Discerning the Transmundane is criminally underrated as a questline

[TamrielTactician]

Been replaying and just finished that Daedric artifact quest where you're basically solving a puzzle box for Hermaeus Mora, and man, it actually holds up way better than I remembered. The whole thing is so weird and self-contained compared to most Daedric quests that just feel like "go here, kill stuff, grab artifact."

Like, you're genuinely trying to figure out what's going on. The Black Book mechanic is cool. Septimus Signus is one of the most unsettling NPCs in the game—dude's been staring at a wall for god knows how long waiting for instructions. And then the ending where you have to choose between helping him or just taking the artifact and leaving him to his fate? Most people probably don't even realize you can just walk away.

I think it gets overlooked because it's not flashy like the Daedra's Best Friend quest or tied to a big faction, but the environmental storytelling and the whole vibe of "ancient alien knowledge" is genuinely creepy in a way Skyrim doesn't usually go for. Plus if you're doing a mage build it's basically mandatory, so you might as well appreciate it.

Does anyone else actually engage with the choice at the end or do you just speedrun it for the artifact?

 

[DragonbornVet]

Yeah, that quest is solid. The Septimus angle is what sells it for me - dude's basically a cautionary tale about obsession, and the fact that you can just... leave him there after he opens the box is genuinely dark. Most players probably don't even register that as a choice because they're already looting and moving on.

The puzzle box itself is pretty satisfying to work through too, way more engaging than the usual "fetch three items" Daedric quest structure. And Hermaeus Mora's whole vibe - this entity that's literally just interested in knowledge for its own sake, no grand scheme, just "give me your book and I'll give you power" - is refreshingly straightforward compared to something like Boethiah's Calling where you're doing all this weird ritual stuff.

That said, I think part of why it flies under the radar is the location. Discerning the Transmundane doesn't start until you talk to Septimus way up at the College, and a lot of players either don't go there or rush through the College questline without exploring side content. If it was tied to a main questline or had a radiant component, people would probably talk about it more.

Do you usually kill Septimus or let him live? I've always wondered if there's a mechanical reason to pick one over the other beyond the roleplay angle.