Ustengrav is an ancient Nordic tomb northeast of Morthal, directly east of Folgunthur and southeast of Solitude. With Hearthfire installed, it also lies right south of Windstad Manor. This is the resting place of Jurgen Windcaller, the man who founded the Way of the Voice, and Arngeir sends you here to fetch his horn. Spoiler: someone got there first.
What you’ll find
- A necromancer and two bandits fighting at the entrance. If alerted, the necromancer raises a dead bandit to join in.
- More bandits and necromancers inside, busy fighting each other – and a pair of necromancers complaining about their slow thralls if you sneak up and listen.
- Ustengrav Depths, full of leveled skeletons, a few draugr and frostbite spiders.
- The famous gate puzzle: three stone pillars glow when you pass, each opening a gate for a few seconds. You need Whirlwind Sprint to get through all three before they shut.
- A Word Wall for Become Ethereal at the bottom of the depths beside a waterfall.
- An Arcane Enchanter in the depths, plus two corundum, one iron and one silver ore vein.
Quests
The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller – Arngeir’s final task: retrieve the horn from Jurgen’s tomb. Expect a surprise at the end, though: Delphine beat you to it and took the horn herself. Bring the horn back to the tomb after the quest and you can earn an extra dragon soul.
Notable items
- Restoration skill book Mystery of Talara, Book II in a round room full of urns.
- A chest that may hold a leveled spell tome in the room behind the throne where the horn should have been.
- A garnet and a flawless garnet.
- Two bottles of skooma just outside the main entrance.
Tips
Visit before starting the quest and a cave-in blocks the way, so get the task from Arngeir first. Learn Whirlwind Sprint before you come, or the pillar gates will humiliate you. Hidden treasure is everywhere: a chest behind the waterfall at the Word Wall guarded by a draugr, a lit alcove with a chest and potions reached by ramps south of the wall, a crypt opened by a chain above some candles near a long room of sarcophagi, and a secret room behind the ‘Skeleton Court Room’ reached by sprinting from the tops of the pillars. The interior never respawns, so anything you stash in its containers stays put.
Good to know
The door to the horn’s chamber is still covered in unbroken cobwebs, so Delphine apparently found a shortcut. Jurgen’s sarcophagus is oddly marked ‘Windcaller’ in Daedric letters, and nobody knows why.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Hjaalmarch Imperial Camp, Windstad Manor, Abandoned Shack, Hjaalmarch Stormcloak Camp, Movarth’s Lair.
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.
