Thanks really enjoyed the mod - Did not start for me had to go find the guy in the basement to get the quest to start, once found quest ran fine, no CTD nor issues with SKSE. Your page was very helpful as well.
Really happy to find some fresh game play since Bethesda has been keeping the next installment on the back burner for too many years, been playing this since its release.
Again Thanks

Look For the Lower Case 'L' And You
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MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNMM
*Now Find The Mistake:
ABCDEFGHIJKLNMOPQRSTUVWQYZ
*Something You Really Want, After the
countdown!!!!!
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Now Close Your
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Paste This On 9 pages And Your Wish
Will Come True! Hurry, You Have 20
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can't find Herrold anywhere

do you mean the key to Necromancers Refuge or the key to Olava's house - if Olava's house you will have to pick the lock - if Necromanders Refuge the key is in the basement inside Olava the Feebles house.

where is the key to this home

Contains spoilers, sorry
After more detective work and testing with suspect spells and effects my suspicions are leading me to my Nightengale armor. I've been able to match the effects in the eyes to the the ones in the Nightingale hood, they are identical and the swirling dark blue smoke is from the "Shadowcloak of Nocturnal" power given as a gift after completing the "Darkness Returns" quest. To further test this theory I went to the Twilight Sepulchal which allows the Nightingale to select one of three special powers and well, I could not change out to any of them. It's quite odd the glitches happened right after leaving your dungeon but I don't think your mod had anything to do with it, it's jsut a coincidence really. I appreciate you taking the time out to correspond with me about this matter and I'm looking forward to playing any future releases from you soon. Thanks

Well to be honest right now I have no clue - the only thing in the mod that adds any sort of effect is the mask and it only uses vanilla effects , everything else the mod adds, chests, keys etc are just copies of vanilla items and have no effects assigned, the sealed door and the portal ring are vanilla effects also and are not applied to the player. I have checked every script and as I knew there is nothing in any script that applies anything let alone a shader to the player and I am unable to replicate the issue - dont ever get the effect let alone have it not go away. maybe you could email me a savegame and I can see if I can find anything. Going forward I will be adding mods to Nexus Forums and not Steam - one thing I have noticed is that the only bug reports are from Steam yet with hunderds of d/l's on Nexus no reports - might mean nothing but who knows.

Ummm no, I suspected a residual effect from the maks was causing the issue so it was the first thing I checked. I went over my recently added perks in Sneak and Archery in hopes a new, permanent ability was in effect. I've got a ghostly, understated blue sheen to my eyes along with the swirling dark blue mist. Its a nice. intimidating effect but I'd like to turn it off or on if possible. I'ts not the Waterbreathing spell which gives an all over blue body aura. I cast the spell several times to see if it was the culprit but the effect dissipated right on schedule. So must be something else.

I have learned through this process that people see different things depending on video settings. I have not seen that swirling applied to my player but I have seen it when equipping the mask Ptolenaak and my player then has an effect applied which looks like a cross between a frost effect and the textiure shader used for the sword Chillrend - a kind of a cold blue effect. Ptolennak apoplies three effects when equipped - I figured the effect was due to Waterbreathing but it does get taken away when the mask is unequipped - I just checked. I figure it must be that - I do see a swirling when the mask is first equipped. You do not happen to have the mask still equipped do you? If so could you remove it and see what happens to the swirling [also check active effects and see if waterrbreathing is gone]. Thanks.

Happy Easter "bubscam" I just wanted to pass this little interesting tidbit along to you in hopes you can shed some light on the matter. What has happened is my character, after leaving your great mod developed a dark blue vapoer that permanently swirls around my character's feet. The effect reminds me of Boethiah's Ebony Mail armor which unlike the effect around me comes and goes when enemies are aproaching, I've checked my enhancements, perks and so on for any clues but no joy. I really don't see what this effect does if anything so I'm hoping you can help. than ks.

@ sarojz - Very interesting, I have not retested yet but I will here in a little bit - I probably played 100 times in testing and constuction and never incurred a bounty - I will post my stats and some screen shots . As for more there is more to come - think my ideas are too big for the time I have though darn that regular 9-5 job but that pays the bills and this does not LOL - I figure about a month till I can release Vorenak's Caldera, chapter 2 of Hall of the Dragon Priests which is much bigger and featues a new worldspace [currently fairly small though with great scope for expansion - that way there are no other edits to vanilla which reduces the chance of mod conflicts] with 7 or 8 dungeons.

Well I went ahead and added perks to no avail. My speech is high enough to payoff the 5 septim bounty I incurred and was able to get Herrold's picture. I fully enjoyed your mod dude the best mod and even rival's Bethedsa's own designs. It was well balanced between scares and leveled enemies. The length and breath of the dungeon was awesome! Luckly for me my mage has 100 level in all magic but it still I got killed several times. Very enjoyable, haven't had a good battle like that in a long time now. Thanks again for a great mod, I hope you plan on making more soon.

Well If I'm facing her she is sitting on my left so i would haveto approach on the right. My sneak is 100 but I have no perks since my character is an high Elf mage. i'll add some perks to see if that helps.

@sarojz - I was always able to go into sneak mode even when she was sitting there - if I remember correctly I would go into the corner at the left side of the door and crouch and I would be able to pick the lock undetected. I will check that out again later, not able to do so right now but I will this evening and I will let you know.

Hmmm, I found Herrold just fine at the farm outside Whiterun but when I go to access his basement digs in Olava The Feeble's house she is sitting outside her door and is there all day. Her door is constantly locked at novice level so I can easily pick it but doing so with her siting there in broad daylight will result in a 5 septim bounty. So I wait until nighttime and pick her lock, She screams bloody murder and calls the guards because I essentially broke into her house. Quite a fix isn't it? Any suggestions?

Cool - appreciate the comments and I will check out the chairs at the end.

Thanks dude.I finally got past that bit.Anyway it was a really good mod.I couldn't find any faults with it at all.There was a little glitch with the chairs where the book at the end was.They were floating in the air XD.

Equip the mask that you got from the Dragon Priest - the door recognises DP's and lifts the enchantment that seals the door. Thanks

Can't open the iron door with the weird effect on it.I got the key from the avatar thing and went to the door and i teleported into the room and then killed the Dragon Priest guy and then went into that circle and came out of the room.But it still tells me to open the door.Which i can't do:(

ok - thanks @mabscottsville and @freemouse - that lets me know what I need to work on - got me flumoxed right now since I cannot make it do that unless there is an issue with the contents of the bsa file since I have the source scripts and do not rely on the bsa - anyway I appreciate the help pointing me in the right direction - I have somewhere to start - and I wish I could say the window was mine but it is in the game - the dark brotherhood sanctuary if I recall correctly.

@freemouse he made 2 versions of the mod a darker ambeint light and a brighter ambeint light version both are on skyrim.nexus but only one is on steam

whatever the version here on steam is. "summary of my playthrough" when i started the quest i got both items and i "read" the map/painting from in the chest and from my invintory, and the misc quest "get the key" did not complete and "a trip to the pale" did not start, after i used the console to update it to point me to the dungeon, i read the first book and the quest did update telling me to find Ptolenaak the marker pointed to the avatar's room i looted both the chest and the body and no quest update and had to use the console again to update so the gate under the really amazing stained glass window (did you make that or is it already in the game?) open, you should know the rest already

Hi. I tried twice (un- and reinstalled). Both times the key is in the chest. When I take the key and the painting the key is not in my inventory but the painting is. I did read the painting because I thought that would trigger it but it didn't. As to your other question I have no idea what that means, so I suppose I use the standard .esp. I click subscribe here on Steam and it works instantly.

One more question to try to pin down the issue that I should have asked - either things don't work or my design is not intuitive and I need better prompts. The Key to Necromancers Refuge is the goal of a the misc task you get from Herrold. Taking the key completes [at least should - I just tested and for me at least it did] that misc task but it does not set stage for anything else. Taking Herrold's Painting from that same chest AND THEN reading it is what does. Reading [OK, really it is looking but it is a "book" as far as the game is concerned] is what should [and again just did for me at least] starts the main quest "A Trip To The Pale". I hate to impose but if you could let me know if you are doing something other than that which would at least pin down whether it is simply the prompts I give people [Herrold mentions the painting] and my thought process that is at fault rather than scripts not kicking in and setting quest stages when they are supposed to.

I will definately be looking at the quests updating - I also am no big fan of having to use console commands - I need to figure out how to replicate it is the issue for me right now - it's kind of akin to taking your car to the shop, telling the mechanic it makes such and such a moise and darn if it won't make the noise for the mechanic - I will also look at Olava The Feebles house again - same issue I cannot replicate but I will be working on every bug reported. A question to you both - were you using the standard .esp or the higher ambient light one - I don't see why that would matter - the only difference is the light settings but you never know - might give me somewhere to start - thanks for continuing to feedback - without the comments I have no hope of fixing whatever issues there are.

This questline looks very interesting and fun. The mod works well with other mods, so no problem. However, I have the same issue as mentioned below: quest not updating after getting the key from the chest in the basement. (Not a fan of console commands). I'll uninstall for now and check back later to try again. Good job so far. Very much looking forward to playing it later.

now that you say that, i remember getting the book/note off the stand and i did see that line, but after the dagur and dp fights i completely forgot about it so yeah maybe put it closer to the door and have the warps to and from Ptolenaak before you get to it. it might help other forgetful people like me. i rembered another bug i don't know if it was the mod or not but i went into the feeble old lady's(whatever her name is) house before starting the hotdp quest and had a crash to desk top as soon as i clicked on her door i don't know what caused it

Thanks - I will rethink the current "clue/prompt" I put in for this - this whole modding thing is actually very interesting - never done it before - you build what makes sense to you, it is all you can do, but all of our minds work differently and we see/notice/interpret things differently. The current "clue/prompt" is a note on a pedestal when first approaching the hall that ends in the sealed door - the note includes the line "The Door knows you. The Door sees you. None but Dragon Priest may approach and pass." That line is designed - at least in my mind - to prompt the thought that wearing the mask might help - a disguise if you like. However this note is seen before being transported for the fight with Ptolenaak and when the player is returned they are placed right in front of the door past the point at which they would see the note. What is it they say - out of mind out of sight - I will consider relocating the note or perhaps the return point.

no i didn't equip the mask i didn't think about that, maybe you should make subbtitles or something when you approch the door that says only the dp can pass, just an idea.

Interesting - I will have to try to figurte that out - all quest stages and the sealed doors updated for me on all tests but I will certainly look again - one question regarding the sealed door you did equip the mask yes? That is what unseals it - the idea is that the enchantment recognises and will only let pass a dragon priest - using the mask as a disguise is what gets you through - I ask only to ensure I have an issue with the door to fix - thanks for the feedback

i like the mod. i noticed a few bugs though. some light/torch light effects go on and off, all the endtables in the bedroom in the dungeon are placed backwards, the quest never updated i had to use "setstage" to get through the quest (example: harrold told me to get the key from the chest, i get the key, still points to me to the chest, not the dungeon) and the enchanted door after killing the boss is still sealed so i had to use "tcl" or "disable". again, i like the mod and i look forward to playing it again after the quest updating and the echanted door bugs are fixed. the light/torch effects and the endtables are just me nitpicking and i'm not really worried about them.

Thanks for the feedback - were you using the standard .esp or the hi ambient light version. On my test machine with high video settings the lighting was low, atmospheric and perfectly playable and I never used candlelight/magelight or or for that matter torches during testing - however I did also test on a lower video settings pc where the light was far too low to be playable in my opinion which is why I created a second version with much higher light settings - let me know as I would like to get this right before releasing Vorenak's Caldera - the second installment of Hall of the Dragon Priests which is two, maybe three weeks away. Thanks

I really enjoyed this mod, well thought out with lots of good ideas. The idea behind the mod is also a very good one, the original storyline does require a lot of effort for nothing more than a pretty mask collection.

I also quite like a bit of low lighting - having to keep magelight available (only in a few areas) makes you move away from your favourite weapon combinations and adds some suspense.

The pack of necromancers was a good variation, a number of mages attacking at the same time excludes the option of tanking my way through. Having to deal with multiple assailants, separating them and taking them out indiividually, provides much more of a challenge.

Really looking forward to the next installment - please keep up the good work.

Enjoyed this mod! The only small anoyance was the lighting, most of the time I had to be using Candlelight to make progress! Apart from that, keep up the good work!