Silenced Tongues

Silenced Tongues is a quest in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It can be started once you enter Volunruud and pick up Heddic's Volunruud Notes.

Short Walkthrough
In brief, the walkthrough for this cavern is: When you enter Volunruud, you start in a small cave with passages in several directions. The left-most passage has no enemies, but contains an urn and a treasure chest filled with loot. The next door leads into a crypt with a few Draugr lying at rest. Continue to follow the path straight down into a winding cavern with another Draugr warrior lurking about. The last room has a Draugr Scourge defending it.
 * Locate the Ceremonial Weapons
 * Unlock Elder's Chamber
 * Kill Kvenel

The Scourge has the ability to use the Unrelenting Force Shout and Frost-based destruction magic, making it a challenging opponent. Be aware of the rusted metal plates on the cave floor. Stepping on them causes a metal spike to jut out and stab the player if he/she fails to move away in time.

The First Ceremonial Weapon is located here, on the wall behind the throne the draugr deathlord was sitting on.

Next, look at the right-side opening in the main cavern. Follow the winding tunnel and you will reach the top of a multi-level room with several Draugr opponents including a Draugr Wright, capable of casting Frost Destruction spells.

If you are good at sneak, you can crouch in the doorway and use arrows to pick off the Draugr. There is the possibility that they will notice your attacks and run down from their posts and up to the player's position.

If the player goes for a more direct approach, run out of the tunnel and down the stairs into the bottom of the room. Be aware of the swinging door trap in front of the opening to the portion of the room where the Draugr are located. This area narrows into a corridor that can be used to trap the Draugr. The player can step on the trap and move out of the way so it hits the enemy or cast rune spells on the tunnel floor so the enemies trigger it as the run by. If timed properly the player can use a Shout attack to hit multiple targets as they cluster in the tunnel as well.

After you've cleared the room, go through the spiked gate, avoiding the trigger plate, and follow the right tunnel up onto a high catwalk. Go across to the room with an Ancient Nord Helmet on a skull. One Draugr will attack in this room. Continue through the door to pick up the Ceremonial Sword. You will be attacked immediately by two Draugrs.

With the two Ceremonial weapons in hand, return to the main cavern and turn your attention to the final room at the top of the steps. As you enter, you'll see a large table surrounded by candles. There's a Shield on the table and some embalming tools. Open the door on the opposite side of the room and the two ceremonial weapons are taken. Now you can actually open the door to the Elder's Cairn.

Enter this part of the cavern and look right to see a Burned Corpse kneeling in front of a fireplace. Don't waste arrows or melee on it -- it is passive. Proceed into the next room. If the player looks up there are two Draugr at the top of the room. If possibly kill them or the may drop down off of the bridge and sneak up behind the unsuspecting player. In this room, there is a rhytmic swishing sound which fades to become the sound of Nord chanting, indicating that the words of a Shount are nearby. But that also means there is a strong defender...

Continue down the hall to a narrow passage. At the end, you can see what appears to be a wraith. This boss monster is Kvenel and, depending on your level, equipment and skills he can be a very challenging opponent.

Kevenel is capable of casting various ice based destruction spells, summoning Frost Atronachs and using the Unrelenting Force Shout. Depending on the player's level and how far into the chambers you fight, there is also the threat of fighting mid-high level Draugr such as the Draugr Scourge that will crawl out of the coffin besides Kevenel's throne. Draugrs may also awaken mid-battle and join the fight. Do not allow yourself to be surrounded.

It took two hits to down a companion, one to kill a Familiar and two hits to down a Level 7 warrior. Note that for some play-throughs Kvenel won't heal, so if you have decent Sneak, kill the Draugr on the path, sneak until you can see him, put an arrow into Kvenel, sneak away until Hidden, wait a few seconds and repeat - you should be able to take down this difficult opponent without drawing a sword or casting a spell.

It is also possible to lure Kvenel back into the main cavern that leads into Volunruud, where there is more room to dodge and large pillars to hide behind. On the way back to the entrance door place rune spells (e.g. Fire Runes) along the cave corridors or use stronger summons such as Flame Atronachs to slow him down and cause some damage to cover your retreat. Make sure to use the sprint button or Kvenel will go up the staircase that leads to the Dragon runes, over to the stone bridge, drop down and outflank you. This typically happens if the user doesn't move far enough into the room to fight him. Once in the main hall, keep moving around the pillars so Kvenel is unable to get a clear shot at you. After taking enough damage, Kvenel may temporarily retreat into one of the side corridors giving the player the chance to heal and recover.

Once you have beaten Kvenel various other opponents will spawn, kill them and get the Shout on the wall (Aura Whisper.)

''Alternatively for Stealth builds, you can bait him into revealing his back with arrows for an easier backstab. Just shoot him in the face once and run back to the entrance until he turns around. While walking back towards the throne, his Stealth detection is extremely low.''

Bug

 * (PS3) You may rarely be unable to pick up one or both of the ceremonial weapons needed to advance the quest, despite it being highlighted with a quest arrow. Can be fixed by reloading an autosave.
 * (PC) In the room with the swinging spiked gate, a pot can trigger the gate and it will remain stuck, blocking your path.
 * (X360) You may rarely be unable to pick up one or both of the ceremonial weapons needed to advance the quest, despite it being highlighted with a quest arrow. Can be fixed by reloading an autosave.