Mistwatch is a stone fort carved into the side of a cliff in the mountains due east of Darkwater Crossing. It’s held by a gang calling themselves the Mistwatch Bandits, whose business model is kidnapping travellers and holding them for ransom. You’ll often learn about it from a frightened woman you meet on the road, or from a worried husband waiting in the first tower.
What you’ll find
- An outer courtyard guarded by several bandits, and one tower that’s part of the exterior.
- Three separate tower interiors – North, West and East – linked by a lower and a higher balcony, plus a fifth tower lying in ruins.
- Christer in the North Tower, along with an alchemy lab in its top room.
- A cooking fire, lean-to and sleeping mat on the lower balcony (the North Tower’s roof).
- Cells in the West Tower holding the body of an Imperial woman, and a note revealing that a bandit named Burbag beat a captive too hard.
- The bandit leader’s quarters and more cells in the East Tower.
Quests
Forgetting about Fjola – Christer asks you to rescue his wife Fjola, whom he believes the bandits took, and hands over the Mistwatch Key. The note in the West Tower mentions that “the boss” is a she, and after you talk to Fjola any surviving bandits stop attacking. We’ll let you connect those dots yourself.
Notable items
- Hallgerd’s Tale (Heavy Armor skill book) on the dresser in the leader’s room.
- The Wolf Queen, Books II and VII.
Tips
You don’t have to fight your way through every tower in order. Coming from the mountains above, you can drop onto the higher balcony and pick the tower lock there, which gets you to the leader faster. Doing things out of order can occasionally leave the West Tower bandits non-hostile, which is either a bug or excellent diplomacy.
Think before you swing at the end of the quest: if you accept Fjola’s offer and then kill her anyway, the quest can break when you report back to Christer. If you want her dead, tell Christer the truth instead. And talk to Christer before storming in – he’s the one with the key.
Good to know
Just north of the fort is an unmarked spot known as Mistwatch Folly, worth a look if you’re already up in the mountains.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: The Atronach Stone, Darkwater Crossing, Northwind Mine, Clearspring Tarn, Eldergleam Sanctuary.
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.