After completing the Prophet Quest for the vampire faction Serana will bug you relentlessly to move onto the next part of quests. Although you now have a Moth Priest and one Elder Scroll on hand there is more to the prophecy. You must find two other Elder Scrolls for Lord Harkon to see the whole prophecy. This quest guide will go over finding Serana’s mother, Valerica, in the Chasing Echoes Quest.
“Serana has indicated her desire to locate her estranged mother, Valerica, who had fled Castle Volkihar with one of the Elder Scrolls. She believes that Valerica may have left a clue to her whereabouts somewhere in the courtyard of the castle. In order to avoid detection by Harkon, we’ve decided to utilize a hidden entrance on the backside of the island.
After speaking to Serana she will tell you a little bit more about her family disfunction and how she thinks they must find her mother to find the Elder Scrolls. She will tell you about her mothers gardening and how Serana feels there must be a clue there. At the end of the conversation you can leave out the front door of Castle Volkihar.
Head down the bridge after exiting and hang a right. It doesn’t look like much but you can follow this path around the castle so you can get to the secret entrance to the courtyard. After following the coast line for a while you will see a boat docking area. There will be three or four Draugrs around the boat landing that you will need to take out and then you can head inside a door at the top of the stairs.
Once inside head down the stairs. There is a lonely Skeever to be dealt with but that is a piece of cake. On the bottom the stairs there will be a door you can open and go through. Get ready for a battle after the doors open
This room opens up into a channel. This channel is full of Ferral Vampires and Death Hounds. Take them out or sneak around them if you would like. The path you have to go through is blocked by a bridge that needs to be put down. The lever is located after a small flight of stairs on the Northern Wall. Hit the switch and go to the bridge.
The walkway will come to a T. Serana will tell you to go left to find a switch for the bridge that is up on the other side of this room. Take a left and be careful for traps.
The path will bring you to a room with skeletons (dead ones not enemies) and some Death Hounds. Easy enough to take out but there is three of them so don’t let them gang up on you. Once inside this room take a left. You will see a small staircase that you can go up.
The staircase will take you to a small corridor with spider webs all over. The spider webs on the right are covering an Adept Chest with some gold and a potion. The path strait ahead has some baddies and has to be attacked to unblock. This is a great time to switch into Vampire Lord mode if you would like. Scratch that, the game is to buggy to allow you to get through the opening. There is a Giant Frostbite Spider that you can take out from distance with vampire magic or just go in and defeat it while in your normal form. Once you beat the Giant Frostbite Spider the lever will be on the Northern wall of the room. Hit the lever and head out the door on the West wall.
From here you can drop back down into the bone filled room where you defeated the three Death Hounds. Head back to the bridge room to your newly created path. Be careful of the hanging spikes, but other than that you will be just fine. Head up the stairs after crossing your created bridge and head out into the courtyard.
In the spot where her mother, Valerica, used to garden there will be a shinny full moon crest. Pick it up and Serana again say that the moondial is out of place. Search around for the other missing pieces. One is located on the upper portion of the East wall. Another moon crest is located in a little pond on the Northwest part of the map. Place all the pieces in the moondial and it will open a passageway.
Serana and I are trying to locate her mother, Valerica, who may have one of the Elder Scrolls. Our journey has taken us to the couryard of Castle Volkihar where we’ve discovered a hidden entrance underneath Valerica’s old moondial.
Head down the new passage way and open the door to Volkihar Ruins. The passage will look like a dead end, but there is a chain on the left wall that can be pulled. The secret door will reveal a new part of the castle. Serana doesn’t know the location and warns to be careful. Head up the stairs and be ready for battle!
There are a good dose of Skeletons in this room. If you open the door and attack any of the Skeletons sitting down you might get a jump on two or three of them. You can always head back down the stairs you came from to funnel them into a line. This worked great for me. After killing all the Skeletons head back into the room and head up the staircase on the right.
Directly across from you in the new room is a large Gargoyle. As soon as you take a couple of steps into the room fire lights will ignite and the Gargoyle will come to life. He is pretty tough so be careful. If the Gargoyle becomes to much for you to handle let Serana take some hits. She is a pretty good sponge for damage. Defeat the Gargoyle and move on to the next room.
There are two Skeletons directly up the steps in the next room. Take them out and go up the large staircase. After getting to the top there will be another large Gargoyle that will spring up. Same thing, if you can funnel him down the stairs he will have a much harder time getting at you and doing some damage. Take him out and the coast is clear for a little bit.
After heading up another set of stairs you will see a Gargoyle again. Thankfully this one does not jump out at you so you can relax. Head along the path and up some more stairs. After a little ways there will be a Skeleton in a small offshoot room. He is turned the wrong way so it is easy to sneak attack him. Finish the Skeleton off and keep moving along the path and towards the quest marker.
After following a ton of stairs corridor will open up into a dining hall looking room. There are two normal Skeletons and an archer in this area. Take them out and move through the room. At the top of the stairs that are across from where you enter you will see another, you guessed it, large Gargoyle who is guarding a chain you need to pull. As soon as you pull the chain he will pop to life and a door will open with a Skeleton Archer. Take these two baddies out and go through the newly opened door that is on the Northeast wall.
Make your way up the steps. Half way up there is a Skeleton waiting to attack you. Take him out from that point on the stairs or the bottom. After beating the Skeleton make your way to the top of the stairs. A Gargoyle will bash it’s way through the wall and attack you. Walk back down the stairs if you need more room to fight him. After beating him you can go two different ways. If your lockping skills is high enough there is an Expert locked door that has some good loot, potions and avoids some enemies. If not pull the chain and head into the room to your left.
This room has a heavy dose of Skeletons. I definitely recommend turning into Vampire Lord form before entering this area. Take them out one by one and don’t get cornered. You can run down the stairs if you are having a problem funneling them into a strait line.
After defeating all of the skeletons you can make your way through the big hall they came from. Make sure to check behind different walkways because there is tons of good loot waiting. Wind your way up stairs and through pathways until you come to a door.
The doorway opens up into a small study-like looking room. There is a potion or two here and there but nothing to write home about. Make your way through the small room and open the door on the other side. The door will open up into a larger study. The room looks harmless but there are large gargoyle statues all around. One by one, three different gargoyles will come to life. Take them out quickly so that you don’t have to take these on all together.
After taking out the gargoyles there is another secret passage way you have to activate. I don’t know why but it took me a long time to figure out how to get through the secret door. There is a candle stick right next to what looks like a fire place on the south side of the room. Turn the candle stick and head through the new doorway that will lead to a kind of long set of stairs.
After walking up the stairs you will be in a room with a strange circular seance circle. This room is a alchemist’s haven. Look around the room because there is a ton of good ingredients! After a little bit Serana will tell you to look for her mothers notes. The notes will probably say something about the Elder Scroll.
“After exploring the ruined tower beyond, we’ve stumbled across an old alchemy laboratory. Serana is convinced her mother has hidden some notes that may yield a clue as to her whereabouts.
There is a book shelf on the south side of the room. In the middle book shelf on the top row there will be a small red notebook. Read the notebook and a new part of the quest will be brought up. Speak to Serana about what you found in the notebook.
Serana’s mother is in a place called the Soul Cairn. The circle in the middle of the room is a portal to get to this area. You will need some ingredients from the area to open up the portal. After talking to Serana you will open up the next section of the quest
According to Valerica’s notes found there, she has likely fled Tamriel and entered the Soul Cairn, a dimensional plane of Oblivion. In order to pursue her into the Soul Cairn, Serana and I need to recreate the experiment that opens the portal to this strange place.”
If you already picked up a bunch of ingredients you might have most of these items already. If not, just search around the room for the different items. There is a book case full of ingredients on the main floor and a table on the second floor with a ton of soul gems. The finely ground bone meal is on the first floor on the alchemy table by the bookcase. The purified void salts are on the table on the top floor of the room. Collect all the pieces and return back to Serana.
Serana will tell you to put all of the ingredients in the vessel overlooking the strange summoning circle. After doing so speak again to Serana. She will add her blood and open the doorway to the Soul Cairn.
“In Valercia’s laboratory, we’ve recreated an experiment she performed and opened a portal to the Soul Cairn, a plane of Oblivion. Serana believes strongly that her mother is inside this strange place and has indicated we should step through.”
Here goes nothing! Step down the newly created stairs and enter the Soul Cairn. Once through the doorway the quest will end and so shall this guide. Make sure to keep checking back because in the next day or two we will post our Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Beyond Death Quest Guide.
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