Movarth’s Lair is a cave north of Morthal, and the place where the town’s vampire problem comes home to roost. The entrance looks like any other hole in the ground, but past the spiders sits Movarth Piquine, a master vampire with a small household of thralls and guards. Most players arrive here at the end of the Morthal vampire storyline, ready to settle things for good.
What you’ll find
- Frostbite spiders right at the start – a hairy warm-up before the vampires.
- A room that splits into three paths, guarded by a Vampire’s Thrall. The right and middle tunnels are dead ends but hold some loot; the left one carries on past a chamber with a hole in the floor and another thrall.
- Movarth’s chamber, where the master vampire waits with two guards. Beyond it, side rooms hold more thralls, a vampire, chests and a winding dirt passage that loops back high above an earlier dead end.
- An Alchemy Lab near the bookshelf in one of the back rooms.
- Alva may turn up here too if she survived the earlier part of the story, so expect one more fight.
- Ingredients: Bleeding Crown, Imp Stool, Namira’s Rot and Vampire Dust from the vampires you put down.
Quests
- Laid to Rest – the Morthal investigation ends here with Movarth. Enter before the Jarl gives you the quest and you will meet a generic Master Vampire in his place.
- Onmund’s Request – a favor for Onmund that can send you here.
- The cave is also listed as a possible spot for Shalidor’s Insights and Totems of Hircine.
Notable items
- Movarth’s Boots.
- Illusion skill book 2920, vol 02 – Sun’s Dawn.
- The Aetherium Wars on a bookshelf by the alchemy lab, plus An Explorer’s Guide to Skyrim.
- A chest with leveled loot behind a thrall in the side chamber east of Movarth.
Tips
Talk to the Jarl first so you get the real Movarth and the quest credit rather than a stand-in. Bring fire or anything that hurts the undead, plus a cure for disease or a potion or two, because getting bitten in a vampire nest is a classic rookie souvenir. Clear the spiders quietly, then take the left tunnel; the other two branches can be looted on the way back. Once Movarth is down, pop into the back rooms for the alchemy lab and the boots before you call it a night.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Morthal, Hjaalmarch Imperial Camp, Ustengrav, Kjenstag Ruins, Abandoned Shack.
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.