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Quick WalkthroughEdit
- Speak to Virani in the Twin Goblet Alehouse.
- Find the Age-Old Silver Gate beneath Chorrol and unlock it.
- Ensure that it is safe for archaeologists to explore beyond the Silver Gate.
- Find the dead adventurers.
- Find the skiff and press the button
- Return to the dead bodies and read the note.
- Take the note to the Breucombes.
- Return to the ruins and activate the skiff.
- Explore the ruins beyond the lava lake.
- Talk to Virani to get another control crystal; continue exploring.
- Follow the spectral Ayleid.
- Talk to the Ayleid to get the full story.
- Go to the control room to set the proper configuration.
- Destroy the ancient Ayleid device.
- Return to the cavern.
Detailed WalkthroughEdit
There are two ways into the ruins: through a trapdoor in the cistern outside the city, or through the Old Prison, inside the walls.
In the tunnels beneath Chorrol you may discover an age-old silver gate, which appears to be of Ayleid origin. There is no obvious way to unlock this gate, but speaking with the people of Chorrol will reveal that Virani, a member of the Archaeology Guild, is presently renting a room in the Twin Goblet Alehouse. When you speak to Virani, she will produce a magic scroll which can be used to open the gate.
When you leave the Alehouse after receiving the magic scroll, another quest, Who's the Daddy?, is triggered. After the cutscene, talk to Elaine's father to get the next journal update - it'll save some time later.
The ruins are infested with skeletons and zombies, though they aren't much of a threat for a prepared adventurer. Once you reach the gate, cast the spell from the magic scroll to reveal a switch to the left of the gate. Press the button and you'll get a brief cutscene where Virani joins you. After, you can go through the gate, which leads into the caverns beneath Chorrol. Here, ghosts of an unknown people fight eternally on the shores of a lake of lava. Dark Ayleid ruins can be seen across the lake; a dock with a pair of skiffs (one overturned and unusable) appears to provide a way across.
Far off to the right, around an outrcopping, you'll find an Ayleid gate guarded by a cloud of poison gas; two dead adventurers, obvious victims of the trap, lie before it. One of them is the father of Elaine Breucombe's child (see Who's the Daddy?). You'll have to finish that quest before you can continue on this one. But first, go down to the dock and press the button beside the floating skiff. You'll get a script message and a journal entry.
With the gas gone, you can gain access to the bodies. Loot them and read the note to get another journal entry. Take the note back to the Breucombes and talk to Lucien. You have a choice here - give the note to Lucien and lie to Elaine, or tell her the truth. However it works out, the quest Who's the Daddy? will complete, and you can get back to the business of exploring the cavern.
When you return to the cavern, the Archaeology Guild has moved in and set up camp near the gate, and Virani is nearby directing things. She'll give you a control crystal they found, which will enable you to operate the skiff. Place it in the empty slot below the button, press the button again; you'll automatically hop into the skiff. Sit back and relax - you won't have to do anything for a couple minutes here as the skiff takes you around to the far side of the ruins. At the dock, you'll get out and resume control. There's only one way to go here - follow the path through the gate and around the corner. You can ignore the doors to your left - none of them open. Keep going all the way to the end; this door will open, letting you into the portal room with one active portal in the south-east corner.
The portal will drop you at the end of a long hall. About midway down, a horde of ghosts will come running toward and past you, followed by a cloud of steam. Ignore it - it's spectral and harmless. You can loot the skeletons if you want, then continue onward to the door at the end (ignore the other passage for now; you'll get there in a bit). This leads to another room, where you'll find... Virani, who managed to get through the gate that leads here from the cavern. She'll send you out to keep exploring the ruins, so grab the control crystal from the cabinet behind her and return to the hall. This time, head down the other passage. At the bottom, you'll find a strange device on the wall hiding a button. Press it and return upstairs; a secret passage has opened up!
This leads into the control room with four panels surrounding a sunken pit. There's another cutscene here where a panicked ghost fiddles with the panels and bemoans the fact that time is running out. He then runs off through another passage and you regain control. Don't mess with anything here - you can't do anything meaningful yet, and it'll make you job harder later. Just follow the ghost's path out of the room. Eventually you'll emerge into a huge cavern; keep going west around the outcrop, and you'll find a passage leading down to another dock. Insert the control crystal and hit the button to take another (longer) ride through the lava.
This time, you'll end at a tower on an island - Ageasel Molagrelleis. Follow the path here - there's no way to get lost. When you get to the upper level, you'll see another ghost; you can talk to him to get the full story (and later a Fame point) or ignore him. Go inside, and you'll find yourself on an upper balcony in the device room with a bunch of pipes pouring lava onto a crystal. During another brief cutscene, the ghost from the control room will enter the room, push a button, then leave again in a panic. The door ahead of you will lead outside, around and back into the same room, this time on a balcony with a staircase down to the rest of the room. Go to the alcove under the balcony where you first entered this room, and press all the usable unlit buttons (one can never be used). This will activate several portals, including one behind you. The other alcove has another of those strange devices covering a button.
Don't press the button yet! First, you'll need to set the configuration on the final panel back in the control room. (You DID leave the other panels alone, right?). There's a handy manual sitting on a shelf here that displays the proper configuration for each panel. The symbols correspond to the panel directly below it, NOT the one across the room. If you had played with any of the other panels, these will need to be reset to match the configuration in the manual.
The portal behind you leads back to the portal room via a newly activated portal in the south-west corner. Use the other newly active portal in the north-west corner to return to the control room. Set the panel (or panels if you need to undo changes you made earlier), then use the portal room to return to the device room. NOW you can hit the button. If you did it right, the flow from the pipes will stop, you'll hear a cracking noise, and the crystal will shatter, then you'll get a journal update. If you didn't, you'll just get a journal update telling you so, in which case you need to return to the control room to try again.
Once you finally shut the machine down, you may need to reactivate some of the portal buttons in the first alcove (under the balcony where you first entered this room). Use the portal room to return to the long hall using the portal in the south-east corner again, then return to the room where you met Virani (who, if you got the configuration right the first time, is still alive; if not, she'll be a steamed corpse on the floor).
If Virani is alive, then Virani will reward you with 100 gold for your assistance, and at this point you will also receive a Fame point if you previously spoke with the ghost to get the full story.
Journal EntriesEdit
| Gate Into A Dark History (BANChorrolAgeOldSilverGateQuest) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Stage | Finishes Quest | Journal Entry |
| 1 | I have found an ancient silver gate in some tunnels beneath Chorrol, but can find no way to open it. The gate is strangely warm to the touch. There might be someone in Chorrol with knowledge of the city's history, who can suggest a way to open the gate. The guards are likely to know everyone staying in town, or perhaps I could ask someone working in the Gold Horse Courier offices. | |
| 5 | I've heard a rumor that there is a member of the Archaeology Guild renting a room at the Twin Goblet Alehouse, in Chorrol. It might be worth my time to speak with this person. | |
| 5 | After asking around town, I've heard there is a member of the Archaeology Guild presently staying here in Chorrol, named Virani. She has rented a room at the Twin Goblet Alehouse, and may know something about the silver gate. | |
| 10 | I met Virani, a member of the Archaeology Guild, in the Twin Goblet Alehouse in Chorrol. She provided me with a magic scroll and instructed me to find an aged silver gate somewhere beneath Chorrol. She has asked me to find out whether it is safe to explore beyond the gate, before the Archaeology Guild sends an expedition. Casting the magic scroll in front of the gate will reveal a switch. | |
| 10 | Virani knew about the silver gate, but not what might be behind it. The Archaeology Guild has been planning an expedition, but wants to know what dangers there may be first. Virani provided me with a magic scroll which when cast in front of the gate, should reveal a switch. | |
| 20 | The silver gate is unlocked. Virani has joined me and intends to set up a camp in the cavern, however she asked that I explore to confirm that it will be safe for her. | |
| 25 | There are dozens of elven ghosts here, but they completely ignored me. They seem to be in an eternal battle with each other for some reason. I also found a metal boat floating on the lava. Perhaps I can somehow use it to cross to the structure on the other side, but I cannot figure out how to make it work. I should return to Virani so that she knows the ghosts are not a danger to her. | |
| 26 | I told Virani about the skiff floating on the lava, and that it might be a way to cross to the other side if only I can make it work. Virani has suggested that I keep exploring. In the meantime, I should also resolve this accusation by Elaine Breucombe in Chorrol, to avoid being executed. | |
| 30 | Virani has given me a Welkynd Power Crystal which she found. This might give power to the skiff floating in the lava, and allow me to cross to the other side. Virani also made some comments about how old and potentially unsafe the skiff might be, even going so far as to say that if she had any followers, she'd leave them on the shore and travel alone, just in case something went wrong. | |
| 35 | Virani found her own way into the Ayleid rooms within the caverns. It seems I took the long route traveling across the lava and then exploring the first structure - there is a portal linking directly back to the first cavern. Virani believes this place was built for researching the use of magma, however the ghosts and skeletons suggest that this research came to an abrupt end. I should continue to explore for now. | |
| 40 | I have just witnessed the ghost of a frightened man, rushing between three panels filled with buttons, before he fled from the room. There is a fourth panel but he never touched this one. It might be a bad idea to press any of the buttons as I have no idea what they do. Following the path taken by the ghost may reveal some answers. | |
| 45 | I came across another ghost, but unlike the others, this one saw me and spoke with me. This ghost revealed what happened here thousands of years ago, but most importantly, I now know that a device must be disabled, otherwise Chorrol above, and most of Cyrodiil will soon be destroyed in a massive explosion! I must find this device and figure out how to turn it off safely. | |
| 50 | I saw the frightened ghost again, this must be the device chamber he mentioned previously. The ghost went down to an alcove in the room, just out of my sight, then appeared to use or activate something. He announced that "it is done", but then said that something was wrong, and fled from the chamber, perhaps back to the previous room again? | |
| 55 | I activated the device, but it is still running. I should return to the control room where I first saw the ghost to ensure that the controls are set correctly, then try activating the device again. | |
| 60 | After setting the fourth panel in the control room to match the pattern in the book, I activated the device. This seems to have disabled it completely, which is what the ghost was trying to do. I hope I have brought rest to all of the ghosts which have been haunting this place for so long. Now I should return to Virani to inform her of the control room and device chamber. | |
| 100 |  |
I informed Virani of my findings, and told her that the device no longer works. She was unhappy, but believes this may have released the ghosts which were trapped here, so some good has come from destroying the device. Virani rewarded me with 100 gold, and told me there was nothing further I could do to help, so it is time to leave these caverns. |
| 100 | |
Virani is dead, I must have killed her the first time I activated the device, just as that Ayleid ghost must have killed everybody when he activated the device. There is nothing more I can do here, so it is time to leave these caverns. |
- 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.
It is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage BANChorrolAgeOldSilverGateQuest stage, wherestageis 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.
