Online:The Maelmoth Mysterium

Quick Walkthrough
# Speak to the Peculiar Bottle.
# Speak to Borfree Dull-Blade.
# Read  .
# Find the three verses scattered around Solitude.
# Retrieve   from Mages Guild.
# Go to the Meditation Grotto near Kilkreath Temple and solve the puzzle.
# Go to Kyne's Shrine and solve the puzzle there.
# Go to Sabre Cat's Leap and solve the final puzzle.
# Enter Folgunthur Barrow.
# Enter Maelmoth's Mysterium and read Maelmoth's Marvelous Masterpiece.
# Warn Narsis against touching the bottle, or not.
# Return to Deem-Vilax at the Mages Guild.

Detailed Walkthrough
The Peculiar Bottle and the Three Verses
Narsis Dren as the Peculiar Bottle|thumb|right
You'll find your quest giver in the eastern corner guest room within the Lonely Troll and in an alley between an empty building and Proudspire Manor in Solitude. There, you'll notice a Peculiar Bottle sitting on one of the tables or the cobblestone pavement. Speak to the bottle, and the bottle talks back. At first the voice mistakens you for someone else. Inform them of your identity, and the bottle will explain that they are not trapped inside the bottle, but rather suffer from a "very stubborn illusion". The voice goes on to explain how they managed to trigger the spell, but noted in a journal how to dispel the illusion. Of course, you offer to find said journal and assist the unfortunate soul. It is then that the bottle identifies themselves as none other than "Narsis Dren—famed historian, etcetera".  Even if you're very familiar with the Dunmer, he'll still tell you about his incomparable skill as an adventurer.

Narsis berating his servant|thumb|left
Narsis Dren will send you to speak to his servant, Borfree Dull-Blade. Borfree is located in front of Solitude's bank. He gives you Narsis' journal. After reading the journal, you'll find the location of the three verses that are required to dispel the illusion of the bottle scattered around the city of Solitude. The   fragment is sitting on top of the well between the Lonely Troll and the bank.   fragment is posted on the wall near the plaza north of the Bards College, between the college and Proudspire Manor. The   one is posted on the northwestern exterior wall of the Mages Guild hall. Taking this one will trigger a flash of magicka, startling the nearby gardener.

Return to the bank, and you'll see that Borfree has brought the bottle to his makeshift camp. You need to read the verses in the correct order to transform him back into an Elf.

The correct order is as follows: "On the shores of an open sea, hordes of horkers frolic free. / Pigs, and pigs, and pigs, My auntie's fingers, thin as twigs. / Vibrant feathers drift on the wind, my hair grew long but never thinned."

Read the verses in the correct order, and the bottle will transform into Narsis Dren in a flash. Once he determines he's made it out all in one piece, he'll inform you that the two of you need to find the journal of the mage who created the illusion, Maelmoth the Mysterious. Narsis Dren seeks to find Maelmoth's Mysterium, the master illusionist's vault of treasures. Unfortunately, Narsis tried to acquire the journal earlier from the Mages Guild, but could not cajole the librarian, Deem-Vilax, to borrow the tome, especially after he tore one of the pages. It now falls to you to convince the Argonian to lend you the precious volume.

Go to the guild hall and you'll find Deem-Vilax making notes among the stacks. You can lie, persuade, or bribe the annoyed tome-keeper to let you have ''Maelmoth's Final Journal''. Take the book back to Narsis, who is standing in front of the Lonely Troll. Narsis Dren deduces that the journal contains a clue on how to find Maelmoth's treasure. He claims the clue points to a meditation grotto near Kilkreath Temple.

The Meditation Grotto
Follow the leader|thumb|right
Meet Narsis at the grotto, which lies southeast of Kilkreath Temple and northeast of the Kilkreath Giant Camp. The Solitude Docks Wayshrine is closest to the location, and the grotto is a straight shot west from it, past Wiljar's farm.  There, Narsis will point out a switch. After activating it, a projection of Maelmoth appears and carries out the sequence needed to solve the puzzle. Narsis' pride gets the better of him and tries to solve the puzzle... and fails. He tries to save face by explaining that he was merely showing how not to do it and that "puzzles can really, really hurt. Yet another lesson, free of charge."

Use the switch to reset the puzzle. To solve the puzzle, step on the tiles in the following order:

2 - 4 - 3 - 1

In other words, orienting yourself facing the pedestal, step on center, upper right, bottom left, upper left, bottom right.

Correctly solve the sequence of the tiles and a scroll appears on a nearby pedestal. The scroll contains a poem called  . Discuss the scroll's contents with Narsis and he'll note that the bit about the "Lady of the Winter Winds" likely refers to Kyne. Narsis will tell you of a shrine to the Nords' storm goddess near Chillwind Depths.
A Scroll|thumb|left
 

The Blossoms of Maelmoth
Another Scroll|thumb|right
The shrine is located west of Chillwind Depths and southeast of the center of the Chilblain Peak Ritual Site. Narsis will have beaten you to the next site, and is already exasperated by the time you arrive. You'll need to solve another riddle to move on. To solve the puzzle, light the sconces with the following number of flowers in order: two, four, three and one.

After you solve the puzzle, another scroll appears. Read  , then consult with your partner again. This time, Narsis Dren points you towards Sabre Cat's Leap—a rocky precipice southwest of Morthal.
 

The Mysterium's Threshold
"Consequences of hasty choices"|thumb|left
Sabre Cat's Leap is across the river and north of Shademother's Haven. When you arrive at the site, you'll find that there are four illusory doors. The ever-impulsive Narsis Dren will once again attempt to solve the riddle, only to pick the wrong door. You need to enter the correct door in order to find what you're looking for. Speak with Narsis Dren, then make your guess.

Go through the leftmost door, and the two of you will be transported to Folgunthur Barrow, where a scroll is sitting upon a table.
 

The Penultimate Laugh
The Key|thumb|left
Read  , which is sitting outside the ruin. You'll discover that you have unlocked the barrow by just reading the scroll. Narsis Dren is at his wit's end, and desperately hopes this is the last riddle. When you point out to him that the adventure is near its end, he'll rush through the door.

Inside you'll be blocked by a locked door, which leads to Maelmoth's Chamber of Treasures. Narsis notices a   on a pedestal on the other side of the hall. The key, however, is guarded by the spirit of Maelmoth. You'll need to defeat him in order to take the key. Return to the door with the key, then you and Narsis can enter.

Inside the vault, Narsis will at first be elated, until he notices that the contents of the room are actually worthless trinkets. He is quite upset by this revelation, and assumes the room is a trap.
The Bottle Illusion|thumb|right
Narsis will notice a book on a table and asks you to investigate. He'll also notice an X on the floor, and presumes that it's a gate of some kind.

Read the book and you'll find out that Maelmoth was indeed mad, and most of the "treasures" have no real value to anyone other than Maelmoth. However, Maelmoth places great pride on the very complex illusion spell he created; the Bottle illusion. The book explicitly states that the bottle is little more than a trap and will trap whoever touches it inside.

You can warn Narsis that the bottle is a trap, or lie and let him be a victim of his own hubris.

No matter what choice you made, you will need to return the journal to the librarian. Once back at the Mages Guild in Solitude, Deem-Vilax will greet you with her typical disdain.  However, if you lied to Narsis and let him touch the bottle, she'll be quite amused at his predicament.  She'll gladly take Maelmoth's journal back and even though she says she'll release Narsis from the bottle — eventually, she tells you this is a fine "teachable moment" and sets the bottle on a nearby cupboard.
"Perhaps I should find a bundle of flowers. You know … to make Narsis useful, for once."|thumb|left

As you leave the hall, you can hear her say: 
:Deem-Vilax: "There we are. Oh, Narsis. You really tie the room together. Ha!"

However, if you warned Narsis about the bottle, you will return bottle-less. Deem-Vilax will be relieved that you returned with the journal and without Narsis, and will give you a reward and the quest will complete.

Afterwards, Deem-Vilax will say:
:Deem-Vilax: ''"I simply cannot wait to throw Narsis Dren's next opus in the waste bin. He's a terrible writer. I won't allow his books on my shelves!"''
 
 
 
Quest Stages