Arniel's Endeavor

Part One - Dwemer Cog
Arniel Gane of The College of Winterhold asks the Dragonborn to find 10 Dwarven Cogs, which are actually called Dwemer Cog in game. Initially, he will not tell you what he wants them for. This quest must be started either prior to recieving the Staff of Magnus quest, or after the Staff of Magnus quest is completed..

Part Two - Warped Soul Gem
After turning in the Cogs to Arniel, the Dragonborn is told to speak with Enthir about delivering some purchased goods. After a discussion with Enthir, the player is tasked with finding a staff (the Staff of Tandil) at a radiant location (listed below), and returning it to Enthir as payment for a Warped Soul Gem that is "warped beyond the ability to capture a soul with. "

Known locations of the staff include:


 * Fellglow Keep
 * Ilinalta's Deep
 * Cragwallow Slope
 * Morvunskar
 * Greywater Gorge
 * Falkreath Watchtower (Crossroads)
 * Harmugstahl
 * Yngvild
 * Rannveig's Fast
 * Boulderfall Cave
 * Ansilvund
 * North Brittleshin Pass
 * Hob's Fall Cave
 * Southfringe Sanctum

Part Three - Dwemer Convector
NOTICE: This part of the quest cannot be started until the quest The Eye of Magnus is complete.

Speaking to Arniel Gane again, the player learns that his project is going terribly. Arniel claims to have forgotten to take into account the heat gain and has consequently destroyed his only working model.

It is at this point that he reveals he is attempting to discover how the Dwemer disappeared "instantly, and completely" by recreating the event. The parts the Dragonborn helped recover were made into a Dwarven Convector, which broke during his last attempt to recreate the event. When asked if he wants to build another, he says that he would rather have the Dragonborn find the Convectors, scattered throughout Skyrim, made by the Dwarves themselves. Arniel Gane offers to teach the spell to heat the convectors. "Three seconds burn is all that is necessary," he says.

Arniel postulates that by doing this, the Dwemer may possibly be contacted again.

To complete this portion, three Convectors must be found and used on the Warped Soul Gem. Arniel teaches you Arniel's Convection which is considered a Novice Destruction spell. (Note, this is the only spell that will work to complete the objective.)

Dwemer Convectors are marked on your map, and have no fast travel marker when explored:
 * Two North East of Markarth.
 * One just North of Deep Folk Crossing, just beyond the north gazebo and over the hill.
 * One due West and across the river from Druadach Redoubt.
 * Two near Mzulft.
 * One is in the Dwarven Store Room South of where you arrive when fast traveling to Mzulft.
 * The Second is inside Mzulft, in the first room after the hall on a table.
 * One West of Shor's Stone and North of Autumnshade Clearing
 * One South of Ivarstead
 * One at the Ruins of Bthalft

Upon completing this part of the quest and returning to Arniel, the Dragonborn is thanked and told that the final piece will be arriving soon.

Part Four - Keening
After leaving The College of Winterhold for a few days, and after the Dragonborn drops off the modified soul gem, conversing with Arniel Gane (it's possible to find him in Hall of Countenance) will reveal that once again Enthir is giving him trouble. When the player speaks with Enthir, however, he claims that this time it isn't actually his fault. He says he did not keep close tabs on this package because Arniel Gane set up the delivery himself. Enthir suggests the Dragonborn search for the courier, and directs the player to one of the following radiant locations:
 * Mistwatch
 * Morvunskar
 * Treva's Watch
 * Cronvangr Cave
 * Mara's Eye Den
 * Tolvald's Cave
 * Lost Knife Hideout
 * Cragwallow Slope
 * Darklight Tower
 * Pinepeak Cavern
 * Broken Helm Hollow
 * Faldar's Tooth
 * Autumnshade Clearing
 * Darkwater Pass
 * Gallows Rock

Once the Dragonborn retrieves the package (which turns out to be the dagger Keening) return to the College and give it to Arniel Gane. He will briefly monologue about what he is attempting to do, and then proceed to hit the soul gem with the dagger. Eventually, there is an explosion of energy, and his body vanishes leaving the Dragonborn with a completed quest, Keening, and a Conjuration spell to summon Arniel's shade.

Bugs

 * In Part 2, if A Night to Remember has been completed, upon entering the fort, Sanguine will start fighting the mages in the lower levels.
 * In Part 2, a bug occurs after getting the staff and returning to Enthir. When attempting to talk to him, all he says is: "This is going to be terrible for business." This bug was possibly no longer present in this case once the player completes the main quest for the College, and becomes Archmage.
 * A bug occurs when attempting to hand in the staff in Part 2, if you have already retrieved the staff before. You will be able to receive the warped soul gem, but the staff will not be removed from your inventory. Arniel will thank you, and say he has much to do. The quest will finish—but you won't receive the next part in the quest chain. In some cases, though, the quest chain will continue. It is unknown weather this is just one case or many as of yet. (the next quest starts after 'The Staff of Magnus' quest is finished.)
 * A bug occurs in Part 2 where the Staff of Tandil does not appear where the quest marker indicates. [ Fix]- Type "player.additem 0006a093 1" into the console to receive the staff. Then type "setstage MGRArniel02 30" into the console to advance the quest forward one stage to where you need to give the staff to Enthir. You can then proceed to give the staff to Enthir, and the rest of the quest will progress as if the bug never occurred.
 * A bug occurs if you put the staff on your weapon rack instead of giving it to Enthir. Even if you put it back in your inventory, you won't be able to continue the quest.
 * Arniel will be found outside of the college, on the snowbank close to the river. After delivering the dagger, he will attempt to start his experiment but nothing will happen. Using Unrelenting force to push him from where he is standing (down towards the water) should enable him to walk back to the College. Waiting a few hours will not stop his course. It is best to do this before you give him the dagger so he is in the right spot for the end of the quest.
 * When dual wielding the convection spell on the convector, the quest will glitch, saying to go to the final convector, rendering you unable to complete the quest.
 * In Part 3, there is a bug that causes the warped soul gem not to heat up when using the Arniel's Convection spell. Saving before starting part 3 of this quest is advised. [Fix]- This console command will fix it: setstage MGRArniel03 20. This will allow you to heat the warped soul gem in any convector.
 * In Part 3, there is a bug that duplicates the warped soul gem and doesn't trigger the quest complete dialogue. [PC Fix]- Using the console command to remove duplicate warped soul gems from your inventory until one is left should solve this: player.removeitem 0006a10a 1. If that ID code does not work, one of the following will: 0006a106 / 006a107 / 0006a108 / 006a109/ 0010e44b.
 * In Part 3, if you have duplicates of the warped soul gem, you can deposit the extras into a Dwemer Convector to remove the extras from your inventory. Keeping one is advised. Once you've deposited the extras, return to Arniel Gane to progress the quest. (xbox360, PS3)
 * If you are stuck on the first convector you use in Part 3 of this quest, constantly seeing the message to "place the gem in the final convector", this indicates that the quest is bugged. The only workaround is to keep trying until you encounter the duplicate soul gem bug. Even though you will still get the message to use the 'final' convector, you will be able to use a second convector and continue to a third. This seems to be because the part where the game switches goals and tells you to heat the gem already in a convector will not trigger upon adding the first gem, but it will trigger upon adding the duplicate second gem. This should allow you to use 3 convectors: the initial one and two more, the latter two using a pair of gems each. It is advised to leave the duplicate gem in the final convector so you can complete the quest.
 * There is a rare bug where after completing the quest and Arniel disappeared, none of the quest reward items were left behind. (This could be because the player stood too far away from his experiment.) He advises you to step back, but ignore him,#and stand beside the crystal. This seemed to work for some. Keening may be found in the room directly below, since it sometimes drops through the floor.
 * There appears to be a bug in this quest that stalls progress in Part 4 if Keening has already been discovered and claimed from the courier's body. The quest marker will be attached to the courier's body, but will not acknowledge possession of the dagger, Keening. It cannot be given to Arniel unless it is taken from the courier's body as part of the quest. [PS3] I was able to give Keening to Arniel despite having retrieved it prior to starting Part 4. [PC Fix] Use the console command to jump ahead in the quest to where you have looted the courier's body (you must have Keening on you): setstage MGRArniel04 30. [360] 'Equip the dagger, then place it in a weapon rack. Taking the item from the weapon rack should trigger the progression of the quest.
 * After completing Part 3, Arniel has just disappears and can be found him in the Hall of Countenance.
 * It is possible that you wont receive the Keening, but you still receive the Summon Arniel's Shade spell
 * [PC] After retrieving Keening and returning to the College of Winterhold, the door to the Hall of Elements from the main courtyard becomes stuck ajar so that entering the main building of the College through it is impossible. (you must head to the balcony level either via the Hall of Contenance or the Hall of Attainment and enter one of the doors to the Arcaneum to reach the Hall of Elements. You can still exit the main door, but you cannot enter it). [PC Fix] - The bug fixes itself after a few in-game days.
 * The Quest objective is misspelled 'Place the warped soul gem into a final convector'.
 * Found Keening in Mission "Retrieval," on the body of a courier.
 * Keening may fall through the floor after Arniel vanishes [PC and Xbox confirmed](PS3 confirmed, stood in right rear corner of room, dagger was on left side of the bed in the room below, I heard it hit the ground from just in front of the crystal)