A Love Beyond Death

A Love Beyond Death
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Location	Ansilvund Excavation
Reward	Ghostblade
Type	Side Quest

The quest automatically starts about halfway through Ansilvund Excavation. However,If the player used console or some special ways to increase the sneaking up to thousands percent better and sneak from the very beginning all the way down, the quest will not be started, instead, it will just tell you to kill a person called Lu'ah Al-Skaven. You may still get the same reward though.

Walkthrough

The quest is fairly straight forward, keep venturing through the excavation dealing with enemies as they appear.

Eventually you will enter a large room with an animal puzzle to solve. Pick up the book Of Fjori and Holgeir and read through it to figure out the puzzle combination, which, if one is looking at he animals from the lever, is Eagle - Snake - Whale - Snake, from left to right. Right near the book should also be Lu'ah's Journal, which will provide some insight into what she's doing there.

Continuing through the burial chamber after solving the puzzle, you will eventually enter the final room where you encounter Lu'ah Al-Skaven.

She will summon multiple draugr and skeletons to attack you. Once you have beaten her (don't forget to loot the key on her corpse), the ghosts of Fjori and Holgeir will appear at the front of the room near the enchanting altar and thank you for freeing them from her spell.

As they disappear, they will reward you with Ghostblade, an Ancient Nordic Sword that does 3 points extra damage that ignores armor. The blade will appear right in front of you next to the Arcane Enchanter. Take it, and proceed to the exit, which will be up the ramp to your right if you are facing the wall that the Ghostblade appeared against.

DO NOT forget to grab the Stone of Barenziah (seen as the Unusual Gem before it has been appraised by Vex in the quest No Stone Unturned) that is on the table right next to where the Ghostblade appears.

Go up the ramp, and enter the room with the master-level chest, then head through the exit. Unlock the gate. and use the ramp to come to a ledge overlooking a Frostbite Spider and a Draugr. Jump down from the ledge, and kill the enemies if you haven't done so already, then turn left to find the door that you used when you first entered the Excavation.

Tips for Beating Lu'ah Al-Skaven

It is most important to mention that one should concentrate on finishing Lu'ah Al-Skaven as quickly as possible. When she dies, any other enemy will collapse and die immediately, so killing her as fast as possible will save the trouble of dealing with the others.

Stealth-based players

• If you have high enough Archery and Sneak skills and have a good bow (Glass, Ebony, Daedric, Nightingale, or Elven), it is possible to one-hit kill Lu'ah.
• Enter sneak mode before entering the area, then once she appears, quickly fire your arrow.
• The fight against Lu'ah can be EXTREMELY EASY for a stealth character who has the appropriate perks. Playing in full Dark Brotherhood Armor, using Mehrunes' Razor with 31 base damage and only having the Backstab Perk, it is possible to sneak up to Lu'ah and one-hit-kill her with the "Stealth-Kill" animation.
• Alternatively, it's possible to use the Throw Voice shout in the area where the ramp that leads out of the final burial chamber is. Lu'ah and her minions will run for the ramp and run up it looking for you. When you become "Hidden" once more, they will start wandering back. Sneak to the bottom of the ramp, and hide behind the wall for Lu'ah to walk by, and when she walks a bit past you, sneak up behind her and HOLD the attack button down, and you should Stealth kill her, finishing her off without having to deal with the undead enemies at all.

Warrior-based players

• The Easiest method to kill her is use Unrelenting Force on her while she's monologuing, then quickly close the distance. With the most powerful weapon available, keep hitting her and using Unrelenting Force until she's dead.

Mage-based players

• One of the easiest ways for a stealthy mage to kill her is to sneak into the room and constantly summon Daedra to soften her up for you while remaining hidden (dual-wielding an invisibility potion/spell and the Sanguine Rose is perfect for this.) Then it is just a simple manner of sneaking up on her and finishing her off with a slit throat or an arrow to the chest.
• Alternatively, if the player has a high enough illusion skill, the player can immediately cast pacify to prevent her from raising any dead. Since the spell wears off when she is hit, it is best to sneak up behind her (she won't pay attention) and slit her throat with a dagger.
• Another method is, if the player has Paralyze and enough Magicka to cast it 3 times, enter the room with Paralyze ready, and as soon she appears use it on her and on the two Draugr that she summons, then finish her off quickly. The player can also conjure a follower to help with the two Draugr, and if the player is quick enough it's also possible to cast soul trap on them for two easy Captured Souls.
• The player can also continually cast apprentice level spells on her keeping her staggered.
• Another method for illusion, is to cast a frenzy or fury spell on her. She should start attacking the dead she has resurrected. They may kill her and kill themselves if done correctly.
• Another quick way is to obtain a weapon that has been enchanted to paralyze enemies on hit (i.e.; Chillrend), and use a Whirlwind Sprint to close the distance. From that point, it's a simple task of killing her summoned enemies while she's paralyzed.

Behind the scenes

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

Sources

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim