Narzulbur is an Orc Stronghold in eastern Skyrim. It is right next to the Gloombound Mine. The Orcs own and work the mine, which mainly produces ebony, and has some orichalcum and iron ore.
Gaining entry[]
When first approaching the front gate, an Orc engages the Dragonborn in conversation. The Orc proceeds to say that only Orcs are allowed to enter. There is a dialogue option to ask how to enter. In order to gain entry to Narzulbur, unless one is an Orc, an item has to be found, a pair of enchanted gauntlets called the Forgemaster's Fingers from a radiant cave, for Chief Mauhulakh. The quest is "the Forgemaster's Fingers."
Despite the warnings, entering and walking around the stronghold before even completing the quest is fine without any Orcs becoming hostile. Mauhalakh's Longhouse is considered a private residence, however, and trespassing can potentially incur a five septim bounty and even cause residents to become hostile if verbal warnings are ignored, even after becoming Blood-Kin to the Orcs. The mine can be entered without penalty despite all the warnings from residents. Also note that if the chief is inside his longhouse when you must speak to him, wait for him to leave.
Interior[]
The settlement contains Mauhulakh's Longhouse with beds and living spaces, an alchemy workshop, Mauhulakh's cellar with some hides and the two-handed Skill Book, Song of Hrormir, a storage shed with some alchemy ingredients, and another one containing ebony and iron.
Characters[]
Chief
Residents
Notable items[]
Mauhulakh's Longhouse[]
- Heavy armor skill book - The Knights of the Nine - turn right after entering, the book in on a shelf along with two other non-skill books.
- The True Nature of Orcs
- The somewhat rare book: Uncommon Taste is to the right of the spit.
Mauhulakh's Cellar[]
- Two-handed skill book - Song of Hrormir - Inside the entrance, right in front of the door.
Exterior[]
- Another locked shed containing ebony ore, iron ore and iron ingots.
- Leaning against the outside of the shed with the ore and ingots (or with rare exception standing inside the shed) are a pair of ebony boots.
- Two ebony arrows inside the same shed.
Ebony Mine[]
Instead of having to wait thirty days after mining all of the ore - leave one vein un-mined and it will only take ten days for it all to regenerate.
Facilities[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- If the Dragonborn passes too near Narzulbur in the quest "A Blade in the Dark," Sahloknir may land inside its walls after awakening and slaughter all of the Orcs inside.
- If any items are dropped near Narzulbur, they will disappear when the game is reloaded.
- Sometimes a dragon may appear and only hover around Narzulbur without landing, meaning that fast travel, waiting, mining or using the forge or other outside facilities impossible. This can sometimes be solved by entering the mine (Gloombound) and exiting - the dragon may land and attack giving the Dragonborn the chance to kill it.
- Chief Mauhulakh may accept being challenged to a brawl but flee the stronghold if beginning to lose. If he is followed outside the gates, he may pull out a weapon and attack saying "You were a fool to challenge me." If he is killed, the other Orcs pay no attention.
- Narzulbur is the only one of the four Orc settlements in Skyrim with no established followers to recruit.
- This is the best location to get ebony ingots.
- The ebony boots found leaning against the shed with the ore and ingots are not leveled and always appear regardless of the Dragonborn's level. They are the only known piece of ebony armor in all of Skyrim that will appear 100% of the time in the same spot. As they are leaning against the wall and remain mostly out of sight they are easy to steal. They can be upgraded even further with the ebony ingots that can be made from the ore found in and near the mine, making them a very high-end piece of armor when at low level.
- Like the ebony boots, the ebony arrows found in the ore shed are not leveled, thus they too will always appear, thus they can be used as some above-par ammunition by those with a very low level.
- If the Dragonborn steals something from Narzulbur, the chief's daughter Urog might put a contract for Hired Thugs to "teach you a lesson," as it says on the contract. This will happen randomly upon entering an area.
- If the Dragonborn is an Orc, but contracts Sanguinare Vampiris before letting it proceed to fully-fledged vampirisim, they will not be allowed into Narzulbur.