Skyrim:Stendarr's Beacon

Imperial Tower: Stendarr's Beacon (view on map)
Clearable	Yes (See bugs)
Respawn Time	10 days
Level	Min: 6
Important Treasure
The Exodus
Console Location Code(s)
StendarrsBeaconExterior01, StendarrsBeaconExterior02
Region
The Rift
Location
Southeast of Riften South of Black-Briar Lodge
Special Features
# of Cooking Pots/Spits	1

Stendarr's Beacon

Stendarr's Beacon is a small tower southeast of Riften.

Walkthrough

The path to the beacon branches south from the main road southeast of Riften, opposite the path toward Black-Briar Lodge. The path passes another path leading northwest to Broken Helm Hollow, and continues south then east before climbing north. At the top, the beacon is ahead to the left. Outside the tower, the three resident Vigilants of Stendarr have set up a makeshift kitchen, complete with a cooking spit and a nearby table holding a satchel, a sliced goat cheese, three potatoes, a raw rabbit leg, and a joint of raw beef, with a knapsack beside the table. A silver ore vein is a few feet west of the cooking spit. Around the back of the tower is a lootable skeleton, with a random sword and helmet lying next to it.

Inside the tower, the Vigilants have set up a shrine of Stendarr with their bedrolls to the left, one of which has a copy of the Restoration skill book The Exodus resting on it that you may freely take. If you take the stairs to the top of the tower, you will find a large campfire and an unlocked chest containing minor loot owned by the Vigilants; being seen to loot the chest will turn the Vigilants hostile.

Notes

• To the southeast, a flag can be seen flying up on the ridge. The path up to the ridge is splashed with blood, and a frost troll roams the area. At the base of the flagpole is an apprentice-locked strongbox and one or two other pieces of loot, with some humanoid remains nearby. The strongbox doesn't respawn.
• At the foot of the next ridge to the east, before turning right onto the blood-stained path upward, there is a second silver ore vein on the right.
• A corundum ore vein is west of the tower, and two iron ore veins are east of the tower.

Bugs

• To mark this location as cleared, you must kill all three Vigilants in one go. If you leave one or more alive and leave the area for long enough for them to despawn, it will be impossible to clear the tower later, as the three Vigilants never respawn.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 2.0.1, addresses this issue. The incorrectly applied clearable flag has been removed altogether.