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- Starting Unearthed
- The Excavation Begins
- The Excavation Continues
- Another Setback
- The Last Stretch
- Getting Ahzidal
With so many Nordic ruins uncovered and ready to explore in Skyrim, having one that you need to excavate feels like a bit of a shock. You will be asked to help an enterprising dark elf dig one long-lost ruin from the ash of Solstheim over a series of expeditions.
Related: Skyrim: Evil In Waiting Side Quest Walkthrough
For once, this is not a question of your physical competence but more of financial hoarding. You will be bankrolling the endeavor as teams of miners work to uncover long abandoned hallways, complete with the threats that you would expect. With legendary artifacts and wealth on the line, completing Unearthed will not be easy.
Starting Unearthed
This quest starts when you walk past Kolbjorn Barrow, east of Raven Rock on Solstheim. A dark elf, Ralis Sedarys, will ask you for help with digging up artifacts made by the first-ever Nordic Enchanter.
While he has found the correct location, the island's frequent ash storms prevent him from making progress. If you agree to help him, he will ask for an initial investment of 1,000 gold. He will use the money to hire staff and promises to update you on his progress.
Ralis will ask for a total of 11,000 gold throughout the quest. The cost is spread out over several payments, fortunately.
The Excavation Begins
After several days, a courier will reach you with a letter from Ralis asking you to return to Kolbjorn Barrow. He explains that draugr have killed the miners, and he needs you to clear them out before he can continue the excavation.
This task is nothing you haven't seen before. Kill all the draugr you see in the initial chambers. You will be prompted to return to Ralis once you're done.
Before leaving, make sure to take the bloody skull inside. It will open a passage to Ahzidal's Boots of Waterwalking, a unique pair of boots that do actually let you walk on water.
Ralis will be frustrated but determined to continue, so long as you provide him with 2,000 gold to hire more workers.
The Excavation Continues
After another few days, the courier will be back with another letter asking you to hurry back to Kolbjorn Barrow. As soon as you arrive, Ralis tells you that more draugr have attacked, killing most of the workers. He needs you to rush inside and save as many as you can.
The workers have been hard at work. Their excavations have uncovered new sections. You need to enter the freshly excavated tunnels, defeating more draugr along the way. Your path will be blocked in a hallway with a chain at the end. You need to pull it, opening a door to the southwest, on the right of the first chain.
Your path will again be halted by a soul gem trap and a metal grate controlled by four handles. Pull the handles in the following order. They are labeled from the highest handle to the lowest one.
- One
- Two
- Four
- One
You will find the last miner, Mireli, dead on the ground in the following room. Once you have eradicated the draugr, you will have to return to Ralis again.
Before you leave, go to the northeast and search for a small shelf with a soul gem and coins. There is a handle on the other side.
Pull it to get Ahzidal's Ring of Necromancy. It is a unique ring that makes your reanimated servants explode when receiving damage. They will deal 50 points of Frost Damage.
Ralis has wisely decided to hire guards and needs you to foot the bill. They will cost 3,000 gold.
Another Setback
Several days later, you receive another letter asking for your help. The guards were not enough to protect the miners, and you must kill the newly-awakened undead. Once you re-enter the barrow, cross the newly-build bridge in the second room.
You can get Ahzidal's Gauntlets of Warding here. From the bridge, head down two flights of stairs and pull a chain on the northwest wall. Go to the southwest room and pull another chain before returning to the first room. A hidden room with the gloves will be unlocked to the northeast.
These gloves will make your wards 25 percent weaker but will absorb half the Magicka used to cast incoming spells.
You will reach the final room, an open chamber with a set of pressure plates in the middle. You will be able to return to Ralis after defeating the draugr.
The pressure plates are another puzzle. You will need to run across all of them quickly to unlock a doorway to Ahzidal's Ring of Arcana. The plates will light up when stepped on and will slowly dim, and you must light all of them up before a single one dims.
The Ring allows you to cast two new spells, Ignite and Freeze. These spells apply their respective element's effects over time.
You can open a shortcut back to the entrance by pulling a chain to the southwest. Ralis will ask for a final 5,000 gold to complete the excavation.
The Last Stretch
The courier will arrive with a letter from Ralis for a final time. You are greeted with a massacre instead of Ralis when you arrive. Enter the barrow once again to find out what happened.
The miners managed to excavate a Word Wall in the second room. You can learn a word for the Cyclone Shout from it.
You will find the miners' bodies strewn about the ruins as you retrace your steps. Return to the pressure plates and head northeast, to a room with three draugr on thrones and a pair of rotating pillars. There are two doors you can open in this room.
A path leading deeper into the barrow
Rotate both pillars to the bird carving and pull the lever to unlock the gate over the stairs. This will allow you to progress through the dungeon.
A path leading to Ahzidal's Armor
Rotate both pillars to the fish carving and pull the lever to open a path to Ahzidal's Armor of Retribution.
This armor will have a small chance of paralyzing enemy attackers when you are hit.
Go to the northeast at the foot of the stairs to find another rotating pillar puzzle. Rotate both of them to show the snake carving and pull a chain to open a path to Ahzidal's Helm of Vision.
Wearing the helmet will allow your Conjuration and Rune spells to be cast further away. This comes at the detriment of such spells being 25 percent more expensive.
Getting Ahzidal
Return to the stairs and go northwest to find Ralis just as he completes a ritual that resurrects Ahzidal, blasting himself away in the process. You will have to fight the enchanter and more draugr at the same time.
Thanks to his mask, he both favors and is resistant to Flame spells. Avoid using such spells on him and try to have as much Flame resistance as you can.
Wearing his mask will halve Flame damage and make your Flame spells 25 percent more damaging.
With Ahzidal defeated, you turn your attention to Ralis. He insists that he was being controlled by Ahzidal and that he wasn't in control when he led the miners to their deaths. You can choose to forgive him or kill him. Sparing him will allow you to recruit him as a follower. With that, the quest ends, and you can return to the surface.
Next: Skyrim: The Fate Of The Skaal Dragonborn Quest Walkthrough
