regarding lost to the ages

[gamer1234567890-2]

this quest bugged out on one of my previous characters and i dont know why. i picked up 3 of the 4 aetherium shards and no quest had appeared in my quest log, before heading to katia and for some reason her diary didnt spawn, and after clearing the ruins she was in the quest ended and i was unable to access the aetherium forge. on a character i had made even earlier than this one i had picked up one of the 4 aetherium shards early and was given a quest to investigate the shard i picked up. meaning the quest hadnt bugged out yet.

[Ilthe]

idk if there is mod fix existing, but
the working without issues way to go through this quest for me was to:
1) read the book (available in Whiterun near court mage)
2) go where the newly aquired quest directs you
3) don't take any shards before you get the quest saying you should take them

[Nabinkemper]

Do you have the Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch (USSEP) installed?

There is a known bug with the base game that when a shard is picked up prior to initializing the quest via reading the book or visiting Arkngthamz and speaking with Katria, the quest will not continue. The USSEP corrects the issue.

You may try using the console to drop the shards on the ground, read the book, and pick the shards back up. You may also reload a save prior to visiting Arkngthamz or Katria, drop the shards at a player home, leave and go to Arkngthamz, follow the quest there and recover the Aetherium shard from there, and then go pick up the others from the floor in the house.