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How to Complete “Hard Answers” in Skyrim

Show Gallus’s journal to Enthir, copy Calcelmo’s stone with paper and charcoal, then return to Enthir and speak with Karliah to complete “Hard Answers.”
WorldSkyrim Length2 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team

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To finish “Hard Answers,” show Gallus’s Encoded Journal to Enthir, get into Calcelmo’s Laboratory in Markarth, copy the Falmer-etched stone with paper and charcoal, then return to Enthir and speak with Karliah. You must complete “Speaking with Silence” first.

1. Take Gallus’s journal to Enthir

After “Speaking with Silence,” find Enthir in Winterhold, usually at the Frozen Hearth or the College of Winterhold, and show him Gallus’s Encoded Journal. Enthir recognizes the writing as Falmer and directs you to Calcelmo in Markarth.

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2. Get access to Calcelmo’s research

Find Calcelmo in Understone Keep and ask about his research. The Dwemer Museum key is an optional objective: the essential task is reaching the laboratory, its translation guide, and the stone. Depending on your quest state and prior interactions, you may be able to get access through dialogue or other in-game means; walkthroughs describe more than one route, so there is no single key method that applies to every player.

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3. Cross the Dwemer Museum and laboratory

Enter the Dwemer Museum and proceed to Calcelmo’s Laboratory. Guards in the laboratory are hostile, but killing them is not required by the walkthroughs. Choose an approach that suits your character:

  • Sneak: Move carefully and avoid engaging the guards if you want to minimize detection and combat.
  • Use traps: The laboratory’s traps can be used against enemies, though doing so may still lead to combat or alert nearby guards.
  • Fight: You can confront the guards directly if stealth is not your priority.

Stealth, traps, or combat are described as options in secondary walkthroughs; the best choice depends on your tolerance for detection, fighting, and possible in-game crime consequences.

4. Find the guide and make the stone rubbing

As you follow the laboratory route toward Calcelmo’s Tower, collect Calcelmo’s Falmer Translating Guide. At the stone, use a Roll of Paper and Charcoal to make a rubbing. Walkthroughs report that the materials are nearby, so look around the stone and its immediate area if you do not already have them.

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5. Return to Enthir, then speak with Karliah

Take the rubbing back to Enthir. He uses it to translate Gallus’s journal, revealing more about Gallus’s suspicions of Mercer Frey and the Nightingales. Then speak with Karliah; that conversation completes “Hard Answers” and moves the Thieves Guild story toward “The Pursuit.”

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Quest sequence at a glance

  1. Complete “Speaking with Silence.”
  2. Show Gallus’s Encoded Journal to Enthir in Winterhold.
  3. Find Calcelmo in Understone Keep and gain access to the Dwemer Museum.
  4. Reach the laboratory, collect the Falmer Translating Guide, and make a rubbing of the stone with paper and charcoal.
  5. Bring the rubbing to Enthir, then speak with Karliah.

Enthir’s in-game reaction sums up the journal’s language: “This is just like Gallus. A dear friend, but always too clever for his own good. He’s written all of the text in the Falmer language.” (Elder Scrolls Wiki: Enthir.)

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These steps reflect secondary walkthroughs rather than official Bethesda quest documentation. They do not establish platform- or edition-specific differences or a verified fix for quest bugs.

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