Dawnguard

The New Recruit

Rumor and scuttlebutt abound on your travels through Tamriel, and one piece of gossip going around concerns the reformation of a venerable band of vampire hunters known as the Dawnguard. Once you reach Level 10, you can find out more about this in one of three ways:

• By visiting any settlement with guards. Listen to their conversation, and you may hear one mentioning the re-forming of the Dawnguard “in the old fort near Riften.”
• By entering any settlement (such as a Hold Capital or a smaller town such as Ivarstead) and running across a member of the Dawnguard named Durak, an Orc clad in impressive buckled armor and who has a forthright attitude toward strangers. He wants you to fight against the growing vampire menace. Answer him how you wish, and with inquisitive responses, you’re told to find a man named Isran, who is ensconced at Fort Dawnguard, southeast of Riften.
• By stumbling upon the entrance to Dayspring Canyon (shown in the next picture), which leads to Fort Dawnguard, during your travels through the Rift. You do not need to be Level 10 for this to happen.

On the north–south road that runs along the Rift’s eastern border, southwest of Riften and Broken Helm Hollow, and just north of Stendarr’s Beacon, is a small vertical fissure in the mountainside, flanked by two torches. The crack opens up to an entrance leading to Dayspring Canyon. Step out into this previously unexplored glade, and follow the path past the waterfalls on your right (south). Along the way, you’ll meet a man named Agmaer, a nervous young farmer who wants to join the Dawnguard. You can keep pace with him (for further conversation), or leave him to reach Fort Dawnguard without a chaperone. Or, you can explore the glade without meeting Agmaer.

Farther along the path, as the glade becomes more rocky and unforgiving, a buttress tower appears—the first of the crenellations of Fort Dawnguard. Continue along the path (Agmaer remarks that the place is almost deserted), continuing east around the base of a second tower buttress, until you reach a familiar Orc practicing his skills with a strange new weapon. This is Durak, who tells you to meet Isran inside the fort. However, you can also:

• Ask him about why he joined the Dawnguard, Orc strongholds, and a distinct lack of a vampire menace.
• More importantly, you can also ask what he’s shooting with. He tells you it’s a crossbow, a Dawnguard specialty. He gives you one to try and says you’ll want to learn how to use it if you really plan on joining the cause.
• Crossbow and Steel Bolt (45)

Follow the path to the imposing fortress entrance, passing a guard named Celann on the steps. You can stop and talk to him about his time with Isran when they were members of the Vigilants of Stendarr and about how he left after disagreeing with Isran’s “methods.” Now enter the fortress.

As you step into the circular entrance hall, you see the Dawnguard’s banners are unfurled, and while Agmaer waits nervously, you can watch an argument unfold between Isran and a Vigilant of Stendarr named Tolan. Both are proud and stubborn men, but the Vigilants are here to ask for protection, having seen their fortifications attacked by vampires in the last few days. Tolan has grim news to tell: The Hall of the Vigilant is razed, and all who worship there are dead or worse. With the other Vigilants scattered and in disarray, you may approach either man. Vigilant Tolan tells you more about the vampiric menace stalking these lands.

Isran asks if you’re ready to join the fight against the “damn vampires.” You may answer in any way you wish, but the quest continues only after you ask what you can do to help. Isran relates that Tolan told him about a cave the Vigilants were investigating and that the cave may have had something to do with the recent vampire attacks. Tolan identifies the location as Dimhollow Crypt and says that one of his brothers believed that the catacombs held a long-lost vampire artifact of some type.

You can also ask Isran for advice about a new vampire hunter, about the history of the Dawnguard, and about training in Heavy Armor.

Postquest Activities

At the end of the conversation with Isran, Dawnguard Quest: Awakening begins immediately.