It is given to the Dragonborn after they complete the quest The Man Who Cried Wolf.
Opening journal entry
Potema has been summoned from beyond the grave and is gathering power. Styrr has given me the key to Potema's Catacombs. I must enter the catacombs and prevent Potema from fully resurrecting by acquiring her bones.
Quick walkthrough
- After receiving the letter from the courier speak to Falk Firebeard
- Speak to Styrr
- Fight through Potema's Catacombs
- Defeat Potema
- Retrieve Potema's remains from the throne
- Give the remains to Styrr
- Return to Falk Firebeard
Detailed walkthrough
Once a level is gained after completing The Man Who Cried Wolf, a courier will approach with a letter from Falk Firebeard, asking the Dragonborn to return to him. Upon reaching Falk, he will inform the player that Potema Septim (The Wolf Queen) was not destroyed when the ritual was stopped, and still represents a significant danger. He says to talk to Styrr, who is in the Hall of the Dead. Styrr will explain that since the Dragonborn stopped the ritual, he/she has a connection to Potema. The Dragonborn must investigate the catacombs beneath the chapel that lead to her. Styrr requests the remains of Potema so he can bless them.
Styrr
Enter the The Temple of the Divines. The Temple is located on the upper courtyard of Solitude, opposite the entrance to Castle Dour's barracks. Once inside, the quest marker can be misleading, as it sends the player to the wall on the right of the entrance. The entrance to the catacombs is in the basement, so the player needs to go forward almost to the shrines and turn left twice. A path will lead down to a locked gate. With the key obtained previously the player can now open the gate, but the player must remember that anything taken counts as stealing, because they are still in the Temple of the Divines. Once through the locked door, a path to the left leads the player to Potema's Catacombs.
Potema's Catacombs
Wolf statue and blocked door
Head down the first set of stairs. Around the corner there is a statue of a wolf and a blocked door. The doorway has several thick bars blocking it. Potema will speak to the player and then open the gate. In the following room there is a Draugr. Around the corner to the right the Dragonborn will come to a room with a bar and a hallway directly across from it covered in spider webs. Pass through the webs and turn left. Another quick left takes the player to a staircase. The upper pathway is blocked with rubble. The lower path leads down to a small room. There will be two chests and several barrels to loot.
A Vampire Nightstalker ready to attack
Passing through the small room leads to a very large room with a staircase leading down to a lower level. The upper balcony has one Draugr directly to your right when entering the room. The lower level will have several enemies, one of which is a Vampire Nightstalker. Head down the stairs to the lower level. There is a skill book on the table and a path leading downward. The path leads to another doorway. Upon opening it, the player will find themselves in a short hallway leading to a large room with a draugr patrolling it.
A dead draugr in front of a fire trap
Another draugr is hung upon the wall, but it will not attack. The area directly in front of it is part of a fire trap. The draugr will have a weapon and a helm that can be taken. Around the corner there is a switch. The switch opens the gate, leading to a stairway down, but across the way is another dead draugr on the wall. This one will attack when the Dragonborn gets close. Once down the stairs another draugr to the right will eventually rise from his coffin, but can be shot quickly in Sneak mode.
A vampire encountered down the stairs
Dead draugr in cages near a trapped chest
This hallway has an upper and lower level. Besides the draugr in his coffin, another patrols the hallway. Once killed, the player should head up the stairs to the higher level. The doorway leads to an underground cavern with a set of stairs leading down. Down the first hallway is a leveled vampire. Turn left at the end of the hallway and down the corridor the player will find another split level area, with water in the lower area and two draugrs. There's also an urn in the water with a few gold coins in it. The doorway leading out of here is booby-trapped with the typical wall spike trap activated by a foot switch. The next room has more barrels to loot and takes the Dragonborn to a larger open cavern with more water, and two draugrs standing against the right wall. There are several hanging cages, one of which has a dead draugr. There's a grindstone and a booby-trapped chest on the left. Standing to either side of the chest when looted will allow the player to avoid the poison darts that shoot from the walls. Keep going down the path, and it will lead to a switch. This is a preview of some later doorway puzzles. It should be noted that whether it was intentional or not, these revolving type doors generally shut behind you after a period of time, so it would be smart to save at this point and not proceed unless you're ready. In any case, the doorway revolves one way or another depending on the direction of the switch. Once through the doorway, the player will encounter another room full of Potema carvings and an alchemy table. The doorway leads to Potema's Refuge.
Potema's Refuge
Switches to the revolving doors
Soul gem fire trap
The vampire holds the key
Potema's Refuge is a large underground network of caverns like any draugr dungeon. The path leads down to where the Dragonborn will encounter another leveled draugr. The path to the left is a dead end. Taking the path on the right leads to a room with three switches that open the three revolving doors. Before going through the revolving doors, open the gate on the right. Another blooded vampire resides inside. A switch behind the coffin reveals a hidden door. This leads the player down a passageway to a chest with a window to the next room you will be entering. Head back to the room with the three switches. Activating the first lever in line will stop and start the first revolving door, etc. Stop all three doors when the entrance is open to you and head through to the next room. The Dragonborn can see the window here with the chest that they just looted. At the end of the hall are two soul gems on pedestals. They are the source of a fire trap, and the player will be blasted by intermittent bursts of flame which can be stopped by taking the soul gems off the pedestals. The room to the left is an empty chamber leading to a doorway with a staircase. The staircase leads to a throne room where a Vampire Fledgling is accompanied by a Draugr Deathlord. The vampire should have a key to Potema's Sanctum on his body, but there is also a copy of the key on one of the two thrones. The grate in the center of the room shows the player a dead draugr, but there's no way to get to it at the time. Through the double doors with the new key and taking the hallway to another set of doors will lead to Potema's Sanctum.
Potema's Sanctum
Upon first entering there is a short hallway leading to a burial chamber. Several burial urns can be found here, along with a dead draugr on an altar. The draugr isn't a concern immediately, however, in the next room another Vampire Mistwalker will be found and he/she may raise the draugr on the altar to life. Two more draugrs will follow the vampire into the fray. Once these creatures are defeated, a skeleton can be found wandering the next hallway past the two thrones.
Potema raises the dead
The next room on the left is filled with many dead Draugr. They may have valuable loot on them such as gold and soul gems. Potema's voice will speak again at this point. She will then proceed to resurrect a number of draugr and the single vampire in the room. Before they are raised (before Potema speaks), the player can take the enemies' weapons away from them, making them easy to kill. The higher the Dragonborn's level, the tougher the draugr, and the more she resurrects. A cloak spell would be helpful here. There is nothing in the next chamber, but when the player enters the following room things get tough again. Make a save at this point before opening the doors.
Can Potema's council be defeated?
Face Potema
Potema congratulates the Dragonborn on doing so well, but asks if the Dragonborn is capable of making it past her "inner council." The now familiar purple energy whirlwind from the previous quest is back and it's resurrecting draugr left and right. This is a difficult stage, because the energy in the room creates difficulty seeing while draugr attack from all over. Some can be magic users and summon atronachs and the player may encounter deathlords, scourges, and wights, depending on your level. Again, if the player has a follower, they should watch where they swing because it can be very easy to wound or kill a downed follower. Potema will helpfully resurrect killed Draugrs to attack the player again. Eventually, the last one will be killed for the last time and the game will tell the player to get Potema's remains. But she's not going down without one more fight. The Dragonborn will now face Potema's Ghostly Remains. She can summon Atronachs and will most likely have an enchanted weapon. Once defeated, the player is instructed to grab Potema's skull, and be sure to loot the chest before leaving through the back door.
There may be another draugr up the stairs depending on the player's level beyond this point. The player will pass a room with two thrones. Each throne will be occupied, probably by a Draugr Deathlord and another type (depending on your level). Once the Dragonborn exits here they will find themselves on a ledge on the side of the mountain north of Solitude. Another chest rests on the ledge.
Return Potema's Remains to Styrr then head to Falk Firebeard in the Blue Palace for a reward.
Journal
| Journal Entry |
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Potema has been summoned from beyond the grave and is gathering power. Falk has sent me to Styrr to get the key to Potema's Catacombs.
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Potema has been summoned from beyond the grave and is gathering power. Styrr has given me the key to Potema's Catacombs. I must enter the catacombs and prevent Potema from fully resurrecting by acquiring her bones.
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Potema has been summoned from beyond the grave. I've defeated her in the Catacombs and retrieved her bones. I must return them to Styrr for blessing and tell Falk Potema has been defeated.
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I have defeated Potema and been rewarded by Falk Firebeard.
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Trivia
- There are a few hidden chests in the underground tunnels.
- Sometimes couriers are unintentionally blocked by certain quests; usually, finishing quests allows them to appear (there may be other solutions to this as well).
- If you use Unrelenting Force on Potema's Ghostly Remains, her skull (Potema's Remains) flies away from her. If you do this you no longer need to fight her because you can just pick up her remains and leave.
- In the final battle, with high enough Sneak and Archery skills, it is possible to sneak attack every draugr from the entrance. It is then possible to sneak up to the throne and pick up the skull (Remains) without even summoning the ghostly apparition of Potema.
- In the final fight with Potema, the easiest way to take her out is to stand back near the entrance while using sneak with Archery/Mage. This quest can prove to be challenging at lower levels. The Slow Time shout can be helpful while using this method.
- This quest may only be activated if the player has leveled up after completing The Man Who Cried Wolf, as the courier will never contact them if they don't. If the Dragonborn is the highest possible level in-game when they completed The Man who Cried Wolf, then this quest is impossible to start. Patch 1.9 allows making a skill legendary, resetting it to level 15, which effectively removes the overall level cap. Thus, it's possible to start this quest after getting to level 81.
- Attempting to pickpocket Falk Firebeard after The Man Who Cried Wolf reveals the letter to the Dragonborn already in his inventory.
- In the final battle, fighting Potema can be avoided by luring the draugrs into the the hallway before the room and killing them with the Dawnbreaker (Skyrim) before entering the room.
Bugs
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This section contains bugs related to The Wolf Queen Awakened. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:
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