Skyrim:Moss Mother Cavern (quest)

This page is currently being rewritten as part of the Skyrim Quest Redesign Project. The page is being rewritten and checked in several stages. All users are welcome to make changes to the page. If you make a change that is relevant to the project, please update this template accordingly, and make sure you have observed the project guidelines.   Detail Walkthrough: written by Bwross, not checked Objectives: written by NepheleBot, checked by Alfwyn Reward: not written

Help an injured hunter avenge his fallen companions. Quest Giver: Valdr Location(s): Moss Mother Cavern Reward: Valdr's Lucky Dagger ID: dunMossMotherQST Required Items: A Healing Potion Suggested Spells: Fire Damage Suggested Level: 8 see bugs Difficulty: Easy

An injured Valdr waiting for help outside the cavern.

Quick Walkthrough

1. Travel to Moss Mother Cavern.
2. Speak to Valdr directly outside of it.
3. Give Valdr anything he can use to help heal himself.
4. Help Valdr clear the spriggans out of Moss Mother Cavern, or do it alone.

Detailed Walkthrough

Spriggan Ambush

The first time you approach Moss Mother Cavern, Valdr will call out for your attention. He explains that he was attacked by spriggans living in the cave and needs immediate medical attention or he'll die from the spriggan's curse. After helping him, he will further explain that his companions had tracked an injured bear sow to the cave and were ambushed by the spriggans as they entered to kill it. Valdr was the only one to escape as Ari and Niels were killed before they could flee. He'll ask for your help to avenge his friends by killing the creatures.

Vengeance

Valdr will offer to help you clear the caves. He uses ranged attacks and does decent damage, but won't last long if attacked. He will kneel like a normal follower if he takes too much damage. If you don't want to risk him dying, you can attempt to persuade him to let you clear the cave alone. There are three leveled spriggans and a single leveled bear. The bear and a spriggan will be near the entrance; the other two spriggans are near the pool. It's possible to engage them individually; any sort of fire damage helps tremendously, though lower level players may need to bring potions to mitigate their high damage output and ability to fully heal themselves. When all the spriggans are dead, Valdr will thank you and give you his lucky dagger which has a +25% chance to critically hit on it. He states he will return to Falkreath after he finishes burying his friends.

Notes

• If you clear the cave before healing Valdr, he will be dead when you exit the cave.
• Valdr may die if you must leave to obtain a healing method.
• Valdr's Lucky Dagger could be considered to be one of the better weapons in the game with its 25% chance to critically hit an enemy.
• Valdr will leave if you move too far from Moss Mother Cavern.
• There is a gold ore vein at the end of the cavern.

Bugs

• Valdr may not accept anything besides a standard healing potion. Additionally he may be non-interactable while injured making it impossible to give him a potion. ^?
  • Healing him with a Heal Other spell may bypass this bug.
• At higher levels Valdr may have enough health to be already considered healed as soon as you meet him, and will thank you.
• Valdr should return to Falkreath upon completion, but sometimes disappears. ^?
• The quest will sometimes be finished, but stay in your journal at the "Locate Valdr's hunting party." stage. The reward is given regardless.
  • A fix for the PC version is to type in the console setstage dunMossMotherQST 10 followed by setstage dunMossMotherQST 20
• If you let Valdr initiate the conversation, and talk to him before he finishes but you have received Valdr's lucky dagger, you'll receive a second one. ^?
• If you choose to clear the Cavern without his assistance he may be hostile when you return to him. ^?

Quest Stages

Moss Mother Cavern (dunMossMotherQST)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
5		(Objective is assigned): Locate Valdr's hunting party.
10		(Objective is assigned): Heal Valdr's injuries.
30		(Objective is assigned): Clear out Moss Mother Cavern.
40		(Objective is assigned): Clear out Moss Mother Cavern.
50		(Objective is assigned (told Valdr to wait)): Return to Valdr.
105

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 9, 15, 20, 45, 60, 100, 101.

 

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage dunMossMotherQST stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest dunMossMotherQST.