Hired Muscle

Hired Muscle
Quest Giver	Farkas
Location	Radiant location
Prerequisite	Take Up Arms
Reward	100 gold
Type	Companions, Radiant quest
Quest ID	CR04

Background

Farkas asks the Dragonborn to intimidate a random NPC in Skyrim. It is the Dragonborn's duty to track down the person of interest and "rough them up" by initiating a bare-knuckle fight with them until they yield. Returning to Farkas completes the quest. Killing the target while on the job will result in failure.

List of NPCs to intimidate

• Acolyte Jenssen at the Temple of Kynareth in Whiterun
• Adrianne Avenicci at Warmaiden's in Whiterun
• Ahlam in Whiterun
• Alfhild Battle-Born at Battle-Born Farm in Whiterun
• Alvor in Riverwood
• Avulstein Gray-Mane in Whiterun
• Amren in Whiterun
• Anoriath in Whiterun
• Arcadia at Arcadia's Cauldron in Whiterun
• Atar at Karthwasten
• Belethor at Belethor's General Goods in Whiterun
• Belrand at Solitude
• Bolgeir Bearclaw in the Blue Palace
• Brina Merilis in Dawnstar
• Captain Aldis in Solitude
• Carlotta Valentia in Whiterun
• Chief Burguk in Dushnikh Yal
• Chief Larak in Mor Khazgur
• Commander Maro in Dragonsreach
• Danica Pure-Spring of the Temple of Kynareth in Whiterun
• Dorian of the Red Wave
• Elrindir, owner of The Drunken Huntsman in Whiterun
• Erik the Slayer (if his quest has been completed) in Rorikstead
• Eris of the Red Wave
• Faendal in Riverwood
• Farengar Secret-Fire in Dragonsreach
• Filnjar in Shor's Stone
• Gerdur in Riverwood
• Gloth at Pelagia Farm
• Gwendolyn at Battle-Born Farm
• Hemming Black-Briar in Riften
• Hern at Half-Moon Mill
• Hert at Half-Moon Mill
• Hod in Riverwood
• Horik Halfhand in Dawnstar
• Hulda at The Bannered Mare in Whiterun
• Idolaf Battle-Born in Whiterun
• Ingun Black-Briar in Riften
• Jervar of Whiterun
• Jod of Dawnstar (Palace of the Kings if siding with Imperials)
• Lemkil in Rorikstead
• Maramal in the Temple of Mara in Riften
• Marcurio at the Bee and Barb in Riften
• Maul in Riften
• Mikael the bard at The Bannered Mare in Whiterun
• Mjoll the Lioness in Riften
• Mralki in Rorikstead
• Nazeem in Whiterun
• Nimriel at Pelagia Farm
• Ogmund in Markarth
• Orgnar, owner of Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood
• Rorik in Rorikstead
• Severio Pelagia in Whiterun
• Sigurd in Whiterun
• Sinding in Bloated Man's Grotto
• Sinmir at The Bannered Mare in Whiterun
• Skulvar Sable-Hilt in Whiterun
• Stenvar at Candlehearth Hall in Windhelm
• Sven in Riverwood
• Sylgja in Shor's Stone
• Ulfberth War-Bear at Warmaiden's in Whiterun
• Uthgerd the Unbroken at The Bannered Mare in Whiterun
• Vulwulf Snow-Shod in Riften
• Xander of the Red Wave
• Zaria in Falkreath

Journal

Journal Entry
<radiant NPC> has been causing trouble for someone around <radiant city>. I need to rough <radiant gender> up to remind <radiant gender> of <radiant gender> obligations. Objective: Intimidate <radiant NPC>
<radiant NPC> won't be causing as much trouble for <radiant city>. Objective: Return to Farkas
Quest complete

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to Hired Muscle. 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 see the list of bugs encountered

On PC, typing setstage cr04 100 in the console will force quest completion if the quest is bugged. The quest may direct the Dragonborn toward targets who have already died. If this happens, there is no way to complete the quest properly, and the Companions questline will be stuck. To fix this, go to Whiterun, then find Amren and kill him. At this point the quest line should open back up. Killing Eris might result in a bounty and several NPCs, including Vilkas, chasing the Dragonborn until the bounty is paid. After completing the quest, Vilkas will stop being hostile, but still chase and initiate conversation with the Dragonborn wherever they go, effectively disabling fast-travel (the game will give a "You can not fast travel while guards are pursuing you" message), until the bounty is cleared either by paying or spending time in jail. Since Vilkas is essential, he cannot be killed to avoid being chased. Dorian may not be available for conversation if he is inside the Red Wave, since it is a trespassing zone and he will only tell the Dragonborn to leave. To fix this, attack him, then run outside. On the deck, yield to him, then talk to him, and the Brawl option should be available. Another way is typing setcellownership solituderedwave in the console. This will make the Dragonborn the owner of the ship, and they won't be considered trespassing. Hemming Black-Briar is similarly bugged. To engage him, go to his house during the day. Jump the fence in the back (or pick the gate lock, Expert level), and then pick the back door (also Expert level). It is possible to pick the front door, but be careful of guards. Run in and hit him to engage him in battle. Run back outside, then yield and start the brawl. Note that if entering the house at night, the rest of the family is there and will also attack. If the target is Farengar Secret-Fire or Acolyte Jenssen the prompt to talk to him on behalf of the Companions will not trigger, and the quest will be stuck. Captain Aldis will be bugged if the Dragonborn has finished the Civil War quests for the Stormcloaks prior to starting this quest. The quest marker shows him inside Castle Dour, but he is unreachable.  PS3   PC   Atar in Karthwasten may fall outside map in the mine in Karthwasten, meaning he is not reachable and thus quest is impossible to complete. If the miscellaneous quest in Karthwasten has been completed before beginning Hired Muscle, the Silver-Bloods and Atar will not be there. The quest marker may point elsewhere, such as Markarth, and the quest cannot be completed. Atar and his bodyguards may become hostile after the brawl, preventing the quest from being completed as he will have to be killed. Calm spells or something similar can be used to leave him alive. As of patch 1.3, Farkas may give Talsgar the Wanderer as a target. He can be found at The Bee and Bard in Riften. However, upon initiating the brawl option, the entire tavern will attack him, making the quest incompletable. If the Civil War questline has been complete for the Imperials, Brina Merilis's brawl option won't appear. If Destroy the Dark Brotherhood! has been completed, Commander Maro will only say: "I'll make sure the Emperor has heard of all you've done!" and will have no conversation options, stalling the quest. Stenvar may pull out a staff or sword and get assistance from other characters nearby during the brawl, making the fight significantly harder. If you have not yet brawled with Uthgerd the Unbroken in the Bannered Mare in Whiterun outside of this quest, sometimes she will give you 200 gold and the quest will disappear, leaving a permanent "Return to Farkas" objective with no quest or dialogue tied to it.  PS3   Sometimes, target of the quest will be already dead. Anoriath may still be a target for this quest, even after the Dark Brotherhood quest "Contract: Kill Anoriath" has been completed, making this quest impossible to complete without the use of console commands.