"Riverwood is agreeable I suppose. For a Nord village." - FaendalTemplate:SkyrimNPCs Faendal is a Bosmer archer in Riverwood . He and Sven have a rivalry for the love of a local girl, Camilla Valerius. He offers Archery lessons at the Adept level.
Interactions
Faendal is a potential follower if the Dragonborn sides with him by exposing Sven's letter to Camilla or by giving Camilla his own fake letter. Faendal is able to join The Blades.
Faendal's House
Faendal's House is located in Riverwood. Sometimes Faendal will not leave his house, leaving the door in an unlocked state. To fix this, reenter and try again.
Exploits
Archery
After taking Faendal on as a companion, it is possible to receive free Archery training. (Confirmed on all platforms) Purchase the next training level up from Faendal, then speak with him to open the trade option. Take back the money paid for training. This can be repeated up to five times per level (Up to level 50 in archery).
Pickpocket
With any trainer, you can use the cutpurse perk to pickpocket the money back. The total value of gold affects the success rate.
Another way to steal large sum of money from a trainer is to pickpocket them, put a paralyze potion inside his inventory (Which obviously needs a specific Alchemy perk), then when he is paralyzed wait on sneak mode. As soon as the paralyze effect runs out you can pickpocket the gold without him noticing. I reached level 90 in Speech this way by using this tactic on the speech trainer inside The Bards College.
Lockpicking
Faendal's house has an Apprentice level lock. To raise lockpicking, the key to his house will need to be returned, if it was taken. With Faendal following, pick the lock to his house, then go back outside. He will lock it again - resetting it so it may be picked again.
Trivia
- If the Dragonborn owns Breezehome and has purchased the alchemy lab, upon waking up Faendal will occasionally be found using it, even if he is not a follower, or is fairly aggressive toward the Dragonborn.
- Upon entering Riverwood as a Bosmer, Dunmer or Altmer, Faendal will say "Greetings Brother/Sister Elf, nice to see a familiar face far from home".
- Faendal will still gladly teach you Archery even if he dislikes you.
- If the player is married to Camilla Valerius and live in a home other than her own, you can often find Faendal leaving your home as soon as you arrive.If you kill the elf Sven will send a letter of thanks via a courier.
- If the player helped Sven with Misc. quest to give Camilla Valerius the fake letter, Faendal will send Hired Thugs, and will appear the next time the player leaves a city hold and attack you upon sight.
- If a space is incorporated between Faen and Dal, Faendal's name translates from Norwegian to English as 'Damn Valley'.
- Faendal may attack you on sight if he is a follower. This happened in Dwarven ruins, unconfirmed whether or not it was a glitch. These also happened after killing several Thalmor on the road to Rorikstead.
- Faendal attacks you if you attack any kind of Imperial or Thalmor. Saying he may be on the Imperial side of the Skyrim Civil War.
Bugs
- When the Dragonborn enters Riverwood for the first time, Faendal may suddenly attack them.
- Also when visiting for the first time, Faendal may very rarely be found dead in the center of the town.
- If Sven and Hilde are killed before finding out about the love triangle between Faendal, Camilia and Sven, Faendal will never offer you the quest because the quest scripting was not designed for this contingency.
- Faendal may occasionally use his hunting bow instead of the better weapons that the player gives him, not using a Daedric Bow for instance. This is a current glitch in the game that happens with many other followers that have their own hunting bow. To get him to re-equip the more powerful item, take it from him and then give it back, at which point he will equip it instead of his hunting bow. Unfortuately this is not a permanent fix, as he will still randomly re-equip his hunting bow.
- Faendal may still come out of your house as you arrive even if Camilla has been killed. (Seen on Xbox 360)