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Elder Scrolls

Ritual of Mania is a quest in The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles. Sheogorath wants to replace one of the aristocracy of his kingdom: either Lady Syl, Duchess of Dementia; or Lord Thadon, Duke of Mania.

Taking sides

Note: This is the point to choose a side. One must pick which Duke/Duchess to replace. One can pick either side and still complete the Main Quest, the choice made will have certain consequences.

If Mania is picked, it will begin this quest, Ritual of Mania.

Walkthrough

After speaking with Sheogorath, talk to both priests. They can explain Arden Sul's background. Both sides claim Arden-Sul was their duke, though their stories of his final day are wildly different.

If choosing to dethrone Lord Thadon, tell Sheogorath. He claims this is the easier choice and tells one has to give Thadon three doses of Greenmote to kill him.

House of Mania

Talk to Wide-Eye, a member of Thadon's court. During the day she can be found in the throne room or the Halcyon Conservatory. She says that Thadon enjoys "his pleasures, which include painting, reading a good book, a rousing night of erotic bedroom games," and also Greenmote. Wide-Eye says that she would enjoy Greenmote more often, but she is too busy.

Her disposition must be raised before she will say what her duties are. They include a "special errand" every day at noon. She also says that the Greenmote is stored in a secret silo, and she refuses to tell where it is, regardless of how high her disposition is.

Greenmote Silo

Wait until noon, Wide-Eye will be in the Halcyon Conservatory. Follow her onto the Palace Grounds, where she will activate a statue. The statue will slide aside and the entrance to the Greenmote Silo. Wait for Wide-Eye to go inside and then follow her.

This is a sneak mission, so invisibility spells are useful here. Follow the passage around to the right to catch up with Wide-Eye. The Silo is patrolled by Golden Saints who will arrest on sight. Wide-Eye will attack outright if seen by her. Stick to the shadows, don't use spells or torches, and stay close to Wide-Eye.

At the back of the cave is a shapeless green mound. Be careful, as Wide-Eye will be standing next to this mound. Sneak around her and get close enough to the mound. This is the Greenmote Pile, and activating it will put Greenmote in the inventory. At least two doses are needed, but feel free to take as much as possible. It's valueless, but Greenmote Rapture is also one of the more powerful effects in all of alchemy.

Note: Taking three doses of Greenmote at the same time will cause instant death by overdose.

As soon as two doses are picked, Wide-Eye will head back outside. Follow her out, being careful not to be spotted.

There are two alternate, though inelegant, ways to accomplish this portion of the quest.

  1. Simply run through the caves, being chased by Golden Saints and Wide-Eye.
  2. Along the way (requires a good Invisibility spell or enchantment), sneak attack the guards and kill them, so when reaching the Greenmote, either sneak away from Wide-Eye and kill her, or wait for her to go away, then run to the exit.

As long as one makes it to the Greenmote Pile and get the two doses, all will be okay. The Greenmote will not count as a stolen item so even if arrested it will be keep in the inventory.

Duke's Quarters

Once outside head back to the House of Mania. On the east side of the Halcyon Conservatory is the Duke's Quarters. Pick the leveled lock to gain entrance. Both the Conservatory and the Quarters are patrolled by Golden Saints, and this time a sloppy, pell-mell run through the area will be much more dangerous. If resisting arrest, the entire House comes running and everyone refuses any yield, at least until one is back in Bliss or Crucible.

The kitchen is in the northeast section of the quarters. Activating the tray of food will take one dose, activating his wine will take the other. The wine is on the second shelf of the bookshelf to the right of the food. Look for the tallest bottle on the shelf.

After that, go back to the House throne room. Wait until 8:00 p.m., and watch Thadon recite terrible poetry until his heart bursts. Collect his blood and go back to the Sacellum Arden-Sul. Remember also to loot his corpse for the Diadem of Euphoria, a leveled helmet with Fortify Speechcraft Fortify Magic, and Resist Magic enchantments.

Sacellum

Activate the altar in the Sacellum and a bright yellow flame will shoot up. Dervenin will then declare the Hero Duke of Mania. Speak to Sheogorath, who will congratulate on the success. Suddenly, Lady Syl interrupts, furious at Thadon's death and the succession. She declares open revolt, tells Sheogorath that the Fringe has already been lost, and leaves to become a Priest of Order for Jyggalag.

Speak to Sheogorath again. He will give the Hero the Ring of Lordship and then send them off to investigate the Fringe.

At this point they have full use of the Duke's Quarters. They can take anything they want, sleep in the bed and store anything in any of the containers. Not all the containers however are safe. The two barrels and the wooden chest respawn and are not safe for storage; all the other containers are safe.

This ends the current quest and begins the next: Retaking the Fringe.

Journal entries

Journal Entry
  • Update: After choosing to dethrone Lord Thadon:

I should begin asking around New Sheoth about Thadon's court and learn the best way to get him to overdose on Greenmote without his knowledge.

  • Update: After speaking to Wide-Eye:

Wide-Eye has described to me a bit of her routine. I'll need to find where she gets Greenmote from and obtain some without being discovered. Wide-Eye mentions she does a "special errand" at noon every day, I should follow her and see where she goes.

  • Update: After obtaining two doses of Greenmote:

I've obtained two doses of Greenmote. I now need to sneak into Thadon's kitchen sometime before eight o'clock and attempt to slip an extra dose into his evening meal and into his wine without being seen, otherwise [I can] try again tomorrow night. Gundlar prepare[s] the meal in the morning, so I'll have to wait until the afternoon to poison his food.

  • Update: After poisoning the food and wine:

I've slipped an extra dose of greenmote into Thadon's meal and Thadon's wine. I should proceed to the dining area at eight o'clock for the evening feast and watch the effect the greenmote overdose has an Thadon.

  • Update: After Thadon dies of an overdose:

After Thadon rose to deliver an odd soliloquy, he clutched his heart and fell to the ground dead. I should now collect as much of his tainted blood as possible.

  • Update: After placing Thadon's blood on the altar:

After informing Sheogorath of my victory, Syl, the Duchess of Dementia become furious. Before she stormed out of the Sacellum, she threatened that we hadn't heard the last of her. I should continue speaking to Sheogorath to receive my rewards of office.

  • Update: After completing the succession:

Sheogorath has awarded me the Ring of Lordship. I am now officially Duke of Mania of the Shivering Isles.

  • Quest complete

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to Ritual of Mania. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:

  1. Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening.
  2. If the bug is still occurring, please post the bug report with the appropriate system template  360  /  XB1  ,  PS3  /  PS4  ,  PC  /  MAC  ,  NX  /  PS5  ,  XS  , depending on which platform(s) the bug has been encountered on.
  3. Be descriptive when listing the bug and fixes, but avoid having conversations in the description and/or using first-person anecdotes: such discussions belong on the appropriate forum board.
  • After completing the quest, the Dark Seducers may refer to the Hero as Duchess of Mania, even if they are male.
  • If Wide-Eye is killed in the Greenmote Silo without anyone detecting the Hero, at Thadon's feast at 8 o'clock she will appear in her seat, dead.
  •  PS3   Thadon may never begin his reciting, and thus never wind up dead. This can be fixed by watching him for some period of time and then leaving and re-entering the room. He will then begin his death animation but not say anything.


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