Hob's Fall Cave

Hob's Fall Cave
Map
Hold	Winterhold
Type	Cave
Sublocations	None
Quests	Find Pantea's Flute No Stone Unturned Drowned Sorrows
Characters	Isabelle Rolaine
Location ID	HobsFallCave01 HobsFallCaveExterior

Hob's Fall Cave is a cave located on the coast between Winterhold and Dawnstar. There is a lighthouse, Frostflow Lighthouse, to the south of the cave. Hob's Fall Cave is inhabited by Necromancers.

Walkthrough

Upon entering the cave, the Dragonborn will find themselves in an icy cavern. Turn right (north) and head down the slope, turning right again (northeast) into a large open space. Walk down and turn left (west) and go down another snowy pathway. Following this path, there will be a skeleton to battle. After picking off the skeleton, walk a few more steps to where a leveled necromancer waits at a table in a lit space. After killing him, loot the various soul gems and potions on his table and shelf, then loot the chest next to his chair. Continue on down another slope.

The Dragonborn will come to a small lit space with a skeleton and a necromage to deal with. When they are dead, head further down the path. It should slope upward, and turn right (east) to a wooden bridge. Kill the leveled necromancer here. She will be accompanied by a skeleton, and fighting them will alert another necromancer just down the path. If sneak skills are used, they can be taken out silently without alarm. If it comes to fighting, a couple more will be alerted.

These ones will be in a large, furnished space. Once all the necromancers are dead, loot the apprentice-locked chest along the north wall. Also check the shelf to the right of this chest for some potions, books, and an apothecary's satchel.

Before continuing, backtrack to the pathway. Head down the path that goes right (north). Turn a couple times, battling a couple skeletons along the way, and turn left (south) when the path widens. Down the slope, there is a necromage to battle in a small space. In this space is an alchemy lab, some potions, a Stone of Barenziah, and an apothecary's satchel. Before going, jump down to the small ledge just above this room (it is fairly evident when climbing the slope) where there is an adept-locked chest. After looting, return to the room with the sacrificial table and the arcane enchanter.

To open the gate, there is a pull chain to the right of it. The chain is rusty and somewhat hard to see at first glance. Open the gate and head down the path. The Dragonborn will come to three Frost soul gem traps. Remove the soul gems to disable them. After that, there is a lit corner and a necromage patrolling the path. Kill them and continue.

In the next large room, there are three necromancers (including the Master Necromancer). When they are dead, loot the boss chest behind the Master's table and slightly to the left. When the cave is cleared, head left (west) of the Master's table and jump down through the wooden spikes. The Dragonborn will be back at the entrance to the cave. Now they can deal with any quest items.

Notable items

• Pantea's Flute, a quest item for the Bards College quest of the same name.
• Isabelle's Letter, a quest item for the quest "Drowned Sorrows," involving Isabelle Rolaine, near the entrance.
• Stone of Barenziah – easy to miss. Just after crossing the only wooden bridge in the cave, before the area with a sacrificial table and an arcane enchanter, the path to the left leads down into an area with an alchemy lab. The stone is located here on a cupboard. Upon leaving this room an adept-locked chest can be seen under the ledge.
• Enchanting Skill Book: Enchanter's Primer on the arcane enchanter in the room with the sacrificial table.
• Restoration Skill Book: The Exodus on the table in the sleeping quarters.
• Helm of Winterhold (potentially).
• Boethiah's Proving, the book that starts "Boethiah's Calling."

Quests

• Pantea's Flute
• Onmund's Request (potential location of Enthir's staff)
• No Stone Unturned
• Drowned Sorrows
• Rescue (potential location) ^DG
• Preemptive Strike (potential location) ^DG
• Protecting the Bloodline (potential location) ^DG

Trivia

• Upon coming to an open chamber with a fortified landing up above the entering floor level, a female voice can be heard begging for help, asking that she not be left there. This is Larina, locked in a cage with two male corpses, a Dunmer and a Redguard. She is destined to be a sacrificial victim to a master necromancer while the Dragonborn ventures through the various passages of the cave. She can be rescued by climbing the face of the ledge, then opening the cage, thus going through the cave "backwards." The paraphernalia set out on the altar includes a black soul gem. She will not flee, will scold her rescuer if a weapon is out, and will try to return to the cage if she is pushed out. Upon clearing the cave of all necromancers, exiting, and re-entering the cave will re-spawn a few necromancers who will carry out the sacrifice.
• When approaching the room with Larina on the altar, if sneaking and close enough, they can be heard chanting and praying to make a black soul gem:

Necromancer 1: "We offer this soul to The Revenant: he who watches over the opponents of Arkay and his power over life and death. Fie upon Arkay and his followers. Fie!"
Necromancer 2: [unenthusiastic] "Yeah, fie."
Necromancer 1: "Fie. We beseech you. Darken this gem so we may use its power to restore the Order of the Black Worm. The Order shall rise. Grant us this power so that in your name we may vanquish our enemies."

• Even though the Necromancers are praying to Mannimarco to "darken" the soul gem near Larina's body, if one is adept enough at sneaking (or invisible and muffled), they can get close enough to the altar to see that the "gem" in question is a black soul gem already.

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to Hob's Fall Cave. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following: Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening. If the bug is still occurring, please post the bug report with the appropriate system template  360  /  XB1  ,  PS3  /  PS4  ,  PC  /  MAC  ,  NX  /  PS5  ,  XS  , depending on which platform(s) the bug has been encountered on. Be descriptive when listing the bug and fixes, but avoid having conversations in the description and/or using first-person anecdotes: such discussions belong on the appropriate forum board.

• Finding and carrying Pantea's Flute before obtaining the quest may make it impossible to get the quest, leaving an undroppable flute in the inventory.
• The spell Clairvoyance is not useful here, as it may direct the Dragonborn to go through impenetrable walls.

Appearances

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim