Black Book: Untold Legends is one of the Black Book quests in the Dragonborn DLC. Reading the book drops you into Apocrypha, Hermaeus Mora’s endless library, where you have to dig out the knowledge hidden inside. The book itself rests in Benkongerike on Solstheim, and there is no quest giver – the Black Book is the quest giver.
How to start
Travel to Benkongerike, find the Black Book: Untold Legends and read it. You are pulled into Apocrypha immediately and the quest begins. Reading the book again at any point sends you back to where you started in Solstheim.
Walkthrough
Chapter I and II
Walk ahead from the arrival point and step into Chapter II. Its second section is guarded by a single Lurker and splits into two paths: Chapter III lies to the north, Chapter IV to the south.
Chapter III (optional)
This is a side room with one Seeker and a stash of loot, often a Conjuration spell tome plus some random books. Grab what you want, then head back to Chapter II and take the other path.
Chapter IV – the scrye puzzle
Chapter IV is a large chamber with a cage in the middle and seven alcoves around it. A few Seekers patrol here, and there are skill books lying around. Four of the alcoves hold Fonts of Magicka and Stamina along with pods of random treasure, mostly books. To get through, open the gates in this order:
- Activate the scrye in the middle-right alcove. This opens a gate to a second scrye.
- Use that scrye to open the middle-left alcove, then activate the scrye inside it.
- The central cage now opens. Use the scrye in the centre to unlock the final alcove.
- The last alcove holds a treasure vessel and the book that takes you to Chapter V.
Chapter V – the curving hallway
The final chapter looks like a simple straight corridor leading to the book, but Apocrypha does not play fair. As you walk down the hall it bends to the left or right, and at the end of the bend a Lurker Guardian waits. After beating it, follow the side passage back to the main hallway and walk it again; it bends a second time and a second Lurker Guardian appears. With both guardians dead, one more trip down the main hallway finally leads to the book. Read it to claim your reward.
Choices and consequences
The book at the end of Chapter V lets you learn one of three secrets. You can take only one of them, so pick the power that suits your play style.
Rewards
- Bardic Knowledge – conjures a spectral drum that plays for 300 seconds and improves Stamina regeneration for you and nearby allies.
- Black Market – summons a Dremora merchant for 15 seconds.
- Secret Servant – summons a Dremora butler for 15 seconds to carry your excess items.
- Loot along the way: a likely Conjuration spell tome, skill books and random treasure from pods and vessels.
Tips and notes
- Black Books only work on Solstheim; they cannot be read on the mainland.
- Chapter II hides a well-concealed pod of random books near the first Lurker. Face west and look at the right-hand book pillar facing the acid lake: the pod sits on a small ledge. The jump is very precise, so save first; the Slow Time shout makes it much easier to drift around the pillar.
- With Slow Time or Whirlwind Sprint you can rush down the Chapter V hallway before it starts to bend and skip both Lurker Guardian fights.
- If you return from Chapter V to Chapter IV, the chapter title wrongly reads ‘Chapter III’.
- Other Black Books worth hunting: The Winds of Change, Filament and Filigree, The Hidden Twilight and The Sallow Regent.
