Fort Neugrad is a stone fort on the shore of a lake southeast of Helgen. Early in the game it’s a bandit hideout; later it becomes a prize in the Civil War, held by the Imperial Legion and targeted by the Stormcloaks camping nearby at Falkreath Stormcloak Camp. Whoever holds it, the fort has plenty of loot, books and secrets to reward a careful explorer.
What you’ll find
- A main hall and a prison. The prison has a secret passage leading to and from the bottom of the lake.
- Bandits on your first visit, led by a boss-level bandit leader upstairs in the southeast room who stays put until you open the door.
- A locked library off the dining hall, opened with the Fort Neugrad Library Key from the bandit leader (or a lockpick). Inside waits a hostile mage named Brandish.
- Forge, anvil and workbench outside.
Quests
- Rescue from Fort Neugrad – free Stormcloak prisoners, entering via the front gate or the sneaky underwater tunnel near the dock, then clean out the remaining Imperials with Ralof. Part of Liberation of Skyrim.
- The Battle for Fort Neugrad – an Imperial mission to retake the fort, only offered if it was handed over in Season Unending (see Reunification of Skyrim).
Notable items
- Light Armor skill book Jornibret’s Last Dance in the library.
- Fort Neugrad Treasure Map on the roof – reach it via an easily missed ladder in one of the upstairs rooms. It points to a chest across the lake.
- Bandit’s Journal on the bandit leader, and an Imperial or Stormcloak missive depending on who holds the fort.
- A locked chest in the water below the wine cellar (go behind the cupboard), and another near the hidden exit under a sunken boat in the lake.
- Books including The Arcturian Heresy, Report: Disaster at Ionith and The Wolf Queen, Book V.
Tips
For the treasure map chest, walk around the fort to the lake shore and follow it along the left side until roughly halfway, where a flat spot ringed by rocks hides the chest. If you clear the bandits before choosing a side in the war, Imperial soldiers move in afterwards; pick a side first and the bandits simply respawn later. And if you joined the Legion, don’t be shocked to see bandits still squatting here after the war – apparently nobody got round to the paperwork.
Good to know
Once a faction takes over, the smithy gets a new wooden building and the old carriage area turns into covered stables. The name mixes German “neu” (new) with the Slavic “grad” (city).
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Southfringe Sanctum, Falkreath Stormcloak Camp, Greywater Grotto, Helgen, Orphan Rock.
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.