Labyrinthian (Skyrim)

It is located northeast of Drelas' Cottage and southeast of Morthal. Labyrinthian lies within the region of Hjaalmarch and is the location of two different Dragon shouts, Dismaying Shout and Slow Time. The Headless Horseman also appears near here. Additionally, one or more Frost Trolls may be encountered as the player begins ascending the stairs.

History
Before becoming Arch-Mage, Savos Aren joined an expedition to Labyrinthian. Lead by the Arch-mage's favorite student Atmah, a group of mages ventured into the ruins, searching for the Staff of Magnus and various other items believed to be held within. Shalidor's Writings are specifically mentioned as a hopeful find by one of the ghost-characters (although they are not found in the passages to complete the Labyrinthian quest). Along with Savos and Atmah were Takes-In-Light, Hafnar Ice-Fist, Girduin, and Elvali Veren. Savos was the only one to make it out alive. Several others perished in combat. Savos left two of his companions behind, enthralled and forever assigned to the maintenance of a magical containment ward whose purpose was to contain Morokei. The Dragonborn kills these two mages in the search for the Staff of Magnus.

Design and features
This is a very large area composed of many sub-levels, all of which are worth exploring. Upon entering this area, the Dragonborn is greeted with several Frost Trolls.

Bromjunaar Sanctuary
In the center, there is a large, raised circular area. Underneath that, there is the Wooden Mask, and a Hired Thug's Missive. Equipping the mask will transport the player back in time where the player will find a series of busts where the Dragonborn can place each of the Dragon Priest's Masks locatable throughout Skyrim. When all eight masks are placed, the dragon's mouth opens, and a ninth mask is revealed: Konahrik.

Shalidor's Maze
There is also a door named Shalidor's Maze, just behind the location. This leads to the maze of the same name, which is home to one Daedra.

Upon passing through the door, the player sees a courtyard with a corpse in a circle and the maze just beyond. Approach the corpse, and four staves rise from the ground; one for destruction, one for alteration, one for illusion, and one for restoration. It's advisable to take these, as they help in the maze.

Continue straight and the player will notice a Sigil of Alteration on the wall at the very entrance. Use the Staff of Magelight, aimed at the sigil, and the gate to your right will open. Continue through the maze, killing off the Skeevers as you go (Note: many corners of the maze feature "shutters" which contain random loot, one containing a Spelltome for Heal Other). The player will come to a similar Sigil of Destruction. Use the Staff of Fireballs, this time to open the trapdoor beneath you. The player must go right, up a staircase, and will find themself on the left side of the maze. Go North (right, if at the top of the staircase), and there you will find a Dragon Shout for Dismay. From here, turn around, looking south, and enter this side of the maze, which is sealed with a Sigil of Illusion.Use the Staff of Fear. Continue as last time, this time killing off Ice Wraiths as you go. At the end, the Sigil of Restoration is displayed, use the Staff of Repulsion which opens another trap door.

Once you fall, there will be a large blue globe shining in front of you. This is the portal to fight a Dremora of varying rank and name, with players reporting encountering Kynval and Markynaz or even a Valkynaz. Regardless, they are relatively easy to kill, but will conjure two atronachs, so be wary. Attack him once, if you kill him before you teleport, you and the atronachs will be teleported out, not the body of the Dremora. The Dremora carries a rather useful helm called the Diadem of the Savant, a circlet which reduces magicka cost for all spells.

Lost Valkygg
The Valkygg is a tunnel based dungeon. It is heavily guarded by Draugrs. They pop out of coffins in most places, but some roam freely. This area seems to be highly saturated with gemstones, but other than that, the loot is sub-par.

Start by entering through the door that is lower in the ground, not the one in the wall face, as that is the exit. Proceed through this area however you please, it is not overly dangerous, but you could find yourself facing several Draugrs at once. As you proceed through, you will see two Draugrs laying on a stone slab. They aren't dead, so you can get the upper hand on them before proceeding through the door activated by the pressure pads. After this, head down the hallway until you get to a larger room. You will fight four more Draugrs here, and then head through the wooden door. On the left, there is an Apprentice level door to lockpick, but take note of the pressure pad in front of the door, it activates a poison dart trap. This is what most likely killed the Draugr whose body is lifeless on the ground. Inside the door is a Steel Horned Helmet, and two burial urns. Now, proceed in the other direction.

Now, this is where it gets a bit more dangerous. A Draugr Deathlord guards a chest in this room, near a fairly deep hole. It can potentially shout you in to the hole, so it is recommended that you beat it to the punchline and knock it down there first, which will often take a chunk of damage out of its health. After it is dealt with, go in to the room behind where the Deathlord was, and loot the chest there, that is where more of the treasure is often placed. Next, proceed down the hole, and make sure to carefully land on the beams to cushion fall damage. Down below, you will find another Draugr Deathlord. This one hits much harder and can be much tougher, but there is an exploit to minimize damage from him. If you can get the Draugr Deathlord to stand on the left side of the area that you landed on, he will just run and swing his warhammer at you, without touching you, unless he says a shout or two at you. Dispose of him as you see fit. Also, if you jump from the little bridge directly across from the area you landed at, you can reach a chest on a rocky ledge. Now, proceed out of the door and you're once again, at the Labrynthian area. It should be noted that the two Deathlords carry an Ebony Bow and Ebony Warhammer, respectively. As such, it is possible to obtain these powerful weapons at a low level if you can defeat them.

Ceremonial Door
This door is only opened during the College of Winterhold's quest to find the Staff of Magnus, by using the Torq of Labyrinthian on the door, it slides in and knocks, allowing your entry.

A skeletal dragon rests just inside here, along with many skeletons, you can sprint past these however, and onto the next room.

Outside Labyrinthian

 * Dragon Priest Mask: Wooden Mask underneath a large, raised circular area. Next to skeleton.

Inside Labyrinthian

 * Spell Tome: Equilibrium, in the room with the Arcane Enchanter.
 * A random spell on the right table when entering the first chamber of the Labyrinthian. Most likely an Alteration spell.
 * Word Wall: Slow Time
 * Special Weapons:
 * Drainblood Battleaxe
 * Drainheart Sword
 * Drainspell Bow
 * Ore Deposit: Gold Ore, in the Labyrinthian Thoroughfare, on the floor in an open chamber with four skeletons just after the passageway turns right. There is a troll to kill in the immediately preceding chamber. There may be a second deposit right near this one, but it cannot be interacted with.
 * 3 Gold Ore
 * In Labyrinthian Chasm, under a deer hide inside of a pot
 * In Labyrinthian Chasm, just northwest of the previous one, amongst the urns and other debris that's accumulated near the stairs down
 * In Labyrinthian Thoroughfare, in the flowing water through a novice locked gate where you first encounter enemies in this area.
 * 4 Malachite Ore: At the point where you encounter the 2nd set of enemies (was 1 skeleton for me), if you turn right facing said skeleton, there is a pathway with water running through it. These 4 ore pieces are scattered in that short pathway.
 * 1 Gold Ingot: In the back of the Labyrinthian Thoroughfare area, when you have the option of dropping through the trap floor or going through the doorway to your right, take the doorway. At the end of the hall it is on a bookshelf.
 * 3 Ebony Ingot: Just past the Slow Time word wall, there is a pathway that has an alcove on each side. These 3 ingots are spread amongst the 2 alcoves on both sides.

Labyrinthian, Tribune

 * Unique Weapon: Staff of Magnus
 * Dragon Priest Mask: Morokei
 * Unique Item: Ancient Helmet of the Unburned, Honed Ancient Nord Greatsword of Scorching and Ebony Shield is in a room behind a locked gate.
 * 2 Malachite Ore: 1 at the top of the tower-esque building you come across that has a bunch of barrels inside of it. The other in the water at the base of said tower.

Shalidor's Maze

 * Word Wall: Dismaying Shout
 * Skill Book (Conjuration): Liminal Bridges, lying on the ground next to a skeleton somewhere in the maze.
 * Alchemy Ingredients:
 * Blue Mountain Flower - 5
 * Daedra Heart - 1
 * Deathbell - 9
 * Dragon's Tongue - 14
 * Hanging Moss - 8
 * Ice Wraith Teeth - 1
 * Purple Mountain Flower - 10
 * Red Mountain Flower - 4
 * Skeever Tail - 4

Defeating the Dremora, players may be transported back to the entrance of the area, where two Atronachs spawn. Each one drops its respective salt (Frost Salts, Void Salts, Fire Salts).

Bromjunaar Sanctuary

 * Dragon Priest Mask: Konahrik (Mask)
 * Skill Book (Pickpocket): Aevar Stone-Singer
 * Elven Boots of Dwindling Shock

Alchemy Ingredients

 * Bleeding Crown - 7 (5 found in a barrel in Labyrinthian, Tribune)
 * Blisterwort - 14
 * Bone Meal - ~6+ (drops from Draugr/Skeletons, as well)
 * Canis Root - 1
 * Deathbell - 6
 * Ectoplasm - 1+ (drops from the spectral dogs in this dungeon, as well)
 * Fire Salts - 2
 * Fly Amanita - 2
 * Giant Lichen - 1
 * Hanging Moss - 5
 * Lavender - 4 (from a barrel in Labyrinthian, Tribune)
 * Namira's Rot - 2
 * Nightshade - 22
 * Nirnroot - 1
 * Salt Pile - 2
 * Scaly Pholiota - 2
 * Skeever Tail - 1
 * Slaughterfish Egg - 7
 * Slaughterfish Scales - 1 (this assumes there's a 100% drop rate on them from Slaughterfish)
 * Spider Egg - 4 (in a barrel in Labyrinthian, Tribune, right near the end of the dungeon, just past Morokei )
 * White Cap - 12 (4 found in a barrel in Labyrinthian, Tribune)

Amenities

 * Alchemy Lab - Inside of Labyrinthian, behind a locked door where you can find the spell tome: Equilibrium
 * Arcane Enchanter - Inside of Labyrinthian, behind a locked door where you can find the spell tome: Equilibrium

Quests

 * Staff of Magnus - One of the end quests in the College of Winterholds faction questline.

Labyrinthian in The Elder Scrolls: Arena
Labyrinthian, built by Arch-Mage Shalidor, was one of the locations that appeared in The Elder Scrolls: Arena. It is one of the locations where the part of the Staff of Chaos is located, and the Eternal Champion is tasked with obtaining this after the Fang Lair quest.

Bugs

 * Some walls and textures may be missing in certain rooms, but are solid and cannot be passed through.
 * Morokei may contain 2 Staves of Magnus.
 * Shalidor's Maze cannot be completed on French version (maybe other languages) because Sigils of Alteration and Restoration don't work. Even if you can jump into the maze, you have to activate the Sigil of Restoration to be able to continue. PC players can change the language by downloading this archive, unzip it into Skyrim_Path/data, and edit the Skyrim_Path/skyrim.ini to change French into English. After that, the Sigil of Illusion needs the Staff of Magelight. Confirmed on German version.
 * after solving Shalidor's Maze, you are "conjured" to what appears to be an oblivion plane to fight a boss type enemy, however, sometimes he merely charges at you and then you both are transported back to the entrance of the maze where a flame and frost atronauch await along with the boss. If you attempt to get out of the boss's line of sight to deal with the Atronachs first, he will disappear and cannot be found again.
 * If you do not get the word wall, Slow Time, it is possible to retrieve on Staff of Magnus, leave Labyrinthian, and return later to retrieve a second Staff of Magnus from Morokei's body.
 * Don't take Cosnach or Ghorbash the Iron Hand (PS3 confirmed) or Aela the Huntress (PC) or Colder (Xbox 360) into Shalidor's Maze for he will glitch and wont ever exit the place with you. Leaving through the door and teleporting will fix the problem.
 * Riding a horse into the Bromjunaar Sanctuary can result in the your character falling outside of the game. Reloading an old save can cause your character to then move as if on fast-forward while the rest of the world continues to go at a constant rate (Xbox 360).