This is part of my playthrough of the Dragonborn DLC for Skyrim. You can find my playthrough of the Dawnguard DLC, and earlier bits of this adventure on the Ongoing Series page.

Ralis had sent word that his excavation team had found an old Barrow, but something had awakened the Dragur inside, and his men had been killed. He asked that I help him get the site cleared out, and I was just getting to enter when we left off last time. Of course, I was not a couple of steps inside before I was attacked by said Dragur, and I managed to clear them out quickly and easily. The miners strewn about were not so fortunate.

Ralis had also mentioned that it seemed they had come to a dead end, but as you can see in the picture above, there is clearly a doorway at the back of the room. I just needed to figure out how to get it open. There were no obvious pull-chains or switches, but the skull upon the altar seemed to be sitting on something peculiar.

Removing it did the trick, though the next room was very much blocked in. I returned to Ralis and informed him of the situation.

Of course, this meant that Ralis needed to rally more workers, and this time he’d need more money to convince them since the last folks didn’t come out of the deal alive. 2,000 gold later, we were back in business. I left Ralis behind, setting off to pick up on the main story mission, and he said that he would send word when they had made more progress. I have a feeling I’m going to get the short end of the stick in this deal. Anyway, I headed off to Saering’s Watch where I was to learn a new word of power that would allow me to cleanse the different stones on the island. This was supposed to help me in my task of defeating Miraak or something to that effect. On my way to the fort, I was accosted by a Dragon, which I had no trouble dispatching. However, when it came time to absorb the Dragon’s soul like I had done so many times in the past, a translucent Miraak appeared, and absorbed the soul himself. He thanked me and then disappeared. Bastard!

Afterwards, I fought through the fort and claimed my word of power. Then I was tasked by the Skaal Shaman with cleansing all of the various stones on the island, which I did rather quickly.

He then sent me in search of Neloth, who was the Dunmer who came to talk with me at the first stone near Raven’s Rock, way back when I first arrived on Solstheim. Turns out he’s a pretty powerful wizard, and he has taken up residence in the giant mushroom to the East.

Neloth told me that if I was to gain the same knowledge that Miraak has, I would need to find the other black books, which are like the ones I had already found and used to traverse other dimensions in earlier episodes. He knew that one was nearby in an old Dwemer (Dwarves, who are now extinct) fortress, but he hadn’t been able to access it. Turns out it is right inside the entrance, but inside of a machine which requires steam power to open.

We had quite a bit to do inside, gathering cubes that powered various machines and pumps to regulate water levels and open doors. The occasional Dwemer machine would attack us as well, so there were a lot of comings and goings. In the end, we were successful in releasing the black book.

 

Of course this meant that I would have to read the black book, and gain access to Hermaeus Mora’s dimension once more. This time though I had to traverse several “chapters,” which equated to using each book I came across as a portal until I finally reached the end of this labyrinth, and faced Mora himself.

I told Mora that I wanted to stop Miraak and learn the same secrets he had. I was told that I would have to trade him knowledge for knowledge, and he asked that I bring the black book to the Skaal Shaman, whom had the knowledge he sought.  I agreed to this. I also got another special power from the book in this picture:

Upon exiting the Dwemer building, we were attacked by another Dragon. This one was named, though not really any more difficult than others. Once again, a ghostly Miraak appeared to steal the soul from me.

After that fight, I returned to the Skaal village. I told the Shaman of Mora’s request, and though Frea protested heavily, the Shaman knew he must do it. He said that in his teachings he was told that he was to hold onto the Skaal’s knowledge, to keep it safe, but that eventually he would have to give it up, and he knew that now was the time. I gave him the book, and upon reading it, he was instantly attacked by tentacles coming out of the book, while Mora appeared and spoke:

After gaining the knowledge he would seek, Mora granted me the final word of power for Bend Will (the shout I used to cleanse the stones). This was supposed to give me the power to control Dragons and ride them. From here, I am now supposed to go back to Apocrypha and confront Miraak himself. The final challenge awaits!

#skyrim #dragonborn #theelderscrolls