Skyrim:Shriekwind Bastion

It is inhabited by vampires and skeletons.

The ruin has two separate entrances with separate map markers, North Shriekwind Bastion and South Shriekwind Bastion. Finding both entrances counts as two separate locations for the "Locations Discovered" statistic. The ruin contains one internal zone: Shriekwind Bastion, and a third external zone, in addition to those found by both entrances: ''Shriekwind Overlook.
 
Related Quests
 
 
 

Walkthrough
Exterior
North Shriekwind Bastion
There is no path leading from the nearby road that runs along the southern shore of Lake Ilinalta; however, the covered entrance can be seen from the road. You may encounter two skeletons that roam this section of road. A large stone arch forms an open antechamber in front of the entrance, which consists of an unlocked metal gate and an iron door leading into the bastion at the bottom of a short flight of stairs. To the left is a flight of stairs that lead above the antechamber and farther up the mountain. At the top of the first flight of stairs, on a ledge to the left is a bird's nest containing a rock warbler egg. At this point the path splits, with the main trail going left, while to the right, directly over the entrance are more stairs climbing to a terrace with an unlit brazier at the far end. Inside the brazier is a random potion of healing, a random empty soul gem, and a honed ancient Nord war axe. There is a second Nord war axe and a pair of ancient Nord boots beside the brazier. The main trail passes under a square arch formed by a stone placed atop two upright stones a few paces apart, before circling around and above the first terrace. Near the top, under a low arch is a novice-locked chest. Above the chest, climbing another flight of stairs on the left leads to a lookout point, which provides a good view of the lake and northern Falkreath hold, and to the northeast, parts of Bleak Falls Barrow. West of the entrance, down the side of the mountain, there is a corundum ore vein.

South Shriekwind Bastion
left|thumb|South Shriekwind BastionFollowing the road from Falkreath towards Helgen, turn left just after the last tree on the left, before you reach the bandit's boulder trap that spans the road a short distance south of Pinewatch. The path leads up the mountain to the first terrace. Near the start of the terrace is a leveled animal. Stairs lead up to a terrace with a leveled draugr slumbering in a horizontal sarcophagus in an alcove on the right. Past this, stairs lead down, with more opposite leading back up again. To the left of those that lead back up are more stairs that descend to another lower terrace, where a skeleton is patrolling near a stone hut that contains many candles. At the far end is an unlocked chest resting on a fallen section of masonry. Climbing the stairs to the terrace above leads to another draugr standing in front of another sarcophagus, at the top of a short flight of stairs. To the left of these stairs is an iron door leading into the interior. You may exit this door if you cleared the bastion by starting from the north entrance.
 

Shriekwind Bastion
The entrance at North Shriekwind Bastion leads to a wide brightly lit passage with novice-locked double-iron doors at the far end. There is a leveled vampire either by the doors or sitting in a circular room on the right. In the room, by one of several chairs is a bucket containing twelve loose septims and an iron dagger. Against the rear wall is a sideboard holding two helmets (one iron and one random), a banded iron shield, a random pair of gauntlets, and a woodcutter's axe, with a random pairs of boots to the right and an unlocked chest to the left. To the right of the doorway in a small alcove at eye level on the wall are two iron swords, with a kettle full of skulls below them.

Through the doors is a large room containing a few large urns, an empty throne to the left, and a dead bandit next to a stone altar with two random poisons on top. The bandit is on a circular section of floor under a shaft with a trap door above and spears that shoot from the sides of the shaft. On the west wall is a chain that triggers the floor to rise and the spears to shoot from the wall. To the south is a doorway into an overgrown hallway containing a skeever, with a series of flights of stairs leading up to an iron door. This door leads into some catacombs, with two skeletons at the top of some stairs around the corner to the right. There are a number of empty coffins found in alcoves along the walls.

right|thumb|Shriekwind Bastion interiorAt the top of the stairs, a doorway leads out into a large open area with the trap door seen previously in the center. There is a plinth beside it with a handle in the top, which activates the same trap as before. In the corner is a large tree, and against the north wall are stairs leading up to the first of several pathways rising in terraces around the room. There are a couple skeletons found on each of these levels. Depending on your skill with a bow, you may be able to clear most, if not all, of these skeletons from ground level. Climbing the long flight of stairs leads up to the first level, where two skeletons are on guard. At the far end is an iron door leading into a small area of catacombs with more empty coffins and a couple burial urns. A doorway leads into a semicircular room with two doorways on the right-hand wall both leading to the same passage, separated by a blood-soaked raised section with several skulls and a random potion of healing on top. Beside this is a basket of skulls and another random potion of healing. On your left as you enter the room is a set of shelves holding an iron dagger. On the left is an unlocked chest and a large urn, and in an alcove opposite the entrance are a large number and variety of shoes and boots.

left|thumb|Three handle roomThe passage leads to a small wet area with natural light filtering from above, with eight hanging moss growing down the walls and from a beam. There is a lowered gate opposite and a chain on the right which raises the gate. The room beyond contains two skeletons and is overgrown with vegetation. In the center on a block of stone are three handles, with two doorways nearby both blocked by gates; a larger doorway is to the north, and a smaller doorway with two more skeletons is up a short flight of stairs to the southeast. The skeletons can be dealt with using a fire rune as close to the gate as possible. There are also concealed doors to the east and southwest. The handle to the east opens the concealed door to the east, revealing a small area with an open upright coffin containing an iron helmet and random gauntlets. The handle to the southwest opens the concealed door on that wall, where another upright, open coffin contains a random cuirass. The final handle to the northwest opens the southeast gate holding back the two skeletons. Through this doorway is a small room containing an apprentice-locked chest with three chains above. The left-hand chain is the chain you want, as it operates the larger gate to the north. The right-hand chain operates the gate between the three-handled room and the wet room (which is useful if you are following this guide in reverse, from the South entrance to the North one, and thus have come from the northern entrance and need to open the western entrance). Finally, the center chain operates the gate between the three-handled room and this room, shutting you in this room until you pull the center chain again.

Continue through the large gate and follow the corridor around to the left, where several more hanging moss are growing from the walls. There is a skeleton ahead, and three dead skeletons lying on the floor beyond. These can be looted, and beside them is an iron dagger, helmet, and shield. The passage beyond the skeletons has two pressure plates down the middle of the floor, both triggering battering rams, the first from the ceiling behind you, and the second from the ceiling in front. This passage leads out onto the second level of the large area. There are two more skeletons on this level, unless previously dealt with from below. At the far end, another passage heads away from the open area, before a couple turns lead into a narrower passage, where a doorway on the left enters a torture chamber with a vampire's thrall sitting on a throne on the right. The floor is awash with blood, which makes finding the two large rubies and flawless ruby on the floor difficult. There are two torture racks and a small cage hanging from the ceiling, which contains a burnt corpse. To your left is a chain that triggers a flame spout trap to shoot up from the floor and continue burning this corpse. Opposite the entrance, a passage continues up a flight of stairs to a corner with a chair in front of a fireplace and another doorway into a wider passage heading west. On the far wall is a doorway into a small alcove with a random enchanted greatsword, a random helmet, and a pair of random boots. These are all in front of another concealed door, which is opened with a chain just inside the entrance to the alcove, revealing a passage to the entrance at South Shriekwind Bastion. If you enter from the south, you will approach this passage and secret door from the other side, where there is a rather more obvious chain to open the door; when you then emerge into the main corridor, turning left leads you downward towards the Northern entrance - thus following the description of this guide's previous areas in reverse - whereas turning right leads you farther up the tower, towards the upper chambers.

Climbing the stairs to the west brings you to another overgrown area and an open door into a passage heading east. On your right is a cave-in, and to the left is an empty coffin. The passage leads out onto the top walkway of the open area, with another skeleton (unless previously dealt with) and stairs on the left. Follow the walkway to the far end, where you will find a wide passage with a plinth with a handle in the top by the start, several burnt corpses along the length of the passage, and a doorway at the end blocked by a gate. If you pull the handle, the gate will rise; however, flamethrower statues along the length of the passage will also activate. There is an alternative: look just to the right of this handle to find a chain on the inside of the passage, which only raises the gate without triggering the flamethrowers.

right|thumb|The final battleThrough the doorway is a flight of stairs leading up to double doors. Through these is a boss level vampire standing beside stairs leading up to a brazier that appears filled with blood, with a random potion or poison on the ground beside it and a copy of the Speech skill book 2920, Second Seed, v5 on a piece of fallen masonry. At the top of the room is a circular passage around a central stairwell, with an unlocked chest and three burial urns against the outside wall and a fourth burial urn against the inner wall. There is a wooden spiral staircase rising to a short passage and a large room with a row of large statues on either side and a sarcophagus in front of the word wall at the far end. As soon as you enter this room, the sarcophagus will burst open and a draugr magic-user will emerge. Between the first and second statues on the right is an unlocked chest. In front of both of the last statues are two plinths with random potions or poisons on weight sensitive plates, but these don't seem to trigger anything adverse. Approach the word wall to learn a word for the Elemental Fury dragon shout.

Shriekwind Overlook
It is possible to reach this balcony by mountain climbing, avoiding the need to completely traverse the interior to reach the word wall or complete any quests here. The balcony is a small lookout point devoid of anything interesting apart from the view. It is on the northwestern side of the mountain, far above both of the entrances.

Notes
There is a dead wood cutter a short distance to the east of the northern entrance.

Bugs
 
A way to make them rejoin you is to walk a corridor or two past the plates, then wait one hour. They will 'respawn' next to you.
They will also rejoin you when you change zones (e.g. if you exit the ruin).
You can also use the Unrelenting Force shout to knock them loose, and they will then follow you.
Followers seem to have problems navigating the passages leading to/from the various terraces in the large open area, constantly heading back to the lowest level for each subsequent walkway.