Did we miss anything in this section? Is there something we didn't discover? Let us know!

Background

At some point after defeating the dragon during the quest Dragon Rising, when you enter Whiterun, some Alik'r mercenaries will stop you and tell you that they're looking for a Redguard woman from Hammerfell. They'll offer you money for information about her, but they won't really wait around to see if you're interested in their deal. They'll just tell you to meet them in Rorikstead if you learn where the woman is hiding. This conversation will trigger the quest.

You can also trigger the quest if you encounter Alik'r mercenaries questioning Redguard women while traveling the roads of Skyrim, and then talk to the mercenaries.


Walkthrough

You'll find the Redguard woman, Saadia, working at the Bannered Mare in Whiterun. When you confront her about the Alik'r mercenaries, she'll admit that she's their target, but she'll claim that they're assassins working for the Aldmeri Dominion, and that they're only after her because she's a noble and spoke out against the Dominion. She'll then ask you to kill Kematu, the leader of the mercenaries, since that would likely end the hunt.

This will give you two ways to proceed:

• If you want to help Saadia, then you'll need to go to the Dragonsreach Dungeon (located underneath Dragonsreach) and talk to the Alik'r prisoner being held there. He'll offer to tell you where you can find Kematu if you help him get released from his cell. There isn't any way to break him out, so you'll need to talk to one of the guards and pay the prisoner's 100 gold fine. After doing this, when you talk to the prisoner again, he'll reveal that Kematu is staying at Swindler's Den, located to the west of Whiterun. This step is optional; you can also just head to Swindler's Den.
  
  Inside Swindler's Den, you'll first encounter bandits, but then eventually you'll run into Kematu and his warriors near a waterfall (#3). Kematu will try to convince you to take his side in the matter. If you decide to switch allegiances, then the quest will proceed as if you had told the Alik'r mercenaries in Rorikstead where you found Saadia (see below). Otherwise, you'll have to battle Kematu and half a dozen warriors. If you have a tough time with this battle, then your best bet is to run back to the preceding room, fight for a bit, and then jump down off the ledge (#2). Kematu and his warriors will run down the long way, giving you time to heal up before they get back to you. Then you can just run back up to the ledge and repeat the process. When Kematu dies, he'll drop some gold and a pair of Scimitars. The warriors will also drop Scimitars. And finally, when you return to Saadia, she'll pay you 500 gold.
  
  
• If you want to help the mercenaries, then you'll need to travel to the Frostfruit Inn in Rorikstead and tell the Alik'r warrior there that you know where Saadia is. He'll ask you to lure Saadia to the Whiterun Stables, which you'll be able to do by lying to her (no Speech checks required). When you reach the stables, you'll encounter Kematu, and he'll paralyze Saadia and then pay you 500 gold for your assistance. If you change your mind, then you can kill Kematu after he paralyzes Saadia (but before he gives you his reward), and when Saadia wakes up, she'll be a little miffed, but she'll pay you her 500 gold reward.
  
  
• You can also get the reward from both parties. To do this, you'll need to side with the Alik'r mercenaries and lure Saadia to the Whiterun Stables. Once there, you'll need to turn Saadia over to Kematu for the first reward, and then kill Kematu and cast Calm on Saadia to get the second reward.

1 - Skill Book

On one of the bed rolls here you'll find the book Thief, which will increase your Pickpocket skill by 1.


2 - Ledge


3 - Waterfall


Exits:

23. World exit.