Skyrim:Animal Extermination (B)

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For the alternate version, see Animal Extermination (A).

Fulfill a contract given to the Companions to clear out a beast den. Quest Giver: Aela the Huntress Location(s): Whiterun, Jorrvaskr Prerequisite Quest: Take Up Arms Reward: Leveled gold ID: CR02

Frost Troll in Bleakcoast Cave

Quick Walkthrough

1. Request work from Companion leader Aela the Huntress.
2. Kill the boss beast in the random animal den.
3. Return to Aela.

Detailed Walkthrough

Life as a Companion

Once you have completed the Take Up Arms quest, you can begin work as a Companion. The Companions tradition of service dates back to the mercenary aid given to Ysgramor by the Five Hundred Companions. Since then the Companions have served as a group of impartial and independent contractors, helping out commoner and jarl alike in matters of might, but taking no sides nor making any alliances themselves.

The Extermination Job

Locate Aela in Jorrvaskr. She has received a request from one of the Jarls that an animal den in their Hold be cleared of nuisance beasts.

When you speak to Aela to ask for work she will reply, "The Jarl of <Hold > has asked for our help. It seems that predators have taken up residence and have been attacking farmers and travelers. Someone's got to head out there and take care of the beasts."

When you reply that you can take care of it, Aela will respond with either words of encouragement or caution:

"I knew we could count on you. Get it taken care of right away. Nobody wants an animal left roaming around in their place." or "Be cautious. Beasts are not nearly as predictable as men. Give the thing a quick death."

As she sends you on your way your journal will reflect your new quest and your map will update with the beast den location. As this is a radiant quest, the boss-type beast will be in any of these 17 locations:

Eastmarch	Falkreath Hold	Haafingar	Hjaalmarch	The Pale	The Rift	Whiterun Hold	Winterhold
Cragslane Cavern Gallows Rock Lost Knife Hideout Stony Creek Cave Uttering Hills Camp Cronvangr Cave Refugees' Rest	Bonechill Passage Greywater Grotto	Steepfall Burrow	Brood Cavern	Bronze Water Cave	Clearspring Tarn Crystaldrift Cave Fallowstone Cave Honeystrand Grove Pinepeak Cavern	Cold Rock Pass Graywinter Watch Greenspring Hollow Darkshade	Bleakcoast Cave

Reward

Once you have killed the beast, return to Jorrvaskr and speak with Aela again. Let her know you have completed the task, to which she will reply: "Good work. The mindless cretins didn't stand a chance." Your reward of leveled gold will then be added.

Levels	Reward	USLEEP Reward
1–9	100	100
10–19	150	150
20–29	300	200
30–39	300	250
40+	300	300

†Level is based on when the player completed the previous quest (or level one for the first quest), not the player's level when receiving the quest or its reward.

‡The reward amounts for radiant Companions quests do not progress as intended.

• The Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch, version 3.0.3, fixes this bug. (details)

Notes

• Although there may be multiple beasts at the targeted destination, only the boss beast (the one highlighted by the quest marker) actually needs to be killed to complete the quest.

Bugs

• If the cave that it randomly chooses for you has already been cleared, you may run into a situation where the beast you need to exterminate has already been killed, and the quest marker will point at the corpse, making it impossible to complete the quest. This removes the ability to complete further tasks for the Companions, as they will remark that you have not finished your current contract. Even reanimating the corpse of the beast and killing it again will not fix the issue.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.2.6, fixes this bug.
  • This can be fixed with the console command setstage cr02 20.
  • After enough time has passed for the target location to respawn, the Animal Extermination quest may be moved to the completed section of your journal, even though you did not complete the job. Aela will still be standing by the door inside Jorrvaskr, but she should offer a new job.
  • You might be sent to clear out a Draugr tomb, with the boss being the highest level Draugr there (A Draugr Death Overlord or Dragon Priest). ^?

Quest Stages

Animal Extermination (CR02)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		I've been asked to take care of a <Alias=BeastBoss> lair in <Alias=DenHold>. Objective 10: Clear out <Alias=AnimalDen>
20		I cleared a <Alias=BeastBoss> lair in <Alias=DenHold>. Objective 20: Return to Aela
100	Finishes quest
200	Finishes quest
250	Fails quest

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 1.

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage CR02 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest CR02.