Skyrim:A Dying Wish

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Make a bitter choice. Location(s): Dead Man's Drink, Roadside Ruins, Dawnstar, Giant's Tooth, Temple of Kynareth Reward: Bittercup Rulnik Wind-Strider as a follower (Path of Nothing only) Rulnik's Dagger ID: ccKRTSSE001_zQuest Added by: Bittercup

A strange altar

Quick Walkthrough

1. Read the note in Dead Man's Drink.
2. Travel to the Roadside Ruins.
3. Choose a cup (Fortune, Power, Nothing).
4. If you chose Fortune, find a bed and sleep. This quest will end and Fortunate Son will begin.
   If you chose Power, find a bed and sleep. This quest will end and The Pit will begin.
   If you chose Nothing, go back to Falkreath. The quest will continue.
5. Locate a Ferryman to take you to Giant's Tooth.
6. Recover the Iron Wood Fruit.
7. Return to where you left from.
8. Cook soup from Ironwood Fruit (Ironwood Fruit, Charred Skeever Hide, Salt Pile).
9. Travel to Temple of Kynareth in Whiterun.
10. Give soup to priestess.
11. Wait a day to speak with Rulnik.

Detailed Walkthrough

The Choice

Mysterious Altar note

In Falkreath, go to the Dead Man's Drink and into the owner's room where you will find a note entitled Mysterious Altar. Read it to start the quest. Once read, you will be sent on to the Roadside Ruins. There, you will find several dead bandits and a Spriggan waiting for you. Deal with the Spriggan and in the center of the ruins there is a leveled chest and the strange altar with three cups on it.

• If you chose Fortune, find a bed and sleep. This quest will end and Fortunate Son will begin.

• If you chose Power, this quest will end and The Pit will begin.

• If you choose Nothing, this quest will continue and you need to head back to town.

Path of Nothing

Find an Ironwood tree

Upon returning to civilization, you will be approached by a courier with a Note from the Temple of Kynareth. The note instructs you to find a ferryman to take you to the location of the Iron Wood Tree to get the fruit, Giant's Tooth. Only Harlaug in Dawnstar will agree to bring you.

On arrival, there is a giant camp with two giants. You can sneak by them to the path behind the camp or kill them. Once done with the giants, follow the path to the Iron Tusk Cave. Find the Iron Wood tree and harvest the fruit from it. You will then be attacked by several Spriggans. Defeat them and head back the way you came. Three Ice Wraiths will spawn in the giant camp when you emerge and you will need to fight your way back to the boat to return to Dawnstar.

Arriving back at Dawnstar, you will need to prepare a bowl of Ironwood Soup using three ingredients: the ironwood fruit, charred skeever hide, and a salt pile. The nearest cooking station is in Silus Vesuius's house. You will already have been given a charred skeever hide when you received the letter from the Temple of Kynareth, so all you need to find is some salt. Once you have the soup, head for Whiterun and the Temple of Kynareth.

Acolyte Aldren and Rulnik

At the temple, give the soup to Acolyte Aldren who sent you the note. If you demand payment, you receive 75 gold. She will give the soup to Rulnik and you will be told to wait a full day before checking in on him. Wait a day and come back. Talk to Rulnik and you will receive your rewards: Rulnik's Dagger, the Bittercup, and a note titled On the Bittercup. The Bittercup acts as a potion and will raise your highest attribute by 20 points at the cost of your two lowest. For choosing the path of nothing, you will also gain Rulnik as a follower. He is a powerful mage with a level cap of 75, and he can also be appointed as a personal steward.

Notes

• No matter which path is chosen, Ironwood Fruit will become available from Khajiit caravans after completing this quest. You can also return to Giant's Tooth island via the same ferryman and go back in the Iron Tusk Cave where the fruit will respawn.

Quest Stages

A Dying Wish (ccKRTSSE001_zQuest)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
0		In my travels, I've heard strange tales about hagravens performing rituals near Falkreath. I should head to the inn there and see what information I can turn up. Objective 1: Find information at Dead Man's Drink
2		In my travels, I've heard strange tales about hagravens performing rituals near Falkreath. At the inn I found a journal that detailed the existence of a mysterious altar that grants one of three wishes. Objective 2: Travel to the Roadside Ruins
5		In my travels, I've heard strange tales about hagravens performing rituals near Falkreath. At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. It seems I can fill one of the altar bowls with the cup's contents to make my wish. Objective 5: Choose a bowl at the altar
8		In my travels, I've heard strange tales about hagravens performing rituals near Falkreath. At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. I filled the bowl that promised me nothing, and some time later I received a letter from a courier. Objective 8: Read the Note from the Temple of Kynareth
10		In my travels, I've heard strange tales about hagravens performing rituals near Falkreath. At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. I filled the bowl that promised me power, and must sleep for a single night to have my wish granted. Objective 10: Wait for your wish to be granted
20		In my travels, I've heard strange tales about hagravens performing rituals near Falkreath. At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. I filled the bowl that promised me fortune, and must sleep for a single night to have my wish granted. Objective 10: Wait for your wish to be granted
30		In my travels, I've heard strange tales about hagravens performing rituals near Falkreath. At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. I filled the bowl that promised me nothing, and now must wait for my boon. Objective 30: Return to town
40	Finishes quest	In my travels, I've heard strange tales about hagravens performing rituals near Falkreath. At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. I filled the bowl that promised me power, and my wish was granted when I awoke in a dungeon.
50	Finishes quest	In my travels, I've heard strange tales about hagravens performing rituals near Falkreath. At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. I filled the bowl that promised me fortune, and my wish was granted in the form of a job.
60		In my travels, I've heard strange tales about hagravens performing rituals near Falkreath. At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. I filled the bowl that promised me nothing, and left the ruins. Later I received a letter from a courier, asking for help finding a rare ingredient. I should ask a ferryman if they know how to reach Giant's Tooth. Objective 60: Find a ferryman who will take you to Giant's Tooth Objective 61: Board the ferryman's boat
70		In my travels, I've heard strange tales about hagravens performing rituals near Falkreath. At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. I filled the bowl that promised me nothing, and received a note from the Temple of Kynareth. I used the information on the note to travel to an island full of mammoth bones. Objective 70: Investigate the cave Objective 71: Investigate the camp Objective 75: Investigate the area around Giant's Tooth
80		At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. I filled the bowl that promised me nothing, and received a note from the Temple of Kynareth. I used the information on the note to travel to an island full of mammoth bones, where I found a rare Ironwood Fruit inside a cave. Objective 80: Return to the mainland with the ingredient
90		At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. I filled the bowl that promised me nothing, and received a note from the Temple of Kynareth. I used the information on the note to travel to an island full of mammoth bones, where I found a rare Ironwood Fruit inside a cave. I should craft the Ironwood soup and return to the Temple of Kynareth to save the sick man. Objective 90: Ask an alchemist about the Ironwood Fruit
100		At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. I filled the bowl that promised me nothing, and received a note from the Temple of Kynareth. I used the information on the note to travel to an island full of mammoth bones, where I found a rare Ironwood Fruit inside a cave. I should craft the Ironwood soup and return to the Temple of Kynareth to save the sick man. Objective 105: Craft the Ironwood Soup at a cooking station
110		At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. I filled the bowl that promised me nothing, and received a note from the Temple of Kynareth. I used the information on the note to travel to an island full of mammoth bones, where I found a rare Ironwood Fruit inside a cave. I used it to craft a bowl of Ironwood soup and can now deliver it to a temple priestess. Objective 110: Give the Ironwood Soup to the temple priestess
150		At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. I filled the bowl that promised me nothing, and received a note from the Temple of Kynareth. I used the information on the note to travel to an island full of mammoth bones, where I found a rare Ironwood Fruit inside a cave. I used it to craft a bowl of Ironwood soup and delivered it to a priestess. I must now wait an entire day for the cure to take effect. Objective 150: Wait an entire day for Rulnik to heal
170		At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. I filled the bowl that promised me nothing, and received a note from the Temple of Kynareth. I used the information on the note to travel to an island full of mammoth bones, where I found a rare Ironwood Fruit inside a cave. I used it to craft a bowl of Ironwood soup and delivered it to a priestess. I should check on the man at the temple to see if it has taken effect. Objective 170: Check on Rulnik
200	Finishes quest	At the Roadside Ruins I found a mysterious altar, with a cup placed in front. I filled the bowl that promised me nothing, and received a note from the Temple of Kynareth. I used the information on the note to travel to an island full of mammoth bones, where I found a rare Ironwood Fruit inside a cave. I used it to craft a bowl of Ironwood soup and delivered it to a priestess, who used it to save the man in question.
		Objective 55: Read the Fisherman's Journal Objective 100: Read the Note from the Temple of Kynareth

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 15, 55, 65, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 120, 130, 140, 160.

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, 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.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage ccKRTSSE001_zQuest stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest ccKRTSSE001_zQuest.