Skyrim:March of the Dead

Stop the ash spawn attacks on Raven Rock. Quest Giver: Captain Veleth Location(s): Old Attius Farm, Fort Frostmoth Reward: Champion's Cudgel, Leveled gold ID: DLC2RR01 Suggested Level: 20

Who is in charge of Fort Frostmoth?

Quick Walkthrough

1. Kill the ash spawn attacking Captain Veleth at Old Attius Farm.
2. Speak to Captain Veleth.
3. Search the Attius Farm for clues, and give the note you find to Captain Veleth.
4. Kill General Falx Carius at Fort Frostmoth.
5. Return to Captain Veleth.

Detailed Walkthrough

Aiding the Captain

Captain Veleth fights the ash spawn

Captain Veleth is the leader of the Redoran Guard in Raven Rock, the capital of Solstheim, his powers only surpassed by Councilor Morvayn and his second-in-command Adril Arano. Recently, Raven Rock has experienced several attacks by ash spawn and Captain Veleth is naturally trying to figure out what is going on. South of Raven Rock lies the burned-out Old Attius Farm where you will find Captain Veleth fighting several ash spawn, immediately starting the quest. Help him defeat the enemies and he will be quite grateful, saying: "Thanks... I wasn't sure I'd make it off this farm alive. I wish I could have said the same for my man here.", obviously referring to the dead Redoran Guard nearby. He then proceeds to tell you about the ash spawn attacks and that he was searching for clues at the old farm when he was attacked. You will now have three different options, each with a different response:

I'd be glad to lend you a hand. "Good, I can use all the help I can get."
I could lend you a hand... for a price. "Hmm. I think I could talk the councilor into paying you, and I could use an extra pair of hands."
Seems like a waste of time to me. "It's easy to criticize when you're just a visitor here. Since you're brimming with self-confidence, maybe you'd care to take over for me?"

Declaration of War

Regardless of your choice, Captain Veleth will then proceed to tell you why he was at the farm and task you: "We were searching the farm when the ash spawn ambushed us. Have a look around and see if you can turn up anything useful." You can now ask him several questions about the attacks and he will explain that he believes that someone is controlling the ash spawn and that the abandoned farm is his only clue as the enemies seem to emerge from there. Search the ash piles from the defeated enemies and you will find the Declaration of War, a strange note written by Falx Carius, a general living at Fort Frostmoth. Tell Captain Veleth about the letter and he will be surprised and tell you about the author of the note: "Carius was the Imperial garrison commander at Fort Frostmoth, but he died over 200 years ago when the Red Mountain leveled the place. There's no way he could still be alive." He will then ask you to investigate while he "rallies the guard" back in Raven Rock.

Fort Frostmoth

While Captain Veleth returns to Raven Rock, head east from the farm and you will soon arrive at the ash-covered Fort Frostmoth, where a mysterious voice will shout out: "Men, an invader has entered the fort! Prepare yourselves for an ambush!" After this, several ash spawn will attack and shower you with firebolt spells while the voice continues: "Fort Frostmoth will never fall! Long live the Empire!" Fight them all and enter the fort. The interior is covered in ashes and old imperial armor sits on the knocked-over shelves, hinting at the original inhabitants 200 years back. Before long more ash spawn will detect you and attack, so pick the fight and locate the path to the north. In the next chamber, search around for the skeletal remains of Maximian Axius and read all of his letters to Selina for a bit of background story of what happened at the fort when Red Mountain erupted. The path to the west leads to a dead end and a nest of albino spiders. A gate with a master lock gains access to a storeroom with all the ingredients needed to make a large quantity of Elsweyr Fondue.

Falx Carius

"Fort Frostmoth will never fall! Long live the Empire!"

Take the northern path and you will end up in a huge tomb filled with coffins. At the intersection, where an ash spawn lies in wait, take the western path first and search the knapsack for the Fort Frostmoth Key and read through the informative Ildari's Journal that sits on the coffin in the center. It is the journal of a conjurer named Ildari Sarothril who uncovered the tomb and started experimenting with using heartstones to reanimate the dead bodies of the imperials, including the deceased general Falx Carius. She succeeded but the general slowly became hostile and she had to abandon the experiment.

With the key in hand, return to the first room and unlock the wooden door next to Maximian Axius's skeleton. (though you could also use the key to unlock the gate with the master lock, if you were unsuccessful or found lockpicking it too difficult). Head up the stairs and you will soon spot your target in the distance, Falx Carius himself, reanimated and still fighting to protect Fort Frostmoth, thus sending ash spawn to what he believes are enemies living in Raven Rock. If fought toe to toe, he is a very powerful foe and won't go down easily, nor will the ash spawn minions around him. Sadly, none of General Carius' armor can be looted, but claiming his unique enchanted warhammer Champion's Cudgel should serve as a consolation prize, along with the large chest nearby. Afterwards, leave Fort Frostmoth via the ladder to the south.

The Reward

Back in Raven Rock, Captain Veleth will have picked up his usual routines but will be eager to hear news from Fort Frostmoth. When you tell him that you killed the reanimated General Falx Carius he will be pleasantly surprised: "I had my suspicions that he was undead. How else could he have survived for over 200 years? It's a shame. There are quite a few tales of General Carius's exploits, including the founding of Raven Rock. Councilor Morvayn told me to give this to you if you made it back in one piece... and you got rid of General Carius." He will then hand you a leveled amount of gold as reward. Once you have completed this quest and The Final Descent, Captain Veleth will have another task ready for you, namely the quest Served Cold.

Reward

Levels	Reward
1-29	1,500
30-39	2,500
40-49	5,000
50-59	7,500
60+	10,000

Notes

• When you start the quest and don't go to Fort Frostmoth right away, ash spawn will attack Raven Rock. They will keep attacking Raven Rock until you go to Fort Frostmoth.

• General Falx Carius was a character from the Bloodmoon expansion of Morrowind. See the Lore article for the full story.

• You will encounter Ildari Sarothril during the quest Old Friends.

• If you have killed General Carius before starting or progressing the quest to stage 40, then retrieving a letter letter from his corpse and turning it in to Captain Veleth will also lead to quest completion.

Bugs

• This quest may fail to load entirely on the Anniversary Edition on Nintendo Switch.
  • The Official Skyrim Special Edition Patch, version 1.1.392.392534.8, fixes this bug.
• Bypassing the first three ash spawn encountered at the beginning and going directly to Fort Frostmoth to finish the quest may make the three ash spawn in the beginning impervious to any damage or effects.
  • Open the console, select an ash spawn, and use the code ToggleActorsAI followed by Disable. Once this has been done to all 3 spawn, they should be gone the next time you enter the cell.
• If you don't search the ash piles from the defeated ash spawn and instead leave to do something else, the ash piles will be gone when you return and you will be unable to progress further in the quest.
  • The note can be added via the console command player.additem xx01bfe5 1, where xx varies depending on load order. (For example, if Dragonborn.esm is fifth from the top of the load order, the appropriate command would be player.additem 0501bfe5 1)

Quest Stages

March of the Dead (DLC2RR01)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
30		I've stumbled across a dark elf in combat for his life with strange, ashen beings at the Attius Farm outside of Raven Rock. He appears outnumbered, and he's requested I lend him a helping hand. Objective 10: Kill the ash spawn attacking Captain Veleth
40		I've stumbled across Captain Modyn Veleth fighting strange beings called "ash spawn" at the Attius Farm outside of Raven Rock. Captain Veleth was outnumbered, so I engaged his attackers and lent him a helping hand. Objective 20: Speak to Captain Veleth
50		Captain Veleth explained that the ash spawn have been attacking Raven Rock for some time now, and he's been trying to locate their source. His lack of manpower and reluctance to leave the town without a commander are keeping him from finding out more. As a result of our conversation, I've agreed to help him deal with this situation. I need to begin by searching the Attius Farm for clues that might lead me to the ash spawn's source. Objective 30: Search the Attius Farm for clues
60		While assisting Captain Veleth at the Attius Farm, I've discovered a strange note. I should give this note to Captain Veleth in order to learn more about the origins of the ash spawn threat to Raven Rock. Objective 50: Give the note to Captain Veleth
80		Captain Veleth was alarmed by the strange note I recovered from the ash spawn at the Attius Farm. The note mentions Fort Frostmoth, the ruins of an Imperial fort located southeast of Raven Rock. According to him, the fort's been abandoned ever since the eruption of Red Mountain. He's sent me to Fort Frostmoth to kill the author of the note, General Falx Carius, before the town falls prey to his threats. Objective 60: Kill General Falx Carius
90		I've slain General Falx Carius in the ruins of Fort Frostmoth and put an end to any further ash spawn attacking Raven Rock. I should return to Captain Modyn Veleth and inform him of my victory. Objective 70: Return to Captain Veleth
100		I've slain General Falx Carius in the ruins of Fort Frostmoth. I should examine his remains to determine what he was doing here. Objective 80: Search General Carius's remains
110		Objective 90: Read the note
120		According to the letter I found on General Carius's remains, he appeared to be responsible for sending what he calls his "men" to attack the town of Raven Rock. I should bring this information to the guards in Raven Rock and let them know the threat has been eliminated. Objective 100: Bring the note to a guard in Raven Rock
130		Objective 110: Give the note to Captain Veleth
200	Finishes quest	I've slain General Falx Carius in the ruins of Fort Frostmoth and put an end to any further ash spawn attacking Raven Rock. Captain Veleth was very pleased with my results, and awarded me a bounty in gold.

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 10, 20, 45.

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage DLC2RR01 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest DLC2RR01.