Skyrim:Darklight Tower

Military Fort: Darklight Tower (view on map)
# of Zones	2
Clearable	Yes
Dungeon	Yes
Respawn Time	Never (storage is safe)
Level	Min: 8
Occupants
Hagravens, Hags, Witches
Important Treasure
2920, Sun's Dawn, v2 Horror of Castle Xyr Mystery of Talara, v3 Staff of Hag's Wrath
Console Location Code(s)
DarklightTowerExterior01, DarklightTowerExterior02, DarklightTower01, DarklightTower02
Region
The Rift
Special Features
# of Alchemy Labs	1
# of Arcane Enchanters	1

External View of Darklight Tower

Darklight Tower is a tower southwest of Riften that is nested by hagravens and their ilk. The tower itself is dark and ruined. As you approach it, impaled goat heads and polished mammoth tusks betray the nature of the occupants inside. Various species of common mushrooms can be found throughout it including white caps, imp stools, fly amanita, and bleeding crowns. There are many hags, witches, and nuisance creatures to accompany the hagravens.

Related Quests

• Repentance: Help Illia prevent her mother Silvia from transforming into a hagraven.
• Arniel's Endeavor: Uncover an ancient Dwemer secret. (radiant)

Notes

• If you wish to explore the tower more thoroughly while progressing with Illia, she tends to wait for you if you are a certain distance away, reducing the worry of her charging into battle alone.
• The largest concentration of Scaly Pholiota in the game can be found here.

Darklight Tower Interior

Zone 1: Darklight Tower

The first floor is the ruined entrance to the tower. Illia will battle a witch here and ask you to assist her in stopping her mother. An adept-locked door contains a chest and Illia has the key to it. Aside from that there is nothing of note and a candle-lit stairway leads further into the tower.

The second floor is fairly webbed over and contains a small hallway overlooking the entrance and a ransacked room containing an alchemy lab. A chest is hidden underneath an over-turned table in the corner. There will be two leveled creatures.

The third floor is a two-tiered room full of various rooms that make up the living quarters of the witches in the tower. On the first floor are a few potions and stray items and a hallway that leads to the right. There will be a witch and a leveled creature. A webbed over alcove along it hides yet another chest. Just past that is another door that requires a Illia's key to open. Its just basic storeroom but several beneficial potions are laying around. Initially the upper portion is blocked off and requires a lever to be pulled to unblock it. Illia warns that a hagraven is ahead. As well you can find the bedroom of the witches and some notable loot. Overlooking the lower portion is a bridge that leads to deadly spike wall trap and a grand soul gem.

The fourth floor is a small room that is nested by a hagraven, along with two leveled creatures. Their usual decor (impaled goat heads) lines around the tent and a brazier. There is yet another chest laying next to the tent and a copy of the Illusion skill book 2920, Sun's Dawn, v2 on the table. A door out of this room leads to the area - the Darklight Chambers.

Zone 2: Darklight Chambers

The fifth floor consists of two large rooms. The first is a spike-filled meeting room with a bandit corpse lying on the ground, and a witch and a hag. The door further into the area is master-locked and Illia suggests taking the key from the hags or just picking it. The hagraven with the key is located in the next room that is a multi-tiered hagraven lair, which also contains a hag. The hallway in is lined with damaging spikes, but are easily avoided. In the hagraven's tent is yet another chest and the platform nearby has a master-locked augmented chest laying in the corner. It can be easily missed, however, as it is shrouded in darkness. You can find a copy of the Destruction skill book Mystery of Talara, v3 and another leveled soul gem laying around in the room.

Beyond the master-locked door is a small room containing a chest and an arcane enchanter. A slightly ascending hallway leads into an open room that overlooks the spiked meeting room at the entrance to the zone. There will be a witch and two leveled creatures in this area. Various items line the tables that are worth taking. Further above is the exit to the top of the tower where Illia's mother Silvia awaits with her dark ritual.

Zone 3: Top of the Tower

The top of the tower itself is an exterior zone. A chair for Silvia's ritual sits in the middle of the camp and her tent is already prepped in the manner of hagravens. Silvia is a fairly adept caster and carries the unique Staff of Hag's Wrath. An augmented chest lies inside the tent and a copy of the Destruction skill book Horror of Castle Xyr is on the table.

The ruined walls of an old fort surround the area, with a gated archway that can be opened with a nearby lever. Passing through the gate and following the path to the east will bring you to the Ruins of Rkund. If you take the path west from the gate, you will find the collapsed entrance to an unmarked Nordic barrow. A troll has taken up residence here, and guards an unlocked chest and a couple of lootable urns.

Bugs

• Climbing the mountain exterior of the tower and killing the enemies at the top of Darklight Tower before actually entering the tower's lower entrance may result in being unable to earn Illia as a follower. Instead, she will speak to thin air and will permanently stand still awaiting a response from the recently slain hag. But if you sit in the chair she tells her mother that she is going to kill her and then walks back into the Darklight Tower. ^?