Solitude is the seat of the Imperial presence in Skyrim, being found in the upper northwest corner of the province near the ocean so the Empire can quickly ship in supplies. It is the hold capital city of Haafingar. The city houses a strong Imperial Soldier presence as a result, centered around Castle Dour where General Tullius leads the war effort. It is ruled by Jarl Elisif the Fair, widow of the late High King Torygg. The city and its surroundings are quite a sight for those that haven’t seen it from afar. It is also the home of the Blue Palace and Skyrim’s famous Bard’s College.

Major City? Yes (Hold Capital of Haafingar, loading required)

House? Yes - Proudspire Manor (MUST complete “The Man who cried | Wolf” and then another personal quest for the Jarl; must have 25,000 Gold).

UPGRADES:

o Bedroom 2000 GoldLiving Room - 2000 Gold

o Alchemy Laboratory - 2500 Gold

o Enchanting Laboratory - 2500 Gold

o Patio Decorations - 500 Gold

o Kitchen - 1500 Gold

Major Shops:

o Angeline’s Aromatics (Alchemy Shop)

o Beirand’s Armory (Blacksmith)

o Bits and Pieces (General Store)

o Radiant Raiment (Clothing Store)

o The Winking Skeever (Inn)

Major Quests:

o Lights Out! (Talk to the Argonian, Jaree-Ra, hanging around Angeline’s Aromatics).

o Tending the Flames (Apply at the Bards College with Viarmo).

o The Man who cried Wolf (Ask Falk Firebeard, the steward, if he needs help with Wolfskull Cave).

o The Mind of Madness (Talk to Dervenin, the Beggar, and offer to help find his master).

CRAFTING STATIONS

o Alchemy Lab (Angelines Aromatics) (Proudspire Manor once you upgrade it) (Inside Castle Dour) o Arcane Enchanter (Proudspire Manor once you upgrade it) (Inside Castle Dour)

o Blacksmith Forge (By Beirand’s Armory)

o Cooking Pot (Thalmor Embassy) (Temple of the Divines) (Proudspire Manor once you upgrade it) o Grindstone (Near the entrance/beheading area) (By Beirand’s Armory) (Inside ‘Solitude Blacksmith’) (Out in the Imperial training area)

o Tanning Rack (By Beirand’s Armory)

o Wood Chopping Block (Outside the Winking Skeever)

o Workbench (By Beirand’s Armory)

FOLLOWERS/TRAINERS

FOLLOWERS:

o Belrand (Mercenary in the Winking Skeever, costs 500 Gold).

o Jordis the Sword-Maiden (Your Housecarl once you become Thane).

TRAINERS:

o Giraud Gemane: MASTER SPEECH TRAINER (Member of the Bard’s College).

o Sybille Stentor: EXPERT DESTRUCTION TRAINER (Court wizard in the Blue Palace).

INTERESTING ITEMS

o Biography of the Wolf Queen (SPEECH SKILLBOOK, located in the Blue Palace, on a table in the Jarl’s bedroom).

o Song of Hrormir (TWO HANDED SKILLBOOK located in Jala’s House).

o Stone of Barenziah (Located in Proudspire Manor’s bedroom).

o Stone of Barenziah (Located in the Blue Palace, by the Jarl’s bed).

o The Buying Game (SPEECH SKILLBOOK, located in the Bard’s College, upstairs on a bookcase in one of the classrooms).

o The Gold Ribbon of Merit (ARCHERY SKILLBOOK located inside the ‘Fletcher’ building on a table; near the smithery).

o The Rear Guard (LIGHT ARMOR SKILLBOOK located in Castle Dour on a table in the guards barracks area).

MARRIAGE PARTNERS

o Belrand (Male Imperial, Mercenary in the Winking Skeever, can marry once you hire him).

o Jordis the Sword-Maiden (Female Nord, Your Housecarl once you become Thane).

o Octieve San (Male Nord, must get Irnskar to drop his debts first).

o Sorex Vinius (Male Nord, must deliver rum to Falk for him first).

MISCELLANEOUS QUESTS

Ask Aldis for information about Angeline’s daughter.

You get this quest from Angeline, owner of Angeline’s Aromatics when you respond to her asking about her daughter. Say you’ll look into it. Go talk to Aldis who will tell you her daughter died on a scouting mission. Go back and tell Angeline the bad news. She’ll be sad, but will be glad you told her. That’s it, no reward, just a new friend.

Assist the people of Haafingar (0/5)

This is the umbrella quest you get when you try to become a Thane. It keeps track of how many people you’ve helped and how many you need to. Just keep doing these miscellaneous quests and you’ll get it soon enough! Once you do you’ll get the Blade of Haafingar and a personal housecarl: Jordis the Sword-Maiden.

Convince Vittoria Vici to release the Spiced Wine shipment

You can get this quest from the wine vendor, Evette San, out in the open marketplace. Head down to the docks and locate Vittoria (shouldn’t be hard with the marker). Vittoria will say she needs to pay a 2,000 Gold Tariff! Argh! You can persuade her to release it though, thank god (I had a speech level of 45 when I did this), or you can bribe her for 10% of that amount (or, if you’re crazy, you can pay 2,000 Gold). Return to Evette and tell her the good news for two spiced wines.

Deliver the Stros M’Kai Rum to Falk Firebeard

You can get this quest from Sorex at the Winking Skeever. Just go through his dialog until you can offer to take it for him, then head on over to the Blue Palace and give the rum to Falk. You’ll get 500 Gold as a reward.

Find Finn’s Lute

You get this quest after finishing “Tending the Flames” and then talking to Inge. The lute was stolen by bandits it seems. Open the map and you’ll see the lute is located at Stony Creek Cave (north of Shor’s Stone). Head over there and enter. You’ll be fighting bandits in here, but this is a pretty short cave. Of particular note here is “Mystery of Talara, Part 4”, an ILLUSION SKILLBOOK and a Stone of Barenziah! Grab the lute out of the chest now and return it to Inge. She’ll be happy and take the loot, and in return she will raise ALL of your SNEAK SKILLS (Alchemy, Light Armor, Lock Picking, Pickpocket, Sneak, and Speech) by ONE. What a reward! -

Find Noster’s Helmet inside Shadowgreen Cavern

You get this quest by talking to the beggar, Noster Eagle-Eye, who often hangs around the tavern. He will mention his old helmet and you will offer to find it. Shadowgreen Cavern is located northwest of the city. Enter from the north side. Once inside, proceed through the nice cave atmosphere until you cross a stream and kill some wolves. Keep going down the linear path as you kill bears and spriggans and wind your way up the center hill (watch out for the rocks falling!). At the top, you’ll kill even more bears and spriggans, but you’ll get a BIG chest in return with the helm in it. Return it to Noster who will give you a level in SNEAK training for free!

Find Pantea’s Flute

You get this quest after finishing “Tending the Flames” and then talking to Pantea. Apparently a student sold it to some necromancers. The lute is located at Hob’s Fall Cave. Head there and wipe out the skeletons and necromancers you find (there will be a Stone of Bazentiah here too if this is your first visit). A chest inside will have Pantea’s Flute in it. Grab it and return to Pantea to give it to her. Instead of money, she will instead raise all of your MAGE skills (Alteration, Restoration, Alchemy, Destruction, Illusion, and Conjuration) by ONE. How sweet is that!

Find Rjorn’s Drum

You get this quest after finishing “Tending the Flames” and then talking to Giraud. He’ll mention a legendary drum that he’s located and will ask you to retrieve it. The drum is located at Halldir’s Cairn, slightly southwest of Falkreath. Head over there and pick up the key you’ll find and read the journal if you wish. Here you’ll be fighting ghosts and the occasional Draugr. Make your way through the place and watch for traps and treasure (there’s a puzzle room, but it’s incredibly easy). At the end you’ll fight Halldir himself. He’ll split into three copies halfway through the fight. Take out each copy to make him form back together and kill him for good. He’s got a unique staff you can take and be sure to loot the BIG chest for the Drum and other good loot. You can open the trap door here for a quick shortcut back to the outside. Return the drum to Giraud and he’ll take it from you happy. Instead of money, he will reward you by increasing all of you WARRIOR skills (Archery, One Handed, Two Handed, Block, Heavy Armor, and Smithing) by one! How sweet it that!

Investigate the man wandering the streets near the Bards College

You can get this quest by asking the inn keeper about rumors. In truth, this little miscellaneous quest just makes you go start “The Mind of Madness” by forcing you to talk with Dervenin.

Kill the leader of Pinemoon Cave

You can get this quest by asking the court wizard, Sybille, what her problem is! Ha! Teaches you to be nosy. Pinemoon Cave is a vampire lair, and is located southeast of Solitude, near Clearpine Pond. Head in and kill the wolves at the entrance before facing three vampires. Be aware of contracting Vampirism as well. This is also a great place to harvest mushrooms if your an alchemist. Be sure to grab the ILLUSION SKILLBOOK “Incident at Necrom” while your here as well. Go back and tell Sybille you’re done for some free training in ILLUSION MAGIC (ok…) and a ring of some value!

Speak to Elisif with Taarie’s outfit on

First, go visit Radiant Raiment, a clothing store by the entrance. Find Taarie in here and go through all her dialog options to get this quest. Put on the garment she gives you, then head to the Blue Palace and speak to Jarl Elisif. Talk to her and ask her if she likes your outfit and then mention its from Radiant Raiment. After that, go back and talk to Taarie to tell her what Elisif said for a 500 Gold reward and to keep the outfit for free.

Speak to Greta about going to the Temple of Divines

You can get this quest by talking to the little girl, Svari, who is out running around with the other little kids. Talk about her uncle Roggvir to learn her mother Greta isn’t going to the temple anymore. Tell her you’ll talk to her mother, who is in Addvar’s House. You’ll learn that she wants a symbol of Talos before going, which should be on Raggvir’s body still. From here, head down into the Solitude Catacombs where you’ll have to kill some skeletons but can take the symbol of Talos out of the coffin easily (this is stealing… but no one is watching!). Return to Greta and give it to her (she told me “here’s something for your time and effort, but I got nothing, just FYI).

Speak to Viarmo at the Bards College

This is another quest from the innkeeper designed to push you towards the Bards College. Viarmo is the dean, and will have you start the side quest “Tending the Flames” when you request to join.

Take Torygg’s War Horn to the Shrine of Talos for Elisif the Fair

I got this quest after talking to Elisif after I did “The Man who cried Wolf”. She’ll ask this of you as a personal favor, which also makes me think you have to do this before becoming Thane or owning a house in Solitude. Now, there are many shrines of Talos, but the one the quest marker points you to is just north of the Ritual Stone, east of Whiterun. Head over there and you’ll find the small shrine under a cliff. Interact with the statue to place the horn down. Return to Elisif and she’ll be grateful and allow you to buy property and work towards becoming a Thane.

Talk to Irnskar about Octieve

You can get this quest by talking to Octieve in the Winking Skeever. Turns out he’s in debt up to his eyeballs. Agree to talk to Irnskar on his behalf. Follow the marker to Irnskar (he was in Radiant Raiments for me) and do the normal Persuade/Bribe/Intimidate routine to get Octieve out of his debts (I was able to persuade at speech level 48). Go talk to Octieve when you’re done who will be grateful and raise your TWO HANDED SKILL up by one. You can now marry the old geezer as well, if you wish…

Visit Proudspire Manor, your new house

This is just the quest you get when you buy your house. Good for knowing where to find it, I suppose. Not good for much else though. Go visit your home already!