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Something strange is going on in the mining village of Alavelis. Apparently the place is overrun with Daedric cultists. This may be related to the threads of fate Leramil asked me to investigate in the area.
Quick WalkthroughEdit
- Head to Alavelis
- Speak with Scruut
- Search the town for survivors
- Speak with Miner Sadalas
- Search the Green Glass Inn
- Investigate the Glass Mine and talk to Scruut
- Enter Apocrypha and track invaders
- Speak with Cipher Mukheesh and enter the Tranquil Catalog
- Gather three Sacred Tears to enter the Pool of Inquiry
- Eavesdrop on invaders
- Kill Kynreeve Ryl
- Use glyphic to read the Archived Tomes
- Leave the Tranquil Catalog and speak to Scruut
Detailed WalkthroughEdit
After you agree to assist Leramil the Wise with her investigation, you can begin the quest in one of two ways: You can enter through the portal to Alavelis that Leramil creates or you can find Miner Omalen by the Necrom Wayshrine.
Either way, when you arrive in Alavelis, you will encounter the Watchling Scruut, a servant of Hermaeus Mora. She will be found looking at the corpse of Cipher Zanseth, who summoned her. She seems somewhat despondent.
- "Not much to tell. I just arrived myself. This mortal served the Great Eye, but he died before he could tell me about the other Daedric cultists that scamper about.
They're creating an intolerable contradiction in reality. Makes my tentacles ache." - A contradiction in reality?
- "Something here undermines a fate recorded by Hermaeus Mora. Likely foolish mortals trying to change what has already been written. To fix this, I could use some help.
Hmm. It's common knowledge that mortals prize gold. Aid me and I'll give you some."
Scruut becomes your follower and can assist you in combat by activating her synergy. Head into town, where you will find cultists ransacking the place. You will hear Miner Sadalas from the town speaking of nightmares and insists you stay away. Scruut has some insight into her condition.
- "A mortal, damaged by a glimpse of the meaninglessness of the infinite. You should speak with them. I don't want to get any of that on my tentacles."
Sadalas relays what happened: "It started when a stranger came to town. A Telvanni master. She offered to purchase the old glass mine. I thought it was too good to be true. The mine closed years ago. But she offered us a chest full of gold and the village elders accepted it."
- What happened next?
- "Everyone in the village was given a job in the mine. Then others came. Masons and additional laborers, we thought. Then the dreams started. Nightmares. Toiling in the darkness. Working to cut malachite and stone for an arch and a statue."
- What arch and statue?
- "In the dream, they were building an arch in the mine while we dug out the glass and stone. What wasn't used for the arch was sent to restore a statue, at least that's what the overseer said.
We woke each morning exhausted, hands bloody." - Where's everyone now?
- "I don't know. But listen, the overseer and his workers…they're Daedra worshipers! They rounded up the villagers and took them away. I … I hid.
Check the Green Glass Inn. The cultists commandeered it. Now, please, I need to get out of here."
Head to the inn. As you enter, Scruut will comment on the misleading name of the building, as it's not made from green glass. Beyond people inside the inn, you can find a note from Kindred Rector Nyleth to Master Shelreni. It will reveal that a shrine to a Daedric Prince was uncovered by the mind-controlled miners, and they are about to restore it. It also reveals that Torvesard is involved with this operation. Scruut will ask if you are familiar with Shelreni, while Meln (if you have him with you) will say he should have known she would have been here as well.
Another letter from Master Shelreni will be addressed to an individual known as Kynreeve Ryl. This letter reveals their goal with this mine: to infiltrate Apocrypha without Hermaeus Mora being aware of it and to search for a door seen in a dream Torvesard had. This will immediately alarm Scruut, who will comment on the realization of the threat here.
- Scruut: "The Dreamcarvers plan to strike at Apocrypha? That must be the disturbance in fate that brought me here."
Further questions for her reveal additional insight:
- "Most of the time, the research I undertake is wasted, but my study of the area indicated that the mine runs underneath the village. The entrance lies to the east.
Hmm. Why do you bear the mark of my master, mortal? You don't seem to be a devotee." - I made a deal with Hermaeus Mora to save Apocrypha and Nirn. He called me fate's chosen.
- "Of course he did. Mortals always get the special titles. But who winds up doing all the work? Usually, that's me. Well, as long as we're both here, we might as well work together. What's the worst that could happen?
Never mind. I already know." - Any idea who this Torvesard is?
- "Hmm. Never heard of him. The letter we found claims he's an unaligned Dremora working with Vaermina and Peryite. And with Master Shelreni, too. It's highly unusual for a Dremora not to be dedicated to a clan or a Prince.
That mention of a dream …." - What about Torvesard's dream?
- "Another contradiction in a flood of discrepancies. Daedra don't normally dream. Not like mortals, at any rate. Not even the Dremora, who consider themselves above the rest of us.
I may need to look into this Torvesard when I return to Apocrypha."
Head to the glass mine, which will have large deposits of glass that were ignored by the mining operation here. Beyond the entrance and farther into the mine, Scruut has an important observation:
- "Malachite, volcanic glass that absorbs magicka under the right conditions. A good choice for building a gateway to Oblivion."
You will find a number of dead miners as you descend into the mines, as well as Hidden Kindred forces opposing you. Continue until you arrive at the Chamber of the Gate at the back of the mine, with multiple banners and the arched gateway in the center. Scruut will realize the gateway has already been used. She will also encourage you to investigate the site.
There will be Artisan Tools on the right and Oblivion Gateway Instructions on the left; the latter provide instructions as to how to open the portal to Apocrypha with this gateway. Talk to Scruut and she will explain the next steps:
- "I suppose we have no choice. We need to activate the gateway and follow Hermaeus Mora's enemies to Apocrypha. Such heroics aren't usually part of my duties, but so it goes.
I'll open the portal, then in we go." - You want me to accompany you to Apocrypha?
- "Did I use the wrong words, mortal? My investigation is incomplete. To find out what the Hidden Kindred seek in my master's realm, I must follow them. And since you agreed to assist me, you must follow me.
I like it less than you, believe me."
She will then approach the gateway and use the invocation you found. The gateway will then open, and can be entered. As expected, it takes you to Apocrypha. Beyond discussion of which way to go, Scruut will discuss how her skill set allowed her to track the invaders, even when Hermaeus Mora could not, if you ask:
- "It's almost imperceptible. If I didn't know what to look for, I would have missed it completely. It's sort of like an absence carving a path through the realm. No wonder the Great Eye hasn't noticed the intrusion yet.
We must hurry, mortal!"
Head to the south and you will find a dead Watcher:
- Scruut: "Poor Watcher. The invaders can't be too far ahead…the husk hasn't dissipated yet. The trail continues to the west, mortal."
Continue to follow her directions, and you will find more of the miners:
- Scruut: "Alavelisians, mortal. The contradiction they were compelled to create hangs heavy in the air. The trail continues west."
Continue west until Scruut realizes their destination: The Tranquil Catalog.
- Scruut: "The trail leads directly to the Tranquil Catalog. Oh no! Pick up the pace, mortal."
Unfortunately, your opponents had a significant time advantage, and you will find that Mora's local followers have already been defeated. However, a wounded Cipher is still standing at the entrance and threatens you under the assumption you are with the Hidden Kindred. Meln will speak up here if he is in your inventory:
- Meln the Mouthless: "This should be interesting. I was never allowed to visit the Tranquil Catalog before."
Speak with the surviving defender, Cipher Mukheesh, to learn more:
- "Invaders forced their way into the Tranquil Catalog. I think they were devotees of Peryite and Vaermina, but how could that be? And Dreamcarver Dremora accompanied them! They killed or drove off my fellow ciphers."
- Who are you and what is this place?
- "I am a humble cipher, a mortal scribe in service to the Great Eye. This is the Tranquil Catalog, a register and index of the contents of Apocrypha. Hermaeus Mora's enemies could wreak havoc with the information stored here!"
- Where can I find these invaders?
- "They scattered once they broke into the Catalog. But two headed toward the Pool of Inquiry—a Dreamcarver kynreeve and a second Dremora with markings the likes of which I've never seen.
Please. You bear the Great Eye's mark. Stop them."
Scruut is realizing what the invaders are after:
- What should I know about the Pool of Inquiry?
- "It's an index of sorts. Whatever the Hidden Kindred seek in Apocrypha, they must not know where to find it. So they've come to the Catalog to get an exact location.
The Pool of Inquiry contains such information—if they know how to retrieve it." - How do we stop them?
- "If they escape before we catch up to them, then we do what they did. Use the Pool of Inquiry to find them. The waters contain a record of everything in Apocrypha—which now includes these enemies of the Great Eye."
A few Hidden Kindred will be in your path, trying in vain to search through the countless books that cover every surface of the building, including the floor and ceiling. As in your previous fights, Scruut will assist you with her synergy in combat. You can find a letter from Blightcrown to Rector Nyleth. The instructions are for the Hidden Kindred to assist Torvesard and the Dreamcarvers -- and to complete the mission themselves if they are betrayed!
Continue through the hallway until you reach a portal, one with a broken Portal Seal. Scruut will comment on this when you find the shard of the Portal Seal, and if you speak to her:
- "The invaders shattered the portal's seal. We need to follow them to the Pool of Inquiry."
- "The invaders broke the seal and entered the Pool of Inquiry. As much as it pains me to say this, we must follow them, mortal."
On the other side, you can find the Pool of Inquiry, but you are once again too late. The pool has been used and, if you wish to use it yourself, you will need to replace the tears needed for it. Thankfully, the Ciphers left a note nearby explaining how to replenish the tears. You will need to visit nearby shrines of Hyrma Mora, Herma-Mora, and Hermorah. Even more conveniently, there are also portals to each shrine to make the trip faster. Each of the shrines are in a small area with a few Hidden Kindred guarding them. While going through the Ayleid shrine, you can find a copy of Uluscant's Manifesto; in the Khajiit shrine, you can find How Rajhin Stole the Book that Knows; in the Nord you will find Herma-Mora: The Woodland Man?.
Once you have collected a tear from each shrine, return to the pool and pour in the tears. It will reveal your goal to you. Scruut is clear about it:
- "See how the pool reveals our goal? The Tranquil Archives. Enter the pool and it will take us there."
- "The pool opens a portal to the place we need to go. We will find whatever the invaders seek through that gateway."
The portal will take you into the Tranquil Archives, and within sight of Torvesard.
- Torvesard: "This is the glyphic! Now I know where to find the memory of the dream your Prince helped me remember, despite your predilections, Ryl."
- Kynreeve Ryl: "Prince Vaermina commands me to punish Mora's servants, clanless. So I do."
- Torvesard: "Excessive and pointless, but I have what I came for. I'm leaving."
- Kynreeve Ryl: "Do what you will. I'll deal with our eavesdroppers."
This will begin a battle against the kynreeve, who will use Vaermina's power to entangle you. Scruut will summon tentacles to aid you, and Ryl will summon a Night Terror and mind-controlled Lurkers in return. With Vaermina's Dremora defeated, the glyphic that the clanless Dremora was after is your next objective. Thankfully, he left it behind for you. Scruut will open a path to it for you by creating a bridge. Finally, the glyphic is revealed to you, but Scruut cannot read it:
- "Torvesard went to great lengths to reach this glyphic, but it refuses to reveal its contents to me.
Examine the glyphic, mortal. Perhaps you'll have more success."
Activate it, and three tomes will suddenly appear. Going from left to right, you start with On the Pact Primordial, which is mostly unreadable. What you can get from it states that that a Daedric Prince is the ruler of their realm, and no Prince may travel to another realm without the invitation of the ruling Prince. Next is the book Dreams of the Forgotten. It states that forgotten knowledge is still known to Hermaeus Mora, and he keeps a record of all things forgotten. The last tome is Secret of the Tormenting Eye, a reference to Meln the Mouthless's Black Book. Only a single line from this one still remains, stating that it can be used to unlock something that was forgotten, and should stay that way.
- Scruut: "The Tormenting Eye? That's one of my master's Black Books."
- Meln the Mouthless: "That Dremora stole whatever was worth knowing here. Nothing left but the meaningless fragments. See what the Watchling makes of all this."
Speak with your Watchling companion about the damaged tomes in the glyphic:
- "Glyphics endure for eternity. I've never heard of any erasing themselves before. Very strange. Do you understand the text that remained, mortal? I found the words very disturbing."
- I'm not sure. What did you make of the three books?
- "One concerned the Pact Primordial. Could they be seeking a way to subvert that ancient restriction? The second mentioned lost dreams, such as the one Torvesard seeks to recover. It told of a place in Apocrypha to find such misplaced memories."
- But the exact location wasn't in the lines of text that remained.
- "No, but we have to assume Torvesard learned the location before the text faded away. The final book referred to one of Hermaeus Mora's most infamous Black Books—The Tormenting Eye. It said it contains a rite for unlocking dangerous secrets."
- Master Shelreni has the Black Book. Tell me about the significance of the Pact Primordial.
- "The pact refers to ancient laws that bind the Daedric Princes. No Prince may physically intrude in another's realm. Everyone knows that. Well, perhaps not mortals.
That they sought out that tome tells us something important." - What does it tell us?
- "The invaders found a way to enter Apocrypha undetected. Perhaps they hope to open a path for one or more of the rival Princes? That would be disastrous!
There's nothing more we can do here. It's time to exit the Tranquil Catalog." - All right. I'll meet you outside.
Scruut will simplify your escape from this location by providing a portal. Outside, speak with Scruut to complete the quest. She will then be interrupted by Hermaeus Mora wanting to use her body to talk to you:
- "Know that the Prince of Secrets addresses you, chosen of fate. I can observe through my Watchlings' eyes, speak through them. Even act through them when necessary.
You and Scruut uncovered a threat before even I became aware of it. That concerns me." - Torvesard and the Hidden Kindred found a way to enter Apocrypha undetected.
- "But you and Scruut were not fooled. For that, I give you a gift. So that I may better aid you against this ongoing threat to my realm and yours, I will make this Watchling available to you for the duration of our agreement.
Now, Leramil comes."
As Hermaeus Mora said through Scruut, Leramil the Wise will appear and send you to the next step of the Fate's Proxy umbrella quest.
NotesEdit
- Once you enter the Tranquil Catalog, you'll need to finish all steps and sub-steps within, including those of the connected maps, without logging off, or you'll have to start this entire portion of the quest over from the front door of the Tranquil Catalog.
- If you fall off the catwalk on the Shrine of Hermorah map, or fall off the bridges on the Tranquil Archives map, you'll die. The respawn point is back at the beginning of the Tranquil Catalog map, but you won't have to start this portion of the quest over; you can just run back through the portals to the point where you fell. There is no respawn shrine physically present in-game.
Quest StagesEdit
| Fate's Lost Dream | |
|---|---|
| Finishes Quest | Journal Entry |
| I should make my way to Alavelis and look into the miner's story. Daedric cultists certainly sound like something that may be connected to the threads of fate I'm supposed to investigate.
Objective: Go to Alavelis
|
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| I found a strange creature on the outskirts of Alavelis. It might know something about what happened here.
Objective: Talk to Scruut
|
|
 |
Scruut suggested searching Alavelis to find survivors or learn more about what the cultists want here. I should look around.
Objective: Search Alavelis
|
| Scruut and I found a surviving miner hiding in Alavelis. I should speak to her.
Objective: Talk to Miner Sadalas
|
|
| Miner Sadalas told me the villagers were enslaved in their sleep and forced to build an arch in the mine. She doesn't know where everyone else is, but suggested we check the village inn.
Objective: Go to the Green Glass Inn
|
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| It appears that the Hidden Kindred cultist turned the Green Glass Inn into some sort of a base of operations here in the village. I should search for clues about their intentions here.
Objective: Search the Green Glass Inn
Objective: Search the Inn: 0/2
|
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| In the Green Glass Inn I found several clues about the Hidden Kindred and their intentions in Alavelis. I should talk to Scruut about what we learned.
Objective: Talk to Scruut
|
|
| Scruut and I learned the Hidden Kindred built a gateway to Apocrypha in the glass mine of Alavelis. I should go investigate.
Objective: Go to the Alavelis Glass Mine
|
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| I entered the glass mine of Alavelis. I should look for the gateway the villagers were forced to build here.
Objective: Search the Glass Mine
|
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| I found a chamber in the Alavelis glass mine that contains an arched gateway. I should look around to see if the Hidden Kindred left any clues behind.
Objective: Investigate the Chamber of the Gate: 0/2
|
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| We found the instructions to activate the gateway to Apocrypha. I should talk to Scruut and see if she can cast the invocation.
Objective: Talk to Scruut
|
|
| Scruut activated the gateway and opened a portal to Apocrypha. I should use the portal and see where it leads.
Objective: Enter the Portal to Apocrypha
|
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| Scruut senses that the invaders have headed south. I should follow their trail and see where they're going.
Objective: Follow the Invaders' Trail
|
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| The trail led us to a wounded mortal scribe outside a place called the Tranquil Catalog. I should ask him what happened here.
Objective: Talk to Cipher Mukheesh
|
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| Scruut believes Vaermina's servants are searching the Tranquil Catalog for the location of the secret they want to steal from Apocrypha. We need to go in and stop them.
Objective: Enter the Tranquil Catalog
Optional Step: Talk to Scruut
|
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| Scruut and I entered the Tranquil Catalog. We need to find the invaders who headed for the Pool of Inquiry.
Objective: Search the Tranquil Catalog
Hidden Objective: Pursue Vaermina's Servants
|
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| The portal to the Pool of Inquiry has been unsealed by the invaders. I should go through the portal and follow them.
Objective: Go to the Pool of Inquiry
|
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| We entered the Pool of Inquiry but something's wrong. Scruut wants me to look around and find tears of some sort.
Objective: Search the Area
|
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| I need to go to three different shrines, each dedicated to a different aspect of Hermaeus Mora, in order to replenish the sacred tears and use the waters of scrying in the Pool of Inquiry.
Objective: Gather Hermaeus Mora's Sacred Tears: 0/3
|
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| I gathered three sacred tears from the manifestations of Hermaeus Mora. Now I must place them in the pool to access the waters of scrying.
Objective: Place Sacred Tears in the Pool
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| I placed the sacred tears of Hermaeus Mora in the pool, opening a portal to the Tranquil Archives. Whatever the invaders seek is on the other side.
Objective: Enter the Pool Portal
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| The Pool of Inquiry led us to a place Scruut calls the Tranquil Archives. We must find and confront the invaders.
Objective: Confront the Invaders
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| I found Kynreeve Ryl and Torvesard examining a glyphic in the archives. Torvesard departed, but Kynreeve Ryl stayed behind to face me. I need to defeat him to get to the glyphic
Objective: Kill Kynreeve Ryl
|
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| I defeated Kynreeve Ryl of the Dreamcarvers. I should examine the glyphic and see if I can learn what Torvesard sought in this place.
Objective: Activate the Glyphic
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| The glyphic held memories of three books. Torvesard found something important here. I should examine them.
Objective: Examine the Archived Tomes: 1/3
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| The books archived in the glyphic were mostly erased of the information they once held. I should talk to Scruut and see if she can make sense of what remained.
Objective: Talk to Scruut
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| Now that we're finished in the Tranquil Catalog, it's time to leave.
Objective: Leave the Tranquil Catalog
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|
 |
Torvesard came to Apocrypha to examine three secret tomes related to lost dreams, a Black Book, and a pact between the Daedric Princes. I should talk to Scruut about all this.
Objective: Talk to Scruut
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<Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the game and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
- Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
- Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
