Start the quest by either finishing the first quest given to you when you arrive in Wicklow, or else continue asking the villagers for "Any News", and at some point you will be asked to talk to Agatha.
Talk to her and she will tell you that her son discovered a portal under the sea while he was mending the jetty. Head for the jetty behind the lighthouse, and just to the left of it under the water is a circular entrance to a cave, at the end of which is a portal. The portal cannot be used until you have the amulet that Agatha will give you - you do not need to wear the amulet, just to have it in your possession.
Use the portal and you wil be transported to the top of an impossibly tall mountain and confronted by Mephala in full webspinner spider form. You are given a clue as to how to find your way down the mountain - by walking across the air towards the closest flaming portal. Take care towards the bottom, perspective can give false impressions....
Once you are at the bottom you will see Agatha's son, Dunmoryn close by. Talk to him and he will appear confused, but suggest you head towards Mephala's chapel. He will then be summoned away by Mephala and you will not see him for some time afterwards.
The Betrayed
Head towards the chapel, but you wil be unable to open it because it is locked, but you will be directed towards some of The Betrayed - the ghostlike characters in the walled garden. There are three characters, each one in turn will tell you where one of three gems are that you need to touch to gain access to the chapel. You do not actually need to talk to any of The Betrayed, you can find the Gems on your own if you like - but it may take longer.
Gem 1
The first Betrayed is close to the chapel in the South East of the garden. She will help you but you need to do a task for her first, which is the kill a guard in Whiterun by the name of Gandhild. She will send you to Whiterun. where you can decide whether or not to kill the guard - as far as the main quest goes it does not matter which you choose. If you choose not to kill him and return to him afterwards he will reward you. If you do kill him he will appear in the Walled garden when you return and you will need to kill him again. Once you return to the betrayed she will tell you the location of the first Gem.
In the south east of the garden close to where you talk to The Betrayed there is a rock pile, and on top of the rock pile is a trapdoor. This takes you down to a portal room, that in turn leads to a Nordic ruin. Head through the Nordic ruin, always going left where you have a choice and eventually you reach a room with a pool and a large purple Gem. Jump into the pool to get close to it, when you get a message you will know you are close enough.
Leave the nordic ruin the way you entered.
Gem 2
The second betrayed is almost exactly North West of the first, past the portal that returns you back to the top of the mountain. This one does not give you a quest, instead simply tells you that the entrance is a trapdoor near a small stone in the water to the West, not far from where you are standing. He also hands you a note that gives the sequence of 5 levers to pull to gain entry. The instructions must be done in reverse, if you get it wrong then a Falmer will materialise and attack you. Follow the Dwemer corridors to the bottom, into a room with a Dwemer centurian - there is plenty of space for low level characters to run - and the key to the door on the far side is behind the centurians base if you cannot pick master level locks.
Head through the locked door up the slope and enter the hidden glade. The glade is in Skyrim, but completely cut off by a landfall. The only Dwemer automaton here is a Ceturian, but there is no need to go close enough to activate it. The glade has 5 Dwemer houses, with a domed trapdoor entrance in the centre. There are 4 triangular holes cut into the top, you must find the 4 pegs to fit them.
Going round the houses from the left, the first peg is in the first house on the table to the right. There is a Dwemer spider in here too. The second peg is in the second house, on the mantlepiece above the fire guarded by a Dwemer sphere. The third is in the fourth house, unguarded, on some shelves in the North Western corner. Finally the last peg is in the fifth house in the fireplace guarded by a sphere.
Once you have all four pegs head for the dome in the centre of the glade and activate the holes. You will climb down a ladder into a concert hall. Head to the bottom, defeat the automatons, and approach the green Gem. Head back the way you entered, back through the glade to the room with the 5 levers (if the door will not open then use the lever on the right of the door to open it). Go back through the portal into Mephala's walled garden.
Gem 3
The final betrayed is near the base of the mountain to the South, near the entrance to a cave. Near him there is a tall tree with a platform right at the top - you may find it beneficial to climb this tree, there is a spell book that may make it easier later on. This Betrayed simply tells you to enter the cave but to leave your weapons at the entrance. Don't! There are several falmer and some chaurus in here along with the Gem you need. Once more approach the Gem, and this time you are rewarded with a bonus to your lockpicking skill, and told to speak to The Betrayed again. Any of the three will do.
The Puzzler
You will be told to enter the portal behind the mountain into the Puzzler. This is a series of tasks that will eventually lead you into Mephala's chapel via the back door.
Puzzle 1
Enter the portal into a small room, with a disembodied person in a cage. The key on the table unlocks the cage, and you can either talk to the person before you unlock it or not. If you talk to him you may find a way of preventing him attacking you, but you need his key to get through the door. Once through the door you are faced with a long shaft into which you must jump and try and avoid the stone beams placed throughout it. The spell from the top of the tree near the mountain outside will help you here if you retrieved it. - you can still go back and get it from here. Once you splashdown into the bottom - it is a long way and you are travelling VERY fast by the time you get there - enter the portal.
Puzzle 2
You enter a small walled garden with a stone table on which lies a Deer hunters sword and shield. Mephala's deer is to your left, and a deactivated portal on the wall opposite. You need to kill the deer, however it cannot be harmed unless you have the sword and shield from the table equipped. It is fast so you need to try and head it into the corners, or trap it by the table. Once you have killed it the portal activates and you can pass through - hint: shouts and powers may be useful here.
Puzzle 3
The portal takes you to a room with a jigsaw. You need to complete the jigsaw, either correctly or not. If you complete it correctly you are given the bonus of rescuing K'nople from the Platforms plus more treasure, but this is not necessary to complete the main quest. Whether or not you rescue K'nople, the door out will now be unlocked and you enter the fourth and final sequence.
The Shrine
This room is full of Mephala's worshippers who will attack on sight. You are aiming to find the Shrine to Mephala. Follow the passages through.
Press the buttons to activate the platforms needed to make your way through the tunnels. Half way up a tall shaft you will see an entrance to the shrine you need, guarded by two worshippers. Approach the shrine to receive its blessing, then head back to the shaft and activate the button to get the platform to carry you to the top. You will be in a small room with two more worshippers, and some metal bars covering another platform. Lower the metal bars by clicking on the picture on the wall or the button within the bars, and head to the top of the shaft. Once there, enter the chapel. The door to the chapel will not open unless you have visited the shrine below.
The Chapel
Pass through the room with the bed into the main chapel by pressing the button on the left hand wall. You are looking for Dunmoryn who is above you on the balcony in a cage. Keep left in the room and use the platform to get to the balcony. Walk round to talk to Dunmoryn, who will tell you to visit the Crypt, which is under the South West corner of the chapel.
The Cyypt
Enter the cyypt and you will be confronted with Mephala in spider form, who asks you to take a seat. There are several of his Betrayed in there, who will attack you. Feel free to wander round the place first.
Sit on the seat in front of Mephala and he will transform into his human form, and tell you that to save Dunmoryn you will need to find someone to take his place. You need to get out of his realm yourself by heading back up the mountain (use the portal to get to the top), but he gives you the Webspinner spell to get yourself and your chosen companion back.
Before you leave, talk to Dunmoryn again in the chapel, who will suggest you talk to the three sisters.
Leave the chapel by the front door and walk North to the large portal which you can activate to take you to the exit from to Mephala's world.
(if you rescued K'Nople, you may see him wandering around outside from this point as a new disciple of Mephala).
Back in Low
If you are using quest markers you will see there are five potential replacements for Dunmoryn. Talk to them all, taking care not to tell them that you want them to come back with you until you are sure of the one you want - warning: you can fail the quest if you pick the wrong option here. Some of them volunteer readily, others want you to do something for them first.
Once you have selected the person you want, tell them, then cast the Webspinner Alteration spell to get you back to Mephala's world. Both of you will appear by the chapel. Enter the chapel and talk to Mephala who will ask you to take your chosen one up to the cage and swap with Dunmoryn. Below, as spoilers, are the five options. with the topic that will select that person.
Once you have selected the person, cast the spell to be taken back to Mephalas world, and head into the chapel to talk to Mephala. At the end of the conversation you will be transported back to the Inn in Wicklow.
1. Agatha - (I have asked many other people but you are the best choice)
2. Fandara - (Great, I'm ready too, let's go, I'll cast the spell)
3. Moriwa - will give you a quest to do, then assuming you complete the quest and say "I'm ready to leave" ...
4. Harinda - (I'll just cast the spell to send us there)
5. Junia - (No boat, Mephala will cast a spell to send us back, lets head off now)
The reward
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If you are take some of Mephala's robes from the first worshipper you kill and wear those, you will not be attacked.
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Talk to Mephala in the chapel, you have the choice here of either Agatha or of Dunmoryn staying behind. If you choose Dunmoryn then you receive an amulet as a reward. If you choose Agatha then you both must go up to the cage and Agatha enters to talk to Dunmoryn. At this point you have an option to trap them both in the cage. If you do that then you receive the amulet plus the traitors retreat spell, otherwise you just receive the amulet.
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Fandara will change her mind and attack Mephala, who will kill her. Mephala will send you back to Wicklow with no reward and the quest will fail. This is the only way the quest can fail.
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Moriwa will exchange places with Dunmoryn, and depending on how you completed her quest you will be rewarded with either the Amulet alone, or the spell too. Remember that the more treacherous your actions the better the reward is likely to be....
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Harinda will simply exchange places with Dunmoryn. The reward is just the amulet.
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Junia will talk to Dunmoryn and eventually will persuade Dunmoryn to swap. Go back down and talk to Mephala, who will then offer to send you back, but instead head back up to Junia to say Goodbye. You will find Junia outside the cage, having slipped through the bars. Go back down to Mephala who will send you and Dunmoryn back, and because Dunmoryn is holding onto Junia this will transport her back also. This offers the best reward as you get both the amulet and the spell, although you need to sleep (to dream) to get the spell, but the results of the spell are just a little better.
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Wearing the amulet will take you to a shop with a trader who has 4000 gold and buys almost everything. She also offers to change the charm on the amulet for you. The Traitors Retreat spell can be cast either on yourself or on another, and will transport you (and the other) to a player home. This can also be used in battle when fighting a lot of enemies where you can effectively pick them off one at a time. Inside the home are two ladies who can follow you and have a couple of useful attributes, offered at random as you keep them as followers. They are a bit talkative, with an interesting outlook on life!
THE END - Hopefully you have enjoyed this quest
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