Dimhollow Crypt (Dawnguard) is a cave-and-crypt complex up a worn mountain path from the Hall of the Vigilant. It lies directly north of The Lord Stone and northeast of the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon. This is where the Dawnguard storyline really kicks off: the vampires who wrecked the Hall came here looking for something, and that something turns out to be Serana.
What you’ll find
- Vampires, including Lokil, skeletons, death hounds, a colony of frostbite spiders, draugr and gargoyles.
- Dimhollow Cavern, the inner section, with a puzzle before Serana’s sarcophagus: push the silver torch sconces in the floor around until purple fire burns in each one.
- A dragon priest sleeping in the Word Wall chamber.
- Gated passages in the draugr crypt opened by a chain, hiding potions, a leveled draugr and a master-locked chest.
- An arcane enchanter and an alchemy lab, plus eight malachite ore veins split between the circular platform room and the Word Wall arena.
- The body of Vigilant Tolan, who came here against Isran’s advice.
Quests
- Awakening – find out what the vampires were after. Before you accept it, a boulder blocks the gate beyond the first chamber.
- Bloodline – escort Serana out once she is freed.
- Trouble in Skyrim – a Companions radiant quest that can point here, but only works once Awakening has opened the place up.
Notable items
- Word Wall: Drain Vitality, in the large chamber after you find Serana.
- Spell tome: Necromantic Healing – on a table left of a chest, below and right of the lever, in the room past Serana’s chamber.
- Notes on Dimhollow Crypt, Vol. 3 next to Adalvald’s corpse.
- Master-locked chest in the draugr crypt.
Tips
It’s very dark down here, so bring torches or cast Candlelight or Magelight – lots of little nooks hide ore and treasure. If you clear the two rooms before making Serana your follower, you can sneak attack the dragon priest before he even wakes up. Feeling cheeky? Sneaking right next to the dormant gargoyles before you finish the puzzle is a decent way to train Sneak. Don’t expect Serana to haul your loot yet; she only agrees to carry things after you’ve taken her home and met her again at Fort Dawnguard.
Good to know
The crypt has its own piece of music, and if you ever bring Serana back here she talks as if she has only just woken up.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Frostmere Crypt, The Lord Stone, Stonehills, Great Lift at Mzinchaleft, Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon.
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.