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Background
After reaching level 12, when you visit the Shrine to Peryite (located to the northeast of Markarth), you'll meet a priest named Kesh the Clean. When you ask him about communing with Peryite, he'll give you this quest.
Walkthrough
Kesh will tell you that in order to commune with Peryite, you'll need to brew a special incense, which will require you to find a
Deathbell, a
Flawless Ruby, a
Silver Ingot, and
Vampire Dust. Only the
Flawless Ruby might be troublesome to track down. You can receive one randomly while mining or as loot (for example, from a burial urn) if you're at least level 20. Otherwise, you'll have to go to a location were you're guaranteed to find one, such as in the boat in the river to the northwest of Reachwater Rock (which isn't all that far south from the Shrine to Peryite).
Note: On a table at the shrine, you'll find the book
The Buying Game, which will increase your Speech skill by 1.
When you deliver the items to Kesh, he'll mix them together, and when you inhale the result, you'll begin a conversation with Peryite. Peryite will tell you that the elf Orchendor has betrayed him, and he'll ask you to go to Bthardamz and kill him. If you agree to do this, then Peryite will promise you an "escutcheon of dwemer make" as a reward.
You'll find Bthardamz a short ways to the northwest. Inside and out, you'll encounter humans who have been infected with a "wasting plague." These Afflicted will vomit poison on you, but otherwise they're about as difficult as bandits, and so you shouldn't have too much trouble dispatching them as you make your way through the ruins. However, deeper in the ruins you'll also run into dwemer automatons, including a centurion (#5), and for these you might need to pay more attention.
When you enter Bthardamz, you'll start out in the Upper District. To reach the Lower District (Exit C), you'll have to take a detour through the Workshop (via Exits A and B). Then to reach the Arcanex (Exit F), you'll have to take another detour through the Study (via Exits D and E). Finally, in the back of the Arcanex you'll encounter Orchendor, who will attack you on sight.
Orchendor is a spellcaster. He'll teleport around and hit you with frost spells, and he's all but immune to Destruction spells, so you'll need to equip a melee weapon or a bow to defeat him. When Orchendor dies, he'll drop some random loot, plus the book
Reality & Other Falsehoods, which will increase your Alteration skill by 1, and the
Key to Bthardamz Elevator, which will allow you to access the elevator and leave the ruins (Exit G).
To complete the quest, you'll just need to return to the Shrine to Peryite and inhale the incense fumes again. When you do so, Peryite will congratulate you for a job well done, and he'll reward you with the shield
Spellbreaker.
1 - Gold Ore Veins
2 - Lever / Gate
You'll need to pull the lever (#2) to open the gate (#2a).
3 - Bthardamz Dwelling
Inside this small zone, you'll find two chests and the book
Biography of the Wolf Queen, which will increase your Speech skill by 1.
4 - Quicksilver Ore Vein
5 - Dwarven Centurion
6 - Orchendor
Exits:
- Entrance to the Workshop.
- Exit from the Workshop.
- Doorway between the Upper District and the Lower District.
- Entrance to the Study.
- Exit from the Study.
- Doorway between the Lower District and the Arcanex.
- Elevator exit from Bthardamz.
- World exit.
