Confronting the king of the Vale of Shadows is a step of the main quest in chapter 1 of Icewind Dale.
Quick walkthrough[]
- Make your way to the bottom level of Kresselack's Tomb in the Vale of Shadows. (This involves finding and using 7 keys.)
- Talk to Kresselack there.
Walkthrough[]
You can reach the Vale of Shadows from Kuldahar via the world map.[1]
Vale of Shadows outdoors and side areas[]
Your destination is Kresselack's Tomb, in the top-right corner of the Vale of Shadows map. The branching paths between there and where you arrive, also lead to five minor side areas – see Vale of Shadows#Locations for details.
The Western Crypt and Eastern Crypt each contain a key that you will need; visiting the other three side areas is optional (although clearing out the Vale Ice Cave can make things easier later on[TODO: Needs confirmation.]).
You can also advance an optional side-quest here:
| Available side-quest | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Kresselack's Tomb[]
This large, multi-level tomb is filled to the brim with mostly hostile undead, but also offers one optional dialog mini-quest that is easy to miss:
| Available side-quest | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Several doors along the way can only be unlocked by having the right key in your inventory. All these keys are found in the tomb itself or the side areas of the surrounding Vale; just explore all accessible areas carefully and then come back to whichever locked door blocked your path.
The most direct way to get down to the lowest floor is as follows:
| Room | Required key |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | |
|
Gate Key from the Western Crypt |
|
Sanctum Key from the Eastern Crypt |
|
Priest's Key from 2 |
|
Holy Symbol of Myrkul from 3 + detect secrets |
| Level 2 | |
|
Mausoleum Key from 4 |
|
Mausoleum Key from 4 and Plain Key from 5 |
|
Black Wolf Talisman from 6 |
| Level 3 | |
|
switch flipped at 7 |
At the very end of the level 3 stands Kresselack, the undead king. Talk to him. He says that he will not answer your question about the the evil that plagues Kuldahar, until you first complete a task for him: