Walkthrough
The quest begins by speaking to Skjor after completing "Trouble in Skyrim". He tells the Dragonborn that one more quest must be completed before becoming a full-fledged member of the Companions. During the trial, Farkas will assess the Dragonborn's progress. The Dragonborn should next talk to Farkas and agree to meet him at Dustman's Cairn. Temporarily, Farkas will replace any existing Follower. The follower will then return to their home location.
Dustman's Cairn
The entrance is a bit hard to see. If Farkas was asked to be met there, he stands on the path beside rocks that are difficult to climb. Up the small hill is a ring of stones surrounding a pit. At the south end of the pit is a set of stairs leading down into the pit. The entrance is near the bottom of the stairs.
Upon entering the first room, Farkas says it looks like "someone has been digging lately."
The path leads to a room where leveled draugr reside. After killing them and proceeding through the wooden door, the path leads down to a large cavern with a lever in the middle of an adjoining room. Pulling that lever will close the exit, trapping the Dragonborn inside. This triggers a cutscene. After the scene, Farkas should be spoken to about what happened. During this leg of the quest, Farkas does not aid the Dragonborn in battle. Only in the last room of the Cairn does he assist in battle. This may be level dependent - at higher player levels, Farkas seems to hang back and watch, but once combat is initiated, Farkas will pursue and attack any fleeing draugr or Silver Hand members and finish them off. He will provide substantial assistance to lower leveled Dragonborn even before the final room.
Continuing through the caves, members of the Silver Hand attack. After proceeding through two wooden doors, there are Silver Hands inside to be dispatched. The path continues up the stairs, past the burial urns to the next room, and through the wooden door. Two chests may be found in front of the stairs. One can be found by pulling the chain found on the left side of the left hand wall, opening a passage to the chest. The second can be found in the hallway near the front of the stairs amongst the rubble. Silver Hands and draugr will be encountered along the way until the door to Dustman's Crypt is reached.
Dustman's Crypt
Dustman's Crypt
Upon entering the crypt, more Silver Hand members attack. After they are dispatched, a side door leads to a path across the bridge, then down to the right, with Silver Hand and draugr to be fought on the way toward the crypt. The draugr can be easily dispatched using Destruction spells, arrows, or melee weapons with long reach. This causes them to die before being woken, leaving only the Silver Hands to deal with.
After this, a large room with a chest containing Dustman's Cairn Key appears, off to the left upon entering the room; this opens the iron door ahead. There are several Skeevers down the path. The next room contains two Frostbite Spiders, followed by several draugr. It also contains an Alchemy Lab.
The next iron door leads to a larger room. On the altar lies the fragment needed to complete the quest. Behind the altar is a Word Wall that teaches a new word of power for Fire Breath when approached. After retrieving the fragment, several leveled draugr appear. At higher levels most of the enemies are Draugr Deathlords, and may appear if the player character is level 12. When facing higher level enemies, Farkas is of little help, and his Heavy Armor makes sneaking more difficult. Placing runes or casting Fireball near the spawn points of the draugr causes them to emerge prematurely, allowing them to be picked off one by one, before the fragment is grabbed. Detect Dead can be of use here.
Once the fragment is obtained and the enemies killed, going up the stairs and through the empty coffin returns the Dragonborn to Dustman's Cairn, where a quick path to the exit can now be found.
Return and reward
Upon returning to Jorrvaskr, Vilkas meets the Dragonborn and asks to be followed. Upon following him to the courtyard, Farkas vouches for the Dragonborn's competence during the mission, and the Dragonborn is formally inducted into the Companions.
Notable items
- Battle of Sancre Tor (Two-Handed Skill Book): on the table in the first room.
- Further in the Cairn, there is an alcove to the north, in there a Master-locked chest containing two magical items and
can be found. - After the in-game event where Farkas turns into a werewolf and kills a handful of Silver Hand, he drops his Skyforge Steel Greatsword which can be picked up off the ground. He will use an Iron Greatsword from that point.
- After retrieving the fragment, off to the right is a chest with leveled loot.
Trivia
- After seeing Farkas exhibit his lycanthropy, by turning into a werewolf, he may be asked, "The Companions are werewolves?" He responds with, "Not everyone, but all the members of the Circle are. It's a secret to everybody." This is a reference to The Legend of Zelda and the popular internet meme.
- If the Dragonborn managed to run out of the trap room after pulling the lever, the gate will drop down and Farkas will walk to the gate and "talk" to the Dragonborn as if they're still behind it. All Dragonborn's actions will be locked until Farkas opens the gate.
- Near the end of the tomb, a member of the Silver Hand can be seen in a coffin, mimicking a draugr, in an attempt to surprise the Dragonborn.
- Once in the crypt, if overwhelmed, sometimes going through the door leading to Dustman's Cairn will allow for an escape from the Silver Hand.
- As the Silver Hand surround Farkas, one says "If he wears that armor, he dies", even though he does not wear the Wolf Armor.
- Because this dungeon cannot be accessed prior to the quest, it is listed on Dungeon Lock Outs.
- After the quest is complete, wild werewolves can be encountered at night with Dawnguard installed.
- In one of the rooms, there is a dead Silver Hand on top of a coffin. Ironically, though all Silver Hands have a silver weapon in their inventories, this one only has an iron weapon.
Bugs
|
This section contains bugs related to Proving Honor. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:
|
| Click to the list of bugs encountered | |
|---|---|
| |
| The Companions Quests | |
|---|---|
| Main Quest | |
| Radiant Quests | |