Skyrim:The Book of Love

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Help the Temple of Mara spread the cause of love throughout Skyrim. Quest Giver: Dinya Balu Location(s): Temple of Mara in Riften Reward: Agent of Mara ID: t02

Dinya Balu wants you to help the cause of love throughout Skyrim.

Quick Walkthrough

1. Speak to Dinya Balu in the Temple of Mara in Riften.
2. Help Fastred, in Ivarstead, with her love interest.
3. Help Calcelmo with his love.
4. Help Ruki with her love.

Detailed Walkthrough

Speaking to Dinya Balu in the Temple of Mara in Riften will initiate this quest. She will explain the visions that Mara has given her, and ask you to act in Mara's name to aid those who are having trouble with their love. After the second part of the quest, she will give you an amulet of Mara to sense Mara's guidance, which you keep when the quest is completed.

Fastred

Boti and Jofthor have differing opinions about their daughter's future.

First, Dinya will send you to Ivarstead to speak to Fastred. Fastred will tell you that she is in love with Bassianus Axius, but her parents will not let them be together; she will ask you to speak to them in that regard. Her mother Boti will reveal that she is not against the relationship, and even if Fastred were to run away from Ivarstead with Bassianus, she would do her best to handle her husband's ire. Fastred's father, Jofthor, on the other hand, will make it clear that he does not want his daughter to leave town, and that he believes she is barely infatuated with Bassianus and will soon change her mind, just as she did with her previous interest, Klimmek.

If you encourage Bassianus, he and Fastred will move to Riften.

At this point, you can choose to talk to Bassianus, informing him of Boti's silent approval, or Klimmek, suggesting to him that he should be more bold in regard to Fastred. The man you speak to will then proceed to meet with Fastred; they'll have a brief conversation which you must watch to advance the quest. When the quest is completed, Bassianus will leave for Riften regardless of having favored him or not, though he will take Fastred with him if you favored him. In either case, return to Dinya Balu at the Temple of Mara to inform her of your success.

Calcelmo and Faleen

Yngvar the Singer's poetry can melt hearts.

Dinya Balu will send you on a second mission for Mara. You must travel to Markarth and speak to Calcelmo. Calcelmo likes Faleen, but is afraid of speaking to her. He doesn't know what to talk about and worries that he'll make a bad impression by raising the wrong topic. He asks you to find out more about her from her friend, Yngvar the Singer who is popular with women, but is thankfully not Faleen's type. If you tell Yngvar that Calcelmo is interested in Faleen, he will offer for 200 gold a romantic poem ostensibly written by Calcelmo. Bring this to Faleen. She will be touched and write Calcelmo an encouraging letter in response.

Calcelmo and Faleen confessing their love to each other.

Give the letter to Calcelmo and he will run off to meet her. Follow him to see them express their mutual affection in person, and the quest will complete.

Note: If you complete this quest after the Stormcloaks have claimed Markarth, Faleen will have been relocated to Solitude. This will cause Calcelmo to run all the way from Markarth to Solitude to speak to her. If that happens, fast-travel to the Blue Palace to witness their conversation and complete the quest.

Ruki and Fenrig

Ruki waiting at Gjukar's Monument.

Return to Dinya Balu for one final quest to restore the love in Skyrim; a long-dead couple need your aid to find each other, and eternal peace. Dinya will give you an amulet of Mara, which you will need to have equipped in order to see the couple. A ghost by the name of Ruki is standing at Gjukar's Monument. She thinks that she is still alive, and standing amidst the remnants of a battle that actually occurred long ago. She searches for her love, Fenrig, as she had word that the battle did not go well, but she has been unable to find his body.

Ruki and Fenrig ascending into the sky.

Following your quest marker to Fenrig brings you to his ghost, who believes he is still at camp on the eve of the battle, having apparently been killed in an enemy raid prior to the battle itself. You give him word that his Ruki has come looking for him, and he agrees to follow you. Bring him back to Ruki and they will be confused, but happy that they are together. Watch their spirits ascend into the sky to an eternity together amongst the stars, and return to Dinya Balu for your reward.

Notes

• Dinya Balu will not give out the quest Spread the Love while this quest is active.
• If you watch carefully as Ruki and Fenrig are lifted into the sky, you can notice that they will suffer a sudden drop before becoming invisible.
• The option to request Fenrig to Follow is only present at night.
• If you have completed the civil war story line for the Imperial Legion after giving Markarth to the Stormcloaks in Season Unending, Yngvar the Singer will be in Windhelm with the other captured Stormcloak supporters. Simply go in the Palace of the Kings and he will be at the table before the throne.
• If Markarth is in control of the Stormcloaks, Faleen will be in Solitude along with the exiled Jarl Igmund. This will make Calcelmo go on foot to Solitude after you notify him that you delivered the poem.
• After choosing which suitor succeeds for Fastred you must follow him to her and observe the conversation between the lovers, otherwise the quest will not update and you can't receive the next quest in the chain.
• Unlike the "Agent of Dibella" reward, this quest reward is listed as "Resist Magic" in Active Effects rather than "Agent of Mara".

Bugs

• Fenrig may vanish after asking you to lead the way to Ruki and never reappear. If you then either fast travel or run to Ruki, she has the quest marker indicating to talk to her next, but she does not respond.
  • Advance the quest using the console command setstage t02 100. Another console solution is using prid 38288 and then using enable. This will bring Fenrig back and he will follow you.
  • Provided no followers are with you, after speaking to Fenrig, when he responds stating: "If she's come this far from home..." exit the conversation and quickly fast travel to Ruki's location at the monument. Fenrig will have already joined your party and travel with you. Upon arrival, the scripted conversation between the two occurs and the quest updates as normal.
  • If the other suggested fixes do not work for you after trying them try reloading before the quest. Speak to Ruki then when you talk to Fenrig simply allow him to finish his lines. If he seems to disappear do not panic. Just walk back to Ruki (not fast travel) and the scene when they talk and float into the air should happen normally. (ps3 1.8 update / dlc update. Tested on 3/9/13)
  • Remove the amulet of Mara after speaking to Fenrig, and travel back to Ruki. If Fenrig disappears and you are unable to interact with Ruki, enter the items menu, remove the amulet and then exit the menu. The quest should update and inform you to equip the amulet and Ruki should disappear. If you then re-equip the amulet and wait a few moments, Ruki will appear again and move to interact with Fenrig, who also should have appeared nearby.
• If Ruki is attacked or attacks a dragon while she has the quest marker, she does not respond. It may be possible to fix this the same way as above. ^?
• Both Ruki and Fenrig can ascend into the sky and then fall. After that, they ascend a few feet off of the ground and stay there.
  • Simply reload the last known save before both meet to fix the issue. Waiting for one hour may also fix the problem.
• Picking up extra amulets of Mara may cause you to be unable to equip the one that is given to you, which is required to progress the quest. This will prevent you from completing the quest. ^?

Quest Stages

The Book of Love (t02)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		I've agreed to help the Temple of Mara help the cause of love throughout Skyrim. (Objective is assigned): Talk to Fastred
20		(Objective is assigned): Talk to Fastred's parents
25		(Objective is assigned): Talk to Bassianus or Klimmek
30		(Objective is assigned): Return to Dinya Balu
40		(Objective is assigned): Talk to Calcelmo
45		(Objective is assigned): Get advice from Yngvar
50		(Objective is assigned): Deliver poem
55		(Objective is assigned): Deliver Faleen's letter
70		(Objective is assigned): Return to Dinya Balu
75		(Objective is assigned): Put on the Amulet of Mara
80		(Objective is assigned): Talk to the long-dead lover
90		(Objective is assigned): Find Fenrig
95		(Objective is assigned): Bring Fenrig to Ruki
100		(Objective is assigned): Return to Dinya Balu
200		(Reward): Agent of Mara: (Active Effect) +15 to Magic Resistance.

 

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• 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 any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• 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 t02 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, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest t02.