Oblivion:A Mage's Staff

The UESPWiki – Your source for The Elder Scrolls since 1995

Jump to: navigation, search

1 Quick Walkthrough
2 Detailed Walkthrough
3 Choosing a Staff
4 Notes
5 Bugs
6 Journal Entries

Complete your induction into the Mages Guild by creating your own staff. ^edit

Quest Giver: Raminus Polus at Arcane University
Location(s): Arcane University, Wellspring Cave
Prerequisite Quest: Join the Mages Guild
Next Quest: Ulterior Motives
Reward: Your own custom leveled Staff
Fame/Infamy: Fame +2
ID: MG08MagesStaff

A sacred place, now tainted

[edit] Quick Walkthrough

Speak with Raminus Polus about the Arcane University, once accepted your task is to have a personal Staff made.
Travel to Wellspring Cave only to discover there is a problem with the Mages who guard this sacred place.
Make your way through the Cave, taking care of (or avoiding) any enemies you encounter.
On the other side of Wellspring Cave you will be accosted by some Necromancers who also need to be killed.
Take the wood from the Chest and return to Raminus, who instructs you to go see Delmar in the Chironasium.
Delmar asks you to choose the type of enchantment you would like and requests a full day's time to finish the work.
Return after a day has passed and Delmar will tell you to retrieve your custom Staff from the cupboard in the back.
After you have your Staff go see Raminus to be promoted to Journeyman.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

[edit] Wellspring Sour

After you have received all the recommendations from all Guilds, travel to the Arcane University, and speak to Raminus Polus. He'll be in the Arch Mage's lobby during the daytime. At night, you won't be able to find him yet. Once you are accepted into the guild by Raminus, speak to him about 'tasks' to be told about the construction of your Mage's Staff. First you need to retrieve some special wood for the staff from Wellspring Cave, east of the Imperial City.

[edit] Darkness on the Horizon

Follow the compass to the Wellspring Cave. If you already found the cave earlier, you can just fast travel there. Once you enter Wellspring Cave the quest log will direct you to speak with Eletta or Zahrasha. It isn't long before you encounter a slight hitch in this plan: Zahrasha has been killed by a necromancer just inside the entrance. Take the Wellspring Cave Key off of Zahrasha's body, and continue on to discover what has happened here. More necromancers lie further in, so take care of them as you go.

Exit from the other end of the cave using the key (the lock can not be picked). You will emerge onto an island in the middle of Lake Rumare. Out here, you'll find a few more necromancers who have just killed Eletta and who will quickly turn on you, including one Noveni Othran. If you are having difficulty defeating them, there are a number of strategies you can employ:

If you have a high enough acrobatics skill, one easy way to dispatch them is simply to jump off the cliffs to your left. One by one, the Necromancers will jump after you... to their deaths. However, after you jump off the cliffs, the only way to get back to the center of the island is through Wellspring Cave (the island is surrounded by invisible one-way walls which can be penetrated on the southwest corner of the island, between two large rocks).
Turn around and re-enter the cave. Only one of them will follow you. Kill them one at a time by exiting and re-entering the cave. They aren't that tough and if you have a decent blade you should be able to kill them pretty easily.
Re-enter the cave and dive underwater. You should be able to use the buoyancy spell (or any other spell that allows you to breathe underwater) while your enemies drown.

[edit] A DIM Enchantment

Once all necromancers have been defeated, check Ellete's body and then recover the wood for your staff which is in the Stone Chest at the center of the island. Return to Raminus and tell him what has happened. Raminus will direct you to find and speak to Delmar in the Chironasium to continue your staff creation. Your dialogue with him will determine the exact staff you end up with. Save first before speaking to him in case you don't get what you want (you can start over within the dialogue too). You do not have to wait 24 hours to get your staff, just until the next day comes to receive your finished staff which will be in the cupboard in the back of the room. Afterwards, return to Raminus to be promoted to Journeyman and receive a new task.

[edit] Choosing a Staff

Full statistics on all the available staves are provided on the Staves page. All of the staves are level-dependent; for the best staff it is best to wait until you are level 15 to complete this quest. You have a choice of enchantments from three schools, covering nine possible effects.

Destruction
- Fire Damage: Trolls and many undead are weak to fire, but most daedra resist it.
- Frost Damage: Many types of undead resist frost damage and only a few enemies are weak to it. Overall, probably the least useful destruction staff.
- Shock Damage: Many daedra are weak to shock and few enemies resist it, so this is a good choice.
Illusion
- Charm: Charm spells are extremely cheap to cast yourself, and the effects on the staff aren't particularly powerful either. You're probably better off choosing something else.
- Paralyze: This can be extremely useful as paralyze spells are difficult and expensive to cast yourself. At high enough level, your staff can emulate a master level paralyze spell. Be aware that some enemies can resist paralysis. Even a short duration spell is useful, as it knocks the target down.
- Silence: Another good choice, especially against all the Necromancers you'll face if you continue in the Mages Guild quest line. A mage who can't cast spells isn't going to live very long.
Mysticism
- Soul Trap: While perhaps not as useful as others, this can be handy if you don't want to bother casting Soul Trap yourself, especially if you pair it with Azura's Star to keep every item you have charged.
- Telekinesis: No real practical use, though it might be handy for thievery, decorating your house, or general mischief.
- Dispel: Might be useful for dealing with conjurers or enemies who use shield spells, but otherwise not terribly useful.

[edit] Notes

Save before beginning the dialogue with Delmar. This will allow you to restart the dialogue and change which staff you receive if you are not happy with your original choice.

[edit] Bugs

Occasionally Delmar gets stuck in the stairs. If this happens just leave the room and go back in. If it persists just keep trying, and possibly leave the Arcane University and go back. He should be back to normal.
Sometimes (especially in modded games) the other two necromancers won't appear on the island after you get through Wellspring Cave, meaning even if you grab the staff in the chest after killing the first necromancer on the island, the quest cannot be completed, as Raminus Polus will tell you to go get the staff. If this should happen, see the console codes below to manually move the quest forward.

[edit] Journal Entries

A Mage's Staff (MG08MagesStaff)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		I need to find the grove near Wellspring Cave, northeast of the Imperial City, to acquire wood for my Mage's Staff.
20		I have arrived at Wellspring Cave. I should speak with Elette or Zahrasha.
22		I have found Zahrasha, who is dead. (If stage>=30) or I have found Zahrasha, who is dead. I should investigate what happened to her. (If stage<30)
25		I have found Eletta, who is dead. (If stage>=30) or I have found Eletta, who is dead. I should find out what happened to her. (If stage<30)
30		The necromancers that ambushed me have been defeated. I need to take this unfinished staff, and get back to Raminus Polus to tell him what's happened. (If player has staff) or The necromancers that ambushed me have been defeated. I need to get wood for a staff, and get back to Raminus Polus to tell him what's happened. (If player does not have staff)
40		I have checked in with Raminus Polus. I now need to find Delmar in the Arcane University.
50		I've chosen a staff, and need to speak to Delmar when it's complete.
100	0	My Mage's Staff is complete.

Notes

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 random order.
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. See SetStage for more information.