Wikipedia:WikiProject The Elder Scrolls/Cliff racer
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Cliff racers are fictional reptilian pterodactyl-like creatures in the game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind that are known to be vicious and territorial. They attack on sight and although weak, will fight to the death. A single racer might not be able to kill a man by itself, but a swarm of three or four cliff racers is dangerous. Their plumage, along with trama roots or coda flowers of the draggle-tails, are used to make levitation potions, but have no other useful qualities in the stock game; many user-created modifications utilize the feathers for arrow fletchings and other archery-related purposes. The animals have a characteristic "cuh caw" call that identifies it from a far.
Cliff racers can be found almost anywhere, but are normally found in the West Gash, Ashlands, Red Mountain, Azura's Coast, Molag Amur, and Sheogorad. They can also appear in the Bitter Coast sometimes on rare occasions.
People are frustrated by them, for they fly silently, unlike other animals that tend to be more ignorant of their surroundings. (The only warning that a cliff racer is sneaking up on the player is a switch to battle music, otherwise a blow to the head out of nowhere is the first sign that a racer is attacking.) These beasts are incredibly persistent; walking, levitating, swimming, and even water-walking will not deter them; most other creatures stop at the water's edge or as soon as the player takes flight, yet a cliff racer will keep following the player indefinitely. The only way to escape from them is to cast a spell of divine or almsivi intervention, or recall. Even in this case, though, the racer or racers will remain where the character left them indefinitely, so if one wishes to return to where they were they will have to fight them again.
There are many mods that have been made to remove or combat the cliff racers. One mod features a ring that will kill any cliff racer that gets close to the player with a *ZAP* noise.
Due to the game's construction, cliff racers re-spawn every time the player enters a cell containing them. Therefore, going around in circles will spawn infinite cliff racers. When in the Red Mountain Region, where players are forced to walk in circles or backtrack several times, cliff racers have a nasty tendency to swarm into the player, resulting in up to ten of them attacking at once. On the good side, the trama root is also found in this region, so levitation potions can be easily and massively made, resulting in a certain profit for alchemists, especially more accomplished ones whose potions can sell for one hundred septims apiece.
Cliff racers are easier to kill by using ranged weapons (arrows, bolts, throwing stars/knives, etc.) or ranged spells. However, due to a discrepancy between the visible model of the animal and the shape of the invisible object used by the game to detect attacks against the animal (the collision model), players have to learn from experience how to compensate with their aim to effectively strike a cliff racer at range.
A stuffed cliff racer is suspended in the Skaal Village's Great Hall on the island of Solstheim, which appears in the Bloodmoon expansion. This Cliff Racer, being the only one on the entire island of Solstheim, was given a special surprise for the player to retrieve. After beating the main quest of Bloodmoon, a ring appears in the cliff racer's mouth which allows the player to view all of the cutscenes for the Bloodmoon expansion.
