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Elder Scrolls

For other uses, see The Prophet.

Prophet is a quest in The Elder Scrolls V: Dawnguard.

Background[]

Upon returning to Castle Volkihar, Harkon informs the Dragonborn of a prophecy hidden in the Elder Scrolls that, if fulfilled, would end the tyranny of the sun over vampires. One of those Elder Scrolls is the one Serana was given. Now that the Dragonborn and all the other members of the clan have completed the tasks given by him, the Volkihar vampires can finally begin the fulfillment of the prophecy. He then asks the members of the court to gather in the dining hall as he makes a proclamation. He tells that he has lured a Moth Priest into Skyrim so that he could read the Elder Scroll for them.

Harkon's speech[]

"Scions of the night! Hear my words! The prophesied time is at last upon us. Soon we will claim dominion over the sun itself, and forge a new realm of eternal darkness. Now that I have reclaimed one of my Elder Scrolls, we must find a moth priest to read it.

"I have spread false rumors about the discovery of an Elder Scroll in Skyrim to lure a Moth Priest here. Now it is time to see if those efforts have borne fruit. Go forth, and search the land for rumors of a Moth Priest within our borders.

"Look to the cities. Speak to innkeepers, carriage drivers, anyone who would meet a traveler. Go now, and carry out this task. This is my command!"

Walkthrough[]

Investigation[]

Ask a Carriage Driver[]

Ask any carriage driver outside a city if he has seen a Moth Priest. He will mention that he is unsure, but can be persuaded or bribed for answers. The driver will reveal that the Moth Priest asked him to take him to Dragon Bridge.

Ask an Innkeeper[]

Ask any innkeeper in any city if they have seen a Moth Priest. They will reveal that the Moth Priest had recently stayed in the inn, on his way to the Dragon Bridge.

Visit the College of Winterhold[]

Head to the College of Winterhold, and speak to Urag gro-Shub in the The Arcanaeum. He will reveal that a Moth Priest came by to study in the library, but left for Dragon Bridge.

Dragon Bridge[]

Upon reaching Dragon Bridge, ask the guards or Clinton Lylvieve about the Moth Priest's whereabouts. They will mention that he left south across the bridge a short while ago. It is possible while here to be attacked by three Dawnguard soldiers, but usually the Hold Guards will assist in killing them.

Travel south across the bridge and eventually an ambushed carriage can be found. Search the vampire corpse for a Vampire's Note indicating that the Moth Priest was kidnapped by a rival vampire faction and taken to Forebears' Holdout.

Forebears' Holdout[]

Prophetcave 03

Forebear's Holdout

Upon entering the cave it seems as though the Dawnguard arrived first and killed the rival vampire faction in order to secure the Moth Priest. Head left and kill the huskies, Armored Troll, and Dawnguard patrolmen before crossing over to the main building and up the stairs to the upper platform. The Moth Priest, Dexion Evicus, is being held here within a magical barrier.

Guarding the barrier will be Vanik, leader of the search party. Once all the Dawnguard are dead, search the corpse of the Orc vampire Malkus to find a Weystone Focus. Place the Weystone on the altar above the barrier to deactivate it. Dexion Evicus will awaken, but will become hostile as he is still under the spell of Malkus. After beating him into submission, use the Vampire's Seduction power to calm him, then bite him to turn him into an obedient thrall. Once Dexion has been enthralled, command him to go to Castle Volkihar.

Travel back to Castle Volkihar and report to Harkon. Next order Dexion to read the Elder Scroll. He first sees a vision of Auriel's Bow, then a voice whispers to him about a dread lord of the night who will rise up in a time when dragons return. He then reveals that two other scrolls are needed to learn the secret of the bow's power and complete the prophecy. One scroll contains the ancient secrets of the dragons, the other speaks of the potency of the ancient blood. Once the reading is complete, the quest ends and the quest "Chasing Echoes" and "Seeking Disclosure" begin.

Elder Scroll reading[]

Dexion: "I see a vision before me, an image of a great bow. I know this weapon! It is Auriel's Bow! Now a voice whispers, saying "Among the night's children, a dread lord will rise." In an age of strife, when dragons return to the realm of men, darkness will mingle with light and the night and day will be as one.

The voice fades and the words begin to shimmer and distort. But wait, there is more here. The secret of the bow's power is written elsewhere. I think there is more to the prophecy, recorded in other scrolls. Yes, I see them now... One contains the ancient secrets of the dragons, and the other speaks of the potency of ancient blood.

My vision darkens, and I see no more. To know the complete prophecy, we must have the other two scrolls."

Journal[]

Prophet – DLC1VQ03Vampire
ID Journal Entry
5 When I returned to Castle Volkihar, I was informed that Lord Harkon was waiting to speak to me.
  • Objective 10: Speak to Harkon
10 When I returned to Castle Volkihar, Lord Harkon told me of a prophecy hidden in the Elder Scrolls that, if fulfilled, would end the tyranny of the sun over vampires. Now he has asked me to join him as he makes a proclamation to the court.
  • Objective 20: Listen to Harkon's speech
20 Eager to unlock the secrets of an ancient prophecy thought to be hidden within Serana's Elder Scroll, Harkon has ordered his court to find a Moth Priest.
  • Objective 23: Locate a Moth Priest
  • Objective 24: (Optional) Ask carriage drivers about the Moth Priest
  • Objective 26: (Optional) Ask innkeepers in cities about the Moth Priest
30 Eager to unlock the secrets of an ancient prophecy thought to be hidden within Serana's Elder Scroll, Harkon has ordered his court to find a Moth Priest.
  • Objective 25: Search along the road that leads south from Dragon Bridge
40 Eager to unlock the secrets of an ancient prophecy thought to be hidden within Serana's Elder Scroll, Harkon has ordered his court to find a Moth Priest. I now have reason to suspect that there's a Moth Priest in Solitude.
  • Objective 24: (Optional) Ask innkeepers in cities about the Moth Priest
  • Objective 28: Ask people in Dragon Bridge if they saw the Moth Priest
45 I learned that a Moth Priest recently visited Solitude. He was thought to have stayed at the Winking Skeever.
  • Objective 27: Speak to the innkeeper in Solitude
47 Harkon has ordered his court to find a Moth Priest who can read Serana's Elder Scroll. I now have reason to believe that a Moth Priest has recently visited Dragon Bridge.
  • Objective 28: Ask people in Dragon Bridge if they saw the Moth Priest
50 Harkon has ordered his court to find a Moth Priest who can read Serana's Elder Scroll. I followed the trail to Dragon Bridge and learned that a Moth Priest had just passed through town. He was last seen heading south along the road.
  • Objective 30: Search along the road south of Dragon Bridge
55 I'm one step behind the Moth Priest. After leaving Dragon Bridge, I searched along the road for any sign of his passing. I found an overturned wagon and some dead vampires and Imperial guards. Was this the Moth Priest's wagon?
  • Objective 35: Investigate the scene of the attack
57 I'm one step behind the Moth Priest. After leaving Dragon Bridge, I searched along the road for any sign of his passing. I found an overturned wagon and some dead Imperial guards and vampires. Was this the Moth Priest's wagon?
  • Objective 37: Read the Vampire's Note
60 Following Harkon's command to locate a Moth Priest, I followed the trail to Dragon Bridge. There, I learned that a rival band of vampires abducted the Moth Priest I've been tracking and took him to a place called Forebears' Holdout.
  • Objective 38: Capture the Moth Priest
65 After a rival vampire faction captured the Moth Priest, I tracked them to Forebears' Holdout. Their leader has enthralled the priest and I will have to confront him in order to assert my own hold over him.
  • Objective 41: Deactivate the magic barrier
66 After a rival vampire faction captured the Moth Priest, I tracked them to Forebears' Holdout. Their leader has enthralled the priest and I will have to confront him in order to assert my own hold over him.
  • Objective 39: Defeat the enthralled Moth Priest
67 After a rival vampire faction captured and enthralled the Moth Priest, I fought him and forced him to submit. Now it is my turn to enthrall the Moth Priest by using my newfound powers.
  • Objective 40: Use your Vampire's Seduction power on the Moth Priest
  • Objective 45: Feed on the Moth Priest to make him your thrall
70 Eager to hear the contents of Serana's Elder Scroll, Harkon commanded the court to find a Moth Priest. I have now captured one and made him my thrall, commanding him to return to Castle Volkihar. I must report this success to Harkon.
  • Objective 47: Command the Moth Priest to go to Volkihar Castle
  • Objective 50: Report your success to Harkon
100 With the Moth Priest safely back at Castle Volkihar, the time has come to hear the prophecies contained within the Elder Scroll.
  • Objective 60: Command the Moth Priest to read the Elder Scroll
  • Objective 70: Command the Moth Priest to read the scroll
130 After the Moth Priest's reading, we have more questions than answers. The old priest saw a vision of a weapon called Auriel's Bow, but we need to read two more Elder Scrolls in order to unravel the rest of the prophecy.
  • Objective 80: Speak to Harkon
200 After the Moth Priest's reading, we have more questions than answers. The old priest saw a vision of a weapon called Auriel's Bow, but we need to find two more Elder Scrolls in order to unravel the rest of the prophecy.
  • Quest complete

Bugs[]

This section contains bugs related to Prophet (Vampire). Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:

  1. Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening.
  2. 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.
  3. 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
  • The quest might fail to start after completing the previous quest.
  • The Weystone Focus might not be found on Malkus's corpse, or the bodies of any other characters. There is currently no solution besides the use of console commands.
  • When you go to save the Moth Priest, he may be outside of the magic barrier. If he is, then do not deactivate the magic barrier. If you do, he will stay down after being defeated. Every time you enter Fort Dawnguard or Castle Volkihar, he will attack everyone. The only workaround at this time is loading a previous save.
  • It is possible that Malkar can be in the forcefield, making it impossible to open without reloading.
  • Upon releasing the Moth Priest, he will be hostile. After he has been defeated, if he does not stand up and remains downed on his knees, then he will attack the other characters at Fort Dawnguard or Castle Volkihar when you travel there. The only current way to remedy this is to load a previous save. To avoid this bug, do not move after opening the barrier until you get a quest update saying to defeat the Moth Priest.
  •  360   Guards do not run through quest script and cannot be interacted with beyond their usual script.
    •  360 (Fix)   Bypass the need for speaking to the guards by going south out of Dragon Bridge to find the ambushed caravan.
    • Also, talking to Clinton Lylvieve will advance the quest and mark the ambushed caravan on the map.
  •  360   Isran's and Serana's script do not activate after following Isran. The only known solution, at this time, is to reload a previous save.
  • After Harkon tells you to have the Moth Priest read the Elder Scroll use Vampire's Seduction on the moth priest, feed, and then talk to him. He should read the Elder Scroll and although he will become hostile again afterwards you may continue on with the quest.
  •  PC   The Moth Priest may not respond after feeding on him and will only say his generic dialog thus not allowing advancement of the quest.
    •  PC (Fix)   Use the console command: setstage DLC1VQ03Vampire 70 to skip the "feed on the thrall part" after defeating him.
  • The quest may glitch when Dexion is to be thralled, as feeding will be impossible.
    •  PC (Fix)   Use the command setstage DLC1VQ03Vampire 70, which allows for skipping the part where the prophet is thralled after defeating him.
  • If the Dragonborn is a high enough level, the Moth Priest may resist all attempts at Vampire's Seduction. This is because his leveled resistance to Illusion spells is higher than what the spell can overcome.
    •  PC (Fix)   Select Dexion in the console and enter the command setav "magicresist" 1, which should lower his resistance to the spell and allow him to be seduced by the spell
    • Solution: Crafting a Potion of Fortify Illusion or wearing enchanted gear with the Fortify Illusion effect might give the Vampire's Seduction power just enough of a boost to overcome the Moth Priest's resistance.
  • Upon returning to Castle Volkihar, the characters become hostile.
  • Sometimes there is no dialogue option to end the quest with Harkon.
    • "Fix:" exiting the castle Volkihar and re-entering might fix this bug.

Appearances[]


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