Lifting the Shroud is a small mystery in Ivarstead in the Rift. The villagers are convinced a spirit haunts Shroud Hearth Barrow, and innkeeper Wilhelm swears it glared straight into his soul. The truth turns out to be a lot more mortal, and the barrow behind it is a lot bigger.
How to start
- Talk to Wilhelm at the Vilemyr Inn in Ivarstead and ask about the barrow, or
- Simply explore Shroud Hearth Barrow on your own.
Walkthrough
Investigate Shroud Hearth Barrow
As soon as you enter, a ghostly figure behind a barred gate shrieks at you to leave, then vanishes. Opposite where he appears is a room with a set of levers and the Illusion skill book Before the Ages of Man. Find the right combination of levers to open the gates across the way and follow the “ghost”.
He is waiting in the next room, sometimes asleep if you sneak in. He is Wyndelius Gatharian, a living man posing as a spirit with the help of a special potion. Kill him and read his journal, which confirms the trick and completes the first objective.
Bring the journal to Wilhelm
Take Wyndelius’ Journal back to Wilhelm. He is relieved the mystery is solved and gives you the Sapphire Dragon Claw, the very claw Wyndelius was looking for, and the key to the rest of the barrow. If you already have the journal when you first meet Wilhelm, you can hand it over straight away.
Further into the barrow
Return to the barrow. The room opposite Wyndelius’ quarters has the claw door; the combination is moth, owl, wolf, which you can also read on the claw in your inventory. The first chamber has some draugr and the spell tome Oakflesh. Next is a spiral stairway with a water trap at the bottom and a Master-locked door with an Expert-locked chest at the top. Halfway up, a path leads to a room where skeleton archers stand in pools of oil: shoot the hanging lamps or use fire to burn them. On the right before the wooden stairs a window looks into a side room, reached through a coffin opened with a handle around the corner. Two more handle-operated coffins on the left hold a draugr and a skeleton.
The bridge puzzle
One of the draugr in the next corridor carries the key to the door beyond. A room with a waterfall has a raised drawbridge, and a leveled sword hides behind the waterfall. At the top of the stairs on the right is a rotating stone puzzle. Open the room behind it, beat the draugr inside, then stand on the central pressure plate to reveal the solution in the alcoves: from left to right whale, hawk, snake, whale. Set the pillars outside to match and step on the plate to lower the bridge.
A draugr archer waits up the slope across the bridge; trigger the tripwire to send rocks rolling down onto him. An Apprentice-locked door on the right hides a gold ingot on a pedestal linked to a fire trap. Push it off from a distance with Unrelenting Force, a spell or arrows, wait for the flames to die down, then grab it. Continue to Shroud Hearth Depths.
Shroud Hearth Depths
The first big room is lined with sarcophagi. Skeletons and draugr come out in waves, each tier stronger than the last, ending with a draugr lord at the top. Picking them off with a bow while sneaking works well, and a full Unrelenting Force can knock the draugr lord into the water for a quick kill. Let each draugr stand up fully before attacking, or the lord may not wake and you will be stuck.
In the final chamber you find a big trapped chest (disarm the trap on its right side to avoid poison darts), an Adept-locked chest underwater in an alcove to the right, extra loot in an alcove left of the Word Wall reachable with Whirlwind Sprint or Telekinesis, and the Word Wall for Kyne’s Peace.
Rewards
- Sapphire Dragon Claw (from Wilhelm)
- Philter of the Phantom (on Wyndelius)
- Word of Power: Kyne’s Peace
- Gold ingot, leveled sword and chests in the barrow
Tips and notes
- Completing the quest is the normal way to unlock the deeper barrow and the Kyne’s Peace Word Wall.
- Afterwards Wilhelm hopes the unmasked “ghost” will bring more visitors than the odd pilgrim, yet he still warns Lynly Star-Sung to stay away from the barrow.
