Elder Scrolls
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Elder Scrolls

Dead Men's Respite is an ancient nordic tomb in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It is located southwest of Morthal on the bank of the Hjaal River in Hjaalmarch Hold. The tomb is the final resting place of King Olaf. The initiation quest for the Bards College faction, "Tending the Flames," takes place here. Dead Man's Respite is also a possible location for the Companions radiant quest "Trouble in Skyrim," and Neloth's quest "Azra's Staffs."

Layout

Upon entering the dungeon, there is a Ruby Dragon Claw on the middle table that will unlock the door and release four enemies into the room. It is possible to kill the four draugr in this room while sneaking, before picking up the Claw, while they are asleep. There is an Iron Door on the left of this room with minor loot.

Down the hall, there is a burial chamber and this part of the tomb is a puzzle as there are rotating doorways activated by a pull chain. Activating the pull chain will change the doors, opening some and closing others.

Continuing further in, there is a room with two circular grates in the floor. Two Frostbite Spiders will drop from the ceiling. To the left there is an urn behind a spider's web and an apprentice chest. Open the gate on the far side of the room by activating the chain to the right of the entrance. Behind is a watery passage to a large, two-story room. Walking up the wooden ramp on the right, will lead to a cage-like door which is rigged with an adept-level trap. Activate it in the bottom right corner of the door to avoid the pendulum axes. The trap may be disabled by pulling the chain on the pillar once past it. Up the stairs is an iron door.

Past the iron door is an Arcane Enchanter and a sealed door that is currently inaccessible. To the right of this and down the slope there is a powerful draugr that may use the Disarm shout. There are more rooms with draugr, but only one will be hostile until passing through again on the way back out. They may be killed before they wake on the first walk through. The leveled Draugr Warlord will attack as soon as one enters the room.

The left side of the room he is found in has a floor trap switch, a draugr body, a Grand Soul Gem, a Common Soul Gem, a stamina potion and several Scrolls. Going through the right side will lead to a room with another circular grate in the floor. An expert locked door with a master locked chest behind it can be found on the way.

In the room with the circular grate, cage doors will open and about six Restless Draugr will attack. A trapped chest in one of the back rooms contains some minor loot. Pull the chain to open the grate and proceed down the spiral staircase. At the bottom, pull the handle to open a secret doorway.

Next is a room with Svaknir's ghost, as well as his corpse. The corpse clutches King Olaf's Verse and the Dragonborn must take the book to continue the quest. Behind the sealed door will be a puzzle door and the Dragonborn must arrange the pictures on the door to match the symbols on the dragon claw in order to enter the next room. (Wolf, Eagle, Wolf).

Past the door is King Olaf's burial room with draugrs sitting on thrones around the oval middle. At the end, on the way up the stairs to Olaf's coffin are leveled draugr. At the end of the room is a Word Wall for Whirlwind Sprint. One can either loot the key from Olaf's body when doing the quest or pick a Master level lock to go through a door to a small room with treasure. Using the lever there will unlock the next door back to the first room of the dungeon.

Notable items

Facilities

Quests

Tending the Flames

In order to prove their worth, the Dragonborn must traverse the dungeon and retrieve King Olaf's Verse. After acquiring the book, King Olaf One-Eye himself must be fought and killed before leaving the tomb.

Trouble in Skyrim

The Dragonborn must talk to Farkas to get this quest. This is one of three possible repeatable quests Farkas will offer the Dragonborn after reaching a certain point in the Companions quest line.

Find the Source of Power

After receiving a Letter from a Friend and reading it, the Dragonborn is tasked with finding a Word Wall at a radiant location. This location can be any with a Word Wall contained within it. Traveling to the location and learning the word for the appropriate Dragon Shouts will complete the quest.

Gallery

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to Dead Men's Respite. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:

  1. Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening.
  2. If the bug is still occurring, please post the bug report with the appropriate system template  360  /  XB1  ,  PS3  /  PS4  ,  PC  /  MAC  ,  NX  /  PS5  ,  XS  , depending on which platform(s) the bug has been encountered on.
  3. Be descriptive when listing the bug and fixes, but avoid having conversations in the description and/or using first-person anecdotes: such discussions belong on the appropriate forum board.

Appearances

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