No One Escapes Cidhna Mine

After completing The Forsworn Conspiracy, the Markarth city guards frame the Dragonborn, starting this quest. You are locked in Cidhna Mine at one point deciding whether or not to free Madanach and become Forsworn. Depending on what you choose you can either receive the Armor of the Old Gods or the Silver-Blood Family Ring.

Quick Walkthrough

 * 1) Ask a prisoner about Madanach, then get past Borkul the Beast.
 * 2) Talk to Madanach.
 * 3) Speak to Braig and listen to his story.
 * 4) Return to Madanach.
 * 5) Options
 * Kill Madanach and leave Cidhna Mine through the secret escape path mentioned in Madanach's note.
 * Kill Grisvar the Unlucky and follow Madanach.

Walkthrough
After entering the mine and talking to Uraccen the Dragonborn learns that Madanach is located in a private cell which is being guarded by Borkul the Beast. After speaking to Borkul he tells the Dragonborn that he will only allow passage in exchange for a shiv as a toll. A prisoner named Grisvar the Unlucky will have a shiv, but he will only trade it for Skooma, which can be pickpocketed from Duach or Braig. Alternatively, Borkul can be challenged to a brawl, persuaded or given the Skooma directly. It is also possible to pickpocket the key to Madanach's cell from Borkul.

Note:Do not try to attack Borkul outside of the brawl the whole mine will attack you

After gaining entrance to Madanach's cell, the player has four options:
 * Help Madanach. Madanach will try and convince the Dragonborn that he and his Forsworn are justified in their actions and sends the player to seek out the prisoner Braig and hear his story. After listening to Braig, return to Madanach and he will offer freedom, but he requires proof of loyalty. He requests the assassination of Grisvar the Unlucky, who has outlived his usefulness to the Forsworm Rebellion. After killing Grisvar, return to Madanach. Upon hearing news of the Grisvar's death, Madanach gathers the remaining prisoners and leads them to an escape tunnel that runs through the Markarth Ruins. At the end of the tunnel, the Dragonborn's belongings are returned to them by Kaie and Madanach rewards the player with Armor of the Old Gods. Once outside, there is a confrontation between Thonar and Madanach. The Forsworn and Madanach charge the city, killing Thonar and all guards (and citizens) in sight. After they leave the city, they will continue running to Druadach Redoubt which will have several friendly Forsworn inside.
 * Kill Madanach (find a pickaxe) in his cell while in sneak so as not to be detected by the other guards and cell members, read the note on his body and use his escape route. Upon exiting, Thonar Silver-Blood greets the Dragonborn and rewards them with Silver-Blood Family Ring and your belongings. The ring is enchanted so that weapons and armor can be improved 15% better.
 * Kill everyone. After attacking a prisoner or Borkul, everyone (except Grisvar the Unlucky) becomes hostile. Thonar Silver-Blood will reward the Dragonborn with the Silver-Blood Family Ring. Essentially the same outcome as the second option. (Being a Werewolf is very useful in this method.)
 * Alternatively, an option which allows the player to get both the Armor of the Old Gods and the Silver-Blood Family Ring, side with Madanach up until the Dragonborn is given the Armor of the Old Gods which is at the end of the Markarth Ruins, right before exiting to the city. After the dialogue and receiving the armor, attack Madanach, turning him hostile. Doing this while close to the door to Markarth will cause his followers to re-enter and attack the Dragonborn. After the player kills Madanach (and his followers), loot his body and read his note. Then exit out to Markarth and speak to Thonar. It is recommended that the player attack Madanach close to the door to Markarth because if not, his followers may not re-enter and it can be difficult to get the Silver-Blood Family Ring from Thonar as Madanach's followers will be waiting outside to attack. If done correctly, after killing Madanach and the rest of his Forsworn followers inside the Markarth Ruins, the player will exit out to a peaceful Markarth with Thonar waiting to speak with the Dragonborn and reward him/her with the Silver-Blood Family Ring and a pardon from the Jarl. Additionally, if the player speaks to Jarl Igmund afterwards, he will apologize for the wrongful imprisonment.

Notable Loot
There are two main paths for escape, and each carries a reward:
 * Helping Madanach by killing Grisvar rewards the Armor of the Old Gods, a full set of enchanted Forsworn Armor (Light Armor).
 * Madanach's new headquarters at the Druadach Redoubt cave contains more valuable loot, free for the taking, and a map of all Forsworn encampments.
 * Killing Madanach and escaping alone rewards the Silver-Blood Family Ring, providing +15% Smithing.
 * If the player kills Madanach after receiving the Armor of the Old Gods and their belongings, but before leaving the Markarth Ruins, Thonar will greet him outside with the Silver-Blood Family Ring and the quest will be completed.

Trivia

 * Fast traveling away from Markarth before the battle between the Forsworn and the guards erupts, and then fast traveling back to Markarth, the Forsworn will be gone and you will find the city to be at peace with no one harmed.
 * If the killing of Madanach is timed right, the Dragonborn will not attract the attention of his warriors.
 * Wait until he is standing at the exit door and hit him with a ranged attack. He will appear to go through the door but come back inside alone. Finish him and exit to Markarth where the battle has already started. Madanach's followers will attack on sight; however, the ring is still rewarded and the quest completed, although Thonor most likely will be dead along with a few soldiers.
 * Pickpocket Madanach, he will attack you but his guards won't. This is an easy way to get away without having to fight several characters with only a pick-axe.
 * The player's inventory will be returned upon completion of the quest.
 * In the Markarth Ruins, there are several Frostbite Spiders and two Dwemer Spheres which can be a challenge for lower-level players. However, the biggest challenge will come for higher-level non-magicka based players, as these enemies will be significantly leveled with the player, while all you have to fight them with is a shiv, pick-axe, prisoner's rags, and your magicka. If you cannot kill the Dwemer Spheres, you can simply outrun them before they spawn and continue going forward, out of the ruins. The quest will still be completed. Low level sneak is also sufficient to get you to the next doors of this area if you stick to the centre of the path and don't get too close to them.
 * Killing Madanach and his men after he rewards the armor and then speaking to Thonar allows you to get both the armor and the ring. Doing this will also have the Jarl pardon you. This may be the best way to go about getting the armor from Madanach while avoiding the glitch with the guards.
 * If the player follows the prisoners outside Markarth, they might be attacked by Forsworn on their way to Druadach Redoubt, even though they are Forsworn themselves. Also, all other Forsworn outside of Druadach will still attack the player even if they did help Madanach escape.
 * If you kill Madanach after he rewards the armor, the Forsworn at Druadach Redoubt are still friendly and you can enter the cave and loot anything without being attacked.
 * After gaining access to Madanach's cell, those who have completed The Silver Hand can morph into werewolf form and slaughter all of the prisoners, including Madanach. This is, perhaps, the easiest way to complete this quest.
 * Breaking out of the mine with the other prisoners doesn't count as a "Jail Escape" on the "General Stats" page. It also does not count for the achievement/trophy "Wanted".
 * After exiting the mines with Madanach and the rest of the Forsworn, if the player enters a building before the Forsworn have escaped Markarth you will find all of them, including Madanach, will be dead upon exiting the building back to Markarth.
 * If already been to the Markarth jail in the mines, and already completed the shiv quest, then served the time and got released, when returning to do this mission it will not be available. Simply pick the pocket of Borkul the Beast. He will not be hostile once through the gate. Simply unlock the door, and continue on.
 * If the player has any Dead Thralls when arrested by the Markarth Guards, the Dead Thrall spell will no longer be in effect. When returning to the Shrine of Talos after finishing the quest, the Dead Thralls will be standing in the positions they were when the player was arrested, simply cast Dead Thrall on them again to reactivate the spell.
 * When escaping with the other prisoners, if the player accidentally (or purposely) hit a fellow escapees, all of the prisoners will attack the player. This is problematic if not a trained magicka user. It is best just to avoid the combat with the spiders and dwemer machines, because the prisoners have a tendency to jump in the way of attacks (ranged or melee).
 * If the player killed Madanach and are going through Markarth Ruins solo, a good way to beat the spiders and Dwarven machines is to run past the spiders until reaching the last room, where the Dwarven Spheres attack, then lead them back to the spiders to have them fight each other.
 * With a high Pickpocket skill, one can reverse-pickpocket Urzoga gra-Shugurz beforehand and smuggle equipment into the mine though you must be in reach to pickpocket her through the bars as the door instantly shuts as she begins walking.
 * Also, it's possible to shove Urzoga into the mine with you though for no apparent reason, whether to pickpocket her equipment or to simply kill her with the prisoners' help.

Bugs

 * After completion of this quest, guards will repeatedly attempt to arrest you for murder and conspiracy against Markarth; the option to go to jail results in the conversation starting over. Exiting the conversation may result in the guards becoming hostile or in some cases ending conversation normally. It may or may not be possible to act within the city, for some there is time to move around before guards initiate the conversation again, for others the guards simply go hostile immediately. Bounty collectors will be sent into the reach to collect the bounty or kill the dragonborn. Paying the bounty to a bounty collector will not absolve the dragonborn of his/her "crimes" in Markarth, even though the bounty collector says it will. (Confirmed). UPDATE: As of 2/9/2012, the 1.4 patch fixed this issue.
 * Solution: Enter the console outside of Markarth and enter TCAI (Toggle Combat Artificial Intelligence). After doing this, the AI will not attack you. Enter Markarth and head to the Shrine of Talos where the three guards confronted you, and then turn TCAI off by entering it in the console again. Here, the guards will speak to you. Select come quietly, and then when the guards start the next conversation with you there should be three dots above the normal response. Select this, the guards will continue their conversation, and afterwards the guards will return to normal and no longer try to arrest you.
 * Alternatively on PC, when confronted by a gurad, click on them and type paycrimegold into the console. You should be teleported somewhere in Markarth with no bounty.
 * Killing the guards before going to jail (a bad idea), will obviously need to resurrect them for this fix. Resurrect alone did not work, Also needed to do in the console "setstage MS02 100" (sets quest to complete helping Madanach escape and he clears your name for his crimes - but not of you killing the guards in the shrine), then "prid 00036f3b" (selects the guard) then "resurrect". Then continue as above with the surrender, go to jail. You might need to select chat option "..." with the guard and repeat the go to jail dialogue. In jail get a pick and start to mine, a dialogue asking if you wish to do your time comes up, select yes, but it's not a life sentence, it's less than one day.
 * The solution above works, but you might have some problems after the guard say "No one escapes Cidhna Mine, no one", such as the three men attacking, bringing the whole city after you. Then you must run away from Talos' Shrine and escape the city. While running from the guards, you have a good chance that the guard outside the city abords you and then you can surrender, going properly to Cidhna Mine and serving your time in jail, having your bounty cleared.
 * Solution: Sneak into the shrine of Talos where 2 or 3 guards will be waiting as if you are finishing The Forsworn Conspiracy quest again. When I entered two guards attacked and I killed them. I had to press select and wait a few hours for the third guard to spawn. The third guard will then talk and you should choose the dialog options: "You're Corrupt, Thonar is paying you" and "Fine, I'll come Quietly". At this point the third guard atttacks you, kill him. Now exit the shrine of Talos. You will know you are glitched if they respond to the "pay off bounty" option with: "We have multiple witnesses, you're not getting away with this." But now you should be able to pay off the bounty like normal.
 * If you choose the jail option, it is possible to be trapped in the mine for good since no one else is there and the gate next to the Orc requires a key, which is not possible to pick. No one escapes Cidhna Mine for the second time...
 * Fixed after **1.04/2.03 Patch** 11/02/2012 Went to the shrine of Talos and the Markarth guards weapons and shields where still there (killed them during The Forsworn Conspiracy) Took the weapons and shields and removed them from the Shrine of Talos and got rid of them, completed the quest and had a 1050 Bounty that was paid off.
 * Solution: make sure your level is high enough and enter Markarth. Upon entering the city, do not have any guards spot you, and enter the Shrine of Talos. The three guards from the previous quest "The Forsworn Conspiracy," will still be there, and the middle guard will engage in the same conversation as at the end of that quest. The other two guards will attack you, and because you are in conversation, there is no way to fight back, so be prepared. Answer the guard with "You're corrupt, Thonar is paying you," and then again with "Fine, I'll come quietly." The guard will then do nothing, so heal yourself. After a few seconds, the same guard will attempt to arrest you, and give you the option to pay off your bounty.
 * Glitches are less likely to occur if you go to jail peacefully. (Confirmed)
 * ANY quest items in your inventory (which you cannot remove otherwise) will be permanently removed following the break out from the mine, this includes dragon claws, amulets, gems, anything. On the PC version all items from completed quests will sometimes stay, however items like the Elder Scroll will disappear forever. (patched on Xbox)
 * (1/14/2012) May not receive all quest items from Kaie had prior to before this quest began. However, receive them when the forsworn start fighting the guards outside the ruins. Or kill the forsworn in the ruins, then Thonar gives them back after the conversation.
 * It is possible upon arriving in Cidhna Mine, Urzoga gra-Shugurz (the guard) has no dialogue options but instead fights you until death.
 * After completing this quest, a glitch occurs that will prevent the PC from being able to Fast Travel or Wait, stating that you are still being pursued by guards. Fix: Commit a crime and allow yourself to be caught. Paying the fine or going to jail will fix the bug.
 * It is possible that Madanach will not have the key in his inventory when you pickpocket him.
 * If you pickpocket the note from Madanach, it will not let you read it properly, therefore not allowing you to complete the quest. Thonar will attack you upon exiting the ruins.
 * You start the quest in the cell, but both doors are locked with no way to open them.
 * Solution: Open the console and enter "'setstage ms02 0".
 * Quest items may not be returned along with the rest of your inventory
 * If Madanach does not complete his dialogue before leaving the mine, after leaving the mine, Madanach and his men, as well as Thonar and his guard, will just stand outside and do nothing. The event where they're supposed to fight just doesn't happen. Killing Thonar completes the quest and initiates the fight but incurs the 1000 bounty in Markarth. The bounty can be avoided by killing the last witness (the guard) or making other people kill Thonar by casting a strong enough Fury/Frenzy effect on him.
 * After completing the quest, first helping Madanach to get the armor and then later turning on him by helping the guards kill him so you could also get the ring from Thonar Uraccens dead body is laying along the path just before the entrance to Druadach Redoubt. It is unknown how he made it all the way there and then died.
 * Sometimes, when the quest is completed by killing the prisoners, there will be 3 guards standing outside with no one to give the Silver-Blood Family Ring. (Update: to fix this the player must reload to a point before he talk to Talnor in the Treasury house and make sure that Talnor is not attacked by the player during the battle).
 * When starting the quest, you may notice an item you had equipped in your inventory is still in your favorites, and is there and can be used throughout the quest. However, when you get your gear back the item, while still appearing in your favorites, will not appear in your inventory. Even under the favorites section in your inventory. The only way to equip or remove this item is by pressing up on the d-pad. No fix.
 * All pick-up sounds for items will not sound.
 * Upon exiting the prison, Thonar may be hostile. He is marked essential and cannot be killed, therefore the battle will never end. Casting Calm on him will work in the short term, long enough to complete the quest and get the ring. If you cannot manage to cast Calm on him, just run out of the town, exit combat, fast travel to some place far away then travel back to Markarth . Head to the exit of the Cidhna Mine (door left to the Understone Keep 's door) and Thonar will be waiting you there, not hostile anymore. He'll start conversation and you can finish the quest peacefully.
 * Skipping the dialogue where the guard says "no one" with enter, the guards will draw, you will be transported to the prison, and the orc lady will attack.
 * Possible fix: Make sure there is no bounty when sent to the prison. Was attacked every time arrested. Cleared the hold bounty with a guard, went to the shrine to get arrested and finally the orc did not attack and went through normal dialogue.
 * If in Cidha Mines as a prisoner before, do not kill Grisvar. If so, when Madanach tells the player to kill him, he will not be there and won't be able to tell Madanach he is already dead.
 * If one kills Madanach and the Forsworn after receiving the reward armor and then goes out and receives the ring from Thonar, the game registers the quest as the Forsworn wreaking havok in Markarth and killing the townspeople, causing passing citizens to scold you for helping the Forsworn break out.
 * After getting taken to jail, resting for one hour, the player's follower will appear. Can load up the follower before getting arrested to have gear even while in the prison.
 * If having been sent to the mine before and killed all of the prisoners, will still be sent to the jail but the quest will not start. Even searching the body of Borkul the Beast, will not find a key to the door, only his gauntlets and ragged trousers. This will make it impossible to do the quest.
 * Follower Glitch: After escaping the mine and completing the quest (aiding the Forsworn escape) any followers you had before being arrested may still be at the Shrine of Talos. Even after killing the guards the follower will stay in position by the shrine. You can still trade but even after parting ways they may still remain there indefinitely so make sure not to have a favourite follower with you at the end of The Forsworn Conspiracy.
 * Sprinting past the Dwemer spheres may cause them to follow you outside into Markarth. This can be a big problem if chosing to kill Madanach, as Thonar will force a dialog tree on exiting the ruins. The Spheres can kill the player will stuck in dialog. If this happens, just load the autosave and skip through the dialog as fast as possible and get as far away from the spheres as possible. Thonar will probably be killed before the spheres are subdued by the guards and be able to loot his corpse with no consequences.
 * Sometimes after killing the guards and are sent to cidhna mine, it will automatically killing the player, regardless of armor rating, hp, or stamina.
 * If "The Forsworn Conspiracy" quest is nearly completed exept for the final objective to return to the shrine, completing "Season Unending" will finish the Forsworn quest and prevent "No One Escapes Chidna Mine" from starting. The guards will be gone if the player returns to the Shrine to Talos. This may have something to do with Markarth changing sides during the "Season Unending" negotations. However, completing the Civil War questline in favor of the Imperials should fix this and allow the quest to begin normaly.
 * Xbox 360: After killing Grisvar the Unlucky, you will talk to Madanach. After talking to him you will go out to hear his plan but he doesn't announce it and the quest won't continue.