Skyrim:Cracked Tusk Keep

Military Fort: Cracked Tusk Keep (view on map)
# of Zones	2
Clearable	Yes
Dungeon	Yes
Respawn Time	Never (storage is safe)
Level	Min: 6
Occupants
Orc Bandits, Ghunzul
Important Treasure
Light Armor Forging Rislav The Righteous Shards of Mehrunes' Razor
Console Location Code(s)
CrackedTuskKeepExterior01, CrackedTuskKeepExterior02, CrackedTuskKeep01, CrackedTuskKeep02
Region
Falkreath Hold
Location
West of Falkreath
Special Features
# of Alchemy Labs	1
# of Tanning Racks	1
# of Forges/Anvils	1
# of Grindstones	1
# of Workbenches	1
Ore Veins
# of Iron	1

Cracked Tusk Keep

Cracked Tusk Keep is a fort located to the west of Falkreath. It is occupied by a group of Orc bandits led by Ghunzul.

The fort has an exterior courtyard and two interior zones: Cracked Tusk Keep and Cracked Tusk Vaults. The first part of the fort serves the radiant quests, and the fort will be marked as cleared after you have killed the boss.

Related Quests

• Amulet of the Moon: Find the Moon Amulet for Kharjo. (radiant)
• Bandit Attack^HF: Rescue your beloved from their kidnappers. (radiant)
• Kill the Bandit Leader: Slay a bandit leader for the Jarl of Falkreath. (radiant)
• Pieces of the Past: Retrieve the scattered pieces of Mehrunes' Razor and reforge this deadly blade.

NOTE: Some radiant quests have a sizeable list of possible locations. These quests are not placed on individual place pages, and are instead listed at radiant quest locations.

Notes

• There is an iron ore vein located 150 feet due north of the keep.

Walkthrough

Exterior

The courtyard has several crafting stations, namely a forge, a workbench, a grindstone and a tanning rack. There is a locked chest on top of the ruins between the south towers, and a locked boss chest in the broken northwest tower. Several animal pelts and raw meat can be found in the eastern hut. A copy of the Smithing skill book Light Armor Forging lies in the western hut.

Zone 1: Cracked Tusk Keep

There are three entrances. The front door leads into a lighted main room with several guards. The western door is locked and leads to the cellar which can grant an advantage towards the guards in the main room. The eastern entrance, located on top of the tower, is a trapdoor leading directly to the boss Ghunzul who carries the key to the vaults; a copy of the key is on the dresser in his room. A boss chest can be found here, as well as a potion and a coin purse on a shelf. There is a leveled weapon and a coin purse lying on a bookshelf at the balcony overlooking the main room. A leveled warhammer is nicely placed with an iron shield onto a chair on top of the stairs leading down to the main room. There are several bed rolls, two minor potions, some clutter, and food in the main room. Proceed further down to the basement; there may be leather strips in the cupboard. An alchemy lab can be found here with some alchemical ingredients. A leveled dagger lies on the table, along with three potions, two soul gems, a longbow, and several iron arrows. An expert-locked cage is on the west wall with a button that will open the portcullis; the vault key can be used here. Past the portcullis is the door to Cracked Tusk Vaults.

Zone 2: Cracked Tusk Vaults

As you enter, you will face a potion and two gems. Proceed downstairs and loot the barrel for ingredients. Buttons on the walls in the corridor will open the cells containing some loot. The cell to the right holds a leveled weapon, four potions, two soul gems and a coin purse. The cell to the left side contains several ingredient barrels, a potion, a pelt, a random piece of armor, and a copy of the Light Armor skill book Rislav The Righteous. At the end of the corridor is a chest and three ingredient barrels. The next room is trapped—pull the two levers on the pillars and safely break the three tripwires ahead. A fourth tripwire is on the left side of room, and on the right side is a locked chest. The shards of Mehrunes' Razor rest on a weight sensitive plate; picking up the shards triggers a poison dart trap. Simply backtrack to get out of the fort.

Bugs

• If the Amulet of the Moon quest directs you here, check to see if you have already visited this location. This location does not respawn, so if you have been here before, the Moon Amulet cannot spawn here and you cannot complete the quest.
  • You will need to reload a previous save to get a different location from Kharjo.

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