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Quick WalkthroughEdit
- Sleep for the first time after becoming a vampire.
- Escape the Dream World.
- Prepare yourself to sleep and enter the next nightmare.
- Escape the Dream World again.
- Prepare yourself to sleep and face the final nightmare.
- Escape the Dream World one last time.
- Decide your allegiance between the Cronvangr, Quarra Clan, or neither.
Detailed WalkthroughEdit
Becoming a VampireEdit
Before this quest will start, you must become a vampire - simply being infected with Sanguinare Vampiris is not enough to trigger the quest. You can fight any vampire in any lair or random encounter across Skyrim as you would normally in order to contract the disease, but a new special encounter has been added in the hills just west of Morthal's graveyard. Travel west from Morthal's graveyard toward the road leading to Fort Snowhawk and you will stumble upon a man dressed in the robes of a priest. Upon initiating dialogue, he will begin raving like a madman before screaming that he needs blood, revealing himself to be a vampire in a state of severe malnourishment. He will attack you, and his Vampiric Drain spell is modified to guarantee infection; he also carries a Potion of Cure Disease if you change your mind after killing him and want to be cured.
The First NightmareEdit
Once you are a vampire, the quest will begin the next time you attempt to sleep. Instead of waking up in the morning, you'll find yourself in a small shack which you need to escape. On the nearby table, you'll find a note detailing an ancient vampire's attempts to mimic the Volkihar Clan's ability to phase through ice, alongside a copy of Vampires of Skyrim: The Cronvangr. The note will mention reagents needed to complete the experiment:
- The Cold Soul Gem will be found on the alchemy table in the next room.
- The Chilled Vampire Dust is found in the Ominous Safe on the shelf, and the key will be found hanging from a rope next to the alchemy table.
- The Coldblood Teeth are in the Cold Safe in the bookshelf, and the note on the shelf below will give you the hint leading to the key in the cooking pot.
Once you have opened both safes and acquired the reagents inside, take them to the alchemy table in the next room and you will find the third reagent already on the table. With all three in your possession, activate the Alchemy Table to create the potion described in the first note. When this is done, the shack will have frozen over, and a victim of a failed experiment will be found on the floor in front of the shack's door. Take the Forgotten Key from this body and use it to unlock the shack's door to escape the dream.
When you awaken, you will find yourself outside the Alchemist's Shack in The Rift, having walked all the way there in your sleep, no matter how far away you were when you tried to rest. The bed in the shack is unowned, so there is no one to stop you from trying to rest again and entering the next nightmare.
The Second NightmareEdit
You will find yourself in the same shack as before, but with several alterations. The shelves are lined with baskets and decorations common to Morrowind, the alchemy table in the next room has been tossed aside, and there is a shrine to Molag Bal in the firepit. Just as before, there is a note on the table, this time written from the perspective of a much younger vampire who survived the Red Year and spoke of extreme measures to chase away the cold in Skyrim. There is also a button on the underside of the partially upturned table which will open a secret door in the next room, leading down to a hidden cellar area which was not accessible in the previous nightmare.
Like the previous nightmare, you will need to collect items to help you escape:
- The empty soul gem will be found on the window sill, to your left after reading the note. To fill it, you will need to make an offering at the altar of Molag Bal. Use the button under the table to open a cellar and head downstairs, where you'll find a dead spider and its desiccated victim in the corner next to a fire pit. Take the defiled human heart from the victim and bring it to the altar upstairs to turn the empty soul gem into a burning soul gem.
- The Superheated Fire Salts are on the floor in the corner next to the toppled alchemy table.
- The Filtered Dwarven Oil is hidden in a basket on the top shelf of the bookcase (not on top of the bookcase itself, the top shelf inside it). Pick up the basket or pull it off the shelf to reveal the oil.
Take the burning soul gem, superheated fire salts, and filtered Dwarven oil to the fire pit down in the cellar and use them to light a fire that will melt all the ice in the shack. On your way down, you will have noticed a desk covered in ice with a key sticking out of it; and the ice will have melted when you start the fire, freeing the key. Collect the key and use it to unlock the shack door and escape the nightmare for a second time. This time you will awaken on the bank of the Karth River, very close to the Old Hroldan Inn. If you plan to sleep there to continue the quest, you should know that the pre-scripted event to begin the quest The Ghost of Old Hroldan will prevent the next nightmare from beginning.
The Third NightmareEdit
When you enter the dreamworld, the alchemy/cellar area of the shack will be blocked off by burning debris. The door used to escape the previous dream will be unlocked, and a new hatch in the wall will be locked and require a key. On the table, you will find several Potions of Blood and samples of Human Flesh, along with an enchanted Dwarven sword, all surrounding another note, this time addressed directly to you.
To find the key for the hatch and escape the dream, you'll have to enter the door you previously used to escape, which now leads to a nordic crypt. On the ground straight ahead, you'll find a dead master vampire and several webs you'll have to cut through. Past the first web, you'll find undead and a frostbite spider, a living one unlike the strange statues in the alcoves along the passageway. At the end of the passage is another door, which opens into a Dwarven ruin filled with several Dwarven spiders and at least one Dwarven sphere. Once they are all disabled, you will find the key to open the hatch in the teeth of a skull on the far table, surrounded by flowers.
A Choice To MakeEdit
You will awaken outside Cronvangr Cave in Eastmarch, and you won't be alone this time. Standing before you in the dark night will be three vampires: Vlkoslak, Velfred, and Nahrina Evicus. Vlkoslak will talk to you about how your nightmares have led you to Cronvangr Hall, home of one of the oldest vampire clans in Skyrim, and offer you an invitation to join.
During his speech, Vlkoslak will be interrupted by another vampire dressed in dwarven-armored robes, infuriating Vlkoslak as he recognizes the interloper as Jelkar, the leader of the Quarra Clan. After sparing a moment to insult Vlkoslak and the Cronvangr, Jelkar issues his own invitation to the player to join the Quarra Clan at Pinemoon Cave in Haafingar, before taking his leave. No matter what path the player takes next, Vlkoslak and his elders will not attack the player if they try to leave without even talking to him.
Join the CronvangrEdit
You can speak to Vlkoslak after Jelkar has left for more information about both the Cronvangr and Quarra clans. The Cronvangr clan take pride in their skill as hunters of the night, laying traps like the frostbite spider they use as their insignia. He will express his hatred for the Quarra Clan, describing them as mindless brutes who were driven out of Vvardenfell by their rivals Clan Berne and Clan Aundae.
If you accept Vlkoslak's invitation to join the clan, he will direct you inside Cronvangr Cave, and you will have to fight past several frostbite spiders and stray vampires which serve as unwitting guards. The entrance to Cronvangr Hall is behind the shack inside the hidden vampire's cave, marked by a statue of a frostbite spider on a ledge to the left of the door; if you have Pets of Skyrim installed, it will be right next to Arachnia's cage. Once inside, simply speak to Vlkoslak to end the quest and begin Joining the Cronvangr.
Join the QuarraEdit
If you are more interested in Jelkar's invitation, you'll have to travel all the way to Pinemoon Cave in Haafingar. Jelkar will be outside the cave, willing to answer your questions about his clan and their hatred for the Cronvangr. He and his clan follow the teachings of Volrina Quarra, who only became a vampire to get revenge on Raxle Berne for the death of her brother. Unlike the Cronvangr, the Quarra believe they should not bother pretending to be civil and simply embrace the monstrous strength granted to them by their tainted blood, so they can take whatever they want.
If you accept Jelkar's invitation, he will direct you inside the cave to find the entrance to the Dwemer ruin which has become the Quarra Lair. You will have to fight the stray vampires inhabiting the cave, if you haven't already killed them on a quest for Sybille Stentor. Once you have found the entrance in the main chamber, simply go inside and speak to Jelkar once again to finish the quest and begin Joining the Quarra.
Reject Undeath, Return to MortalityEdit
If you do not want to be involved in either clan and seek a cure, go to Falion and complete Rising At Dawn to cure yourself. After doing so, you will be contacted by a member of the Vigilants of Stendarr named Bazur gro-Shagk, which leads to the quest Staying Vigilant, allowing you to join the Vigilants' crusade to wipe out both clans.
NotesEdit
- This quest is based off of remnants of original content that was cut early in production of Skyrim. There are references to both Jelkar and Vlkoslak, as well as Pinemoon Cave and Cronvangr Hall in the Creation Kit.