The Break of Dawn

This quest is started by visiting the Statue to Meridia or by finding the radiant quest item Meridia's Beacon, before ever visiting the shrine in random chests, past level 12.

Upon obtaining the beacon, which is a large gem with no value, Meridia commands the Dragonborn to take the beacon to the shrine located west of Solitude, directly north of the Haafingar Stormcloak Camp. Once there, Meridia will tell the Dragonborn that there is a powerful necromancer named Malkoran defiling her temple, whom the Dragonborn must destroy.

Walkthrough

 * 1) After reaching level 12, the beacon can be found in a variety of locations including but not limited to: Giant camps, bandit camps, dungeons, and ruins. If Dragonborn is installed, the beacon may be found in Solstheim.
 * 2) Bring Meridia's beacon back to the Statue to Meridia, and place it into the hands of the statue.
 * 3) After falling back to Skyrim, the Dragonborn is instructed to guide a beam of light throughout the ruins, activating pedestals to direct Meridia's light in order to unlock several doors.
 * 4) Destroy Malkoran and his Corrupted Shades, once Malkoran dies he is resurrected as a Shade himself to be defeated a second time.
 * 5) Retrieve Dawnbreaker, a one-handed sword that has a powerful enchantment against undead.

Beholding the Beacon of Light
After reaching Level 12, the Dragonborn may discover this strange gem randomly in one of the large and ornate chests he or she opens; it's not in any fixed location. Alternatively, the Dragonborn can travel to Meridia's shrine where she will speak of a profane darkness that has defiled her temple, and will then set a waypoint to the beacon. Once the beacon is obtained, Meridia will speak to the Dragonborn every day (this effect is removed by update 1.6 or earlier) as she becomes increasingly alarmed at their lack of interest in helping the Solar Daughter, Meridia. It is a better idea just to go to the shrine, as the beacon will randomly appear and the chances of finding it randomly are slim.

Meridia's Beacon
Upon approaching the shrine with the beacon, a voice commanding that the beacon be placed at the feet of Meridia is heard. The Dragonborn is then whisked into the clouds when a glowing orb of Meridia's light appears, she elaborates about a necromancer named Malkoran planning to raise the dead of Skyrim to wage war on the living, using the energy of a powerful artifact in her shadow-filled shrine. The Dragonborn is to enter her shrine and direct a beam of light throughout the dungeon.
 * Objective: Replace the beacon
 * Target: Statue to Meridia


 * Objective: Guide Meridia's Light through the temple
 * Target: Kilkreath Temple, below the Statue to Meridia

Shining Light on the Dark Temple
After making a way inside, the Dragonborn will notice a desecrated corpse on the first flight of stairs, throughout the entire interior there is an abundance of them, each one has a handsome amount of coin ripe for the looting. As well as desecrated corpses, there is a large number of traps, and a few locked doors that once picked reveals a lever that opens a nearby gate with treasure on the other side.

In the first chamber, the temple, there are a total of three pedestals to be activated to direct Meridia's light. The first room has no significant loot, and one pedestal. Continue descending to the room with the second pedestal and activate it, be careful not to walk through the beam of light, as it drains Health and Magicka. At the top of the steps, one can see the beam of light shining through some debris that cannot be breached; go back down the steps and through the hallway to the right.

The room with the third pedestal has a lever locked room on the north side of the area, along with a few urns; after activating the pedestal, the Dragonborn will exit to the Balcony that contains a large chest to the east, and will be led back inside the Ruins.

Up some stairs, the Dragonborn will encounter a fairly large room that contains three more pedestals. Activating the pedestal directly straight up the wooden steps opens a door on that same level. Through the short hallway, there will be four burial urns to the left and a wooden door past that; that said door is rigged, so pick the trap to find a small room with some loot. Before entering the next hallway, there is a conveniently placed tripwire around the corner to the left that sets off some swinging axes. If unsure what the lever on the floor in the corner is for, continue through the caged walkway, activate the pedestal on the left, jump back over and take the ramp to find good treasure in the northwest corner, then go through the door that was just unlocked.

Next there will be a dimly lit room with a second level on either side. The steps up to the left will case a regular pedestal that's rigged with spikes. The other side will lead the Dragonborn through another short hall to the very top of the main room and to the third pedestal to activate. Carefully jump down to the main floor and head to the Kilkreath Catacombs.

Continuing to the room with the final pedestal, activate it, and there is one chest here to the right of the double doors. Go down more stairs and see Malkoran performing some sort of ritual.



Destroy Malkoran
Once the Dragonborn reaches the bottom of the steps, a quick way to get the upper hand against Malkoran and four Corrupted Shades is by using a bow or beast form to kill Malkoran off first, and to then move back up the steps shooting more off.

When Malkoran and his corrupted followers are finally dead, Meridia tells the Dragonborn to retrieve the Dawnbreaker.

Note that there will not be another chance to come back to this room after retrieving the Dawnbreaker, so it is recommended to loot the room before taking the sword.

Dawnbreaker
Once the Dragonborn takes Dawnbreaker, again being careful of the beam, he or she will be whisked back to the heavens for one last conversation and a great view.
 * Objective: Retrieve Dawnbreaker

Reference

 * The Official Game Guide of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim by Prima Games.

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