Swindler’s Den is a bandit cave east of Rorikstead, southwest of Morthal and west of Whiterun. Most players get to know it through In My Time of Need, when Kematu and his Alik’r warriors use it as their base. The rest of the time it’s packed with leveled bandits – and has a few fun surprises tucked into its corners.
What you’ll find
- Several leveled bandits and a Bandit Chief.
- A practice dummy in the first hall with an apple on its head – and two arrows stuck nowhere near the apple.
- A skeleton in a haystack in an alcove, still reaching for a bottle of ale.
- Climbable boulders to the right of the first hall that open a route straight into the final hall.
- In the fourth large room, a small wooden box on a rock formation holding two refined malachite and a gold ingot.
Quests
- In My Time of Need – the Alik’r hideout; Kematu waits inside.
- Stealing Plans – a Companions job from Aela the Huntress, with Silver Hand members as the targets.
- Rare Gifts – the book Rustleif in Dawnstar wants is here.
- A possible location for Ancient Technology (Dawnguard).
Notable items
- Pickpocket skill book Thief, on a bedroll in the fourth large room.
- Night Falls on Sentinel, on a crate by a deer hide on the ledge above the third room.
- Refined malachite and a gold ingot.
Tips
Jump your way up the boulders by the first hall and you can bypass almost every bandit on the way to the end. During In My Time of Need this can even get the Alik’r and the bandits fighting each other while you watch. Once the cave is clear, grab the bow and iron arrows on the ledge opposite the dummy and try your own William Tell moment. Grab Night Falls on Sentinel quickly, too – it can drop into the crate and become unreachable.
Good to know
Three unmarked spots outside each hide a skill book. Torches south of the fast travel point lead to a Shrine of Stendarr with a strongbox and Twin Secrets. West of there, ruins hold a Shrine of Zenithar, two silver ingots and 2920, Second Seed. North of the ruins, a hollow with a mammoth skeleton, nirnroot and a dead bandit carrying Beggar – guarded by one or two sabre cats.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Whiterun Imperial Camp, Broken Fang Cave, Gjukar’s Monument, Sleeping Tree Camp, Greenspring Hollow.
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.