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Background
The first time you enter Falkreath, you'll witness a funeral in progress in the town's graveyard (located near the Hall of the Dead). Afterwards, when you talk to Mathies, you'll learn that it was his daughter who was buried, and that she was killed -- no, ripped apart -- by a wanderer named Sinding, who can now be found in the town's jail (located under the barracks). The conversation with Mathies will trigger the quest.
Note: On the upper floor of the barracks, you'll find the book
The Legendary Sancre Tor, which will increase your Two-Handed skill by 1.
Walkthrough
When you talk to Sinding, he'll tell you that he's a werewolf, and that to control his transformations, he picked up a Ring of Hircine. Unfortunately, Hircine then cursed the ring, which caused him to transform randomly, including when he was near Mathies' daughter. Sinding will then tell you that there's a "large, majestic" beast in the forest near Falkreath, and that whoever kills it might be allowed to talk to Hircine and ask for the curse to be removed. If you offer to hunt for this beast for him, then Sinding will give you his
Cursed Ring of Hircine (which you'll automatically equip), and he'll climb out of his cell and escape.
You'll find the beast, a white stag, loitering near a stream located to the east of Falkreath. It won't be any more difficult to kill than any other deer, so you shouldn't have any trouble defeating it. When the stag dies, an Aspect of Hircine will appear, and when you ask him about removing the curse, he'll charge you with hunting down and killing Sinding, since apparently Sinding stole the ring that he gave to you. However, the aspect will warn you that you're not alone; others are hunting for Sinding as well.
To join the hunt, you'll need to enter Bloated Man's Grotto, which is located to the north of Falkreath. There you'll find a camp for the hunters (#1) -- except most of the hunters will be dead, and the lone survivor will only be able to tell you that "the prey is strong" before succumbing to his wounds.
Shortly past the camp (#2), Sinding will make you an offer. He'll promise to be your ally and to stay away from civilized life if you let him live. You'll have two choices for how to proceed:
- If you choose to side with Hircine, then Sinding will retreat farther into the grotto (#4), where he'll get attacked by a group of hunters. Sinding won't have much of a problem with these hunters, but you can use them as a distraction while you attack him. After Sinding dies, when you go to loot his corpse, you'll be allowed to tear the skin from his body. Doing so will cause another Aspect of Hircine to appear, and he'll collect the
Cursed Ring of Hircine and
Sinding's Skin from you, and he'll give you a
Savior's Hide in return.
- If you choose to side with Sinding, then you'll need to defeat the remaining hunters. To find then, just keep moving forward on the path through the grotto. You'll encounter the hunters in two groups. Sinding will help you in these battles, and he'll throw the hunters around, making them pretty easy to kill. After defeating the hunters, Sinding will decide to live in the grotto where he won't be able to hurt anybody. Then when you leave the grotto, another Aspect of Hircine will appear before you. Surprisingly, he'll be happy that you "turned the chase inside out," and he'll remove the curse from your ring, leaving you with a regular
Ring of Hircine.
You can also claim both rewards from the quest. To do so, side with Sinding and kill the hunters. Then after talking to Sinding and completing the quest, kill him. An Aspect of Hircine will appear and give you the
Savior's Hide. Then when you leave the grotto, another Aspect of Hircine will appear and give you the
Ring of Hircine.
1 - Camp
2 - Sinding Offer
3 - Shrine of Talos
During the quest, this shrine won't appear here. To get it to appear, you'll need to complete the quest, leave the grotto, and then wait for the grotto to reset. When the shrine is here, you'll find
Bolar's Writ and
Bolar's Oathblade at it.
4 - Sinding Battle
Exits:
- World exit.
