Dragonborn:Deathbrand (quest)

This page is currently being rewritten as part of the Skyrim Quest Redesign Project. The page is being rewritten and checked in several stages. All users are welcome to make changes to the page. If you make a change that is relevant to the project, please update this template accordingly, and make sure you have observed the project guidelines.   Detail Walkthrough: written by TheRealLurlock, not checked Objectives: written by NepheleBot, not checked Reward: written by TheRealLurlock, not checked

Find the treasure of Haknir Death-Brand. Location(s): Haknir's Shoal, Gyldenhul Barrow Reward: Deathbrand armor, Bloodscythe and Soulrender ID: DLC2dunHaknirTreasureQST / DLC2dunHaknirTreasureQSTMisc Required Level: 36 Suggested Level: 40

Your reward awaits.

Quick Walkthrough

Note: You must be level 36 before you can start this quest.

1. (Optional) Read Deathbrand.
2. Find the treasure map.
3. Locate the four ancient chests containing the pieces of Deathbrand armor.
4. Explore Gyldenhul Barrow.
5. Defeat Haknir Death-Brand and his crew.

Detailed Walkthrough

Tale of Treasure

In various places around Solstheim, you may find a book titled Deathbrand. There are at least five guaranteed locations where the book can be found:

• Fort Frostmoth, inside on a cupboard bookshelf
• Greathall (Skaal Village), on a desk in the northeast corner
• Gyldenhul Barrow, on the body of a dead adventurer in the first room
• Haknir's Shoal, on a pirate boss
• The Retching Netch (Raven Rock), on a bookshelf in a room on the lower floor

Once you are level 36 or higher, reading the book will add the Haknir's Shoal marker to your map if you haven't found it already. Travel there and defeat the pirates at the camp. The captain will be carrying a copy of the book, and a treasure map will be found nearby. The map will show up in your miscellaneous items.

The Search is On

You can find the first of the four chests right on Haknir's Shoal (map). In it you'll find one piece of Deathbrand armor. The other three chests are located:

• South of Broken Tusk Mine (map), in a tidal pool near the shore, guarded by a number of mudcrabs.
• North of the Earth Stone (map), also on the shore. Some reavers have apparently recently dug it up, and will attack you when you approach. (One of them will be carrying a copy of Deathbrand.)
• West of Tel Mithryn (map), near the edge of a river. Some dead treasure hunters are nearby, also with a copy of the book.

Each chest will contain another piece of Deathbrand armor. The last chest will also contain a key to Gyldenhul Barrow.

A Cursed Trove

Haknir rests peacefully

Gyldenhul Barrow is located on Horker Island, east of Skaal Village. It will be guarded by some reavers. The door has a Master level lock on it, but the key you found will open it. (Note that while you can pick the lock to get in before finding the key, you'll need it again once inside, as there is a lock which cannot be picked.) Explore the barrow. It seems quite small initially. A dead adventurer will be carrying a note that gives you the clue you need to go deeper into the ruins. You will need an ancient Nordic pickaxe in order to open a secret passage through the stalhrim deposit on the right side of the first room. Go through the treasure room to the final chamber, which contains the corpse of Haknir Death-Brand, and a unique scimitar named Bloodscythe.

When you pick up Bloodscythe, Haknir Death-Brand's ghost will appear and attack you, then teleport away after he loses about 20% health. Members of his crew appear to fight you, including Garuk Windrime and Thalin Ebonhand. As you kill some of them off, Haknir Death-Brand will spawn again, and the cycle will repeat until he is dead.

Once defeated you'll attain another unique scimitar named Soulrender. It has an added effect when dual-wielded with Bloodscythe.

Bugs

• The quest may get fouled and cannot be properly completed if you break into Gyldenhul Barrow by picking the lock and have the Wax Key perk.
  • This bug is fixed by version 1.0.3 of the Unofficial Dragonborn Patch.
• The treasure map may vanish when it is picked up.
• If Haknir Death-Brand is defeated before getting the helm then you can't get the rest of the armor. ^?

Quest Stages

Deathbrand (DLC2dunHaknirTreasureQST / DLC2dunHaknirTreasureQSTMisc)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
29		At Haknir's Shoal, a band of pirates uncovered an ancient treasure chest containing a single piece of Stalhrim armor. How did they know to dig in this remote spot?
30		A band of pirates followed an ancient treasure map to Haknir's Shoal, where they discovered a chest at the location marked on the map. By following the map, perhaps I can find the rest of the treasure they sought.
31		A band of pirates followed an ancient treasure map to Haknir's Shoal, where they found a chest containing a piece of the armor of Haknir Death-Brand, the legendary pirate king. By following their map, perhaps I can find the rest of the treasure they sought.
70		By following an ancient treasure map, I found the armor of Haknir Death-Brand, the legendary pirate king. In addition to his armor, one chest also contained the key to Gyldenhul Barrow. Could it be connected to Haknir's treasure?
80		By following an ancient treasure map, I found the armor of Haknir Death-Brand, the legendary pirate king. A key contained in one of the chests led me to Gyldenhul Barrow, where I found a room filled with Haknir's cursed gold. But touching it triggered the curse: the doors behind me have sealed.
90		By following an ancient treasure map, I found the armor of Haknir Death-Brand, the legendary pirate king. A key contained in one of the chests led me to Gyldenhul Barrow, where I found his tomb and one of his cursed swords. But when I touched the sword, his ghost appeared and attacked.
100		By following an ancient treasure map, I found the armor of Haknir Death-Brand, the legendary pirate king. A key contained in one of the chests led me to Gyldenhul Barrow, where I defeated Haknir's ghost and claimed his swords and gold as well.
Deathbrand (DLC2dunHaknirTreasureQSTMisc)

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table:
  • DLC2dunHaknirTreasureQST: 0, 1, 10, 20, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 50, 51, 52, 53, 200.
  • DLC2dunHaknirTreasureQSTMisc: 10, 20.

 

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage DLC2dunHaknirTreasureQST / DLC2dunHaknirTreasureQSTMisc stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest DLC2dunHaknirTreasureQST / DLC2dunHaknirTreasureQSTMisc.

Quest Objectives

Deathbrand (DLC2dunHaknirTreasureQST / DLC2dunHaknirTreasureQSTMisc)
Index	Objective	Shown When
29	Learn more about the buried treasure
30	Use the Deathbrand Treasure Map to find the treasure
70	Explore Gyldenhul Barrow
90	Defeat Haknir Death-Brand
Deathbrand (DLC2dunHaknirTreasureQSTMisc)
10	Search for the treasure of Haknir Death-Brand

This Dragonborn-related article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.