The Mind of Madness
Quest Giver	Dervenin
Location	Solitude
Prerequisite	None
Reward	Wabbajack
Type	Daedric Quest

This is the daedric quest of Sheogorath. Dervenin wants his master Sheogorath to return from vacation. At the end of the quest the Dragonborn is rewarded with the daedric artifact, Wabbajack.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Objectives 3 Quick walkthrough 4 Walkthrough 4.1 Entering Pelagius' Wing 4.2 Pelagius' Mind 4.2.1 Paranoia 4.2.2 Night Terrors 4.2.3 Anger issues 4.3 Home 5 Journal 6 Bugs 7 Trivia

OverviewEdit

ObjectivesEdit

1. Gain access to the Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace
2. Use the key to gain access to the Pelagius Wing
3. Search for Dervenin's master in the Pelagius Wing
4. Use the Wabbajack to escape from Pelagius' Mind

Quick walkthroughEdit

1. Listen to Rumors at The Winking Skeever in Solitude about a man wandering the streets around the Blue Palace.
2. Speak to Dervenin wandering around Solitude and agree to help him.
3. Go to the Blue Palace and get a key to the Pelagius Wing by talking to Erdi or Una in the Servants Quarters, or after clearing out Wolfskull Cave, speak to Falk Firebeard.
4. Walk through the Pelagius Wing until being transported into Pelagius’ mind.
5. Speak to Sheogorath and complete the three curing tasks:
6. For paranoia: Shoot the two men on the opposite side of the arena.
7. For night terrors: Shoot the sleeping Pelagius and then the creature that spawns, repeat until he wakes up.
8. For anger issues: Shoot Confidence twice to enlarge him then shoot his attackers to shrink them.
9. Speak to Sheogorath, receive the Wabbajack and be transported back to the Blue Palace.

• Note: If this is your last item for Oblivion Walker Achievement/Trophy then you get the Achievement /Trophy without even completing the three tasks.

WalkthroughEdit

Entering Pelagius' WingEdit

Dervenin requests that the Dragonborn help his master to return from "vacation." He explains that the Dragonborn can find his master in the Pelagius Wing at the Blue Palace. Because this is locked talk to one of the maids and tell her that Falk asked the Dragonborn to clean up the area and she will present the key. If Falk likes the Dragonborn well enough (for example, after accepting The Man Who Cried Wolf) then Falk will present the key.

Enter the Pelagius Wing and proceed to the second floor. Walk down the hallway and the Dragonborn will automatically transport into Pelagius' mind, while inside the Dragonborn will not have access to their inventory, and equipped items will be replaced with a set of Fine Clothing.

Pelagius' MindEdit

After arriving in Pelagius' mind, the Dragonborn will be facing Sheogorath and Pelagius who are having a tea party. Once Pelagius leaves, talk to Sheogorath. He will tell the Dragonborn that the only way to leave Pelagius' Mind is to "treat" it. To assist the Dragonborn, Sheogorath presents the Wabbajack. The glade around the table has three stone portals with paths leading to where the Dragonborn will treat sections of Pelagius' Mind.

ParanoiaEdit

From his earliest years, Pelagius was very paranoid. To fix this part of the mind, go through the northwest portal. Follow the path to arrive at a stonework arena with two Storm Atronachs fighting and 3 men (two have helmets) on the opposite wall. Make sure to stand by the quest arrow the whole time. Sheogorath explains that you must make the Dragonborn's monster win. Do not use the Wabbajack on the battling Atronachs, as the other will transform as well and the stalemate will continue. Simply shoot the two men on the opposite side of the arena. (After a few failed attempts Sheogorath will give you a hint: "Me thinks your aim is off") The men then turn into wolves and kill the man in between them. This resolves the situation and cures the paranoia. Return to the tea party area.

Night TerrorsEdit

Pelagius has had nightmares all his life. To help fix this part of his mind, go through the northeast portal and find a sleeping Pelagius. Make sure to stand by the quest arrow the whole time. Shoot Pelagius with the Wabbajack to make a creature appear, then shoot the creature to turn it. Keep repeating this (shooting Pelagius and then creature) and Pelagius will eventually wake up. Once Pelagius gets up out of bed, the Night Terrors section is over. There is a chest in this area that appears during the fights against the creatures, though it will not open no matter what you do. This is because even though it resembles a chest, it is still the creature by lore and is coded to be an event, not a chest.

Anger issuesEdit

To help Pelagius with his anger issues, go through the southeast portal. Make sure to stand by the quest arrow the whole time. Use the Wabbajack on the little guy named Confidence to make him grow larger, then use the Wabbajack on his corporeal attacker to make him smaller. Ignore the ethereal attackers until Sheogorath speaks again. At the end, Pelagius is finally ready to love himself (but continue hating everyone else). Return to the tea party glade.

HomeEdit

Once done, return to Sheogorath. He will give the Dragonborn the staff and send the Dragonborn back to the Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace. Go down the hall to the stairs, and visit the cellar at the end. There is a skill book, "Surfeit of Thieves" located here. In the cellar, there are two crates holding up a chain. A candle has been placed on one and "Surfeit of Thieves" on the other.

JournalEdit

Journal Entry
Dervenin wants me to talk to his master about returning from vacation. To do so, I need to gain entrance to the Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace. Objective: Gain access to the Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace
Objective: Use the key to gain access to the Pelagius Wing
Dervenin wants me to talk to his master about returning from vacation. His master should be somewhere in the Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace. Objective: Search for Dervenin's master in the Pelagius Wing
Dervenin wants his master Sheogorath to return from vacation. I have tracked Sheogorath and been transported by him to Pelagius's mind. If I can find a way to home Sheogorath has promised to return home as well. Objective: Use the Wabbajack to escape from Pelagius's Mind
I have helped Dervenin by convincing his master Sheogorath to return from vacation inside the mind of Pelagius. Sheogorath has rewarded me with the Wabbajack for my troubles. Quest complete

BugsEdit

Click to see the list of bugs encountered

PC   360   PS3  The Wabbajack will not work on the attackers, making the quest impossible to finish. This can be fixed by making sure to hit Pelagius first, instead of anger.  360   During the quest, if the Dragonborn is attacked by the Flame Atronach, the Dragonborn's head can lock at an unpleasant angle. Continuing with this bug creates clipping and body part issues where the Dragonborn's foot can get stuck in a door but still allow the Dragonborn to move, and the Dragonborn can get forced under the floor. (Saving, quitting and loading appears to resolve this issue.)  360    PS3   Rushing through the Pelagius Wing to the teleporter seems to glitch the loading.  PC   360   PS3  Sometimes when you talk to Sheogorath after completing the three tasks, he will say you can go but you do not get transported back to the Pelagius Wing. To fix this, talk to him again.  360  After this happens and the old beggar is teleported in, if you happen to punch the beggar with your left hand (which for me was unequiped), you will skip all dialog and be transported instantly back to the hallway in the Blue Palace. WARNING: If you do this, you will get a bounty of 40 gold in Solitude (even though you are in Pelagius' Head), and upon leaving the castle, you will be attacked by everyone in the city. To fix this, pull out a sword and then sheathe it near a guard, causing him to request a bounty.  360   Una and Erdi may not be in the Blue Palace and the waypoint may point at Falk Firebeard, who will not let you in the Pelagius Wing. Completing The Man Who Cried Wolf and delivering the Horn to the Shrine of Talos allows you to gain Falk's trust and get the key unless you have asked him for the key previously.  PC   360   PS3  After walking into the hallway with the red carpet, the game may freeze. The hallway is supposed to teleport the Dragonborn to Sheogorath. Removing equipped items and walking through in third person fixes this issue. Also it`s advised to remove items with quantity over 254 from your inventory (Gold not included.) Anyway problem is usually caused by some item in your inventory.  PC   360   PS3  Punching Pelagius at the beginning of the Night Terrors section wakes him up, but he immediately goes back to sleep. Anger will sometimes say "Skyrim belongs to the Nords!"  360   Sometimes no one in the Blue Palace will give you the key.  360  If the Goat in Night Terrors is killed, it can be searched, enabling the use of Character Menu while in Pelagius' Mind. The Dragonborn can fast travel to any location, but their equipment will be lost. In addition to this, the Wabbajack will become useless if used on any creature. The only fix for this bug is to load a save from before fast traveling while in Pelagius' Mind. If you search the body, you are able to see your own inventory. This allows you to equip and unequip items, but if you unequip the Wabbajack, you cannot complete any more objectives, as the staff is required. This can be fixed by re-equipping the Wabbajack.  PC    360    PS3   Sometimes a dragon will spawn in his mind and you will have to restart from last save.  360   Walking through the wing with the following active misc quests: Find 20 nightshade / deathbell / ninroot for Ingus Black-Briar, and Find 20 Jazbay, will result in constant notifications of 0/20 nightshade / deathbell / ninroot, and 0/20 Jazbay, regardless of the amount of each ingredient you possess. A notification of "Obtain a deathbell" for Kesh's quest will pop up. When looking through your inventory, you will see that every ingredient you have found for these quests are gone. This is because your only able to use the Wabbajack and the strange outfit you are forced to wear. Once you have completed this quest with the Wabbajack, all ingredients will be restored to your inventory.

TriviaEdit

• The quest itself is a parallel to that of the popular novel by Lewis Carroll entitled "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", commonly shortened to "Alice in Wonderland", where Alice is instructed by The Mad Hatter to do several menial tasks while he has a tea party.
• During the first conversation with Sheogorath, he mentions the ghost of King Lysandus. This may be a reference to The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall.
• The conversation between Sheogorath and Pelagius Septim III proves that the Hero of Kvatch did indeed embrace their role as the new Prince of Madness just as Haskill and Jyggalag foretold.
• Further on the theory of Sheogorath being the Hero of Kvatch, Sheogorath mentions a "Fox" and "severed heads". The Fox could be a little hint towards the Gray Fox. The severed head could be a little hint towards Mathieu Bellamont's mother's head. The severed heads could also be random severed heads.
• After the first conversation, Sheogorath will say "Do you mind? I'm doing the fishstick..." This may be a reference to the Bethesda forums, where new members used to be greeted with 'A Fishy stick'. The line may also refer to a dance created by the hosts of the comedy podcast "You Look Nice Today". In the episode "Sacks-Minnelli Disease", they describe "doing the fishstick" as a slight twisting of the torso, doing a facial kegel, and having a minor palsy.
• There is a Lockpicking skill book on the lower level on the Wing on the opposite side from where you entered, on a small table near chains.
• Once the Dragonborn completes waking Pelagius and curing his night terrors, if the Dragonborn walks over to the sultry maiden, she will greet you with a man's voice.
• Oddly enough, if the Dragonborn is a vampire during this quest you can feed upon Pelagius the Tormented when he is sleeping,this may suggest that Pelagius also has night terrors of vampires.
• The map shows the Dragonborn as being just north of Bleakwind Basin.
• After talking to Sheogorath (after "treating" Pelagius's mind) he may say this: "Well, time to return to the Shivering Isles. The trouble Haskill can get into while I'm gone simply boggles the mind..." This is a direct reference to Oblivion seeing as Sheogorath is the creator of the Shivering Isles. Haskill is the fellow the first encounters when entering the Isles (the person sitting at the desk in the enclosed room). He is also Sheogorath's chamberlain. This is to ensure the Isles do not fall into complete madness, which is ironic if Sheogorath is suggesting that Haskill is the one causing trouble.
• When Sheogorath sends the Dragonborn "home" he asks that the Dragonborn looks him up (jokingly) if they're ever in New Sheoth. New Sheoth is the capital of the Shivering Isles and is on the border of Mania and Dementia.
• This quest share some similarities to the Oblivion quest Through A Nightmare, Darkly.
• During the quest your inventory can be opened by killing and searching the G​oat.
• After curing Pelagius from his Night Terrors and reporting back to Sheogorath he will mention Barbas and how he barks in the middle of the night and chews on Sheogorath's slippers but will realise you were meaning Pelagius.
• This is the only time when the main character from one elder scrolls game meets the main character from the previous elder scrolls game.

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)

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