Autumnwatch Tower is a pair of ruined stone towers at the foot of the mountains south of Ivarstead and west of Froki’s Shack. On top waits a Word Wall – and, depending on your progress in the main quest, either a gang of bandits or a dragon using it as a sunbed.
What you’ll find
- Before Dragon Rising: a bandit chief and several bandits. After it: a dragon guarding the Word Wall.
- Sometimes a second dragon, probably the one from Arcwind Point up in the mountains.
- A boss chest with leveled loot at the top of the larger tower, and an apothecary’s satchel halfway up.
- A silver ore vein near the steps to the tallest tower.
- Crates with two vampire dust and two slaughterfish scales near the chest, and a leveled smithing potion by the deer hides in the shortest tower.
- A rare-book spawn point next to the bedroll on the second floor of the tallest tower.
Quests
The tower can come up in Find the Word of Power and Find the Source of Power, and the Blades may send you here for Dragon Hunting.
Notable items
- Jornibret’s Last Dance (Light Armor) – on a crate atop the smaller tower.
- Randomly enchanted hide boots and a plain hide helmet on the crate opposite the book.
- Word Wall: Marked for Death.
Tips
Mine the silver vein before starting the dragon fight. If the dragon does its dramatic skidding landing at low health, it can bury the vein in dirt until the area resets – nothing like losing ore to a reptile’s bad parking. Archers can use the crenellations at the top of the tower: depending on where the dragon lands, you can pepper it with arrows while it can’t hit back. Alternatively, lure the beast toward the Rift Imperial Camp, where Legate Fasendil and his legionnaires will happily join in.
Good to know
Dragons only give up their souls the first time they die, so if you cleared the tower early, a later quest kill here may not grant a second soul.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Froki’s Shack, Rift Imperial Camp, Ruins of Bthalft, Arcwind Point, Alchemist’s Shack.
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.