Ansilvund

Ansilvund is an ancient Nordic tomb in . It is an excavation site into the tomb of Fjori and Holgeir and is located northeast of Shor's Stone and east of Cragslane Cavern in the Rift. Outside the entrance is a ruined stone tower. The entrance is a cave in the mountainside. Ansilvund is a large tomb filled with multiple traps.
==Background==
It is learned that Lu'ah Al-Skaven is overwhelmed with anger and hatred for both the Stormcloaks and the Empire regarding the loss of her husband, Saeel, in battle during the Great War. Lu'ah and her mage lackeys have been raising draugr to excavate the site in hopes of raising the legendary Fjori and Holgeir to lead her undead army into battle as a means of ultimate retribution, but more importantly, to use Holgeir as a vessel to resurrect her fallen husband. Her thoughts and motives are chronicled in Lu'ah's Journal.
==Sublocations==
===Ansilvund Excavation===
The first level of the site is the excavation level. A number of variously skilled elemental mages and conjurers are encountered here overseeing the tunneling work of their Draugr minions. A conversation can be overheard between three mages around a fire talking about Lu'ah's plans. An arcane enchanter can be found here once the mages are dispatched. Further along, Lu'ah seems to sense the Dragonborn's intrusion and awakens the Draugr throughout the corridor.
The passageway leading into the next chamber can be found on the left hand side under a lantern on the wall. The next chamber has a trap in the middle of the room that consists of the floor rising to some spikes in the ceiling. If the Dragonborn is crouching, they will not rise high enough to hit these and take damage.
The final chamber of Ansilvund Excavations is reached through a puzzle room with pillars. The key (Hawk, Snake, Whale, Snake) can be found directly below each one on the ground level, obscured by weeds and other obstructions including behind the table. Alternately, the combination can be gleaned from paying attention to the animal symbolism used in the book Of Fjori and Holgeir, which can be found on the table below the stones. The puzzle/lever opens the passage to the next level of the tomb: Ansilvund Burial Chambers.
===Ansilvund Burial Chambers===
Upon entering the Burial Chambers, it becomes clear that this is, in fact, a well constructed Ancient Nord Tomb. The first hallway is rife with a number of devious traps; however, at the end of this hall there is an adept level locked gate at which a pull chain is located that disables the remaining traps. Also in this room is an expert locked chest with a number of leveled loot within.
Also in this section is a leveled draugr attacking a moonstone ore vein, however this vein is not accessible to be mined.
The next area is a large three tiered chamber being patrolled by draugr. On the southern wall, the Illusion skill book, 2920, vol 02 - Sun's Dawn, can be found atop a pedestal. Taking it will fire arrows, so move to the side after taking the book. On the western wall, the Ansilvund Key is also located atop a pedestal. This key will open all the otherwise very difficult gates along the upcoming path. Removing the key will also awaken a number of draugr. The path then winds up through each tier of the chamber, which, as seen previously, is riddled with a number of nasty traps, which include fire and a spiked wall.
On the final leg of the journey, more minions are awakened by Lu'ah's calls to stop the intruder. Upon reaching the Burial Chamber proper, Lu'ah is found with her raised minions, Fjori and Holgeir, as well as the lifeless corpse of her beloved. All three combatants are highly skilled and present a difficult fight. Lu'ah is a skilled Ice Mage, and both Fjori and Holgeir are capable of disarming with Dragon Shouts and carry Frost enchanted weapons. Destroying Lu'ah first and quickly will defeat all other foes. One easy way to defeat them is use the ice form shout on Fjori and Holgeir and then focus on Lu'ah. Another method is to use a sneak attack on Lu'ah and then once Lu'ah is defeated, the other two will also be instantly killed. Once defeated, Fjori and Holgeir's spirits are freed from Lu'ah's spell and will thank the Dragonborn by presenting the Ghostblade before returning to the Void.
==Notable items==
*Ghostblade
*A Stone of Barenziah – On the altar next to Ghostblade
*Transmute Mineral Ore (Alteration spell tome) – On the table with the Imperial Condolences note.
*2920, vol 02 - Sun's Dawn (Illusion skill book)
*Lu'ah's Journal – On the table in the puzzle room
*Imperial Condolences
==Quests==
*A Love Beyond Death – Starts automatically at the beginning of the dungeon
*Queen Freydis's Sword – One of six potential locations for the sword
*Find Roggi Knot-Beard's Ancestral Shield – As a radiant location, but the quest is non-repeatable
*No Stone Unturned
*Totems of Hircine – Radiant
*Fetch Me That Book! – Radiant
*The Forgemaster's Fingers – As a radiant location, but the quest is non-repeatable
*Onmund's Request – As a radiant location for the Grand Staff of Charming requested by Enthir (non-repeatable) 
*Family Heirloom – Radiant
*Protecting the Bloodline – Radiant
*Arniel's Endeavor – One of the potential locations of the Staff of Tandil
==Enemies==
*Lu'ah Al-Skaven
*Holgeir
*Fjori
*Draugr
*Skeletons
*Mages
**Necromancer
**Conjurer
**Storm Mage
**Cryomancer
==Facilities==
*Alchemy Lab – in the tower outside and in Lu'ah Al Skaven's bedroom
*Arcane Enchanter – in the excavation area
*Cooking Place – outside by the tower
==Gallery==
TESV Forgi Holgeir.png|Fjori and Holgeir
TESV Ghostblade Pedestal.png|The Ghostblade as it appears on its pedestal (also, note the Stone of Barenziah on the left).
AnsilvundBurialChambersMap.jpg|Ansilvund burial chambers map.
==Trivia==
*Activating the Atronach Stone prior to entering Ansilvund will make fights against Necromancers and Lu'ah easier as most of their spells will be absorbed by the Dragonborn.
*It is possible to kill Lu'ah before she is done with her speech to stop Fjori and Holgeir from being summoned. This may cause glitches, and it may be necessary to raise them with a necromancy spell for the storyline to proceed and the Ghostblade to appear. It may be possible to cast a rune spell at the bottom of their respective sarcophagi to activate or kill them.
*It is possible to kill Lu'ah, Fjori and Holgeir by casting the Mayhem spell near the pedestal with Ansilvund key.
*Outside Ansilvund, there is a tower with an alchemy lab inside. Standing on the tallest point of the closest hilltop to the north of the tower, and using a Whirlwind Sprint with at least two words, it is possible to reach the top of the tower, where an unlocked chest with high-grade loot is located. The chest also respawns the loot periodically. It is also possible to ride a horse up to the top of the tower.
*If Lu'ah's key is not taken, and Lu'ah is killed, it will not be possible to open the final door that needs the key. It is possible to get to do the door prior to completing the dungeon through clever jumping, but nothing can be gained from from it. However, it is possible to go back through the cave and exit the same way the Dragonborn went in. Even if the key is retrieved after re-looting Lu'ah's corpse, the game does not recognize that it is available.
*It is possible that the Dragonborn can be sent back to Ansilvund through a radiant Companion quest. If the quest for the Ghostblade has already been completed, then a Necromancer boss (i.e., Master Necromancer, Arch Necromancer) will take Lu'ah's place at the altar while the NPCs inside Ansilvund are respawned. Fjori and Holgeir, however, will not reappear, and unlike Lu'ah, they are not replaced by other characters. Their sarcophagi have once again been shut but remain empty this time.
*If sneaking and undetected, in the room before the Disembodied Voice raises Draugr to fight the player, three mages are sitting around a fire and two are in conversation:
Storm Mage 1: "I think it's sweet that Lu'ah is so worked up over her dead soldier..."
Storm Mage 2: "Yeah, but raising Draugr to fight both the Imperials and the Stormcloaks? That's just crazy."
Storm Mage 1: "True. But I won't be the one to try to oppose her."
==Bugs==
* The skeleton risen by Lu'ah may be invulnerable for the first 15 seconds after the first time the Dragonborn would have harmed it.
*Before the final chamber of Ansilvund Excavations in the puzzle room, the pillars cannot be turned to the correct symbol.
**Fix: exit from of Ansilvund Excavation and take or purchase "Of Fjori and Holgeir" from another location. After obtaining the book, head back to the puzzle and the pillars should re-activate and start working again.
*When the Leader of Ansilvund (Lu'ah Al-Skaven) is killed before obtaining the quest to do so (Companion storyline), it will not be possible to complete the quest or the Companion storyline.
**Although prone to glitching, one can try: setstage cr05 20 - Farkas should to speak to the Dragonborn about it then.
*A draugr will get stuck on the overhang on the first left taken.
*Before entering the mine in the tower there are two potions of magicka on a table that are unable to be picked up.
==Appearances==
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de:Ansilvund
es:Ansilvund
fr:Ansilvund
ru:Ансилвунд (локация)
Category:Skyrim: Eastmarch Hold Locations
Category:Skyrim: Iron Ore Vein Locations
Category:Skyrim: No Stone Unturned Locations