This page offers a guide on how to unlock the Hjaalmarch Homestead Plot that was introduced during the Hearthfire DLC.

Laid to Rest¶

To have access to purchasing the Hjaalmarch lot, you’ll need to complete the ‘Laid to Rest’ quest in Morthal. There are multiple ways of accessing this quest. When you speak to the residents of Morthal, they’ll all be gossiping about the burned house and about Hroggar. You can find the burned house and start the quest yourself, or a guard might come up to you and ask you to help out. Alternatively, you can go directly to the Jarl, who can be found in Highmoon Hall in Morthal, and they’ll ask for your help in solving the case.

The quest requires that you first investigate Hroggar’s burned house in Morthal, which you can find easily on the map via the quest marker. As you approach the house, the ghost of a small girl will appear. She is the daughter of Hroggar and died in the fire. When you speak to her, she’ll ask you to play hide and seek with her in exchange for information about who set the fire, but it’ll need to be night time before she begins playing.

To find her, you’ll need to head up the hill behind the burned house and find the coffin. Once you approach the coffin, however, you’ll be approached by Laelette, who’s a vampire and hostile! You’ll need to defeat her before you can talk to the little girl, Helgi again. She’ll tell you awful story of the fire, and before long Thronnir, Laelette’s husband will appear and tell you some more information about how his wife began spending time with Alva.

After speaking to Helgi and Thronnir, you’ll be prompted to investigate Alva’s house. If you go during the day, Alva will be in the house, but if you go at night, which is more likely since you’ll probably heading straight from speaking to Helgi, then Alva won’t be in the house and you won’t have to fight her (she’s a vampire too). You’ll probably also need to break into the house, so make sure you have some lockpicks to hand!

When you enter, you’ll want to go straight to the basement and investigate the coffin (she’ll be in the coffin and promptly be awoken if you go into the basement during the day). Inside the coffin, you’ll find Alva’s Journal, which will detail the whole vampire debaucle in Morthal. You’ll then get an update to the quest that requires you head to the Jarl and tell her of your findings. She’ll reward you with a bit of gold for bringing her the information, but she’ll also ask that you help clear out Movarth’s Lair and defeat the Vampire Master Movarth.

Clearing Out Movarth’s Lair¶

When you leave Highmoon Hall, you’ll be approached by a band of angry Morthal residents. They’ll then announce that they are also going to go take on the Vampire Lair. You can then follow the angry mob to the cave, which is across the bridge and north of Morthal.

After arriving at the mouth of the lair, however, you’ll find that the peasant mob is actually far too frightened to face the Master Vampire and instead decide to run back home - thanks for nothing! Thronnir, however, does stay since he wants to avenge his wife Laelette. You can choose to have him accompany you into the lair or go home. A word of caution, if you aren’t high-levelled or good at managing followers, it is extremely likely that Thronnir dies in the cave. There are a lot of strong vampires, and if you want to sneak around he’ll blow your cover. Useful to have extra help, but is it worth the cons and the likelihood that he dies? Up for debate.

When you enter into the Lair, your first encounter will be two Frostbite Spiders. Easy enough to take out with your bow before they even spot you, if that’s the way you play! Next, you’ll want to continue through the cave and you’ll soon come across a Vampire Thrall. The Bandit Thralls are essentially glorified bandits, and are probably the equivalent of a stronger mid-tier bandit type so watch they don’t damage you too much if you’re lower levelled.

As you head through into the next room, you’ll come across some more Vampire Thralls. Take them out how you wish, and proceed into the next area with caution - this is where the vampires reside!

How to Beat Movarth¶

There is a balcony up to the left of the entrance into the “hall” where you can stealthily snipe Movarth, who is sat at the dining table in the center of the room. Unless you’re a super high-levelled archer, you likely won’t one shot him, but it’s a good vantage point to get in a few sneaky bow shots in before you decide to head into melee combat. Of course, if this isn’t your style then you can go in guns ablazing and take out Movarth and the handful of vampires in this room like a juggernaut. Movarth is categorised as a boss so you’ll want to fight him accordingly. Make sure to dodge or block his melee attacks if you are in close range as he packs quite the punch, and you’ll also want to regularly heal as he’ll use his vampire powers to drain you of health whilst simultaneously healing himself.

If you’ve killed any of his vampire mates then it is also probable that he’ll reanimate their corpse and you’ll have to fight them again whilst also dealing with Movarth! HP management is important in this fight, especially if you’re not a high level, so be sure to pause and pop some health potions or nibble on some cheese wheels to survive.

Once he’s dead, you’ll want to explore the rest of the large cavern area for the loot chests and any more lingering vampires or thralls. There will be some in the side rooms that you’ll probably need/want to take out. Make sure to quicksave after that fight with Movarth before you go exploring.

After you feel satisfied with your cave exploration, head back up to the start of the lair and exit the same way you entered. As you approach the exit, the ghost of Helgi will appear and thank you for avenging her and her mother.

Return to the Jarl and she’ll once more thank you for your services. She’ll then offer up the chance to buy land in Hjaalmarch as well as suggest that you go for the Thane position. You don’t need to be Thane to have access to the land! Speak to the steward at Highmoon Hall to purchase the land for 5,000 Gold.

Visiting Your Hjaalmarch Plot¶

Once you’ve bought the plot, you’ll be given a misc quest to go visit the land. It’s found in the marshes between Solitude and Morthal, and is located northeast of Morthal and has a view of the Blue Palace to the west of it.

When you approach, you’ll be told to then head to the drafting table and carpenter’s work bench to begin the crafting! For information on the first building, head over to our guide on how to build the Small House to get started!