The world of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is vast, and Bethesda has made sure to densely pack the world with content, characters, and quests that players are still discovering over a decade after it’s release, meaning players may have missed a great number of secrets. With so much playable content and such an involved main quest, it is easy to miss details, places, and even mechanics that developers hid out of plain sight.
Both new and long-time Skyrim players could miss these secrets for a number of reasons beyond simply sticking to the main road. It’s possible to become overloaded with quests, and get stuck in a cycle of trying to complete a mission and having new ones pop up each time. Some of these Skyrim Easter eggs are intentionally hidden and force players to hunt for them, a few even simply put to chance, with random timing and location being a factor.
An important factor to note is that none of these are essential to the main plot, and can be passed over without consequence. If players do wish to pursue them, none require any DLC or supplemental material downloaded in order to access them. All of them appear to exist solely for the purpose of fleshing out the world of Skyrim, and providing extra playable material to hunt down.
High in the mountains of The Reach and due west of the Lost Valley Redoubt is a cliffside and waterfall. At the top of the cliff, after defeating two hagravens and potentially a Forsworn Briarheart, players can find one of Skyrim's Dragon Shouts on a Word Wall. Across from the wall is a diving point over the top of the waterfall called Bard’s Leap Summit. As the name implies, players can leap from this point and dive into the pool of water below. While the jump is risky, if done correctly the ghost of Azzadal the bard will appear to tell the tale of his unsuccessful dive. As reward and congratulations, Azzadal will increase the player’s speech skill by two levels.
After a major incident in Skyrim's city of Markarth the Forsworn began to wander the nearby Reach, making the area dangerous and tricky for travel. The Forsworn Briarhearts, partially undead warriors who have had their hearts cut out and replaced with briarhearts, can be difficult combatants for players unless they know the secret trick to beat them quickly and easily. If players level their sneak high enough, they can approach a Briarheart undetected and try to pick-pocket them. In their inventory, players will find the briarheart itself. If stolen the Briarheart will fall over dead immediately, saving time on combat.
If players find themselves visiting Skyrim's High Hrothgar at the Throat of the World, it may be worth their time to keep scaling the mountain. Near the peak there is a Word Wall, across from which is the Time Wound and a path that continues to ascend. Directly beneath the top of the mountain is a pickaxe embedded in stone. This is the Notched Pickaxe, a Minecraft reference that will increase the player’s smithing and deal shock damage when used as a weapon.
There are many NPCs in Skyrim that can be recruited as a follower who will travel with the Dragonborn and assist them. While various companions have differing skill sets in combat, magic, sneak, and speech all companions can unlock any chest players set them on. If given a lockpick, followers can pick even master-level locked chests on the first try, only burning a single pick.
Roaming the night any time between 10:00 PM and 4:00 AM players can potentially encounter the specter of the Headless Horseman. His spawn is completely random, and he can be lost if not followed. If players choose to trail the Horseman, he will lead them to Hamvir’s Rest. At the cemetery, players can expect to find a master-locked chest, some random loot, three skeletons, and a draugr to fight. Returning to Hamvir’s Rest during the day will show the Horseman guarding the cemetery entrance and watching the Dragonborn.
For the people of Skyrim, the resurgence of the all-powerful dragons is a recently developed problem, but early warning signs of looming destruction can be found. Lying southwest of Helgen near Bonechill Passage is an unmarked location where players can find a cabin. Half of the structure has been burnt to the ground, and two scorched corpses can be found inside, along with a note to authorities. The note detailing the homeowner’s concerns reads, "I have heard talk about the Dragons, but didn't believe it until now. One flew by last week and ever since we have seen him fly back and forth from a nearby mountain peak. My wife thinks we should move away, go somewhere else. I told her that would be nonsense." This gives players a look at what the growing draconic concerns in Skyrim looked like and how they were ignored.
Accessing Blackreach is difficult and arduous enough on its own, but once there Skyrim's hidden dungeon has a host more secrets for players to discover. Once there, players can head to the large yellow orb floating above the Hall of Rumination and the Hall of Debate. If the Forsworn hoard there is defeated, and the shout Unrelenting Force is used on the orb, it will summon a hidden dragon. This dragon boss, named Vulthuryol, will stomp around Blackreach attacking anything in the nearby vicinity. Once defeated, the dragon will yield the usual loot of scales, bones, and gold.
Nine Dragon Priest Masks can be found across Skyrim, but a secret tenth one can be obtained by following the right steps. Once the first eight are found, a difficult task in and of itself if only for how hard the Dragon Priests are to defeat, take them to Labyrinthian tomb in the mountains south of Morthal. Head to Bromjunaar Sanctuary inside of the tomb, and put on the wooden mask found there. The mask will transport players back in time to when the sanctuary had not yet been destroyed, and the dragon shrine was still intact. Place all eight of the masks in their respective places on the shrine, and the tenth Dragon Mask of Konahrik will be revealed.
If pursuing these hidden quests and Easter eggs while following the main storyline can seem overwhelming, players are fully free to shirk either of them. Some of the best things about Skyrim's base game are the liberties granted during playthroughs, giving the ability to wholly avoid the central plot-line of the game if that is to the player's preference. The ability to create multiple characters in different save slots also offers the freedom to run several different builds and play-styles at the same time.
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