Great House Strongholds
All three of the Great House factions have three stronghold quests. They all
run at the same time and they all progress at approximately the same rate, even
if you are not a member of the other two factions. Each Great House has its own
location for its stronghold:
- House Hlaalu: at Odai Plateau - downriver from Balmora
and directly east from Hla Oad, on the eastern edge of the mountains at a
point that makes it fairly easy to cross over to the coast and access Hla
Oad
- House Redoran: at Bal Isra - about halfway up the
foyada between Ald'ruhn and Maar Gan
- House Telvanni: at Urvirith's Grave - on the
northeastern portion of the Molag Amur region, more or less west of Tel Fyr
and northwest of the Erabenimsun Ashlander Camp
For my money, the Hlaalu stronghold is probably the most conveniently located
and the Telvanni is the least, but they're all equally inconvenient for most
practical purposes.
All strongholds go through four distince phases. The first phase is finding
out that you need one and getting the necessary materials to begin construction.
The "stronghold" topic should start appearing when you reach Rank 4 or 5. This
will point you to the person who will be your quest-giver for the construction:
- House Hlaalu: Dondos Driler, at the Hlaalu Council
Manor in Balmora
- House Redoran: Galsa Gindu, at her home in the Manor
District in Ald'ruhn
- House Telvanni: Llunela Hleran in the Hermitage below
the Council Chambers in Sadrith Mora
All three of them will need a "Construction Contract". You get this from Duke
Dren in Ebonheart. Go into the Council Chambers, and look for some spiral tower
stairs through an archway on the back wall. The Duke will be the Dunmer in the
Ebony armor on the next floor. All you have to do is basically ask for it and
promise to do well for the people.
In addition, each of your contractors will want something else to begin
construction:
- House Hlaalu: a land deed. Get this by bartering for it
with Baren Alen in the Hlaalu Treasury, Waistworks, Hlaalu Canton, Vivec.
Its base value is 5000, so come prepared to either do some serious dickering
or with a chunk of change.
- House Redoran: Gindu just want some money to cover
expenses. It's a non-negotiable 5000 gold.
- House Telvanni: Hleran wants two "strong souls". These
can be either from Storm Atronachs, Winged Twilights or Golden Saints, but
they must be inside Grand Soul Gems (Hleran will give you two empty soul
gems).
- as far as I know, there is only one suitable Grand Soul Gem that you
won't have to fill on your own. Galbedir at the Balmora Mages Guild has
a Grand Soul Gem with a Winged Twilight laying on her desk, but it is
part of her merchant inventory. If you buy it, it will disappear from
the desk; if you steal it, it will disappear from her inventory. She
will be standing right in front of it (making theft a small problem)
unless she got stuck somewhere when her movement script for the "Bet
with Galbedir" script terminated early. If you have larceny in your
heart and decide to steal it, be aware that all future Grand Soul Gems
will be tainted with the "owned by Galbedir" attribute.
- aside from that, you'll need to fill the gems on your own, requiring
a "Soul Trap" spell, scroll or item
- Aryon will reward you with a "Staff of Hunger" that has a
30-second Soul Trap that is "Cast on Strike" in one of the later
Telvanni quests
- Ranis Athrys will reward you with "Soul Drinker", a Daedric
Dagger with a 30-second Soul Trap (and two "Summon Golden Saint"
scrolls) when you complete the "Telvanni Spy" Mages Guild quest
- and you will need the soul to fill it. Unless summoned, these
creatures typically show up as leveled encounters, but there are a few
of each that are static and will be encountered regardless of your level
- there are five static Golden Saints (none respawn): in the
Dwemer Training Academy at Odrosal, in Ibar-Dad, in the Underground
section of Bal Ur, and two at Ald Daedroth (one in the Antechamber
and one in the Inner Shrine)
- there are four static Winged Twilights (none respawn): in the
Underground section at Berendas, in the Shrine at Addadshashanammu,
in the Lower section of the Uncharted Caverns at Dubdilla, and in
the Forgotten Galleries section of the Shrine at Maelkashishi
- there are ten static Storm Atronachs, nine of which will work
for the quest: in the Cavern at Mount Kand (the only one that
respawns), two in the Telvanni Vault section of the Telvanni Canton
and one each in Omaren Ancestral Tomb, Odaishah, Kora-Dur,
Ashirbadon, Alas Ancestral Tomb, and in the Lower section of the
Uncharted Caverns at Dubdilla. There is a tenth static Storm
Atronach on an island on the overland map in the Sheogorad region
that is tied to the Azura's Star quest, but Hleran will not accept
it.
- note that you can soultrap any of these in Azura's Star and Hleran
will gladly accept it, but you lose Azura's Star in the process
Once you provide the necessary materials (the construction contract and
whatever other items or money are required), construction will begin and you
have almost completed the second phase. The only other thing required is wait a
few days for a "Your Journal has been updated" message that tells you to go see
the contractor to follow up on your stronghold. Head out to the site, talk to
the foreman (who will tell you that everything is going fine), and report back
to the contractor. A few days later you'll get another "Your Journal has been
updated" message and phase two is done. You can go check out your new digs.
At the same time that the foreman appears at your stronghold site, the
competing houses are building strongholds at their sites. These sites' progress
more or less mirror your stronghold's progress. So you can go talk to their
foremen, but they won't really have anything to say.
Second Stage Construction
If you are Hlaalu or Redoran, your stronghold is habitable and populated by a
couple of NPCs who will provide services. If you are Telvanni, you've got a big
fungus ball with some roots and branches and no door or anything else. It's time
for the next phase of construction, so go see your contractor.
- House Hlaalu: time to start making your stronghold
profitable. You need to reestablish the Shurdan-Raplay Eggmine. You do this
by doing two things:
- curing the Blighted Kawma Queen in the mine (needs a targeted or
touch-ranged Cure Blight Disease spell). You'd probably do better by
puchasing scrolls from Hetman Abelmawia in Gnisis since "Vivec's Touch"
fails to work in a similar quest for House Telvanni.
- hiring miners. You only need one, but there are two available.
- Ilasure Tansamiran (lives in his cave residence in Gnisis)
- Llaals Oris (can be purchased from the Slave Market in Tel
Aruhn, but not until after the Kwama Queen is cured)
- you never see any money from this and the miners never go into the
mine, so it's necessary window dressing unless you just like harvesting
your own Eggs, Scrib Jelly and Kwama Cuttle
- House Redoran: recruit some guards for the
stronghold. Speak to Percius Mercius at the Ald'ruhn Fighters Guild. He'll
get some guards for you if you will free his friend, Frelene Aques, from the
Hlaalu Prison in the Hlaalu Canton in Vivec. Escort her out or just give her
the key and she'll get out on her own. Giving her the key is probably the
easier route.
- House Telvanni: get some Dwemer plans from Mzanchend
(northwest of your stronghold) and fork over 5000 golds.
Once those tasks are accomplished, wait a few days for another "Your Journal
has been updated" message and the second stage of construction will be complete.
The Telvanni stronghold will now be habitable and have a couple of NPCs to
provide services.
Once the first construction phase is complete, you can go visit the sites of
the competing strongholds. The house on Odai Plateau is called "Rethan Manor"
(after Raynasa Rethan, one of the NPCs), the house at Bal Isra is called
"Indarys Manor" (after Banden Indarys, one of the NPCs) and the house at
Urvirith's Grave is "Tel Urvirith" (after Reynel Uvirith, one of the NPCs). You
will have a quest to kill the leaders of the competing strongholds before you
can become the head of your Great House faction. Until then, all NPCs on the
grounds or inside are useless ("You should not be here") except for the
competing leaders, who will be hostile and attack you.
Third Stage Construction
Once you are ready to become the head of you faction (and have destroyed the
leaders of the competing strongholds), you must make a third expansion to your
stronghold before you can be promoted. Back to the contractor you go.
- House Hlaalu: recruit a guard and deal with a bandit
problem. When that's done, report back to the contractor and wait.
- although the contractor suggests talking to the Imperial Legion at
Fort Moonmoth, they have no one to spare. So go directly to the Fighters
Guild and speak with Flaenia Amiulusus. 1000 gold will get you a fighter
named Fjorgeir, who will appear on your manor grounds
- the bandits are holed up in Zainsipilu, which is on the north side
of the road between Seyda Neen and Hla Oad. It's a fairly extensive lair
with eight bandits (and five slaves to free, if you're of a mind to do
so). Maros Gimayn is the bandit leader and is the only one you must kill
to complete the quest. The others are optional. Depending on your level,
their individual gear may be somewhere between so-so and lousy. You can
do this alone or you can take Fjorgeir with you.
- House Redoran: the contractor sends you to talk to
Hetman Guls. The problem is, shall we asy, a lack of female companionship
(no single women). You need two women, but there are actually four who will
come. When you have acquired the women, speak to the contractor and wait.
- in Ald'ruhn, talk to Fathusa Girethi and Aryni Orethi. Both are
outside and require a 90+ disposition before they will agree to come
- talk to Savile Imayn at the Slave Market in Tel Aruhn and you can
buy two slaves for 1000 golds each
- talk to Helviane Desele at the "Garden of Earthly Delights" in Suran
to find two of her dancers that are ready to retire (requires Helviane's
disposition at 70)
- if you have freed enough slaves to get the Twin Lamps code phrase,
talk to Galyn Arvel in Ald Velothi, who promises to send escaped slaves
your way
- you can have the two women from Ald'ruhn and any one of the last
three choices (the last three provide the same two women: Assimusa Samsi
and Heniele Milielle)
- House Telvanni: the contractor wants to build Dwemer
guards for your tower. She needs a book called "Secrets of Dwemer
Animunculi", which can be had in the Observatory section of Galom Daeus (the
Berne Clan vampire lair - it's kind of southwest from your stronghold). Read
the book to get the "Summon Centurion Sphere" spell. If you're in the Mages
Guild and are not Arch-Mage yet, swing by the Ald'ruhn guildhall and let
Edwinna Elbert read it for some faction rep. Then deliver it to the
contractor and wait.