Soul Cairn (Dawnguard)

The Soul Cairn is a location in . It is a plane of Oblivion inhabited by souls and undead. It can be accessed via a portal in Castle Volkihar during, and after, the quest "Chasing Echoes."
==Background==
When a soul is trapped in a black soul gem and its energy is used to power an enchantment, the remnant—the soul itself—is sent to the Soul Cairn. It is a place devoid of (faunal) life—the only beings that exist there are souls, undead, and the rulers of the realm, the Ideal Masters.
The Ideal Masters are enigmatic entities that lord over the Soul Cairn, controlling every aspect of its being. It is believed that the Soul Cairn exists so that the Ideal Masters can collect souls and feed on them;Dialogue with Valerica some hypotheses even suggest they use the souls as a form of currency to an even higher power.
The Soul Cairn is also home to powerful undead beings, which are highly sought after by necromancers. Souls are sent to the Soul Cairn by necromancers who wish to summon these undead, but in order to do so they must travel to the realm in person to finalize the deal with the Ideal Masters. They are often tricked, and many become trapped as harvested souls.Dialogue with Serana
==Geography==
The landscape of the Soul Cairn is barren and dry, with only dead trees and bushes scattered throughout the realm, as well as plant-like growths known as Soul Husks.
The sky is perpetually bleak and cloudy, and lightning strikes constantly throughout the realm. There is no sun in the sky, but instead a single moon and a huge black circular void.
Numerous buildings and altars can be found throughout the land, alongside mysterious upright stones and circular crystalline structures. The crystal circles will replenish the health of any being that stands in them, although they will quickly dim and become inert after use. In the tallest towers, the uppermost sections are composed of blocks suspended in midair, rotating around the tower and emitting a purple light.
The realm is partitioned by an enormous fortified wall that divides the landscape, though it is unknown why. Magical barriers also block off certain areas.
===Soul Fissures===
There are numerous luminescent cracks in the ground throughout the Cairn. Interacting with one will fill the largest empty soul gem on hand, although soul fissures will not fill the Black Star or Azura's Star.
===Crystalline structures===
Scattered across the Cairn are a number of floating purple crystals that resemble giant soul gems. Approaching these will drain the health of any living being that gets too close. Eating a Soul Husk or Soul Husk Extract, however, will counter the drain for a short time.
===Lightning Attractor===
There are four lightning attractors located in the Soul Cairn. Activate these by using grand soul gems or greater soul gems. Lightning will strike the rod, and mistmen, bonemen, and wrathmen will appear. Also, the soul gem will be replaced by a black soul gem. After being struck, the rod will slide into the orifice and the lightning attractor cannot be activated a second time.
*One resides by one of the keepers, located to the west. There is a health-sucking crystal behind bars to the left of the keeper. In the room to the right of the Keeper is a portal that takes you to the roof where the attractor is. 
*Another is located in the south-eastern most part of the Soul Cairn. It is just north of a building with a health-sucking crystal. 
*A third is close to the Reaper's Lair, to the north-northeast.
*A fourth is located near Morven Stroud and page 10 of Saint Jiub's Opus. From the main path that goes from the portal to the Boneyard, there is a platform just past Morven which has stairs leading in all four directions. The lightning attractor is located on top of the building just beyond the "pool" of mist to the east.
===Locked rooms===
There are rooms scattered about the Soul Cairn that have metal poles blocking their entrances. These can be unlocked by shooting both of the glowing blue orbs in the obelisks nearby with shouts, spells, or arrows.
==Sublocations==
===Reaper's Lair===
While inside the Soul Cairn, if the Dragonborn turns right after going through the stone wall and follows the barrier, the Reaper's Lair will be found just past one of the large towers with floating blocks and swirling energies at the top (It is not the structure where there is a lantern on the ground in the alcove; rather the next building to the east of this one).
Inside lies the Reaper Shard Receptacle, which is activated by placing three reaper gem fragments in the receptacle. These fragments are located in chests beneath three of the giant floating soul gems which drain health. Lightning frequently strikes the center of the room. Putting three shards in the receptacle summons The Reaper, who attacks. If one goes into no-clip while inside the lair, they may notice three rowboats side-by-side floating over nothing.
Note: If one of the alternate methods to spawn the Reaper is used, it will not show if the three Reaper Gem Fragments are used (confirmed on PS3).
===Boneyard===
The Boneyard is accessible after killing the three keepers. Valerica is trapped here along with one of the three Elder Scrolls. Shortly after the Dragonborn enters the Boneyard, Durnehviir will attack.
==Quests==
===Beyond Death===
Serana's mother, Valerica, is found here. She offers an Elder Scroll to the Dragonborn if the keepers located at the tallest spires in the Soul Cairn are defeated. She warns that a fearsome dragon named Durnehviir may take notice of the keepers' demise. Once all of the keepers have been killed, the wall that blocks access to the castle disappears. After entering the Boneyard, Durnehviir will appear and attempt to kill the Dragonborn. Defeat him and speak with Valerica, who will lead the Dragonborn to the Elder Scroll. After acquiring the Elder Scroll and exiting the Boneyard, Durnehviir will be found waiting on a broken structure. After conversing with him, he teaches the Dragonborn a shout to call him from the Soul Cairn.
===Impatience of a Saint===
The Dragonborn can interact with the soul of Jiub in the northeast section of the Soul Cairn. Jiub explains that he wants to write the second volume of his opus, but he has lost the pages to his first volume and requires them to continue writing. There are ten pages in total, scattered across the barren landscape of the Soul Cairn.
===Find Arvak's Skull===
The Dragonborn can also complete a side quest to free an undead skeletal horse named Arvak. This mount can then be summoned at will in either Nirn or the Soul Cairn. Arvak's Skull can be found under a glowing pavilion near the big castle. Returning the Skull to its owner will reward the Dragonborn with the Summon Arvak spell.
===Soul Husk Hunt===
There is a soul, named Morven Stroud, in the northern section, directly east of the dividing wall. Speak to him and he will ask for twenty-five soul husks in return for the opportunity to "see his wares." For every twenty-five soul husks the Dragonborn brings to him, they receive the opportunity to trade for a random sword, battleaxe, light armor, heavy armor, or spell tome. This quest is repeatable as soul husks respawn. All of the items he has to offer are enchanted.
A glowing pit portal to the right of Morven Stroud will teleport the Dragonborn to the top of a building. Look to the building with the obelisks with glowing orbs, there is a spot to jump down to get a hidden chest.
==Notable items==
*Conjure Boneman
*Conjure Mistman
*Conjure Wrathman
*Scroll of Storm Thrall
==Gallery==
Dawnguardportal.png
Dawnguardundeadhorse.png|Arvak
Dawnguard-Deathlord.jpg|A Wrathman
Tower 2a.png
Tower 2.png
Cystal Tower 5.png
Cystal Tower 4.png
Cystal Tower 3.png
Cystal Tower 2.png
Soul Cairn.jpg|Concept art for the Soul Cairn
==Trivia==
*An easy way to navigate the Soul Cairn is to follow the edges, never straying far from them. Almost all locations are near the edges of the playable area, or within sight of the edge.
*Certain souls will speak lines of dialogue revealing and describing how they ended up in the Soul Cairn.
*Storage is not safe in the Soul Cairn, as all areas here respawn every 10 in-game days.
*Although Soul Husks can be found here, they are classified in the player's inventory as food items, not ingredients.
*Some souls will quote a line from Ghostbusters 2: "Death is but a door, Time is but a window, I'll be back." This is what Vigo the Carpathian's "head" said before it died.
*Souls will reference older games such as and .
**One of the souls will speak of stepping into a painting. This is a reference to the quest "A Brush With Death" in Oblivion.
*Aside from the human-shaped souls one can encounter almost everywhere, there is another type of entity that roams the Soul Cairn. These look and behave like recolored wisps but are completely docile and cannot be interacted with in any way. However, should the Dragonborn awaken hostile creatures like bonemen or mistmen, and then evade detection, the hostile undead may go after the wisp-like entities instead. This can prove a useful distraction since the entities are invulnerable, which the undead do not seem to realize.
*One cannot enter the Soul Cairn without being a vampire or being partially soul trapped. Being soul trapped causes the Weakened Soul ability to activate, which decreases magicka, health, and stamina while in the Soul Cairn. This can be negated after completing "Chasing Echoes" and talking to Valerica, who will instruct the Dragonborn to find the soul essence gem. Upon doing so, all stats will return to normal. Additionally, finding the gem before meeting Valerica will also restore the reduced stats.
*The rods on the lightning attractors will reemerge in time, but they cannot be activated to create another black soul gem.
*Followers, with the exception of Serana, cannot enter the Soul Cairn, even if they have been turned into a vampire during "The Gift." Those raised using the "Ritual Stone" power will follow the Dragonborn into the Soul Cairn. This can be useful as none of the creatures that inhabit the Soul Cairn can be resurrected.
*Using the Storm Call shout in the Soul Cairn will cause the sky to change to a stormy setting and back to normal again every few minutes.
*Several Daedra hearts can be found in Soul Cairn's chests, making it an alternative way to acquire some without having to pay.
*There is a lack of animal and creature souls present in the Soul Cairn, despite it being the place spent souls go to after being used in soul gems. This could prove Serana's theory that only souls used in black soul gems end up in the Soul Cairn. There are, however, two cow souls in a pseudo farm setting and Arvak the horse roaming the location. Their presence is not explained.
*There is a skeleton east of the Reaper's Lair that sits next to a note against some rocks. The contents of the note suggests that Valerica is not the first physical being to enter the Soul Cairn.
*There is a half-buried word wall in the Soul Cairn; however, it is not active.
*Every enemy in the Soul Cairn except for Durnehviir drop soul gems upon death, making this a good place to gather supplies for enchanting.
*If the map is brought up while the Dragonborn is in the Soul Cairn, the map marker will be placed in the Sea of Ghosts due north of the Orphan's Tear.
==Bugs==
*If access to the Soul Cairn is gained by becoming a vampire lord, and the condition is cured immediately after leaving, reentering will not be possible. Get Serana to turn the Dragonborn back into a vampire lord before returning to Valerica's study for the first time (otherwise save outside the study, exit the game completely, start the game and load this save and have Serana turn you into a vampire lord and then renter the study) and it should be possible to enter the Cairn. (Using tcl console command to go over the portal might fix this.)
*One or more of the pages to Jiub's opus may be missing.
*Sometimes, the portal will glitch, and the player character will be unable to enter the Soul Cairn indefinitely. Either reloading the save before attempted entering or choosing the option other than what they chose will fix it, not sure which actually fixes it, so try both simultaneously. (Using tcl console command to go over the portal might fix this).
*While running around and using a crossbow, occasionally, it will get stuck and not fire. When this happens the player character cannot run, jump, or shoot the crossbow. This can be fixed by either:
**Pressing the sheath/ready button (X for Xbox, Square for PS3, and R for default controls on PC).
**Opening up the character menu (B for Xbox, Circle for PS3, and Tab for default controls on PC).
*Sometimes when entering the Soul Cairn a second time, the game will glitch as you try to enter the second half.
*Sometimes after encountering an Ideal Master gem, the player character may gain a permanent "soul ribbon" as if their health is being drained, even though it is not. To fix this, simply move close to a gem without using a soul husk until the player character's health is drained, then move away and the ribbon should be gone.
*Using Storm Call will light up the Soul Cairn and can continue to stay lit even after the Storm Call is done.
*Sometimes, upon entering the Soul Cairn, health drain effects will glitch and deplete health point. The player may need to reload a previous save.
**This glitch may remain upon leaveing the Soul Cairn.
* Sometimes, mannequins may spawn at random areas in Soul Cairn such as on the stairs, floating next to giant soul gems, blocking doors, etc. Saving and reloading the game or moving the camera away from them will make them disappear.
* The soul drain effect of the crystalline structures may turn the screen completely black, making effective navigation and combat nearly impossible until a fair distance is put between the Dragonborn and the crystal.
* Sometimes, when first approaching the castle where Valerica is located, she will disappear, making it impossible to advance the quest "Beyond Death." To fix this, the player may need to reload a previous save.
==Appearances==
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==References==
de:Seelengrab
es:Recordatorio de las Almas (Dawnguard)
fr:Cairn de l'Âme (Dawnguard)
it:Tumulo dell'Anima (Dawnguard)
ja:Soul Cairn (Dawnguard)
ru:Каирн Душ (Dawnguard)
uk:Каїрн душ
Category:Planes of Oblivion