Shriekwind Bastion

Location
The bastion is located low on a mountain northeast of Falkreath and west of Pinewatch. It holds a Word of Power for the Dragon Shout Elemental Fury.

Etymology
The ruins are typically inhabited by Vampires, and as such its name can be traced back to the tale of Lamae Beolfag, the first Vampire. In the book Opusculus Lamae Bal, her screams became known as the Shrieking Winds, which still haunt certain parts of Skyrim.

Entrances and sublocations
The bastion has three entrances, one at South Shriekwind Bastion, one at North Shriekwind Bastion and the exit leads to Shriekwind Bastion Overlook, an unmarked vista point overlooking Falkreath. The South Shriekwind Bastion entrance north of Falkreath enters the dungeon approximately halfway through by a hidden door.

Alternatively, the mountain can be climbed a short way through Peak's Shade Tower, which allows Shriekwind Bastion's discovery. After it is discovered, it can be fast traveled to.

Walkthrough
The first part goes through a lot of hallways and rooms with a vampire and some skeletons and leads to a large open area with what looks like a trap door, a carpet, and a pillar with a handle on it. It doesn't do much, so just head left and go up the stairs. This leads to a few corridors and rooms with a handful of skeletons. Eventually, you will come to a room with two gates, a large gate to the north and a smaller one to the south.

There is a circular stone with three handles in the center of the room. Two of the handles open secret doors leading to some gear and empty coffins. The third handle opens the small gate. There is a room with a chest and three chains on the wall. Pull the chain on the left to open the large gate.

Continue through the large gate and keep going up. Near the top there is a wide hallway with a pillar that has a handle on it at one end and a gate at the other. Pulling the handle on the pillar will open the gate, but also start the flamethrower trap. Look to the right and find a chain on the inside of the tunnel. This will open the gate without setting off the trap. In the next room is the Master Vampire. He is strong, but weak against fire, also, you can just lure him to the edge and throw him to the bottom.

Once you defeat him, head up the stairs to the circular corridor. There is a chest along the outer wall, and on the inner wall is a doorway that leads to stairs that lead to the Word Wall. This word is for Elemental Fury. The coffin before the Wall will contains a leveled draugr in it.

Exit through the door onto Shriekwind Bastion Overlook. It is possible to climb the mountain to this door and skip the dungeon entirely.

Related Quests

 * Possible location for Onmund's Request.
 * Cleansing Light.
 * Culling the Beast.

Notable loot

 * 2920, Second Seed, v5 (Speech skill book).
 * Possible location of Meridia's Beacon
 * In a small room there are at least a dozen shoes including the rare fur-lined boots and pleated shoes, bunched together. This is one of the very few locations these boots are found.
 * Various weapons and other loot.
 * Facing the North entrance, to the left there will be a set of stairs attached to the side of the ruins. Take the stairs up, turn right and take the second set of stairs up to the ledge. Turn right and see a large stone bowl. Within will be a honed ancient Nord weapon, a random soul gem and a random healing potion.
 * Next to the above stone bowl on the ground will be a pair of uncommon ancient Nord boots. In a nearby cavern (Southfringe Sanctum), some ancient Nord armor can be found.
 * Outside the location, on top of the structure, some loot and corundum ore can be found; the ore is on the slope on the right side of the structure. Further up the path, behind the Bastion, a chest is hidden under the last arch.
 * Halfway through the dungeon, a single throne can be found in a blood-spattered room. Examine the floor on each side of the throne for 1-3 rubies and/or a flawless ruby.
 * If entering via the South Bastion entrance, when the chain pull that activates the hidden door is pulled, a leveled enchanted greatsword will fall down. If viewed from the opposite side, the greatsword, helmet and boots may appear to be invisible until the chain has been pulled.
 * When leaving through the end exit, drop down (use the Become Ethereal Shout) onto a small stream. There is gold ore near the small waterfall, near the South entrance.

Enemies

 * Vampires
 * Vampire's Thrall
 * Draugr
 * Skeletons
 * Master Vampire

Bugs

 * The Word Wall may not complete its process. The music may or may not play when standing by the wall, but the word cannot be learned.
 * If a follower is injured in the first large open area, he/she may not recover. This causes them to crawl, and be unable to climb steps. Exiting and re-entering the dungeon clears this condition.
 * Lydia, and other followers, will not cross the tunnel containing the battering rams, and will instead run back and wait at the nearby gate for the remainder of the dungeon. You can force your follower past this point using the dragon shout Unrelenting Force.
 * Followers can become stuck in various parts of this dungeon. They will generally stand in one place and not move, or try to go backwards, or even move backwards and forwards, never getting very far. "Persuading" them (by moving near or around the area where they are stuck) can sometimes get them unstuck. Followers have been known to become stuck in the battering ram tunnel (same as above) and on staircases leading through the tunnels near the walkways.
 * At the entrance waiting for 24 hours will cause you not to be able to wait again. When you try to wait it says: "You cannot wait while being asked to leave". exiting and re-entering will fix it.
 * During Totems of Hircine, Aela may disappear near the ram traps.
 * When entering from North Shriekwind Bastion, there is a bug at the threshold of the first door on the right hand side. Enter the room. There will be some blood splatter and a kettle with some skulls to the left of the doorway. If you perform a Silent Roll several times into where the kettle and doorway meet, you may fall through the map and after a short time appear at the stairway leading to the Word Wall.