Online:A Tale of Two Mothers

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Uncover a plot hatching in the Shimmerene underground. Zone: Summerset Objective: Shimmerene — Find Lanarie's missing son, Arathel. Quest Giver: Lanarie Location(s): Shimmerene, Shimmerene Waterworks Reward: Rat-Fang Dagger Average Leveled Gold XP Gain: Standard XP ID: 6116

A distraught mother named Lanarie cannot find her son, Arathel. The youth surrendered to the authorities—saying he was part of a plot to kill a Sapiarch. But he disappeared from his cell shortly thereafter. I promised Lanarie I would find her son.

Quick Walkthrough

1. Talk to Lanarie in Shimmerene.
2. Talk to Talerion in Kinlady Avinisse's Mansion, and grab a copy of Arathel's Map.
3. Find the correspondence in the hedge maze east of the Ruins Bazaar, and choose whether to report it back to Talerion right away, or follow it to the nearby Anchors Aweigh Inn.
4. In either case you will be pointed towards the sewers of Shimmerene, and told to look for the Mother of Rats.
5. Follow the unique rat in the sewers, find the false wall that hides the hidden lair and talk to the Mother of Rats.
6. After learning about her organization of outcasts, and Mirulon's rival organization, find the Mother's associate Zan'hi, who is currently spying on Mirulon's gang.
7. Talk with Zan'hi to learn that Mirulon is a Daedric-summoning sorcerer with mind-control abilities which he may use if Arethel continues to refuse his orders.
8. Follow round the tunnels, find Mirulon and kill him, then read his notes and catch up with Arethel.
9. Escort Arethel back to the Mother of Rats - who has been joined by both Lanarie and Talerion.
10. Hand Mirulon's notes to Talerion to exonerate Arethel, and receive your reward form the Mother of Rats.

Detailed Walkthrough

On the way to the Monastery of Serene Harmony (as required by the first quest in the Summerset plotline), you will encounter Lanarie. She is concerned about her missing son Arathel, who is apparently involved in a plot to kill the Sapiarch, Aicantar. He has turned himself in to the authorities, but subsequently gone missing: Lanarie suggests that Talerion, the Justiciar in Kinlady Avinisse's service, may know more about his disappearance than he is letting on.

Entering Avinisse's mansion and going downstairs reveals that Talerion seemingly does not know much: he is less concerned about the question of Arathel's guilt or innocence, this being a matter for his trial, than he is about the actual fact of his disappearance from custody (which he regards as a major embarassment bordering on disgrace), apparently through a hole in the wall that leads to the sewers. Apparently a map was found on Arathel at the time of his arrest: and a copy is kept upstairs, which his own officers have failed to make much sense of. Examining this map leads to an area further in the north and west of the city, a hedge maze not far from the Ruins Bazaar and Anchors Aweigh Inn, where a letter to Arathel has been dropped. Reading the Note to Arathel suggests that Arathel has friends, and that they include a Khajiiti bartender in the nearby inn, at which point the player has the option either of reporting directly back to Talerion or following the conspiracy further by talking to the bartender (named Riharai) and ordering a "Deathland Ale".

If the player talks to Talerion, he will suggest that the Mother of Rats may be involved with the letter - she is an outcast who lives in the sewers, associating with the worst of Shimmerene's outcasts, rogues, beggars, apraxics and general underclass. If the player talks to Riharai the bartender - and subsequently to the hooded man upstairs - then they will also be pointed towards the Mother of Rats: in either case, the player enters Shimmerene's sewers, albeit through a slightly different entrance, and has the same objective, to track down the Mother of Rats. Talerion will paint her in a suspiciously sinister light, viewing her and her organization as undesirables who have so far been tolerated as being comparatively minor, but if they are involved in the plot to kill a Sapiarch then they may be a greater threat: Riharai and Edgar will present her in a more sympathetic light, as one who cares for the outcasts when nobody else will.

Whichever route you take into the sewers, you will fight various conventional sewer monsters (such as skeevers and salamanders) and thugs from an organization called the "Black Wake": you will eventually encounter a unique Rat which will run away as soon as you approach it (it is sometimes difficult to follow because it can go through small gaps that a rat can fit through but the player cannot, forcing you to find a longer way around to follow him back to the quest arrow), eventually leading you to the false wall that hides the way into the room in the southeastern corner of the sewers, where the Mother of Rats lives. She, in turn, will talk of Arathel as an idealist looking to improve the lot of the underclass, who was originally working with the Mother but has now fallen in with a rival gang (the Black Wake, whom you have already been fighting), led by one Mirulon who apparently seems to be wanting the violent revolution that the Mother of Rats would in fact rather avoid. It's suggested that Mirulon is the real master of the plot to murder the Sapiarch, and Arathel got involved in it but got cold feet and turned himself in. It is apparently Mirulon who sprang Arathel out of jail but is now holding him prisoner: the Mother of Rats has one of her associates, a Khajiit named Zan'hi, spying on Mirulon already, and the player is sent to look for him.

Zan'hi can be found in the southwestern natural caverns, talking to another Khajiit - Hedani, his lover, whom he tries to persuade (successfully) to abandon Mirulon's cause, to which she seems to have become attached. You will interrupt their conversation, and learn that Mirulon is more dangerous than he seems - he is a sorcerer with a penchant for Daedric summoning, and is prepared to use mind-control magic on those who defy him, which means he may be no mere anarchist or revolutionary. Follow the caves around until they rejoin the sewers to find Mirulon's lair: as you arrive, you will overhear a conversation between him and Arathel in which Arathel still defies Mirulon's orders to commit the murder, and Mirulon threatens that he will do it whether he wishes to or not. Mirulon attacks as soon as you enter the room: Arathel makes his escape. After Mirulon is dead, find his notes - apparently referring to masters called "The Earls" and signed "In Oblivion's Name", confirming Zan'hi's suspicions that Mirulon's motives are more sinister than a question of mere mortal anarchism or revolution. Follow the sewers round to find Arathel and escort him back to the Mother of Rats.

When you get back there, you will find that both Lanarie and Talerion have also found their way to the Mother of Rats's chamber. Arethel is greeted first by his mother, while the Mother of Rats directs you to talk to Talerion: who is skeptical at first, but accepts Mirulon's notes as proof of a wider plot, possibly Daedric-related, and as evidence good enough to exonerate Arethel. He still disapproves of the Mother of Rats, and disappears with a warning to keep her affairs in order now that he knows where they hide out, while both Lanarie and the Mother thank you for the rescue of Arethel and reward you with the "Rat-Fang Dagger" - a dagger with a poison enchantment and the Precise trait.

Notes

• Talerion won't exist in the basement of Kinlady Avinisse's mansion before starting the quest.
• Looking at Arathel's Map isn't necessary to proceed. The objective updates to go to the marked location and that location is specifically shown on your local map the instant you pick up Arathel's Map.
• The Note to Arathel won't exist in the hedge maze before starting the quest or reaching the related objective.
  • The note lacks the typical golden glow of readable notes.
• Edgar Jend won't exist in the Anchor Aweighs Inn before starting the quest or reaching the related objective.
• Hedani and Zan'hi won't exist in the Shimmerene Waterworks tunnels before starting the quest or reaching the related objective.
• Mirulon exists in the Shimmerene Waterworks before starting the quest and can be killed then. This has no bearing on the behavior of the quest once you are actually progressing in it however.
  • Arathel won't be with him at that time.
• Mirulon's Letter won't exist in the Shimmerene Waterworks before starting the quest or reaching the related quest.
• The broken passage leading into the waterworks that Talerion is inspecting at the start of the quest is never used during this quest.

Bugs

• Picking up Arathel's Map can be difficult due to it being placed atop a lootable nightstand, causing prompt overlap. ^?
  • Aiming above the map, with the cursor over the fireplace, makes the prompt appear.
• The dialogue between Arathel and Mirulon that is overheard upon approaching the doors to the room they are in isn't subtitled. ^?
• The quest marker pointing to the evidence is misplaced between the actual location of the letter and where the marker is placed in the local map. ^?

Quest Stages

A Tale of Two Mothers
Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
	Lanarie insists that the Justiciar of Remand, Talerion, knows more about Arathel's disappearance than he's letting on. I should speak with him in the kinlady's manor. Objective: Talk to Talerion
	According to Talerion, the guards seized a crude map from Arathel when he turned himself in. This map might contain valuable clues. I can find a copy near the kinlady's hearth. Objective: Take the Map
	I took a faithful copy of Arathel's map. Hopefully it will lead me to another clue. Objective: Find the Marked Location
	Arathel's map led me to a scroll tucked away in a hedge maze. I should read this scroll and see what it says. Objective: Read the Scroll
	The note I found urged Arathel to meet a mysterious figure in the Anchors Aweigh Inn in Shimmerene. I can either follow the note's instructions or report what I found to the Justiciar of Remand, Talerion. Complete one: Talk to Talerion or Go to the Anchor's Aweigh Inn
	I chose to follow the scroll's instructions. I should talk to the Khajiiti barkeep in the Anchors Aweigh Inn. Objective: Talk to Riharai
	The barkeep urged me to talk with a hooded man on the second floor of the inn. I should find this mysterious figure. Objective: Talk to the Hooded Man
	The hooded man, Edgar, urged me to find his mistress, the Mother of Rats. She might know more about Arathel's disappearance. I'll need to find the entrance to Shimmerene's underground if I'm going to meet her. It should be near the docks. Objective: Enter the Shimmerene Underground
	Now that I've entered the city's underground, I need to find the Mother of Rats. Perhaps the rats themselves can show me the way. Objective: Follow the Rats
	I found Mother's Den, the Mother of Rats's underground hideout. I should talk to the Mother of Rats and find out what she knows about Arathel. Objective: Talk to the Mother of Rats
	The Mother of Rats told me about a rival group that seeks a more violent resolution to the plight of Summerset's underclass. One of her spies, Zan'hi, is looking into it. I should track him down and see if he knows anything about Arathel. Objective: Find Zan'hi
	I found Zan'hi, urging a friend to flee the underground. I should talk to him. Objective: Talk to Zan'hi
	Zan'hi told me a sorcerer called Mirulon took Arathel deep within the caverns beneath Shimmerene. I must navigate these caves to find him. Objective: Find Arathel
	I found Arathel. I must kill his captor, Mirulon, to aid his escape. Objective: Kill Mirulon
	I found some convincing evidence that clarifies Arathel's role in the plot to kill the Sapiarch. Unfortunately, Arathel ran off during the fight with Mirulon. I must track him down. Objective: Talk to Arathel
	I should bring Arathel back to Mother's Den where he'll be safe. Objective: Escort Arathel to Mother's Den
	Talerion appeared at Mother's Den with questions. Since I met him earlier, he might listen to what I have to say. The evidence I collected will prove Mirulon was behind this. Objective: Give the Evidence to Talerion
Finishes quest	I've convinced Talerion of Arathel's innocence. I should talk to the Mother of Rats. She'll want to know that the Divine Prosecution won't be raiding Mother's Den anytime soon. Objective: Talk to the Mother of Rats

Notes

* Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the game and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.

• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.

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