- Meet Tolfdir and the trainees outside Saarthal.
- Follow Tolfdir into the ruins.
- Find Arniel Gane and help him find some artifacts.
- Use the Saarthal Amulet to escape the trap.
- Follow Tolfdir deeper into the ruins.
- Discover the danger within Saarthal.
- Talk to the Arch-Mage and receive your reward.
First, head off to Saarthal and wait for Tolfdir and your fellow trainees or just join them for the way. When all have arrived, follow them into the ruins. Once inside, Tolfdir will tell you to help Arniel Gane, a fellow mage researching the ruins, in finding magical artifacts. Follow the path till you meet Arniel; he will ask you to find 4 artifacts. They are all close-by: 3 Enchanted Rings, and 1 Ancient Amulet. When you pick up the amulet, it will trigger a locking mechanism and you will be trapped in the small area. Talk to Tolfdir through the gate and he will suggest to try and use the amulet. The Amulet will be listed in your equipment as Saarthal Amulet, and wearing it will trigger a resonance effect with the wall from which you picked it. Tolfdir will wonder if this effect has any impact on your spells, which is your hint: cast any of your spells to the wall and it will break down. At the same time, the gate behind you will be released and Tolfdir will join you.
He will then start exploring the new passage and you should follow him. You will enter a small room where a ghostly apparition of Nerien will warn you that you have apparently set in motion a series of events which will test you. Nerien says "you alone can avert the disaster" and that the Order will be watching you, but reveals nothing more. Once the apparition disappears, you will find out that Tolfdir did not see any of it, although he felt something was happening. You will inform him of Nerien's message and he will be quite surprised to hear about the Order's involvement (since the Saarthal's ruins are not associated with their faction). He will then suggest to check out the surrounding coffins.
Two Draugr will attack right away, and reveal a passage to further depths, and a lever-activated grate. Beyond, a circular room is populated by a few Draugrs ready to attack your group. Once you dispatch this group, Tolfdir will say he wants to examine the room closer, but that you should press on and find out what might be lurking ahead. The only other exit from this room is a door locked out of reach, but easily accessible (by activating the two chains on the sides of the door), leading you to the next zone.
In the first room of this section, you will find a group of Draugr (including, possibly, a shout-capable Draugr Scourge), and a magic trap (fire rune). Once you clear the area you can climb the stairs and check above the side where you entered from for a locked (Adept-level) chest. At the opposite end of the room (South-East corner), you will find an unlocked chest and a door, leading to a down-ward passage with a pressure plate trap, another unlocked chest, and more Draugrs. Beyond lies a catacomb with 6 rotating pillars, a locked gate and a lever.
First Puzzle: You will have to rotate the pillars until they are in the correct place, then pull the lever. The answer to each pillar is on the wall behind the pillar.
Continue exploring the ruins, watching out for Draugr and traps (mostly pressure plates and magic runes). You will encounter a level dependent Draugr, and eventually you will be faced with another lever-activated locked gate.
Second Puzzle: The four pillars close to the gate must be arranged according to the symbols displayed by the four statues right before them. However, some of the pillars, when activated, will move some of the other pillars as well. The easiest way is to find out which pillar has what reaction and then start with the one who moves the largest number of other pillars, working your way down. When the pillars are in the proper position, activate the lever to open the gate. Alternatively, just start with the first pillar as soon as you walk into the room on your left and work your way around clockwise, turning each pillar just once.
Tolfdir will catch up with you right before a large room with a massive floating orb. As you walk into the room, a Draugr will animate and attack. He is named Jyrik Gauldurson and will be essentially immune to damage until Tolfdir approaches the orb and starts draining its power. At that point you can fight and defeat Jyrik. He will glow with sparks, flames, ice, or some combination thereof during the fight. He can be injured by elemental magic that he is not glowing with. For example, if he is flaming and has sparks coming from him, he can only be injured by ice magic. However, he is not invulnerable to other methods of attack. On the PS3 with all recent patches intalled, Jyrik was quite vulnerable to physical damage as expected, as were his summoned frost atronachs.
Once Jyrik is dispatched, Tolfdir will tell you to reach the Arch-Mage at the College, while he remains behind to keep an eye on the artifact. Check the room for loot, including a Gauldur Amulet Fragment, the Writ of Sealing for Jyrik (related to the Forbidden Legend quest), and a Staff of Jyrik Gauldruson. Make your way through the door behind the orb to enter a room with a chest and a Word Wall (with a word of the Ice Form shout). Follow the passage for a shortcut back to the first area of the ruins.
Talk to the Arch-Mage in the College. He will thank you, give you a Staff of Magelight, and ask you to check with Urag gro-Shub for any possible lead regarding the nature of the artifact, initiating the Hitting the Books quest.
