Ill Met by Moonlight

Background
"There are stories in Falkreath of a strange vagrant who savagely killed a little girl." "I've met Sinding, a werewolf who the Daedric Lord Hircine has punished by preventing his transformations. He's given me the ring he stole and asked me to entreat Hircine for forgiveness"

- The Dragonborn

Walkthrough


Sinding (found in Falkreath Jail, under the Barracks) will tell the Dragonborn of a rare animal, The White Stag, that needs to be killed to appease Hircine, the Daedric Prince of the Hunt. Sinding gives the Dragonborn the Cursed Ring of Hircine that auto-equips and can't be unequipped. While worn, it causes the wearer to transform into a werewolf at random, if they are already one. After that, Sinding escapes. After killing the animal Sinding spoke of, its spirit appears and approaches the Dragonborn, and Hircine will speak through it. He commands the Dragonborn to go to the place where Sinding has fled, and to kill him to gain the favor of Hircine.

NOTE: Those who have not completed the Companions quest-line, to the point of gaining lycanthropy, will not be affected by the Cursed Ring of Hircine, though the ring can be used to transform into your lycan form multiple times in one day.

The ring can be unequipped if the Dragonborn activates Beast Form of their own accord. The ring will then unequip.

Once arriving at Bloated Man's Grotto, the Dragonborn will meet some hunters, who are outmatched by the werewolf, Sinding. The Dragonborn can choose to kill Sinding or to ally with him and kill all the hunters. The reward received varies depending on this choice:


 * 1) If Sinding is killed, and his skin taken, Hircine appears and rewards the Dragonborn with the Savior's Hide, a leather-based light armor which gives magic and poison resist.
 * 2) If the Dragonborn spares Sinding and kills the hunters, Hircine will appear upon leaving the grotto and commend the Dragonborn for turning the hunt "inside out", giving his blessing and transforming the ring into the Ring of Hircine. This ring gives the Dragonborn unlimited werewolf transformations per day.
 * 3) Both items can be obtained by killing all the hunters, going outside the grotto and claiming the Ring of Hircine, then going back in and killing Sinding to get his skin.
 * 4) Tricking Sinding into believing that the Dragonborn is helping him by killing the hunters, then meeting Hircine outside will provide his blessing and the ring. Afterwards, re-entering the grotto, killing and skinning Sinding (he will be in werewolf form), will make Hircine appear thus allowing the Dragonborn to obtain the Savior's Hide. Both items count toward the achievement: Oblivion Walker, making the achievement obtainable even if another Daedric quest is failed. (This method seems to work even with Dawnguard installed. Confirmed with latest patch on January 21, 2013 with Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn installed) (Confirmed with latest Patch February 25th, 2013 with Dragonborn and Heartfire installed )
 * 5) If the above doesn't work, then changing the order might: the Dragonborn should kill and skin Sinding immediately after killing the hunters and talking to him. As soon as the Hircine spirit appears, the player should back out of the conversation and run out of the grotto where the stag spirit will appear and bless the ring breaking the curse. Returning into the grotto and carrying on the conversation with the Hircine spirit will make him bless the skin turning it into Savior's Hide. (Confirmed on PS3 and 360)(Confirmed on 360 as of September 16, 2012)
 * 6) If you leave the grotto along with Sinding after killing all the hunters, the elk spirit will appear outside the cave, so back out of the conversation and kill the werewolf, then skin him and speak with the spirit emerging from Sinding's corpse. Tribute the pelt and he will bless it into the Savior's Hide. Speak to the elk spirit again and he will remove the curse from the ring. (PC and PS3 Confirmed)
 * 7) Alternately, the player can agree to assist Sinding, and proceed to kill the hunters. Once they are all dead, immediately betray Sinding by attacking and killing him. Skin him, and Hircine will appear and grant the player the Savior's Hide. As the player exits the cave, Hircine will appear again in the form of a ghostly White Stag. He will initiate dialogue with the player, and if the player selects the first option of dialogue, Hircine will grant the Dragonborn with his blessing and give him/her with the Ring. (Confirmed on 360 as of September 8, 2012)(Confirmed on PS3 as of July 17, 2012)
 * 8) The Saviors Hide can be obtained after the Ring of Hircine is obtained and the quest completed by killing and skinning Sinding before he runs off. The player must then return to the Falkreath jail and go to Sinding's cell where a ghost and Sinding's body are inside. By placing a bucket or plate against the bars and using whirlwind sprint, players are able to noclip into the cell and speak with the ghost to receive the Saviours Hide. Stealing the bucket or using a shout against the guard may be used to escape the cell. Alternately, getting out the way players got in will also work. Occasionally, the Aspect of Hircine will come to the bars if a player fails to pass through them and will speak to the player. Keeping the item off of the bars and using whirlwind sprint will get the Aspect of Hircine's attention. (Confirmed on PS3 as of August 12, 2012)

Note: The Cursed Ring can turn the Dragonborn into a werewolf. If they choose to continue through Bloated Man's Grotto like this, they will need to transform back into their normal form before speaking with:

Sindling after killing the hunters,

OR

Hircine's spirit after killing Sinding,

OR

Hircine's stag spirit after leaving the grotto.

To transform back, the easiest way is to wait a few hours. For some reason this quest keeps the player in werewolf form for a very long time.

The Cursed Ring of Hircine can be removed from the player's inventory by any of the above.

Conclusion
"I met Sinding, a werewolf that the Daedric Lord Hircine had punished by preventing his transformations. I helped kill him as a service to Hircine, and have been rewarded with Savior's Hide."

"I met Sinding, a werewolf who the Daedric Lord Hircine had punished by preventing his transformations. I defended him against the hunters that Hircine sent to end his life, and earned his friendship."

Treasures
Four chests can be found in this area, even after it is changed during the quest: There is also a gold ore deposit at the top of one of the rock mounds overlooking the entire cave.
 * After entering into the main part of the cavern, a chest is hidden behind a dead, hollowed out trunk on ledge before the waterfall (see first picture).
 * An unlocked 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.Bloated Mans Grotto Master Chest Location.jpg
 * A master locked chest is hidden near the dead deer on a ledge behind boulders (see second picture).

Side Notes

 * If Sinding is killed either before or after helping him kill the hunters, he cannot be resurrected via console after he has been skinned. This is because at that point he has been scripted to die.
 * If Sinding's Skin is taken after killing him it will briefly be in the player's inventory and is a gray, slightly more concave version of a Goat Hide. Sinding's Skin is actually a named version of the miscellaneous item, Werewolf Pelt.
 * If Mathies is killed before obtaining the quest it can be started by going straight to Sinding.
 * If you turn into a werewolf while you're going to the Bloated Man's Grotto the Cursed Ring Of Hircine will become unequipped.
 * If you use the Storm Call shout while killing the hunters it will also kill Sinding.
 * Sometimes after killing Sinding and the quest is completed, Sinding is seen wandering up the road in werewolf form. Reloading the save will fix this.
 * Sometimes if you enter the cave while in werewolf form, regardless of how much time you have left, you will be forced back into your mortal state.

Trivia

 * "Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania," is the Fairy King Oberon's first line in A Midsummer Night's Dream, a comedy play written by William Shakespeare.
 * There is also a WW2 book with this name, later made in to a film starring Dirk Bogarde.
 * The White Stag is a reference to "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table" due to the fact the player is hunting down a White Stag which is what King Arthur had hunted and dreamed to hunt down as well.
 * WARNING - Waiting too long to answer if you are going to help or kill  Sinding , he will default to the option to fight you. (As if deciding to kill him was chosen) A simple fix is to load the auto save before entering the cave!
 * The Legend of the White Stag -  Arthurian legend states that the creature has a perennial ability to evade capture; and that the pursuit of the animal represents mankind's spiritual quest.

Bugs
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