Harmugstahl

Location

 * Harmugstahl is a cave/fort located north east of Markarth and west of Solitude.

Quests

 * Family Heirloom: Fulfill a contract for the Companions to retrieve a stolen family heirloom.
 * Arniel's Endeavor: Retrieve a Staff for Enthir.

Notable figures

 * Upon entering the cave the player will be greeted by an Adventurer killing a Frostbite spider. On asking the adventurer "What was going on with that spider?" He will reply:


 * "I don't know, but this place is full of them. Every one I've encountered has been enchanted or the like. Look, I'm getting out of here. Normally, spiders make my skin crawl, but magic spiders? Blech!"


 * The other notable figure is the cave's resident mage Kornalus Frey. It appears Kornalus has been experimenting by enchanting the frost bite spiders, many of the spider corpses can be found lying dead on tables scattered around the cave. Those that are still alive each have a magical glow: fire, ice or electricity.

Layout
The cave is on the smaller side compared to some of Skyrim's labyrinth like subterranean areas and is very easily navigated.


 * There is one puzzle featured in Harmugstahl with four levers controlling a metal barred/spiked passageway.
 * There is one Adept locked door that needs to be picked.
 * There are also two locked doors found after Kornalus Frey; both can be unlocked by using his key.


 * In Kornalus' room there is also a Shrine to Julianos.

Lever puzzle solution

 * Activate the first lever on the left, and wait for the two spikes to descend. Then pull the first lever on the right (the opposite lever), and wait for the rest to descend.

Notable loot
Kornalus Frey doesn't appear to have any static loot besides the key he carries.
 * Book: A Game At Dinner (Alchemy skill book) located behind the Adept locked door.
 * Possible location for Shalidor's Insights
 * Possible location for Staff of Tandil
 * Possible location for one or more of the quest Fetch me that Book!'s books.
 * Journal (Book) located on the Alchemy Table
 * (1x) Iron Ore Vein - In the locked room, after defeating Kornalus Frey. The door will say "a key is required"
 * Possible location for the Forgemaster's Fingers
 * Possible location for Meridia's Beacon
 * Possible location for one of the Totems of Hircine

Bugs

 * The front spikes can sometimes glitch and not move, or are invisible. Exiting and re-enter the fort to can sometimes correct it. If after solving the lever puzzle, you leave and return, sometimes some of the bars are back in place, and the levers have no effect. Since the exit short-cut is one-way, there is no way to return to the interior, short of going back to a previous save. So make sure you do everything you want to before you leave. It's unclear whether this is a bug or intended.
 * Two possible solutions:
 * The left most spike is an illusion. Squeezing through the far left should let you pass right through.
 * Go into the console, click on one of the spikes, type “disable,” and repeat for any other spikes needed.


 * Take care attacking the spiders in the cage at the end with a sword as it's possible to end up getting a critical hit with a kill animations and getting stuck in the cage with no way out except to load a save.
 * Whacking an already-dead spider with a weapon will trigger an animation, showing what attribute it had.
 * Lever puzzle suggested solutions and bugs
 * (v1.3) Neither of the combinations above worked. The correct combination for me was levers 1 then 4. Make you sure to wait a few seconds after pulling the first lever, before pulling the next one.
 * (v1.3) None of these worked, appears pretty random, but there are only 4 levers - it took less than 2 minutes to get through.
 * Glitching on the 2nd row of spikes at the 4 levers, they would not move. May have entered the dungeon long ago and talked to the adventurer, then not going going any further. Pay heed to the notice that this may be an intended bug.
 * Noticed levers 1 and 4 cleared the 1st row of spikes, reloaded at the entrance, used levers 1 and 4, when the spikes were almost down, used the Whirlwind Sprint Shout. This pushed the character right into the wall past the 2nd row of spikes before they had time to block the passage. Aela the Huntress (follower) squirmed her way through the spikes somehow, although she was not really needed to finish the quest at level 41.
 * Solution was to pull lever 1,2 and 3, took 15 minutes to find this solution.
 * (V1.6) The bars do not work initially. Leaving the cave and reentering, worked.

Behind the scenes

 * Unless otherwise stated, the information above was obtained from in-game play or from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Creation Kit.

Appearances

 * The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim