Beyond Skyrim:Cyrodiil/Whispers of the Mountain

Investigate the appearance of mysterious objects at the Bruma Synod Conclave Quest Giver: Cadius Venucius Location(s): Bruma Synod Conclave, Frostcrag Spire Reward: Leveled gold, ability to use the conclave's arcane enchanter, enchanted Ayleid dagger (choice-dependent) ID: CYRFrostcragMS01

Strange artifacts have been appearing at the Synod Conclave...

Quick Walkthrough

1. Visit the Bruma Synod Conclave and speak to Cadius Venucius.
2. Gather the mysterious items around the conclave.
3. Visit Frostcrag Spire and decide whether to help or report Astor Astentius.
4. Return to Cadius for your reward.

Detailed Walkthrough

Paranormal Activity

When first entering the Bruma Synod Conclave, you will stumble upon Elintius Rentilia and Roland Wickhart standing over an Ayleid statue and wondering at its sudden appearance. First Adjunct Cadius Venucius will arrive shortly after and question you sharply about your involvement in causing this mess. Once he's satisfied you have nothing to do with it, he will offer you the chance to help him solve the mystery. He explains that a number of items have been appearing mysteriously in the conclave and asks you to talk to Roland, who has been examining the latest one. Roland will let you in on his theory that the items are a trial run for someone to teleport themselves into the conclave. Sure enough, as soon as you exit conversation a black soul gem appears.

Scavenging for Suspect Items

An unwelcome teleportation

Report back to Cadius, who will bemoan the sudden appearance of yet another object: a boot. He will task you with collecting them all. A mysterious soul gem can be found on Cadius's own bed in the room facing the entrance, to the left; a mysterious mage boot lies by the northern stairs; and some mysterious weathered memoirs can be found by the southern stairs. Once Cadius has examined these, he concludes that the objects are linked to the ancient tower of Frostcrag Spire and thanks you for your service - this is now a Synod matter. However, a zombie will suddenly appear in the conclave. After it is dead, a shaken Cadius will agree to send you to Frostcrag to investigate.

Cynosure or Conclave?

Frostcrag Spire lies atop Gnoll mountain in the middle of County Bruma. To get there, head to the Eastern Watchtower and then take the road north until Dragonclaw Rock. From here, head east along the dirt road, past Gautierre Manor and Freezewind Hollow, and then southeast up the mountain. Follow the winding trail, looping round and over the wooden bridge half way up. Once you arrive, you will immediately be challenged by Ravil Fandrani, the leader of a mission from the College of Whispers who is researching the spire and hoping to establish a permanent cynosure there. Tell him about your investigation and he will admit that they may well have something to do with it, directing you towards Astor Astentius.

Once you reach the Tower, you will come across Astor and Kalimbria in heated discussion. Their conversation heavily implies Astor's role in the mysterious appearances, and once you speak to the old man he will confirm he is indeed to blame. He's been trying to get the portals linking the spire to the old Mages Guild halls to work again and done some testing, zombie included. From here you have three options.

Standing with the Synod

Time to test or destroy

The first is to intimidate or persuade Astor to stop his testing. The latter requires a Very Hard Speech check while the former is quite easy to pull off, even at lower levels. If successful, you can return to Cadius and claim your reward: some leveled gold and a special dispensation to use the conclave's arcane enchanter.

The second option is to tell the old mage you'll be reporting him to the Synod. He will be disappointed and still offer you the chance to change your mind and help him instead. If you stick with your intentions and report back to Cadius, he will give you one last task: sabotaging the portal. Head back to Frostcrag and onto the balcony, where you can break the portal by simply standing on it. Be careful to do so when there are no witnesses: as Cadius tells you, this is a legal grey area. Indeed, if you sabotage the portal in front of Astor you may receive a 500 gold bounty and be attacked by him (see Bugs). To be on the safe side and avoid this, carry out the sabotage between midday and 6am, when the balcony is clear. Return to Cadius and you will receive the same reward as in the first option.

Playing with Portals

The third option is to help Astor by acting as a human test subject for the portal, either by volunteering up front or by choosing one of the previous options but changing your mind. The old mage will give you a boot as a beacon to help him focus his teleport spell. Before leaving, he notes how far Bruma is by foot and, after a rambling discussion about teleportation magic, offers to teleport you straight to Bruma. If you agree, you will be safely deposited in front of the Cathedral of St. Martin.

Once inside the conclave, leave the boot in the main hall as instructed; Cadius will remark that your actions seem odd but won't press you further. Return to Astor who will reveal that you are to act as a live subject for his final experiment: direct teleportation to the Synod conclave. Take the soul gem he offers, make your way to the balcony, step on the portal and you will shortly find yourself safely in the conclave. Speak to Cadius, who will thank you for your efforts and reward you with some leveled gold. The amount will be lower than in the previous two options, and you also won't gain access to the enchanter. However, your journal suggests reporting back to Ravil Fandrani at Frostcrag. Sure enough, Ravil will thank you for helping Astor and reward you with an enchanted Ayleid dagger.

Leveled gold rewards

Levels	Synod	College
1–9	400	250
10–19	600	400
20–29	800	500
30–39	1,000	600
40+	1,200	750

Notes

• It is possible to change your mind on which path to take multiple times throughout the quest. Your choices will become locked in once you agree to sabotage the portal (when aiding Cadius) and once you place the boot-beacon (when helping Astor). Convincing Astor to stop his experiments should have been a final decision, but is affected by a bug.
• You can ask Astor to teleport you to Bruma multiple times until you drop off the boot-beacon.

Bugs

• As Astor is not set as Essential, it is possible for him to die during the quest, which will cause it to fail. Similarly the quest will not start if he dies before you enter the Bruma Synod Conclave for the first time. ^?
• After witnessing the initial appearance of the Ayleid statue, it is possible for Cadius to be stuck in "busy" mode. To fix this, speak to Elintius once he's place the statue in storage. ^?
• After killing the summoned zombie, Cadius can be stuck in "busy" mode. To fix this, exit the building and then re-enter. ^?
• After successfully intimidating or persuading Astor to stop his experiments, it is still possible to tell him you've changed your mind and will report him to the Synod. This will result in two quest objectives being active at the same time (70 and 400). Once you return to Cadius, your only dialogue option - despite having initially convinced Astor to desist - will be to inform him that you failed to stop the experiments, which in turn forces you to destroy the portal to complete the quest on the Synod's side. The other quest objective and marker pointing to Cadius will remain throughout the quest. ^?
• If you have convinced Astor to stop his experiments, it is possible to still help him, though the dialogue option isn't immediately available. First you will need to tell him you're reporting him to the Synod (as above), at which point the relevant dialogue option will show up. ^?
• It is possible to sabotage the portal in front of Astor without any consequence. ^?

Quest Stages

Whispers of the Mountain (CYRFrostcragMS01)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
30		Seemingly random items are appearing out of nowhere in the Bruma Synod conclave. The chapter head of the hall, First Adjunct Cadius Venucius, asked me to check it out by asking Attendant Wickhart if he found any clue as to the cause of this strange occurrence. Objective 30: Ask Roland Wickhart about the statue
40		During my talk with Attendant Roland Wickhart, he has discerned that the statue was of Ayleid make. Before he could tell me more, a soul gem appeared out of thin air right next to us. I should inform Cadius that the problem only seems to be getting worse. Objective 40: Inform Cadius that more items have appeared
50		After talking to Cadius in the Bruma Synod conclave, it seems the next logical step in our investigation is to search the conclave for any more unusual items. I should take a look around to see if there's anything out of place. Objective 50: Search the Bruma Synod conclave for strange items
60		After a zombie appeared in the Bruma Synod conclave, the chapter head, Cadius Venucius, decided that he had to act. He has sent me to Frostcrag Spire, the suspected location of these items' origin, to find whoever is responsible and put a stop to it. Objective 60: Investigate Frostcrag Spire
70		I discovered the origin of the unusual items. It appears that some mages from the College of Whispers moved into Frostcrag Spire and began tinkering with the old portals there. Fortunately, the mages saw reason and will no longer be directing their experiments towards the conclave. I should tell Cadius what has transpired here. Objective 70: Return to Cadius and inform him that the problem is solved
100	Finishes quest
200		Objective 200: Follow Astor
210		Objective 210: Speak to Astor
220		After telling Astor in the College of Whispers cynosure in Frostcrag Spire that I would aid him in calibrating the portals, he has sent me to help him make some final adjustments by placing a beacon in the Synod conclave's main hall. Place the beacon in the Bruma Synod conclave
230		Objective 230: Return to Astor Astentius
240		I've agreed to go along with Astor's plan and help him with his final test of Frostcrag Spire's teleportation pads. He wants me to simply stand on the teleportation pad he has been configuring. If I arrive, having been flung through space itself, in one piece, he will consider his experiments a success and the Bruma conclave will no longer become the dumping ground of displaced objects. Objective 240: Step on the portal
250		The experiment was a success - though it certainly was not a pleasant experience - as I was flung through space itself and arrived safely in the Bruma Synod conclave. Astor should now know I made it, which means the experiments should cease. I should inform Cadius of my success. Objective 250: Inform Cadius of your success
260		I've informed Cadius of my success in stopping the College's experiments out of Frostcrag Spire. I should return to Ravil and see if he has anything for me. Objective 260: Inform Cadius of your success
300	Finishes quest	College of Whispers mages in Frostcrag Spire were experimenting with ancient teleportation pads, sending all manner of objects to Bruma's Synod conclave. I sided with the College of Whispers and aided them with their experiments, sparing the Synod the intrusions. Both the Synod and the College rewarded me for my efforts.
400		I discovered the origin of the unusual items. It appears that some College of Whispers mages moved into Frostcrag Spire and began tinkering with the old portals there. Unfortunately, the mages there would not cease their experiments. I should return to the Synod and see what they wish to do about this situation. Objective 400: Return to Cadius
410		Cadius has asked that I sabotage the portal in Frostcrag Spire to prevent any further Whispers experiments. Brute force should work. Objective 410: Sabotage the portal in the Spire
420		I've managed to destroy the teleport pad in Frostcrag Spire. I should return to Cadius Venucius and inform him of my success - and receive my reward. Objective 420: Return to Cadius Venucius
500	Finishes quest	College of Whispers mages in Frostcrag Spire were experimenting with ancient teleportation pads, sending all manner of objects to Bruma's Synod conclave. I sided with the Synod and forced the Whispers mages to stop their experiments, and they rewarded me by granting me access to their enchanting table.
999	Fails quest

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 10, 15, 20, 25, 35, 55, 57, 405.

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 CYRFrostcragMS01 stage, where 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 CYRFrostcragMS01.