Tes4Mod:Order of the Dragon/Temple of the Tongues

Access to the temple is barred unless and until you undertake the quest The Way of the Dead.

 
Related Quests
 


Exterior
The exterior is located at coordinates: ODDDesert01 -17, 22
This location's map marker is named Temple of the Tongues. It is located about 100 feet south of the entrance.


Zone 1: Temple of the Tongues
The entrance leads to a passage that takes you straight to the first room, where Ihoar can be found. Large tablets in arches line the walls (ignore the block covering the pit in the floor; you'll get to this later). You can talk to Ihoar, but she won't be much help; you'll have to check the tablets yourself. The one you want is in the wall opposite from the entrance, on the far left. When you activate the proper panel, the game will autosave, so don't panic if it temporarily freezes.

Follow the passage beyond the door to another room with an altar holding an acrobatic potion. Be careful - when you step into the room, you'll activate a trigger that makes the floor disappear, dumping you into a pit of spikes. Jump to the altar, and you'll be safe. From there, you can use the potion to jump on the ledges to reach the exit. Go down the stairs and down the ramp; at the bottom, you'll see a door to your left, and a passage ahead. The passage leads back to the first room; ignore this for the moment and approach the door - a pressure plate will open it.

In the room beyond, you'll find another tablet/door and four pillars in a square. Go stand in the middle of the pillars and you'll be prompted with a series of riddles. The answers are, in order: "Passage", "Lion", "Directed", and "Mephala's Will". If you get all four right, you'll get a message saying "Correct"; if you're wrong, you'll be shot with a spear and you won't be able to open the door (if your Strength is 100+, however, you can force the door open). Approach the door; if you got the riddle right, you can open it, revealing a small altar of sorts. Activate it, and you'll get a huge Strength boost.

Now, head back to the first room. With your newfound strength, you'll be able to move the stone slab. Once it's clear, jump down the shaft (don't worry, it's got water at the bottom). The rest of this level is mostly flooded, so you'll need water-breathing to make it through. It isn't difficult to navigate, but there are some traps - in the long hall with the braziers, the sections between the torches have spike traps; and at the end of the upward-sloping hallway past that, there's a swinging blade trap. If you find the swinging blade trap, turn left to activate the pressure plate that opens the door beyond it; this leads to the exit to Zone 2.


Zone 2: Temple of the Tongues
The entrance here leads to an opening above a large room. If you look off to your left, you'll see a ledge with some potions on it; there's no way to get to the ledge, but you can knock them off with arrows or spells. There are three exits from here; the one opposite the entrance is trapped with a pair of swinging blades; the other two are on the right wall. The near is a dead end with a spear trap that activates when you reach the midpoint; a side passage leads to a room with a few potions, but nothing else. The far one is narrower and appears to end with a pillar blocking the passage. There's a pressure plate on the wall behind you; press it, and the column will move aside, granting access to Zone 3 (don't worry, you'll come back to Zone 2 later).


Zone 3: Temple of the Tongues
The passage here quickly leads to a large room with a lava pool. Jump across, and you'll find a skull floating above a pedestal. Take it, and the wall behind will lower, revealing a passage beyond. Be careful here - there's a spike trap just beyond the door. The next room (the one with the skeleton archers) looks like a dead end, but it's not - there's a narrow passage in the opposite left corner, hidden behind some cobwebs. Go through the door at the end, and you'll be back in the first room. From here, return to the first room in Zone 2.


Zone 2: Temple of the Tongues
When you've returned from Zone 3, go through the swinging blade exit. You'll pass through a room with a lava pool and some potions on a ledge; go up the stairs and into the room beyond. Beware the near corners - they have falling spike traps. The wall on the opposite side of the room has a skull-shaped niche, just about the right size for the Skull of Tongues; insert it, and the wall will lower, revealing an exit. This leads up, eventually, to a room with an altar holding a bunch of goodies: Demon's Tooth, a sacrificial dagger, several potions, and a scroll for The Way of the Dead. Don't worry about jumping back down - another exit in the room right before the altar room will take you back to Zone 1.