Black Book: The Sallow Regent (Quest)

Black Book: The Sallow Regent
The Sallow Regent sitting on a pedestal in Apocrypha.
Quest Giver	Black Book: The Sallow Regent
Location	Apocrypha
Reward	Seeker of Might or Seeker of Sorcery or Seeker of Shadows
Type	Black Book quest
Quest ID	DLC2BlackBook05Quest

For other uses, see Black Book: The Sallow Regent.

"Woe betide my fate-wrecked heart which gives no tender shine to he who gave his favors up to gods and brought his blood-struck mind to me."

―Hawfip the Crafter

Black Book: The Sallow Regent is a quest in The Elder Scrolls V: Dragonborn in which the Dragonborn must find the hidden knowledge within the Black Book The Sallow Regent by exploring the realm of Apocrypha.

Background

I read the Black Book called "The Sallow Regent," and found myself in Hermaeus Mora's realm of Apocrypha. I should uncover the knowledge hidden here, or read the book again to escape.

Objectives

1. Learn the Black Book's hidden knowledge

Walkthrough

Read the Black Book found in the White Ridge Barrow.

Travel through Apocrypha; the following adventure will not be as simple as it might seem, seeing as how the darkness of the realm is harmful and drains health without a light source of some sort, be it a spell or a torch. There are moving light sources throughout that act as safe havens.

In the first room lies a pod just past the small pool with a tentacle on the right side. Wait for a moving light and follow it closely down the hallway to the next room. There will be another pod just outside the lit area on the left hand side of this room. Follow another light through the next hallway.

After following the second hallway, there is a large open area with stationary lights near the entrance and exit. A large beam of light will periodically travel from left to right. Inside will wait two Seekers for your arrival. On the left, right next to the entrance rests yet another pod, and on the right side of the room there are several books, soul gems, and scrolls. The skill book 2920, vol 05 - Second Seed and the Spell Tome: Detect Dead can be found here or on the floor nearby if they are knocked off during the battle with the two Seekers. There are also some soul gems on a table toward the far end of the room on the right along with the Spell Tome: Conjure Seeker. All of the loot rests shrouded in darkness, so using a light source such as a torch or spell is recommended to find it.

Follow a moving light down the hall and up a ramp to the next area. This space has a series of bridges, some of which will retract and extend. There are also several Lurkers in this area (2–4 depending on level), which may stall the player and force them to fight in darkness. This area is also more difficult, as the moving lights do not follow the path the player would normally opt for. An altar on the left after the first bridge has a scroll, a soul gem, and a random spell tome. From there the pathway has no deviations until the final Lurker is encountered in an area that proves to be a circular path with constant lamps in either direction. It is very easy to miss the edge in the center of this area and fall. The spell Candlelight will prove itself effective for this area (Alternatively you can use one of the following: Stendarr's Aura, Magelight, or a torch). After killing or avoiding the Lurkers, you will encounter a staircase; climb it to reach the final room, where there are two tables with books, scrolls, and soul gems, as well as a vessel with more loot. The Spell Tome Flame Thrall is found on the table to the right of The Sallow Regent which is located on a pedestal at the back of the room.

Rewards

At the end, the Dragonborn may choose one of these effects:

• Seeker of Might - 10% more effective combat skills, 10% improved Smithing.
• Seeker of Sorcery - 10% reduction in cost of all spells, 10% improved Enchanting.
• Seeker of Shadows - 10% more effective stealth abilities, 10% improved Alchemy.

Only one of these effects can be active at one time. Read The Sallow Regent again to change to one of the other effects (you will not have to redo the dungeon, as you will simply return at the end).

Journal

Black Book: The Sallow Regent – DLC2BlackBook05Quest
ID	Journal Entry
10	I read the Black Book called "The Sallow Regent," and found myself in Hermaeus Mora's realm of Apocrypha. I should uncover the knowledge hidden here, or read the book again to escape. Objective 10: Learn the Black Book's hidden knowledge
20	I uncovered the hidden knowledge contained in the Black Book "The Sallow Regent." Quest complete

Trivia

• Seeker of Might affects all skills in the Path of Might, including Smithing, Heavy Armor and Block.
• Using the spell "Candlelight" or taking out a torch seems to provide enough light to prevent the decreasing of health, so you don't need to follow the hovering lamps.
• Should the player fall, the message "You can only fall so far" appears. You will then revert to the top of the map, only to lay down and die.
• The damage from the shadowy areas can still damage you with God Mode turned on.

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to Black Book: The Sallow Regent (Quest). Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following: Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening. If the bug is still occurring, please post the bug report with the appropriate system template  360  /  XB1  ,  PS3  /  PS4  ,  PC  /  MAC  ,  NX  /  PS5  ,  XS  , depending on which platform(s) the bug has been encountered on. Be descriptive when listing the bug and fixes, but avoid having conversations in the description and/or using first-person anecdotes: such discussions belong on the appropriate forum board.

Click to show

PC   The second extending bridge cannot be crossed. Whirlwind Sprint is also ineffective (there is an invisible barrier). This error makes completing the quest impossible. confirmation needed  PC (Fix)   Entering console commands, typing TCL (turn off clipping) and walking to the other platform while in no-clip mode will fix it. Typing TCL again while above the platform will turn clipping on, and you can continue.  PC   360   PS3   PS4   Upon exiting the Sallow Regent, the Dragonborn may continue to take damage while in Solstheim, much like if they were in an unlit area in the Sallow Regent. Re-entering the Sallow Regent and exiting it again fixes this.  PS4 (Fix)   Reloading the autosave upon returning to Solstheim should fix the issue.  PC   360   PS3   A constant buzzing sound may be heard. Saving the current game and then reloading it may fix it. Another effective way is to read the book again and go back into Apocrypha.  360   Certain powers that the book offers may not be able to be selected.  360 (Fix)   Save the current game and then reload it. Or select one of the available choices, exit (back to Solstheim) and re-enter the book; the Dragonborn will appear before the book again and all three choices will be available.