Skyrim:Crystaldrift Cave

Cave: Crystaldrift Cave (view on map)
# of Zones	1
Clearable	Yes
Dungeon	Yes
Respawn Time	10 days or 30 days
Level	Min: 2
Occupants
Animals
Important Treasure
Gadnor's Staff of Charming Mystery of Talara, v 2
Console Location Code(s)
CrystaldriftCaveExterior, CrystaldriftCave01
Region
The Rift
Location
Southwest of Riften Northeast of Ruins of Rkund
Special Features
# of Cooking Pots/Spits	1
Ore Veins
# of Iron	1
# of Moonstone	1

Crystaldrift Cave

Crystaldrift Cave is a small cave southwest of Riften containing leveled animals. It contains only one zone, Crystaldrift Cave.

It serves as the final resting place for an insane Wood Elf, with a shrine to Kynareth built to watch over him and bring peace to weary travelers.

Related Quests

• Animal Extermination: Fulfill a contract given to the Companions to clear out a beast den. (radiant)
• A New Order^DG: Recruit Isran's old allies for the Dawnguard. (radiant)
• Nerveshatter^CC: Track down the Daedric artifact Nerveshatter.

Walkthrough

Exterior

The path to the cave is a short way past Snow-Shod Farm coming from Riften. It winds its way around before reaching a fork in the path: taking the right-hand path takes you past the cave entrance. It then loops around the rock outcrop that the cave is formed from, passing a path to Lost Tongue Overlook and a dragon mound before completing the loop along the left-hand path. As you approach the cave, there are up to two leveled animals standing guard by a dead deer. Blood is splattered on the ground around the cave entrance. Following the loop past the cave, to the south, you come to a corundum ore vein on the right after a short distance.

Crystaldrift Cave

As you enter the cave, there will be a random grouping of animals which may attack each other first. After descending an earthen ramp and entering the cave proper, there is a pile of eight portions of grilled leeks that have been knocked out of a long open box in front of you. To the right, on a large rock against the northwest wall is a shrine of Kynareth, with a random potion, a bottle of alto wine, a plate holding five loose septims, and several lit candles around it. With the Saints & Seducers Creation installed, you can also find the journal Gadnor's Last Wishes on the shrine, which gives instructions on how to obtain the artifact Nerveshatter. In the western quarter of the cave is a camp consisting of a campfire, with a cooking pot hanging over it and a couple of pots holding three leeks and three carrots. There is a hay pile against the west wall, with a rack to the right holding two bunches of dried elves ear. To the left of the hay pile, against the southwest wall is an unlocked chest containing minor loot. There is also a barrel containing ingredients with an apothecary's satchel on top near the fire.

On the other side of the fire next to a rock pillar is a crate with a basket holding two cabbages and two potatoes and a few more loose vegetables on top. In the center of the cave is a large flat-topped rock. Resting on top of the slab are the remains of a Wood Elf adventurer named Gadnor with his unique Staff of Charming lying next to him. He carries a copy of the Restoration skill book Mystery of Talara, v 2. Around the rock are three dragon's tongue plants, with several fungi found throughout the cave, including two blisterwort, five imp stool, and four bleeding crown. To the northeast, near a shallow pool of water, is an iron ore vein. At the rear of the cave, a short way up an earthen ramp against the south wall, is a moonstone ore vein.

Maps

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  Crystaldrift Cave

Gallery

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  Gadnor's corpse

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  The shrine