Skyrim:Buy Dwarven artifact

Bring your newly-obtained Dwarven artifact to Calcelmo in Markarth. Quest Giver: Courier Location(s): Any City, Markarth Reward: Varying Amount of Gold ID: WIAddItem07

Calcelmo wants to buy a Dwarven item from you.

Quick Walkthrough

1. Buy a Dwarven item from a shop in a city.
2. Receive the message from a courier.
3. Sell it to Calcelmo.

Detailed Walkthrough

After purchasing a Dwarven item of any kind inside a city, a courier may come to you shortly afterward with a letter from Calcelmo in Markarth, saying that he wants to buy the item from you. Reading the letter triggers this quest.

When you take the item to Calcelmo, you can sell it to him for twice the item's base value. If you succeed at a persuade (Speech 50+) or intimidate check, Calcelmo will offer two and a half times the item's base value.

Option	Dialogue				Reaction
Sounds fair. Here you go.	Wonderful. You've just made an important contribution to the advancement of a Dwemer scholarship.				Make the deal
I think you can do better than that. (Persuade)	Passed: Well... I suppose important research is worth every coin. All right. You have yourself a deal. How's double and a half its value in trade? Failed: With this the world could have a better understanding of the Dwemer! Come now, where's your sense of propriety? Extorting an old man like this.				Passed: Make a decision on the new deal Failed: Nothing
Not good enough. I'll shake the extra coin out of you if I must. (Intimidate)	Passed: Hold on, there. I suppose, in the uh, interest of research... I can spare a few more coins. Double and a half its value. That's all I can muster. Failed: Ha! I'll see to it the Jarl hears of your abuse of a court scholar. Shame on you.				Passed: Make a decision on the new deal Failed: Nothing
Not good enough. I'll hold onto this. You'll need to find another one.	Oh... well... I can see you have no appreciation for scholarship.				Cancel the deal

Notes

• Enchanted and non-enchanted Dwarven apparel and weapons (including arrows/bolts) can trigger this quest.
• You can keep the item and complete the quest by agreeing to sell, immediately exiting dialogue, and then dropping your item before it is removed.
• If the item is dropped, sold, tempered, or enchanted the quest cannot be completed unless you find another, identical item (as stated in his message).
• This quest may be triggered multiple times.
• Calcelmo may ask for the same item more than once.
• If you have two of the requested item and want to keep a specific one, trade the one you want to your follower then finish the quest as Calcelmo might end up taking the one you want to keep.
• As the price Calcelmo offers is calculated from the base value of the item (e.g., Dwarven gauntlets have a base value of 85 septims), selling an enchanted item through this quest can be a horribly bad deal.
• With the addition of Dawnguard add-on, Calcelmo may ask for Dwarven Crossbows, Enhanced Dwarven Crossbows, and Dwarven Bolts, including any of the three explosive bolts discovered during the Ancient Technology radiant quests.
• It doesn't matter where you buy it (be it Volkihar Castle or the Riverwood Trader) or from which merchant (even the Dremora Merchant via the Black Market power), you can still get the letter via courier to start the quest.
• If the requested item you bought is enchanted, it is strongly recommended that you don't disenchant it at an Arcane Enchanter, or you may need to tell Calcelmo you lost it.
• If the requested item was bought from a military camp, the note will say "military camp", rather than the camp's actual name. For example, Reach Stormcloak Camp and Winterhold Imperial Camp will simply be recognized as "Stormcloak military camp" and "Imperial military camp", respectively.
• Crafting, enchanting, looting, and stealing Dwarven weapons and armor doesn't initiate the quest; they must be purchased from a valid merchant. However, if one you made, enchanted, looted, or stole is sold to a merchant and purchased back, then that may be taken into account.
• You may or may not get his letter after you buy a Dwarven item from a blacksmith or merchant. If you want to keep the item and not start the quest (as it will remain stuck in your quest log until you finally sell the item to him), don't read the letter he sends to you and drop it or put it into a container (one belonging to you or even something in the depths of a dungeon). He'll still have the dialogue option to sell (as if you'd read the note, even though you didn't), but as long as you don't pick it, you can avoid starting the quest and keep what you paid for.

Bugs

• Calcelmo may not acknowledge that an item is in your inventory.
  • Removing the item and getting it back again, such as dropping it and picking it up or trading it to a follower temporarily, may fix this. You may have to be in third-person view or the item could disappear when you drop it.
  • If you have sold/lost the item, you can add it to your inventory through the console commands and it may be accepted by Calcelmo.
  • If you have sold/lost the item, a forged/enchanted replacement may not be accepted by Calcelmo.
• Items that have been marked for the quest, but the courier has not delivered the note regarding, can be enchanted but cannot be named. ^?
• The item Calcelmo requests may not be removed from your inventory when you are rewarded.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 2.0.1, fixes this bug.
• The Execution Hood from With Friends Like These... is counted as a Dwarven artifact for this quest.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.1, fixes this bug.
• Unique items like the Dwarven Black Bow of Fate can be targeted by this quest. If you're not willing to part with the item, your only choices are to drop the item, as detailed in Notes, or leave the quest active. ^?
• You can escape the dialogue right after Persuade/Intimidate speech check before advancing quest stage. Therefore it can be repeated for leveling Speech up. ^?

Quest Stages

Buy Dwarven artifact (WIAddItem07)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		Objective 10: Bring a <Alias=Item> to Calcelmo

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 100, 200, 255.

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage WIAddItem07 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest WIAddItem07.