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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Hints
How can I gain access to the stairwell?
1 of 12: Look on the wall just SW of it to find a pull chain.
2 of 12: However, don't pull it yet. Doing so will only set off a dart trap. You'll need to find a rotating-pillar puzzle and set it correctly before the pull chain will work.
3 of 12: Go through the doorway that's to the right of the draugr's thrones to find a room with three large stones heads in it (plus two more draugr in the back).
4 of 12: Notice the animal carving that's in each stone head's mouth, then look around for the rotating pillars that you need to set to those symbols.
5 of 12: Go back to the floor stairwell room and try using one of the levers that are next to the thrones to see what happens.
6 of 12: Whichever lever you use, the room you were just in will get closed off, and the room with the rotating pillars will open up.
7 of 12: Go over to the doorway to get a draugr to come after you, then stay left while moving to the other side of the room so you won't get zapped by the magic pedestal trap.
8 of 12: Run in and grab the pedestal's soul gem to deactivate it, then set the three rotating pillars.
9 of 12: If you'll remember, the stone heads had (in counter-clockwise order) the snake, whale, and falcon symbols on them.
10 of 12: However, if you set the pillars to those symbols in counter-clockwise order, the stairwell's pull chain still won't open it.
11 of 12: That's because the pillars are set "back to back" with the heads, so you'll need to reverse the order of the symbols.
12 of 12: Set the pillars to snake-whale-falcon in clockwise order (or falcon-whale-snake in counter-clockwise order), then use the pull chain to open up the stairwell.
