Skyrim:Siege on the Dragon Cult

Enter the ruins of Forelhost and defeat Rahgot to recover his mask for Captain Valmir. Quest Giver: Captain Valmir Location(s): Forelhost Reward: Rahgot, Dragon Priest Staff, Word for the Storm Call shout ID: dunForelhostQST Suggested Level: 24

Siege on the Dragon Cult

Quick Walkthrough

1. Speak to Captain Valmir to begin the quest.
2. Enter the ruins of Forelhost.
3. (Optional) Find the journal of Skorm Snow-Strider.
4. Make your way through the first zone into the Crypt.
5. Either pick the lock on the well or find the key, then move on to the Refectory.
6. Travel through the Refectory, find the glass claw and locate the puzzle door.
7. Use the claw to enter and defeat Rahgot.
8. Return to Valmir with the mask.

Detailed Walkthrough

Valmir's camp sits in the ruins of Forelhost

When you enter the courtyard of Forelhost for the first time, Captain Valmir will call to you. When the two of you get close enough, he'll initiate a conversation. He will claim he has been sent there by military forces in an attempt to recover a powerful artifact for the war effort. He asks for your help, since he cannot do it alone. According to him, this was the last stronghold of the Dragon Cult back in the First Era, and the commander's mask was allegedly an extremely powerful artifact. He requests that you enter the ruin and retrieve the item. He also mentions that the military general who stormed the fortress to wipe out the cult supposedly left his journal here, so finding it might provide some more information.

Forelhost Stronghold

Shortly after entering the zone, you'll begin encountering ghosts of the cultists. They must be defeated or avoided to proceed. Work your way around to get behind the portcullis that is down, and you'll be able to enter the crypts. Skorm Snow-Strider's Journal is found along this path. It recounts that when they took the fortress, the defenders had collapsed the entry and all killed themselves, leaving the ghosts to haunt the place. The well was locked and poisoned, and with the losses suffered from the poisoned water, Skorm decided not to search for the key in the crypts, simply choosing to leave the survivors sealed within.

Forelhost Crypt

Once in the crypt, make your way to the well. If you can pick the lock, do so, and move on down; otherwise turn right instead and head through the crypt tunnels to the far end, where you'll find the key. Then head back to the well. After going down the well, follow the tunnels on to the Refectory. You will find a potion on top of a stand with dart holes behind it - you can drop a wooden plate or something similar on the ground, pick up the potion, and use the plate/object to stop the darts.

Forelhost Refectory

Once in the Refectory, move through and find the glass dragon claw, which you'll need to open the puzzle door later. Continue on to the door. From top (outer ring) to bottom (inner ring), the solution is: Fox—Owl—Snake.

You'll need to defeat the dragon priest Rahgot and four leveled draugr. Afterwards, loot Rahgot's body. He'll have the mask, a dragon priest staff, and the key to the battlements.

Battlements

Head out onto the battlements to reach a word wall, and learn a word for the Storm Call shout.

After visiting the word wall move near the inside of the battlements; you'll see Captain Valmir talking to an enemy soldier. The objective to return to Valmir remains, so drop down. You'll find that Valmir has now dressed in the armor of the opposing side, to convince this other soldier to do the same job he sent you to do! He's an impostor! Defeat both Valmir and the enemy soldier to conclude the quest. If you wish, loot Valmir's Orders to discover that he was actually an agent (strongly implied, but not explicitly stated, to be Thalmor) who was sent to retrieve the mask and return to Labyrinthian with it (presumably to use the mask on the matching pedestal in Bromjunaar Sanctuary).

Notes

• It is possible to ignore Valmir at the beginning of the quest (by ending conversation before agreeing to take the quest) and pickpocket the key to the ruins from him. You'll get an entry in your journal about his quest only when you reach the battlements and overhear his conversation with the second NPC.
• It is also possible to kill Valmir immediately after arriving at this location but before going into the ruins. You can then loot his body for the scrap of paper revealing his treachery.

Bugs

• If the puzzle door does not work, check here for possible fixes.
• Captain Valmir may attack you on sight.
• If you pickpocket the key and proceed to get the mask, after stepping outside, the quest will initiate with the objective to kill Captain Valmir. The soldier attacks but Valmir does not; you will gain a bounty for killing him but the quest does not complete.
• If the claw is knocked off the pedestal before you pick it up, the metal gate may not lower.
  • Dragging an item back onto the pedestal and removing it again will trigger the gate.
• If you find the Refectory Library gate is raised you cannot proceed.
  • Leave the area and then return, the gates should be open.
• Multiple masks may be found on Rahgot's body.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.3.3, fixes this bug.
• Just before you enter the ruin, Valmir will mistakenly refer to finding a staff instead of the mask.
  • The Unofficial Dragonborn Patch, version 2.0.4, fixes this bug. (details)

Quest Stages

Siege on the Dragon Cult (dunForelhostQST)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		I have been asked to defeat the Dragon Priest in Forelhost and to bring back his Mask. A journal left by Skorm Snow-Strider may reveal a way past the collapsed areas. Objective 10: (Optional) Find Skorm Snow-Strider's journal Objective 50: Obtain Rahgot's mask
20		I have been asked to defeat the Dragon Priest in Forelhost and to bring back his Mask. I have found the journal of Skorm Snow-Strider, which may reveal how to bypass the collapsed areas.
26		Objective 30: (Optional) Find the key to the well in the Catacombs (if Valmir not killed)
40		I have been asked to defeat the Dragon Priest in Forelhost and to bring back his Mask. I can reach the blocked off areas of the stronghold through the well.
50		I have been asked to defeat the Dragon Priest in Forelhost and to bring back his Mask.
60		I have defeated the Dragon Priest, Rahgot, and taken his Mask. I should return with it to Valmir. Objective 60: Return to Valmir (if Valmir not killed)
70		Valmir has betrayed me and has been tricking soldiers into the ruins. He must die. Objective 70: Kill the imposter Valmir
100	Finishes quest
110	Finishes quest
Unknown		Objective 20: (Optional) Show Skorm Snow-Strider's journal to Valmir

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 15, 25, 30, 64, 65, 200.

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 dunForelhostQST 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 dunForelhostQST.