123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 ======================================================================== THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM Walkthrough V0.1 By Idarak ======================================================================== ======================================================================== CONTENTS ======================================================================== Introduction [INT1] Chapter 1: Start of an Adventure [WLK1] Chapter 2: The Streets of Whiterun [WLK2] Chapter 3: Bandits, Bandits, Everywhere [WLK3] Chapter 4: Curved Swords, Cairns and Companions [WLK4] Chapter 5: Healing a Tree [WLK5] Chapter 6: On the Way to Windhelm [WLK6] Chapter 7: Wandering Near Windhelm [WLK7] Chapter 8: Reaching the Rift [WLK8] Chapter 9: Unbearable [WLK9] Chapter 10: City of Thieves [WLK10] Chapter 11: Prince of Thieves [WLK11] Chapter 12: Anywhere I Wander [WLK12] Chapter 13: Into the Woods [WLK13] Chapter 14: Finishing Up in Falkreath [WLK14] Chapter 15: Yer a Wizard, Harry [WLK15] Chapter 16: Walking in a Winter Wonderland [WLK16] Chapter 17: We Actually Do Something Worthwhile [WLK17] Chapter 18: Dawn of a New Star [WLK18] Chapter 19: Learning a New Vocabulary [WLK19] Chapter 20: Dragonborn - Vampire Hunter [WLK20] Chapter 21: Capital Punishment [WLK21] Chapter 22: Quest Overdosed [WLK22] Chapter 23: War and Peace [WLK23] Chapter 24: Reaching the Reach [WLK24] Chapter 25: City and Stone [WLK25] Chapter 26: Blades, Brothers and Broken Towers [WLK26] Chapter 27: MapQuest Ain't Got Nothin' On Us [WLK27] Chapter 28: Questathon, Part 1 [WLK28] Chapter 29: Questathon, Part 2 [WLK29] Chapter 30: Civil Disobedience [WLK30] Chapter 31: Soul Reaping [WLK31] Chapter 32: Blackreach [WLK32] Chapter 33: Winning the War [WLK33] Chapter 34: Search For Auriel's Bow [WLK34] Chapter 35: The Dragonborn Returns [WLK35] Chapter 36: Starting Our Solstheim Adventure [WLK36] Chapter 37: Exploring the Island of Ash [WLK37] Chapter 38: Saving the Skaal [WLK38] Chapter 39: Questing on Solstheim [WLK39] Chapter 40: Forbidden Knowledge [WLK40] Chapter 41: The Final Battle [WLK41] Version History/Special Thanks/Contact Details [VSC1] ======================================================================== INTRODUCTION [INT1] ======================================================================== Hello, and welcome to my complete walkthrough for Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, quite possibly one of my favorite games of all times. This walkthrough covers the main game and all three DLCs (Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn), and will inform you how to complete every main quest, side quest, miscellaneous objective, and unmarked quests, as well as guide to discover every location in the game and collect all unique items; all in an integrated step-by-step manner. If you don't like following strict directions and orders, this may not be the guide for you. Note that this guide will lean towards siding with the Imperial Legion during the Civil War, as well as the Dawnguard during the Dawnguard questline. Players siding with the Stormcloaks or Volkihar Vampires will find it slightly harder to follow the guide, but it is by no means difficult. This walkthrough was created using the Xbox 360 version of the game, although it works fine with the PS3 and PC versions of the game. For PC players I would strongly recommended installing the Unofficial Patches for Skyrim and its' DLCs; these remove many glitches and bugs and makes the game much stabler. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 1: START OF AN ADVENTURE [WLK1] ======================================================================== 1) When the game begins and you arrive in Helgen following the commencement of the [UNBOUND] quest, follow Ralof and Hadvar and then choose who you will enter the keep with. I'm choosing Hadvar since this is an Imperial Legion playthrough, but it really doesn't matter in the end if you choose differently. 2) Anyway, enter the keep and fight through the numerous Legion/Stormcloak soldiers inside. You'll also pick up items from chests and barrels, learning the basic elements of combat and gameplay. The only important item is the spell tome found on the dead mage in the prison cell. 3) Further into the keep you'll encounter frostbite spiders, and then have the option of fighting a bear or sneaking past it. You will given a bow that you can also use to dispatch it. Once outside, the game's first quest, Unbound, will officially be completed and you'll be free to explore Skyrim at the start of the [BEFORE THE STORM] quest. 4) The first thing you'll want to do is loiter near your ally for a while until they give you the miscellaneous objective to join the Legion or Stormcloaks. Although this is mostly pointless if you're with someone allied with the faction you aren't planning to side with. Anyway, head northwest from the exit to the caves into the woods over a rocky cliff to find a small bandit camp. Kill the three bandits then loot everything they own. You'll find the skill book [ONE-HANDED: NIGHT FALLS ON SENTINEL] and [TREASURE MAP I] on one of the bandits. 5) From the bandit camp, head west to find a Shrine of Talos atop some steps. Loot the shrine, the bodies of the worshipers, as well as the Thalmor agent. From here, head north to the river and work your way east past the rocks to find a fisherman's camp. You can trade with them, but mostly you'll want to steal everything they own. Stealing in this game usually comes with little consequence past an occasional gang of hired thugs. 6) Just to the west is the Guardian Stones, where you can choose your first standing stone blessing. The Guardian Stones increase the level-up speed of different types of skills; choose the one that is most applicable to your playstyle. 7) Head north across the river to find Anise's Cabin. Ignore Anise and loot the inside - you can find a skill book [ALCHEMY: SONG OF THE ALCHEMISTS]. Make sure to pick the lock on the cellar door to loot it, as well. Once you leave Anise will attack you, so deal with her. If you go south and descend the rocks to a narrow ledge, you'll find a valuable jewel in an elk's skeleton. 8) Go southeast towards the 'mine' icon on your compass to find Embershard Mine. This simple starter dungeon includes numerous bandits and some decent loot, as well as plenty of locks to pick. You can find a skill book [SMITHING: LIGHT ARMOR FORGING], a Clairvoyance spell tome in the locked treasure room, and you'll also want to grab a pickaxe so you can start mining for ore, which can be used to improve your weapons and armor. Exit the mine via the rear exit. 9) From where you emerge, you'll see the town of Riverwood just to the northeast. But you have one more location to visit first. Go east, sticking close to the rock face, heading south up the path when you can. Follow the twisting path south and then go left up a side path to reach another small bandit camp. Kill the occupants then collect the skill book [BLOCK: WARRIOR]. 10) Head back north down the hill to the peaceful village of Riverwood. The first thing you'll want to do is speak with your ally's relative. In my case it was Alvor the blacksmith. After speaking with the relative, you'll be sent to the city of Whiterun, where we'll be headed next. But there's plenty of stuff to do around Riverwood first. Ask the relative for help to get a selection of free items to choose from; you can also take minor items from their home. Speaking to Alvor while he's at the forge lets you initiate a brief smithing tutorial if you ask him if he needs any help. Simply follow the instructions to create two low-level objects that you get to keep. 11) Now for some questing. Opposite Alvor's house is the Riverwood Trader. Enter and speak to Lucan Valerius about his missing decoration to begin [THE GOLDEN CLAW] quest. We'll get to this later. After agreeing to help him you can also get a miscellaneous objective to join the College of Winterhold. 12) You can usually find Sven or Faendal wandering around town. Speak to them to begin a short questline regarding their love triangle with Camilla. You can either give Camilla the letter you were given to indict the other person, tell Camilla about the letter, or betray the questgiver to the other person. Whoever you sided with will give you some gold and become your first potential follower. Let them follow you and aid you in combat if you want. Siding with Faendal is probably the best route, though, as you can perform an exploit by paying him to raise your Archery skill then withdrawing the gold from his inventory, allowing you to train for free for as long as you have enough money to match his ever-increasing prices. You can also take his house key and loot his house. 13) The final place to visit in town is the Sleeping Giant Inn. Sven works here at night and can give you a misc. objective to join the Bards' College. The bartender Orgnar can be asked about rumors, giving you several miscellaneous objectives regarding quests that will be dealt with later. He can also teach you how to make potions using the nearby alchemy lab, and give you a bounty regarding a bandit leader in the region that needs to be disposed of. 14) You've done pretty much all that you can in Riverwood, now. But before leaving, head northwest across the river from the mill island to find a large hollow tree trunk. Inside it is the chest Treasure Map I lead you to; loot it for some gold and jewels. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 2: THE STREETS OF WHITERUN [WLK2] ======================================================================== 1) We're finally ready to head to Whiterun, the first of the game's big cities. Leave Riverwood via the east gate and follow the road north, by the river and down the hill. You'll soon see Whiterun on the great plain ahead, and likely encounter some Imperials escorting a prisoner. When you reach the bottom of the hill, enter the nearby Honningbrew Meadery. You can't do much here at the moment, but go upstairs and open the Adept-locked bedroom (this is a moderately-difficult lockpick that might take some time to open). Once inside, steal what you want and grab the skill book [ALCHEMY: A Game at Dinner] on the table. 2) Head west to the next building, Pelagia Farm. Outside you'll encounter warriors named the Companions fighting a giant. Aela the Huntress will likely speak to you after its dealt with; ask about joining the Companions to be directed to Kodlak in Jorrvaskr. From here, go northwest to the Whiterun Stables, where you can hire a caravan to take you to different cities, as well as purchase a horse (something I find completely unnecessary.) Khajiit caravans sometimes set up shop here, allowing you to trade with them. We still have some stuff to do before entering the city, though, so head back east along the southern city wall. 3) Directly north of the Honningbrew Meadery is Chillfurrow Farm. As with most farms, you can pick the various crops in the fields and sell them to the owner or farmhand during the day for some gold. You'll definitely want to break into this farm house to get the skill book [ONE-HANDED: THE IMPORTANCE OF WHERE] in one of the bedrooms. Further north is the relatively unremarkable Battle-Born Farm. 4) Finally, head northwest behind the large cliff the city is built on. Head west around the northern side of the city and you'll find a small camp built into the rock. Take what you want (including the skill book [PICKPOCKET: AEVAR STONE-SINGER]), but beware that the resident bandits will return as soon as you touch the locked treasure chest. Anyway, it's finally time to enter Whiterun. You can steal the bandits' horse if you want and gallop back to the stables in style. 5) You'll probably want to enter Whiterun during the day to be able to speak to NPCs easily. Head up the slopes from the stables to be confronted with the city guards; you can Persuade, Bribe or Intimidate them, or tell them about Riverwood's call for help. Either line gets you inside. 6) The first building on your right is Warmaiden's, where you can buy, sell, forge and improve weapons and armor using the various crafting stations outside. Speak to Adrianne the blacksmith and she'll give you a sword to take to her father. The Drunken Huntsman is up the nearby steps; here you can meet your first hireling, Jenassa, who will follow you for 500 gold. Trade with Elrindir, and grab the skill book [ARCHERY: THE BLACK ARROW, V2] from behind the counter. 7) Further east is the busy marketplace. You can find numerous people with jobs here, such as Brenuin, Ysolda and Carlotta Valentia. Get a quest from all of them, check out the two adjacent shops to the south. On the right is Belethor's General Goods, where you can find a skill book [SPEECH: BIOGRAPHY OF THE WOLF QUEEN] in the main room, and Arcadia's Cauldron, where there is a skill book [ALCHEMY: HERBALIST'S GUIDE TO SKYRIM] in the back room. Back in the marketplace, you'll see Fralia Gray-Mane being harassed by the Battle-Borns. Speak to her about her son to begin the quest [MISSING IN ACTION]. 8) Next go to the Bannered Mare on the east side of the market. The owner Hulda can provide you with more rumors, and the bard Mikael should be spoken to about his infatuation with Carlotta. You likely won't be able to persuade him this early in the game, so brawl with him. After winning he'll back down. Uthgerd the Unbroken will also challenge you to a fist fight, becoming a follower if you win. The Argonian Ale Brenuin wants is in the side room, so steal it, along with the mammoth tusk behind the bar if you can for Ysolda. Head back outside and hand in the misc. quests to their owners. Giving Ysolda the tusk also gets you a free Speech skill boost. 9) Head north up the steps from the marketplace to the dead-looking Gildergreen tree. The house on your left is House Gray-Mane; enter and speak with Fralia and her son Avulstein about finding evidence. Outside you should find Amren and his wife fighting, speak to Amren about recovering his sword to be sent to a nearby local dungeon. Across from the Gray-Manes' place is the Temple of Kynareth - speak to Danica Pure-Spring inside about the Gildergreen to begin the quest [THE BLESSINGS OF NATURE]. You can find a skill book [RESTORATION: WITHERSHINS] on a bookshelf in the bedroom. 10) Nearby you can find Lars Battle-Born, who asks you to stop Braith bullying him. Braith can be talked down with a few simple words. Northwest of the temple are steps leading down to the Hall of the Dead. Speak to Andurs the priest and agree to find his amulet before heading into the catacombs. Inside are a few skeletons, as well as a skill book [BLOCK: DEATH BLOW OF ABERNANIT], one of the notoriously difficult-to-find [STONES OF BARENZIAH: 1/24], as well as Andurs' amulet in the back room. Give it back to him for some gold. 11) The next house to the west is House Battle-Born, where you must look for clues regarding Thorald's disappearance. It's usually empty during the day, so break in if you can. You can also speak to Idolaf Battle-Born and tell him you support his family. This lets you gain access to the house without trespassing, and you can take some small objects. Break into the room attached to the northwest bedroom (where you can find a skill book [TWO-HANDED: BATTLE OF SANCRE TOR]), where a book on the desk tells you what you need to know. Take it. 12) Before reporting back to Avulstein, check Carlotta's house just to the south. Break in and read the skill book [ENCHANTING: ENCHANTER'S PRIMER] by the bed upstairs. Now go back to Avulstein. Avulstein offers to accompany you to Northwatch Keep; agree or disagree, as we won't be doing that for a LONG time. 13) We're now ready to go to Jorrvaskr, the large structure to the east of the Gildergreen. Once inside, watch the fight if you wish, get the skill book [HEAVY ARMOR: HALLGERD'S TALE] on a southern table, then head downstairs into the living quarters. Loot the various rooms - in one of them is an Expert-level locked display case with a skill book [ARCHERY: THE MARKSMANSHIP LESSON] in it. You may want to leave this one for when you have plenty of lockpicks to waste. In the room at the far end you'll find a skill book [TWO-HANDED: SONG OF HROMIR], a [STONE OF BARENZIAH: 2/24] in the Harbinger's bedroom, and Kodlak himself. Speak to him about joining the group to begin [TAKE UP ARMS]. Follow Vilkas all the way outside and then spar with him briefly in the yard. 14) Take Vilkas' sword to Eorlund at the Skyforge just to the north. Give it to him, get the skill book [SMITHING: THE ARMORER'S CHALLENGE], then head back down to the living quarters and give Aela her shield. Afterward walk with Farkas down to your new sleeping quarters. He'll now give you one of two random repeatable quests - [HIRED MUSCLE] or [TROUBLE IN SKYRIM]. The former involves simply finding the marked NPC and beating the stuffing out of them, while the latter involves clearing out a nearby dungeon. If you have the former, quickly do it now. If you have begun the latter instead, then hopefully you'll get it cleared before too long thanks to this walkthrough. 15) Now head up to Dragonsreach, the palace on the hill. Speak to Irileth when she accosts you, then speak to the Jarl about the dragon crisis. After a long conversation, the Before the Storm quest will conclude and you will be given a leveled weapon. The [BLEAK FALLS BARROW] quest now begins - follow Balgruuf to speak to Farengar about his work and receive your next objective. As well as selling you magical items, Farengar can also give you a tutorial in using the arcane enchanter, and give you some frost salts to deliver to Arcadia. 16) Give Proventus Avenicci his daughter's sword on your way upstairs, where you can loot various objects and examine the war map to mark new locations on your world map. The door to the Jarl's Quarters is nearby. Go upstairs here and search the Jarl's rooms for a [STONE OF BARENZIAH: 3/24] and a skill book [ILLUSION: BEFORE THE AGES OF MAN]. The book The Legend of Red Eagle is also lying around somewhere up here. Reading it gets you a new miscellaneous objective. Finally, you can exit the palace onto the upper balcony for a great view of the city. Before leaving Whiterun, deliver the frost salts to Arcadia at Arcadia's Cauldron. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 3: BANDITS, BANDITS, EVERYWHERE [WLK3] ======================================================================== 1) We're now ready to explore some dungeons around Whiterun and hopefully level up in the process. From the city gates, head directly west-northwest and soon you'll reach Bleakwind Basin, your first giant camp. Giants are docile until provoked via proximity or aggression, but can kill in one hit and are difficult for low-level players to deal with. For the moment you may want to avoid them and steal everything at the camp until you can deal with them properly. Loot from the camp what you can, then head west-northwest again to find Redoran's Retreat. 2) This is a relatively simple bandit camp with a final room containing the bandit leader, a chest with [TREASURE MAP IV] inside it, and a skill book [SNEAK: 2920, LAST SEED, V8] on a crate. Back outside, head northeast-ish towards a 'Nordic ruin' icon on your compass. This is Silent Moons Camp. Kill the bandits outside then ascend the stairs to the circular area at the top. In the center you'll find a chest and two random 'Lunar' weapons. These sub-par weapons deal extra damage at night. 3) You can now enter the ruin via the door at the foot of the stairs. There are some more bandits and a locked door leading to another room with another Lunar weapon and a ladder leading back outside. 4) East of Silent Moons you'll find another bandit camp, Halted Stream Camp. Get past the barricades and take out the bandits outside before entering the mine. There are a lot of iron veins here you may want to mine as you fight through the bandits to reach the boss chest. One of the bandits will also have the unique Poacher's Abe on him, which deals extra damage against animals. The rear tunnel leads to the bottom of a stake-filled pit outside, where some minor items can be looted. Fast travel back to Pelagia Farm near Whiterun. 5) It's now time to get the treasure described in Treasure Map IV. Head south up the cliffs from the farm, veering right and searching around the spiky cliffs until you find the treasure chest. The path leading to the chest is somewhat noticeable, so it shouldn't take too long to find. The final location we want to explore before going to Bleak Falls Barrow is White River Watch. Go to the Honningbrew Meadery, cross the river to the east and head northeast slightly to find it. 6) Take out the bandits inside and enter. You can easily fool Ulfr the Blind by lying to him. Clear out the rest of the dungeon, including the bandit leader Hajvarr Iron-Hand on the overlook above, claiming his unique Ironhand Gauntlets. Now you should have eliminated the bandit leader specified in the bounty notice; in that case, speak to Proventus in Dragonsreach for a reward. These bounty quests become available again after a while and can be completed whenever you want. It's now time to progress with the main story. Head back to Riverwood. 8) From Riverwood, head west across the river and begin ascending the cliff towards the large stone tower. It is guarded by some bandits, and you can find treasure and a great view if you climb it. From there, curve north and west around the rocks to reach Bleak Falls Barrow. Take out the bandits outside then enter. You can find a locked strongbox hidden behind the pillars to the left of the door. 9) Work your way through the barrow, fighting bandits in the first few rooms. After solving your first Nordic pillar puzzle (the solution is snake, snake, whale), you'll find a skill book [PICKPOCKET: THIEF]. Further on you'll encounter Arvel the Swift. Kill the giant frostbite spider, free him from the webs, then follow him deeper inside. He'll soon get killed by draugr, so make sure to loot the golden claw from his body. 10) Keep going and eventually you'll enter the Bleak Falls Sanctum. After reaching the puzzle door, match the animal icons with the pattern on the underside of the golden claw, that can be examined in your inventory. In the expansive final chamber, approach the Word Wall at the back to learn your first Shout, [UNRELENTING FORCE: 1/3], although you cannot use it yet. Kill the draugr boss and take the Dragonstone from its body, then exit via the nearby stairs to the mountains outside. 11) Before returning to Lucan or Farengar, there are some nearby places we should go first. Descend the mountain to the south to the lakeside. There you can dive down to a sunken barrow with some look to grab inside it. Just watch out for the slaughterfish. A little bit west is South Brittleshin Pass, which you should enter. 12) Watch for the spell glyph on the floor then progress through this small dungeon. In the necromancer's room you can find a skill book [CONJURATION: THE WARRIOR'S CHARGE]. Further on you'll face more skeletons and spell traps, followed by the exit to North Brittleshin Pass. You're now ready to hand in your quests. Go back to Riverwood and give Lucan Valerius his golden claw to complete The Golden Claw quest and get some gold. 13) Head back to Dragonsreach and give Farengar the Dragonstone. After Irileth rushes in, follow her upstairs to speak with the Jarl. After the conversation, you receive a weapon and the next quest [DRAGON RISING] begins. Follow Irileth outside and then head to the meeting point near the Western Watchtower, located slightly northwest of the city. Wait for Irileth and the guards to arrive, then go to investigate the tower with them. 14) After a short while, the dragon responsible for the attack, Mirmulnir, will return. For your first dragon fight, this one is made fairly easy by the assistance of Irileth and the guards. Dodge its fire breath and attack it when it lands. When the dragon is dead, you absorb a power from it. You can now test out the first word of your first Shout, Unrelenting Force. This will be a very important technique during your adventure. A guard will likely come to talk to you to discuss your role as Dragonborn. 15) From this point in the game you'll begin encountering dragons in the wilderness. These fights can be pretty epic but sometimes inconvenient and difficult, especially when stronger varieties of dragon start appearing. Nevertheless, they provide dragon souls to unlock your Shouts as well as valuable bones and scales. 16) Go back to Whiterun to address the Jarl. On the way, you will hear the Greybeards' summoning call. Speak to the Jarl and listen to him discuss the matter to complete this quest and begin the next quest, [THE WAY OF THE VOICE]. You will also be given the title of the Thane of Whiterun, allowing you to purchase property and enjoy a somewhat-idolized status. Your new housecarl, Lydia, will meet you on the way out and you can take her on as a follower. 17) You can also purchase a house in town, Breezehome, from Proventus Avenicci for 5000 gold. Furthermore, you can purchase various upgrades for your new home to make it more homely. You can eventually purchase every house in the game, but at this stage in your adventure, it is advised to focus on one at a time. It's probably best to wait until you can purchase one of the Hearthfire homes, which you can build and furnish to your own design. 18) One last thing to do in Whiterun is to start a new quest. Speak to the Alik'r warriors by the main gate and agree to help them to begin the quest [IN MY TIME OF NEED]. The woman you are looking for is Saadia, who works at the Bannered Mare. Speak to her then follow her upstairs and listen to her request. Now head up to Dragonsreach and enter the dungeons to the right of the main door. Speak to the Alik'r prisoner through the bars of his cell, then give the nearby guard some gold to pay his fine. Speak to the prisoner again to get information on Kematu's location. That is as much of this quest that you can complete at the moment. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 4: CURVED SWORDS, CAIRNS AND COMPANIONS [WLK4] ======================================================================== 1) We're going to be exploring some new locations in Whiterun Hold, now. Head back to the Western Watchtower and go west from there to reach Fort Greymoor. Clear out the bandits on the walls and in the courtyard, then head inside, where you'll find more bandits and a skill book [LIGHT ARMOR: RISLAV THE RIGHTEOUS]. You'll also want to enter the Fort Greymoor Prison to clear that out as well. 2) From Fort Greymoor head southeast towards the mountains, where you'll find another giant camp, Secunda's Kiss. As before steal what you can and run from the giants if they attack. From there, head west and slightly north across the plains. Shortly before the 'giant camp' icon on the compass you'll see some pillars sticking from the ground. Head over there and change each pillar's icon to that shown on or around the pillar behind it. This opens the gate on the ground, letting you open the chest within. Inside it is a skill book [DESTRUCTION: A HYPOTHETICAL TREACHERY]. 3) Head west to the Sleeping Tree Camp. Steal what you can without being mashed by the giants, then collect some Sleeping Tree Sap from the purple tree in the center of the pond. Nearby is the Sleeping Tree Cave. Inside a giant guards the body of an orc named Ulag, who has a note and some more sap on him. Take it and loot the chest, hopefully without being attacked by the giant inside the cave. If he becomes hostile, run from him. 4) From Sleeping Tree Camp head west a short distance to stumble upon Broken Fang Cave, your first vampire nest. Vampires have a chance to infect you with their curse; if you do not cure this, you will become a vampire, gaining greater powers of seduction at the cost of weakness in sunlight, among other things. However, a simple cure disease potion or a visit to a shrine will remove this before it advances. Inside Broken Fang Cave you will the skill book [LOCKPICKING: THE WOLF QUEEN, V1] and the skill book [ILLUSION: MYSTERY OF TALARA, PART 4]. 5) Once you've cleared this small dungeon, exit and look northeast to see two pillars with a fire between them. Head over there to find a shrine of Stendarr, some items, and a skill book [ENCHANTING: TWIN SECRETS]. West is another set of ruins; there is a shrine of Zenithar there, and another skill book [SPEECH: 2920, SECOND SEED, V5]. 6) West of Broken Fang Cave you should see a tall pillar. This is Gjukar's Monument. Discover it as a landmark, although it won't be relevant until much later. Roughly northeast of there is Swindler's Den, so head over there and enter it to continue the In My Time of Need quest. Kill the bandit outside before entering. Work your way through the cave, slaying bandits and dodging the occasional bear trap on the floor, until you find Kematu in the final watery chamber. Speak to him to hear his offer. 7) At this point I usually choose to side with Kematu. If you wish to side with Saadia instead, kill Kematu and his men. Either way, loot the chest and depart. After leaving Swindler's Den, head northeast across the wide shallow river to Greenspring Hollow, tucked away beneath a rocky cliff. There is usually a predator such a sabre cat or bear to dispatch here. Take it out, search the locked chest, then go north up the hill. 8) The final stop on our little journey is Drelas' Cottage, which should be located easily. The only thing of note here is the insane mage Drelas. Take him out then search his house for numerous alchemy ingredients and other mage-related stuff. You're now free to head back to Whiterun to turn in some quests. 9) Head back to Saadia at the Bannered Mare to complete the In My Time of Need quest. If you killed Kematu she'll reward you; if you sided with him as I did, then you'll need to lead her down to the Whiterun Stables where Kematu will intercept her and reward you himself. After resolving that quest, you should find Ysolda around the marketplace and ask about her deal with Ulag. She'll purchase Sleeping Tree Sap from you for a decent price. 10) You're likely to be approaching or are already at level 10 by now. From that level onwards, you're likely to be approached by the vampire hunter Durak in any city or town. He'll begin the quest [DAWNGUARD] and offer you the chance to join your order. A courier will also give you a letter from the Jarl of Falkreath, which is the first step towards owning your own customizable house. Both of these matters will be dealt with later. 11) Back to business. You should have completed the quest given to you by Farkas by now. If not, then go and complete it now, even if it is in an area you haven't been directed to by the game. When it's done, hand the quest in to Farkas for a reward. He will then tell you Skjor is looking for you, beginning the quest [PROVING HONOR]. Find Skjor somewhere and chat to him about going to Dustman's Cairn. Speak to Farkas again and he'll join you on this mission, dismissing your current follower if you have one. Tell Farkas to meet you there so he doesn't hold you up. 12) Dustman's Cairn can be found just northeast of Greenspring Hollow. Before entering, check behind it to find another location named Hamvir's Rest. Some skeletons and a draugr guard it, and there is a Master-level locked chest that will be very difficult to open. Speak to Farkas outside the cairn and go inside with him. 13) Dustman's Cairn is a fairly long dungeon where you will encounter enemies such as draugr, frostbite spiders, and Silver Hand members further in. Shortly after entering you'll end up trapped behind a gate and have to wait for Farkas to open it for you. You'll begin encountering the Silver Hand from that point onwards. Note that many Silver Hands carry cure disease potions, which are very useful to have on you at all times. 14) Once you enter Dustman's Crypt you'll encounter more Silver Hand and draugr fighting. Descend to the large chamber beneath the initial barred walkway and loot the chest to find the key leading to the way onward. Eventually you'll reach the final chamber where you'll find the fragments of Wuuthrad and a Word Wall teaching you the [FIRE BREATH: 1/3] Shout. As with all shouts not unlocked during the main story, you'll have to unlock each word with a soul taken from a slain dragon. 15) Once you pick up the fragment, draugr will begin bursting out of various coffins around the room, initiating a pretty cool battle sequence. Eventually all the draugr will be dead, and you can exit via the tunnel on the upper level. Leave the cairn then head back to Jorrvaskr, meeting the Companions in the rear yard. You will be officially become a Companion, concluding the quest. 16) You'll have to complete another random Companions quest to progress the storyline. You can either speak to Farkas and get the other quest he didn't give you earlier, get the quests [FAMILY HEIRLOOM], [ESCAPED CRIMINAL] or [RESCUE MISSION] from Skjor or Vilkas, or the quest [ANIMAL EXTERMINATION] from Aela. These quests involve you simply going to a location and completing a relatively self-explanatory task. You should hopefully be able to complete it within a short amount of time. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 5: HEALING A TREE [WLK5] ======================================================================== 1) Fast travel to Helgen. We're now going to be doing the first step of The Blessings of Nature quest. There should now be bandits in the ruins of Helgen that have moved in since the dragon attack, so take care of them if you wish. Head east up the road from Helgen, veering off to the left when you can towards a 'ruined tower' landmark on the compass. This is South Skybound Watch. Outside you'll encounter a wispmother; these rare enemies are somewhat durable and can deal a lot of damage. 2) Loot the tower then enter the tunnel beneath. Work your way through Skybound Watch Pass, fight bandits and frostbite spiders. You'll also find a skill book [BLOCK: BATTLE OF RED MOUNTAIN] on a shelf. You'll eventually exit to North Skybound Watch, where you'll find more bandits to fight in the ruin above. 3) South of Skybound Watch is Orphan Rock. There are bear traps and stakes surrounding it, as well as witches and a hagraven who will bombard you with spells. The hagraven in particular can deal heavy damage with her fireballs, so take her out quickly. Climb to the central rock using the fallen tree trunk, then take Nettlebane from the hagraven after slaying her. 4) This is usually one of the first places you may find Meridia's Beacon. After reaching level 12, this item can be found in any boss chest, and begins the quest [THE BREAK OF DAWN]. Of course, this quest won't be done for a very long time. 5) Before returning to Whiterun, make a quick trip southeast to the Falkreath Stormcloak Camp. Here you can trade with the Stormcloak quartermaster and steal some minor items, but do very little else. Now head back to Whiterun and speak to Danica at the Temple of Kynareth to receive your next objective, which will be dealt with before too long. A man named Maurice Jondrelle will offer to accompany you to the sanctuary. Since you won't be doing that for a long time, it's best to refuse him. He's unarmed and overconfident, a poor combination for a traveling partner. 6) Fast travel to White River Watch, then head northeast along the road by the riverside. On top of a hill you'll find your second standing stone, the Ritual Stone. Kill the necromancer guarding it. The Ritual Stone lets you resurrect all the bodies around you to fight for you, but it's inferior to your current standing stone blessing. Beneath the Ritual Stone to the north is the entrance to Graywinter Watch. 7) Graywinter Watch will likely be your first encounter with trolls. Trolls are very durable and dangerous, but are weak to fire. Use of fire spells should enable you to defeat them. Eliminate the trolls inside then check the upper ledge for the skill book [ARCHERY: VERNACCUS AND BOURLOR] and Froki's Bow, which deals stamina damage as well as normal damage. Leave and head south to find the Whiterun Stormcloak Camp. As with all military camps, there's little to do here except trade and point and laugh at the injured soldiers. 8) Head east, sticking to the south side of the river, to find the giant camp known as Guldun Rock. It is atop some steps overlooking the river and open flats of Eastmarch beyond. If you can, sneak inside the nearby Guldun Rock Cave, where you can find a thankfully-unguarded chest and the skill book [HEAVY ARMOR: THE KNIGHTS OF THE NINE]. 9) Descend the hill to the water's edge then go east a bit to find Valtheim Towers. A bandit may try to extort you; pay them with blood. Climb the tower then cross the bridge, taking out the bandits en route. Loot the second tower, then clear out the remaining bandits. 10) One final location can be found if you carefully descend the rocks down to the river below the waterfall to the east. You can also try and jump off the fall into the water below if you're feeling brave. Nearby is the ominously-named cave Darkshade. Inside you'll encounter more trolls as you work your way through the tunnels, and eventually you'll find a skill book [HEAVY ARMOR: ORSINIUM AND THE ORCS] by some bedrolls. 11) We're almost done with Whiterun hold, but there is one more quest left to resolve. Go back to Whiterun and head north, where you will find Whitewatch Tower located pretty much directly north of the city hill. When you arrive, help the Whiterun Guards fend off the attacking bandits, then loot both ruined towers for treasure. 12) Head north along the road towards the farm in the distance. This is the Loreius Farm, and you can find Cicero and his cart on the road nearby. Speak to Cicero and agree to help to begin the quest [DELAYED BURIAL]. Speak to Vantus Loreius at the farm and either Persuade him to help Cicero or agree to see him off by reporting Cicero to the nearby patrolling guard. Either way the quest will be completed and you'll get some gold as a reward. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 6: ON THE WAY TO WINDHELM [WLK6] ======================================================================== 1) We're now ready to move into the second hold, Eastmarch. But first let's finish up the Companions quest you're currently working on. If it's still not done, get it done now. Hand the quest in to whoever gave it to you, get your reward, then talk to Skjor as asked. The quest [THE SILVER HAND] now begins. After talking with Skjor, meet him outside the Underforge at night. You'll temporarily lose your follower if you have one. When prompted, drink the blood. 2) You are now a werewolf, and can transform into your lupine form once a day. As a werewolf you can run fast, deal deadly damage with your claws and consume the bodies of your foes to heal yourself and unlock new perks that increase your strength. You will be automatically taken outside, and while it is fun to run around Whiterun, the guards and townsfolk will try to kill you. Loiter in Jorrvaskr's rear yard until the transformation wears off. 3) You awaken naked in Eastmarch. Aela will speak to you and give you your next mission. Re-equip all your weapons and armor before going with her to nearby Gallows Rock. Aela will be your follower for the rest of the mission. Eliminate the werewolf hunters outside the fort before heading inside. Progress through the dungeon, fighting Silver Hand warriors with Aela. It's worth noting that this place has some of the few hostile werewolves in the game. 4) Near the end you'll find a skill book [SMITHING: LAST SCABBARD OF AKRASH] on a table. In the final room you'll face Krev the Skinner, a powerful opponent who has a decent chance of killing you. Once they're gone, search the room and wait for Aela to speak to you about Skjor. Afterward this quest will be completed and once again you'll be given one of three radiant quests from Aela - [STEALING PLANS], [STRIKING THE HEART] or [RETRIEVAL]. We won't be doing this quest for a while, so it should be completed before we come back to the Companions quest. Anyway, leave Gallows Rock and retrieve your follower if necessary. 5) Head a short distance northeast from Gallows Rock to find Mara's Eye Pond. There are some harmless mudcrabs on the central island, as well as a trapdoor leading underground. In the den below, you'll find some vampires as well as a room full of stuff to loot. There is a skill book [PICKPOCKET: GUIDE TO BETTER THIEVING] hidden in a crate among some other books. Once back inside, head back towards Gallows Rock and head south from there. You'll find a hidden shrine overlooking a small pond with a chest nearby and a skill book [HEAVY ARMOR: 2920, MID YEAR, V6]. 6) Head southwest of the pond to reach another giant camp, Cradlecrush Camp. Take out the giant if you feel confident enough, then grab the items in the area before going southeast to the Abandoned Prison. Before entering, visit the wrecked shack slightly upriver to the west, where you can find the body of Lucky Lorenz. He has [TREASURE MAP IX] on him. Unlike the others, this one's treasure chest isn't really anywhere near the map, so you'll be getting it later. Now go down the river to the prison and head inside. 7) Inside you'll find little items of worth, and encounter a few ghosts within the prison cellblock. Once done, head outside and head east across the river onto the volcanic plain that makes up the central area of the hold. Find the nearby giant camp, Broken Limb Camp, and perform your usual giant harassment antics. Just north of there you'll find Mixwater Mill, run by Gilfre. And... there's absolutely nothing to do here. You could steal everything, I suppose. East from there you can find Cronvangr Cave, the entrance of which is surrounded by spider webs and pods. Guess what you'll mainly be fighting inside? 8) Shortly after entering, you can press a button to open a secret door and access a side cavern home to a pack of vampires for you to fight. Back in the main cave, you'll encounter more and more frostbite spiders as you progress deeper into the Cronvangr Broodlair. After defeating the giant spider, loot the chest before making your way out. 9) Head down to the water's edge and work your way north, soon stumbling upon the Riverside Shack. See if you can "bear" the danger inside, then check the chest for [TREASURE MAP III]. Now get back onto the rocks above and go northeast to reach the small village of Kynesgrove. The main building is the Braidwood Inn, so head inside and speak to Iddra the innkeeper about Roggi to get an miscellaneous objective. Dravynea the Stoneweaver might also be in here; speak to her and she'll ask you to get frost salts for her. You can also get a local bounty from Kjeld. 10) Roggi Knot-Beard is usually in the inn or wandering around. Speak to him about Iddra and Persuade, Bribe or Intimidate him into stopping harassing her. You can also offer to recover his family's ancestral shield from a nearby dungeon. Inform Iddra about your success with Roggi for some minor items. You'll also want to go into the nearby Steamscorch Mine. Inside you can find a skill book [ENCHANTING: CATALOGUE OF ARMOR ENCHANTMENTS] on a table shortly after entering. 11) You're now ready to visit Windhelm, the second major city. Head north from Kynesgrove until you see the city and find the Windhelm Stables, where you can hire a carriage and buy a horse as with all stables. Before entering, check the small rooms within the bridge's walls and work your way down to an inner room where you can get a skill book [LIGHT ARMOR: ICE AND CHITIN]. When you're ready to do lots more talking to people, enter the city via the main gates. 12) After entering the city, you'll witness Angrenor and Rolff bullying Suvaris Atheron. If you want, you can pick a fight with Angrenor and win some money from him. The building in front of you, Candlehearth Hall, is your first step. You can rent a room here, hire the mercenary Stenvar as a companion, and speak to Adonato Leotelli, agreeing to deliver a book to Solitude for him. Outside, go west to the marketplace, where you'll usually find a lot of people wandering around. Oengul War-Anvil, Brunwulf Free-Winter and Hillevi Cruel-Sea can all give you new miscellaneous objectives. 13) The alchemy shop known as the White Phial is also nearby. Head inside and speak to Nurelion to begin a new quest [THE WHITE PHIAL]. Behind the counter is a skill book [ILLUSION: THE BLACK ARTS ON TRIAL]. Head north from the marketplace and then further north to an area of large houses. Torbjorn Shatter-Shield might be around here; he'll ask you for an amulet of Arkay. Hopefully the House of Clan Shatter-Shield should be unlocked; if so, head inside and look upstairs for another [STONE OF BARENZIAH: 4/24]. 14) Head east back to Windhelm's main street and leave via the southeast route before going north on the upper level to find the Aretino Residence. Pick the lock, go upstairs and speak to Aventus Aretino to begin [INNOCENCE LOST], the first step of the game's Dark Brotherhood questline. Back outside, descend the steps to the lower level and enter the Gray Quarter. Head east down the narrow alleyway to Sadri's Used Wares, where Revyn Sadri gives you a new miscellaneous objective. 15) Outside, go north to the New Gnisis Cornerclub. On the ground floor behind the stairs is a skill book [SNEAK: THE RED KITCHEN READER]. Further east is Belyn Hlaalu's house, which you'll probably have to break into. Inside is a skill book [CONJURATION: 2920, FROSTFALL, V10] upstairs behind a dresser. Now head west out of the Gray Quarter to discover your final notable location in Windhelm - the Palace of the Kings. Head inside. 16) If you wish to join the Stormcloaks (unlike this guide) then this is the place to do so. If you're just here for items, head upstairs via the door on your left and go to the bedroom at the end of the hall. Here you can give Wuunferth his Nightshade Extract and collect another [STONE OF BARENZIAH: 5/24]. There are also plenty of crafting stations here to use, and a book, The Aetherium Wars, that gives you a new optional objective. Jorleif the steward is in the palace and is who you will turn local bounty quests in to. 17) Before going down to the docks you'll want to deal with Revyn Sadri's miscellaneous quest. Head to Viola Giordano's house to plant the ring. The door has an Expert-level lock, so finding Viola and stealing the key from her might be easier. You can also betray Revyn to her if you want, but otherwise, plant the ring in a dresser and return to Revyn for a reward. Head down to the docks via the door in the Grey Quarter when you're done. 18) Many characters on the docks can give you new miscellaneous objectives - Kjar, Shahvee, Scouts-Many-Marshes, and Stands-In-Shallows. The argonians only rarely leave their quarters, so you may have to break in to speak with them. Also enter the East Empire Company office and speak to Orthus Endario to begin the quest [RISE IN THE EAST]. For the first part of this quest, head next door to the Clan Shatter-Shield office and steal the logbook before showing it to Orthus. 19) Before leaving the city, head back inside to complete the miscellaneous objectives for the argonians; steal the skooma from the New Gnisis Cornerclub and persuade or intimidate Torbjorn before turning the quests in. You'll get a boost to your Sneak skill by giving Stands-In-Shallows his skooma. We're now ready to start exploring the areas east and west of Windhelm, completing quest objectives en route. There is another quest in Windhelm we haven't started yet, but we'll deal with that soon enough. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 7: WANDERING NEAR WINDHELM [WLK7] ======================================================================== 1) From the Windhelm Stables, go east to discover Brandy-Mug Farm. Inside you'll find a skill book [ALTERATION: DAUGHTER OF THE NIBEN] above the fireplace. The next two farms, Hlaalu Farm and Hollyfrost Farm, have nothing of interest, but if you ascend the steep cliff to the east of them you can find a hunter's camp about to be attacked by a frost troll. Either help them fight the troll or let them die while you steal everything. 2) From there, go northeast further up the cliffs to find the Sacellum of Boethiah. You won't be able to do anything here until you're level 30, at least. You may also have to do some awkward climbing to reach it. From there, descend the mountains to the north and reach the building known as Traitor's Post. Take out the bandits there and grab the skill book [BLOCK: A DANCE IN FIRE, V2] on a bookshelf, grab [TREASURE MAP VII] from the chest, and, if you can, open the Master-locked chest in the roof cavity after dropping down from above. Now head a little bit east some more and discover Refugees' Rest, grabbing the items inside the ruined tower. 3) Head back to Windhelm and head west this time. Cross the bridge, then ascend the hill on the left to the shrine of Talos, where you can find some items on a corpse under the bridge. Follow the road south, veering right up the cliffs when you can to find the fort of Morvunskar. Dodge the fire traps in the entryway, then take out the warlocks and conjurers in the courtyard before heading inside. In one of the first rooms you come to is a skill book [SMITHING: CHERIM'S HEART] on a table near a furnace. Kill more mages as you explore the fort. Outside a small room at the bottom of some narrow stairs is another skill book [DESTRUCTION: MYSTERY OF TALARA, V3]. 4) When you're done here, make a quick detour to Gallows Rock, where you can find the treasure described in Treasure Map VII just in front of the main doors, tucked in with the rocks. Now go north round the mountains until you find Uttering Hills Cave. It's likely a miscellaneous quest you picked up in Windhelm will have sent you here. This is a small bandit den with a skill book [ONE-HANDED: MACE ETIQUETTE] in one of the final rooms. 5) Now head north for a bit to find Anga's Mill. As is common with many recent locations, there is very little to do here except chop wood to sell and agree to deliver a note for Aeri. Now head northwest up the road, sticking near the river, until you see a 'ruin' icon on your compass to your north. Go there to discover Yorgrim Overlook. There are some skeletons and a bit of treasure here. Directly west is Forsaken Cave, your destination for The White Phial quest. Enter it. 6) This decently-long dungeon is home to draugr, as well as the occasional predator. After reaching a tight warren of corridors filled with burial urns, you can find a skill book [BLOCK: THE MIRROR] on a table. Progress deeper into the cave, dodging traps and fighting draugr, until you fight Curalmil and can get the [MARKED FOR DEATH: 1/3] Shout. Interact with the bowl beneath the Word Wall then enter the chamber beyond and take the White Phial. You are now ready to return to Windhelm. 7) Head back to the White Phial and give the phial to Nurelion to complete the quest and get your reward. We're now going to do the final quest in Windhelm. Head to the graveside to see a murder scene. Ask the guard if you can help to begin [BLOOD ON THE ICE]. Speak to the three witnesses, then report back to the guard. You'll know have to go and speak to Jorleif at the Palace of the Kings to join the investigation. While investigating, you can optionally ask Jorleif for help, but he's mostly useless. 8) Head back to the crime scene and speak to the guard. You can go into the nearby Hall of the Dead and speak to Helgird about the body before following the blood trail into the northwest area of the city. The blood trail leads into Hjerim; since the door is somewhat difficult to open you'll need to speak to Jorleif, then Tova Shatter-Shield for the key. Inside Hjerim, you can investigate various objects, but to uncover the truth inspect the false wardrobe downstairs to find the killer's lair. Take a pamphlet and the amulet from the shelf outside, then follow up on the clues. 9) Take the amulet to Calixto Corrium to learn more about it. Feel free to let him buy it, then find Viola Giordano and talk about the pamphlets. You are now directed to speak to Jorleif, but for a more positive ending to the quest, you should go straight to Wuunferth at the Palace of the Kings. Both paths lead to the same result but this one is quicker. 10) After speaking to Wuunferth, go to the marketplace and wait until night. When the Butcher appears and is about to strike, take him out. Loot the unique Necromancer's Amulet from his body, but be aware it hinders your health and stamina regeneration. Return to Jorleif when the murderer is dead to finish the quest. You can also loot Calixto's house dry if you took his key. Now that we're done talking to people and running back and forth, let's head back into the Eastmarch flats to do some exploring. 11) It's also worth noting that after you reach level 14, a man named Sam Guevenne will appear in a tavern and challenge you to a drinking contest. We'll save this for later, of course. Fast travel to Kynesgrove and head south-southwest until you find Witchmist Grove. This place is home to a single witch and a skill book [DESTRUCTION: RESPONSE TO BERO'S SPEECH] under the bed. 12) Now head southeast to reach another giant camp, Steamcrag Camp. Do your thing, then go northeast for a bit up a rise to find a small hunter's camp. You can find a skill book [TWO-HANDED: THE LEGENDARY SANCRE TOR] on a crate here, as well as some stuff to steal. Now go south for a while into a collection of spiky rocks, where you'll find a shrine of Akatosh and another skill book [ALTERATION: BREATHING WATER]. Some possessed skeletons are also about, so take them out as well. 13) Now head southwest towards the fort you can see. If you check the pond a little bit south of where you just were, you can see a giant mourning his dead mammoth. Aww. Anyway, after arriving at Mistwatch, take out the bandits, then lower the drawbridge via the lever before entering. Inside, speak to Christer to begin a miscellaneous quest. Work your way through the tower, taking out more bandits before exiting to the top. Enter the next tower and fight more bandits (what else?), entering one final tower where you'll find Fjola. You can either kill her or give Christer her wedding band. Return to Christer, then possibly Fjola to complete the miscellaneous quest. 14) A little bit northwest is the Atronach Stone, which lets you absorb magicka at the cost of having a reduced regeneration rate. West of here is the town of Darkwater Crossing. The residents are often inside the mine, where you can find a skill book [HEAVY ARMOR: CHIMARVAMIDIUM] straight ahead. Both Annekke Crag-Jumper and Sondas Drenim have a new miscellaneous quest for you. North of here is the Eldergleam Sanctuary, where we'll finish up The Blessings of Nature quest. If you check a little bit west you can find a bunch of hunters bathing in the hot springs and steal their stuff. 15) Inside the sanctuary, follow the path, admiring the scenery, finding a skill book [RESTORATION: MYSTERY OF TALARA, V2] leaning against a rock just before the stairs leading to the Eldergleam. Use Nettlebane to cut the roots blocking your path before harvesting sap from the tree. Fight the spriggans on your way out. Now head northeast to reach Bonestrewn Crest, the location you've been circling around all this time. Make your way up to the top, where you should encounter a dragon and the Shout [FROST BREATH: 1/3], although you may have already encountered the dragon beforehand. 16) Go back to the Abandoned Prison and go south across the river to Fort Amol. Take out the hostile mages in the courtyard, before clearing out Fort Amol and the Fort Amol Prison. Now go southwest a bit towards a waterfall to find the Lost Knife Hideout. This bandit lair features a lot of bandits, a skill book [TWO-HANDED: WORDS AND PHILOSOPHY] on a table in the gigantic central room, and a transition to the Lost Knife Cave. Here you'll find plenty of locks to pick, and the bandit leader in a makeshift arena to battle. Make your way out when finished. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 8: REACHING THE RIFT [WLK8] ======================================================================== 1) Make your way back to Kynesgrove and head east towards the mountains. You'll see a marker for an orc stronghold on your compass; follow it to find Narzulbur. If you aren't an orc you'll be denied access, and have to complete the miscellaneous objective to find the Forgemaster's Fingers in a nearby dungeon. Since you probably aren't an orc, stay here only long enough to cross the bridge to the south and collect the skill book [SMITHING: HEAVY ARMOR FORGING] outside Gloombound Mine on a table. 2) From Narzulbur, head southwest a short distance to find Cragwallow Slope, another evil mage hangout. Work your way through the mages to get the skill book [ALTERATION: THE LUNAR LORKHAN] in the central ruin-like chamber. Make your way back outside. Only a few more places to visit before we're done with exploring for a bit. 3) Head southeast to eventually find the dwarven ruin of Mzulft. You can't enter here yet, but you can enter the Dwarven Storeroom outside it down the slope. Inside, pick various locks to work your way round to the final room, where you'll find a Glowing Crystal Shard. Picking this up now saves time later. Southeast of Mzulft, tucked away in the rocks is the Eastmarch Imperial Camp, where as before, you can trade with the quartermaster. 4) Head south a short distance to find Stony Creek Cave. Take out the bandits inside as you scour for treasure, including an [UNUSUAL GEM: 6/24] and [TREASURE MAP X] on the head bandit. Don't pick up Finn's Lute from the treasure chest as it will glitch a later quest. Now let's finish up all the miscellaneous quests we should have completed. Head back to Kynesgrove and give Roggi the ancestral shield, allowing you to recruit him as a follower and a boost to your Block skill. If you've found frost salts, give them to Drayvnea as well, getting you an Alteration skill boost. 5) Head back to Windhelm to hand in miscellaneous quests as well. Kjar, Shahvee, Brunwulf Free-Winter and Oengul War-Anvil will all reward you for completing their tasks. You'll also get boosts to your Light Armor, Lockpicking and Smithing skills. Also give Quintus Navale the note from Sondas Drenim for some gold, and give Torbjorn an amulet of Arkay if you have one for more gold. If you still haven't completed any of these objectives yet, feel free to turn them in later when you do as they're relatively unimportant. 6) To finish up The Blessings of Nature quest, head back to Whiterun and give Danica the sap sample. Now that we've finished up some quests, we'll visit a few more locations in Eastmarch in preparation for heading to our third hold. Fast travel to Darkwater Crossing then head southwest up the hill to the bridge, then maneuver your way up the cliffs, still heading west until you find Darkwater Pass. This dungeon will be your first encounter with the vicious Falmer... 7) Head inside via the door by the waterfall. Fight some falmer as you make your way north. The chaurus you encounter here deal a lot of damage and have a good chance of killing you, so it might take a while to succeed. In a small room with an arcane enchanter is a skill book [ENCHANTING: CATALOGUE OF WEAPON ENCHANTMENTS]. From here, a lever opens a path down to Derkeethus' cage; escort him back to the entrance to get rid of them then search the rest of the dungeon on your own. 8) From where you exit, make your way down the waterfalls and find the path which begins to lead you up the cliffs to the south. The path will twist and wind and eventually take you to the entrance of Snapleg Cave. Inside you'll find witches, a hagraven, frostbite spiders, and a spriggan in a cage who will assist you if you rescue it. Once outside, continue following the path upwards to the top of the cliff, where you'll reach the third hold of Skyrim, the Rift. 9) Speak to the injured Telrav and agree to escort him to his camp. Go with the completely-trustworthy man across the bridge to Nilheim, where, of course, he'll try and kill you. Take out him and all of his men, then loot the camp and ruined tower (with a great view) for items. Now follow your compass arrow for the quest The Way of the Voice southwest to reach the village of Ivarstead. You'll probably find Shroud Hearth Barrow en route, but ignore it for now. 10) Once at Ivarstead, you'll want to enter the Vilemyr Inn to pick up some miscellaneous quests. Pick up a bounty from Wilhelm, then discuss the barrow to pick up a misc. quest to investigate it. Temba Wide-Arms will ask you to collect bear pelts for her (start picking them up from now on), Narfi the beggar at the ruined house across the river gives you another miscellaneous quest, and Klimmek on the bridge gives you supplies to deliver to the Greybeards. Stop by to ask Wilhelm about Narfi's sister before entering Shroud Hearth Barrow. 11) Shortly after entering the barrow, you'll find some levers. Pull the far-left one followed by the second from the right to open the way forward. After encountering Wyndelius, take his journal before showing it to Klimmek. This gets you the claw that will open the way deeper into the barrow. Deeper into the barrow you'll encounter draugr, skeletons and traps. When you encounter a pillar puzzle, use the pattern of whale, hawk, snake, whale to lower the drawbridge and access the Shroud Hearth Depths. 12) Inside you'll encounter multiple skeletons, draugr, and the draugr boss. In the final room you'll learn the [KYNE'S PEACE: 1/3] Shout. Exit the barrow then check the river just to the south of Ivarstead to find Reyda's remains. Take her necklace to Narfi for a reward, then discover Pinepeak Cavern a little north of the bridge leading to the start of the 7,000 Steps. Take out the bear outside (remember to collect the pelt) then take out the second bear inside to clear this small area. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 9: UNBEARABLE [WLK9] ======================================================================== 1) We're now finally going to progress a bit with the story. From Ivarstead, cross the bridge and begin ascending the Throat of the World via the 7,000 Steps. On the way you'll pass various stone tablets, that, if inspected in order, will give you a unique temporary blessing that prevents animals from attacking you. You'll also probably run into a few wolves and a snow troll on the way. Keep going until you reach High Hrothgar, where you should place Klimmek's supplies into the chest. 2) Head inside and speak to the Greybeards. Demonstrate your Shout on them when prompted, then you'll be taught the [UNRELENTING FORCE: 2/3] Shout by Einarth. Use both words of the Shout on the targets they create three times, then go out into the courtyard to learn the [WHIRLWIND SPRINT: 1/3] Shout. Use it to get through the gate before it closes, then speak to Arngeir to complete this quest and begin the next one, [THE HORN OF JURGEN WINDCALLER]. Of course, it's going to be a while before we get anyway near close to doing this. 3) Now that you're officially the Dragonborn, a group of cultists will appear in the next town you visit. They'll attack you, beginning the quest [DRAGONBORN]. Search their bodies for a note directing you to Windhelm. This begins the Dragonborn expansion, which we won't be doing until after completing pretty much everything in the main game. 4) Before doing anything, go back to Ivarstead and speak to Klimmek for your reward. There's one quick location we can visit before continuing to explore the Rift. From Pinepeak Cavern, head north, sticking close to the western rocks and clinging to the mountain's eastern slope. When you eventually see a 'Nordic ruin' icon on the compass, you're getting close. Keep heading north until you find Hillgrund's Tomb. Speak to Golldir outside and agree to accompany him into the tomb. This begins the quest [ANCESTRAL WORSHIP]. 5) Try your best to keep Golldir alive as you go through the tomb, fighting draugr, eventually reaching a puzzle solved simply by pulling the chain near the bear glyph. Finally you'll encounter Vals Veran and his draugr minions. After defeating him, speak to Golldir for your reward. Now head back to Ivarstead and enter Geirmund's Hall, located on an island just to the east of the village. 6) This decent-length dungeon is home to... what else? Draugr. Drop down the big hole in the first room, then progress through the halls to another pillar puzzle. Solve it using the pattern of hawk, whale, snake, whale. Use the key on the body of Archmage Geirmund to open the next door forward, then progress until you encounter the spirit of Sigdis Gauldurson. He'll split into various clones to try and confuse you and can disarm you using a Shout, but you should be able to beat him. When he's down, take his amulet, his unique Gauldur Blackbow, and the read the Writ of Sealing to begin [FORBIDDEN LEGEND]. You could have begun this quest earlier by reading the book Lost Legends, but I never ran into any copies before this point. Now depart. 7) Head straight southwest to reach Honeystrand Cave. Bears await both inside and outside for you to slay, as well as a skill book [LOCKPICKING: THE LOCKED ROOM] on the dead hunter. Leave the cave and go southeast until you find a crossroads with a sign. On the rocks just to the west of this sign is a skill book [LIGHT ARMOR: JORNIBRET'S LAST DANCE]. Now head southwest to reach the Alchemist's Shack. There's little here except ingredients and a butterfly in a jar, one of several creatures in jars throughout Skyrim you can collect and display in your home if you wish. To save time, you may want to go west through the snowy pass until you reach Haemar's Shame. We won't come here till later, but it will save time if you discover it now. Back at the Alchemist's Shack, go a little bit southeast to find the Rift Imperial Camp. 8) A bit east are the Ruins of Bthalft. There's some bandits here and little else - for the moment at least. To the southwest you can follow a path up into the mountains that eventually takes you to Arcwind Point, where some surprisingly high-level draugr and skeletons can be found wandering about. You can also learn the [DRAIN VITALITY: 1/3] Shout via a Word Wall. Staying in the mountains, make your way east to the dragon lair of Autumnwatch Tower. Take out the dragon, learn the [MARKED FOR DEATH: 2/3] Shout, then check for items. 9) Looking east from the tower you can see a 'shack' icon on the compass. Go after it up a slope to reach Froki's Shack. Before entering, go up a snowy southern path to a shrine of Talos with a skill book [TWO-HANDED: KING]. Go back to the shack and enter it, where you can speak to Froki to begin the quest [KYNE'S SACRED TRIALS]. You can hunt the first guardian beast straight away. The Guardian Mudcrab is just southeast of Gjukar's Monument in Whiterun Hold near a pool including a giant dead mudcrab and several smaller ones. 10) Now back to business. Fast travel to Nilheim and head southeast until you see a 'fort' icon on the compass. This is Treva's Watch. The gate is blocked off, so go to the campsite on the east side and speak to Stalleo to begin [INFILTRATION]. Enter the nearby tunnel and fight through the bandits to exit to the courtyard and pull the lever, opening the front gate. With all the bandits inside the fort dead, speak to Stalleo to complete the quest. 11) Head north of Treva's Watch to find the Sarethi Farm. The only thing to do here is to speak to Avrusa Sarethi to pick up a miscellaneous objective involving collecting jazbay grapes. Look out for them in your travels and we'll turn them in later. A little bit to the northeast is the Rift Watchtower, where more bandits can be found. Further northeast of that is Clearspring Tarn, perched on the cliff overlooking Eastmarch. There is a chest in the pool, and you can access Clearspring Cave by dropping down to a ledge to the north. Inside is a troll and the unique Bow of the Hunt. 12) Head southeast from the tarn to Boulderfall Cave. Inside is a necromancer to match the one outside and items. Outside, keep going southeast, aiming slightly to the left of the 'clearing' map marker. You'll find an altar guarded by a hostile mage, and a skill book [RESTORATION: RACIAL PHYLOGENY]. Now go a short distance south to Autumnshade Clearing, where a spriggan and their animal minions await. Take them out then search for items before going southeast to find a hunters' camp nestled in the rocks. The skill book [ARCHERY: THE GOLD RIBBON OF MERIT] is in one of the tents. 13) Go southeast a bit more to find Merryfair Farm. One of the workers Dravin Llanith, will give you a miscellaneous quest regarding finding his bow in Riften. As you can see, we are about to reach Riften, where plenty of questing opportunities will present themselves. See you in the next chapter. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 10: CITY OF THIEVES [WLK10] ======================================================================== 1) Upon arriving at the Riften Stables just to the north of the city, you can speak to Hofgrir Horse-Crusher and challenge him to a fight for money. You can also buy a horse or rent a carriage, as with all stables. If the Khajiit caravans have stopped at Riften, speak to Kharjo for a new quest. A guard will accost you as you enter the city; you can dissuade them with a Persuasion, Bribe or Intimidation. Once inside the city, you should speak to Maul on your left; ask him about the Unusual Gems to begin the quest [NO STONE UNTURNED]. Also speak to Mjoll the Lioness and agree to find her blade for her. 2) Straight ahead of you on the bridge are Shadr and Sapphire. After their conversation, speak to Shadr and agree to speak to Sapphire for him. The building just north of the bridge is Haelga's Bunkhouse; enter and speak to Svana Far-Shield before agreeing to get the marks of Dibella for her. Head upstairs and grab a skill book [PICKPOCKET: BEGGAR] from a nightstand, then head back outside. Make a quick stop at the stables and convince Hofgrir to give up his mark, then head back inside Riften. 3) Directly across the bridge is the Bee and Bard. Head inside, where you can speak to numerous people for quest opportunities. Talen-Jei asks for flawless amethysts, Louis Letrush begins the quest [PROMISES TO KEEP], and Maramal the priest can sell you an amulet of Mara, allowing you to marry someone. Many people you have already met are marriage candidates, but since you can only marry once, you should choose carefully. Marrying someone allows you to live in their home and comes with several other benefits. You can also hire a follower named Marcurio here and should persuade Sapphire to cancel Shadr's debt. 4) Exit via the other door into the marketplace. Here you'll find Brynjolf wandering around; he begins your initiation into the Thieves' Guild and the quest [A CHANCE ARRANGEMENT]. But before agreeing to help him, speak to both Brand-Shei and Madesi for new miscellaneous objectives from them. Marise Aravel and Balimund are also both nearby and also give miscellaneous objectives. Now speak to Brynjolf and agree to help him in his plot. When the crowd gathers, steal Madesi's ring from under his stand and plant it on Brand-Shei. Speak to Brynjolf afterward to complete this brief quest and begin [TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS]. 5) West of the marketplace is the Black-Briar Meadery. Inside, head downstairs and speak to Indaryn then persuade him for his mark of Dibella. Romlyn Dreth is also loitering about, and will give you a new miscellaneous objective. Instead of helping him, you can turn him in to Indaryn instead. The door here leads out to the docks, where you can find From-Deepest-Fathoms wandering about. Speak to her to begin [UNFATHOMABLE DEPTHS]. Enter the Riften Fishery, where you should be able to find Bolli and get a new misc. objective from him, as well as the final mark of Dibella. Wujeeta is also here, and asks for a healing potion. Speak to her again afterward and persuade her to tell you who the dealer is. 6) Back at the marketplace, find the Honorhall Orphanage to the right of the Jarl's keep. Here, find a skill book [PICKPOCKET: PURLOINED SHADOWS] by a bed in a side room and kill Grelod the Kind. Feel free to do it openly, as no-one seems to care. East of the marketplace and up the stairs is the Temple of Mara. Speak to Dinya Balu, agree to deliver her pamphlets, and begin the quest [THE BOOK OF LOVE]. Below the temple is the Hall of the Dead; here you can speak to Alessandra and agree to deliver her dagger. 7) Go down to the city's lower level, where you can enter Beggar's Row and get the skill book [SPEECH: A DANCE IN FIRE, V7] under a plant. Ingun Black-Briar and Hafjorg in Elgrim's Elixirs will each give you another miscellaneous objective. Be sure to start collecting deathbell, nightshade and nirnroot for Ingun from now on. Make a quick stop to show Haelga the marks of Dibella, speak to Svana about it, then go south to Mistveil Keep. Hand in a bounty quest to Anuriel if you have one, then speak to Jarl Laila about the skooma. Check the room on the left to find Wylandriah and agree to help her with her items. 8) Head upstairs to the Jarl's chambers, where you can find a skill book [LOCKPICKING: SURFEIT OF THIEVES] and an [UNUSUAL GEM: 7/24] on the Jarl's bedside table. You should be able to find Harrald outside the keep training; agree to fetch his sword from Balimund. Get the sword then return it to Harrald. Now head into the Riften Jail next to the keep. Bluff your way past the guard, then speak to Sibbi Black-Briar on the upper level and give him the message from Louis. He'll also give you another miscellaneous objective. 9) Go out to the docks and use the Jarl's key to enter the warehouse. Kill all the skooma dealer inside, then get the shipment note from downstairs. Show the information to Jarl Laila, report your success to Shadr at the stables, then enter the Ratway by the gate beneath the marketplace. 10) You will encounter a few enemies within the Ratway as you make your way to the Ragged Flagon. The enemy Gian the Fist wears the unique Gloves of the Pugilist, if you wish to add those to your collection. Once you arrive, speak to Brynjolf to get your next objective. Ask him for extra details about each of your targets then speak to Galathil the face sculptor. She can change your appearance for a price if you wish. Head back out to Riften and speak to Talen-Jei at the Bee and Barb, using the info he gives you to intimidate Keerava. Do the same with Bersi at the Pawned Prawn by smashing his dwarven urn after his initial refusal. 11) Haelga will pay up without a fight. Go back to Brynjolf, beginning [LOUD AND CLEAR], and follow him into the Cistern to meet Mercer and join the Thieves' Guild. Speak to Brynjolf some more about Goldenglow afterward You can now explore the Cistern and collect numerous helpful items. In the eastern practice room are numerous locked chests you can test your skills on, as well as a skill book [LOCKPICKING: ADVANCES IN LOCKPICKING]. Now head back to the main area of the cistern and speak to Vekel the Man for a new misc. quest, Tonilia for your Thieves' Guild armor, Delvin for introductions, and Vex for introductions, info about Goldenglow and a details about the Stones of Barenziah you have been collecting. 12) Delvin and Vex each provide various side jobs. Delvin can provide [THE NUMBERS JOB], [THE FISHING JOB], and [THE BEDLAM JOB], while Vex offers [THE BURGLARY JOB], [THE SHILL JOB], [THE SWEEP JOB] and [THE HEIST JOB]. Each of these quests sends you to a random home or establishment in Skyrim to do some basic thievery jobs. You can do as many of these as you want, and I advise you complete them whenever you can, making sure a Vex job and a Delvin job are always in your journal at the same time. Completing a certain number of jobs unlocks special guild rewards; the final reward needs 125 to have been completed, so it will clearly take an awful lot of work. 13) Before heading to the surface, enter the Ratway Vaults via a nearby door. Lowlifes and critters lurk in these tunnels to fight; follow your quest arrow to a chest containing Dravin's Bow. Now make your way out. From the Cistern, you can exit to the Riften graveyard from the east, providing a quicker way to and from the Thieves' Guild and adding a fast travel marker to get there quickly in the future. 14) You have a lot of minor objectives to finish up in previously-visited cities. First visit Merryfair Farm and give Dravin his bow, then head to Ivarstead. Give the smuggled mead to Wilhelm at the Vilemyr Inn, then speak to Lynly about her true identity. After persuading her to tell the truth, speak to Fastred at Fellstar Farm. Grab Wylandriah's spoon from the satchel, speak to both of Fastred's parents, then choose who to support between Bassianus and Klimmek. I usually choose Bassianus. After choosing your candidate, watch them meet with Fastred. 15) Now head up to Windhelm. Get Wylandriah's soul gem from the White Phial, then inform Aventus Aretino that Grelod the Kind is dead. The completion of this quest means that you will shortly receive a mysterious note from a courier. Speaking of which, reaching level 20 prompts the arrival of a courier telling you a museum near Dawnstar. We'll be doing this quest much later as well. 16) Finally, deliver Alessandra's dagger to Andurs in Whiterun's Hall of the Dead. Return to Riften to hand in the quests you've recently updated. Speak to Dinya Balu and Alessandra about your success, and choose whether to tell Sibbi Black-Briar the truth about Lynly or lie. Either way, Sibbi gives you the key to a stash at the meadery. We're now going to continue with the Thieves' Guild questline, but there is one more thing you should do. Find a bed and sleep in it for any amount of time. You'll have a rude awakening... 17) The quest [WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE...] begins. After waking up and speaking to Astrid, choose what to do. Assuming you want to begin the Dark Brotherhood questline, don't attack Astrid and question the three captives about their deeds. Eventually, you'll have to choose who to kill. When at least one person is dead, Astrid gives you the key. Leave. You'll find yourself at the Abandoned Shack, far to the north in Hjaalmarch. We're nowhere near ready to explore this place yet, so fast travel back to Riften. We're now ready to continue with the Thieves' Guild questline by exploring places south and west of the town. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 11: PRINCE OF THIEVES [WLK11] ======================================================================== 1) Leave Riften and curve around it to the south. Just south of the city you'll find Nightingale Hall, which relates to the Thieves' Guild and cannot be entered for now. A bit further south is another standing stone, the Shadow Stone. It is guarded by a conjurer, and allows you to temporarily become invisible. To the west is the Snow-Shod Farm. Inside the farmhouse's basement you can find a skill book [ALTERATION: REALITY & OTHER FALSEHOODS]. Slightly to the northwest on an island are the Goldenglow Estates, which the Thieves' Guild want us to infiltrate. 2) While you can enter via the front gate, perhaps a more sensible option is to swim to the west side of the island and enter the sewer grate. After leaving the sewer you can begin fighting the estates' exterior guards in a decidedly un-thieflike manner, before burning three of the beehives on the western isle. With that done, enter the estate building and fight through more mercenaries on your way to the top floor, where you'll find Aringoth. If you can, convince him to give you the key; if you cannot, you'll have to take it from his corpse. 3) Also pick up the Queen Bee Statue on Aringoth's bedside table; this is one of several unique treasures you can sell to Delvin. There is a Bee in a Jar in this room also if you wish. Now head back downstairs and into the basement. Make your way to the safe and recover the bill of sale from within it. Exit via the nearby trapdoor to the sewer and leave. But we're not going back to Riften just yet, though. Head directly west to the bandit-infested keep of Faldar's Tooth. Enter via the eastern gate, fight some bandits, and enter the fort interior. 4) Fight bandits inside the fort, and after a while you'll exit to an upper level of the exterior. Grab a key from a large tent on the level above, using it to open the northeastern door on the middle level. At the top of the tower, finish off the bandit leader then grab the skill book [LOCKPICKING: PROPER LOCK DESIGN]. With this large dungeon finished, get down and head west to find Heartwood Mill. Head back to Riften once you've discovered it, but not before speaking to Grosta and agreeing to find her husband. 5) Speak to Brynjolf to complete Loud and Clear and begin [DAMPENED SPIRITS]. Sell the Queen Bee Statue to Delvin for a sizable reward, then speak to Maven Black-Briar at street level in the Bee and Barb. The main part of this quest takes place back in Whiterun Hold, but we're staying in the Rift for now as there are plenty of locations that still need to be visited. Note that you'll also receive a letter shortly telling you about adoption opportunities at the Honorhall Orphanage. Leave Riften and head east-northeast. You'll see a 'cave' icon on the compass. This is Fallowstone Cave, but we'll be exploring here later so discover it but don't enter. Check north of it a bit to find a skill book [ILLUSION: INCIDENT AT NECROM] leaning against a tree on the hillside. A bit south is Lost Prospect Mine. There are no enemies here but items to find if you can get into the northern tunnel. Get some gold ore for Madesi if you don't already have any. 6) Further south is Black-Briar Lodge, guarded by hired mercenaries. You'll have to go south past it and curve around to the left when you can. Inside, you can steal Frost's lineage papers and open a secret cache in the basement and get the [UNUSUAL GEM: 8/24] upstairs. Also get the skill book [SNEAK: LEGEND OF KRATELY HOUSE] from an upstairs bedroom. Go outside and steal Frost, then ride him north to find Louis. You can either hand him over or decide to keep him; either way completes the quest. 7) Southwest of the Black-Briar Lodge is Broken Helm Hollow. Kill the bandits inside then search just under the entrance for the chest marked in Treasure Map IX. Enter the small dungeon and take out the bandits inside, then find Leifnarr's body at the end of a passage accessed by a pull chain. Back outside, head directly south, aiming for the mountains. You'll eventually see a burning farmhouse; grab the skill book [DESTRUCTION: HORROR OF CASTLE XYR] inside a hollow tree trunk and check the farmhouse itself for items. 8) Now head northeast into the mountains towards the next map marker. When you arrive at Stendarr's Beacon, speak with the Vigilants of Stendarr if you wish and read the skill book [RESTORATION: THE EXODUS] on the ground floor. Now head north with the Dawnguard quest active to reach the entrance to Dayspring Canyon. Upon entering, speak with Agmaer and walk with him for a bit to discover Fort Dawnguard, speaking to Durak when you pass him for a free crossbow. Before entering the fort, you can detour to the north to enter Mossy Glen Cave and fight the bears inside. 9) When you're ready, enter Fort Dawnguard. Speak to Isran to officially join the Dawnguard and begin the next quest, [AWAKENING]. There's not much to do at Fort Dawnguard for now but you can enter a mini-dungeon called Dead Drop Falls to the north and solve the crossbow puzzles within. One last thing; head upstairs and exit to the roof of the fort, where you can find a skill book [ONE-HANDED: 2920, MORNING STAR, V1] next to a bedroll. Once you're done, leave Fort Dawnguard and Dayspring Canyon and return to Fallowstone Cave. A short distance to the north, tucked away in the mountains, is the Last Vigil. Returning here as part of a quest will likely be one of the last things you'll do in Skyrim. Now head straight west back to the ground until you find Fort Greenwall. 10) There are no special items here, so clear out the bandits both inside and out, not forgetting to check the Fort Greenwall Prison, the Captain's Quarters, and the cave accessed via the central well (although the latter has little of interest). Now head northwest to the village of Shor's Stone. Speak to Filnjar to get the ore sample and agree to clear out the mine. Also speak to Sylgja and agree to deliver her letter. Now enter Redbelly Mine and clear it of frostbite spiders before returning to Filnjar for a reward. 11) Northwest of town atop the mountain is Northwind Summit. Defeat the dragon here, then learn the [AURA WHISPER: 1/3] Shout. Further north on the mountainside is Northwind Mine, which has little to do except eliminate some skeletons. You can actually enter here at Northwind Summit, but you have to approach the lower entrance to mark it on the map. East of the summit is Shor's Watchtower, which has a bit of treasure to collect. A little bit south of this location in a hollow tree trunk you'll find a skill book [SNEAK: THREE THIEVES]. To the northeast is Tolvald's Cave, which we'll visit after obtaining all of the Stones of Barenziah. 12) Head north, descending the slope until you find Ansilvund. Take out the conjurer outside before entering. Fight through draugr and conjurers until you receive a new miscellaneous objective. To solve the pillar puzzle, use the pattern of eagle, snake, whale, snake. Inside the Ansilvund Burial Chambers, take the key from the pedestal in the first chamber to raise several draugr to fight. There is also a skill book [ILLUSION: 2920, SUN'S DAWN, V2] on a pedestal. Further on you'll encounter more draugr, followed by Lu'ah Al-Skaven. After defeating her, Fjori and Holgeir's spirits will be freed, and will leave behind the unique Ghostblade. Grab the [UNUSUAL GEM: 9/24] before making your way out. 13) Just to the west is Cragslane Cavern. Enter and take out all the wolves and patrons and guards to end the skooma operation. But we have one more location to visit before returning to Riften. Go back to Ansilvund and head northeast into the mountains. Eventually you'll find the dwemer ruin of Kagrenzel, undoubtedly one of the game's coolest locations. Head inside and stand in the center of the main room and touch the orb. I won't spoil what happens. 14) After landing, get out of the water and make your way through the tunnels, fighting falmer en route. Eventually you'll enter Stony Creek Cave and can depart. Time for some quests. Head back to Riften and inform the Jarl that the skooma ring has been dealt with. She'll offer you the title of Thane of the Rift if you purchase Honeyside from Anuriel. Fork over the 8000 gold to get the house and the title from Laila. Visit your new home and meet your new housecarl, Iona, You'll now want to turn in a few miscellaneous quests. Deliver the ore sample to Hafjorg, hand in the flawless amethysts you've (hopefully) found to Talen-Jei, inform Grosta at Heartwood Mill of Leifnarr's fate, give Avrusa Sarethi at the Sarethi Farm the jazbay grapes you've found, give Temba Wide-Arms in Ivarstead the bear pelts, and deliver Sylgja's letter to her father at Darkwater Crossing before returning to her. You should have also found the Forgemaster's Fingers, allowing you access to the orc strongholds. The only interesting thing to do in Narzulbur is to brawl with Chief Mauhulakh. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 12: ANYWHERE I WANDER [WLK12] ======================================================================== 1) Let's do the Dampened Spirits quest now. In Whiterun, speak to Mallus Maccius at the Bannered Mare, then head down to the Honningbrew Meadery to speak to Sabjorn. You can now enter the basement and begin making your way through the tunnels beneath the brewery. You'll find skeevers on the way, and eventually the mage named Hamelyn. Poison the skeever nest then exit to the boilery, where you can poison the mead from the upper level. Return to Sabjorn and watch him get arrested, then speak to Mallus after before heading upstairs and getting both the promissory note in the drawer and the Honningbrew Decanter in the locked side room. 2) Return to Riften and report back to Maven. Go down to the Thieves' Guild and speak to Brynjolf to begin the next quest [SCOUNDREL'S FOLLY]. Speak to Mercer, speak to Brynjolf again, sell the Decanter to Delvin, then get ready to finish exploring locations in the Rift. Go south from the Shadow Stone into the mountains to find the dragon nest of Lost Tongue Overlook. Slay the dragon and learn the [DISMAY: 1/3] Shout. 3) Head west, sticking to the mountains, to find Crystaldrift Cave. Clear out the predators outside and inside, then loot the place for treasure and Gadnor's Staff of Charming. Head west some more, ignoring the location marker on your immediate left, to find Darklight Tower. As soon as you enter you can speak with Illia to begin the quest [REPENTANCE]. Go up the tower with Illia, fighting witches and their pets. You'll encounter a hagraven before entering the Darklight Chambers. After recovering a key from another hagraven you'll reach the top of the tower. 4) Go along with Illia's plan to defeat her mother outside. This completes the quests, lets you recruit Illia as a companion and collect the unique Staff of Hag's Wrath. From the top of the tower you can go south and then east down a narrow canyon to the Ruins of Rkund. There is a wispmother and a chest here, but not much else. Go back to the bottom of Darklight Tower and head west to find the orc stronghold of Largashbur. 5) Help the orcs fend off the attacking giant, then speak to Atub to begin the quest [THE CURSED TRIBE]. You'll need to bring her troll fat and a daedra heart, so keep an eye out for those items in the future. The troll fat at least should be easy to find. Now head west more to find the ruin of Avanchnzel. Dwemer ruins are some of the best dungeons to explore in the game, and while this first one is shorter than the others, its still pretty cool. But before entering, you should follow a narrow snowy path to the south, curving round to the east until you overlook Largashbur, where you'll find a skill book [LIGHT ARMOR: THE REAR GUARD] by some boxes. 6) Inside the ruin you'll see visions of From-Deepest-Fathom's party, as well as encounter dwarven centurions; the annoying spiders and the stalwart spheres. Work your way through the ruin; make your way down to the large shaft where you can reach the Avanchnzel Animoncultory, and past that to the Avanchnzel Boilery. Eventually you'll fight a towering centurion and can place the lexicon, completing the quest and getting the permanent Ancient Knowledge perk. You can now exit the ruins. 7) Head north and west to reach Angarvunde. Inside, speak to Medresi Dran and agree to clear out the draugr for her. Take out the 3 draugr in the first room then return to her. Use the key she gives you to enter the Angarvunde Catacombs and Angarvunde Ruins, fighting through the draugr inside to pull the levers and open the gates in the main area. With both gates open, follow Medresi to the final chamber, where you learn the [ANIMAL ALLEGIANCE: 1/3] Shout. 8) One last location to visit before we're done with the Rift is Redwater Den. Unless you're planning on siding with the vampires during the Dawnguard questline (this guide is not), head to Faldar's Tooth and go northwest to find it in the ruins of a small shack. Once inside, head down and persuade the dealer to give you a free sample. The easiest way to progress is to drink the skooma, which leaves you locked in a cage. Escape by pickpocketing the vampire's key and begin slaying your way through the rest of the dungeon, eventually entering the Redwater Spring. Eventually you'll encounter Venarus Vulpin and find the Bloodspring, which only has an effect on vampire players. Make your way out afterward 9) You should have found the gold ore, mammoth tusks and flawless sapphires to give to Madesi in Riften, so hand in that quest if you can now. Also return to Largashbur and give Atub the ingredients, and follow her to commune with Malacath. Afterward, head to Fallowstone Cave and enter alongside Yamarz. Protect him as you fight giants and other creatures inside, eventually reaching the Giant's Grove. Here, you must choose whether to kill the giant or not. If you do kill it, you'll have to kill Yamarz afterward If you refuse to kill it, you'll be forced to kill it anyway when it kills Yamarz. 10) Either way, take the giant's warhammer back to Largashbur and speak to Atub. Place the hammer on the altar to complete the quest and have it become Volendrung, a powerful daedric artifact and the first one you've found. We're now virtually done with the Rift and will be moving on to the fourth hold, Falkreath Hold. Start by fast traveling to Helgen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 13: INTO THE WOODS [WLK13] ======================================================================== 1) From Helgen, head southwest down the road, following it west until you find a small bandit camp on your left beneath an overhang. Read the skill book [LIGHT ARMOR: THE REFUGEES], then get back on the road. Eventually you'll reach the shack known as Pinewatch. Pick and lock and enter. A Thieves' Guild quest will eventually lead you here but you can save time by exploring it now to get the item inside. Make your way through the bandits within, entering the Pinewatch Bandit's Sanctuary and getting the [UNUSUAL GEM: 10/24] in a storeroom. After killing the bandit leader Rigel Strong-Arm, make your way to the treasure room and get the silver mold, which you should keep for the rest of the game to hand in when you need to. 2) Head north from Pinewatch towards the water's edge, dropping down some ledges to an altar guarded by a necromancer. Grab the skill book [CONJURATION: 2920, HEARTHFIRE, V9], then go southwest to find the unique axe The Woodsman's Friend near a dead body. Further west is a small wolf den, where you'll find the Guardian Wolf spirit that you must defeat. Now head back to Pinewatch and go southwest. 3) You'll pass a bandit-manned bridge over the road, and further south, Peak's Shade Tower. Take out the spriggan inside, loot the chest, then keep going west to find the village of Falkreath, your first minor hold city. As you enter, a guard asks you about a dog, giving you a new miscellaneous objective. The first place you should go to is the Jarl's longhouse, where you can speak to Jarl Siddgeir to get a new bandit-hunting mission. Across from the longhouse is the blacksmith's, where Lod asks you to get the dog for him. 4) Next up is the local tavern, the Dead Man's Drink. Here you can get a new bounty quest from Valga Vinicia. She might also give you a misc. quest regarding a missing hunting party. If Dengeir of Stuhn and Thadgeir are about they can also give you miscellaneous objectives. There's also a skill book [SPEECH: A DANCE IN FIRE, V6] under the counter. You can complete Dengeir's quest straight away by breaking into Lod's house and stealing his letter. Return it to Dengeir for a reward and another miscellaneous quest we'll complete later. 5) Behind the inn is the graveyard, where a funeral is in progress. Speak to Mathies about his loss to begin [ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT]. You should also speak to Runil, giving him Berit's ashes and agreeing to get his journal for him. Before leaving town, enter the jail and speak to Sinding in the basement. He'll give you the cursed ring of Hircine, which unfortunately means you have a chance of spontaneously transforming into a werewolf at any time. Since you cannot unequip this, it is best to resolve this quest as soon as possible, which we will. For now, make sure to save often to prevent accidental transformations. 6) Leave Falkreath via the west gate and follow the road a bit to find the dog, beginning [A DAEDRA'S BEST FRIEND]. After your conversation, you can go back to Lod and tell him you couldn't catch the dog, getting a small amount of gold. Now it's time to enter the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary. Head west from the cemetery to find it, giving the password to enter. Once inside, speak with Astrid to complete this quest and begin [SANCTUARY]. Pick up the skill book [ALTERATION: SITHIS] on the shelf, check the room on the left for an [UNUSUAL GEM: 11/24], then go downstairs. 7) Speak with Nazir about your new role to get your first assassinations - [CONTRACT: KILL NARFI], [CONTRACT: KILL ENNODIUS PAPIUS], and [CONTRACT: KILL BEITILD]. You can search the rest of the sanctuary for items as well as pick up the [MARKED FOR DEATH: 3/3] Shout in the main room. Next you should go in search of the white stag. Look for it northeast of Peak's Shade Tower, killing it before it can escape. Afterward, speak to the aspect of Hircine that appears. 8) Fast travel to Pinewatch and head north again to the water's edge, before going northwest across the lake, aiming for the 'standing stone' icon on the compass. Just before you reach it you can find the chest described in Treasure Map X east and slightly north of the island. The Lady Stone itself can increase the regen speed of your health and stamina. Further north is Ilinalta's Deep. Enter via a trapdoor. Inside you'll encounter conjurers and their summoned creatures, including skeletons. There is a skill book [ENCHANTING: A TRAGEDY IN BLACK] on a table in a hallway with various side rooms. You cannot finish the dungeon completely before a certain quest, so leave for now. 9) Bloated Man's Grotto is nearby, but head west for now. Half-Moon Mill is to the southwest, but there's little to do. A bit north of it is a fisherman's camp with a skill book [ONE-HANDED: FIRE AND DARKNESS]. Now you can head northeast over the mountains to reach Bloated Man's Grotto. Inside, speak to Sinding and choose whether to kill him or not. If you choose to spare him, you will have to fight through the rest of the hunters. You can exploit a glitch to get both rewards by siding with Hircine, leaving and getting your reward, then re-entering, killing Sinding, skinning him, then getting your second reward from Hircine. The Ring of Hircine you get from siding with Hircine allows you to transform into a werewolf twice a day. Note that if you return to grotto after a certain amount of time has passed, it will have reverted to normal and you can collect Bolar's Oathblade from the ruined shrine. 10) Head southwest of Falkreath to find Halldir's Cairn. This dungeon is inhabited by ghosts and draugr, has a pillar puzzle solved by matching the icon with the two on the opposite wall, and at the end you'll encounter Halldir. Defeat him by taking out the clones he spawns, loot his unique staff, then leave. Don't collect Rjorn's Drum from the chest to avoid later glitchery. Now head north past the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary to the Roadside Ruins. There's a spriggan to fight and some loot. To the northeast of there is the Falkreath Watchtower. There is a necromancer and a skill book [CONJURATION: LIMINAL BRIDGES] there. 11) Go west to find Evergreen Grove, where more spriggans await. Read the skill book [ALCHEMY: MANNIMARCO, KING OF WORMS] from the pond, and on the cliff above you can find the alchemist's camp. There is another skill book [ALCHEMY: DE RERUM DIRENNIS] there. To the northwest is Bannermist Tower, where you'll find bandits, and a short distance north is Hunter's Rest, where you can steal from the resident hunters. 12) Just north of the shack is Moss Mother Cavern. Speak to Valdr outside and heal him with a potion or spell, then accompany him inside and help them eliminate the spriggans and bears. Afterward, Valdr will gives you Valdr's Lucky Dagger, a unique weapon. Now head north some more, around the side of the mountains, until you find Sunderstone Gorge. This is a conjurer dungeon, where you can find an [UNUSUAL GEM: 12/24] and learn the [FIRE BREATH: 2/3] Shout. Once back outside, then head west a bit past a small hunter's camp to find Bilegulch Mine. Here are bandits to kill, treasure to grab, and ore to mine. 13) Head south, sticking close to the western mountains, to discover Glenmoril Coven. A later Companions quest will take you here, but for now, enter to clear out the hags and their pets inside. Further south is Knifepoint Ridge, which still has bandits to fight and things to pick up even if you can't fully explore it just yet. You should now have killed the bandit leader for Siddgeir and found Runil's journal, so head back to Falkreath and hand both those misc. quests in. 14) Siddgeir will give you the opportunity to become Thane of Falkreath. Accepting this offer gets you a new housecarl, Rayya. You can also purchase Lakeview Manor from Nenya. This fully customizable house needs to be built from the ground up, and from there you can expand it in various ways and fully furnish it. It's located north of Pinewatch, and you can buy lumber from nearby Half-Moon Mill. Once you've made your initial small house and possible exterior features, you can ask a follower to become a steward and guard your house for you. You can invite your spouse and any children you may have adopted from the Honorhall Orphanage to live there. If you don't want to waste time looking for materials, you can ask your steward to furnish the house for you, which happens over time. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 14: FINISHING UP IN FALKREATH [WLK14] ======================================================================== 1) Now that you've messed about with your new house for a bit, time to explore more locations. Go east from the Falkreath Watchtower to find North Shriekwind Bastion. You'll face vampires and skeletons as you explore this dungeon, eventually reaching a point where you can open a secret tunnel letting you outside to South Shriekwind Bastion's marker, where there are enemies to fight. Re-enter the dungeon afterward and proceed to the top, where you'll learn the [ELEMENTAL FURY: 1/3] Shout. Exit out the nearby door to an overlook with a great view over the valley. 2) You should have found enough alchemy ingredients for Ingun Black-Briar by now, so head to Riften and hand them over, before meeting Barbas outside Haemar's Shame to continue his quest. Go through the tunnels with him, fighting vampires and eventually reaching Clavicus Vile's shrine. After speaking with Vile, you're done with this quest for a long while, so head to Ivarstead to get started on your assassination missions. 3) Your first target, Narfi, should be easy to kill unseen, as he lives alone in an isolated shack. Ennodius Papius is just southwest of Anga's Mill, and is similarly easy to kill undetected. Since your third contract is to the north, that's all the assassinating you can do for now. Go back to the sanctuary; you'll meet Cicero again and the quest [MOURNING NEVER COMES] begins. Speak to Astrid for your next mission, then turn in both recently-completed contracts to Nazir. 4) Fast travel back to Knifepoint Ridge and head south to discover the Twilight Sepulcher. You of course can't explore here anytime soon, so head southeast to Cracked Tusk Keep. There are orc bandits both inside and out, as well as the orc leader Ghunzul. Use Ghunzul's key to open the basement vault, then evade the traps as you collect the shards of Mehrunes' Razor from the back. Keep this for a later quest so you don't need to return here. We're now heading up into the mountains south of Falkreath. Find the path starting near Peak's Shade Tower and ascend. 5) The winding path eventually takes you to the Ancestor Glade. There's little here away from the relevant Dawnguard quest other than some spriggans. Keep following the path further up the mountain, going southwest when you can to find Angi's Camp. If you speak to Angi you can agree to practice archery with her; go with her to the range and hit the targets in accordance with Angi's constraints. If you complete all of the archery challenges, she'll give you Angi's Bow to keep. You can also get [TREASURE MAP V] from her bedside table. 6) Go back east and follow the path to reach Bloodlet Throne, where Vighar the vampire awaits. You'll also have your first encounter with gargoyles inside this dungeon, as well as the typical gang of vampires. Take out Vighar at the end of the dungeon before returning to Dengeir in Falkreath for your reward. Now go back to Helgen and head south to find Greywater Grotto, a small creature den. Afterward, head southwest up into the hills to reach Bonechill Passage, a small cave inhabited by ice creatures. 7) At the end is Ancient's Ascent, a dragon nest. Take out the dragon then learn the [ANIMAL ALLEGIANCE: 2/3] Shout. Head back to Bloodlet Throne and continue going east, following a linear road through the snow until you reach Southfringe Sanctum. You'll encounter bandits and frostbite spiders within, and find Selveni Nethri trapped in webs. Free her and agree to help her get out. Clear out the rest of the dungeon then find her again to make sure she gets out alive. On the body of Bashnag is the skill book [DESTRUCTION: THE ART OF WAR MAGIC]. Once outside, head south down the hill to reach Fort Neugrad, likely finding a treasure chest on the way. 8) You can sneak into the fort by diving into the lake and following an underwater passage into the prison. Fight through the bandits within and outside. Clear out the area, then enter the main area of the fort to encounter more bandits. Once done, head up to the roof via a ladder, where you can collect the [FORT NEUGRAD TREASURE MAP]. The treasure chest is past the lake to the northeast, tucked in a small took between some rocks. Since we've pretty much finished with Falkreath hold, time to turn in some quests (hopefully). 9) Head back to Riften, where you can give the fire salts you've hopefully found to Balimund and the ice wraith teeth to Marise Aravel. We're now heading up north to the snowy wastes of Winterhold, so unload your inventory at your house, check how your various construction/furnishing enterprises are proceeding, then fast travel to the Yorgrim Overlook. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 15: YER A WIZARD, HARRY [WLK15] ======================================================================== 1) From Yorgrim Overlook, drop down to the road and head northeast to Fort Kastav, which is guarded by skeletons and necromancers. Clear out the captain's quarters and the prison, then keep following the road northeast until you discover Stillborn Cave, a falmer nest. You may also encounter chaurus hunters in here, much stronger airborne versions of the chaurus. 2) From the main entrance of Stillborn Cave, head north towards Winterhold, sticking to the road. Eventually, you'll find Whistling Mine on the left, where there's not much to do except mine and bother the workers. Just to the east of the mine is the Journeyman's Nook, which is guarded by a single bandit. You can find [TREASURE MAP II] in a satchel and Borvir's Dagger on the ground. From the nook, head northeast down a steep trail to a small camp hidden away in a crevice where you'll find the skill Book [RESTORATION: 2920, RAIN'S HAND, V4]. On a frozen island to the east with a couple of horkers are some dead hunters, one of which coincidentally holds [TREASURE MAP VIII]. 3) Now head to the location just to the northwest, which is Bleakcoast Cave. Inside are a few trolls and a bit of treasure. Head north from the cave, swimming through the icy water to reach the Wreck of the Pride of Tel Vos. As well as miscellaneous treasure and bandits, you'll find a journal Brand-Shei in Riften will want to see. Head northeast some more to a tall icy rock, the Serpent Stone. If you wanted to join the Stormcloaks this is where you'll have been sent to slay an ice wraith. The Serpent Stone lets you paralyze an enemy with a deadly poison. Meh. Get it if you want. 4) Fast travel back to the Journeyman's Nook, and start heading northwest across the snow. You'll probably pass a small abandoned camp, and, on the opposite side of the canyon, a glyph-trapped altar where Rundi met his end. Head up the slope to the west and you'll reach the town of Winterhold, where some quests can be undertaken. 5) Head inside the Frozen Hearth, where you can pick up a bounty quest from Dagur, agree to talk to Ranmir for Haran and grab Wylandriah's ingot from a shelf. Find Ranmir and persuade him to pay his debts, returning to Haran for a reward. Return to Dagur for a minor quest that doesn't even appear as a miscellaneous objective; speak to Haran about it to be directed to Riften. We'll resolve this soon. 6) Opposite the Frozen Hearth is the only other notable location in town, the Jarl's longhouse. Inside, Malur Seloth asks you to steal something for him, and speak to Jarl Korir to be tasked with finding the Helm of Winterhold for him. Steal the staff from the inn before delivering it to Malur for a boost to your Speech skill. The final thing to do in town is to enter Birna's Oddments and ask her about a bad deal and buy the coral dragon claw from her. Now head north to reach the bridge leading to the College, the foremost authority on magical matters in Skyrim. 7) On the bridge, Faralda speaks to you, beginning [FIRST LESSONS]. She'll give you a random spell to cast; if you don't know it she can sell you the tome. Once inside the college you can speak to Mirabelle Ervine to be shown the Hall of Attainment. Then you can enter the Hall of the Elements, where Tolfdir requires your assistance in demonstrating a ward spell. Yet again, if you don't know it he'll teach it to you. After speaking to him this quest will conclude and the quest [UNDER SAARTHAL] will begin. We'll be getting to this later. 8) Head upstairs to the Arcanaeum, where you can speak to Urag gro-Shub and receive a miscellaneous quest regarding retrieving a valuable book. A similar quest, [SHALIDOR'S INSIGHTS], can also be begun. Also find a nearby copy of Lost Legends to update the Forbidden Legend quest. You can't do any more sidequests at the College yet, but you can explore the Midden, the mini-dungeon accessed via a trapdoor in the courtyard. Down here are ice wraiths and draugr, as well as the Atronach Forge, where you can craft various magical items like staffs. A door leads deeper into the Midden Dark, where you can find a room with a daedric gauntlet that starts another unmarked sidequest. Grab the key from the table, that unlocks a chest in the Arcanaeum. 9) Take the four rings from the chest and return to the gauntlet. Place Pithi's ring on the little finger, Balwen's on the ring finger, Treoy's on the middle finger, and Katarina's on the index finger. This summons Velehk Sain, who can choose to kill or extort. If you choose to spare him, he'll let you access his treasure on a nearby island. That's pretty all you can do in Winterhold for the moment, so let's turn in some quests before we continue to explore. 10) First stop by Valtheim Towers, where you can open the hidden treasure chest located just to the east by the water's edge. You also have two objectives to turn in in Riften. Wylandriah in Mistveil Keep and Brand-Shei in the Riften Jail will both reward you for helping them, Brand-Shei giving you the key to his strongbox at the marketplace. Also speak with Vex of the Thieves' Guild about Isabelle Rolaine and Ranmir. Now to proceed with the College quests. Go southwest from Winterhold to Saarthal. 11) Once you arrive, speak to Tolfdir then head inside with the apprentices. Follow them for a while then find Arniel in the tunnels and find the three magical rings and the amulet. Wear it and use a spell on the ornate wall to open the way forward. Head through with Tolfdir and speak to him after having a vision. Fight the draugr as you explore the ruins, eventually encountering a pillar puzzle. Match the pillars to the glyphs above them to encounter another puzzle requiring you to carefully turn the pillars to match the set of icons before them. 12) In the final room you encounter Jyrik Gauldurson. Wait for Tolfdir to disrupt his magic and make him vulnerable before defeating him. Make sure to loot his amulet for the Forbidden Legend quest before grabbing his unique staff from the table and listening to Tolfdir. You can now make your way out (getting the [ICE FORM: 1/3] Shout on the way), but we have a few places to visit before going back to the College. 13) Head north to the coast, going northwest slightly to a small island with a shrine of Talos on it. If you made a deal with Velehk Sain, you'll find his treasure here. To the north is Ysgramor's Tomb, which relates to the Companions questline. We'll deal with that soon. If you go north and then east around the island, you can find an altar and the body of the missing apprentice Ilas-Tei. Now keep heading north into the ice drifts, eventually finding Septimus Signus's Outpost. Inside, speak to Septimus for the quest [DISCERNING THE TRANSMUNDANE]. This quest relates closely to the main quest, so we'll leave it for a while. 14) If you head northeast a bit more, you'll find the Chill, the unmarked jail you'll be sent to if you are arrested in Winterhold. Guess the Jarl's just a sadist. You can enter and fight the frost atronach if you want, but otherwise, head back southeast from Septimus' outpost to find the Skytemple Ruins atop an icy island. You can find some treasure inside, but there are draugr and skeletons who attack when you approach. Now head back to the College. 15) Go upstairs to the Arch-Mage's Quarters and speak to Savos Aren about what has happened. Celebrate his cooperation by stealing what you want from his quarters, including the [UNUSUAL GEM: 13/24] on a shelf. Now head down to the Arcanaeum and speak to Urag to receive your next objective. Ancano speaks to you on your way out. 16) It's worth noting that you can now engage in a few side quests for the residents of the College. All three of your fellow apprentices have requests. Brelyna asks you to be a subject for her experiments; let her test her spell, wait a while, then let her test a few more on you for a reward. J'zargo gives you the quest [J'ZARGO'S EXPERIMENT], asking you to test his new spell on undead. Finally, Onmund asks you to speak to Enthir, beginning [ONMUND'S REQUEST]. Find Enthir, and, since you most likely can't persuade him, you'll have to retrieve a staff from a random dungeon for him. 17) Two of your instructors will also have things for you to do. Sergius Turrianus can give you two miscellaneous quests; he'll either ask for a random number of empty soul gems, or ask you to get an item from someone. Turn in the soul gems to him whenever you've got them, as it's impossible to determine the number or type of his request. Drevis Neloren will give you special gloves to cleanse focal points around the College. Wearing the gloves, simply go to the marked locations and interact with them before returning to Drevis for your reward. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 16: WALKING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND [WLK16] ======================================================================== 1) You should be able to retrieve Enthir's staff from a previously-visited dungeon, as well as get Sergius' item from someone in a previously-visited city. Return to Sergius for your reward, then take the amulet from Enthir before giving it to Onmund to finish that quest. You can now recruit him as a follower. 2) Now for more exploring. Head to Saarthal and go southwest over the top of the glaciers until you reach the dwemer ruin of Alftand. We won't be exploring here for a long time, but it saves time discovering it now. Now go east a sizable distance until you reach Sightless Pit, a falmer hive. There's a little altar with a skill book [CONJURATION: THE DOORS OF OBLIVION] on top of it, to grab first. Entering the dungeon is a one-way trip. 3) Fight through falmer inside the pit, eventually entering a side area called the Temple of Xrib. This cool-looking area has more falmer to fight, although eventually you'll exit via an elevator to the top. Now head east more, climbing your way to the mountaintop where you'll find the majestic Shrine of Azura. At the foot of the statue, speak to Aranea to begin the quest [THE BLACK STAR]. 4) One final location to visit before moving on is Mount Anthor. Head west-southwest up the mountains, where you'll find it. Fight the dragon and then learn the [ICE FORM: 2/3] Shout via the Word Wall. Now head back to Winterhold and speak to Nelacar in the Frozen Hearth for Aranea's quest. Now head back to Ilinalta's Deep in Falkreath, which you can now fully explore by heading through the passage on the upper level of the main room. Fight the necromancers inside Ilinalta's Deluge until you find Malyn's room. 5) After collecting the star you must choose whether to take it to Aranea or Nelacar. This affects the reward you receive in the end, so choose carefully. I usually choose Nelacar. Your chosen person will transport you inside the star, where, alone, you must fight various dremora, followed by Malyn Varen himself. Once done you'll either get Azura's Star or the Black Star, both with powerful soul-trapping potential. 6) Head to Bleakcoast Cave and go south past an abandoned hunters' camp to find Snow Veil Sanctum. We'll visit here later for a Thieves' Guild quest. From there head east down the hills to find a locked treasure chest guarded by a troll, then head southeast and out to sea to the Wreck of the Winter War. En route you'll likely pass through another abandoned campsite. At the shipwreck itself are numerous bandits and some treasure. 7) The final location is Yngol Barrow, located to the south. This semi-unique dungeon actually has no threats other than traps and the boss. To solve the first puzzle, match the pillar icons to the hints in the dead scholar's notes. When you reach the puzzle door, open it with the coral dragon claw you bought from Birna. Beyond, fight Yngol's Shade and grab the Helm of Yngol from the throne. You can now exit freely. 8) Time to get on with the College of Winterhold questline. Head northwest from Valtheim Towers to reach Fellglow Keep, which is guarded by deadly mages. Enter the basement via a door in an adjacent tower, and progress through the dungeon. You can free Orthorn from his cell and let him come with you if you want. After arriving on the fort's ground floor you can grab an [UNUSUAL GEM: 14/24] in a side room and then proceed to the Caller's chamber. 9) You can either fight the Caller or give her Orthorn in exchange for the books. Either way, grab the books and leave. Before going back to the College, head west a bit to find Shimmermist Cave, a falmer den near Whiterun. At the end of it you'll also run into a dwarven centurion. When you're done head back to the College to turn in your quest. Give the books back to Urag in the Arcanaeum and beginning the next quest, [GOOD INTENTIONS]. 10) Go downstairs and speak to Tolfdir, then listen to him ramble. Follow Ancano upstairs and speak to Quaranir. Mirabelle Ervine will tell you where he is if you Persuade her, but you can find him easily within the Midden Dark. Speaking to the Augur and returning to Savos Aren begins the next quest [REVEALING THE UNSEEN]. 11) Speak to Mirabelle again afterward There are also two minor quests you can undertake. Tolfdir asks you to find his alembic for him; look around the Hall of Countenance until you find it and then return it. Arniel Gane can begin the quest [ARNIEL'S ENDEAVOR], asking you to get him ten dwemer cogs. Fast travel to Alftand to continue exploration of the area. 12) Head north down the cliffs to the coast until you see a 'standing stone' icon. Follow it to the Tower Stone, which lets you open high-level locks for free. Further to the northeast is Pilgrim's Trench. To discover the location, dive beneath the water and loot the shipwreck on the ocean floor. You'll probably run out of air and have to make a hurried rush back to the surface more than once while here. When done, head back to the Tower Stone and go southwest. Close to the bottom of the cliff you'll find the burned body of Yisra, the final missing apprentice. 13) On the island to the north you'll find the barrow of Yngvild. You'll want to test out J'zargo's Flame Cloak scrolls on the draugr and ghosts here, but be aware it will hurt you as well. Make sure to explore the whole barrow to get all four of Arondil's journals for Vekel. Eventually you'll fight Arondil himself and get the [UNUSUAL GEM: 15/24] in his bedroom, along with the final journal. 14) A little bit northwest of Yngvild is Hela's Folly, another sunken shipwreck with attached campsite. Now fast travel back to the Tower Stone and go southwest. The first landmark you'll come to is Hob's Fall Cave. Upon first entering, inspect Isabelle Rolaine's body and take her letter, then fight the mages in the rest of the cave, picking up an [UNUSUAL GEM: 16/24] on the way. Once you reach the end, make sure not to pick up Pantea's Flute from the chest to avoid glitches, then make your way out. 15) Just to the southwest is Frostflow Lighthouse. Inside, search the place for items and notes, then grab the cellar key and Torchbug in a Jar from above the fire before entering the basement. Enter the falmer nest and fight through the falmer and chaurus until you encounter the chaurus reaper. Kill it, then loot Habd's remains from its corpse. You can place the remains in the flame at the top of the lighthouse to resolve this storyline and get Sailor's Repose, a perk that increases effects of healing magic. 16) From the bottom of the lighthouse, head west a bit to the Winterhold Imperial Camp. Guess what there is to do here? Nothing, of course. To the south is Driftshade Refuge, which we'll be visiting later for the Companions quests. For now, leave it and go south some more to Snowpoint Beacon, an unremarkable bandit camp. To the west is Fort Fellhammer, where more bandits await. Clear out the Fort Fellhammer Garrison, then use the bandit leader's key to enter and clear out the Fort Fellhammer Mines. 17) Just a few more places to visit before we're done for now. Head south from Alftand to reach Wayward Pass, a simple pass leading south through the mountains. After moving through it head west a bit to find Ironbind Barrow. Speak to Salma outside and head inside with her. Fight through the frostbite spiders until your path is blocked. Find the lever to the left of the door and keep going, fighting draugr until you encounter Warlord Gathrik. Afterward, Beem-Ja will of course betray you, so take him out before learning the [BECOME ETHEREAL: 1/3] Shout. The unique Steel Battleaxe of Fiery Souls is also on the throne. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 17: WE ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING WORTHWHILE [WLK17] ======================================================================== 1) Time to turn in some quests. Head back to the College, where you can complete J'zargo's quest and recruit him as a follower. Hopefully you've also found the Helm of Winterhold, that you can give to Jarl Korir. He'll allow you to become Thane of Winterhold, but unlike all other thane roles, this one doesn't net you a house or housecarl. Also if you give Ranmir in the Frozen Hearth Isabelle's letter you'll get a small reward. 2) Drop by the Thieves' Guild in Riften to hand over Arondil's journals to Vekel the Man for payment. Now head to Mzulft in east Eastmarch to get on with the College questline. This is a long, but fairly linear dwarven ruin where you'll encounter mostly falmer and chaurus. While there, keep an eye out for dwemer cogs for Arniel. Speak to Gavros Plinius upon entering before making your way deeper inside. In the Aedrone, take the focusing crystal from the falmer leader. 3) Head into the eastern room first to get the observatory key, before meeting Paratus at the western door. Follow him to the oculory, insert the crystal, and then fiddle with the switches and use basic Destruction spells to align the oculory's blue beams with the movable areas on the room to complete the puzzle. Speak to Paratus afterward and make your way out via a nearby exit. Now head back to the College, where you should give Arniel his dwemer cogs before getting another job from him. 4) Speak to Enthir again and he'll send you another retrieve-item-from-random-dungeon job. Now speak to the Archmage and help him try to remove the barrier, then enter and speak to Ancano. Afterwards, the quest [CONTAINMENT] begins. Go outside to find Savos, before going down into Winterhold to fight the magical anomalies that have appeared. Once they're all dead, report back to Mirabelle to begin the next quest [THE STAFF OF MAGNUS]. We'll have a break from the College questline for now. 5) Remember the Companions? Yeah... well, you should have completed the radiant quest you were given by Aela at Gallows' Rock all that time ago, so head to Jorrvaskr to turn it in to her. She'll give you another random quest that you should be able to complete straight away if it directs to a previously-visited dungeon. If not, just do it anyway. Completing both these quest for Aela begins the next quest, [BLOOD'S HONOR]. Go downstairs and chat to Kodlak to be sent away again. 6) Head to Glenmoril Coven and take out all of the hagravens inside, making sure to collect their heads, no matter how disgusting it is. Return to Jorrvaskr afterward and enter it to find the results of your campaign against the Silver Hand. The quest [PURITY OF REVENGE] begins, and Vilkas replaces your current follower if you have one. Head up to Driftshade Refuge in the north and begin cutting your way through the Silver Hand, eventually entering the Driftshade Cellar and recovering the fragments of Wuuthrad. 7) Once you're done there, head back to Jorrvaskr, beginning the quest [GLORY OF THE DEAD]. Fetch the fragment from Kodlak's quarters after attending a funeral, give it to Eorlund, then meet the Circle in the Underforge. You can head to Ysgramor's tomb now, but we have some stuff to do before then. There's a new sidequest in Whiterun we can embark on, so ask Hulda at the Bannered Mare about rumors to be told about the Jarl's strange children. 8) Speak to Jarl Balgruuf to begin the quest [THE WHISPERING DOOR]. Find his son Nelkir and speak to him, then find the basement door and 'listen' to it before returning to him. You can easily pickpocket the door key from Balgruuf or Farengar; past the door is the Ebony Blade and quest completion. You can charge the sword by murdering people you've made friends with, but since that's evil I certainly won't be doing it. Now head to Drelas' Cottage and go west to Rannveig's Fast to continue exploring. 9) Inside Rannveig's Fast you'll encounter numerous ghosts to fight. In the main room you'll learn the [KYNE'S PEACE: 2/3] Shout, and in a lower room is Sild the Warlock and an [UNUSUAL GEM: 17/24]. Head back to the entrance, depart, then head west until you reach your first giant camp in quite a while, Talking Stone Camp. Take what you want, kill the resident giants if necessary, then head north from the camp to Orotheim, a bandit cave. Loot it for, well, loot, then head northwest down the cliff to Crabber's Shanty, a relatively pointless shack, 10) We won't be exploring any more locations to the north, so head back to Talking Stone Camp and go southwest until you reach the village of Rorikstead. There's only one miscellaneous objective you can do here; speak to Erik, then convince his father Mralki at the Frostfruit Inn to let him do what he wants. Return to Erik, whom you can now hire as a follower. Now head a short distance northwest from the town to Lund's Hut, a small shack infested with skeevers. 11) Head south a little more to reach the Moldering Ruins, a vampire nest. Clear it out then head up to the Ysgramor's Tomb to complete the Companions questline. Place Wuuthrad on Ysgramor's statue to open the way forward, then progress through the tomb fighting ghosts and frostbite spiders, eventually encountering Kodlak's spirit. Fight the wolf spirit after you put a witch head in the fire, then speak to Kodlak once more to complete the Companions storyline. You can also get the unique Shield of Ysgramor from a chest and reclaim Wuuthrad on the way out. 12) Now that you are the Harbinger, you can take the members of the Circle as followers - and get free training from them in the process, if you want. New repeatable sidequests are also available - [TOTEMS OF HIRCINE] from Aela, where you and Aela go to a random dungeon to retrieve a totem that gives you a new werewolf ability, [DRAGON SEEKERS], in which one of the brothers accompanies you to a dragon nest to slay one of the beasts, and [PURITY], in which Farkas or Vilkas accompanies you to Ysgramor's tomb so you can use a Glenmoril witch head to cure their lycanthropy. You can also do this to yourself, and change back via Aela if you want, but only once. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 18: DAWN OF A NEW STAR [WLK18] ======================================================================== 1) Time to head to the city of Dawnstar. From the Winterhold Imperial Camp, head northwest up the hill to Nightcaller Temple, which we'll explore in a little bit. To the west is the town of Dawnstar, where a few quest opportunities await us. Drop down from the cliffs to find yourself outside Iron-Breaker Mine. Your next Dark Brotherhood target, Beitild, will also be around here, so take her out unseen. A little to the northwest is the Mortar & Pestle, where you can speak to Frida and agree to find the Ring of Pure Mixtures for her. 2) The second house north from there is Silus' museum. Speak to him and then take his museum tour, beginning [PIECES OF THE PAST]. After he finishes rambling, agree to get the razor fragments for him - you should already have the blade shards and can hand them in. A little bit northeast of the museum along the coast is the Dawnstar Sanctuary, which we'll be visiting later. Now go back to the mine and go southwest to the White Hall. You can't do any jobs for the Jarl yet, though, not until the nightmare problem is resolved. You can give him Aeri's note, however. 3) Two houses to the west is the Windpeak Inn. Inside you can speak with Stig Salt-Plank and either pay him or beat him in a fight to get information on the pirates. Get a bounty quest from Thoring if you want, then speak to Erandur to begin [WAKING NIGHTMARE]. Follow him (slowly) up to Nightcaller Temple and head inside. Head downstairs with him fighting a few orcs, then backtrack to the library door and kill the enemies inside. Grab the book from the upper level and give it to him. 4) Go next door to the laboratory and find the torpor. Drink it then follow the linear path to release the Miasma. Lower the barrier, speak to Erandur again then go downstairs with him to find the skull and eliminate the last two foes. Now speak with Erandur and either let him perform the ritual to get him as a follower or kill him to keep the Skull of Corruption. This quest is complete afterward 5) Now you can head back to Dawnstar and speak to Jarl Skald to get a request to kill a local giant. Now head north a bit to Rustleif's forge; he'll request you bring him a special book. Finally, speak to Captain Wayfinder on his ship to pick up another miscellaneous objective. Now let's finish up the Rise in the East quest. Report to Orthus Endario at Windhelm's docks, then speak to Adelaisa before departing to the unique location of Japhet's Folly via the guard at the docks. 6) Speak to Adelaisa then head out to the island via the ice. Enter the fort via the Sea Cave, then make your way through the towers to kill Haldyn. Exit afterward and return to Adelaisa to depart and get your reward from Orthus. The rare book Rustleif wants is in Swindlers' Den, so head there to grab it before turning in Beitild's contract to Nazir at the Sanctuary. You can now go back to Dawnstar to give Rustleif the book (getting a Smithing skill boost), before fast-traveling to Loreius Farm for some more exploring. 7) From the farm head north-northeast to find Blizzard Rest, a giant camp. Take out the residents and loot the place, then go northeast a bit more to the Weynon Stones, a relatively pointless location with a pair of ice wraiths and a shrine of Talos. Further to the east is the Shrouded Grove, home to a spriggan and animal companion. Inside the cave is a chest and another spriggan. The next stop to the east is the Nightgate Inn, where there's really nothing interesting to do. 8) East from the inn on the north side of a frozen lake is Bronze Water Cave. There's a few animals to fight inside but not much else. Across the lake to the south you can find two dwarven ruins; Raldbthar straight to the south (on the eastern side of the mountain with bandits outside) and Irkngthand, located at the base of the mountain facing northwest. We won't be exploring either for a while, so discover them and leave it at that. 9) From Irkngthand, head west across the snow at the base of the cliffs to find Tumble Arch Pass, a giant camp. Further west is Korvanjund, which we won't be exploring until we're doing the Civil War quests (unless you're playing as a filthy Stormcloak, in which case we can do it now). Now head southeast up into the mountains until you reach Shearpoint. Prepare, as here you'll face a dragon as well as Krosis, the first of the game's deadly dragon priests. Make sure you take his mask, as collecting all of the dragon priest masks gives you a reward much later. You can also learn the [THROW VOICE: 1/1] Shout here. 10) Once more place to visit before we turn in some quests is Silverdrift Lair, located north of Shrouded Grove. Here are bandits outside and draugr within, where you can learn the [DISARM: 2/3] Shout after defeating the boss. Now head back to Dawnstar to turn in some quests. Give the Ring of Pure Mixtures to Frida if you've found it to get an Alchemy skill boost, hand in a bounty to the Jarl, and inform Skald that the giant is dead. He'll give you the chance to become Thane of the Pale, giving you Gregor as a housecarl and letting you purchase Heljarchen Hall, the second customizable home. Finally, find Kharjo while the khajiit caravan is at either Dawnstar or Riften and give him his amulet, which you should have found by now. 11) It's worth noting that after reaching level 30 (which you should be at or past by now), you will be randomly attacked by a Boethiah cultist. Reading the book on their body begins the quest [BOETHIAH'S PROVING], directing you to the Sacellum of Boethiah near Windhelm. Head over there and speak to the priestess. You'll have to sacrifice a companion to Boethiah to continue, so unless you're completely heartless grab a hireling you don't care about them, bring them back here and sacrifice them with the blade you were given after making them touch the pillar. Kill the other cultists, speak to Boethiah, and we'll finish the rest of the quest later. 12) Time for more exploring. Head north from the Weynon Stones to find Duskglow Crevice. This is a falmer hive where you'll find treasure and the Moth in a Jar in the final room. West from there is Fort Dunstad, which is infested with bandits. Take out all the bandits as well as the ones inside the fort, the prison, the commander's quarters and the Stumbling Sabrecat. A little bit to the northwest are the ruins of the Hall of the Vigilant, where you can find a bit of treasure. A bit further to the north is Red Road Pass, a giant camp, where giants clash with attacking bandits. 13) Now go southwest to find Frostmere Crypt. Speak to Eisa Blackthorn outside after saving her to begin [THE PALE LADY]. Head inside the crypt to find bandits and logs that give you more details on the situation. In the Frostmere Depths you'll find Kyr, and can either fight the Pale Lady or take the Pale Blade and seal her away again. Either way, this quest is complete. Learn the [ICE FORM: 3/3] Shout on your way out. Now head north from Red Road Pass back towards Dawnstar to discover the Windward Ruins, where the third guardian spirit for the Kyne's Sacred Trials quest will be. 14) Now head west a bit to find the Pale Imperial Camp, another military camp, obviously. Head north to the coast to the Wreck of the Brinehammer, where you encounter mudcrabs and can find some treasure below decks. Now head back to Blizzard Rest and go west up and over the hills to Stonehill Bluff, aka Giant Camp #1271. Clear it out if you want, then keep going south to the ruin of Volunruud, which we can explore now. Read the journal just inside to begin [SILENCED TONGUES]. 15) Head through the dungeon, fighting draugr as you located the two ceremonial weapons. Use them to open the door forward via the main room, then defeat Kvenel in the chamber beyond. This completes the quest and lets you grab the unique weapons Eduj and Okin from his remains. Learn the [AURA WHISPER: 2/3] Shout before departing. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 19: LEARNING A NEW VOCABULARY [WLK19] ======================================================================== 1) From Volunruud, head north and slightly northwest through a pine forest. When you find a blood trail on the ground, follow it west up onto the rocks until you find a dead Wood Elf with [TREASURE MAP VI] on its body. We'll get this one soon. Now head northwest a short distance to find the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon clinging to the cliffside. We can't do anything here, but remember it for later. Northwest of there is the Lord Stone, which lets you resist damage from both magic and physical attacks - after you take out the bandits guarding it. 2) Stop by Korvanjund to get the treasure hidden on the arch above the main entrance, then head back to Froki's Shack to report that the three guardian spirits are gone. He'll task you with taking out three more. These are all easily accessible, so head to the marked locations on your map and dispose of the three spirits. Return to Froki afterward to be sent out one last time. The troll guardian spirit is in Graywinter Watch, so go there and defeat it. Return to Froki to complete the quest and get the unique Kyne's Token. 3) Well, already we're pretty much done with the Pale, so let's head to our antipenultimate hold, Hjaalmarch. Go back to Red Road Pass and go west to reach the final of the 'big three' dwemer ruins, Mzinchaleft. As with the others, leave this one alone for now. Clear out the exterior bandits then head southwest towards a 'mine' icon on the compass to reach the settlement of Stonehills. Here you can speak to the miner Pactur and agree to deliver a shipment to Solitude for him. Now before we progress we should get on with the Dawnguard storyline by making your way up the steep mountainside to the northeast to find Dimhollow Crypt. 4) In the first room you'll encounter vampires and have to pull a lever to progress further. Make your way through the dungeon fighting vampires, undead and death hounds to reach the Dimhollow Cavern. After taking care of all the vampires, utilize the pedestal in the center of the chamber and then move the pedestals to fit to the end of the purple glowing lines and interact with the pedestal again to open the sarcophagus and speak to Serana. The quest [BLOODLINE] now begins. 5) Now go with Serana out of the crypt via the back exit, fighting more enemies along the way. In a large arena-like room with multiple draugr and skeletons you'll learn the [DRAIN VITALITY: 2/3] Shout. When you eventually exit, head back to Mzinchaleft (you can keep Serana as a second follower if you already had one when you recruited her), then go west to continue your exploration of Hjaalmarch. You'll find the Hjaalmarch Stormcloak Camp after a while, and further west is Ustengrav. Yes - we're actually going to do some of the main quest. Try not to hyperventilate with excitement. 6) Inside this dungeon are mostly draugr, mixed with some necromancers shortly after entering. In the Ustengrav Depths is a very large chamber, at the bottom of which you can learn the [BECOME ETHEREAL: 2/3] Shout. There is also a timed puzzle you must use the Whirlwind Sprint Shout to overcome. Take out some frostbite spiders and dodge fire traps before finding the note at the horn's resting place. Make your way out afterward We'll explore a few more locations before heading to Riverwood, however. 7) Northwest of Ustengrav is the Abandoned Shack, where we were dumped during a previous Dark Brotherhood quest. Further west is Folgunthur, which we should explore now. As you can see we're actually just below Solitude, the capital of Skyrim now, but we won't go there till later. As with most Nordic ruins, Folgunthur is filled with draugr. On the body of Daynas Valen is the ivory dragon claw and his notes, which update the quest. Make your way to the end of the dungeon to find Mikrul Gauldurson. Kill him and take the final amulet piece, as well as the Gauldur Blackblade. Learn the [FROST BREATH: 2/3] Shout, then use the ivory claw in the very first room of the dungeon before exiting and solve a simple pillar puzzle to open a hidden room with some treasure. 8) The last place we'll go to in this current jaunt is north of Ustengrav; the High Gate Ruins. Inside you'll meet Anska, who can begin the quest [A SCROLL FOR ANSKA]. Go through the draugr-infested ruin, solving the first lever puzzle using the glyphs above the door you entered by. When you encounter Vokun, fight him and then take his mask, then get the scroll for Anska to complete the quest. Learn the [STORM CALL: 1/3] Shout before departing. 9) Time to spend some time progressing the main quest now. Go to Riverwood and head to the Sleeping Giant Inn. Ahh, remember Riverwood? It seems like we were just here yesterday. And, who knows, maybe if you play twenty hours a day you were. Speak to Delphine and rent the attic room, then meet with her inside to get the claw and discuss questy things. The quest [A BLADE IN THE DARK BEGINS]. Speak with her downstairs, then head up to High Hrothgar before going after her. 10) Give the horn to Arngeir, learn the [UNRELENTING FORCE: 3/3] Shout and listen to them literally Shout at you for a bit before completing The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller quest. You can now speak to Arngeir and get a misc. objective directing you to a random place with a Word of Power left to learn. Although for completionists like us this is unnecessary. Anyway, head to Kynesgrove, and go meet Delphine at the dragon mound atop the eastern hill. 11) When Sahloknir awakens, you'll have to fight him. Speak to Delphine afterward to complete this quest and begin [DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY]. Meet her back in Riverwood afterward to be directed to Solitude, which we'll be doing relatively soon. Now that you've progressed somewhat in the main quest, new dragon mounds will have opened in Skyrim. If you go to the one northeast of Sunderstone Gorge and southwest of Sleeping Tree Camp, you'll witness Alduin resurrecting the unique dragon Vuljotnaak, who must be fought. Two more named dragons will become available later in the main quest. You can also get a bonus dragon soul by taking the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller back to Ustengrav and putting it back in its receptacle. 12) Fast travel to Rannveig's Fast and head north a short distance up the hill from the ruin to find South Cold Rock Pass. This short cave area has a single troll, no treasure and an exit to - you guessed it - North Cold Rock Pass. From there you can find a trail leading up the mountain to Eldersblood Peak. Up here there's a dragon to fight and the Word Wall teaching the [DISARM: 2/3] Shout. Northwest of North Cold Rock Pass down the cliff is Brood Cavern, a simple cave full of animals to fight. 13) Once outside, head northwest down into the river valley to find Dead Men's Respite on the opposite bank. We won't be exploring this ruin until a bit later, when we join the Bards' College in Solitude. Further west is Robber's Gorge, a little bandit camp. Clear it out and then head down the trapdoor inside the shack to reach the cove, where you can find more treasure underwater. Now it's time to head to the local town, Morthal. Head southwest from Ustengrav to Movarth's Lair, which we'll be exploring relatively soon, and further south past it to Morthal. 14) Morthal is small but there is still some stuff to do. First head to the Moorside Inn on the north side of town, where you can pick up a bounty quest from Jonna. To to the south is Highmoon Hall, where you see the locals moaning about their safety. You can speak to Benor and challenge him to a fight for money and ask Jorgen about Mehrunes' Razor. Persuade him for the keys then get the hilt from his chest in his house. Also speak to Lami to get a fetch quest. 15) Idgrod the Younger also wanders around town and can provide another misc. objective. Assuming you've heard about the burnt house, ask a guard about it to begin [LAID TO REST]. Inside Highmoon Hall, ask the Jarl about it to progress the quest. Also, if you speak to her housecarl Gorm when he is away from her he'll give you a letter to take to Solitude. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 20: DRAGONBORN - VAMPIRE HUNTER [WLK20] ======================================================================== 1) Time to solve the mystery of Morthal's burned house. Go to the nearby ruins and speak to Helgi's ghost. Wait until nighttime, then find her again on a hill to the west of town. Kill Laelette then open the coffin, before finding Laelette's husband Thonnir and speaking to him. 2) You'll now have to investigate Alva's house. Alva will attack you, as will Hroggar if he is there. Check the cellar and read her journal, before taking it to show Jarl Idgrod. You'll now have to go to Movarth's Lair and kill the master vampire. Head over there (your allies are cowards and will flee, except for Thonnir who can accompany you if you wish) and fight through the vampires inside, including Movarth. Take Movarth's Boots if you want then return to Idgrod to complete the quest. 3) Idgrod will now let you become Thane of Hjaalmarch if you've completed enough miscellaneous quests, which gets you Valdimar as a housecarl and the ability to purchase Windstad Manor, the third and final customizable home. Compared to Lakeview Manor and Heljarchen Hall it's in a pretty poor locations but you might want it anyway. While we remember, quickly head back to Whiterun and give Idgrod's note to Danica Pure-Spring for some gold. You've also hopefully found Wayfinder's pure-cut void salts, so deliver them to him in Dawnstar as well. Deliver the razor hilt to Silus while you're there. 4) One final thing to do in Morthal relates to Falion the mage. Late at night, he leaves his home and you can follow him to a summoning circle in the swamps. Here you can speak to him and potentially blackmail him for gold. Falion's activities relate to the vampire cure quest, which we won't be able to do until later, when we get a chance to remove our lycanthropy and become a vampire. You may also want to hand in a bounty quest to Aslfur. 5) Now let's finish up locations in northern and western Hjaalmarch. East of Movarth's Lair are the Kjenstag Ruins, where a ghost appears at night. Follow him to a small barrow guarded by bandits. You can now loot his final resting place. Now fast travel to Folgunthur and go southwest to find the Apprentice Stone, which increases magicka regen at the cost of being more vulnerable to magic. Further south is Fort Snowhawk, which comes with the typical glut of hostile mages. 6) Clear out the enemies inside as well as the ones inside the fort and its prison. When the fort is empty, head west until you reach a cobbled road; here you can find Meeko who will lead you to Meeko's Shack. You can now recruit Meeko as an animal companion if you wish. Back on the road, keep following it west and then southwest when you can. When you reach a ransacked wagon, go further south to a small campsite and a path leading to Chillwind Depths. 7) Chillwind Depths is another falmer hive for you to explore. There are also plenty of frostbite spiders, as well as treasure. When that's done, go back to the road and head north, then west across the bridge. Before long you'll reach the settlement of Dragon Bridge, our last stop before Solitude. Before crossing the bridge, search the nearby trees for a satchel with a key in it that opens the chest, hidden underwater on the bridge's north side. There's only one miscellaneous objective in the town itself, obtained from Olda. 8) To find the mead, go southwest out of town along a rocky trail past some wolves until you find a small animal den. Here is the mead, which you can either give to Olda or Horgeir for a reward. Horgeir will reward you with a skill boost in Block. You can also pick up a regional bounty quest from Faida in the Four Shields Tavern. Now follow the northeast road out of town towards Solitude. On the way you can find the Haafingar Stormcloak Camp just off the road - how the Stormcloaks have the audacity to put their local camp so close to Solitude I have no idea. 9) Further up the road you can take a trail down to Katla's Farm, and past that a fork that takes you to the Solitude Sawmill in one direction, and the East Empire Company Warehouse in the other. The farm and mill are pretty basic, but we'll be visiting the warehouse after going to Solitude. When you're ready, go back to the road and head uphill to reach the gates of Solitude, where plenty of questing opportunities await us. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 21: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT [WLK21] ======================================================================== 1) When you enter the city, you'll witness Roggvir's execution. Afterwards, the watching civilians will head back to their respective schedules. There are plenty of miscellaneous objectives to pick up here, as always, so start off by entering the first building on the left, the Winking Skeever. In here you can get some rumors from Corpulus Vinius and hire Belrand as a follower, but firstly you'll want to speak to Malborn about infiltrating the Thalmor Embassy. You'll need to give him whatever items or equipment you want to take into the Embassy, as you can't bring whatever you want in there. But we should leave this until we're actually ready to go there, so just talk to him for now. 2) Speak to Gulum-Ei in here also about the Thieves' Guild. You most likely can't Persuade or Intimidate him, so he'll ask for some wine from the Blue Palace. Sorex Vinius is also hanging about here, and gives you a delivery to take to the Blue Palace. Back outside, head to the building directly across, which is Radiant Raiment. Hanging around outside is Noster Eagle Eye, who will give you another fetch quest. Inside Radiant Raiment, Taarie will give you some clothes to show Elisif. Looks like everyone wants us to go to the Blue Palace, then. 3) Somewhere around the marketplace is the girl Svari, who asks you to speak to her mother. If Greta is around, speak to her and she'll ask you to get Roggvir's amulet of Talos. Take it from his body at the chopping block and give it to her for a reward. Now head inside Angelina's Aromatics nearby, where Angeline Morrard asks you to speak to Captain Aldis. Nearby at the marketplace you can get a miscellaneous objective from Evette San, and can speak to Jaree-Ra near the ramp leading upwards to begin [LIGHTS OUT!]. 4) At the top of the ramp you can enter the Castle Dour courtyard. Speak to Captain Aldis in the courtyard, give him the letter from Morthal, and then ask about Angeline's daughter. Persuade or Intimidate him to get the information, begin a new miscellaneous fetch quest from him, then enter the castle, where you can finally begin the civil war questline - assuming you're joining the Legion, of course. Speak to General Tullius and Legate Rikke to begin [JOINING THE LEGION]. Before leaving you'll want to go downstairs to the Castle Dour Dungeon where you can speak to Ahtar and get a new objective from him as well. Ahtar also has the unique Headsman's Axe that you can steal from him. 5) Outside Castle Dour, stop by Angeline's Aromatics again and tell her her daughter's fate, then head east through the arch to reach the city's rich district. Dervenin the beggar wanders around here, and will begin the quest [THE MIND OF MADNESS] if you speak to him. Nearby is the Hall of the Dead, which connects to the Solitude Catacombs. In there are some skeletons to fight if you want to. 6) Octieve San may also be wandering the area, and he'll give you a miscellaneous quest. On the east side of the road leading south towards the Blue Palace is the Bards' College; inside, apply for membership with Viarmo to begin [TENDING THE FLAMES]. Also give Adonato's book to Giraud Gemane, as it has probably been clogging up your inventory for a while. There's also a copy of Song of the Alchemists here you should take, and the skill book [SPEECH: THE BUYING GAME] upstairs. Further south is Bryling's house, where you should persuade Irnskar to get rid of Octieve's debt, and return to Octieve for a Two-Handed skill boost. 7) Next up is the big Blue Palace itself. Head inside and steal the case of Firebrand Wine from a lower corridor for Gulum-Ei before heading upstairs and meeting the Jarl. After she addresses her court, speak to her about your outfit from Taarie, then chat to Falk Firebeard about Wolfskull Cave to begin [THE MAN WHO CRIED WOLF]. Also give him the delivery from Sorex, and speak to Sybille Stentor to get a vampire-hunting objective. Bryling may also be hanging about, so speak to her about Pactur's message. Also check around the upper floors to find Elisif's bedroom and the [UNUSUAL GEM: 18/24] inside it. 8) To enter the Pelagius Wing, you'll need a key. The servant Una will give you one easily if you lie to her, so enter the wing and head upstairs to be transported to Sheogorath's realm. Speak to him and then you'll have to progress along the three paths, performing some simple puzzles at the end of each one. On the western path you'll have to shoot the two guardians behind Pelagius, on the northern path you must fire at Pelagius and then shoot the creatures and people that appear before firing at Pelagius again to spawn a new one, and at the end of the east path you'll need to zap the big guy to make him smaller and then zap Pelagius to make him bigger. 9) With all three paths done, return to Sheogorath and speak to him. You'll be transported back to the normal plane and have the Wabbajack in your possession. Return to Radiant Raiment to get your reward from Taarie. Now before leaving Solitude to turn in quests, we should probably report back to Gulum-Ei. You'll now have to follow him all the way down to the East Empire Company Warehouse. Stay a decent distance behind him and make sure to remain out of sight. Gulum-Ei will enter the warehouse: before following him in, speak to Vittoria Vici outside and Persuade or pay her to release Evette's shipment. 10) Inside the warehouse are armed guards you can fight openly as long as Gulum-Ei is a significant distance away. Follow him around the warehouse, collecting the unique East Empire Shipping Map from the wooden office at the top of a slope and then following Gulum-Ei through a secret door into Brinewater Grotto, a pirate den. Fight through the pirates to the end, where you'll find Gulum-Ei again. He'll give you the information you want. You can now exit via a nearby concealed door. Before going back to Riften, speak to Evette San in Solitude for your reward for speaking to Vittoria. 11) Back at the Thieves' Guild, speak to Mercer to complete Scoundrel's Folly and begin the next quest, [SPEAKING WITH SILENCE], which we'll actually do now. You can also sell the shipping map to Delvin and speak to Tonilia and exchange a piece of Thieves' Guild armor for an upgraded version, assuming you still have them. Anyway, head to Snow Veil Sanctum north of Windhelm, where you can head inside with Mercer. Inside the sanctum are numerous powerful draugr, and in a small room before entering the second zone you can find the unique Model Ship. Continue to progress through the dungeon, learning the [DISARM: 3/3] Shout and then entering the final room. 12) After a cutscene, you'll end up back at the entrance, where Karliah will begin the next quest [HARD ANSWERS]. Head back to the Guild to sell Delvin the Model Ship (remember to keep doing radiant quests for him and Vex), collect the book The Mirror from the Palace of the Kings in Windhelm, stop by Morthal to give Lami the Song of the Alchemists book for an Alchemy skill boost, then return to Solitude to give Aldis his book. 13) We're now going to get the Bards' College quests over with before setting out to explore Haafingar. Head to Dead Man's Respite in Hjaalmarch, which is a Nordic tomb you must explore. Inside you'll encounter the ghost of the bard Svaknir and can pick up the ruby dragon claw, which you'll need to progress. Eventually you'll reach Svaknir's body, can take the verse, and access the final rooms of the dungeon via the magically-sealed door. Open the puzzle door, fight King Olaf's minions, then deal with the king himself. Learn the [WHIRLWIND SPRINT: 3/3] Shout then depart. 14) Verse in hand, head back to Solitude and hand it to Viarmo. You must then instruct him on how to piece together the Poetic Edda; try to pass the Persuasion checks if you can, as you get a better monetary reward if you do. Follow him to the Blue Palace to speak to Elisif. After the reading, speak to Viarmo and then speak to Jorn at the Bards' College to prepare. Wait until after dusk and go outside to attend the festival. After the burning, the quest will be complete and become a bard. 15) Now that you're a full bard, you can speak to the three other instructors at the College; Pantea Ateia, Inge Six Fingers and Giraud Gemane, will each ask you to find an ancient instrument for them. You've already been to the dungeons where these instruments are (and haven't picked them up, unless you want this quest to be glitched), so make a quick visit to Halldir's Cairn, Stony Creek Cave and Hob's Fall Cave to collect the instruments. The trip is definitely worth it, returning the instruments gets you a boost to every one of your skills, likely facilitating a level-up. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 22: QUEST OVERDOSED [WLK22] ======================================================================== 1) Fast travel to the East Empire Company Warehouse when you're ready for more exploring. Get up onto the road above the warehouse and follow it east and northeast under the city arch. As you head north you can discover the ship the Dainty Sload, which you'll visit during a later Thieves' Guild quest but which you can explore now. Inside are some pirates and an [UNUSUAL GEM: 19/24]. Slightly further up the coast is the Solitude Lighthouse. Search around the rocks at its base to find a loot-filled treasure chest, then head inside and up to the top, where you can shut off the light. 2) Nearby is Brinewater Grotto, which you've already explored. Further north and west around the coast is Broken Oar Grotto, which we'll be exploring soon and can leave for now. Head southwest a bit to find Shadowgreen Cavern, which is home to spriggans and animals. Back outside, go west a bit to find a trail leading south up into the mountains. A short distance west at the top of the trail is the Ironback Hideout, a small bandit den. Get back onto the road and follow it south then west again to pass Wolfskull Cave. 3) Inside the cave are numerous necromancers and their summoned undead. Make your way to the Wolfskull Ruins, where you must reach the central structure to interrupt the ritual. Once all the necromancers are dead you can leave. Outside, work your way up and over the rocks to the north to reach the Steed Stone, which increases your movement and carrying capacity abilities. To the west is Fort Hraggstad, which Legate Rikke has sent you to clear out. Take out all the bandits inside and outside. Make sure you check the prison, as well. 4) Just two more locations before we head back to Solitude. Head directly south from Fort Hraggstad until you reach Clearpine Pond, where spriggans and a dead body await. Further east is the Statue to Meridia, where we'll finally be doing The Break of Dawn quest. Learn the [ELEMENTAL FURY: 2/3] Shout from the nearby Word Wall then put the beacon in its receptacle to converse with Meridia. Enter the ruins via a lower door, where you'll face numerous undead. You'll also have to interact with pedestals to guide the beam of light through the temple. 5) Eventually you'll find Malkoran and can take Dawnbreaker, a unique daedric weapon, from the pedestal. You'll be returned outside and the quest will be complete. Now we're going to complete three quick quests before heading to the Thalmor Embassy. Return to Solitude and inform Legate Rikke of your success, then speak to Tullius and Rikke again to officially join the Legion and begin [THE JAGGED CROWN], which we'll do soon. You can also speak to Beirand the blacksmith to get some Legion armor, although the chances of it being better than your current armor is practically nil. Also head to the Blue Palace and speak to Falk Firebeard to complete that quest. 6) You can now speak to Elisif, who will give you another task. But first let's do the Lights Out! quest. Find Jaree-Ra at the East Empire Company Warehouse and speak to him, then head to the Wreck of the Icerunner, located west of High Gate Ruins. Meet Deeja below decks, read her note, then fight your way back out, before heading to Broken Oar Grotto to deal with Jaree-Ra. Fight through the pirates to the fortification at the rear, where you can find Captain Hargar and Jaree-Ra. Eliminate them both to complete the quest. 7) Now to place Torygg's war horn. Fast travel to Graywinter Watch then head north across the river and find the shrine tucked away in the hills. Place the horn, deal with the rude interruption, then return to Elisif. You can now become Thane of Haafingar and get Jordis the Sword-Maiden as a housecarl, as well as purchase Proudspire Manor. Even frugal spenders will want to buy this house, as an [UNUSUAL GEM: 20/24]. Now it's time to head to the Thalmor Embassy. Give Malborn at the Winking Skeever the stuff you want to take in, then meet Delphine at Katla's Farm, put on the party clothes, then speak to Delphine to lose the rest of your inventory and go to the party. 8) Hand over your invitation to enter the Thalmor Embassy and speak to Malborn. You'll need to get one of the guests to cause a distraction, and depending on which quests you've done, many will be willing to help, although Razelan will always do so if given a drink. When the distraction is set, follow Malborn through the kitchen and retrieve your gear. You must now go through the embassy, fighting or sneaking past the guards. You can find some Thalmor robes that can disguise you, but only if you are a High Elf. Other races will be easily spotted by guards. 9) Go out into the courtyard and then into Elenwen's Solar. Here you'll encounter Gissur and Rulindil, and can get a report on dragons from a chest. Go downstairs into the interrogation chamber to fight more Thalmor and can get Esbern's dossier and speak to the thief Ettiene Rarnis. Try to protect Malborn from the two Thalmor when he enters then go with them both down into the Reeking Cave, where you find a troll and an [UNUSUAL GEM: 21/24]. Once outside, go straight back to Riverwood to meet Delphine and get all your other stuff back from the chest. 10) Speak to Delphine about important stuff to finish this quest and begin [A CORNERED RAT]. But we'll do some more stuff before heading to Riften, though. Firstly, head to the New Gnisis Cornerclub in Windhelm to find Malborn again, who has a new miscellaneous quest for you. Head out to the Windhelm Stables to find J'datharr and take him out. Return to Malborn once the job is done for your reward. Now time for a little bit more exploring. Head west from Shadowgreen Cavern to reach Ravenscar Hollow, a small cave where some hagravens lurk. 11) You can free a bandit from his cell and he'll help you fight them, although he'll still try to rob you afterward Guess he landed in the shallow end of the gene pool. Loot the place and then exit, going west along the coast until you reach Widow's Watch Ruins, where a hag and some treasure lurk. Northwest from there is the Orphan's Tear shipwreck and its coterie of bandits. Keep going west along the shore to find Lower Steepfall Burrow, which we'll ignore for now, as it's easier to enter from above. Further west still is Northwatch Keep, where we'll actually be doing the Missing in Action quest. Yeah. Check it in your journal, it's still there. 12) Assuming you told Thorald to wait, head inside the keep and start cutting through way through the Thalmor until you reach Thorald in the dungeon. Once Thorald is free, lead him outside; we'll finish the quest in Whiterun later. Before progressing, go a short distance west to find Icewater Jetty, which can take us to Castle Volkihar. However, since that is pretty involved, we'll leave it for now. 13) Head southwest, navigating your way up a steep rocky slope until you reach the road at the top. Nearby you can find Rimerock Burrow across a wooden bridge attached to the side of the mountain. Inside is Sebastian Lort and the Rueful Axe, which you should collect. Get back up to the road and go south to Pinefrost Tower, which is home to some bears and a chest atop the stone steps. What a pointless location. Get back on the road and follow it east until you reach a Lost Echo Cave, a falmer nest you should explore. 14) In the first large room, add a Glowing Mushroom to the brazier to reach the rest of the cave and fight the falmer. Once finished, head southeast into the woods to reach Pinemoon Cave, a small vampire den. Clear it out and then head north of Lost Echo Cave down the slopes to finally reach Upper Steepfall Burrow. Take out the trolls inside, loot the chest and then drop down to the bottom to exit via the submerged passage. 15) Time to turn in some minor quests, now. Head back to Solitude, and give Noster the helmet that you should have found for a Sneak skill boost, inform Ahtar that the bandit leader is dead to get him as a follower, and inform Sybille Stentor that the vampire leader is gone for an Illusion skill boost. You can also hand in a regional bounty quest to Falk if that's done. Now head to Whiterun and speak to Fralia Gray-Mane about her son to finally finish up the Missing in Action quest. 16) One last thing to do in this chapter. Head back to Haemar's Shame and speak to Clavicus Vile again, Rueful Axe in hand. You can now either kill Barbas to keep the axe or give the axe back to get the Masque of Clavicus Vile. Either way completes the quest, but the Masque is a better reward. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 23: WAR AND PEACE [WLK23] ======================================================================== 1) Now we should head to Korvanjund to do some of the civil war storyline. Yes, we're done exploring for a while and will be mostly focused on quests. Meet Legate Rikke then head inside the ruin with the Imperials, fighting the Stormcloaks outside. Inside you'll encounter more Stormcloaks, and further on will encounter draugr. Pick up the Ebony Claw when you find it to open the puzzle door, then pull a lever on the upper floor of the next room to open the way forward. Eventually you can collect the Jagged Crown from the boss draugr and can head out, learning the [SLOW TIME: 1/3] Shout before you leave. 2) Head back to Solitude and give Tullius the crown. The quest [MESSAGE TO WHITERUN] now begins. Head over to Dragonsreach and give Jarl Balgruuf the message, before waiting for his response and delivering the axe to Ulfric in Windhelm. Head back to Whiterun and speak to Balgruuf and Legate Cipius, beginning the quest [BATTLE FOR WHITERUN]. You must now head down to the city gates to defend the city from the Stormcloaks, so speak to Legate Rikke at the bottom of the slope to begin the battle. 3) Fight the Stormcloaks attacking the barricades until they break through, then defend the gates until all the attackers have been defeated. When the attackers have been repelled, listen to the Jarl's speech. The main all-encompassing civil war quest, [REUNIFICATION OF SKYRIM] begins, but we'll leave the civil war questline alone for now and get on with the main quest. Head for the Thieves' Guild in Riften. Note that there is a Thalmor assassin named Shavari in Riften who will attack you if she catches you in a secluded location. 4) Speak to someone in the Ragged Flagon for information on Esbern. Dirge and Vekel will both direct you to the Ratway Warrens. Make your way through the Vaults to the Warrens, fighting the Thalmor and resident lunatics within until you reach Esbern's room. Knock on the door and give him the password or Persuade him to get inside. After talking to Esbern, A Cornered Rat concludes and [ALDUIN'S WALL] begins. Take him out of the Ratway and back to Riverwood, fighting the Thalmor on the way. 5) Take Esbern back to Riverwood to meet Delphine at the Sleeping Giant Inn. Go down into the basement and speak to Esbern, then tell Delphine you'll meet her there. We'll go to Karthspire later, when we explore the Reach. Note that around this time you should receive a letter from Falk Firebeard, asking to speak to you. This is a quest we'll be saving till later. 6) Now it's time for a family reunion. Take the boat at Icewater Jetty to reach Castle Volkihar. Once you're allowed inside, chat to Harkon and you'll be given a choice to join his clan. Since we're doing the Dawnguard questline we'll refuse his offer, although both storylines are pretty much the same for the most part. Once you're kicked out, head back to Fort Dawnguard to report to Isran. Sadly, we've lost Serana as a follower for a while. The quest [A NEW ORDER] begins. 7) Fight the vampires outside Fort Dawnguard and then speak to Isran. The first contact, Gunmar, will be lurking at a random animal den somewhere in Skyrim, so go there and speak to him. Go into the den and help him kill the bear, and he'll join the cause. We'll go after Sorine later. For now, we're headed to Labyrinthian, to finish up the College of Winterhold questline. This is one of the biggest dungeons in Skyrim, so prepare for heading there. 8) Reach Labyrinthian by going northwest from Silent Moons Camp through a narrow pass. Take out the trolls in the exterior, and examine the small central structure. When you have all the dragon priest masks, you can place them here so something special will happen. Take the wooden mask for now. Although there are numerous side areas in Labyrinthian, for now, simply follow your quest arrow for The Staff of Magnus to enter the ruin. Insert the torc and go inside. 9) Labyrinthian is a long ruin filled with draugr. At certain points along the way, your magicka will be drained by the dragon priest Morokei, and shortly after entering you'll face a skeletal dragon. In the Labyrinthian Thoroughfare you'll start to encounter weird spectral draugr wielding semi-unique Drainheart Swords, Drainspell Bows and Drainblood Battleaxes, so collect those if you want. In the Labyrinthian Tribune you'll find the unique Ancient Helmet of the Unburned, can learn the [SLOW TIME: 2/3] Shout, and can reach the final chamber, where Morokei waits. 10) To defeat Morokei, kill the two enthralled wizards to remove his shield and engage him. Once he's down, collect his mask and the Staff of Magnus before making your way out. On the way, you'll encounter a friend of Ancano's to deal with. Back on the surface, take the time to explore a nearby unmarked side location, Shalidor's Maze, accessible via a door near the dragon priest mask room. In this maze, you must use spells of various schools in order to open the gates by casting them at the sigils on the wall. You'll usually find a scroll nearby if you don't have the necessary spell. You'll also encounter enemies in the maze. At the far end of the maze you can learn the [DISMAY: 2/3] Shout. 11) When you reach the center of the maze for a second time you'll be transported to a realm where you must fight a dremora holding the unique Diadem of the Savant. Hope you have enough space in your house to hold all these unique items. Now go back to the Labyrinthian proper and go a very short distance northeast to immediately discover Lost Valkygg, an independent section of ruins containing draugr you should explore. 12) When you're finished in Lost Valkygg, you'll notice a nearby 'dragon nest' icon on the compass. We'll head there now. Make your way up the mountain by following a path that starts in the southern pass that leads to the ruins. Once you reach Skyborn Altar, kill the dragon and then learn the [FROST BREATH: 3/3] Shout. Since we're done with Labyrinthian and the connecting areas, head back to the College. Once there, help Tolfdir and the others fight the anomalies, beginning the final College main quest, [THE EYE OF MAGNUS]. 13) Use the staff to remove the barrier then enter the Hall of the Elements to face Ancano. To defeat him, use the staff on the Eye until his protection is removed and you can hurt him, repeating the process until he is defeated. Afterwards speak to Tolfdir and Quaranir to complete the quest and become Arch-Mage, allowing you to use the Arch-Mage's Quarters for yourself. You get the Arch-Mage's Robes, and the College of Winterhold questline is now completed. 14) Now that College business is back to normal, you can get on with sidequests here. Tolfdir will give you the repeatable quest [AFTERSHOCK], which involves going to a random area and killing the magical anomalies there, returning to him for a reward. Go to Urag in the Arcanaeum and give him the two books you were sent to find (and should have found). If you return to him in about a day, he'll give you a magic skill boost or some spell scrolls. 15) Also speak to Enthir at the Frozen Hearth in Winterhold to update the Hard Answers quest. Give him the Staff of Tandil as well, then take the warped soul gem straight to Arniel - you can begin the third part of his task immediately. The easiest convector to find is at the Ruins of Bthalft, so place the warped soul gem there and cast Arniel's weird spell on it before finding a second convector southeast of Boulderfall Cave and doing the same thing there. You can find the third convector in the Dwarven Storeroom outside Mzulft. 16) Take the soul gem back to Arniel. We can't begin the fourth part of his quest for a few days, so that's all we'll be doing for him for now. In the next chapter we'll be exploring a new dwarven ruin and completing three quests before we move onto the final hold of Skyrim: the Reach. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 24: REACHING THE REACH [WLK24] ======================================================================== 1) Head to Mzinchaleft between Morthal and Dawnstar. Take out the bandits outside then enter. Inside are bandits, dwarven automatons, falmer and chaurus. In the Mzinchaleft Gatehouse you can fight a centurion, collect the sword Grimsever, and find an elevator leading back to the surface. One of the three entrances to the underground city of Blackreach is here, but we'll leave that until later in the main quest when it seems more appropriate to enter. For now, head to Riften and give Mjoll her sword to get her as a follower and 2) Now we'll appease Boethiah for the Boethiah's Calling quest. Head over to Knifepoint Ridge and begin your slaughter of everyone there. Even though the journal says to do it stealthily, overt slaughter is accepted as well. Once everyone is dead, collect the Ebony Mail from Boethiah's dead champion to complete the quest. Now head to Solitude and speak to General Tullius about your next task to get a promotion. 3) Speak to Falk Firebeard at the Blue Palace to begin [THE WOLF QUEEN AWAKENED], then head to the Hall of the Dead and speak to Styrr. You can now enter the catacombs via the Temple of the Divines' basement. The catacombs are full of vampires and draugr to fight. Eventually, in Potema's Sanctum, you'll find Potema and can fight her draugr and destroy her remains. Give Potema's skull to Styrr and then return to Falk for your reward, some gold and the Shield of Solitude. 4) Head to the Pale Imperial Camp and speak to Legate Rikke to begin [A FALSE FRONT]. Speak to the innkeeper at the Nightgate Inn and Persuade, Bribe or Intimidate him for the location of the courier; follow your quest marker until you find him, take him out, and get the orders. Show them to Rikke, then take them to Frorkmar Banner-Torn in Dawnstar. Head back to Rikke to begin [THE BATTLE FOR FORT DUNSTAD]. We'll leave this quest until we've been to the Reach, as I feel it is best to save reunifying Skyrim until it has been completely explored. 5) Start by heading to Rorikstead, where, just to the southwest, Alduin will be resurrecting the dragon Nahagliiv, who you'll want to slay. Go back down to the village and follow the road north, following it west when you can and sticking to the road for a while longer until you find Broken Tower Redoubt. This small dungeon marks your first encounter with the Forsworn, who aren't much tougher than ordinary bandits but can still be formidable in numbers. Clear out the dungeon then return to the road and keep heading west across the river. 6) When you reach a fork, take the right-hand path to reach the village of Karthwasten. There's only one miscellaneous objective to do here; speak to Ainethach when the argument ends and agree to help him. Then speak to Atar and Persuade, Bribe or Intimidate him to get him to leave. You can also just kill him. Return to Ainethach for a reward. You can also side with Atar and convince Ainethach to sell up for a reward. From Karthwasten, head directly west up into the hills until you reach the Shrine of Peryite. 7) Speak to Kesh the Clean to begin [THE ONLY CURE]. The ingredients he asks for shouldn't be too difficult to find, but even so, we'll leave this quest until later. Back at Karthwasten, return to the road and follow it southwest. You'll eventually pass by Blind Cliff Cave, which we should enter. Inside are Forsworn, and at the top you can enter the Blind Cliff Bastion, where you will begin a new miscellaneous quest after speaking with Melka, whom you can release to assist you. Once you kill Petra, you'll get the Eye of Melka, a unique staff. 8) Back on the road, keep going south. You'll soon reach Kolskeggr Mine, a mine infested with Forsworn. A miscellaneous quest sends us here soon, so for now don't go inside and just go west past the mine. You'll soon reach Markarth and the numerous buildings outside it. At Salvius Farm, you can agree to deliver a letter for Rogatus Salvius, at Left Hand Mine to the south you can speak to Pavo Attius and agree to clear out Kolskeggr Mine for him, and at the Markarth Stables you can buy a horse and the dog Vigilance, and also get a delivery request from Banning. 9) When you've done all that, head to the great stone gates of Markarth and get ready to explore the final big city of Skyrim. I also really love the architecture and feel of this city. Too bad it's always the last one I visit. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 25: CITY OF STONE [WLK25] ======================================================================== 1) Shortly after entering the city, you'll witness a woman named Margret being murdered by an agent named Weylin, who you should then help the guards kill. Make sure to loot Margret's body for her room key. You can save her, but for narrative purposes it makes more sense for her to die. A man named Eltrys will speak to you afterward; read the note you receive to begin [THE FORSWORN CONSPIRACY]. Speak with Kerah the merchant for a miscellaneous objective, then enter the nearby Silver-Blood Inn, where you can speak to Kleppr to get a local bounty quest, ask for some local rumors, and give him the purchase agreement. You can also find the hireling Vorstag here. 2) Also nearby is the Arnleif and Sons Trading Company. In here you can speak to Lisbet for a new miscellaneous objective. Go northwest up the steps from the market and speak to Vigilant Tyranus to begin [THE HOUSE OF HORRORS]. Go inside the house with him and follow him, taking care of him when necessary. Go to the shrine at the back afterward to meet Molag Bal and agree to his request. Back outside, continue up the steps to the west to find the Treasury House on your right. 3) In the Treasury House you can find an [UNUSUAL GEM: 22/24] in a bedroom behind a locked door at the back. We almost have the full set! Just to the southwest is Understone Keep. Ignore it for now and go through the southern arch and down some steps to the shop known as the Hag's Cure. In here, speak to Bothela for a delivery and Muiri about her contract. Down more steps is the forge, where Ghorza gra-Bagol asks you to get a rare book for her. 4) At the bottom of this area near the water's edge is the door to the Warrens, where you'll likely find beggars such as Degaine, Cosnach and Omluag. Degaine asks you to steal a statue, Cosnach can be challenged to a fight for money, and Omluag asks you to speak to Mulush. Either Persuade, Bribe or Intimidate him and return to Omluag for a reward. Now head up the stairs by the forge to find the Shrine of Talos, where you should speak to Eltrys again. 5) Further up the steps is the Temple of Dibella; stealthily pick the lock to enter the Inner Sanctum, where you'll likely be discovered. You can now begin the quest [THE HEART OF DIBELLA]. However, stealthy players may be able to steal the statue unnoticed, take it to Degaine, then return to meet the priestesses and begin the quest. 6) With that quest commenced you can begin looking for info on Margret and Weylin. Check Margret's room at the Silver-Blood Inn for her journal, then meet Thonar Silver-Blood at the Treasury House. You'll have a small fight on your hands after meeting with him. After getting the info from Thonar, break into Weylin's room in the Warrens (or get Garvey to give it you) and read his note. Outside you'll meet Dryston, who will speak to you after a brief fistfight. 7) After meeting Dryston, go up to Nepos the Nose's house and speak to him. You'll have to fight him and his servants afterward Go back to the Shrine of Talos to meet Eltrys and come quietly when apprehended. When you regain control, the quest [NO ONE ESCAPES CIDNHA MINE] will have started. Ask Uraccen about Madanach and getting a shiv, then go talk to Grisvar. Find Duach and either Persuade or Brawl him to get the skooma. Give it to Grisvar for the shiv, which you can use as a concealed weapon. 8) Now talk to Borkul the Beast and either give him the shiv, Persuade him, or Brawl with him. Try and keep it if you can. You can now speak to Madanach and choose whether or not to side with him. If you side with Madanach, then speak to Braig before following his second request by killing Grisvar. If you don't want to side with Madanach, kill him, take his key and use it to escape. Either way you'll exit into a section of ruin with some frostbite spiders and dwarven automatons to fight. When you exit, either Madanach or Thonar will give you your stuff back; Madanach also gives you the unique Armor of the Old Gods, while Thonar gives you the Silver-Blood Ring. With that bit of espionage done, enter Understone Keep. 9) Inside the entrance room, speak to Brother Verulus and Persuade, Bribe or Intimidate him after he finishes his argument for a new miscellaneous objective. Head straight ahead into the main room and look for Ondolemar, who has another request. In the kitchens to the left you should find Voada and give her Banning's spiced meat, then go to the forge on the northern side of the keep and speak to Moth gro-Bagol for another misc. objective. Give the steward Raerek his "special" potion, and speak to Jarl Igmund himself for a radiant mission. 10) Now head into the large southern cavern via the entranceway to find Calcelmo. Ask to see the excavation for a quest, give him the ring from Kerah, and speak to him about his love life as well. Ask him about translations and try to Persuade him to let you into his museum. If you can't, steal the key from the table. For now, head into the nearby Hall of the Dead and wander around until Eola speaks to you, beginning the quest [THE TASTE OF DEATH]. This is one of the more morally-reprehensible quests, but we'll do it anyway because we're evil. Go back to Verulus for a reward, then head back out into Markarth. 11) Find Yngvar the Singer and speak to him about Faleen, buying the poem from him. Break into Ogmund's house and steal his amulet of Talos, bringing it to Ondolemar for some gold. Give Faleen the poem, give Calcelmo the letter, and watch love blossom. Whatever. Now we're breaking into the dwemer museum to the north. Inside, either sneak past or fight the guards as you search the place and connecting laboratory. In the museum is the penultimate [UNUSUAL GEM: 23/24]. In the laboratory you can find the Spider Control Rod, which lets you direct a dwarven spider, and the unique Dwemer Puzzle Cube. 12) Eventually you'll exit to the Wizards' Balcony and can enter Calcelmo's Tower. Use some charcoal and paper to take a rubbing of the engraved tablet, take out the guards, then exit the tower (preferably with an awesome dive from the Wizards' Balcony down to the water below). We're done with quests in Markarth for now (Nchuand-Zel can wait), so let's finish up Hard Answers and The Book of Love, shall we? Take the rubbing to Enthir in Winterhold, speaking to Karliah afterward to begin [THE PURSUIT] and get the Nightingale Sword. 13) Head over to Riften and down to the Guild. Speak to Karliah, then follow her and listen to Brynjolf and the others faff about for a bit before Brynjolf sends you to Mercer's house. Don't forget to sell the Dwemer Puzzle Cube to Delvin before leaving. Head to Riftweald Manor in town, taking care of Vald the backyard guard by killing him, Persuading him, or engaging a brief side quest involving speaking to Maven then find a quill on a sunken boat in Lake Honrich. When you can enter the backyard unchallenged, hit the mechanism to lower a ramp leading to the balcony, where you can enter. 14) Inside Riftweald Manor are some guards and a false cupboard leading to the trap-filled basement, where you can find the Bust of the Gray Fox, the unique sword Chillrend, and the plans you need to give to Brynjolf. Head back to the Ragged Flagon, sell Delvin the bust you just found, and report to Brynjolf to finish this quest and begin [TRINITY RESTORED]. Speak to Karliah for now, then head up to the Temple of Mara. We'll finish the Thieves' Guild questline later. 15) Speak to Dinya Balu and put on the Amulet of Mara she gives you before heading to Gjukar's Monument. Speak to the ghost then find Fenrig to the northeast near Greenspring Hollow and Redoran's Retreat. Walk him back over to Ruki and watch them reunite. Head back to Dinya Balu to complete the quest and get a new miscellaneous objective. Simply go around everyone in Riften and when all twenty leaflets have been handed out, return to Dinya. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 26: BLADES, BROTHERS AND BROKEN TOWERS [WLK26] ======================================================================== 1) First thing to do before we set out into the Reach is to clear out Kolskeggr Mine. Take out all the Forsworn within then return to Pavo Attius at Left Hand Mine for your reward. Also quickly stop by Karthwasten and ask someone about a young girl to be directed to Enmon. Speak to him and agree to find his daughter. He can come with you if you want, but it's best to tell him to stay in Karthwasten, as he'll likely die otherwise. Anyway, head east across the river and up the cliff from Blind Cliff Cave to find Four Skull Lookout, a small bandit hangout. 2) Clear it out then go southeast a bit to find Red Eagle Redoubt, a Forsworn den. Head up through the dungeon and exit to the surface, where you can fight more Forsworn and go up the steps to the nearby Sundered Towers. At the towers you'll face a Briarheart with the unique sword Red Eagle's Fury. Check the towers for items then go east-southeast to Rebel's Cairn. In here use Red Eagle's Fury on the podium to open the door leading deeper inside. Here you'll face undead and Red Eagle himself. On your way out pick up the sword again, which has now been transformed into the stronger Red Eagle's Bane. 3) Back outside, head south a short distance to Bleakwind Bluff, guarded by more Forsworn and a hagraven. Head southwest down the cliff to reach Soljund's Sinkhole, a small mine. Speak to Perth and agree to help, then head into the mine and clear out the draugr inside. Once the dungeon is cleared, return to Perth for a reward. Outside, go west to reach the Karthspire Camp and Karthspire. Forsworn and a hagraven are here, although Delphine and Esbern should be helping. Head inside Karthspire with the Blades afterward 4) Inside Karthspire are more Forsworn, as well as the entrance to Sky Haven Temple. Lower the first bridge by turning all pillars to show the Dragonborn symbol, cross the tiled floor and pull the chain using the same symbol, then use your blood to open the temple. Inside, go upstairs and look at Alduin's Wall with Esbern, beginning the quest [THE THROAT OF THE WORLD]. You can also grab the unique sword Dragonbane from a side room. 5) Now that you're friends with Delphine and Esbern, you can do some side quests for the Blades. Speak to Delphine about recruitment, and you can bring most followers to her to induct them into the Blades. Esbern can also give you a special Dragonslayer's Blessing that lasts 5 days. I'd advise recruiting for the Blades now; start grabbing some cheap followers such as hirelings in inns and bring them to Delphine so they can join the Blades. Once three new Blades have been recruited, you can speak to Esbern, who will send you to a dragon lair with the Blades to slay the beast. 6) Return to Esbern when the dragon is dead and he'll ask for a dragon scale and dragon bone. Give him them and you'll get a potion that gives you the permanent Dragon Infusion perk. You can go on repeatable dragon hunts with Esbern and the Blades again if you wish. Anyway, we're done with the Blades for now. Head south from Soljund's Sinkhole to reach Old Hroldan. You'll likely pass a camp with two dead lovers on the way. Once you reach the inn, head inside and give Leontius his letter for a pitiful amount of gold. 7) You'll also want to spend the night in Tiber Septim's room. After paying and sleeping in it, speak to the Ghost of Old Hroldan and agree to find his sword for him. Speak to Eydis to have the location of it marked on your map. Head northeast of the inn up the cliffs to reach Serpent's Bluff Redoubt. Take out the Forsworn inside and out, including a hagraven. Head south down the hill and across the river from Serpent's Bluff to find Gloomreach, a cave that leads to a falmer nest. Once that's done, head southwest up the hill to find the Nordic ruin of Valthume. 8) Speaking to the ghost in the first room begins the quest [EVIL IN WAITING]. Head through the dungeon, fighting draugr, collecting the three vessels and using the Iron Claw to open a puzzle door. Learn the [AURA WHISPER: 3/3] Shout then head back to the main room and speak to Valdar to perform the ritual. Empty the vessels in the sconce and sit in the throne to face Hevnoraak, a dragon priest. Take him out and then claim his unique staff and mask. Speak to Valdar to finish the quest. 9) Go east a bit to find a small troll den. Take out the trolls and search the body of Frofnir Trollsbane to find his unique warhammer, Trollsbane. I don't think I've ever said trolls so much as in the last two sentences. If you can, scramble up the rocks to the east to reach Cradle Stone Tower, where a hagraven lurks. Just to the east are Lost Valley Redoubt and Bard's Leap Summit, two locations that are very close together. At the summit you can fight two hagravens and learn the [BECOME ETHEREAL: 3/3] Shout. 10) Lost Valley Redoubt is crawling with Forsworn, so take them all out and then search behind the waterfall at the very bottom of the ruin for the final treasure map chest. Finally, go back up to Bard's Leap Summit and leap off the edge, surviving the fall by landing in the water. The ghost of a bard named Azzadal appears and will give you a free Speech skill boost. 11) Now head northeast from the Lost Valley Redoubt area towards the obvious bulk of Fort Sungard, the final fort in Skyrim. It is also the largest, and is crawling with Forsworn. Make your way up to it and start clearing it out. Interior areas are the Fort Sungard Muster, Annex, Tower, Shrine, and Oubliette. Save the Oubliette for last as it includes a one-way drop, and don't forget to get The Last Scabbard of Akrash for Ghorza in the Muster. Now let's do a bit of brief questing before we continue exploring the Reach. Assuming you've found a flawless ruby, a deathbell flower, some vampire dust, and a silver ingot, take those items to Kesh at the Shrine of Peryite. Give them to him then inhale the fumes to chat with Peryite. 12) You should also head to Broken Tower Redoubt to find Fjola. The Forsworn there will have respawned, so fight through them to go back up to the top floor and free her from the cell. Take her back to the Temple of Dibella and take her to Mother Hamal in the Inner Sanctum. Now pray at the shrine in the main room to complete the quest and get the Agent of Dibella perk. Don't forget to give Ghorza her book for a Smithing skill boost. 13) Now go south across the bridge from Karthspire to find Reachcliff Cave up a slope. Speak to Eola and either let her come with you or not. Inside the cave are plenty of draugr, so clear them out then return to Eola to get your next objective. For now, though, leave and head northwest a bit to find Reachwater Rock, a cave located beneath a waterfall. Here we'll finally finish the Forbidden Legend quest. Pick up the Emerald Dragon Claw and use it to open the puzzle door. The Ivory Claw from Folgunthur is required to open the second door. 14) Inside the large main room, place the three amulet pieces on the pedestals. You'll now have to face all three Gauldurson brothers once more, starting with Mikrul, followed by Sigdis, and finished with Jyrik. After that they'll be sealed away finally, and you can pick up the complete Gauldur Amulet, completing the quest. Back outside, head back south towards Reachcliff Cave, curving around the rocks to find Reachwind Eyrie, a small tower to explore with no enemies. 15) To the south is the orc stronghold of Dushnikh Yal. Here you can challenge Chief Burguk to a fight for money, either Persuade, Bribe or Brawl with Ghorbash the Iron Hand to get him as a follower, and can agree to deliver a sword for Gharol. The final captured insect, the dragonfly in a jar, is also within the longhouse's cellar. Now head south to the dwarven ruin of Arkngthamz. Shortly after entering you'll meet Katria, who will accompany you through the dungeon. 16) Inside Arkngthamz you'll face falmer and dwarven automatons. Take the journal from Katria's body in the first room before progressing. You'll also need to use spells on the kinetic resonators to open certain gates. When you reach the point where Katria fell, you can collect her unique bow Zephyr from the log. In the final large cave you'll need to hit the kinetic locks in a certain order; pick up the note on the dead bandit and read Katria's journal for clues. The correct order is bottom-left, bottom-right, top-left, top-right, bottom-middle. If you mess up, you'll have a fight on your hands. 17) Through the gates is another Aetherium shard. Speak to Katria to be directed to the other shards; we've already found one and will get the rest later. Head out of the ruin afterward to continue exploring. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 27: MAPQUEST AIN'T GOT NOTHIN' ON US [WLK27] ======================================================================== 1) Head west of Dushnikh Yal to find Purewater Run. Enter to find a deep pond with some chests at the bottom and slaughterfish to ineffectually nibble at you. Head northwest from there to a large set of ruins, Hag Rock Redoubt. Fight the Forsworn as you work your way to the entrance of the interior ruin. After exploring there, head up to the top of the exterior ruins to find Dead Crone Rock. 2) Enter the door here and fight your way up through the ruins to the top, where you'll encounter the hagraven Drascua. Learn the [DISMAY: 3/3] Shout, grab the final piece of Mehrunes' Razor, but, most importantly, grab the final [UNUSUAL GEM: 24/24]. Now it's time to finish up some quests before we continue exploring. Head back to Understone Keep and speak to Brother Verulus in the Hall of the Dead. Persuade, Bribe or Intimidate him, then take him to Reachcliff Cave. 3) You'll want to enter by the Reachcliff Secret Entrance, located just north of Dushnikh Yal. Take him to the shrine and follow Eola's instructions to have a bite to eat. Afterwards you'll get the Ring of Namira and the quest will be complete. You can now get Eola as a follower and feast on corpses. 4) Now finish up the Pieces of the Past quest by going to Dawnstar and giving the final piece of the Razor to Silus. Now meet him at the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon, and listen to Dagon after the razor pieces are placed on the altar. You can now either obey him and kill Silus or refuse to kill him; either way you'll have to fight some dremora, although you only get the Razor if you kill Silus. You can also loot the interior of the shrine now. Don't forget to take one of the dremora's hearts and give it to Moth at Understone Keep. 5) We might as well explore Nchuand-Zel beneath Understone Keep now. Head through the door in Calcelmo's chamber into the Nchuand-Zel Excavation Site, where you'll encounter frostbite spiders, including the gigantic Nimhe. Read the note by Alethius' body to begin [THE LOST EXPEDITION], then head through into Nchuand-Zel. In the ruin are falmer to fight as you head into the Nchuand-Zel Quarters, where you'll find Stromm's journal. 6) You must now go into the Nchuand-Zel Armory to find Erj and Krag's journals, then enter Nchuand-Zel Control to find the final journal. At the end of this area you can reactive the city's defenses, who you'll likely see fighting more falmer on your way out. Head back to Understone Keep and speak to Calcelmo to get your reward for killing Nimhe, as well as giving him the journal to complete The Lost Expedition. 7) Make a quick stop at Karthwasten to give Gharol's sword to Lash, then head south over the hills a bit from the Shrine of Peryite to reach the Lover Stone, which causes all skills to increase faster. Personally, I feel this is the only blessing better than the original Guardian Stones. Now head west up the rocks until you find Ragnvald, another Nordic ruin home to a dragon priest. Take out the draugr outside before entering. 8) You'll soon find a sarcophagus requiring two keys to open. Head into the Ragnvald Crypts and Canal; at the end of both you'll find a skull key, and have to fight the guardian draugr. Use both skulls to open the sarcophagus, which of course has nothing you'd actually want in it; the dragon priest Otar the Mad. Defeat him and claim his mask, then go past his sarcophagus to learn the [KYNE'S PEACE: 3/3] Shout. 9) Back outside, head north, sticking close to the western mountains until you reach the dwemer ruin of Bthardamz. The ruin is guarded by the Afflicted; make your way to the back to enter the ruin's interior. This dungeon is long and has quite a few areas, but eventually you'll reach the Arcanex and will face Orchendor. After he's dead you can exit back to the surface via an elevator. 10) From Bthardamz, keep heading north until you reach Deep Folk Crossing. Here there's little to do except head up the hill to grab the third Aetherium Shard from a small ruin up the hill. Katria will meet you there, also. To the east you'll find Druadach Redoubt, where more Forsworn await your blade's kiss. Note that if you sided with Madanach at Cidnha Mine earlier, he'll be here and the Forsworn won't be hostile. Once you've cleared this place out (making sure to grab a map that marks the remaining redoubts on your map), leave and head southeast. 11) You'll soon reach Dragontooth Crater, where there is a dragon to kill and the [ELEMENTAL FURY: 3/3] Shout to learn. Northeast is Harmugstahl, a fort built into the mountain. To solve the first puzzle, pull the far left and far right levers a few times. Further in you'll face frostbite spiders, and the mage Kornalus. Once this relatively boring dungeon is done, leave and head east across the river to reach the Reach Stormcloak Camp. Since we're in the Legion now, the Stormcloaks will attack you if you linger. Feel free to kill them all. 12) Just to the east is Liar's Retreat, a bandit den being invaded by falmer. Wipe out both sides, then loot the back rooms and make your way into the tunnels to face more falmer, chaurus, and frostbite spiders. In the final room, you can find the unique Longhammer near the body of Rahd. Head back out, fighting some more bandits on the way. Slightly north of Liar's Retreat is the Cliffside Retreat, a small cabin where hunters live, and there's little else of note. Further north up the hill is the Dragon Bridge Overlook, where a few Forsworn have taken up residence. 13) Just a few more locations to go before we're done with the Reach. Head west down the hill and across the river to find Bruca's Leap Redoubt, a cave where Forsworn lurk. Now head northwest towards the snowy mountains, curving around to the north to reach Deepwood Redoubt. Work your way through the dungeon, fighting Forsworn until you reach Deepwood Vale, a pretty cool exterior enclosed location with many more Forsworn to face. For now, just make your way east until you reach Hag's End and can enter. 14) In Hag's End you'll encounter witches and a hagraven that keeps teleporting away before you can kill it. A Word Wall teaches you the [SLOW TIME: 3/3] Shout just before you exit back outside and finish off the hagraven. The unique dagger Bloodthorn is on the altar. Before you leave, use Whirlwind Sprint to get over to the top of the waterfall to the northwest. Here a locked chest neighbors the unique boots Predator's Grace. To finish up, fast travel to Druadach Redoubt and head northeast, where you'll find Sorine Jurard wandering. If you cannot Persuade her, find her satchel nearby and give her the gyro inside. With Sorine recruited, head northwest until you reach Darkfall Cave. 15) This cave will be very important later in the Dawnguard questline, so for now ignore it and head north to Mor Khazgur, the final orc stronghold. Here you can engage in a fistfight with Chief Larak and get Borgakh the Steel Heart as a follower by Persuading or Bribing her. Now we only have one location left before we're pretty much done exploring Skyrim. Head east and then northeast to find Volskygge, a ruin whose entrance is guarded by bandits. 16) Inside the ruin you'll encounter more bandits, but will soon start to face draugr. To solve the lever puzzle, read the book on the pedestal for clues, then activate them in the order of snake, bear, fox, and wolf. Go through the Volskygge Passages, eventually exiting on the mountaintop. Here you'll learn the [WHIRLWIND SPRINT: 3/3] Shout and fight the dragon priest Volsung. Don't forget to take his mask! 17) Take a deep breath. You've explored almost every location in Skyrim, and the vast majority of the game is now done. We'll now be questing non-stop, although a few sub-overworlds like Blackreach and Solstheim still require a bit of exploration. We're going to be starting with handing in all the Markarth miscellaneous quests, which should all be ready to hand in now. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 28: QUESTATHON, PART 1 [WLK28] ======================================================================== 1) First things first, head to Old Hroldan and give the ghost his sword. This gets you a One-Handed and Block skill boost. Now head to the Shrine of Peryite, inhale the fumes again, and inform Peryite that Orchendor is dead. This completes The Only Cure and gets you Spellbreaker, a unique shield. Now head to Markarth, where you can give Lisbet her statue of Dibella at the Arnleif & Sons Trading Company for some gold. 2) Since you've most likely found Logrolf the Willful in a Forsworn redoubt and Persuaded, Intimidated or Bribed him to come with you, enter the Abandoned House and follow him to the shrine, following Molag Bal's instructions to kill him twice with the mace. You now get the Mace of Molag Bal, and the quest is complete. Now head to Understone Keep and speak to Raerek to hand in the local bounty quest, and also inform Igmund that his task has been completed. 3) Ask Igmund about more work and he'll ask you to recover his shield; spend a few minutes fetching it from a random nearby location and return it to him for the chance to become Thane of the Reach and get Argis the Bulwark as your housecarl, as well as purchase Vlindrel Hall from Raerek. You're now Thane of every hold in Skyrim except Eastmarch, which we'll do later when the civil war concludes. For now we're going to continue with the Dark Brotherhood questline, so head for Raldbthar. 4) Raldbthar is a large dwarven ruin home to bandits, and, later on, dwarven automatons and falmer. In the first zone you'll encounter Alain Dufont and his unique hammer Aegisbane, your Dark Brotherhood target. Kill him, but don't leave just yet. Deeper in, in the Raldbthar Deep Market is a button puzzle that must be solved by pressing the second button on the right. In the large room that follows you must remove debris from various sets of gears to lower the drawbridge. 5) On the other side, you'll meet Katria again and can grab the final Aetherium Shard. She'll tell you where to go to find the Aetherium Forge. There is an elevator down to Blackreach but as with the one in Mzinchaleft we should leave it for now. Exit the ruin via the surface elevator then head to Windhelm to assassinate Nilsine Shatter-Shield. Try to find her alone wandering the streets for a clean kill. 6) Return to Muiri afterward, who will give you her unique ring. Head back to Astrid at the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary afterward to complete that quest and begin the next one, [WHISPERS IN THE DARK]. Go to the Night Mother's room and hide in her coffin as arranged, waiting for the cutscene to end. Speak to Cicero and Astrid, then go speak to Nazir to begin the quests [CONTRACT: KILL HERN] and [CONTRACT: KILL LURBUK]. We might as well do these now. 7) Hern lives at Half-Moon Mill, and remains inside. You may have to kill his female companion, Hert, as well, if she's inside as well. Lurbuk is at the Highmoon Inn in Morthal; try and ambush him alone in his room if you can. When both are dead head back to the sanctuary and Astrid will talk to you, beginning [THE SILENCE HAS BEEN BROKEN]. Don't forget to speak to Nazir for your rewards. 8) Now make a quick trip to Volunruud, and speak to Amaund Motierre in a side room shortly after entering. Go back to Astrid and she'll send you to Delvin in Riften. We'll get on with that later. For now, we'll head to the Ruins of Bthalft to complete Lost to the Ages. Speak to Katria then put the shards in the mechanism and take them out to open the forge. Take the elevator down then follow the path and use the resonators to open the door. 9) Soon you'll reach the forge and must shut off the steam using the valves. Fight off all the waves of automatons, including the Forgemaster. Shut off the steam again when you can to reduce damage. Afterwards you can use the Aetherium Forge to forge either the Aetherial Crown, Aetherial Shield or Aetherial Staff; the other stuff you need is nearby. You can only forge one, so choose carefully. Afterwards, say goodbye to Katria, as the quest is complete. Now that the quest is complete, you might run into Katria's apprentice Taron Dreth in the wilderness; speaking to him turns him hostile, allowing you to kill him and loot his unique robes. 10) Head up to High Hrothgar and speak to Arngeir, who will get all pissy about learning the special Shout. Eventually they'll take you outside and teach you the [CLEAR SKIES: 1/1] Shout, which you'll need to use frequently to dispel the painful wind as you make your way up the winding path towards the mountaintop, also encountering a few enemies on the way. When you reach the Throat of the World you'll meet Paarthurnax, who will teach you the [FIRE BREATH: 3/3] Shout and let you use it on him. 11) Afterwards he'll start the quest [ELDER KNOWLEDGE] for you, and you'll be directed to the College of Winterhold. Paarthurnax can also let you 'meditate' on one of three Shouts; Unrelenting Force, Fire Breath or Become Ethereal to increase its effects. You can change the enhanced Shout at any time. Before leaving, climb to the very top of the mountain - the highest point in the entire game - to find the unique Notched Pickaxe. Back a quick trip back down to High Hrothgar to speak to Arngeir, then head over to the College. 12) At the College, go to the Arcanaeum and speak to Urag to learn where to find an Elder Scroll. He'll give you two books you should read. Since we've already spoken to Septimus, we don't have to visit him again. Also find Arniel Gane, who will commence the fourth part of his quest. Go talk to Enthir again, then head to the marked dungeon to find the courier and find Keening before giving it to Arniel. Now watch his experiment commence, with... unexpected results. You can now reclaim Keening and use the Summon Arniel's Shade spell to summon him to aid in combat. 13) Time to start claiming holds for the Empire. Meet your allies west of Duskglow Crevice and then assault Fort Dunstad, eliminating all of the Stormcloak troops within it. Once the battle is won and the Pale has been regained for the Empire, report back to General Tullius in Solitude for a promotion and new orders. Firstly, though, you'll want to go to Dawnstar to meet the new Jarl, who will restore your Thane status. You can also find the new Pale Stormcloak Camp southeast of Bronze Water Cave and clear it out, if you like. 14) Head over to Fort Dawnguard so we can get on with the Dawnguard questline, now. Speak to Isran to start the quest [PROPHET]. Go upstairs and reunite with Serana. Speak to her and Isran to update your quest. You can get Serana back as a follower now if you want. Note that you can now engage in some Dawnguard side quests; speak to Isran to be directed to Gunmar and Sorine. 15) Sorine can start the quest [ANCIENT TECHNOLOGY] and Gunmar can start the quests [CLEANSING LIGHT], [HIDE AND SEEK], [HUNTING THE MONSTER], or [PREEMPTIVE STRIKE]. Ancient Technology involves finding a schematic for Sorine inside a random dungeon and returning it to her. You can repeat this quest multiple times to get enhanced equipment you can make at a forge. Cleansing Light and Preemptive Strike are simple vampire hunting missions, while Hide and Seek requires you to find the undercover vampire and Persuade or Intimidate them into following you somewhere where you can kill them quietly. Hunting the Monster is similar; find the marked NPC and Persuade, Bribe or Intimidate them into giving you the location of the target vampire's lair. 16) Isran will also give you [A JARL'S JUSTICE] - either kill the vampire and evade the law or steal their orders and show them to the Jarl for permission to do so. You can also purchase an armored troll as a temporary follower from Gunmar, as well as recruit the armored huskies Bran and Sceolang as followers. Note that relatively soon you should get a letter from Quintus Navale, beginning the quest [REPAIRING THE PHIAL]. This will get done soon. Once you're done sidequesting, head to the College of Winterhold again. 17) Go speak to Urag again and he'll direct you to Dragon Bridge. Go there and ask a guard about the Moth Priest, then follow the road to the south until you find the carriage, reading the note on the dead vampire. Go to nearby Forebears' Holdout, a cave guarded by vampires and their allies. Kill the head vampire Malkus and use the weystone on his body to shut off the barrier and beat the possession of the priest. Speak to him then go back to Fort Dawnguard. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 29: QUESTATHON, PART 2 [WLK29] ======================================================================== 1) Speak to Isran once you arrive then have Dexion read the Elder Scroll. Talk to Serana, beginning the quests [CHASING ECHOES], [SEEKING DISCLOSURE] and [SCROLL SCOUTING]. You can now start speaking with Serana to form a closer relationship with her. You can now begin a new sidequest, [BOLSTERING THE RANKS]. This isn't a radiant quest, so we'll do it now. Speak to Isran then head to the Ruunvald Excavation, a cave south of Tolvald's Cave. 2) Inside are charmed Vigilants to fight as you make your way to the Ruunvald Temple, where you'll find Minorne and Florentius. Take the unique Staff of Ruunvald from Minorne then flee Florentius and speak to him, then go back to Fort Dawnguard. Florentius can start the radiant quests [LOST RELIC] and [RESCUE], both of which involve going to a random dungeon to retrieve a unique Dawnguard weapon - it can be completed a maximum of three times - or to rescue a friend of the player. 3) One other Dawnguard-related thing - you may encounter the Dawnguard members Hakar, Saliah, or Lynoit in the wilderness. Each of them has a note (Hakar gives his to you, Lynoit's is on his body, while Saliah's must be stolen) that directs you to three Dawnguard caches in the area. Since this is a random encounter, find the caches in your own time. 4) Now head to Windhelm for the Repairing the Phial quest. Speak to Quintus in the White Phial for the list of ingredients. The unmelting snow must be harvested from the Throat of the World, the mammoth tusk powder is at the Stonehill Bluff giant camp, and the briar heart is at Sundered Towers. Return to Quintus with the ingredients to have the White Phial repaired, then follow him to see Nurelion. You now get the phial and can choose which potion it will be full of and regularly refill with. 5) Now let's make a deal with a daedra. Find Sam Guevenne wherever you left him and drink with him until you wake up in Markarth's Temple of Dibella. The quest [A NIGHT TO REMEMBER] begins. Persuade or Bribe Senna then go to Rorikstead and speak to Ennis. Persuade, Bribe or Intimidate him as well then speak to Ysolda in Whiterun and do the same with her. If you can't successfully coerce her you'll have to go to Witchmist Grove and bring Ysolda the wedding ring from the hagraven Moira. 6) The final place you need to go is Morvunskar. Fight through the warlocks until you find the portal to the Misty Grove. Here you'll meet Sanguine, who gives you Sanguine's Rose and completes the quest. You may also be accosted by an argonian named Deep-In-His-Cups randomly, who you'll have to pay or fight to get rid of him. 7) While we remember, let's get the third unique named dragon, Viinturuth, who lives in a dragon mound northwest of Anga's Mill in the Pale. Take care of him and claim his soul. We're now going to finish up the Thieves' Guild questline. Head to Nightingale Hall south of Riften to meet Karliah and Brynjolf. Follow her inside and listen to her talk for a while then activate the armor stone to get Nightingale armor. Equip it then follow her and Brynjolf, then enter the final room and perform the oath. Speak to Karliah and Brynjolf. 8) [BLINDSIGHTED] now begins. Head to Irkngthand, fight the bandits outside to reach the entrance, then head through the ruin full of dwarven automatons and traps. Inside the second zone you'll find Karliah and Brynjolf, who will help you fight the falmer and dwarven automatons you'll start to encounter. In the Irkngthand Sanctuary you'll eventually find Mercer, whom you must fight. Mercer can turn invisible but you should be able to best him and get the Skeleton Key and the Left and Right Eyes of the Falmer. 9) The Skeleton Key is an infinite-use lockpick, but unfortunately we don't get to keep it. Wait for the room to fill with water and swim out the whole in the roof when you can. You'll emerge in Bronze Water Cave. Speak to Karliah to get the unique Nightingale Bow and begin the final Thieves' Guild main quest, [DARKNESS RETURNS]. Head straight to the Twilight Sepulcher and enter. 10) Speak to the sentinel inside, then retrieve Nystrom's journal from the skeleton to your left. Fight the sentinels as you proceed through the area, staying out of the deadly light when you reach a large dark room. When you reach the statue, pull the chains beside the braziers to open the door and reach the inner sanctum. Drop down into the pit that follows then sadly replace the Skeleton Key to speak to Nocturnal and Karliah. The last thing to do is to choose which of the three blessings of Nocturnal you wish to become. Now there is still Thieves' Guild stuff left to do, so head back to the Ragged Flagon. 11) Sell Delvin Mallory the Eye of the Falmer, and also show him the jeweled amulet to have it appraised. Now we should work on the Thieves' Guild reputation quests. By completing five radiant jobs in each of the four main cities (Whiterun, Windhelm, Solitude, Markarth) a special job will be given by Delvin. Completing all of these lets you become Guild Master, and you may have gotten one already. We're going to do them all now, so you'll probably have to be doing lots of radiant jobs to unlock them. 12) For the Whiterun reputation quest, [IMITATION AMNESTY], go speak to Olfrid Battle-Born. Head up to Dragonsreach to forge the prison registry and steal the incriminating letter from the Jarl's quarters. Return to Olfrid to finish this quest. The fletcher Syndus has now moved into the Ragged Flagon. 13) For the Windhelm reputation quest, [SUMMERSET SHADOWS], speak to Torsten Cruel-Sea and then Niranye and Persuade or Intimidate her. Now head to Uttering Hills Cave and fight your way through the thieves to find Linwe, who has Fjotli's locket and a unique armor set. You should also burn the banner in Linwe's room. Return to Torsten to finish the quest. The alchemist Herluin Lothaire now appears in the Ragged Flagon. 14) For the Solitude reputation quest, [THE DAINTY SLOAD], speak to Erikur at the Blue Palace then go down to the docks and speak to Sabine Nytte and purchase the Balmora Blue from her. Loot it from the underwater chest, then go to the Dainty Sload and plant it in the footlocker after fighting the corsairs. Return to Erikur to complete the quest and make the blacksmith Arnskar Ember-Master and new recruit Garthar appear in the Ragged Flagon. 15) For the Markarth reputation quest, [SILVER LINING], speak to Endon and then embark into a long dangerous dungeon - or, alternatively, give him the silver mold you collected from Pinewatch a long time ago, completing the quest within moments. With all reputation quests completed, the quest [UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT] begins. Back at the Ragged Flagon, the merchant Vanryth Gatharian and thief Ravyn Imyan have appeared. 16) Speak to Brynjolf to initiate a ceremony that begins in the center of the Cistern and makes you Guild Master. Brynjolf gives you the Amulet of Articulation and Tonilia will give you the Guild Master's armor set. Tonilia will also give you moon sugar to take to Ri'saad - find him at his caravan outside one of the major cities then return to Tonilia for a reward. Now we're finally finished with the Thieves' Guild, unless you want to keep doing radiant quests for Vex and Delvin. If you really want that safe, you need to do over a hundred jobs, remember. There are also special guild barrels hidden in the five major cities you can loot for supplies, as well. 17) Last thing to do is speak to Vex about the Stones of Barenziah. Now go to Tolvald's Cave, where you'll encounter falmer and other enemies. Eventually you'll reach Tolvald's Crossing and find the crown. Make your way out and return to Vex to put the Crown of Barenziah on display and get the Prowler's Profit perk, which increases your chances of collecting valuable gems. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 30: CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE [WLK30] ======================================================================== 1) Head back to the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary and speak to Astrid about the amulet to begin [BOUND UNTIL DEATH]. Gabriella also has some advice you might want to listen to. Now head to Solitude's Temple of the Divines where the wedding is taking place. You can find the unique bow Firiniel's End on a ledge above the courtyard, which provides the opportunity to snipe Vittoria from afar. You can also push a loose statue to crush her when she is on the upper balcony. 2) Once your target is dead, escape Solitude with Veezara's help. I'd advise leaving via the stairs in the tower beneath the windmill, which takes you down to the docks. Head back to Astrid for your reward, which is a spell that lets you summon a spectral assassin to assist you. You get a bonus if you killed Vici while she was addressing the guests. The next quest, [BREACHING SECURITY] now begins. Go and speak to Gabriella for new objectives. 3) Nazir can also begin the quests [CONTRACT: KILL DEEKUS], [CONTRACT: KILL MA'RANDRU-JO] and [CONTRACT: KILL ANORIATH]. We should do these now; Deekus is alone at Hela's Folly, Ma'randru-jo is with one of the khajiit caravans outside a city, and Anoriath is at the Drunken Huntsman in Whiterun. Return to Nazir once all three minor contracts are completed for your rewards. 4) Now let's hunt down Gaius Maro. Go to Dragon Bridge and steal Maro's schedule from the Penitus Oculatus Outpost. This will tell you where Maro each day of the week. Since you get a bonus for killing him in a major city, track him down and stealthily eliminate him. Plant the incriminating letter on him then return to Gabriella. You'll get a token as a bonus, and the quest [THE CURE FOR MADNESS] begins. Speak to Astrid in the main room then read the final volume of Cicero's journal in his room to find out where he is. 5) Return to Astrid afterward Outside the sanctuary you'll meet Shadowmere, a unique invincible horse who can be a valuable asset. Now head back to Whiterun and give Olava the Feeble the token you were given. She'll read your fortune and direct you to Hag's End. Revisit there quickly and open a secret passage using a concealed handle. There you'll find a body with the unique Ancient Shrouded armor set. 6) Time to reclaim the Rift. Meet Rikke at the Rift Imperial Camp to begin [COMPELLING TRIBUTE], then speak to Anuriel at Mistveil Keep after stealing a letter from her dresser. Follow her into the back to learn about the shipment - you can Persuade her for some gold. Go back to Rikke, then meet your allies near Shor's Watchtower and attack the caravan either on your own or with their help. 7) Report back to Hadvar afterward to finish the quest. Go back to Rikke one more time to begin the next fort attack quest, [THE BATTLE FOR FORT GREENWALL]. Meet the Imperial soldiers south of Shor's Stone and then assault the fort and clear out all the Stormcloaks, claiming the Rift. Return to General Tullius afterward for new orders. The Rift Stormcloak Camp has now appeared northeast of Sarethi Farm. 8) Now we're going to be focused on the Dawnguard questline for a while. Head for Castle Volkihar with Serana and make your way to the small dock on the far side of the island behind the castle. Fight the skeletons and then enter the Volkihar Undercroft, where you'll encounter feral vampires and more undead. Eventually you'll reach the courtyard, where you can optionally explore the north and east towers for loot and undead. 9) Find the three moon discs lying around the courtyard and put them in the moondial to open steps leading down to the Volkihar Ruins. Make your way through this area, fighting more enemies until you reach an impassable fireplace. Fiddle with the candlestick on its left to open the way forward. When you reach the laboratory, find Valerica's journal on a shelf and show it to Serana. Then find the three special ingredients around the room and put them into the vessel. You might also want to head out a door to discover the Castle Volkihar Balcony before speaking to Serana and opening the Soul Cairn. 10) Try to enter the portal and you'll be hurt. Speak to Serana about it and you'll either have to let her turn you into a vampire - giving you the chance to become a powerful Vampire Lord - or let her partially soul trap you, weakening your stats while in the cairn. Make your choice, then enter the Soul Cairn. 11) The quest [BEYOND DEATH] begins once you enter the Soul Cairn. Go northeast up the path, checking the first building you pass. Destroy the glowing orbs to remove the bars and find a chest, as well as the first page of Jiub's Opus, something we'll need to collect for a quest soon. Continue up the path, picking up any soul husks you may come across and fighting enemies like bonemen, mistmen and wrathmen. There is a tower on your right with another page of Jiub's Opus to collect, as well. 12) Just north of the tower is a soul who asks for help finding his horse. To the left of the large gap in the wall is another black building leading to another building with the third page of the opus. Just watch for the large glowing crystal, which will sap your health. Back in the main area, go east along the side of the divider wall till you reach a small set of stairs, containing a fourth page of Jiub's Opus. Now head through the big gateway to the northern part of the cairn. 13) At the big building on your right you'll find Morven Stroud, who'll exchange weapons for 25 soul husks. There is another opus page on a barrel. Now keep following the road to the northeast to reach the gigantic building known as the Boneyard. Here you'll meet Valerica, who will speak to you and eventual give you your next objective. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 31: SOUL REAPING [WLK31] ======================================================================== 1) Head back south down the path, following it east when you can. You'll come to a large ruin on your left; use a teleporter inside to reach the roof and collect the first Reaper Gem Fragment from the chest. Collecting all three of these will let you face a being known as the Reaper later. 2) To the south is a tall glowing tower where you will encounter the first Keeper. Eliminate it. Just to the east is a tower with a spell tome that teaches the Conjure Wrathman spell, and to the north is a soul well with some enemies and the next page of Jiub's Opus. Just to the north you can find Jiub himself, who will begin the side quest [IMPATIENCE OF A SAINT], asking you to find the remaining pages of the opus. 3) Keep going north until you find Arvak's skull on a plinth in a small altar-like area. Defeat the enemies guarding it then take it. Give it to his owner, who you can find nearby. He'll give you a spell that lets you summon Arvak whenever you want. Head northeast towards a levitating tower; just to its south is a sunken ruin with another opus page and the Conjure Mistman spell tome. Use the teleporter in the tower to reach and defeat the second Keeper. 4) Now head west back towards the Boneyard; in the first ruin you reach is the second Reaper Gem Fragment, guarded by another big evil crystal. A little bit southwest up the hill is another ruin, where you'll find the next page of Jiub's Opus. Now head south back to the entrance of the Boneyard, passing it and heading west. You'll find a ruin directly west of Valerica's position, holding another page of the opus. 5) Head further west, passing some more ruins. When you pass one with a big glowy crystal above it, enter it and make your way through the small maze to a teleporter. Up on the roof is the final page of the opus, which we'll return soon. Head southwest now to a small altar in the middle of a graveyard-like field, where the Conjure Boneman spell tome is. 6) Now head west towards the final big tower. Here you'll find more enemies and the final Keeper. There is also the final Reaper Gem Fragment in a chest behind a gate that needs to be opened by destroying the glowing blue orbs near it. Now that we've found all the notable items in the Soul Cairn, head back west to Jiub, who gives you a copy of his book and the Locket of Saint Jiub. 7) Now to face the Reaper. Head southeast to a tall tower in the southeast corner of the cairn's northern half. Enter the Reaper's Lair and insert all the Reaper Gem Fragments to cause the Reaper to appear. He is aided by undead. The Reaper doesn't actually have anything interesting or unique on him, so fighting him is really just for bragging rights. Head back to Valerica afterward and follow her inside the Boneyard. 8) Inside Durnehviir will attack you and you'll have to fight him. Speak to Valerica when he's dead and follow her to collect the Elder Scroll. Speak to her again. If you allowed Serana to partially soul trap you, you'll get a new miscellaneous objective. Valerica can also make soul husk essence if you supply her with 5 soul husks. Leave the Boneyard to encounter Durnehviir again, who will teach you the [SUMMON DURNEHVIIR: 1/1] Shout. Each time you summon Durnehviir while in Tamriel he will teach you a different word of the Soul Tear Shout ([SOUL TEAR: 1/3], [SOUL TEAR: 2/3], and [SOUL TEAR: 3/3]). 9) Follow your quest arrow you got the misc. objective from Valerica to find the soul gem essence and restore your depleted stats. Head all the way back to the portal and leave the Soul Cairn. Back in Tamriel, I should mention the quest [RISING AT DAWN], which allows you to cure yourself of vampirism. To get it, ask someone such as an innkeeper about a cure to be directed to Falion in Morthal. Get him a filled black soul gem and then meet him at dawn north of the town in a swamp. This removes your vampirism. 10) Now it's time we did a difficult dungeon that has been put off for far too long. Head to Broken Helm Hollow in the Rift and head south, following a trail up the mountain to the west to the ruin of Forelhost. Speak to Captain Valmir to begin [SIEGE ON THE DRAGON CULT] and enter. 11) Forelhost is full of ghosts and powerful draugr. Shortly after entering you'll find an informative journal. Continue progressing through the dungeon, entering the Forelhost Crypt, where you must either pick a Master-level lock or make a detour to collect the key. Next up is the Forelhost Refectory, where you can find the Glass Claw on a pedestal. Use it to open the puzzle door you find. 12) In the final room you'll encounter Rahgot the dragon priest and his draugr minions. Defeat him and claim his eponymous mask and the unique Dragon Priest Staff. Exit out the giant door to the battlements and learn the [STORM CALL: 2/3] Shout. Drop down to meet up with Valmir again, who shows his true colors. Deal with him to complete the quest. 13) Now head to the Dawnstar Sanctuary for the Cure for Madness quest. Speak to Arnbjorn then head inside, grabbing the unique jester clothing set from a table just inside. Make your way through, fighting guardian ghosts and at one point grabbing the Worn Shrouded Armor set. In the ice caves you'll encounter the Udefrykte, a deadly troll. When you find Cicero, you can either kill him or spare him. Leave either way, but note that killing him lets you take his unique clothes. 14) Return to Astrid to begin the quest [RECIPE FOR DISASTER]. Speak to Festus Krex and Nazir to get a new contract ([CONTRACT: KILL AGNIS]). Let's do this one now. Agnis is in Fort Greymoor, which at this stage of the game is garrisoned by the Imperials. Find her and stealthily take her out, then head to Markarth's Understone Keep and speak to Anton Virane. Get the Gourmet's identity and then kill him. 15) Now head to the Nightgate Inn to find the Gourmet. Find him in the cellar, kill him, and hide his body behind some cover and take his writ of passage. Head back to the Sanctuary to get your rewards from Festus and Nazir, beginning the quest [TO KILL AN EMPIRE]. You also get the unique Nightweaver's Band. Nazir also offers two new contracts, [CONTRACT: KILL MALURIL] and [CONTRACT: KILL HELVARD]. Speak to Astrid on your way out. 16) Maluril is in Mzinchaleft, in a room behind some bandits, and is not too far in, allowing you to turn around and leave when he's dead. Helvard is in Falkreath in the Jarl's Longhouse and admittedly can be somewhat hard to kill without being detected. When both targets are dead, return to Nazir for your reward. Now it's time to tackle Alftand and Blackreach. The end is approaching... ======================================================================== CHAPTER 32: BLACKREACH [WLK32] ======================================================================== 1) Fast travel to Alftand. Before entering, you'll want to explore the Alftand Ruined Tower, located at the bottom of the crevice, which is a completely self-enclosed side area. When that's done, enter the main ruin by the wooden bridge at the top of the crevice. Inside the Alftand Glacial Ruins you'll encounter dwarven spiders and spheres, as well as the khajiit J'darr. 2) Eventually you'll reach the Alftand Animonculory, where you will encounter more automatons, as well as falmer. Eventually you'll find an elevator leading upstairs, but we'll need to go deeper to the Alftand Cathedral. Here you'll need to pull a levers, fight a centurion and encounter Umana and Sulla. Umana has the unique shield the Targe of the Blooded. There is another lift to the surface here, but we should use the attunement sphere to open the stairs leading down to Blackreach. 3) Blackreach is an absolutely massive cavern full of falmer, chaurus and other enemies. There is a lot to explore here, and you'll want to keep an eye for Crimson Nirnroot; you'll need 30 of them in all. Make sure to explore thoroughly, checking within patches of mushrooms and under pipes. Picking up the first one begins [A RETURN TO YOUR ROOTS]. Immediately head west to find Sinderion's Field Laboratory: read the journal on the skeleton to update your quest. Just to the southeast is an elevator leading to the surface, to a new location named the Great Lift at Alftand. 4) Follow the road west from the lab, heading south when it forks at an activatable dwarven centurion. Head south through an arch to a small arena; you can also explore the nearby War Quarters. Go west of the arena until you can cross the river at the top of the waterfall to the south. Here you can find an elevator leading up to the Great Lift at Raldbthar. Go across the suspended platforms and walkways to find an elevator leading down to the Derelict Pumphouse, another small explorable area with a Crimson Nirnroot. 5) Go back to where you were before you crossed the river and go west, entering the Silent City Catacombs via a sewer grate at the base of a wall. Fight through the falmer and enter the Pumping Station, where you'll encounter falmer servants as well. You'll emerge in the Silent City courtyard, which was many more enemies to deal with. Check the other two buildings connected to the courtyard, the Hall of Rumination and the Debate Hall. 6) Before leaving the Silent City area, use Unrelenting Force on the giant glowing orb to summon the unique dragon Vulthuryol, one of the game's few hidden bosses. Once that's done, leave the Silent City and head north up the road along its west side, passing the elevator leading up to the Great Lift at Mzinchaleft. When the road heads north through a pair of arches, keep heading east to reach the Silent Ruin, a small and relatively insignificant location, although it does have a Crimson Nirnroot. 7) Further northeast until you reach the Reeking Tower, easily visible due to being covered in spider webs. Climb up to the entrance to find the tower filled with frostbite spiders. You now need to head back south, but you might want to continue east and make a full circuit of Blackreach to pick up some more Crimson Nirnroot. 8) Go back to the Silent City and follow the road south. Just before the bridge is the Farm Overseer's House, which you can explore if you want. Now cross the bridge to reach the Tower of Mzark. Make your way upstairs and insert the lexicon in the receptacle to unlock a button puzzle. Hit the third button from the left four times, hit the second button on the left twice, then the far-left button once. Retrieve the lexicon then collect the Elder Scroll. The quest [ALDUIN'S BANE] begins. 9) Return to the surface via the elevator beneath the platform, discovering the Tower of Mzark location. First things first, head to the Sarethi Farm and speak to Avrusa Sarethi with the Crimson Nirnroots to get the Sinderion's Serendipity perk. Now head to Septimus Signus' Outpost and speak to him to get your next objective. 10) Leave the outpost after speaking to the Wretched Abyss. You'll now need to harvest blood from a falmer, an orc, and all three elf races. You can easily find a falmer, but for the others it's best to search bandit lairs until you've located one of each race. Once all five blood samples are collected, return to Septimus and watch him open the box, then follow him inside. 11) Afterwards collect the Oghma Infinium to complete the quest. Reading it allows you to choose and path and boost all of your skills in that area. Unfortunately you can only use it once. The final thing to do in this chapter is to return to Fort Dawnguard to show Dexion the two Elder Scrolls, beginning [UNSEEN VISIONS]. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 33: WINNING THE WAR [WLK33] ======================================================================== 1) Time to finish up the civil war questline. Meet Legate Rikke at the Winterhold Stormcloak Camp to begin [RESCUE FROM FORT KASTAV]. Meet your allies southeast of the Yorgrim Overlook and speak to Hadvar, then head to Fort Kastav. You can sneak in via a grate on the outer wall and rescue the Imperial prisoners from their locked cells. Afterwards, lead the assault, fighting the Stormcloak opponents around the fort exterior. 2) Speak to Hadvar once the battle is over, then return to General Tullius for a promotion. Winterhold Hold is now under your control; visit the new Jarl Kraldar to get reinstated as Thane. If you like, clear out the Winterhold Stormcloak Camp, located just northwest of Yngol Barrow. Now before completing the civil war we're going to head to the Ancestor Glade in Falkreath Hold. Enter the main cavern and collect the knife from the center. 3) Gather bark from a tree then attract Ancestor Moth swarms from around the room by running into them. Bring seven back to the center of the room and read the Blood Elder Scroll. After a cutscene and a chat with Serana - beginning the quest [TOUCHING THE SKY] - you'll face a group of vampires and a gargoyle on the way out. 4) Now head to the Eastmarch Imperial Camp and speak to Legate Rikke, beginning [THE BATTLE FOR FORT AMOL]. This is the final fort takeover mission, so meet your allies west of the fort and then wipe out the Stormcloak forces there. When the battle is won, return to Rikke to begin [BATTLE FOR WINDHELM]. You can go to the newly-appeared Windhelm Military Camp if you want, but there's nothing there. Meet Tullius outside the city. 5) After the general makes his speech, head into Windhelm and begin battling through the streets, fighting Stormcloaks as you make your way to the Palace of the Kings. You'll have to go through the marketplace and graveyard to get there. Once you get inside, fight Galmar and Ulfric. Once they're down, you can either execute Ulfric or let Tullius do it. Further celebrate your victory by stripping Ulfric of his unique clothes, if you want to. You'll get a weapon from Tullius, and the Civil War will be complete. 6) After some time, Brunwulf Free-Winter will become Jarl of Windhelm, and will gladly make you Thane - the final Thane role we had yet to achieve. He will also sell you the final house, Hjerim, and you'll also get the housecarl Calder. As well as renovations, you can speak to Jorleif and pay him to clean up the blood and other traces of the Butcher within. Now, since we've proven ourselves completely loyal to the Empire, it's time to assassinate the Emperor. Head to Solitude to finish up the Dark Brotherhood questline. 7) Speak to Commander Maro at Castle Dour to be allowed in. Head inside and speak to Gianna, then put on the chef's hat and instruct her how to prepare the meal in a potentially humorous scene. Make sure to add the jarrin root in dialogue, before following her upstairs to serve dinner. When the Emperor keels over, make a quick escape via the nearby door. After a conversation with Maro, head down the stairs all the way to leave the city again, and head back to the sanctuary. 8) Upon arriving you'll find Penitus Oculatus agents and begin the quest [DEATH INCARNATE]. Enter and fight your way through the enemies until you find and aid Nazir. Speak to him and then go to the Night Mother's room and enter her coffin. When you awaken, go to Astrid's room to find and speak to her. Claim her unique Blade of Woe and put her out of her misery. Return to the Night Mother and listen to her. The quest [HAIL SITHIS!] begins. 9) Talk to Nazir then leave and meet Motierre in the Bannered Mare in Whiterun. Also ask him about Commander Maro. Maro is at the Solitude docks, so head over there and smite him before swimming north out to the Katariah. Enter via the hanging chain. On the Katariah you'll encounter crew members and Penitus Oculatus agents. If you head up to the deck you'll find more opponents and the unique sword Windshear imbedded in the forward mast. Enter the Emperor's Quarters when ready. 10) Speak to the Emperor when you meet him, but in the end you'll have to kill him. He has some unique robes you may want to take. Now you can depart and meet Motierre again. Fulfill the Emperor's final wishes and eliminate Motierre; you can find the payment he mentioned in an urn in the room where you first met him in Volunruud. Meet Nazir at the Dawnstar Sanctuary afterward. 11) The Dark Brotherhood questline is now complete, but there is still some stuff you can do. The quest [WHERE YOU HANG YOUR ENEMY'S HEAD...] begins. As you leave the Sanctuary, the Night Mother will speak to you, beginning the repeatable quest [THE DARK BROTHERHOOD FOREVER]. For this quest, speak to the Night Mother, report to the contract giver, then kill the marked NPC in a random location. The quest automatically starts again when you complete it so unfortunately it will stay in your journal forever, but it still provides a quick way to make money and satisfy your lust for violence. 12) Speak to Delvin Mallory at the Thieves' Guild. You can pay him to upgrade your new sanctuary - all upgrades are required to complete the quest, so buy them all with your undoubtedly-gigantic wallet. One of the upgrades adds a secret entrance in Dawnstar that makes it easier to access the sanctuary. Now head back there to check out your new fittings, including the unique Tumblerbane Gloves that can be found in the master bedroom. 13) Dark Brotherhood Initiates now live in the sanctuary and can become followers, as can Cicero if you spared him, when he arrives at least. If you go to the torture chamber, you can beat the captives until they tell you where to find a hidden cache of coin somewhere in Skyrim. Nazir also gives you the final contract - [CONTRACT: KILL SAFIA]. Get on the ship the Red Wave at the Solitude docks, where you can find Safia and kill her. She is ready for you and her crew will attack as well. Return to Nazir afterward for your reward. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 34: SEARCH FOR AURIEL'S BOW [WLK34] ======================================================================== 1) Head up to the Throat of the World and read the dragon Elder Scroll at the marked area for a fairly long cutscene, during which you'll learn the [DRAGONREND: 1/1] Shout. This Shout can be used to instantly bring dragons down to the ground, and you'll need to use it soon, as Alduin will attack once you return to the present. Use Dragonrend to bring him down and attack him. He will eventually flee, however. The next quest, [THE FALLEN], now begins. 2) Speak to Paarthurnax afterward Now head to Whiterun and speak to Jarl Balgruuf about trapping a dragon. After he agrees, you need to either speak to Esbern or Paarthurnax to learn the [CALL DRAGON: 1/1] Shout. Note that if you go to Esbern, he will begin the quest [PAARTHURNAX], which entails going to the Throat of the World and killing Paarthurnax. This makes the Greybeards angry at you but makes the Blades happy. The only way to finish this quest is to kill Paarthurnax, so don't start it if you don't want to do that. 3) Once you've learnt the Shout, return to Jarl Balgruuf to set the trap. Head up to the great terrace and use the Call Dragon Shout. When Odahviing arrives, hit him with Dragonrend and lure him backwards until the trap is sprung. Speak to him afterward, beginning the quest [THE WORLD-EATER'S EYRIE]. Speak to a guard above to have him release the trap. Now the main quest is almost complete, but we'll be completing the Dawnguard questline first. Head to Darkfall Cave with Serana. 4) Darkfall Cave is home to trolls, frostbite spiders and a collapsing bridge that drops you into raging rapids. You'll eventually meet Gelebor. Speak with him and he'll give you the initiate's ewer. You must then head through Darkfall Passage using the portal, where you'll find falmer and chaurus galore. Eventually you'll reach the wayshrine and can fill the ewer. Head through the portal to the Forgotten Vale. 5) The Forgotten Vale is a large area with plenty to see and do - you'll encounter falmer here, as well as animals such as bears and sabre cats. Head out of the cave to "discover" the location, then head north, sticking close to the eastern mountains until you find the Forgotten Vale Cave, where you can find some falmer and chaurus, as well as a shellbug in the back room. You can mine the shellbug for chitin you can use to forge the shellbug helmet. 6) Back outside, keep going north until you find the next wayshrine. Fill the ewer then head southwest to find a narrow pass leading west to a large icy lake. Directly west is a skeleton with a chest and an unknown book that gives you a new objective. Head south down the lake's east bank to reach the third wayshrine and fill the ewer again. 7) Now head directly south into an enclosed lake area, where there is a waterfall that takes you to the Darkfall Grotto, where you'll encounter feral falmer and find some loot. Another waterfall will drop you back out to Darkfall Passage, where you can head back to the entrance of the lake area. This time go north, past where you found the tome and along the bank until you find the first of several frost giants in the Vale. Defeat it and claim the Amethyst Paragon from its corpse. 8) Now head northwest up the hill and then cross back over to the east, above the waterfall, to find the second frost giant. Take the Sapphire Paragon then go over to the nearby shrine. Inserting one of the paragons into the receptacle here opens a portal letting you access certain secret areas. The Amethyst Paragon lets you reach a chest in Darkfall Grotto, while the Sapphire Paragon leads to a hidden room in the Inner Sanctum with some loot. 9) Back outside, head southwest up the hill to reach the upper area of the frozen lake. Head south, where you'll find a Word Wall; however two dragons named Voslaruum and Naaslarum will attack you approach. They can hide by diving through the ice, but that shouldn't stop you taking them down. Absorb their souls then learn the [DRAIN VITALITY: 3/3] Shout from the Word Wall. Now head north to find the fourth wayshrine and fill the ewer again. 10) Head north and west of the wayshrine to reach a long canyon full of rock bridges, as well as small falmer villages. Make your way up to the stone and wood bridges and start crossing them; you'll soon find Sharpslope Cave to the west. You can find another shellbug to mine in here, hidden in a small side chamber halfway down the curving path. Back outside, keep following the slopes and bridges to the location of a frost giant on the east side of the canyon, above where you entered. Take the Emerald Paragon then head further south down the canyon. 11) Down below, near the bottom of the canyon you can find a hut with another unknown tome. Before heading south any further, head back to the paragon portal and use the Emerald Paragon to teleport to the Forgotten Vale Overlook. To the north, at the edge of the waterfall you can find the third unknown tome. Now head back to the canyon and go to its south end to enter the Glacial Crevice. 12) Inside the crevice are some trolls and more falmer, and eventually you'll exit into a narrow canyon area. Head north to find another frost giant and the Diamond Paragon. Head back east and follow the linear route along the falmer-filled canyon to eventually find the fourth unknown tome in a hut. When you reach the final wayshrine, fill the ewer and then keep going to reach the Inner Sanctum. 13) Empty the ewer outside to gain entry. Inside you can kill the final frost giant in the western room, and get the Ruby Paragon. Continue north through the temple until you enter Auriel's Chapel and meet Vyrthur. After talking you'll have to fight off several waves of frozen falmer and chaurus, as well as a frost atronach. Eventually you'll be taken outside and confront Vyrthur again. You'll have to fight him then, and after he's dead you can claim the unique ancient falmer armor set he's wearing. 14) Speak to Gelebor when he arrives and get Auriel's Bow, beginning [KINDRED JUDGMENT], the final Dawnguard quest. Speak to Serana about it. If you want you can speak to Gelebor and he'll make elven arrows into Sunhallowed Elven Arrows for you. Serana can also make Bloodcursed Elven Arrows using her blood. Before leaving the Forgotten Vale we still have some stuff to do. Head all the way back to the paragon portal and insert the Diamond Paragon, which takes you to an enclosed area of the Glacial Crevice with a chest. 15) The Ruby Paragon takes you the Forgotten Vale Forest, where if you head west you'll see falmer battling frost trolls. In the southern part of the forest is a deadly Falmer Warmonger wielding Auriel's Shield. Now that we're done with the Forgotten Vale, make a quick trip to the College of Winterhold to sell the unknown tomes to Urag gro-Shub. You can also sell him the dragon Elder Scroll, now that you're done with it. Now head back to Fort Dawnguard and speak to Isran to arrange for the final assault on Castle Volkihar. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 35: THE DRAGONBORN RETURNS [WLK35] ======================================================================== 1) Now head to Castle Volkihar. Fight the enemies on the bridge alongside the Dawnguard and then head inside, cutting your way through every bloodsucker within. Once they're all dead, head through the portcullis near Isran to find Harkon. Do not give him the bow when he asks. You'll have to fight Harkon in a deadly battle. He will summon gargoyles and use his vampire lord powers, including creating a protective shield that can only be penetrated with Auriel's Bow. 2) Eventually Harkon will be defeated and you can get his unique sword and armor. The Dawnguard questline is now complete, although there is still stuff you can do. You can return to the Soul Cairn and speak to Valerica, after which she'll return to Castle Volkihar, you can convince Serana to cure her vampirism through dialogue, causing her to leave for a few days before returning to Fort Dawnguard, and you can sell the remaining two Elder Scrolls to Dexion at the same location. 3) Now time to fulfill our destiny as Dragonborn and finish the main quest. Head back to Dragonsreach, speak to Odahviing and agree to fly to Skuldafn. Once you arrive, head east towards the ruin, fending off a dragons and draugr, both of which can be found here. You should also check the Skuldafn South and North Towers for more enemies and loot. Head up through the ruins fighting draugr until you can enter the main ruin. 4) Head through the Skuldafn Temple fighting more draugr to reach a pillar puzzle. To solve it, match the left and right pillars with the glyphs on the adjacent walls then change the central pillar to the snake icon before pulling the lever. Fight some more draugr and frostbite spiders as you progress to another puzzle. Change the ground floor pillar to the snake and the two above to match the image above them. Pull the lever to lower the drawbridge. 5) Eventually you'll find a draugr boss holding the diamond claw. Use it to open the puzzle door and past it you can learn the [STORM CALL: 3/3] Shout. Head out the nearby exit back outside, where you'll find the portal to Sovngarde guarded by Nahkriin, the final dragon priest, and two dragons. Take them out, being sure to collect Nahkriin's mask and his staff. Insert the staff in the seal to open the portal to Sovngarde and head inside. 6) Upon arriving, the quest [SOVNGARDE] begins. Follow the linear path towards the Hall of Valor. On the way, you may run into some familiar faces. When you reach Tsun you must challenge him to a battle and beat him for a while until he lets you through. Now cross the bridge and enter the Hall of Valor. 7) Inside chat to Ysgramor and three ancient heroes then follow them back outside and across the bridge to battle Alduin, beginning [DRAGONSLAYER], the final main quest. Use Clear Skies repeatedly and they will Shout away the mist. You must now battle Alduin. As the final boss he is a powerful opponent but persevere and you will be triumphant. 8) Eventually Alduin will be defeated. When you're ready to leave Sovngarde, speak to Tsun and he will teach you the [CALL OF VALOR: 1/1] Shout and transport you to the Throat of the World. Paarthurnax will have a few words for you if he is still alive. The main quest is now complete, and your role as Dragonborn is now complete. We still have some stuff left to do before leaving Skyrim for Solstheim and the Dragonborn DLC, however. 9) Firstly, gather up all nine dragon priest masks from wherever you have them stored (likely in a house), and take them to Labyrinthian. Enter the central structure and wear the Wooden Mask to be transported back in time. You can now place all the masks on the altar and get the final base, Konahrik. Put it on to return to the present, making sure to collect your masks beforehand. 10) Now the final quests left to do in Skyrim are the master spell quests, which require your spell skills to have almost reached their maximum - 100 in Destruction and Illusion, 90 in Alteration, Restoration and Conjuration. You likely won't be anywhere near there yet, so it will take a while to grind those skills - on the plus side, you'll gain plenty of levels and the threats on Solstheim will be even more deadly. If this is really too difficult for you, leave it for now - you might even want to ignore the master quests for the schools of magic you don't use. 11) For the Destruction quest, speak to Faralda when your Destruction has reached 100 to begin [DESTRUCTION RITUAL SPELL]. Take the book to Windward Ruins, place it on a pedestal, then hit it with a fire spell before taking it to North Skybound Watch, putting it on another pedestal, and hit it with a frost spell. Finally put it on the pedestal at Four Skull Lookout and hit it with a lightning spell. 12) For the Restoration quest, speak to Colette Marence when your Restoration has reached 90 to begin [RESTORATION RITUAL SPELL]. Go down to the Midden to meet the Augur, then survive his trial by using healing magic to sustain yourself against the opponents. Survive until the test ends, giving you the ability to purchase the top-level Restoration spells. 13) For the Conjuration quest, speak to Phinis Gestor when your Conjuration has reached 90 to begin [CONJURATION RITUAL SPELL]. Get to the top of the Hall of Attainment and use the Summon Unbound Dremora spell and beat up the dremora when it rebels before summoning it again. Repeat the whole process three times to get his cooperation, then summon him once more to get the stone. Give it to Phinis for the ability to purchase the top-level Conjuration spells. Note that the Sigil Stone can be inserted in the Atronach Forge to unlock the final recipes. 14) For the Illusion quest, speak to Drevis Neloren when your Illusion has reached 100 to begin [ILLUSION RITUAL SPELL]. You need to use the spell he gives you, Vision of the Tenth Eye, to find the four texts. One is in the Hall of Countenance, one in the Hall of Attainment, one in the Arcanaeum, and one in the Midden near the Atronach Forge. Give all four to Drevis for the ability to purchase the top-level Illusion spells. 15) For the Alteration quest, speak to Tolfdir when your Alteration has reached 90 to begin [ALTERATION RITUAL SPELL]. You'll be sent to a random dragon priest dungeon to collect the dagger Kahvozein's Fang, which you may have got already. Get the dagger and use it on a dead dragon to harvest heartscales. Bring them to Tolfdir to finish the quest and get the ability to purchase the top-level Alteration spells. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 36: STARTING OUR SOLSTHEIM ADVENTURE [WLK36] ======================================================================== 1) Now it's time to finally do the Dragonborn expansion, where new quests, items, characters, and dungeons await. Head to the Windhelm docks, speak to Gjalund Salt-Sage on his ship and Persuade, Intimidate, or Bribe him to get passage to Solstheim. You should set off straight away. 2) Shortly after arriving in the town of Raven Rock, you'll be met by Adril Arano. Ask him about Miraak. Head east into the town, where you'll find plenty of quests to embark on. To your right is the Bulwark, the town jail. This jail is unique because the escape route links to Coldcinder Cave, a small dungeon with ash spawn and netches. Straight ahead is the temple; head up the steps and inside to find Elder Othreloth, who has a task for you. Go downstairs and into the ancestral tomb, where you'll find ash spawn to fight. Clear them out then return to Othreloth for your reward. 3) Back outside, go up the street to the north a bit, entering Morvayn Manor on your left. In here you should find Cindiri Arano, who has a new misc. objective. Further north is the marketplace. Speak to Glover Mallory at his smithy for a new misc. objective. Also ask him about the shadowmark to start a Thieves' Guild-related quest. In the marketplace you should be able to find Milore Ienth and Fethis Alor, who both have misc. objectives for you. 4) Also nearby is the Retching Netch Tavern. You can get the hireling Teldryn Sero here. Speak to Geldis Sadri then start handing out his sujamma samples. Simply speak to everyone in town until you've given out enough, then get your reward from Geldis. Geldis can also give you various rumors.. 5) Now, before heading into the Raven Rock Mine we should gather what East Empire Pendants are in Raven Rock. There is one in the Alor House, one in the Retching Netch, one in Glover Mallory's house, one in Morvayn Manor upstairs, one in the Caerellius House, one in the Bulwark, one in the Temple Ancestral Tomb, and one outside beneath the Northern Maiden. They're all usually in locked strongboxes, so you'll have to pick them open. Sell these eight pendants to Fethis afterward 6) One thing you'll want to do is go west a bit to discover the Earth Stone. Here you can speak to Neloth, but can't do anything else. Now enter the Raven Rock Mine just to the north of town. In here, Crescius Caerellius can start the quest [THE LAST DESCENT], which we'll do now. You should also persuade him to give Glover's pickaxe back. Grab another East Empire pendant from a box upstairs then head down into the mine. 7) As you descend the shaft, you'll encounter frostbite spiders and eventually reach some boards you must break. Past them is a gate and another pendant in a strongbox. You'll encounter draugr as you enter the ruins. You can find some stalhrim on the way and mine it with your Ancient Nordic Pickaxe. Keep going until you reach a large room where you'll find Gratian's remains, as well as his journal and the Bloodskal Blade. 8) To open the door, use the blade's power attacks on the glowing red lines. Once through you'll encounter a hallway full of axes and then the final room, where the dragon priest Zahkriisos will appear. Just like the ones in Skyrim, the Solstheim dragon priests have masks too, so battle Zahkriisos and take his mask. You should also learn the [DRAGON ASPECT: 1/3] Shout. 9) In the next room you'll find your first Black Book. These books take you to the realm known as Apocrypha, which you'll explore fully later. For now, read the book to begin [BLACK BOOK: THE WINDS OF CHANGE] and be taken to Apocrypha. Head through this realm, fighting seeker and lurkers and use scryes to open the way forward. When you reach the Black Book you'll be able to pick one of three abilities; Scholar's Insight, Companion's Insight, or Lover's Insight. Make your choice then read the book to return to Solstheim. 10) Exiting the mine places you in Bloodskal Barrow, where reavers await both inside and out. Now head back to Raven Rock. Give Crescius Gratian's journal, to complete the quest and reopen the mine. Give Glover Mallory the Ancient Nordic Pickaxe (he'll let you keep it - make sure you retain it so you can mine stalhrim), and sell your two latest pendants to Fethis. Now we're done with Raven Rock, and ready to head out into the ash-covered southern plains of Solstheim. 11) Head south out of the Bulwark from Raven Rock to find the Old Attius Farm. Save Captain Veleth from the ash spawn then speak to him to begin [MARCH OF THE DEAD]. Check the ash spawn bodies to find a letter, then show it to Veleth. Now get onto the hill to the east to find Kolbjorn Barrow; speak to Ralis Sedarys to begin [UNEARTHED]. Give him 1000 gold, which is all you can do with this quest for the moment. 12) Now head south down the coast, to find the Wreck of the Strident Squall. Clear out the reavers here, then grab the folio for Cindiri Arano from the chest in the hold. Also grab the pendant from the strongbox. To the east-northeast you'll find Hrodulf's House. Take out the ash spawn outside, grab the East Empire pendant in the strongbox, then descend the trapdoor and kill the reavers. Behind the bookshelf is a secret passage; you'll find Bjornolfr's body here. 13) Outside, go south a bit to find Hrodulf's body by a boat. How sad. You'll probably run into some netches around here; they are non-hostile but you need to kill five to collect five jelly samples for Milore Ienth. East of Hrodulf's House is Fort Frostmoth, which is guarded by ash spawn. Head inside the fort afterward and begin fighting your way through the opponents inside, where you can find another East Empire pendant straight away on your left. 14) Work your way through the fort, fighting ash spawn and grabbing a key from the crypt. You can now reach the general's room and confront General Carius. Take him out, get the Champion's Cudgel, then make your way out. We'll keep exploring east a bit before going to Raven Rock. Go east to the distinctive shape of Tel Mithryn. Just before it you'll find the merchant Revus Sarvani. Make sure to purchase the Kagrumez Resonance Gem from him. Now go east to reach Tel Mithryn. 15) Make sure to speak to Varona Nelas outside before entering the main tower and speaking to Neloth upstairs. He has a few radiant quests that he will give; [AZRA'S STAFFS] (get a staff from a random dungeon), [EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECT] (let him test his spell on you, go for a swim then return to him), [HEART STONES], (get him a heart stone), and [TELVANNI RESEARCH] (kill an ash spawn and get a sample from it). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 37: EXPLORING THE ISLAND OF ASH [WLK37] ======================================================================== 1) When you go back outside, you'll find an ash guardian has been summoned. Talvas asks for help, beginning [FROM THE ASHES]. Destroy it then speak to Talvas for your variable reward. You can now take him as a follower. Before leaving, go into the Tel Mithryn Apothecary and speak to Elynea Mothren to begin [HEALING A HOUSE]. 2) We're now going to head back to Raven Rock for a bit. Speak to Captain Veleth to finish March of the Dead, and can immediately begin the quest [SERVED COLD], as well as give you a miscellaneous quest. Find Adril Arano and speak to him to learn about the assassination plot. Speak to Geldis Sadri, then track down Fethis Alor so you can sell him more pendants, and give Cindiri Arano her folio. You'll also want to give Milore her netch jelly that you've gathered. 3) You can find the Emberbrand Wine in a barrel on the path leading west to the Earth Stone. Report it to Veleth for a reward. Now go into the Ulen Ancestral Tomb and loiter until Tilisu appears. Confront her, then report back to Arano. You'll now have to break into Severin Manor; Mirri and Tilisu are inside and you'll probably have to kill them. Search the place to find the evidence in a safe. Return to Adril Arano. Before leaving town, you should break into the Ienth Farm to steal three taproots if you don't already have them. 4) Head back to Tel Mithryn. Speak to Neloth about his missing steward to begin [RELUCTANT STEWARD]. You can find Varona just north of Revas and Dusty, guarded by three ash spawn. Report her death to Neloth, then head north from Tel Mithryn to find the Sun Stone, and northwest of there, Ashfallow Citadel, where Morag Tong assassins lurk. 5) Head inside and fight through the assassins, dodging traps as you grab an East Empire Pendant from a strongbox and killing Vendil Severin in the final room. Go back outside and north a bit to find a small prospector's camp built into a crevice. Drop in from above to find another East Empire Pendant in the usual strongbox. Finally, loot a small reaver camp west of the citadel to find a third East Empire pendant. 6) Back in Raven Rock, report your success to Councilor Arano and then watch him meet Morvayn to gain ownership of Severin Manor. Sell Fethis your next three pendants, then start asking around about candidates for Neloth's steward. The only viable candidate is Drovas Relvi, at the Retching Netch. Once you've spoken to him, go back to Tel Mithryn. 7) Speak to Neloth to finish Reluctant Steward. You can now embark on two new quests for him, given randomly - [BRIARHEART NECROPSY], which involves returning to Skyrim and getting a Briar Heart from a Forsworn Briarheart, and [WIND AND SAND], which involves fetching him a rare book from a random dungeon. You can also access his staff enchanter now, as well as the next Black Book. 8) Read the Black Book to begin [BLACK BOOK: THE HIDDEN TWILIGHT]. This is a much longer and more complicated area of Apocrypha to explore. Use the gateway books to travel to different areas as you fight lurkers and seekers. Eventually you can pick your power; Mora's Agony, Mora's Grasp, or Mora's Boon. Head back to Solstheim afterward Fast travel back to Raven Rock when done and leave town to the northeast. 9) Just east of Raven Rock is Brodir Grove, where some reavers lurk. Take them out, claim the unique blade Stormfang, then get your next East Empire Company pendant. To the south from here is Highpoint Tower, which we can't actually explore now, and northeast of there is the Ramshackle Trading Post. There is another pendant to grab here, and between midnight and 6:00am, the trader Falas Selvayn appears here. 10) Further north is Kagrumez, the first of the three dwarven ruins on Solstheim. Kill the reavers inside and take two more Kagrumez Resonance Gems from the leader's body. Match the patterns above the left door to open it, and fight the dwarven automatons which emerge, including the new dwarven ballista. You can now go to the northern room to uncover a friendly dwarven spider, who can be your follower. You can match the pattern over the door here and survive another trial to reach the next room, where you can get a dwarven sphere follower. We'll do the fourth trial later, when we have another gem. 11) Back outside, head northwest a bit up a hill into the snowy area to find Frostmoon Crag, where a bunch of werewolves live. Assuming you are as well, their leader, Majni, can sell you a set of magic rings that will increase your werewolf abilities. East of here is the Altar of Thrond, where a bunch of hagravens live. Eliminate them, then loot the place. 12) Northeast of here is the Temple of Miraak, so head up the steps towards it to meet Frea and begin [THE TEMPLE OF MIRAAK]. Head into the temple with her, fighting cultists and draugr as you progress through this long dungeon. Eventually you'll encounter the Gatekeeper, a powerful draugr with a key that unlocks the way forward, as well as a Word Wall teaching the [DRAGON ASPECT: 2/3] Shout. 13) Eventually you'll find a Black Book that takes you to Apocrypha and leads you to a confrontation with Miraak. Listen to him gloat before returning to the Temple. Talk to Frea and begin the quest [THE FATE OF THE SKAAL]. Now you can follow Frea out of the temple and east a bit past the Wind Stone (discover it now to save time), and then to the Skaal Village. 14) After Frea speaks to her father, speak to Storn for your next objective. There are multiple quests in Skaal Village, but for the moment we can't do any. We'll be exploring the western coast of the island now, but first, a letter from Ralis Sedarys should be incoming. Meet him at Kolbjorn Barrow then head inside to encounter draugr. You can find Ahzidal's Boots of Waterwalking inside the second room. 15) Go back to Ralis and pay him to initiate another letter-waiting period. Make a quick stop at Raven Rock, where Mogrul will start the quest [A NEW DEBT]. This simple quest can be resolved by paying Mogrul, Intimidating him and paying half, or just killing him. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 38: SAVING THE SKAAL [WLK38] ======================================================================== 1) Head back to Bloodskal Barrow and go north to find Damphall Mine on the cliff above the shoreline. This is a relatively long reaver den for you to explore, with no unique items or EEC pendants to find. Once one, head north up the hill to find a bunch of barrels and your first encounter with rieklings; creatures you'll be facing a lot on the island's northern half. Make sure to start collecting riekling spears, as you'll need 50 for a later objective. There is also a pendant here. 2) Head east up the mountain then go south past a dwarven tower. If you can climb all the way to the top of the sharp mountain here you'll discover Hvitkald Peak, one of the four hidden mountain peaks on Solstheim, whose map markers don't appear until you discover them. Also near here is the Abandoned Lodge, which we'll explore during a quest later. 3) Now follow the trail north to the right of the tower and search the cliff just northwest of the Altar of Thrond to find a shrine of Zenithar and another East Empire Company pendant. Go northwest from here to find Fahlbtharz, the second of the island's dwarven ruins. Kill the rieklings outside then enter. 4) Inside Fahlbtharz has some rieklings and lots of dwarven automatons, as well as large room full of spinning gears you'll revisit several times as you lower bridges with levers to make your way through. You'll also need to smack the occasional resonator to open new paths. To solve the puzzle in the Fahlbtharz Boilery, hit the far left resonator, then the second from the left, and finally the second from the right. 5) Eventually you'll reach the Fahlbtharz Grand Hall, where some dwarven ballista and oil spiders wait. Kill the two centurions to get their dynamo cores and insert them on the platform above to open the final door. In there is the unique Visage of Mzund and the next Kagrumez Resonance Gem; we'll go back there later. Exit to the surface nearby. 6) Head northwest from where you emerge all the way back down to the coast to find the Water Stone. Go north from there a bit, sticking to the upper cliffs, to find Broken Tusk Mine, where rieklings lurk. Grab the East Empire pendant from the exterior before entering and working your way through the rieklings within this tiny dungeon. 7) West of here at the water's edge is Bristleback Cave, another riekling hideout. Go inside and work your way through, fighting rieklings and bristlebacks. There is a strongbox with an East Empire pendant here, as well. Once you're done exploring here, go north until you find Northshore Landing on Solstheim's northwestern corner. Kill the mudcrabs then grab another pendant from the shack. 8) On an island to the north you can find horkers and stalhrim to mine. Go east along the ice cliffs and along the island's northern coast until you discover Glacial Cave. Outside is another East Empire Company pendant. Inside this cave are rieklings, and Karstaag's Skull, an important item we'll be using later. 9) Make your way east until you can get back up the southern cliffs and go southwest to Saering's Watch, where a rare serpentine dragon and some draugr roam. Note that Miraak may appear to steal your dragon souls until the Dragonborn questline is completed, so you might not always get one. Anyway, learn the [BEND WILL: 1/3] Shout from the top of the ruins, then see if you can make your way up to the mountain peak behind the watch to discover Frykte Peak. It may be easier to climb using a horse (hint - summon Arvak). 10) East of Saering's Watch is Benkongerike. This long cave is filled with rieklings, and in the Benkongerike Great Hall is an East Empire pendant and a puzzle - match the pillars to the order Hawk, Whale, Whale, Snake before puzzling the lever. Beyond you can learn the [CYCLONE: 1/3] Shout. In the next room is another Black Book, beginning the quest [BLACK BOOK: UNTOLD LEGENDS]. 11) Head through a relatively simple area of Apocrypha until you reach a large cage with scryes around it that needs to be activated in order. Use the one to the west, then the one inside the western room, then the one in the eastern room, before using the one in the center. Keep going till you find the Black Book and can get the Black Market, Secret Servant, or Bardic Knowledge abilities. 12) Leave Benkongerike and head southeast to the Headwaters of Harstrad, a spriggan cave hidden under a waterfall. In here you can also soak the taproots for Elynea. Now head back east to the Wind Stone and use the Bend Will Shout on it, killing the lurker that shows up. Try to keep the villagers alive. Before heading back to the Skaal Village, head north to Haknir's Shoal, a small pirate camp. 13) Kill them, then check the captain for a treasure map, beginning [DEATHBRAND]. Open the chest for the Deathbrand Helm, and check the strongbox for another pendant. Now swim north to find a small riekling-infested island. This island has another pendant on it, and if you swim out the northeast you'll find another, larger, island, with some spriggans, giant nirnroot, and another pendant in a boat. 14) Swim south back to the mainland to discover Frossel, a circular riekling nest where you can find another pendant. Loot it, then head southeast out to an island east of the Skaal Village, where you'll discover Gyldenhul Barrow - which we'll explore later - and Horker Island, where there are multiple hostile horkers lead by Lord Tusk, the unique mace Horksbane, and another EEC pendant by the boat underwater. 15) Now return to the Skaal Village. Talk to Storn to begin the next two main quests, [CLEANSING THE STONES] and [THE PATH OF KNOWLEDGE]. Now that you have saved the Skaal, multiple quest options are available for you. Fanari Strong-Voice asks you to kill a bandit leader, Edla asks you to speak to her son (find Nikulas and persuade him then return to her for a reward), and Wulf Wild-Blood will begin the quest [FILIAL BONDS]. Finding Wulf's brother is random, but when you do, you'll have to kill him and take the letter from his corpse. You can also Persuade Frea to join you as a companion. Now we're going to revisit previous locations to finish up some quests. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 39: QUESTING ON SOLSTHEIM [WLK39] ======================================================================== 1) First head back to Kagrumez and input the four resonance gems to match the design above the third door. Fight off a third wave of robotic foes, then enter the final room to get the Dwarven Black Bow of Fate. Next up, go to the Sun Stone north of Tel Mithryn and cleanse it with the Bend Will Shout, killing the lurker that emerges. 2) If you've been diligent doing side quests for Neloth, ash spawn should be attacking Tel Mithryn when you arrive. Speak to Neloth about it to begin [OLD FRIENDS]. Also ask him about the Black Books to send him off to Nchardak, and hand in your taproots to Elynea Mothren before planting them upstairs and returning to complete her quest. She may now give you a miscellaneous quest, which involves finding her a random rare ingredient. 3) Using Neloth's ring, track down the glowing sarcophagus in the graveyard just to the east. Open the sarcophagus to find a heart stone - we'll complete the rest of this quest later. Before leaving the area, check just east of Tel Mithryn to find the Deathbrand Boots in a locked chest at the bottom of a hill, guarded by three ash spawn. 4) Now head back to Raven Rock and hand your latest glut of East Empire Company pendants over to Fethis. Cleanse the nearby Earth Stone in the same manner as all the others, killing the requisite lurker. Northwest of the Earth Stone you can find the Deathbrand Armor in a chest guarded by two reavers. 5) Next up is the Water Stone to the north. Cleanse it, then head north to find the Deathbrand Gauntlets and a key to Gyldenhul Barrow in a chest by the shore, guarded by mudcrabs. Now head back to the Skaal Village. Fanari and Deor will be talking; speak to Deor afterward to begin [A NEW SOURCE OF STALHRIM]. Morwen will also ask you to take a necklace to Falkreath. Gasp - DLC linking to the main game? If only New Vegas did that... 6) Now head back to Gyldenhul Barrow to finish the Deathbrand quest. Go inside and loot the place after hacking through some stalhrim. Deeper inside you'll face Haknir Death-Brand and his ghostly crew after taking the sword Bloodscythe. When Haknir finally falls, take the second sword Soulrender from his remains. 7) Head south down the coast from the Skaal Village until you find Bujold's Retreat. Don't speak to Bujold yet; speak to Elmus instead for his task. Now head west up the hall to the Thirsk Mead Hall. A riekling will bring you inside and the chief will begin [THE CHIEF OF THIRSK HALL]. We can do this quest, but it conflicts with one we want to do soon, so we'll leave it. Grab a bottle of Ashfire Mead before leaving. 8) Further west is the final All-Maker Stone, the Beast Stone. Cleanse it to complete Cleansing the Stones. You can now visit each of the stones and pick a mutually-exclusive power from them, that can be changed at any time. Now head southeast until the landscape gets foresty again. Look around here until you find a small abandoned camp with another EEC pendant in its strongbox. 9) Head back to Bujold's Retreat and give Elmus his mead. Speak to Bujold to begin [RETAKING THIRSK], then lead the Nords up to Thirsk Mead Hall and massacre the rieklings there. Once they're all dead, speak to Bujold again. Tell her to go on ahead to the barrow. 10) Head south of Benkongerike to find the Snowclad Ruins, where some werebears live. Search the place then go to Hrothmund's Barrow just to the west. Speak to Bujold outside then enter with her and make your way to the back. After speaking to Hrothmund, either side with Bujold or refuse and kill her. Outside, go southwest a bit up onto the hill to find another pendant in a strongbox. 11) Up the hill to the south is Moesring Pass, where some more rieklings live. Wipe them out then grab the final East Empire Company pendant (FINALLY!), before checking out the interior of the Strange Vessel for more loot. Just to the south is Mount Moesring, another difficult-to-ascend hidden mountain location. 12) Now head northwest to find White Ridge Barrow, inside which are various magic spiders and enthralled bandits, as well as a few draugr. Eventually, in White Ridge Sanctum, you'll fight Merilar Rendas and can make your own usable spiders via a machine in an eastern chamber. 13) Head deeper into the barrow to encounter Dukaan (take his mask), the [CYCLONE: 2/3] Shout, and another Black Book. Read it to go to Apocrypha and begin [BLACK BOOK: THE SALLOW REGENT]. In this area of the realm, use the lanterns to get across the darkness, as it saps your health when you are in it. Eventually you'll reach the book and can choose between the passive effects of Seeker of Might, Seeker of Sorcery or Seeker of Shadows. Return to Tamriel then leave the barrow. 14) Just to the north of White Ridge Barrow is the final of the four special mountains, Mortrag Peak, so climb up and discover it. Further north is Castle Karstaag, but we'll leave that location for now. Head back to the Thirsk Mead Hall and speak to Halbarn, Hilund and Elmus, all of whom have misc. objectives for you. You should be able to give Hilund her spears straight away, but the other things might necessitate a trip back to Skyrim. 15) At Raven Rock, sell your final pendants to Fethis (unfortunately his quest won't disappear from your journal), and find the miner Bralsa Drel, speaking to her for a new misc. objective. Simply go to Geldis Sadri in the Retching Netch and Persuade, Bribe, or Intimidate him before returning to her for a reward. 16) You should also get another letter from Ralis Sedarys soon. Go back to Kolbjorn Barrow and speak to him, then reenter. More draugr await inside, and the bodies of two miners you need to inspect. Pull some chains to open the way forward to four levers; pull the second from the top to open the way forward. Kill all the draugr and claim Ahzidal's Ring of Necromancy from a hidden room accessed by a lever. 17) Speak to Ralis and pay him 3000 gold. Guess what - more waiting around until even more draugr attack and murder even more of the miners! Yay! Anyway, head back to the Skyrim mainland for ingredient gathering. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 40: FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE [WLK40] ======================================================================== 1) The best place to mine ebony ore in Skyrim is in Gloombound Mine in Narzulbur. Finally, a use for all those pointless strongholds! Use your mined ore to smelt fifteen ingots, then grab some juniper berries, which can most easily be found in the Reach. Once you have fifteen ebony ingots, ten pieces of stalhrim, and some juniper berries, stop by Falkreath to give Bera's necklace to Runil, then head back to Solstheim and hand the stuff over to Halbarn and Elmus for some gold. 2) Time to do the A New Source of Stalhrim quest. Go to the Abandoned Lodge and fight the Thalmor outside, grab the key from one of them, then enter and find Baldor in the basement. Speak to him then go to Northshore Landing to confront Ancarion. You can kill him or Persuade or Intimidate him, or agree to trade stalhrim weapons and armor to him. 3) Once you have the map, meet Baldor at the Skaal Village to complete his quest. You can also hand in miscellaneous quests to Morwen and Fanari (if you've killed the bandit leader), and inform Wulf about his brother's fate for skill boosts to your combat skills. Tharstan can now begin the quest [LOST LEGACY]. 4) Now that you're rescued Baldor, you can go to the Stalhrim Source location northwest of White Ridge Barrow, where a lot of stalhrim can be mined, useful for making weapons and armor to use or sell to Ancarion. Now head to Vahlok's Tomb south of Thirsk and enter. Go with Tharstan into the main chamber and then put a draugr body on the grate and pull the lever to open the ways forward. 5) You must now go through both the southern and northern doors and follow tunnels full of draugr, with a puzzle at the end. For the southern wing's puzzle, hit the gems on the outer ring with the same weapon type shown on the respective inner pillar. For the north puzzle, just step on each pressure plate once only. Past each puzzle you'll learn a Shout - [BATTLE FURY: 1/3] and [BATTLE FURY: 2/3], and can get half of the amethyst dragon claw from the boss dragon. 6) Use both halves of the claw to open the way forward in the main room. Throughout the rest of the dungeon you'll need to get across blue glowing paths that slowly dissipate, forcing you to move quickly. Tharstan will give you clues to open the puzzle door - put the hawk on the outer ring, the wolf on the middle ring, and the dragon on the inner ring. 7) In the final room, you'll fight the dragon priest Vahlok the Jailor, and can learn the [BATTLE FURY: 3/3] Shout. Disappointingly, he doesn't have a mask. Speak to Tharstan for some gold and to finish the quest. We're now heading to Nchardak to continue the Dragonborn main quest. Head east from the tomb to get there, fighting the reavers before going inside with Neloth after he opens the door. 8) You'll have to explore the rest of the ruin to switch on the steam supply, starting with the Nchardak Workshop, accessed via the Great Chamber. Use the dwemer cubes found within. You'll need to mess with the water level to get them all. Go back to the Great Chamber and drain it, then explore the Nchardak Aqueduct to the north. More water-level puzzles await here, and there is also a cube to get. Once you have all five cubes, use them in the Great Chamber to switch on the boilers. 9) Back in the Reading Room, take the Black Book after activating the mechanism, beginning [THE GARDENER OF MEN]. You'll be taken to everyone's favorite eldritch realm, so, as usual, head across bridges and pools of goo, fighting seekers and lurkers. When you reach the Black Book, Hermaeus Mora will come and speak to you, teaching you the [BEND WILL: 2/3] Shout, before you pick between the Dragonborn Force, Dragonborn Flame, or Dragonborn Frost passive Shout-related abilities. 10) Back on Solstheim, you'll encounter the dragon Krosulah as you leave Nchardak. You should have a third letter coming for you from Ralis soon. As always, speak to him then head into Kolbjorn Barrow to wipe out the resident draugr. In the tight tunnels with pull chains, you can find Ahzidal's Gauntlets of Wielding inside a room accessed by pulling the chains in a correct order. You can also get Ahzidal's Ring of Arcana by activating all the pressure plates in one room within a short amount of time. Speak to Ralis once all draugr are dead and pay him as always. Don't worry, we only have to come back to this damn barrow once more. 11) Time for the Old Friends quest. Speak to Neloth at Tel Mithryn about the heart stone, then head to Highpoint Tower to the northwest. Inside you'll encounter spiders and ash spawn, and can free a prisoner named Niyya. Eventually you'll encounter Ildari and fight her. After felling her, rip out her heart and claim her unique Telvanni Robes. 12) Head back to Neloth at Tel Mithryn for promotion to membership into House Telvanni. Great. We can still keep doing radiant side quests for Neloth, but for now we're going to explore the last location on Solstheim. Just northwest of Frykte Peak is the entrance to the Castle Karstaag Caverns. In this snowy area are rieklings, as well as the body of Esmond Tyne with Glover's bonemold formula on him. 13) Eventually you'll exit to the Castle Karstaag Ruins, where more rieklings await. Take them out then prepare, because when you insert Karstaag's skull onto his throne, the ghost of Karstaag will appear to do battle. Karstaag is the game's second-strongest opponent, and can summon ice wraiths to aid him. He is very durable and dangerous, but you should be able to defeat him. Slaying Karstaag gets you the ability to summon him to aid you - but only three times in total. 14) Make a quick stop by Raven Rock to give Glover Mallory his formula. Use the key he gives you to enter his basement, where you can find some items, including an informative note and the unique Blackguard armor set. If you speak to Sapphire at the Thieves' Guild in Riften, you'll get a gem if you show her the letter. Now head back to the Skaal Village. 15) Speak to Storn, give him the Black Book then watch him read it and get tentacled. You will then learn the [BEND WILL: 3/3] Shout, which allows you to tame dragons and ride them in a limited manner. The quest [AT THE SUMMIT OF APOCRYPHA] now begins. With the Bend Will Shout unlocked, you can read the Black Book Waking Dreams to enter the final battle against Miraak in Apocrypha. But first, let's wait around for Ralis' final letter. Head over to Kolbjorn Barrow when you have it. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 41: THE FINAL BATTLE [WLK41] ======================================================================== 1) Read the final volume of Ralis' journal then enter the barrow one last time. It is fully excavated now, and in the first big room you can learn the [CYCLONE: 3/3] Shout. Fight draugr as you go deeper into the barrow, and in a room with two draugr on thrones and a very simple puzzle you can get Ahzidal's Armor of Retribution by pulling the chains to reveal the necessary glyph icons. In the crypt beyond, make more pillars show the snake to open the way to find Ahzidal's Helm of Vision. 2) In the final room you'll face Ahzidal the dragon priest. Defeat him and claim his mask, then speak to Ralis. You can either kill him or spare him, which allows you to recruit him as a follower when you meet him again later at Raven Rock and get his unique pickaxe Hoarfrost, which you can also take from his body. Before leaving, head even deeper to find the final Black Book. 3) Read it to begin [BLACK BOOK: FILAMENT AND FILIGREE]. This area of Apocrypha is very short and contains some enemies and health-sapping darkness. The Black Book gives you a choice between Secret of Strength, Secret of Arcana, or Secret of Protection. Now head back to Solstheim and then, when you're ready to begin the final battle against Miraak, read the Black Book Waking Dreams. 4) You'll be transported to a region of Apocrypha that is much longer and more complex than any before, with much more platforming and fighting. The first puzzle involves collecting various morbidly-named tomes and then placing them on their respective pedestals in a later upper level of the main shaft. Then use the central book to travel further on. 5) In the next area are some seekers and a Word Wall teaching you the [DRAGON ASPECT: 3/3] Shout. The dragon Sahrotaar now arrives; tame him with Bend Will and then mount him so he can take you to the final confrontation with Miraak. On the way you'll encounter some enemies you can command him to attack. Eventually you'll reach Miraak's tower. 6) After speaking to Miraak, the final battle will begin. Miraak uses a wide variety of attacks, spells, and Shouts, and can absorb the souls of his dragon allies to restore his health. Use all of your skills you've picked up while playing this monstrously-long game to best him. When Miraak is finally defeated, Mora will show him the price of treachery. The main Dragonborn questline is now completed. 7) Listen to Hermaeus Mora waffle a bit, then make sure to search Miraak's body for his badass-looking mask, his sword, staff, and robe set. You also get a bunch of free dragon souls! Whee! You can spend a dragon soul on the Black Book here to respec your perks, at a cost of one dragon soul per skill tree. You can read Waking Dreams to return here and do it again whenever you want. 8) You have now finished the Dragonborn questline, and, by extension, Skyrim. There is one more challenge awaiting you, but you must be level 80 first (I wasn't, but players who spend a lot of time grinding and leveling up may be). You will be approached in the streets of any city in Skyrim, beginning the quest [THE EBONY WARRIOR]. 9) Head to the Last Vigil, located in the cliffs north of Riften. Here you should challenge the Ebony Warrior and engage him in battle. He is the strongest opponent in the game, wielding unmatched strength and durability, as well as dragon Shouts. Killing him doesn't get you any special items or gear, but it does complete the quest. Try summoning Karstaag for an extra edge. 10) And that's pretty much it. You can continue exploring Skyrim, revisiting dungeons and completing radiant quests, but in terms of unique quests and things to do, we are done. It's been a long road, but I hope you enjoyed following this guide. ======================================================================== VERSION HISTORY/SPECIAL THANKS/CONTACT ME [VSC1] ======================================================================== V0.1: First uploaded to GameFAQs on 03/25/15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thanks to Haeravon for giving me some formatting advice and generally inspiring me to write this guide - his walkthroughs on GameFAQs.com are some of the best I've read Thanks to the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (www.uesp.net) for providing a lot of info for this guide and being a great authority on the Elder Scrolls series ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you wish to contact me regarding this guide, send me an email at [email protected]. Make sure to add "RE: Skyrim Guide" in the subject line so I'll definitely notice it. If you spot a typo or false piece of information, or I've missed something like a quest, unique item, location or miscellaneous objective, be sure to let me know so I can put it in if I deem it necessary. ======================================================================== Copyright 2015 Dominic Webb This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. ========================================================================