Ironbind Barrow

Description
Ironbind Barrow is a medium sized dungeon occupied by Draugr. It contains a word wall which will give you one part of the Become Ethereal Shout. It has a named final boss, Warlord Gathrik. It's possible to find a waraxe with the rare Fiery Soul Trap enchant resting against his throne.

Note the throne room is most easily accessed after the end of the quest through the Ironbind Barrow Overlook on the side of Mount Anthor. There is a gate on the way to the throne room which you open by removing an item from a pedestal and if you return later this gate is closed but you can reopen the gate by jumping onto the empty pedestal and walking off again.

Because this dungeon is in a remote and mountainous area it can be hard to reach for low level characters. Dragons, wolves and sabre cats in the area can also cause problems for the poorly equipped. The barrow is located about an equal distance southeast of Dawnstar and southwest of Winterhold on the road from Whiterun to Windhelm a short distance north-northwest of the Nightgate Inn near the Wayward Pass across the northern mountain chain.

The player will see two people arguing when they approach the entrance, a Redguard named Salma and an Argonian named Beem-Ja. They ask you to help them secure the treasure within. Once you clear the path through the dungeon, you will encounter a "boss" draugr named Warlord Gathrik. Behind his throne is a Dragon Shout for Become Ethereal which turns the player invincible for a time. To the right of the throne is a spiral staircase leading outside, to the peak of the mountain.

Once outside, turn to your left to see a chest. If you continue a few feet past the chest and hike up the mountain to its peak, you will find a group of pillars with more loot at their base. The central pillar has loot on top of it which can be obtained by going up the peak a little more and using the "Whirlwind Sprint" shout to jet out over the pillar and land on its top. There is also a Quicksilver Ore Vein near the pillar and looking east from the very top of the peak you can see a Moonstone Ore Vein a little ways away along the top of the ridge.


 * Please take note that if you miss the pillars top, you will take considerable damage from the fall. The Telekinesis spell is of good use here. Unrelenting Force can also be used, but there is a high chance of simply blowing the majority of the loot over the edge of the cliff.

Notable Loot

 * Silver Ore Vein
 * Steel Battleaxe of Fiery Souls (with rare Fiery Soul Trap enchantment)
 * Moonstone Ore Vein
 * 2920, Frostfall, v10 ( Conjuration skillbook ) Can be looted or pickpocketed from Beem-Ja.

Storyline
This barrow is not actually connected to the main quest, but the Argonian, Beem- Ja, will attempt to kill you as a sacrifice to absorb Warlord Gathrik's power. The Redguard woman, Salma, will assist you if she is still in the vicinity. Once Beem- Ja is dead, Salma will talk about returning to High Rock. Beem- Ja, when looted, will have robes, boots, a necklace(Not always), and a note hinting that Beem- Ja was a criminal in his homeland, the Black Marsh.

Final fight tactics

 * If you're playing on a high difficulty or just having trouble with boss monsters, You can avoid having to fight Warlord Gathrik & Beem-Ja by having Beem-Ja killed in one of the earlier rooms. This may prove difficult at lower levels since only weak draugr will appear. At higher levels, Draugr Deathlords will easly dispose of Beem-Ja in a hit or two
 * Once you reach the point in the dungeon with the helmet on the pedestal take the helmet and quickly run through the gate and turn around. On the right side of the archway is a lever. Pull it quickly before Beem-Ja can get through. Salma may also get trapped behind the gate, but this is not a huge problem. Proceed to the boss room (it may be a good idea to save your game before the fight). Kill Gathrik and his minions on your own (or with Salma if she made it through). After defeating Gathrik you can go back to open the gate Beem-Ja is trapped behind and fight him too (saving your game first), before leaving the dungeon. If done correctly, he should be too far away to resurrect Gathrik, and the fight should be easy.
 * During the fight, as soon as you kill Warlock Gathrik, Beem-Ja will double-cross you and revive him. This can be a very hard battle, since now both Beem-Ja and Warlock Gathrick are attacking the player simultaneously. To avoid this, as soon as you kill Warlock Gathrick, do not go near or interact with Beem-Ja. Instead, run all the way out of Ironbind Barrow (exiting the way you came). Once outside, go back into Ironbind Barrow. You can either jump on top of the pressure sensitive altar (where you got the enchanted helmet) to open the iron gate that is now stuck closed or look for the pull chain, located nearly above it. Proceed back towards the throne room. Beem-Ja will be standing alone outside the entrance. Kill him while you are both still outside the throne room. In this scenario he will not have the opportunity to raise the slain Warlock Gathrik from the dead, so the player can simply loot the room/corpses, learn the Shout, and leave unscathed through the exit.
 * Easiest way to win the fight is once the fight is in progress with Beem Ja and Warlock Gathrick run back to the room where you got the enchanted helmet, close the gate using the chain and sit it out until Beem Ja comes back to the gate wanting to kill you. This may take 7 or 8 minutes or maybe longer. Then kill Beem Ja by conjuring a familiar or a flame atronach to assist.
 * A useful tactic for melee fighters, as soon as you defeat Gathrik, immediately loot his corpse and take his weapon. When he is raised by Beem-Ja, he will fight unarmed, and be less of a threat.
 * If you manage to Soul Trap Warlock Gathrick when killing him or disintegrate him with a shock spell, Beem-Ja will not be able to ressurect him. (Soul Trap confirmed)

Bugs

 * A gate partway through the dungeon has a slit for a swinging ax trap and the swinging axe can be heard there but not seen. The trap spawns a few feet left of the door instead of directly over the slit as it should.
 * After trigger the handle for first door, it may happen to have glitch floor. If player drops from glitch floor, player will be sent to the room with Warlord Gathrik.
 * After killing Gathrick and having the dialogue with Beem-Ja, Warlord Gathrick may come back to life and just walk on the spot. Hitting him will reduce his health (which returns again to full) but he will not die and just continue to walk on the spot. This appears to only happen when you cast a Paralyze spell on Gathrick before beating him the first time.
 * Solution: Reloading an earlier save will remedy this.
 * There is a bug in which the Steel Battleaxe of Fiery Souls is floating in the middle the bosses chamber. One way to resolve the issue is trying to reach it using the whrilwind sprint shout. Or simply shoot the axe with an arrow.
 * The word wall should give the final word to the "Become Ethereal" shout. Sound effects are there as you approach the wall, but there is no glowing word or visual effect. The word is not learned and quest can not be completed. Tried the quest as assigned by Arngeir and by Letter from a Friend with no change.
 * The Steel Battleaxe of Fiery Souls might not be floating and could be replaced with an Elven Shield. The Steel Battleaxe of Fiery Souls can still be found somewhere on the staircase.
 * When entering the room with the Nord Tomb entrance you can jump onto a ledge directly to your right. Follow this ledge and you will see a small ledge below at the end which you can jump onto. When on this 2nd ledge, if crouched you will fall through the bottom of the map and land directly in front of the iron door of the word wall room.