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Background

You'll receive this quest at the conclusion of the Imperial Legion version of the quest Battle for Whiterun.


Walkthrough

To start off, you'll need to report in to General Tullius in Castle Dour in Solitude. For your work in Whiterun, he'll promote you to Quaestor and reward you with a random item. Then he'll give you a series of sub-quests to wrest control of Skyrim away from the Stormcloaks. You'll need to complete one or two of these sub-quests in each region under Stormcloak control, and so this quest can change depending on what you decided during the quest Season Unending (if you had to complete that quest). The sub-quests are described below.

Pale: A False Front

For this quest you'll need to travel to the Pale Imperial Camp, which is located in between Solitude and Dawnstar. When you get there and report in to Legate Rikke, she'll tell you that she wants to deliver some false orders to the Stormcloak commander in Dawnstar, but that for her plan to work, she'll need to get her hands on some real orders. Rikke will then ask you to intercept a Stormcloak courier and steal his documents.

To gain access to a courier, you'll need to travel to the Nightgate Inn (located west of Windhelm) or Candlehearth Hall (located in Windhelm) and talk to the innkeeper there. If you successfully bribe, intimidate or persuade the innkeeper, then you'll learn that the courier travels back and forth between the two inns, and his position will begin showing up on the world map. You can also just wait at one of the two inns, or on the road between them, for the courier to run by.

When you intercept the courier, you'll need to pickpocket him or kill him for the Stormcloak Documents. Then when you deliver the documents to Rikke, she'll make some "corrections" and ask you to deliver the forgery to Frorkmar Banner-Torn in the White Hall in Dawnstar. You won't need to wear a disguise or anything to make the delivery. Banner-Torn will simply accept the forged documents from you, and he'll even reward you with 5 gold for your service. Then when you return to Rikke, she'll reward you with a more suitable amount of gold.

Pale: The Battle for Fort Dunstad

When you report in to Legate Rikke after completing the quest "A False Front," she'll send you out to the Imperial soldiers who are preparing to attack Fort Dunstad. When you reach the soldiers, they'll charge at the fort, and you'll need to follow behind them and help them defeat enough soldiers to capture the fort. Imperial and Stormcloak soldiers will keep spawning until enough have been killed. If you want, you can allow the Imperial soldiers to do all of the work, but the quest will progress more quickly if you help out.

Once enough Stormcloak soldiers have been killed, any remaining Stormcloak soldiers will flee from the fort, and you'll claim it for the Imperials. Then when you return to General Tullius in Castle Dour in Solitude, he'll promote you to Praefect, and he'll give you another random item. Then he'll send you to the Rift.

Rift: Compelling Tribute

For this quest you'll need to travel to the Pale Imperial Camp, which is located to the south of Ivarstead. When you report in to Legate Rikke there, she'll tell you that Anuriel, the steward in Riften, has made some arrangements with the Thieves Guild that might prove embarrassing if made public. Rikke will then ask you to find evidence of these shady dealings so you can blackmail Anuriel into helping the Legion.

You'll find the necessary evidence, an Incriminating Letter, inside a dresser in Anuriel's room in Mistveil Keep. When you show this letter to Anuriel, she'll lead you back to her room, where she'll inform you about a slow-moving but heavily-guarded caravan of gold and weapons making its way towards Windhelm. If you pass a persuade check, then Anuriel will also give you a bag of gold.

When you return to Rikke to report your findings, she'll tell you that she already has some men scouting the road to Windhelm, and she'll send you to meet up with them. You'll find the men to the southeast of Windhelm, near Shor's Watchtower. When you reach them, you'll discover that Hadvar (who you might remember from the quest Unbound) is their leader, and he'll inform you that his men have been following the caravan.

Hadvar will then tell you his plan for capturing the caravan, and you can either follow it or just tell Hadvar and his men to sit tight while you take care of the matter. Either way, you'll need to kill all of the Stormcloak soldiers protecting the caravan and then talk to Hadvar again to complete the quest. Afterwards, when you return Rikke, she'll give you some gold for your work.

Note: If you open the locked chest being transported by the caravan, then inside you'll find some Gold Ingots and steel weapons.

Rift: The Battle for Fort Greenwall

After completing the quest "Compelling Tribute," when you return to the Pale Imperial Camp and report in to Legate Rikke, she'll send you off to help the men attacking Fort Greenwall. This battle will go just like "The Battle for Fort Dunstad." Afterwards, when you return to General Tullius in Castle Dour in Solitude, he'll promote you to Tribune (although he might not mention it in dialogue), and he'll order you to help out in another hold.

Winterhold: Rescue from Fort Kastav

For this quest you'll need to travel to the Winterhold Imperial Camp, which is located to the east of Dawnstar. When you get there and report in to Legate Rikke, she'll tell you that some Imperial soldiers have been captured by the Stormcloaks, and that they're being held prisoner in Fort Kastav. She'll then ask you to meet up with some scouts she has near the fort, use them to free the prisoners, and then with the extra men capture the fort.

When you reach the scouts, you'll find that Hadvar is with them again, and that he has another plan. Hadvar will tell you that the scouts uncovered a grate that leads directly into the prison, and so he'll ask you to sneak in, free the prisoners, and then exit out into the fort's inner courtyard, where he and the other scouts will join you and the prisoners, and help you to defeat the remaining defenders. If you don't like this plan, then you don't need to follow it. All you'll need to do in the quest is defeat the Stormcloak soldiers at the fort, and free the prisoners being held inside, in any order and in any way you want.

To complete the quest, you'll just need to talk to Hadvar again. He'll offer to stay and watch over the fort while you report in to General Tullius. When you reach Tullius, he'll promote you to Legate, and he'll give you another random gift.

Hjaalmarch: The Battle for Fort Snowhawk

You'll only need to complete this battle if the Stormcloaks gained control of the Hjaalmarch during the quest Season Unending.

Reach: The Battle for Fort Sungard

You'll only need to complete this battle if the Stormcloaks gained control of the Reach during the quest Season Unending.

Falkreath: The Battle for Fort Neugrad

You'll only need to complete this battle if the Stormcloaks gained control of Falkreath during the quest Season Unending.

Eastmarch: The Battle for Fort Amol

For this quest you'll need to travel to the Eastmarch Imperial Camp, which is located to the southeast of Windhelm, near Mzulft. When you report in to Legate Rikke there, she'll send you off to help capture Fort Amol. The battle at Fort Amol is just like the other battles in the quest, with Stormcloak and Imperial soldiers spawning until enough have died. After you've captured the fort, when you return to Rikke, she'll reward you with some gold.

Eastmarch: Battle for Windhelm

After completing the quest "The Battle for Fort Amol," when you report in to Legate Rikke, she'll tell you that it's finally time to march on Windhelm, and she'll send you to meet up with General Tullius just outside the city. Windhelm will no longer appear on the world map, so you won't be able to fast-travel there, but the Windhelm Imperial Camp will show up to southeast, and so you can use it or some other nearby location (like the Windhelm Stables) to quickly reach Tullius. When you get to him, Tullius will give a speech to his men, and then everybody will charge at Windhelm.

Inside Windhelm, what you'll need to do is fight your way to the Palace of the Kings. There will be impassable burning logs and debris all over the place, and so you'll have to travel through the western part of the city to reach the palace. If you spot a barricade that you can destroy, then you'll know that you're going the right way.

When you enter the Palace of the Kings, you'll have General Tullius and Legate Rikke with you, and you'll face off against Ulfric and Galmar Stone-Fist. After a bit of banter, the encounter will always turn into a fight. Once you've killed Galmar and done enough damage to Ulfric, Ulfric will surrender, and he'll request that you land the killing blow. If you agree to do this, then Tullius will give you his sword (a random enchanted blade) for the job, but you don't have to use it; you can use any means to finish Ulfric off. If you don't agree to Ulfric's request, then Tullius will kill Ulfric, and he'll give you his sword afterwards. Then Tullius will exit the palace so he can give a victory speech to his men. The speech will conclude the civil war.

Note: If you loot Ulfric's body then you'll find Ulfric's Boots, Ulfric's Bracers, and Ulfric's Clothes.