Skyrim:An Axe to Find

Quick Walkthrough
# Speak to Glover Mallory in Raven Rock.
# Retrieve his ancient Nordic pickaxe from Crescius Caerellius.
# Return to Glover Mallory.

Detailed Walkthrough
That Foolish Old Man
The blacksmith of Raven Rock, Glover Mallory, has plenty of problems, both with his affiliation with the Thieves Guild in Riften and his messy family affairs. Additionally, he's got a problem with an eighty year old ex-miner who borrowed his ancient Nordic pickaxe and forgot to give it back. Locate Glover Mallory near his smithy in the center of town and he will ask, ''"You haven't seen  Crescius Caerellius have you? That foolish old man's taken my pickaxe again!"'' He will then explain that it's not an ordinary pickaxe, but a rarity in Solstheim. Since Glover has some shady business going on he will refuse to call the guards and will tell you, ''"Um, I prefer to handle these things on my own. Look, if you see Crescius, tell him to give me that pickaxe back and I'll pay you for the trouble."'' You can then ask what the pickaxe is good for and he will readily explain that it's the only tool able to crack stalhrim and that he traded that pickaxe with residents from Skaal Village. 

The Damn Fool
Seek out Crescius Caerellius. If you have yet to finish The Final Descent you can find him around the clock inside Raven Rock Mine and you will have to initiate said quest before he will discuss the pickaxe. Otherwise, he will have returned to his daily routine and can be found either at home or in the mine. When you mention the pickaxe, he will immediately say, ''"The damn fool doesn't even deserve to have it! The pickaxe was made for mining, not selling. I'll bet he stole it from the Skaal in the first place." 

NOTE: If you already have an Ancient Nordic Pickaxe in your inventory, you may not be able to open any dialog with Crescius about it, preventing you from advancing the quest. If this happens, simply drop, store or sell the one in your inventory until after you have gotten beyond the above dialog with him.

Once Crescius has enabled the dialog about the pickaxe and responded to your inquiry as outlined above, you will have three reply options available, and the reward will differ depending on your decision: 



The Two Rewards
If you chose the first option, return to Glover and tell him you have his pickaxe, which he will then let you keep as a reward: "So you finally tracked down old Crescius, eh? Quite a character, isn't he. Tell you what. Since you went through all the trouble of finding it for me and all, you keep it." He will then tell you why: "I just wanted to remind that codger you can't just go around taking things from other people. Now that you've delivered the message, I'm satisfied. Besides, that pickaxe hasn't done me any good in years. Maybe you can put it to good use." If you chose the second option, he will be quite bitter about the whole thing but will still hand you a leveled amount of gold: "Blast! That careless old fool. Well, thanks for trying anyway. Here you go... for your trouble."''

 

Notes
Glover lets you keep the pickaxe as a reward for finishing the quest. Because it's a weightless quest item until you turn it in, you may prefer not to give it to him at all.

Quest Stages