Bloated Man's Grotto

Bloated Man's Grotto is a cave located in. It is a small area surrounded by short cliffs that consists of a Shrine of Talos and a circular pathway that wraps around the back of the cave to the entrance. It can easily be reached from Riverwood by walking across the White River to the northwest, past Anise's Cabin and through Brittleshin Pass, then heading due west.

Background
After the Thalmor attacked Cloud Ruler Temple, Acilius Bolar was the only known survivor of the attack. From there, he traveled north to Skyrim, eventually ending up in the Grotto.

However, he was pursued by the Thalmor and as such, to prevent the Thalmor from "desecrating" the shrine, went to "face his death with honour". This suggests he left the grotto and hoped that if the Thalmor killed him, then they would not enter the grotto and be unable to destroy the shrine to Talos.

Ill Met By Moonlight
The grotto acts as the main setting for the Daedric Quest, Ill Met By Moonlight. Sinding will escape here from the prison in Falkreath, and can either be spared or killed by the Dragonborn.

Shalidor's Insights
One of the chests inside is a possible location for the quest Shalidor's Insights.

Runil's Journal
This is a possible location for the quest given by Runil to find his journal. The journal will be in the chest near the Shrine of Talos.

Enemies

 * Four or five Cave Bears
 * Two Spriggan
 * Spriggan Matron
 * One Sabre Cat
 * Two Wolves
 * If the quest Ill Met By Moonlight is active, a Werewolf named Sinding will be holed up there.
 * Silver Hand, possible during Ill Met By Moonlight.

Alchemy ingredients

 * Blue Butterfly Wing
 * Mora Tapinella
 * Butterfly Wing
 * Blue Mountain Flower
 * Taproot

Facilities

 * Shrine of Talos

Notable items

 * Bolar's Oathblade - a unique Blades sword.
 * Bolar's Writ - The final note left by Bolar, the last Blade who survived the attack on Cloud Ruler Temple.

Trivia

 * A gold ore vein is hidden next to a large waterfall, on top of the rocks.
 * There are two hawk's nests:
 * One near the top of the central rocky peak, due south of the Shrine of Talos.
 * Another due west of the first nest, near the end of a rocky outcropping.
 * Four chests can be found in this area, even after it is changed during the "Ill Met By Moonlight" quest.
 * After entering into the main part of the cove, there are waterfalls to the Dragonborn's immediate right. A chest is hidden behind a dead, hollowed out trunk on ledge before the first waterfall.
 * A locked chest is hidden at the bottom of the small water pool under the initial waterfall.
 * An unlocked chest can be found in the built up area, in front of the Talos Shrine and statue.
 * A master locked chest is hidden on a ledge down the path to the left of the entrance inside the grotto. The area is marked by a dead deer. There are sometimes two wolves standing near the dead deer and the chest will be due east of them.
 * A bottle of Skooma can be found on a dead Nord's body, hidden behind Bolar's Oathblade.
 * In the quest Ill Met By Moonlight, the moon is actually red, as it is Hircine's Bloodmoon.
 * Using the Detect Life spell inside the cove shows all hostile characters as friendly until they are approached.

Bugs

 * After the quest is complete, the area may not be marked as cleared.
 * Sinding may respawn.
 * Sometimes if the cave is reentered after completing the quest "Ill Met By Moonlight", the cave will still be part of Hircine's realm and there may be a point where further progress into the grotto is blocked as though there is an invisible wall. To exit the cave, simply walk back towards the entrance.

Appearances


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