Skyrim:Ragnvald

Nordic Ruin: Ragnvald (view on map) (lore page)
# of Zones	3
Clearable	Yes
Dungeon	Yes
Respawn Time	Never (storage is safe)
Level	Min: 24
Occupants
Draugr, Otar the Mad
Important Treasure
Mystery of Talara, v 2 Otar Staff of the Storm Wall
Console Location Code(s)
RagnvaldExterior01, RagnvaldExterior02, RagnvaldExterior03, RagnvaldExterior04, RagnvaldExterior05, Ragnvald01, Ragnvald02, Ragnvald03
Region
The Reach
Location
North of Markarth South-southwest of Bthardamz
Special Features
Word Wall	Kyne's Peace
# of Arcane Enchanters	1

Ragnvald

Ragnvald is a medium-sized Nordic ruin north of Markarth containing draugr and the dragon priest Otar the Mad. It contains three zones: Ragnvald Temple, Ragnvald Crypts, and Ragnvald Canal.

Its word wall teaches part of the Kyne's Peace dragon shout.

Related Quests

• Ragnvald: Discover the secrets of Ragnvald.
• Alteration Ritual Spell: Acquire Kahvozein's Fang and use it to get heartscales from a dragon for Tolfdir. (radiant)

• This location is one of many potential targets for one or more of the Radiant quests.

Walkthrough

Exterior

Two leveled draugr roam the steps before the entrance: one archer and one melee fighter. Other than a few scattered ingredient-bearing plants, the only thing of note here is the body of a dead Orc bandit hidden in a shrub to the left of and behind the entrance. A small coin purse and two loose septims lie on the ground next to him. There are also at least three more hidden loose septims scattered around this area, so check the ground thoroughly.

Ragnvald Temple

The first chamber contains a stone table with a dead draugr and a random poison on top, and a burial urn on the ground beside the table. The ceiling has large holes in it and the sky is visible, but it is not possible to fast-travel from here. The only exit corridor leads downward before doubling back, passing a dead end with a dead draugr, another random poison, and an empty random soul gem on the ground, then ending at a T-junction. To the right, the corridor quickly ends at an unlocked chest. To the left, the path enters a narrow passage. This again doubles back as it descends.

As you follow it, you will hear a swinging blades trap somewhere ahead. After a couple turns, the corridor leads to a doorway and a bridge into a large, complex open chamber. This is where you will find the first substantial opposition: two boss-level draugr, one on a platform on the far side of the bridge, and the other below the bridge, with wooden stairs leading up on your right to the platform. There is an oil slick with an oil lantern hanging over it on the central platform, which you can use to your advantage. From the platform on the far side of the bridge, it is easy to see that there are several separate lower levels. There are several patches of fly amanita fungus in the chamber on both the upper platform and the lower level, and several hanging moss growing throughout the ruins. On your right, by the top of the stairs, are two large urns, with another at the bottom. Descending the stairs brings you to a stone table with a potion of health and an iron helmet on top. To either side of this table are a total of three sets of shelves holding several ruined books, a bowl each of ectoplasm, fire salts, and void salts, and a burial urn. To the south are two small alcoves; the left of these contains an unlocked chest and a potion of minor healing. Opposite this is a doorway to a passage with the swinging blades trap you could hear previously, a dead draugr that appears to have been killed by the trap, and at the far end, a small room containing another unlocked chest, a random potion of healing, a lever that stops the blades, and just out of sight, an upright sarcophagus containing a slumbering draugr that will awaken as soon as you enter the room.

From the platform, to the south is another flight of wooden stairs leading down, but this small area is completely empty. Just past these stairs is a stone bridge that crosses to the south to another raised section, with another urn on the central platform opposite this bridge. There is another oil slick on the far side of the bridge and two doors: a wooden one which is barred from the other side, and an iron one that takes you to Ragnvald Crypts. Heading across a pair of stone bridges to the north will take you to a wooden door, which is also barred from the other side. However, beneath this door and guarded by a third boss-level draugr is an iron door that leads into Ragnvald Canal.

Otar the Mad rises

At the western end of the central platform are stairs that descend to the main lower level that includes the access door to the Canal. In front of the base of the stairs is a sarcophagus with two large locks clamping it closed; this sarcophagus contains the remains of the dragon priest Otar the Mad, with the locks preventing his escape. Behind his sarcophagus are stairs leading up to raised spears blocking access beyond. As you approach the spears, you will be able to hear the music for the word wall and see a boss chest. There are numerous large urns and burial urns in this area, while to the north, on a broken sideboard, is an unlocked chest and a leveled potion of healing, and farther back to the northeast are three empty sets of shelves with a sideboard between two of them holding a random potion and an empty random soul gem.

To gain access to the chamber beyond the barred archway, you must insert Saerek's skull key, found in Ragnvald Crypts, and Torsten's skull key, found in Ragnvald Canal, into the slots in the sarcophagus, retracting the spears and releasing Otar the Mad. Resistance to lightning magic is a definite boon when battling him. After defeating him, be sure to loot his ash pile for his mask and lightning staff. The chamber behind Otar's sarcophagus contains a word wall for the Kyne's Peace shout, as well as a boss chest; to the right among the cave-in is an apprentice-locked chest in the northwest corner, while a dead draugr that can be looted is farther to the east. Before you leave, don't forget to remove the two skull keys from Otar's sarcophagus, as they are worth a fair bit of gold. After finishing your exploration, exit back the way you entered, as there is no shortcut.

Note: You can forgo getting the skull keys to open the sarcophagus by setting a fire rune as close to the edge of it as you can. This will activate and damage Otar, causing him to explode out of the tomb and start attacking you.

Ragnvald Crypts

Ragnvald Crypts begins with a small room containing a black sarcophagus that appears inert, guarded by a single draugr. There are several more urns, burial urns, and sets of shelves holding a few food sacks around the room. Opposite the inert sarcophagus is a stone table holding two minor potions of healing. Two parallel passages lead out of this room. Notice that above the sarcophagus on the wall ledge, there is a burial urn that may appear to glow purple. You can reach that ledge with a single word of Whirlwind Sprint, but the urn appears to be empty. Of the two passages, the one to the left has four poison dart traps triggered by four successive pressure plates, but since the traps aim not at the plates but in front of them, pausing directly on each plate until the darts are exhausted allows safe passage. The passage on the right has no traps. Both end in a standard burial chamber lined with wall slots for remains. Following the crypt down, the first turn to the left will see three lower-level draugr and a boss-level draugr revive and attack you. The passage curves right and then left, leading past a large urn on the right and a draugr in an alcove on the left who will revive. After more turns, the corridor ends on the lower level of a medium-sized room with an upper level, with another boss-level draugr near the entrance. There is a chest in an alcove at the opposite end of this room; be sure to disengage the apprentice-level trap on the right-hand side of the chest before opening, or avoid the spear trap that shoots from the floor. Also watch out for a lower-level draugr wandering around the upper level of the room. A copy of the Restoration skill book Mystery of Talara, v 2 sits on the ledge behind the trapped chest.

A staircase ascending to the upper level of the room is found on the right. From here, it is possible to go either left into another large room, or right across a bridge you passed under earlier and into a passageway that leads back to Ragnvald Temple. The large room on the left has the skull key on a trapped pedestal in the middle, which will raise the draugr slumbering in all three sarcophagi: a large black sarcophagus at the far end of the room contains Guardian Saerek, and two other sarcophagi are on balconies to either side. It is possible to avoid this obvious trap by casting fire rune spells at each of the sarcophagi and fighting each of the occupants individually, with the rear door still open for a retreat if necessary. Once complete, the skull key can be removed in safety. Be sure to take Saerek's leveled two-handed weapon. There is an unlocked chest to the right of Saerek's sarcophagus, and various burial urns and urns around the room and on the balconies. Also on the left-hand balcony by the sarcophagus is a leveled potion of magicka.

Ragnvald Canal

This is another complex space, with the floor covered in water and several draugr with a bit more fight in them than any encountered before: one will attempt to summon a frost atronach. To the left of where you enter, where the first draugr is standing, is a stone table holding a random healing potion and random empty soul gem, with a set of shelves beside it holding a random potion. Once the draugr are defeated, proceed to the left and ahead, keeping an eye on the bridges higher up in the room to shoot any draugr passing over them. Past the wooden bridge over the water, there is an unlocked chest with a dead draugr lying next to it in a dead-end room to the right. To the left and forward, progress appears to be blocked by a raised bridge. To your right is a sideboard with a large urn and a salt pile on top. The lever to lower the bridge is found on the floor a bit farther to the left, or simply circumvented. The black iron door behind the lever is trapped by an expert-level tension cable on the bottom left of the door, which triggers a flamethrower statue trap; disarm the trap, or just wait for it to burn out. The dead-end room behind the door features an unlocked chest with a moderate amount of loot and a couple of sets of shelves, one of which has a bowl of bone meal next to some food sacks. Once across the lowered bridge, you pass some urns and a set of shelves holding another salt pile before exiting to the south.

Continuing to follow the passages leads you to a chamber with the second skull key, this one on a platform with a bridge running to it and another leading off to the left, with stairs leading to the lower level on the opposite side. At the far end of the chamber is a large black sarcophagus, the resting place of Guardian Torsten, flanked by two others on raised balconies. This trap can be dismantled in the same way the previous one was. There is an unlocked chest to the right of Guardian Torsten's sarcophagus, and several urns and burial urns are around the room. Take the second skull key and return to the main chamber via the bridge leading east. The path leads through the main chamber on a higher walkway; continue straight across to a dead end with a novice-locked chest and a random potion of stamina beside it. Be careful not to set off the swinging blades trap by stepping on the pressure plate at the start of the passage, immediately after exiting the main chamber a second time. Along the way back to Ragnvald Temple, there is an arcane enchanter with a random potion of healing and a random filled soul gem on top, and opposite, another set of shelves holding a novice-locked chest and another empty random soul gem.

Notes

• The two draugr outside Ragnvald will respawn every 10 days.
• Ragnvald also appears in ESO as Ragnvald Ritual Site.

Bugs

• Using Unrelenting Force or placing a rune near or on the sarcophagus will make Otar the Mad jump out even if the locks are still in place.
• If you return to Ragnvald after completing the dungeon and killing Otar, it is possible to find his intact corpse behind the boss chest on the pile of rubble. ^?
• It is possible for followers to be killed instantly by the swinging blades trap in the upper passage from Ragnvald Canal back to Ragnvald Temple. ^?