The Abandoned Lodge is a modest hunting shack in the northwest of Solstheim, added with the Dragonborn expansion. It sits northeast of Bloodskal Barrow, a fair hike from the bustle of Raven Rock. Most of the time it is just a quiet porch and a door that refuses to open, but once A New Source of Stalhrim gets going, the lodge turns into a Thalmor holding cell and you become the rescue party.
What you’ll find
- A door that stays locked, and cannot be picked, until A New Source of Stalhrim has started.
- Hostile Thalmor soldiers guarding the lodge while the quest is active. Unusually for the Thalmor, they are dressed in Leather Armor, although some still wear elven gauntlets and boots.
- Baldor Iron-Shaper, the prisoner you came to free.
- A grindstone on the porch for sharpening your blade before or after the fight.
- A couple of bear traps on the east side of the building.
- A knapsack with leveled loot.
Quests
A New Source of Stalhrim – the Thalmor have taken Baldor Iron-Shaper and stashed him here. Once you cut him loose, he sends you on to Northshore Landing, where the question of who gets to work Stalhrim is finally settled.
Tips
Approach from the front rather than sneaking round the east wall – that is where the bear traps wait, and limping up to a rescue is never a good look. Don’t waste lockpicks on the door before the quest starts; it is simply not openable yet. After the quest is finished, a fresh batch of Thalmor shows up again, but these ones are not hostile, so there is no need to draw steel on reflex.
Good to know
The interior is a reworked copy of Alvor‘s house in Riverwood. The developers even left A Gentleman’s Guide to Whiterun on the table beside the spot where Dorthe’s bed used to stand. The lodge is also easy to mix up with the similarly named Abandoned Shack, which is a different place entirely.
Nearby
Closest places on Solstheim covered on TamrielSaga: Hvitkald Peak, Frostmoon Crag, Damphall Mine, Bloodskal Barrow, Brodir Grove.
Map position and editor ID read from the Dragonborn game files; details checked against community wiki articles and summarised in our own words.
