Castle Karstaag Caverns form a small but surprisingly vertical ice cave in northwestern Solstheim, east of Northshore Landing and west-southwest of Glacial Cave. Added with the Dragonborn expansion, they are at first the only way into the Castle Karstaag Ruins, the frozen courtyard where the frost giant Karstaag keeps his throne. Bring warm thoughts: you will be swimming.
What you’ll find
- Rieklings throwing spears from ledges, guarding campfires and huts on several levels.
- Bristlebacks near a second waterfall, and a mounted riekling in the courtyard.
- A large flooded, ice-choked chamber that you cross by swimming, with bridges stacked above it on three levels.
- Several locked ice doors and side rooms (novice to apprentice locks) – mostly minor loot, a soul gem and a riekling corpse.
- A locked chest underwater beneath the first waterfall, a knapsack with leveled loot and a novice-locked chest with a Dibella statue in a crevice.
- An apothecary’s satchel on some boxes and various riekling huts with random loot.
Quests
Paid in Full – Glover Mallory wants his formula for bonemold armor back from Esmond Tyne. Esmond won’t argue anymore: his corpse lies on a small ice shelf against the south wall of the first big chamber, formula included.
Notable items
- Bonemold Formula on Esmond Tyne’s body.
- Castle Karstaag Key, carried by the mounted riekling in the courtyard; it opens the master-locked door back to the outside.
- Karstaag’s throne in the courtyard, usable once you carry Karstaag’s Skull from Glacial Cave.
Tips
Grab the formula early – it is only a few steps in. Fight the spear-throwing rieklings from cover before climbing into their camps. Two hidden chests sit just before the courtyard exit: after the last bridge, climb the ice on the right to a ledge with the first chest and some armor, then follow the path around an icy pillar and use Whirlwind Sprint to reach the waterfall ledge with the second. Once you have the key, the courtyard door makes return trips much shorter.
Nearby
Closest places on Solstheim covered on TamrielSaga: Castle Karstaag Ruins, Saering’s Watch, Glacial Cave, Stalhrim Source, White Ridge Barrow.
Map position and editor ID read from the Dragonborn game files; details checked against community wiki articles and summarised in our own words.
