Skyrim:The Break of Dawn

Quick Walkthrough
# Find Meridia's Beacon or find the Statue to Meridia.
# Bring Meridia's Beacon to the Statue to Meridia.
# Replace the Beacon.
# Guide Meridia's Light through the temple.
# Destroy Malkoran.
# Retrieve Dawnbreaker.

Detailed Walkthrough
The Beacon of Light
The Lady of Infinite Energies, Meridia, is a Daedric Prince associated with the energies of living things. She is known for her hatred towards the undead of any kind. While the shrines for most other Daedric Princes in Skyrim have been hidden away in remote areas, Meridia has been given an accessible and fully intact shrine with a temple underneath. Recently, a foul darkness desecrated the temple and as such, Meridia is looking for a new champion. There are two ways to begin the journey towards becoming her champion: either find Meridia's Beacon or find the shrine.    
 

Meet Meridia
thumb|right|Meeting Meridia
When you arrive at the shrine with the beacon in hand, the otherworldly voice will echo through the woods once again, saying, "Look at my temple, lying in ruins. So much for the constancy of mortals, their crafts and their hearts. If they love me not, how can my love reach them? Restore to me my beacon, that I might guide you toward your destiny." Place the beacon in the gem pedestal as instructed and a giant ray of light will shoot towards the sky, transporting you high above Skyrim. Meridia will then show herself in her true form—a blinding ball of light—and will speak to you: 

"It is time for my splendor to return to Skyrim. But the token of my truth lies buried in the ruins of my once great temple, now tainted by a profane darkness skittering within. The Necromancer Malkoran defiles my shrine with vile corruptions, trapping lost souls left in the wake of this war to do his bidding. Worse still, he uses the power stored within my own token to fuel his foul deeds. I have brought you here, mortal, to be my champion. You will enter my temple, retrieve my artifact, and destroy the defiler. Guide my light through the temple to open the inner sanctum and destroy the defiler." At this point it is possible to ask about the artifact, but in any case Meridia will send you towards the ground with the words: "Malkoran has forced the doors shut. But this is my temple, and it responds to my decree. I will send down a ray of light. Guide this light through my temple and its doors will open."

Ray of Light
thumb|right|Follow the Light
thumb|right|Light Combined
Once inside the Kilkreath Temple, the profane darkness is palpable everywhere as a thick, black fog oozes through the corridors and a burned desecrated corpse welcomes you. Proceed through the first corridor and notice the locked door on your left. It leads to a handle which opens the adjacent gate and gives access to some minor loot on the other side. Take the eastern path and face the first huge chamber. Meridia's ray of light will shine down through the ceiling onto a pedestal. Activate the pedestal and the beam of light will be directed onto a device placed above the eastern tunnel. 

When you follow the light, however, enemies will start to emerge. Dark shadows called corrupted shades will attack in hordes, trying to prevent you from bringing light to the temple. Dispose of them and enter the next chamber, then activate the pedestal to direct Meridia's light further into the depths of the ruin. The eastern path is blocked, so locate the narrow tunnel to the south, dispose of even more shades, and open the wooden door. Follow the tunnel until you see a chest, then take a left and enter yet another huge chamber with multiple paths and levels. The beam of light and the pedestal are located above, so head up the set of stairs to the right, notice the locked door (key required), then take a running jump to the ledge and activate the pedestal. The light will now point in a northern direction, so follow it to find an arcane enchanter and a locked door, once again giving access to a room with minor loot. Backtrack over the bridge where the door now will be unlocked. Go through it for a breath of fresh air.

Dawn is Breaking
thumb|right|A Look Outside
Once outside, you will notice your efforts have made six pillars light up, but there is still work to do. At the bottom of the stairs leading up to Kilkreath Ruins, to the right, is an expert-locked chest. Locate and enter the door leading to Kilkreath Ruins. Head up the stairs and enter a huge chamber with multiple levels and more corrupted shades. Kill the opponents and start your investigation by heading left into the chamber. The ground level has a few urns and an altar with another desecrated corpse on it, beyond a locked door (key required). Head back to the stairs near the entrance. At the top of the stairs is yet another door that needs a key, so go ahead and activate the first pedestal. This will open the east door behind you. In the first room down the corridor, there is a (spear trapped) door hidden in the shadows on the right. A desecrated corpse lies in the doorway, and the room contains a chest with minor loot. The main passage will lead the way to a lever (beware of the tripwire with swinging blades on your way). Pull the lever and go south over the bridge. Follow it until you reach an intersection, then take a right turn for the Block skill book Battle of Red Mountain. 

Backtrack to the intersection and make a running jump to the pedestal. Activate it, see the light shine towards a platform above, then jump back to the intersection. Make a running jump towards the now open western door and follow a tunnel to battle even more shades. You are now in a room with stairs leading up on both sides. The western one leads to a potion on a weight sensitive plate, the eastern one leads to a tunnel. Follow the tunnel and you will reach the last of the lighting pedestals. Activate it and the beams will be complete, opening the door at the ground floor of the previous chamber, leading to Kilkreath Catacombs.

A New Day is Dawning
thumb|right|Malkoran is waiting
In the catacombs, make your way to the last pedestal and activate it. This will turn on the final beam of light, open the nearby door, and awaken Malkoran, the necromancer responsible for Meridia's wrath. Don't forget to loot the minor treasure chest in the corner, as the door will shut behind you with no turning back. Your journal will update when you reach the final chamber and it is now your objective to kill Malkoran. He is protected by six corrupted shades and is a strong opponent who uses frost spells from a distance, so use the columns to your advantage. When Malkoran is dead you will have to face his shade, so be aware. When all is said and done, Meridia will speak: "It is done. The defiler is defeated. Take Dawnbreaker from its pedestal." Loot the room before you retrieve the sword, as you will be transported outside as soon as you take it. When you finally retrieve the powerful sword, everything will turn into light and you will find yourself high above Skyrim once again, facing Meridia: ''"Malkoran is vanquished. Skyrim's dead shall remain at rest. This is as it should be. This is because of you. A new day is dawning. And you shall be its herald. Take the mighty Dawnbreaker and with it purge corruption from the dark corners of the world. Wield it in my name, that my influence may grow." Choose the polite answer and you will get the polite final words from Meridia: "May the light of certitude guide your efforts." 

Notes
 
There were additional lines recorded if you had found and acquired the Beacon, lost it, and then found it again. As the Beacon is a quest item, this dialogue will not be heard under normal conditions.
"Do you prefer heedlessness to my luminous glory? Go! Take my beacon to the mount above Kilkreath."
"Can you not hear me? Are your ears full of hate? The defiler waxes! Go now, with haste. Take my beacon to Mount Kilkreath."
"Fool! He is perverting my Light. A Light that could illuminate Skyrim and her people."''
Sometimes speaking to Meridia will not show a map marker for the beacon. This is because the beacon is in an area you do not have access to yet, such as Dawnstar Sanctuary or the Katariah. The beacon still exists and finding it will advance the quest. On PC,   will place you at the chest that contains the beacon.
Even if you are a vampire, Meridia will still recruit you for this quest and declare you her champion, despite her hatred for the undead.
There are 43 desecrated corpses throughout Kilkreath Ruins that contain large amounts of gold. If you loot them all, you can get an amount of gold in the range of 1075-5375. Some of the desecrated corpses may also contain an Imperial Helmet (Full Face), a heavy armor helmet that you cannot craft.
It is possible to kill Malkoran and the corrupted shades from the bottom of the staircase into the final chamber. This can help to even the odds of taking on a large number of enemies at once. 
Meridia will teleport you outside the temple for your final dialog with her, and at the end she will deposit you on the platform in front of her statue. Any followers you may have will remain inside the temple. To get them back quickly, go to the door of the temple, enter it, and exit again. When you again appear outside, your follower should have rejoined you. Alternatively, if you have Serana as a follower, fast traveling to Fort Dawnguard will usually cause her to catch up with you.
Although the beacon will spawn in a specific location, that location will be changed the first time you enter an area that has a boss container after you reach level 12. This makes it very likely that you will find the beacon shortly after that time. The original location will only be used if you approach the statue before entering an area with a boss container.

Bugs
 
 
 
This is often caused by carrying too much weight. Try dropping a few things before taking the sword.
Walk towards Meridia as soon as she has lifted you into the sky, thereby dropping onto the area at the base of the statue instead of a longer drop further back.
Skip through the dialogue with her and you will be able to adjust your position before the fall begins. You need to land on the upper area of her pedestal. 
The warp takes some time to activate. Try and position yourself over the lowest altitude position you can to maximize your fall time. The road to the southwest is a good choice.
In the Windows version, a simpler and foolproof approach is to open the console when the fall starts, click on the background twice, so that no objects are selected, and enter   (or  ), and exit the console. This stops the free-fall. After the teleport, open the console and type   again.
 
You will need to reload a save game. If it was a random dragon it may not reappear. If it was the dragon from the nearby word wall, you will need to kill it first.
 
 
 
 
 
 Use the   console command to remove the Beacon from your inventory.
 
 
 

Quest Stages