Nightcaller Temple

Nightcaller Temple
Map
Hold	The Pale
Location	East of Dawnstar
Type	Military Fort
Sublocations	None
Quests	Waking Nightmare
Characters	Thorek Veren Duleri
Location ID	NightcallerTemple01

Nightcaller Temple is a fort in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Also known as the Tower of Dawn, it is a ruin located on a mountain top overlooking Dawnstar from the east.

History

"The tower on that hill is our destination. People around here call it the Tower of the Dawn. I'm not familiar with the tower's history, but it was deserted for quite a long time before Nightcaller Temple was established inside. When the temple was active the priests would rarely be seen in Dawnstar. They preferred to live a solitary existence. The temple's been abandoned for decades now. Ironic, isn't it... a ruin within a ruin?"

―Erandur

Erandur refers to the temple as a ruin within a ruin. First used as a military fort, then occupied by worshippers of Vaermina, both times it has fallen into disrepair and disuse.

Long ago, a band of Orcs invaded the tower and had a bloody conflict with all those dwelling inside. As a last-ditch effort to prevent the Orcs from seizing the inner sanctum in which the Skull of Corruption stands, the priests released "the Miasma," a gas which instantly puts all those who inhale it into an unbreakable deep hibernation while also keeping those slumbering perfectly preserved. Unfortunately, the longer one stays asleep due to "the Miasma," the more their mind breaks down. As such, upon entering the tower and breaking the air-tight seal, "the Miasma" dissipates, allowing the Orcs and the Priests to awaken and begin attacking in a frenzy, not able to tell the difference between friend and foe.

Quests

Waking Nightmare

Speaking to Erandur, a priest of Mara, in the Windpeak Inn in Dawnstar will begin the Daedric Quest to end the nightmares, Waking Nightmare, which involves a visit to Nightcaller Temple.

Erandur established a small shrine to Mara within the tower's entry hall, hoping to seek her guidance. Upon entering the shrine, the priest explains how the Skull is the source of everyone's nightmares, since it devours dreams and memories for Vaermina to collect.

If the quest Waking Nightmare is completed without killing Erandur, Erandur may be found at the meager shrine in the entry hall. He is available as a follower.

Enemies

• Orcish Invader
• Vaermina Devotee
• Skeever
• Snow Bears, a Snowy Sabre Cat, Frost Trolls, Ice Wraiths or Frostbite Spiders (appear outside)

Notable items

• Skull of Corruption, a Daedric artifact.
• Three alchemy labs in the laboratory.
• An arcane enchanter – east from the pull chain that released the Miasma, through a short passageway to the next room, against the west wall.
• Two pieces of charcoal (the rare kind) in the room between the library and the laboratory.
• A large number of alchemy ingredients in the laboratory, including:
  • Two Daedra hearts on shelves right down the steps when walking in
  • Three fire salts
  • Void salts
  • Hagraven Feathers
• Mannimarco, King of Worms (Alchemy) skill book – to the left of the southeastern alchemy lab, on a ruined table.
• One adept-level chest on the west side of the stairs leading down to a sleeping area at the bottom level.
• One unlocked chest to the right of the steps leading up to the Skull of Corruption.
• One expert-level chest behind the unlocked door in the library.
• One novice-locked chest on the right (east) side of the purple-shrouded entryway just inside the temple.
• Copy of Sixteen Accords of Madness, Book VI located in the library section.
• The Firmament, in the library, in the corner of the upper area, on a pedestal between two bookcases.
• On top of the building, there is a chest on the north side. It is accessible by jumping on the blocks to the east side.
• There is an outcropping of moonstone ore on the exterior of the temple (west side).

Gallery

Trivia

• Erandur states that the temple had lain abandoned many years before the priests of Vaermina began living there. This hints that the temple may actually be the fort of Dawnstar that was destroyed in 2E 283.
• Due to the amount of Orc invaders, and to the randomization of the devotees' races, Nightcaller Temple is a good location for gathering elven blood in the quest "Discerning the Transmundane."
• Followers are not allowed into the temple; there is a notification on-screen as soon as the building is entered. This also applies to summons from the Conjuration skill, including permanent summons, such as Dead Thralls and Frost Thralls.

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to Nightcaller Temple. 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 see the list of bugs encountered

PS3   Erandur may not move, and will stay in the inn, preventing the quest from proceeding. This can be fixed by fighting him and bringing down his health bar a few times. He is marked as an essential character so he will not die. Eventually, he will stand up and start walking, allowing the quest to continue.  PS3   Sometimes when Erandur goes into the temple nothing happens. This can be avoided by entering before Erandur.  PS3   The system may lock up when entering the temple. This can be avoided by ensuring that the conversation with Erandur is finished, and he is allowed to walk into the temple first (at least a 5-second delay).  PC   360   After Erandur gives the Dragonborn the information inside the temple, he may be unable to open the library as he gets stuck on the stairs.  PC (Fix)   This can be solved by targeting the door at the top of the stairs and entering "unlock" into the console.  360 (Fix)   This can be solved by running towards Erandur, pushing him upwards and towards the stairway wall. When he is at least 4 stairs from the top, he will react and move on his own.  360 (Fix)   Another solution is to use the Unrelenting Force shout to throw Erandur out of spots where he gets stuck. He will resume walking on his own, and he will not become hostile. Once Erandur is on the same level as the door, if he does not resume walking, the Dragonborn can get close to Erandur and gently nudge him towards the door. When Erandur comes into contact with the door, he will open it and the quest will continue.  360   Sometimes after battle, Erandur will stop being accessible.  360 (Fix)   This can be solved by attacking him until he falls to his knees Erandur may disappear when he enters the Temple. A possible solution is to speak to him a second time outside the Temple before he enters, then wait for 5 seconds before entering. If nothing happens, he may be back at the inn.  PC (Fix)   Use this console command may solve the problem: prid 0024280 moveto player Erandur may get stuck while going up the stairs after reaching the barrier at the end of the stairs.  PC (Fix)   This can be solved by going out of the temple and typing prid 0024280 moveto player. Upon going back inside, Erandur will open the door to the library.  PC   360   PS3   It is possible to use a Platter (or Wooden Plate) to walk through one of the grates through which the Skull can be seen below. This may be made easier using the Whirlwind Sprint shout. The fall may cause the Dragonborn some damage. After going through the grate, the Dragonborn can make his or her way back to the barrier and take the Common Soul Gem that is reinforcing the barrier to make the barrier vanish. From this point the quest can continue without needing to drink Vaermina's Torpor, as Erandur will act as though it was drunk. Note: This is also a way to keep the unique potion Vaermina's Torpor which can be stored in chests or dropped as it is not considered a quest item. Drinking Vaermina's Torpor outside of Nightcaller Temple has no effect and it will be replaced in the inventory.  PC   360   PS3   During Waking Nightmare, after taking the Vaermina's Torpor and entering the dream-realm, manual and autosaves may cause the game to freeze altogether or crash. A possible solution is to turn off all autosave settings while in Nightcaller Temple and avoid saving until the Dragonborn leaves again. Another solution is to leave Nightcaller Temple, then re-enter. Doing so allows normal saves.  PC (Fix)   Patch Beta Version 1.9 solves the saving problem  PS3   Sometimes after killing Erandur nothing happens and the skull pedestal cannot be activated. The quest marker will stay above Erandur as if the objective is still to kill him.  360   PS3   There is an apparently unusable Arcane Enchanter on a table beyond the barrier. Although it first appears unusable, it can be used by targeting the green orb on the top, not the surface. After the Miasma is released during the Dragonborn's Dreamstride, a "Pull Chain" interaction option may appear in the room just on the other side of the soul gem barrier. However, nothing will happen if it is activated; the chain will not even move. Therefore, because of this, you must physically take the active soul gem in order to disable the barrier.

Appearances

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim