Skyrim talk:Old Orc

Cameo

An obvious cameo of Umbra from Morrorwind and Oblivion. — Unsigned comment by 220.162.119.188 (talk) at 22:18 on 3 December 2011

How? IIRC, Umbra (from Morrowind and Oblivion) was an enchanted sword. Last time I checked, enchanted swords don't eventually turn into old orcs, so the cameo is far from obvious. — Unsigned comment by 178.99.224.235 (talk) at 23:45 on 18 December 2011

It is a very obvious cameo from Morrowind. To get Umbra in Morrowind, you meet an Orc who is tired of bearing the burden of Umbra and wants to die a good death. The dialogue is very similar to that of the Old Orc in Skyrim. It does not have anything to do with Umbra from Oblivion, however. Phaid 13:17, 24 December 2011 (UTC)

Even if the direct 'cameo' is disputed, it certainly warrants a note that the encounters and dialogue are so similar. The spirit of the original Umbra seems to be present in this character, even if the sword does not feature in the game. I think it's just one of the many nods back to Morrowind found in Skyrim.--Admos (talk) 19:10, 23 March 2013 (GMT)

Wandering

Does he really wander all over Skyrim? The rock outcropping I found him on seemed too perfect to be random. Can anybody confirm a location other than that one? Chris3145 08:12, 14 December 2011 (UTC)

Off the top of my head, two locations he can spawn are:

- Just off the path between Riverwood and Whiterun, near Honningbrew Meadery

- Across the East bridge out of Whiterun, along the path that least East to Ivarstead.

I've seen him in other locations too. He doesn't 'travel' since he just stands still and doesn't actually move unless he is provoked, he merely spawns and despawns. If you leave an area where you found him and wait several days/weeks, when you return he should be gone, but can still turn up elsewhere. — Unsigned comment by 178.99.224.235 (talk) at 23:50 on 18 December 2011

I found and talked to him at about level 6, and he was in the same spot 100 hours later. It may have been chance, or his location may be fixed after you meet him. Chris3145 01:53, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

There's a chance that re-entering the cell where he is found could cause his despawn timer to reset. Because of this, if he spawns on a well-travelled route he might never get a chance to despawn. I had a problem once with M'aiq the Liar being permanently 'stuck' in that little grassy hill near the pathway down to Honningbrew Meadery - he simply refused to despawn until I moved to Solitude and did several Civil War quests. — Unsigned comment by 178.99.224.235 (talk) at 02:13 on 19 December 2011

Have we seen code that indicates for sure that he despawns? The area where I found him is not a place I frequently travel at all. Chris3145 23:33, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Not sure if this is useful, but I've also encountered him on the road East of Ivartead. We were interrupted mid-conversation by a pack of roving wolves. It's probably a coincidence, but it is funny to think there's a code which spawns wild animals around him. If I watch him long enough, maybe he'll find that 'good death'. Two or three bears ought to do it. --Admos 17:53, 3 January 2012 (UTC)

When you listed the locations you had seen him, I assumed you were talking about different playthroughs. Did you see him in those different places while using the same character? If you have, that settles the wandering question. Chris3145 19:53, 3 January 2012 (UTC)

(←) Okay. After my gameplay experience and no further response, I'm going to assume he doesn't wander. I found him on a rock outcropping by a waterfall next to two dead sabre cats about 8 hours into my game. I looted the cats and left him there. About 80 hours in I happened by the place and he was still there, as were the looted corpses. 140 hours in, he's still there, and I have never seen him anywhere else. Maybe he spawns in different locations for different games, but I think he stays put once he has a location. The place I found him seemed an unlikely place for an NPC to wander - it's a precarious (and kind of hard to reach) rock ledge near a high drop. I've also never seen him in any other locations. It's possible that his location is only set when he is spoken to, but he is eventually going to stay in one spot forever. With that being said, I have a feeling that there might be a few possible locations that Bethesda chose for him to spawn. While the rock outcropping could have been genuinely random, I think it's more likely that spot was hand-picked by a developer. I would like to see other people confirm and look into this, and we should possibly start compiling a list of spawn locations (assuming it's a short one). Chris3145 22:55, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

I believe I found him in a rocky spot (with two sabres near him) within view of Whiterun, on the ground. I'm not certain it was Whiterun, but it was a city, and it was not precarious at all - right on the side of a major road. He could share spawn points with some other NPC or creature. A collection of these points would be great, though. --Velyanthe 23:13, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

The place I found him was also right next to a major road, but it was a location where an NPC might fall off if he walked over there on his own. Chris3145 23:57, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

Don't think it's going to be a short list, or one that's specific to the old orc. The two places I have encountered him (on the road between the Western Watchtower and Fort Greymoor, and just over the bridge east of Whiterun about half-way to the Ritual Stone) are both standard 'random encounter' locations. Therefore, I would imagine he can spawn in the same locations as other encounters such as the revellers, the fire & ice mage, the mage killed by his own atronach, the mage wannabe trying to raise a wolf, etc. --Gaebrial 15:19, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

Just adding, my brother found him near Whiterun — Unsigned comment by 80.31.26.6 (talk) at 16:42 on 24 February 2012

As mentioned above, on a bridge around Ivarstead. Not close to Whiterun. --JR^{Talk E-mail} 04:31, 24 July 2012 (UTC)

(←) I just met him and he killed me, halfway between Sleeping Tree Camp and Fort Greymoor. Had 80 health left and he killed me in a cinematic. I reloaded the save and instead there were 3 imperial soldiers. 14:44, 20 February 2013 (GMT)

This time he is between fort sungard and gjukar's monument. 202.165.95.77 10:46, 22 February 2013 (GMT)

This just needs to stop rofl, he's a random radiant event. I've killed him 4 or 5 times in a single day. He's not unique at all. Lord Eydvar ^{Talk|Contribs} 10:49, 22 February 2013 (GMT)

Yes, it has been determine that he is a world interaction. Vely^►t►e 02:03, 27 February 2013 (GMT)

Reward for NOT killing him

Whenever Old Orc spawns, there are always two dead Sabre Cats nearby. These usually contain 'Eye of Sabre Cat' (an alchemical ingredient) and a 'Sabre Cat Pelt' (which can be tanned into four pieces of leather each. So long as you do not kill the Old Orc, there is a chance that this character may continue to randomly spawn at various points in your travels. Each time he does so, the Sabre Cat corpses are also respawned and contain fresh loot. The fact that you can get TWO 'Eye of Sabre Cats' and TWO 'Sabre Cat Pelts' (which translate into FOUR free pieces of leather) more than offsets any potential gains from killing and looting the Old Orc at any point. — Unsigned comment by 178.99.224.235 (talk) at 21:36 on 18 December 2011

Except that even if you kill him, he'll still spawn again. I met him on the road from some barrow to Whiterun, and killed him, and later on the same walk I encountered him again. At which point my character assumed that orcs were all insane/suicidal, swore off all association with them, and ran away. — Unsigned comment by 68.55.184.71 (talk) at 01:51 on 26 December 2011

It's called a Warrior's Death you fool. Just fight him mono y mono, no magic or shouts, and give the damn orc what he wants. I actually felt bad for him, so I gave him one of my two swords (dual wield) so we could fight on even terms. If you need Sabre Cat eyes and leather that badly, I suggest just doing some hunt's for Aela. --173.31.188.10 02:29, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Moved Note

• You may also find one dead hagraven, one dead spriggan and one dead cave bear in addition to the two dead sabre cats.

The quest aliases only reference the Orc and Sabre Cats, not a hagraven, spriggan, and bear. While it seems unlikely for him to be able to kill all of those creatures in the wild, the quest doesn't place them there from what I see. --AKB ^{Talk Cont Mail} 16:42, 23 March 2013 (GMT)

There is a "Spriggan vs Hagraven" random encounter and it sometimes happen that 2 or even 3 different REs spawn at the same place so it's probably just that; the Old Orc spawn next to the Hagraven and Spriggan, who calls a nearby bear for help. The Orc, being fairly strong, manages to survive the fight. Elakyn (talk) 18:25, 23 March 2013 (GMT)

While that would be an awesome scenario to see in-game, I think that resolves this as being just a one-off. --AKB ^{Talk Cont Mail} 21:25, 23 March 2013 (GMT)

Question

Does this encounter only happen once? — Unsigned comment by 76.64.247.90 (talk) at 14:13 on 4 January 2021

Nope. Just like the Vigilants of Stendarr you can meet on the road, it can happen again and again. -MolagBallet (talk) 18:24, 4 January 2021 (UTC)