Daggerfall Playthrough Part 11 - Woodborne Hall, Who Gets the Totem, Journey to Aetherius

Woodborne Hall (Lysandus' Revenge):
Lord Woodborne betrayed and killed King Lysandus so now we have to hunt him down and put an end to his treasonous life. Travel to Woodborne Hall in Wayrest and find him in that dank place. Follow the path taken in the video and, as always, pay attention to the levers pulled-It's easy to get lost.

NOTE: 4:52 - This elevator is glitchy as hell. I can never get it to work properly so I used a levitate spell to get through the shaft. If you're playing with the Unity port then I believe it works fine.

11:06 - Lord Woodborne. Kill him and he'll curse your name as he dies. A short video will play and Lysandus's ghost ceases to haunt the city of Daggerfall.

NOTE #2: I did not seek it out in this video but there does exist a journal of Woodborne's that you can find in this dungeon. If you read it, it will reveal that he was also planning to assassinate King and Queen of Wayrest to take over the throne and that Lysandus' son King Gothryd of Daggerfall is backing Woodborne in his plan to become King of Wayrest. He's also planning to eliminate the Orcs. Obviously, this is not required to complete the main quest - it's just information for the plot.

Who Gets the Totem?:
23:00 - You receive a letter-Lady Brisienna wants to meet urgently. She explains that the Totem (an artifact of great power) is suspected to be secured in the depths of Castle Daggerfall. She wants it out of Gothryd's hands. Go to Castle Daggerfall and retrieve the Totem. 37:43 - The Totem will speak to you and explain that you cannot carry it for long as it can only be carried by one of the Tiber Septim bloodline: King Gothryd, Queen Akorithi, Gortwog, King Eadwyre, the King of Worms, Underking or the Emperor. You have a year and a day to give it to one of them or the Totem simply vanishes.

This is where you start taking a side. If your reputation is high enough with certain factions, you will get letters offering various rewards for the Totem. If not, then assassins will be sent to steal it.

NOTE: 36:15 - Pull the middle chain to teleport. The other chains will do other things.

41:40 to 47:45 - I start getting letters from people wanting the Totem.

51:35 - I give the Totem to Gortwog. I figured that since he tried to help Lysandus and is so desperate for an Orcish homeland that I figured this might help. He seems to at least have noble goals.

Immediately, Nulfaga wants you to visit her in Shedungent for one last quest.

Journey to Aetherius:
53:00 - This is it! The final main quest. If you do not yet have a way to cast levitate-GET IT! I'm serious. The Mantellan Crux is just the worst place to get stuck in. Also, if you have any healing potions or items-take them with you! Bring arrows and at least two bows in case one breaks. This is not a dungeon to take lightly. When you're geared up speak with Nulfaga in Shedungent (tell the door sash to 'shut up') and she'll explain that you'll be looking for a green jewel called the Mantella. She teleports you the Mantella Crux in the realm of Aetherius. There is no way out but to find the Mantella. The 'dungeon' is broken into 6 parts:

The Floating Islands:
54:40 - There is a demon's head that will cast levitate on you if you touch it, but sometimes it doesn't work (you can cast levitate on your own, right?). Levitate up to an island floating above you (East) with a lever on it-pull the lever. Float down to the island with the four doors on it (careful of the Frost Daedra) and close the South door-Don't touch the other doors! Then float to an opening on the East side of the (door) island and pull the lever in there. Float up high past all the islands (you may have to recast levitate with the demon head) and there is an opening in the void/wall in the Southwest corner. You may not see it until you're right on top of it but it's there. Go down the hall and up the shaft. Follow the video and you'll see some blue bars-pull the lever nearby at the end of the hall and they'll disappear. Follow the video again and pay attention to the levers being pulled, not all are used.

NOTE: At 58:50 - 1:00:08, I made a bad cut in the video and cut out the part where you return to the demon-head island and left in a part I meant to delete. I would correct this but I've lost the original raw video capture. :( Just return to that island and follow the floating steps down to the opening in the island. The blue force field is now gone but be careful of the Daedra Seducer inside. Kill him and step onto the red carpet to be teleported to the next section.

The Great Pyramid:
1:00:08 - This is where the video picks up again. Ride the platform down and be careful not to fall. Leap off to the big island in front of you. It has six gravestones-click on the white one and a message will appear saying, "Here lies the spirit of Benefactor, though his body still guards the way." It's a riddle so take note. Click on the East-most and South-most headstones and they'll groan at you. Click on them ONLY once. One opens a trapdoor in the pyramid that we are heading to and the other disables a force field to an opening in the side of the island. Go into that opening and pull the lever. Then take the platform right outside down to some floating stone steps and follow them to another platform that will take you all the way up past the pyramid (now you can see it). Use the lantern to cast levitate (sometimes it doesn't work) and float up to the opening in the East corner of the void. Follow the corridor and speak to the spirit in the chamber. He's asking us to speak his name. Remember the riddle? Speak 'Benefactor' and he'll open the trap door on top of the pyramid. Be careful of the Ancient Lich on the pyramid-he's strong!

NOTE: I found a map on him for the Mantellan Crux-the very dungeon we are in. But it can't be marked on a map so it's a dud I guess. Only Nulfaga can send us there (unless we use a very super secret way to get in--shhhh... I may cover that in a future video. hehe)

Take the elevator down and, if you've clicked on the tombstones right, the trap door inside should be open. If not, you'll have to go back to the cemetery and click them again (hope you can levitate). Go down a couple more trap doors and you'll arrive at the next section.

The Temple:
1:05:00 - This is a shorter section. Enter the space with the floating steps and take the path to the right. Follow them down to the bottom and you'll see some upside down doors. Pull the lever in the East door. Then go around to the West door and pull the lever in there. The South door should now be open revealing a big blue obelisk. Click on it and you'll be teleported to the next section.

The Blind God:
Up until now it's been all foreplay. Here's where it gets hard.

1:06:34 - You're in a room with eight doors. Go through the South door on the East side and follow the video to the 'Fire Room'. Here is the hard part: There are FOUR Fire Daedra at the bottom that are capable of one-shotting you to death. I was really way too low of a level to have any business dealing with them but I'm a sucker for punishment. I typically run in, hit what I can like a lunatic and then touch the cage to teleport back to the hallway and heal myself-then do it again. Once they're dead, click on the first floating head and you'll get another riddle: "Hear me: The Blind God is a jealous god. Let His true servants lift up their eyes unto Him, and the Way will be easy. Hear me!" The 'Blind God' is the giant head in the center and the 'servants' are the smaller ones in the room. You need to click on all the 'true servants lifting their eyes unto him'-basically, the heads that are looking at the big one. Each head will spin when clicked on. There are two servants. Make your way up the ramp and into the Left eye of the giant head (Beware the Fire Daedra) and in the Right eye, you can speak with Sheogorath, Prince of Madness. He'll ramble on about nothing of note. Go down the elevator and speak to the skull at the bottom. It's a riddle, "One speaks for me. Two serve me. Six protect me. How many defy me?". One skull outside faces away from the Blind God so answer 'one'. You'll be teleported to the next section.

The Sword and Crossbow:
1:13:14 - You're now in a room with a bunch of tiny skulls. They each do a different thing ranging from helpful to deadly to making grunting noises. To open the door, click on the sixth from the left. This leads to a spiral hallway. Follow the hall around, through doors, past statues and enemies until you reach a small pit. Jump in and you'll be teleported to a floating island surrounded by Daedra Lords. Very strong ones! Hit them with arrows, take cover and keep healing yourself. Don't stop until they're all dead. You notice that there is a giant sword sticking out of the island and a giant crossbow floating off the side. Step onto the platform and Sheogorath makes a comment about paying last respects and teleports you to a small room. Don't bother with the door, open the secret door on the North wall and continue to Sheogorath's room. He asks another riddle, "You may be aware that I am a master of the blade. But what is my other favored weapon?" This refers to the giant weapons outside. Type 'crossbow' and then head back to the non-secret door in the small room. A trap door is now open on the giant sword island. Go down and click on the left red object (the right one is a trap) to open the box, then click the smaller box open that. There is a white object-click that too. The island will begin to sink down to the giant crossbow. More Daedra Lords will attack. Walk across the platforms and place yourself in the breach of the crossbow then click on the left battleaxe to fire yourself into the bullseye above. The giant sword will then tip over allowing you to run across to an open doorway. Go down the elevator at the end of the hall and into a series of rooms full of Fire Daedras and ghosts. Hope over the small pits. There is a shrine at the end of the line. The lantern in the hall will cast levitate. Float to the shrine and take the Mantella! You'll immediately be teleported back to Nulfaga and treated to a final cut scene depending on who you gave the Totem to.

Congratulations! You've completed the main quest of Daggerfall.