The Mind of Madness

The Mind of Madness is a quest available in . Dervenin wants his master Sheogorath to return from vacation. At the end of the quest the Dragonborn is rewarded with the Daedric artifact, Wabbajack.
==Background==
Dervenin wants me to talk to his master about returning from vacation. To do so, I need to gain entrance to the Pelagius Wing of the Blue palace.
==Objectives==
#Gain access to the Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace
#Use the key to gain access to the Pelagius Wing
#Search for Dervenin's master in the Pelagius Wing
#Use the Wabbajack to escape from Pelagius' mind
==Walkthrough==
Dervenin, a homeless man in Solitude, requests that the Dragonborn help his master to return from "vacation." He explains that they can find his master in the Pelagius Wing at the Blue Palace, and will give the Dragonborn Pelagius' Hip Bone. Because this is locked, the Dragonborn must talk to one of the maids and tell her that Falk asked them to clean up the area and she will hand over the key. If Falk likes them well enough (for example, after accepting "The Man Who Cried Wolf"), then Falk will present the key.
The Dragonborn then should enter the Pelagius Wing and go to the second floor. They must walk down the hallway with the red and yellow carpet draped along it and they will automatically be transported into Pelagius' mind, while inside the Dragonborn will not have access to their inventory, and equipped items will be replaced with a set of fine clothing.
===Pelagius' mind===
After arriving in Pelagius' mind, the Dragonborn will be facing Sheogorath, Daedric Prince of Madness, and Pelagius who are having a tea party. Once Pelagius leaves, talk to Sheogorath. He will tell the Dragonborn that the only way to leave Pelagius' mind is to "treat" it. Sheogorath gives the Dragonborn his Daedric artifact, the Wabbajack, to use to do this. The glade around the table has three stone portals with paths leading to where the Dragonborn will treat aspects of Pelagius' mind.
====Paranoia====
From his earliest years, Pelagius suffered terrible paranoia. The Dragonborn can fix this by going through the northwest portal. Following the path leads to a stonework arena with two Storm Atronachs fighting and Pelagius the Suspicious with two of his bodyguards on the opposite side, all wearing Dwarven armor. Sheogorath explains that the Dragonborn's monster must win. The Dragonborn should not use the Wabbajack on the battling atronachs, because the other will transform as well and the stalemate will continue indefinitely. Instead, they must shoot the bodyguards on the opposite side of the arena with the Wabbajack. After a few failed attempts Sheogorath will give a hint: "Me thinks your aim is off." The men then turn into wolves and kill Pelagius the Suspicious in between them. This resolves the situation and cures the paranoia. The Dragonborn must then return to the tea party area.
====Night terrors====
Pelagius has had nightmares all his life. To help fix this, the Dragonborn must go through the northeast portal and find a sleeping Pelagius. Shooting Pelagius with Wabbajack will make the wolf appear. Shooting the wolf will turn him into a goat. After Pelagius is shot again, the bandit chief will appear. When he is shot, he will turn into Little Pelagius. The Dragonborn must then shoot Pelagius with the Wabbajack to make the hagraven appear, then shoot the hagraven to turn it into a Sultry Maiden. The next creature that would appear is a flame atronach who turns into a bonfire. After that the dragon priest will appear who will be turned into a treasure chest when shot. Completing this will eventually make Pelagius the Tormented wake up. Once Pelagius gets up out of the bed, the Night Terrors section is over. Note that the chest that spawns near the campfire cannot be looted.
====Anger issues====
To help Pelagius with his anger issues, the Dragonborn must go through the southeast portal. The Dragonborn must use the Wabbajack twice on the little guy named Confidence to make him grow larger, then use the Wabbajack on Anger to make him smaller. The Dragonborn should ignore the Self Doubts that appear to help Anger until Sheogorath speaks again. At the end, Pelagius is finally ready to love himself (but continue hating everyone else). The protagonist must then return to the tea party glade.
===Conclusion===
Once done, the Dragonborn should return to Sheogorath. He will give the Dragonborn the Wabbajack, plus the fine clothes, fine boots, and fine hat which were given at the start of the quest, then sends them back to the Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace. The quest is completed after returning back to Skyrim, though the Lockpicking skill book Surfeit of Thieves is located nearby where the Dragonborn appears. To get it, the Dragonborn should then go down the hall to the stairs, and visit the cellar at the end. The book is in the center of the cellar room, located on top of a box which supports a chain rack.
==Journal==
The Mind of Madness – DA15	The Mind of Madness – DA15
ID 	Journal Entry
10 	Dervenin wants me to talk to his master about returning from vacation. To do so, I need to gain entrance to the Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace.
*Objective 10: Gain access to the Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace
45 	
*Objective 45: Use the key to gain access to the Pelagius Wing
50 	Dervenin wants me to talk to his master about returning from vacation. His master should be somewhere in the Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace.
*Objective 50: Search for Dervenin's master in the Pelagius Wing
100 	Dervenin wants his master Sheogorath to return from vacation. I have tracked Sheogorath and been transported by him to Pelagius's mind. If I can find a way to home Sheogorath has promised to return home as well.
*Objective 100: Use the Wabbajack to escape from Pelagius's Mind
200 	I have helped Dervenin by convincing his master Sheogorath to return from vacation inside the mind of Pelagius. Sheogorath has rewarded me with the Wabbajack for my troubles.
*Quest completed
==Trivia==
*In the Paranoia segment the atronachs encountered are unique: Pelagius' Flame Thrall, Pelagius' Frost Thrall, and Pelagius's Storm Thrall.
*The quest itself is a parallel to that of the popular novel by Lewis Carroll entitled Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland, where Alice is instructed by the Mad Hatter to execute several menial tasks while he has a tea party.
*The Wabbajack contains two Easter eggs: the name itself is a parody of that of the Jabberwocky from Alice in Wonderland. Additionally, the word "Jabberwocky" is defined as "a meaningless, nonsensical speech or text". This could describe staff's random effects on enemies.
*When the Dragonborn asks for the key from one of the maids, they will be prompted to respond that "Falk said it would be okay," even if they have not visited the Blue Palace and met Falk before that point.
*During the first conversation with Sheogorath, he mentions the ghost of King Lysandus. This is a reference to .
*During his conversation with Pelagius, he will make a reference to the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. He will conclude his conversation with Pelagius by saying "A good day to you sir, I said good day!", a line said by Willy Wonka in the film.
*After the first conversation, Sheogorath will say "Do you mind? I'm doing the fishstick. It's a delicate state of mind!" This may be a reference to the Bethesda forums, where new members used to be greeted with a 'Fishy stick.'
*Once the Dragonborn completes waking Pelagius and curing his night terrors, if the Dragonborn walks over to the sultry maiden, she may greet them with a man's voice. Sometimes, she will say that her wife died, and that things will not be the same without her, all in the same male voice. Attempts to pickpocket the Sultry Maiden can also cause her to speak to the player in a male's voice as well.
*If the Dragonborn is a vampire during this quest, they can feed upon Pelagius the Tormented when he is sleeping.
*The map shows the Dragonborn as being just north of Bleakwind Basin.
*The items on the dining table with Sheogorath are unowned, and therefore, free to take.
*Once the quest is complete, the Wabbajack and fine clothes will still be equipped on the Dragonborn. As a result, the weapons and armor will need to re-equipped manually.
*After talking to Sheogorath (after 'treating' Pelagius' mind) he may say: "Well, I suppose it's back to the Shivering Isles. The trouble Haskill can get into while I'm gone simply boggles the mind..." This is a direct reference to , seeing as Sheogorath is the creator of the Shivering Isles. Haskill is the fellow that is first encountered when entering the Isles (the person sitting at the desk in the enclosed room). He is also Sheogorath's chamberlain. This is to ensure the Isles do not fall into complete madness, which is ironic if Sheogorath is suggesting that Haskill is the one causing trouble.
*When Sheogorath sends the Dragonborn 'home,' he jokingly asks that the Dragonborn to look him up if they are ever in New Sheoth. New Sheoth is the capital of the Shivering Isles, located between Mania and Dementia.
*This quest shares some similarities to the Oblivion quest "Through a Nightmare, Darkly."
*During the quest, the inventory can be opened by killing and searching the goat, or by pickpocketing any of the Pelagius' alter egos encountered.
*While in Pelagius' Mind, the Wabbajack will have the description, "It's all you've got...," a reminder to the fact that the Dragonborn is stripped of all possessions while in Pelagius' mind.
*After curing Pelagius from his night terrors and reporting back to Sheogorath, he will mention Barbas and how he barks in the middle of the night and chews on Sheogorath's slippers, but will realize the Dragonborn was referring to Pelagius.
*The chest in the Path of Terror Nightmares with Little Pelagius and the male-voiced Sultry Maiden cannot be opened nor be interacted with.
*Punching Anger will get a reprimand from him, saying, "I'm on your side!"
*One can take a swing at Sheogorath, though this does not result in hostilities or any reprimands; he does not even seem to notice.
*Whatever item is taken when in Pelagius' mind will be taken back to the real world when the quest is completed.
*Any attempts to pickpocket Sheogorath will end in failure; selecting him whilst hidden will only bring up the talk menu.
*Sheogorath has different dialogue if he is spoken to after each objective is completed, rather than doing them all and then talking to him.
*If a quest-related weapon is in the inventory when traveling into Pelagius' mind (i.e., Kahvozein's Fang, Red Eagle's Fury, etc.), it will remain in the inventory during the quest. If one then kills the goat (or pickpockets one of Pelagius' alter egos), the weapon can be equipped by accessing the goat's (or Pelagius') inventory as if to plant something in their inventory, and then using the weapon to raise the One-Handed skill by attacking Confidence or Pelagius the Tormented.
==Bugs==
Click to show
* The Wabbajack will not work on the attackers, making the quest impossible to finish. This can be fixed by making sure to hit Pelagius first, instead of anger.
* During the quest, if the Dragonborn is attacked by the Flame Atronach, the Dragonborn's head can lock at an unpleasant angle. Continuing with this bug creates clipping and body part issues where the Dragonborn's foot can get stuck in a door but still allow the Dragonborn to move, and the Dragonborn can get forced under the floor. (Saving, quitting and loading appears to resolve this issue.)
* Rushing through the Pelagius Wing to the teleporter may glitch the loading.
* Sometimes when the Dragonborn talks to Sheogorath after completing the three tasks, he will say they can go but they do not get transported back to the Pelagius Wing. To fix this, talk to him again.
** After this happens and the old beggar is teleported in, if the Dragonborn happens to punch the beggar with the left hand (which has nothing equipped), all dialog will be skipped and the Dragonborn transported instantly back to the hallway in the Blue Palace. Warning: This will get a bounty of 40 gold in Solitude (even though the deed was done in Pelagius' head), and upon leaving the castle, the Dragonborn will be attacked by everyone in the city. To fix this, pull out a sword and then sheathe it near a guard, causing him to request a bounty.
* Una and Erdi may not be in the Blue Palace and the quest may point at Falk Firebeard, who will not grant access to the Pelagius Wing. Completing The Man Who Cried Wolf and delivering the Horn to the Shrine of Talos will gain Falk's trust and get the key unless he has been asked for the key previously.
* After walking into the hallway with the red carpet, the game may freeze. The hallway is supposed to teleport the Dragonborn to Sheogorath. Removing equipped items and walking through in third person fixes this issue. Also it is advised to remove items with quantity over 254 from the inventory (gold not included). Anyway, the problem is usually caused by some item in the inventory.
* Punching Pelagius at the beginning of the Night Terrors section wakes him up, but he immediately goes back to sleep.
* Sometimes no one in the Blue Palace will give the Dragonborn the key.
* If the goat in Night Terrors is killed, it can be searched, enabling the use of the character menu while in Pelagius' mind. The Dragonborn can fast travel to any location, but their equipment will be lost. In addition to this, the Wabbajack will become useless if used on any creature. The only fix for this bug is to load a save from before fast traveling while in Pelagius' mind.
**If the goat's body is searched, the Dragonborn will able to see their own inventory. This allows items to be equipped and un-equipped but if the Wabbajack is un-equipped, no more objectives can be completed, as the staff is required. This can be fixed by re-equipping the Wabbajack.
* Sometimes a dragon will spawn in his mind and the quest will have to be restarted from the last save.
* Walking through the wing with the following active miscellaneous quests: Find 20 nightshade/deathbell/ninroot for Ingus Black-Briar, and Find 20 Jazbay, will result in constant notifications of 0/20 nightshade/deathbell/ninroot, and 0/20 Jazbay, regardless of the amount of each ingredient possessed. A notification of "Obtain a deathbell" for Kesh's quest will pop up. When looking through the inventory, it will be seen that every ingredient found for these quests are gone. This is because of only being able to use the Wabbajack and the clothes the Dragonborn is forced to wear. Once this quest is completed, all the ingredients will be restored to the inventory.
* In the Night Terrors section, the spawned enemies may be initially hostile to the player. This can be troublesome, especially with the Hagraven and Dragon Priest.
*If the Dragonborn opens the journal while in the Mind of Pelagius, they can access the World Map and fast travel. However, this will only be available after receiving the Wabbajack, and only if the "Mind of Madness" section is highlighted. The player's map location will be between Bleakwind Basin and Silent Moons Camp. However, once you fast travel, you will not be able to return and the Wabbajack will be the only usable weapon.
* Changing the Atronachs element will not always allow the Dragonborn to finish that part of the quest, resulting in the quest being impossible to finish.
* It might be possible to trigger more than one dialogue for any of the three paths, resulting in Sheogorath speaking over himself. This bug does not affect gameplay.
* During the Anger stage, Confidence may be missing with just an arrow pointing down where he is supposed to be set, disallowing the Dragonborn to hit him with the Wabbajack and continue the quest.
==Appearances==
*
de:Der Geist des Wahnsinns
es:La mente de la locura
fr:La folie incarnée
it:La mente di un pazzo
pl:Zadanie:Umysł Szaleńca
ru:Безумный ум
uk:Розум безумця