Oblivion:Welkynd Stone

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A Welkynd Stone in its pedestal

Welkynd Stones are glowing blue stones found often in Ayleid ruins, worth 50 gold. They can be used to do a full Magicka recharge (uses up the stone), and are required for a number of quests.

Welkynd stones can be found lying on the floor, but are also used as light fixtures in some of the ruins. To retrieve ones in elevated, out-of-reach light fixtures, you can try any of the following tricks:

Hit them with an arrow from the side. The angle from which you fire is important, because your arrow will knock the stone away from you; if the stone is knocked behind the pedestal, it may be difficult to retrieve it.
Use a Telekinesis spell.
High Acrobatics skill allows you to jump up and reach them; a 100 point Fortify Acrobatics spell will guarantee that you can jump high enough.
Glitch exploit: Drop a paintbrush and jump on it to get to the higher height
Fire Damage or Shock Damage spells (for example, a custom spell with 3 points damage on target in a 10 foot area) cast at the wall behind the stone will create a mini-explosion that knocks the stone down.
Jump and keep tapping 'A' (for Xbox) or 'Z' (for PC) and hope that you'll grab it.

Note that sometimes when they are mounted on columns there is some space behind the column, which often contains a hidden chest. Also note that you should quicksave when you are eager to retrieve the stones, it is possible that the stone will fall behind the pedestal, as mentioned before.

Lithnilian at the Imperial Bridge Inn is doing research into the source of Welkynd Stones. During the quest No Stone Unturned you can help him recover his research notes and learn his theories about how the Ayleids created them.

Martina Floria at the Arcane University, Illusion Master Trainer, requires 10 Welkynd Stones so she can train you.