Black Book: The Sallow Regent is one of the Black Book quests in the Dragonborn DLC. Reading the book drags you into Apocrypha, Hermaeus Mora’s endless library, where the darkness itself eats away at your health. Your goal is to reach the book’s hidden knowledge at the far end of the realm, and the prize is a choice between three permanent bonuses.
How to start
- Find the Black Book The Sallow Regent in White Ridge Barrow on Solstheim.
- Read it. You are transported to Apocrypha and the quest begins. Reading the book again at any point takes you back out.
Walkthrough
The rule of the realm: stay in the light
The shadows in this book drain your health steadily. Drifting lights move through the halls and act as safe zones, so you can shadow them from room to room. Much easier: bring your own light. A torch or a light spell such as Candlelight, Magelight or Stendarr’s Aura appears to stop the damage, which frees you from following the lamps.
The first rooms
The opening room has a pod past a small pool, near a tentacle on the right. Follow a moving light down the corridor into the next room, where another pod sits just outside the lit area on the left, then follow the next light through a second corridor.
The great hall and its Seekers
The corridor opens into a large hall with fixed lights at the entrance and exit, while a broad beam of light sweeps across the room from left to right. Two Seekers are waiting here. There is a pod just left of the entrance, and the right side is stacked with books, soul gems and scrolls in the dark. Look for the skill book 2920, Second Seed (v5) and the spell tome Detect Dead, which may have been knocked to the floor during the fight. A table further along on the right holds more soul gems and, if your Conjuration is at least 40, the tome for Conjure Seeker.
The bridges
Follow a light down the hall and up a ramp into an area of bridges, some of which retract and extend. This is the hardest stretch: two to four Lurkers (depending on your level) roam here, and the moving lights do not take the route you would naturally choose, so fights can drag you into the dark. An altar on the left after the first bridge holds a scroll, a soul gem and a random spell tome. The path then runs without branches until the last Lurker, in a circular section with steady lamps in both directions. It is very easy to step off the edge in the middle, so watch your footing.
The Sallow Regent
Once the Lurkers are dead or avoided, climb the staircase to the final room. Two tables carry books, scrolls and soul gems, and a vessel holds more loot. The spell tome Flame Thrall lies on the table to the right of the Sallow Regent itself, which rests on a pedestal at the back. Read it to learn its secret.
Choices and consequences
The book offers three Secrets, and only one can be active at a time:
- Seeker of Might: combat skills are 10% more effective and Smithing improves by 10%.
- Seeker of Sorcery: all spells cost 10% less and Enchanting improves by 10%.
- Seeker of Shadows: stealth skills are 10% more effective and Alchemy improves by 10%.
To swap, read The Sallow Regent again. You arrive directly in front of the book and do not have to repeat the dungeon.
Rewards
- One of Seeker of Might, Seeker of Sorcery or Seeker of Shadows.
- Loot along the way: 2920, Second Seed, plus the spell tomes Detect Dead, Flame Thrall, a random tome and (with Conjuration 40+) Conjure Seeker, along with soul gems and scrolls.
Tips and notes
- Seeker of Might covers every skill in the Path of Might, including Heavy Armor and Block as well as Smithing.
- Falling off the walkways gives the message “You can only fall so far”. You are returned to the top of the map, but only to collapse and die, so save often in the bridge section.
- The dark damage still hurts even with god mode turned on, so there is no cheating your way past it.
- See the Black Book overview for the other books, such as The Winds of Change and Untold Legends.
