Elder Scrolls-A Blade in the Dark

Elder Scrolls-A Blade in the Dark

A Blade in the Dark

Quest Giver	Delphine (Sleeping Giant Inn)
Location	Kynesgrove Dragon Burial Ground
Prerequisite	The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller
Next Quest	Diplomatic Immunity
Reward	Random Dragon encounters
Faction	Blades
Type	Main Quest
QuestID	MQ106

A Blade in the Dark is a quest available in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Background

Delphine believes that dragons are coming back to life and the next one will resurrect near the town of Kynesgrove. Once I’ve convinced her that I’m dragonborn by killing the dragon, she promises to explain who she is and what she wants with me.

Quick walkthrough

Talk to Delphine
Locate the dragon burial site
Kill the Dragon, Sahloknir
Return to Delphine

Walkthrough

Delphine

Talk to Delphine, she will explain that Dragons are coming back to life. The Dragonborn is then asked to prove that they are indeed Dragonborn by killing a dragon. She believes that the next dragon to come back to life will do so east of the town of Kynesgrove. She will then give the choice to either travel to Kynesgrove together or go there alone.

Sahloknir

Upon reaching Kynesgrove, Alduin will be hovering over the grave. Alduin is performing an act to bring a dragon back to life. Alduin cannot be killed at this time. Once he is finished, the dragon Sahloknir will arise from the grave site. Sahloknir needs to be killed. This will be a tough fight; use ranged attacks when possible, and try to use flank and rear attacks when the dragon lands.

A follower, along with Delphine will be useful for distracting Sahloknir. This fight can be made easier by attacking Sahloknir before he has been fully revived by Alduin. This way his life can be reduced before he’s able to fight back. Sahloknir and Alduin are supposed to engage in a lengthy conversation, even addressing the Dragonborn themselves before combat occurs, and rushing in to combat will cause this dialogue to be skipped.

After killing Sahloknir, loot his body. Then talk to Delphine. The Diplomatic Immunity quest will begin, requiring the Dragonborn to go with her back to the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood.

Resurrection dialogue

Alduin: “Sahloknir, ziil gro dovah ulse!” (Sahloknir, I bind your dragon spirit for eternity!)
Alduin: “Slen tiid vo!” (Flesh Time Undo!)
Sahloknir: “Alduin, thuri! Boaan tiid vokriiha suleyksejun kruziik?” (Alduin, my lord! The ancient undead rising again?)
Alduin: “Geh, Sahloknir, kaali mir.” (Yes, Sahloknir, the Allegiance of Champions.)
Alduin: “Ful, losei Dovahkiin? Zu’u koraav nid nol dov do hi.” (So, you’re the Dragonborn? Your voice shines not from Dragonkind, but from yourself)
Alduin: “You do not even know our tongue, do you? Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah.”
Alduin: “Sahloknir, krii daar joorre.” (Sahloknir, slay the mortals)

Gallery

Delphine watches as Sahloknir is resurrected by Alduin

Delphine and the Dragonborn fight Sahloknir

Add a photo to this gallery

Trivia

If the Dragonborn does not immediately return to the Sleeping Giant Inn with Delphine, then she will wait in the Bannered Mare in Whiterun until they return to Riverwood.
The name of this quest may be a reference to the quest A Knife in the Dark from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and a play on those words, or a reference to the eleventh chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring (by JRR Tolkien) “A knife in the dark”.

Bugs


Sometimes, while venturing to Kynesgrove, hostile actions towards non-hostile NPC’s will result in Delphine attacking the player. Sheathing your weapon will not solve this. Solution: Reload a previous save or use Voice of the Emperor, which is only a temporary solution applicable to Imperials. After Sahloknir is killed, Delphine may only have the dialogue options “What’s so important about me being Dragonborn?” and “Who are the Thalmor?”. Allowing Sahloknir and Alduin to talk to each other, and the objective “Locate the dragon burial site” to complete, and parting ways with followers may solve this issue. If you use the Unrelenting Force on her she may become hostile. Simply loading a previous save will fix this.. If you accidentally attack Delphine, she may become hostile. You can leave her and go somewhere else, but when you arrive at the Kynesgrove burial mound, she may still be hostile and may attack you while you are fighting Sahloknir, yielding (sheathing your weapons) could fix the problem. She may also become hostile to followers who damage her. If you attack someone (a guard, for instance), you may have a bounty. Try going back to the place where you have your bounty and either pay it off or serve your time. This should fix the problem. If you’re lucky enough to have a high level Calm-type spell, she can be immediately defused and will act normal again. Otherwise, she may kill your follower if she is capable. 360 Sometimes if you use the Unrelenting Force shout on Alduin during the quest and hide behind Delphine, he may actually aim his shout at Delphine killing her and making the quest impossible to complete. If Sahloknir is killed while hovering in midair, occasionally it will continue to do so, with its name but no health bar, not attacking but randomly speaking. Shooting arrows/magic into it will reward the player with experience but won’t have any other effects. This bug can be fixed by going back to the last save point (if that was before this bug occurred). If the player comes across Delphine’s repeated dialogue bug after killing the dragon, the following things may allow the player to proceed: Make sure you’ve spoken to the Greybeards and learned the final part of the “Unrelenting Force” shout; Make sure you’ve learned the “Become Ethereal” shout, from near the waterfall in Ustengrav (not that far from the 3 stones which activate the gates) Make sure you’ve activated what you learned by clicking on the altar at the end. After doing all these steps, go back to Delphine. A new dragon should have just been killed and be disintegrating for you to collect the soul. With Delphine’s speech restored, the questline continues. If the above doesn’t fix Delphine’s repeated dialogue bug, try the following (PC fix ONLY), and only as a LAST option. Use console commands `setstage MQ106 200` to complete the quest. Then use the command `MQ201 10` to start the next quest by talking to Delphine. Sahloknir is supposed to crawl out of his burial site as a skeleton. Once Alduin finishes his speech, skin forms around Sahloknir making him complete. There are times when Sahloknir will crawl out of his grave already with skin. When this bug occurs, the visual effects around the grave may also be missing. This can be fixed by avoiding Kynesgrove and going straight to the burial site. When you reach the burial site you will see 2 dead Stormcloak soldiers floating in mid-air. On some occasions, Sahloknir may come out of his grave as a Skeletal Dragon, and his skin will not appear, nor will he become hostile. If this occurs, you can stand right in front of him and he will simply glare and think angry thoughts at the player. If the player starts this quest but does not progress no dragons will appear for wild encounters though dragons at word walls will still be there. Confirmed on all platforms.

Sometimes, while venturing to Kynesgrove, hostile actions towards non-hostile NPC’s will result in Delphine attacking the player. Sheathing your weapon will not solve this.
- Solution: Reload a previous save or use Voice of the Emperor, which is only a temporary solution applicable to Imperials.
After Sahloknir is killed, Delphine may only have the dialogue options “What’s so important about me being Dragonborn?” and “Who are the Thalmor?”.
- Allowing Sahloknir and Alduin to talk to each other, and the objective “Locate the dragon burial site” to complete, and parting ways with followers may solve this issue.
- If you use the Unrelenting Force on her she may become hostile. Simply loading a previous save will fix this..
- If you accidentally attack Delphine, she may become hostile. You can leave her and go somewhere else, but when you arrive at the Kynesgrove burial mound, she may still be hostile and may attack you while you are fighting Sahloknir, yielding (sheathing your weapons) could fix the problem. She may also become hostile to followers who damage her. If you attack someone (a guard, for instance), you may have a bounty. Try going back to the place where you have your bounty and either pay it off or serve your time. This should fix the problem. If you’re lucky enough to have a high level Calm-type spell, she can be immediately defused and will act normal again. Otherwise, she may kill your follower if she is capable.
360 Sometimes if you use the Unrelenting Force shout on Alduin during the quest and hide behind Delphine, he may actually aim his shout at Delphine killing her and making the quest impossible to complete.
If Sahloknir is killed while hovering in midair, occasionally it will continue to do so, with its name but no health bar, not attacking but randomly speaking. Shooting arrows/magic into it will reward the player with experience but won’t have any other effects. This bug can be fixed by going back to the last save point (if that was before this bug occurred).
If the player comes across Delphine’s repeated dialogue bug after killing the dragon, the following things may allow the player to proceed:
1. Make sure you’ve spoken to the Greybeards and learned the final part of the “Unrelenting Force” shout;
2. Make sure you’ve learned the “Become Ethereal” shout, from near the waterfall in Ustengrav (not that far from the 3 stones which activate the gates)
3. Make sure you’ve activated what you learned by clicking on the altar at the end.

After doing all these steps, go back to Delphine. A new dragon should have just been killed and be disintegrating for you to collect the soul. With Delphine’s speech restored, the questline continues.

If the above doesn’t fix Delphine’s repeated dialogue bug, try the following (PC fix ONLY), and only as a LAST option. Use console commands setstage MQ106 200 to complete the quest. Then use the command MQ201 10 to start the next quest by talking to Delphine.
Sahloknir is supposed to crawl out of his burial site as a skeleton. Once Alduin finishes his speech, skin forms around Sahloknir making him complete. There are times when Sahloknir will crawl out of his grave already with skin. When this bug occurs, the visual effects around the grave may also be missing. This can be fixed by avoiding Kynesgrove and going straight to the burial site.
When you reach the burial site you will see 2 dead Stormcloak soldiers floating in mid-air.
On some occasions, Sahloknir may come out of his grave as a Skeletal Dragon, and his skin will not appear, nor will he become hostile. If this occurs, you can stand right in front of him and he will simply glare and think angry thoughts at the player.
If the player starts this quest but does not progress no dragons will appear for wild encounters though dragons at word walls will still be there. Confirmed on all platforms.

Skyrim Main Quests
Act I	Unbound • Before the Storm • Bleak Falls Barrow • Dragon Rising • The Way of the Voice The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller
Act II	A Blade in the Dark • Diplomatic Immunity • A Cornered Rat • Alduin’s Wall • The Throat of the World Elder Knowledge • Alduin’s Bane
Act III	Season Unending • The Fallen • Paarthurnax • The World-Eater’s Eyrie • Sovngarde Dragonslayer • Epilogue