Unbound

Unbound is the opening Quest in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Overview

 * Prerequisite: N/A
 * Quest Giver: N/A
 * Reward: Freedom, and any salvaged loot
 * Reputation Gain: N/A

Background
"I've been captured by the empire and been sentenced to death alongside stormcloak rebels. We were being taken to Helgen, but before I could be executed a dragon appeared and attacked the town. I need to find a way out of the town." - Dovahkiin

Dragons
Right before the executioner can bring down a halberd on your neck, a dragon (Alduin) arrives and disrupts the execution. With the execution stopped and the guard in chaos, you take the opportunity to escape custody. Running towards a nearby Imperial Keep, you meet up with Ralof and Ulfric Stormcloak, who also escaped in the panic. Quickly you learn that your hiding place is not safe, as a dragon blasts a hole in the tower. Ralof will instruct you to jump out of the tower into a nearby inn, with the promise that he will meet up with you when he can. After jumping down and exiting the inn, you find that Helgen has become heavily damaged in quite a short time, with many buildings damaged and burning. As you run into the street, an Imperial soldier, Hadvar, will tell you to follow him to safety. The soldier will lead you to Helgen Keep, a giant Imperial structure. At the entrance of Helgen Keep, Ralof catches up with you.

You then have to choose to either have Hadvar or Ralof accompany you the rest of the way.

Keep
(If you have chosen Ralof.)

Ralof and you discover the body of a dead Stormcloak, Gunjor, almost immediately upon entering the keep. After freeing you from your bindings, Ralof instructs you to take the gear on his body for your own use. While you equip yourself, Ralof examines the doors. He discovers one door is locked, and the other can't be opened from the side you're on. Luckily, soldiers will come through and open the door secured from the other side. Once they open the door, you are forced to kill them to recover the key to the other gate from their bodies. Going through the now opened up path, you will discover a store room, with two soldiers gathering supplies.

After defeating the soldiers, Ralof advises you to go through the barrels for any valuables you may attain. If you're new to Elder Scrolls, take the time to do a thorough search of the area and all containers. This is a good opportunity to familarize yourself with Skyrim's controls and menus.

Continuing down, you arrive at a battle between an Imperial torturer, and his assistants, and some Stormcloak Soldiers. After defeating the soldiers, Ralof points to a cage with several valuables inside it. Ralof gives you several lockpicks, with him suggesting you pick the lock to get to the items. Also, see Sparks.

Continuing down, you eventually enter a natural cave, filled with soldiers guarding it for General Tullius. After killing them, you find a draw bridge that connects to a part of the cave not controlled by the Imperial Army. Shortly after you enter it, the passage behind you collapses, forcing you to find a way out through there. After a bit of exploring, you discover a Frostbite Spider nest. Once you defeat the spiders, you head through the passage out of the nest that you didn't come in through.

Next, you encounter a resting bear. Ralof will advise you to sneak past it, but he will give you a bow and some arrows if you aren't a fan of stealth. Even if you are, you can sneak up on the bear, killt it with one or two arrows, and collect the bear pelt for smithing in Riverwood.

Once you've gotten past the bear, you will see an exit leading to the Skyrim wilderness. Once you leave the dungeon, you have completed the quest.

(If you have chosen Hadvar.)

The story is the same as above, but instead of Imperials, the human enemies are all Stormcloaks. If the Dragonborn allows Hadvar to escort them through the Keep, he will escort the Dragonborn to their freedom. Once free, Hadvar will direct the Dragonborn to his uncle, Alvor, who lives in Riverwood.

Following Ralof does grant slightly better armor, as one of the guards you must kill is an Imperial Captain, which means you can pick up the Imperial Armor, which gives very helpful protection in the early part of the game.

If you side with Hadvar you are free to take the pile of iron and steel ingots which spawn next to the workbench outside the house meaning you can make a better weapon from the start if you have steel smithing.

Loot
Mostly all the loot is meant for starters. The noticable items include:


 * 3 Potion of Minor Magicka


 * 9 Potion of Minor Healing


 * Potion of Minor Stamina


 * Spell Tome: Sparks


 * Novice Hood and Novice Robes


 * Bear Pelt

Object Values: 685

Searching Values Estimate: 3059

Total Area Value: 3744

Also if you have chosen to follow Hadvar, when you return to Riverwood you are allowed to take the Armor, Weapons, Iron Ingots and Steel Ingots by Alvor's workbench for free. As well as some of the items in his family's house.

If you have chosen to follow Ralof, you will only be able to take a few of the things in Gerdur and Hod's house, but there is not as much worth taking.

After speaking with either Gerdur or Sigrid, depending on which person you picked, they will give you their house key and will give you a gift of various items such as food, potions, ingrediants, lockpicks and gold. You can take all of these items for free after returning to Riverwood.

Entfesselt