Whiterun is likely the first major city you’ll run into, and it’s a pretty nice city being the hold capital of Whiterun Hold (an original name). It is surrounded by walls on all sides and is conveniently located in the center of Skyrim, with plains and ideal farming land surrounding the city itself. It is ruled by Jarl Balgruuf the Greater. The city is also home of The Companions guild and is full of shops | and crafting stations to help you on your journey. The perfect place to settle down in as you begin your adventure.

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

House? Yes - Breezehome (MUST complete “Bleak Falls Barrow” and have 5000 Gold).

UPGRADES:

Alchemy Laboratory - 500 Gold

Bedroom Furnishings - 300 Gold

Loft Decorations - 200 Gold

Dining Room Decorations - 250 Gold

Living Room Furnishings - 250 Gold

Kitchen Furnishings - 300 Gold

Major Shops

o Arcadia’s Cauldron (Alchemy Shop)

o Belethor’s General Goods (General Goods Store)

o The Bannered Mare (Inn)

o The Drunken Huntsman (Archery Store)

o War Maidens (Blacksmith)

Major Quests

o In My Time of Need (After “Dragon Rising”, have Hammerfall warriors approach you near the entrance of the city to start this quest). Missing in Action (Talk to Fralia Gray-Mane abour her son).

o Take Up Arms (Talk to Kodlak about joining the Companions in Jorvaskr. This starts the Companions questline in earnest!).

o The Blessings of Nature (Talk to Danica in the Temple of Kynareth about the Gildergreen).

o The Whispering Door (Talk to the innkeeper about rumors until you hear about the Jarl’s trouble with his children).

CRAFTING STATIONS

o Alchemy Lab (Inside Arcadia’s Cauldron) (In Dragonsreach) (Inside Breezehome once you buy it)

o Arcane Enchanter (In Dragonsreach)

o Blacksmith Forge (Outside War Maidens) (Near Eorlund’s Smithery)

o Cooking Pot (Inside War Maidens) (Inside Belethor’s General Goods) (Inside Breezehome once you buy it)

o Grindstone (Outside War Maidens) (Near Eorlund’s Smithery)

o Smelter (Outside War Maidens)

o Tanning Rack (Outside War Maidens)

o Wood Chopping Block (Outside Belethor’s General Goods) o Workbench (Outside War Maidens)

FOLLOWERS/TRAINERS

FOLLOWERS:

o Aela the Huntress (Must complete “Glory of the Dead” first).

o Athis (Must complete “Glory of the Dead” first).

o Farkas (Must complete “Glory of the Dead’ first first).

o Lydia (Your Housecarl, must complete “Dragon Rising” first).

o Jenassa (Mercenary in The Drunken Huntsman; costs 500 Gold).

o Njada Stone-Arm (Must complete “Glory of the Dead” first).

o Ria (Must complete “Glory of the Dead” first).

o Torvar (Must complete “Glory of the Dead” first).

o Uthgerd the Unbroken (Warrior in The Bannered Mare, must beat her in a brawl first).

o Vilkas (Must complete “Glory of the Dead” first).

TRAINERS:

o Aela the Huntress: EXPERT ARCHERY TRAINER (Member of The Companions).

o Amren: COMMON ONE HANDED TRAINER (Often wanders around the city).

o Arcadia: EXPERT ALCHEMY TRAINER (Owns Arcadia’s Cauldron).

o Athis: EXPERT ONE HANDED TRAINER (Member of The Companions).

o Danica Pure-Spring: MASTER RESTORATION TRAINER (Priestess in the Temple of Kynareth. Must complete “The Blessings of Nature” first).

o Eorlund Gray-Mane: MASTER SMITHING TRAINER (Works for the Companions at the Skyforge).

o Farkas: MASTER HEAVY ARMOR TRAINER (Member of The Companions).

o Khayla: COMMON SNEAK TRAINER (Khajiit caravan member outside Whiterun).

o Njada Stonearm: EXPERT BLOCK TRAINER (Member of The Companions).

o Vilkas: MASTER TWO HANDED TRAINER (Member of The Companions).

INTERESTING ITEMS

o Battle of Sancre Tor (TWO HANDED SKILLBOOK located on a bookcase inside House of Clan Battle-Born).

o Before the Ages of Man (ILLUSION SKILLBOOK, in the Jarl’s study in Dragonreach).

o B iography of the Wolf Queen (SPEECH SKILLBOOK located on a shelf in Belethor’s General Goods).

o Death Blow of Abernanit (BLOCK SKILLBOOK located in the Whiterun catacombs on a table).

o Herbalist’s Guide to Skyrim (ALCHEMY SKILLBOOK located inside Arcadia’s Cauldron, on a table).

o Song of Hrormir (TWO HANDED SKILLBOOK located on a table outside Kodlak’s Bedroom).

o Stone of Barenziah (In the Jarl’s bedroom in Dragonreach).

o Stone of Barenziah (In Kodlak’s bedroom in Jorrvaskr).

o Stone of Barenziah (In the Whiterun Catacombs, near a dead body).

o The Armorer’s Challenge (Near the Skyforge/Eorland’s Smithery).

o The Black Arrow, v2 (ARCHERY SKILLBOOK, behind the counter in The Drunken Huntsman).

o The Markmanship Lesson (ARCHERY SKILLBOOK, located in Aela’s bedroom, in an EXPERT LOCKED Display Case).

o Withershins (RESTORATION SKILLBOOK located on a bookshelf inside the Temple of Kynareth).

MARRIAGE PARTNERS

o Aela the Huntress (Female Nord, must complete “Glory of the Dead” first).

o Athis (Male Dark Elf, must complete “Glory of the Dead” first).

o Farkas (Male Nord, must complete “Glory of the Dead” first).

o Jenassa (Female Dark Elf, located in The Drunken Huntsman. You must hire her first).

o Lydia (Female Nord, your Housecarl, must complete “Dragon Rising” first).

o Njada Stone-Arm (Female Nord, must complete “Glory of the Dead” first).

o Ria (Female Nord, must complete “Glory of the Dead” first).

o Torvar (Male Nord, must complete “Glory of the Dead” first).

o Uthgerd the Unbroken (Female Nord in The Bannered Mare. You must beat her in a fist fight though).

o Vilkas (Male Nord, must complete “Glory of the Dead” first).

MISCELLANEOUS QUESTS

Convince Braith to stop bullying Lars

You can get this quest from Lars Battle-Born, who is often wandering around. I guess he’s being picked on so agree to help him out (or just tell him to grow a backbone!). Braith is the little girl running around the town all the time. You can use a variety of responses to convince her to layoff, and she’ll agree. There’s really no reward here… just helping a poor boy out.

Deliver the sword to Proventus Avenicci

You can get this quest from Adrianne at War Maidens. Talk to her about the forge and she’ll ask you to give this sword to her father, who is the steward. Agree to do so and head to Dragonsreach. For giving the steward the sword you will be rewarded with 20 Gold.

Find Amren’s Family Sword inside Redoran’s Retreat

You can get this quest from the redguard Amren, who often wanders around the city. His family’s sword is in the hands of bandits and he could use your help getting it back. Redoran’s Retreat is a cave to the west, It’s not very big, only housing three bandits and a dog, so kill them off and loot the chest for the sword. Of note here is a SNEAK SKILLBOOK called “2920, Last Seed, v8”. Return the sword to Amren who will be excited and in return will teach you a “Sword and Shield Technique”, increasing your skill in BLOCKING and ONE HANDED by one each. Very nice!

Kill the bandit leader located at Halted Stream Camp

You can get this quest by talking to the innkeeper or steward for work. Halted Stream Camp is located northwest of the city and is a fairly small enclosed structure with a cave further in. You’ll face 3-4 bandits outside before heading into the cave, which has a single bandit to kill on the upper level. Kill him and loot him for a key, then head further down to kill two more bandits and a chief. Be sure to loot the BIG CHEST here afterwards and grab the ALTERATION SPELL: TRANSMUTE ORE here as well. With the leader dead, return to the steward, Proventus Avenicci, for your 100 Gold reward.

Kill the giant located at Bleakwind Basin

You can get this quest by talking to the innkeeper or steward for work. Bleakwind Basin is located to the west of the city. Hopefully you’ve faced giants before, as this is no easy task, so head there and take them out (“them” meaning you’ll face two giants here). Once you’re done, return to the steward for your 100 Gold reward.

Recover Andurs’ Amulet of Arkay

You can get this quest by talking to Andurs in the Hall of the Dead, who is missing his Amulet of Arkay. It’s apparently in the catacombs nearby, so agree to find it and head in. As you may guess, there are skeletons down here (and a Stone of Barenziah, so look carefully, as well as a BLOCK SKILLBOOK, “Death Blow of Abernanit”). Kill the three skeletons you find and follow the marker to the amulet. Return it to him for a 15 Gold reward.

Steal the Argonian Ale

You get this quest by talking to the drunk (and beggar) Brenuin. Talk to him about being drunk all the time and he’ll ask you to steal this ale for him. Agree to do so and head into the Bannered Mare and swipe it from the kitchen when no one is looking (it was 10AM for me and no one was in that room). Return to Brenuin and give it to him in return for a healing potion he “found”.

Talk to Danica about the Gildergreen being destroyed

You get his quest by talking to the innkeeper about gossip. In reality, this quest is merely designed to get you to talk to Danica and start the side quest “The Blessings of Nature”. Now you know! - Talk to Mikael abour Carlotta You get this quest by talking to Carlotta, the vegetable vendor, about her “problem”. Offer to talk to Mikael for her. He can be found in The Bannered Mare and as usual you’ll need to Persuade/Bribe/Intimidate him to leave Carlotta alone (I was able to persuade at SPEECH 53). Once you are done, return and tell Carlotta the good news for a 500 Gold reward.