I have ascended to the Circle which leads the Companions, and now share their blood as a Werewolf. To celebrate my new status, Skjor and Aela have invited me to attack a Silver Hand camp nearby.
To start this quest, the Dragonborn must either speak to a Companion, or go to Farkas, and ask him for a job. He will then direct them to see Skjor. Skjor will insist they meet him at the Underforge at night. There is a rather clear outline along the rock wall that indicates where the secret entrance is. They then must head inside the Underforge, and when ready tell Skjor to begin the ritual. After the ritual, the Dragonborn has moved out into Whiterun, and everyone is alerted. They must wait for the effects to wear off or wait until their health bar is depleted, upon which they will lose consciousness. Also, if you choose, you can slay any number of NPCs and feed on them. You will acquire no bounty for anyone murdered during this first transformation. (There may be a difference from this description in the PC version, or an update has changed this; upon transformation, the Dragonborn is still in the Underforge and can exit to the city proper, or use the one-way exit to the countryside to the east of Whiterun.) Map, inventory, and most other actions are not available while in werewolf form, but the experience will persist, so map points discovered and foes killed will be there after reverting to normal form.) Upon regaining consciousness, the Dragonborn will have already reverted to human form, although they can transform into a werewolf by selecting "Beast Form" under Powers in the Magic menu (keep in mind that there is a 24-hour cooldown period without the Ring of Hircine).
Aela mentions a Silver Hand camp nearby that must be exterminated. There is no specific way this "dungeon clearing" must be accomplished. Aela will be your follower during this part of the quest.
A straightforward approach is to head into the stone bunker at Gallows Rock, pull the chain to lower the gate, and proceed through the passages and rooms to the leader, Krev the Skinner. Note that there is a door that cannot be opened because it is barred from the other side - the Dragonborn must proceed through the rest of the dungeon bearing to the right. In the fight, Krev is accompanied by three archers; taking them out first will allow attacks to be focused on Krev to dispatch them. At lower levels, Krev will also be susceptible to the fear-inducing roar while in werewolf form, which will make the fight much easier. Aela will also find that Krev and the Silver Hand members have killed Skjor and vows revenge.
Speak to Aela afterward to finish the quest.
Followers[]
If the Dragonborn has a follower, the follower will not be present when the former regains consciousness after being a werewolf for the first time. This is because Aela automatically becomes their follower from this time until the end of the quest. The Dragonborn's original follower will return to the place where they live. (Also, telling the follower to wait in a place before the Dragonborn starts the quest will not prevent them from returning to the place where they live after waiting for 3 days.)
Journal[]
The Silver Hand – C03
ID
Journal Entry
5
Aela and Skjor want to speak to me about some kind of special mission for the Companions.
Objective 5: Talk to Skjor
10
Skjor and Aela say they have some sort of special assignment for me. I'm supposed to meet them underneath the Skyforge tonight.
Objective 10: Meet with Skjor at night
15
Objective 15: Enter the Underforge
20
Objective 20: Participate in the blood ritual
25
I have ascended to the Circle which leads the Companions, and now share their blood as a werewolf. To celebrate my new status, Skjor and Aela have invited me to attack a Silver Hand camp nearby.
Objective 25: Talk to Aela
30
Objective 30: Kill the werewolf hunters
Objective 31: Talk to Aela
200
I have ascended to the Circle which leads the Companions, and now share their blood as a werewolf. Aela led me to a Silver Hand stronghold where Skjor fell in battle. She has enlisted me on her quest for revenge.
Quest complete
Trivia[]
It is not necessary to wait until nightfall to meet Skjor. Simply leaving the Companions' compound, entering a building and returning will cause Skjor to move to the Underforge entrance and the quest proceeds normally.
Bugs[]
This section contains bugs related to The Silver Hand. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:
Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening.
If the bug is still occurring, please post the bug report with the appropriate system template 360 / XB1 , PS3 / PS4 , PC / MAC , NX / PS5 , XS , depending on which platform(s) the bug has been encountered on.
Be descriptive when listing the bug and fixes, but avoid having conversations in the description and/or using first-person anecdotes: such discussions belong on the appropriate forum board.
Click to show
PS3 Somehow after the transformation when you get teleported to Gallows Rock, Aela will still be in her Beast Form during the mission. She cannot be talked to but she still will make comments and can be talked to after the mission is completed. Aela becomes a werewolf forever but can talk like a normal human, much like Sinding.
PC 360 PS3 After participating in the ritual you can get teleported outside of the cave in werewolf form. But, you can go back in and wait a couple of hours to get the quest going to the next stage at Gallows Rock. Also you can go back into the Underforge, and then leave through the back exit. After a few seconds you will be teleported to Gallows Rock.
PC 360 Occasionally after the screen goes black when you are returning to human form, it may freeze and the player will have to load a previous save.
If you have a follower, they will disappear and Aela will take their place. After finishing the quest your follower will not reappear. If you return to where you first hired your follower, you will find them.
Skjor may not show up at the Underforge, and you will not be able to do the mission.
Fix: This can be fixed by opening the console and typing set stage C03 20, then entering the Underforge and using the blood pool.
Sometimes after transforming, when you wake up with Aela, your camera will be stuck in third person and not allow you to go back into first person view.
Fix: Transform into a werewolf again and wait for it to run out. Once in human form, wait a few seconds and then try switching to first person.
PC 360 Aela may never enter the Underforge.
Fix: Wait 24 hours then rejoin Skjor at the Underforge. The quest will then proceed as normal.
After talking with Skjor, if it is during daytime, sometimes if you wait until night both Aela and Skjor will not talk to you at all, even after waiting more than 24 hours.
If you choose to simply re-enter the Underforge after transforming, and try to leave out the back entrance, if you black out before you leave, the text "Enter Skyrim" will remain floating on your screen.
PC 360 PS3 If you leave Gallows Rock without asking Aela what to do next, she will disappear and the player will have to load a previous save to continue on in the questline.
PC While fighting the Silver Hand as a werewolf, the game will sometimes switch to first person and you will be unable to act for a few moments — believed to be due to the slow-motion kill not executing properly while a werewolf. Your weapons may also become recharged after the ordeal.
If you leave Jorrvaskr at the same time as Skjor, Skjor may fly to the opposite side of Whiterun (near Uthgerd the Unbroken's house).
If you go to Gallows Rock and complete it before finishing this quest, it will make this quest unfinishable; therefore, making the Companions questline impossible to complete.
If standing "uncomfortably" close to Aela when she is in werewolf from, she will say "huh?" with a human voice.
If clearing out Gallows Rock in werewolf form, after talking to Aela at the end she may attack the player, simply run away — once you turn back into a human she is no longer hostile.
When doing this quest as a Vampire Lord, with Serana as your active follower, it is possible to become a form of hybrid between vampire and werewolf. If you activate the Vampire Lord ability and drink Aela's blood simultaneously you will be in werewolf form, then immediately enter Vampire Lord form. Then if you revert form and ask Serana to make you a vampire, before you are teleported to Gallows Rock, you will regain a form of vampirism. In this state, you will have the active effects of Resist Disease and Resist Poison, the Vampire Lord and Beast Form powers, as well as Vampire's Sight. It may be necessary to activate Vampire Lord and revert form again before the above listed vampire abilities are present, with the exception of Vampire Lord. It appears that in this state you are essentially a "stage 0" vampire with no abilities or effects that are modified based on the stage of vampirism you are in and you will not progress naturally to other stages of vampirism. Additionally, Nightstalker's Footsteps and Champion of the Night are not active. Feeding will reset your vampirism to stage one, but you will still be a werewolf. After feeding, vampirism will progress normally and Nightstalker's Footsteps and Champion of the Night will become active again. It should be noted that "stage 0" vampires lack a weakness to fire and sunlight, in addition to vampire benefits, making such a state a trade-off, not a disadvantage. "Stage 0" vampirism can not be re-attained after feeding. Activating Beast Form will remove all abilities associated with "stage 0" vampirism, regardless of which stage of vampirism is currently in effect. Other vampire abilities will remain. While "stage 0" vampire abilities are absent, you might not be recognized as a vampire. "Stage 0" abilities can be restored by activating Vampire Lord and then reverting form.
360 If you become a werewolf, the members of the Volkihar Clan will not speak to you as if you were no longer a vampire. Changing into Vampire Lord form and reverting fixes this. They will also attack you if you change into a Vampire Lord in front of them, even if they will talk to you.
360 If you are wearing a Dragon Priest Mask while participating in the blood ritual, you will not convert to a werewolf until the mask is removed.confirmation needed
PC 360 PS3 If the player has started the vampire questline in Dawnguard and has become a vampire, there may be problems with starting this quest.
NX PS4 When inside the Underforge, Aela can be spoken to and the player can engage conversation with Aela, despite being in Beast form (her voice can be heard).
