Oblivion:Through A Nightmare, Darkly

Quick Walkthrough
# Speak with Kud-Ei about her missing friend.
# Follow her to Henantier's House, and ask her about the amulet.
# Equip the amulet, and go to sleep.
# Enter Henantier's Dreamworld; after Henantier speaks to you, find his patience, perception, courage, and resolve.
# Pass all four tests, and you are returned to Henantier.
# You and Henantier are transported back to the real world. Henantier gives you six scrolls as a reward.

Detailed Walkthrough
A Missing Friend
Speak with Kud-Ei, an Argonian in Bravil's Mages Guild, to learn about her missing friend Henantier. It turns out he is not missing at all, but he has been experimenting with dangerous magic against the regulations of the Mages Guild. This could get him expelled, so Kud-Ei does not want to seek help through regular channels.

Dreamworld Amulet
Follow Kud-Ei from the Mages Guild to Henantier's house. Speak with Kud-Ei again to learn that Henantier created an amulet that would let him consciously explore his dreams. However, it seems he is now trapped within his Dreamworld. Kud-Ei cannot enter his Dreamworld, because Henantier would dismiss her presence as conjured memory from his own mind, so she needs a total stranger to help him escape. Speak with Kud-Ei again to receive the amulet; equip the amulet, and go to sleep.

Henantier's Dreamworld
You then enter Henantier's Dreamworld; you will lose your entire inventory except for the amulet. Furthermore, the amulet does not allow the use of magic, although any spell immune to Silence, such as Powers, will still work. Upon entering the Dreamworld, you will be approached by Henantier, who seems to have lost valuable parts of his mind that must be found. Remember to look around the house to find extras, including the Alteration skill book The Lunar Lorkhan behind the overturned table at the head of the bed. There are a few health potions downstairs in an overturned cupboard labeled Heal Yourself. These may be useful later.

Four Tests
In total, you will have to complete four tests. The tests of Perception and Patience are located on the upper floor, and the tests of Courage and Resolve are on the lower floor; you can take them in any order. When you complete a test, you will be transported back to Henantier.

Test of Perception
Look before you leap, as this room is filled with traps. Take the torch from the box and start walking the path, taking care not to walk on any suspicious looking tiles. Some have obvious trap triggers on them, while others look like they are crumbling and will cause you to fall into the Abyss. If you step on a pressure plate, stop immediately, as they will cause a rockslide directly in front of you. At the end of the path you will find Henantier's Perception. There are several obvious places to stand and catch your breath.

Test of Resolve
You must defeat two minotaurs from Henantier's Dreamworld. A box provides you with several sets of leveled equipment: heavy armor, light armor, a blade weapon, a blunt weapon, and a lightning staff. After you have defeated the minotaurs, a staircase will appear that will lead you to Henantier's Resolve. Using the lightning staff will allow you to take them down quickly without getting yourself hurt. If your Acrobatics skill is high enough, it is possible to jump up on to one of the four tall columns in the center of the arena where you fight the minotaurs, and then jump up to the platform where the Element of Resolve is located, allowing you to bypass the fight with the minotaurs entirely.

Test of Courage
Here you must dive deep through an underwater tunnel and since you can get turned around because the swimming movements are not that precise, it is one of the more difficult tests. First get a weak potion of the sea from a chest before beginning the Test. Wade in as far as possible before diving in to minimize the time needed to swim halfway through the tunnel to reach the other Potion of the Sea found at the bottom of a shaft. Swim into the tunnel and drink the first potion when you are low on air. Pick up the second and then head north (ignore the green compass arrow) to follow the tunnel to reach the wooden door of the Grotto of Courage at the end of the underwater passage. Henantier's Element of Courage is inside.

Test of Patience
thumb|right|125px|Test of Patience
Take the scroll from the box. It contains instructions on how you should walk on the tiles without setting off the traps. Look for a series of identical symbols that form a path from the bottom of the diagrams to the top, and follow that path on the tiles. Past all three sets of tiles, you will find Henantier's Patience. If you're impatient, jumping over a row or two of tiles is also possible, although hazardous due to the Dart Traps that fire when stepping on a wrong tile.

Back to the Real World
After you have completed all four tests, speak with Henantier again, who seems to have regained his wits. He sees the truth in your words and you'll be transported back to the real world. Your inventory will be returned and all items from the Dreamworld are removed.

Henantier gives you six scrolls as a reward. If you have installed the Spell Tomes official plug-in, any of the scrolls may be replaced by one, just as with usual scroll loot.

Notes
 
If you are ready to level up and have worn the amulet, when you next sleep you will enter the Dreamworld, unless you have maximized your attributes.
  
If you've been suspended from the Dark Brotherhood, when you first wake in Henantier's Dreamworld you will still be attacked by the Wrath of Sithis.
The texts, translated into the Latin alphabet, are as follows:

:

: The underlines show two hidden words in the text: "HERO" and "MEGAN S". Megan Sawyer worked as an environmental artist for Bethesda Softworks; she added her name into the puzzles as a spacer but forgot to remove it later. You can also pick her name out in the second puzzle, but the "E" was replaced with "M" when the path was inserted. The addition of "HERO" appears random.
The dim background image on the Scroll is a picture of the Birthsign of the Mage.

Bugs
 
 
 
  
 
 

Journal Entries

  Since Henantier is essential, he can not be killed and this quest stage can not be obtained without use of the Console.
 

Maps