Online:Edge of Darkness

Release the Crypt of Hearts from Mephala's grip. Zone: Rivenspire Faction: Undaunted Quest Giver: Alanwe Location(s): Crypt of Hearts II Previous Quest: Lover's Torment Concurrent Quest: Pledge: Crypt of Hearts II Reward: Necromancer's Lich-Heart 1 Skill Point Very High Leveled Gold XP Gain: Very High ID: 5113 Group Size: 4

A dark influence has returned to the Crypt of Hearts

Nerien'eth the lich has returned to the Crypt of Hearts to find the ghosts he imprisoned there arrayed against him.

Quick Walkthrough

1. Fight your way through to the Study.
2. Search for the Ritual Site.
3. Enter the Portal.
4. Defeat Nerien'eth.
5. Talk to Alanwe.

Detailed Walkthrough

The Master has Returned

Alanwe confronts Nerien'eth

When you arrive in the Crypt, you will witness Alanwe trying to protect the spirits of her students from her former husband Nerien'eth. As the gate is locked, you can only watch as he banishes them.

Alanwe: "Leave the students be! I'm the one you want!"

Nerien'eth: "I don't know how you lot escaped from torture, but it will resume."

Alanwe: "You are not yourself, Nerien'eth—let me help you."

Nerien'eth: "Help yourself, wretch."

Alanwe: "Wait!"

She will then be knocked to the ground, opening the gate as she is thrown through it.. Once she has recovered and Nerien'eth has disappeared, you can talk to her to see what is happening.

"Did you arrive from the surface? You need to take leave of this place.
There's a war on down here."

What's happening?

"My husband, Nerien'eth, made a Daedric pact that granted him lichdom. He … slayed me, slayed our students.
Then his minions tortured our spirits for years within these walls before you set us free. But he's returned." ^{is there dialogue for CoH1 uncompleted?}

I'll deal with him.

"Auriel must guide your steps for you to return today. I … accept your offer.
Nerien'eth is more powerful than I have ever known him to be. If we're to contest with him, we should go to his study up ahead—it's where he'll be."

Let's go.

"The students and I thought we could defeat Nerien'eth when he returned. We were wrong.
But even a lich as powerful as he's become can be beaten if we destroy his body. We just need to find him. Let's check his study up ahead. I'll meet you there."

Finding the Study

You first goal is to find the study. Entering the passageway to the north will cause Nerien'eth to speak up.

Nerien'eth: "Do you louts thing you're going to save my wife? She doesn't deserve to be saved."

Fight your way through the passageway until you reach a dead end. Jump down through the hole in the floor and enter the ruined library where Ibelgast and his fellow Spiderkith will be guarding it. Alanwe will appear briefly nearby to guide you before running off and fading away.

Alanwe: "It's just up ahead."

Alanwe: "And it's under guard. Be careful."

Ibelgast

Ibelgast: "Kill them―they are not to reach Nerien'eth. Alanwe is not to be harmed!" Ibelgast has a pair of Ibelgast Cauterizers with him, who both possess healing abilities and should be burned down pretty quickly. Every so often he will summon additional enemies, but they don't hit very hard and can be killed with AoE damage or even ignored, if your survivability is good enough. He will also occasionally cast a supression field to silence you

Once Ibelgast is dead, continue through the eastern passage until you reach the first major boss of the dungeon, fighting through spiders, ogrim, and spiderkith to reach Ruzozuzalpamaz.

Ruzozuzalpamaz

Nerien'eth: "Leave those souls―kill the intruders!"

Ruzozuzalpamaz: "Watch your tone, mortal. Blade or no, only the Whisperer commands me."

Ruzozuzalpamaz, a powerful Spider Daedra will have been idly torturing some souls before you arrived. In this fight, she will periodically use Spider Bites which will cocoon a party member. It will be up to a fellow member to interact with them and use the synergy Free Ally. Her lightning attacks are particularly dangerous; Creeping Storm will place a large AOE beneath a random player, as it will follow the player around, they should do their best to keep the AOE away from everyone else. Lightning Onslaught consists of a spray of fast moving AOEs. She will also summon Spiders periodically.

Once Ruzozuzalpamaz is dead, the souls previously being tortured will leave. ^{what exactly happens?} Continue east until you reach the locked study.

Alanwe: "I'll open the lock on the other side. The study is just a bit farther."

When you enter the room, Nerien'eth will immediately tell you to leave, while Alanwe runs to the door on the other side of the room.

Alanwe: "This way! Whatever he keeps in here now, it's well-guarded."

Nerien'eth: "Out! The lot of you! You've no right to enter!"

A group of skeletons will appear, and after defeating them and moving towards the room at the end of the study, Alanwe will comment on it.

Alanwe: "This was our bedroom. We used to store our adventuring relics here."

Alanwe: "It's warded. Quite a defense for such a small room. There must be a way to open it—and these statues didn't used to be here."

Like she mentions, interact with the two statues flanking the door and it will open. You will need to either be quick, or have a friend to help, as after a short period they will reset to their previous positions. Unfortunately, upon opening the door you will find the room was also guarded by more than just a ward.

The Chamber Guardian

Alanwe: "A guardian! Watch out!"

Alanwe: "The bedroom is open! Follow as you can!"

The Chamber Guardian will shamble out and you will need to deal with it before you can further investigate the room. It is a giant Skeleton that will constantly summon countless smaller skeletons which can overwhelm players if they are not dealt with. Once it is dead, enter the chamber where you will find Alanwe staring at her own corpse. She will have also found Nerien'eth's journal.

"This is where I died."

Alanwe: "This is where I died."

Alanwe: "My husband's journal mentions a ritual that brought the Daedra, performed out in the rain. Only a few courtyards on the grounds, so let's seek them out."

You have the option of asking her further questions about the ritual. Additionally, you can interact with her body whereupon she will burn it with blue flame.

Alanwe: "I can't stand looking at this any longer."

Finding the Ritual Site

Exiting through the passageway to the south, Nerien'eth will call out.

Nerien'eth: "You're a tenacious lot! If you insist, I'll be happy to feed you to the Blade."

Open the southern door with the lever and pass through to fight your way through the Daedra summoned by Nerien'eth. At the top of the hill, Alanwe will appear and look over the area.

Alanwe: "The Daedra have destroyed much of the school."

Alanwe: "Let's keep moving."

Continuing onwards, you will eventually reach a large chamber where you may meet some familiar faces.

Ilambris Amalgam

If you have previously completed Crypt of Hearts I you may recognize the twin Xivilai, Ilambris-Athor and Ilambris-Zaven, who respectively appear in a ball of lightning or flame falling from the sky.

Ilambris-Athor: "You again! We serve the Whisperer now, but we'll crush you just the same."

Ilambris-Zaven: "Have they come looking for the Blade, brother? How mortal of them."

As you fight them, they may seem suspiciously weak compared to your previous encounter with them, but this is because they have an ace up their sleeves. When one of them is nearly defeated, the next phase of the fight will begin.

Ilambris-Athor: "The mortals think they've won."

Ilambris-Zaven: "Let's show them how wrong they are, brother."

The pair will teleport to the central pile of rubble, each wreathed in their respective element before burning up entirely and climbing out of the ground as a flaming Bone Colossus known as the Ilambris Amalgam. The Amalgam will summon bolts of lightning around them that are relatively easy to avoid, and will also pound the ground to leave a large flaming circle which is more dangerous. They will occasionally charge if the player they are targeting is far away from them, knocking them over and dealing plenty of damage. After a while, flaming arrows will hail from the sky, almost taking up the entire area. These should be avoided at all costs, since they can kill very quickly.

Once the Amalgam has been defeated, you are free to keep searching for the Ritual Site. The quickest path to the correct courtyard is to go south, then turn right until you reach a large chamber. Along the path, Nerien'eth will threaten you.

Nerien'eth:"These crypts will be your grave. I will ensure that."

Upon reaching the room, Alanwe will confront her husband briefly.

Alanwe: "Nerien'eth. That blade you wield. How did you come upon it?"

Nerien'eth: "All that should concern you is that it counsels me. It convinced me of your betrayal, of the need for the students to pay for their insolence."

Alanwe: "It has led you astray."

Nerien'eth: "On the contrary, this Blade grants me a clarity I never had in life. And I will have you respect it."

With that, he disappears and summons many spiderkith to fend you off. But more importantly, a portal will be visible at the other end of the hall. Unfortunately, it is guarded.

Mezeluth—The Final Guard

Mezeluth: "You're nothing to me."

Mezeluth is a Spiderkith Mage. During this fight, the most important thing to watch out for is her Fulminating Void attack. When cast, the players will be pulled towards her and an AOE circle will be placed underneath them as well as smaller circles around the room. If the player has two circles overlapping, then when it explodes, most players will be oneshot. In brief time when it is possible, the players will need to roll away from each other while avoiding the other AOES, as being in either the allies' AOE or one of the mines of

Additionally, her Fire Rune attack will leave persistent AOEs around the room.

Confronting Nerien'eth

Once Mezeluth has been dealt with, Alanwe will run towards the portal.

Alanwe: "A portal! This must be the ritual site—where the Daedra are coming through. And where Nerien'eth is waiting."

Alanwe: "We'll meet on the other side. Be wary."

Alanwe approaches the Blade

She will enter the portal and you need to follow her through. You will emerge in a large chamber in which a single sword stands in the center. Alanwe will try to reason with Nerien'eth for the final time.

Alanwe: "Nerien'eth. Cease this madness. My friends have defeated your horde. Lay down your blade."

Nerien'eth: "You so love the sound of your own voice. Couldn't you see the Blade wanted you here all along?"

Alanwe: "The blade! I can hear the whispers from it. By the Divines—so many lives."

<Alanwe clutches at her head and starts to scream in pain.>

Nerien'eth: "The Blade hungers for you—for the connection between us. And I give it gladly!"

Alanwe then disappears.

To summon Nerien'eth to the battlefield, someone will need to touch the sword. Naturally, he immediately arrives to slay whoever would dare do such as thing.

Nerien'eth: "You think that Blade is yours to touch? It has a master. And he is me."

^{Really needs the fight strategy} At 35%, Nerien'eth will teleport to the Ebony Blade, becoming invulnerable as he draws it from the ground. Every once in a while, he will stun the whole party, and choose one person to drain with the Blade. The synergy given to the chosen player is relatively ineffective, and instead they must be freed by quickly damaging Nerien'eth until his damage shield drops.

Alanwe and the Ebony Blade

After you kill Nerien'eth, Alanwe will reappear and the trapped spirits will have been freed. Talk with Alanwe, who muses that maybe she never really knew her husband.

"Thank you, my friends. Nerien'eth was no longer the man I knew.
Perhaps he never was.

What happens now?

"I had hoped until the end that Nerien'eth could be redeemed. He never gave us the chance. I suppose I have to decide what to do with this blade. Try to move on. Whatever that means at this point.
Thank you again―you proved invaluable today."

Once you have completed the quest, a voice will call out to Alanwe.

Alanwe: "You did it! He's... gone."

Whispering Lady: "The mortal did well in feeding my killing word. My black edge."

Alanwe: "Who are you?"

Whispering Lady: "Never has the whispering from that blade been so... pronounced."

Alanwe: "You're the Daedric fiend that created it, aren't you? That weapon must never again be allowed to influence mortals."

Whispering Lady: "It has hurt you, has it not? Perhaps you could destroy it. Disable it. I could help you."

Alanwe: "You think I trust you, the one who twisted my husband, murdered my students? I will send the blade away, and I will do so on my own terms―no matter the cost. It will travel far, ever slipping from the hands that desire it. This cannot happen again."

Whispering Lady: "The Blade will fight you. It is fully empowered, and it wishes to return home."

Alanwe: "Never... again!"

Alanwe casts a spell on the blade, disappearing along with it. The Whispering Lady will be amused and she'll then speak directly you.

Whispering Lady: "Mortals never fail to amuse. That edge was fully sharpened, and would have seen great use at my side in the days to come, but Alanwe gave everything to cast it away. There is nothing left to take from her. You and I, however, will meet again."

You can leave the dungeon by teleporting out or using the portal. If you do the latter, you will find the other spirits either celebrating their freedom or mourning Alanwe.

Quest Stages

Edge of Darkness
Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
	I met a tortured spirit named Alanwe at the Crypt of Hearts. I have agreed to help her defeat the lich Nerien'eth, who torments her. Alanwe believes that we may find the lich in his study up ahead. Objective: Enter Nerien'eth's Study
	I should investigate the room at the far end of Nerien'eth's study. Alanwe hopes to find and confront the lich, here. Objective: Investigate Nerien'eth's Locked Chamber
	Alanwe has determined that the ritual site where Nerien'eth summoned the Daedra years ago must be nearby, and that his most recent attack must have originated from there. If we can locate the ritual site, it's likely the lich will be close. Objective: Locate the Ritual Site
	I found a portal within the Crypt of Hearts, likely the source of the Daedric invasion plaguing Alanwe and her students. I should seek Nerien'eth out beyond it, and defeat him. Objective: Defeat Nerien'eth
Finishes quest	Now that Nerien'eth has been defeated, I should speak to Alanwe. Objective: Talk to Alanwe

Notes

* Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the game and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.

• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.