The Skull of Corruption is a powerful staff that causes enemies to turn on each other. When you use it, it creates a duplicate of an enemy that attacks its original. This gives you a big advantage in fights and makes defeating opponents much easier.

How to Start the Quest

To begin the quest, the player must be at least level 5. Then, you need to find Vaermina’s Shrine, located southwest of Cheydinhal near Lake Poppad. However, the Daedric Princess won’t speak to you just like that — she requires a special offering: a Black Soul Gem.

Where to Find Black Soul Gems

Black Soul Gems are an extremely rare resource in Oblivion Remastered. They are required for Daedric quests and for crafting powerful enchanted items. However, they can't be found randomly — they must be created through a specific method.

The most common way to obtain them is by using necromancer altars. One of the most well-known is Dark Fissure, located in the mountains west of Skingrad. Similar altars can also be found in Cursed Mine, Echo Cave, and Loreth’s Tower. Every few days, a distinct red glow appears over the altar — this signals that it is active.

To create a Black Soul Gem, you’ll need a Grand Empty Soul Gem and a pre-prepared Soul Trap spell. While the red glow is active, kill a humanoid — their soul will be captured into the gem, transforming it into a Black Soul Gem.

In the Remastered version, fixed locations for Black Soul Gems have also been added. For example, in Testus Tower, on the top floor in the laboratory, you’ll find one lying on an alchemy table. Another one can be found in the Imperial City Arena — after victories in the fights, a rare artifact may appear in the secret winner’s chest.

Sometimes, Black Soul Gems can appear for sale from certain Mages Guild members if your character is at least level 10 and has a high reputation within the Guild. Specifically, the dark mage Ragaigra the Gravebinder in Bravil occasionally has them in her inventory. However, this is rare, and you may need to wait for her stock to refresh or manually trigger it with the "Wait" function.

How to Find Arkved’s Tower

After presenting the offering, Vaermina will tell you about a mage named Arkved, who stole her Orb. Your task is to find him and recover the artifact. Arkved’s Tower is located nearby — just south of the shrine.

Inside, you’ll face surreal, dreamlike rooms that feel like they’ve been pulled from nightmares. However, in the Remastered version, most of these trials can be skipped — in the central chamber, a hatch to Arkved’s Quarters is available right away.

The Reward

Once inside, you’ll find the mage unconscious. On the table beside him lies Vaermina’s Orb — take it and return to the shrine. Impressed by your skill, Vaermina will reward you with the Skull of Corruption — a staff that creates a hostile clone of the enemy to fight against them. This staff is incredibly useful in tough battles.

Tips for Completion

• If your Mysticism skill is too low to cast Soul Trap, train it with a simple spell like Minor Life Detection. Just repeatedly cast it in town or around camps to increase the skill.
• Save your game before entering Arkved’s Tower. Although you can go straight through, fully exploring the tower allows you to experience its unique atmosphere and collect valuable items.
• If you don’t want to wait for the red glow to appear on a necromancer altar, use the Wait or Sleep function to speed up time until the altar becomes active.

The Skull of Corruption is a powerful staff that makes enemies fight each other. When you use it, it creates a clone of the enemy that attacks the original. This gives you an advantage in battle and helps you defeat your foes more easily.