Nightingale Hall is a secret cave in the woods south of Riften, home base of the Nightingales – a tiny, secretive sect within the Thieves Guild. Their real job is guarding the Twilight Sepulcher, the main shrine of the Daedric Prince Nocturnal, and the hall doubles as a smaller shrine to her. You can’t just wander in: the place only opens up once you start Trinity Restored.
What you’ll find
- A hall in visible decline: a bed crushed by a fallen section of roof, a toppled bookcase and general neglect.
- Bedrolls and two chests holding some minor loot.
- The armor stone, which hands you the Nightingale Armor during the quest.
- An initiation chamber where Karliah conducts the Nightingale ritual.
- On later visits, a bookcase and nightstand with a few extra books worth a look.
Quests
In Trinity Restored you become one of the Nightingales. Before the group goes after Mercer Frey, Karliah wants a word with both you and Brynjolf here, and you suit up in the Nightingale Armor from the armor stone.
Notable items
- Nightingale Armor
- The Red Kitchen Reader (skill book)
- Purloined Shadows (skill book)
- The Nightingales, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
- The Real Barenziah, Book IV
Tips
Grab both skill books on your first visit – apart from the bedrolls and two modest chests there isn’t much else to loot, but two free skill increases are not nothing. Come back after the questline moves on and check the bookcase and nightstand again, since new reading material appears there. Look for the two “Safe” shadowmarks carved into birch trees on the approach; the Guild leaves breadcrumbs for its own. Be aware that once Trinity Restored is wrapped up, the entrance may end up blocked by a rock, so fast travel is your way out.
Good to know
Stealthy, secret, slightly run down and haunted by Daedric obligations – Nightingale Hall is basically the Thieves Guild’s spare bedroom with a shrine attached.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: The Shadow Stone, Snow-Shod Farm, Forelhost, Riften Stables, Lost Tongue Overlook.
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.
