After completing the quest "Tending the Flames", depending on when Bards College Expansion was installed, this quest can start slightly differently.
If installed before triggering that quest, Helvana will approach immediately after. If installed after completing that quest, Helvana will approach as a courier would after the player next arrives at a settlement.
Either way, Helvana will tell the player about other professors who have just returned from a trip, and that they would all like to meet the player. The player will receive miscellaneous objectives to meet most of them, and this quest will trigger, pointing the player to speak with Sledrig - who can be found on the top floor of the Bards College.
Bards College Expansion includes a new version of the college interior with a slightly larger layout to make space for the new professors. The original version of the interior is still intact, and the characters are set up to automatically go to whichever version the player is in. This was done to simplify making patches for Bards College Expansion to work with mods that rely on the original cell.
Sledrig will introduce himself and offer to teach the player. If they decline, they can return at any time to resume the quest.
Once the player agrees, their first objective will be to speak with Helvana about an event. They will also be given an optional objective to pick up some clothing more befitting a bard from Radiant Raiment - the clothing store very near to the Winking Skeever.
Once the player speaks with Helvana, they will be handed an invitation to a party being held for bards at the Winking Skeever. Helvana tells them she will meet them there.
If the player heads to Radiant Raiment before going to the Winking Skeever, they will find Endarie waiting outside. One of the dialogue options available if the player speaks to her will be "I'm from the Bards College, do you have clothing suited to someone of my ilk?". Selecting this will prompt her to give the player a new outfit which consists of several pieces of Bard clothing.
Once arriving at the Winking Skeever, a door guard will request the player's invitation. After handing it to him, the player will be able to enter.
Inside, music will be playing and the place will be full of bards of all sorts.
In the center of the main floor, Helvana will be speaking to someone named Haren. If the player approaches Helvana, she'll tell the player to introduce themselves to the bards there while she conducts her business.
The player will then need to speak with at least 6 of the following characters to move the quest forward:
In addition to a greeting option, each character also has a Persuade option in conversation. Selecting and passing this check will result in the player gaining a skill point.
The player will also find two other characters they can potentially have meaningful dialogue with.
If the player speaks to Loliah, a small exchange will take place and Helvana will get involved. Ultimately, the player will get a chance to Insult Duel here.
If the player has already learned the game from Peras, they will be more likely to have enough options to beat her (if the player participated in the game after learning from Peras, they will be free to use any insults they've learned here). Otherwise, Helvana will quickly teach the player and hand them a note to unlock a few insults and retorts.
There is no penalty for losing or drawing as Helvana will cover the wager, but if the player wins, they not only win the gold amount, but receive a guaranteed extra Bardic Inspiration.
For players who own East Empire Expansion and have completed Korrin's quest there, he will recognize them and offer a new insult that will guarantee a point against Loliah. Once the quest advances, he can also be spoken to again and can offer a hint as to who stole the missing item (see next part).
After the player has finished introducing themselves to a number of bards, they will be prompted to check in with Helvana. Once they do, they can tell her they are ready to leave, after doing so they will be told of a parchment that was stolen from Haren's room.
The player then has a variety of options.
If the player agrees to look for the culprit, they will receive an objective to ask after it. From here there are no markers, as it is up to the player to deduce who has it and accuse them to Helvana.
If the player speaks to Haren and asks him "The parchment, it was stolen when you arrived here?", he will respond that it was, and a new option will show up for the player "Hold a moment... Was the parchment stolen from your pockets or your room?". At this point Haren will become upset and the player will have several new options.
If the player bribes or succeeds at Persuade/Intimidate he will admit to it not being stolen at all and that he was hoping to sell it to someone else. The player can then go to Helvana and accuse Haren of being the thief.
If the player pickpockets Haren, they will find the "Tablet Cipher" in his inventory, which they can take and bring to Helvana.
If the player fails to get Haren to fess up and doesn't have the cipher, they can accuse one of the other bards at the party.
After resolving the theft, in whichever way they chose, the player will be told to return to Sledrig.
Upon returning to Sledrig, he will ask the player about the party and will acknowledge if they successfully caught Haren.
The quest will then complete.
At this point, if the player has already completed the Alduin questline through "The Way of the Voice", the next quest will start immediately.
Otherwise, the player will be given a miscellaneous objective leading them to either Jarl Balgruuf or the Greybeards, depending on where they are in the main quest.
Once the player does complete "The Way of the Voice", Helvana will approach them at High Hrothgar and tell the player Sledrig is waiting for them in his study, starting the next quest.