Ancestral Tombs Hunter (achievement guide)

Saturn · May 2017

*Originally posted on the Private Forum April 21st.*

Since I quite enjoy doing guides for collectible achievements, I thought I'd do one for Morrowind's main collectible achievement Ancestral Tombs Hunter as well.

Thanks to @zeroIndex for helping me find some of the tombs.

General information:
- To "begin" the quest you need to visit the Library in Vivec's City and talk to the librarian Bradyn, who will point you to the first Tomb (though it's technically nr.13 in terms of the achievement list, as seen in the picture below).
- It is possible to collect the "rubbings" of the tomb stones before picking up the quest, but you need to complete it in order to be able to hand them to the Librarian, who will in turn fill out part of the scale model of Vvardenfell and tick the rubbing(s) off on your achievement list.
- Once you have collected all 30 tomb stone rubbings and handed them to the Librarian he will give you a quest that sends you to the Library of Andule.
- The reward for collecting the 30 tomb stone rubbings is the title "Librarian" and when you complete the follow-up quest to find the Library of Andule you will receive a "Vvardenfell Scale Model" (picture below), which is a furnishing item that you can place in your house.

Important note:
- Unlike previous collectible achievements there are no clues to find the tombs. However, the tombs are quite big (so hard to miss when you actually find them) and they are all outside (so no delving in public dungeons, etc. to find them). In terms of difficulty, it is easier than Wrothgar Relic Hunter (Orsinium) and Litany of Blood (Dark Brotherhood), but harder than A Cutpurse Above (Thieves' Guild).

Achievement list (numbered from 1-30):

Map of all 30 locations (numbered according to the achievement list above):

Most optimal map route (the one I follow in the video guide):

Ancestral%20Tombs%20Hunter%20map%20Optimal%20Path_zps1r17t4is.png

Video guide:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8uaovrSRu0E

Vvardenfell Scale Model reward:

Addon that adds the locations of the tombs to your map:
By the Ancestors (Made by @Kyoma )

At first when I was doing this I thought it was kind of lazily done compared to the previous three collectible achievements, since there are no clues and all tombs are placed in a very clear pattern (as you can tell by looking at the map), but that being said, the final quest once you collect all 30 tombs is quite fun. I also think the reward is pretty cool, and sort of fits the pattern of rewards since you received costumes from Orsinium's collectible achievement, a memento from Thieves' Guild and a polymorph from Dark Brotherhood. I wonder if the next time they do a collectible achievement if the reward will be a mount or non-combat pet.

Rinmaethodain · May 2017

If you want to see more "focused" preview of Vvardenfell Scale Model you can check out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGa1Hca40-0

Also here is shorter guide focused only on the "Lost Library" part if you plan on collecting Tomb Rubbings on your own (using map)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTaTbjHNsqU

DarknessShallFall · May 2017

Ah thank you so much for this, I know I had problems finding them all on closed beta. This will help out a lot.

Mrs_Malaka · May 2017

Wonderfully detailed information. Thank you for putting in the time to do this!

Saturn · May 2017

DarknessShallFall wrote: »

Ah thank you so much for this, I know I had problems finding them all on closed beta. This will help out a lot.

Mrs_Malaka wrote: »

Wonderfully detailed information. Thank you for putting in the time to do this!

I appreciate the kind words

hollywood · May 2017

Thank you very much for this guide , it was really helpful! There were several that I just couldn't find.

Kyoma · May 2017

Hey, thanks for this great guide. Here to help people even more is a quick addon I made with your guide: By The Ancestors.

Saturn · May 2017

Kyoma wrote: »

Hey, thanks for this great guide. Here to help people even more is a quick addon I made with your guide: By The Ancestors.

@Kyoma
Nice! This will make it so much easier than having to check a map 30+ times >.<

Haggian · May 2017

Ran this thru this morning based on your write up. Everything was on point thanks so much for taking the time to make this guide!!

Iccengi · June 2017

That model is sweet! Gonna run through this first thing

Rouven · June 2017

Now I want a monkey to put "Godzilla" on the map/vulcan!

Thanks for the great writeup!

Rouven · June 2017

Rouven wrote: »

Now I want a monkey to put "Godzilla" on the map/vulcan!

Thanks for the great writeup!

Edit: Can't believe I wrote Godzilla ... I think the guar would be too big...

Edit: Note to self, learn to edit.

Sigtric · June 2017

I just finished this achieve/quest over the weekend. Much fun.

Cool guide, thanks for taking the time to make it - bookmarking for the next time I need it.

Rouven · June 2017

Btw - I don't know how you did it, but I opened your map in a browser, hovered the mouse over a point - alt tab back to the game map - the mouse was at the correct point - F marks the spot - giddy up!

Worked really great.

Tan9oSuccka · June 2017

This was a big help. Thanks for posting this.

Saturn · June 2017

Rouven wrote: »

Btw - I don't know how you did it, but I opened your map in a browser, hovered the mouse over a point - alt tab back to the game map - the mouse was at the correct point - F marks the spot - giddy up!

Worked really great.

Must be some of that INTERNET MAGIC!!!

Darkmage1337 · July 2017

If you accidentally threw away and destroyed some of the Ancestral Tomb Rubbing items (due to inventory space consumption), can you go back and pick them up, or are they gone for good? Any confirmation? Thanks. ^^

Saturn · July 2017

Darkmage1337 wrote: »

If you accidentally threw away and destroyed some of the Ancestral Tomb Rubbing items (due to inventory space consumption), can you go back and pick them up, or are they gone for good? Any confirmation? Thanks. ^^

@Darkmage1337
They should be possible to reacquire if you return to the tombs you are missing.

Darkmage1337 · July 2017

Saturn wrote: »

Darkmage1337 wrote: »

If you accidentally threw away and destroyed some of the Ancestral Tomb Rubbing items (due to inventory space consumption), can you go back and pick them up, or are they gone for good? Any confirmation? Thanks. ^^

@Darkmage1337
They should be possible to reacquire if you return to the tombs you are missing.

Thanks, I just wanted to make sure! (I already completed the quest on one character, but that was after already accidentally picking up a few tomb rubbings from random exploration on my other 7 characters, lol...)

Induron · July 2017

Thank you for this, did it from the map with very little issues.

Appreciated.

sixlalas · January 26

Jan 25, 2024. Threw away Othrelas Serano rubbing some time in the past. Cannot now get a new one from Othrelas Serano Tomb. So far, no amount of jostling, weapons swap, relog or wishful thinking has served to "uncheck" the fact that I DID collect it once. Dunno how to uncollect it, and can't get a new one for the quest. Figure to be up the creek without a paddle on this one. Anyone in the same boat, ideas would be cool - that is, if there are any. Thankies.