Blindsighted
Location	Irkngthand
Prerequisite	Trinity Restored
Next Quest	Darkness Returns
Reward	Skeleton Key Eyes of the Falmer Nightingale Bow
Faction	Thieves Guild
Type	Faction quest

It is the penultimate quest given to the Dragonborn in the Thieves Guild questline. It is also the quest during which the Skeleton Key is received.

Contents 1 Background 2 Objectives 3 Walkthrough 3.1 Travel to Irkngthand 3.2 Speak to Karliah 3.3 Locate Mercer Frey 3.4 Slaying Mercer Frey 3.5 Escape from Irkngthand 3.6 Speak to Karliah 4 Trivia 5 Bugs 6 Behind the scenes 7 Appearances 8 References

BackgroundEdit

• Key NPCs: Karliah, Brynjolf, Mercer Frey
• Enemies: Bandits, Falmer, Centurion Spheres, Dwarven Spiders, Dwarven Centurion, Frostbite Spiders, Skeevers and Chaurus.

ObjectivesEdit

1. Travel to Irkngthand
2. Speak to Karliah
3. Locate Mercer Frey
4. Slay Mercer Frey
5. Retrieve the Skeleton Key
6. Escape from Irkngthand
7. Speak to Karliah

WalkthroughEdit

Travel to IrkngthandEdit

• Journal Entry: I'm on my way to Irkngthand, a vast dwarven ruin that supposedly contains the legendary "Eyes of the Falmer." Karliah and Brynjolf are waiting for me within. Together we hope to stop Mercer Frey from stealing the Eyes and escaping Skyrim with the Skeleton Key of Nocturnal.

Upon arriving at Irkngthand, be wary of bandits who have set up camp here. You will need to fight your way up to the top to gain entry to Irkngthand. Note: If you have not started this quest, you cannot gain full entry to this dungeon. (Dungeon Lock Outs) Note: any follower you have with you cannot enter the ruins whilst you have this quest; they will be waiting for you in Bronze Water Cave.

Speak to KarliahEdit

• Journal Entry: I've entered Irkngthand, a vast Dwarven ruin that supposedly contains the legendary "Eyes of the Falmer ." Karliah and Brynjolf are waiting for me within. Together we hope to stop Mercer Frey from stealing the Eyes and escaping from Skyrim with the Skeleton Key of Nocturnal.

Once inside, make your way across the hall, past the fire and bodies and up the stairs. Make a right, then move forward, down the hallway. Go past the water and through the gates into the next hall. There is a Centurion Sphere patrolling at the bottom of the stairs. If you are detected, more will come out the holes in the walls, so dispatch them as quietly as possible. (One way is to use a sneak bow attack and take them out one by one, waiting in the shadows and letting your sneak say "Hidden" between hits) It is also possible to sneak past the Spheres without being noticed. Go to the left of the gate you come in, and jump over the fence. Go into stealth and sneak past the one sphere that deployed. In the next room, rotating flame towers will activate. You need to make your way around these without making too much noise. You still have enough speed to sneak through them if you time it well. At the final flame tower, make your way all the way around it and then open the gate to the right of it. Make your way up the stairs until you reach the master locked gate. Opposite the gate is a lever. Pull it, and you will find yourself in a new area where Karliah and Brynjolf are waiting for you. Speak to Karliah, and she will inform you about traps that Mercer may have left.

Locate Mercer FreyEdit

• Journal Entry: Karliah and Brynjolf have joined me in my exploration of Irkngthand, a vast Dwarven ruin that supposedly contains the legendary "Eyes of the Falmer." Together we hope to stop Mercer Frey from stealing the Eyes and escaping Skyrim with the Skeleton Key of Nocturnal.

You will find a trap trigger on the bottom left of the doors in front of you. Disarm the trap, or open the doors and watch for the flying mace ball trap. On the little table is a bottle of Black-Briar Reserve, presumably a calling card from Mercer Frey, and three lockpicks. Turn left and head down the stairs, watching for the expert locked gate full of goodies to your left. Karliah will spot Mercer and a short scene will take place. Afterward, follow the path round and open the door. Head down until you reach the next hall. When you enter the next hall, turn left and head over a small mound to find the lever for the gate below. There is a second lever on the right side, across the large set of facing stairs that must be activated quickly after the first or it will reset and the door will not open. Once the door is open, head down the stairs, watching for the spinning blades in the ground, and head through the door. Move through the large area, killing the small groups of enemies that you come across. Once you are at the other end, you will see a tower that has collapsed, and you must make your way up the spiral ramp and through the door at the top. Go down the stairs, carefully avoiding the bear traps as you go. Grab the detect life scrolls in the room to your right, as they will come in handy later. In the room with the detect life scrolls, there is writing on the walls from Mercer Frey that says, "One Step Ahead - Mercer". The writing is backwards. Go through the gate on your left (watch out for more bear traps), then through the door at the end of the corridor and you will find yourself, once again, in a large hall. Brynjolf will tell you that you can sneak around or take on the Dwarven Centurion. Since there are a lot of Falmer in this room, you can jump off the little bridge to the right, and on your left there will be a button that activates the Centurion. This will soften up the Falmer, and they should kill the Centurion for you.

Regardless of your choice, make your way to the cage, and then head up the stairs. You should see the path lead up and around to where you want to go. Watch for the Falmer traps. After the bear traps, you should see some spiders and Falmer across the hall. Once they have been dispatched, head through the door leading to the Irkngthand Slave Pens. Make your way down the stairs and quickly kill the Dwemer Spider, then head left and continue down the stairs. Activate the lever and a spinning blade will take out the two Falmer down below, but remember to turn it off before continuing. Run down the hall, but be careful of the three flame pressure plates near the corner. Once in the next hall, Karliah will tell you there are a lot of Falmer in the next room and to sneak or take them on. If you want to sneak past, simply follow the far right-hand side wall and follow it all the way around, into the pen with a small cave at the rear. After the cave, you will find yourself in a larger cave, with two Falmer Skulkers in front of you. Kill them, continue down the ramp, and you will be confronted by several Charus, along with another Falmer Skulker. If you have a high enough sneak skill, it is possible to bypass the Charus and Skulker by sneaking along the golden pipes above their heads. Make your way through the rear of the cave onto a downward hill, making sure to kill the Falmer before dropping down. Head through the gate, then down into Irkngthand Sanctuary. (Note: There are a number of quest-breaking glitches in the next stage.)

Slaying Mercer FreyEdit

Mercer will be removing the eyes of the statue as you enter. He spots your group and makes the ledge you are standing on collapse. Before the battle begins, he will talk to you for a bit about the Thieves Guild and honor. Mercer uses an invisibility spell, so use detect life scrolls (if you did not take the scrolls, use detect life to reveal him, then stick a Magelight on him) to see him and attack.

Once Mercer is dead, grab both the Skeleton Key and Eyes of the Falmer.

Escape from IrkngthandEdit

• Journal Entry: Mercer Frey is dead and I've recovered the Skeleton Key of Nocturnal from his corpse. I need to escape Irkngthand before the place collapses around me.

Brynjolf and Karliah will jump down to you and the place will start filling up with water, but do not panic. Once the water is high enough, a piece above the statue's head will fall off and open an area above it. Head into that area and you will find an entrance to Bronze Water Cave. It is a good idea to have a helmet with the Waterbreathing enchantment, as the exit can be easily missed, resulting in death. If this is not a viable option it is a good idea to save the game as soon as Mercer is defeated. This will act as a "lifeline" so even if you don't find the exit in time, you can hopefully find it without having to kill Mercer again.

Speak to KarliahEdit

• Journal Entry: Safe from the dangers below, Karliah, Brynjolf and I finally have a moment to breathe. Mercer Frey is dead, the Skeleton Key of Nocturnal is in my possession and, most importantly, the Nightingales have survived.

Upon speaking to Karliah, she will tell you that returning the key will not be easy. The inner sanctum has been locked due to the fact that the Nightingales failed to protect the key in the first place and the only way through is via the Pilgrim's Path. Brynjolf heads back to the guild while Karliah is too afraid to face Nocturnal after her failure, so you must do this alone. After telling you to return the Skeleton Key, she gives you the Nightingale Bow.

• Karliah will tell you about the various "Agent" classes that you can receive at the end of the quest, even though you would have no idea they existed.
• A warning is merited regarding your safety as soon as you leave the cave, as there is often a dragon to deal with near the exit point, so fast travel will not be permitted. It is very rare, but you may have to deal with two dragons simultaneously. One normal dragon, and a uniquely named dragon. Dragons may be more common if you exit at night than during the daytime. If a dragon is present and you do not wish to fight it, it may go away if you go back inside the cave and wait awhile.
• Very rarely, the dragon will be flying somewhere off to the left as you exit the cave, allowing you to fast travel.
• It has been confirmed on Xbox 360 that there is a chance no dragons will spawn at all.
• It has been confirmed on PS3 that there is a chance no dragons will spawn at all, allowing you to fast travel.
• Another option would be to not start this quest before you start Dragon Rising, so that there is a 0% chance of a dragon spawning.

TriviaEdit

• At the end of the mission, Karliah's dialogue is wrong.

BugsEdit

Click to show

Sometimes the quest will not even start once you have finished trinity restored and this can be fixed by typing 'setstage tg08b 10' It is recommended to save the game before entering the final room with Mercer (Irkngthand Sanctuary) due to the significant amount of quest-breaking issues at the end of this quest. Running past all of the enemies in the cavern before Mercer is seen and entering may cause the player to get stuck. If the player saves before entering the room, waits a short time, and then enters, the cut scene will most likely go as planned. ** PC(Fix)   If this doesn't work, open the console and type </code>setstage TG08B 40</code>. After getting the Eyes of the Falmer, Mercer will make his way for the stairs, but may get stuck and begin glitching up and down on the wall, causing the player to be briefly frozen in the cutscene until Mercer becomes unstuck. Should that fail to happen, pausing and unpausing may fix it. If that does not work, the player should turn off the system and start Skyrim up again.  360    PS3   Quest-breaking glitch: When the player swims out of the cavern after it fills with water, both Karliah and Brynjolf can get stuck in the flooded cavern, making the player unable to complete the quest by talking to Karliah. Reloading a previous save may resolve the issue. If this glitch is happening, the problem could be that your talking to Karliah or Brynjolf while they're in the water.  PC   Using the commands "player.placeatme 0001B07F" for Karliah and player.placeatme 0001B07D for Brynjolf fixes this. It is also possible to fix this by entering the flooded room again, and then coming back out. If the player leaves and re-enters too many times, Karliah and Brynjolf may occasionally continue walking along the bottom of the flooded cave as if there were no water. Another fix is to shoot both Karliah and Brynjolf with a bow before they leave the ledge by the door. Another fix is to attack Karliah while she is underwater. She will go above the water to defend herself. Sheath your attack and she stops, allowing you to talk to her. If Karliah remains swimming, she can be gently "forced" out into the passage by swimming close to her. She will move away from the player, and can be directed towards the passage this way. Also try pushing into her and talking at the same time to make her change her posture. Once inside the passage, she will zone out and the quest can continue. Quest-breaking glitch: Mercer may not appear in the cavern at all.  PC(Fix)   To fix this, type in the console prid 22651, and then type enable. Quest-breaking glitch: After leaving Irkngthand and returning, the quest marker is completely inaccurate and neither Brynjolf nor Karliah are there. Continuing on as if they were there advances the quest objectives but not the quest. Karliah can be seen outside of Irkngthand, but any attempt to communicate with her states she is busy. Quest-breaking glitch: Occasionally Mercer will not have the Left Eye of Falmer and the Skeleton Key in his inventory. Another bug encountered during the "Locate Mercer Frey" section of this quest involves Brynjolf getting stuck in his position. Hitting him once with Unrelenting Force can fix this. He can also be attacked in order to move him. Quest-breaking glitch: Just before the final battle with Mercer, upon entering the room where he removes the eye from the statue, the player may become stuck, unable to move, interact, or open up the tab menu. This may be fixed by entering tcl using the console when the map loads, then deactivating it if the issue is not fixed yet.  PC   Brynjolf and Karliah can end up fighting one another if they are caught in the crossfire of the player's spells or once the cavern is filled with water, making it impossible to advance the quest.  PC   Fix: Use the console and type prid 58f1a to select Karliah, then moveto player. Repeat for Brynjolf using prid 20545. This will bring both NPCs to the surface, where Brynjolf will move to the exit of the cavern while Karliah will interact with the player to complete the quest. Using SetStage will complete the quest and the player will receive the bow; however, both NPCs will remain underwater. When passing the flame spinning room, Karliah and Brynjolf may leave the building and wander off into the woods. Carrying on with the quest without them will make them reappear in the end room. In the room where the giant statue crumbles, there will be a severe framerate lag after entering the second door on the far side of the room. Reloading a save usually fixes this.  PS3   In the same room, at the end where the door would have been had the fallen rubble not blocked it, it is possible to get stuck in the rubble so that neither jumping nor Whirlwind Sprint will get you out. You will have to reload from the last save.  PC   Game-breaking bug: Karliah's dialogue after killing Mercer may be bugged, only completing the quest but not activating Darkness Returns. The console command setstage tg09 0 will activate the quest properly.  PC   Karliah might disappear from the cavern upon meeting Mercer, rendering the completion of the quest impossible. Opening the console and typing player.placeatme 0001B07F fixes this. Occasionally, the game performance suffers in the room where Mercer is first seen through the bars. Attempting a sneak attack kill on Mercer Frey will trigger the death animation. but his corpse might fall through the floor and become unlootable.  360    PS3   When entering a Falmer tent, the player may get stuck inside and be unable to exit.  PS3   It is possible to use a potion of invisibility and initiate a kill / special attack animation. If done on top of the statue, Mercer may fall through to the ground, leaving you unable to loot his corpse.  PS3   Some Falmer tents cannot be entered. This is most likely due to a scaling glitch resulting in an invisible wall. Falmer may be trapped inside these tents, rendering them unable to be attacked via melee.  PC   Game-breaking Bug: After completing Blindsighted, when you leave Bronze Water Cave, no named NPCs can be spoken to. (EX: You can talk to Whiterun Guards, but not the Jarl or merchants.)

Behind the scenesEdit

• Unless otherwise stated, the information above was obtained from in-game play or from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Creation Kit.^[1]

AppearancesEdit

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (First appearance)

ReferencesEdit

Daedric Quests (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)

The Black Star (Azura) • Boethiah's Calling (Boethiah) • A Daedra's Best Friend (Clavicus Vile) Discerning the Transmundane (Hermaeus Mora) • Ill Met By Moonlight (Hircine) • The Cursed Tribe (Malacath) Pieces of the Past (Mehrunes Dagon) • The Whispering Door (Mephala) • The Break of Dawn (Meridia) The House of Horrors (Molag Bal) • The Taste of Death (Namira) • Blindsighted (Nocturnal) • The Only Cure (Peryite) A Night to Remember (Sanguine) • The Mind of Madness (Sheogorath) • Waking Nightmare (Vaermina)

Thieves Guild Quests (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)
Main Quest	A Chance Arrangement • Taking Care of Business • Loud and Clear • Dampened Spirits Scoundrel's Folly • Speaking With Silence • Hard Answers • The Pursuit • Trinity Restored Blindsighted • Darkness Returns
Delvin's Small Jobs	The Bedlam Job • The Fishing Job • The Numbers Job
Vex's Small Jobs	The Burglary Job • The Heist Job • The Shill Job • The Sweep Job
City Influence Jobs	Imitation Amnesty • Summerset Shadows • Silver Lining • The Dainty Sload
Other	Deliver Moon Sugar to Ri'saad • The Litany of Larceny

Start a Discussion Discussions about Blindsighted

• 

  Karliah's Nightingale Bow

  2 messages
  • 
    A Wikia contributor
    Nightingale Bow If you scroll down the page it shows that there are level dependant versions of the Bow you recieve, the highest possible ... 2013-01-20T05:47:42Z
  • 
    Miah 79
    I liked this bow, but it ended up on a display. Level 46 it would stay awesome for a long time though. I think I didn't get it until I was in ... 2013-01-20T07:08:03Z

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