Raldbthar is an ancient Dwemer ruin just east of Irkngthand. Bandits have moved into the upper halls, Falmer rule the depths, and Dwarven automatons keep everyone honest. Most players arrive to settle a contract on bandit leader Alain Dufont, but stick around: at the very bottom, the ruin opens onto Blackreach.
What you’ll find
- A flame trap in the very first room, roasting a skeever impaled on a pole. You can slip past on the back (right) side of the fire post, or dash through with Whirlwind Sprint or Become Ethereal.
- An expert-locked gate straight ahead with Alain Dufont and two bandits behind it – the long way round passes more bandits, two workbenches and a master-locked gate with two Dwarven crossbow mechanisms you can turn on the bandits by pulling levers.
- Dwarven spheres and spiders, blade traps on the stairs (they stop once the nearby spider worker is destroyed), and a pusher/flame trap.
- Raldbthar Deep Market, reached by elevator: Falmer, a skeever pen, spiral ramps, a drawbridge and a floor trap that triggers a ballista capable of killing you instantly.
- A room with four buttons: the first sets off a fire trap, the third opens the gate, the other two do nothing.
- Two chaurus penned behind a novice-locked gate – easy targets to shoot through the gap, and good practice for sneaking around.
- An unpowered bridge: clear the bones jamming four large gears (one is underwater between the two staircases), then press the button to lower it – which also wakes a Dwarven Centurion, possibly a Centurion Master at higher levels.
Quests
- Mourning Never Comes – Alain Dufont is your Dark Brotherhood target.
- Lost to the Ages (Dawnguard) – one of the Aetherium Shards lies at the end of the ruin.
Notable items
- Sneak skill book 2920, Last Seed (v8) on a table in Alain Dufont’s room.
- Aegisbane, carried by Alain Dufont.
- Charred Skeever Meat by a campfire and Human Flesh next to the skeever cage in the market.
- An Aetherium Shard down the right-hand hallway at the end (Dawnguard).
- A tucked-away chest in the steam-pipe room, reachable by climbing a slanted tube and using Whirlwind Sprint.
Tips
With good Sneak and Lockpicking you can pick the expert gate, finish Alain quickly and leave without exploring further. If you go deeper, save before the stairs with the spinning blades – they’re notoriously temperamental. At the end, a Dwarven mechanism opens stairs down to the Blackreach door, while a lever in the left-hand hallway takes you back up to Skyrim. Jammed gears that refuse to cooperate are a known headache, so finishing the lower levels in one visit is the safer plan.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Great Lift at Raldbthar, Irkngthand, Uttering Hills Cave, Pale Stormcloak Camp, Shearpoint.
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.