Shivering:Ritual of Mania

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[edit] Quick Walkthrough

Acquire Greenmote
Poison Thadon's meal and wine
Collect Thadon's corrupted blood
Deliver the blood to the Altar of Arden-Sul in the Sacellum and speak to Dervenin and Sheogorath.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

To perform the ritual of Mania, the current Duke, Thadon, must overdose on Greenmote. Then, to become Duke or Duchess of Mania, you must collect his drug-tainted blood, and place it upon the altar of Arden-Sul in the Sacellum.

[edit] Find a Friend

Asking around New Sheoth about Thadon will lead you to the Duke's servant: Wide-Eye.

Raise Wide-Eye's disposition to at least 60 and she will tell you her daily routine. Every day at 12 noon, she performs a special errand, traveling from the Halcyon Conservatory to the banquet hall in the House of Mania. At about 3pm-4pm she exits the House to the Palace Grounds to begin the next stage of her 'errands'.

Following Wide Eye during the latter stage of her "special errand" will lead you to a secret statue, located on the North East side of the Palace courtyard; the hidden front to Thadon's Greenmote Silo. Watch her activate the statue and enter after her. She does not leave the silo until you retrieve the Greenmote.

[edit] Greenmote Scrounging

Enter the Greenmote Silo and make your way to the Greenmote pile, located in far east corner. All of the guards inside the silo will arrest you if you are detected, so sneaking, invisibility or chameleon are advised. The route to the right may be easiest, as the center route is guarded by three Golden Saints. Wide-Eye will be located inside the Greenmote storage room. Activate the Greenmote pile and obtain two samples of greenmote before leaving. If you are feeling brave, you can pickpocket the House of Mania Key from Wide-Eye, which saves yourself from picking the lock later on.

[edit] A Deadly Meal

Pick or open the leveled lock to the Duke's quarters and make your way in. Sneaking is advisable, since you will have to get past two Golden Saint Guards. Although it is possible to kill both while only incurring a bounty of 5 gold, sneaking unseen can be done easily enough. The kitchen is located at the end of the corridor to your left once down the steps.

Before you sneak in, wait until the time is close to eight o'clock. If it is ten o'clock or later when you attempt this, Thadon's meal will not appear on the table and his wine will not appear on the rack.

Wait until the guard passes you before proceeding. Make the first left turn and hug the left side of the pillared hall, ducking into the first dark area to your left. After the guard returns and passes and her companion enters the bedroom that is now slightly left ahead of you. You need to time your movement so no guard will see you as you move further down the hall. Duck into the last dark area on your left, which is directly across from kitchen. Finally, once the guards move, enter the kitchen.

Activate the food and wine to add your greenmote to each. The wine is upright with the other bottles on the shelves, on the left side of the middle shelf. Now wait in the dark area to the right of the wine rack until the guard re-enters and then leaves. Go to the corner of the kitchen and wait for the second guard to come into sight before heading back down the hall. Retrace your earlier steps to make your escape, ducking into the same secluded areas to avoid the guards.

Exit the Duke's Quarters and return to the Mania throne room at 8pm, and sit down. Thadon will eventually rise and start to recite a soliloquy. In the middle of the soliloquy, the count collapses, overdosing on his beloved greenmote.

[edit] Complete the Ritual

Take his blood and make your way to the Sacellum. Be sure to take the Diadem of Euphoria from his body after you take the blood, as well as any other loot you want, as the body will disappear at the conclusion of the quest. Activate the altar, and talk to Dervenin, who will proclaim you the Duke/Duchess of Mania. Talk to Sheogorath, who will appear in the pews near the back of the Sacellum. Shortly thereafter, Syl will enter and argue with Sheogorath, revealing that The Fringe is under attack, and that she intends to defect to the Forces of Order. After her exit, Sheogorath will present you with the Ring of Lordship and the power to summon a Golden Saint for 60 seconds, once a day.

[edit] Bugs

Sometimes, Syl will not enter the room. Load an earlier save to circumvent this.
- This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch.
There seems to be a problem with sneaking Greenmote into Thadon's meal where an activation option is not available.
- This appears to be due to the time of the day you attempt to activate it. If too early or too late it will not be available. Try to enter the area around 4pm game time to place the greenmote. Once Thadon's assistants begin to leave the area, the window of opportunity is over for the day.
After becoming the Duke/Duchess of Mania, the player is unable to sit in Thadon's (now the player's) throne as the ownership is not updated.
- This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch.

[edit] Journal Entries

Ritual of Mania (SE07B)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
5		I should begin asking around New Sheoth about Thadon's court and learn the best way to get him to overdose on Greenmote without his knowledge.
10		It was suggested that I speak to Thadon's steward, Wide-Eye. I was told I could find her in the House of Mania or elsewhere in New Sheoth.
15		Wide-Eye has described to me a bit of her routine. I'll need to find where she gets Greenmote from and obtain some without being discovered. Wide-Eye mentions she does a "special errand" at noon every day, I should follow her and see where she goes.
18		I've followed Wide-Eye to a unremarkable alcove in the Palace courtyard. I should watch from this vantage point to see what she does.
20		I've observed Wide-Eye activating the secret entrance to the Greenmote Silo. I need to get inside and procure two extra doses of the potent drug without getting caught.
25		I've obtained two doses of Greenmote. I now need to sneak into Thadon's kitchen sometime before eight o'clock and attempt to slip an extra dose into his evening meal and into his wine without being seen, otherwise try again tomorrow night. Gundlar prepare the meal in the morning, so I'll have to wait until the afternoon to poison his food.
30		I've slipped an extra dose of Greenmote into Thadon's meal and Thadon's wine. I should proceed to the dining area at eight o'clock for the evening feast and watch the effect the Greenmote overdose has on Thadon.
35		(One of these two options will appear depending on whether the player witnesses Thadon's death or not) I've entered the main hall in the House of Mania, and the evening feast is underway. I should watch the effect the Greenmote overdose has on Thadon. or I've entered the main hall in the House of Mania later than expected to find Thadon already dead from his Greenmote overdose. I should now collect as much of his tainted blood as possible.
40		After Thadon rose to deliver an odd soliloquy, he clutched his heart and fell to the ground dead. I should now collect as much of his tainted blood as possible.
45		I've obtained Thadon's drug-tainted blood. I now need to make my way back to the Altar of Arden-Sul at the Sacellum.
50		(One of these two options will appear depending the player's gender) After touching the Altar of Arden-Sul, there was a brief flash of light. Dervenin, the High Priest of Mania, has now proclaimed me Duchess of Mania. I should speak with Sheogorath about the next step in his plan. or After touching the Altar of Arden-Sul, there was a brief flash of light. Dervenin, the High Priest of Mania, has now proclaimed me Duke of Mania. I should speak with Sheogorath about the next step in his plan.
55		After informing Sheogorath of my victory, Syl, the Duchess of Dementia became furious. Before she stormed out of the Sacellum, she threatened that we hadn't heard the last of her. I should continue speaking to Sheogorath to receive my rewards of office.
200		(One of these two options will appear depending the player's gender) Sheogorath has awarded me the Ring of Lordship. I am now officially Duchess of Mania of the Shivering Isles. or Sheogorath has awarded me the Ring of Lordship. I am now officially Duke of Mania of the Shivering Isles.

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 SE07B 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. See SetStage for more information.