Lost Histories Lost Histories is a quest in . S ' Krivva wants the Hero to find out what happened to a missing thief by the name of Theranis . He was sent to Skingrad to purloin a rare book , " Lost Histories of Tamriel " , from the wizard in the castle there . She wants the Hero to bring the book back ; apparently the Gray Fox is very interested in it . Walkthrough . Enter the jail . After speaking to S ' Krivva , head for Skingrad and track down one of the local beggars to find out what ' s been happening . With the usual application of coinage , the Hero learns that Theranis was last seen being dragged off to the castle dungeons , the result of bragging about stealing something from the castle and foolish enough , he did this in the Two Sisters Lodge where the Captain of the Skingrad Guard was drinking at the time . To talk to Theranis , the Hero is going to have to get into the dungeons somehow . There are several ways to enter the prison dungeon . Method one . Follow the marker to the town gate , leave and climb the hill up to the castle . Make way down to the dungeons and talk to the jailer . Bribery doesn ' t work on him , unfortunately , but he does mention that Shum gro - Yarug the Count ' s butler , is looking to hire people to work at the castle . Follow the marker to track him down . Handily , Shum gro - Yarug is looking for somebody to deal with the prisoners . The pay ' s lousy and he failed to find anyone for the job , so he requires absolutely no persuasion to let the Hero do it . He tells them to feed the prisoners once a day ( he doesn ' t care when ) and that the guards will open the door when asked . Head back down to the dungeon , where the guard will open the door . Method two . Simply sneak into the prison dungeon with a ranged Open Hard Lock spell , or pickpocket the jailor for the key . Method three . Bypass the prison completely and sneak through Castle Skingrad ' s rooms and into the Wine Cellar , then follow the blood stains on the ground . Method four . One may speak to Larthjar the Laggard in a double cell of the castle prison . Gaining entrance is as simple as committing a minor but jailable offense . Moreover , while serving the sentence , the Hero can gain knowledge of the work that Shum gro - Yarug is offering from one of the passing guards . Method five . Tell the guard the Hero wish to see the prisoners , and he will follow them in . Once inside tell him again about seeing the prisoners and he will retreat back to his post by the door . Larthjar the Laggard . Once inside the cell area , the Hero ' s marker will point to a prisoner by the name of Larthjar the Laggard . Talking to him reveals that Theranis was held in one of the other cells with an Argonian prisoner , but that an individual called the Pale Lady took him some time ago . She takes people on a regular basis , it seems , and nobody ever returns after their third time . This was the third time she ' d taken Theranis . Larthjar also notes that the Argonian was taken only an hour ago , struggling and bleeding quite badly . At the far end of the cell block , there is a decidedly door - shaped mark on the end wall . On the wall to the right , there ' s a candle holder . Use it and the secret door will swing open , revealing a passageway carved into the rocks with what suspiciously looks like fresh bloodstains on the floor . Follow the passageway , through a door into an area near the Castle Skingrad Wine Cellar , until the end of the passageway and another secret door . Turn the handle on the wall to open it . Continue to follow the bloodstains on the floor down into the wine cellar , where the stains seem to end in front of a large wine barrel . Another secret door is behind the center barrel . To open it , activate the unlit candle holder that ' s on the back side of the right pole . Follow the passageway to find the Pale Lady waiting . She is a vampire and clearly lacking any social politeness and she attacks on sight . She uses an invisibility spell to give the Hero a few problems , however a hero with a high stealth skills or items can sneak up on the Pale Lady and hit her for critical damage . Once she is dealt with there ' s time to notice Theranis ' body lying on the ground . The Argonian prisoner is still alive in a nearby cell . Talk to him and it turns out to be Amusei again , back in captivity . Unsurprisingly , he ' s rather grateful to the Hero and relates that Theranis gave him a message about a treasure to be taken back to the Thieves Guild . Get him out of the castle and Amusei will reveal this message . The key to the cell along with a general castle key , can be found on the Pale Lady ' s body . Note : It may be necessary to reverse pickpocket Amusei , giving him the Skingrad Castle Key to prevent an issue with him being unable to follow through doors . Saving before pickpocketing is recommended . Escaping the castle . Escaping the castle is a bit tough because once the Hero and Amusei are discovered by the guards they will know both are escaping prisoners and the castle guards will act accordingly . Let Amusei out and head back out through the wine cellar . Turn right and go through into the dining area . Go through the dining area itself and take the right door in the small alcove through into the County Hall . They ' ll end up in a passage off to one side of the hall rather than the hall itself . Note : The hero may have to wait for an hour for Amusei to catch up if he fails to follow through the door . Opposite is a door out into the courtyard . Head out through the gate and off along the causeway leading to the castle . Follow the marker until a message appear that they ' ve successfully escaped . Amusei will then pass on Theranis ' message . Retrieving and returning the book . Theranis has hidden the book , " Lost Histories of Tamriel " , under a bush near a well behind Nerastarel ' s House in Skingrad . Following the marker leads the Hero right to it . Get back to Bravil and give the book to S ' Krivva . She ' ll be sad about Theranis ' death but she will be pleased about the book , telling the Hero that the Gray Fox has been looking for it for many years . She then gives them their reward of 400 .