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Walkthrough
The first thing you'll need to do in this quest is free Odahviing from the trap you lured him into. To do this, you'll need to climb up onto the one of the ledges overlooking the dragon and either pull a chain or order a soldier to release the dragon. This will cause the yoke to lift off of Odahviing, and he'll walk north to the open part of the Great Porch. From there, you'll just need to talk to him to have him fly you to Skuldafn Temple.
Note: When you leave for Skuldafn Temple, you won't be able to return to Skyrim until you've completed the rest of the main questline, so be sure to do whatever shopping you need beforehand.
Another Note: Odahviing will only take you to the temple, so if you have any companions, you'll have to leave them behind.
Odahviing will drop you off outside the temple. As you make your way to the entrance, you'll have to defeat several draugr deathlords and a pair of dragons. You'll also pass by the Skuldafn South Tower and the Skuldafn North Tower. If you venture inside the towers, then you'll find more draugr to kill, plus some chests to loot.
Inside Skuldafn Temple, you'll run into even more draugr, and you'll also encounter some puzzles that you'll have to solve:
- First Pillar Puzzle (#1). This puzzle consists of three pillars, two gates, and a lever. Your goal is to rotate the pillars to the correct positions so you can open the gates. The hint symbol for the outer pillars is shown right next to the pillars. You'll need to rotate those pillars so the symbol facing the hint is the same as the hint. The hint symbols for the middle pillar are shown over the gates. You'll need to rotate the middle pillar so if you're standing at the lever, then the symbol facing you is the same as the hint. That is, if you're standing at the lever, then the correct code for the northwestern gate is eagle, snake, eagle (from left to right). The correct code for the northeastern gate is eagle, eagle, eagle (from left to right). When you have the pillars showing the correct code for a gate, pulling the lever will open the gate.
- Second Pillar Puzzle (#2). This puzzle consists of three pillars, a raised bridge, and a lever. Your goal is to rotate the pillars to the correct position so you can lower the bridge. Two of the pillars are located in alcoves on the upper level of the room. You'll find the hint for them on the "faces" outside the alcoves. The third pillar is located on the lower level as you enter the room. The hint for it is below the bridge. That is, the correct code for the pillars is whale, snake, eagle (from west to east). When you have the pillars in the correct position, pulling the lever will lower the bridge.
- Puzzle Door (#4). This is a standard puzzle door, so you'll find the solution -- wolf, bat, dragon (from top to bottom) -- on the
Diamond Claw being carried by the draugr guarding the door.
When you exit the temple (via Exit B), you'll encounter even more draugr, culminating with the dragon priest Nahkriin and a pair of dragons guarding the portal to Sovngarde. The dragons won't seem too interested in you, but when you approach Nahkriin, he'll take a
Dragon Priest Staff out of the dragon seal next to the portal, which will deactivate the portal, and then he'll attack you. To power the portal back up, you'll need to kill Nahkriin for the staff, and then put the staff back into the seal. When you eventually go through the portal, you'll travel to Sovngarde and complete the quest.
1 - First Pillar Puzzle
2 - Second Pillar Puzzle
3 - Closed Gate
To open the gate, you'll need to pull the lever to the south.
4 - Puzzle Door
5 - Word Wall
When you get close enough to the Word Wall, you'll unlock the Word of Power for "Storm, Storm Call."
Exits:
- Doorway between the northern and southern portions of the temple.
- Exit to the temple roof.
- World exit.
