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Skyrim Special Edition
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Copyright © 2024 Robin Scott. All rights reserved.

Skyrim modding is wonderful because of the way different mods can synergize together. This also means mods can interfere with one another in negative ways too. The following is meant to help you troubleshoot any issues you may be having, so that I get to spend more of my time building Chapter III:

CHAPTER I

There is no Umbra:

To start the quest:

  • Find the "There is no Umbra" book in common loot, or on Farengar's desk.
What could go wrong:
  • Book is not showing up in common loot.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • Another loot mod could be overwriting the leveled lists LItemBookClutter or LItemBook0All.
What to do about it:
  • Sort my mod below that.
  • Merge the two lists with a patch.
  • Honestly, just pick the book from Farengar's desk :)

  • Book is not there on Farengar's desk.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • A Dragonsreach and/or furniture replacer moved the desk around
  • This mod is not installed correctly.
What to do about it:
  • Check the floor. Maybe an NPC bumped into it.
  • Make sure my mod loads on top of your Dragonsreach replacer (Vortex makes this harder than it needs to be, I recommend MO2).
  • Get the book using AddItemMenu (or Cheat Engine if in AE).

  • Ask Tolfdir about Ulves Seloth.
What could go wrong:
  • Tolfdir is nowhere to be found.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You're in the final stages of the College of Winterhold questline.
  • Another mod killed him / replaced him.
What to do about it:
  • Advance the College of Winterhold questline.
  • Restore him via console. 
prid 1C1A1
player.moveto
or

moveto player
  • Continue the quest without him by going directly to the Atronach Forge (you should have a second quest marker to it)

  • At the Atronach Forge, which was built by Ulves Seloth, read the Forge Manual he wrote and find the secret message which will tell you which two items to put into the Forge to obtain something he hid there. 
What could go wrong:
  • Manual is gone.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You already picked it up a long time ago.
What to do about it:
  • Check your player houses. You probably stashed it there. 
  • Bring it back via console:
prid 6CE1C
moveto player

  • I don't understand what am I supposed to do with the Atronach Forge Manual or how to go forward with the quest.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You haven't read the last lines of the personal section of the Manual.
What to do about it:
  • Read it. It's not a very hard puzzle, honestly :) 

  • I know I'm supposed to put an Iron Dagger and a Daedric Heart into the Forge box, but when I do that and I pull the lever, nothing happens!
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You have a replacer for Iron Daggers, Daedric Hearts, the Atronach Forge, or any combination of the above. The mod only works if these items are vanilla.
What to do about it:
  • Sort my mod below Atronach Forge replacers or use a patch ("T'Skyrim" patch available in optional files).
  • Use AddItemMenu (or Cheat Engine if in AE) to give yourself vanilla versions of Daedric Hearts and Iron Daggers.
  • Use AddItemMenu to give yourself the item the Forge was supposed to give to you, which is Ulves Seloth's journal (or use the console: "player.additem XX0171F1" (the XX is the index of my mod in your load order, in hexadecimal -you can get this from your mod manager, or by using 'help Ulves').

  • Read Ulves Seloth's journal, head to the Altar of Xrib.
  • Read the Epitaph on the stone near the Altar.
  • Head for Sightless Pit.
  • Read the bandit's note "There is no way out" near the entrance.
What could go wrong:
  • The note is not there.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You haven't read the Epitaph, or you read the Epitaph without having read Ulves' Seloth's journal first.
What to do about it:
  • Read Ulves Seloth's Journal, then the Epitaph, in that order.
  • Use AddItem menu to give yourself the note, and read it.

  • Fight your way through the Sightless Pit, reach Daumbra, wake her.
What could go wrong:
  • She's not waking up.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You didn't read the bandit's note. This is meant to prevent people from stumbling into Daumbra while exploring the Sightless Pit without having any idea of who she is.
What to do about it:
  • Read the bandit's note, see above. 

  • She's not there!
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • Sometimes when objects fall in Skyrim, they clip through the floor. It's an engine thing.
What to do about it:
  • Type "prid XX014A4C" in the console (replace the XX with the number of my mod in your load order. If you don't know what the load order number is, just type "help daumbra" and grab the first two digits of anything that comes back, that's the load order number of my mod). Then type "moveto player", and that should bring the sword back to you. Activate it and go from there.

  • Decide whether to take her in or... 
  • ... Kill her:
What could go wrong:
  • She doesn't die and keeps getting back up.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • She's an immortal Daedric artifact imbued with the godflesh of Clavicus Vile, the Prince of Bargains.
What to do about it:
  • Re-read Ulves Seloth's Journal, the last page, about how to kill her. Go back to the Atronach Forge, build the "Daumbra Killer" blade as per his instructions, then come back and kill her. This ends the questline.

  • You take her as a follower, but she ignores the commands to wait or dismiss.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • Your game is missing the "Shared Silence" vanilla line for some reason.
  • The CVR Voices mod is overwriting this mod instead of the other way around.
  • You have another mod that affects followers, such as "Followers as Companions" or any manager like NFF or AFT.
What to do about it:
  • Upgrade to the latest version that no longer requires CVR and no longer requires "Shared Silence". 
  • Don't use AFT, NFF, etc on her. You can use any follower manager on any follower, just not her. If you use Followers as Companions, you will need to tell her to fall back first before she will acknowledge your wait commands.


She trusted you:

To start the quest:
  • Talk through her "May I ask you a question?" > "What do you remember of your life as Umbra" to trigger the start of Quest 2.
  • Find Clavicus Vile. If you've already completed the vanilla quest "A Daedra's Best Friend" then you know where to go: to Haemar's Shame cave. If you haven't, then you can start that quest when you're at least level 10 in Falkreath. 
  • Negotiate with Clavicus. If you have ever absorbed any dragon soul, then you are the Dragonborn and can offer him ten dragon souls in exchange for her freedom. If you have never absorbed a dragon soul, then you don't know whether you are the Dragonborn or not: you can ask him to wait, go and become the Dragonborn, and then come back, or you can offer yourself to become his servant right there and then.
What could go wrong:
  • He won't agree to your bargains and thinks of going to Molag Bal instead.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You failed a persuasion check. He's no pushover when it comes to negotiations -he's the Prince of Bargains.
What to do about it:
  • Level up your speechcraft skill (there are trainers in the Bard's College). You need 50, or 35 with the Persuasion perk.
  • Drink some speech potions.
  • Wear some enchanted speech gear.

  • You can't click on him to initiate dialogue, or the statue is gone.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • Daumbra is not in line of sight of the statue
  • A replacer is swapping the Clavicus statue.
What to do about it:
  • Make sure Daumbra is in the room, so he can address her. Upgrade to the latest version which has better detection code.
  • If still having issues, then in the console, click on the statue, then
disable
prid e7c4d
enable
Sometimes you click on the location's fog by accident. Keep clicking-and-disabling until you disable the actual statue, then prid e7c4d and enable to bring the vanilla one back.

  • When you click on the Clavicus statue, you pray and receive a blessing instead of initiating dialogue.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You are using the Wintersun mod
What to do about it:
  • Install the compatibility patch from the optional files.
  • You can also choose to kill her yourself or give her away to Clavicus. Both of these choices end the questline.
  • Otherwise, you obtain her freedom and she declares her love for you. 
  • Ask her "May I ask you a question?" "May I wield you with my own hands?" She will say yes and you will be wielding her.
What could go wrong:
  • She disappears.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You have some mod preventing items from being added to your inventory.
  • You have some mod turning on your followers' essential flag.
What to do about it:
  • Figure out which mod is blocking her from being added to your inventory and remove that mod. If you find it, please report it back to me so I can update this guide.
  • Make sure no mod is making her essential -she is not compatible with any follower manager mod. You can use follower manager mods on your other followers, but never on her.
  • She continues to float around instead of appearing in your hands.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You have old scripts from Chapter I baked in your save file (or are using Chapter I).
  • You imported her into NFF or other Follower Manager mod that turned on her "essential" flag.
  • You're using version 1.29, which introduced a version of this bug.
What to do about it:
  • Install the latest version and try again.
  • Uninstall, clean your save file, re-install the latest version and re-start the quest making sure you only have the latest version of Chapter II installed AND that she has never been imported into NFF nor other Follower Manager mod at any point in the past. Check that she is not marked as essential.

  • You can wield her, but you can't see her special attack animations.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • DAR is not installed correctly (remember there're different version for AE vs SE).
  • An animation replacer such as PCEA, or another DAR mod is overwriting this mod's DAR animation (SkySA is a frequent offender).
What to do about it:
  • Make sure DAR is installed correctly.
  • Make sure you don't have custom attack animations in PCEA or similar that are overwriting her files.
  • Delete all the 2 handed hkx file from your animation overhaul mod such as SkySA.

  • At this point, you also get the ability to ride on her like a hoverboard. Simply unsheathe, and hit the sprint key to ride.
What could go wrong:
  • You get no hover animation and no extra speed.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You are using Chapter I.
  • Somehow you lost the spell, or some mod broke the spell
What to do about it:
  • Make sure Chapter II has been installed correctly, after deleting or overwriting Chapter I.
  • In the console (notice you should replace the "XX" with the correct number in your load order) :
player.removespell XX15EFC8
player.addspell XX15EFC8


  • You get extra speed but no hover animation (character looks like he's running really fast).
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • DAR is not installed correctly.
  • An animation replacer such as PCEA, or another DAR mod is overwriting this mod's DAR animation.
What to do about it:
  • Make sure DAR is installed correctly (remember there're different version for AE vs SE).
  • Make sure you don't have custom attack animations in PCEA or similar that are overwriting her files -specifically, 2hm_sprintforwardsword.hkx


CHAPTER II


There is an Umbra:

To start the quest:
  • The quest starts when an assassin finds and attacks you. 
What could go wrong:
  • No assassin shows up. 
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You're following this guide instead of just enjoying the story :) 
What to do about it:
  • Just play the game normally, and after 24 in-game hours, if you're outdoors, the assassin will show up.
  • Then you read the journal he was carrying. 
  • Read the assassin's journal, talk to Daumbra about it.
  • Pick up his blade, and head to the Atronach Forge
  • Put his blade inside the box, then talk to Daumbra. She will go inside the box. Pull the lever. Daumbra will merge with the assassin's blade.
What could go wrong:
  • You pull the lever and nothing happens, or, there is no lever. 
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You are using a mod that replaces things inside the Atronach Forge (such as UmbraIsland.esp).
What to do about it:
  • Sort this mod below that, or don't use that mod.
  • Pull Daumbra back out of the box, then manually advance the stage, then talk to her:
setstage 0_FloatingSwordQuest03 30

  • Talk to her, then do a test sword throw, by wielding her, unsheathing, then holding down the Activate key (usually "E") for more than one second, then releasing.
What could go wrong:
  • She doesn't fly like a javelin projectile.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You don't have SKSE or it's incorrectly installed.
What to do about it:
  • Reinstall SKSE, make sure it's the latest version (remember there's a different one for AE vs SE).

  • Talk to her and decide to consult with Falion. Or, if Falion already turned you down before, then find someone else to help you.
What could go wrong:
  • You don't know who else to go to other than Falion.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You're following this walkthrough instead of just enjoying the game and experimenting :)
What to do about it:
  • Just wait between 8 and 16 minutes in real life. A magical letter will appear in your pocket.
  • Read the magical letter that appears in your pocket. Head to Purewater Run cave, south of Markarth.
  • Meet sweet, old Naenra. Depending on your dialogue choices, she may give you a side quest to return to the Atronach Forge to have Daumbra's memories erased. She will definitely send you to Windhelm to recover Calixto Corrium's Aldmeri text.
  • Calixto won't give you the documents. But you can get the documents after you finish the vanilla quest "Blood on the Ice".
What could go wrong:
  • You don't know how to get the Aldmeri Text out of his key-locked chest inside his house in Windhelm.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You've been blessed to forget that the vanilla quest "Blood on the Ice" exists, or don't remember Calixto was in it.
What to do about it:
  • Complete "Blood on the Ice". Get Calixto's key from his cold, dead corpse at the end of it.

  • Read the heartfelt letter from Calixto's sister to Calixto.
  • Return to Naenra at Purewater Run cave to give her that letter.
  • Naenra is not home. Kill the forsworn invaders instead. Get a note from their leader. Read it. Go save Naenra at the nearby Forsworn stronghold.
What could go wrong:
  • Naenra is not in the cell, even though the quest marker is.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • Unkwown! Very rare though...
What to do about it:
  • In the console, type "prid XX0C74C4" (the XX is the load order of the mod). It should select Naenra. Then type "enable". Naenra will appear.
  • Talk to Naenra. Decide whether you want Daumbra to use mind control or not.
  • Decide whether you want Daumbra to have a flesh-and-blood body or not. If not, then know that you're skipping a lot of content -but I respect your decision.
  • If yes, go harvest ten female corpses.
What could go wrong:
  • An error message tells you only beautiful women may be harvested, and you cannot harvest anyone.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • SKSE is missing, or you have the wrong version installed, or you're not launching Skyrim from the SKSE launcher.
What to do about it:
  • Install the latest SKSE, make sure it's the right one for your version (AE or SE) and launch the game from the SKSE launcher.
  • Return to Naenra at Purewater Run Cave.
What could go wrong:
  • CTD upon entering Purewater Run Cave.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You have a replacer for Nocturnal's robes which has incorrectly coded physics and would cause CTDs on any NPC wearing it, up to and including Nocturnal.
  • There's something about that cave that your Skyrim hates, and I've never been able to reproduce it.
What to do about it:
  • Delete the meshes and textures from your Nocturnal robe's replacer.
  • Use the in-game wait feature for an hour or two before you walk in the cave.
  • Go right outside the cave and pull Naenra out via console: "Prid XX0F8DFC" then "moveto player". 
  • Learn from Naenra that now Daumbra too can have her own flesh-and-blood body.
  • Go collect ten more female bodies -the 10th one will be the one Daumbra will inhabit. 
What could go wrong:
  • The body you're trying to make Daumbra inhabit is "too ordinary" to host her.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • The NPC is not marked as "unique" in the game, or doesn't have a vanilla voicetype, or both. Most named NPCs are marked as unique, and most generic bandits, forsworn, etc., are not. Only unique named NPCs can be used by Daumbra. You must decide who. (Hint: the Nexus has many followers that meet this criteria).
What to do about it:
  • Cast the spell on an NPC marked as "unique". 
  • DO NOT use the console to clone nor spawn copies of existing named NPCs -if you do, then Daumbra will possess both the clone and the original and it may break other parts of your game.

  • Daumbra takes over the body, but the body has vanilla lines and refuses to use Daumbra's dialogue.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You're using a version older than 1.11 and the body you chose had high-priority blocking dialogue.
What to do about it:
  • Upgrade the latest version of this mod.

  • Daumbra takes over the body, but is now hostile to you!
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You probably killed your victim within sight of witnesses (including guards) and now they're all reacting to you as a murderer, including Daumbra. 
What to do about it:
  • Update to the latest version of the mod. You will still be able to interact with her, although sometimes she will draw her sword for a second. After 24 in-game hours all will be normal and she won't draw her sword while talking with you anymore.

  • Daumbra goes down in a few hits!
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You asked her to, via dialogue, in order for enemies to pick up the sword from the floor and become mind-controlled. 
What to do about it:
  • After she does this once she will not do it again (unless you ask her to again, of course). You can also turn it off in the console, typing "set 0_FloatingSwordWillDive to 0".

  • After trading items with her, she no longer hits enemies during combat, only blocks.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • This is an old Skyrim bug related to how sometimes followers lose "ownership" of their weapons. They can equip them, but not fight with them.
What to do about it:
  • Ask to trade with her and take her "Daumbra" sword. Don't worry, she'll get it back. And when she does, she'll be able to fight again.
  • If this happens to any other follower, take all their items, select them in the console, and type "resetinventory". Then give them their equipment back. This fixes the issue.

  • Remember that once Daumbra makes a certain body hers, she can re-use it an infinite number of times without having to ever harvest for it again. You only ever need to harvest if you want a new body for her, in addition to the one she already has. Also, remember that using the summon spell while Daumbra is already in your inventory will summon her latest flesh body to you, as a convenience.
  • Return to Naenra, after discussing it with Daumbra.
  • Naenra is not home, go find her at Dibella's Temple in Markarth.
  • Naenra tells you her plan to get rid of Clavicus.
  • Daumbra refuses to go through with it -she won't stab you.
What could go wrong:
  • You don't know how to make her stab you.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • She loves you.
What to do about it:
  • Pull her out of her current host body, then put her back in using the Harvest spell. Wait 30 seconds. Clavicus will come to visit.
  • Clavicus forces some empathy into Daumbra the only way the jester god knows how.
  • You decide to return to Naenra to evict him at a scenic location she tells you about by mail.
  • Naenra gives you the godflesh, sends you to say your goodbyes to Daumbra.
  • Daumbra cries, and stabs you.
  • You go inside her soul space.
  • While in her soul space, you should defeat her fears and insecurities, represented by ghostly swords. If you don't, then things will be harder later.
  • While in her soul space, you should talk to Clavicus. If you don't, then you'll miss out on potential endings (and good conversations!)
  • Either agree to Clavicus' proposal and return to the real world, or...
  • ... Replace the godflesh inside Daumbra and return to the real world... as Umbra.
What could go wrong:
  • Upon returning to the real world, you can't move your character.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • Skyrim engine camera-related quirkiness.
What to do about it:
  • Try version 1.27 or later of the mod -I think I finally fixed it. 
  • OR in the console type the following to ragdoll for a second, when you get back up you will have control again.
    pushactoraway 14 0
  • OR Spend the entire time inside the soul space in 3rd person camera view.
  • OR reload an earlier save and have her stab out in some location other than Purewater Run.
  • OR save, then reload.
  • Upon returning to the real world, you can't unsheathe your weapon.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • Skyrim engine quirkiness.
What to do about it:
  • Choose a different weapon or spell. Umbra will remember to make you unsheathe her.

  • Talk to a very surprised and frightened Naenra.
  • Travel to Arcwind Point killing everyone in your path. Umbra will not let you use any other weapon. She's the personification of a toxic relationship.
  • Talk to Naenra. She asks you to hold on for 30 seconds while she tries to yank Umbra out of your hands. Either kill her, and stay as Umbra forever, or wait 30 seconds. 
  • Umbra is yanked out of your hands, and starts fighting you. Defeat her with Naenra's help.
What could go wrong:
  • CTD when Umbra is yanked out of your hands
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You disabled essential characters in the ini settings of your game.
What to do about it:
  • Upgrade to version 1.11 or later of the mod.
  • Talk to Naenra. She explains her whole plan for you and Daumbra, and as long as you say you love Daumbra back, then Naenra sacrifices her flesh-and-blood body to give you a chance to rescue her.
  • Daumbra rises. Approach her. You are now back inside her soul space as a literal light. 
What could go wrong:
  • You don't know how to help Daumbra, and she dies to Umbra.
  • You do know that in order to help Daumbra, you need to get your light close to her and heal her, but all the evil ghostly swords are getting in the way.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • You didn't kill the ghostly swords when you had the chance.
What to do about it:
  • Run your light towards Daumbra. As of version 1.11, she's the only sword in the whole battle royale that's on fire. As long as you are near her, you will heal her, and with your healing, she will beat Umbra, and you'll get the best ending.

  • Talk to Daumbra and enjoy your reunion. You made it to the best ending!
What could go wrong:
  • The conversation with Daumbra continuously ends without you quitting it.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • Your version of Skyrim doesn't like the hug animation.
What to do about it:
  • Upgrade to version 1.11 or later, or
  • Put her in Naenra's body first (it's free!), then welcome her back.

  • Daumbra can't be activated.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • Skyrim engine quirkiness.
What to do about it:
  • Try fast travel, then return.

  • Your journal says that Umbra won, but that you should welcome Daumbra back.
Spoiler:  
Show

Probable cause:
  • Umbra and Daumbra managed to kill each other at roughly the same time!
What to do about it:
  • Upgrade to version 1.11 or later.

  • And that's it, congratulations! Try putting Daumbra in Naenra's body -she has a few custom lines about it. There are other easter eggs here and there.

If you run into any issues not covered in this document, please don't hesitate to come to the help channel in our discord at https://discord.gg/52qUTXu -we'll be happy to help!

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FableForge

3 comments

  1. Benignhealer26
    Benignhealer26
    • member
    • 0 kudos
    i waited in game for like 3 days just roaming around doing misc s#*! and the assassin still hasnt shown up
  2. amgartner
    amgartner
    • supporter
    • 2 kudos
    Anybody know how to keep dead bodies to reuse??? Also Any "10th victim" body in magic swords closet recommendations? Also I'm unsure if the uploader is aware but certain npc bodies like hrokki or whatever the winch in markarths inn name is will flee and hide in any combat even as Daumbra. I also think it would be a cool feature for the voices to be still there own while in bodies but more... normal rather than the spirit Daedra echo effect. Makes sense for a magic sword (or staff) with no mouth but once they are in bodies it's..... wEird just a bit. GREAT MOD!! thank you and I'd love to see more if the future permits for another chapter of Daumbra 
  3. anton711
    anton711
    • member
    • 0 kudos
    What should I do if, during a dialogue with Daumbra in a human body, she says she wants to hug me and then the game crashes