Morrowind:Recovering Cloudcleaver

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Help mediate a dispute between a naked Barbarian and a witch who tried to teach him a lesson. Quest Giver: Hlormar Wine-Sot on the road northwest of Caldera Location(s): West Gash Reward: 2 points of Strength, Exclusive Restore Health, Quality Restore Fatigue and Quality Fortify Health potions, Steel Staff of Chastening, and/or Cloudcleaver ID: MV_AbusedHealer

The two protagonists meet again... who will you support?

Quick Walkthrough

1. Meet Hlormar Wine-Sot at the roadside northwest of Caldera.
2. Find the Witch Sosia Caristiana down the road.
3. Decide who to help.

Detailed Walkthrough

A half-naked Barbarian

Northwest of Caldera, you will run into a half-naked Nord on the road. Hlormar Wine-Sot will tell the tale of being seduced by a witch, paralyzed, and robbed of his prized Cloudcleaver axe, and almost all of his clothes.

Find the Witch

Hlormar will say that he believes the witch's camp is towards the northwest. Escort Hlormar and follow the road to the northwest, taking the north path at the first intersection. (Strangely enough, she is located not too far away from another witch-troubled barbarian... hmmmm). Find the Witch, Sosia Caristiana, who will tell a different tale. Sosia says that she hired Hlormar as an escort but he became too friendly so she cast a sleep spell on him and took his possessions as a lesson. She believes Hlormar is too angry and decides that she will not give the axe back yet, instead offering that she will meet with Hlormar in three days at the Caldera Mages Guild and give the axe back then. Talk to Hlormar about this offer and he will reject it, forcing you to choose a side in the conflict.

Whom to Help?

• If you side with Sosia, Hlormar will attack and you will have to kill him. Hlormar is a bare-handed fighter who can quickly knock an unprepared hero with insufficient Fatigue to the ground. Once he is defeated, Sosia will thank you and give you some potions for your troubles (Exclusive Restore Health, Quality Restore Fatigue and Quality Fortify Health).
• If you side with Hlormar, he will attack Sosia and you can join in to kill her. Note that Sosia attacks with a Steel Staff of Chastening, which damages personality and luck attributes. Loot the axe from her corpse, along with the staff and the potions she'd have given you if you took her side, and Hlormar will notice immediately, giving you the option of giving Cloudcleaver back to Hlormar or not:
  • If you keep the axe for yourself, Hlormar will attack you as mentioned above.
  • If you give Hlormar the axe, he will be happy and offer you some fighting tips that will increase your strength attribute by 2 points. A potential suggestion is to have him raise your strength and then attack him to retrieve Cloudcleaver, thus getting both an increase in strength and Cloudcleaver. You may also pickpocket it from him.

Notes

• Cloudcleaver can be pickpocketed to give back to Hlormar. This will skip the fight but nets the same reward from Hlormar. This does not work for unpatched versions of the game, however.
• If you decide to obtain Cloudcleaver by pickpocketing or killing Sosia before talking to Hlormar, Hlormar will automatically engage in a conversation with you. It is not possible to return his axe, and closing the dialogue window will immediately open a new one, effectively breaking the game.
• Hlormar will not increase your strength above 100.
• At the conclusion of this quest, Hlormar will stay in place and remain naked indefinitely.
• Siding with Sosia and killing Hlormar when he attacks you will result in the quest not being counted as completed in the journal.
• If you side with Sosia, causing Hlormar to attack, but speak to Sosia before killing Hlormar, she will act as if he is dead and give you the quest rewards.
• You can get all three rewards (axe, potion and strength upgrade) without killing anyone if you have the means to calm NPCs and drain their fatigue.
  1. Talk to Wine-Sot and agree to help him. Try to keep him far away from Sosia. Speak to Sosia and hear her offer
  2. Pickpocket Cloudcleaver from Sosia and drop it on the ground (make sure Wine-Sot is far enough away that he doesn't automatically fight Sosia or ask you for Cloudcleaver)
  3. Tell Wine-Sot that you believe Sosia, calm him with a spell, and go back to Sosia. She'll reward you and update your journal. Lure Wine-Sot near Cloudcleaver and knock him out for being too handsy (via hand-to-hand or fatigue spell)
  4. Pick up Cloudcleaver while he's knocked down, and he'll ask for it back automatically. Give it to him, and he will reward you. Pickpocket Cloudcleaver back from him while he's still on the ground, before he's able to equip the axe. He'll be upset if you talk to him again, but he can be calmed and intimidated until docile.

Quest Stages

The following Journal ID and Index codes can be used with the Journal console command to manually update the quest to a certain point.

Recovering Cloudcleaver (MV_AbusedHealer)
Index	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		Hlormar Wine-Sot spun quite an interesting yarn for me to hear. He claims to have been seduced by a witch, who then cast a spell on him while he was asleep, took everything he had including his prized enchanted axe Cloudcleaver, and left him by the road for the amusement of passersby. He requests that I take him to find the witch and help retrieve his axe, in exchange for a reward.
30		I have agreed to take on Hlormar Wine-Sot as a companion and aid in his search for the witch and his prized axe Cloudcleaver. He thinks he met her in a camp to the northwest, but admits he could be confused as to the direction from the spell.
35	Finishes quest	I have left Hlormar to his own devices. I am too busy to take up the problems of paupers on the streets.
40		We have met up with the supposed witch at her camp. Her name is Sosia Caristiana, a healer, and the story she tells is decidedly different from that of Hlormar. Sosia Caristiana says that she accepted Hlormar Wine-Sot merely as a traveling companion for protection, but when he got too friendly she was forced to put him to sleep and take his things to teach him a lesson.
50		Sosia Caristiana refuses to give back his property immediately but will meet him in three days at the Caldera Mage [sic] Guild and return everything then.
60		Hlormar Wine-Sot was not pleased in the least to hear that he could not have his items back immediately, and demanded that I choose a side. I have chosen to side with Hlormar.
70		Hlormar Wine-Sot was not pleased in the least to hear that he could not have his items back immediately, and demanded that I choose a side. I have chosen to side with Sosia.
75		Sosia Caristiana was so grateful to me for my protection that she gave me three potions as a reward. I'm glad to see that she can live another day to help those in need.
80	Finishes quest	I decided to keep Cloudcleaver for myself. One as uncivil as Hlormar need not wield such a fine weapon. The loss of so much life is always a shame, but at least I can take comfort in the beauty of my new axe, Cloudcleaver.
85	Finishes quest	Hlormar was so pleased to get his axe back that he offered to give me a few pointers to make me stronger in battle. It is great to see such a beautiful axe back to its rightful owner.