The Gildergreen, the sacred tree in front of the Temple of Kynareth in Whiterun, is in sorry shape, and priestess Danica Pure-Spring believes it is only sleeping. Her cure is sap from its parent, the ancient Eldergleam, which means a trip across Whiterun Hold and beyond, a fight with a witch coven and a decision about how much you are willing to hurt a very old tree.
How to start
- Talk to Danica Pure-Spring while she is near the Gildergreen or inside the Temple of Kynareth in Whiterun.
- Ask her about the tree. She explains that the Gildergreen grew from a cutting of the Eldergleam and that sap from the parent should wake it up.
- There are no level or faction requirements.
Walkthrough
1. Take Nettlebane from Orphan Rock
Only one weapon can pierce the Eldergleam: the dagger Nettlebane. It is held by a small coven at Orphan Rock – four witches under the command of a Hagraven, who carries the blade. Archers can thin the coven out from the nearby Falkreath Stormcloak Camp before moving in. A well-aimed Unrelenting Force can knock the Hagraven off the rock to her death, but be careful: Nettlebane is on her body, and if she tumbles far into the forest you will have to go looking for her corpse.
2. Bring Nettlebane to Danica
Back in Whiterun, Danica refuses to touch the blade, calling it a foul thing, and sends you straight on to gather the sap yourself. At this point a pilgrim named Maurice Jondrelle speaks up: he also wants to visit the Eldergleam and asks to come along. You can accept or refuse, and that choice decides which endings are open to you.
Be aware that Maurice is a liability on the road. He has no weapons or armour, you cannot give him any, and he charges into every fight with his bare fists (he may grab a weapon from a fallen enemy). If you want him alive at the sanctuary, the safest approach is to discover Eldergleam Sanctuary before taking the quest, then fast travel there with him.
3. Eldergleam Sanctuary
Inside the cavern you will meet two more pilgrims, Asta and Sond. Thick roots block the path to the Eldergleam’s trunk, and the only way past them is to strike them with Nettlebane, which makes them pull back. From here the quest splits:
- Take the sap: walk up to the trunk and collect the sap. The tree defends itself by summoning Spriggans (at higher levels led by a Spriggan Earth Mother), and they attack everyone in the sanctuary, pilgrims included.
- Take a sapling: if Maurice is with you, he objects as soon as the roots are cut. Hear him out and he prays to the tree instead; it rewards him with a sapling. Follow Maurice and take the sapling. No Spriggans appear, so Asta and Sond survive.
4. Return to Danica
Bring the sap or the sapling back to Danica. The sap is accepted gladly; the sapling makes her worry that the temple will lose the visitors who come to see the old tree, but she accepts it in the end. Either way the quest completes, and the Gildergreen soon blossoms again (or a young tree takes its place).
Choices and consequences
- Sap: triggers the Spriggan fight. If Asta and Sond survive it, they turn cold and tell you to leave; Asta also reacts this way if you show her Nettlebane in conversation.
- Sapling: peaceful, keeps the pilgrims alive, but requires escorting Maurice.
- The source notes no lasting gameplay difference between the two endings beyond the result in Whiterun and what the guards say afterwards.
- It is reportedly possible to get both: after Maurice suggests his plan, rush to the tree and take the sap anyway. Maurice turns hostile along with the Spriggans; once the creatures are dead, sheathe your weapon and he calms down, prays, and the sapling can still be picked up. Hand the sap to Danica.
Rewards
- +1 Restoration skill.
- Danica offers Master-level Restoration training.
- Nettlebane loses its quest-item status: you can keep it and improve it at a grindstone, but it cannot be enchanted.
Tips and notes
- The skill book Mystery of Talara, Book II (Restoration) leans against the stone Asta sits on in the sanctuary.
- Behind one of the Eldergleam’s roots in the top chamber sits a hidden chest with leveled loot. Another chest with gems is on a rocky shelf just past Asta, next to a corundum ore vein.
- A Spriggan freed earlier at Snapleg Cave that waits outside the sanctuary stays friendly even if you take the sap.
- Finishing the quest may cause Ardwen to show up.
- Whiterun guards comment afterwards on either the saved Gildergreen or the new sapling.
