Paratus Decimius is an Imperial Mage in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim who operates at the Dwemer Ruins of Mzulft. He is the last surviving member of the Synod expedition to Mzulft regarding information about the Oculory and the leader of the expedition.
Interactions[]
Revealing the Unseen[]
- "G...Gavros? Is that you? I'd almost given up hope. Let me get the door..."
- ―Paratus Decimius[src]
He is part of the quest "Revealing the Unseen," in which the Dragonborn brings the focusing crystal that his counterpart Gavros Plinius had lost. He is found barricaded in the Oculory by himself. He wants the crystal focused in the Oculory in Mzulft's Aedrome; after the Dragonborn completes this task for him, he loses his essential status after a brief exposition. There is no penalty for killing him. If Paratus is left alive, then after the quest is completed, a large amount of Synod mages will appear in Winterhold during a random encounter to claim the Eye of Magnus. After this, his character will disappear, as he likely returned to Cyrodiil as he planned to do, or was killed at some point during the random encounter. He can be found back in Mzulft after some time passes.
Dialogue[]
Show: Revealing the Unseen |
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In Mzulft (Skyrim):
"What the... Who are you? Where's Gavros? What are you doing here? What've you done with Gavros?"
If approached again: "Unless you can find that crystal, there's no point in wasting more time with talk." After finding the crystal: "Please, tell me you've found the crystal. I've no wish to die in this place."
While following: "No matter what Gavros said, this was my idea first. The Council is going to know that when I get back. I was the one who thought of using this... this Oculory. I don't know what the dwarves called it. Something unpronounceable, I'm sure. From all our research, it seems they were intent on discerning the nature of the divine. This machinery, all of it, was designed to collect starlight, and then... I'm not sure. Split it, somehow? It was my idea to replace one of the key elements with our focusing crystal. Months of enchantments went into it. Let's just hope they got it right this time. Here it is. Magnificent, isn't it? Took an incredible amount of work to get it running again. Now I'm hoping it'll all be worth it. Place the crystal in the central apparatus, and we can start the process for focusing it." If approached: "It's very important you do this correctly."
After placing the crystal in the armillary: What do I do? "Now the crystal needs to be focused. It was created so far away, we knew that some adjustments would have to be made. Heating and cooling the crystal will cause it to expand or contract, which will change how the light passes through it. You'll need to use spells to do that. Being from the College, I assume you know them already. There should be a few basic tomes around here somewhere in case your training is even more sub-standard than I've heard." After focusing the crystal: "Years of work, finally going to pay off... ...but what's this? These results... They're not at all what they should be. This projection should be lit up like the night sky... Something is creating an incredible amount of interference. Something in Winterhold, it looks like. What are you playing at? Is this some attempt to stall my work?!" When approached: "So, what is it? What have you done? Did you know what we were attempting? Are you here to make sure your plan worked, that our efforts have been for nothing? Well, explain yourself!"
Afterwards: "I can't explain the details. That would be giving away many secrets the Synod have learned over the years. Also, I doubt you'd be able to comprehend the details. Have you ever seen the Orrery in the Imperial City? It was the inspiration for this idea. Instead of projecting the sky, we project all of Tamriel, and then harness the latent energies to overlay the positions of... What's important is that all of this work was designed to reveal to us sources of great magical power. Purely to help safeguard the Empire, of course. And yet, in the end, only two locations have been revealed to us. One is your College. The other... Well, that can only be Labyrinthian." Afterwards: "So, mage fron Winterhold, despite your intentions I've beaten your little game. Even if all you said here is lies, I know you have something in Winterhold the Synod Council will be very interested in. So fine, trudge off to Labyrinthian in search of your Staff. I shall return to Cyrodiil and deliver my full report to the Council. This is not over, I assure you."
"I think we're done here." If approached again: "You've got what you came for, didn't you? Go then, back to your college." If interrupted at the start: Who are you? "What are you doing here? What've you done with Gavros?" If the Crystal was already found: "What the... Who are you? Where's Gavros? What are you doing here? What've you done with Gavros?"
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Trivia[]
- His first name Paratus means "prepared" in Latin.
- Despite the Synod being against Conjuration,[1] Paratus uses the Conjure Flame Atronach spell.
- After completing "The Eye of Magnus" and returning to Paratus, he will not have any dialogue mentioning the disappearance of the eye.