Chasing Echoes

Background
''Serana has indicated her desire to locate her estranged mother, Valerica, who has fled Castle Volkihar with one of the Elder Scrolls. She believes that Valerica may have left a clue to her whereabouts somewhere in the courtyard of the castle. In order to avoid detection by the castle's vampire, she's decided to utilize a hidden entrance on the back side of the island.''

Speak to Serana and ask her what's on her mind. She believes she knows where to start looking for one of the missing Elder Scrolls Dexion mentioned.

She believes her mother, Valerica, will know where whereabouts the of the Elder Scroll, but she has no idea where she is. The last time Serana saw her, she told her she would go someplace safe where Harkon would never find her. Serana can't imagine where this could be, however through some additional dialogue Serana deduces that Valerica is hiding within Castle Volkihar itself.

Walkthrough
Castle Volkihar can be infiltrated via an unused dock on the western side of the island. The platform will be guarded by several armored Skeletons. After defeating the skeletons, proceed into the undercroft.

Castle Undercroft
The undercroft is guarded by Death Hounds, armored Skeletons, and a Feral Vampire who has been banished to live here. Her Journal Fragment gives a little more insight. Fighting through the enemies leads to a canal with a raised wooden bridge. Serana will comment that her mother installed various security measures throughout the castle for her own saftey. To lower the bridge proceed to the left and up the stairs - the lever is guarded by a Giant Frostbite Spider. Once the lever has been pulled, return to the bridge that will lead to the courtyard.

Courtyard
The courtyard garden lies in a decrepit state and Serana comments that her mother would never have allowed it to fall into such disrepair. In the center of the courtyard is a moondial with various phases on the moon depicted around it. Serana mentions that there are some pieces missing. The three missing pieces can be found scattered around the courtyard: Once all the pieces are placed around the moondial, it will rotate and a secret stairway entrance to the Castle Volkihar Ruins will be revealed.
 * 1) Half Moon Crest: In the small lake.
 * 2) Crescent Moon Crest: On the raised balcony.
 * 3) Full Moon Crest: In the fenced off garden area.

Castle Volkihar Ruins
This part of the castle is blocked off from the rest. It's in a very poor state and is teeming with armored Skeletons and Gargoyles bursting out from gargoyle statue. After proceeding through the castle, a room with a large fireplace and several Gargolye statues will seem to be a dead end. Serana will comment that there should be a secret entrance somewhere nearby. The entrance can be found by turning a candle stick on the back wall, on the left-hand side of the fireplace.

This room is fairly sparse with the exception of the Vampire Royal Armor that can be found on a shelf to the right next to two coffins. Following the hallway leads eventually to Valerica's Laboratory.

Valerica's Laboratory
The laboratory's most prominent feature is the large group of circular stone rings in the center of the room. Serana asks the Dragonborn to locate Valerica's Journal to give any insight into her whereabouts. The journal can be found on the bookshelf to the right among several other books.

After reading it, Serana mentions that three ingredients are required to open a portal to the Soul Cairn. All three ingredients can be found within the well-stocked laboratory.


 * Finely Ground Bone Meal - On the table with the skulls near the entrance, in a large silver bowl.
 * Soul Gem Shards - Atop a wardrobe just past the stairs on the right, in a large silver bowl.
 * Purified Void Salts - On the last shelf on the balcony, in a large silver bowl.

Once all the ingredients have been found, place them in the chalice overlooking the stone dial. Serana will add her own blood to the mixture in place of Valerica's and the circular stone rings in the center of the room will begin to rotate, eventually revealing the portal.

The Choice
Proceed towards the newly opened portal. If the Dragonborn is not a Vampire, the portal will begin to leech some health. Serana comments that this is because the conditions to enter the portal are such that there are only two options.


 * Either allow Serana to transform the Dragonborn into a Vampire Lord, or
 * Allow her to trap part of the Dragonborn's soul into a soul gem. Doing so will add the Weakened Soul ability that reduces the Dragonborn's health, stamina and magicka by 45 points while in the Soul Cairn.

Bugs

 * If the Frost and Fire Salts are positioned too near the silver bowl of Purified Void Salts, the option to pick up the Void Salts may not appear. To fix this, simply pick up anything near the silver bowl.
 * Sometimes when placing the items in the Portal Vessel Nothing will happen other than the loss of the items, you will not be able to continue if this does happen and you must go back to your last save if you wish to try again.
 * If the player is already a Vampire Lord and cures the condition before activating the portal, they may be allowed entry without having to be partially soul-trapped or becoming a Vampire Lord again.
 * After you get all the ingredients, Serana stops moving and thus she will not cut her arms and the quest will not progress, to fix this, type tcl in the console and this will turn off the collisions and will make you be able to see the passage underneath the floor.

Chasing Echoes