in Dawnstar. Go into the Windpeak Inn and speak with 
Erandur. He will inform you that nightmares are plaguing the people of 
Dawnstar and that the Daedric prince Vaermina is responsible. He asks you to 
accompany him to one of Vaermina's shrines to end the nightmares. Follow him 
the short walk to Nightcaller Temple and enter.

**** NOTE:

As of version 1.1.21, there is a bug where Erandur disappears after walking 
into the temple. To fix it, while inside the temple, open up the console (~) 
and type in:

	prid 0024280

followed by

	moveto player

This should teleport Erandur to your location and the quest should proceed 
normally.

****

Once inside the temple, follow Erandur and kill any orcs and priests that 
wake up. The orcs are fairly strong melee fighters and the priests are mages 
that favor shock spells. When they start to wake up, you can get in a few 
hits as they are standing up without fear of retaliation.

First, Erandur directs you to the library to find a book. Follow the quest 
marker to find it (it's on the balcony level). Afterwards, he leads you to 
the laboratory to find a potion. Again, it will be tagged with a quest 
marker. Also be sure to collect the numerous Daedra Hearts here. After 
speaking with Erandur, he tells you to drink the potion. Do so. 

You end up experiencing the memory of a priest named Casimir. Go through the 
dialogue and then follow the quest marker, taking the only available path. 
Don't worry about any of the orcs here; just run straight for your objective. 
Once you're there, pull the chain. After a few seconds, the dream ends. Take 
the soul gem from the pedestal to dissipate the barrier and let Erandur through.

At this point, Erandur will basically make a beeline for the Skull. He tends 
to ignore any enemies that wake up, so it's up to you to take them out. 
Simply follow the only path forward (it's the same path you took in the 
dream, only backwards) until you reach the Skull. When you do, two of 
Erandur's old buddies show up and attack you (you also find out that Casimir 
is, in fact, Erandur). Kill them both, and Erandur will begin a ritual to 
break the barrier around the Skull and destroy it.

At this point, Vaermina will speak to you. She tries to convince you that 
Erandur plans to betray you and take the Skull for himself, and asks you to 
kill him before he can complete his ritual. If you take Vaermina up on her 
offer, you get to take the Skull of Corruption for yourself. If you stay 
loyal to Erandur, he eventually succeeds in destroying the Skull, and you 
will be unable to receive the Skull of Corruption. Speak with him after the 
ritual is complete and he becomes a potential follower. You will be able to 
find him in the shrine to Mara at the entrance to this temple should you ever 
require his services.


================================================================================
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================================================================================

  _______ 
 (  ____ \
 | (    \/
 | |       
 | |      
 | |      
 | (____/\
 (_______/ hangelog                                                         #16
*------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

v1.04
-----
~ Added information to "Ill Met By Moonlight" on how to receive both rewards 
  (thanks to RSmit, Rinoki, and fusionpuppy for pointing this out).
~ Made it more clear that if you don't accept Vaermina's offer in "Waking 
  Nightmare", you do NOT receive the Skull of Corruption (thanks to 
  hmw_kamikaze for pointing out this oversight).

v1.03
-----
~ Fixed errors in "Discerning the Transmundane" and "A Night to Remember" 
  (thanks to IHIydra for pointing them out).
~ Fixed "House of Horrors" to reflect Radiant portion.
~ Added more information on where to find blood for "Discerning the 
  Transmundane".

v1.02
-----
~ Fixed damage/armor values for the Ebony Blade and Spellbreaker.
~ Added information about the Rueful Axe and Dawnbreaker.
~ Added information about the end of "Pieces of the Past".
~ Small update to "The Whispering Door" and "Waking Nightmare".
~ Fixed even more errors.

v1.01
-----
~ Updated The Black Star (item) and the Ebony Blade's descriptions with 
  explanations of possible bugs/unintended features associated with the items.
~ Updated information on the Ebony Blade and Dawnbreaker.
~ Added detailed instructions on how to find the Shrine of Azura.
~ Added more details to the Ilinalta's Deep section of "The Black Star".
~ Added more details on retrieving the dagger pieces in "Pieces of the Past".
~ Added more options for acquiring Daedra Hearts for "The Cursed Tribe".
~ Fixed various errors/bad wording.

v1.00
-----
~ Initial release.


================================================================================
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
================================================================================

  _______               _               _______ 
 (  ____ \             ( \             (  ____ \
 | (    \/             | (             | (    \/
 | |                   | |             | (_____ 
 | |                   | |             (_____  )
 | |                   | |                   ) |
 | (____/\             | (____/\       /\____) |
 (_______/ redits and  (_______/ egal  \_______)tuff                        #17
*------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

+ oryza162:
For helping me find some of the quests and confirming quest details.

+ The Elder Scrolls Wiki (elderscrolls.wikia.com):
For providing the bug workaround for "Waking Nightmare".

+ IHIydra:
For pointing out some errors in the FAQ.

+ RSmit, Rinoki, and fusionpuppy:
For informing me about how to get both rewards in "Ill Met By Moonlight".

+ hmw_kamikaze
For pointing out an oversight in the walkthrough for "Waking Nightmare".

And lastly, a huge thank you to Bethesda for making such a great game.

*------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

This FAQ is the property of the author, Charles Wang (aznricepuff) and may 
not be reproduced without the express permission of the author except for 
private use in its original, unaltered form.

The author gives permission to www.gamefaqs.com to host this FAQ.