Hi,
I just recently started playing Skyrim all over again. Before I was playing and fooling a bit around in the game to get familiar with the game. With the main quest I got the the point I was visiting the The Greybeards and learned their shouts. So I before I was able to completed the Dragon rising quest.

Yesterday, within my new game, I started the quest Dragon Rising again. I got to the point where we should kill the first dragon, Milmulnir, at the Western Watchtower. I was able to kill Milmulnir and loot him (“investigate the dragon”). But at that point Milmulnir should disintegrate and his soul should be absorbed by my character. But this just won’t happen... the dragon just lays dead on the ground, keeping his skin. It even seems that I’m able to walk right through him. The second strange thing that happens in my opinion is that all the soldiers in the direct area, who helped fighting the dragon, turn away from the dragon, walk away for a couple of yards, crouch and protect their heads or something. Like there are very scared.

I have no idea what is causing this. This bug, or error is preventing me from progressing in the main storyline... and it really svcks! Does anyone have a suggestion how I can fix this? Resting for an hour, or even 23 hours, does't change a thing. Restarting the game, killing the dragon again, doesn’t fix it, or even reinstalling the game doesn’t do the trick…

One thing that might be worth mentioning is that I used one in game cheat. I boosted my carrying weight with 200 point, since, well, I’m a collector… But I cannot imagine that an in game cheat can cause this kind of errors.

Anyone any idea what is causing this really annoying error? And even better, how to fix this?
thanks!

Someone any suggestion? It really takes out the fun of playing...

Someone recently http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1341589-cant-finish-dragon-rising/page__p__20228639__fromsearch__1#entry20228639 an issue very similar to yours and they were able to resolve it by resuming from a previous save, specifically one that was from before exiting Whiterun to meet Irileth at the Western Watchtower. From what you are describing, some event has taken place to make the soldiers act as if they are under attack or perhaps fleeing. Dragons will sometimes not disintegrate and yield a dragon soul if an event takes place that alters the status of the player, such as mounting a horse, entering dialog, etc. I don't know what effect is in place to make the soldiers cower, but it is likely preventing the quest from progressing. Your best and likely only option is to resume from a previous save. Using a save prior to entering the exterior world space will probably be necessary.

Thanks for your reply!

I've read the topic you've directed to. But unfortunately I've already tried that. I reloaded a save inside Whiterun and then head out to skyrim and kill the dragon at the Western Watchtower. With exactly the same weird result as I described in my first post. So that unfortunately doesn't do the trick... Any other suggestions?

I also still have a saved game from before entering Whiterun for the first time. If I'm not mistaking, at this point in the game, the dragon rising quest hasn't started yet. So perhaps redoing the quest might solve my issue... Although I'm a bit sceptical at the moment...

I'll give this a try tomorrow, or the day after that.
In the mean time, if there are any other suggestions, I would gladly hear them!

Did you retrieve the dragonstone before receiving the Dragon Rising quest? Also, are you using any mods or script extenders? When you retried the Mirmulnir battle, did you get the same result (i.e. cowering guards)? If so, how are you killing the dragon?

I recieved the dragonstone before I went to Whiterun. So yes, I had the dragonstone in my possession when I first talked to the earl.

I don't use any mods. I play the original game, and used only One cheat to boost my carryingweight with 200.

I killed the dragon using an ancient nord bow i think, or using a steel dagger, or destruction magic. Every time with the exact same result. The first game i played, i walked up to the dragon to investigate it, and then the absorption started by itself. That was a month ago, or so.

- Double post -

I haven't seen any reports of this behavior mentioned on uesp.net when people retrieve the dragonstone before being asked, so I doubt that's the problem. I'd try the save from before entering Whiterun then, after receiving the quest to go kill the dragon, create a new save just before leaving Whiterun. Exit the game. Relaunch the game and load your save, then continue on with the quest. Don't use magic to kill the dragon in case you're doing something to affect the other NPCs in the area. Other than that, I don't have any other suggestions.

I just tried my saved game frm just before I'm entering Whiterun for the first time. Went to the Jarl, gave the dragonstone, which I allready had with me, to the wizard, went to the watchtower and killed the dragon with my bow.
Unfortunately with the same result as I describe in my first post...

Then I restarted the game and reloaded the saved game, just before I exited Whiterun, killed the dragon with the same methode, and again the same result... It is getting really frustrating.

But thanks for the effort Kastagir. I really appreciate it!

Someone else got any suggestions besides all that was mentioned above?

The list of stages for the quest in the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Dragon_Rising might be helpful.

This shows the key events triggering the different stagges, so you need to make sure you have got the message from Irileth and been close to her near the West Watchtower (quest markers may help.

It is a bit of a fudge, but you could try using the console as described in the wiki to force the stages leading up to kill, to see if that gets round the problem. You might need to start back from stage 13, and then look for a stage completion report on screen. This trick got me out of a roken quest in an earlier play through.

Hope this helps.

That seemed to do the trick. Not really the way I would have liked to finish that mission, but at least I can proceed now!
And to be shure, it visited a dragon lair and killed a dragon. That soul dragon desintegrated after it was killed en its soul was absorbed by me.

So all seems well at this point! Thanks a lot!