Arniel’s Endeavors

These four Radiant Quests are available from Arniel, a reclusive and timid experimenter within the College.

Arniel’s Endeavor (Part 1)

Locate Arniel Gane and ask if there’s any College business you can assist him with. There’s nothing officially, the nervous mage tells you, but he does mention a “project” that he’s been working on. He refuses to divulge any information about it, but he requires you to bring him 10 Dwemer Cogs. He needs to examine them.

The Dwemer Cogs in question are golden, and many are scattered throughout the Dwarven Ruins and dungeons of Skyrim. Check every stone table, chest, and dwarven machinery for possible cogs to gather. Be patient, as this takes some time. You may wish to combine your searching with other quests (such as Main Quest: Elder Knowledge).

• Dwemer Cog (10)

Quest Conclusion

He is most pleased and rewards you with some gold.

• [Leveled] gold pieces

Postquest Activities

Arniel continues his research, but it is three entire days before it produces results.

Arniel’s Endeavor (Part 2)

After you hand over the Dwemer Cogs Arniel had requested, he thanks you, and you can ask if he requires further assistance. He needs more help with his project, but this involves a fellow wizard. Enthir is refusing to follow through on a trade regarding an important item Arniel needs for his work. He hopes you’ll talk to Enthir on his behalf.

When you find Enthir and ask about the item, he tells you Arniel misinformed you; he was going to sell the item to Arniel but decided against it. You can have the item, but Enthir needs you to find a staff one of Enthir’s “friends” (likely himself) wishes to acquire. The staff is in the hands of unfriendly folks. If you bring Enthir the staff, he’ll consider it payment for Arniel’s item.

Set off to the dungeon or fortification Enthir specified (on your world map), and battle a hardy foe for the staff, which is usually on his or her corpse.

• Staff of Tandil

Quest Conclusion

Return to the College and hand over the staff you obtained. Enthir honors his end of the deal and gives you a gem Arniel was after. Find Arniel, speak to him to give over the Soul Gem Enthir just handed you, and he thanks you profusely.

• Warped Soul Gem

Postquest Activities

Arniel continues his research, but it may be a while before it produces results. Complete the indicated quests to begin the third part.

Arniel’s Endeavor (Part 3)

In the aftermath of the battle for the College of Winterhold, Arniel has been beavering away on his secret project. Ask how the project is coming along, and the news isn’t good. He’s destroyed a prototype and explains that the Dwemer technology he’s tinkering with was put together by a race of beings that mastered magic in a way that is inconceivable to current mages. He’s trying to re-create the circumstances of the failure to see what he can learn. While the Dwemer tapped power from the Heart of Lorkhan (a dead god), Arniel is making do with a Warped Soul Gem. But the Gem needs to be purified in a Dwarven Convector, which Arniel constructed and recently destroyed.

If you’re willing to help, the Convector machines that exist deep within the dwarven ruins could be used to heat the Gem. Arniel even teaches you the spell to heat a Convector to the correct temperature. You are to find a Dwarven Convector, place the Warped Soul Gem inside, and heat it for at least three seconds. Approximately three Convectors will be needed, so this is a quest that requires much trekking.

• Warped Soul Gem
• Spell: Arniel’s Convection

Your journey into Dwarven Ruins begins now! Follow your Quest Targets and fight or sneak through the indicated locations until you reach a Convector. Convectors can be found in the following locations:

• Inside the first interior location of Mzulft
• Inside a small dungeon located near the main entrance to Mzulft
• Out in the wilderness southwest of Shor’s Stone
• Outside the entrance to Bthalft
• Outdoors near Deep Folk Crossing
• Along the river, northeast of Druadach Redoubt

You find each Convector easily, as it has a quest target on your compass. When you finally arrive at the Convector, access it and store the Warped Soul Gem in the Convector. Remember to store it first! Your objective updates:

Now equip Arniel’s Convection spell and blast the Convector for three seconds to heat it up. The Soul Gem becomes superheated, while its extremities remain oddly cold to the touch. Take the Soul Gem from the Convector and begin a lengthy trek to the next Convector scattered around Skyrim; it will be pinpointed on your world map. When you’ve superheated the Warped Soul Gem in three separate Convectors, the Gem finally becomes potent enough to be used in whatever clandestine experiment Arniel is conducting.

Quest Conclusion

Return to Arniel’s location, and hand over the Warped Soul Gem. The single-minded tinkerer thanks you for your help. Perhaps you’ll see his actual experiment at some point?

Postquest Activities

Arniel continues his research, but it may be a while before it produces results.

Arniel’s Endeavor (Part 4)

Wait 30 hours and speak to Arniel once again. Although he’s been having success using your Warped Soul Gem, he still requires an incredibly important piece of this puzzle (which you still haven’t seen yet), and that pesky Enthir is failing to uphold an agreement to deliver the item. Arniel asks you to sort this problem out.

Enthir is usually in the College or the Hold City of Winterhold. When you quiz him about the package Arniel wants, he appears a little exasperated, explaining that he doesn’t need money—Arniel overpaid for the item—but the courier never arrived from Morrowind. He has little idea where the courier is but knows the package is likely to be with the courier.

Journey to the location indicated on your world map, and begin a systematic search of the area until you find the Courier, who’s looking a little worse for wear. Fortunately, whatever killed him ignored the package he was seeking to deliver. Remove a strange-looking dwarven dagger named Keening.

• Keening

Head back to Arniel’s location at the College. Inform him you have the dagger that he wanted. He is both excited and worried; it seems the courier company didn’t even wrap the item correctly!

Quest Conclusion

Ask Arniel if he has everything he needs, and he excitedly exclaims that he does. Keening was one of the great tools of the dwarves and a nearly priceless artifact. It was used to tap into the Heart of Lorkahn. With this dagger, Arniel can test his theories regarding why the dwarves disappeared. This grand experiment was to re-create those events and thus unravel the mystery. Arniel begins the experiment. Watch as nothing continues to happen, until Arniel applies some considerable pressure, loses his temper, and then blinks out of existence completely!

Postquest Activities

Arniel has disappeared! He leaves Keening behind. Keep it as a memento (it absorbs Health, Magicka, and Stamina). Who knows if he’ll ever be seen again? Well, actually you do; you are granted a new spell. Try this out and see who arrives and what he has to say....

• Spell: Summon Arniel’s Shade