Move the Mudcrab Merchant to Balmora

Introduction

The mudcrab merchant is the most wealthy merchant in Morrowind, and also one of the most annoying to actually use — he's parked in the middle of nowhere, and getting to him is a huge inconvenience. The good news: you can bring him to you instead. With four custom spells and no mods or console commands, you can walk him all the way to Balmora or any location of your choice.

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Overview

The mudcrab merchant doesn't sell anything special — a few drinks, and he'll buy skooma. What makes him worth the trip is the gold: he carries 10,000, more than any other merchant in the base game, and restocks it every 24 hours. He's also one of only two non-hostile creature merchants in Vvardenfell, meaning he trades at true base value instead of adjusting for your Mercantile skill. The catch is his location — a remote island with no guild, no town, no fast travel.

Moving him isn't a bug or an exploit. Command Creature makes him follow you. Water Walking gets him across water safely. Fortify Speed keeps the trip from eating half an hour. No mods, no console commands, just four spells from any Spellmaker.

One heads-up before you start: his in-game name is just "Mudcrab," identical to every ordinary crab nearby. Don't swing at anything on that island until you're sure which one you're looking at.

What You'll Need

Getting Him to Balmora

Buy the base spells

Command Creature only comes from one merchant as far as I've found: Felen Maryon in Tel Branora, tucked into Therana's upper chamber. Bring a Levitation spell or potion or you won't reach him. Levitation and Water Walking both come from Marayn Dren at the Balmora Mages Guild. Last, pick up Wisdom from the temple's lowest floor in Balmora — you won't cast it, but you need to own it.

Here's why: a spellmaker can only put an effect into a custom spell if you already know a spell containing that effect. Wisdom's effect is Fortify Attribute — it happens to target Intelligence — but once you own it, that Fortify Attribute effect is unlocked for you to redirect at any attribute you want, including Speed.

Build your custom spells

At a Spellmaker, use those four base spells to craft custom versions:

Command Creature — magnitude 1, 30 second duration, on Touch. Levitate — magnitude 1, at least 30 seconds, on Touch; name it something like "Levitate Other" so you can tell it apart from your normal Levitation spell. Water Walking — 30 second duration, on Touch, name it whatever you'd like. Fortify Speed — built from the Fortify Attribute effect Wisdom unlocked, retargeted at Speed, on Touch, with magnitude at least 20 and a duration anywhere from 15 seconds to a full minute.

The Fortify Speed one is technically optional — the mudcrab merchant moves at a crawl on his own, roughly walking-speed-of-one — but skipping it turns a twenty-minute trip into something much longer. If your Conjuration is too low to reliably cast Command Creature, an enchanted item with the same effect works just as well, and the Telvanni questline hands you one as a reward if you'd rather not grind the skill.

Make the trip from his location to Suran

Head southeast from Suran — it's a shorter run than coming from Vivec. Clear any hostile creatures you cross paths with on the way there and back. The mudcrab merchant has very little health, and once he's following you, a slaughterfish or two can kill him in a hit or two if you're not careful.

Once you reach him, cast Command Creature, then Water Walking. He'll start crossing the water after you. Keep both spells refreshed as they expire, and layer Fortify Speed on top to keep him moving at a reasonable pace. Skip Fortify Speed and expect the walk back to Suran alone to take much longer.

Get him up the Silt Strider steps

This is the one part that isn't straightforward. Once you get him to Suran, you'll find that he's too wide for the steps up to the Silt Strider platform and gets stuck. Cast Levitate Other, then Fortify Speed, then Command Creature again, and run up the stairs — he should float up and over them instead of catching on the railings. It usually takes a couple of tries to clear a flight, and the second flight is worse than the first since the railings sit higher. Just keep reapplying the three spells until he's up.

Board the Silt Strider

Once he's close enough to the Silt Strider, talk to the operator and he will offer to carry both of you to whatever destination you pick.

Arrive and place him

When you land in Balmora, cast Command Creature on him one more time and walk him to wherever you actually want him set up.

Troubleshooting & Tips

• He keeps dying on the way. He has almost no health. Clear hostiles before he gets close, especially slaughterfish in the water sections.
• He won't follow you at all. Command Creature has worn off — recast it.
• He's stuck at the base of the stairs. Layer Levitate Other, Fortify Speed, and Command Creature together and he will hover over the railings.
• The Silt Strider won't move him. He's not physically close enough to the Silt Strider yet — close the gap and ask again.
• Low Restoration or Alteration skill. You can get away with lower magnitude on Fortify Speed and Levitation than the numbers above, you'll just be reapplying spells more often. More is always better if you can afford the magicka.