Skyrim:Fort Dawnguard

Military Fort: Fort Dawnguard (view on map) (lore page)
Added by	Dawnguard
# of Zones	1
Clearable	No
Respawn Time	10 days
Occupants
Dawnguard
Console Location Code(s)
DLC1DawnguardHQ01
Region
The Rift
Location
East of Riften, near Stendarr's Beacon
Special Features
# of Alchemy Labs	1
# of Arcane Enchanters	1
# of Tanning Racks	1
# of Smelters	1
# of Forges/Anvils	1
# of Grindstones	1
# of Workbenches	1
# of Cooking Pots/Spits	1

Fort Dawnguard

Fort Dawnguard is a large fort southeast of Riften which serves as the Dawnguard's base of operations.

†The alchemy lab, arcane enchanter, and forge are not initially present in the fort, but added during restorations to the fort just before the Prophet quest ends.

The fort is home to the ancient order of vampire hunters who guard the realm from the vampiric Volkihar clan. It is hidden in the east of The Rift, and can be used as a player home. It can only be reached via Dayspring Canyon.

The fort was built sometime in the Second Era by the Jarl of Riften to contain his son, who had contracted vampirism. He hired a large mercenary band called the Dawnguard to guard his son. The threat of vampires was eventually disregarded by the people of Skyrim, and the fort was abandoned. Isran is using the fort as a base of operations for his attempt to rebuild the Dawnguard and combat the rising threat of the vampires.

Fort Dawnguard Residents

Members Agmaer Beleval Celann Durak Florentius Baenius Gunmar Ingjard Isran Mogrul Sorine Jurard

Creatures 3 Armored Trolls Bran (Armored Husky) Sceolang (Armored Husky) Other Dexion Evicus (after Prophet) Serana (after Awakening) Vigilant Tolan (during Dawnguard)

^aThis person sells armored trolls for hire as followers for 500 gold.

^bThe presence of these people in this location is affected by quests and/or your choices in gameplay.

Related Quests

Dawnguard Questline

• Dawnguard: Speak with the leader of the Dawnguard.
• Awakening: Find out what the vampires are looking for.
• Bloodline: Choose your side!
• Prophet: Find and rescue a Moth Priest from the vampires.
• Chasing Echoes: Explore Castle Volkihar.
• Unseen Visions: Perform a ceremony to read the Elder Scroll.

Side Quests

• Ancient Technology: Retrieve Dwemer schematics to improve technology for the Dawnguard. (radiant)
• Bolstering the Ranks: Find Florentius Baenius and recruit him into the Dawnguard.
• Cleansing Light: Kill the boss of a vampire lair. (radiant)
• Destroying the Dawnguard: Kill the Dawnguard leaders.
• Hide and Seek: Kill a vampire masquerading as a citizen. (radiant)
• Lost Relic: Retrieve a relic of the original Dawnguard. (radiant)
• A New Order: Recruit Isran's old allies for the Dawnguard. (radiant)
• Rescue: Rescue a victim from vampires. (radiant)

Fort Dawnguard

A B 1 2 3 4 5 Map of Fort Dawnguard interior

Doors A: Dayspring Canyon B: Dead Drop Falls Rooms Main Hall Gunmar's Forge Armored Troll enclosure Husky enclosure Torture Room

The vestibule contains a crossbow, eight steel bolts, and a Dawnguard helmet on wooden crates, six Dawnguard banners, a light source that gives off sunlight, and a random leveled two-handed weapon on a weapon rack. The kitchen contains a cooking spit with a woodcutter's axe beside it, four dead rabbits and two dead pheasants above the fireplace, two Dawnguard banners on both sides of the fireplace, a bucket holding a broom in the corner, two candlesticks on the floor, and two lockpicks and a Dawnguard war axe on the dining table. The area behind the kitchen has a table with two bottles of wine, a coin purse, six loose septims, and a map of Skyrim with an iron dagger on it, another bottle of wine on a table behind it, and a bookshelf with copies of Cats of Skyrim, Harvesting Frostbite Spider Venom, and Ode To The Tundrastriders. The sleeping quarters contain pairs of Dawnguard boots and Dawnguard gauntlets, eight steel bolts, copies of The Aetherium Wars and The Wispmother, and sliced goat cheese. The smithing area contains a forge, grindstone, workbench, tanning rack, smelter, a coin purse, a Dwemer cog, and some iron ingots behind the smelter, two bleeding crowns, two archery targets flanked by lit braziers, another crossbow, six steel bolts, a hunting bow, four iron arrows, three bottles of Nord mead, a potion of minor healing, a potion of minor stamina, and a potion of cure disease. The enchanting room has an alchemy lab, an arcane enchanter, two troll skulls, and another copy of The Aetherium Wars. The troll pen has raw meat and a silverside perch. The husky room has ten steel bolts and 14 steel arrows, three combat dummies, two bleeding crowns, four glowing mushrooms, one white cap, and the exit to Dead Drop Falls. The area upstairs has a master bed, a weapon rack, a mannequin, a coin purse, four wardrobes, and a torture room with three iron ingots, a loose septim, a set of torture tools, another torture tool^DG, a hammer, a broom leaning behind a chair, a bucket with two iron daggers, blood splashes on the floor, and bloody bones scattered throughout.

There are three balconies on the roof of Fort Dawnguard, accessible from the fort itself. One of them has two more crossbows, 21 steel bolts, three Dawnguard war axes, a Dawnguard warhammer, three steel arrows, two bed rolls, a small coin purse, a bottle of ale, an Amulet of Talos, and copies of The Talos Mistake and 2920, Morning Star, v1. Another one has two more crossbows, 14 steel bolts, another Dawnguard war axe, another Dawnguard helmet, another pair of Dawnguard gauntlets, a Scroll of Banish Daedra, two magicka potions, a bed roll, a leather strip, a green apple, a bottle of Honningbrew mead, and a copy of The Lusty Argonian Maid, v1. The third has three more crossbows, 16 steel bolts, three more Dawnguard war axes, another Dawnguard warhammer, another pair of Dawnguard boots, a Dawnguard shield, another grindstone, another tanning rack, three Dawnguard banners around the tower, 13 steel arrows, a bottle of Nord mead, a small coin purse, a silver ring, a bed roll, a magicka potion, small antlers, cooked beef, a bowl of beef stew, and two bottles of Black-Briar mead.

Notes

• Five members of the Dawnguard are available as followers after the quest Prophet is completed. They are noted with the icon in the NPC table above.
• There are two war dogs in the dog pen in the northeast section of the fort, available as canine followers.
• You can buy armored trolls for 500 gold from Gunmar.
• There is a grindstone and tanning rack on the roof, reachable by climbing the west stairway inside and exiting at the top. These are technically in Dayspring Canyon, not part of Fort Dawnguard, though they can only be accessed via the fort.
• You can access Dead Drop Falls through the southwest section of Fort Dawnguard. The entrance is between three combat mannequins and the armored husky paddock.
• A similar-looking magna-geode stone with the same shape and appearance as Meridia's Beacon is found within Fort Dawnguard.

Bugs

• When placing a weapon on the weapon rack in the master bedroom you won't be able to retrieve it.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 2.0.4, fixes this bug.
• Dawnguard gear intended to be equipped on the nearby mannequin is mistakenly set to respawn, which causes the mannequin to duplicate the gear every time the cell resets.
  • The Unofficial Dawnguard Patch, version 2.0.3, fixes this bug.
• The interior of Fort Dawnguard is not oriented correctly, meaning that the compass points south when entering and exiting.
  • The Unofficial Dawnguard Patch, version 1.0, fixes this bug.
• Although the fort is located within The Rift, crimes committed here may earn a bounty in Whiterun Hold. ^?