Oblivion talk:Unmarked Cave

Key required bug is fixedEdit

The door where you need a key for that doesn't exist is unlocked by the Unofficial Oblivion Patch, so you can freely explore the dungeon. I've added this to the notes section, although it's not yet complete (with link and picture).— Unsigned comment by Moersleuteltje (talk • contribs)

Way to get all the way throughEdit

I have found a way past the door. Step #1 Look in your map in the first level and get to the part where you can't get into the black queen hall without using a paintbrush. Well use it and jump up to get into the black queen hall. Step #2 In black queen hall, a couple meters forward you should see a big rock. If you push the rock it will go down. Do this to every other big rock in your way. Explore the map and you should finally see an exit with the the word "Mazeway" in the name. If you go through that door you should see a lake which is rather large. Step #3 Go underwater and go north east-east. Yes, i mean NE on your compass. You should see a tunnel under the water. if you go through it, it should take you back to the first floor but on the other side of locked door. There are two boss chests i believe because when i went back to the first floor on the other sidether was a room with an interesting deadric helmet named " Inquisitor's Helmet" which has detect life 105 feet. The other boss chest is in the room where you need the paintbrush to get there. Which brings me to my conclusion: Bethedsa made this cave as a real cave and they did it on purpose. That's what I think because why would there be a helmet with the name "Inquisitor" on it? Does'nt inquisitor mean explorer or someone who is interested in something? There are two problems with the cave though: one is that they probally forgot to add the key (which could have been hidden in the wildy) and the second is that during that one rockslide they forgot to close the wall so you can't exploit it. As for the second one I'm not sure if they did that on accident since if you remember the helmet "Inquisitor" that could be their easter egg. What do you think? By the way it would be greatly appreciated if someone could make a quest using this with a key that opens the door, even if It's possible.

--Paradox

The Inquistor's Helmet that you found was randomly generated leveled loot that can appear in any of hundreds of places in the game (see Oblivion:Generic Magic Apparel#Detect Life). It is not guaranteed to appear in Unmarked Cave; the fact that you happened to find it here does not mean that the cave is somehow special. --Nephele^Talk 21:23, 26 April 2007 (EDT)

The Inquisitor's helmet is part of the random loot 213.107.186.105 13:34, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Missing KeyEdit

I have no idea where the key to get through the locked door is located, or even if it really exists. I've scoured the cave itself several times, to no avail. Lurlock has checked the Construction Set, and can find no evidence that a key to this door exists (see conversation at the Items talk page). Right now I'm inclined to think that the missing key is a bug in the game.

The way I explored the cave was by jumping up an exit (see the page). I'm pretty sure this is not the intended way of doing things:

• This was not a jump that could be done with good Agility alone; I had to use paintbrushes to get more than half way up.
• The only boss chest in the cave was right at the top of that jump, i.e., that was probably meant to be the final room you visit.
• Based on the cave layout, I was going backwards not forwards (i.e., the escape from the trench of water is probably designed to take you back to where you've already been, which is not how it worked for me).
• Even after going through the whole cave, I was unable to open the locked door from the backside.

There is still the remote possibility that there is some unknown quest tie-in to this cave. I've searched this site, and Unmarked Cave is definitely not mentioned in any quest. On the other hand, I have encountered some unexpected quest links on other caves (i.e., in Squandered Mine there is a room that only exists if you happen to be on the Vampire Cure quest, even though none of the NPCs ever suggest that you should visit that mine during the quest).

So, if anyone happens to stumble into this cave and find that they can open the door, the details would be very much appreciated. Of particular interest:

• Did the game say "Door opened using ___ key"?
• What was the name of the key that was used?
• Any idea where you got that key?
• Were you on any quests at the time?

Edited to add: I'm not the first person to report that this key is missing. Billythe3rd originally filled out this page, and based on his question "Does anyone know where the key to the door is?", he didn't have any luck finding a key either.

--Nephele 02:29, 11 July 2006 (EDT)

Another thing that was not mentioned before - You know there are three levels to this cave, right? I haven't explored it in-game, but I saw this in the Construction Set. Have you accessed the deeper levels? Or are those behind the locked door? It's possible there's another entrance. Ultimately, if no key ever turns up for this, my guess would be that it was intended for a quest that got removed before the game was released. There are similar "Needs a key" doors that don't have an actual key in the game, because the only way to get in is to have a certain NPC with you at the time who opens the door for you. (NPCs don't necessarily need a key in their inventory to open a door.) Part of this is to make sure that you can't get in prematurely by pickpocketing the key off of somebody. --TheRealLurlock 09:28, 11 July 2006 (EDT)

Yep, last night (following our exchange over at Oblivion Talk:Items) I made it into the whole cave (as described above, by jumping up an exit drop using some cheating). I have now been through all three levels, and down every tunnel that shows up on the map, and there aren't any other entrances.--Nephele 11:36, 11 July 2006 (EDT)

I've decided to officially call this a glitch, and posted it on the Glitches page. --Nephele 12:02, 11 July 2006 (EDT)

This glitch is no longer on the Glitches page but is pretty much covered on the page here. Deleted text from the Glitches page follows Jadrax 09:47, 25 February 2007 (EST)

Yep, the note on the glitches page wasn't needed in this case. I was still somewhat new here back when I did that, and it was before we'd started to have any discussions about what really belonged on the glitches page. --Nephele 12:31, 25 February 2007 (EST)

No Key for the Unmarked CaveEdit

Most of the Unmarked Cave can only be accessed after opening a door that requires a key. However, no key for this door exists (even in the construction set). See the Unmarked Cave talk page for more details.

I think i know how to get the key into the unmarked cave. When i was in Bruma, after i beat the main quest, i asked about rumors in town and one of the town Malitia told me that their was a murder in an area in the town. When i went there their was a guard who said that the wife was killed because she and her husband were robbers. When i asked about the husband, he said that he fled from town and had no idea where he was. WHen i asked around, i went into the bar and the barkeeper told me that he said something about going to some place south of here, and i should search their for him. The location it directed me to was bleaker way. I asked the barkeeper their and he said that he saw the man and when i asked where he was heading, he said that he had a special hideout in the mountains. Thats when i thought about the unmarked cave. I haven't finished the quest but i belive that this is where the key is to the cave. — Unsigned comment by 69.117.25.27 (talk)

Sorry, but there is no key for this cave. In the construction set you can pull up the details on every item in the game. For any door, it shows the exact name and ID of any key that will open the door. The door in this cave has absolutely no keys listed in the construction set. --Nephele^Talk 16:28, 6 May 2007 (EDT)

Reason for name?Edit

I'm thinking there's a reason the cave is called "Unmarked Cave." It seems to suggest the cave was never actually named, supporting the theories that it is part of something unfinished. Though I can't see why Bethesda would just leave it there, but there is the test area... -Lordofwhee 20:03, 10 August 2006 (EDT)

Unfinished Map?Edit

FYI... There is a corridor near the water trench (but not in the same cave room) where rocks tumble down blocking further progress. However, I've found that you can clear rock debris enough to get passed it using a Weak Fireball or Fireball. Once you do that, go to the end of the corridor and turn to the left. The corridor floor, ceiling and walls end right there, at what seems to be a vast underground lake. If you jump out into it though, you find your self outside of the map. You can look back and see the layout of that level as if you had turned Collision off (using the TCL console command).

So it seems this may not only have been an unfinished quest-line before release, but also an unfinished map (or they just didn't bother to build anything there figuring you couldn't get past the rock fall). ~<}:^> --GreyElf 09:58, 19 July 2006 (EDT)

Uh oh, I've been getting lazy in my exploring.... I used to check to see if I could get past rock falls, but after too many unsuccessful tries just stopped even looking. I'm pretty sure I know which rock fall you're talking about, too. So I'm guessing from your comments I can add you to the list of explorers who couldn't find the key? --Nephele 13:29, 19 July 2006 (EDT)

You know, after your post, I thought about it. Of ~400 keys codes listed here (mostly naming specific places or people), I only have 77 (even at level 40 and with only a few Misc, Main and Dark Brotherhood quests left to do). But for one of the keys, I was never certain if I had used it already. So I got every key I had (including the Skeleton Key) to try them; none of them worked. ~<}:^< --GreyElf 00:34, 20 July 2006 (EDT)

Gzus Kryst here, I just found the lake myself, and it seems you guys already know about it, I just found Unmarked cave today. The lake is pretty damn big, and it's easy to get lost in it. As for the key I think this may be for a future quest... Or the key is found in another cave. A lot of doors are opened by keys with vague names, for example a door underwater in an aylied ruin, where you get your payment from one of the Dead Drop orders of the DB is opened by "A rusty Key" found in the Leyawiin mage's guild.

Yes, but I've looked in the Construction Set, and the door in question quite assuredly does not have a key. That much I know for certain. The door also is not referenced in any scripts, which makes it somewhat unlikely that it can be opened by some other means as well. (I'm pretty sure there are no other ways to open a door, but maybe, possibly, there's some trick, like maybe something makes you teleport past it, and the door can never be opened. But that's about the only other option. Far more likely, the dungeon was for a quest that was just not finished. --TheRealLurlock 19:51, 8 August 2006 (EDT)

After some exploration (and seeing how sloppy some parts seem) I'm thinking it might be some sort of test cave we were never intended to actually get to. You can see through a static rockslide, and even leave the map (or, what is normally considered the map). There's also no road or path to the entrance, and it's location is fairly remote. Though it was fairly interesting to figure out how caves and such are actually made... -Lordofwhee 20:49, 10 August 2006 (EDT)

I don't think it was a test-cell. While there's plenty of those, (see Oblivion:Interior_Test_Cells), they all have one thing in common - you can't get into any of them without using console commands. If it were just a test cell, I'd assume they'd have removed it prior to release. I'm still going with the "unfinished" theory, but I do think it was intended to be used, but they just never got around to it. --TheRealLurlock 21:19, 10 August 2006 (EDT)

Perhaps it is for a still-unreleased official mod, maybe having something inside there and getting the key upon instalation of the mod. Just a thought. RvB Pivate Caboose 16:56, 30 September 2006 (EDT)

I thought the rock formation in Black Queens Hall was a good hint that some quest was involved with it at some point.

Is it worth it?Edit

This cave has been driving me nuts too. I haven't tried to circumvent the door yet. Is it worth it? What treasure is up there?

Nope, not really worth it in my opinion. There is one boss chest, but you'll hit that as soon as you jump up the exit, and I'm not sure even that was worth the half-hour I spent managing to jump up (of course, if you're handy with paint brushes, that conceivably could be faster). The loot is pretty much average, the creatures are all just standard-issue monsters; no easter eggs or "black queens" (although that's the name of one zone) or other unusual features. Really all you get out of it is the ability to say you've been somewhere where most people haven't. --Nephele 19:52, 25 July 2006 (EDT)

Locked Door...?Edit

I'm currently playing with all official plugins, and the 'unofficial oblivion patch', which is supposed to fix some bugs. I just found the unmarked cave, but while exploring it I never came up with a locked door. I've found two, i believe (one at least near the entrance). I've explored the cave in the 'right' way, without using the paintbrushes trick (which seem to not work for me) and the place I get stuck is in the black Queen Hall. One of the big rock sliding 'doors' simply won't open as i approach, leaving me stranded so close to whatever loot I would get.

My guess to this is the patch i have, but I don't (yet) have good knowledge of the construction set.

-nicfortin1342

It's very likely the unofficial oblivion patch fixed this. That patch includes hundreds of fixes to various oddities like this. It also fixes the paintbrush glitch, so that trick definitely won't work for you. As for the big rock, I found that most of them were somewhat finicky about where you had to stand to activate them. Try moving around a lot and I'm guessing you'll find the magic spot somewhere. --Nephele 19:02, 23 February 2007 (EST)

Another Missing KeyEdit

This is very similar to the display case in the Leyawin Mages guild that holds the shiny blue crystals. it says the case needs a key to open but i cannot find the key anywhere in Leyawin. if anybody knows the whereabouts of the key and for that matter what the display case contains i would appreciate it if you told me

Just checked in the CS, there is no key in the game for that case. However, your not missing much as the contents are all static items, and cannot actually be taken. Basically the whole thing is a bit of decoration. Jadrax 18:52, 26 February 2007 (EST)

There is in fact a key, although it doesn't work. If you look upstairs where the incredibly rare human skin is there is a chest opposite the desk, under a table that has a small iron key in. There is no doubt that this was meant for the case as there is nothing else that it could be for.— Unsigned comment by TheElderScribe (talk • contribs) on 14 January 2010

If you mean this key then no, it opens a door in Nornal, where you get the dead drop for the A Kiss Before Dying quest. --S'drassa ^•T2M 18:59, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

Why on earth is there a DB related item in S'drassa's chest!?— Unsigned comment by TheElderScribe (talk • contribs) on 14 January 2010

Actually it's not a quest item. You can grab the key and open the gate even if you never make the DB questline. The only difference is that the chest with the dead drop won't appear. --S'drassa ^•T2M 02:02, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

boss chestEdit

I think it's noteworthy that the boss chest isn't accessible, even though it appears to be when reading the map on this page.

UntraversableEdit

Even if I get the 165 Acrobatics to jump up the hole once I go past the rock to the big pit in Unmarked Cave Black Queens Hall I can't get back so I have to load the autosave from entering Unmarked Cave. Is there any way to fully explore the cave and get out again? — Unsigned comment by 124.187.235.95 (talk) on 4 January 2010

It's fully traversable, even to going outside the walls and getting back in.— Unsigned comment by 76.213.203.68 (talk) on 24 January 2010

You have to go back the way you came in. Kalevala 02:11, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

You CAN get back after going outside the wallsEdit

Just swim around until you are directly below one of the doors exiting the region. Look straight up and jump. With high enough acrobatics skill, the door comes into range to use for a brief moment. Blam! You're back inside the walls. I used the southwest-most door to accomplish this. There was a mountain lion right there, but you can turn around and use the door again.

If your acrobatics isn't high enough, I wonder if it's possible to use paintbrushes to climb up? Then you can either use the door trick or to go back through the opening behind the rockfall that you went through in the first place.— Unsigned comment by 76.213.203.68 (talk) on 24 January 2010

The Quick and Easy Paintbrush GuideEdit

To go up through the hole in the ceiling, start with dropping your first paintbrush at knee level over by the recess in the wall. Drop another brush a little closer to the hole and little higher (brushes drop in the air where your selection pointer is, so it's pretty easy to do this). Try to aim not for the left or right side of the hole instead of the center (I'll explain this in a moment). It helps if you face 90 degrees from the line of dropped paintbrushes, so that you can just drop a brush strafe sideways, look up a little higher, and drop another brush. This also helps because when you're climbing, the paintbrushes seen sideways are FAR more visible than when seen end-on (like they are when you drop them). If the angle of the brushes is shallow enough and they are close enough together, you can just walk up them as if they were a solid ramp, without even having to jump.

If you get close to the hole and are not high enough, here's where having aimed to come in near the side helps. Start circling around the hole, continuing to build your ramp even higher, as if you were making a spiral staircase. If you can't get it quite high enough, drop a single paintbrush to use as a stepstool to get you high enough. If you're still having trouble, drop more paintbrushes between the ones that are already there to form a more "solid surface" to walk on.

With practice, this method only takes a few minutes and is very easy to climb.

If you get stuck and the game tells you that you are falling, but you can't move, you'll have to pick up some brushes below you, fall to the ground, and re-place those brushes.— Unsigned comment by 76.213.203.68 (talk) on 24 January 2010

My method - the hole is an oval with the long radius running east to west. Go as far as you can to the east and face west, drop three paint brushes at "eye level" in a fan pattern. Now go to the west and jump up onto the platform of the three paint brushes. Turn slowly 180 degrees. Drop another platform of two to three brushes. Jump up onto it. Jump up into the room. The principles here are that you need head room to jump, that you need to stair step the platforms, and that a platform of two to three brushes is easier to land on.Kalevala 02:16, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

More on Unmarked CaveEdit

My opinion is that the quest had been created, but at the last minute the quest was scrapped - possibly why it hasn't been removed yet, as they can't. — Unsigned comment by 213.107.186.105 (talk) at 08:36 on April 25, 2011

The page already says that it was likely to be involved in a quest. I don't understand what you mean about not being able to remove it...It would simply be removing the doors as enough to close it, but why would they do that? --DKong27 ^{Talk Cont} 21:12, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

What puzzles me is why they didn't remove it if they knew it was never going to be made. Developer laziness, I guess - I suppose they have better things to worry about. ±±±±

Alternate methodEdit

With the Boots of Springheel Jak and a custom spell (fortify acrobatics 100 points/2 seconds),I was able to jump through the hole in Zone 1, allowing access to Zone 3. — Unsigned comment by Herman (talk • contribs) at 12:22 on May 21, 2011

That way is already noted on the page. Legoless 18:36, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

I called myself looking thoroughly prior to mentioning it, and again just now. I still don't see it. Herman 23:01, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

It doesn't mention the boots and spell specifically, but the notes include "Using both the Floating Paint Brushes Cheat and good Acrobatics it is possible to jump up through this hole." rpeh •T•C•E• 08:50, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

A little quest-related theory.Edit

What if this non-existent Black/Red Queen quest was leftover from when each city in Cyrodiil had its own Arena? The "Red Queen", if this isn't some Tamrielic knight/noble, sounds like the title of an Arena champion, keeping a theme with the Imperial City's Gray Prince. Like the Gray Prince, the Red Queen would give you a side-quest, where she instructs you to go to Unmarked Cave, and either find an item belonging to the Black Queen, who was perhaps another Arena Champion, or kill the Black Queen herself, and then return to the Red Queen for your proposed reward.

Well, that's just my theory, of course. It's still an interesting idea, if you ask me. Bauglir100 12:33, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

Paintbrush glitch not necessary to get UP the holeEdit

I've made it up the hole with 100 acro + some permanent bonuses + boots of springhill Jack + greater power Jone Shadow ( sorry for mistakes - i currently play russian version of tes IV ). So 133 athletics, 182 acrobatics and 0 encumbrance mulitplier were just enough to jump into the hole. Though I guess i was close to minimum cap to get there with these stats, as I had to roll forwards to get to the 2nd floor from the edge of the hole. Guess this is worth of being mentioned on the page for those who dislike glitches and exploits. ZLOJ — Unsigned comment by 194.33.119.1 (talk) at 20:48 on 16 January 2015 (GMT)

I've tweaked the wording. —Legoless (talk) 21:22, 16 January 2015 (GMT)

Walkthroughs addedEdit

I added a walkthrough for all three zones. If the walkthrough is acceptable, some of the stuff in the existing bullet points for zone 2 can probably be moved to the Notes or removed, but that decision is for others.

I thought about adding a statement like this, but I couldn't figure out exactly where to put it. Parts of it are already on the page.

• If you don't have (or don't want to use) console commands, you have to jump up through the hole in zone 1 and run the rest of the cave "backwards". You'll still get stopped at the north side of door G in zone 1, at which point you have to go back the way you came.

• If you do have console commands and want to use them, you have to tcl past two doors: door G in zone 1, and the sliding rock door that leads to the western room in zone 3.

73.3.58.200 07:35, 11 August 2021 (UTC)