Even though I know I need to head to Solitude in order to sneak into the Thalmor Embassy, I shirked that responsibility and instead aided Danica Pure-Spring in her quest to restore the Gildergreen, an ailing tree within the walls of Whiterun.

Danica is a priestess at the Temple of Kynareth in Whiterun and I agreed to help her out ages ago. To restore the Gildergreen, she believes sap from the Eldergleam Tree (an ancient tree blessed by Kynareth herself) is required. She tasked me with retrieving a mystical dagger that is said to be the only weapon capable of damaging the Eldergleam. When I was in Riverwood, I made the short trip southeast to Orphan Rock, where Danica believed Nettlebane was. Sure enough, a hagraven had in her possession Nettlebane, the mystical dagger I needed.

With that in my possession Danica then pointed me to Eldergleam Sanctuary, the cave where the ancient tree grows. The cave was fantastic. A short hallway led into a massive room that looked as though it was eternally spring. Grass was green, flowers were blooming, and a stream was eternally flowing under the magnificence of the massive Eldergleam. There were a few followers of Kynareth inside who asked me not to extract sap from the tree, but I want to beautify Whiterun, and a little less sap won’t destroy the Eldergleam anyways.

Roots from the tree were overgrown and prevented access to the base of the tree, but a quick slash with Nettlebane and the roots magically reacted and curled back towards the tree. Once at the base, I slashed the tree and a few Spriggans appeared and began attacking. Unable to rescue the followers of Kynareth, I at least rid the Eldergleam Sanctuary of these beasts before traveling back to Whiterun with sap in my possession. After delivering the sap to Danica, the Gildergreen should begin its transformation back to life soon.