Skyrim:Stillborn Cave

Cave: Stillborn Cave (view on map)
# of Zones	1
Clearable	Yes
Dungeon	Yes
Respawn Time	Never (storage is safe)
Level	Min: 18
Occupants
Falmer, Chaurus, Chaurus Hunter
Important Treasure
The Warrior's Charge
Console Location Code(s)
StillbornCave01
Region
Winterhold
Location
North-northwest of Windhelm South of Whistling Mine Northeast of Fort Kastav

Stillborn Cave

Stillborn Cave is a small cave north-northwest of Windhelm, on the other side of the mountains from the city which is occupied by falmer, chaurus, and chaurus hunters.

The cave has two entrances, one along the road to Winterhold, and the other farther uphill. Falmer have made this cave their home, together with their chaurus companions.

Related Quests

• This location is one of many potential targets for one or more of the Radiant quests.

Stillborn Cave

The entrance leads into an ice tunnel heading south. The path soon turns to the west, where an ice melt runoff flowing from east to west is carving a rapid stream through the cave. Ahead is a leveled chaurus near some Falmer-style fencing in front of an exit to the west. The path follows the north wall around and down to where the chaurus is wandering. It is possible to reach the other side of the stream; however, there is nothing of interest over there. The western exit is an ice tunnel that turns to the south then back to the west before opening into a cave with an alcove to the north containing an unlocked Falmer chest. An exit is found to the west across from where you entered, and around the corner to the south is an empty gated Falmer tent, with a Falmer hive on the wall between the tent and exit. There is a patrolling Falmer behind the tent, and another hiding in the hive. An unlocked Falmer chest is to the right of the tent.

Taking the tunnel to the west, the tunnel turns to the north before opening into a cave with a magic-using Falmer that favors frost magic and another leveled chaurus. At the rear of the cave is a Falmer tent containing an unlocked chest, a Falmer shield, and a human skull. From the first cave, the path leads along the south wall around the front of the gated tent, rising behind the tent. Be careful, as there is a tripwire across the path that activates a claw trap hinged on a pillar to the right. On the right side of the pillar is an apothecary's satchel beside a copy of the Conjuration skill book The Warrior's Charge. Beyond this, a narrow tunnel heads to the southwest.

The tunnel turns to the northwest, then opens into another cave with a Falmer patrolling. In this cave, there is a caved-in tunnel to the south with a large coin purse on the ground in front of it, an exit to the north, and another exit past the Falmer to the west. After a short distance, the tunnel to the north opens into what appears to be an empty cave, with a novice-locked chest in front. However, there are hives in alcoves to your left and right, out of sight, both of which potentially hide Falmer ready to attack; human remains sprawled in front of the chest and riddled with Falmer arrows hint at this ambush.

From the previous cave, taking the exit to the west leads to another ice melt stream flowing north to south. There are several chaurus egg sacs around this stream. Following the stream south, the passage opens into a large cave with two leveled chaurus and a leveled Falmer boss. There are more egg sacs on both sides of the stream. The path rises along the east wall to an unlocked Falmer chest, hidden behind some fencing above the stream. The exit from this cave is found by following the stream south. This continues until the ceiling again becomes too low to proceed; at this point, there is a path to the east. This passage turns south once more, then leads to the second exit located uphill from the first.

Notes

• There is an iron ore vein a few paces northeast of the first entrance.
• When reaching the second stream, your internal map will show a tunnel heading north; however, you can't fit through the gap, as the ceiling is too low.
• The second entrance doesn't get marked on your map.
• This is the smallest and brightest cave system containing Falmer, and one of the most convenient and nearest to Winterhold for collecting the Falmer blood required for the quest for Septimus Signus.

Bugs

• It is possible to get stuck between the pillar on the right of the stream and the west wall of the cave. ^?
  • Reloading a previous save appears to be the only solution, unless you are on a PC and can use the tcl console command.