Skyrim talk:Soul Cairn

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Reaper Weapons[edit]

At high levels or at least in the beta Reapers would carry dragonbone weapons. — Unsigned comment by 71.206.204.59 (talk) at 12:38 on 28 June 2012

At level 60, PC release, up to date by Sept 21, 12, I found a Dragonbone Axe on the first reaper. — Unsigned comment by 24.69.196.170 (talk) at 13:13 on 21 September 2012
I was level 50 when I entered the Soul Cairn on Xbox 360, and all of the reapers had Dragonbone weapons. I'm not sure if their weapons are levelled or not since my brother entered at a lower level and the first reaper still had a Dragonbone weapon. Thelisaraptor (talk) 16:29, 3 November 2012 (GMT)

Going Back[edit]

Can you get back into the Soul Cairn after you leave? It only continues to suck my health, bout it. — Unsigned comment by 68.238.152.79 (talk) at 15:45 on 28 June 2012

Yes you can go back. — Unsigned comment by 70.56.165.226 (talk) at 03:12 on 30 June 2012
You can if you a vampire not so sure if you are human/werwolf — Unsigned comment by 75.186.28.250 (talk) at 16:47 on 12 July 2012
I entered the first time by being turned into a Vampire Lord by Serana, and went to Falion to be cured upon returning to Nirn so I could continue my Dawnguard questline. I tried going back as a human, but was prevented. So I then asked Serana to turn me back into a Vampire Lord, and I still was not able to enter. So, does anyone have any suggestions? So much for Valerica's comment about the Soul Cairn filling the void, "You should have no problem returning to the Soul Cairn." Just another awesome Bethesda screw-up I guess.--96.33.112.126 20:38, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[edited--96.33.112.126 20:40, 23 August 2012 (UTC)]
I read somewhere (don't remember where) that having her turn you back while in Valerica's Study won't work for some reason, and that you have to have her turn you somewhere else, then enter the Study and then the portal for it to work. I don't know if it's true or not (or if it even applies to your situation since I don't know where you were when she turned you back again) but it's worth a try to reload a previous save and have her turn you outside of that area I guess. ABCface 20:58, 23 August 2012 (UTC)
Yes, if you turn into a vampire while inside the Study, you must then exit and go re-enter. if this was not the case for you, then that is a personal glitch, as i have been cured/rebitten numerous times... if i wasen't a vampire no cairn, if i was yes cairn. Whispendtalk 01:37, 24 August 2012 (UTC)
I entered the Soul Cairn again without being turned into a vampire and I was able to return. If you had part of your soul placed into a soul gem, then you can recollect said soul gem from the Soul Cairn. If you speak to Valerica and ask if you can return, she will tell you that "part of your soul rubbed off on the Soul Cairn, and in its place a piece of the Soul Cairn filled the void. You should have no problem returning to the Soul Cairn." Or something along those lines. I've returned several times without being a vampire so maybe you haven't collected the soul gem. If you were a vampire, then it may just be an in-game glitch on your disk. My brother entered as a Vampire Lord and has been able to return as well, so I can't see any special reason why any of these problems are happening. Thelisaraptor (talk) 16:36, 3 November 2012 (GMT)

Has it been confirmed that when you go back, the Soul Fissures and Lightning Rods do NOT respawn? Went back in today and mobs and chests are back, but can't harvest souls or use the lightning rods. Ilysanna (talk) 14:28, 3 September 2012 (EDT)

I've had Lighting Rods respawn after about 10-15days of not going to the cairn but have yet to have the fissures respawn. Thinking they do but are on the 30day. Lord Eydvar (talk) 14:31, 3 September 2012 (EDT)
A you have to do is have her turn you, go on the balcony and go back in — Unsigned comment by 72.135.211.152 (talk) at 13:25 on 31 May 2015

Ideal Masters[edit]

Where does it say the soul gems are the Ideal masters? Valerica or Serana said that nobody actually knows what they are,and they they porbably don't even have a physical form. Also they were said to communicate through the gems, not that they were the gems. 76.123.248.6 23:50, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

I've removed them from the list. The game provides almost no info on them to say anything conclusive.--S'drassa You have words? 01:26, 29 June 2012 (UTC)
She says something along the line of, "some people think the Ideal Masters are the big crystals, but I think they are something else, like a link to the Ideal Master's minds as they don't exist in physical form." --71.94.53.49 09:39, 20 November 2014 (GMT)

Not sure how you edit the respawn time for the Soul Cairn: Skyrim[edit]

But I believe it's three days. It's rather quick. I can't be for sure though. Needs verifying. Xbox Version. — Unsigned comment by 70.56.165.226 (talk) on f 03:13, 30 June 2012

I believe its 3days for enemies and chests, 10 for lightning rods and 30 for everything else. Lord Eydvar (talk) 14:32, 3 September 2012 (EDT)

Summon Soul Cairn Undead[edit]

not sure where this goes, but I found summon tomes for most if not all skeleton type undead in the soul cairn. Boneman, Wrathman, mistman, and the horses head were all in the Boneyard section (before Valerica, after the wall) and were sitting on pedestals surrounded by that creature. I cant find any articles about spells other than boneman though, so if someone could run around a bit and confirm, that would be fantastic. also found a couple of ghost cattle that you cant interact with. 65.188.63.111 09:10, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

They are listed here Conjure Boneman, Conjure Mistman and Conjure Wrathman — Kimi the Elf (talk | contribs) 09:31, 3 July 2012 (UTC)
there are no other summoning spells in the soul cairn how ever there are spell in the dawn gaurd castle and vampire lord castle. — Unsigned comment by 75.186.28.250 (talk) at 16:32 on 12 July 2012
Previous poster is incorrect. There are 3 spell tomes in the Soul Cairn as Kimi The Elf said. They are only found in a couple places each. Lord Eydvar (talk) 15:33, 3 September 2012 (EDT)

Cannot Return[edit]

It would seem if you were a vampire when you first entered, and later got yourself cured, you cannot return unless you become a vampire again — Unsigned comment by 75.105.2.160 (talk) at 05:30 on 4 July 2012

I believe you are correct about that. As the only other way to get in requires Serana soul trapping you and that option only comes up during the quest. Lord Eydvar (Talk)(Contribs) 15:38, 3 September 2012 (EDT)

Reaper's Lair[edit]

An area to the very east near the location of Valerica. You need three reaper shards to make the repear appear. This information should be on the page considering it is the only actual location in the soul cairn. --98.165.4.154 08:04, 8 July 2012 (UTC)

soul cairn light in stones[edit]

the green lights in the soul cairn are connected to the bars that block sections of buildings and are affected by the spell mage light. — Unsigned comment by 75.186.28.250 (talk) at 16:50 on 12 July 2012

(Actually the stone bars open for nearly any ranged spell cast at them directly and it requires hitting two light stones.) — Unsigned comment by 184.156.49.219 (talk) at 13:07 on 1 November 2013
And sometimes you only have to shoot (enter spell here) at just ONE of them, and be able to slip through the remaining gate bars linked to the second green light totem. --71.94.53.49 09:42, 20 November 2014 (GMT)

Reaper gem fragments[edit]

are these found randomly or in fixed locations? if they are fixed someone who knows the locations should put them on the reapers page JCsquared 19:10, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

The map on the page soul cairn shows three red dots which is supposed to be where the reaper fragments are, but it seems it is not fixed, I went to one location that was marked with a red dot and all I got was a pearl, so it might be random but can anyone else confirm this? 217.137.157.197 22:43, 11 November 2012 (GMT)
Just recently reloaded a save and went back to the spot, the reaper fragment was there. it must have glitched before. 217.137.157.197 23:00, 11 November 2012 (GMT)

Purple "wells"[edit]

It seems that jumping into one of the glowing purple well things rapidly restores health if it is low. I tried this on a vampire character. You may also notice that you start to glow faintly and the well looks kind of weaker after a couple seconds.. I tried this a while back so it may need confirmed --50.36.106.155 02:10, 14 July 2012 (UTC)

Weakened Soul and Strange Black Soul Gem[edit]

After entering the Soul Cairn under partial soul trap, rather than as a vampire, I gained an ability called "weakened soul." Exploration allowed me to locate a Soul Essence Gem in a chest under one of those large crystals. When I picked it up it said it (the Soul Essence Gem) was removed, it said weakened soul was removed, and it said Black Soul Gem (empty) was added. Apparently the weakness is temporary until you locate this gem. — Unsigned comment by Starfalcon (talkcontribs) at 17:18 on 14 July 2012

The location of the Soul Essence Gem is in the chest next to the ninth page needed for Impatience of a Saint. 69.106.48.192 19:59, 8 October 2012 (GMT)
You will get a quest marker for it at the end of Beyond Death by speaking to Valerica. It's what the second part of the quest stage table is about. --Alfwyn (talk) 20:05, 8 October 2012 (GMT)

Moon?[edit]

I remember looking up at the sky while in the Soul Cairn, and noticed a moon, or a planet, and I wondered what it was. Does anybody have an idea (or know)? I'm not referring to the black hole as mentioned in the article. It doesn't have any purpose to the game, but I'm curious. It kinda looked the same size as Masser does. 86.146.42.202 20:55, 17 July 2012 (UTC)

I clearly seen two moons, not counting the black vortex. It looks exactly like Masser, and Secunda. Admittedly I did spend four hours there, they are for sure there.(99.57.198.7 20:35, 11 March 2015 (GMT))

Soul Drain Animation Persists Indefinately[edit]

I was exploring the Soul Cairn today; getting reaper fragments, finding Arvak's skull, etc. When I was on top of one of the buildings with a soul harvester sucking my life away (don't know the actual name for the big soul gems that suck your life away) I used a Soul Husk to stop the effect. A few seconds later I walked down some stairs but the soul sucking animation was put back on me. I started running away from the soul harvester but it didn't stop. I noticed my health was fine it was just the animation. I tried waiting an hour, didn't work. Leaving the soul cairn didn't stop it. Unfortunately I did not have a save from before so this effect is now permanently on my character. Anyone else have this happen and if so how did you get rid of it? — Unsigned comment by 76.31.164.249 (talk) at 23:50 on 6 August 2012 You have to go back to the giant soul gems in the Soul Cairn and have them start to take your life again. Then just walk away and it should end the health drain animation. This happened to me and it totally blocked all my bow shot's.

Lightning Attractor[edit]

Has anyone else found this contraption? It's relatively near the portal, and when I gave it a Greater Soul Gem (empty) it turned it into a Black Soul Gem (empty). Then I got attacked by Bonemen and a Wraithmam. There's a chest by it too.--Playerseekingbugs 21:07, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

EDIT: there are two lightning attractors at least, actually. There's another one in the large area past the wall that separates it from the area where the portal is. And there's a reaper shard in a chest beneath one of the life-sucking orbs. There's also a Summon Wrathmen tome somewhere near the border on the right half as you go through to the doorway in the afore-mentioned wall. I'll post more if I find anything else of note that isn't on the page yet.--Playerseekingbugs 21:55, 11 August 2012 (UTC)
There are four total lightning attractors. I assume they change whatever greater gems you have into black gems, as you say; I can't access the script to find out for sure. Vely►t►e 23:09, 11 August 2012 (UTC)
It sounds like there's is more of the peculiar place to explore than I realized. The add-on is supposed to be out for pc, so has anyone been able to get a map yet? It would be useful to have a map of where the chests are, Saint Jiub's pages, and the conjuration tomes for the denizens of the Soul Cairn. Not to mention the skeletal horse's head, these lightning attractors, and the vents that fill soul gems. There's also things of minor interest like the skeleton, enchanted greatsword, and note I found earlier by a large rock. And the lightning attractors can take empty greater and grand soul gems (they take greater first if you have both), but only once each per cell reset I'm guessing.--Playerseekingbugs 00:11, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

I'm editing just to let you all know that I bought a HUGE Skyrim manual at Wal-Mart in about 2012 that is approved by Bethesda. It's about 8x10 and 3 inches thick (heavy), it covers pretty much every square inch of Skyrim (including the Hearthfire and Dragonborn add-ons) has all kinds of detailed maps and one huge tear out with very nice large detailed maps of the Soul Cairn, Forgotten Vale, one whole side is Skyrim (marking EVERYTHING) and a couple other ones. The book is chock full of smaller color pictures of monsters, landscapes, weapons armor and anything else you can think of. Whether cheating is your thing or not, it's great for that too as it warns you of spoilers before they appear. It was $25 and I have it near me at all times when i'm playing and has been WELL worth it. Hope I helped someone with this.

Boneyard chests[edit]

There are 2 chests atop 2 of the structures in the Boneyard, but I can't see how to get up there. Usually Beth makes it possible somehow. — Unsigned comment by 217.136.38.144 (talk) at 12:27 on 18 September 2012‎

I don't know if you're on here yet but was one of those locations the Black Church (not in the Boneyard but a small structure on the main path fairly near the main entrance to the Soul Cairn)? I ask because that has been a problem spot for me, too. No matter what I do (including shutting down the PS3) I can't get the teleporter right next to it to work and I can see the chest on top!! Anyone?

Will anything involving lightning attractor locations and the Reaper "Quest" be added?[edit]

I've been trying to chronicle the locations of the attractors. As for the Reaper gem fragments, should it be mentioned, even if not on this page, that they seem to be randomized? --70.73.178.235 06:30, 1 October 2012 (GMT)

Never mind about the randomization part. I misunderstood something... --70.73.178.235 06:47, 1 October 2012 (GMT)

Combining locations on map[edit]

Has any thought been given to adding the locations from Impatience of a Saint and Find Arvak? it would make sense since this is the main Soul Cairn page and already makes reference to those quests. I would be loathe to tackle the additions as that code looks a little dense and...well...I'm a little burned out with wiki code from previous admin stints at other wikis. 69.106.48.192 20:07, 8 October 2012 (GMT)

The map would get a bit crowded with all those markers, I think. As for Impatience of a Saint, it has a map with the pages on it's page already. Does Find Arvak give you a quest marker to find the skull? If yes, I think a map would be a bit redundant. If not, I think a map should be added to that quest page. --Alfwyn (talk) 20:15, 8 October 2012 (GMT)
I was thinking more for relative positioning. Having three open pages and Alt-tabbing is a bit of a pain. A central location where all locations are shown would be more helpful to a user. Having only the locations for each quest on the respective quest pages is fine, but here we have a location page that shows markers for a specific quest without regard to the other two. Meh - that's just my nickel anyway. 69.106.48.192 20:22, 8 October 2012 (GMT)
I don't have an opinion on marking the IoaS pages, but I do think it might be worth adding Arvak's skull to the map, either here or on the quest page. There was a short discussion about the quest marker on that quest page, it seems that if/when the quest marker appears, it isn't helpful anymore anyway. So having a map point for that would help, I think. — ABCface 21:56, 8 October 2012 (GMT)
The Forgotten Vale and Soul Cairn would benefit from having linked pages with interactive, detailed maps like the one for Skyrim proper. These locations are pretty large, and the Soul Cairn especially is kind of confusing to navigate at first, not to mention all the space in it and ruins. The map for the Forgotten Vale is already fairly detailed, so could the pages for Jiub and the lightning attractors at least be marked on the map? Those should not crowd it too much. But a large interactive map would still be ideal. — Unsigned comment by Playerseekingbugs (talkcontribs) at 23:42 on 19 November 2012‎
For the moment Jiub pages are marked on the Impatience of a Saint page. The interactive map would need server support, the right place to ask for that would be UESPWiki_talk:Skyrim Map Design. But I think the Soul Cairn is so confusing mainly, because the ingame map shows only a very tiny bit of the map. Personally I find the Forgotten Vale map unusable, my monitor isn't large enough so I have to scroll constantly around - an interactive map were I can zoom would solve that, I guess. --Alfwyn (talk) 00:02, 20 November 2012 (GMT)

() I noticed that it was suggested here that a marker for Arvak's skull be added to the map, but this has not actually been done yet, either here or on that quest's page. I see also that the pages for Jiub's Opus are mentioned here, and it was decided that they would clutter this map, but was wondering whether a marker for Jiub himself could be added to this map as well as being on the map on that quest's page. I also think a marker for Morven Stroud would be beneficial, as his location is not marked in any other way. --Enodoc (talk) 17:20, 22 December 2012 (GMT)

Since no-one has opposed my suggestion here, I will go ahead and add the markers I mentioned above. --Enodoc (talk) 19:21, 4 February 2013 (GMT)
Good. I don't think we can add much more unless an interactive map is approved where possibly soul husks and definitely soul fissures and lightning attractors can be marked, as well as the location of chests and a few items left sitting around, like the skeleton with greatsword and note that I mentioned in another post.--Playerseekingbugs (talk) 21:32, 2 March 2013 (GMT)

Boneyard in Whiterun[edit]

This may be completely irrelevant, but for some reason, when I enter the Boneyard (but not the rest of the Swould Cairn), my map shows me somewhere in the middle of Whiterun Hold, a little north of the Western Watchtower. Schiffy (talk) 04:03, 20 November 2012 (GMT)

Your position on the world map changes depending on your location in the soul cairn. If you go outside the boundry walls with TCL you can walk for incredible distances in an immense completely flat area. I went so far the rest of the soul cairn was almost hidden due to being so far away and I still hadn't reached the real edge of the map yet. I checked the world map and I was out past Markarth. If I had kept going I would have been somewhere in High rock.

Number of soul husks[edit]

Just how many placed soul husks are there? I mean harvestable and ones placed in sacks or anywhere else that is not generated randomly. — Unsigned comment by 24.57.73.23 (talk) at 04:39 on 6 February 2013

There are 154 plants and 12 of the ingredient. 1 ingredient is in a test cell. I am not sure how many of the plants are in test cells, but I don't believe there are any; the CK crashed on me before I could check. Vely►t►e 21:22, 6 February 2013 (GMT)
I got 4 different spells from the ghost merchant at least (I thought 5), that means there are at LEAST 200 all together. But I guess some of them were from the corpses of all the enemies and some in chests too. ;) --71.94.53.49 09:07, 21 November 2014 (GMT)

Worth noting availability of Soul Gems + Souls?[edit]

Suggestion: Would it be worth adding a note recommending a player bring Soul Trap, or a Soul Trap enchanted weapon, given that every single enemy other than Durnehviir can be soul trapped and drops a soul gem to replace the one it used?

I brought a greatsword with soul trap on it for my trip through this place and left thinking "Wow, this is gonna make levelling enchanting so easy!"121.99.163.3 04:37, 8 August 2013 (GMT)

Vampire Sun Damage[edit]

The recently added vampire sun damage bug should not occur (in theory). There's the list SunDamageExceptionWorldSpaces and the script for stage 0 of the quest DLC1Init adds among others the DLC1SoulCairn world space to the list. --Alfwyn (talk) 21:13, 3 January 2014 (GMT)

Permanently lowered stats[edit]

I chose to have my soul parially trapped and I found my soul gem peice, however after it cured the negative effects it seemed to leave my health, magika and stamina PERMANENTLY lowered! Both inside and outside the Cairn! Is there ANYBODY else who has had this happen and is there a way to fix it? --143.238.132.147 07:40, 18 April 2014 (GMT)

Add Dragon Shout Quest To Related Quests Section?[edit]

Shouldn't Durnehviir's quest be listed under "Related Quests" too? --71.94.53.49 09:34, 20 November 2014 (GMT)

We Need A Boneyard Article/Page?[edit]

If you click the Boneyard link, it just reloads the Soul Cairn article. Shouldn't somebody make a page for the Boneyard too? --71.94.53.49 09:08, 21 November 2014 (GMT)

Walkthrough[edit]

The walk-through seems too lengthy, and should be shortened or removed entirely. Most of the information is in other parts of UESP, or simply impossible to find quickly in that section. Grim765The Reaper 23:36, 24 February 2015 (GMT)

Orbs[edit]

Does anyone else have the issue that the blue-green orbs that you're supposed to shoot to open gates don't appear? If so, do you also have the green water issue? I'm thinking these both might be related to nVidia mobile processors, but that's just a guess. Looking for confirmation or refutation. Robin Hood  (talk) 03:12, 26 March 2015 (GMT)

The light orbs don't appear for me either. But I am afraid it isn't caused by the processors as you suggested and I don't think that I have a problem with green water. I honestly don't know what it is caused by. With my first character, the orbs didn't appear. Meanwhile my sister created a played another character on the same computer and the orbs did appear. Now I am playing with another character and the orbs don't appear once again. So it's a mystery. — Unsigned comment by 93.91.51.153 (talk) at 20:23 on 2 October 2016
Thanks for the feedback. Hard to say at this point whether it was random chance or related to green water for me. I know nVidia fixed the green water issue at some point, and I've always seen the green orbs in recent playthroughs, but whether those two things are related is anyone's guess. Good to know that it's not necessarily processor-related, though. Robin Hood  (talk) 20:52, 2 October 2016 (UTC)

Got rid of continuing Soul Cairn drain bug, but teleporter at The Black Cathedral still doesn't work???[edit]

I'm on PS3. No matter what I do it won't work. I've spent about an hour on it now so figured maybe someone here would be able to help. Has anyone had this happen before and/or did you find a fix for it? I've fast traveled, shut down the system, got myself killed etc, and just can't make it work. Thanks in advance for any help!!! — Unsigned comment by 75.143.142.251 (talk) at 06:05 on 28 September 2015 (UTC)

Treated as a Vampire and Never Conjured the Disease. Also can't become a Vampire Lord.[edit]

On my current character I have never been either a Werewolf or Vampire even a Vampire Lord. I politely refused Serana's offer to become a vampire and instead took the Soul Gem route. After entering the Soul Cairn and _BEFORE_ talking to Valerica, I immiediatly set off to get Arvak and then to get my Soul back. After talking to Valerica she spoke to me as if I had became a Vampire. Serana has had vampire dialouge for me as well and I have no option to become a Vampire Lord. I have yet to join the Companions so I can't become a werewolf right now. All I can think of is that I ran off to get my soul gem back before talking to Valerica rather than after...--131.191.68.7 19:04, 28 November 2015 (UTC)

It should also be noted that I have no problem getting quests and talking to people in Dawnguard; they still treat me as if I am uninfected. It's mainly just Serana and Valerica. I'm not sure if this also makes me immune to vampirism as I have been attacked by hundreds of vampires now and never received the vampirismn disease.--131.191.68.7 19:10, 28 November 2015 (UTC)
I just finished the Dawnguard Questline by killing Harkon. The initial speech from Harkon referred to me as mortal and after killing Harkon I can now become a Vampire Lord from Serana thus fixing my earlier glitch. It's also quite possible that I can contact Sanguine Vampiris now.--131.191.68.7 18:39, 1 December 2015 (UTC)