Bloated Man's Grotto
Map
Hold	Falkreath Hold
Location	North of Half-Moon Mill, south of Sleeping Tree Camp.
Type	Cave
Quests	Ill Met By Moonlight
Characters	Sinding
Enemies	Sabre Cat Wolf Cave Bear Spriggan
Location ID	BloatedMansGrottoExterior01 BloatedMansGrottoExterior02

Bloated Man's Grotto is a cave located in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

DescriptionEdit

Bloated Man's Grotto is a cove (an open-sky cave) that consists of a Shrine of Talos and a circular pathway that wraps around back to the entrance. It can easily be reached from Riverwood by walking across the river to the northwest, past Anise's Cabin and through Brittleshin Pass, then heading due west.

This is a possible location for the quest by Runil to find his journal. Runil tends to the graveyard in Falkreath. The journal will be in the chest at the Shrine of Talos.

The grotto acts as the main setting for the Daedric Quest 'Ill Met By Moonlight'. One of the chests inside is a possible location for the quest 'Shalidor's Insights'.

A special variant to the common Blades Sword may be found inside the grotto, called Bolar's Oathblade. However, it may not be able to be found. After approximately one month of in-game time, the area will have reset, possibly solving this issue. If the cove happens to be a location for retrieving a copy of Shalidor's Insights, the grotto should have reset in a similar fashion.

EnemiesEdit

• Cave bear
• Spriggan
• Spriggan Matron
• Sabre cat
• Wolf
• If doing Ill Met By Moonlight, a Werewolf named Sinding will be holed up there.
• Silver Hand, possible during Ill Met By Moonlight.

FacilitiesEdit

• Shrine of Talos

Notable LootEdit

• 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.

TriviaEdit

• 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 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.
• Skooma, 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.

GalleryEdit

Chest 1.

Chest 2.

Chest 3.

Chest 4. Jump onto the rocks where the Lightning Rune is located.

Add a photo to this galleryAdd a photo to this gallery

BugsEdit

• After the quest is complete, the area may not be marked as cleared.
• Sinding may respawn.
•  PC  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 as there is an invisible wall. Also, the area can't be exited as well. Only fix so far is to reload a save outside the cove.

AppearancesEdit

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (First appearance)