This quest is connected with the task of the main plot "Ancient Knowledge", you need to find the Ancient Scroll and load the Dwemer dictionary. To do this, you need a special device, which is located in the Dwemer ruins of Alftand. In the ruins, you will meet a strange scientist who will give the Dwemer orb needed to open the passage to the main Dwemer city. After you place the Dwemer Orb from the hole, a staircase will open leading to the Black Reach.

Black Reach is a huge and beautiful location in its own way. First, visit the alchemist's hut. In this house, you will be able to collect the 30 red roots of Nirn, which can only be found in the Black Reach, and you will also receive this task when you find the first scarlet root of Nirn. There are many exits from the Black Reach leading to other Dwemer ruins, only you need to activate the entrance in them by inserting the sphere into the desired mechanism. In order to load the Dwemer dictionary, head to the Tower of Mzark, marked with a marker on the map. There is a huge mechanism there. Place the dictionary cube on the pedestal to the right of the control panel.

Click on the left button four times, as a result this cube will open and make the second button from the left available. Click on it twice, which will open another button, which must be clicked once. The cube will turn blue, and a capsule with an ancient scroll will open in the center of the hall. Take the finished dictionary cube, the ancient scroll and go to Septimius Sigonius.

Returning to the hermit, he will ask to get the blood of representatives of five races, mixing them Septimius hopes to get a composition resembling the blood of the Dwemer. Need blood from Altmer, Falmer, Bosmer, Dunmer and Orc. For this Septimius will give you a special device for collecting blood. To collect blood, you need to fight representatives of these races. Best of all, if they are bandits. This can be done in the central city quarters of the Black Reach, where there are many Falmer and their slaves of other races. In addition, Falmer blood is found in many Dwemer ruins or while investigating murders at the Frost Lighthouse. Altmer blood can be taken from Thalmor patrolmen or during the liberation of Thorald Graymane from captivity, Bosmer blood, completing the task of the Daedra Peryite, orcs and Dunmer join gangs. As you want to leave the cave, the exit will be blocked by a strange and disgusting creature with tentacles, which is the embodiment of Hermeus Mora, who will offer you to go over to his side at the end of killing Septimius.

Returning to Septimius with all the blood samples, you will witness a ritual that unlocks a strange Dwemer mechanism in the cave. Follow Septimius, who, as soon as he opens the book "Oghma Infinum", will fall dead. If you read it, you can choose:

♦ Path of Power: 5 points increase in weapon, shooting, blocking, heavy armor and blacksmithing skills.

♦ Path of the Shadow: 5 points increase in Lockpicking, Stealth, Pickpocketing, Alchemy, Eloquence and Light Armor.

♦ Path of Magic: increase by five units of skills of destruction, spellcasting, restoration, illusion, change and enchantment.

And again, the vile incarnation of Hermeus Mora will appear in front of you. Regardless of what you decide, you have yet to meet him while reading the Black Books.

The Daedric Lords, born of the blood of Padomai, have unlimited power in their Planes scattered across Obivion. But in Nirn - the Land of the Mortals - their capabilities are far less limited. Therefore, in order to achieve their goals, they have to make deals with mortals, promising a reward for fulfilling their requests. A very big reward. And often very dangerous.

Hermeus Mora: Beyond the Ordinary

Questgiver:Urag Gro-Shub or Septimius Segonius
Conditions for receiving: read the book "Reflections on the Elder Scrolls" and talk to Urag Gro-Shub about the Elder Scrolls. Or talk to Septimius Segonius.
Reward: Ogma Infinium

You can learn about Septimius from Urag during the main quest, or you can find him yourself. In both cases, this quest can be started.

Ask Uraga about the madman's notes
After reading the book "Reflections on the Elder Scrolls", talk about it with Urag gro-Shub. He will tell you where to find the author.

Find Septimius Segonia
Send to Septimius Segonia's Post, north of the College of Winterhold.

Talk to Septimius. He will give you hints on what to do and give you the necessary items to work with the Dwemer mechanisms.

Write Dictionary
Travel to the Dwemer Ruins of Alftnad, southwest of Winterhold.

Descend deep into the ruins. There you will find such a device:

Activate it and the floor around will turn into a staircase. Go down it to the Black Limit location.
Once in the black limit, go for the marker to the location "Mzark Tower". At the top of the tower you will find a large Dwemer device. Go upstairs to the control panel. There, place the cube on the dictionary stand.

Now look at the panel:

Press this way: 4 times button №3, 2 times button №2 and once button №1.
Each time it is pressed, the Dwemer device will change and in total will look like this:

Take the cube and the ancient scroll. If you simultaneously completed the quest "Ancient Knowledge", then on this you will complete it and open the quest "Curse of Alduin".

Give the dictionary to Septimius
Return to Septimius and give him the cube. He will tell you about Hermaeus Mora's mission and give you further instructions.

Get blood
Septimius will give you an essence extractor and ask you to find the blood of elves: Dunmer, Altmer, Bosmer, Falmer and Orc.
To do this, you need to kill representatives of the respective races. Then activate the corpse and select "collect blood" in the window that appears. It's pretty easy to find everyone in any Dwemer ruins with bandits.
When you leave the cave, Hermeus Mora will speak to you.

Bring blood to Septimius
When you have collected the blood of all the measures, take it to Septimius. He will inject himself with blood. Follow him. Once in the hall, you will find a book, and Septimius will die.

Pick up the Oghma Infinium
Take the book and leave. At the exit, Hermeus Mora will turn to you. Now you are the owner of his book. read it to get +5 to all thief skills (shadow path), martial skills (power path), or magic skills (magic path).

Post of Septim Segonia which is a cave in the icy mountain north of Winterhold. He will ask you for a favor, you will need to fill out the artifact Dictionary (orig. - "Lexicon") - a unique item that will help you read the Elder Scroll. Thus, his exploration of the Dwemer Cube will be successfully completed.

He will show you the way to the Dwemer ruins of Alftand, along the way, giving you two items:

• The Attunement Sphere is required to enter the Black Reach.
• Empty dictionary

Alftand

Going to the Dwemer fortress, be prepared to meet a huge number of enemies. The largest number of these are the Falmer and various Dwemer mechanisms up to the Dwemer Centurions. To go down to the lower levels of Alftand, you need to overcome a fairly long path, but after passing it once at the bottom, you can lower the grate leading to the elevator that connects the upper and lower levels of the fortress.

When you reach the place with the grate at the bottom and the lever that opens it at the top, be ready for some trouble, after you activate the mechanism, the Centurion will attack you. Then, following the spiral staircase, you will reach the Black Reach.

From there, move on to the Mzark Tower. Go to the control panel of the Dwemer mechanism and install the Septim Segonia's dictionary inside. Next, you need to press in turn each lit manel in turn until the next panel becomes active, as soon as it becomes active, start clicking on it and so on. Start right away with the second, by clicking on it four times you activate the third and so on.

When the sphere opens, take the Elder Scroll (Dragon Scroll) and do not forget to grab the Dictionary for Septim.
Use the door to the elevator and finally get out to Skyrim. Take the recovered artifacts to Segonius.

He will read the Dictionary and tell you that with his help he was looking for Hermeus Mora - the Daedric prince of knowledge. He will ask you to get the blood of all kinds of elves with the help of a special Extractor artifact that you will receive from him.

The exit from the cave will be blocked - Hermeus Mora will turn to you in the guise of a disgusting abyss, who declares that Septimius is no longer needed and you will become Mora's emissary after Septimius's death. After that, Hermeus Mora disappears, freeing the passage

It is necessary to collect blood samples from all measures of Skyrim i.e. Altmer, Dunmer, Bosmer, Falmer, and Orsimer (Orc)
This opportunity appears when interacting with the corpses of the specified creatures. After collecting all five samples, you return to Septimius and give him the Extractor and all blood samples. Having received all the items and performing manipulations, Septimius opens the cube. However, it turns out not at all what he expected - Oghma Infinium. Not having time to really realize this, Septimius disappears in a flash of light and turns into a handful of ash (A filled dictionary and extractor can be removed from his body, which then cannot be thrown away). At the exit from the cube, Hermeus Mora reappears, explaining that the Ogma Infinium was imprisoned in the cube due to its dangerous containment. Now Lord Daedra wished to interrupt him - and the Oghma infinium becomes yours.

After reading the Oghma infinium, you can choose one of three Paths that give a permanent increase in skills by 5 units
Path of Strength (Shooting, One Handed, Two Handed, Blacksmithing, Heavy Armor, Block)
Shadow Path (Alchemy, Light Armor, Stealth, Speech, Hack, Pickpocket)
Way of Magic (Alteration, Spellcraft, Enchant, Restoration, Destruction, Illusion)
After reading the book disappears

Assigned by: Septimius Segonius
Location: Post of Septimius Segonia, Alftand, Blackreach
Companion Quest: Ancient Knowledge
Reward: Oghma Infinium (+5 to all war / thief / mage skills), Elder Scroll (required to complete the main storyline).
ID: DA04

We go to the location "Post of Septimius Segonia":

We go down, we speak with Septimius:

Find out about the Ancient Scroll. He asks us to fill out a Dwemer dictionary, in return for which he will tell us the location of the scroll.

he directs us to Alftand.

At first, it may be difficult to find the entrance to the dungeon.

The entrance is below, under the snow. It is highlighted with a marker. There is a bridge leading to the entrance, I think you should notice it.

Alftand itself is subdivided into three main locations.

Towards the end of the dungeon, a Dwemer Centurion will be waiting for you.

Do not forget to take the key from him.

After the centurion, we will see a scene in which two cannot leave the ruins, fearing a blow in the back.

We help them figure it out (We kill them so they don't get in the way).

Interestingly, both have unique things:

At least, I have not seen such things anywhere. If you find Tarch of Bloodthirst somewhere else, write about it in the comments.

We activate the Dwemer mechanism that serves as a lock.

We go down the stairs that appear to the Black Limit.

In the house opposite the entrance, you can take the Scarlet Root nirn, which activates the quest "Return to the Roots"

We go along the marker to the "Mzrak Tower". Unfortunately, Black Reach is too big and I can't show you the way.

We go into the Baschnya Mzrak, go in a straight line, we find ourselves in a room similar to the Oculatorium.

We go up to the "control panel"

Now we need to fill in the dictionary.

First, put the Dictionary on the stand:

We have two right buttons open.

Click on them until the dictionary starts to glow:

Then the third button opens:

We press it all the way. So it is with the next button.

After this procedure, the dictionary will fill up and turn blue:

Video

Because this moment causes many difficulties, we decided to record a video:

Don't forget to pick it up from the stand.

Also, do not forget the Ancient Scroll, which we need in the main storyline.

The exit from the tower is directly under the "control panel".

After we climbed to the surface, do not forget to activate the lever that opens the door to the elevator.

We leave back to Septimius, we give him the dictionary.

He asks us to collect the blood of the elves.

We need blood: Orc, Bosmer, Dunmer, Altmer and Falmer.

At the exit from Septimius's den, the prince of the Daedra will be waiting for us.

It doesn't matter what you answer him, so don't bother.

So, an orc can be found in any orc village, but there they are quest and strong.

The Riverwood Archer is a Bosmer. There are a lot of Dunmer in Winterhold, but for each of them you can get a huge fine.

Therefore, we go to the location "Camp of clean springs".

There we will find the High Elf. It is located at the end of the dungeon, on thorns.

In the dungeon itself, we will most likely meet Orcs and Bosmer, as well as with some probability the Dunmer. In my case, there were representatives of all these species.

To collect blood, you need to press E and select "Collect blood"

(If you don't find them there, you can always kill someone from the city)

The Falmer can be found in the "Liar's Refuge" location:

As soon as we collected the blood of all creatures, we go back to Septimius.

We speak to him, after which he opens the door to the cube.

Attention! After Septimius ran inside the cube and approached the pedestal, he must die (the Daedric prince must kill Septimius). But for some reason, he remains standing. Don't be afraid and kill him.

Be careful not to take quest items from Septimius' corpse, which then cannot be thrown away.

After the death of Septimius, we take the book and go to the exit.

We will be met again by Daedra, but he will not tell us anything sensible.

P.S.

They say that you can return to Alftand, where there are the corpses of Orc, Bosmer, Dunmer, Almer and Falmer, lying in order, and if you return there immediately, there will be no enemies there.

The Oghma Infinium is used for reading. You can choose one of three ways, or you can postpone it for later. These three paths are:

• Path of Power +5 to all skills (Blacksmith, Block, Archer, One-handed, Two-handed, Heavy Armor)
• Shadow Path +5 to all skills (Hack, Light Armor, Stealth, Theft, Speech, Alchemy)
• Magic Path +5 to all skills (Illusion, Spellcraft, Destruction, Restoration, Enchant, Alteration)

A dictionary in Skyrim needs to be written down in one of the quests, in which a character named Septimius asks you to do it. You need to fill out the dictionary so that the quest giver can understand how to use the Elder Scroll and all its power.

That is why we will go to the Dwemer ruins of Alftand, where we will need to fill out the dictionary, because of which all the fuss.

An empty dictionary will be given to us by Segonius, along with the tuning sphere after a rather lengthy conversation. The tuning sphere will remain with Dovahkiin after the quest.

Immediately it is worth saying - before you go to Alftand, make sure that you do not have a companion with you who uses necromancy (revival spell), otherwise he will spoil our corpses. It is necessary that all the bodies lie in their places, which is extremely important for the subsequent passage.

Once in Alftand, make sure that the place is literally teeming with Falmer, and some other Dwemer creations, including centurions.

After the first passage of these ruins, Dovahkiin will be able to travel through them to the Black Reach - a large underground city of the Dwemer, located directly under Alftand.

There you can also find an elevator that will allow you to quickly enter and leave the Black Reach. Having followed through the Black Limit on the quest marker, you will see that we have reached the underground elevator, which goes up somewhere right through the cave.

You will be able to penetrate into the Black Reach through three Dwemer locations - Alftand, Mzinchaleft or Raldbthar, therefore it is not at all urgent to break into the destination through the first location, as Septimius Segonius recommended to us.

In any case, the entrance will be opened by the sphere issued by the last one, therefore it is logical to conclude that it will not be possible to penetrate into the Black Limit before the quest "Beyond the Ordinary".

The dungeons here are very spacious, but they are devoid of difficult, hard-to-solve puzzles, unless all sorts of traps and locked doors are included.

The most complex lever, for example, is looked for like this - you will find the grate below, and the lever that opens it - on the contrary, from above. At the same time, be careful, a Dwemer centurion awaits you behind the traveler's bars.

If your character is good at bowing, climb back to the lever, anyway the centurion won't be able to get there. And already from the top position it is very convenient to fire a bow at a defenseless enemy.

Having finished, use the spiral staircase to climb to the control panel of the Dwemer mechanism and the stand for the Dictionary, and then install the Dictionary in its place.

After that, you will have to decrypt the code on this tool, which is the most difficult task at this stage of this quest.

To decrypt, press the second button on the right, this will lead to the Dictionary opening, and then the third button on the right will be highlighted. Press on it until the light from the upper lenses is directed towards the sphere.

After that, the fourth button will also light up - click on it, the Scroll will appear, take it, after which it remains only to pick up the already filled Dictionary. Having received both the first and the second, one can and should go back to Septimius in his post.