Forelhost: Siege on the Dragon Cult

Forelhost (Exterior)

Ascend the remains of the entrance tower until you spot a High Elf named Captain Valmir, who is wearing the officer’s garb of the faction to which you are allied. He requires your assistance; he is on a mission to obtain a mask that a Dragon Priest named Rahgot used to own.

Forelhost Stronghold (Interior)

Repel ghostly foes as the spirits of the dragon cultists appear to guard their old lair! Beware of floor triggers and traps. Pass the wall blades, entering the room to the northwest. Check the stone table, where Snow-Strider’s journal is located. Now read this; it informs you why this location has so many blocked-off corridors.

• Skorm Snow-Strider’s Journal

Work your way across the stronghold, down past the forge and kitchen. Locate the pair of wooden doors that lead to Forelhost Crypt. Before entering, watch for the fire-breathing dragon trap close to the barred doorway, and use the nearby lever to raise the portcullis blocking the doorway; this gives you quicker access to the entrance.

Forelhost Crypt

There is a cage surrounding the well (Master) close to the first main corridor. Come back here later if you can’t open the cage door now.

Beware of runic floor traps as you travel farther underground and the light dwindles. Also expect a gate and dart traps prior to reaching a raised crypt. This is a dangerous location; expect a swarm of undead foes here!

Work your way to the platforms above, which lead to the other side of the barred wooden door (which you can now open if you wish). Pilfer the chest on the same raised tomb as the hardiest Draugr. This contains the Forelhost Well Key. Return to the well, unlock it, and drop into the icy water. Follow the waterlogged tunnels into a chamber where the remains of a poisoned warrior (mentioned in the journal) still lie among scattered poison bottles. In the adjacent room, beware the rising floor trap.

• Forelhost Well Key

Forelhost Refectory

The Refectory still bears the scars (and the dead) of the battle Snow-Strider wrote about. Open the iron door and enter the great hall, then open the double doors in the south wall. Traverse the oil-splattered stone corridor (burn it to defeat the Draugr if you wish), before entering the remains of a children’s burial plot. There are Orders that confirm the mass burial, surrounded by flowers you can harvest.

• Orders

Above the burial garden is an alchemy chamber with more steps and Draugr; you can pull a lever to raise the portcullis leading back to the great hall, or press onward and upward, past the ruins of a throne and snow blown down from above. Beware the magic trap in the winding corridor beyond, which leads straight into Forelhost’s library. But the prize to find isn’t a book; it is a Glass Claw.

• Glass Claw

Take it, and the spear bars recede from the doorway farther into the library. Head through, past an embalming room, fire trap, and more Draugr, and head up to a hall and Nordic Puzzle Door.

Puzzle Solution: Open your inventory and look at the Glass Claw you just found. The palm bears the sign of the Wolf, Owl, and Snake. Working from the outer ring in, choose the same iconography on the door, and insert the Claw.

It takes only a few steps to reach the grand burial chamber of the Dragon Priest Rahgot. He is joined by a group of Draugr bodyguards, meaning this fight is both difficult and lengthy. But once over, the rewards are worth your anguish:

• Rahgot
• Leveled Items and Weapons
• Staff of Wall of Flames
• Forelhost Balcony Key
• 250 gold pieces

Forelhost (Exterior)

Use the Balcony Key to unlock the door in the southeast wall of the burial chamber. This leads back outside, to the balcony you couldn’t reach when you first met Valmir. A Word Wall is just a few feet away! Once you learn the new phrase, drop down to Valmir’s camp. It appears Valmir is an imposter (as he is clad in the attire of your enemy, unlike the first time you encountered him) and is now giving the same speech to convince an enemy soldier!