Prophet (Vampire)

For other uses, see The Prophet.

Prophet
Quest Giver	Harkon
Location	Forebears' Holdout
Prerequisite	The Bloodstone Chalice
Next Quest	Seeking Disclosure and Chasing Echoes
Faction	Volkihar Clan
Type	Main Quest
Quest ID	DLC1VQ03Vampire

Background

Upon returning to Castle Volkihar, Harkon informs the Dragonborn of a prophecy hidden in the Elder Scrolls that, if fulfilled, would end the tyranny of the sun over vampires. He then asks the members of the court to gather in the dining hall too as he makes a proclamation to the court. He orders everyone to locate a Moth Priest in order to read the Elder Scroll.

Harkon's speech

"Scions of the night! Hear my words! The prophesied time is at last upon us. Soon we will claim dominion over the sun itself, and forge a new realm of eternal darkness. Now that I have reclaimed one of my Elder Scrolls, we must find a moth priest to read it.

I have spread false rumors about the discovery of an Elder Scroll in Skyrim to lure a Moth Priest here. Now it is time to see if those efforts have borne fruit. Go forth, and search the land for rumors of a Moth Priest within our borders.

Look to the cities. Speak to innkeepers, carriage drivers, anyone who would meet a traveler. Go now, and carry out this task. This is my command!"

Walkthrough

Investigation

Ask a Carriage Driver

Ask any carriage driver outside a city if he has seen a Moth Priest. He will mention that he is unsure, but can be persuaded or bribed for answers. The driver will reveal that the Moth Priest asked him to take him to Dragon Bridge.

Ask an Innkeeper

Ask any innkeeper in any city if they have seen a Moth Priest. They will reveal that the Moth Priest had recently stayed in the inn, on his way to the Dragon Bridge.

Visit the College of Winterhold

Head to the College of Winterhold, and speak to Urag gro-Shub in the The Arcanaeum. He will reveal that a Moth Priest came by to study in the library, but left for Dragon Bridge.

Dragon Bridge

Upon reaching Dragon Bridge, ask the guards or Clinton Lylvieve about the Moth Priest's whereabouts. They will mention that he left south across the bridge a short while ago.

Travel south across the bridge and eventually an ambushed carriage can be found. Search the vampire corpse for a Vampire's Note indicating that the Moth Priest was kidnapped by a rival vampire faction and taken to Forebears' Holdout.

Forebears' Holdout

Forebear's Holdout

Upon entering the cave it seems as though the Dawnguard arrived first and killed the rival vampire faction in order to secure the Moth Priest. Head left and kill the huskies, Armored Troll, and Dawnguard patrolmen before crossing over to the main building and up the stairs to the upper platform. The Moth Priest, Dexion Evicus, is being held here within a magical barrier.

Guarding the barrier will be Vanik, leader of the search party. Once all the Dawnguard are dead, search the corpse of the Orc vampire Malkus to find a Weystone Focus. Place the Weystone on the altar above the barrier to deactivate it. Dexion Evicus will awaken, but will become hostile as he is still under the spell of Malkus. After beating him into submission, use the Vampire's Seduction power to calm him, then bite him to turn him into an obedient thrall. Once Dexion has been enthralled, command him to go to Castle Volkihar.

Travel back to Castle Volkihar and report to Harkon. Next order Dexion to read the Elder Scroll. He first sees a vision of Auriel's Bow, then a voice whispers to him about a dread lord of the night who will rise up in a time when dragons return. He then reveals that two other scrolls are needed to learn the secret of the bow's power and complete the prophecy. One scroll contains the ancient secrets of the dragons, the other speaks of the potency of the ancient blood. Once the reading is complete, the quest ends and the quest "Chasing Echoes" and "Seeking Disclosure" begin.

Elder Scroll reading

Dexion: "I see a vision before me, an image of a great bow. I know this weapon! It is Auriel's Bow! Now a voice whispers, saying "Among the night's children, a dread lord will rise". In an age of strife, when dragons return to the realm of men, darkness will mingle with light and the night and day will be as one.

The voice fades and the words begin to shimmer and distort. But wait, there is more here. The secret of the bow's power is written elsewhere. I think there is more to the prophecy, recorded in other scrolls. Yes, I see them now... One contains the ancient secrets of the dragons, and the other speaks of the potency of ancient blood.

My vision darkens, and I see no more. To know the complete prophecy, we must have the other two scrolls."

Journal

Journal Entry
When I returned to Castle Volkihar, I was informed that Lord Harkon was waiting to speak to me. Objective: Speak to Harkon
When I returned to Castle Volkihar, Lord Harkon told me of a prophecy hidden in the Elder Scrolls that, if fulfilled, would end the tyranny of the sun over vampires. Now he has asked me to join him as he makes a proclamation to the court. Objective: Listen to Harkon's speech
Eager to unlock the secrets of an ancient prophecy thought to be hidden within Serana's Elder Scroll, Harkon has ordered his court to find a Moth Priest. Objective: Locate a Moth Priest Objective: (Optional) Ask carriage drivers about the Moth Priest Objective: (Optional) Visit the College of Winterhold to ask about the Moth Priest Objective: (Optional) Ask innkeepers in cities about the Moth Priest
Harkon has ordered his court to find a Moth Priest who can read Serana's Elder Scroll. I now have reason to believe that a Moth Priest has recently visited Dragon Bridge. Objective: Ask people in Dragon Bridge if they saw the Moth Priest
Harkon has ordered his court to find a Moth Priest who can read Serana's Elder Scroll. I followed the trail to Dragon Bridge and learned that a Moth Priest had just passed through town. He was last seen heading south along the road. Objective: Search along the road south of Dragon Bridge
I'm one step behind the Moth Priest. After leaving Dragon Bridge, I searched along the road for any sign of his passing. I found an overturned wagon and some dead vampires and Imperial guards. Was this the Moth Priest's wagon? Objective: Investigate the scene of the attack
Objective: Read the Vampire's Note
Following Harkon's command to locate a Moth Priest, I followed the trail to Dragon Bridge. There, I learned that a rival band of vampires abducted the Moth Priest I've been tracking and took him to a place called Forebears' Holdout. Objective: Capture the Moth Priest
Objective: Deactivate the magic barrier
After a rival vampire faction captured the Moth Priest, I tracked them to Forebears' Holdout. Their leader has enthralled the priest and I will have to confront him in order to assert my own hold over him. Objective: Defeat the enthralled Moth Priest
After a rival vampire faction captured and enthralled the Moth Priest, I fought him and forced him to submit. Now it is my turn to enthrall the Moth Priest by using my newfound powers. Objective: Use your Vampire's Seduction power on the Moth Priest
Objective: Command the Moth Priest to go to Volkihar Castle
Eager to hear the contents of Serana's Elder Scroll, Harkon commanded the court to find a Moth Priest. I have now captured one and made him my thrall, commanding him to return to Castle Volkihar. I must report this success to Harkon. Objective: Speak to Harkon
With the Moth Priest safely back at Castle Volkihar, the time has come to hear the prophecies contained within the Elder Scroll. Objective: Command the Moth Priest to read the Elder Scroll
After the Moth Priest's reading, we have more questions than answers. The old priest saw a vision of a weapon called Auriel's Bow, but we need to find two more Elder Scrolls in order to unravel the rest of the prophecy. Quest complete

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to Prophet (Vampire). Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following: Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening. 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. 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.

Click to see the list of bugs encountered

The Weystone Focus might not be found on Malkus's corpse, or the bodies of any other NPCs. There is currently no solution besides the use of console commands. When you go to save the Moth Priest, he may be outside of the magic barrier. If he is, then do not deactivate the magic barrier. If you do, he will stay down after being defeated. Every time you enter Fort Dawnguard or Castle Volkihar, he will attack everyone. The only workaround at this time is loading a previous save. It is possible that Malkar can be in the forcefield, making it impossible to open without reloading. Upon releasing the Moth Priest, he will be hostile. After he has been defeated, if he does not stand up and remains downed on his knees, then he will attack the other NPCs at Fort Dawnguard or Castle Volkihar when you travel there. The only current way to remedy this is to load a previous save. To avoid this bug, don't move after opening the barrier until you get a quest update saying to defeat the Moth Priest.  360   Guards do not run through quest script and cannot be interacted with beyond their usual script.  360 (Fix)   Bypass the need for speaking to the guards by going south out of Dragon Bridge to find the ambushed caravan. Also, talking to Clinton Lylvieve will advance the quest and mark the ambushed caravan on the map.  360   Isran's and Serana's script do not activate after following Isran. The only known solution, at this time, is to reload a previous save. After Harkon tells you to have the Moth Priest read the Elder Scroll use Vampire's Seduction on the moth priest, feed, and then talk to him. He should read the Elder Scroll and although he will become hostile again afterwards you may continue on with the quest.  PC   The Moth Priest may not respond after feeding on him and will only say his generic dialog thus not allowing advancement of the quest.  PC (Fix)   Use the console command: setstage DLC1VQ03Vampire 70 to skip the "feed on the thrall part" after defeating him. The quest may glitch when Dexion is to be thralled, as feeding will be impossible.  PC (Fix)   Use the command setstage DLC1VQ03Vampire 70, which allows for skipping the part where the prophet is thralled after defeating him. Upon returning to Castle Volkihar, the NPCs become hostile.