Sunday, February 3, 2013

The Cursed Tribe

Malacath is the Daedric Prince of the outcast. He is the "patron saint" of those that have been persecuted and ostracized, specifically the much understood Orc race. His supposed origin fits his sphere, allegedly being born from the excrement of Boethiah after eating Trinimac. He is a prime embodiment of power, as are the might race that seems to be modeled after him. Malacath's most well-known Daedric artifact is Volendrung, a large warhammer that absorbs fifty points of stamina from the enemy.

This quest is started by encountering the Orc encampment of Largashbur. Help the inhabitants fend off the giant attacking the tribe and speak with Atub. She will require you to bring a daedra heart and troll fat to her in order to contact Malacath. Upon your return with these items, she will gather with you and Chief Lamarz for the ritual. The Contact with the Daedric Prince is successful, but he sounds less than thrilled to find that the chief allowed giants to defile his shrine in Giant's Grove and has set a curse upon the entire tribe. He tasks Yamarz to kill the leader and return his club as an offering. Yamarz will complain and demand that you accompany him to eliminate the threat, offering you a large sum of gold for a reward.

Travel to the grove by going through Fallowstone Cave and battling a few bears or trolls. Once the giant's leader is in sight, Yamarz will attempt to strike a deal with you; kill the giant yourself and he'll up the reward. If you choose to do this, then Yamarz will let you in on a secret when you return to him. The chief is planning to kill you and take credit for the entire ordeal to regain his honor. Kill him and Malacath will give you praise for taking care of the weakling. Return the leader's warhammer to the shrine at the encampment and place it in the antlers of the deer skull, where Malacath will transform it into Volendrung.

(Note: You may also try to persuade Yamarz to fight the beast, but he will die very quickly leaving you to fight the giant alone.)

Discerning the Transmundane

Hermaeus Mora is the Daedric Prince of knowledge and fate. Rather than a human form, Hermaeus Mora prefers to appear as either a swirling vortex of purple or a grotesque mass of green tentacles and eyes. His plane of Oblivion is a vast library of forbidden texts known as Apocrypha. Unsurprisingly, his Daedric artifact is book of knowledge called the Oghma Infinium, which levels all skills in one of three areas by five.

This quest is started by finding Septimus Signus inside his outpost north of Winterhold. Inside, he is studying a large Dwemer lockbox, which he says requires an Elder Scroll to see through it. He will send you off to the Dwemer ruin of Alftand to retrieve the Elder Scroll, along with an attunement sphere and a blank lexicon to give him the knowledge to read the Elder Scroll. Be prepared for the dangers that lie within Alftand as it covers a vast expanse of ground with numerous dangerous enemies including Falmer and the always deadly Dwemer centurions. Trek your way through the ruin and the treacherous underbelly of it known as Blackreach to the Dwemer puzzle. Put the lexicon its stand, solve the puzzle by pushing the buttons in the correct order, grab the scroll and the lexicon, and return to Septimus.

Septimus will require you to extract the blood of the different races of elves; the Altmer, Bosmer, Dunmer, Falmer and Orsimer. However, before you leave his outpost, you must first speak with the form of Hermaeus Mora, a purple vortex that bars your way. He informs you that Septimus has outlived his usefulness and wishes for you to take his place as champion. He will disappear and let you continue with the search for the elven blood.

Retrieving all the blood samples can take some time, but can be found by knowing which races are typically found in different factions. For example, Dunmer are typically necromancers, while Orsimer and Bosmer can usually be found as bandits in any encampment. Falmer are almost always in Dwemer ruins and all corpses can be found in various dungeons throughout Skyrim. Collect their samples and give the mixture to Sigmus, who will use the concoction to open the lockbox. Inside sits the book on a pedestal in the center of the "room." Septimus will approach the pedestal, only to get disintegrated by the Daedric Prince of knowledge. Claim his gift to you and your rightful place as his champion.

(Note: This quest will also start during the progression of the main storyline. Before retrieving the elven blood, you must be level fifteen to continue. If you return the lexicon to him beforehand, he will dismiss you and send a courier when you are the appropriate level.)

A Daedra's Best Friend

Clavicus Vile's specialty is wishes, particularly ones that require pacts and invocations to grant power. He is usually depicted as a small, jovial fellow with small horns projected from his head. He is almost always accompanied with his loyal companion Barbas. Although he has the ability to shapeshift to any form, he prefers to choose the form of a dog. Clavicus has also mentioned that half his power resides inside of the powerful pooch, although this rarely stops his tendency to abandon his faithful follower. While the Daedric Prince is known for "liking souls for the sake of having them," he will graciously reward those that annihilate general threats. His Daedric artifact is the Masque of Clavicus Vile, which grants twenty percent better prices at all vendors, increases the the chance of passing a persuasion check, and increases magicka regeneration by five percent.

This quest can be started by traveling to the capital city of Falkreath, named after the region in which it resides, upon reaching level ten. A guard will approach you on your way into town and ask you about a stray dog that's been running around and direct you towards Lod, the blacksmith of the place. Chase down the dog by traveling a short ways down the road. The dog, soon revealed to be none other than Barbas himself, will ask for your help. Apparently a group of cultists, that also happen to be vampires, have taken refuge in the cavern known as Haemar's Shame. This also just so happens to be the location of a shrine to the Daedric Prince of Clavicus Vile. Journey to the cavern with Barbas and kill all opposition, including the master vampire in the shrine room.

Speak to Clavicus through his statue who will tell you that he was glad to rid them of their insufferable disease that turned them, Sanguinare Vampiris. He will offer you a way for Barbas to return to his side by giving you several choices. If you ask for power, he will bring up the fact that you are Dragonborn and have much more power than most. If you ask for an end to the Civil War in Skyrim between the Imperials and Stormcloaks, he will reply that if he had his full powers it would be trivial: one snap of the fingers and everyone's dead. No matter what, the only thing that the Prince wants is an axe: the Rueful Axe.

The next location is a place called Rimerock Burrow. Along the way, Barbas will give you a background of the axe and how it was given to a wizard by Clavicus Vile to kill his daughter-turned-werewolf. Enter the cavern, kill the wizard known as Sebastian Lort and his conjured minions, and return to the Daedric Prince. He will then give you two options; kill Barbas and keep the axe, or return the axe to him and receive the Masque of Clavicus Vile. To finish the quest, return to Lod for a small reward of gold.