Shivering:The Roots of Madness

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[edit] Quick Walkthrough

Attempt to immerse the Staff in the Font of Madness.
Speak with Haskill concerning the condition of the Font.
Enter the Fountainhead and cleanse the Pools of Madness.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

[edit] Imbue the Staff

Travel to Sheogorath's Palace, and following the instruction of Dyus previously, attempt to imbue the Staff of Sheogorath by activating the Font of Madness. At this point in time, nothing will happen. Speak with Haskill, who will inform you that Font has been tainted by Order Crystals. You must enter the Fountainhead and cleanse the Pools of Madness from the taint of Order.

[edit] Purify the Fountainhead

Enter the Fountainhead, located within a tree behind Sheogorath's throne. Upon entering, you will notice that the Fountainhead is populated by both tamed and untamed Gnarls. The tamed Gnarls are not hostile, and will unlock the Order-sealed doors throughout the Fountainhead. The untamed Gnarls are hostile, possess a silver aura and will relock open doors. Progress further into the Fountainhead and you will encounter a Chrysalis. Numerous Chrysalides are scattered throughout the Fountainhead. Activating them will spawn one tamed Gnarl per Chrysalis. As you travel deeper into the Fountainhead, you will encounter Priests of Order who are in the process of tainting the smaller pools. Kill the Priests and loot the Shards of Order. These shards will allow you to open doors that have been sealed by Order Crystals. Crystal-sealed loot stumps can also be unlocked by Shards of Order. Fight your way through the Fountainhead until you reach the Pools of Madness.

[edit] Cleanse the Pools of Madness

The quest will diverge at this point, depending on which Duke or Duchess you usurped during the Ritual of Accession quest. Fight or avoid the few hostile Gnarls between yourself and the Pools of Madness. Awaiting you in the Pool will be either Thadon or Syl, attired in the uniform of an Order Priest, and escorted by three other Priests of Order. Speak briefly with the Duke/Duchess, after which he/she will attack you. Kill the Duke/Duchess and his/her bodyguards; the Pool, now bereft of their debilitating presence, will be cleansed. Proceed to the second Pool and repeat the process, slaying the Order Priests that taint it.

Once both Pools of Madness are cleansed, return to Sheogorath's Palace and imbue the Staff of Sheogorath in the Font of Madness.

[edit] Notes

Although garbed in Order attire, the Duke/Duchess will still retain their respective unique items.

Syl wields the leveled warhammer, Nerveshatter.
Thadon wears the unique helm, the Diadem of Euphoria.
Pools of Madness that have been cleansed of Order will have a 10 point restore health effect.
The body of the Duke/Duchess will permanently remain in the Fountainhead, as it is marked as a quest item.
If you use the resurrect <1> command in the console or use a mod with a resurrect spell it is possible to revive the Duke/Duchess that you kill in this quest after you have purged the second pool in the fountain in the palace. The revived NPC will be hostile to your character at first but if u escape their view with invisibility and return to palace to complete the main quest you will find the Duke/Duchess returned to their original normal script from the begging of the SI quest. In this way you can mercifully revive the betrayer and still have them serve over a duchy for you. This will only work with the second Duke/Duchess you kill since the first one is removed from the game via script. The revived Duke/Duchess can even be recruited via many companion mods. Try it out its fun!
You can attack the tamed Gnarls to get them to run after you and open the doors faster.
This quest can be quite frustrating when the Gnarls don't go the way you want them to, however a simple Command Creature spell will let you lead the Gnarls to the door you want to be opened.

[edit] Journal Entries

The Roots of Madness (SE12)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
0
5		(Initialize ordered doors)
7		(Set if player tries Font before talking to Haskill)
9
10		Something is wrong with the Font of Madness. It won't accept the Staff of Sheogorath and imbue it with power as Dyus described. Perhaps Haskill will know what's wrong with it.
20		The Font of Madness has been poisoned by Order! If it becomes fully Ordered, the realm is lost and Jyggalag has won. Haskill suspects that Order has somehow gained access to the Pools of Madness that nourish the Font. I need to enter the Fountainhead beneath the Tree and find the source of the poison before it is too late.
30		I've witnessed a gnarl removing the Order crystals that were poisoning a door here in the Fountainhead. It seems that the tame gnarls here can halt the spread of Order throughout the dungeon. I may be able to use their help as I work my way to the Pools of Mania and Dementia.
40		(Set first time gnarl "orders" a door)
50		Just as Haskill suspected, Jyggalag's priests are poisoning the roots of the Tree of Madness. I have cleansed one of the minor pools, but I must find the Pools of Mania and Dementia in order to save the Tree.
60		I've discovered a chrysalis that generates a tame Gnarl Cultivator. Perhaps these gnarls can help me halt the spread of Order throughout the Fountainhead.
150		I've killed the Priests of Order who had cursed the Pool of Mania. Now to cleanse the Pool of Dementia. (If the player hasn't yet cleansed the pool of Dementia) or I've killed the Priests of Order who had cursed the Pool of Mania. The traitor, Thadon, was among them. Now that I've cleansed both Pools that feed the Font of Madness, I should be able to imbue the Staff of Sheogorath with power. (If the pool of Dementia has been cleansed already and the player is ruler of Dementia) or I've killed the Priests of Order who had cursed the Pool of Mania. The traitor, Syl, was among them. Now that I've cleansed both Pools that feed the Font of Madness, I should be able to imbue the Staff of Sheogorath with power. (If the pool of Dementia has been cleansed already and the player is ruler of Mania)
160		I've killed the Priests of Order who had cursed the Pool of Dementia. Now to cleanse the Pool of Mania. (If the player hasn't yet cleansed the pool of Mania) or I've killed the Priests of Order who had cursed the Pool of Dementia. The traitor, Thadon, was among them. Now that I've cleansed both Pools that feed the Font of Madness, I should be able to imbue the Staff of Sheogorath with power. (If the pool of Mania has been cleansed already and the player is ruler of Dementia) or I've killed the Priests of Order who had cursed the Pool of Dementia. The traitor, Syl, was among them. Now that I've cleansed both Pools that feed the Font of Madness, I should be able to imbue the Staff of Sheogorath with power. (If the pool of Mania has been cleansed already and the player is ruler of Mania)
180		(Player has cleared both pools)
200	0	I have immersed my Staff in the Font of Madness. I have gained the power of Sheogorath.

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 SE12 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.