Skyrim:The Cursed Tribe

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Help lift the curse placed on the Orcs of Largashbur by Malacath. Quest Giver: Atub Location(s): Largashbur, Fallowstone Cave, Giant's Grove Reward: Volendrung ID: DA06 Required Items: Daedra Heart, Troll Fat, Shagrol's Warhammer Required Level: 9 Suggested Level: 32 Difficulty: Medium

"Yamarz was a coward and a weakling."

Quick Walkthrough

1. (Optional) Hear rumors that something is happening in Largashbur.
2. Help the Orcs of Largashbur repel a giant attack.
3. Speak to Atub.
4. Bring a bowl of troll fat and a daedra heart to Atub.
5. Observe Atub's ritual.
6. Speak with Chief Yamarz.
7. Meet Yamarz at Fallowstone Cave.
8. Protect Yamarz as he journeys to the Giant's Grove.
9. Defeat the giant.
10. Take Shagrol's Hammer back to Largashbur.
11. Place Shagrol's Hammer on the shrine in Largashbur.
12. Collect your reward.

Detailed Walkthrough

Giant Attack

A giant attacking the Orcs at Largashbur

The Orc camp is located in The Rift southwest of Riften. As you approach the town for the first time, a giant will be actively attacking the Orcs at the gate. It's advisable to hurry in and help distract the giant, as it will kill unnamed Orcs left and right and may kill potential followers such as Ugor. After defeating the giant, Ugor and a caster named Atub will begin bickering. Atub will apologize to you and explain that their tribe and leader have been cursed. She has a ritual that may be able to remove it, but needs a bowl of troll fat and a daedra heart to perform it. She'll ask you to retrieve them. Details on where to find them are provided on their individual pages, however the closest place to get both items is in the Jorrvaskr Living Quarters in Whiterun.

Malacath's Ritual

"Now, we begin the ritual..."

After you bring the ingredients to Atub, she will enter Largashbur Longhouse and speak with Chief Yamarz about performing the ritual. The Chief isn't thrilled about the ritual, but ultimately agrees to follow her out to the altar. Atub successfully reaches Malacath, whose disembodied voice berates Yamarz for his weakness, abhorring Yamarz for being so weak that even giants openly attack his stronghold. Malacath demands that he kill the giant's leader and return with his club as an offering. Yamarz is irked and demands your assistance in his task, promising lots of gold for helping him.

Hammer Time

"I'll lead the way, but you'd better back me up."

Yamarz will run off towards Fallowstone Cave. If you fast travel there you'll meet him at the entrance and avoid the long trek. He leads the way through the cave, which is remarkably spacious, but rather straight forward. Bears and trolls dwell in the cave and pose some threat, but the giant in the huge main chamber should be far enough away to be avoided entirely. Yamarz will charge down several ledges following the flow of a stream to a pool on the lowest level. He will continue to follow the stream deeper into the cave out of the main chamber and into a smaller cavern occupied by a second giant that can't be so easily avoided. Continue down the tunnel to the southeast as it wends it's way around to a final small chamber littered with bones, likely from the predation of the two bears that make it their home. After dealing with them, follow the quest marker up the path to the left and out to Giant's Grove.

Yamarz's Fork

Once in the grove, Yamarz will offer to pay you even more gold if you kill the giant yourself and let him take credit. Either way, you're left fighting the giant in a very small area.

"Of course, I can't let you leave here alive. Wouldn't want anyone finding out." Help Yamarz If you agree, or if you just kill the giant on your own, he will betray you afterwards, saying that no one can ever know the truth of what happened here. He is extremely well-armored and has tremendous blocking ability, but doesn't hit hard. After killing him, Malacath will praise you for removing both the giant and the conniving, weakling chief. He asks you to take Shagrol's Hammer back to Largashbur and whip the other Orcs back into shape.

"This should only take a second." Honor Malacath's Wishes If you persuade Yamarz to perform his duty, he'll be killed almost immediately by the giant and you'll be left to kill the giant anyway. Malacath will again deride the fallen weakling Chief and send you back to Largashbur.

After defeating the giant, the only way out is back via Fallowstone - only this time you get to the entrance via a long ledge. Just after you enter back into the cave, take the tunnel almost immediately to your left, and follow the ledge round to the left, past the locked chest (unlock and loot, if you've not done so already). Keep going until you see the waterfall ahead of you, then jump down and cross the stream just in front of the waterfall, then follow the route back to the cave entrance.

Claiming Volendrung

A gift from Malacath

Once you return, speak with Atub and tell her of Yamarz's fate. Malacath will speak once more, naming Gularzob the new chief. He will command you to place Shagrol's Hammer on the shrine, where it transforms into the fearsome Volendrung, the Hammer of Might. Make sure you take it from the shrine where it rests in the skull's antlers.

Notes

• Quest stage 10 is never set. It suggests this quest could've originally been started by getting a rumor, but no such rumor exists in the final game or its files.
• Unused dialogue for Atub and Yamarz suggests a slightly different start to this quest, with Atub sending you to speak with Yamarz, and him sending you to an unknown location known as "Malacath's Shrine". Only after conversing with Malacath there, would Atub perform a ritual at the stronghold, wich likely would've resulted in the final task for Yamarz, although what this would've entailed is unknown. An unused talking activor internally known as DA06Shrine seems to be the only remnant of this shrine.
• If you leave the area without picking up Volendrung, it will be lying on the ground behind the altar upon your return.
• Fallowstone Cave can be visited and cleared prior to this quest. Accepting this quest turns it into a giant-themed zone.
• After you complete this quest, you will become Blood-Kin to the Orcs if you were not already.
• It is possible to complete the quest without Yamarz dying by killing the giant yourself and using a Pacify effect on Yamarz on your way back to Largashbur. The objective for protecting Yamarz remains marked as incomplete, but the quest will still complete. The pacified Yamarz will continue his normal routine at his longhouse. However, every time you revisit the stronghold, you will have to pacify him as he will turn hostile.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.2.7, addresses this issue. Yamarz has been made immune to Pacify effects.
• If Gularzob is killed before the quest ends, Malacath will still name him the new chief as if he was alive.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 2.0.8, addresses this issue. He is essential until after completing the quest.
• You will need to level up via skill increases to or beyond level 9 for the quest to be eligible to start. You cannot be console-commanded to an arbitrarily high level and start the quest.

Bugs

• Upon arriving at Largashbur, the giant may be attacking but the gate may be closed and locked. Ugor may also have been killed by the giants.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.2.5, fixes this bug.
  • Workaround: Proceed west from the gate along the stronghold's wall and turn left at the end. You can jump over the wall from the slanted support poles between the wall and the adjacent rocky mountain base. The NPCs will then behave as if the gate had been unlocked. Speak to Atub to initiate the quest. She is usually located atop the guard tower next to the gate.
  • If you arrive at Largashbur before level 9, the giant will not be attacking. If you then fast-travel there later with a follower, ready to fight the giant, you may be able to save Ugor if you kill the giant fast enough.
• Sometimes if you tell Yamarz to kill the giant, the giant will not respond to Yamarz's attacks and will be killed. When you talk to Yamarz he will behave as though you killed the giant for him and attack you. When you strike back he will die instantly.
  • If you notice this happening before the giant dies, use the Console and select the giant, then type disable, hit Enter, then type enable. This should reset the giant and get him to attack.
• If you kill the giant and Yamarz, Malacath may say that "Giants took care of Yamarz", and if you allow the giant to kill Yamarz, Malacath may say that you took care of both "giants" and Yamarz.
• After placing Shagrol's Hammer on the shrine, Volendrung may not appear. Try loading a previous save and attemping again.
• It seems that transforming into a werewolf renders you unable to transform back while in Giant's Grove, which can make the fight against the giant (and potentially Yamarz as well) much more difficult. Once you leave Giant's Grove, you can use the wait function (1-2 hours is enough) to transform back; until that point, attempting to wait will give you a "you can't wait in this location" message.
• Occasionally, Yamarz may attack your follower, if you have one.
  • Once your follower's health is depleted and they run off, the quest will continue as usual, and your follower should return the first time you fast travel after the giant is defeated.
• At the end of the mission, after you've defeated the final giant and had your romp with Yamarz the treacherous orc, you may not be able to search the corpse of the giant. The arrow will remain over his head, but you will be unable to search his inventory for his gold, giant's toe, and most importantly Shagrol's Hammer.
  • To fix this, fast travel between Fallowstone Cave and Giant's Grove (to launch the loading screen) and this time around you should be able to search the giant to find the quest item.
• Sometimes upon discovering the stronghold, there will be no giant and no one at the gate. If you attempt to enter, some of the orcs will attack.
• Even after completing this quest and gaining Malacath's forgiveness for the tribe and ridding them of the curse, giants will still attack them after enough time has passed.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.2.5, fixes this bug.
• Yamarz may not follow you through the exit and entrance to the cave. Simply go through and back behind him and he will move.
• Unlike most companions in quests, if you hit Yamarz by mistake even once at any point during the quest (before he attacks you), it may count as an assault and earn you a 40 gold blood price owed to the Orcs. You can yield and pay Yamarz right away, though the gold won't be found on him when he dies. If this occurs in front of witnesses, however (such as during a random encounter passing through Riften), you will also get a bounty in The Rift. ^?
• If you kill the giant without making a deal with Yamarz, Malacath will incorrectly say that the giant took care of Yamarz.
  Mod Notes: The check is only if Stage 100 is completed, which only occurs if you actually make a deal with Yamarz.
• If you attack Yamarz early, then kill the giant you have to kill in the quest, then return to the stronghold you can finish the quest but if you wait a few days or so Yamarz will return. Both he and Gularzob will act like they're the chief.
• When following him to Fallowstone Cave he may sometimes run to Honorhall Orphanage in Riften and stay there ^?
• Sometimes after bringing the required items to Atub for her to complete the ritual, she will walk up her tower and do absolutely nothing.
  • A workaround on PC is to stand at the longhouse door and use the moveto.player console command on Atub.
• It is possible that Yamarz will be on the upper ledge when entering the cave. ^?
  • You can climb the cliff to the ledge he is on and bypass most of the cave to arrive in Giant's Grove.

Quest Stages

The Cursed Tribe (DA06)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		I've heard rumors there's some kind of problem in the Orc settlement of Largashbur, southwest of Riften. Objective 10: Find out what's happening in Largashbur
50		The orcs of Largashbur are besieged by giants, and have been forbidden to leave their stronghold. Atub, the wise woman of the tribe, has asked me to find her Troll Fat and a Daedra Heart so that she may contact Malacath for guidance. Objective 50: Bring Troll Fat and a Daedra Heart to Atub
60		Objective 60: Observe Atub's ritual
70		Malacath has spoken to his followers and expressed disappointment in them. He is angry they allowed his shrine to be desecrated, and has commanded the chieftain of Largashbur, Yamarz, to return to the shrine and reclaim it. Objective 70: Speak with Yamarz
80		Despite being specifically instructed by Malacath to see to it himself, Yamarz wants my help in defeating the giants that have overrun Fallowstone Cave and the shrine of Malacath. He's promised to pay me in exchange for making sure he arrives there safely. Objective 80: Meet Yamarz at Fallowstone Cave
90		Objective 90: Protect Yamarz
100		After Malacath ordered him to retake the shrine in Fallowstone Cave, Yamarz insisted that I escort him there to make sure he arrived safely. Now he has offered to pay me even more in exchange for killing the giant myself, to which I have agreed. Objective 100: Defeat the giant
110		After escorting Yamarz to Fallowstone Cave and proving myself more worthy, Malacath has commanded me to return to Largashbur and deliver Shagrol's Hammer there. Objective 110: Take Shagrol's Hammer back to Largashbur
120		Objective 120: Place Shagrol's Hammer on the shrine in Largashbur
200	Finishes quest	The curse placed on the Orcs of Largashbur is lifted. The tribe's leader, Yamarz, was revealed as a shiftless weakling in Malacath's eyes, and I have redeemed his actions by defeating the giant that had taken over the shrine in Fallowstone Cave. Malacath has named Gularzob as the new chief, and has named me his new Champion.
255	Fails quest

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 20, 30, 40.

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage DA06 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest DA06.