Autumnshade Clearing

Colourful clearing northwest of Riften with a Spriggan Matron, wild animals, a lurking necromancer at a Dwemer altar and two skill books.

Autumnshade Clearing is a small, leaf-strewn hollow northwest of Riften, with a natural stone overhang at its heart. It lies south-southwest of Shor’s Stone, west-southwest of Fort Greenwall and north-northeast of Faldar’s Tooth. Two unlucky hunters already found out what lives here – you can learn from their mistake and take their book.

What you’ll find

  • A Spriggan Matron, plus a bear and a Sabre Cat roaming the area.
  • Two dead hunters under the overhang, one of them carrying a skill book.
  • Just to the north, a ruined Dwemer altar surrounded by a small stone structure, guarded by a necromancer (or wizard).
  • An adept-locked Dwemer cage attached to a stone arch at eye level, just west of the altar.
  • Plenty of ingredients: at least five Mora Tapinella, at least five Bleeding Crowns and lots of blue mountain flowers.

Quests

During Arniel’s Endeavor you’ll need the Dwemer convector that sits behind the large stone arch just northeast of the altar.

Notable items

Tips

The necromancer at the altar behaves like the ones at some Standing Stones: they stay calm until you wander within a certain distance. That lets you deal with the wildlife first and pick your moment. Note that you have to kill them for the location to count as cleared, so a polite wave won’t cut it. If the bear, the cat and the Matron all notice you at once, back off and fight them one at a time. Alchemists should bring a bag – this is one of the better spots for mushrooms and flowers in the area, and the Dwemer cage by the altar is worth a look if your lockpicking is up to an adept lock.

Nearby

Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Boulderfall Cave, Faldar’s Tooth, Merryfair Farm, Fort Greenwall, Redwater Den.

Location data (hold, map position, editor ID) read from the Skyrim game files; details checked against community wiki articles and summarised in our own words.

Characters found here

Quests that lead here

Side Quest
Help College of Winterhold scholar Arniel Gane with his secret four-part experiment to discover how the Dwemer vanished.

Creatures you will meet

Sabre Cats are Skyrim’s fastest early-game killers. Where they hunt, the snowy variant, and what you can harvest from them.
Spriggans are tree spirits that guard Skyrim’s forests, heal themselves and turn animals against you. Tactics and harvestables.

Weapons found here

Armor found here

Items found here

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Sources checked: Skyrim game files (map markers, location records, read 2026-10-11); Elder Scrolls Fandom location articles (export 2026-10-11)