Skyrim talk:The Mind of Madness

Mission Bugs

I was wondering if we should include a section on mission bugs? While doing this quest, I became permanently stuck in the Mind world, due to the Night Terrors Pelagius becoming stuck in hostile mode and the Dragon Priest never spawning. --Pin-Pin-Ire 13:02, 17 November 2011 (UTC)

How... did you get him stuck in hostile mod? He should be sleeping. Aresvallis 06:50, 21 November 2011 (UTC)

I accidentally punched him and this caused him to wake up and become hostile. I am still unsure why the Dragon Priest never spawned. --Pin-Pin-Ire 22:11, 21 November 2011 (UTC)

Did you try leaving the scene and coming back? That might have done the trick. Aresvallis 09:33, 22 November 2011 (UTC)

I tried that, but every time I returned to that challenge, Pelagius would still be stuck in hostile mode. --Pin-Pin-Ire 14:12, 22 November 2011 (UTC)

He didn't spawn for me either, but I think it had something to do with the goat dying. I had to leave the scene and come back to fix it. --71.56.140.198 01:34, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

(←) I confirm that glitch is connected with Pelagius turning hostile, and the only way to fix it is by loading a previous save before you started the "night terrors" part of the quest. So do not try to hit Pelagius with your fist or you'll be' stuck here! — Unsigned comment by 95.224.132.166 (talk) at 12:46 on 25 November 2011

The goat died in mine and didn't affect anything, it has nothing to do with the bug. Aresvallis 02:07, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

I also punched him in the face while he was asleep. It succeeded in waking him up for a few seconds. He stands up and them immediately lies down again. I think I got him to wake up a couple of times this way. I can also confirm that doing this puts him in hostile mode where you see his health bar while he's asleep and makes it impossible to wake him up ever again. Going out to the other parts and coming back does nothing. The only way to fix this (unless there is a console cheat) is to load a save before you punched him in the face and put him into that mode. 69.181.46.180 02:58, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

Hello , I too am struggling with this quest , every time I try to start it after speaking to Sheogorath, I get given the wabbajack, but it won't work , it always it has insufficient charge , and my lust downstairs appear to work to use a charge stone !!

I must be doing something really wrong , please can you help me .

David .— Unsigned comment by 92.17.211.133 (talk) at 16:15 on 11 May 2013

the trick is to use the wabbajack to spawn pelagius' bad dreams. then sting them to change them from enemy status to a non violent character. poke pelagius again. change the character. you should end up with a goat, a little boy, a maiden. then defeat fire attonauch, and the deadic prince with wabbajack. pelagius will wake up and play with the characters. you can leave the scene and go back to the tea table — Unsigned comment by 37.228.104.237 (talk) at 20:33 on 23 August 2013‎

The Fire Atronach is changed to a campfire, and the Dragon Priest I get turns into a treasure chest. — Unsigned comment by 24.254.175.7 (talk) at 00:31 on 22 May 2015

Where is the fish stick reference from?

If you linger around Sheogorath for a little bit, he'll say "Do you mind? I'm busy enjoying my fish stick, it's a delicate state of mind." I can't remember what it's a reference to. 24.156.216.144 11:11, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/General:Fishy_Stick — Unsigned comment by 78.105.241.24 (talk) at 11:24 on 23 November 2011 (UTC)

This is in the easter eggs section as well. Lukish_ Tlk Cnt 11:24, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

I'm not convinced that the "Fishy Stick" is the correct reference. Sheogorath says: "I'm doing the Fishstick. It's a very delicate state of mind." Given that wording (it's a verb, not a noun), this is very likely a reference to the Fishstick, a "minimalist dance" described by the alternative comedy podcast You Look Nice Today in the episode Sacks-Minnelli Disease. I've added the same to the Easter Eggs Talk page.

Possible Inventory Glitch

I just started "The Mind of Madness," but when I was transported to the mind of Pelagius the Mad, something weird happened. Prior to being taken to the mind of Pelagius the Mad, I had a pair of simple black Boots equipped, along with stolen Fine Clothes (the blue, quilted overshirt version), and the Gauldur Amulet Fragment found in Folgunther (+30 to Health). When I arrived in the mind of Pelagius, I suddenly had an unfamiliar hat equipped, along with a different pair of boots I don't think I have. Neither of these have ever been in my inventory before as far as I remember, and I thought perhaps, since I was dealing with Sheogorath, that it was an intentional oddity, but after some investigating, I realized this has never been mentioned anywhere else as far as I could see. Has anyone else experienced this? Is it perhaps some sort of inventory glitch? I'm rather attached to everything in my inventory, and I'm concerned about the cause of this.

In case it would be helpful, I gathered the details of the occurence and will list them here.

My character is a Level 15 female Khajiit.

I got the Pelagius Wing Key from Erdi.

When I was walking down the red carpeted hallway of the Pelagius Wing, everything was unequipped on my character and a loading screen started. Upon appearing in the mind of Pelagius the Mad, my character was still naked. Then she glowed briefly and made a typical "taking damage" noise, such as when she eats an ingredient with negative effects, before having the Fine Clothes (stolen), and Gauldur's Amulet Fragment re-equipped on herself. Oddly, she was also equipped with a fur-lined hat with a tip that flopped over one side of her face, and a different set of boots, neither of which I have had in my inventory at any time during the game.

Equipped items at the time of transportation:

[stolen] Fine Clothes (blue, quilted overshirt version)

Boots (tall, black in color)

Gauldur Amulet Fragment (found in Folgunther, +30 to Health)

No weapon

I apologize if that is far too much detail and text, but I wanted to be thorough in case it would help. I also have an image of my character when she first arrived in the mind of Pelagius the Mad if that would help as well. If this doesn't post correctly, I'm really sorry! This is my first time entering anything into UESP. Thanks for reading. — Unsigned comment by 75.18.193.53 (talk) on 24 November 2011

This is actually a normal part of the quest, and had been listed on the page, but someone saw fit to remove it because it was "too minor" to have on the page. I think it should be back on the page to prevent more people thinking it's a bug. Actually, looking at the page again, someone re-added it to the Notes section. Did you read the full article? Aresvallis 02:10, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

At the time, there was no mention of the clothing in the article or anywhere else, and I checked many times because I didn't want to waste anyone's time. I saw on a later visit that it had been added and came to the conclusion that in fact, everything that was equipped on me when I arrived in the mind of Pelagius was supposed to be equipped, except the Gauldur Amulet Fragment, which (I'm assuming) could not be unequipped on me because of its quest item status. It seems that the game uneqips everything on you by taking everything from your inventory (but not quest items). I happened to be wearing the same outfit that was supplied to me upon entry into the mind of Pelagius, hence my confusion about suddenly having a new hat and boots. I tested my theory by entering the corridor that transports you to the mind of Pelagius wearing absolutely nothing and discovered that I was given the exact same set of clothing upon arriving. Unfortunately, I got distracted and completely forgot to come back and here and update! That note should definitely be left in the article for other confused individuals. -Original Poster

It appears that someone re-added it to the notes about an hour after you posted instead of replying to you. You should recheck the page every so often or try checking the page's history if you receive no direct response at first. I find that has been a constant issue since Skyrim came out, they can't be bothered to use the talk pages. Aresvallis 16:20, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

Dragons?

When i entered the Garden place, there was a Blood Dragon there aswell....

Normally, its not much of a hassle, but since you have no armor or weapons, i found the quest rather difficult.

Bug or actual spawn? — Unsigned comment by Azurome (talk • contribs) on 29 November 2011

Sounds like a bug. Aresvallis 16:20, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

That's crazy. ...maybe it was a feature? Daedalus Echelon 01:35, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Verified, Ancient Dragon was already there when I went through to the garden. I still had options to talk to Sheogorath, but can't get through the dialogue before being killed. The only way to even try to fight the dragon is hand-to-hand, but without any inventory, magic, or even the ability to sprint, it's impossible to complete the quest. DoubleBird 06:58, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

I spawned there with a dragon that was freshly killed. Not sure who killed it, but I didn't have to fight it. 71.196.233.71 21:07, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Pelagius' Night Terrors

When I did this quest, I didn't need to attack the terrors. I simply used Wabbajack on them and they changed into the 'innocuous' creatures. Not sure if it was a one-off bug or a viable solution, though. --Gaebrial 10:36, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

I did this also - so thus I think that it was the reason Sheograth gave you the Wabbajack before asking you to go to Pelagius' Night Terrors so that you could use it. --AkaErefu 07:38, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

After using the Wabbajack on him, the wolf spawns fine, then into a goat just fine. But when I wabbajack him again a portal appears, but nothing comes out of it and I can no longer complete the quest.

Skyrim with all DLC's — Unsigned comment by 65.130.18.200 (talk) at 13:32 on 10 August 2013

interesting effect

I noticed that after I finished all my soul gems were stacked, before I had filled them myself and my misc section had pages of gems, aftewards they were in 5 neat stacks. So nice!--Lord.Baal 02:12, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

Instant freeze?

Can someone please give a bit of details about why exactly it happens, and if we can co anything about it? The current explenation is rather strange; it's not like there was another way to start the quest. 82.243.194.53 23:36, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

It was the arrows for me. I left them in the chest outside the wing and recovered them after. — Unsigned comment by 125.178.155.136 (talk) at 12:21 on 24 February 2014

Bound Weapons

It might be interesting to note that if you have any bound weapons equipped when entering Pelagius' Mind they will be removed, but the spell will still be active and you can re-summon them. However, you can only keep the spell in your left hand upon receiving the wabbajack.

You can kill the bodyguards with a bound bow in Pelagius' Paranoia. This will break the quest, and you will have to use console commands to resurrect the bodyguards as they must be alive to wabbajack.

In Pelagius' Night Terrors you can eventually kill the wolf (and I assume the other creatues), which will break the quest. You can also easily kill the goat in Pelagius' Night Terrors this way to access your inventory without breaking the quest.

You can also kill Dervenin when he is summoned. If killed before his dialog completes, a bounty is added and then removed from the player, Dervenin instantly disappears, and then the player is transported immediately back to the Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace.

Tested on Xbox and PC with bound sword and bow. — Unsigned comment by 205.217.76.106 (talk) at 19:57 on 6 January 2012

if you have black books in your inventory, you may activate it by pickpocketing "confidence" and read the black book. After the screen shaking you'll have normal access to your inventory and spells. With the secret servant you can completely mitigate any limitations set by Sheogorath using Hermaeus Mora's power. 117.175.129.38 01:21, 2 May 2018 (UTC)

Getting the key from the cleaning staff

Instead of pickpocketing it or intimidating her, you may also lie and say that you have permission. You probably have to have asked around about how you're supposed to gain access, and learned who can give permission. I don't remember the exact steps to trigger this option if it isn't automatically available, so I haven't added it to the detailed walkthrough. -Vardis 18:12, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

I think Derpenin gives you the information. I was able to get her to give me the key when I first played through- when I initially wrote the detailed walkthrough for the trials I believe I put that it was possible to get it that way it, but it got buried in subsequent edits. Aresvallis 21:30, 29 January 2012 (UTC)

Individual trials reset?

My note that was reverted:

"Note that completed trials reset if you move on to another trial without talking to Sheogorath in between. His dialogue options only reflect the most recent trial you have completed."

This is my first playthrough, so when I encountered this I thought this was simply something overlooked by other editors. I ran around completing all three trials - Paranoia -> Confidence -> Terrors. Then I wanted to see if the atronarchs despawned, so I dropped by Paranoia again, and it was back to the way it started out, atronarchs and spectator and bodyguards and all. I did it again, went back to investigate and found the other two reset. Long story short, see note above; the "I fixed Pelagius's mind" option only appeared after I did each of the trials and talked to Sheogorath before entering either of the two others.

Now that I saw the reversion, I went back to a previous save to try it again, and this time I did the three trials in a row in the same order and got the final conversation option just fine, so it looks like that was a glitch. Has anyone else experienced this? 76.126.228.142 08:37, 29 January 2012 (UTC)

I don't have the problem at all. I have a completely different issue, in that I complete the quest and the game crashes completely while transporting me back into the Nutbar Wing. — Unsigned comment by 24.254.175.7 (talk) at 23:51 on 21 May 2015

Fast Travel

After accessing the map through the quests menu, you can travel to the real world. Don't do this as the magic/maps/items menu is inaccessable but everything else works. You can even equip weapons through containers. All items not quest marked will be lost and you cannot return to complete the mission even though you keep wabbajack.--The Silencer 22:51, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

Hi, I did this... And cannot reenter Pelagius Mind..? Were you able to figure out how to reenter and complete the puzzles..? — Unsigned comment by 72.220.98.43 (talk) at 22:27 on 8 September 2016

The only way back is through use of the console on the PC. If you are on Xbox or PlayStation, then you'll have to reload your last save if you want to continue with an unbroken game. Silence is Golden^{Break the Silence} 21:35, 8 September 2016 (UTC)

The Mind of a Madman

Are there any screenshots anywhere of the unusual test-location "The Mind of a Madman"? Since it's mentioned I was wondering if it makes sense for a PC user to add some snaps of it? -- Haravikk 15:32, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

A Beautiful, Large Breasted Man

In the notes section, it mentions that the Sultry Maiden sometimes speaks with a male voice. While this is most likely a simple oversight, seeing as she is not supposed to talk at all, it could also be a reference to the line from 'Wabbajack': "... I was told by a beautiful, large breasted man who lived under the library in my home town...". As the unnamed author also mentions wanting to be the new king of Solitude, it is at the very least feasible that the home town mentioned is either Solitude itself or one of the other major settlements in the Haafingar Hold of Skyrim. While it is a little far fetched that the creators would have gone to such lengths to makes such an obscure reference that most gamers would not get, that has been the general scheme when it comes to the Daedric Prince of Madness, has it not? (See the afforementioned Fishstick reference and decide if its possible.) -- Cait Feirr, Friday, March 23, 2012

Additional Reward

I also noticed the Misc item 'Pelagius' Hip Bone (weight 1, worth 250g) in my inventory after completing the quest. Can anyone verify? If so, please add to the Reward section. --Alien4ngel 9.35, 30 April 2012 (AEST)

Dervenin gives you the hip bone when he asks for your help. You need the hipbone to get from the Pelagius Wing into the mind of Pelagius. — Kimi the Elf ^{(talk | contribs)} 12:41, 30 April 2012 (UTC)

Paranoia glitch

During the paranoia section where you blast your monster to counter the opposing one, my monster fled to the closest wall and jammed itself in there. Now they're both firing madly at each other, but not moving. There's no way to get into range to shoot it with my jabberwocky. I had to reload and start the quest over. (XBOX 360) — Unsigned comment by 72.39.182.76 (talk) at 11:21 on May 25, 2012

This is not a glitch. You are supposed to attack the bodyguards across the arena; you can ignore the atronachs completely, as they're only there to make you think you're supposed to attack them. Vely^{►Talk►Email} 15:26, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

Pelagius' vs. Pelagius's

I can't seems to find any definitive answer to which one is correct. Pelagius' seems less obnoxious, but that's just me... --Xyzzy 00:27, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

The rest of the wiki already uses Pelagius', so I think that should be used for consistency. If we're looking in-game, there's the item Pelagius' Hip Bone. Both are grammatically correct, though. I prefer Pelagius'. Vely^{►Talk►Email} 00:34, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

I never considered his hip bone. I think that's a pretty good determiner. Pelagius' it is! --Xyzzy 00:38, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

Guardians for his Paranoia

During the paranoia section, did anyone else see his guardians as dwarves spheres? In mine they were like the statues you see in Understone Keep. When I cast Wabbajack on them (after trying so hard to try it on the atronachs) they just sprung to life and made short work of the rival. Anybody else have that in their game? (Xbox360) — Unsigned comment by Crazydax (talk • contribs) at 06:40 on 13 September 2012‎

The Guardians shouldn't be Dwemer Spheres, just dressed in Dwemer armor. Do you have Dawnguard or Hearthfire installed? Vely^►t►e 12:58, 13 September 2012 (GMT)

Falk Firebeard's Disposition - moved from article

In his conversation with you before you go into the Pelagius wing, Falk Firebeard warns you not to remove anything from the Pelagius wing. If you come back out wearing the clothing Sheogorath gave you and bearing the Wabbajack and go directly up to talk to Falk, Falk may both drop in relationship rating with you (down to Acquaintance) and address you in a more rude manner than he has been (for example, he may address a Khajiit by saying "What do you want... cat?"). This can be particularly startling if you've worked your way up to becoming a thane of the hold.

Can someone verify that Falk's disposition drops if you do this? --Xyzzy ^Talk 21:39, 15 September 2012 (GMT)

Sultry Maiden - Man's Voice is Pelagius?

I had the subtitles on during this quest and I'm sure when the sultry maiden spoke the subtitles indicated that it was Pelagius who spoke. It might have made more sense if he had lost his wife before he died. Then again, this is his mind and the night terrors are a manifestation of his own subconsciousness so it makes sense that it would be in his voice. Can anybody confirm? — Unsigned comment by 94.5.44.154 (talk) at 02:38 on 15 December 2012

I also had subtitles selected when playing through Mind Of Madness, and in my experience saw that the Sultry Maiden spoke in a males voice about his/her wifes death. ( LEVEL 47 NORD Female ) — Unsigned comment by 96.23.102.148 (talk) at 17:47 on 23 July 2013

Follower glitch

At the buglist it says that Lydia or Barbas aren't affected by that glitch. It's just to let you know I just did the quest with Aela and Mjoll (using "Amazing Follower Tweaks" mod to have multiple followers) and they didn't return to the wing...— Unsigned comment by 87.64.93.66 (talk) at 12:50 on 28 October 2014

Please sign your posts. It helps to at least have a date this was posted. In any case, you were using a mod that might have bypassed the glitch. Also, if you have the unofficial skyrim patch 2.0.1 that removes it too. The way the bug is worded it sounds like it only works with Stray Dogs. 130.184.79.91 14:00, 28 October 2014 (GMT)

Pelagius' Night Terrors Bug

I've don everything in the mind of madness. But when I do the Pelagius' Night Terrors part non of the enemies appear. Is this a bug of some kind?— Unsigned comment by Handige Harrie (talk • contribs) at 13:25 on 4 February 2015‎

You'll notice the Night Terrors part of the main page and the previous discussion on this subject on this talk page both mention that turning the enemies into non-enemies is the whole point.Vainamoinen -Talk -Stuff 00:32, 11 September 2015 (UTC)

Night Terror Bug is Real And Re loading a old save won't fix it

when using the waabajack on Pelagius I will get the first enemy spawn (wolf) after turning into a goat. I will then try using it again but no more enemies will spawn after this point only the red mist will appear for a moment. This bug is not fixed via reloading a old save. I've tried this multiple times from different saves. I've seen a few people mentioned this problem but not seen any wiki mention it. This is a game breaking Bug which is hardly mentioned anywhere! I don't want some pessimist comment 'I don't think he knows what he's doing' < this is all I see when people talk about this bug. — Unsigned comment by 109.155.164.58 (talk) at 14:45 on 9 October 2015

After each converted enemy you should use wabajack on sleeping Pelagius' till after dragon priest turns to chest Ciberzombie (talk) 08:20, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

New Bug: Completed quest but cannot live Pelagius Mind

After resolve the three dreams, I back to Sheogorath, have the dialog with him, tell me I free to go... but nothing happen! I'm stuck there! — Unsigned comment by Audentes (talk • contribs) at 22:49 on 15 May 2016

Search Chest

When I finished the night terrors part, I noticed what looked like a boss chest. When I put the cursor on it, it read "Search Chest" but I was unable to open it. I was able to harvest two Mora Tapinelli fungi and catch some blue and monarch butterflies, so I couldn't understand why the chest wouldn't open. According to what I'm reading here, the chest is what the dragon priest turns into. Is that why it doesn't open? Or did I have a glitch that cost me some loot? 104.15.180.18 21:05, 23 January 2018 (UTC)

Yes, the priest turns into a chest. Silence is Golden^{Break the Silence} 21:46, 23 January 2018 (UTC)

How to get the key from Una and Erdi

The article talked about "telling her that Falk asked you to "look into it" or persuading/intimidating her", but as far as I see, there are no separate persuasion or intimidation options, only the ones listed in the table.

I also changed the section to reflect this, in particular the weird invisible checks and that you need 25 speech (not 20). --Ethruvisil (talk) 01:56, 2 February 2019 (UTC)

Oblivion references

In his conversation with Pelagius, Sheogorath mentions: Martin Septim, who 'turned into a dragon god', as well as 'Butterflies, blood, a Fox, a severed head... Oh, and all the cheese!'. Ok, so 'butterflies' is from when the Hero of Kvatch enters the Shivering Isles prior, the antechamber's walls turn into a swarm of butterflies. 'Fox' is most likely the Grey Fox. 'All the cheese' is from Sheogorath's celebration - "Cheese! For everyone!". Now, I'm at a loss over 'Blood' and 'Severed head'. The latter could have something to do with the Dark Brotherhood quesline, Lachance's head perhaps? Blood may have to do with the Arena quesline? Any ideas?--87.255.89.160 21:10, 9 February 2020 (GMT)

They are explained unter Skyrim:Sheogorath#Notes. --Ethruvisil (talk) 20:13, 10 February 2020 (GMT)

Solved the Night Terror's Bug!

So like others posted on this page, the wolf spawns fine, and will easily be turned into a goat with the wabbajack. But something (probably a mod) seems to interfere with the next spawn as the red blast will appear but no terror. Well this terror is supposed to be a bandit chief. And some reason, said bandit chief was dead in my game. Luckily doing some experimenting I found the ID code for the bandit chief you need. Here's how to fix this bug:

open console

type: prid 9f832

type: resurrect

type: moveto player

Once the bandit chief appears in front of you, use the wabbajack on him. Bam problem solved. The night terrors after him, work flawlessly. This way if you don't want to use the setstage "fix" this solution will work 100% of the time. — Unsigned comment by 75.187.178.159 (talk) at 18:17 on 28 August 2020 (UTC)