The Dark - A Skyrim Special Edition Module
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To install this module in your Skyrim Special Edition Steam installation, place the following files contained in this zip:

TheDark - Textures.bsa
TheDark.bsa
TheDark.esp

into your Skyrim Special Edition Data folder, usually at:

C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\common\Skyrim Special Edition\Data

Start Skyrim Special Edition, and go to 'mods'. TheDark.esp should be in the list, and ticked. Make sure it's after any skyrim patches in your load order.

Overview
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A level 40+ lore-friendly quest and dungeon with low ambient light, designed to be challenging but not impossible, with tonnes of puzzles, traps, mazes and creepiness - full of original ideas you may not have thought possible with the Skyrim engine. V2.0 overhauls and extends v1.0 to include another dungeon level and a remote island, 'The Light'.

Should take around 6 to 8 hours to complete - but do expect a challenge, keep your wits about you and take head of any hints or clues. Contains a new item set, unique bows, new arrows, recipes, a great crafting item and much, much more.

YouTube walkthroughs are available should you get stuck at any point.

Quest activates after level 40 with the arrival of a courier's letter. The Dragonborn will find their way to an abandoned nordic ruin to discover not all is as it seems... Unearth the final labyrinth of Alvard Deathdealer - the most devious designer of puzzles and traps in Skyrim's long history.

Using mostly vanilla assets with a few additional meshes and textures, this mod is very unlikely to interfere with any others, and has only four items appearing in Skyrim, which will have neatly removed themselves on completion of the main quest. However, please place after any patches in load order.

Enjoy!

dafydd99

Updates (contains SPOILERS!)
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2.18
- isolated and removed CTD after opening waterfall (hopefully!)
- raised light arrow lifetime
- stopped Wolfsbane from activating when leaving cell
- changed material of pillars and ceiling in the Cave of Horrors to allow arrows to stick

2.17
- fixed falling map highlighters
- improving help message installation message

2.16
- replaced 'message box' starter message with help message
- fixed light arrows to give shadows

2.15
- rewrote numerals to be simpler and less script heavy
- altered light arrows to allow for further distance
- removed 'marker' elements of xbox models

2.14
- vastly improved light arrows now emit light from the fletching and use shadow lights
- improved torches use shadow lights
- boat now returns home correctly
- added new shadow torch recipe

2.13
- improved the tabletop puzzle clues and overall experience
- changed the amulet hints to use the help message system for clarity

2.12
- added more support for gamepad users - Dead Pool poles are now 50% wider
- opening message turned to pop up for clarity
- tweaked Wolfsbane and Archery Cup
- explosive arrows no longer throw PCs

2.11
- added more support for gamepad users, slower wolf release in Wolfsbane
- more obvious deathdealer pressure plates
- archery game level indicators
- improvements to the Cave of Horrors - boat now has lantern light source, horrors are scarier
- numerous small fixes

2.10
- added a workaround for anyone finding issues with code entry in the darkest dark. Type '098' followed by '090' for each code you've found but hasn't be accepted
- compressed textures using BC7 and added mipmaps

2.09
- fixed the messages in The Bannered Mare in place
- improved the ball puzzle
- cleaned the telekinesis puzzle
- general clean up

2.08
- removed skill restrictions on crafting explosive arrows
- added a perk whilst holding the archery cup

2.07
- improved spider code display
- fixed archery game #5 door bug

2.06
- improved the archery game script. A little more reliable and a little easier now

2.05
- cleaned up some nifs and scripts that conflicted with The Sidrat - should be possible to load the two mods in any order now.
- added some grooves on the pillar puzzle for clarity

2.04
- brought numeral scripts up to date with The Sidrat ones
- improved timing in the archery games to match game rather than real time

2.03
- allowed quest items to be removed from inventory at the end of the quest
- added an additional copy of the quest start note in

2.02
- reduced archery game difficulty a little
- cleaned up ball puzzle
- gave life to the Khajiit!

2.01
- fixed scoreboard issue - dark oracle codes now work
- made explosive arrows harder to find

2.0
- major overhaul and extension
- new cell 'The Darkest Dark'
- new remote island 'The Light' with five locations and plenty to explore
- more puzzles, traps, challenges, and an archery competition with five different games

1.07
- made the Wolfsbane treasure room harder to find
- improved ending messages and objectives

1.06
- fixed portcullis issue in Wolfsbane
- improved tabletop hint to give a full solution
- altered light arrows and bright light arrows to cast light for longer when stuck in wood

1.05
- added 'belts and braces' portcullis activators

1.04
- significant restructuring to move all English language into .esp
- improved lighting in treasure room
- SSEEdit to clean up .esp
- fixed conflict issue with DB05MurderStatue
- improved 'guide' experience
- fixed overly generous spider treasure

1.03
- added a scoreboard, and a scoring system
- added tempering of elvenshortbow
- added a bunny
- added an extra bow and set of arrows for The Traveller's Map for the unprepared
- improved the hint for The Dizzying Maze
- various dungeon cleanup, lighting improvements
- reduced mod size

1.02
- fixed errors in the Maze of Portals after v1.01
- fixed errors in the Water Spike Trap after v1.01

1.01
- improved some lighting, particularly Davold Groanbeard puzzle
- altered Giant Slaughterfish to have custom texture, improved bounding box, added more in the lake
- added a Crazed Adventurer
- balanced some of the Alvard Set enchantments, and improved the copy
- improved treasure pile layout
- positioned The Dark Key so it can be seen better, and added duplicate to Ernold's corpse


Troubleshooting (contains SPOILERS!)
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Has The Dark been installed successfully?

You should see the message "'The Dark' installed. Quest triggers after the Dragonborn reaches level 40" appear at the top left when you load a save after installing the mod.

Some people seem to be having difficulty getting the quest started. The quest checks every game hour if the character is over level 40, and if so gives a letter to The Courier. The courier will then attempt to track you down to deliver the message. He seems to mostly find you in cities and towns and often between 9am and 5pm. You can try fast travelling back and forth between Riverwood and Whiterun until he catches up with you. Alternatively, there is another copy of the quest start note in The Bannered Mare's guest room, activated after reaching level 40. Finally, you can type the following in at the console to bump start the quest:

SetStage TheDarkQuest 30

Note The Dark only brings world items into play once the quest is underway - and on completion neatly removes them, so you won't see an entrance even if you know The Dark's location until the quest reaches that point.

The Dark places two items in The Bannered Mare, Whiterun. But the entrance to The Dark, a trapdoor, is located in an unmarked Nordic ruin, south-east of Sleeping Tree Camp - the circle of stones is just visible from there. It is sometimes called 'Puzzling Pillar Ruins' on wikis. These three items only appear when the quest is underway.

A CTD has been reported when entering The Bannered Mare - this could be due to the mods 'Enhanced Light and FX', 'Immersive Citizens - AI Overhaul' or 'Live Another Life', but most likely ELFX. If you're having problems, LOOT should be able to resolve your module conflicts.