Old Friends is the Dragonborn quest where Neloth’s run of bad luck finally gets an explanation. Ash spawn keep turning up, part of Tel Mithryn withered overnight and his steward was killed, so even the famously self-absorbed wizard concludes that someone on Solstheim is out to get him. The trail leads to an old apprentice and the depths of Highpoint Tower.
How to start
Complete Briarheart Necropsy and either Reluctant Steward or Healing a House. On your next visit to Tel Mithryn, several ash spawn are attacking outside. Kill them and go up to Neloth to tell him about it.
Walkthrough
Neloth’s suspicions
Neloth admits he has legions of enemies back in Morrowind, but believes this one is on the island. Before anyone gets killed he wants the culprit identified, so he hands you Neloth’s Ring of Tracking, enchanted with ash from the last attack. Wear it and it will light up the summoner’s source, though only within roughly a hundred feet. Asking about a bounty gets you a lecture on getting ahead of yourself. Captain Veleth in Raven Rock has a similar suspicion that the attacks on his town are organized.
Find the source of the attacks
With the ring on, head east of Tel Mithryn towards the coast. A small graveyard sits beside a lone pine, surrounded by deathbells. One tomb glows blue-white as you approach: the sarcophagus of Ildari Sarothril. Inside is a heart stone. Take it and return to Neloth.
Talk to Neloth
Neloth knows heart stones can animate ash, and the name on the grave makes him wince. Ildari was his apprentice before Talvas and volunteered for his experiment to implant a heart stone in a living chest, an idea born from dissecting Spriggans. She supposedly died, and he admits he did the surgery all wrong, which he only realised after your Briarheart trip. When you mention the grave had no body, he casts a divination and learns she is alive in Highpoint Tower. He will not come along, since the tower is full of monsters and traps and it is safer for him if you take the risk. He does promise some sort of payment.
Highpoint Tower
The tower’s real entrance, previously buried, is now clear of ash. Look for an unremarkable crevice on the northern side of the mound and deal with the ash spawn on guard. Inside, head down the stairs. The caverns to the southwest contain ruby, emerald and sapphire geodes worth mining.
Deep down is a prison holding a miner named Niyya. Free her and she explains that the miners took pity on Ildari, believing her badly hurt, only to be attacked in the night and locked up for her experiments. Further on, Ildari watches from a high ledge in a vast cavern full of Ash Guardians and ash spawn, insults Neloth’s choice of errand runner and retreats. Chase her through the ruins to the final chamber, where the fight ends with you tearing the heart stone out of her chest.
Return to Neloth
Neloth is pleasantly surprised you survived. He rewards you with a staff and makes you a member of his household, House Telvanni, assuring you there is no need to thank him.
Rewards
- A leveled staff
- Membership in House Telvanni
Tips and notes
- Membership means little for now: Neloth says it will matter in a few decades when he returns to Vvardenfell. The promised bed and chest at Tel Mithryn never actually appear; Bethesda’s comment was that Neloth’s promises should be taken with a grain of salt.
- If you looted the steward’s key from Varona during Reluctant Steward, the steward’s house bed is usable. The chest there is not safe storage, as the area respawns.
- Ildari lights herself up with Candlelight when she taunts you from the ledge, making her an easy ranged target at that moment.
- The heart stone in her coffin only appears once the quest starts, while the staff in it can be looted at any time. Strong Destruction spells can knock the stone out of the coffin; the ring only highlights the coffin, so you would then have to find the stone by eye.
- Highpoint Tower itself can be discovered early, but its entrance stays blocked by ash until this quest begins.
