Broken Oar Grotto is a big coastal cave almost straight north of Solitude, right on the shoreline. It is the hideout of the Blackblood Marauders, a band of seagoing bandits run by Jaree-Ra, his sister Deeja and Captain Hargar. After they plunder the Icerunner – with your help, if you fell for Jaree-Ra’s pitch – this is where the stolen goods end up. Half-sunken boats, wooden scaffolding and a lot of dark water make it one of the more atmospheric bandit dens on the coast.
What you’ll find
- Blackblood Marauders and regular bandits, with Captain Hargar and, during Lights Out!, Jaree-Ra himself.
- A full smithing setup: forge, smelter, grindstone, tanning rack, workbench and a wood chopping block.
- Two iron ore veins, a corundum ore vein and a silver ore vein.
- Four chests sunk under the water, plus another chest on the top floor of the wooden construction at the far end.
- Bear pelts and wine bottles everywhere, and a hole in the floorboards with a bucket underneath that very much looks like the marauders’ toilet.
Quests
- Lights Out! – the final objective is to defeat Jaree-Ra here.
- Kill the Bandit Leader – a possible target for a bounty.
- Amulet of the Moon – one of the places where Kharjo‘s Moon Amulet may turn up, in the chest in front of the large half-sunken boat under the forge.
- Ancient Technology – Sorine Jurard may send you here for Enhanced Crossbow Schematics (Dawnguard).
- Protecting the Bloodline – a possible spot for a Master Vampire you need to kill (Dawnguard).
Notable items
- Smithing skill book Cherim’s Heart of Anequina, lying on the workbench.
- The book Brief History of the Empire, Book I.
- Hargar’s Journal, which hints at where one of the hidden chests is.
Tips
Before you start swinging, listen in on the marauders’ chatter – their gossip gives away where much of the loot is hidden. Then go diving: the first chest lies to the left down the ladder by a rock and a skeleton; the second sits past the wooden bridge, down the steps into the water next to another rock and skeleton; the third rests on the deck of the half-sunken boat beside the captain’s quarters; and the fourth, an expert-locked one, is on a sunken platform right under those quarters.
Bring a pickaxe too. Between the ore veins and the forge, you can mine, smelt and smith without leaving the cave.
Good to know
This grotto was once the northernmost spot in the game. With Dawnguard installed, Castle Volkihar takes that title.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Brinewater Grotto, Shadowgreen Cavern, Solitude Lighthouse, Dainty Sload, Ravenscar Hollow.
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.
