Hard Answers

Hard Answers is a Thieves Guild quest given to the player by Karliah, it begins immediently following the Speaking With Silence quest.

Overview

 * Prerequisite: Speaking With Silence
 * Quest Giver: Karliah
 * Reward: Nightingale Blade
 * Reputation Gain: N/A

Objectives

 * Speak with Enthir
 * Speak with Calcelmo at the Understone Keep in Markarth
 * Gain Entry to Calcelmo's Museum
 * (Optional) Obtain key to Calcelmo's Museum
 * Obtain Calcelmo's Falmer Translating Guide
 * Duplicate the writing on Calcelmo's Stone
 * Return to Enthir
 * Speak to Karliah

Walkthrough

 * 1) Speak to Enthir at the Inn of Winterhold.
 * 2) Travel to Markarth and speak to Calcelmo at Understone Keep - He will refuse you access to his research unless you can persuade him.
 * 3) Find (or receive through a side-quest from Calcelmo) the key to Calcemo's Museum on his Alchemy table in the West wing of the Keep.
 * 4) Go to the East wing of the Keep and enter the Museum, the guard at the door will do nothing if you enter.
 * 5) Carefully sneak through the Museum, which is more of a dangerous dungeon with lots of treasure. Do not be detected by guards and let any survive, if you try to escape no guard will yield to you. (Note: There are not only city guards but Calcelmo's private guards, Wizard's Guards.)
 * 6) When you reach Calcelmo's tower make your way up to Calcelmo's Stone. If you try to use it without a roll of parchment and a stick of charcoal in your inventory you will receive an error message. The table in the room behind you has plenty of these. Activate the stone again.
 * 7) Once you receive the rubbing, Aicantar, 2 guards and the City Captain will enter the tower and you will hear their conversation. His nephew insists that somebody is trying to sabotage his uncle's research, and demands that the guard searches the tower from top to bottom.
 * 8) *If you kill Calcelmo's nephew he may have a staff that can command dwarven spiders. If not, try to sneak to the staircase below you on your left, climb up and jump on to the torch nearest to the wall. Leap to the ledge that leads to the exit. (Note: The staff (Spider Control Rod) can be found upon first entrance to Calcemo's Labrotory through the first door on the left, but must be stolen. If taken, Calcemo's nephew will not have another copy of the staff.)
 * 9) On the outside path leading back to the museum from Calcelmo's Tower, there is a small passageway leading to the waterfall. You may jump off and land safely in the water.
 * 10) Return to Enthir and Karliah at The Frozen Hearth's basment in Winterhold.

Journal Entry upon completing the quest
''After Enthir succesfully translated Gallus's journal, I've discovered that Mercer's motivations transend simple greed or murder. As a member of The Nightingales, Mercer was tasked with guarding a place called The Twilight Sepulcher, the Temple of Nocturnal. According to Gallus, he defiled the Temple and betrayed the Thieves Guild. Karliah insists that we bring this information to Brynjolf immediately.''

Rewards

 * Nightingale Blade given to you by Karliah, previously owned by Gallus Desidenius.

Bugs

 * If you complete Calcelmo's favor of killing the Frostbite Spider Nimhe, and then gain safe entry into the Dwemer Museum and obtaining Calcelmo's key after completion of this quest. You may get the quest a second time. Note, that also means you can get the Nightingale Blade a second time.
 * If you complete Calcelmo's favor of killing Frostbite Spider Nimhe, and then gain safe entry into the Dwemer Museum and you persuaded him to let you in for helping him with his love interest it is possible that you will get this quest a second time the next time you return to the museum, and Gallus's Journal will be 'bugged' in your inventory as a quest item. The quest is unable to be complete on the second run do to the the final door at the top of the tower being closed and your key no longer working.
 * If you entered Mercer's house and looted Mercer's Plans before completing the quest Hard Answers, The Pursuit will not initiate upon completion of the quest Hard Answers. This can be fixed (on the PC) by resetting the quest Hard Answers to the last stage with the command [setstage TG06 70], dropping the item Mercer's Plans from your (Misc) inventory, and then talking to Karliah and completing the quest again. Do not pick up Mercer's Plans from wherever you dropped them until the quest The Pursuit is on the stage: Discover evidence of Mercer's location. (i.e. after you break into his house, simply leave and go pick back up Mercer's Plans)
 * For an unknown reason if you want to speak with Enthir at the end of the quest, he doesn't want to talk with you. Use the autosave when you got into the building and it 'll be good