Eldergleam Sanctuary Guide: The Blessings of Nature Intro

• About
• Latest Posts

Xavier Geitz

Xavier is a featured contributor for Scrolls Guided. His adventure into the Elder Scrolls series started as a filthy casual child playing Morrowind on the Original Xbox. He would dive back into Vvardenfell properly on PC years later and has refused to leave. While he thoroughly enjoys other Elder Scrolls games, Morrowind remains his favorite Elder Scrolls game and game period.

Latest posts by Xavier Geitz (see all)

• Elder Scrolls Morrowind Best Build - April 4, 2023
• Skyrim Elder Knowledge Guide - January 21, 2023
• Blackreach Skyrim Guide - January 21, 2023

When it comes to the gods in the Elder Scrolls series, the Daedric Princes definitely get the most attention. With gods like Sheogorath, it’s hard for them not to. But that doesn’t mean that the Imperial Gods are pushovers or beings you should ignore. The Imperial Pantheon consists of Nine Divines (Or eight, if you talk to a Thalmor), Kynareth being one of them. 

Goddess of Air, Wind, and Sky, Kynareth is every hippie’s favorite Imperial Deity. The big Gildergreen tree in the center of Whiterun’s Win district is sacred to those who follow Kynareth.

But the Gildergreen has seen better days, and for whatever reason, Kynareth herself is too busy to do anything about it. It looks like it’s time for a mortal to step in and do the Elder Scrolls’ equivalent of Mother Nature, this solid.

Recommendations

• Complete The Blessings of Nature before Dragon Rising
• Discover Eldergleam Sanctuary before doing The Blessings of Nature
• Complete as early as possible

Location

To begin The Blessings of Nature, speak with Danica Pure-Spring in Whiterun. She will either be in the Temple of Kynareth or sitting on a bench near the Gildergreen Tree in the Wind District.

The first part of the quest will take you to Orphan’s Rock, northeast of Helgen.

The final leg of the quest requires you to travel to Eldergleam Sanctuary, southeast of Whiterun or southwest of Windhelm.

Notable Loot

• Witherskins (Restoration skill book. Read-only)
• Nettlebane
• Mystery of Talara, Book 2 (Restoration skill book. Read-only)
• Cherim’s Heart (Smithing skill book. Read-only)
• Access to Master Restoration trainer

A Branch Off The Old Tree

Head for Whiterun and strike up a conversation with Danica Pure-Spring, head of the Temple of Kynareth. Ask her about the Gildergreen Tree, and she will tell you that it was grown from a cutting of the original Eldergleam Tree. Pilgrims from all over Tamriel come to see it in person.

Unfortunately, the Gildergreen is in bad shape, and Danica is looking for a way to revitalize it. According to her, trees like that sleep but never die, so she’s looking for something to wake it up. She believes that tapping into the Eldergleam Tree will do the trick. 

There’s just one catch; it’s impossible to tap into the Eldergleam Tree with normal means. Danica has an idea, though. There’s a weapon called Nettlebane that Hagravens use in their sacrificial rituals of spriggans. If anything can cut into the Eldergleam, it’ll be Nettlebane. 

Danica is aware that a Hagraven at a place called Orphan Rock has a Nettlebane, but she’s too terrified of Hagravens to get it herself. Do a priestess a kindness, won’t you?

Also, before leaving the temple, read the copy of Witherskins on the bookshelf to increase your Restoration by 1. 

Obtaining Nettlebane

Travel to Orphan Rock whichever way you want (Heading there from Helgen is the easiest path), and prepare for a small fight. Several hags and their Hagraven master occupy Orphan Rock. 

If you want to play it extra safe, the Falkreath Stormcloak Camp is a short way southeast of Orphan Rock. You can lure the hags near the camp, and the soldiers there will kill them. 

After killing the Hagraven, loot the Nettlebane off her corpse, then head back to Danica. She’s having a conversation with Maurice Jondrelle, a Kynareth follower. He will be inquiring about the condition of the Gildergreen before Danica dismisses him as she has work to do. 

Report your success in retrieving Nettlebane to Danica, and she will tell you that she wants you to use it to obtain some sap from the Eldergleam tree. She believes that this will revitalize the Gildergreen. It’s time to head for the Eldergleam Sanctuary. 

After finishing your conversation with Danica, Maurice will approach you. Having overheard your intention of traveling to Eldergleam Sanctuary, Maurice asks if he can come with you as he’s wanted to see it for years. If you wish to open up a second (And best) option for finishing the quest, agree to let him travel with you. 

Now here comes the problem: Maurice sucks. He has no weapons, no armor, and low HP. You can’t even tell him to walk while you clear dangers ahead. Whichever path you take to reach Eldergleam Sanctuary, it will be dangerous. If you have already completed Dragon Rising, you may run into several dragons along the way. Maurice will likely die before you reach your destination.

You have two options to prevent this from happening:

Discover Eldergleam Sanctuary Beforehand

The best option is to travel to Eldergleam Sanctuary and discover it before the quest. Once Maurice is a follower, simply fast-travel to Eldergleam Sanctuary. 

From my experience, the best path to carve to Eldergleam Sanctuary is following the road from Whiterun and making your way east to Valtheim Towers. It’s a bandit outpost, but they’re initially non-hostile as they’re attempting to extort travelers using the road. There’s a sentry outside the towers, but go wide around her and avoid dialogue to avoid trouble. 

From here, it’s a pretty straightforward path to Eldergleam Sanctuary. Take the road down, then cross the bridge. When you reach an intersection, take a left. Fort Amol will be to your right. 

Continue down this road until you reach another bridge. But instead of crossing it, turn right and cross the river. You’ll be near a Giants camp called Broken Limb Camp. So long as you don’t get too close to them, they’ll leave you alone. Eldergleam Sanctuary is a short way southeast from here. 

The area you’re in now is a goldmine for harvesting Dragon’s Tongue, creep clusters, jazbay grapes, and dartwings for alchemy. But be careful if you completed Dragon Rising. There’s a dragon den nearby, and there’s a high chance he’ll come down to bother you. 

West of Eldergleam Sanctuary is an unmarked Hunter’s camp where several hunters are relaxing in the hot spring. Read (Don’t steal) the nearby Cherim’s Heart to gain a Smithing level. 

You could spend a long time exploring this area, so let’s head back to Eldergleam to continue the quest. 

Reverse Pickpocket gear onto Maurice

It’s possible to reverse pickpocket weapons and armor onto Maurice but only before he initiates his conversation with you in the Temple of Kynareth. After that point, it’s impossible to do. 

While this method is possible, it’s very implausible. If you do this quest early on, you might not have any spare gear to give Maurice. And if you’re at a high level, you’ve likely already discovered Eldergleam Sanctuary and can fast-travel there. Or he will get instantly killed by a dragon or giant.

In other words, save everyone some trouble and find Eldergleam Sanctuary beforehand. 

Eldergleam Sanctuary

Once inside, take a minute to marvel at the beauty of Kynareth’s sanctuary. Several other pilgrims are already here doing the same. You can find a decent supply of hanging moss inside, as well as other alchemy ingredients. 

You can climb up a ledge near the steps to the Eldergleam Tree to get some loot from a chest. There’s also a corundum ore vein here. 

Look for a book leaning on a knapsack in the area near the waterfall. You can read it to gain another point in Restoration. After this, speak with the nearby Asta. She can give you some backstory on the Eldergleam, and you can ask her how to get near it. 

Asta will tell you that no one has gotten close to the Eldergleam in a very long time due to the roots blocking the way. However, she’s heard rumors of a weapon that could force the Eldergleam to retract her roots. Show Asta the Nettlebane, and she will react in fear and beg that you not use it on the Eldergleam. She warns you that there will be grave consequences if you do so. 

Head up to the path blocked by Eldergleam’s roots, and use Nettlebane to knock them back. Once you reach the last one blocking the way, Maurice will initiate dialogue with you if he’s tagging along.

He will be horrified at what you’re doing and demand to know what you plan to do when you reach the Eldergleam Tree. Tell him that you’re going to use Nettlebane to get some sap from the tree, and he will ask that you refrain from doing so. We need to fix the Gildergreen, however. Does Maurice have any better ideas?

It turns out he does. 

Option 1: Allow Maurice To Assist You 

Ask Maurice if he has a better idea than to use Nettlebane to obtain sap from the Eldergleam tree, and he will tell you that he believes he can convince the tree to help them. 

Follow him up to the Eldergleam, and he will pray to Kynareth. Shortly after, an Eldergleam Tree sapling will appear. You can take this to Whiterun instead of the tree sap. 

Option 2: Use Nettlebane To Obtain Eldergleam Tree Sap

Ignore Maurice and continue with Danica’s plan. Head up to the Eldergleam Tree.

Don’t forget to use Nettlebane on the root behind the tree. It’s blocking a chest with some good random loot. 

Use Nettlebane on the Eldergleam tree to obtain the sap that you need. If Maurice is with you, he will turn hostile. But even worse, four spriggans will spawn and attack everyone in the cave. One of them will be a more powerful variant than the other three and serve as the boss. 

The other pilgrims won’t attack you but have little chance of surviving. Sorry about that, guys. You have to finish what you started, so kill the spriggans before making your way back to Whiterun.

Completing The Blessings of Nature

Return to the Temple of Kynareth with either the sap or sapling, and speak with Danica one last time. If you took option one, Danica voices concerns about attracting people to the temple with just a sapling. Tell her what Maurice told you, and she will remember that serving Kynareth the best way possible is what matters and realize that this is the better decision. 

Bringing Danica the sap gets you a quick thank you and goodbye, thus proving the sapling option to be the preferable ending. 

Either way, The Blessings of Nature quest is complete. You now have access to Danica as a Master Restoration trainer. And this is great because leveling Restoration is slow. Building your network of Master skill trainers is something you want to work on as soon as possible. 

Is Nettlebane A Good Weapon?

Not really. Its’ base damage is the same as an orcish dagger, so it is a serviceable weapon early on. However, this moderate usefulness doesn’t last since you need ebony ingots to upgrade it. 

Furthermore, it does not benefit from any of the Smithing perks, thus giving it a low upgrade ceiling, and you cannot enchant it either. It looks pretty cool, though. The design is almost identical to an ebony dagger but with a nature design. I put it on a weapon rack at one of my houses and call it a day. 

FAQs

Eldergleam Sanctuary Guide: Conclusion

I know on the surface, this quest feels a lot more underwhelming than one of the Daedric Prince quests. After all, those quests give Daedric artifacts. The Blessings of Nature feels like one of those vacation T-Shirts. I went to Eldergleam Sanctuary, and all I got was Restoration training I gotta pay for. 

But trust me; once you’re sitting pretty on a pile of gold coins, you’ll be happy to have a list of go-to Master skill trainers. You’ll also discover plenty of cool places to explore along the way, which should do well in keeping you busy. That, and the underwhelming rewards for this quest, are why I recommend you do it sooner rather than later. 

But don’t worry; there are plenty of more action-packed quests with fantastic rewards out there waiting for you. And I’ll be right here at Scrolls Guided, ready to help you take them on. 

Until next time!