Bloodmoon:The Skaal Test of Strength

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Prove your strength to the Skaal tribe by investigating the pillar of fire emanating from Lake Fjalding. Quest Giver: Tharsten Heart-Fang in the Skaal Village Location(s): Lake Fjalding, Caves of Fjalding Prerequisite Quest: The Skaal Test of Wisdom Next Quest: The Siege of the Skaal Village Reward: Aesliip's Ring ID: BM_Draugr Required Items: None Suggested Items: Lockpick/Open spell (60), Fire Damage spell Suggested Level: 30 Difficulty: Medium

Strange disturbances on Lake Fjalding

Quick Walkthrough

1. Speak to Tharsten in the Greathall who will ask you to prove your strength and travel to meet the Shaman Korst Wind-Eye on the North shore of Lake Fjalding.
2. Find and speak to Korst on the Northeast corner of the lake.
3. Swim to the bottom of the lake and enter the Caves of Fjalding.
4. Explore the caves and enter into Aesliip's Lair.
5. Find and speak to the Draugr Lord.
6. Agree to help him destroy all the Frost Daedra in the cavern or kill him to acquire his ring.
7. Return and speak to Korst.

Detailed Walkthrough

Tharsten Heart-Fang

In the Greathall, speak to Tharsten Heart-Fang, who congratulates you on proving your wisdom and loyalty but still asks that you prove your strength to the Skaal (see bugs). You are to meet with the Shaman Korst Wind-Eye on the Northern shore of Lake Fjalding. Head South from the village to find and meet up with Korst.

Korst Wind-Eye

Korst is actually on the north end of the eastern shore. As you approach you should notice a giant fire rising from the center of the lake. Speak to Korst, who explains the strange disturbance on the lake. Apparently, Heart-Fang believes it was caused by a Draugr Lord, Aesliip, who lives underneath the lake. Korst is less certain, and believes it is a sign of the Bloodmoon Prophecy. Regardless, you are tasked with investigating the matter, taking care of Aesliip if required. Find a convenient hole in the ice to drop in and swim to the center of the lake to find the Caves of Fjalding at the bottom.

Caves of Fjalding

Fortunately, the cave is not underwater itself so no form of Water Breathing is required. You'll encounter the regular forms of undead such as bonewolves and draugr which you've seen before. Continue on until you find the entrance to Aesliip's Lair, partially hidden in a small tunnel.

Draugr Lord Aesliip

As you explore about you'll find an area habited by the Draugr Lord who will speak to you as you draw near. He will tell you the story of how he was once a mage who became draugr solely so that he could continue to support a barrier that prevents the invasion of Frost Daedra. The barrier has recently become weak and he asks for your help in driving back the daedra invaders. You can either choose to help or choose to attack Aesliip in hopes that he is merely deceiving you.

Taking Care of Aesliip

If you choose to help the Draugr Lord, he will follow you to the caverns just beyond where you first meet him. There are 10 Dire Frost Atronachs throughout the caverns; you shouldn't have too many problems taking them out with the help of Aesliip. Once the last atronach is dead, Aesliip will speak to you once again, thanking you for your help and giving you his ring, and then die.

If you refuse to help Aesliip, he will attack you (his corpse will have the same ring that he would have given you). You can still kill all the atronachs, but you will not receive any journal entry about them when you are finished. It seems that Korst doesn't care which route you take.

Return to Korst

Return and speak to Korst along the shore of the lake who will congratulate you for taking care of Aesliip in the manner that you did. He will tell you to meet him later in the Skaal Village.

Notes

• Sometimes when you complete the trial, Wind-Eye may not be in the same place on the northern shore of the lake or found anywhere else. If you go back to Skaal Village and talk again to Heart-Fang at the Great Hall about the quest and get him to repeat where Wind-Eye is located, when you go back to the lake he should have returned to his previous position.
• If you accidentally attack Aesliip, he may not follow you to the caverns (or continue following you in them), and may fight you, but otherwise the quest proceeds normally. If you wish to continue with him as a temporary companion, use Calm Creature and then open dialogue with him to reset him into follower mode again.
• If you fight with Aesliip, you will not be able to Soul Trap him upon his voluntary demise, even if a Soul Trap spell is active on him at the time. If you wish to do so, and to also have his combat help up to that point, you'll need to kill him before killing the final atronach, or afterward but without initiating dialogue with Aesliip again.
• Aesliip is fairly strong, but will take significant damage from the atronachs; you may wish to heal him periodically along the way, with Restore Health on Touch or Target.
• As for most of the NPCs in Bloodmoon, Korst Wind-Eye's dialogue answers will change because of his new location. While he's next to the lake, if you ask him about Skaal, he will answer as if he's not part of them.
• Because of the high number of enemies in Aesliip's Lair, Caverns, the frame rate drops very low in the Xbox version of the game, especially if the player goes accompanied by the Draugr Lord Aesliip.

Bugs

• When receiving this quest from Heart-Fang, make sure to select "prove your strength" and receive the journal entry before speaking to Korst in his hut; otherwise Korst will not appear at the lake to complete the quest (remaining in his hut), and after the werewolf attack in the next quest, will disappear altogether.
  • You can make Korst spawn right where you're standing with the following console command Placeatpc "Korst Wind-Eye",1,20,1. Make sure you type this command when you are at the northern shore of Lake Fjalding. After he spawns, you will be able to continue the quest normally.
  • Even if you select "prove your strength" it can happen that Korst will not move to the lake.
• It can happen that the frost atronachs don't spawn and you are stuck. Setting the journal to stage 80 with console command journal bm_draugr 80 fixes this.
• Very rarely, quest stage 85 won't trigger after Aesliip dies and all the Frost Atronachs have been killed. To fix this input journal bm_draugr 85 into the console. ^?

Quest Stages

The following Journal ID and Index codes can be used with the Journal console command to manually update the quest to a certain point.

The Skaal Test of Strength (BM_Draugr)
Index	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		Having completed a test of wisdom for Tharsten Heart-Fang of the Skaal, I am now to complete a third test--a test of strength.
20		Heart-Fang would like me to travel to Lake Fjalding and speak with Korst Wind-Eye. Wind-Eye will tell me more about what I am required to do. I should be able to find him on the northern shore of the lake.
30		I have found Wind-Eye by the shores of Lake Fjalding. Coming from the center of the lake is a gout of fire, rising through the ice high into the sky.
40		Wind-Eye tells me that Heart-Fang believes that this flame is being created by the Draugr Lord Aesliip, a powerful creature who lives in the caves beneath the ice. Wind-Eye is not certain that this is the case, but would not speak more about it.
50		I am to enter Lake Fjalding and search out the ice caves below. Once there, I should find Aesliip, a powerful Draugr Lord, and kill him.
60		I have found the Draugr Lord Aesliip, and spoken to him. He tells me that he was once a powerful mage of the Skaal people, exiled for his research into the necromantic arts.
62		Aesliip tells me that through his necromancy he learned of a powerful group of Frost Daedra that were planning to take the island of Solstheim for their own. The Skaal would not listen to his warnings, as he was dead to them. Through his magic, Aesliip was able to keep the Frost Daedra at bay.
65		Knowing that eventually his life would end, and the Daedra would escape, Aesliip performed the rituals necessary to make himself one of the undead, and continue to keep the Frost Daedra imprisoned.
67		Aesliip believes that together we might defeat the Daedra. He has asked for my help.
70		I have agreed to fight with Aesliip.
75		I am honor-bound to slaughter Aesliip, and cannot fight with him.
80		Aesliip and I have defeated the last of the Frost Daedra.
85		When the last of the Daedra fell, Aesliip realized that his task was finally complete, and he was relieved of his undead state. Before he died, he gave me a magical ring.
90		Aesliip is dead.
100	Finishes quest	I have returned to Wind-Eye and told him what transpired in the ice caves below Lake Fjalding. He suggests I return to the Skaal village, and he will meet me there later.

Prev: The Skaal Test of Wisdom

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Next: The Siege of the Skaal Village