Broken Helm Hollow is a small bandit cave on the southeast side of the mountain southeast of Riften, close to the border with Morrowind. Its entrance sits just left of a large waterfall – the same falls that Treasure Map IX points to. If Grosta has asked you to look for her husband, this is where the trail ends.
What you’ll find
- Two bandit guards outside, three more inside, and their leader.
- Two corundum ore veins: one north of the cooking spot and one in a torture room behind a secret door.
- A pull-chain near the back of the cave that opens that secret door.
- A trap-rigged chest with random loot.
- A rock shelf on the northwest side with Imp Stool and Namira’s Rot.
- A bedroll, a cooking place and a tanning rack.
Quests
Flight or Fight: Grosta asks you to find her missing husband Leifnarr, who was dragged to the torture room. The cave can also be chosen for many radiant quests: Rescue Mission (Hemming Black-Briar), Retrieval (a fragment of Wuuthrad), Shalidor’s Insights, Stealing Plans, Striking the Heart, The Break of Dawn (Meridia’s Beacon) and Ancient Technology (Dawnguard).
Notable items
- Battle of Sancre Tor (Two-Handed) – near a chest east of the cooking place.
- A spell tome for Sparks, Frostbite or Flames in the back room with Leifnarr’s body.
- The Treasure Map IX stash at the waterfall outside.
Tips
Find the pull-chain at the rear of the cave or you’ll miss the torture room entirely – along with the spell tome, an ore vein and the whole point of Flight or Fight. Try to pick up the quest from Grosta before you go; finding Leifnarr first can confuse the quest marker. Whirlwind Sprint lets you dash from the ramp by the chest to the northwest ledge with the mushrooms. And if you have the treasure map, check the waterfall before you head inside.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Forelhost, Stendarr’s Beacon, Black-Briar Lodge, Nightingale Hall, Lost Prospect Mine.
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.
