Skyrim:Stony Creek Cave

The exterior of Stony Creek Cave is marked by a small pond in a snowy area of Eastmarch just north of Ansilvund and south of the Eastmarch Imperial Camp. 

 
Related Quests
  
 

 
Radiant Quests
 


 

 

Walkthrough
Exterior
The entrance to the cave is by a small pond with a jetty and rowboat to the west. With the Fishing creation, some Fishing Supplies can be found here. Fish from Temperate Lakes can be caught here. The middle of the pond bed features several harvestable clams. The cave entrance is to the east of the pier; a stream accompanied by rising steam flows out of the cave into the pond. There is a stack of crates with three food sacks to the right of the entrance, and several Nordic barnacle clusters on the rock walls on either side of the entrance.

Stony Creek Cave
right|thumb|Interior of Stony Creek Cave
The cave itself consists of the stream that fills the pond at the entrance, and has two main areas. The first thing you see upon entering is a dead Breton drooped over a beam in front of the stream. The water here contains some salmon and two lootable skeletons. The path is made up of some planks that extend into the water to the right-hand side of the water. After turning the first corner along the path formed by the stream, the air appears to be shimmering; this is flammable gas, and can be ignited with flames or a torch (just having a flame spell equipped is enough to set it off). The gas extends almost to the end chamber and partway into the side chamber, and if ignited, will deal significant damage to any enemies caught in the blast. However, any remaining enemies will be on high alert after igniting the gas, making any further stealth approach very difficult. The tunnel is patrolled by two bandits.

The side room is down a tunnel to the right shortly before the main path takes a left turn. There is a bandit on lookout here on high alert; he is always sitting on the edge of the planks at the entrance to the side tunnel, beside a lantern, even though a chair is available for use. At the bottom of the planks is a lootable skeleton, and behind the bandit is a medium coin purse, an imp stool, and a Namira's Rot. To the left before the fungi and between the lit sconces, the tunnel continues to the side room. Halfway through the tunnel is a tripwire which triggers a swinging mace trap hanging from the ceiling, but if you sprint through the trap, the swinging mace should not hit you. This room contains the boss bandit, who carries Treasure Map X; upon his death, the cave will be marked Cleared on the map. With the Ruin's Edge Creation installed, the boss will be carrying the Ruin's Edge bow the first time you kill him.

This boss room also contains an alchemy lab with a bowl of ectoplasm on top. To the left of that is a table with an orange dartwing and a bowl holding some deathbell flowers on top. To the right is a bench with an unusual gem, a random poison, a bowl of fire salts, and the Illusion skill book Mystery of Talara, Part 4. In the corner is the unlocked boss chest, which contains Finn's Lute and other random loot from the leveled lists. Growing around the room are two bleeding crown, one white cap, and one Namira's Rot.

Returning to the tunnel and going north, on a ledge to the right just past the end of the gas is a Namira's Rot. There is one last bandit in the large chamber, mining one of the two moonstone ore veins that are marked by lit lanterns. There is also an apprentice-locked chest near the ore vein to the left, a couple more skeletons that can be looted, and several food sacks in this chamber. Finally, there is a waterfall falling from a ledge on the rear wall with an exit from Kagrenzel in the short tunnel beyond, which is accessible from this direction only by careful jumping up the small rock face beneath the waterfall.

Notes
With the Saints & Seducers Creation installed, a unique Bliss Bug in a Jar can be found sitting on a pair of crates immediately to the left as you enter the final large chamber.
The creek feeding the waterfall in the mining chamber can be used to access Kagrenzel by climbing and jumping up the cliff and/or using the Whirlwind Sprint shout.
Some radiant quests may point to Stony Creek Cave when the actual objective is in Kagrenzel, located within a short distance after entering it either directly or by using the technique above.
There is a corundum ore vein a short distance directly east of the cave, and an iron ore vein slightly northwest of that.
The cave reappears in Legends.

Bugs
 
 
Forcing the dungeon to respawn, either through taking one of the quests that require a boss bandit or waiting 30 days should make one spawn.