Markarth (Skyrim)

Markarth is the westernmost city of the province of Skyrim. It is the capital city of The Reach under the regency of Jarl Igmund.

Overview
The city is comprised of two parts. Markarth, which houses all houses and shops, and Understone Keep, in which are the house of the Jarl, the Hall Of The Dead, the Dwemer Museum, the Nchuand-Zel Excavation Site (Dwemer) and the blacksmith Moth.

Background
Markarth was the former city of Nchuand-Zel, belonging to the ancient Dwemer, also known as the Dwarves, who resided in Morrowind, Skyrim, and Hammerfell during the First Era, and whose origin was located in the west-central region of Skyrim, the homeland of the warlike and barbaric Nordic tribes. Following the disappearance of the Dwemer from the face of Nirn after they attempted to control the power of the Numidium, Markarth was abandoned until the rise of the Septim Empire, the third of the Cyrodiilic Empires which arose under the leadership of Tiber Septim and his successor, Pelagius Septim. Emperor Tiber Septim established the Imperial College of the Voice in Markarth, which, subsequently, attracted the Nords to establish it as one of the nine cities of Skyrim.

Unlike the Dwemer cities and strongholds located in Morrowind and Hammerfell, the city of Markarth was not constructed out of metal, instead it was built of stone, likely due to the abundance of stone found in the mountains of Skyrim. Another theory that could explain why Markarth was constructed out of stone is that the Nordic occupiers of Markarth had constructed their own city over the ruins of the metallic Dwemer city of the same name, which may thus be underground.

Residence
When the Jarl approves the Dragonborn will be able to buy a house in Markarth from his steward, Raerek.
 * Vlindrel Hall: 8000 gold

Points Of Interest

 * Abandoned House
 * Arleif And Sons Trading Company
 * Silver-Blood Inn
 * Shrine of Talos
 * Temple Of Dibella
 * The Treasury House
 * Understone Keep
 * Vlindrel Hall
 * The Hag's Cure
 * Markarth Ruins

Notable Figures

 * Adara - Daughter of Endon & Kerah
 * Betrid Silver-Blood
 * Cosnach - Local drunk often found at the Silver-Blood Inn
 * Degaine - Beggar
 * Eltrys
 * Endon - Husband of Kerah
 * Frabbi - Wife of Kleppr
 * Hathrasil - Smelter
 * Hogni Red-Arm - Meat Vendor
 * Hroki - Maid at the Silver-Blood Inn
 * Imedhnain - Assistant of Lisbet and nephew of Cosnach
 * Jarl Igmund - The Jarl of Markarth. Found in Understone Keep
 * Kerah - Jewelry Merchant and wife of Endon
 * Kleppr - Owner of the Silver-Blood Inn
 * Lisbet - Owner of Arleif And Sons Trading Company
 * Margret
 * Muiri
 * Mulush
 * Nepos the Nose
 * Omluag - Smelter
 * Raerek - Uncle and steward of Jarl Igmund
 * Reburrus Quintilius - Stays at The Treasury House
 * Rhiada - Owner of The Treasury House
 * Thonar Silver-Blood
 * Thongvor Silver-Blood
 * Vigilant Tyranus
 * Vorstag - Mercenary for hire at the Silver-Blood Inn
 * Yngvar the Singer - Works for the Silver-Blood family
 * Legate Emmanuel Admand

Nearby Points of Interest
Following is a list of some surrounding points of interest.
 * Bard's Leap Summit
 * Blind Cliff Cave
 * Dushnikh Yal
 * Four Skull Lookout
 * Left Hand Mine
 * Karthspire
 * Karthspire Camp
 * Kolskeggr Mine
 * Markarth Stables
 * Old Hroldan
 * Reachcliff Cave
 * Red Eagle Redoubt
 * Salvius Farm
 * Sky Haven Temple
 * Soljund's Sinkhole
 * The Lover Stone

Easter Eggs

 * The city from the outside strongly resembles Helms Deep from the Lord of the Rings, as it has a main keep to the right with a wall extending into the mountain to the right. The wall also has a similar sewage grate to the one in the movie.
 * Under the waterfall, by the blacksmiths there will be two skeletons. This also may be referenced by some of the guards saying "Don't trip".

Bugs

 * There is a glitch to get a free house in Markarth. it involves finding the Jarl while he is sleeping. Go into his room and put money in a dresser. Either leave the money in the dresser and wake him up and he will say "You have done me a great service," or the money will have to be removed from the dresser and the Jarl will need to be woken up to talk to him.
 * (PS3) If the Dragonborn negotiates a truce between the Imperials and the Stormcloaks before visiting Markarth for the first time, the scripted event that triggers upon entry (in which Weylin attempts to murder Margret) will amusingly cause both Imperial guards and Stormcloak guards to spawn. The outnumbered faction will fight until killed by the city guards, causing no other problems.
 * Helping Madanach escape will trigger all the guards to constantly chase the Dragonborn wanting to arrest them, even long after the quest (it can also occur if the Dragonborn commits a crime in Markarth and reaches a high bounty). There is a solution to this by opening your console and setting all 3 factions that rule Markarth back to 0 fine. Codes being, player.setcrimegold 0 00018aac, player.setcrimegold 0 0008e764, player.setcrimegold 0 0002816c. this also affects XBox 360 and PS3. To fix on XBox and PS3, make sure your level is high enough and enter Markarth. Upon entering the city, do not have any guards spot you, and enter the Shrine of Talos. The three guards from the previous quest "The Forsworn Conspiracy," will still be there, and the middle guard will engage in the same conversation as at the end of that quest. The other two guards will attack you, and because you are in conversation, there is no way to fight back, so be prepared. Answer the guard with "You're corrupt, Thonar is paying you," and then again with "Fine, I'll come quietly." The guard will then do nothing, so heal yourself. After a few seconds, the same guard will attempt to arrest you, and give you the option to pay off your bounty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4cgvCPRunU
 * Another way to fix this bug is to give Martkarth to the Stormcloaks at the negotiations near the end of the game. All of the Markarth guards are replaced with Stormcloak Soldiers, and will no longer try to arrest you for this quest.
 * In some cases you can't change 0002816c to 0. When you try to do that, it will add 15000 to the existing bounty. For example: If you change the bounty to 10 it will actually change to a 15010 bounty. (Targeting a guard in Markarth and using 'paycrimegold' in the console will force the debt to be paid).

Gallery
Markarth