Japhet's Folly

Japhet's Folly is an island settlement on a small island called Rockjoint Island, located in the far north-east of Skyrim. It is home to the Blood Horkers, a band of pirates led by Haldyn. This is the objective of the quest "Rise in the East," given by Orthus Endario, from the East Empire Company Office in Windhelm.
==Location==
The island lies far northeast of Winterhold, making it one of the most secluded locations in all of Skyrim. 
===Sea Cave===
The Dragonborn can covertly enter the fort on the island, Japhet's Folly Towers, through the cave under the nearest tower to the East Empire Company's ship. One Blood Horker and two mudcrabs are encountered upon entering the cave. A chest filled with random loot can be found near the entrance to Japhet's Folly Towers.
===Japhet's Folly Towers===
It is accessible via a frontal assault and lockpicking a master-level door. If one follows the perimeter from the main gate to the left, round both of the towers, there is a section of the wall with logs slanted in on an angle where it is possible to jump over the wall. However, the door to the fort requires a key, so the Dragonborn must take the more roundabout route through the sea cave to get inside.
Upon entering Japhet's Folley Towers through the sea cave, the Dragonborn encounters a tower staircase to the left and a dead end to the right. A woodcutter's axe lies on top of several crates at the dead end. When using the staircases ahead, several Blood Horkers attack the Dragonborn. When the top of the tower is reached, a passageway with a door can be seen. If the hallway is followed, the Dragonborn reaches a locked exit to Skyrim, and another tower.
Haldyn is at the top of this tower.
From here, the Dragonborn can choose to go up the staircase on the left and kill Haldyn, thus making it impossible to loot the rest of the fort, or go down the staircase to the right to continue exploring the area. Note that the fort can still be looted before the Dragonborn exits the tower.
If the lower staircase is chosen, the Dragonborn is met with numerous Blood Horkers who will attack on sight. At the bottom of the tower there is an apprentice-level locked chest filled with random loot and an expert-level wooden door. Behind the door lies a level-dependent locked chest and the body of Japhet, along with his journal.
After walking up every staircase in the tower, the Dragonborn reaches Haldyn. The top room has a "boss" chest, an arcane enchanter, and four books, along with various other items.
After the Dragonborn kills Haldyn and exits the tower in which he resides, the island will be assaulted with explosive arrows by the East Empire Company mercenaries, thus destroying the settlement and killing all the pirates, making the island completely uninhabitable.
==Notable items==
*Japhet's Journal – At the bottom of the main tower is an expert-level door, leading to a cobweb-filled room containing the corpse of Japhet, his journal, a leveled sword and a chest.
==Trivia==
*This location is only meant to be visited during the quest "Rise in the East" by speaking to Adelaisa Vendicci.
*It is advised that the Dragonborn loots everything before killing Haldyn, as his death causes irreversible changes in the tower complex and surrounding land which will render parts of the tower complex inaccessible. If the loot then exceeds the carry weight limit, it is recommended not to stash it on the surface of the island, as the artillery barrage will destroy any containers and their contents. Instead, excess loot should be placed in the chest nearest to the exit of the sea cave near the bottom of the island and retrieved prior to returning to the East Empire Company ship.
*In his journal, Japhet refers to the fort as "Japhet's Fortress."
*The location's name alludes to Japhet's idea to build a fortress on an iceberg in the middle of the sea.
*The area outside the fort can be waited in, but cannot be fast-traveled from.
*Japhet mentions stories of ghosts inhabiting the island, however no ghosts are seen in game, leaving the stories unverified.
*The Clear Skies shout cannot clear the fog Haldyn creates.
**Additionally, the shout will not make the clouds in the sky to disperse like it normally does.
==Bugs==
* If one goes back up into the tower from the sea cave after the artillery barrage begins, the wrecked tower chamber will not have the door that would normally allow a return to the sea cave from the wrecked tower. It will take reloading a prior save game file or using console commands to return to the rest of Skyrim.
*It is possible to return to the island by fast traveling, but it is impossible to leave again. A previous save file must be reloaded.
** PC users can use the console command coc riverwood, taking the Dragonborn outside Riverwood.
**This issue has been fixed by the official patch 1.9 by removing Japhet's Folly as a fast travel location.
*Sometimes, after fast traveling back to the island, the artillery barrage hits several points consistently, at a rate much higher than that of the input from the boat.
*To the south of the island there is a small boat. If it is swam to, it will look like the artillery barrage begins, no damage is caused by the explosions to either the Dragonborn or the pirates and the appearance of the island does not change. The artillery barrage will end soon after the Dragonborn swims to the island again.
* Occasionally, Bandits can spawn in place of Blood Horkers on the island. They will fight alongside the pirates and will otherwise act like the typical Blood Horkers during the quest.
*Using the Storm Call shout will make the fog effect surrounding the island disappear, though killing Haldyn will still be necessary to advance the quest.
==Appearances==
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de:Japhets Torheit
es:Locura de Japhet
ru:Каприз Иафета
Category:Skyrim: Winterhold Hold Locations