Hey everyone. I went to High Hrothgar and talked to Arngeir and asked him if he knew where a Word of Power was. He said to find it in Dead Man's Respite. So I went to Dead Man's Respite and I have done everything up until I got to the magic door and that ghost named Svaknir. It won't let me talk to the blue ghost and when I search his dead body, all I found was a few gold coins. I also can't get out of the dungeon because there was a long drop into water and I can't climb back up. All my saves just happened to be after the drop into the water. The magic door won't open and I'm assuming that it has something to do with the ghost but I can't interact with him in any way. I've searched throughout the whole dungeon (except for the part after the magic door) and I can't find any keys or special passages or anything like that. I have the latest patch and by the looks of it, I think the game is screwed up now. I really don't want to make another character because I've spent over 30 hours on this character. I also don't want to wait for the January 1.4 patch because that would be a total waste of time and I probably won't have lots of time to play after that patch comes out. Someone please help. Thanks in advance.

I haven't been there myself, but this should help.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Dead_Men%27s_Respite

At the part where it says to get King Olaf's Verse book from Svaknir's body, there is no book for me. That's where it becomes game-breaking.

did you go there before or after getting the Bard College quest?

I don't even know what that is. I went because Arngeir told me a Word of Power was located there.

That place is part of the Bard's College (located in Solitude). It is the first quest given to you. Thats why you get a book and the ghost will help you progress to the boss and word wall.

That's weird. I'm pretty sure I never got that quest. Maybe that's why I'm getting this glitch, maybe it's because I came to Dead Man's Respite without getting that Bard's College quest.

possible, you will run into places like that, ones that are meant for main/guild quests that contain word walls

So.... still no solution?

Dear Bethesda, you should definitely take this into consideration since this glitch is game-breaking and will make people very disappointed, including me.

sorry im not sure if there is one at this time

Granted you shouldn't have to do this, but I like to check the UESP wiki before I enter any barrow, cave etc. That way if I see it's quest related dungeon I'll wait till I have the associated quest. Unfortunately with new Bethesda games you really have to be proactive about recognizing possible glitches and learning how to avoid them.

I also have a problem with this quest. I can get the Ring Door to change symbols but no matter what combination I use, it doesn't open. The rings didn't move at all before I went to an earlier save and got the Bard's College quest. When I came back and they moved I was very happy... until the door doesn't open. It just spits darts at me.

PLEASE, Bethesda, fix this quest!!

Well at least I'm not the only one with this problem.

try to save and reload that will fix most issues like that

Nope. None of the FIVE TIMES I saved and reloaded, nor the twice I completely restarted the quest fixed it.

I stumbled upon Dead Man's Respite before knowing anything about the Bards Quest. The book was there, and I had no problems. So as that might be the problem it is not universal. I had however heard about King Olaf and Numinex. I don't know whether I had a misc quest that may have led to a trigger of the bards college quest.

Yep I am also stuck on the Tending the Flames quest (aka Dead Man's Respite dungeon)...It's really annoying/frustrating and now i'm forced to stop playing and move over to arkham city until they hopefully patch it (and I don't have to restart the whole game). PLEASE ADDRESS THIS CONCERN BETHESDA! (caps was necessary)

I did this quest and encountered both rings not turning, and the right combination not being accepted. The only solution is to reload a save from before you entered the dungeon. For other ring doors that won't turn, you can exit and re-enter through a load door, but for this one specifically since you can't backtrack you'll have to reload. I went through the dungeon three times before it worked.

As for the King Olaf's Verse book not being there, I have no solutions but I'll add that I went through this dungeon for the word wall on a character who had not received the Bard's Guild quest. The book was where it was supposed to be and I was able to complete the dungeon. So its not a constantly reoccurring glitch.

Very important advice to the OP: Before you enter any dungeon, save, and do not overwrite or delete that save until you are out of the dungeon. Keep several saves going for active characters. This is a Bethesda game, keeping multiple, frequent saves is crucial.