Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Daedric Shrines Walkthrough By: LordMaChao Version 1.1 Copyrighted 2006 (The Nine Divines are boring. Daedra? They're NEVER boring.) ---Table of Contents--- I. Intro II. Copyright Information III. Version Info IV. Azura's Shrine V. Boethia's Shrine VI. Calvicus Vile's Shrine VII. Hermaeus Mora's Shrine VIII. Hircine's Shrine IX. Malacath's Shrine X. Mephala's Shrine XI. Meridia's Shrine XII. Molag Bol's Shrine XIII. Namira's Shrine XIV. Nocturnal's Shrine XV. Peryite's Shrine XVI. Sanguine's Shrine XVII. Sheogorath's Shrine XVIII. Vaermina's Shrine XIX. Martin's Need for an Artifact XX. Thanks --------------------------------------------------- I. Intro --------------------------------------------------- Daedra Shrines are located all throughout Cyrodiil. All of them offer extremely useful rewards, but the task of getting them is rarely easy. So, to make it a little easier on you, I took the 'thought' process out of the equation! All you need to do now is execute the commands, not figure them out. I'm a charitable guy. First of all, just let me explain that nearly all the Shrine's have a requirement to summon them, be it an item or a very skill you have. To start each of these quests, you need to talk to the lead follower, who will tell you the requirements needed to summon the Daedric lord. After you do summon them, they'll give you a quest, and upon completing it you will be rewarded and the followers will like you a little bit more. If you're looking for just a specific shrine here, just press CRTL + F and type in the name of the shrine or the roman numeral next to it on the table of contents. That'll skip all the parts you're not interested in. --------------------------------------------------- II. Copyright Information --------------------------------------------------- Listen, if there's anything more annoying than people taking credit for other's work, I haven't found it yet. I've only sent this FAQ to Neoseeker. If you want to send it somewhere else, please contact me at masu269@yahoo.com or mknightb@yahoo.com. You can even AIM me at Ma Su269. Otherwise, you're free to print it out and use it. Don't sell it though. Seriously though, if you actually ARE able to sell it where you live, that's freaking amazing. Remember, just don't go around saying you wrote this thing or host it on another site. It'll only cause a huge pain in the ass to BOTH of us if you do so. --------------------------------------------------- III. Version Info --------------------------------------------------- Version 1.0: Wrote the whole thing. If you find any mistakes you want me to fix, please contact me and I'll fix it in a future update. Version 1.1: Fixed various typos, fixed 'How to get a Black Soul Gem'. --------------------------------------------------- IV. Azura's Shrine --------------------------------------------------- Location: On the map, North of Cheydinhal and East of Bruma, near a mountain range, you'll see the words 'County Cheydinhal.' Azura's Shrine is located just above the N in County. It's also South West of the Temple of the Anscestor Moths, West of Aerin's camp, North West of Lord Rugdumph's Estate and North East of Gutted Mine. If you draw a straight line East of Namira's shrine, it will intersect with Azure's shrine on the map. Offering/Requirement: Gold Dust. Gold Dust can be found from Will-o-the-wisps, which can be found behind Azura's followers on the road. You can also simply buy the Gold Dust from All Things Alchemical in Skingrad. Level Requirement: 2 Walkthrough: After you summon Azura, she'll explain how some of her followers killed the vampire Dratik in the Gutted Mine a very long time ago. However, there was a terrible price: they were turned into Vampires themselves. They've been sealed in the Gutted Mine for many years now and Azura wants you to do the compassionate thing and end their lives. Set this as your active quest and follow the marker to the Gutted Mine, which is directly South West of the shrine. Upon entering, you should encounter Vampires right away. There isn't much I can tell you, as everyone has a different fighting style, other than to be prepared for unfair 2 against 1 odds. There aren't many in the Mine, and once you dispose of all of them, head back to the shrine for your reward. Artifact Reward: Azura's Star, which is a Grand Soul Gem with unlimited Uses. --------------------------------------------------- V. Boethia's Shrine --------------------------------------------------- Location: South of Cheydinal and East of the Reed River. This one is hard to locate, as if you're too far West you'll be blocked by hills. I suggest you go out of Cheydinhal's East Gate and head East until you hit either Rickety Mine or Kemen. At this point, if you go directly south, you'll get to Hero Hill. At that point, go a little North East until you reach the fort ruins of Fort Scinia. Now, go directly South. If you've reached the Doomed Mine, you're off the mountain, and it might be tough to get back up. Here is where it will get a little tricky. On the map, you'll notice that to the East of Doomed Mine (if you don't have that located, it's on the East edge of the map) will be the words 'The Valus Mountains.' Directly West of the letter M in Mountains will be the Shrine. If you go South East of Fort Scinia, being sure to stay on top of the mountains, you can reach it from this point. A tough one to locate indeed. Offering/Requirement: Daedra Heart. Can be found in some alchemist shops or in a Oblivion plane. Level Requirement: 20 Walkthrough: Once you give the offering to Boethia, he'll tell you to participate in the Tournament of Ten Bloods. A gate will open next to you and, when you think you're ready to take on ten different gladiators, you can enter it. Go through the gate Boethia tells you to and you'll fight one of his chosen ones. The fights shouldn't be too challenging and you'll get a lot of loot from it, as well as some pretty good arrows from the archer chosen ones. Just repeat this process ten times, until you're the only one left, and you will have won the Tournament of Ten Bloods. Exit the arena and talk to Boethia to get your reward. Artifact Reward: Goldbrand. Fire damage 22 points on strike. --------------------------------------------------- VI. Calvicus Vile's Shrine --------------------------------------------------- Location: Go out of Imperial City and stand near the Chestnut Handy Stables. Go across the bridge and head South, following the road most near the river, until you reach Fort Virtue. The road to the West of Fort Virtue will make an upside down U and in the middle of it will be Vile's shrine. Offering/Requirement: 500 Gold. You can pick that out of your ass by level 20, probably. Level Requirement: 20 (!) IMPORTANT SPECIAL NOTE!!!!!!!: This is before a patch has been released and there is a serious bug dealing with this quest. Barbas, Vile's dog, causes the game to freeze upon completing the quest. If a patch has NOT been released or you HAVEN'T downloaded one, you CAN'T finish this quest if the dog is in your inventory. To avoid this, do NOT accept the quest and head directly to the Vindasel ruins. To get there, head East of the Shrine until you hit the road. Once you get on the road, follow it South East. The ruins are literally on top of the road near an island. Kill Umbra inside it, take her sword and armor, and then head to the Shrine. Talk to the lead worshiper and give/do not give Vile the sword right away. This avoids the glitch. Walkthrough: Clavicus Vile and Umbra go way back... and he wants the sword back. That's right, Umbra, the sword is back after making a quick trip to Morrowind. He has no idea who holds it or where, but suggests you go to Pell's Gate. Upon hearing this, Vile's dog, named Barbas, will beg you to ignore Vile's request. He says giving him the sword is a huge mistake, likely to bring ruin to Vile's realm. As you reflect on that, head to Pell's Gate and talk to someone. They'll tell you the holder of Umbra was once a member of the town, but after finding the sword, became a bloodthirsty maniac. She joined mercenaries and any other group that would offer her a chance to kill. They say she was last seen in the Vindasel Ruins. Make your way to the ruins and get to Umbra. She tells you about how many women and children she killed (a great conversation starter and pick up line) and offers you a choice: stay and fight or leave. Well, such an egotistical statement couldn't possibly be tolerated by you, could it? Right!? I hope so. Anyway, if you tell her you want to fight, Barbas speaks to you again, saying you haven't got a chance. He's so pessimistic. Umbra can disarm you easily if you attack her with a melee weapon while she blocks, so be very careful about when you swing. If you manage to beat her, Barbas begs you to keep the sword or anything but give it to Vile. Make your decision and head to the Shrine. Vile demands the sword, and you can either say yes or no. If you say yes, you get his mask and his gratitude. He says you might run into him again some time. If you say no, he becomes furious and exclaims he'll be watching you, and waiting. Keep your eyes peeled. Artifact Reward: Clavicus Vile's Mask/Umbra. His mask offers a constant effect of +20 Personality. If you refuse to give him the sword, Umbra is one of the strongest swords in the game and offers Soul Trap for 120 seconds on strike. --------------------------------------------------- VII. Hermaeus Mora's Shrine --------------------------------------------------- Location: Will be placed on map upon meeting the requirement. Offering/Requirement: Complete all the other Shrine quests, finish 'Blood of a Daedra' main quest and sleep. Level Requirement: Unknown. Walkthrough: I'm terribly sorry, but a glitch is preventing me from getting this far. I have completed every shrine but Viles. As I mention in his walkthrough, a glitch will freeze the game upon completion, and there is no way for me to avoid it as I saved midway through. Once a patch is released, rest assured I'll get this to you as soon as I can. Artifact Reward: Unknown. --------------------------------------------------- VIII. Hircine's Shrine --------------------------------------------------- Location: Find the words 'The Nibenay Valley' South of the Imperial City near the Upper Niban River. Hircine's shrine is just West of the letter N in Nibenay. Offering/Requirement: A Wolf or Bear Pelt. Tons of bears can be found near his shrine, just run around. Level Requirement: 17 Walkthrough: Hircine will ask for one thing almost right away: the horn of a unicorn. Luckily, there just so happens to be one not very far away, in Harcane Grove. Follow your marker there and get ready for a fight, because two Minotaurs guard the unicorn. Not only that, but if your weapon is drawn, the unicorn will attack you as well. Many people talk about finding the unicorn and actually using it as their main horse. However, I found not being able to wield a weapon anywhere near it to be annoying as hell. Don't feel bad killing it. Take out the guards and eventually the unicorn. Check the unicorn's body and there will be its horn. Bring it to Hircine and he'll give you his reward. Artifact Reward: Savoriour's Hide. Light chest armor, it has a constant effect of resist Magic 25% on self. It's very light and offers a decent amount of protection. --------------------------------------------------- IX. Malacath's Shrine --------------------------------------------------- Location: Go to Anvil and exit through the Main Gate. Follow the road North until you hit the Hrota Cave. Go DIRECTLY North until you find Lord Drad's Estate. North West of Lord Drad's Estate is Malacath's Shrine. If you find Fort Sutch, you're too far East. Go directly West from Fort Sutch and you'll hit the Shrine. Offering/Requirement: Troll Fat. Trolls can be found in a few caves and out in the woods. However, if you don't want to look, you can always try some Mage Guilds or the 'All Things Alchemical' shop in Skingrad. Level Requirement: 10 Walkthrough: Malacath is pissed. Some of his Ogre brothers and been enslaved by Lord Drad, and he wants them freed. Go to Lord Drad's estate (very close by, follow the marker) and just walk in to Lord Drad's estate. You might have to just break in, the door is almost always locked. He'll be pissed at first, but just engage him in conversation. Talk about the enslaved Ogres and do NOT tell him slavery is wrong. Tell him how much you like the idea. He'll boast about how much money it saves him and tell you the location of the Bleak Mine they're located at. Quickly leave the estate (you're still kinda trespassing) and head to the mine. Break into it and don't talk to the guards. They won't be happy you're there, but they shouldn't attack. Find the ogre's cage and unlock the gate (key can be on guards body is you really want a fight) and they'll walk right on out. They'll attack the guards and ignore you, so it's free loot for you. The first wave of ogres you release might be completely wiped out by the guards, but it doesn't matter. Free the next group, watch as they plow through the weakened guards, and the quest will be finished. Not so tough, huh? Go to the shrine for your reward. Artifact Reward: Volendrung. A hammer with Paralyze for 3 seconds on strike and Drain Health for 5 points for 20 seconds on strike. --------------------------------------------------- X. Mephala's Shrine --------------------------------------------------- Location: Go to Bruma and exit through its East Gate. Follow the road East and then start to head South. Follow the road South until you reach Toadstool Hollow. After you see it, head directly East until you reach the Red Ruby Cave. At this point, if you go directly South as straight as an arrow, you will run into Mephala's shrine. Offering/Requirement: Nightshade. Again, my favorite shop, the 'All Things Alchemical' sells Nightshades if you can't locate it. Level Requirement: 15 Walkthrough: Mephala is another Daedra who hates boring towns. Bleaker's Way is a boring town, and she wants it to be less boring. She wants you to kill leaders of both of the families, which will cause an all out war. You CANNOT be seen at all doing the killings, or the entire quest is ruined. This is no problem, though. Enter the town late at night, 11 pm is a good time to start. Follow your marker to Bleaker's Inn and head to the local Inn. Talk to the Inn keeper and ask about the families. They'll tell you all about them. The two clans are the Nordic clan (Ulfgar family) and the Dark Elf clan called the Dalvilu family. You are to kill the clan leaders and plant evidence that the other clan did it. Sounds fun, right? Head to Hrol Ulfgar's house first. Do NOT kill him yet. He lives alone and if you started this quest at 11PM as I suggested, he and the rest of the town will be asleep. In Hrol's house will be the Ulfgar family ring. Find it and exit his house right away. Run to Nivan Dalvilu's house and find his ceremonial dagger, which will be on a table in plain sight near him. Quickly kill him. Check his body for gold and plant that ring you took earlier into his body. This will frame the Nordic clan. Quickly run back to Hrol's house and kill him as well. Plant the dagger on his body (no need to actually kill him with it). Leave his house and someone should be waiting right by the door for you. Don't worry, he doesn't know you did the killings, he's just ready for war. Tell him about the killings and Watch as everyone wields a weapon and the entire town is attacking each other. Ulfgar Vs Dalvilu! I'm taking all bets on who will win (I accept PayPal). It doesn't matter who wins in the end, but once an entire family is killed, the quest will be over. Head to Mephala's Shrine for your reward. Artifact Reward: Ebony Blade. Silence for 10 Seconds on strike and Absorb Health 8 points on strike. --------------------------------------------------- XI. Meridia's Shrine --------------------------------------------------- Location: Go to Skingrad and exit out the West Gate. Follow the road West until you hit the Cursed Mine (it's directly West of the gate, the road will be straight, you won't need to make a turn anywhere). At this point, if you head directly West and a tiny bit North, you'll find Meridia's Shrine. Offering/Requirement: Remains of something undead. From a zombie, ghost or Skeleton, it doesn't matter. Bonemeal is the most common. Level Requirement: 10 Walkthrough: Meridia is no fan of the undead and those who create them. She has discovered a team of Necromancers that have been stealing corpses from a graveyard, and she wants every one of them and their creations dead. Head to the Howling Cave (follow your marker) and enter the cave once you get there. Get your way through the weak animals that block your way to the secret door at the other end of the cave and Meridia will open it for you. BEFORE you enter, be ready to take on a huge load of Necromancers, Liches, Zombies and ghosts, most of whom just summon even more people for you to fight. This may be tough to do, but you have to try and ignore anything that is summoned, as they are innumerable and will only come right back. Attack the Necromancers first and work your way down until every one of them is dead. It was a tough fight, but the Necromancers carry plenty of healing potions, so don't be afraid to drink them if you get low on health. After you kill each one, head back to the shrine, where you will be rewarded. Artifact Reward: Ring of the Khajiiti. Fortify Speed +10 and chameleon 35% on self, constant effect. --------------------------------------------------- XII. Molag Bol's Shrine --------------------------------------------------- Location: This one may seem far away, but it involves a lot of 90 degree turns, something very nice. Exit Imperial City and head across the bridge until you hit Weye. At this point, continue going West as straight as an arrow until you reach the Nirfinsel ruins (you'll pass through Breakneck Cave). If you go directly South from Nirfinsel Ruins you'll hit the shrine. Offering/Requirement: Lion Pelt. Lion's are actually relatively close to the shrine, but it may depend on your level. I suggest you travel to an area where you have encountered Lions before. Level Requirement: 17 Walkthrough: Molag Bol is not a fan of Meius Petilius, a local hero of the Bindle Home. He wants you to die by Petilius' hands to forever corrupt his once pure soul. Follow your marker to the Bindle Home and talk to some of the townsfolk. One will eventually tell you all about him. It turns out that Petilius is a warrior who saved the town on numerous occasions, fighting off Goblins and Minotaurs. One day though, while off fighting, Vena, his wife, passed away from a disease. He never forgave himself for not being by her side and swore he'll never pick up a weapon again. He lives in a shack near town and is almost always by his wife's grave. If he isn't when you approach his house, wait for a few hours and he'll be there. To get him to kill you is very easy. Walk up to the grave and drop the Cursed Mace on it. Take off your armor and punch Petilius right in the face. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't tolerate that at my Wife's grave either. He picks up the mace and all you need to do is sit back as he pounds the crap out of you. Eventually, once you die, you'll be teleported back to Molag Bol's shrine, as he promised he would revive you, and you'll get the reward. Artifact Reward: Mace of Molag Bol. Abosrb Strength 5 points on strike and absorb Magika 5 points on strike. --------------------------------------------------- XIII. Namira's Shrine --------------------------------------------------- Location: West of Bruma you'll see the words 'County Bruma' on the map. Directly West of the letter B in Bruma is the shrine. Offering/Requirement: Make yourself... less attractive. To do this, you need to have your personality lowered to 20. How do you do this? Buy some cheap wine. Sinderion, who lives in the basement of an Inn in Skingrad, sells plenty of cheap wine. You can just go to most other bar keeps as well. Level Requirement: 5 Walkthrough: The forgotten are a group of ugly bastards who live in the darkness of the Anga wallowing in their own self pity. However, priests of Arkay have come to try and show these people the 'light' and are bearing torches, offering them help. THOSE BASTARDS! Namira gives you a spell that will weaken the priests and distinguish their torches. The forgotten will... finish the job. Head to Anga, following the quest marker, and enter the ruins. No need to be sneaky, the priests can see you clearly and don't care that you're there. Cast the spell right in their face and the Forgotten, with clubs ready, will beat the living crap out of the Holy Men. They'll beg for mercy and all, but it doesn't help. Do this to each of the priests and the reward is yours. Head back to Namira for the artifact once this is done. Artifact Reward: Ring of Namira. Reflect Damage 12% on self and reflect spell 10% on self, each a constant effect. It can be very useful, making you nearly immune to spells with the Mundane Ring. --------------------------------------------------- XIV. Nocturnal's Shrine --------------------------------------------------- Location: Go to Leyawiin and head out the North East gate. Follow the road around the bend and then directly North. It's a long trip, but the shrine is right next to the road. Offering/Requirement: None. Level Requirement: 10 Walkthrough: Speak to the followers and walk across the bridge to the shrine. Nocturnal explains her eye has been stolen (first Gray Fox, now this. Get a better security system, Nocturnal) by thieves who reside in Leyawiin. She has no idea who exactly stole it, so you'll need to do some detective work. All you need do is walk into Leyawiin and talk to a guard next to the gate. Talk about the eye, rumors and Leyawiin itself. One will reveal that the guard heard Weebam-Na and Bejeen talking about a jewel they 'found' that would make them rich. Find Weebam-Na's house (they both live together) and speak to each about the eye. They will deny knowing anything about it. Exit the house, go into sneak mode and walk back in. Be SURE not to move into their line of sight. Hell, you don't even need to see them for this part. Simply walk forward a little bit, staying close to the wall on your left, and listen to them talk. They'll explain they hid it in the Tidewater Cave. Follow your marker to that cave and enter it. There shouldn't be many enemies in there, but be ready for a fight. The eye is pretty huge and will be underwater. Grab it and head back to the shrine for one of the best artifacts. Nocturnal will thank you and give you your reward. Artifact Reward: Skeleton Key. This is an unbreakable lockpick that, when in your inventory, offers +40 to security. --------------------------------------------------- XV. Peryite's Shrine --------------------------------------------------- Location: East of Bravil you'll find the words 'Silverfish River.' Right next to the R in River is the shrine. Offering/Requirement: None! Level Requirement: 10 Walkthrough: Peryite's five followers have attempted to become closer to him, but have lost their souls in the plane of Oblivion in the process. Peryite finds it pathetic, but wants you to reunite their souls anyway. He'll tell you about this and give you a minuet to prepare yourself. Gather anything you think you'll need and talk to him again once you want to be teleported. Once you talk to him, you'll be teleported into one hell of a maze form of oblivion. I can't give you a step by step process to finding each of them, as we all have our different ways. I can, however, give you a few tips. You'll come across a building. There's nothing important in it, no gate lever or anything, so don't freak out if you don't find anything. You'll also find a few gates to caves. These also aren't needed, but there's loot inside you might find useful. Also, remember this one: a follower is stuck on an island. To get to this guy, you'll need to jump across small rocks on the lava that create a path to him. Once you find each follower, Peryite will create a gate for you to get back to his shrine. This might be a pain to get to depending on which follower was your last to save, but upon entering it, activate Peryite's shrine for the reward. Artifact Reward: Spell Breaker. A shield with Reflect Spell 30% on self, a constant effect. --------------------------------------------------- XVI. Sanguine's Shrine --------------------------------------------------- Location: This one is in the middle of nowhere. All I can say is go to Skingrad and head out the West Gate. Go directly North until you hit the Bleak Flats Cave. At this point, go North West and you'll hit the shrine. It's a little bit further North that it is West, so don't go nuts heading West, try to lean more toward North. Offering/Requirement: Cyrodilic Brandy. I can't specify where I found mine as I can't remember. The most commonly referred to place is Imperial City 'The Main Ingrediant', though. You might have to break into some houses to steal one. Level Requirement: 8 Special Note: Be either on good terms with the guards to skip out on a jail time, or be ready to spend a little time in jail. It's hard to avoid, as the spell in this quest does 1 point of damage, counting as assault. Walkthrough: Sanguine wants you to make one of the Leyawiin Countess' dinner parties a little less boring. To do so, he gives you a spell called 'Starked Reality' and tells you to go to Leyawiin but to watch out, as the party is invite only. To get to the party, head to the Leyawiin castle at 8PM and talk to the guard in front of the Dinner Room door. He'll tell you you're not on the list and that you can't go in, but sweet talking him or bribing him until you likes you will get you into that party. Be dressed for the occasion too, which means no crappy cloths. Decent armor or clothing will do it. Once you get into the room, be SURE that there are six people in the room: four guests, the countess and her aide. If those six people are there, walk up to the countess and cast the spell Sanguine gave you on her. Wait a second and everyone in the room is naked! If you did it correctly and everyone was in the room, you'll get a message to go to Sanguine's shine. Remember, as I said, this counts as assault and you may have to do jail time. Since all of your items disappeared as well, that means your stolen items won't be taken as evidence BUT it means you can't pay the fine to skip out on jail. I was on good terms with the guards, so they let me go on this one, but you may not be. Just be prepared. After you get the message you completed the quest, go to the shrine and get your reward. Don't worry about your items, Sanguine explains that they're in a chest. Look behind a bench near the shrine and every item of yours will be there, from your cash to your torches. Artifact Reward: Rose of Sanguine. 'Sanguine Rose on Target.' What does this do, you ask? Once you cast it on a target a Deadra will be summoned to help you. --------------------------------------------------- XVII. Sheogorath's Shrine --------------------------------------------------- Location: Go to Leyawiin and head out of the West Gate. From here, follow the road directly North until you hit Water's Edge, a town that's literally on the road. From here, go North West and you'll find the shrine. If you end up crossing the River, you've gone too far. Offering/Requirement: Yarn, Head of Lettuce, Lesser Soul Gem. Yarn can be found in nearly any house in a barrel or box, I'd check basements. Lettuce can be found in some Mage Guilds where they sell it for around 2 gold, various Inns, random houses and Alchemy shops. My favorite place to buy items like this is All Things Alchemical in Skingrad, if you're hopeless and can't find one in a Mage Guild or Inn. A Lesser Soul Gem is another thing sold in some Mage Guilds, try Chorrol. Suggested items: If you have very low sneaking and security, I suggest a Weak Potion of Invisibility, which can be purchased at Leyawiin. Level Requirement: 2 Walkthrough: Talk to Ferul Ravel at the shrine to start this quest. Hell, talk to all the followers, some of the funniest parts of the game are in this very quest. After you give the offerings to Sheogorath, he'll threaten to turn you into a goat, but then realizes you can have some use. He explains that a town called Border Watch is very boring and very religious. To spice things up there, he wants you to take one of their crazy prophecies and make it true. Make your way to Border Watch, which is easily walking distance away, and speak to Ri'bassa, the town shaman. He's usually located near the Inn near the cooking pot. Speak to him about the K'sharra prophecy and he'll gladly tell you all about it. The first sign is a Vermin Infestation (Rats, he says, but he has plenty of rat poison) and the second is a plague, which will kill all the livestock first. After the third sign, which he doesn't explain very well, the world will end. After he's done telling you all about the prophecy, he suggests you check out the town Inn, whose owner has an obsession with cheese. Do what he says and enter the Inn, talk to the keeper about her cheese. She'll explain that she has some of the most potent cheese in the world, the Olroy cheese. If cooked, it would attract rats almost instantly. Very convenient. The Display case, which only contains ONE cheese (she has multiple display cases), is directly next to her. I suggest, as this point, if you're low on sneaking, to use the weak potion of invisibility I mentioned earlier. Once you open the case it will be void, however, but it can be useful as it's literally feet away from the Inn keeper. Now, after you take the Olroy cheese, run out of the Inn and look to the right. There should be a cooking pot. With the cheese in your inventory, activate the cooking pot. Wait a few minuets and an army of rats will run into the town. Try not to get all antsy in your pantsy and avoid attacking them until Ri'bassa uses that rat poison he mentioned earlier. After he uses it, all the rats will die and piles of rat poison will be left on the ground. Hm... rat poison... livestock being killed first by the plague... convenient. Take the rat poison and head to the sheep, which will be to the right of the Inn. There will be a feeding trough in the center of the fenced in area. Activate it with the poison in your inventory and wait an hour or so. The sheep will eventually die (sad, I know). Sheogorath will be pleased, but says there's still that final sign to take care of. He tells you to go to the center of town and enjoy the show. Follow the marker to the center of town and be sure to look up... the final sign is fear, and Sheogorath decided the best way to induce this fear is rain of fiery dogs! The townsfolk will absolutely freak at this, and run to their houses in sheer panic. At this point, the prophecy is fulfilled. Speak to Sheogorath and he'll award you the Wabbajack, and tell you to leave before he kills you. Side Note: Be sure to read recent editions of the Black Courier, who try and explain the 'poor weather.' '... perhaps the dogs were swept up in a great wind and hurled into the sky... but that still doesn't explain why they were on fire' said one magician. It's funny stuff. It also makes a reference to a mage in Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, who made a scroll that heavily boosted your acrobatics. Sadly, it would run out before he hit the ground, causing him to die. Artifact Reward: Wabbajack (Wabbajack on target). I know what you're thinking... wabbajack on target? Sheogorath's trade mark is turning people into different animals, and that's what this staff does. Try it out on some random animal, it'll change into another creature! This can be useful if fighting an Ogre and he turns into an imp. It's also pretty entertaining. --------------------------------------------------- XVIII. Vaermina's Shrine --------------------------------------------------- Location: South of Cheydinhal is Lake Poppad. On the North East coast on the lake is the shrine. Offering/Requirement: Black Soul Gem. Here's the golden question: how do you get one? Well, it's kind of simple. Just go to the Echo Mine (West of Cloud Ruler Temple), insert a Grand Soul Gem into the altar by the gate, and cast a Soul Trap on the altar. That'll make a Black Soul Gem. Take it out of the altar. Level Requirement: 5 Walkthrough: Vaermina's Orb has been stolen by the wizard Arkved, and she wants it back. Make your way to Arkved's tower, which is directly South of the shrine, and be ready for some pretty twisted sights. It'll start off like normal ruins, but you'll soon find yourself on top of cliffs with endless pits, a replica of the castle surrounded by lava, an endless sight of dead bodies hung up by endless strings above endless pits, and even a room with gigantic furniture. It's interesting to say the least, be sure to check out as much as you can. If you run into a door that the marker indicates isn't the way to the quest, don't worry about entering it, they all lead to dead ends. After you fight your way to the end of the tower, you'll find yourself in Arkved's room. Don't worry, he's unconscious in his bed, once you read his notes you learn he's another one of those people that takes trips into his dreams. The orb will be on the table near him. Take it and exit through the door on the other side of the room to somehow appear right where you started inside the ruins of the castle. A real trippy place. Make your way back to the shrine to get your reward. Artifact Reward: Skull of Corruption. A staff which has an effect of Corruption for 30 seconds on target. What does that do? It creates an evil clone of whoever you cast it on that fights for you. The clone is exactly the same as whoever you casted it on, from the cloths to the weapons and powers. It can be pretty useful, if not entertaining. --------------------------------------------------- XX. Martin's Need for an Artifact --------------------------------------------------- During the Main quest, Martin will need an artifact in order to open up Paradise. However, as he says, it can be any one of the artifacts, except Hermaeus Mora's, which requires you reach a quest after Martin's request of an artifact. This can be a very hard choice, but I'm here to lighten the load. Here's a suggestion from me: look at all of the artifacts stated above. Do you see yourself ditching any of them? Letting them gather dust in a display case? No further use at all? Then use that one. I say this because Martin Suggests Azura's Star, which can be extraordinarily useful paired with Umbra. I strongly suggest you don't make the same mistake I did and give him Azura's Star. Listen to my advice. Are you a blade user? Through these quests you can gain access to THREE blades: Umbra (Vile if you refuse to give it to him), Goldbrand (Boethia) and Ebony Blade (Mephala). Although you can't give Umbra to Martin, it's perhaps one of the best swords in the game, and to you, may be better than BOTH Goldbrand and Ebony Blade. So, because of that, you now have the choice between Ebony Blade and Goldbrand. They'd both, at the most, gather dust in a display case at your house, so you can always give one to Martin. If you favor Ebony Blade over Goldbrand and Umbra (or vise versa), then the choice is even easier: give the one you wont use in combat to Martin. Really a fan of blades and want to mediate between the three? Fine, that's ok. What about any of the other weapons? The Mace, the Hammer, will you ever use those? Fine, so you want to get all your skills to 100 in the future and want to use the best of the best when you do so. I know your type. Well then, what about the Wabbajack? I know, this will be hard to give up to most people, the name alone warrants a space in your house. However, the novelty of changing an Ogre into an Imp might ware thin after a while, making the weapon useless. You might want to give that to Martin. Now, all of these items have a good strategic use. Think about it though, figure out which one, under even the worst circumstances, that you've ever run into a situation where it would be useful, the least. What I'm saying is, how many times have you really needed one of the artifacts? Whichever you've needed the least should be the one you give up. As for my opinion, here is my say on the artifacts you SHOULDN'T give up: Azura's Star Namira's Ring Skeleton Key Azura's Star is perfect for recharging enchanted weapons, Namira's Ring can be very helpful in a bind, and the Skeleton Key is almost necessary for those with low security or that have a problem using up lockpicks. In the end, it's up to you. Remember though: with this being such a huge game, you never know when you might live to regret one of your choices. Take your time on this one and really think it through. --------------------------------------------------- XX. Thanks --------------------------------------------------- I just want to thank Bethesda for making this Godly game. My skin will permanently stay pale thanks to their efforts. Also, thanks to Neoseeker, who put this FAQ up.