Skyrim:Trinity Restored

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[edit] Quick Walkthrough

Speak with Brynjolf and Karliah at the Thieves Guild.
Meet Karliah at The Shadow Stone just outside Riften.
Enter Nightingale Hall and follow Karliah's instructions.
Equip the Nightingale Armor.
Proceed further into the cave and follow Karliah's instructions.
Speak to Brynjolf about the leadership of the Guild.

[edit] Detailed Walkthrough

Return to the Thieves Guild and show Brynjolf what you found at Riftweald Manor. He will explain the significance of your findings, and tell you to listen to Karliah.

When you speak to Karliah, she makes a reference to being at full strength before pursuing Mercer, and asks you and Brynjolf to meet her at the The Shadow Stone outside of Riften. Nearby is the entrance to Nightingale Hall. Proceed inside, but don't get too far ahead - Karliah tells you more about the Nightingales and their role. After crossing the bridge go to the right for the Pickpocket skill book Purloined Shadows.

Your first stop is the armor chamber. Activate the stone; the Nightingale Armor is placed in your inventory. You must equip it before continuing. Follow Karliah further into the cave; side passages lead to sleeping quarters and living spaces. She will later remark that this was the Nightingales' base, and that she will return here once done with Mercer. Karliah is the only one who can operate the pull chain for the gate leading into the next area.

You are directed to stand on a specific platform. If you have a follower with you, their presence does not affect the outcome in any way. Karliah summons Nocturnal and asks to resume her role as a Nightingale as well as induct you and Brynjolf into their ranks. Nocturnal agrees. If asked, Karliah will explain the role of the Nightingales, and also how Mercer got into the vault without having the necessary keys. Brynjolf will address the issue of the leadership of the Thieves' Guild, saying that he and Karliah think you would be the right person for the job, once you have done all the Thieves Guild additional jobs.

[edit] Bugs

It's possible that Brynjolf will walk away when you've arrived in the hall and are asked to get your armor. If you're not on the PC, you'll have to push him through the cave.
You can use the console by targeting him (or typing prid 20545), and then typing moveto player to teleport him to you. Make sure he's near you when you don the armor when Karliah is about to ask you to take the oath, which should fix his AI (confirmed by his comment on his new outfit).
- If only you and Karliah make it to the stones before taking the oath and Brynjolf is still walking away, use console command setstage TG08A 55. This starts the cinematic sequence without Brynjolf, who will join the show slightly later.

You may stand on the marker to summon Nocturnal and nothing happens. Move around a little until the Cinematic begins.

After entering Nightingale Hall and donning the NIghtingale armor, Karliah may pull the chain for the gate twice, when it should only be once. Because only Karliah can activate the chain, this can be problematic, trapping Karliah, Brynjolf, and possibly you inside/outside the cave. The solution to this is to quickly talk to Karliah before she can pull the chain a second time.

Karliah sometimes may not meet you at Nightingale Hall, making the quest impossible to finish.
- Karliah will sometimes go back to the Winterhold Inn where you have met to decrypt Gallus' journal. It's related to the bug in the quest Hard Answers where the stages will not update. To solve this problem simply redo the quest step by step. The quest will reactivate.
- You can use the console and type setStage TG06 60 and go to the cellar in the Winterhold Inn and talk again to Enthir and Karliah. After this Karliah and Brynjolf will be at the entrance of the Nightingale Hall. (On the PC you can check if this is the problem by typing getStage TG06 in the console. If the Stage is smaller then 200 then this is the cause of Karliah's disappearance). If setting the stage to 60 doesn't work, enter setstage TG06 200 to complete the quest Hard Answers. Karliah will then begin her long trek to Nightingale Hall. Fast travel to the hall and then wait for 24 hours and she will show up.
- Alternatively, use the console commands: prid 00020545 (for Brynjolf) or prid 00058F1A (for Karliah), followed by the command moveto player. Use the latter command as many times as necessary to lead the selected NPC to the stones; you may need to activate the stone multiple times in order to get Brynjolf and/or Karliah to equip their Nightingale armors. You may still be required to use the command as you continue further down the halls. Do not use the placeatme commands unless either NPC has completely disappeared from the game (i.e. not stuck or lost), otherwise you will create a clone of the NPC which may cause undesirable results in-game.

Sometimes, Karliah will simply turn around and walk out of the cave instead of opening the gate. As she is the only one able to open it, this renders the quest uncompletable.
- On the PC, this can be fixed by clicking on the gate and using the console command disable, then setstage tg08a 52. As with all console commands, exercise extreme caution.
- On the PC, you can see the cutscene involving Nocturnal, by following the directions above to disable the gate, but use the console command setstage tg08a 52.

[edit] Quest Stages

Trinity Restored (TG08A)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		Before intercepting Mercer Frey, Karliah wishes to speak to both Brynjolf and myself. (Objective is assigned): Listen to Karliah
15		At this stage, Karliah will initiate the dialogue before moving on to the next stage (move to this to avoid bug).
20		Karliah has indicated Brynjolf and I are to meet her at an old standing stone just outside the Southwest Gate of Riften. Her motivations for doing so are mysterious, but I suspect it has something to do with the Nightingales. (Objective is assigned): Meet Karliah at the standing stone
30		(Objective is assigned): Follow Karliah
40		Karliah has informed Brynjolf and I that we're to join the elite ranks of the Nightingales and assist in reforming the trinity that was disrupted over twenty-five years ago when Mercer Frey murdered Gallus. (Objective is assigned): Activate the Armor Stone
42		(Objective is assigned): Equip the Nightingale Armor
45		(Objective is assigned): Follow Karliah
50		(Objective is assigned): Stand on vacant floor glyph
57		I've undertaken the Oath and I'm now a Nightingale, guardian of the Twilight Sepulcher and a dedicated sentinel of the goddess Nocturnal.
60		(Objective is assigned): Speak to Karliah
70		(Objective is assigned): Speak to Brynjolf
200		Karliah has finally revealed the fundamental mission of the Nightingales... the guardianship of the Skeleton Key of Nocturnal. This powerful artifact, normally kept safely within the Twilight Sepulcher, has been stolen by Mercer Frey. As a Nightingale, the duty to recover the Skeleton Key falls squarely upon my shoulders.

The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 25, 35, 47, 52, 55

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 random 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 TG08A 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 TG08A.