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Background
After completing the quest
The Man Who Cried Wolf, and after gaining a level, a courier will come up to you and deliver a message from Falk Firebrand. The message will inform you that Firebrand has received some "disturbing information" about the binding ritual that you disrupted in Wolfskull Cave, and he'll invite you to the Blue Palace in Solitude so he can tell you about it. The quest will trigger when you meet with him.
Note: Sometimes you'll need to gain two levels for the courier to show up.
Walkthrough
Inside the Blue Palace, Firebrand will tell you that Potema managed to escape from the binding ritual, but that at least for the time being she's only in spirit form, which apparently is a good thing "or we'd all be dead already." He'll then direct you to speak with Styrr, the priest of Arkay in Solitude.
You'll find Styrr in the Hall of the Dead, which is located near the center of the city. He'll tell you that Potema, a powerful necromancer, has retreated into the catacombs beneath the city, where she no doubt plans to raise an army. Styrr will then ask you to enter the catacombs and retrieve
Potema's Skull so he can sanctify it and end the threat, and he'll give you
Potema's Catacombs Key, which will allow you to get inside. He'll also teach you the Turn Undead spell.
Potema's Catacombs can be found under the Temple of the Divines, which is located in the back of Castle Dour in Solitude. Inside, you'll need to descend the staircase on the western (left) side of the sanctuary, which will lead you to a locked gate that you'll be able to open with
Potema's Catacombs Key. Past the gate you'll discover a break in the wall that will take you to Potema's Catacombs.
When you enter Potema's Catacombs, Potema herself will talk to you, and she'll tell you how she's looking forward to killing you so she can raise you from the dead and allow you to stand by her side for all eternity. Beyond Potema's taunts, you'll just need to make your way through Potema's Catacombs and Potema's Refuge, killing any vampires and draugr that get in your way.
Eventually you'll reach the council chamber in Potema's Sanctum (#5). There Potema will introduce you to her inner council, and she'll raise them (as draugr) a couple of times to attack you. While this is going on, Potema will be invulnerable, and she'll circle around the top of the room shooting lighting at you. The lighting won't be able to travel through objects, so if you stand behind a sarcophagus or under a bridge or someplace else the lightning can't hit, then you'll only have to deal with the council.
After defeating the council, Potema will descend to the ground, and she'll finally become vulnerable to your attacks. Potema will cast some lightning spells at you, but otherwise she shouldn't be too difficult to defeat. Potema won't drop anything particular when she dies.
Past the council chamber you'll find
Potema's Skull sitting out on a throne (#6). Picking it up will complete the main objective for the quest. Just behind the throne you'll find a treasure chest with the book
Legend of Krately House (and some random loot) inside. Reading the book will increase your Sneak skill by 1.
To complete the quest, you'll just need to deliver
Potema's Skull to Styrr (in the Hall of the Dead) and then talk to Falk Firebrand (in the Blue Palace). Styrr won't give you anything, but Firebrand will reward you with some gold and the
Shield of Solitude. The shield is a leveled item. You'll get the best version if you're at least level 40.
1 - Book
On the table here, you'll find the book
Surfeit of Thieves, which will increase your Lockpicking skill by 1.
2 - Lever / Rotating Door
The lever here will start and stop the nearby door from rotating. So to open the door, you'll need to pull the lever once to start the door rotating, and then pull the lever again when the door is in the open position.
3 - Triple Levers / Rotating Doors
In this spot you'll find three levers and three rotating doors. The levers are in the same order as the doors, so you should be able to get through the doors here just like at the previous rotating door (#2). When you step through the doors, the gate just to the north of the levers will open, and you'll probably get attacked by a vampire from behind.
4 - Throne Room (Upper Level)
In this room you'll encounter a vampire and a powerful draugr. The vampire will drop
Potema's Sanctum Key when he dies. You can also pick up the key from one of the thrones in the room. The key will open the "master" lock on the door just to the south.
5 - Council Chamber
6 - Potema's Skull
7 - Helmet
You'll find a helmet sitting on a pedestal here. If you take the helmet, then the two nearby draugr will wake up and attack you. If you want to, you can attack the draugr first (one at a time) and then pick up the helmet.
Exits:
- Passage to the Temple of the Divines in Solitude.
- Doorway between Potema's Catacombs and Potema's Refuge.
- Doorway between Potema's Refuge and Potema's Sanctum.
- World exit.
