Speaking With Silence
Quest Giver	Mercer Frey
Location	Snow Veil Sanctum
Prerequisite	Scoundrel's Folly
Next Quest	Hard Answers
Reward	Gallus's Encoded Journal
Faction	Thieves Guild
Type	Thieves Guild main quest

It is offered by Mercer Frey immediately upon completion of Scoundrel's Folly quest.

ObjectivesEdit

• Meet Mercer Frey outside Snow Veil Sanctum
• Enter Snow Veil Sanctum
• Find Karliah
• Speak to Karliah

WalkthroughEdit

Meet Mercer Frey outside Snow Veil Sanctum. Talk to him, and he will unlock the door. Enter it and fight through the draugr with him. There will be a Larceny Target on a trapped pressure plate, the Model Ship which can be sold to Delvin for a leveled amount of gold (300-800). After finding a Word Wall (Disarm), the way will be blocked by a locked puzzle door, which usually requires a dragon claw made out of a specific material. However, this time Mercer will open it. After passing through the door, the Dragonborn will be shot by a poisoned arrow and fall to the floor, they will be able to watch Mercer's and Karliah's meeting and learn more about his real intentions. After their talk Mercer will approach the Dragonborn and stab them, the screen will then black out only to wake up outside the Sanctum in a small camp, having been rescued by Karliah. Speak to her, and find out about Mercer's treachery to the guild.

TriviaEdit

• If Mercer does not move, he can be pushed into Snow Veil Sanctum with Unrelenting Force, then into the door by walking into him.
• Mercer cannot be pickpocketed until after he opens the final puzzle door, and after that his Dwarven Sword of Devouring may be taken. If this is done, the dialog and animation still follow, but he threatens Karliah with his fists and cuts the Dragonborn with an imaginary blade.
• After Mercer Frey unlocks the puzzle door, he can be taken back to the previous pull chain activated gate and locked out. Karliah will still shoot the Dragonborn with the poisoned arrow. The dialog will follow but Mercer Frey will not be present.
• Snow Veil Sanctum contains a Dragon Word Wall. (Disarm). In one of the rooms in the Snow Veil Sanctum, there is a raised platform with some draugr. The word wall is behind that, the chanting will be audible.
• Snow Veil Sanctum has a few tripwire-based traps.
• Snow Veil Sanctum is on the Dungeon Lock Outs list.
• The final room in which Karliah is first encountered contains only a skeleton with minor random loot.
• In the same room as the word wall there is a skill book for light armor.
• Being shot by Karliah is scripted and cannot be avoided.
• It is possible to get Mercer's sword early. In the Word Wall room, three draugr will wake in this room. At least one of these draugr can, and will, use the Disarm Shout. Lure him to Mercer, and if the draugr does use it on Mercer, his sword will go flying, allowing it to be retrieved.
• If the above happens, Mercer will never get his sword back. This makes fighting him in a later quest much easier, as he will only have a steel dagger.

BugsEdit

• Sometimes Mercer Frey does not immediately unlock the door to Snow Veil Sanctum. This can sometimes be fixed by saving and reloading, although that is not always the case. This can also be fixed by traveling to another location and then traveling back (with him as your follower). Also make sure to get rid of any followers before getting anywhere near Mercer
  •  PC   Console command for unlock can fix this.
• Mercer may not unlock the Nordic puzzle door with the dragon claw lock.
• The game may freeze during the cut-scene with Karliah. (For fix see talk page.)
  • Waiting for a number of hours may fix this.
•  PS3   PC   Karliah may become stuck inside Snow Veil Sanctum.
• After the cut-scene where Mercer stabs the Dragonborn, the camera will be zoomed to first person and stuck there.
  • A solution may be saving and reloading.
  • Another solution to this bug is by turning into a werewolf: when the effect wears off, the Dragonborn will be able to go to third and first person as usual.
  •  PC   Console Command "tc" freecam would also fix this bug.
• The floor may be missing random chunks, causing Mercer to fall in.
• Attacking Mercer before he opens the Dragon Claw door may cause him to become hostile when interacting, as well as when you enter the corridor leading to the door.
  • Re-entering the room will fix this, allowing the player to interact normally again.