Oblivion:Fort Pale Pass

Related Quests


Notes
This fort is located in Pale Pass. Until the related quest has been started, the entire Pale Pass area cannot be reached and therefore it is impossible to enter this fort. After the quest has been started, the pass and its fort can be reached via Serpent's Trail.
The occupants of this dungeon do not respawn, but the contents of the chests do respawn, allowing new loot to easily be retrieved.
Despite the fort being referred to as "Fort Pale Pass", none of the dungeon's zones are named as such.

Bugs
 

Exterior

The exterior is located at coordinates: PalePassWorld -1, 4
3 Pale Pass Ogres (location-specific leveled variety) are near the entrance
1 Frozen Barrel (first forgotten chest; contains Rusty Key for Rusty Chest and Crumpled Note) is at location C on map
The following plants can be found near the entrance: 53 Clouded Funnel Cap plants, 30 Motherwort plants, and 10 Tinder Polypore plants

 
Zone 1:
thumb|right|205px|Mouth of the Serpent
You enter this zone through the main entrance (Out). Most players will exit through door C, which leads to the second zone, Eyes of the Serpent. However, it is easily possible to reach the other door (D), providing direct access to the fifth zone, Scales of the Serpent. There is little overall advantage gained from using door D, however: the distance you need to travel to reach the madstone is basically the same.

If you choose to exit through door C, you can simply follow the main corridor straight through, from southwest to northeast. Watch out for the swinging log trap at L (which can possibly be used to kill one of your enemies).

If you prefer to take door D, it can be reached by following the corridor leading northwest from the trap at L. The corridor loops around up some stairs, leading to a ledge above the main corridor. It is easily possible to jump straight across the corridor from that point and reach door D.

If you are having difficulty with the undead Akaviri Soldiers, you can use the gate at M to your advantage. Get their attention, then run back through the gate and close it. They will not be able to get to you, but you can use destruction magic to kill them through the gate.

Occupants:
7 Undead Akaviri Soldiers (non-respawning)
Treasure:
1 Chest 01 (locked, inaccessible)
1 Chest 02 (locked)
Traps:
1 Swinging Log trap at location L on map, activated by either of the two adjacent Pressure Plate triggers (K)
Doors and Gates:
There are three doors in/out of this zone
1 door (at Out) leads outside
1 door (at C) leads to the second zone, Eyes of the Serpent
1 door (at D) leads to the fifth zone, Scales of the Serpent
1 Portcullis Gate at M. It automatically opens when you first approach; it can also be activated by the pull levers (cyan dots) on either side of the gate.
Another Portcullis Gate (southeast of the traps at K and L) cannot be activated or opened in any way. Therefore the chest at the end of that corridor cannot be accessed (except with use of Console commands such as tcl).

 

Zone 2:
thumb|right|198px|Eyes of the Serpent
Most players will enter this zone through door C. You can choose to exit through either of doors E and F; both lead to nearly the same location in the third zone. Your quest marker suggests door E, but door F may be slightly better (same number of enemies, but provides access to an additional chest, and is a bit closer to your objective in the next zone). Whichever way you choose, watch out for the four swinging mace traps (L).

Occupants:
6 Undead Akaviri Soldiers (non-respawning)
Treasure:
1 Chest 02 (locked)
1 Chest 04
Traps:
4 Swinging Mace traps at locations L on map, each of which is activated by the nearest of the four Pressure Plate triggers (K).

Doors and Gates:
There are three doors in/out of this zone
1 door (at C) leads to the first zone, Mouth of the Serpent
2 doors (at E and F) lead to the third zone, Fangs of the Serpent

 
Zone 3:
thumb|right|196px|Fangs of the Serpent
It is possible to enter this zone through any of doors E, F, or I depending upon how you have navigated this dungeon. In all cases, your objective is door G, which is the only useful entrance to the fourth zone. The fifth door (H) provides an exit in case you fall down into the lower part of the room.

The area where you enter (using door E, F, or I) contains numerous dart traps (T), all of which can be avoided by paying careful attention and looping around the columns in the correct directions.

A large pit separates the entrance zone from the exit. Other than one loot chest, there is little reason to drop down into the pit; once you are down there, your only option is to exit through door H and loop back around again to door I. Several of the Akaviri Soldiers are likely to drop down into the pit and attack you down there.

The way to get across the pit to door G is lower the drawbridge (K), by using the adjacent turnhandle (cyan dot). Generally, you'll have a tough battle at the other end of the drawbridge, because all four Akaviri soldiers at the far end are likely to converge on you. Alternatively, you can kill them from a distance (with magic or arrows) if you approach the railing by door E. In any case you can easily kill all the soldiers simply by getting their attention before lowering the bridge and using magic or arrows; they will get stuck trying to go through the bridge or simply they will fall to the lowest level.

Occupants:
6 Undead Akaviri Soldiers (non-respawning)
Treasure:
1 Chest 02
1 Chest 04 (locked)
Traps:
9 Darts traps at location T on map
Doors and Gates:
There are five doors in/out of this zone
2 doors (at E and F) lead to the second zone, Eyes of the Serpent
1 door (at G) leads to the fourth zone, Venom of the Serpent
2 doors (at H and I) lead to the fifth zone, Scales of the Serpent
H is on a lower level and provides the only way of escaping from the lower level.
1 Drawbridge (initially raised) at K. Lowered using the adjacent turn handle (cyan dot).

 
Zone 4:
thumb|right|158px|Venom of the Serpent
This zone contains the primary objectives of the fort: Akaviri Commander Mishaxhi (A), the Draconian Madstone (Q), and the boss chest (B). You will enter through door G from the third zone. Until you confront the commander, there is no other way out. Commander Mishaxhi will not attack you until you talk to him, at which point you have several options (see the quest page for details). No matter how you choose to deal with him, once he is gone, the secret door (K) opens, providing access to the treasure. The exit door (J) is locked until you pick up the Madstone.

Occupants:
Akaviri Commander Mishaxhi (non-respawning) at location A on map
Treasure:
Draconian Madstone at location Q on map
1 boss-level Chest (Undead variety; locked) at B
1 Chest 01
1 Chest 02 (locked)
Doors and Gates:
There are two doors in/out of this zone
1 door (at G) leads to the third zone, Fangs of the Serpent
1 door (at J) leads to the fifth zone, Scale of the Serpent. Until you pick up the Draconian Madstone, the door is locked (it says 'key required' but there is no key). The door is automatically unlocked when you take the madstone.
1 Hidden Door at K. Opens after Commander Mishaxhi has been dispatched.

 
Zone 5:
thumb|right|235px|Scales of the Serpent
You can enter this zone through any of the four doors. You can choose to leave through any of the doors (except J, which is located in an elevated passageway that cannot be accessed from below without high acrobatics, and is locked at first anyway). The most likely options for traversing this zone are:
You entered through door J from the fourth zone after completing the quest. You then want to head for door D, which is your fastest way out of the fort. Be sure to activate the pull lever (cyan dot at M) to lower the two drawbridges; jumping down otherwise will lead to a long fall onto some spike traps (K) at the bottom.
You entered through door D from the first zone soon after entering the fort. Your best option is to head for door I. To get there, follow the corridors to gate O, activate the lever, and cross the drawbridges (M and N).
You entered through door H after falling into the lower section of the third zone. You probably want to circle back around to door I and try your luck in the third zone again. From the central room (with the spike traps, K), exit through the corridor on the southeast wall and loop back around to gate O. As above, activate the lever to open the gate and cross the drawbridges (M and N).
If you came in through door I: stop, turn around, and go back out the way you came in. You can explore from here, but ultimately you'll want to exit through I, and general exploration can wait until after you've completed the quest.

Occupants:
5 Undead Akaviri Soldiers (non-respawning)
Treasure:
2 Chests 01 (1 locked)
1 Chest 02
Traps:
1 Cave In trap at location L on map (one of the few cave in traps found in a fort rather than a cave). The cave in is triggered as you approach the area. However, one can bypass the trap without activating it by sneaking and sticking to the walls.
4 Spike Pit traps at K. These traps are placed on the floor (not in pits), but simply walking over them carelessly will cause damage.
Doors and Gates:
There are four doors in/out of this zone
1 door (at D) leads to the first zone, Mouth of the Serpent
2 doors (at H and I) lead to the third zone, Fangs of the Serpent.
Door H is essentially a dead end: it only provides access to a lower part of the zone, with no options to access the rest of the zone.
1 door (at J) leads to the fourth zone, Venom of the Serpent.
2 Drawbridges (initially raised) at M and N, and an adjacent Portcullis Gate at O. All three are controlled from two different places: either the pull lever (cyan dot) next to gate O or the turn handle (cyan dot at M) located in the upper level (accessed from door J). Activating either control once opens gate O and lowers both drawbridges.
Subsequently activating the pull lever or turn handle additional times is not recommended, because it is possible for the drawbridges and gate to become out of sync (i.e., drawbridges up when the gate is open). This is caused (and fixed) by pulling the lever a second time after the gate animation is done, but before the drawbridge animation is done.
2 Portcullis Gates at P, and Q, each activated by the adjacent pull levers (cyan dots) on either side of the gate.
1 Gate at R (locked). Opening this gate provides access to an unlocked chest.