Why Can Velerica Leave?

[Chicago]

If you pay attention, Durneviir states that he made a deal with the Ideal Masters to serve them "Until the woman known as Velerica was dead".

This implies that he ventured to the Soul Cairn after Velerica did, possibly a long while after. This would then mean that Velerica has been stuck there longer than he has.

So what exactly is it that turned Durneviir into a shambling, nearly zombified version of his former self that is also somehow now inextricably connected to the Soul Cairn, while Velerica seems to have suffered none of these ill effects?

As a vampire she is certainly granted immortality, and is certainly not effected by these things the same way a human would be. But as a dragon, shouldn't Durneviir be in the same boat? Immortal, not bound to the confines of the mortal world, etc? I don't see how it could have anything to do with having a soul, since Velerica states that she has a soul as well. What gives?

 

[Neriad13]

The way she spoke at the end of the Soul Cairn quests, I kind of thought that it wasn't possible for Valerica to leave either. She just didn't want to say so in front of her daughter. Of course, I haven't yet finished Dawnguard and seen if she ever does come home.

What I really want to know is what she's been feeding on for all these years down there.

 

[Xivia4]

Vampires don't need to feed. In fact she's probably stronger by not feeding. Also, once you've killed Harkon you can get Valerica back but I left her there anyway.

 

[Nuitari]

It could probably be explained by saying that Durneviir was never supposed to enter the Soul Cairn as it is part of Oblivion and he is a dragon which are as we all know the progeny of Akatosh who is an Aedra and therefore not of the realms of Oblivion. This would mean that Durneviir's continued stay in the Soul Cairn would be detrimental to his health just as it would be for most creatures not of Oblivion. By the same token Valerica is a Vampire Lady and a "Daughter of Coldharbour" meaning that she is "blessed" by Molag Bal, the blessing manifests itself as a form of undeath meaning that the usually destructive effects of being in the Soul Cairn don't appear to work on her. This also explains why there are no side effects to entering the Soul Cairn as Vampire Lord or Lady yet there are if you chose to side with the Dawnguard and remain human.

Basically because Durneviir is a creature of Nirn and because he is or at least was a living thing; staying in the Soul Cairn takes a greater toll on him than it does on Valerica who is in a state of undeath and is also a chosen of a Daedric Prince and who therefore has greater resistance to a world of ghosts and shades in the realms of Oblivion.

 

[Chicago]

That actually makes a lot of sense. So on the topic of Durneviir, is he actually undead, or just sort of altered? Can a dragon even become undead? I know at one point in Labyrinthian you fight a reanimated dragon skeleton, but that fact that it doesn't give you a soul sort of says it's not actually an undead dragon so much as just a reanimated set of bones distinct from the creature it used to be.

 

[Nuitari]

I don't think that Durneviir is actually undead, as he entered the Soul Cairn of his own free will and has never really been killed. However we can see that he has been drastically altered proof of this is that you cannot take his soul once he has been defeated. As for the Dragon skeleton I think that you're probably right in saying that it was a set of reanimated bones. It was probably a construct set in place by Morekei to defend the Labyrinthian, but it might also be the remnants of an actual dragon who stood guard over the ancient city and was so set to fulfil its purpose that it never properly moved on and the last part of its body still tried to complete the task given to it.