Laid to Rest is a creepy little murder mystery set in Morthal, the misty capital of Hjaalmarch. Hroggar’s house burned down with his wife and daughter inside, and the very next day he moved in with a new lover, Alva. The town smells a rat, and Jarl Idgrod Ravencrone will pay you to find out whether it was an accident or murder – the truth turns out to have rather more fangs than anyone expected.
How to start
- Ask Jonna, the innkeeper at Moorside Inn, about the burned-down house, or talk to any Morthal guard or the Imperial Legate in Highmoon Hall.
- Alternatively, speak to the Jarl directly: Idgrod Ravencrone, or Sorli the Builder if Morthal has gone to the Stormcloaks in the civil war.
- Whichever way you hear about it, your first objective is to talk to the Jarl. You may need to approach the ruined house before Jonna offers the right dialogue.
Walkthrough
Talk to the Jarl
The Jarl explains that the house belonged to Hroggar and that it burned one night while he was away, killing his wife and his daughter Helgi. Gossip says Hroggar set the fire himself to be with Alva. The Jarl wants the truth.
Investigate the burned house
Inside the charred ruin, Helgi’s ghost waits in a corner. She knows little, but promises to tell you more if you play hide and seek with her – after dark, because “the other one” only comes out at night and will be playing too. Telling the Jarl about Helgi is optional; if you ask, the Jarl will also point you to where she is.
Find Helgi after dark
Wait until nightfall, then climb the rocks above and to the right of the burned house. Among piles of stones you will find a grave with a child’s coffin dug up. As you approach, Laelette – the missing wife of Thonnir – attacks. When she falls, it becomes clear she was a vampire. Activate the coffin to speak with Helgi: Laelette was meant to burn her and her mother, but changed her mind and tried to turn Helgi instead so she could keep her. She took too long, and the fire killed Helgi anyway.
Ask Thonnir about Laelette
Thonnir stumbles upon the scene and is devastated to find his wife dead – and a vampire. He thought she had run off to join the Stormcloaks, but remembers she had suddenly become close to Alva, whom she had despised only a week earlier. Laelette was supposed to meet Alva on the night she vanished, though Alva claimed she never turned up. The conclusion is obvious to everyone except Thonnir, who refuses to believe it.
Investigate Alva’s house
Hroggar now lives in Alva’s house, and he attacks as soon as he finds you inside. If you want to avoid bloodshed, use high Sneak, invisibility or a calm spell, or wait until daytime when he is usually out. Alva’s coffin is in the basement, and inside it lies Alva’s Journal. It lays out the whole plan: a master vampire named Movarth intends to turn Morthal into a feeding ground for his coven. If Alva is home when you take the journal, she wakes and flees to Movarth’s Lair.
Show Alva’s Journal to the Jarl
Bring the journal to the Jarl and confirm Alva was behind the fire. You receive your first payment, and the Jarl then asks you to deal with Movarth.
Kill the master vampire
Outside Highmoon Hall, a mob led by Thonnir has gathered. You can tell the townsfolk to stay behind – they are likely to die otherwise – or let Thonnir come along. Movarth’s Lair lies to the northeast. Vampire thralls guard the cave, and Movarth himself sits at a long banquet table. Alva, if she fled, ends up in a back room with bedrolls, where a patrolling female vampire usually kills her.
Useful tactics for the fight:
- Movarth and his thralls will not follow you past the room with the dead Nord and Redguard lying in an open grave. Retreat there to heal.
- Movarth and the thralls can raise the corpses around them, including Alva. The thralls are too strong for Raise Zombie or Reanimate Corpse, but you can claim them first with Revenant so Movarth cannot.
- With good Sneak, take the ledge on the left as you enter Movarth’s chamber and shoot him and his thrall from above. If the quest is active, its marker stays over Movarth’s head even when he turns invisible.
- Clearing Movarth’s Lair before you even start the quest leaves only Movarth and whatever dead he raises for the final confrontation.
On your way out, Helgi’s ghost appears one last time to thank you before finally going to sleep.
Return to Morthal’s Jarl
Report back for a second, larger payment. The Jarl will also offer the title of Thane of Hjaalmarch once you have helped three people in the hold (it is available immediately if you completed The Battle for Fort Snowhawk). With Hearthfire installed, you can now buy Windstad Manor from the Jarl’s steward for 5,000 gold.
Choices and consequences
- Thonnir can join the assault on Movarth’s Lair or be told to stay in town.
- Killing Alva in her coffin but leaving Hroggar alive makes him attack you whenever you speak to him afterwards.
- If you kill both Alva and Hroggar during the break-in, stealing from their house can later bring hired thugs after you, sent on a contract from the late Hroggar.
- It is possible to keep both alive: break in at night when Alva is out (pickpocketing Hroggar’s key or calming him), grab the journal and leave without killing him. Hroggar may even thank you later, but Alva runs to Movarth’s Lair once the Jarl has the journal and is very likely to be killed there as a traitor.
Rewards
- After handing in Alva’s Journal: 250 / 400 / 500 / 600 / 750 gold at levels 1-9 / 10-19 / 20-29 / 30-39 / 40+
- After killing Movarth: 400 / 600 / 800 / 1,000 / 1,200 gold at the same level brackets
- Path to the title of Thane of Hjaalmarch
- Hearthfire: Windstad Manor becomes available to purchase
Tips and notes
- If you enter Alva’s house during the day before the lair assault, she may be sleeping in her coffin. With enough Sneak you can kill her there before she reacts, and loot her rare tavern clothes.
- Visiting Movarth’s Lair at night may let you find Alva there, but the coven treats her as a traitor and she rarely survives unless you kill the patrolling vampire quickly.
- The quest has to be finished before Windstad Manor can be bought, so do it early if you want a lakeside home in Hjaalmarch.
