Skyrim talk:The Pursuit

The UESPWiki – Your source for The Elder Scrolls since 1995
Jump to: navigation, search

The Pursuit common bug work around[edit]

There is a very frequent bug with this questline with no easy answer to be found through google. Might be useful to post the work around in here, in case someone googles the quest and ends up here.

The bug: For stage 20, you must follow Kahlia through the Ragged Flaggon and into the Thieves Guild proper. Sometimes, upon entering the thieves guild, Kahlia will be mistakingly set to a hostile status resulting in everyone going hostile. Instead of attacking however all the thieves guild members run to the backdoor and despawn after which they can't be found anywhere anymore (believe me, I looked).

What's supposed to happen: You walk into the thieves guild with Kahlia and talk to Brynjolf about the accusations against Mercer.

The work around: This needs to be done BEFORE walking into the thieves guild proper, because I have no idea how to fix everyone despawning/being hostile once that's triggered.

Open console and type "setstage TG07 30" to complete the objective and go to the new one. Seeing as how Brynjolf will still turn hostile as soon as you enter with Kahlia, you'll have to do:

"player.placeatme 0001B07D" to spawn a non hostile Brynjolf copy to your location. Talk to him to get the next step. If you enter the thieves guild now, it should be fine and no one should be running/despawning/hostile. However, that does leave us with two Brynjolfs running around. To remove the fake one:

"setessential 0001b07D 0"

click on the fake Brynjolf that you spawned in console, type "kill".

The corpse will despawn eventually, you can dump his body in the water somewhere so that you don't notice it. Then return Brynjolf to essential again, just to be safe. "setessential 0001b07D 1". The real Brynjolf will be doing his usual rounds in the guild and you should be able to interact with him and continue with the questline.

Hope this helps people, I spend two hours googling an answer and couldn't find anything, so I figured out the console commands required myself. — Unsigned comment by 145.116.19.93 (talk) at 19:23 on 19 November 2011 (GMT)

Instead of removing the essential status from both Brynjolfs and killing the copy (and setting Brynjolf to be essential again, as you forgot to mention), it would be more effective to simply click on the second Brynjolf and use the console command "markfordelete". This will remove the copy immediately upon leaving the cell. --188.203.162.222 22:24, 12 December 2011 (UTC)
I have a somewhat similar bug. After talking to Karliah in the Frozen Hearth, Hard Answers was marked as complete. I was never given instruction to talk to Brynjolf nor has The Persuit been added to my quest log. I attempted to go to riften anyway and witnessed a thief in the marketplace attacking everybody and being killed. Note the thief is not Karliah. I can still use the graveyard entrance to enter the guild without using the Ratway and Karliah is not in the Ratway or Ragged Flagon. Brynjolf is in the marketplace and will not talk to me. I attempted to teleport Karliah to riften, but it seems she only wants to walk aimlessly around the countryside and will not talk to me. I cannot manually set the stage in The Persuit, presumably because I was never given the quest in the first place. Currently there appears to be no way for me to continue the thieves guild quest line. Oddly I have a quest marker pointing to just outside the graveyard entrance, although nothing happens when I go there. Also tcl seems to have been disabled for some reason. --80.6.24.203 20:04, 1 January 2012 (UTC)
I had this bug also, and tried a few odd tricks. When entering the Flagon after dropping down the hole from Mercer's house, I got the swarm of hostile members attacking. I cast an Unrelenting Force shout, which knocked them back for a few seconds, but did no real harm. After this, they all seemed to reset and become friendly again. I could then resume the quest, with Brynjolf. Haven't tried any other shouts. Curious is this works, for anyone else with this bug? Trep35 05:19, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Two locks, three keys[edit]

Okay, now when I first did this quest and they go to unlock the vault, it really disturbed me to notice this. Basically, the door has two locks, and apparently they have three keys for it. What this means, is that either at least two of the keys are identical, or that the two locks are identical. If the first is true, someone's key is of higher value than of the other two. That makes it stupid; say that Mercer had the unique key? If the second is true, then it's even more stupid. Identical locks effectively make the need of two different persons completely unnecessary, granting anyone possessing one key an easy access. Is there something I am missing? — Unsigned comment by 62.142.168.64 (talk) at 05:15 on 20 November 2011 (GMT)

(SPOILER) Mercer had the skeleton key, that lockpick artifact thing you have to return later, which can pick the locks. --Bonabopn 19:40, 25 November 2011 (UTC)
Yes, I was aware of that. That doesn't, however, answer my question.
The existence of skeleton key was never an issue. It merely serves as a tool to allow Mercer to get past the locks. However, the whole concept of having three keys to two locks is absurd, due to reasons I have stated before. The existence of skeleton key doesn't alter things one bit. — Unsigned comment by 62.142.168.64 (talk) at 20:08 on 25 November 2011 (GMT)
Oh, i don't remember them saying they had three keys. Sorry.--Bonabopn 15:23, 27 November 2011 (UTC)
Well, both locks and all three keys could be identical. However, both locks need to be activated at the same time, so (normally) you need two people to get in. However, Mercer had the skeleton key in addition to one of the normal keys so he could activate both locks at the same time by himself. Right? Bootstomp 04:47, 30 November 2011 (UTC)
That is incorrect. Even ignoring the fact that a key could be duplicated quite easily, in the quest when the vault is checked the locks are opened seperately. First, Delvin walks to the door and opens his lock, and says something along these lines: "I've used my key, but it's still locked tightly. Now use yours." Then Brynjolf walks to the door creating a significant delay before he opens the door. This heavily indicates that the two locks can be opened seperately. — Unsigned comment by 62.142.168.64 (talk) at 09:52 on 30 November 2011 (GMT)
Perhaps there are 3 keys and 3 locks, but only 2 locks need to be opened at one time, I'm not sure how the mechanism would work but it makes sense to me. Zuphix 17:02, 20 December 2011 (UTC)
I cant believe how hung up you are over something this small. simple answer is that Devlin left his key in the lock until the other was used, 2 must be inserted at the same time for it to open whether or not they are identical is immaterial--Lord.Baal 08:38, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

() With 3 independent locks and 3 keys on the same door, if any one of the holders is dead and lose the key, the door could be permanently locked!!! It is nice to have any 2 out of 3 keys be sufficient to open the door.

  • One possible mechanism for any 2 out of 3:
  • The door has 3 bars (A, B, C); all bars must be lifted to unlock the door; Key1 could lift bar A and B but not C; Key2 could lift bar B and C but not A; Key 3 could lift bar A and C but not B. — Unsigned comment by Current (talkcontribs) at 04:58 on 9 January 2012 (GMT)
This is discussion is retarded. The game dialog from Brynjorf only says there are two locks and a three members each have a key. This means there are two locks and three keys that fit the locks; this naturally translates to two identical locks and three identical keys. The only assumption a player needs to make is the thieves do not have the ability, in the player's case-- perk, that allows you to duplicate a key. In order to open the vault you would need two keys. So you either pickpocket or kill one of the other two to obtain a key. However, since that didn't happen it becomes a mystery how the door could be opened. The revelation about the skeleton key makes perfect sense. It explains how Mercer was able to open the doors in the catacombs as well. Key locks are presumed unpickable in Skyrim and there is no evidence to suggest otherwise by player, NPC, or even in lore / scripted story.
If you're is interested in a more logical/mathematical approach the solution is also simple-- its the same way parity in a RAID storage solution works. There are a multitude of lock and key designs but let's assume is a modern pin-tumbler approach which would also help explain the NPC dialog of a sophisticated design. Example: you start with a lock with n pins, where n is large number divisible by 4. You assign key 1 a blade with 50% of the teeth and key 2 the other 50%. Then assign key 1 50% of the teeth from key 2 and visa-versa to key 2. Now both keys have 75% of what is necessary to open the lock. The third key has 50% of the unique teeth from key 1 and 50% of the unique teeth from key 2; remember we also gave key 1 and key 2 additional common teeth shared between them. Assuming the both locks are identical and link to the same mechanism, then a combination of any two keys would trip all the pins necessary to open the lock. Technically a single key would open it, but no single key contains all the necessary teeth on their respective blades. 75.80.97.155 05:02, 14 January 2012 (UTC)
To me, this sounds like (SPOILER) there were only supposed to be two keys, but the Skeleton Key can open the vault alone. He was able to open Dragon-Claw Doors with it anyway. I think there are only two keys to the vault, and someone threw it all off with the introduction of the Skeleton Key. 184.174.156.214 06:20, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

karliah refuses to walk[edit]

When i went back to do The Pursuit, i found karliah still in the inn of winterhold, and every time i talk to her, she says ssh, quickly now. Ive tried to reload and even restart, but both didnt work. Your help needing xbox guy: 112jesse 21:23, 22 November 2011 (UTC)

Confirmed issues. Has anyone found a fix for this? — Unsigned comment by 68.82.29.253 (talk) at 14:15 on 3 December 2011 (GMT)
PC Solution- Console Command "SetStage TG06 70" will re-activate the quest that proceeds it. After talking to her, she should start her way towards the Thieves Guild as normal. — Unsigned comment by Dradeeus (talkcontribs) at 12:03 on 4 December 2011 (GMT)
I had the same problem, I had to move her to me at the Ragged Flagon, she just walked right back out of Riften... I used prid 58F1A to select her in the console, then moveto player, and then SetStage TG07 20 to set the quest to the point where you should follow her through the Ragged Flagon, which fixed it for me ~ Dwarfmp 23:44, 7 December 2011 (UTC)
I also had this issue with Karliah. I tried the option to move her to me at the Ragged Flagon. This worked until I had to meet her at the beginning of Trinity Restored, then she bugged out and was not at the stone even after waiting. The PC Solution above worked for me and I had no problem with the next part of the quest (Trinity Restored) when I did this. I went to the inn, entered the SetStage TG06 70 command and completed again that portion of her dialogue. I let her walk out of the inn basement while I stayed behind and rested for 24 hours. After that she met me with no issues at the Ragged Flagon and I was able to complete The Pursuit quest. — Unsigned comment by Jetiste (talkcontribs) at 14:29 on 29 January 2012 (GMT)

Vald attacked me on the street[edit]

I'm not sure what other quest line I might have that triggered this (don't tell me - lalalalala) but... As I approached Riftweald Manor, Vald aggroed me on the street and the guards dispatched him. I was able to loot the house key off his corpse.Bootstomp 02:11, 28 November 2011 (UTC)

I also had this problem which I believe was a result of previously picking the lock of the gate where you're supposed to talk to Vold. I was able to fix his automatic aggression by using the target console command lock on the gate. After the gate was locked set as locked, I was able to talk to Vold and get the key.
Perhaps this shoulded be added to the quest notes or bugs section? Korbnep 06:41, 9 December 2011 (UTC)
I stopped Vald with a "pacify" spell, then I gave him the note "Vald's debt" and he went away without attacking me anymore. Cridus 18:33, 10 December 2011 (UTC)
I just went and closed the gate that I had picked open a long time ago. Vald then walked up and I was able to talk to him. — Unsigned comment by 71.194.207.102 (talk) at 00:09 on 3 January 2012
The tip in the notes section regarding Vald being hostile when the gate was previously picked did not work for me. Closing the gate and talking to him through the gate caused him to initially have the talk option while his back was turned, but then when I'd talk to him he would go hostile and open the gate himself, even if I used the console to re-lock the gate. Cridus's solution of casting Pacify on Vald allowed me to talk to him and give him the quest item. He then walked away with no further incident. — Unsigned comment by 75.34.55.137 (talk) at 14:39 on 6 January 2012

() This has also effected me. I picked the lock after starting the quest "The Pursuit" but before speaking to Maven about Vald's debt. I lockpick'd the gate and he searched for me. I hid and left without disturbing him again. I then went to speak to Maven about his debt, and completed that quest. I later came back with a note that Maven gave me to give to Vald. The gate was still open from the previous encounter, so I tried closing it in order to initiate a dialogue with Vald, but he attacked me on sight. I tried reloading, and it did nothing, so I finally cast Calm on him. This proved to be a valid solution, if only temporary, 'cause as soon as I completed the transaction with him, the spell wore off and he became hostile again...But, then again, I was wearing the Ebony Mail so that may have had something to do with it, seeing how it has the ability to indirectly attack nearby hostiles with poison damage...— Unsigned comment by 99.197.189.18 (talk) at 06:43 on 25 January 2012 (UTC)

I'm still having trouble even if I cast calm on him and the talk button is available it wont bring up any dialouge so I still cannot give him the note. I tried to pickpocket him and place it in there but that did nothing as well. — Unsigned comment by 174.55.9.196 (talk) at 17:15 on 22 February 2012
I did open that gate early in the game; Result being it was opened but indicated as locked when that quest was available, and Vald was hostile. I tried to unlock then close it and wait a few days, still Vald was angry at me. So, I lowered through the console the value of the variable that handles this (sorry, can't recall it), and that was still not enough: it required me to disable/enable him after, and then he was calmed down and the dialogue option was available. If this could be confirmed for someone else, the article could be updated (there's still a question mark hanging for this particular Bug) — Mateos81 (talk) 17:35, 27 December 2016 (UTC)

Training skills during this quest[edit]

I was able to use Vald as a very easy way to train my light armor, heavy armor and block skills as his strikes to me were very weak and did almost no damage. FYI - I was level 38 at the time of doing this quest. — Unsigned comment by 76.251.216.250 (talk) at 21:59 on 12 December 2011 (GMT)

A long walk with Karliah[edit]

After meeting Karliah at the Ragged Flagon, I followed her through to the Thieves Guild cistern. After pausing a moment in front of Brynjolf, she walked past him and out the backdoor. After exiting up the ladder, she stood at the bottom of the small stairway and said her first line of dialogue. Trying to speak to her gave the message "This person is busy." I reloaded and the same thing happened, but this time I opened the tomb and she walked out. I followed her all the way through Riften, back through the Ratway and the Ragged Flagon to the cistern. This second time, all the proper dialogue was initiated and the quest continued normally. DoubleBird 07:21, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

I can't get the quest...[edit]

I talked to Karliah and Enthir, she gave me the blade, told me to meet her in the Ragged Flagon, started walking, yet I still don't have the quest. I have tried going to the Ragged Flagon but she isn't there. Brynjolf won't talk to me and none of the other members seem to be any different.. what can I do??? PLEASE HELP (Xbox 360) ^^^— Unsigned comment by 72.192.32.73 (talk) at 19:49 on 18 January 2012

I also have this issue on the 360. Tried entering the Ragged Flagan through the ratway, but I cannot find Karliah and Brynholf won't speak with me in the town square and doesn't appear in the cistern. — Unsigned comment by 166.147.119.93 (talk) at 18:24 on 21 January 2012
I have the same problem, I followed her after she left the Frozen Hearth and she just went back to Snow Veil Sanctum to the room she shoots you in. After a few seconds in the room you black out and the whole quest starts over again. — Unsigned comment by 108.196.101.60 (talk) at 04:12 on 9 February 2012
That didn't work for me. I just stand in the room and nothing happens. I got chillrend before I was suppose to and i grabbed mercers plans along with it but i went back and put mercers plans back where they were, but im wondering if thats the problem? — Unsigned comment by 99.27.181.42 (talk) at 01:44 on 5 August 2012
I got the solution, I had the same problem, so I looked for Karliah, I found her at snow veil sanctum, the place where you were shot by a poison arrow. Wait a game hour, and if she didn't shoot you, you need to attack her until she attacks you, when she does wait a little time and if she didn't shoot you with a poison arrow just walk outside while she attacks you. than you are doing hard answers again and you got a second chance. — Unsigned comment by 94.215.83.43 (talk) at 17:23 on 25 November 2012 (GMT)
I have in some way the same problem, when i find karliah in snow veil sanctum and get shot, the quest "speaking with silence" starts, but when i finish the talk with karliah it marks that i have completed "speaking with silence" but hard answer do not starts. So i don't get a second chance for pursuit. Help please. (XBOX 360) — Unsigned comment by 124.124.4.218 (talk) at 03:20 on 7 December 2012 (GMT)
I can confirm the above comment. I returned the plans and got Karliah to shoot me (again), but after waking up outside and finishing "speaking with silence", hard answers does not begin. Karliah walks back into Snow Veil Sanctum. Entering the Dwemer Museum does not begin any quests, either. — Unsigned comment by 174.63.102.138 (talk) at 21:21 on 7 April 2013 (GMT)

() HELP! I tried to let her shoot me with poiosn arrow...did that 10 times! i cant do hard answers again! PLEASE HELP! Im gonna kill myself! — Unsigned comment by 188.2.136.246 (talk) at 18:11 on 1 June 2013‎

I have the same problem, i dont have mercer's plans tho and i dont see her at the snow veil sanctum! please help!!! — Unsigned comment by Generalsound (talkcontribs) at 13:57 on 8 January 2014

"A plot revealed" section note[edit]

I feel that the note about firetraps and magelight under "A plot revealed section" is out of context.

First of all, even if the note is informative and well written, it is more written in a way that should be on the talk page, for example, mentioning burning time for magelight and the phrase "My humble opinion..".

Second, the information in this note is more a section that should be in a separate article about pressure sensitive fire traps in general. The section even mention this itself.

In my opinion, this note should be rewritten to a more neutral point of view, without "opinions" and facts concerning non-quest related subjects like active time for spells. Alternatively the note should be deleted completely and the text above the note concerning firetraps be rewritten instead.

I will "step gently" as I am new here and need to get more routine before slashing in to an article. So I leave it as it is for now. Maybe some other editor would like to look it over or have any thougts.. As said, I would appreciate some feedback before I start to "slice and dice". Middleofsweden 17:10, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

I got the solution, I had the same problem, so I looked for Karliah, I found her at snow veil sanctum, the place where you were shot by a poison arrow. Wait a game hour, and if she didn't shoot you, you need to attack her until she attacks you, when she does wait a little time and if she didn't shoot you with a poison arrow just walk outside while she attacks you. than you are doing hard answers again and you got a second chance — Unsigned comment by 94.215.83.43 (talk) at 17:23 on 25 November 2012 (GMT)
I tried all if these solutions and nothing worked. Also, I had taken Mercers Plans and Chillrend before the quest as well. I loaded the saved game I had in winterhold and right before I talked to karliah I dropped Mercers plans and chillrend on the ground. After she left I picked them up. Problem solved. :) hope this helps — Unsigned comment by 24.211.133.110 (talk) at 23:22 on 13 December 2012 (GMT)


If you completed "Hard Answers" and got the Nightingale blade and Karliah didn't show up ... just get out in riften and type setstage tg07 10 in console....It worked for me and it's the only fix that it did.

Fire Trap Pressure Plates Solution[edit]

I dont see it mentioned in the article, so I thought I would point out that the fire trap pressure plates part is incredably easy. Just stay on the lighter colored diamonds, thats it! No memorizing the path, and no messing around with the magelight spell (which doesnt actually work like the article suggests by the way). 71.181.56.89 04:36, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Quill of Gemination[edit]

What happens to the quill after you turn it in? Does Maven keep it in her inventory? Does it disappear from the game?(PS3 user)71.224.13.163 19:21, 17 February 2012 (UTC)Marcus

Hi Marcus. I don't know the answer to your question, and I haven't done this quest yet. In general, if you want to know if someone has something in their inventory, you can perform the pickpocket action on them. As you may know, it does not count as a crime to look at someone's inventory in this way. Otherwise, it looks like this quest page still needs to be developed, and your question on the talk page might help editors who work on it in the future decide what information to include. There is a suggestion here [1] that the quill is "not usable by the player", and some discussion about the quill here [2], just in case any of that provides any satisfaction to your curiosity.
The main reason I am replying to you is that I noticed that you have apparently been contributing to the wiki here for quite a long time. It is appreciated. Have you considered creating an account on UESP? You do not need to make one in order to contribute, but it is quick and easy and you won't get any spam or anything like that. If others see a name instead of a number, you are probably more likely to get other people to interact with you more. If you have any questions or comments about this, you can reply here or on my talk page using the link after my signature: --JRTalk E-mail 02:03, 29 February 2012 (UTC)
JR, thanks. Very much appreciated.71.224.13.163 05:11, 4 March 2012 (UTC)Marcus
It disappears from the game. Robin Hoodtalk 06:49, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

Cannot complete Thieves Guild Quests[edit]

This has been marked as a question that needs to be answered.

On Xbox, After the Hard Answers quest, went to meet Karliah in The Ragged Flagon, and her marker was located in Winterhold, where she seemed to be stuck. As suggested repeated the section of Hard Answers again and obtained the translation rubbing, returned this to Ethnir and Karliah in Winterhold, but both still seem stuck there - and now neither Hard Answers or The pursuit can be progressed further. Additionally all Thieves guild members in the Ragged Flagon are locked in a state of high alert and won't allow me to complete any of the outstanding jobs for Devlin or Vex. Reloading from an earlier save would lower my character 3 levels! — Unsigned comment by 80.5.196.76 (talk) on 6 April 2012

Gems significant enough loot to be mentioned?[edit]

I found less treasure than I expected on my trip through Mercer's house, so made a second pass looting everything with value at least ten times its weight (yes, that even includes potatoes, since 0.1 x 10 = 1). When I stole the bowl on his desk, right in front of the Bust of the Grey Fox, a ton of gems of jewelry fell. I wish I'd stopped to see what all it was for posterity before I started spamming the loot button, but it was at least five items, and looking at my inventory now I want to say there was one each of the Flawless Amethyst, Flawless Diamond, Flawless Emerald, and Flawless Garnet, though I could be wrong. The F.Amethyst I'm sure of since I had a collect quest that advanced. Since you're RIGHT THERE getting the quest item and the TG collectible anyway, think we should mention the hidden gems in the article in that paragraph? 184.174.156.214 06:26, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

It would be better put on the Mercer's house article,rather than on the quest page.I think.--Skyrimplayer 12:42, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

The damn pursuit[edit]

OK so I completed "speaking with silence" and started hard anwsers. When I completed "hard anwsers" I went to do some other quests and after a while I decided to go back to the thieves guild quests, but when I opened my quest log I saw that the next quest "the pursuit" hasnt even started and "hard anwsers" wasnt in my completed quests section of the log. So I tried console commands like "setstage TG06 70/20/10ect", "resetquest TG06" though none seems to be working. I just enter the command and nothing happens. I tried to reset speaking with silence because i thought that would trigger "hard anwsers" and surprisingly the speaking with silence was able to do again. So I completed speaking with silence, but the next quest just wont trigger. The dude named enthir is fence and doesnt give a f*ck. No I dont have an extra save because I save my progress when I complete something. And yes I am on PC. PLEASE HELP!!!!!! — Unsigned comment by Paulenas (talkcontribs) at 08:53 on 10 August 2012

How can i go into the house?[edit]

i got a problem with going into the house...can someone tell me how to do it :)?? 84.113.223.91 07:54, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Set "The Pursuit" to active in your quest log. This should put 2 arrows behind Riftweald Manor. One will be on a black spoke. Shoot the spoke with any arrow and a ramp will fall to the lower walkway. If you pick the lock on the back gate, you will have to run past or fight Vold. Apparently if you speak to Vex, she can tell you what to say to him while the gate is still locked to avoid a confrontation. I had a bug where Vex wouldn't talk to me about Vold. (Maybe it was because I had a job uncompleted? I dropped it but it made no difference. Maybe I need to complete any jobs before going on the quest with Mercer to Snowveil Sanctum.) 75.221.154.93 15:59, 30 November 2012 (GMT)

starting "the pursuit"[edit]

i can't start the pursuit, i have returned mercer freys plans and been poisoned a few more times but i can't continue to redo hard answers as when i talk to that enther guy or something similar he just talks about business. what must i do. — Unsigned comment by 2.25.136.75 (talk) at 12:43 on 4 November 2012 (GMT)


I have managed to get it to work. (PC)
If you do not have "The Pursuit" in your quest log, you need to:
1: Replace Mercers Plans right where you found them on his table.
2: In your console type in: resetquest TG06 (This should make "Hard Answers" appear in your log with all objectives completed.)
3: Again, in console type: setstage tg06 200 (This should complete "Hard Answers" and start "The Pursuit".
Hope this works for you guys.
dr4jw3r 16:07, 17 November 2013 (GMT)

Maven has no chat dialogue to take the Quill of Gemination[edit]

Hi - I have the Quill of Gemination in my inventory. I go to Jarl Maven and there is no chat dialogue for her to take the quill. She only wants to discuss what the quill is and the special ink that she only knows the formula. Anyone know the console command [PC] to drop the quill from inventory so I can pick it up again? Anyone know a better/actual fix? Thanks! — Unsigned comment by 71.90.102.115 (talk) at 03:17 on 2 January 2013

While there is good reason to report such a bug here, and as such help the development of the wiki, I believe you might get help with your problem faster on the forums. The people who are active on the wiki seems to be generally more focused on developing accurate descriptions of the game than answering questions. —MortenOSlash (talk) 05:46, 2 January 2013 (GMT)
I had the exact same problem. My first play of the game worked fine. Two things changed in the second: Maven was the Jarl instead of Lalia, and Vald had been killed by one of the ******* random vampire attacks without me realizing it. I'm guessing the latter was the reason that Maven wouldn't give me the dialogue (which was the first time I was mad at her for NOT opening her mouth...) This problem was not fixed by console resurrecting Vald. I haven't been able to force the dialogue from Maven, BUT after talking to Maven with the quill, and then talking to (the newly resurrected) Vald, I did have the option to tell him that his debt had been forgiven - which was surprising since my journal was still telling me to report back to Maven. So I just used to the console to get rid of that nuisance journal entry (SetStage FreeFormValdDebt 200) and again to get rid of the nuisance quill (player.removeitem 000C04BB 1)
Hope that helps! — Unsigned comment by 24.255.168.153 (talk) at 10:26 on 10 February 2013
That looks like a helpful experience to document. Thanks. I don't know that much about problem-solving help with technical issues / bugs on our forums. I have not been that lucky recently, but that may just be by chance. Further, our page for asking gameplay-related questions directs users with hardware and software problems to the official Bethesda forums for such issues. I don't know if that should be updated. There's been a lot of forum-wiki discussion lately, so someone reading this can probably say more, or MortenOSlash can expand. If anyone else experiences this bug, it should certainly be placed on the article page. You may sometimes find someone on the UESP IRC (See chatroom in left sidebars) who are able and willing to provide answers or thoughts. --JR (talk) 12:17, 10 February 2013 (GMT)

Possible Quest Bug[edit]

During this quest I got banned from the guild for no apparent reason. Could it be the quest? — Unsigned comment by 69.42.0.226 (talk) at 12:30 on 13 January 2013‎

Hi. Did you break into Mercer's house before it became an objective (e.g., before starting this quest?) See the (currently) 4th bug here. If not, can you describe what happened in more detail? How did you know you were "banned"? --JR (talk) 12:49, 13 January 2013 (GMT)
No, first of all I had the Unofficial Skyrim Patch so that glitch should be fixed, plus I didn't break in until it became an objective, and second, I completed the quest as usual, but when I got back to the Ragged Flagon, everyone was saying how it was such a shame I got booted out and Vex fined me 1000 gold to get back in. Note:I did talk to Maven about erasing Vald's debt but when she asked me to go search for some stupid pen, I just decided to shoot my way through him. Orcish Bow + 20 Fire Damage Enchant = Awesome 69.42.0.226 19:35, 13 January 2013 (GMT)
Did you complete and clear the objectives for the Vald's Debt quest? If not, I guess it's possible that got you kicked out due to that. --JR (talk) 20:32, 13 January 2013 (GMT)

Invisible pillar in timed blades room[edit]

as the title says. i have an invisible pillar in the middle of the timed blades room, almost taking up the whole walking space. — Unsigned comment by 82.56.162.137 (talk) at 22:12 on 25 February 2013 (GMT)

Karliah and Ethnir won't talk to me[edit]

I went to the Frozen Hearth to meet Ethnir and Karlaih. But after I had finished talking to them I did not get a quest and now if I try to talk them they just say yes and nothing else. So I can't do anymore on the quest and I can't get it by talking. XBOX — Unsigned comment by 86.129.22.140 (talk) at 09:35 on 19 August 2013

Shooting the mechanism to lower the ramp[edit]

It isn't necessary to shoot the mechanism with a bow and arrow. You can also blast it down with a good fireball spell. (It also works with the mechanisms in the quest "Lost to the ages") I didn't see anything about this in the description of the quest, so I thought I'd share it. I didnt edit and add it but i hope the information I've shared could help improve it a little, and maybe help others save a trip to the house if they dont have a bow and arrow. Cjesseg (talk) 23:38, 8 March 2014 (GMT)

Unfortunately we don't include specific strategies on the walkthrough, mainly because there are simply way too many different ways a person could complete it. It is fine to suggest that on a talk page, but it wouldn't be included on the main page. Jeancey (talk) 23:50, 8 March 2014 (GMT)
Oh okay. Understandable. I removed it from the main article. Cjesseg (talk) 23:57, 8 March 2014 (GMT)

Freeing Vald from his debt causes ramp bug[edit]

I've done two different scenarios: (1.) when I free Vald from his debt with Maven and he gives me the key to the manor, I can no longer trigger the mechanism for the ramp. (2.) when I trigger the ramp before speaking to Vald, Vald stays hostile and my character's level is already at 45 and cannot pacify him any longer. Madbiskit (talk) 11:24, 5 July 2014 (GMT)

Thanks for the info. I can confirm this. When got Vald's debt from Maven, I shot the ramp first, and then I used Pacify spell on Vald. I managed to pacify him (I used both hands when casting the spell), and then I talked to him and gave him the paper. — Unsigned comment by 92.36.175.24 (talk) at 23:33 on 11 July 2014 (GMT)

Helping Vald Solution[edit]

By exiting your conversation with him right after handing Vald the letter from Maven, then shout the mechanism that releases the ramp. NB! it must be done before he finishes talking and before he gives you the key, so be quick — Unsigned comment by 80.202.136.120 (talk) at 00:25 on 22 July 2014 (GMT)

Karliah Won't Go Into The Cistern[edit]

So, I enter the Ragged Flagon and almost everyone is missing and then there's Karliah who keeps saying "Quickly, what is it?" or something like that and she's walking around like she owns the place and won't go into the cistern. I've tried installing bug fixes and reloading old saves. — Unsigned comment by 125.238.75.197 (talk) at 21:12 on 28 April 2010 (UTC)

Do you have any mods, unofficial patches or downloadable content that might interfere with the quest? —MortenOSlash (talk) 07:03, 1 March 2018 (UTC)

Vald Conversation Options Missing[edit]

When I went to see Vald, I had gotten the document releasing him from his debt, but I preferred to do a persuasion to raise my Speech skill. However, the option for giving him the document was the only one I got. I exited the conversation, dropped the document on the ground, and tried again. The option about his debt being cleared was gone, and I had the options for Bribe and Intimidate, but not for Persuade. Can anyone shed any light on this? Valeria (talk) 00:26, 15 March 2019 (UTC)