Chillwind Depths is a half-drowned cave just south of Dragon Bridge, west of Morthal, with its entrance beside a small waterfall. Travellers on the nearby road have a nasty habit of disappearing, and this is where they end up. Come for the mystery, stay for the mushrooms – the cave reportedly holds more alchemy fungi than any other location in the game.
What you’ll find
- Frostbite spiders in the first chambers.
- A small Falmer settlement deeper in, with leveled Falmer (skulkers, nightprowlers, shadowmasters) and chaurus including reapers – and Chaurus Hunters if you have Dawnguard.
- Flooded tunnels and a hidden underwater chamber reachable only by diving; air pockets along the way mean you can make it without Waterbreathing. An apprentice-locked chest with leveled loot waits inside.
- Bodies of adventurers and prisoners all over the cave, among them Firir, who carries a heartbreaking torn note addressed to his love.
- A final sacrificial chamber with a stone altar, a dead prisoner, a Falmer sword and many skeletons in the water beneath. Beyond it, a room with good loot in an unlocked chest and on a table.
- Ore veins and an absurd amount of ingredients.
Notable items
- Advances in Lockpicking – Lockpicking skill book on the table with the wine keg in the last room.
- Mushrooms by the dozen: Namira’s Rot, blisterwort, imp stool, white cap, bleeding crown, glowing mushroom and fly amanita.
- Well over a hundred chaurus egg sacks.
- Cabbage Soup – this is reportedly the only place in the game where you can find it.
Tips
There is a sneaky shortcut. Right in front of the entrance, a rock pillar leans to the left. Climb onto it, then use Whirlwind Sprint to launch yourself to a cobweb-covered doorway – the cave’s back exit. From there you can loot the final room without a fight and even sneak-attack the boss, who spawns facing away from the corridor.
Bring empty pockets if you brew potions. One trip here can stock an alchemist for weeks.
Good to know
A journal at an unmarked adventurer’s campsite on the road toward Dragon Bridge describes caravan kidnappings and the writer’s plan to investigate this cave; he is presumably one of the bodies near the entrance. Firir’s beloved Eydis can be found at Old Hroldan, though sadly there is no way to tell her what happened. A Solitude guard may also mention travellers vanishing south of Dragon Bridge, which adds the cave to your map.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Cliffside Retreat, Dragon Bridge Overlook, Liar’s Retreat, Forebears’ Holdout, Broken Tower Redoubt.
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.