After completing The Promised, Broken main story quest in Starfield Shattered Space, you get to choose what sub-house to help. There are three houses within House Va’ruun you can help in order to gain access to the Scaled Citadel. One of those houses is House Veth’aal, whose headquarters are located in The Keep within Va’ruun’kai.
When you arrive at The Keep, you can enter and speak to the Ministry of State and the head of House Veth’aal, Viktor. Viktor will state that his son, Vaeric, has decided to give up his claim to House Veth’aal, which makes him a traitor and sentenced to death. To get House Veth’aal’s help for the main story in Shattered Space, you need to find Vaeric and decide his fate. Here’s how to do that.
How to locate Vaeric in Starfield
After leaving The Keep once you’re done speaking with Viktor, you can head over to Herald’s Rest. This is a bar in Dazra that Vaeric was known to frequent. Here, there are three NPCs you need to speak with to try and get information on Vaeric’s whereabouts. The first NPC is Bianca Latif, an old friend of Vaeric’s who is near a railing in Herald’s Rest.
Speak to Bianca Latif.
Bianca will be especially tight-lipped about Vaeric, but you have the chance to persuade her to tell you where Vaeric went. In fact, you have the chance to persuade all three NPCs at Herald’s Rest to discuss Vaeric’s whereabouts with you. Even if you fail these persuasions, though, the third NPC you speak to will tell you that Vaeric had a friend, Tane, who might know where he is. You’re told that Tane should be arriving at the bar any moment.
After a few seconds, Tane will walk up the steps to Herald’s Rest and you can confront him. Tane has tattoos on his face and neck, so he’s difficult to miss. By speaking to Tane, you learn that he’s not even a House Va’ruun member, which gives you some common ground with him. Once you go back and forth with Tane for a moment, you’re given the chance to pay him 1,000 Credits for Vaeric’s location. Just paying Tane is much easier than any alternative.
You’ll need to fork over some credits if you want to save some time.
Paying Tane reveals that he actually placed a tracker on Vaeric so he could come and find him once Vaeric escaped. Tane offers to join you outside the city walls so you can both track Vaeric. Head to the western wall of Dazra, exit the gate, and the tracking begins.
How to track Vaeric in Starfield
Tane’s tracker works by beeping slower or faster depending on what direction you’re facing. If you’re facing the right direction toward Vaeric, the tracker will beep faster. If you start going in the wrong direction, the tracker slows down. While you’re free to use the tracker to successfully find Vaeric yourself, you can also look below at the map to see exactly where the tracker will lead you:
The map showing where Vaeric’s tracker leads
The tracker eventually leads you to an Abandoned Camp to the northwest of Dazra. Here, you need to investigate the camp for clues as to where Vaeric went, seeing as he’s no longer at the camp. Here are the clues you need to investigate:
The tracker laying next to the bed on a crateThe Vortex Spawn on the ground to the left of the bedThe footprints directly next to the Vortex Spawn (Bounty Hunter only)The bloodstains on a rock to the right of the bedThe tracker is one clue you need to find at Vaeric’s camp
Once you discover all of the available clues, you and Tane will be ambushed by Foul Vortex Horror enemies. These are new enemies in Shattered Space and they’re all at level 49. The enemies can manipulate energy to teleport themselves and you, so you need to be careful around them. Vortex Horrors have powerful melee attacks and are quite fast and aggressive. There are three total Vortex Horrors to kill before you can proceed with the quest.
After all of the Vortex Horrors are dealt with, speak with Tane and tell him what you discovered at the camp. This leads to tracking Vaeric old school style by trying to pick up his footprint trail at the base of the camp. Follow your quest markers until you reach a farm. Speak to the NPC at the farm and convince them that you know Vaeric came through there. Remember to use discretion in dialogue to appease Viktor.
The NPC will reluctantly say that an injured person came through there a week ago and they patched him up and sent him on his way. You’ll be given a general direction as to which way Vaeric went, which gives you another quest marker to follow. At the end of the quest marker, you’ll stumble upon a farmhouse, which you can enter and investigate. Here are the clues you need to find in the house:
Vaeric’s Log – Entry 1 is sitting on a table in front of a couch on the top floor of the houseVaeric’s Computer is located in the back room of the houseVaeric’s Log Entry 1 is a clue you need to find in the house
With those clues discovered, head back outside to tell Tane what you found. However, you’ll be interrupted by Vaeric, who’s been living at the farm and caring for some animals.
Deciding Vaeric’s fate in Starfield
During the conversation with Vaeric, you can choose to listen to his side of the story or be hostile towards him. If you want to kill and be done with Vaeric, simply pick dialogue options that say his father wants him dead. However, it’s worth listening to Vaeric, as there is a peaceful resolution to the situation that makes both sides happy.
If you choose to hear Vaeric out, you’ll learn that he didn’t want to get involved with his father’s politics. Instead, he simply wanted the choice to chart a course for his own life. He feels immensely burdened by what he’s put his father through but still doesn’t want to be the heir to House Veth’aal.
At the end of the dialogue, if you heard him out, you’re left with three choices:
Persuade Vaeric to return homeTell him he’s free to go, but you need his Signet Ring as proof of death for Viktor. You can also demand 10,000 Credits in addition to the ring with this option.Attack him and take his Signet Ring as proof of deathVaeric can either live, die, or face his father’s judgement
The best outcome for all sides is to let Vaeric live but take his Signet Ring to give to Viktor. Persuading him to go home is another good option, but requires you to pass a persuasion check. There’s no real point in attacking him unless you’re playing that kind of character in Starfield.
In the end, you return to Viktor with a Signet Ring or with Vaeric. You’ll get the power grid codes you need for the main story in Shattered Space and can continue helping the House Va’ruun factions.
