Arkngthamz is a Dwemer ruin in the Reach, southeast of Dushnikh Yal (Dawnguard). It is the first stop of Lost to the Ages, where you meet the ghost of the explorer Katria and hunt for the legendary Aetherium Forge. Come for the shard, stay for the surprisingly fun white-water rafting, minus the raft.
What you’ll find
- Katria’s voice warning you off soon after you enter, and then Katria herself after you cross a gap beside a fallen pillar. She can join you as a ghostly companion.
- A deep canyon of ruins hit by regular earthquakes, with Falmer leaping out of holes in the walls.
- A chest behind a sealed gate: head west from the gate, drop down the ledges to a stream and follow it upstream to the chest and the gate lever.
- An underwater cave halfway down the pool by the waterfalls at the head of the main stream, hiding a chest, a weapon and a shield.
- An ebony ore vein and, on a ledge above it, a quicksilver ore vein in the resonator room.
- At the bottom, three locked doors under a big Dwemer head and five tonal resonators. Hit them in the wrong order and you trigger explosive arrows, Dwarven Spheres, spiders and a Dwarven Centurion.
Quests
Lost to the Ages: this is the first of four ruins holding a piece of Aetherium needed to open the Aetherium Forge and craft one of its unique items. Katria’s notebook, found on her body near the entrance, marks the other three sites.
Notable items
- Aetherium Shard in the treasure room.
- Zephyr, Katria’s lost bow with 30% faster draw speed.
- Katria’s Journal and a Scrap of Paper.
- Five Centurion Dynamo Cores scattered through the ruin.
Tips
The resonator solution, with three on the bottom row and two on top, is: bottom left, bottom right, top left, top right, bottom middle. No bow? Grab Zephyr on the way down. Mind the streams: anything that falls in, Falmer corpses included, can float far downstream, and the currents are stronger than usual. If you are over-encumbered, the quick water route back to the exit can trap you in a nook, so lighten up first or walk back.
Good to know
Nothing here respawns, so the containers are safe for storage. The map only shows the ruin as cleared once every trap at the end has also been sprung.
Details checked against community wiki articles and the Skyrim/Dawnguard game files, summarised in our own words.
