I'm a little stunned at the lack of information in this quest. Even asking Tolfdir about the dagger doesn't reveal a specific location. The objective in my quest log is to use the dagger to gather heartscales, so it isn't even "Get the dagger," it already assumes I have it (which I don't). I started to head to that location anyway, but somehow got the impression that that is where I need to go AFTER I have the dagger. But the quest doesn't show a location for the dagger. How am I supposed to know where to go for this?

Thanks.

The location of the dagger varies, there's no set dungeon for it. The first step in the quest should indeed be to find the dagger, so I'm not sure why you wouldn't have an initial objective telling you to find it and a quest marker on the map showing its location.

UESP says that "possible dungeons include http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Forelhost, http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:High_Gate_Ruins, http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Lost_Valkygg, http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Ragnvald, http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Valthume, and http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Volskygge" and the discussion there seems to come to the conclusion that the Fang will always be located in a Dragon Priest's lair. It's possible to find the Fang before ever getting this quest, so my guess would be that its location is determined when you start a game and not generated when the quest activates.

Is it possible that you went to any of its potential locations earlier and picked it up, or didn't realize it was there and left it? Altho if it wasn't in your inventory at all, I would think that would cause the game to give you the objective to find it before advancing you to the next objective.

Wish I could be more help, I've found the Fang once but never actually done the quest that requires it.

Hmm, I'm pretty sure I've never encountered it thus far. I always take named items anyway, so I think I'd remember it. But I know for sure it isn't in my inventory or in my house, so even if I DID find it before, it's long gone now. I would hope it respawns somehow, but still, I'm 99.999999% sure I've never encountered it yet.

I suppose I'll try a dragon priest lair and see what happens. Like you, I can't believe the quest log doesn't point me in the right direction, or even HINT at where I'm supposed to look. The wiki doesn't make a big deal out of this, so I'm wondering if maybe my experience isn't typical. Anyone know if I should be shown where it is, or is this normal since it's a radiant quest object?

Do you have any other quests active? When I got the quest last time I went to the map and found the marker for where to go. If you don't find the marker maybe you have a bug. But double check that you have the quest active and it is the only one.

I have some Miscellaneous objectives chosen, but I have the main Miscellaneous category turned off. This is the only quest being tracked. It does show a marker, but the marker seems to be for the objective, which is "use the dagger to get heartscales," rather than "get the dagger."

However, I could be totally wrong about this and perhaps the marker really IS showing me where to find the dagger. But it's just a marker by itself, it doesn't show a location icon next to it. I suppose my first order of business should be to check it out just to be sure. The reason I stopped on my way there was because I used Clairvoyance and it didn't show a trail in that direction, so I felt like I was going the wrong way.

Also, I just realized that the only dragon priest location I've been to is the one for the College quest (Labyrinthian), which is not one of the possibilities listed on the wiki. And even if I had somehow found the dagger there and didn't realize it, I've also read that it's marked as a quest item, and I wouldn't have been able to get rid of it anyway.

Well, I guess the confusion was my own creation. As it turns out, the location on the map WAS a dragon priest ruin and the dagger was there. I was just confused by the quest objective saying to USE the dagger, rather than find it in the first place!

That's a bit of confusing and sloppy writing right there then. I'll have to remember that if I ever do the quest. Glad you got it sorted!

Thanks! The main reason I even turned away from heading toward that location was because as I was going there, I decided to use Clairvoyance, and it did not give me a path in that direction. I guess the reason why was because there WAS no path toward the objective as written, which was to use the dagger on a dead dragon, even though there WAS a quest marker for the dagger!