Katria is the ghost of a veteran Nord adventurer and the heart of the Dawnguard side quest Lost to the Ages (Dawnguard). For nearly twenty years she raided ruins in search of the legendary Aetherium Forge, a Dwemer forge for a mineral so powerful the dwarves went to war over it. Then her former apprentice, Taron Dreth, took her research and published it under his own name as The Aetherium Wars.
Where to find them
You meet her in the ruins of Arkngthamz in The Reach, near her own body. She went in to find the forge and prove Taron a fraud, but triggered a trap that set off an earthquake; the ground split open beneath her and she fell to her death. Later in the quest she pops up at each shard location, including Mzulft, and meets you again at the Ruins of Bthalft.
Quests
Lost to the Ages begins once you have read a copy of The Aetherium Wars, which adds Arkngthamz to your journal. Katria first warns you to turn back, then, if you insist, offers to come along. She asks you to grab her journal from her body, which holds her notes and a map.
Deeper inside she explains the Tonal Lock guarding the treasury: strike the resonators in the right order or face another quake. Behind it lies an Aetherium Shard, which she recognises as part of a key. The other pieces are scattered across the Dwemer cities that once worked on the forge. With all shards placed at Bthalft, the hidden forge rises, and the two of you fight through spiders and its guardian. Since there is no raw Aetherium left, the shards themselves become the material, and you craft a crown, shield or staff. With proof finally in hand, Katria declares herself ready to rest and says goodbye.
Follower & marriage
Katria fights at your side during parts of the quest, but only as a temporary quest companion. She is not a regular follower and cannot be married. Refuse her help and she still turns up at the Tonal Lock, impressed that you got that far alone.
Personality & relationships
Katria is dry, tired and sarcastic about her own death, but beneath the jokes she is driven by one need: proof that her life mattered. She lists the dangers of Arkngthamz with grim humour (Falmer, rapids, chasms, lethal falls, and that is before the real danger), complains if you take her armor, and grows warmer as the hunt succeeds. By the end she thanks you sincerely and asks you to tell the world what the two of you found together.
Good to know
Near the spot where she fell you can find her bow, Zephyr, lying on a log; she asks you to take good care of it. Unlike most ghosts she shows up with Detect Life rather than Detect Dead and responds to healing spells. “Killing” her achieves nothing: she simply reappears and asks whether that made you feel better. And despite being a Nord, you won’t find her in Sovngarde.
Details checked against community wiki articles and the Skyrim/DLC game files, written in our own words.
