Raiminus will have another task for you, but he wants you to talk to Irlav
Jarol to get the details. You can find Irlav on the 2nd floor of the Arch
Mage's tower there, so use the portal to go on up. Speak with him, and he'll
tell you that hes been unable to check on a little side project of his, due to
all the craziness with the Necroes lately. He wants you to go to Vahtacen for
him and check up on things, to see if you can help the research going on there.
Vahtacen can be found south of Cheydinhal, west of the Reed River on your map.
Before you go, I suggest you have 4 spells in your inventory, or find them
before you take off. You'll need some form of fire attack spell, an ice attack
spell, a spell of Fortify Magicka that works on a target, and a spell of Damage
Magicka that works on a target (Theres one called Sever Magicka that works).
If you cannot find these spells, at LEAST get an ice attack spell, because in
the cave you can find three scrolls with the other spells you need right there.
When you have 4 spells of these kind, go ahead and head to the cave.
Inside Vahtacen you'll need to seek out Skaleel first, an Argonian with the
Guild. She'll be skulking because Irlav has been neglecting their research,
unable to come himself to help out. She also feels that her talents would be
better spent elsewhere...yet she can't solve this simple puzzle =\ Anyway,
listen to her groan for a bit, then go look for Denel further down. He'll be
doing his best to decipher the Ayleid Symbols on the walls, but he can't get
anywhere without the book Skaleel possesses. Go back up and convice SKaleel to
hand over the book, then return to Denel. Now we can begin to take care of the
puzzle. In the next room you'll notice a large pillar (Its really a giant
keylock). You'll also notice four crystals nearby, each with a little phrase
that goes along with it. Check out each of the phrases for the 4 crystals, and
then ask Denel to translate each of them. They'll go basically something like
this:
av molag anyammis - Fire
av mafre nagaia - Frost
magicka loria - Damage Magicka
magicka sila - Fortify Magicka
If you didn't get the spells you needed, you'll find a chest next to Denel
that will have all the scrolls that you'll need, grab them all for the pillar.
So, you can guess what you need to do now. First go to the crystal that is
known as "Fire" or "av molag anyammis." Cast your fire spell at the pillar,
and you'll notice it begin to move. Next go to the crystal known as "Frost" or
"av mafre nagaia," and cast your Ice spell of course. Third, check out the
crystal for "magicka moria" and cast your Damage Magicka spell at it. Finally,
go to the last crystal and cast your Fortify Magicka spell at the pillar. The
puzzle should be solved now, speak with Delen a moment and he'll ask you to
brave the depths of the Ruin and find something of value, so we don't return
to Irlav empty handed. There are a few beasties down below, mostly just
several Wraiths, but nothing that you shouldn't be able to finish off with
your magic and Staves.
First you'll have to fight a few Wraiths, no big deal. You'll come to a room
afterwards, take a look at the floor. You'll probably notice a large tile
in the middle of the room with holes in it...don't step on that, walk around
edge of it. If you stay on the tile too long in the middle, it will actually
drop down pretty far onto a bed of spikes, lovely. Continue on, the ruin is
pretty linear here, so just keep going forward. You'll have to hit a button
or two to open the way forward, and maybe open up some crypts with Wraiths
inside. Eventually you'll come to a room with large cages suspended from the
ceiling, your quest arrow should point to the middle of the room. I don't
know for sure what exactly the cages were for, other than for show, I just made
sure I watched where I walked =) If you walk to the back of this room, on the
2nd floor you'll find a button. Hit it, and stairs will drop down in the
center of the room. If you climb those stairs you'll find the item you're
looking for, an Ancient Elven Helm. You may or may not need to hit the button
next to the Helm to acquire it, I hit the button and was hit with a magic trap,
but I assume you can just take the helmet without hitting it.
You're done here now, theres two ways out of the place. You can head back the
way you came I believe, or you can head back to the 2nd floor where you hit the
button to drop the stairs, and you can take a short-cut back. You will have to
fight a couple battles on the way out if you take the short-cut, one was a
nasty battle with a Nether Lich which you may want to avoid. According to
Sasha Van Eijk this is another leveled battle, so you may have something
stronger or weaker to fight, either way you'll see a few guys. When you get
back to Denel, show him what you found and he'll want you to show it to Skaleel
as well. The Argonian will be surprised we actually figured out the puzzle
(No thanks to her), and she'll tell you to head back to Irlav. I was half
expecting to get jumped by Necroes or even Skaleel herself down there, but it
seems everything was hunky-dorey. Exit the cave, then head back to the Arcane
University and talk with Irlav. He will thank you for doing his dirty work for
him, and he'll tell you to go talk to Raiminus again. If you ask Raiminus
about Advancement at this time, he'll promote you again to Conjurer, woot.
He'll also present you with some nice Robes of the Conjurer, which provide a
constant 5 Bonus points to your Intelligence and Willpower, as well as 6 points
to your Conjuration and Destruction. How nice is that? This robe may have
slightly different stats for you, as it may be level related like the previous
Mage rewards. Speak with ol' Raiminus again and he'll have another task for
you when you're ready.