- Quest 6a1 - Searching for trails in Castle Volkihar
Prerequisites: Completion of the quest "Prophet" (Dawnguard or Vampire Side) Quest Giver: Serana Region:Castle Volkihar Reward: (Random loot, items)
Summary: Serana knows that her mother was in possession of the sought-after Elder Scroll. Therefore, you embark together on a search for her or clues to her whereabouts and explore Castle Volkihar.
Quest Description
Speak with Serana
After the Moth Priest deciphered that two further Elder Scrolls are missing to uncover the secret of the Tyranny of the Sun and the power of Auriel's Bow, Serana approaches the player. To obtain the Elder Scroll, her mother, Valerica, must be found. With some luck, she might even have it with her. To find Valerica, the words she last spoke to Serana must first be interpreted. She said she would go to a safe place where father would never look for her. Lord Harkon truly has had enough time for the search; it is difficult to imagine a place where he might not have looked. However, the suggestion of Castle Volkihar itself seems plausible to Serana, as her mother always spent a lot of time in the courtyard and her father disliked the place. Perhaps a clue to her whereabouts could be found there. Serana knows the castle well and knows that the courtyard can be reached undetected via an old escape tunnel at a deserted jetty on the north side.
Speaking to Isran about the priest's interpretation, he reveals that he has heard of Auriel's powerful weapon several times. It must not fall into the hands of the vampires.
In the past, supplies were brought into the castle via the jetty.
Explore the courtyard of Castle Volkihar
The deserted jetty in the abandoned bay is guarded by relatively strong skeletons. After defeating them, the Volkihar Undercroft can be entered. There, one initially ends up in the old water cistern, where a banished feral vampire and death hounds live. A lever must be used to lower the first of two wooden bridges to proceed. Then, a room filled with countless bones is traversed, with food scraps falling down from above. Chains on blood-stained walls and skeleton parts are passed until the passageway is blocked by cobwebs. The smacking noises come from a giant frostbite spider, behind which the lever for the second wooden bridges is located. A few moldy corridors further on is the door to the courtyard.
The neglected Volkihar courtyard with the moon phase dial in the center.
Serana is astonished that everything here is so run-down, with her mother's beautiful garden overgrown and dried out. She explains that the door to the west once led to the great hall and that her father probably had it sealed. Then she notices that some parts of the moondial are missing and suspects that it could be a clue from her mother.
Investigate the moondial
Upon closer inspection, three missing crests are identified, which are not difficult to find. Placing them in the correct spots sets a mechanism in motion that forms a spiral staircase within the dial. Serana is thrilled by her mother's cleverness and suspects that the staircase leads down to the tower ruins.
Explore the tower ruins of Castle Volkihar
Through a moving wall and a blood-stained room, one enters a dark, dilapidated banquet hall where several skeletons sleep while sitting at a table. Approaching closer, the room is illuminated (as in the following passages too) and the dance begins. Via the staircase to the south, a passageway with a gargoyle sentinel is reached. Along the further course, strong skeletons are repeatedly encountered. Some are sleeping, some are on duty. One repeatedly passes shelves, wardrobes, barrels, chests, and storage rooms where valuable or useful items can be found. After several winding corridors and staircases, one ends up in a dining hall that must be traversed. Naturally, this room is also guarded, and the chain to open the exit is located directly behind a gargoyle statue...
Via a half-buried staircase, a barred gate to a hall with a statue of Mara is reached. To avoid being an easy target for the archers guarding the balconies, the barred gate can be left closed, and a short detour through an armory can be taken instead. Via another staircase, an examination room is reached, from which an ascent leads to a room with several gargoyle statues. This might be a guarded living area, as royal vampire clothing and sleeping arrangements are present. The room appears to be a dead end, although the quest marker indicates the objective behind a wall.
Solution
The wall between the two shelves with bottles is movable and is activated by the left candlestick.
Serana is impressed by her mother's cleverness once again, and Valerica's study is entered with amazement.
Valerica's study must contain further clues.
What stands out immediately is the round structure in the center of the room. Although Serana knows that her mother was heavily involved in necromancy, the existence of this laboratory is new to her, and she cannot make sense of the function of the stone circles. She suggests looking around for further clues - especially for notes and journals.
Find Valerica's journal Speak with Serana
The journal is not difficult to find, and Serana reads from it that Valerica must have managed to open a portal to the Soul Cairn. One only needs to replicate the formula with the specified ingredients, and the portal should open (although there is some uncertainty regarding blood as an active ingredient). The three ingredients cannot be missed on the shelves.
Find the Soul Gem Shards Find the Finely Ground Bone Meal Find the Purified Void Salts Place the ingredients in the vessel Speak with Serana
As soon as the portal vessel is filled with the found ingredients, Serana is approached. She somewhat uncertainlybites into her forearm and adds her blood. With a dull sound and blinding light, the portal opens and the round cover stones now form a staircase leading down.
Enter the Soul Cairn Speak with Serana
Going down the stairs, a painful health drain is experienced (unless one is a vampire), forcing a return. Serana apologizes full of concern because she should have foreseen it. The Soul Cairn drains a part of the life essence from the living upon entry. Serana then explains two ways to pass the portal.
Become a vampire or Let Serana cast Soul Trap on you Enter the Soul Cairn
A decision must now be made on how Serana should help:
She turns the player into a vampire, because vampires do not count as living and can pass through without problems. This grants the Vampire Lord abilities.
She traps a part of the player's soul with Soul Trap and presents the soul gem to the Ideal Masters as payment. The permanent effect "Chiseled Soul" affects the player from now on.
Serana asserts her appreciation regardless of the choice. As a precaution, she asks once more if one is sure about the choice. Then she promises to make it as painless as possible and carries out the wish.
As soon as the portal is entered, one finds themselves in the world of the Soul Cairn, and the quest ends. Concurrently, the next one starts as a direct continuation.
Known Bugs
Dead thralls will not enter the courtyard and can thus unintentionally disappear from the game.
Serana takes Valerica's journal and reads from it. It nevertheless remains in the player's inventory. After completing "Beyond Death", it can be dropped.
Tips & Notes
Deep on the seabed in front of the old jetty of Castle Volkihar lies a shipwreck, in which a treasure chest can be found.
The first enemy in the Volkihar Undercroft is a skeever. Serana remarks on this: "It used to be a little... quieter back then. I guess a little vampire girl was enough to scare away the rats." This is a strange statement, as she was never "a little vampire girl". As a little girl, she was not yet a vampire. Only as a young woman did she become one and stopped aging.
It is not possible to dismiss Serana during this and the next quest. She will also not agree to wait anywhere.
In the water cistern, a trap-secured chest is located. Another one stands behind the cobwebs in the undercroft.
From the spider room, an eminence of the previously traversed waste room is reached. On the other side, a skeleton is seen lying next to some valuables, and in the other corner is a large chest. To reach these items, acrobatic (control) skills are required. Alternatively, Whirlwind Sprint can be used, at least WULD NAH - as shown in the video at 5:10.
Before entering the tower ruins beneath the moondial, the North and East Towers can be explored from the courtyard. The East Tower has collapsed and does not lead far, but a few valuable small items can be found. The North Tower is guarded by strong skeletons that wake up when approached. One should also be prepared for a surprise gargoyle attack. As a reward, three treasure chests and valuables wait behind a door.
A chest is located in the anteroom with the Mara statue, behind a folding screen.
A door leads from Valerica's study to a balcony outside. This balcony has its own map marker, enabling fast travel to this location.
During the search for Valerica's journal (and only then), fast travel via the balcony can be used to hire another follower, have them wait, and return to Serana. This creates an additional permanent "follower slot" that can be used from now on (Serana + follower). An additional "dog slot" can also be realized this way (Serana + follower + dog).
Valerica lists the necessary ingredients in her journal, but for safety reasons, without quantities. She emphasizes clearly that the portal will only open if the ingredients are "placed into the portal vessel in the correct proportions". Surprisingly, it works simply by dumping in everything that is found.
In Falkreath lives the war veteran Thadgeir, who recently paid for a cremation for his deceased friend Berit. A small delivery quest can be obtained from Thadgeir to bring Berit's ashes to the priest Runil for a few gold pieces. It appears almost mysterious that Berit's Ashes are found on one of Valerica's shelves.
The part of the player's soul trapped by Serana before entering the portal amounts to 45 Health, Magicka, and Stamina. For the duration of the stay in the Soul Cairn, one is somewhat weakened, while outside one is at full strength. In the next quest, the opportunity will arise to replenish the missing life essence.
Being a Vampire Lord is not required to enter the Soul Cairn; a common vampire suffices. Serana's Soul Trap or vampire bite is only necessary upon the first entry into the Soul Cairn. Afterwards, it is possible to come and go without any loss of life essence (provided it has been replenished in the Cairn) and without vampirism. Valerica explains later that within the Cairn, the body adapts to it and a small part merges with the Soul Cairn. Durnehviir also later confirms this mutual permeation.
on the north side.
in the abandoned bay is guarded
by relatively strong skeletons
. After defeating them, the Volkihar Undercroft can be entered. There, one initially ends up in the old water cistern
, where a banished feral vampire and death hounds live. A lever must be used to lower the first of two wooden bridges to proceed. Then, a room filled with countless bones
is traversed, with food scraps falling down from above. Chains on blood-stained walls and skeleton parts are passed until the passageway is blocked by cobwebs. The smacking noises come from a giant frostbite spider
, behind which the lever for the second wooden bridges is located. A few moldy corridors
further on is the door to the courtyard
.
are missing and suspects that it could be a clue from her mother.
within the dial. Serana is thrilled by her mother's cleverness and suspects that the staircase leads down to the tower ruins.
where several skeletons sleep while sitting at a table. Approaching closer, the room is illuminated (as in the following passages too) and the dance begins. Via the staircase to the south, a passageway with a gargoyle sentinel
is reached. Along the further course, strong skeletons are repeatedly encountered. Some are sleeping
, some are on duty
. One repeatedly passes shelves, wardrobes, barrels, chests, and storage rooms where valuable or useful items can be found. After several winding corridors and staircases, one ends up in a dining hall
that must be traversed. Naturally, this room is also guarded, and the chain
to open the exit is located directly behind a gargoyle statue...
is reached. To avoid being an easy target for the archers
guarding the balconies, the barred gate can be left closed, and a short detour through an armory
can be taken instead. Via another staircase, an examination room is reached, from which an ascent leads to a room with several gargoyle statues. This might be a guarded living area, as royal vampire clothing and sleeping arrangements are present
. The room appears to be a dead end, although the quest marker indicates the objective behind a wall.
in the center of the room. Although Serana knows that her mother was heavily involved in necromancy, the existence of this laboratory is new to her, and she cannot make sense of the function of the stone circles. She suggests looking around for further clues - especially for notes and journals.
is not difficult to find, and Serana reads from it that Valerica must have managed to open a portal to the Soul Cairn. One only needs to replicate the formula with the specified ingredients, and the portal should open (although there is some uncertainty regarding blood as an active ingredient). The three ingredients cannot be missed on the shelves.
bites
into her forearm and adds
her blood. With a dull sound and blinding light, the portal opens
and the round cover stones now form a staircase leading down
.
on the north side.
in the abandoned bay is guarded
by relatively strong skeletons
. After defeating them, the Volkihar Undercroft can be entered. There, one initially ends up in the old water cistern
, where a banished feral vampire and death hounds live. A lever must be used to lower the first of two wooden bridges to proceed. Then, a room filled with countless bones
is traversed, with food scraps falling down from above. Chains on blood-stained walls and skeleton parts are passed until the passageway is blocked by cobwebs. The smacking noises come from a giant frostbite spider
, behind which the lever for the second wooden bridges is located. A few moldy corridors
further on is the door to the courtyard
.
are missing and suspects that it could be a clue from her mother.
within the dial. Serana is thrilled by her mother's cleverness and suspects that the staircase leads down to the tower ruins.
where several skeletons sleep while sitting at a table. Approaching closer, the room is illuminated (as in the following passages too) and the dance begins. Via the staircase to the south, a passageway with a gargoyle sentinel
is reached. Along the further course, strong skeletons are repeatedly encountered. Some are sleeping
, some are on duty
. One repeatedly passes shelves, wardrobes, barrels, chests, and storage rooms where valuable or useful items can be found. After several winding corridors and staircases, one ends up in a dining hall
that must be traversed. Naturally, this room is also guarded, and the chain
to open the exit is located directly behind a gargoyle statue...
is reached. To avoid being an easy target for the archers
guarding the balconies, the barred gate can be left closed, and a short detour through an armory
can be taken instead. Via another staircase, an examination room is reached, from which an ascent leads to a room with several gargoyle statues. This might be a guarded living area, as royal vampire clothing and sleeping arrangements are present
. The room appears to be a dead end, although the quest marker indicates the objective behind a wall.
in the center of the room. Although Serana knows that her mother was heavily involved in necromancy, the existence of this laboratory is new to her, and she cannot make sense of the function of the stone circles. She suggests looking around for further clues - especially for notes and journals.
is not difficult to find, and Serana reads from it that Valerica must have managed to open a portal to the Soul Cairn. One only needs to replicate the formula with the specified ingredients, and the portal should open (although there is some uncertainty regarding blood as an active ingredient). The three ingredients cannot be missed on the shelves.
bites
into her forearm and adds
her blood. With a dull sound and blinding light, the portal opens
and the round cover stones now form a staircase leading down
.
the player into a vampire
, because vampires do not count as living and can pass through without problems. This grants the Vampire Lord abilities.
a part of the player's soul with Soul Trap and presents the soul gem to the Ideal Masters as payment. The permanent effect "Chiseled Soul" affects the player from now on.
is located. Another one stands behind the cobwebs in the undercroft.
is seen lying next to some valuables, and in the other corner is a large chest
. To reach these items, acrobatic (control) skills are required. Alternatively, Whirlwind Sprint can be used, at least WULD NAH - as shown in the video at 5:10.
that wake up when approached. One should also be prepared for a surprise gargoyle attack. As a reward, three treasure chests and valuables wait behind a door.
). An additional "dog slot" can also be realized this way (Serana + follower + dog).
are found on one of Valerica's shelves.
