Tamriel Rebuilt:Atriban's Metamorphosis

Reshape the future of a hapless alchemist. Quest Giver: Llaals Sathrobar Location(s): Arvud Reward: Atriban Deras' Sword and Quality Restore Fatigue, 2x Quality Restore Health, Quality Restore Magicka and 200 gold OR 200 gold Disposition: +35 (Atriban Deras), +15 (Llaals Sathrobar) ID: TR_m4_Arv_Metamorphosis

Something's bugging Arvud's alchemist.

Quick Walkthrough

1. Talk to Llaals Sathrobar on Arvud's streets about Atriban Deras.
2. (Optional) Enter Atriban Deras's store and find his house key.
3. Enter Atriban Deras's house and speak to the occupant.
4. Confront Ashvubabi Bishmalkit in the ruins northeast of Arvud and either:
   • Kill her.
   • Convince her that the townsfolk are coming for her.
   • Offer her a favor in exchange for lifting the curse.
   • Give up on lifting the curse.
     1. Go to Atriban and either:
        • (With 65+ Speechcraft) Convince him to live on.
        • Kill him. (200 gold)
5. If the curse was lifted, enter Atriban's store and speak to him.
6. Talk to Llaals Sathrobar for 200 gold if the curse was lifted.

Detailed Walkthrough

Llaals Sathrobar, a friend of Arvud's local alchemist, Atriban Deras, is pacing the streets of town. Atriban has been missing for a while, and Llaals has been unable to raise any response from his house. He will ask you to find a way in, and investigate what has happened to Atriban, and will suggest searching Atriban's abandoned alchemy store as a starting point. Enter the alchemy store and take the key to Atriban's house from on top of the desk. Then enter Atriban's house (just below the store) to search it for signs of the alchemist.

(You can alternatively enter the house without finding the key, by bypassing a level 40 lock)

Once inside Atriban's house, speak to the shalk on the bed, who will turn out to be Atriban Deras himself. He is not especially enjoying his new buggy form, and will request that you assist him in becoming an elf once more. His only lead is a mabrigash whom he believes he once angered. He asks that you go and speak to her, and ask her to lift whatever spell she has placed upon him.

The mabrigash is camped in the ruined buildings northeast of Arvud, down the slope slightly from the ancient Indoril ruin of Khirakai. You're looking for Ashvubabi Bishmalkit. She'll be amused at the idea of Atriban's plight, and you'll have four options to reply to her with.

1. "[Lie] You've angered a lot of people in Arvud by doing what you did. They will be coming for you."

This lie will trigger a hidden Sway check, and your success chances increase with higher personality, speechcraft and luck. You can also boost your chance of succeeding by being at full fatigue and raising the mabrigash's disposition prior to making the lie. If successful, Ashvubabi will agree to lift the curse.

2. "I can do any favor you want in exchange."

Ashvubabi Bishmalkit will agree to this readily. She enjoys curses, and so in exchange for lifting Atriban's, will force another one on you. Asides from a Blind Effect, this confers a steady Drain Health for a period of 25 seconds. You'll need (obviously) to survive this in order to return to Atriban.

3. "If you don't, I'll fight you."

This triggers combat with Ashvubabi and her slaves, and you will need to defeat them before returning to Arvud.

4. "You are right, I can't convince you."

This is the only option that leads to Atriban not being returned to his usual form. On choosing this option, you will be unable to choose any others. Your journal will update, and you will need to give Atriban the bad news. He's back in his house, and on hearing of your failure, will be very distressed. Unless you have 65+ Speechcraft, in which case you can convince him to try and enjoy his new life, he will beg you to kill him. Whether he is convinced to give shalkdom a try, or killed, your reward in this instance will be 200 gold (taken from his body in the event of his death).

Notes

• This quest appears to be a homage to Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis, a tale of a salesman who wakes up one day as a gigantic insect.
• Ashvubabi Bishmalkit may be killed as part of the Temple quest, Armun Ashlands Avenger, in which case this quest cannot be begun and Atriban will be found in his shop in his mer form with a crazy story to tell.

Quest Stages

The following Journal ID and Index codes can be used with the Journal console command to manually update the quest to a certain point.

Atriban's Metamorphosis (TR_m4_Arv_Metamorphosis)
Index	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		Atriban Deras, an alchemist in Arvud, has disappeared from his alchemy shop. His friend Llaals Sathrobar asked me to look for him. The door to Atriban's home is locked, but maybe I can find something in the shop upstairs.
20		I found Atriban Deras in his locked house as a shalk.
30		Atriban Deras thinks he was cursed by a mabrigash who he angered a long time ago. He asked me to remove his curse by either convincing the mabrigash or killing her. I accepted. The mabrigash's camp is in the ruins northeast of Arvud.
40		I failed to convince the mabrigash Ashvubabi Bishmalkit to remove the curse from Atriban.
50		I managed to convince the mabrigash Ashvubabi Bishmalkit to remove the curse from Atriban.
55		I took on a curse from the mabrigash, Ashvubabi Bishmalkit, to transform Atriban Deras back into a mer.
60		I killed the mabrigash Ashvubabi Bishmalkit.
70	Finishes quest	Atriban Deras thanked me for turning him back into a Dark Elf. He gave me the sword he used to repel the mabrigash and some potions as a reward.
80		Atriban Deras told me to kill him as an escape from his shalk form.
90	Finishes quest	I killed Atriban Deras in his shalk form.
100	Finishes quest	I convinced Atriban Deras to live the rest of his life as a shalk, in the wild.
110	Finishes quest	I dreamt of getting hit by a spell from that mabrigash, Ashvubabi Bishmalkit. As I woke up, I realized I had been cursed by her when I tried convincing her to remove Atriban Deras' curse and the effect of that curse showed up now.