Skyrim:Take Up Arms

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Prove you are worthy to join the Companions. Quest Giver: Various Location(s): Pelagia Farm, Jorrvaskr Next Quest: One Radiant Quest, Proving Honor Reward: Membership in the Companions ID: C00

Your first encounter with the Companions

Quick Walkthrough

1. Locate the headquarters of the Companions.
2. Find and talk to Kodlak Whitemane.
3. Prove yourself worthy against Vilkas.
4. Make yourself useful to the higher-ranked members.

Detailed Walkthrough

Find the Companions

On your way to Whiterun, you may come across members of the Companions, specifically Aela the Huntress, Ria, and Farkas, battling a giant among the sparse crops outside Pelagia Farm. If you want to participate in this fight, make sure to head straight to the farm once you arrive in the vicinity of Whiterun. If you delay for even a short time, the Companions will have already defeated the giant before you can join the fray, resulting in Aela taunting you for your lack of assistance. If you delay for too long, you may miss the Companions entirely, as they will slowly walk to the main gates of Whiterun and enter the city after the battle. Note that neither of these results has any negative consequences in your dealings with the Companions. If you are present when the giant dies, Aela will actively seek you out and will, depending on the outcome of the battle, either commend or taunt your battle skills. In both cases, however, she will tell you about the Companions and point you towards Kodlak Whitemane in Jorrvaskr.

This quest can also be started by speaking with select Whiterun citizens or Jorrvaskr residents, who will suggest you go speak with Kodlak.

Jorrvaskr

Jorrvaskr is a legendary mead hall and the oldest building in Whiterun; it is located in the Wind District, up the eastern set of stairs from the Gildergreen. Inside the building, you will witness a friendly brawl between newcomers Athis and Njada Stonearm while the other members cheer. The harbinger of the Companions, Kodlak Whitemane, will most likely be in the northern room of the Living Quarters, busy talking to Vilkas about what seem to be important matters. When asked about membership, Kodlak will consider you worthy, while Vilkas will disagree. After a brief argument between the two, Kodlak will ask about your battle skills. Regardless of your answer, Kodlak will order Vilkas to escort you to the yard for a quick sparring session. Follow Vilkas to the yard and pick up the fight. Make sure not to use magic, a bound weapon, or an enchanted weapon, for if you do Vilkas will temporarily stop the session. If you only have enchanted weapons, unequip them and use your fists. Take a few swings at Vilkas and prove your worth. Once Vilkas asks you to stop, accept your status as a 'whelp' and the fact that you will run errands for now.

A Few Errands

Vilkas will hand you his sword for sharpening. Take it to the best smith in town, Eorlund Gray-Mane, who works at the Skyforge just up the stairs from the Jorrvaskr entrance. Eorlund will briefly explain how newcomers tend to get bossed around upon joining the Companions, and will then ask for a favor. He will give you a shield for Aela, who can be found talking to Skjor in the living quarters. Similar to the conversation between Kodlak and Vilkas, it becomes apparent that the Companions hide a few secrets, although none of them will share them with you at this time. When you hand Aela the shield, she will thank you for the favor and summon Farkas to escort you to your new quarters, where a free bed will be available. Farkas will introduce you to a few of the other newcomers and will also offer you a job, which will be one of his radiant quests. You can choose to ignore his request, as seven different radiant quests will now be available from the guild members, and you must complete at least one of them before your next major assignment, Proving Honor.

Achievements

One achievement is unlocked when you complete this quest:

• Take Up Arms (10 points/Bronze)

Notes

• In the living quarters, Aela and Farkas' dialogue will differ. If you met them earlier near Pelagia Farm, they will both recognize you; if you went straight to Jorrvaskr, they will just greet you like a newcomer.
• If you manage to drop Vilkas' life to zero during the test he'll qualify your performance as "most impressive" rather than just "not bad".
• Having a follower when fighting with Vilkas may cause them to become hostile toward Vilkas and other Companions members nearby, resulting in a serious fight in which you or other NPCs may be killed, especially when you are forced into dialogue with Vilkas and cannot escape or retaliate.
• Athis and Njada Stonearm's brawl can potentially go on forever if you first enter Jorrvaskr at a high level. Going into the basement will end the fight.
• You can keep "Aela's shield" if you skip Stage 40 "Bring Aela her shield", by simply not talking to her before becoming a member of the Companions.

Bugs

• Weapon Plaque and Weapon Rack objects will take quest item weapons from the player. If you place Vilkas's Sword on a weapon rack or plaque, the quest can still be completed by talking to Eorlund, the sword will disappear from the rack/plaque, and then the slot the sword occupied can never be used again.(It's the same bug, you may experience with Balgruuf's Greatsword.)
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 1.1, fixes this bug.

Quest Stages

Introduction (CompanionsMiscObjective)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		Objective 10: Speak with the leader of the Companions
200	Finishes quest
Take Up Arms (C00)
10		If I want to become a member of the Companions, I have to speak to their leader, Kodlak Whitemane, in Whiterun.
20		The legendary warrior band of Whiterun, the Companions have agreed to let me join them, if I can handle some preliminary tasks for them. Objective 20: Train with Vilkas
30		Objective 30: Give Vilkas's sword to Eorlund
40		Objective 40: Bring Aela her shield
50		Objective 50: Follow Farkas to your quarters
100	Finishes quest	I have joined the Companions, the legendary warrior band of Whiterun.
Unknown		Objective 10: Speak to Kodlak Whitemane

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table:
  • CompanionsMiscObjective: 0, 255.
  • C00: 0, 1, 150.

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 C00 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 C00.

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Up: Companions

Next: Proving Honor