Shivering:Symbols of Office

Procure the two items needed to craft the Staff of Sheogorath. Quest Giver: Haskill at Sheogorath's Palace Location(s): Sheogorath's Palace, Knifepoint Hollow, Milchar, The Howling Halls Prerequisite Quest: The Helpless Army Next Quest: The Roots of Madness Reward: Incomplete Staff of Sheogorath, and Shadowrend ID: SE11

The Grove of Reflection

Quick Walkthrough

1. Watch Sheogorath become Jyggalag.
2. Learn about the Staff of Sheogorath.
3. Enter Knifepoint Hollow and talk to Dyus.
4. Retrieve the Branch from Milchar.
5. Retrieve Ciirta's eye.
6. Return to Dyus for the crafting.
7. Return to Sheogorath's Palace to empower the staff in the Font of Madness.

Detailed Walkthrough

Sheogorath transforms

Transformation

Speak with Sheogorath to learn that you are too late and the Madgod's time has run out. After providing some additional, brief explanation as to the cycle of the Greymarch, Sheogorath completes his transformation into Jyggalag and vanishes, subsequently destroying his staff of office.

Speak with Haskill, who will inform you that you are to assume the role of Sheogorath in his absence. You are tasked with traveling to the great library of Jyggalag in Knifepoint Hollow to restore the Staff of Sheogorath. You are also given a crystal shard with which to breach the final room.

Speak softly...

Unlocking the remnants of Jyggalag's library

Travel to Knifepoint Hollow and enter. The first zone of the ruin is populated only by a single leveled enemy. There is a second zone, but it is not necessary to explore it. Proceed to the crystal-covered door at the end of the passage and activate it. Within is a seated Imperial man named Dyus.

Dyus informs you that you must rebuild the staff by bringing him two items: The Eye of Ciirta and a Branch of the Tree of Shades. The eye, and the person it is attached to, is located in The Howling Halls, while the Branch is found in the Grove of Reflection, nested deep in the ruins of Milchar. There is no specific order in which you must collect the components.

The Trial of Reflection

Retrieving the Branch of the Tree of Shades entails the longer of the two tasks. Travel to Milchar, Nexus and reach the door to the Grove of Reflection. After entering, head right and fall down the hole and approach the obelisk in center of the Grove. The obelisk should activate automatically once you are in close proximity, spawning a thick cloud of smoke that will eventually coalesce into a humanoid form; a shadowy doppelganger of yourself.

This Corrupted Clone is hostile and is equipped with duplicates of all of your equipment, potions and spells. Kill it, through whatever means necessary, and claim its weapon, Shadowrend, as well as a Branch from the Tree of Shades. See the tips section if you are having difficulty defeating your clone.

The Liturgy of Vision

To retrieve the Eye of Ciirta, travel to The Howling Halls and make your way through the first zone, either killing or avoiding the Apostles you encounter. If you are wearing a set of apostle robes the other Apostles will ignore you, because as they will sometimes say, "with all the new recruits, it is hard to be certain who is who". Upon entering the second zone, there are three methods of completing this quest.

The first is a brute force method and entails simply killing everyone inside the Howling Halls, including Ciirta. Claim the Eye from her corpse and return to Dyus.

An eye for an eye

The second is more subtle. Navigate through the second zone through whatever means necessary until you encounter an Apostle named Ra'kheran. The Khajiit apostle approaches you with a deal: supply him and his two associates with daggers and they will assist you in killing Ciirta in the final zone. How you obtain the daggers is inconsequential to him, although you must exercise caution to avoid killing his accomplices; they can be distinguished from other Apostles, as they are unarmed. Two daggers can also be found sitting in the open.

After giving Ra'kheran the daggers, he will group with his fellow conspirators and proceed to the Antechamber, Ciirta's personal quarters. Ra'kheran will exchange some dialogue with Ciirta and then attack her and her lieutenant with the aid of his accomplices. Once Ciirta is dead, claim the Eye from her corpse and return to Dyus.

The third option involves stealing an apostle robe, using it simply walk up and talk to Ciirta, she will ask you what you are doing there since you don't have the light in your heart, carry on the conversation and she will decide to attack you, after you have killed her you are still free to walk around, or leave as you wish.

Before leaving, the player may optionally collect the Pelvis of Pelagius for the quest The Museum of Oddities.

...and carry a big stick

Return to Knifepoint Hollow with both items and speak once more with Dyus. He will forge the two disparate entities into a new Staff of Sheogorath and inform you that you must return to Sheogorath's Palace to imbue the new Staff in the Font of Madness.

Tips

Fighting the Corrupted Clone may be difficult, especially if you have optimized your character in some way to either be immune to some form of damage, or invisible.

• If you are wearing items that make you invisible, equip an item that detects life.
• You may wish to drop any items with Chameleon, Reflect Damage/Spells and other Resist enchantments, as well as any potions and poisons you may have. You can also drop your weapons and armor before approaching the Obelisk, although you may have difficulty retrieving your equipment.
• Your clone will not fight back if attacked by a summoned creature. You can cast invisibility on yourself and watch your summoned creature kill your clone.
• If your character is immune to magic via 100% magic resistance and immune to physical attacks via 100+ pts of reflect damage, there are a very limited number of ways to defeat your clone.
  • Use a bow: reflect damage only works with melee attacks; use poisons, though make sure to apply them after the battle has started. Make sure to remove any poison-resistance items you have. This method will probably not work for Argonians.
  • Just stand there: if you have 100pt+ of damage reflection and your clone attacks you with a melee weapon, all the damage will reflect back and kill it for you.
• Using Triple Damage Poisons is another effective way of dealing with your clone.

Notes

• You cannot loot your Clone's corpse, although it will drop any weapon and shield it has equipped at the time of its death.
• The Clone can be resurrected using the Staff of Worms or the Risen Flesh spell, making an excellent companion.
• Your clone may sometimes equip both Shadowrend, a two-handed weapon, and a shield at the same time. This is the only time in the game when an enemy may do this.
• While you are traveling through Milchar, it may be a good idea to collect the items needed for The Coming Storm, and The Ghosts of The Hill of Suicides quests.
• Your clone will shout various lines depending on the factions you are in.
• Upon successfully completing the quest, a trophy book, The Prophetic Deduction, Vol 34,857, will appear in an alcove in Sheogorath's Palace. It is not a real book, however, and cannot be read.
• This quest is referenced during Put A Fork In It, a quest added by the Staff of Sheogorath Creation for Skyrim.
• Ironically, it is possible that Ra'kheran's associates may use bound weapons during combat, making it completely arbitrary retrieving the daggers for them.

Bugs

• The Corrupted Clone may not appear at all, making the Screaming Branch impossible to obtain
  • The Branch can be added via the console using the command player.additem 1363e 1, immediately updating the quest to reflect that the player has it.
• The Corrupted Clone may not drop Shadowrend, making it impossible to obtain without console commands as the dead clone can't be activated.
  • The Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch addresses this issue. The 5 different Bound Weapon spells are removed from the Clone.
  • This can happen if the player has Bound Weapon spells; the Clone may cast one and thus unequip Shadowrend. Silence your Clone to ensure that you can obtain Shadowrend. If your Clone has already bound a weapon, cast Dispel to unbind it, or wait for the spell to expire before killing your Clone.
  • This can also happen if you have weapons more powerful than Shadowrend. Drop your weapons prior to the Clone appearing and then pick them up afterwards to avoid this.
  • This can also happen if you have a one-handed weapon and a shield; your Clone is likely to equip the shield to protect itself as it is nearing death.
  • If you are playing on the PC, use setdestroyed 0 to enable your Clone's body to be activated, then search it and take the weapon.
• The Corrupted Clone duplicates your NineDivines faction, killing it may impact your Knights of the Nine DLC quest or items in some way ^?
  • This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch.
• Sheogorath can be spoken to as he transforms, but doing so simply replays your previous conversation.
  • The Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch fixes this bug.
• Although the Howling Halls lie in the Dementia region of the Isles, Dyus calls them the "Howling Halls of Mania".
  • The Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch fixes this bug.
• Ra'kheran may not appear in the Antechamber after you supply him with the daggers. The quest will continue, but you will be forced to kill Ciirta by yourself. ^?
  • This can be fixed by leaving the Antechamber and waiting until Ra'kheran enters before entering yourself.
• If you say "Not now" to handing over the three daggers to Ra'kheran, you will not be able to do so again. His dialogue will change and whenever you talk to him he'll ask if you have the daggers, but you'll have no option to give him the daggers. ^?

Journal Entries

Symbols of Office (SE11)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
0
5		Now that I have secured the stronghold of the Golden Saints, I should speak to Sheogorath about our next step. (If the player is ruler of Dementia) or Now that I have secured the stronghold of the Dark Seducers, I should speak to Sheogorath about our next step. (If the player is ruler of Mania)
10		Sheogorath has vanished before we could complete the plan to stop the forces of Order. Perhaps Haskill will know what steps we should take.
20		Before I can claim the Throne of Madness and stop the forces of Order, I must remake the Staff of Sheogorath. Haskill has advised me to seek out a remnant of the great library of Jyggalag in Knifepoint Hollow.
30
35		I've spoken with Dyus about the staff of Sheogorath. He is the remnant of the library that Haskill spoke of.
40
45
50		In order to remake the Staff of Sheogorath, Dyus requires two items. I must seek out the Eye of Ciirta and a Branch of the Tree of Shades. The first is an eye that has seen something that no other has. I can acquire this item from a woman named Ciirta in the Howling Halls. The second item is a branch of the Tree of Shades, an ancient tree that grows in the Grove of Reflection in the ruins of Milchar.
100		I've spoken with one of Ciirta's followers outside of the Howling Halls. She said that I should be safe inside so long as I wear the robes of the Apostles and do not take any suspicious action. If I can avoid confrontation, I might be able to make it to Ciirta without alerting all of them.
101
105		I've been approached by a Khajiit named Ra'kheran. He has offered to kill Ciirta for me if I assist him in his plan to take over the Apostles of the Song. As he cannot be seen gathering weapons, he's asked me to bring him three Apostle Daggers. If he carries this plan out, I should be able to take Ciirta's eye after she is dead.
110		I've accepted Ra'kheran's offer. He wants me to bring him three Apostle Daggers. He will then carry out his revolt against Ciirta and I should be able to retrieve her eye.
111		Ra'kheran is dead. Without his help, I'll have to kill Ciirta myself.
112		I have refused to give Ra'kheran the daggers that he needs to kill Ciirta. I should return to him if I change my mind. (This update can never occur) or I have collected the three daggers that Ra'kheran has asked for. I should return to him so that he can kill Ciirta.
115		I've given Ra'kheran the daggers that he needs to begin his revolt against Ciirta. I should follow him and retrieve Ciirta's eye once she is dead.
140		Ra'kheran's betrayal of Ciirta has been successful. Now that she is dead, taking her eye should be a simple matter. (If the player had agreed to help Ra'kheran) or Ciirta is dead. Taking her eye should be a simple matter now. (If the player didn't help the conspiracy)
150		I've arrived in the Grove of Reflection. According to Dyus, I must locate the Tree of Shades and find a way to reveal my true self before I will be allowed to take one of its branches.
155
160		After I approached the Grove Of Reflection, a shadowy image of myself appeared from the waters of the grove and attacked me. I defeated it, and now the Tree of Shades is beckoning to me...
190		As Dyus requested, I've taken a branch of the Tree of Shades. I should now seek out Ciirta in the Howling Halls. (Only appears if Ciirta's eye has not already been obtained)
191		I've have Ciirta's eye. I should now seek out the second item that I need to create the Staff of Sheogorath. (Only appears if the branch has not already been obtained)
195		I have both items that Dyus needs to recreate the Staff of Sheogorath. I should return to Knifepoint Hollow and speak with him.
200		With the Staff of Sheogorath now in my possession, I should make my way to the Tree of Madness in Sheogorath's throne room. There I can tap into the tree's power and begin my transformation.
205	Finishes quest	(Dummy stage to complete SE11)

Notes

• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in random order.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• It is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage SE11 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages. See SetStage for more information.

Prev: The Helpless Army

Up: Main Quest

Next: The Roots of Madness