#ustengrav

[skyrim-dungeon-ratings]

Ustengrav

RATING: 7/10

Sometimes I like to jokingly call a dungeon my ‘wife’. With Ustengrav, it feels very much like she is.

Every time I go to Ustengrav I am delighted and surprised by something I did not notice before. From the little chain I found in a room I’d never touched before that opened up a secret chest room to the fact if you get stuck between the doors when doing the Whirlwind Sprint puzzle there’s chains that open them, or the fact this was my first time taking it slow and doing her legitimately (and discovering her anew as I do) there’s always something to enjoy about Ustengrav.

It’s really one of the dungeons that makes you wonder what this tomb would have been like back then. And yet, come the end of the day, she occupies the same niche as BFB and the Thalmor Embassy; done over and over again. She might not teach as much as BFB, but the shout-puzzles are a good way to coax the player into using them with more frequency.

Also shoutout to the fire jet floor. Really makes you grateful that Light Feet is a perk.

[my-screenshot-dump]

[scribeofskyrim]

Turdas, 7th of Frostfall, 4E 201

Tonight we're in Dragon Bridge, at the Four Shields.

Ustengrav was disappointing, but not a complete waste of time. We set out bright and early, all ready to fight out way through a horde of draugr. Inside, there's a stairwell that goes down a little ways, and then it opens into a large chamber with some pillars. We saw a pair of Necromancers controlling maybe a half dozen dead bandits. The bandits had pickaxes, and were digging at spots along the wall.

Of course, they attacked once they saw us, but it wasn't a hard fight. Taking out the magicians first made it easier. They had a decent amount of loot on them and some supplies, so we were able to load ourselves up with sellable goods before taking a look around.

Turns out there'd been a cave-in at some point, and any tunnels leading further into the tomb were blocked. Those necromancers had the dead bandits digging out the passageway down for them.

Damn.

Well, like I said, it wasn't a complete bust, so we went back to the house to think.

I can't sit still and think to save my life, apparently, so Lydia helped me build some weapon racks for the front of the house. We chatted about what could be done, and she said that I actually had quite a list of things we could do. I couldn't recall many, but she said that it was at least four times that.

I didn't believe her, but then Erandur started listing things off from where he'd been doing some alchemy in the main room. Valdimar joined in - He'd been going over the stitching on his armor at the table - and then Lydia kept going!

I admitted that all right, they had a point, I had a lot I could do. All I had to do was pick one.

Since they apparently remember things better than I do, I asked what they thought might have the best reward while I started loading up my pack with goods for Sayma's.

They said that since we were going to Solitude, we might as well start there. The biggest prize was probably going to come from the Palace itself, and Falk Firebeard did say there were some bandits that needed taken care of in a cave somewhere near Dragon Bridge.

So, once we crossed over to Solitude and finished with our trading, we set off to find the bandits.

I didn't know exactly where they were, just a vague direction, so we spent some time wandering around the mountain where we thought they were. A dragon circled us, but was thankfully focused elsewhere.

We found something that looked like it used to be a shrine, and, at the end of the road, the Thalmor Embassy.

As soon as we realized what it was, we turned around and went back down the mountain. I know Lydia and I didn't leave any survivors at Northwatch Keep, but I don't want to take any chances. There's another road leading to the top, so we'll try that tomorrow.

It started to rain, so even though it's early, we decided to come here and pack it in. No sense getting soaked through, then going up a snowy mountaintop to freeze to death while we try to find a cave.

At least we made out all right with what we got from Ustengrav and the extra books.

I do want to talk with Valdimar, but if it's something upsetting I don't want to do it here with a bunch of people around. Besides, he's clearly having a good time. He and Lydia are regaling Erandur and the other patrons with tales of what we saw in the Dwemer ruins.

I should start paying attention, though, because I know I didn't fight off THAT many Dwarven metal spiders.

---

Back | Next

[helgiafterdark]

[lakeviewcellar]

Horn restored

[kovir]

31 Winter: Outside Ustengrav

[moodcrab]

Fixing Delphine

This bitch.

I actually like that they made a character that is on your side but is somewhat unlikable, Delphine is Team Dragonborn, but she's not really one of the good guys. And that's cool, conflict means drama. So what's the problem? Well unfortunately, this drama is surface level and isn't used to drive the story, so It's kind of just annoying.

People oversimplify their hatred of Delphine into "She wants you to kill Paarthurnax," because unlike Delphine, people actually like Paarthurnax. Understandable, but barely scratches the surface. We'll get to The Paarthurnax Dilemma in time, but that quest is a symptom, not the illness itself.

If I could sum up Delphine in a word it would be "inconsistent." For example, she's a fugitive waging a one woman war on the Thalmor from the shadows, who's only survived this long from sheer paranoia - but she also uses her real name and leaves a note in Ustengrav for whoever happens to pick it up with directions and a pass word to her secret hide out.

She needs to go through her super secret contact Farengar to use the Jarl's resources to go into Bleak Falls Barrow, a tutorial level dungeon she can see from her house, and she's impressed that you did it - but she also goes personally to the other side of the country to delve alone into the massive Ustengrav to steal the Horn of Jurgan Windcaller, no issues, just a quick in and out twenty minute adventure.

She takes the fact that you found her Ustengrav note as proof you're the Greybeard's new guy and not some Thalmor plant even though she herself, a non Dragonborn, had also completed Ustengrav and taken the horn proving it's totally possible. She even points this out in her own dialogue then demands we prove who we are, even though that was the whole point of the Ustengrav note. It's also a pretty big assumption that just because I'm the guy the Greybeards call Dragonborn that I can't ALSO be with the Thalmor.

We are left with this awkward sense that the writers are flailing to make us think this woman is competent and objective, without actually having her do anything that clever. Just act like the dumb thing was smart and have her act like a cocky brat if questioned about it.

Inconsistency. It's her thing. Does she hate the Thalmor? That would make sense given what we know about her. But that gets dropped half way through the main story and suddenly she hates The Greybeards, for absolutely no reason at all. She gives a reason, but it's bullshit.

In her own words, "If the greybeards had their way, the dragonborn would sit on a mountain talking to the sky." But that's not true is it. We know The Greybeards, they encouraged us to fulfill our destiny. Even if you say you want to follow their Way of the Voice, they'll be glad to hear it but warn you not to let it get in the way of what needs to be done. Delphine even uses Tiber Septim as an example, which is even stupider because The Greybeards actively encouraged Tiber to conquer Tamriel. Have I read more in game books than the dialogue writers??

But that's not the end of it, when it becomes convenient for the plot this hatred is flipped once again from The Greybeards onto dragons. Not Alduin. All dragons. Despite the fact that, as a Blade, she should know about Nafaalilargus, a dragon ally of the Empire and the Blades for thousands of years, and the Blades don't just indiscriminately kill all dragons no matter the circumstances, and that Tiber Septim himself almost certainly met Paarthurnax at some point, she suddenly seems to be acting like she has a personal grudge against dragons. Which brings us to the Paarthurnax Dilemma...

See here's the thing, you could easily write off the frustration everyone feels towards this quest as Bethesda's crappy design, where there is no conclusion other than to kill Paarthurnax, or else leave an unfinished quest languishing in the menu. Bethesda apparently didn't consider the idea that anybody would actually prefer to turn on the Blades, even though the Blades have become a bit of a running joke among the fans, or that anyone would take umbrage with Delphine giving out orders and ultimatums.

But no, it's so much worse than that. Delphine being a surly unlikable c u n t from the day we met her is one thing, but the fact that she has been wrong about almost everything she's ever said in game, and still having the AUDACITY to treat us like her work bitch and us never, not once, getting the opportunity to put her in her place... That's not poor quest design, that's the game gaslighting us.

Let's do a quick list of every one of Delphine's theories, and how many were actually correct shall we:

You are not the Dragonborn ❌

The Greybeards shouldn't be trusted to identify a Dragonborn ❌

The dragons aren't just coming back, they're coming back to life ✅

The Thalmor have something to do with the dragons returning ❌

Esbern is dead ❌

The Greybeards just want the Dragonborn to sit on a mountain and meditate ❌

The Greybeards wanted Tiber Septim to just sit on a mountain and meditate ❌

Paarthurnax, having lived in exile for thousands of years, deserves corporal punishment ❌

As ACTING Grand Master of the Blades, she gets to boss around the Dragonborn ❌

She deserves a seat at the peace negotiations ❌

And these are just the things that are factually wrong, leaving aside opinions on her morality and shitty attitude. This is the woman the game presents to us as a shrewd strategist.

BUT I CAN FIX HER!

Like I said I like the idea of a character who is on your side but is somewhat unlikable. It actually won't take much to make Delphine endearing to the fans. We have to do a Boromir on her. A Lot of people dislike Boromir throughout the Fellowship of the Ring but weep at his death. We have to tweak three things to have the same thing happen to Delphine:

1. Make her actually competent and useful so that while we don't agree with her we can see why she does the things she does, and desire to keep her around.

2. Have her mistakes called out and have consequences.

3. Have her redeem her mistakes with a badass honourable death.

[hircines-hunter]

I'll answer the ask you sent me in the morning, but let me ask the same thing back about Sifkni and Roar of a Wolfborn-!!! I remember you've mentioned it has been years so I'd love to know how it began ☺️

Take your time!!!! No rush!!!!

If anyone wants to read the actual fic! Here’s the link!

It’s 46 chapters long. 202k on gdoc and word but 201k on AO3! It is finished! It’s Farkas/OC and there’s some Skjor/OC and mentions of another pairing. :3c

It all started a month after Skyrim came out. And I made Sifkni officially. I was gonna do the Companions and Main Quest like normal. Originally she was to become a werewolf through companions quest. Via Farkas instead of Aela bc she asked him.

But then the Dragonborn DLC came out and there was that werewolf pack. I changed everything. It mostly lived in my head. Her. Her pack. Her and Farkas.

I didn’t start writing about her until 2014 (I may rewrite the thing?) it’s a short 6 chapter fic from when her mother passed to the final attack on her pack before canon events. (I may be willing to share but it’s poorly written and 10 years old.)

And the roar of a wolfborn that has been finished is technically the 3rd draft! I started to write Roaw at the same time as her other fic in 2014 as well.

Because of the pack I made her born a wolf. And the first draft Sifkni and Farkas take it a lot slower than the 3rd draft. Like a lot slower. Lol. Sifkni mourned her husband. More. She had more… moments where she would talk super fondly and then start crying.

Farkas was down bad. Like worse than the latest draft. Trust me. He had it so bad. Vilkas had to be like dude calm tf down my brother.

Sifkni also was Asexual af in the original. I’m not sure what happened btwn then and now. But yeah.

I started the 2nd draft in 2023 going thru editing and tweaking and fixing and writing newer chapters. Before I finally jumped the gun , deleted the old version and started the new one. This time I decided to add the past events into the main fic (I found most people didn’t want to read the prequel). I added more nightmares. More mourning. More crying and changed a Lot! From what happened in the pack to how she reacts and remembers . To how the actual plot goes. I never intended for a lot of what happened to happen. The dragon attack that had her stuck in jorrvaskr for 2 months. Thats where a lot of her bonding with Farkas happens. Btwn ustengrav and the dragon. I never intended for them to ever get married. But… that happened. I never intended for later events to happen.

And saving skjor!?? Man that’s probably the biggest change I still have the old draft with Skjor’s death and the aftermath lol 😂

I never imagined I would ever finish it too I am so very proud of what I wrote! And that’s it’s finished!

But, yeah….. Sifkni has been through a lot from day 1 up til 13 years later….. and I am

But yeah… that is Sifkni. Her origins. And the journey to the ending.

And now I get to work on the Sequel. Which is all new. I’ve never planned or plotted this. It is mostly going to be a lot shorter than roaw. But it’s also the means for Sifkni to peacefully pass onto the Hunting Grounds! >:3c there will be a lot of reopening of old wounds. We get to meet her pack again! And Hircine will be there!

[powdermelonkeg]

Okay, time to buckle down and finish up Cirinel. I've been stumbling over her for over a year now and I am GOING to make this deadline if it kills me.

Need to polish up her lines. And I need a kick to help me do it.

SO! *claps hands*

[blockedragon]

So the trip to Morthal was interesting...

Lucien got ambushed on our first day by a Voriplasm while I was looking for ingredients. One quickly became like ten as they started splitting like the Minecraft slimes.

Then on the way back from Ustengrav we got our shit absolutely rocked by an Indrik. This again! Damn thing ran away before we could finish it off...

Then Morthal got its shit rocked by an Indrik! Possibly the same one as before, back for revenge. The call of an elk now scares me shitless, I'm always worried that these technicolor nightmares are lurking just around the corner. It killed Hroggar, and also took out Jorgen along the way. I felt bad for them.. But not bad enough to not loot the housekeys.

This town just can't catch a break!

[thesaddestsadboi]

Entry Four: Horn of Jurgen Windcaller

Alright, feet, time to get up and get a move on! Upon waking up, there was a scrap of paper flying about in the wind. After looking like an idiot for five minutes, I finally caught ahold of it. It looked to be a page from a journal detailing something called Aethernautics. I would have to look into this later. My pile of quests were starting to pile up and I had no idea when I'd be able to deal with it all.

We had gotten back to Riften a few hours later and I was stopped by a courier, who gave me three letters. One from a Mandyn Hlaalu requiring my assistance in Riverwood. The second from Jarl Siddgeir of Falkreath, asking for my aid. And the last was an unsigned letter asking for me in Winterhold. Looks like word spreads quickly of my title of Dragonborn.

Anyway, back to the task at hand. My party and I spoke with the carriage driver and made our way over to Morthal, as it seemed to be close to Ustengrav. Inside were your typical bandits and draugr. The bandits and necromancers were easily overwhelmed by the undead, serves them right, honestly.

Continuing through Ustengrav, there was a familiar wall structure inside with the dragon tongue written on it. I absorbed the knowledge of the word of power, like I have done in the past and we went along on our journey.

There was some sort of speed puzzle across the bridge. Seemed simple enough, thanks to my Whirlwind Sprint shout. As I passed each of the stones, they glowed a brilliant red color. Just as I ran through the last stone, I shouted and made it through the gates before they closed. When finally on the other side, all three gates opened back up to allow my companions a way through.

We were finally at the end when we found no horn, but a sword. My party grumbled about stinking of draugr for days and no horn to show for it. I could hardly blame them, as I was also peeved at the absence of the Horn.

In the palm of the hand was a note from a mysterious writer, claiming to have the Horn. It would take all of my power to not shove my swords into the spine of whoever made us waste all this time.

With our mood severely dampened, we made our way back over to Riverwood, like the note directed. On our way to the inn, we were stopped by two cultists who attacked us.

Once dead, I looted their corpse and found a note, asking for my death in the name of their leader, Miraak.

Apparently, they came from a place called Solstheim, which is an island north of Morrowind, if I recall correctly. I would have to speak to the captain of this Northern Maiden and find out more later. After all, I'm already on a quest. I don't need to juggle this on top of the journey I'm already on.

Inside the Sleeping Giant Inn, I spoke with the innkeeper, asking for the attic room as discussed in the note. Apparently, there was no attic room, which made my blood boil even more. Was this "friend" just here to waste my time?

In the room directed to me, the innkeeper had followed me inside. Turns out, she was the "friend" discussed in the note. I reached for my blade, but stopped. What good would come of killing her? She clearly has information I need and she could prove useful.

She told me to follow her, then close the door. After following her directions, she open a secret passage being a wardrobe. Clever, yet paranoid. I shook my head and followed her down the steps.

Once down the steps, that was when she dropped important information onto me. Not only were dragons returning, they were coming back to life. At first, it seemed like a silly idea. But, she explained to me that she was looking at, now empty, dragon burial sites. What other answer would explain their burial sites being empty?

She said our next stop was Kynesgrove, but I had to finally deliver the Horn to the Greybeards. After all, they were my teachers. They were the ones who could teach me more about my abilities. So they were of higher importance to me.

The journey was long, but we had finally made it back to High Hrothgar. Our feet were killing us after the long trek up the mountain again. When inside, I gave the Horn back to the Greybeards. Gods only know what they were going to do with it.

They taught me the final word of power: Dah, for my Unrelenting Force shout. I knew this would come in handy and would be a go-to in my arsenal. Arngier then told me they would speak to me in the dragon tongue.

They did as they said and once done, they seemed surprised. Arngier mentioned that not many could take the combined force of their voices. As for why they'd shout at me, thinking it would kill or injure me, I have no clue. Now I was officially Dragonborn in the eyes of the Greybeards.

Now to prove it to Delphine....

The journey to Kynesgrove was a long one. We had made our way back to Riften and caught a carriage over to Windhelm as that was the closest city to the small village.

Once there, there was a familiar sight. A black and red dragon overhead. I got flashes of the sight at Helgen and I grew worried. Was this dragon going to burn down this village too?

I finally caught up with Delphine and the two of us witnessed the dark dragon raise another dragon from the dead. Great! A necromancer dragon! All we needed....

Sahloknir was the dragon's name, according to the other dragon. We had to kill it before it lay waste to the village below. I rushed out and began attacking it, as the other dragon flew off. Delphine and my party were right at my heels as my blade made contact with the dragon. It had almost slaughtered us, but we were able to put the flying lizard down, hopefully for good.

Upon its death, I sucked up its soul, with Delphine standing there with her mouth agape. She was finally ready to answer all my questions.

Apparently, she was one of the last members of the Blades still alive. I should have guessed, due to all the Akaviri weapons in her hidden room. And a copy of The Rise and Fall of the Blades on the small table. Now that I'm thinking about it, it was obvious from the start.

Her theory was that the Thalmor were behind the dragons coming back. She seemed so sure of it, but I wasn't really following. It would make no sense as there was no proof. Even Xelzaz agreed. This led her to her next task.

We had to get inside the Thalmor Embassy. How we'd do that is a mystery to me, but she said she'd get in under control. She just needed time.

Time was something I've wanted since I was approached by the Companions woman. I needed this time to get stronger and face these dragons. I'm sure Delphine would send word for me once she was ready. So until then, my next priority was the Companions. Something told me that they'd be my way of getting physically stronger.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: Hello everyone! Thanks for reading, I greatly appreciate those who do! This one was a small one due to being the conclusion of Act 1 of the Main Quest. As mentioned above, I will be completing the Companions questline next!

Also, sorry for my lack of posting the last two days. Tuesday was just an off day for me. And Wednesday was my partner's birthday, so we went out and celebrated.

[my-screenshot-dump]

[scribeofskyrim]

Middas, 6th of Frostfall, 4E 201

All right, there's definitely something up with Valdimar. Lydia and I are sure of it. But I'll get to that later.

First, the mine was a bust, but at least I got some lumber ordered and we discovered something interesting nearby.

More like re-discovered.

Not too far from the house is a ruin next to a campsite, with two dead bandits laying around. I know we stopped by it before, but we were on our way somewhere and just took a moment to loot the bodies before we went on our way.

It was right in our path from the mine to the house, so of course I peeked at it again. I didn't open the door, but as I looked around I heard Lydia ask the others if they heard gears turning. She swore she could hear gears turning.

I shot her a look and pointed out a simple fact that's been gnawing at my brain for the past few days.

We're getting short on gold.

Now, we're not as short as we've been, not by a long shot! Besides, I still haven't been to Sayma's to sell off all the extra books I have or some of the random gems and stuff I've picked up.

But we are running low, and I can't believe I'm saying that when I still have over two thousand septims on me.

We had more before we started running around in Windhelm. A lot more.

I don't regret solving the murders, but staying at Candlehearth Hall for as long as we did and ordering most of our meals put a dent in our funds.

Lydia said she knew that, and was just waiting for me to catch up.

I have a sneaking suspicion she knows exactly how much gold I have in my bag.

Valdimar cut in and said the ruins were called Ustengrav. He'd grown up hearing legends about it, and promised to fill us all in once we got back here. It was getting late, and we were all getting hungry, anyway.

I'd managed to get a few deer while we were running around, so I made us some venison stew while Valdimar told us about Ustengrav.

There's not much to it, really. Ustengrav doesn't look like much, but it's the burial place of Jurgen Windcaller, one of the most powerful Tongues of his era, founder of the Greybeads and builder of High Hrothgar. It's clearly fallen into disrepair, and now bandits occasionally use the tomb as a hideout.

I was curious about Tongues, so while we ate Lydia explained that most people have the ability to learn Shouts and therefore become Tongues. Nords in particular try to because they believe that their voice and their breath are their "life essence". Valdimar said this was because the Nords believe Kyne (Kynareth) breathed them into existence at the top of the Throat of the World.

I had no idea! No wonder Nords value Bards so much.

But this is where it gets interesting.

Erandur laughed a bit, and said something like, "So, as the Dunmer were born from the ash and fire on Red Mountain, you Nords came from the wind and ice on Mount Hrothgar."

I thought that was a little poetic, and said as much. Lydia nodded and hummed with approval into her mug of ale, but Valdimar was quiet. He and Erandur were sitting next to each other.

He was staring at Erandur like he'd suddenly grown antlers.

Erandur must've felt him staring, and turned to look at Valdimar. He looked uncomfortable at being stared at so hard (Anyone would. Valdimar has dark eyes, and they can be a little… Intense) but all he could do was ask, "What?"

Valdimar said, very slowly, that he'd said almost the exact same thing, a long time ago. He kept staring, and Erandur kept shifting in his seat. I shot Lydia a look to make sure she was seeing this.

I'll admit, I don't know what we were seeing, but we were seeing something!

Erandur looked like he wanted to pull his hood over his head (I'd convinced him to push it back, but he absolutely refused to take off his scarf) but he managed to ask, "And?"

Valdimar gave him a big, warm smile - The first normal Valdimar Thing he'd done in this little exchange - and said that he was glad someone else had made the connection! He gave Erandur a little nudge with his mug like he does sometimes. Erandur did his nervous laugh and said, "Of course."

I could tell Erandur was struggling with the situation (whatever it was), so I asked Lydia if she would help me carry some buckets of water to the cellar for a bath. I smelled like the swamp water we'd been swimming through, and I didn't want to get that smell on my sheets.

That seemed to break the spell. She agreed to help, Valdimar said he'd take care of the dishes, and Erandur excused himself to do his evening prayers.

Obviously we talked once we were in the cellar - Lydia washed up, too - but we couldn't figure out what was going on. We feel like it has something to do with the College of Winterhold, though. Or maybe not the College itself, it might be just Winterhold, but still. Something BIG happened in Valdimar's past, I just know it!

I just need to figure out how to make him talk.

---

Back | Next

[helgiafterdark]

hjaalmarch

[arlathen]

bleak falls barrow i can run through in like ten minutes. you know what main quest dungeon i NEVER have the stamina for? fucking ustengrav.

[forta-ver]

On today's adventures in Skyrim: decided I was NOT going to tromp through the entire inner workings of the Ustengrav Depths. Again.

I was going to take a shortcut!

This is so absurd:

Wish I'd taken a clip of this fucker sliding ever-so-slowly down the side of the pillar.

If I'd had any sense, I'd've started from the left side of the pillar, instead of risking the idiot falling to their death shimmying along from the right.

Anyways. Survival mode is going great. Thanks for asking.