Online:Magister Gothren

Magister Gothren (lore page)
Location	Tel Aruhn
Race	Dark Elf	Gender	Male
Reaction	Friendly
Other Information
Faction(s)	House Telvanni

Magister Gothren

Magister Gothren is a Dark Elf magister of House Telvanni, and ruler of Tel Aruhn. He is a staunch supporter of slavery.

Related Quests

• Objections and Obstacles: Help Sun-in-Shadow become an Oathman.
• The Magister Makes a Move: Help Sun-in-Shadow deal with the fallout of her actions against Ralasa.
• Conclave of Fate: Prevent a House Telvanni disaster.

Quest-Related Events

Objections and Obstacles

Make it into Gothren's private chambers and you'll hear the following:

Magister Gothren: "Arith, Giravel, I've had enough of your excuses. Ralasa made your task plain. Find those thieves!"

Arith Sendrul: "I'm sorry, Magister. It will be done."

Magister Gothren: "Whatever it is you want, talk to my cringing assistant."

He'll then retire to another room leaving you to deal with Arith Sendrul.

The Magister Makes a Move

Your previous foray in Magister's Gothren's domain will have left his previous Mouth, Ralasa, dead. The magister will not leave this unanswered and you will soon find that Sun-in-Shadow has been abducted by his servants. When you return to his tower, you need to speak with him and he comment when he sees you:

Magister Gothren: "Eminently predictable, you and your lizard cohort."

When you talk with him, he will immediately blackmail you into working for him:

"Ah, the murderer appears. I should thank you for saving me the trouble of hunting you down. Watching you peasants struggle against the inevitable is exhausting."

Why did you imprison Sun-in-Shadow?

"Don't waste my time with flimsy pretense. Did you really think you could kill my Mouth and get away with it? I see all. Your clumsy intrigue is no exception.
If you wish to save your life and that of your friend, you will perform a task for me."

If you refused to help Sun-in-Shadow assassinate Ralasa and were instead tricked into delivering poisoned cakes, you can protest to no avail:

I didn't know the cakes were poisoned.

"That doesn't absolve you from blame—it just makes you sound stupid. I have no patience for stupidity.
Now I wonder if you're equal to the task I've set for you."

Both branches will lead to the same question:

What do you want me to do? / What is it you want from me?

"Magister Otheri made a discovery some weeks ago—a relic, of some Dwarven device perhaps. He refuses to share the details, so I am compelled to take those details by force.
Steal his notes from Tel Naga and deliver them to my new Mouth, Arith."

And if I refuse?

"Magisters care little for the limits of mortality—me least of all. I try to avoid turning people into shambling masses of screeching tumors, but in this case I could make an exception.
At the very least your scaled friend will die in chains."

When I bring back the notes, we're even? You'll release Sun-in-Shadow? / If I do this, we're even? You'll release Sun-in-Shadow?

"That depends on what information you retrieve. If it's useful, we can discuss the terms of the lizard's freedom.
That's as much of a promise as you'll get from me. Be grateful I am giving you a chance to rectify the wrong you've done me."

Speaking to him afterwards will only make him snort, "I promise retribution and still you dawdle? We have nothing to discuss until you deliver Otheri's notes."

Upon retrieving Otheri's journal and delivering it to Mouth Arith, Gothren will use a channeling spell through him to project himself into the room.

Magister Gothren: "Well, it's about time. Come, servant."

Magister Gothren as a projection

You can then talk to his projection. Magister Gothren will then set you up with another task:

"You retrieved the journal. That was competent."

Arith has it.

"Ah yes, this is Otheri's journal. His penmanship has gotten even worse.
So it's a Dwarven artifact then? A merged tonal prism? My, my, that does sound intriguing. Seems he tucked it away in his kwama mine, Zalkin-Sul. You will fetch it for me."

You said you'd set Sun-in-Shadow free once I brought you the journal.

"I said nothing of the sort. If your work pleases me, I may deign to release your friend and forget your misdeeds. But make no mistake, n'wah—I've given you no word to keep.
Go to Zalkin-Sul, acquire the prism, then bring it to me in Tel Aruhn."

Fine. I'll bring you the prism, then we're even.

"Get me the prism. We have nothing more to discuss."

When you return to him with the prism in hand from the Zalkin-Sul mine:

Magister Gothren: "You didn't get yourself killed. That's promising."

"Ugh. What's that I smell? Grease and kwama dung? Let's make this quick, n'wah. I won't have you soiling my rugs any longer than necessary.
The prism. Do you have it?"

I have it here.

"Well that is a surprise. I do hope this isn't some cheap forgery, for your sake.
Ah. Some kind of merged tonal prism. A lively one too. Fascinating. I do hope that fool Otheri didn't damage it. He's almost as clumsy as you."

All right, enough. We're even. Free Sun-in-Shadow and we'll leave.

"Vehk's head, do you still labor under the delusion that you have some power in this place? Bah—it's hardly worth discussing. I've grown tired of our little chats.
You completed the task I set before you. You can have your lizard back."

Good. Farewell.

Once freed, Sun-in-Shadow decides it is a good time to try and confront Gothren:

Sun-in-Shadow: "I am a free mage of House Telvanni. You had no right to imprison me!"

Magister Gothren: "You presume to lecture me? You who conspired to kill my servant?"

Magister Gothren: "Thank whatever scaly gods you worship that I didn't rend the flesh off your back and feed you to the tower's roots! Cross me again, and your life is forfeit."

Magister Gothren: "We're done here. Begone."

Gothren will then teleport Sun-in-Shadow out of his tower.

Conclave of Fate

You will have to disable Magister Gothren's ward in Tel Huulen and once you successfully done so, you will immediately draw the attention of Telvanni's leadership. Meln will once again save the day, by pointing out he is technically allowed access:

Magister Gothren: "This is a closed session! What is the meaning of this intrusion?"

Meln the Mouthless: "Now, Gothren, surely such restrictions don't apply to a magister and his proxy."

Magister Gothren: "Meln the Mouthless, a spirit? No matter, I will not tolerate your antics …."

Meln the Mouthless: "Nothing in our statutes precludes a dead magister from participating in a conclave. Now, hear what my proxy has to say."

Magister Gothren: "Very well. Step forward."

Warning him of what Master Shelreni intends on doing.

If you helped Sun-in-Shadows in Vvardenfell, he will recognize you:

"I recognize you. From that incident with the ambitious lizard. And now you stand before me, representing one of my most annoying colleagues.
Well, get on with it. What's so important that Magister Meln dares interrupt these closed proceedings?"

You're all in danger. Master Shelreni plans to eliminate all of her rivals.

"And Magister Meln thought us so ineffective that he had to swoop in and save the day? How presumptuous of him.
Do you really think one rogue master is a match for this assembly?"

It's not just Master Shelreni. She has the support of two Daedric Princes.

"So I heard. Hence the reason I decided to leave my comfortable tower and come all this way to personally take charge of this conclave. The masters will hear the charges, question the subject, and render swift judgment."

She's going to kill you all, just like she killed Meln the Mouthless.

"Is that why you're here? To add another charge to Shelreni's list of crimes? Then so noted.
Perhaps that's why she turned herself over without any fuss or bother. So that she can plead for mercy. Perhaps I'll be lenient. Perhaps not."

You're making a mistake. Magister Meln says you can't underestimate Master Shelreni.

"Enough of this nonsense! I listened to the concerns of your magister and heard his allegation. Now we are finished.
Meln may stay if he wishes. That is his right. But you and the curate should go and leave us to our work."

Speaking to him again:

"Didn't I make myself clear? Remove yourself from this chamber or I will have you removed, mouth of the mouthless."

After you discover that Master Shelreni placed Master Marena under her control, you race to the private hall, you will find the proceeding have already started and Master Shelreni is on the stand:

Magister Gothren: "Master Shelreni, you stand accused of conspiring against your fellow Telvanni, murdering Meln the Mouthless, and consorting with Daedric Princes. How do you plead?"

Master Shelreni: "A Telvanni doesn't plead."

<Master Shelreni points her hand and Master Marena rises from her chair covered in chains.>

Master Shelreni: "But I will kill you all before I take my sacrifice and depart."

Master Marena: "Help me, magister!"

Magister Gothren: "Shelreni! Cease your actions this instant!"

Meln the Mouthless: "Use my ghost sight to disable the wards and get down there!"

Once you get downstairs, Master Shelreni will taunt you and fire a blast of purple magic which knocks you unconscious. When you come to, Magister Gothren wll want to speak with you:

Meln the Mouthless: "Come on, get up. I am not ready to die a second time."

Curate Gadayn: "You're finally awake! Thank the ancestors! I thought Shelreni killed you!"

Magister Gothren: "We should talk, mouth of Meln."

Speak with Magister Gothren to find out what happens while you were knocked out:

"The mouth of the mouthless. I suppose you want me to say that you and Meln were right. That I should have taken Shelreni's threat more seriously.
Well, let's pretend I said that and move on to what needs to happen next."

I remember rushing toward Shelreni when suddenly everything went black.

"Yes, quite a display. She used the conclave to formally announce her intentions. Her spell would have killed everyone and positioned her to challenge the archmagister for rulership of the house. Luckily, I was on hand to save the local masters."

What did you do?

"Shelreni may be a powerful master, but I am a magister of the Telvanni Council. It was a simple matter to deflect her attack while the conclave dispersed. Then I stabilized the portal she fled through, assuming you would want to follow her."

Why do you assume that we want to follow Master Shelreni?

"Really now, who do you think Meln consulted when he first invented his cloak of omission? I see the mark of Mora upon you. House Telvanni wants no part in the machinations of Daedric Princes.
Just make sure to kill Shelreni when you find her."

What about Master Marena?

"Master Marena revealed her inadequacies when she allowed herself to be captured. The other masters survived. In both cases, House Telvanni won.
If you plan to chase Shelreni, I suggest you leave now. I'm not going to hold that portal open forever."

So you don't care what happens to Master Marena?

"In all honesty, no. In case you haven't noticed, we of House Telvanni are a superior lot. Sentiment and mercy rarely factor into our actions.
Now, step lively. That portal will close as soon as my attention wavers, and I feel a yawn coming on …."

Dialogue

After completing the related quest, you have the opportunity to talk to Master Gothren next time you visit Tel Aruhn. He will, however, not welcome you with warm words but instead grunt, "What are you doing here?"

I thought I would visit under better circumstances than the last time we met.

"Oh, really? More like some other paltry wizard sent you here. Trying to find out my newfound knowledge of kwama mine productivity, are we?
As if I would confide in the likes of you. In fact, why am I even talking to you?"

I was just traveling through the area.

"One other thing, you ignorant n'wah. If I ever find even a whiff of evidence that you or your scaled cohort had anything to do with a recent slave insurgency at Vassamsi Grotto, I will not be merciful.
Now get out."

Notes

• Magister Gothren also appeared in Morrowind.
  • For more information on recurring characters, please see the main article.