Arena:Labyrinthian

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1 Quick Walkthrough
2 Detailed Walkthrough

Retrieve the second piece of the Staff from this giant maze of a ruin.^edit

Quest Giver: Ria Silmane
Location(s): Skyrim
Prerequisite Quest: Fang Lair
Next Quest: Elden Grove
Reward: The second piece of the Staff of Chaos

Labyrinthian

[edit] Quick Walkthrough

Receive yet another vision from Ria in your dreams.
Travel to the Mages Guild in Winterhold, Skyrim.
Infiltrate the Fortress of Ice to recover a magical tablet.
Return the tablet to the Mages Guild and learn of the location of the Labyrinthian.
Go to the Labyrinthian and retrieve the second piece of the Staff of Chaos.
Survive yet another attempt made on your life by your enemy.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

[edit] Yet Again, in a Dream

After you retrieve the first piece of the Staff of Chaos, Ria will appear to you in your dreams yet again, the next time you sleep. This time, she will say:

"It seems that you were well chosen. I see that you have won the first piece of the Staff. That in and of itself is not a simple task. Tharn, it seems, is not as concerned with you as I had thought he would be. Perhaps he thinks you dead or lost in the sewers from which you escaped. That is well, for I have discovered the second piece's location. There was once a great maze, built by the Archmagus Shalidor to guard what he called Glamorill, the elven term for 'The Secret of Life'. I know not the location of the great maze, which was called the Labyrinthian, but somewhere in its twisted corridors lies the second piece of the Staff of Chaos. Shalidor, according to the old texts, made his home in the Fortress of Ice. He would not have built the Labyrinthian far from his home. I would search to the north for such a place. I wish you well on your journey..."

[edit] Winterhold, Part 1

Asking around about the Labyrinthian leads you eventually to the Winterhold Mages' Guild. There you are told that while they'd like to help you, some rogue knights made off with a stone tablet that would complete a map to the Labyrinthian. Also, because you're the only one who cares, you're the only one who's going to get it back. When you agree to go, you are provided with the location of the Fortress of Ice. It's just a bit southwest of Winterhold.

[edit] Fortress of Ice

This is a bi-level dungeon teeming with cold monsters and humans in what must be rather cold suits of armor. The way down to the second level is actually quite close to the entrance to the fortress itself, but unless you have Passwall, you'll have to go through a maze-y set of rooms and corridors to get to it.

When you enter, if you immediately hug the west wall, by the time you turn the corner you'll see the blue square that signifies the way down. This is a huge help if you have Passwall, and a big help even if you don't: it saves a lot of searching for the way down. Make your way to it, doing your best not to be frozen by snow wolves or swatted down by ice golems and humans.

The second level of the fortress is also a maze-like set of corridors and rooms. You start in the east central part of the level, and the tablet is in the northwest part of the dungeon. Again, Passwall is a big help if you have it; otherwise, be prepared for a long crawl and lots of monsters to deal with. If you don't have Passwall, you'll initially have to go south and traverse some tunnels before you can make your way to the section of the dungeon in which the tablet resides. Once you get there, you will be presented with another riddle:

Once you get in, grab the tablet (43,3). It's lying on the floor. It's gray. And, it looks like half of one of those tablets Charlton Heston brought down from Mt. Sinai in the movie "The Ten Commandments".(?) Bring it back to Winterhold.

[edit] Winterhold, Part 2

Back in the Mages' Guild, present the tablet to Thelen. He then marks the location of the Labyrinthian. It is in the north central part of Skyrim.

[edit] Labyrinthian

The Labyrinthian is a very large and tortuous dungeon. It is chock-full of raised walkways, trenches, and tunnels. On your dungeon map, the raised areas and the tunnels are the same color, so it can be difficult to tell which way to go even when you look at the map. You may think the path you're taking is good, but then you'll be dead-ended because where, for instance, the walkway ends, the tunnel below you keeps going, and there will be no easy way to get to the tunnel from where you are. In short, it's a hard dungeon to find your way around.

The first thing you see on the first level is a series of three cage-like doors. If you go through the middle one, you'll get a dungeon backstory and an idea of your first task: to obtain the key to a magically locked door. You are told that to get that key, go down into the lower level via door 1. Do so.

It's not particularly easy to get to the lower level. The Labyrinthian lives up to its name. However, if you go through door 1 and go northeast, you will quickly see on your dungeon map the blue dot that signifies the way down. Make your way to it and go down to the second level of the dungeon into the Domain of Mogrus.

You can find Mogrus's key in the northeast corner of the dungeon. The best method to get there is to find the raised walkway heading north-south on the eastern side and stick to it going north, jumping over trenches/tunnels if need be. When you get to his room, there are two cages: one holds the key, the other holds Mogrus (or at least what's left of him- after all these years). You'd like to just grab the key and not have to deal with Mogrus- but of course there's a riddle first.

If you answer the riddle correctly, the magically locked cage door, behind which the key lies, unlocks. If you answer incorrectly, the magically locked cage door, behind which Mogrus resides, unlocks- and he's a tough fight. Even if you manage to defeat him, you still have to eventually get the riddle right or the other door will not unlock for you. Once you get the door unlocked, grab the diamond key (10,12), make your way back up to the first level, and use it to unlock that first door (50,16).

One you do that, make your way around to the next door. You are then told that to get by this magically locked door, you'll have to go through door 2 on the current level and make your way down yet again to the second level.

Kanen's way down is the same distance and angle from the entrance as Mogrus's, except it is northwest and not northeast. I.e., it's mirrored, if the mirror is on the center line. It's a little harder to find than Mogrus's, but it's not far. Make your way to it and re-enter the second level, but this time down to the Domain of Kanen.

(By this time you may notice that Mogrus's domain takes up the east half of the dungeon and Kanen's takes up the west half. Never the twain shall meet, not even with Passwall.)

Kanen and his key are in the southwest corner of the dungeon. You can reach it by raised walkway or by tunnel. Your best bet is to take raised walkways south and west as much as possible. The shortest path will take you a short way through a trench. His setup is exactly like his brother's: he's in a cell, the key is in a cell next to him, and you have to riddle-solve it open. Get the sapphire key (84,92) and use it to open the corresponding door on the first level (50,6).

Again, make your way around the wall to the other side where there sits the door between you and the Staff piece. This being Jagar Tharn's thing of course, there is a riddle for you to answer first (was he the one who trapped the brothers?). Answer the riddle (Answer is "key") and collect your prize (50,9).