Skyrim:In My Time Of Need

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Find the Redguard, Saadia, who is on the run from Hammerfell. Quest Giver: Alik'r Warriors Location(s): Swindler's Den, Dragonsreach, Whiterun Reward: 500 Gold Disposition: 0→1 (Kematu) if helping him ID: MS08 Suggested Level: 6

The Alik'r Warriors are interrogating Redguard women all over Skyrim

Quick Walkthrough

1. Get the quest from the Alik'r Warriors in Whiterun.
2. Find Saadia at The Bannered Mare.
3. Speak with her or report her to the Alik'r in Rorikstead.
4. Kill Kematu or lure Saadia to the stables.
5. Collect your reward from Kematu or Saadia.

Detailed Walkthrough

A Wanted Woman

After speaking with the jarl in Whiterun and starting Dragon Rising, you may come across guards looking for a Redguard woman in the city. You may also observe an argument between Whiterun guards and Alik'r Warriors regarding their presence in the hold, or you may find Alik'r Warriors interrogating Redguard women in the Skyrim wilderness. Speak with the Alik'r to start the quest.

Finding the Missing Woman

Go to The Bannered Mare. The Redguard is a woman called Saadia. She will be wandering about the inn and may walk up to you asking if you are hungry. When you mention the Alik'r, she asks you to follow her to her room, where you can speak in private. As you get there, she draws her dagger against you. Tell her to calm down. She claims that she is actually a noble from Hammerfell, and the Alik'r have been sent after her because she publicly spoke out against the Aldmeri Dominion. At this point, you can make a choice:

• Speak to the Alik'r warriors in Rorikstead and tell them of Saadia's location.
• Follow Saadia's instructions in order to help her.

A third, more treacherous route, especially if you're stealthy, is to agree to help the Alik'r, then, when you're in a better position, kill them. If you have the ability to stealthily backstab and pickpocket weapons off of them, so much the better. This will allow you to go back to Saadia and let her know she won't be further troubled, and you can complete the quest without turning her in. Saadia will pay you only 500 coins.

Defend a Helpless Dissident...

If you decide to help Saadia, go into the dungeon of Dragonsreach and speak with an Alik'r Warrior that was captured. After paying 100 gold to a guard, the prisoner will tell you that the leader of the Alik'r is in a cave west of Whiterun called Swindler's Den. If you have already cleared out Swindler's Den, a dialogue option will appear when talking to Saadia that will reveal to her that you know where they are, allowing you to skip this part of the quest.

Swindler's Den

Kematu, the Alik'r leader

Upon reaching Swindler's Den, you'll find it's full of bandits. Make your way through the network of tunnels, killing every bandit in your way, until you reach a passage with a waterfall. As soon as you walk through the wall of water, Kematu, the Alik'r leader, should initiate a conversation. He claims that Saadia is wanted for treason, for selling Hammerfell out to the Aldmeri Dominion.

If you still want to help Saadia, you'll have quite a fight on your hands. At least four Alik'r Warriors will assist Kematu, often more. However, use of the Mayhem spell here makes the fight a breeze.

Fighting the host of Alik'r warriors can be made easier by using the bear traps at the mouth of the winding path that leads into the cave where Kematu awaits. The warriors get hung up in the path, allowing for the traps to be reset. Success is facilitated by focusing on your high-offense attack while retreating. Once your stamina or magic is depleted, turn and run for the traps, being careful to jump over them as you pass. It is also possible to simply exit the conversation with Kematu (or tell him that you will help lure Saadia away), sneak into the room just ahead, and snipe all the warriors with your bow.

Once the Alik'r are dead, loot Kematu's corpse for bonus gold, then go get your reward from Saadia.

...Or Bring a Traitor to Justice

If you decide to help the Alik'r capture Saadia, Kematu or the Redguards you spoke to in Rorikstead will ask you to lure her to the stables outside of Whiterun. Go back and talk to Saadia in The Bannered Mare and ask her to follow you. Once she gets to the stables, Kematu will use a paralyzing spell on her. Talk to him for your reward.

Alternative Routes

While Kematu and Saadia are talking at the stables, you can still kill Kematu before he casts the spell on Saadia. This will get you the reward from Saadia and the gold Kematu is carrying without having to fight the rest of the Alik'r. If you kill him after he casts the spell, however, Saadia will attack you when she gets back up.

You can also allow Kematu to cast the spell on Saadia and collect the 500 gold reward thus ending the quest, then kill Kematu to undo the spell on Saadia. At this point Saadia will be hostile right away, so use a Calm spell on her then talk to her and she will give you the 500 gold reward for killing Kematu. You can then loot Kematu's body to get 200 gold, his attire, and his sword. Once the Calm spell ends, Saadia will become hostile again. Kill her and then loot her body. She will also have gold and jewels. Both characters will be dead, but you will have gained maximum rewards, equaling out to 1200 gold plus random jewels.

Notes

• The Whiterun guards will not release the Alik'r prisoner even if you pay his fine.
• If you kill Saadia after turning her in and receiving your reward, Kematu will leave and say, "All that effort, and you just kill her. You've ruined everything.''"
• Saadia's body will appear in Whiterun's Hall of the Dead if you hand her over to the Alik'r.

Bugs

• If you do not directly kill Kematu (i.e., Frenzy or Fury on him or the Alik'r), the quest will be stuck on "Kill or talk to Kematu". See Quest Stages and skip to step 160 to progress the quest.
  • This bug is fixed by the Official Skyrim Patch.
• You can approach and kill the Alik'r in the cave before speaking with Kematu. Performing a power attack will result in a finishing move on the Alik'r but will not trigger the others to attack. In this fashion, the room can be cleared before engaging Kematu in either conversation or combat. Note that while the Alik'r are being killed, Kematu may comment on someone having been murdered, but there is no murder count increase for these actions. ^?
• If you kill the Alik'r warriors in the Swindler's Den, two Alik'r warriors will sometimes end up constantly appearing in Whiterun by the entrance.
  • PC Only This bug is fixed by version 1.1 of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch.
• If you kill the Alik'r warriors in the Swindler's Den, encounters where Alik'r warriors harass a Redguard woman may still occur.
  • PC Only This bug is fixed by version 1.1 of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch.
• Using the alternative route mentioned above, sometimes killing Kematu after he casts the paralyze spell on Saadia will not cause her to turn hostile but will still allow you to report that the Alik'r have been taken care of, hence getting both rewards. ^?
• After you hand Saadia to Kematu, sometimes Kematu and the Alik'r keep staying in Swindler's Den. No more conversation options are possible and the dungeon cannot be cleared.
  • Ficheiro:Pc22.png To fix this last problem manually, one can use the console command SetLocationCleared 00018EE2 1.
• Sometimes when you talk to the Alik'r warrior in jail and go to the guard, they won't enter conversation with you, forcing you to go directly to Swindler's Den.
  • If you have an outstanding bounty in Whiterun, the guards will not enter conversation with you, preventing you from paying the prisoner's fine. You will need to reload the save and clear your bounty prior to entering the dungeon to move forward.
• Sometimes Saadia will disappear in Whiterun when you take her to the stables.
• Sometimes if you enter conversation with the jailed Alik'r warrior a second time before speaking to the guards to pay his fine, his next dialog option will come up early. Despite entering the new line of conversation, he will not give you the required information and your quest will not update. Paying his fine will not progress the dialog further at this point. ^?
  • You can reload the save to fix this, or bypass and go to Swindler's Den directly.

Quest Stages

{{ Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|!|In My Time Of Need|MS08}}

{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=10|2=|3=A group of men calling themselves the Alik'r are looking for a Redguard woman in Whiterun.

Objective 10: Find the Redguard woman

}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=20|2=|3=

Objective 20 or 21: Speak with Saadia or Inform the Alik'r of Saadia's location

}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=25|2=|3=The barmaid at the Bannered Mare in Whiterun is apparently a fugitive noble from Hammerfell. She claims that she is on the run from assassins sent by rival houses in her homeland and needs someone to stop them before they find her.

Objective 25 or 26: Talk to the Alik'r Prisoner or Inform the Alik'r of Saadia's location

}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=50|2=|3=

Objective 50: Find a way to enter the Alik'r hideout

}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=75|2=|3=

Objective 75: Enter the Alik'r hideout

}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=100|2=|3=

Objective 100: Kill Kematu

}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=101|2=|3=

Objective 101: Kill Kematu or talk to him

}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=125|2=|3=

Objective 125: Kill Kematu OR Convince Saadia to meet Kematu

}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=130|2=|3=

Objective 100: Kill Kematu

}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=150|2=|3=

Objective 100: Kill Kematu

}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=160|2=|3=

Objective 160: Return to Saadia

}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=175|2=|3=The leader of the so-called "assassins" I've been asked to eliminate claims that Saadia betrayed her people to the Dominion and they are here to bring her to justice. I've agreed to lead her into an ambush at the Whiterun stables.

Objective 175: Lead Saadia to the Whiterun Stables

}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=190|2=|3= setstage MS08

}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=199|2=|3=

Objective 199: Speak with Saadia

}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=200|2=fin|3=I've helped Saadia escape the clutches of the Alik'r sent after her. With their leader defeated, she believes the rest of them will scatter, affording her some much-needed safety for now. }}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=201|2=fin|3=After making arrangements with Kematu, I've delivered Saadia to him. He assures me that she will be taken back to Hammerfell alive, though after that her fate is no longer in his hands.

}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=300|2=fail|3=}}{{Predefinição:FULLPAGENAME0/Line|1=Unknown|2=|3=

Objective 130: Kill Kematu

}}

Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 255.

 

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage MS08 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest MS08.