Proving Honor is a quest available in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in which the Dragonborn is tasked with recovering a fragment of the battle axe Wuuthrad. Farkas accompanies the Dragonborn as their Shield-Brother to assess their abilities.
Background[]
The Companions have given me one final challenge before inducing me. I'm to retrieve a fragment of Wuuthrad, the Blade of Ysgramor, from Dustman's Cairn while Farkas judges my valor.
Objectives[]
Walkthrough[]
The quest begins by speaking to Skjor after completing the radiant quest "Trouble in Skyrim" given by Farkas at the end of "Take Up Arms." He tells the Dragonborn that one more quest must be completed before becoming a full-fledged member of the Companions. During the trial, Farkas will assess the Dragonborn's progress. The Dragonborn should next talk to Farkas and agree to meet him at Dustman's Cairn. Temporarily, Farkas will replace any existing follower. Any follower will then return to their home location.
Dustman's Cairn[]
The entrance is a bit hard to see. If Farkas was asked to be met there, he stands on the path beside rocks that are difficult to climb. Up the small hill is a ring of stones surrounding a pit. At the south end of the pit is a set of stairs leading down into the pit. The entrance is near the bottom of the stairs. Upon entering the first room, Farkas says it looks like "someone has been digging here... and recently. Tread lightly."
The path leads to a room where leveled draugr reside. After killing them and proceeding through the wooden door, the path leads down to a large cavern with a lever in the middle of an adjoining room. Pulling that lever will close the exit, trapping the Dragonborn inside. This triggers a cutscene in which Farkas is confronted by bandits of the group known as the Silver Hand, and reveals himself to be a werewolf. After the scene, Farkas should be spoken to about what happened. During this leg of the quest, Farkas does not aid the Dragonborn in battle. Only in the last room of the cairn does he assist in battle. This may be level dependent – when the Dragonborn is at higher levels, Farkas seems to hang back and watch, but once combat is initiated, Farkas will pursue and attack any fleeing draugr or Silver Hand members and finish them off. He will provide substantial assistance to a lower leveled Dragonborn even before the final room.confirmation needed
Continuing through the caves, members of the Silver Hand attack. After proceeding through two wooden doors, there are Silver Hands inside to be dispatched. The path continues up the stairs, past the burial urns to the next room, and through the wooden door. Two chests may be found in front of the stairs. One can be found by pulling the chain found on the left side of the left hand wall, opening a passage to the chest. The second can be found in the hallway near the front of the stairs amongst the rubble along with a bag of coins behind the left door. Silver Hands and draugr will be encountered along the way until the door to Dustman's Crypt is reached.
Dustman's Crypt[]
Dustman's Crypt
Upon entering the crypt, more Silver Hand members attack. After they are dispatched, a side door leads to a path across the bridge, then down to the right, with Silver Hand and draugr to be fought on the way toward the crypt. The draugr can be easily dispatched using Destruction spells, arrows, or melee weapons with long reach. This causes them to die before being woken, leaving only the Silver Hands to deal with.
After this, a large room with a chest containing Dustman's Cairn Key appears, off to the left upon entering the room; this opens the iron door ahead. There are several skeevers down the path. The next room contains two frostbite spiders, followed by several draugr. It also contains an Alchemy Lab.
The next iron door leads to a larger room. On the altar lies the fragment needed to complete the quest. Behind the altar is a Word Wall that teaches a new Word of Power for Fire Breath when approached. After retrieving the fragment, several leveled draugr appear. At higher levels most of the enemies are draugr deathlords, and may appear if the Dragonborn is level 12. When facing higher level enemies, Farkas is of little help, and his Heavy Armor makes sneaking more difficult. Placing runes or casting Fireball near the spawn points of the draugr causes them to emerge prematurely, allowing them to be picked off one by one, before the fragment is grabbed. Detect Dead can be of use here.
Once the fragment is obtained and the enemies killed, going up the stairs and through the empty coffin returns the Dragonborn to Dustman's Cairn, where a quick path to the exit can now be found.
Return and reward[]
Upon returning to Jorrvaskr, Vilkas meets the Dragonborn and asks to be followed. Upon following him to the courtyard, Farkas vouches for the Dragonborn's competence during the mission, and the Dragonborn is formally inducted into the Companions.
Journal[]
| Proving Honor – C01 | |
|---|---|
| ID | Journal Entry |
| 10 | The Companions leaders say they don't have any more work for me, but that I should speak to Skjor about "the next steps."
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| 20 | The Companions have given me one final challenge before inducting me. I'm to retrieve a fragment of Wuuthrad, the Blade of Ysgramor, from <Alias=Dungeon> while Farkas judges my valor.
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| 30 |
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| 40 |
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| 200 | I successfully retrieved a fragment of Wuuthrad, the Blade of Ysgramor, to earn my place in the Companions.
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- Note: While ID 20 directly refers to the location of the dungeon as "<Alias=Dungeon>", indicating that the location is randomly chosen from a list, the only possible location is Dustman's Cairn.
Trivia[]
- Despite what the quest description says, one is considered a member of the Companions once "Take Up Arms" is completed. This is for purposes of taking items from the hall, or being trained in Smithing by Eorlund Gray-Mane.
- After seeing Farkas exhibit his lycanthropy, by turning into a werewolf, he may be asked, "The Companions are werewolves?" He responds with, "Not everyone, but all the members of the Circle are. It's a secret to everybody." This is a reference to The Legend of Zelda and the popular internet meme.
- If the Dragonborn managed to run out of the trap room after pulling the lever, the gate will drop down and Farkas will walk to the gate and "talk" to the Dragonborn as if they're still behind it. All of the Dragonborn's actions will be locked until Farkas opens the gate.
- When Farkas starts transforming, he drops his Skyforge steel greatsword on the ground. It can be kept or returned via reverse pickpocketing or simply trade it to him once he's available as a follower. After he opens the gate he equips an iron greatsword.
- Near the end of the tomb, a member of the Silver Hand can be seen in a coffin, mimicking a draugr, in an attempt to surprise the Dragonborn.
- Once in the crypt, if overwhelmed, sometimes going through the door leading to Dustman's Cairn will allow for an escape from the Silver Hand.
- As the Silver Hand surround Farkas, one says, "If he wears that armor, he dies," even though he does not wear the wolf armor.
- Once the quest is completed, Skyforge Steel weapons and Wolf Armor can also be found in the merchant chest underneath the Skyforge.
- Dialogue exists in the Creation Kit suggesting that Aela the Huntress was originally supposed to accompany the Dragonborn during this quest, or she was supposed to accompany the Dragonborn and Farkas during the quest.
- Because the dungeon cannot be accessed prior to the quest, it is listed on Dungeon Lock Outs.
- After the quest is complete, wild werewolves can be encountered at night with Dawnguard installed.
Bugs[]
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This section contains bugs related to Proving Honor. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:
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Appearances[]
| The Companions Quests | |
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| Main Quest | |
| Radiant Quests | |