Content

• To step

You just got out of a confrontation with a dragon and spoke to Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun about the danger. The next step in your adventure will send you deep into the mountainous heart of Skyrim in search of the Dragonstone. But how exactly should you go about finding the Dragonstone?

To step

1. Speak to Farengar Secret-Fire. He is the wizard of the Jarl in the Dragonsreach Castle in Whiterun. He can usually be found in the room to the right of the throne when you enter the castle. After you warn Jarl Balgruuf about the dragons, he will instruct you to speak to Farengar Secret-Fire. Farengar will explain that he is looking for the Dragonstone and will point you to Bleak Falls Barrow. This will ensure that you get a quest marker that points to Bleak Falls Barrow on your map.
   • If you have already completed the quest "The Golden Claw", there is a chance that you will already have the Dragonstone in your inventory. This is because this quest will lead you through exactly the same path you need to follow for the "Bleak Falls Barrow" quest. You will also not be able to sell or remove the Dragonstone from your inventory once you pick it up, so it will stay with you until you give it to Farengar at the end of the "Bleak Falls Barrow" quest.
2. Travel to Bleak Falls Barrow. You can find this ruin southwest of Whiterun; south from the Western Tower at the top of the mountains. There are a number of different routes you can take to get there. Be careful when you get close to the Barrow as there will be about 6 bandits at the entrance. The free space in this place will give their archers a lot of opportunity to shoot at you with arrows. The routes to Bleak Falls Barrow are as follows:
   • Find a footpath from the base of the mountain's north wall, south of the Western Tower. Follow it all the way to the top of the mountain. This route offers the fewest risks along the way.
   • Cross the bridge north of Riverwood. Then turn northwest, along a path that leads to the Barrow. This route is the most used. However, it will confront you with aggressive forest animals (usually wolves) and some bandits at an abandoned tower along the way.
3. Enter Bleak Falls Temple. This is the large structure at the top of the stairs. When you first enter the Barrow you will see many skeever and human corpses around you. Sneak forward and you will hear bandits talking about someone named Arvel who ran away with some Golden Claw. If you haven't started "The Golden Claw" yet, this quest will begin now.
4. Follow the corridors of the temple. Be careful; you may encounter more bandits along the way. Eventually you will encounter a bandit holding a torch who will run towards a puzzle room.
5. Solve the pillar puzzle. Look at the symbols above the gate. The symbol in the middle is damaged and is on the ground. Turn the pillars on the left so that the symbols you see are the same as the symbols above the gate. From left to right, these symbols should be snake, serpent, and whale. Pull the handle and continue up the spiral staircase on the left.
   • Be careful as you go down the spiral staircase as skeevers will come towards you. Stay at the top of the stairs to make it possible to handle one skeever at a time.
6. Defeat the Giant Spider. You will eventually come to a room full of spider webs, in which someone is calling for help. Carefully enter the room where someone is trapped in a web; a large Frostbite Spider will descend to confront you. Kill the spider and speak to the man who is trapped, who turns out to be Arvel the Swift.
   • If you have trouble defeating the spider, quickly go back through the door you entered. The spider will not be able to get through the door. Heal yourself and use magic or remote weapons to defeat the spider from afar. Just keep in mind that the spider can still spit poison at you. Dodge these attacks by diving to the sides when the spider rises, as this is the sign that the poison is going to spit at you.
7. Cut Arvel the Swift free. Talk to Arvel the Swift to question him about the location of the claw; he will say he will tell you how the claw works when you free it. Use a melee weapon or your magic to loosen the webs that tie his arms and legs.
8. Get the Golden Claw from Arvel the Swift. After you free Arvel, he will immediately run deeper into the Barrow to try to escape. You can either run after him to kill him or have a draugr do it for you. Defeat the draugr and search Arvel's corpse to find the Golden Claw. Go deeper into the Barrow when you have the claw.
9. Follow the corridors to the Sanctum. As you progress through the Barrow there will be more traps and dangers that you will encounter. Be aware of the following dangers:
   • Draugr: You will walk into a number of rooms where dead bodies lie in the tombs lining the walls. Be careful. Some of these corpses will come back to life when you walk by.
   • Nail door trap: The first room in which you fight come to life draugrs also contains a trap from a nailed door. Make sure you don't step on the pressure plate on the floor; otherwise the trap will be activated and the door will pierce you. Draugrs can also trigger this trap, so be careful.
   • Swinging axes: Eventually you will come across a narrow corridor with axes swinging in it. Pay attention to the timing of these axes and go through the hall between the axes as fast as you can.
   • Frost troll: After a while you will come to some running water. Follow the water. Pull the chain next to the gate to open it. Eventually you will come to a ledge. Look down from the ledge to spot a frost troll. Use a remote weapon, such as a bow and arrow, to kill the troll from above. Follow the right hallway when the troll is dead to get down where the troll was.
10. Solve the round door puzzle. You will eventually come across a closed door with rotating rings around the lock. Go to your inventory, select the Golden Claw, and inspect it. Rotate it so you can see the bottom and pay attention to the symbols on it. Rotate the rings around the keyhole on the door to be the same as the combination on the claw. The combination is, from top to bottom: owl, moth, bear. Put the Golden Claw in the keyhole to open the door and go to the Sanctum.
11. Learn a new shout. When you enter the Sanctum you will see a large, open room with waterfalls and a striking wall with strange text on it. You will hear singing that gets louder the closer you get to the wall. Get close enough to the meur, and your screen will darken while one word on the wall glows brightly, learning a Word of Power shout from the Word Wall.
12. Get the Dragonstone. When you have learned the Word of Power, the coffin behind you will break open, and a strong dragon boss will come out. Defeat this draugr and search his corpse to find the Dragonstone.
13. Exit the Sanctum. You don't have to run all the way back to the entrance of the barrow. Take the stairs to the left of the Word Wall and go through the gate at the top of it. When you reach a wall, pull the lever on the right to open the hidden door. Continue down this hallway until you reach the exit.
14. Give the Dragonstone to Farengar. When you are outside you can open your card and return to Dragonsreach in Whiterun "fast-travellen". Go back to Farengar. You will hear that he is speaking to someone named Delphine. Listen to their conversation to learn more about the return of the dragons. Speak to Farengar to give him the Dragonstone and complete the "Bleak Falls Barrow" quest.
    • You may want to stop at Riverwood to return the Golden Claw to Lucan Valerius before heading back to Farengar. He will reward you with some gold and will also give you better prices for buying and selling goods; the perfect chance to unload your loot after Bleak Falls Barrow.