User:JR/TertiarySandbox

Pics to think about using if there's a good reason/good way to show the "shortcut" through Hag Rock:

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Getting to Dead Crone Rock

Due to the mountainous terrain, navigating there from Markarth can be frustrating (or adventuresome, depending on your attitude). If the destination is selected as your current objective, the Clairvoyance spell serves as a reliable supplement to your compass.

Exit the city by the eastern gate and proceed eastwards along the road. Passing the first bridge over the river to your right, proceed on the main road and cross the bridge toward Whiterun, as indicated by the signpost. Shortly thereafter, take an easily-seen dirt path to the right. After a short way, where the rocky cliffs on both sides of the path drop back and water can be seen ahead, expect an encounter with randomly-generated enemies. This sometimes involves some kind of group or individual battling another; if so, allowing the fighting to complete can thin out some of your enemies before you are engaged. You may deal with anything from a pack of wolves fighting a stray dog, to a group of bandits, to a spriggan and possibly their usual consorts, to bands of Forsworn Briarhearts attended by mages. If you do not witness a battle, one is likely to have just finished, so after you have dealt with whatever attacks you, you may wish to take a look around the area for corpses to loot.

Continuing on, you may next encounter an animal or two, such as a bear, which may be dead, hibernating on or near the road, or aggressive. Soon thereafter, you will reach the orc camp Dushnikh Yal where the guard Nagrub will engage you in dialogue if you get close enough, leading to any of a number of outcomes. You may avoid this conversation and discovery of the camp if you wish: Just before reaching the camp, take a sharp right around the stone outcropping (this turn is not always easily seen on approach), and follow the path as it continues in this direction. At the first right turn, an iron ore vein sits directly in front of you. There may be an animal such as a bear present who may or may not see you. The path ahead is sometimes difficult to follow. Wind along it until you reach a bridge crossing a river. You will see part of Hag Rock Redoubt on the far (western) side.

After crossing the bridge, there is a choice to make about your route. Whichever you choose, you will need to pass through at least some part of the heavily-guarded exterior zone of Hag Rock Redoubt to reach Dead Crone Rock. Both ways will involve some serious battles, but one will pit you against fewer enemies than the other.

The Hard Way

Take the left fork in the path just prior to passing under a stone arch. Your goal is to reach the entry door to the interior of Hag Rock Redoubt before encountering any enemies. Follow the path, ascending two small sets of stone steps. Proceed through a stone archway and then straight ahead to the door. Enter and contend with some leveled Forsworn and probably a mage or two. Many of these can be dispatched with sneak/bow attacks, but it may be wise to poison your weapon and prepare for some fairly powerful attacks. Follow your compass to the top of the zone. You will face the heaviest fighting near the exit from at the top of a circular staircase. To minimize the number of strong enemies, stay to the west as much as possible once you emerge from it. When all is clear, skip down to the section below, "Dead Crone Rock."

The Harder Way

There are two difficult routes through Hag Rock Redoubt. These do not involve travelling through its interior zone. To experience the greatest number of powerful enemies simultaneously, proceed up the left fork of the path as in the preceding paragraph, but go straight past the entry door to the ruin. Soon after you pass the door, a large number of enemies will become alert to your presence (and more will be on the way). These will involve leveled Forsworn, mages, and probably a Frost or Storm Atronach. When this area is clear, find the dome-shaped hut ahead containing an alchemy table. If you are ready for more, you can turn to the east, cross the bridge, and fight your way down a short tower back to the fork in the path from which you began this part of the trip. You can alternatively leave these alone and proceed onward as described in the second paragraph below.

Alternatively, instead of taking the fork to the left, proceed straight, pass under the stone archway, and enter the short tower after battling its defenders. Once you have entered the structure, climb upwards. After the first flight of stone steps is a flight of wooden steps. It is easy to get stuck if you stray off of the wooden platform at its base. In fact, there are multiple places around the area in which you may become stuck. For this reason, as well as mass of powerful enemies you will confront, you may wish to save frequently. At the top of the tower, cross the bridge to the west. Near its midpoint a large number of enemies will begin to attack you, including leveled Forsworn, mages, and probably a Frost or Storm Atronoch. You will face about the same number of enemies as if you took the route described in the paragraph immediately above, but somewhat more sequentially.

Next, you will ascend several sets of wide, impressive stairs generally to the west of the small round hut containing an alchemy table. At the base of the second staircase lies a trap activated by a tripwire that will release boulders from an overhead arch. With good luck or exquisite planning, this can be used against yet another set of enemies who await just above. These will comprise a number of powerful attackers simultaneously, including perhaps a Forsworn Briarheart, a mage, and a Troll, each capable of dealing out very powerful attacks.

Dead Crone Rock

Continue up the stairs to the west until they end; here the path turns you to the left and up one more short stairway to Dead Crone Rock.

Once inside, ascend a series of tiers, battling Forsworn and mages along the way. At the top of the second flight of stairs, a metal gate must be unlocked by a lever in another room. To reach the lever, enter the room containing a long banquet table, on which sits an arcane enchanter, and continue past the fire trap, which can be deactivated by taking the soul gem from which the flames emanate. There is another (pressure plate) fire trap on the floor of a short, dark hallway leading to a small room containing the lever. The Alchemy skill book A Game at Dinner is in front of the lever. The locked wooden door on this level leads to a small external balcony area containing some loot.

Continue upwards to the pinnacle of the ruin, where Drascua, the ruin's Hagraven leader, possesses the pommel. Obtain it, and then find the word wall behind a large table. A Stone of Barenziah sits on the table, as well as two soul gems. A chest near one corner of the table also contains some valuable loot.

Retrieve the Blade Shards

The Razor's blade shards are held in the basement vault of Cracked Tusk Keep, a fort occupied by Orc bandits.

Getting to Cracked Tusk Keep

The Keep is located west of Falkreath.

ON FOOT FROM THE GUARDIAN STONES: If you have not discovered Falkreath and prefer a trek to a carriage ride there, you can travel on foot or horseback from The Guardian Stones, located southwest of Riverwood. The following guide traces the Clairvoyance Spell pathing, which serves as a reliable guide from the Stones to the Keep.

Take the road uphill then bear right at the fork you will soon encounter.

The section of road running alongside Lake Ilinalta borders several caves and barrows/ruins, setting off a number of encounters with the likes of animals, particularly Wolves; monsters, particularly Frostbite Spiders; groups of leveled bandits, likely including bandits who may cast shock spells; hostile Orcs; and Vampires who are often present on or close to the road, searching for fresh blood from their lair in the nearby North Shriekwind Bastion ruin. If trouble does not find you in this area, you won't need to look far to find some. If you shoot first and ask questions later, however, you may find yourself having committed the crime of murder, as non-hostile characters may also be encountered here. One spot in which you are likely to encounter someone or something is just past the large boulder positioned on the right side of the road where it departs from the lakeside. There is an iron ore vein here: Westwards from the boulder extends a patch of rocks sited between the road and the river in an essentially rectangular formation. The vein lies at the northwest corner of this.

Continue west, then take a left turn onto another road. This has no signpost and can be overlooked if you're not watching for it.

Follow this road as it winds to the bottom of a hill. Just after it reaches the bottom and levels out, take a smaller path to the right. This is intermittently paved with flagstones and will soon point you directly at the Keep.

Cracked Tusk Keep

The Keep's exterior is relatively-lightly guarded by orcs and bandits, typically of the Bandit Archer class, who tend to attack with bows from a distance and melee weapons up-close. They are better-trained in one-handed weapons and so can be more dangerous when wielding them. They are non-magical.

A surgical sniping approach may be accomplished by sneaking around a wide arc to the right of the fort and climbing the mountain from the other side. You should have any follower wait before you find a way to climb up. It may require luck, patience and persistence to find a way up and over that lands you in a position from which you can see and kill one or more guards below. If you can do so, and then sneak into the interior through one of several vulnerabilities in the perimeter, it is possible to eliminate all of the guards without any of them even seeing you. The access point of choice is probably a deteriorated breach in the wall located on the north wall near the northeast corner. Climbing up here will allow you to reach an elevated wooden platform from which you can sometimes see and kill remaining guards. (Another breech near this corner but on the east side allows you to access a partially-buried chest, but presents a more difficult if not impossible route inside.)

There are three entrances into the keep's first interior zone. If you take the front door, you will be immediately attacked by two enemies of the same type as the guards. Incapacitate them and proceed up the stairs and through the door, where the bandit chief, Ghunzul wields more advanced melee weaponry, and wears stronger heavy armor as well as the key to the vault. There is a second vault key on the chest next to his bed.

A second entrance is a hatch on the roof of the circular structure at the southeast corner of the exterior which will drop you directly into Ghunzul's quarters. To find it, take the stairs to the right just after entering the exterior gate to the fort. Work your way around the walls and elevated platforms of the perimeter counter-clockwise until you reach it. This will require a tricky jump at one point which can land you in an area where you may become stuck.

If you obtain the key, proceed two levels down to enter Cracked Tusk Vaults.

The third entrance is a locked door to the right of the main entrance and down some steps. This opens directly into the unguarded room which accesses the vault zone. If you have sufficient lockpicking capabilities, it can allow you to access the vault and the quest item without encountering any enemies in the interior.

There is a sliding panel on the wall to the right of the cage barring access to Cracked Tusk Vaults. It can be opened with the key or by picking a difficult lock.

Open the next door. Two barred rooms on either side of the hallway, each containing significant loot, are unlocked by small buttons on the wall to the right of each. The room to the left contains Rislav The Righteous, a light armor skill book.

Activating the levers to the left and right of the final barrier will open the way to the blade shards. Three tripwires on the floor between you and the shards activate dart traps; these may be jumped over. Removing the blade shards from their pedestal will also activate a dart trap. Placing something, like the nearby bucket, onto the pedestal will deactivate the trap--if you can get something to remain on the surface of the pedestal. However, you may also turn to the left as you face the pedestal, and take an alternative route back through the room. Other options include simply taking some damage from the traps or using the Become Ethereal shout to protect yourself on the way back out.

Retrieve the Hilt

To get the hilt, speak to Jorgen in the town of Morthal. He will initially claim not to have it, and when he admits that he does, he will refuse to give it to you. To gain access to it, you may use one of the speech challenges: threaten, persuade, or bribe. If successful, he will give you the key to his house west of the mill and another to the chest within it containing the hilt. You can also just take the hilt from the chest without speaking to Jorgen by picking the locks or pickpocketing the key(s) from Jorgen.

Completing the Quest

Make your choice

After retrieving the three pieces return to Silus and he will pay you a leveled amount of gold (more if brought all at once) and then ask you to meet him at the Shrine to Mehrunes Dagon. Upon arrival, Silus will be unable to get Dagon to repair the Dagger, so he will ask you to interact with the shrine. When you do, the daedric prince will manifest and demand that you kill Silus. Silus will ask you to spare him in return for 500 gold, saying that he will place the pieces of the Razor in a display case in his house. If you accept, he will give you the gold and run back to his house taking the broken dagger with him, while Dagon summons two Dremora to kill you.

If you choose to kill Silus, interact with the shrine after you kill him and Dagon will fix the Razor for you. After you take it the quest will end, but Dagon will still summon two Dremora to try to kill you as "one final test."

If you just wait long enough without answering Silus, his nerve will break and he will attack you instead. When you kill him, Dagon will react the same as if you had attacked him.

After completing this quest you can gain access to the inside of the shrine after taking a key from one of the Dremora that Mehrunes Dagon sends to attack you. Inside the shrine, you will encounter two more Dremora. Once they are killed, you will find in the shrine a room full of treasure.