Vampire Faction -- Beyond Death

Vampire Faction -- Beyond Death

In addition to being the realm to which Serana's mother escaped to live in peace away from her estranged husband this is also an interesting zone in its own right, so after you open the portal and enter and complete the basic elements of this quest but BEFORE you leave, take the time to carefully explore this area and talk to the different entities here -- some will give quests that can be completed within -- but bear in mind that there is a bug that is known to exist in the game that can prevent you from returning here after you leave to finish the story/quests -- nobody knows what causes it, and while we hope that there will be a patch soon that fixes it, for now you should treat this as if you can only come here the once time (now) and do as much as you can just in case you get hit by that bug! 

So embrace it and take as much fun and adventure as you can now because this is absolutely a Carpe Diem sort of place!

Now let's see to the elements of this quest first by seeking out and speaking to Serana's mum Valerica.  On the way to her following the marker you run across a male soul and have a forced conversation in which he demands that you help him to locate his friend Arvak -- which flags the Misc Quest FIND ARVAK'S SKULL (which requires you to Find Arvak's Skull in the Soul Cairn). 

Now continue to follow the marker to Valerica and you will eventually reach the fortress in the distance and meet with her mum!  As the conversation ensues you pick up a few more details and then her mum starts freaking out...  She interrogates you and then explains more of the backstory to you...  Never saw that coming, how about you?

Well that could have gone better but considering the usual route that family arguments take this was actually pretty tame really -- but in the end she comes around and gives us the information that we need, which begins with killing the trio of Boneyard Keepers who are guarding the fortress -- oh yeah, and there is a nasty dragon in the hood as well she warns us.  Go ahead and exhaust the chat options as you see fit and then head off to take care of the Keepers now.

During your travels to the three Keepers you will run across a Soul named Jiub who has a problem that he could use your help with -- he is a composer and writer and he is having trouble with writing his book, specifically once he understands that he is dead he asks you to help get his book out of the Cairn and back to Skyrim!   You agree to help him and that flags the quest THE IMPATIENCE OF A SAINT -- which involves locating the scattered pages of his research notes; ten pages that you need to find.  If you work through the chat options that he has available you learn a bit about him, his story, and events you should know about if you played Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. 

When you are following the markers for the Keepers you should come across a lit shrine with a pedestal upon which is sitting Arvak's Skull!  The game makes this a bit easier for you by popping a notice on screen if you get within a certain distance of it so when that happens go to the lit shrine and grab the skull, right?

One of the Keepers is actually on top of a tall tower and the marker leads you to a teleporter that will take you to the top -- use that, kill the Keeper, and then use the second teleporter at the top to come back down to ground level!

Once you kill the third and last Keeper set the quest marker to the Misc quest  FIND ARVAK'S SKULL and return the skull to the Soul.  Now flag the quest IMPATIENCE OF A SAINT and proceed to collect them.  Watch the video below as I show on the map where I am when collecting each page, with notes below for anything that you may want to be aware of...

Finding the ten pages for a Saint

Page 1 -- From where we entered the zone follow the path to the wall but do not climb the stairs and pass through it.  Instead turn right and follow the wall in an easterly direction to the next set of stairs, climb it and take the page.

Page 2 --Facing the stairs that lead up to Valerica turn left and head through the first opening on the right and inside is a chest with the page on the ground before it.

Page 3 --From the far west where we entered the zone head east but not through the wall -- when you reach the wall turn north until you reach the small building with the gem on top.  Go to the roof and the page is on the roof in front of a treasure chest here.

Page 4 -- Facing the stairs where Valerica is head right and follow the wall around, to up the stairs on the other side and into the passage on the left at the top.  The page is near a chest at the end of the passage.

Page 5 --South of the cold campfire spot of the quest giver is a purple well in a stone square.  The page is beside the well.

Page 6 -- Head back to the opening in the wall where the main path passes through but still on the west side (the side we entered the zone from) and turn to the southwest and enter the first building you come to -- the page is on the floor to the right in front of a treasure chest.

Page 7 -- at the base of a pedestal on top of a low structure.  There is a spell book for Conjure Mistmen on the pedestal so be sure to grab that too.

Page 8 -- Inside a locked building with a pair of blue light/locks that look sort of like eyes to the right of where we entered the zone to the far west.  The page is in the floor inside in front of a chest.  Shoot the two lights with arrows to unlock and open the door.

Page 9 -- From the stairs leading to Valerica head west until you hit the glowing border wall then turn left and follow it to the first tower on the left close to the wall.  Go between the tower and the building then turn right and go into the building -- find the teleport pad and teleport to the roof -- the page is behind the treasure chest up the nearby stairs.  Be aware that the gem up here is draining your life so you will want to be quick about grabbing the page :)

Page 10 -- From the west side of the wall (the side we originally entered the zone on) on the main path at the opening go up the stairs through the wall and down the stairs on the other side and then turn east.  Go east until you see Marvin the Soul Merchant by a cart -- the page is on a nearby barrel.

The Soul Merchant named Marven Stroud was a merchant in Skyrim before he was Soul Captured and while he has no interest in gold, he will allow you to trade 25 Soul Husks each to him for a sword, a battleaxe, light armor, heavy armor, or a spell tome.   Basically you get a random item of that type form him for each 25 husks you trade...

-- Wrapping up the IMPATIENCE --

After you gather all ten pages and return them to Jiub the pages are removed from your inventory and you receive the Locket of Saint Jiub -- the stats of which are Armor = 12 / Weight = .5 / Value = 2422 / 50 Stamina / 50 Carrying Capacity.  Not a bad reward!

In addition to the locket you also receive a copy of his book -- St. Jiub's Opus.  Considering the hassle you went through to get the pages you should probably read the book :)  This completes the quest IMPATIENCE OF A SAINT.

A Meeting with Durnehviir

-- Return to Valerica --

Now that those two side-quests are completed return to Valerica and speak to her and she is impressed by your success in defeating the three Keepers.  Follow her into the Boneyard as she is taking you to the Scroll... But wait!  As we enter the Boneyard who should show up but the deadly Dragon called Durnehviir!

Right, so you know you have to defeat him -- but once you take him out Valerica fills you in on his capabilities and the fact that he was no ordinary Dragon!  Follow her to the Scroll's hiding place to complete that part of the quest, so take the Scroll and then talk to Valerica. 

Once you depart the Boneyard and return to the Soul Cairn you are confronted by Durnehviir!  It seems that his temporary death was really temporary!!

Work your way through the chat options and he tells you about his situation and the respect that he holds for you now that you have bested him in battle.  After the mutual chest bumping he asks you for a favor -- he wants to gift you with the word of power that allows you to summon him in the overworld, so that he might return there even if temporarily whenever you have need of his assistance.

As you stand in awe of the gift, he teaches you the first word in the Shout Summon Durnehviir.  Be sure to activate the Shout by using a Dragon Soul...  Be aware that this is not the Shout that is related to the Achievement -- you get all three of the words right then so go ahead and activate them with Dragon Souls now.  Once you return to Skyrim target the ground and do that Shout to summon him, and he will teach you the first word to the new Shout called Soul Tear -- which IS the Shout that is associated with the Achievement.  Activate that new Shout and then when he departs, summon him again with his Shout to learn the second word, and then after he departs summon him a third time to learn the third and final word of the Shout, unlocking the Achievement "Soul Tear" (20 GP) which is unlocked when you learn the third word of the Shout.

Exiting the Soul Cairn completes the quest BEYOND DEATH and unlocks the Achievement "Beyond Death" (20 GP) for completing the quest.