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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Hints
Vahtacen's Secret
1 of 21: To get this quest, talk to Polus about "Advancement" and then "Tasks" after finishing his previous quest.
2 of 21: Talk to Irlav Jarol in the Arch-Mage's Tower Council Chambers (accessible via a teleporter pad in the lobby area). If he's not there, follow the quest arrow to find him.
3 of 21: He'll send you to an Ayleid ruin called Vahtacen (location 62 on the Nibenay map) to check in with a resident mage researcher.
4 of 21: Vahtacen starts out looking like a standard cave, with only a few hints of Ayleid architecture and artifacts, but you'll soon come to a big hole in a wall that leads to some real Ayleid-style ruins.
5 of 21: In the first ruins room, find Skaleel and talk to her about the pillar she's been having trouble figuring out.
6 of 21: To find the pillar, head through the gate in the NW wall of Skaleel's room and move along until you find Denel. The pillar is in the center of the room just past him.
7 of 21: Ask Denel about the pillar to learn that there are inscriptions near it that might give the answer to how it works, and that Skaleel has a book that might help translate the inscriptions.
8 of 21: Go back and ask her about the Ayleid Reference to get the book, then return to Denel and give it to him.
9 of 21: Now go into the room past Denel and click on the readable tablets in wall niches near each of the room's four corners.
10 of 21: Return to Denel and ask him about translations to get him to tell you what each of the four tablets' phrases means.
11 of 21: You'll learn that they each refer to a particular type of magical spell.
12 of 21: Apparently, you need to cast four particular spells at the special pillar, and you probably have to do it in some particular order.
13 of 21: After you hit the pillar with the correct four-spell sequence, you'll have access to a door that leads to the Vahtacen Lorsel area.
14 of 21: This area hasn't already been cleared out, so expect several enemies of the ethereal undead variety as you explore.
15 of 21: When you come to a dead end with a pressure plate on the floor, step on it to open up two side passages with enemies.
16 of 21: After a few seconds, the passage leading NW will open up, too, allowing you to continue on past some annoying traps to get to a huge room with a special cage in the center.
17 of 21: Once you're on the cage's platform, find the easy-to-see push block on one column and use it to raise the cage.
18 of 21: Take the ancient elven helmet from the cage's pedestal, then go back up the stairs in the SE part of the room and through a newly opened door to find some Ayleid-style treasure containers.
19 of 21: You can then continue SE until you reach a pressure plate that opens a secret door that'll get you back to where you entered the area, or you can go through the cage room's NW locked gate to find another door back to the main Vahtacen ruins. (TIP: Go both ways to find all the treasure.)
20 of 21: However you do it, get back to Skaleel with the ancient helm and talk to her to learn that it's an important-enough find to interest Jarol.
21 of 21: Return to the Arcane University and talk to Jarol to turn over the helm and finish the quest.
