Arkngthamz

Arkngthamz
Map
Hold	The Reach
Location	Southeast of Dushnikh Yal
Type	Dwemer Ruin
Quests	Lost to the Ages
Characters	Katria
Location ID	DLC1Arkngthamz01 DLC1ArkngthamzExterior01 DLC1ArkngthamzExterior02

Not to be confused with Arkngthand or Arkngthamz-Phng.

Arkngthamz is a location in The Elder Scrolls V: Dawnguard. It is a Dwemer Ruin located deep within the Jerall Mountains.

Overview

Shortly after entering the ruins, one hears the voice of the deceased explorer Katria telling the Dragonborn to turn back. As they cross a gap on the side of a fallen pillar, Katria appears and explains that she had been pursuing a Dwemer Aetherium Forge that was capable of making such powerful weapons that it drove the Dwemer into civil war.

Katria tells of how she died while attempting to find the lost forge. The Dragonborn can opt to enlist Katria's help while delving through the ruins, which experience periodical earthquakes causing bits of the ruins to fall apart, while plenty of Falmer jump out of their holes in the canyon walls.

Katria will remark that a there is a chest behind a sealed gate. From the gate, go west and jump down the series of ledges until arriving at a stream. Going upstream eventually leads to the chest and a lever that opens the gate. Along the main path, there is a larger stream. All the way upstream, there is a large pool of water, by the waterfalls. Dive about halfway down to find a cave. Follow this underwater cave to the end to find a chest, weapon, and shield.

As they make it near the bottom of the ruins, Katria points out her lost bow (Zephyr, which has 30% faster shooting speed), which will be needed to complete the puzzle later on if one does not have a bow on hand. Finally reaching the bottom, one finds a set of three locked doors with a large Dwemer head and five tonal resonators above the three doors. There are five tonal resonators which must be hit in the correct order in order to open the doors. If hit in the improper sequence, traps will trigger which include explosive arrows, Dwarven spheres, Dwarven spiders, as well as a centurion. The resonators are arranged in two rows; three on bottom, two on top. The correct order is bottom left, bottom right, top left, top right, bottom middle. After the doors open, the player can enter the treasure room that contains the first of four Aetherium keys used to activate the lost Dwemer forge.

A fallen Dwemer bust in Arkngthamz

The location of the other three Aetherium pieces are clearly marked in Katria's notebook, which can be found on her body at the entrance of Arkngthamz where she first appears.

Quests

Lost to the Ages

The Dragonborn embarks on an investigation with Katria to learn of an ancient Dwemer secret and to search for four pieces of solid Aetherium. Arkngthamz is the first of four ruins that contain an Aetherium Shard, which is needed to gain access to the Aetherium Forge, and to craft one of three unique Aetherium items.

Notable items

• Five Centurion Dynamo Cores – one is obtainable immediately after Katria's body underneath the walkway, the second is located on a destroyed centurion when accessing the chest behind a sealed gate, a third can be obtained by incorrectly activating the tonal lock four times and defeating the Centurion immediately before the Aetherium Shard. The fourth and fifth can be found on shelves to either side of the Aetherium Shard.
• Aetherium Shard
• Zephyr
• Ebony ore vein – on the right wall of tonal resonator room, at base of a ledge.
• Quicksilver ore vein – on a ledge above the ebony ore vein, along with a dwarven chest that cannot be opened.
• Katria's Journal
• Scrap of Paper

Trivia

• Unlike other dungeons, Arkngthamz will not be marked or tagged as "Cleared" on the map until all of the traps at the end are intentionally set off, in addition to killing anything within. Even without setting off the traps, however, nothing inside the dungeon will respawn, so items can safely be stored in the containers.
  •  PC (fix)   One can make the dungeon show as "Cleared" without activating all traps if they have killed everything inside, then go to the last room and type in the console command killall. This will kill all the remaining inactive enemies from false attempts with the activators in the last room and thus make the dungeon appear as "Cleared."
• Things such as pushed or dead falmer that fall off the high ledges can land in one of several streams running through the area. As these objects float in the current, the Dragonborn may need to look significantly downstream from where they fell to recover or loot them. The Dragonborn should also take care in these retrievals as these currents are considerably stronger than in most places. Along with waterfalls, these currents can lead to an exciting and potentially dangerous bodysurfing adventure.
• If over-encumbered, it is not possible to utilize the quick way back to the exit. The current will carry the Dragonborn into a nook where it is impossible to escape. One must backtrack through the dungeon, or leave items behind. It may, however, be possible to use the quick exit if the Dragonborn walks onto the rock wall directly left of the edge and slowly eases their way down the rock face and as soon as the ceiling is clear, uses Whirlwind Sprint to the left-side which will get them far enough left to avoid the water without falling.

Appearances

• The Elder Scrolls V: Dawnguard