Pieces of the Past is a quest available in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Background
Silus Vesuius, devotee of The Mythic Dawn cult, asks the Dragonborn to retrieve the separated pieces of a dagger named Mehrunes' Razor that once belonged to his family.
Quick walkthrough
- Once level 20 is achieved, a courier arrives with an invitation from Silus Vesuius. Alternatively, the quest can be activated by walking around Dawnstar, where townsfolk will mention the museum.
- When speaking to Silus in Dawnstar, the Dragonborn can agree to collect the artifacts.
- The scattered pieces of Mehrunes' Razor can be retrieved.
- The hilt is in Jorgen's house in Morthal
- The pommel is available from Drascua at Dead Crone Rock
- The blade shards are in Cracked Tusk Keep
- At the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon, killing Silus will allow Mehrunes’ Razor to be obtained.
Detailed walkthrough
Initiating the quest
Silus Vesuius
To start the quest, the Dragonborn must be at least level 20 and get an invitation to Silus' Mythic Dawn Museum in Dawnstar. The invitation can be received by either waiting until he appears, or fast traveling to any major area (village, town, city, etc.) where eventually a Courier will approach. Another way to begin this quest is to walk around Dawnstar until overhearing someone mentioning the museum. The quest also begins by hearing a rumor about the museum from any barkeep. There will be a miscellaneous quest, "Visit the museum in Dawnstar," in the quest log.
Mythic Dawn
After receiving the invitation, the Dragonborn can speak to Silus inside his house in Dawnstar. As soon as it is entered, the miscellaneous quest will be completed. He will tell of his ancestors who were members of Mythic Dawn, the cult from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion responsible for the assassination of Emperor Uriel Septim VII and the resulting Oblivion Crisis. Silus wants the Dragonborn to find the three pieces of Mehrunes' Razor. He will say the parts of the razor are with an Orc named Ghunzul, a Hagraven named Drascua, and the last with Jorgen, who lives in Morthal.
As each piece is returned to Silus, he gladly accepts them and rewards the Dragonborn with a leveled amount of gold.
The Hilt
Jorgen: Hilt of Mehrunes' Razor
Jorgen is one of the keepers of a part of Mehrunes' Razor, in Morthal. He will (usually) be near his house across the bridge. The hilt is in an adept-locked chest in Jorgen's house. His house can be entered by picking the novice-level lock to open it, pickpocketing the key off of him, or killing him and take the key from his body.
An alternative is to speak to him and either pay him off, persuade him, intimidate him or brawl him for it. Brawling with him may be the easiest way, as he can be defeated relatively quickly.
Another option is obtain the hilt during the "Rare Gifts" quest for Jorgen's wife, Lami. When their house is entered at night, Lami can be given the book Song of the Alchemists. The hilt can then be taken from the chest after the lock has been picked. It is not considered stolen since her request has been completed.
The Pommel
Drascua: Pommel Stone of Mehrunes' Razor
Drascua is holed up in a keep south-west of Markarth called Dead Crone Rock. She will be surrounded and guarded by Forsworn. She has the Pommel on her person, so it can be taken from her corpse after she is dead. There is a Word Wall where part of the Dismay Shout can be learned. On the sacrificial altar here there is a Stone of Barenziah. Note that while the quest marker points to the lower ruin entrance, one can skip much of the interior and work one's way up the exterior stairs to the Dead Crone Rock entrance door and proceed from there.
The Shards
Ghunzul: Shards of Mehrunes' Razor
There are three methods to get the last piece found in Cracked Tusk Keep, a small Orc stronghold west of Falkreath:
- Inside the front door, Ghunzul can be killed in his room (there are a few other orcs to beware of). His body can be looted to find the vault key, or the other one on his dresser can be taken. Down the stairs from his room to the right of the entrance, the box can be unlocked, revealing a button to open the gate.
- Outside, there is a novice locked door to the right of the main entrance. Using this method will allow the Dragonborn to skip the Orcs up above in the main room, however he or she will need to pick an expert lock in order to access the button and open the gate.
- There is a hatch on the roof of the Keep that grants access directly to Ghunzul's room.
Once the gate is opened, the vaults can be entered. Down the narrow path, the room with the shards on a pedestal will be reached. Activating the two levers on either side of the door will allow progress towards the shards. There are numerous tripwires and arrows that barrage from the ceiling when the shards are lifted from the pressure plate on the pedestal.
If the Dragonborn has the Telekinesis spell, he or she can retrieve the shards of the dagger from its pedestal by using the spell and standing in the doorway, avoiding all harm. But in doing so, it is possible to miss the chest that is in the right side of the room with the shards.
Alternatively, a bucket to the right of the pedestal can be picked up and used to slide the shards off the pedestal, replacing the shards. This allows you to obtain the shards without the use of a Telekinesis spell or being damaged by the traps. You can jump over the trip wires to bypass them.
The Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon
After delivering all three pieces to Silus, the quest continues at the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon, where the Razor can be repaired. There will almost always be one or two frost dragons there, due to the very close word wall/burial ground. Silus will next try to perform the task of speaking with Dagon. Receiving no answer from Dagon, Silus will ask the Dragonborn to try. Dagon will respond, and he will then explain that in order for him to repair the Razor, Silus must be killed. There are two choices:
- Kill Silus: Mehrunes will repair the dagger and give it to the Dragonborn.
- Spare Silus: Receive 500
, but the dagger is not received. This is done by sheathing weapons/readied spells to indicate Silus is not going to be attacked.
Regardless of the choice, two Dremora appear; they can be killed and looted for the Key to Mehrune's Shrine and Daedra hearts. Inside the shrine, there are two more Dremora inside and three chests and some random ingredients as well as many ingots of varying metals.
Should Silus survive, he will return to his home with the fragments and place them into a sealed display case that cannot be further interacted with.
Journal
| Pieces of the Past – DA07 | |
|---|---|
| ID | Journal Entry |
| 10 | Silus Vesuius, the owner of a museum dedicated to the Mythic Dawn cult, wants to hire me for a job. He'll give me the details inside his house in Dawnstar.
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| 13 | Silus Vesuius is offering me gold to retrieve the three pieces of Mehrunes' Razor from their current owners. Drascua has the pommel, Ghunzul has the blade shards, and Jorgen has the hilt.
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| 20 |
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| 30 |
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| 40 |
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| 50 | Silus Vesuius now has all three pieces of Mehrunes' Razor and wants me to help him reforge it at the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon.
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| 60 |
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| 70 | Mehrunes Dagon has asked me to kill Silus Vesuius. I will be given the reforged Razor if I succeed.
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| 80 | I have killed Silus Vesuius for Mehrunes Dagon. I should speak to the Lord of Destruction through his altar.
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| 90 | Mehrunes Dagon has promised to reforge his Razor if I place my hands on his altar.
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| 95 |
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| 100 | Silus is dead and Mehrune's Razor is mine.
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| 150 | I refused to kill Silus for Mehrunes Dagon. The Razor is forever out of my grasp.
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| 200 | Silus is dead. Whatever plans he had have died with him.
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Trivia
- The pieces of the dagger can be obtained before visiting Silus and the hilt can be looted. Obtaining one of these pieces will not initiate the quest. Talking to Silus will still be required.
- If Dawnstar is visited on the Dark Brotherhood quest "Contract: Kill Beitild," and the courier invitation has already been received, the quest journal will say that the quest "Visit the museum in Dawnstar" has failed if the killing of Beitild is witnessed and a bounty is accumulated. The only way to begin the quest is to overhear a conversation about Silus or by directly talking to Silus.
- If Dead Crone Rock was cleared of all the inhabitants including Drascua before doing this quest, Dead Crone Rock will be repopulated with opponents except for Drascua. Drascua will still be dead with her body still in the place where she was killed. Her corpse will now hold the Razor piece. Note that if she was killed on top of the tower and her body fell off, it will be necessary to search around the base of the tower for it during the quest.
- At low enough of a level, the Dremora may use iron or steel weapons, rather than daedric.
- Killing Silus before speaking to Mehrunes Dagon will result in the quest failing. The shards of the razor cannot be interacted with and the shrine door cannot be opened.
- The Dragonborn may return to The Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon after one week of in-game time has passed and the Dremora will reappear offering more Daedra Hearts. Loot will also respawn.
- After Silus leaves the museum and heads for the shrine, this is a good time (assuming a high-enough lockpicking skill) to pilfer the display cases. While the Mythic Dawn armor is of little apparent value or use, it is a chance to obtain the four volumes of the unique Mythic Dawn Commentaries, a set of books previously featured in Oblivion, though these versions do not increase skills and are of interest only as rare additions to the Dragonborn's library.
- If the Dragonborn returns to Silus' house after the quest is completed, goes to the display case containing the last remaining piece of the Mysterium Xarxes (in the display case to the left of the four Mythic Dawn Commentaries), then uses the destruction spells flames to destroy the page, a random useless item will replace it. In most cases it will transform into a bucket.
- Unlike most Daedric Quests, this quest can be refused and recorded as "Failed" in the quest log at the cost of a murder in the crime log. To do this without a bounty, the Dragonborn must wait for the patrolling guard to turn his back to the museum and start walking away from it, then enter and kill Silus; if this step is skipped, a guard will enter the museum to help Silus and the Dragonborn will receive a bounty.
- If the Dragonborn hands over all 3 Razor pieces at once, Silus will be very pleased, calling the Dragonborn efficient, and will give them triple the amount of gold that they would've earned if each piece was turned in separately. (Example: If each piece awards the player 1200 , then turning in all 3 pieces at once will award you 3600 )
- Choosing to let Silus live will count towards the miscellaneous objective "Assist the People of the Pale" for the Jarl of Dawnstar, if not already completed.
Bugs
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This section contains bugs related to Pieces of the Past. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:
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| Click to see the list of bugs encountered |
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