Skyrim:Arniel's Endeavor

Uncover an ancient Dwemer secret. Quest Giver: Arniel Gane Location(s): Part 1: College of Winterhold, Most Dwarven Ruins Part 2: Radiant dungeon Part 3: Various Part 4: Radiant dungeon Prerequisite Quest: Hitting the Books The Eye of Magnus (for Part 3) Reward: Leveled gold, Keening, unique Conjuration spell, Summon Arniel's Shade ID: MGRArniel01, MGRArniel02, MGRArniel03, MGRArniel04 Required Items: 10 Dwemer Cogs, Warped Soul Gem, Arniel's Convection Difficulty: Medium

Arniel tempts fate by using Keening on the charged warped soul gem

Quick Walkthrough

Part 1 Talk to Arniel Gane. Obtain ten Dwemer Cogs. Return to Arniel. Part 2 Speak with Arniel once again. Acquire the staff that Enthir sold. Return to Arniel.

Part 3 Speak to Arniel. Place the Warped Soul Gem inside a Dwemer Convector three times. Use Arniel's Convection spell to heat the Dwemer Convector three times. Return to Arniel. Part 4 Talk to Arniel in the Hall of Countenance. Talk to Enthir. Retrieve item. Watch Arniel's experiment.

Detailed Walkthrough

Part 1

Talk to Arniel Gane and ask if there is any College business you can assist him with. He'll state that it's nothing official, but he is working on a "project". He refuses to say anything about it, but he asks you to bring him ten Dwemer Cogs. They can be found randomly throughout any and all Dwarven ruins. If you have not already found a Dwarven ruin, Alftand is near the College of Winterhold, and the ruin under Markarth is easy to find and lower level friendly.

There are plenty of Dwemer Cogs inside Dwemer Museum in Understone Keep, specifically in the closest right corner from the entrance; with stealthy movement, all cogs can be obtained without any repercussions, making this the easiest and quickest method. The main College quest line will take you to Mzulft, which also has more than 10 Dwemer Cogs. Depending on the ruins and your carry capacity (cogs weigh 10 each) you may end up needing two or three trips to get all the cogs.

Once you have obtained the ten Dwemer Cogs, return to Arniel and he will reward you with a level-specific amount of gold.

Part 2

Arniel needs a very specific item for his project and is having trouble getting Enthir to give it to him. He'd like you to speak to Enthir and return with the item to him. After speaking to Enthir he reveals that the item Arniel wants never belonged to him and is Enthir's property. He agrees to relinquish it though if you'll retrieve the Staff of Tandil he sold to an unscrupulous character.

The character is a boss level caster in a radiantly assigned dungeon. Depending on which one you get the quest may be increasingly more or less difficult. Some of the dungeons such as Boulderfall Cave and Cragwallow Slope are extremely small while others might be rather involved or of a difficult nature. The staff should be either on the boss level caster, somewhere nearby, or in the boss level chest.

Once you have the staff return to Enthir. He'll give you the Warped Soul Gem which can then be returned to Arniel for your reward

Radiant Options

Possible values of <Dungeon> are:

Eastmarch	Falkreath Hold	Haafingar	The Reach	The Rift	Whiterun Hold	Winterhold
Ansilvund Cragwallow Slope Morvunskar	Brittleshin Pass Falkreath Watchtower Ilinalta's Deep Southfringe Sanctum Sunderstone Gorge	Northwatch Keep Wolfskull Cave	Harmugstahl	Boulderfall Cave Darklight Tower	Fellglow Keep Rannveig's Fast	Hob's Fall Cave Yngvild

Part 3

A Dwemer convector

Begin this quest by asking Arniel about the progress of his project. He will say that it is going terribly. He reveals that he is trying to simulate the disappearance of the Dwemer but he needs the Warped Soul Gem that you acquired for him charged. Unfortunately, the apparatus he was using to charge it was destroyed in the process and he has no time to build another. Thus, he is only too happy to accept your generous offer to charge it for him.

Arniel tells you that the Dwemer used to use convectors to charge their soul gems and that some of these devices probably still exist among Dwarven ruins. He needs two more charges after his own initial charge to power the gem. Due to the nature of the warped soul gem, it will destroy the convector it is charged in. What you need to do is find a few Dwemer Convectors and place the Warped Soul Gem inside. He will teach you a spell called Arniel's Convection that must be channeled onto the Dwemer Convector until the stone is charged. Keep channeling the convector until the quest updates. You will then have to find a new Convector and repeat this process up to two times. There seems to be some variance on whether it takes one to three times to fully charge the stone and use of dual casting can complicate the matter.

There are six Dwemer Convectors in all of Skyrim:

• Druadach Redoubt: Across the river from it in an unmarked ruin.
• Deep Folk Crossing: Across the bridge from it at an unmarked ruin.
• Dwarven Storeroom: Simple freestanding Dwarven structure near Mzulft. No enemies.
• Mzulft: Near the entrance in one of the first rooms after the hall. Must have started Revealing the Unseen.
• Ruins of Bthalft: Exterior only ruins, Bandits here.
• Shor's Stone: Southwest of the village at an unmarked ruin with a single Warlock.

Two are northward of Karthwasten, one south of Ivarstead, one southwest of Shor's Stone, and two among the ruins of Mzulft. The two northwest of Karthwasten are probably the easiest to use since no enemies spawn at their locations (wild animals may be a nuisance however) and they are relatively close together. One is directly north of Karthwasten, northeast and across the river from Druadach Redoubt. It is at the base of the unmarked Dwemer pillar. If you cross the river and follow it upstream you will come to Deep Folk Crossing. Cross the bridge and the second Dwemer Convector will be in front of you. The one south of Ivarstead is at the Ruins of Bthalft and has bandits. The one southwest of Shor's Stone is between there and Autumnshade Clearing and has a rogue mage. At Mzulft, one is inside the storeroom (a separate building to the right of the ruin entrance when you arrive) and the other is within the ruins proper.

Part 4

The dead courier

Arniel disappears in a flash of light

Unlike previous parts of the quest, about two or three days must pass before continuing. Thereafter, talk to Arniel again. He is often to be found on the upper floor of the Hall of Attainment, but may also be in the Hall of Countenance. Once more he's used Enthir's services, and once more you have to pick up the pieces.

Talk to Enthir, who is almost always in his room in the Hall of Attainment. He's quite annoyed since he has no idea where the item is — or even what it is, for that matter. He was only tasked with providing transport for it from Morrowind and it simply hasn't arrived. Enthir tells you to go look for the courier somewhere in the east, and marks a location on your map.

The precise location of the courier varies. When you finally do locate him, it's immediately apparent why he didn't complete the delivery. Retrieve the blade "Keening" from his body and return it to Arniel. He is outraged that it wasn't wrapped properly, and amazed that you didn't die when you touched it. By way of explanation he relates something of the background of Keening and Sunder, the legendary tools of the Dwemer Tonal Architect Lord Kagrenac.

Arniel now conducts his experiment in an attempt to figure out how and why the Dwemer disappeared. Striking the warped soul gem with Keening, he finds that it does nothing. He strikes again, gaining no apparent result once more. Having lost his temper, he curses, lashes out a third time... and disappears in a flash of light, never to be seen again.

The quest is then unceremoniously updated as complete. Pick up Keening from the floor if you wish (although it seems to have come down in the world somewhat since the Third Era). Summon Arniel's Shade will be added to your spell list automatically.

Radiant Options

Possible values of <Dungeon> are:

Eastmarch	The Rift
Cragslane Cavern Cragwallow Slope Cronvangr Hall Gallows Rock Lost Knife Hideout Mara's Eye Pond Mistwatch Morvunskar Uttering Hills Camp	Autumnshade Clearing Broken Helm Hollow Darklight Tower Darkwater Pass Faldar's Tooth Pinepeak Cavern Redwater DenDG Tolvald's Cave Treva's Watch

Notes

• Part 3 is not available until you complete the quest The Eye of Magnus.
• Currently the Quest tracker will not track Dwemer Cogs you pick up, but they still count for the quest, so you must keep count of them yourself.
• It is not necessary to carry around all 10 cogs at the same time; utilize storage at the College to avoid carrying around 100 pounds of metals.
• Part 2 is almost identical in nature to Onmund's Request, but the radiant dungeon assignment might differ. It is possible to be sent to the same location in both quests.
• No matter how many times you use Keening to strike the Warped Soul Gem, you will not disappear in a blinding flash.

Bugs

• In some cases the Warped Soul Gem will get duplicated after heating it. This prevents further dialog with Arniel, thus making it impossible to complete the quest. ^?
  • An easy fix to this bug is by leaving one of the duplicates of the gem in the Dwarven Convector. This should allow you to be able to finish the dialogue with Arniel. This fix does not always work. On PS3 the quest becomes impossible to complete.
  • You can remove extra warped gems through the console with the command player.removeitem 6a10a 1 for each extra warped gem in your inventory.
  • Assuming this does not occur on the third and final convector heating, the warped soul gem duplication bug can be fixed by putting both soul gems in the next convector box and then heat it with the spell, this will result in one of the soul gems disappear thus leaving only one to collect and allowing the completion dialogue with Arniel.
• After returning the gem the quest will be completed but if you look at it under completed quests the bullet marker for the last stage is hollow (as if the stage was not completed). This does not seem to affect game play.
• The quest can fail to update, getting stuck on "Place the warped soul gem into a final Convector". Dual/single casting, alternate Convectors does not remedy.
  Mod Notes: The objective displayed jumps ahead of the item the player possesses, causing the script conditions to fail.
  • Workaround: place the warped soul gem into a convector, type setstage MGRArniel03 20 in the console, then heat the convector and the quest updates.
• It is possible to get Keening from the courier before talking to Enthir about the mysterious item Arniel wanted delivered from Morrowind. When this happens, you can find the courier, but you can't advance the quest because you can't get Keening from him again. Further testing reveals that you can simply go back to Arniel with the Keening you retrieved already and give it to him, and complete the quest. note that the map marker will not point to Arniel, but to the courier's location.
  • Workaround: type setstage MGRArniel04 30 in the console. (Note that of course you don't actually have to go to the courier again to do this.)
  • Another workaround is to wield Keening and use a Weapon Plaque, then remove it from the plaque.
• A quest journal would trigger multiple times
  • This bug is fixed by version 1.4 of the Official Skyrim Patch.
• Keening may disappear with Arniel and cannot be claimed by the player.
  • Note: Keening may be forced through the floor and land in the room below the storage area where Arniel's experiment is held. If it goes missing, try looking for it on the first floor of the Hall of Countenance where Phinis Gestor normally sleeps. (The first room to the left if you're facing the stairs.)
• If Arniel happens to have another weapon equipped before you give him Keening (he has a tendency to pick up stray weapons on occasion), he will attack the Warped Soul Gem with that weapon instead of Keening. The quest will still proceed as normal however, and Keening will still drop when Arniel disappears.
• If you previously killed the boss of the radiant dungeon that contains The Staff of Tandil, the quest marker may direct you to the empty space where the boss's body lay. ^?
  • Type setstage MGRArniel02 30 and player.additem 0006a093 1 in the console to acquire the Staff and continue the quest.
• Enthir might not actually take the Staff of Tandil when you bring it to him, but it is not marked as a quest item after showing it to Enthir, so you can drop or sell it as you want.
  • This bug is fixed by version 1.3.2 of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch.

Quest Stages

Part 1 (MGRArniel01)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		Arniel Gane has asked for help with a special project he's working on. Although he won't tell me what they're for, he wants me to bring him a number of Dwarven Cogs. (Objective is assigned): Deliver ten cogs to Arniel Gane
200		I've given Arniel Gane the Dwarven cogs he asked for, and he was quite grateful. He's suggested that there may be more I can help with in the future.
Part 2 (MGRArniel02)
0
10		Arniel has asked for more help with his project, though this time the request is very different. Enthir is apparently refusing to follow through on a trade; something Arniel needs for his work. He's asked that I go speak with Enthir on his behalf. (Objective is assigned): Speak to Enthir
20		Arniel asked me to deal with Enthir, who was supposedly refusing to complete a business arrangement. Enthir insists that he hasn't been paid, but will consider the deal done if I acquire a staff for him from <Alias=Dungeon>. (Objective is assigned): Acquire the Staff
30		(Objective is assigned): Deliver the staff to Enthir
40		I've managed to complete the trade agreement between Enthir and Arniel, and have the object Arniel was interested in. It's some sort of soul gem, though Enthir believes it to be useless. I should deliver it to Arniel. (Objective is assigned): Talk to Arniel
200		I've successfully completed a deal between Enthir and Arniel that is somehow related to Arniel's special project. He claims to be making progress, though I have no idea what that means.
Part 3 (MGRArniel03)
10		Arniel has finally revealed to me that his secret project deals with the disappearance of the dwarves, though he hasn't been clear about how his work relates to it. He's given me a warped soul gem, and asked me to find several Dwarven Convectors in the various ruins around Skyrim. I'm supposed to place the gem inside a convector, and then heat it using a spell Arniel has taught me. When I've done this several times, I should return the gem to Arniel. (Objective is assigned): Heat the Convector (Objective is assigned): Retrieve the soul gem (Objective is assigned): Place the warped soul gem into a Convector (Objective is assigned): Place the warped soul gem into another Convector (at appropriate time) (Objective is assigned): Place the warped soul gem into a final Convector (at appropriate time)
20		(Objective is assigned): Heat the Convector
30		(Objective is assigned): Retrieve the soul gem
40		I've successfully altered Arniel's warped soul gem, and should return it to him. It is somehow critical to his project regarding the disappearance of the dwarves; perhaps he'll explain exactly what he's up to. (Objective is assigned): Deliver the soul gem to Arniel
200		I've once again helped Arniel with his secret, and very vague, project relating to the dwarves. He implied that he's waiting for something else, and then finally maybe I'll see what this is all about.
255
Part 4 (MGRArniel04)
0
10		Arniel has once again asked me to speak to Enthir, who was supposed to deliver something else relating to Arniel's project. (Objective is assigned): Talk to Enthir
20		Arniel was convinced that Enthir was refusing to complete the trade the two of them had arranged, but it turns out that this time Enthir never received the item in question. The courier bringing the item never arrived. If I want to help Arniel finish his work, I'll need to find the courier myself. (Objective is assigned): Find the courier
30		Arniel was distraught over being unable to finish his project, believing that Enthir was refusing to complete a trade the two of them had agreed upon. Instead, the courier that was supposed to deliver the item never arrived. I've tracked him down (sadly he did not survive) and have the package Arniel wanted. I should make sure it gets to Arniel as soon as possible. (Objective is assigned): Deliver the package to Arniel
40		I've helped Arniel with the final piece of his project, by tracking down a missing courier who was supposed to be delivering an item from Morrowind. That item is Keening, a dwarven dagger that Arniel claims is very important. With it, he says he's able to finish his experiment and has asked that I observe what happens. (Objective is assigned): Observe Arniel's experiment
200		Arniel's experiment is over, but I'm not entirely sure what has happened. He has vanished, leaving behind the dagger Keening. I may never know whether he succeeded in his work.

 

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, 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.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage quest stage, where quest is the internal name of the quest, and stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest quest, where quest is the internal name of the quest.