No Stone Unturned (Skyrim)

No Stone Unturned
One of twenty-four Stones of Barenziah scattered across Skyrim.
Quest Giver	Vex
Location	See below
Prerequisite	Taking Care of Business
Faction	Thieves Guild
Reward	Prowler's Profit
Type	Side quest
Quest ID	TGCrownMisc TGCrown

For other uses, see No Stone Unturned.

No Stone Unturned is a quest available in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in which the Dragonborn must recover the scattered Stones of Barenziah to reforge her broken crown and serve as a symbol of inspiration and influence to the Thieves Guild.

Background

I've found an unusual gem which seems to exhibit magical properties. I should bring it to someone knowledgeable in such goods for appraisal.

Objectives

1. Bring the Unusual Gem to an appraiser
2. Find someone who can identify the Unusual Gem
3. Become a full member of the Thieves Guild (if not already)
4. Bring the Unusual Gem to Vex in the Thieves Guild
5. Recover the Stones of Barenziah
6. Speak to Vex
7. Recover the Crown of Barenziah
8. Return to Vex

Walkthrough

"I think there were twenty-four in all. Most people keep them as a curiosity. Some of the Guild members have tried to locate them over the years, but they haven't been successful... well, until now."

―Vex

Unusual Gems can be found all over Skyrim. Once at least one is discovered, the quest will be eligible to be started. Once a gem is found, travel to Riften. There, the Nord thief Maul can be met. After speaking to him, he will tell the Dragonborn what he knows of the gem, and requests they speak to Vex in order to find out what the gem is worth. He will also state that Vex can only be spoken to if one is a member of the Thieves Guild. If the Dragonborn urges him for more information on the guild, he will direct them to Brynjolf in the Riften Marketplace, or if the time is night, the Bee and Barb. Speaking to Brynjolf will begin "A Chance Arrangement." Once access to The Ragged Flagon has been gained, Vex can be spoken to. She will explain to the Dragonborn that the gem is one of twenty-four total stones that were pried from the crown of Queen Barenziah by a thief in an attempt to cover his tracks, and that only the complete set of the twenty-four stones would be worth anything. The new set of such information begins the objective to seek out the rest of the valuables.

If the Dragonborn is already a member of the Thieves Guild, Vex can be spoken to immediately. She can easily be found in The Ragged Flagon, and will tell them that it is one of twenty-four stones that were stolen from the crown of Queen Barenziah by a known thief in an effort to hide his tracks. She also mentions that only the complete set of the twenty-four stones would be worth anything notable. This explanation begins the objective to seek out the rest of the gems.

Locations

The following are locations for every Stone of Barenziah:

#	Hold	Location	Description	Visual
1	Eastmarch	Ansilvund – Ansilvund Burial Chambers	Enter Ansilvund Excavation and complete the objective in the cave and it will be on the table in the back of the final room. Near the Ghostblade and Fjori's ghost.
2	Eastmarch	Stony Creek Cave	Going off the main corridor, follow a path on the right (before entering the large pool of water with one bandit), inside the bandit wizard's cavern, on a table.
3	Eastmarch	Windhelm – House of Clan Shatter-Shield	Upstairs and in the first bedroom on the left, on the bookshelf.
4	Eastmarch	Windhelm – Palace of the Kings	When entering the palace take the first door to the left (upstairs) and follow the hall to the end, it sits on a table in Wuunferth the Unliving's quarters at the end of the hall.
5	Falkreath	Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary	On the dresser in Astrid's room during the quest "With Friends Like These..." or "Destroy the Dark Brotherhood!"
6	Falkreath	Pinewatch – Bandit's Sanctuary	In a room containing a single bandit and several empty draugr sarcophagi, there is another small room (to the right, behind a locked door). The stone is found on a shelf immediately on your right.
7	Falkreath	Sunderstone Gorge	On the altar in front of the Word Wall. Note that, because of its placement on the altar, the Stone can be difficult to spot if you are not facing the Word Wall from the opposite side of the table.
8	Haafingar	Dainty Sload	Take the stairs to the bottom level, take the stairs up (opposite the ones you have just come down) at the end of the room you will find the Stone on the table.
9	Haafingar	Reeking Cave	In the alcove with the dead conjurer near the road entrance.
10	Haafingar	Solitude – Blue Palace	On the bedside table in Jarl Elisif's quarters.
11	Haafingar	Solitude – Proudspire Manor	Sitting on a chest of drawers on the lefthand side of the upstairs master bedroom. (Must own Proudspire Manor to get this Stone. Requires paying 25,000 to own the home. The key cannot be pick pocketed from the steward, Falk Firebeard.)
12	Hjaalmarch	Rannveig's Fast	On a shelf just to the right of the prison's exit gate. The prison is entered via a trapdoor in front of the chest at the Word Wall, or long way through tunnels.
13	The Reach	Dead Crone Rock	On a makeshift altar in front of the Word Wall at the top of the final tower.
14	The Reach	Markarth – Treasury House	Next to the bed in the master bedroom.
15	The Reach	Understone Keep – Dwemer Museum	Behind a locked gate on left of the museum on a table in the right hand corner.
16	The Rift	Black-Briar Lodge	On the left end table in the upstairs master bedroom.
17	The Rift	Mistveil Keep – Jarl's Chambers	In the Jarl's chambers, on the end table to the left of the bed in the master bedroom.
18	Whiterun	Dragonsreach Jarl's Quarters	In the Jarl's chambers, on the end table to the right of the bed.
19	Whiterun	Fellglow Keep	On a counter in the workshop at the top of the front foyer – between the arcane enchanter and the alchemy lab.
20	Whiterun	Jorrvaskr Living Quarters	In Kodlak Whitemane's bedroom.
21	Whiterun	Whiterun Hall of the Dead – Whiterun Catacombs	Found in a crypt. From the entrance make the first left, then right, down the ramp. From here it is on the immediate left.
22	Winterhold	College of Winterhold – Arch-Mage's Quarters	On a shelf in the Arch-Mage's Quarters. To the left of the bed, under a wolf's head mounted on the wall. Becomes accessible during "Under Saarthal" when Tolfdir asks one to speak to the Arch-Mage. (Can also become accessible after becoming the Arch-Mage from completing "The Eye of Magnus.")
23	Winterhold	Hob's Fall Cave	Just after crossing the bridge, before an area with a sacrificial table and an Arcane Enchanter, take the path to the left and down into an area with an alchemy bench. The stone is on a shelf.
24	Winterhold	Yngvild – Yngvild Throne Room	Found on the desk in the last room, next to the final journal of Arondil.

Recovering the Crown of Barenziah

Once Vex is shown the full set of the twenty-four stones, she tasks you with traveling to Tolvald's Cave to retrieve the Crown of Barenziah. The cave has three levels and is filled with many falmer, as well as various fungi. The location of the crown is normally inaccessible due to a cave collapse blocking the way, but is cleared upon reaching this point in the quest. Upon entering the cave, there is a frost troll and an apprentice level chest behind the pillar to the left. One can go down the cave and face another two frost trolls. Go through the door at the end of the path. There is a trapped chest, coin purse, and gold ore on the table directly ahead, and then three Falmer will appear. Follow the path to either direction, as both will lead the same way, and once one reaches the top, there will be another two Falmer in the room with an alchemy lab. Continue down the path until three Falmer are reached. A chest to the left of the shelters will also be present, but one will also proceed to fight a frostbite spider. Keep to the left to find and unlock an adept chest. Then, one will encounter another two Falmer near the fire. Open the gate to the hut to search another chest. Continue down the path to Tolvald's Gap.

Upon entering, several Falmer and skeevers will be faced in combat. Afterward, take the bridge to the right and inside a hut is another chest, while within the room is a bounty of fungi. Exit the room and follow the stream to the south. There will be a couple of frostbite spiders and Falmer. Follow the stream to the left and take a right up the path. If one decides to open the gate to the right, there will be a few chaurus hunters. Otherwise, head up the left side of the next room to unlock an adept chest and continue down the path. Kill the Falmer and upon reaching the next room, but do not jump down, as the position will return one to a previous spot. Guide to the right, down the tunnel, and upstream to Tolvald's Crossing.

Upon entrance, one will be greeted by a falmer warmonger on the bridge. Upon crossing the bridge, continuing forward will lead someone to a chest, but also to the crown. Turn back and take the first path to the right which is equipped with a trip wire. There is a chest ahead on the right, a coin purse directly ahead with a bunch of books, and a few falmer up the path to the left. Make a U-turn up the path to gain access to a master chest. Turn back and follow the path to a hut with a chest inside, and then continue through the gate. The next room will have a table with bones and random loot on top of it. As one continues upward, they ought to kill the Falmer, and search the chest to the right. The next room has chaurus hunters and Falmer warmongers. Open the gate on the other side of the bridge and continue forward. Keep left and cross the pipes to reach Tolvald's Cave. In the event that one did not get the crown, they can easily drop down the falls cautiously and retreat left. Down the pathway, there will be a pull chain to the left that will open the stone wall. Continue straight ahead and exit to Skyrim.

After giving the Crown to Vex, it will be placed as a trophy alongside the rest of the larceny targets in the Cistern by the Guildmaster's desk, and the individual will be rewarded with the effect Prowler's Profit.

Journal entry

No Stone Unturned Misc Handler – TGCrownMisc
ID	Journal Entry
10	I've found an unusual gem which seems to exhibit magical properties. I should bring it to someone knowledgeable in such goods for appraisal. Objective 10: Bring the Unusual Gem to an appraiser
20	With Maul in Riften no longer speaking to me, I'm going to have to continue my search for someone who can identify my unusual gem. Objective 20: Find someone who can identify the Unusual Gem
200	Quest completed
No Stone Unturned – TGCrown
5	It was suggested that I show my Unusual Gem to Vex, a member of the Thieves Guild in Riften. However, I'll need to wait until I'm full member of the Guild before she'll be able to assist me. Objective 5: Become a full member of the Thieves Guild.
10	I've found an unusual gem which seems to exhibit magical properties. I should bring it to Vex at the Thieves Guild for an appraisal. Objective 10: Bring the Unusual Gem to Vex in the Thieves Guild.
20	The unusual gem has turned out to be one of twenty-four "Stones of Barenziah." According to Vex, they have little value unless the set is complete. Objective 20: Recover the Stones of Barenziah (<Global=TGCrownGemsFound>/24)
30	Objective 30: Speak to Vex
40	Vex has revealed to me that the Crown of Barenziah is actually a paragon for the Thieves Guild. If I can recover the crown from Tolvald's Cave, she should be able to restore our paragon to its full strength. Objective 40: Recover the Crown of Barenziah
50	Objective 50: Return to Vex
200	I've brought the Crown of Barenziah to Vex, who has restored it to its original condition where it now serves as a paragon for the Thieves Guild. Quest completed

Trivia

• None of the Stones count as owned items, so the Dragonborn can take them without it counting as stealing.

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to No Stone Unturned (Skyrim). 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.

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If the Dragonborn is already a member of the Thieves Guild and has shown the gem to Vex, and then talks to Maul in Riften about the stone, he will suggest becoming a member of the Thieves Guild, adding a quest objective to join the Thieves Guild. While this objective cannot be cleared, it will not prevent the quest from being completed. If the Dragonborn already possesses all twenty-four gems when talking to Vex for the first time, the game will not recognize them, and the quest will be uncompletable. Collect twenty-three or fewer gems before talking to her to prevent this bug. This bug has reportedly been fixed by patch 1.9.  PC   The dialogue option to show the gem to Vex may not appear. The quest objective may count extra stones that have not been collected (i.e. saying 10/24 Stones have been collected when the Dragonborn only has 8). The quest can be completed when the objective says 24/24, even if some stones have not been collected yet. When Maul is first encountered, if the Dragonborn fails to persuade or intimidate him, Maul will dislike the Dragonborn. This prevents the Dragonborn from being able to start the miscellaneous quest to speak to Vex and become a full member of the Thieves Guild. This can be prevented by bribing Maul when he is first encountered or by speaking to Vex.  PC   Fixes for this quest if it becomes bugged or uncompletable. Note that these may not update the journal, but will unlock the appropriate responses from Vex. On the console type the following commands: To initiate the search for the crown (if stones are missing) set TGCrownGemsFound to 24 set TGCrownGemsTotal to 24 setstage TGCrown 30 If Vex will not talk despite having all the stones: setobjectivecompleted TGCrown 20 1 setstage TGCrown 30 If the Crown is missing: player.additem 0009dff5 setstage TGCrown 50 To remove the quest from the journal: setstage TGCrown 200 Even if all stones have been collected, only 23/24 stones may be displayed in the inventory. Although the stones are not marked as owned, the Dragonborn might still receive a 250 bounty if they are seen taking one. Sometimes an unusual gem might count as owned and could only be stolen.

Appearances

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim