The Coven Conundrum

The Coven Conundrum is a prologue quest in . It is the second of the two prologue quests for .
==Background==
Lyris Titanborn and I uncovered a conspiracy involving the witches of the Icereach Coven. The trail leads to an isolated inn somewhere in the wilds of Eastmarch. We need to determine what the coven has planned before it's too late.
==Objectives==
#Talk to Lyris Titanborn
#Travel to Eastmarch
#Enter The Grinning Horker
#Talk to Lyris Titanborn
#Search The Grinning Horker
#Search the basement
#Explore the Secret Passage
#Talk to Hrolt
#Talk to Lyris Titanborn
#Explore Blackreach
##Smash Witch Pike
##Gather Coven Notes
##Free the Prisoners
#Talk to Amberic Daigre
#Find Sister Balra
#Talk to Lyris Titanborn
#Find Sister Balra
#Talk to Sentry Darfal
#Talk to Lyris Titanborn
#Travel to Windhelm
#Warn Jorunn the Skald-King
#Talk to Housecarl Vaer
#Enter the Palace of Kings
#Find Jorunn the Skald-King
#Save Jorunn the Skald-King
#Talk to Jorunn the Skald-King
#Talk to Lyris Titanborn
==Walkthrough==
Upon completing The Coven Conspiracy, Lyris Titanborn will await you by a cart that will take you to The Grinning Horker in Eastmarch. Travel there with her to find out what the Icereach Coven are up to. The cart will only actually take you to just past Voljar's Meadery, you will have to walk to the Grinning Horker from there. Just follow the path up the mountain.
Once you have reached the inn, head inside. The inn will be abandoned. Speak with Lyris Titanborn and she will tell you to look for clues concerning the fate of the people the witches have led here. The first clue is the abandoned meal on the table. The second clue is upstairs in the used bedrolls; people have been here recently. Once you have found these two clues, the third clue will appear, a blood trail leading to the basement. 
Head into the basement, and you will find it empty. Lyris will instruct you to look for a secret passageway. The passageway you are looking for is in the cabinet against the west wall. Head in there, and you will find yourself in a strange cavern filled with glowing mushrooms. in this cavern, you will find a man named Hrolt, who will tell you that he escaped the witches and that they are doing something horrible to the other captives. While you are talking to him, Lyris will have gone ahead a bit, to a cliff overlooking Blackreach. Speak with her, and she will tell you to go explore Blackreach and destroy any witch pikes you find while she brings Hrolt back to The Grinning Horker. 
Head down and explore Blackreach. You will have three objectives down here: to destroy the witch pike, to gather the Coven's notes and to free the prisoners. A logical first target is the witch pike; it is located in the east next to the tower. After you have destroyed it, go for the notes, which will be in the northern part of the cavern, east of the bridge, by a campfire. The notes will detail experiments the coven are doing in creating new kinds of bloodfiends. After you have done these two things, the area will start sprawling with enemies so beware. Your last objective is to free the prisoners, who are being held in the northwest part of the cavern. 
After you have cleared these objectives, you will be approached by Amberic Daigre, one of the prisoners you freed. He will tell you that the leader of the witches, Sister Balra, is holed up in the Dwemer Ruins to the west. Head towards the ruins and you will see Lyris cut down a witch. Speak with her and tell her what you have learned, then head into the ruins with her. Inside the ruins, you will find a man named Sentry Darfal on the ground. Speak with him, and he will say that he erroneously told the witch how to sneak into the Palace of the Kings in Windhelm, so the Skald-King might be in danger now. 
Speak with Lyris and travel with her to Windhelm. Once there, head for the Palace of the Kings and talk to Housecarl Vaer so she will let you in. Head inside and search the building for the Skald-King. The witches will already have a presence here, so be prepared. The bodies will have fragments of a map of western Skyrim on them; in the room on the left there is a map of Skyrim that these pieces were torn from. Head throuth the rooms counterclockwise and you will eventually come upon the body of a guard. Take the key to the dungeons from her body, and look for Jorunn there. You will find Sister Balra doing something to the king there. Save him by killing her. Once you have defeated Balra once, she will turn into a giant werewolf and summon some skeletal werewolves. Kill this form too and she will be done. Jorunn will then tell you to speak with him in the throne room. 
Head to the throne room and tell the King everything you have learned. He will tell you to speak with Lyris on a course of action. Talk to Lyris and she will give you your reward.
==Reward==
*Chains of the Ice Witch
*Windhelm Scale Tunic Design Portfolio
==Appearances==
*
Category:Greymoor: Main Quests