At the Summit of Apocrypha is the closing chapter of the Dragonborn main story. The price for the last Word of Power of Bend Will has already been paid with Storn Crag-Strider’s life, so all that remains is to return to Apocrypha and settle things with Miraak, the First Dragonborn. Frea is listed as the quest giver, and the outcome decides whether Solstheim finally gets some peace.
How to start
The quest follows straight on from The Gardener of Men, where Hermaeus Mora takes the Skaal’s secret from Storn and hands you the final word of Bend Will. The Black Book Waking Dreams can be picked up from Storn’s body if you need it again.
Walkthrough
Unlock Bend Will and read Waking Dreams
Spend dragon souls to unlock the last two words of Bend Will, then read Waking Dreams to be pulled into Apocrypha. If you lack the souls now, you can still go in; the quest simply waits at a later point until all three words are unlocked.
Chapters I and II
The arrival platform is ringed with loot: a table to the south with a few books (Bone, Book I among them), a soul gem on a table to the northwest and pods with leveled loot to the northeast and west. The large book straight ahead and up the steps leads to Chapter II.
Chapter II climbs through three flights of stairs guarded by Seekers. Side ledges along the south and west walls hide extra pods with loot and books. On an altar at the top lies On Apocrypha: Boneless Limbs; picking it up extends a staircase on the north side, which ends at a ledge above a sea of waving tentacles and the book to Chapter III.
Chapter III
A tunnel runs northeast past a locked gate with a scrye behind it. Of the two Seeker-guarded branches, only the right one goes anywhere: up the stairs to a room with loot, pods and the book Delving Pincers. Taking it opens the gate at the start, and activating that scrye extends a new tunnel to the southeast.
Past a table with a soul gem, scrolls and books you reach a high overlook full of bridges and closed gates. A scrye on the left opens a side room with a loot vessel. The central bridge leads south to a pod and to the pedestal holding Prying Orbs. Grabbing it opens a gate on the west side, reached by walking around on the bridges, and the tunnels beyond end at the door to Chapter IV.
Chapter IV
This is the shifting-tunnel chapter. Either staircase down leads to Seekers and a table of books, then south through a tunnel to an intersection near a stone table. Both onward tunnels retract when you walk in. Head back to where you started and the passages will have rearranged themselves into a new area.
Climb to a landing with scrolls and a pod, then up again to a Font of Magicka and the pedestal with Gnashing Blades. Taking it shifts the tunnels once more: a new passage opens to the south, and walking into the apparent dead end to the east makes it expand. Follow it past two Fonts of Stamina and a Seeker, up to a table with five books, then clockwise up to a scrye. Activating it reshapes the route so that going back down counter-clockwise brings you to a fresh area.
That area has a big pool from which a Lurker Vindicator rises. A scrye in the northwest corner opens a gate in the southwest; the tunnel behind it holds scrolls, soul gems, a loot vessel and, if your Conjuration is 40, the tome for Conjure Seeker. A second scrye on the east wall opens the large north gate, behind which a Font of Magicka and the door to Chapter V wait.
Chapter V: the book puzzle
A domed room with walkways, loot pods and a glowing central structure is watched over by a Seeker. Around the outer walkway are four pedestals, each marked with a symbol. Place the books you collected to match:
- Fangs: Gnashing Blades
- Pincers: Delving Pincers
- Tentacles: Boneless Limbs
- Eye: Prying Orbs
With the last book in place the central structure opens and reveals the book to Chapter VI.
Chapter VI: the summit and Sahrotaar
Both paths down from the entry meet up again, but the right-hand one passes a table with the skill book The Art of War Magic. Up the tunnel, two Seekers are studying a word wall; after them and a Lurker from a slime pool, the wall teaches a word of Dragon Aspect.
With all three words of Bend Will unlocked, Miraak’s dragon Sahrotaar swoops in to attack. Shout Bend Will at him and he lands, accepts you as his rider and offers to carry you to Miraak. You can only steer him in broad strokes and pick targets; he first circles a platform full of Seekers and Lurkers so you can practise. Clear it, or simply order him to land, and he flies on to Miraak’s tower.
If nothing happens at the summit, you are missing words. Leave via Waking Dreams, finish The Gardener of Men or absorb more dragon souls, and the quest should move on.
Defeat Miraak
Miraak greets you with his two other dragons, Relonikiv and Kruziikrel, perched on the arches nearby. The fight is tough and is scripted around four takedowns. The first three times his health drops low he turns ethereal, teleports to the centre and shouts one of the three dragons to death, devouring its soul to heal fully. No attack, however strong, kills him before then. When the last dragon is gone and he falters again, Hermaeus Mora snatches him into the air and runs him through with a tentacle, scolding him for trying to betray his master in his own realm. Miraak burns away like a dragon, leaving a skeleton behind, and Mora makes it plain that you are now the Dragonborn he has his eye on.
Loot Miraak’s remains for his mask, robes, boots, gloves, sword and staff, and search the dragons he killed for dragon bones, dragon scales and gold.
Conclusion
A structure rises from the central pool carrying the Black Book. Activate it and green orbs appear, one per skill tree. Each orb resets that tree for one dragon soul, refunding all its perk points to spend anywhere. You can reset as many trees as your souls allow, now or on any later visit through Waking Dreams. Activate the book a second time to return to Solstheim.
Back at Skaal Village, Frea asks whether Miraak is dead and whether her father’s death was necessary, then warns you that Hermaeus Mora’s path does not fit what the All-Maker intended for the Dragonborn. With the quest done, the Tree Stone can be cleansed and its power claimed.
Rewards
- Five to ten dragon souls from Miraak, plus any souls he stole from dragons you killed
- Miraak’s gear: Miraak (Mask), Miraak’s Robes, Miraak’s Staff, Miraak’s Sword, Miraak’s Gloves and Miraak’s Boots
- The ability to tame and ride dragons with Bend Will
- Dragon bones, dragon scales and gold from the three slain dragons
- The ability to clear skill tree perks (one dragon soul per tree, through Waking Dreams)
- The ability to cleanse the Tree Stone
Tips and notes
- Collect all four pedestal books as you go; Chapter V cannot be finished without them.
- Fonts of Magicka and Stamina in Chapter IV are worth using before the Lurker Vindicator and the final fight.
- Do not waste your best potions on Miraak’s first three health bars; his heals are scripted and unavoidable.
- Leaping off the arena into the ink sea just teleports you back to the middle of the platform.
- You can fight Miraak from Sahrotaar’s back; eventually the dragon dies and you drop to the ground.
- Do not stay mounted when Sahrotaar reaches the tower: if you never get off, he flies away with you and you cannot dismount without loading an older save.
- Before this quest starts, Waking Dreams only takes you as far as the word wall in Chapter VI and you have to read the book to leave.
- The Skaal will not give or complete any other quests until Miraak is dead.
- Every Black Book stays in your inventory as a quest item even after the story ends.
- Taming Sahrotaar counts towards the Dragonrider achievement.
- Miraak’s line that the First Dragonborn meets the Last at the summit, just as Mora intended, sums up the whole story of the DLC.
