The Tower of Mzark is a Dwemer ruin whose top pokes out of the ground south of Dawnstar and east of Stonehill Bluff. The iron gate on the surface is locked, though, and only opens from the inside. The real way in lies in the far south-southwest corner of Blackreach, the vast cavern beneath Skyrim. Inside waits the oculory that holds the Elder Scroll you need to learn Dragonrend – no pressure.
What you’ll find
- A first room with tables, shelves and a bedroll, where a Grand Soul Gem, a Dwarven Helmet and an Elixir of Strength are lying around.
- The oculory chamber, where a Blank Lexicon and a series of buttons control the machine holding the Elder Scroll.
- The skeleton of Drokt, with his journal on the floor beside it.
- A lift to the surface that leads to a small camp outside the tower, with iron weapons and gauntlets in a tent and a few chests and knapsacks.
- Ingredients inside, such as charred skeever hide, a glowing mushroom, pine thrush eggs, spriggan sap, a thistle branch plus an apothecary’s satchel; two snowberry plants grow by the camp outside.
Quests
- Elder Knowledge – the Elder Scroll (Dragon) sits in the oculory here.
- Discerning the Transmundane – Septimus Signus gives you the Attunement Sphere that opens the way into Blackreach, and asks you to fill his lexicon here.
- Scroll Scouting and Seeking Disclosure (Dawnguard) also lead here.
Puzzle solution
- Place the Blank Lexicon in its receptacle. The two right-hand buttons unlock.
- Press the second button from the right four times, letting the machine finish moving each time.
- Press the second button from the left (now unlocked) twice.
- Press the leftmost button once.
Then take both the Elder Scroll and the Runed Lexicon.
Notable items
- Elder Scroll (Dragon) and the Runed Lexicon.
- The Armorer’s Challenge (Smithing skill book) on a table in the western corner of the first room.
- Journal of Drokt, with a clue to the puzzle.
Tips
The quest marker always sends you through Alftand, but Raldbthar and Mzinchaleft also lead into Blackreach. On later trips, the Great Lift at Raldbthar is the entrance closest to the tower. Always take the Runed Lexicon out of the receptacle, or the tower may not show up on your map. Loot carefully: nothing inside respawns.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Heljarchen Hall, Stonehill Bluff, Blizzard Rest, Fort Dunstad, Weynon Stones.
Location data (hold, map position, editor ID) read from the Skyrim game files; details checked against community wiki articles and summarised in our own words.