Skyrim:Arkngthamz

Dwarven Ruin: Arkngthamz (view on map)
Added by Plug-in	Dawnguard
# of Zones	1
Clearable	No
Dungeon	Yes
Respawn Time	Never (storage is safe)
Level	Min: 16
Occupants
Chaurus, Falmer, Dwarven Automatons
Console Location Code(s)
DLC1Arkngthamz01, DLC1ArkngthamzExterior01, DLC1ArkngthamzExterior02
Region
The Reach
Location
Southeast of Dushnikh Yal
Ore Veins
# of Ebony	2
# of Quicksilver	1

Arkngthamz

Arkngthamz is a Dwarven ruin located southeast of Dushnikh Yal. It can be located by reading a book called The Aetherium Wars, giving you the miscellaneous quest to investigate the ruins. The ruins are inhabited by Dwarven automatons, Falmer and chaurus. It has only one interior zone.

You may notice the ground shaking when nearing the ruins outside. These tremors continue inside the ruins as well. As noted by Katria, some of the dangers present in Arkngthamz include major earthquakes, massive chasms, and unstable ground.

Related Quests

• Lost to the Ages: Search for the Dwemer's Aetherium Forge.

Arkngthamz Interior

The short hall from the entrance leads to a wide, but narrow room with a stream running through and a fallen column acting as bridge to the next hall. There is a dead Dwarven Spider at the base of the waterfall that the stream originates from. The next room is the massive main chamber, where Katria will appear next to you shortly after entry during your first time through the ruin. There are a few dead Dwarven Automatons scattered around the first part of this room, just like in the halls from the entrance, including a few up the steps to right of where you entered, and below that on the bottom floor of the room. There is also a chest and a few dead Falmer below and to the left of the hole in the opposite wall that you will leave this room through. The water hides nothing of value. You will find Katria's corpse on the pillar that the first pipe leads to. The pipe-filled tunnel holds the first live enemies: two Dwarven Spiders will leave their hiding places as you approach the next chamber. The water in the chamber holds one small chest, so carefully traverse the pipe immediately to the right of the tunnel you came from to continue. Any followers, including Katria, may be reluctant to make the short drop to the area beyond the fence at the end of the pipe.

Arkngthamz interior

You will come across some live and dead Falmer when you approach the massive main chamber again shortly afterward (if Katria is with you, she may warn you before they can see you). There is another Dwarven chest on a ledge to the left of this entrance to the main chamber. Continuing to the right, you will traverse some earthen ramps that contain more Falmer. One in the area is a Falmer Shadowmaster wearing Heavy Armor and Heavy Helm. Below his area is a ledge with another small Dwarven chest. You will reach a gate with no apparent way to open it, but if you look down you will see a large metal Dwarven head piece with an ledge behind it that can be reached from the water. There is a tunnel there that leads to the area behind that gate, which contains a chest and lever to open the gate from inside. There is a fallen Dwarven Centurion under the waterfall on the way. Shortly afterward, there is a series of ramps that leads to the water which hold a Falmer chest. Past this area, you will enter a large, round, and tall chamber. The deep waters hold a small submerged tunnel off to the west that leads to a hidden chamber with a chest and some gold. After climbing out of the water, up the ramps and through the tunnel that leads out of this room, you will encounter a smaller chamber holding a Falmer tent and pens. From here, there are two possible paths. The first, to the right of the entrance, leads onward through the ruin, but the other (to the left, semi-hidden behind a gate) leads up to small tunnel containing a stream. This stream empties back into the round chamber and there is a Falmer chest on a ledge to the left. You will also notice a ledge you can jump to on the right. Do so and follow the ledge to its end, where you will see a tunnel you can jump into that contains another Falmer chest. Jump into the water and make your way back around to the tent chamber to take the other path, which leads to the upper part of the chamber.

There is little here, save for Zephyr, a unique bow which rests at the end of the fallen tree that sticks precariously out over the drop to the bottom of the main chamber. The next chamber you enter is the final major chamber in the ruin. On a ledge that you can drop to below the entrance to this chamber is an ebony ore vein. Continuing down the ramp to the other end of the chamber, there is another ledge with a quicksilver ore vein that you can drop to, and a careful jump along the wall towards the structure holding the main prize can reach a ledge with a chest (though you may not be able to interact with it). There is another ebony ore vein near the quicksilver one that you can reach from the floor of the chamber. This room has many Falmer ports on the walls, but they spawn no Falmer. There are several skeletons, two full corpses, some Dwarven arrows, and a dead Dwarven Sphere scattered on the floor of the chamber. Take note of them (including a skeleton speared with a ballista bolt), and then carefully observe the structure holding three chests and various other items, including an Aetherium Shard.

The five kinetic resonators

To get to it all, you have to hit the five kinetic resonators to trigger the tonal lock in the right order with ranged attacks. If you get it wrong, the ports on the front of the structure will release Dwarven Spiders the first time, two Dwarven Spheres the second time, and eventually your failed guesses will earn you a fight with a Dwarven Centurion coming from its dock hidden behind the middle gate. After this there will be no more enemies for your wrong guesses, but the Dwemer ballista at the top of the structure will rain down bolts briefly after each wrong answer. You can avoid these by hugging the structure. The correct answer is: lower left, lower right, upper left, upper right, lower middle. After you collect the loot, head for the water in the west side of the chamber and take the tunnel there for a shortcut back to the lower main chamber. Save before taking the long drop to the water, though, as you or any followers could easily die if you or they hit the rocks at the end of the pool or another hard surface instead.

Notes

• Two hints are given to solve the tonal lock puzzle, one in Katria's journal (found on her corpse), and one on a scrap of paper (found on one of the corpses in the same room as the puzzle itself).

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