Swindler's Den
Map
Hold	Whiterun Hold
Location	West of Whiterun
Type	Cave
Sublocations	None
Quests	In My Time of Need
Characters	None
Enemies	Silver Hand Bandits

Swindler's Den is a cave located in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Description

Swindler's Den is a cave East of Rorikstead and South of Morthal . It is infested with several bandits, bandit thugs and a highwayman. Swindler's Den serves as the base of the Alik'r in the quest, In My Time of Need.

In the fourth large room, the Pickpocket Skill Book Thief is sitting on a bedroll on the ground. In the next "room", (actually just a ledge overlooking the third room), is a copy of Night Falls on Sentinel that is on a crate next to a deer pelt. This book is needed for a quest given to you by Rustleif in Dawnstar.

Related quests

• In My Time of Need: Find Saadia.
• Stealing Plans: Retrieve silver hand plans for Aela.
• Miscellaneous: Possible Location- Bring one Night Falls on Sentinel to Rustleif.

Notable Loot

• Night Falls on Sentinel - One-Handed Skill Book
• Thief - Pickpocket Skill Book
• Outside of Swindler's Den there are three unmarked locations each containing a skill book.
  • From the fast travel point go south to two torches seen in the distance. They are at a Shrine of Stendarr containing a strongbox and the skill book Twin Secrets. From here look west to see some ruins. When at the ruins there's a shrine of Zenithar, satchel, two silver ingots, and the skill book 2920, Second Seed (v5). From here go north to a depression. In the depression there is a mammoth skeleton, Slaughterfish Egg, and a dead bandit. On the dead bandit is the skill book Beggar. Be aware the depression is guarded by a Saber Cat.

Bugs

•  360  If the cave is reentered after finishing the quest In My Time of Need and choosing the ending by helping Kematu, the Alik'r Soldiers and Kematu are still in Swindler's Den, without Saadia. The warriors can be attacked and killed.
  • When entering the den under this scenario, the Alik'r spawn with a Bandit Chief and a couple of regular bandits who immediately start attacking the Alik'r. Who wins is up to chance. Whoever is left alive can now be finished off and looted, (the Alik'r now have no conversation options and are not needed for any further quests).
•  PS3   360  If the cave is reentered after finishing the quest In My Time of Need there is the possibility the game will get stuck on the loading screen and never actually load the cave. The problem seems to arise as soon as the player accepts the "Stealing Plans" quest from Aela the Huntress after clearing Gallows Rock in the Companion questline.
•  PS3   PC   360  Sometimes after completing In My Time of Need all subsequent reentries into Swindler's Den will cause the game to crash. This can make completing the Companions quest line impossible.