The ancient Nord ruins that are ubiquitous in Skyrim are a true monument to the genius of the Nords of the past. By constructing the final resting places for their rulers, they created such an ingenious and elegant defense system that for centuries reliably protected the tombs from theft and encroachment of looters. The main restraining force is the draugr and numerous traps, an innumerable variety of them - from simple stones that fall when you touch a tripwire, to complex mechanisms that release a swarm of darts when too much weight is placed on the floor plate. However, the most amazing engineering structures are not designed to kill. The path to treasuries is often blocked by riddles, to solve which you need to use a variety of mechanisms in a variety of orders - chains, levers, pressure plates... The simplest defense in Nordic ruins is considered to be sealed doors made of large stone circles. To solve the puzzle, you just need to arrange the circles with symbols so that they match the symbols on the claw itself. Sophisticated defenses include spinning cones with animal designs. In most cases, the solution to the puzzle must be found through trial and error, but sometimes it is hidden somewhere in the ruins themselves.
The symbols on the doors with stone circles are not a code at all, but the simplest method of protection, so that only a living and thinking creature could enter the sanctuary, and not draugr and other unreasonable creatures. The only person who will be able to cope with the ancient castles will be Mercer Frey, the head of the Thieves Guild. He won't need claws at all to break doors, but he won't share his secrets. You can carefully examine the symbols on the claw in the inventory by hovering the cursor over the item and changing the scale with the mouse wheel.
Puzzles in the temple ruins on Bleak Falls Barrow:
- There are two quests associated with the ruins of the temple on Windy Peak: “The Golden Claw”, which is given by Lucan Valery from the Riverwood Trader in Riverwood, south of Whiterun, and “Windy Peak”, which is given in the story by the court magician Faringar from Dragonsreach in Whiterun. The golden claw is taken from the bandit Arvel the Swift, who is stuck in a web in the hall with a giant spider.
- : snake, serpent, whale.
- Symbol combination (golden claw): bear - large circle, moth - medium, owl - small.
Puzzles in the ruins of the Shroud Hearth Barrow:
- The ruins in the Burial Fire mound are associated with a minor mission to investigate mysterious phenomena, which is sent by Wilhelm, the owner of the Vailmir tavern, from the village of Ivarstead, on the southeastern slope of the Throat of the World. He gives away the sapphire claw after delivering Vindelius Gatharion's diary.
- Combination of animals from the bridge: whale, hawk, snake, whale.
- Symbol combination (sapphire claw): moth, owl, wolf.
Puzzles in the ruins of Yngol Barrow:
- The ruins in the Ingol Mound, located east of Windhelm, may be associated with a quest to return the helmet for the Jarl of Winterhold (the location is selected at random). A coral claw can be bought for 50 septims from Birna from the Birna's Goods store in Winterhold, or picked up from a stand in the ruins themselves after the first iron door.
- Animal combination from iron door: snake, hawk, whale (start from the left).
- Symbol combination (coral claw): snake, wolf, moth.
Puzzles in the ruins of Folgunthur:
- The ruins in Folgunthur, located southeast of Solitude, are associated with the secondary quest “Forbidden Legend”, which appears in the journal after reading the book “Lost Legends of Skyrim”, you can also shout “Frost Breath” here. Arriving at Folguntur, you need to examine the empty tent camp and read the first part of Dainas Valen's diary. A bone claw lies on the body of a deceased scientist inside the ruins.
- Iron door lever combination: the first one is near on the left, the second one is farthest on the right.
- Animal combination from iron door: hawk, whale, snake (start from the one furthest from the entrance).
- Symbol combination (bone claw): hawk, hawk, dragon.
Puzzles in the ruins of Geirmund's Hall:
- The ruins in Geirmund's Hall, located east of the village of Ivarstead, on the southeastern slope of the Throat of the World, are associated with the secondary quest "Forbidden Legend", which appears in the journal after reading the book "Lost Legends of Skyrim" and visiting Folguntur.
- Animal combination from iron door: hawk, whale - left wall; whale, snake - right wall (start with the cones closest to the entrance, facing the locked door).
Puzzles in the ruins of Saarthal:
- There are two secondary quests associated with the ruins in Saarthal, located southwest of Winterhold: the first is “The Forbidden Legend,” which appears in the journal after reading the book “Lost Legends of Skyrim” and visiting Folgunthur; the second is “In the Depths of Saarthal,” which Tolfdir gives in the first stages of training at the College of Mages of Winterhold, when a group of magicians goes on an excavation. You can also learn one of the Power Words of the cry “Ice Form” here.
- Animal combination from the first iron door: hawk, snake, whale - left wall; whale, hawk, hawk - right wall (start with the cones closest to the entrance, facing the locked door).
- Animal combination from the second iron door: 2 cone on the left - spin 2 times, 1 on the left - 1 time, 2 on the left - 2 times, 2 on the right - 2 times, 1 on the right - 1 time (counting starts from the cones closest to the entrance, facing the locked door).
Puzzles in the ruins under Reachwater Rock:
- The ruins beneath the Lake Cliff, located southeast of Markarth, are associated with the secondary quest "Forbidden Legend", which appears in the journal after reading the book "Lost Legends of Skyrim". The book can be picked up from the body of a dead adventurer in front of the door at the entrance to the ruins, and the emerald claw can be picked up from the stand here. The reward for completing the task will be Gauldur's amulet restored from three parts.
- : bear, whale, snake.
- Symbol combination (emerald claw): hawk, hawk, dragon.
Puzzles in the ruins of Dead Men’s Respite:
- The ruins in the Repose, located south of Solitude, are associated with the secondary quest “Set Fire!”, on which Viarmo sends for the book “The Song of King Olaf” as a test for joining the Bards’ Guild, and here you can learn one of the Words of the Power of Scream “ A quick rush." The ruby claw lies on the table right at the entrance.
- Symbol combination (ruby claw): wolf, hawk, wolf.
Puzzles in the ruins of Valthume:
- The ruins in Valthum, located in the mountains southeast of Markarth, are associated with the secondary quest “Evil Slumbers”, which appears in the journal after a conversation at the entrance to the ruins with the spirit Valdar, guarding the tomb of a high dragon, and here you can study one of the Words of Power shout "Whisper of Aura". The Iron Claw is on the counter in front of the door in the catacombs, on the lower level of the ruins.
- Symbol combination (iron claw): dragon, hawk, wolf.
Puzzles in the ruins of Forelhost:
- The ruins in Forelhost, located in the mountains south of Riften, are associated with the secondary quest “Hunting the Dragon Cult,” which appears in the journal after a conversation at the entrance to the ruins with Captain Valmir, sent by the “Imperial Legion” behind the mask of the high dragon priest Ragoth, also here you can learn one of the Power Words of the Thunder Call shout. The glass claw lies on a stand in the room with the large oval door made of iron bars, in the northwestern part of the refectory.
- Symbol combination (glass claw): fox, owl, snake.
Tower of Mzark lens puzzle:
- The Dwemer tower of Mzark, located in the mountains south of Dawnstar, is associated with the story quest “Ancient Knowledge”, on which Septimius Sagonius sets off from his icy refuge, north of the College of Winterhold, to retrieve an ancient scroll containing the Words of Power from the cry “Dragon Slayer”. You can get to the Mzark Tower through Alftand and the Black Reach using lifts and passages.
- Sequence of actions with lenses: 3 button (open) - press 4 times, 2 button (closed) - 2 times, 1 button - 1 time (button counting from left to right).
Puzzles in the ruins of Skuldafn:
- The ruins in Skuldafn are associated with the story quest "House of the World Eater", which begins after the completion of peace negotiations between the Stormcloaks and the Imperial Legion in the Temple of the Greybeards on High Hrothgar. The location is available for visiting once during the entire game; the dragon Odahviing will no longer fly to the Jerol Mountains. You can also learn one of the Power Words of the “Thunder Call” shout here. The Diamond Claw is on the Draugr Overlord in front of the door.
- Animal combination from the left iron door: hawk, snake, hawk (stand with your back to the door).
- Animal combination from the right iron door: hawk, hawk, hawk (stand with your back to the door).
- Combination of animals from the bridge: whale - on the left, snake - in the middle, hawk - on the right (face the bridge).
- Symbol combination (diamond claw): fox, moth, dragon.
Puzzles in the ruins of Korvanjund:
- The ruins in Korvanjund, located west of Windhelm, are associated with the story quest “The Jagged Crown,” which begins after the death of the dragon Alduin and joining the ranks of the Stormcloaks or the Imperial Legion. Also here you can learn one of the Words of Power of the cry “Slow Time”. The ebony claw lies on a stand in front of the door.
- Symbol combination (ebony claw): fox, moth, dragon.
While the Empire wants to have total control over Skyrim, and constantly sends its troops to the province, there are those who oppose it - these are the Stormcloaks. The bravest and bravest Nords gather under their banners to defend the independence of Skyrim.
The player has the right to take either side - the side of the Imperial Army or the Storm Brothers. There are no clearly “bad” and “good” people here. Each side has its own truth and its own “skeletons in the closet.”
How to join the Stormcloaks?
To enter, go to Windhelm, to the Royal Palace, and find Galmar Stonefist there. He is recruiting newbies, so tell him you want to join. Galmar will say that new fighters are always needed, but you need to prove that you are worth something.
Joining the Stormcloaks
You need to pass a small test - go to the Serpent Stone (it will be marked on the map) and kill the ice spirit near it. He comes, we kill, we return, we take the oath, we get rebel clothes - ready. Welcome to Stormcloaks.
The passage of the next three tasks was sent to us by Mikhail Pletnev
Serrated crown
Gives: Galmar Stonefist
The essence of the task: You need to find the legendary Jagged Crown
So. Our path lies in the ancient burial place of the Nords called Korvanyud:
Galmar says that he will arrive there before us, even if we leave earlier. Okay, let's see. But no matter how he boasted, he arrived at the place later than me, albeit only by five seconds. Not the point. The soldier reports to him that the Imperials have settled near the entrance to the burial. And that they were very warm there by their fires, but the Brothers were frozen. Disorder. We need to convince the Imperials to leave there. Preferably forever and by lethal methods. And now the last Imperial dies by your hand and the path to the ruins is clear. We go in and find six more Imperials. They are also not destined to survive today. We move on, methodically exterminating the Imperials. But suddenly Galmar senses an ambush. “Salaga,” that is, we, are invited to try to move on, and they will come running at the sound of battle.
In my opinion, this Imperial is mentally retarded. No, just think about it - what kind of person in his right mind would stand on highly flammable oil under a jug of something burning? Well, he's worse off. Either we throw it off with a bow or a spell, or we go into close combat. Besides him, there are 4 more guards in the room. As soon as we attack them, Galmar and company come running. The Imperials are sent safely to hell, and we are sent to the next level of burial. And almost at the very beginning of the level we will encounter a door, to open which we need a claw lying nearby. It's a child's puzzle, but here's the answer.
We pull the dagger off the button or take it away, and a secret passage opens, which leads to a room with floor traps. Be careful when opening the chest.
Otherwise, you are guaranteed to have an excess of metal in your body. You don’t have to touch the lever, it will just close the door behind you. We take everything we need and return back. Now we need to cross to the other side along the platforms.
There will be a handle that you need to pull. Once the grate opens, four Draugr will emerge from the coffins. We send them to the kingdom of the dead, where they belong, and move on to the Crypt. “The crown must be here somewhere. “Spread out and keep your eyes open,” Galmar will say. And who is that there, sitting on the throne? Bah, he has that same Jagged Crown on his head.
But of course no one will give it back to us with goodness (who would doubt it). We'll have to prove to the draugr that they are wrong, and we need the crown. As soon as the last draugr falls from your (or maybe not your) hand, we take the crown from the military leader. By the way, behind the throne there is a wall with another word of power. That's it, the Moor has done his job, the Moor can leave. I mean, it's time to take the crown to Ulfric. But don't rush to run back through the corridors. Near the wall with the word of power there is a small wooden ladder, climbing which we will find a corridor that will lead us to the temple - the first part of the burials. We return to Ulfric and give him the crown. He asks us to give the Earl of Whiterun Balgruuf... an axe. Well... An ax is an ax.
Message for Whiterun
Gives: Ulfric Stormcloak
The essence of the task: You need to take Ulfric’s ax to the Earl of Whiterun and wait for an answer.
We go to Whiterun, to the palace.
If we come there for the first time, the jarl's thane will block our way. We say that we are from Ulfric, and they let us through. But if this is the first time, we will have to first complete the quest along the main line - find the tablet and kill the dragon. Only then will it be possible to get an answer.
So we have our answer. Balgruuf decided to return the ax to Ulfric. Well, it's his choice. We return the axe. Ulfric has decided to go to war against Whiterun, and we, without a doubt, will have a place in the front row. Our path lies to the Military Camp near Whiterun.
We arrive, listen to Galmore’s pathetic speech and go into battle. Our task is to lower the suspension bridge. We get to the other side in any way (jump over the moat, climb on the platforms, etc.), climb the gate and lower the bridge. Then we enter the city, killing everyone on our way, and reach the castle. There you can first kill the guards, and then take on the jarl, or you can immediately hit the jarl on the head. What follows is a pretentious dialogue along similar lines.
Jarl “You will regret what you did! You are evil!
Galmar “Stop talking. The city is ours!
And it's true. The city is ours, and it needs power. And they send us to Windhelm to report the victory.
Battle of Whiterun
We simply kill the Whiterun guards and the Imperials, make our way to the mechanisms and lower the bridge, break into the dragon's limit and overthrow the jarl.
(My opinion: I really liked the current jarl =(and now there will be an old fart instead of him. But I will not support the Empire)
At the end of the task you will be sent to the petrel
Liberation of Skyrim
Gives: Galmar Stonefist
The essence of the task: Systematically liberate one fort after another, exterminating all the Imperials in them.
We go to Ulfric and inform him that Whiterun is ours. Now we will be called “Ice Veins”. And it dawned on Ulfric that if we were given more freedom, there would also be more benefits. But it’s too early to rejoice - we are still sent to Falkreath (subtly saying “But I would like you to go to Falkreath”) and asked to help Galmar. Well, what to do, let's go.
Galmar asks us to liberate Fort Neugrad. We need to meet with the scouts southwest of this fort.
Note: If Galmar does not have the line “Waiting for orders” or something similar, run around or come from another point on foot.
We meet and talk with one of the scouts old acquaintance Ralof. He says we need to sneak through the caves under the lake into the fort's prison and free the prisoners. Then we run out into the courtyard and the scouts will help us deal with the remaining imperials. If you say that we don’t know how to sneak, the answer will be “I believe in you. But if there are problems, run out into the yard and we will help.” Okay, let’s go to the lake and, having dived, swim to the passage. For those who don't know how to sneak, everything is simple. We run into the courtyard, beat the imperials, the scouts come running to help, and we free the prisoners. For secretive characters, it’s also nothing complicated: he entered the prison, found the prisoners, killed the guard sitting next to him, took the key, opened the cells and went out into the courtyard. Now you need to kill all the Imperials in the yard. There aren't many of them there - 4-5 bodies. And then you need to go directly to the fort itself and kill the imperials there - there are already about a dozen of them there. But six sleep in one room, so you can kill three or four covertly, and kill the rest in close combat. When we kill all the Imperials, we need to talk to Ralof - he will express his gratitude to us and ask us to tell Ulfric about “our” successes. Let's go and tell you. Now we will be asked to “Liberate the Reach”.
War Booty
Gives: Ulfric Stormcloak
The essence of the task: You need to find material for blackmailing Rerik manager Markarth.
We go to Markarth, to the Understone Fortress. We need Rerik's room. A guard patrols the entrance. You can wait until it passes and sneak through, or you can drink an invisibility potion. Decide. One way or another, we take the amulet of Talos, belonging to Rerik, from the chest of drawers. We go with him to Rerik, he will call us to his room. He will tell us about a convoy with silver and weapons that can turn the tide of the war. You can beg something for yourself if your eloquence skill is good. Now with this information we go to Galmar. And he will ask us to go along with the scouts and rob the caravan. I've been wanting to do this for a long time and now I got the chance. Let's go and meet Ralof again. He says the cart has broken down and they are camped nearby. Several options for action you act alone; Ralov and co kill the guards, and we continue; We burst into the camp with the whole crowd and kill everyone we see. Regardless of the course of action, we kill the imperials and go again to Galmar, to the Reach camp.
Battle of Sungard
Gives: Galmar Stonefist
The essence of the task: Recapture Fort Sungard
Everything is simple here - we go to the fort and recapture it. We need to kill about 30-40 Imperials. Just kill, with the support of the Stormcloaks.
Note: on weak machines at this moment the game may lag terribly, even to the point of being a slideshow.
We kill all the imperials and return to Ulfric.
Disinformation
Gives: Galmar Stone Fist The essence of the task: Forge Imperial documents.
We need to forge documents, but to create a forgery we need an original. And we have to get it. Let's go to the Dragon Bridge tavern
We talk to the hostess and ask about the imperial messengers. Information can be extracted in three ways: persuasion, bribery and intimidation.
One way or another, having obtained the information, we go to the mark on the map. Just in case, four out of four times I killed him near a broken cart on the road leading south from the tavern. We find, kill and take away the documents. We take them to Galmar, who immediately gives us a fake (it works quickly) and tells us to take it to Morthal, to Legate Taurin Dulius. Let's go visit.
You can find him in many places - he walks throughout the village. If the GG is dressed “out of shape,” then Duliy will be a little indignant, but we will tactfully brush him off, saying that this way it’s more invisible to enemies. We give back the document and that’s it, we have brought the Brothers’ victory closer again.
Battle of Snowhawk
Gives: Galmar Stonefist
The essence of the task: Clear the fort from the presence of the Imperials.
Another task to clear the fort.
You can go directly to him. We arrive at the place, and with a brave cry “Come one by one, Imperial muzzles!” I’ll kill everyone, I’ll be the only one left!” Let's rush into battle. And so, when the last enemy has fallen from your hand (or maybe not from yours, or maybe not from your hand), we go to Ulfric Stormcloak, for another goodie in the form of leather armor, full officer armor for Stormcloak (the same as and on Galmar), and a new title Storm Blade. And, of course, a new task. This time it will be Solitude who rake.
Liberation of Solitude
Gives: Ulfric Stormcloak
The essence of the task: Knock out the Imperials from Solitude.
We go to Camp Haafingar, to Galmar.
He gives us another quest to clear the fort, this time Fort Hragstad.
We go to him and arrange global genocide for the Imperials. After which we return back to Galmar, to Haafingard. There (perhaps after running around a little and suffering) we receive orders to help in the attack on Solitude. We go to him, near the gate we meet a dozen soldiers, led by Ulfric, making a pathetic speech.
We wait for it to end and enter Solitude. We break through to the gloomy castle, killing all the Imperials on the way. Difficulties may arise at the beginning, as the roads can be confused. If you go up the rise almost at the very beginning, you will come across a grate that cannot be opened. You don’t need to rise to it, but move on. There will be a passage to the courtyard.
We pass through the courtyard and enter the castle. What follows is a pathetic skirmish between Ulfric and Galmar on the one hand and Legate Rikki on the other. The legate takes out a weapon and tries to attack us, along with General Tullius... No, well, no intelligence, no imagination. Two for three, despite the fact that two of us have the Voice. We punish both. Then we will be presented with a choice: kill the General ourselves or let Ulfric kill him. The essence will not change. Well, the finale - Ulfric's pathetic speech to the soldiers.
After taking the oath, talk to Legate Rikke, who will make an appointment west of the ruins of Korvanjund.
Head to the ruins, Rikka and Hadvar with a small detachment will already be waiting for you there, discussing the situation with the scouts. Hadvar has a superstitious fear of these ruins.
Now you all have to go to the ruins together. The entrance is on the right side, to which you first need to go down the stairs on the left.
The Storm Brothers squad that arrived there earlier is already in the fortress. Having defeated the rebels, head inside Korvanjund.
Head straight through the hall and up the steps, where you will again encounter a group of Stormcloaks. Going down from the hall, you will see a door on the left, closed from the inside.
In the next room you can go down the broken bridge or along the gallery. You need to get to the opposite side. In the next room you need to knock down the hanging lamps to set fire to the oil on the floor.
Follow the bridge. To the right is an empty chest, next to which lies a skeleton and the book “Jornibret's Last Dance”. Go down the steps, turn left, then right and left again. After passing through the small room containing the funeral urns, you will again meet the Stormcloaks and the dead draugr. Go down to the door leading to the Halls.
In the Halls, go up the stairs, then along the corridor to the left. In the passage on the left there is a trap with blades, behind which there is a lever that turns it off, and a chest. After you take the things from the chest, return to the corridor and go down into the hall with bas-reliefs and a gate closed with an ebony claw, which can be found lying nearby. Storms and the Ebony Claw.
The code to the door is depicted on the claw; it is Wolf-Butterfly-Dragon.
Go up the passage to the right of the grate. On the right side, take the dagger from the pedestal; as a result, a secret door will open into a room with a chest.
To open the grate, you need to walk along the stone bridge to the chest and turn back; on the wall to the right above the funeral urn there is a lever that will open the grate and wake up the draugr.
Upon entering the Crypt, you will find yourself in a throne room and two sarcophagi. The jagged crown is found on King Borgas seated on his throne. When you touch the crown, Borgas and the draugr, resting in the sarcophagi, will come to life.
Having dealt with the draugr, take the crown, which Rikke orders to take to Tullius. Behind the throne is a Wall of Power with the Slow Time shout and a chest.
A shorter way back can be found by climbing the log stairs. The exit from the ruins is closed by a grate with a master-level lock. After breaking the lock, take things from the nearby chest and return to General Tullius.
